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Conspiracy Theory: Energized Protodermis and Alchemy


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Alright everybody, stick on your conspiracy caps, because today we'll be over-analyzing a children's book! (More so than usual, I mean.)

 

Now, in the novelization of Mask of Light, the Energized Protodermis pool in Makuta's lair is actually described as "mercury". Some may write that off as a creative liberty, but is it really just incorrect phrasing from a source of questionable canonicity? Almost certainly, but for the sake of argument, let's say it's not.

 

We all know what Mercury is, right? Silver metal stuff that's liquid at room temperature, right? And what does energized protodermis look like?

 

 

Of course, your next line is probably "So what? The author probably just used the word mercury since the two look so similar." Sure, but what if I told you that mercury and energized protodermis don't just look like the same thing...they ARE the same thing!

 

 

Hold on there a second Mr. Judgy McNotCrazyPants! I think we all know actual mercury isn't the same thing as energized protodermis; for one thing, mercury doesn't have the ability to break things down like energized protodermis does, and it certainly isn't involved in mutation of any kind. Except for when it IS.

 

Let me introduce you to a good friend I like to call "alchemy", which is formally defined as "the medieval forerunner of chemistry, based on the supposed transformation of matter" and informally defined as "old people pulling stuff out of their butts so they could make dat sweet sweet bling". Mercury is incredibly important in alchemy, and while I won't go into all the specifics for the sake of brevity, let me go over the ones important to this theory.

 

Regular old mercury in alchemy does a lot, and is considered a very fundamental part of the field, but it doesn't have a lot to do with breaking things down and/or transforming them. However, there is a unique type of mercury in alchemy called "Philosophical Mercury", which, as you can probably guess from the name, is an important part of creating the infamous Philosopher's Stone. We won't be talking about the stone itself here, but rather, what exactly Philosophical Mercury has to do with it.

 

In alchemy, Philosophical Mercury is essential to the process of transmutation, breaking objects down so they can be reconstituted into better materials. Energized protodermis either breaks down or mutates whatever falls into it. They two substances seem similar in function, sure, but not exactly the same if you're looking at them on the surface level. On the other hand, we're over-analyzing stuff right now, so let's go deeper.

 

You can't "mutate" metal. Inhabitants of the MU are mostly made of metal. In spite of this, those that get mutated by energized protodermis end up with the inorganic parts "mutated" along with their organic ones. Doesn't make a whole lot of sense, right? Well, what if their inorganic bodies weren't being mutated, but rather, transmuted by the alchemical effects of the Philosphical Mercury? This would explain why energized protodermis affected their inorganic bodies alongside their organic parts. As for energized protodermis's dissolving effect on those not destined to transform, you could argue that the transmutation process is stopped halfway through a la Scar from Fullmetal Alchemist; without being reconstituted, the material comprising their bodies is simply broken down, seeming to "dissolve" away.

 

Or it could just be that I'm digging way too deep into an off-hand descriptor from a children's book.

 

Yeah, that's probably it.

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"Whether that is right or not...I also...as a Rider...have a wish that I want to fulfill."

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This revelation is, at the very least, a neat bit of inspiration in terms of art direction. I think the presence of Energised Protodermis, or mercury in this case, in Mangaia serves as some contrast against the comparatively ruralistic* and tribal Matoran inhabitants of Mata Nui. Alas, the shrouded wizard's alchemy against the sticks and stones of the villagers. I always love some historical correlations and analogues.

 

* Yes, I know that ruralistic isn't a word. I just used it because it complimented the flow of my sentence.

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I'd defintely say this theory quite plausible. But i also think that it has something like this, when a character touches the energized protodermis the liquid instantly reads into the users pretermined fate by either

 

  • having the right dna type which confirms what fate has in store
     
  • scans for any type of internal activation code matching a destined beings (if there is a invalid match, it results in disaster since not matching code existed for a activation command to work.)
Edited by necross hordika

 

qs3135.jpg

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I think you're reading too much into a children's story. This isn't like Yu-Gi-Oh!, with rich complex themes about friendship and the fate of the heart of the cards or whatever, but this is a line of plastic toys. Nope. I'd rather put my faith in a line of colored reinforced paper that I feel obsessed to collect, because heart of the cards or something. Nope.

 

I don't think protodermis was meant to be alchemical. Perhaps parallels can be made, but just by how it's introduced in the story makes it seem like something else. I works more like it's the magical blood of Mata-Nui, but originally all protodermis (both energized and otherwise) was simply a natural resource on Spherus Magna, not a magically imbued mercury.

 

And since protodermis has at least two states of matter (solid and liquid) at regular temperature (how exactly is not explained), and quicksilver tends to have one state of matter at regular temperatures, the two can't possibly be of the same substance. I think Protodermis...is just protodermis. Otherwise these quasi-organic beings would be hesitant to hang around a toxic substance (not to mention: in MNOG the Onu-Koro miners describe the solid version of protodermis as and "organic" layer they cannot penetrate - implying that Protodermis is somehow either composed of organic compounds or is itself a living thing).

 

So perhaps in the mythical sense protodermis may function similarly to a fantastical version of mercury, in-story I think that it is something entirely different that only exists in their world.

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I think you're reading too much into a children's story. This isn't like Yu-Gi-Oh!, with rich complex themes about friendship and the fate of the heart of the cards or whatever, but this is a line of plastic toys. Nope. I'd rather put my faith in a line of colored reinforced paper that I feel obsessed to collect, because heart of the cards or something. Nope.

 

I don't think protodermis was meant to be alchemical. Perhaps parallels can be made, but just by how it's introduced in the story makes it seem like something else. I works more like it's the magical blood of Mata-Nui, but originally all protodermis (both energized and otherwise) was simply a natural resource on Spherus Magna, not a magically imbued mercury.

 

And since protodermis has at least two states of matter (solid and liquid) at regular temperature (how exactly is not explained), and quicksilver tends to have one state of matter at regular temperatures, the two can't possibly be of the same substance. I think Protodermis...is just protodermis. Otherwise these quasi-organic beings would be hesitant to hang around a toxic substance (not to mention: in MNOG the Onu-Koro miners describe the solid version of protodermis as and "organic" layer they cannot penetrate - implying that Protodermis is somehow either composed of organic compounds or is itself a living thing).

 

So perhaps in the mythical sense protodermis may function similarly to a fantastical version of mercury, in-story I think that it is something entirely different that only exists in their world.

That's because the end of the mine turned out to be the surface of the mata nui robot itself and they had breached the core of the camouflage island in that tunnel. Nobody knows what the outer shells were made of, it could some sort of prodomantium, what i mean by that, that it is the bionicle equivalent to vibranium/adamantium in MARVEL comics.

 

So far the strongest known metal is grade protosteel used for weapons used by the toa mahri, toa nuva, was used by the order of mata nui warriors

Here's a list of what can destroy it from Biosector, but i doubt if protosteel, but i doubt that it even huge plates of it are is strong enough to support the weigh for a spacefaring universe travelling robot inlcuding effect by gravity and vacuum and such. 

 
Protosteel is the hardest known form of metal in existence in the Matoran Universe, and is conductive to electricity. It is extremely hard to work with, and only several beings within the universe can deal with it, including the Nynrah Ghosts and Artakha.
Due to its durability, few known entities are capable of destroying or damaging Protosteel including:
  • Another Protosteel object
  • A type of armor-eating virus
  • Lehvak acid
  • Tren Krom's and the Shadowed One's disintegration eyebeams
  • Pridak's teeth (formerly)
  • The heavy doorway between Mangaia and Metru Nui's dome
  • Intense laser/heat beams
  • A Visorak Keelerak's Rhotuka Spinner
  • A Toa of Iron using his control over metal to destroy it

 

 

qs3135.jpg

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I think you're reading too much into a children's story. This isn't like Yu-Gi-Oh!, with rich complex themes about friendship and the fate of the heart of the cards or whatever, but this is a line of plastic toys. Nope. I'd rather put my faith in a line of colored reinforced paper that I feel obsessed to collect, because heart of the cards or something. Nope.

 

I don't think protodermis was meant to be alchemical. Perhaps parallels can be made, but just by how it's introduced in the story makes it seem like something else. I works more like it's the magical blood of Mata-Nui, but originally all protodermis (both energized and otherwise) was simply a natural resource on Spherus Magna, not a magically imbued mercury.

 

And since protodermis has at least two states of matter (solid and liquid) at regular temperature (how exactly is not explained), and quicksilver tends to have one state of matter at regular temperatures, the two can't possibly be of the same substance. I think Protodermis...is just protodermis. Otherwise these quasi-organic beings would be hesitant to hang around a toxic substance (not to mention: in MNOG the Onu-Koro miners describe the solid version of protodermis as and "organic" layer they cannot penetrate - implying that Protodermis is somehow either composed of organic compounds or is itself a living thing).

 

So perhaps in the mythical sense protodermis may function similarly to a fantastical version of mercury, in-story I think that it is something entirely different that only exists in their world.

I said I was reading too much into it like three times lol.

 

Anyways, Energized Protodermis =/= MU Protodermis. It's stated that MU Protodermis is a synthetic substance created by the Great Beings from Energized Protodermis. The only time we ever see Energized Protodermis take on a solid form is when it was frozen in space, which is not known for its room-temperature conditions.

"Whether that is right or not...I also...as a Rider...have a wish that I want to fulfill."

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