Well Greg Thanks alot.

[Takatu]

Oh man, something along those lines would've been so cool! I've always liked the idea that higher beings are not the benevolent creators that characters believed them to be. Still, I can see why Lego would be super skittish about such a development, especially in a toy line that has largely revolved around a fairly basic, "good vs. evil", kid-friendly kind of story. Might have been a little much for the intended audience.

 

I'm also skeptical of this actual reveal regarding the Great Beings not being a recent decision. The whole "regular folk that just developed to be incredibly intelligent" thing doesn't quite satisfy some of the things we had known about them. I mean, they weren't just creating super-advanced A.I. here, their creations had souls. Like, real spirits. Hence things like the astral projection mask Matoro had, or the very specific circumstances in which Makuta could possess Mata Nui's body. That stuff, to me, implies the Great Beings were more than just gifted scientists. They were creating actual life back in the day.

 

Ah well, we can only speculate on what could have been back then. I do enjoy that theory quite a bit, Zarkan, and I'll have to go dig up Faber's blog post that mentions it. Thanks for clarifying!

[Wiriamu]

Lol I don't think you'll get reprimanded for that, it just references the concept of religion in a fictional world. I don't think you need to worry.

Indeed-not to mention that it's a "religion" based on the misconceptions of Matoran universe characters regarding the Great Beings.

[CyclonatorZ]

Ah well, we can only speculate on what could have been back then. I do enjoy that theory quite a bit, Zarkan, and I'll have to go dig up Faber's blog post that mentions it.

Thanks! But I should warn you again before you try fruitlessly to find a specific post on Faber's blog that mentions this: there really isn't one. As I said in my previous post, it's more just a general feeling I've gotten from a lot of his writing, especially when he occasionally talks about real world issues. I think there's one post in particular where he shares a concern about religion causing conflict all over the world, and by and large I would guess his philosophy is that of secular humanism. Based on where he lives, and where Lego itself is located, I would gander that some of the other people working on Bionicle share that philosophy. How much of this, if any, was actually intended to be a part of the message and themes of Bionicle, we'll probably never know. But I do enjoy theorizing about it.

[Takatu]

Ah, I see. Well, I'll take a gander over there anyway, been a while since I checked out his blog, though I remember being interested in a lot of what he's said. I know that they certainly weren't against putting some real-world messages in the story before -- if I remember right, Makuta's "building/destroying" speech at the end of the MNOG reflected certain thoughts the team had regarding 9/11. I'd imagine it would be hard not to be affected by more recent developments in their area, to be sure.

 

But, although I'm sure your explanation post was fine within the rules, I feel like we may be starting to push that envelope a little now lol, so would probably be best to let it end here. Thanks for the info, though! I also love theorizing about this stuff, especially since the Great Beings were one of the last truly unsolved mysteries of the old story. As much as I enjoyed the story of Mata Nui stranded in a wasteland while his people suffered under a tyrant, I would have really loved to know what their initial plans were regarding the "Toa leave to find the Great Beings" arc they were considering.

[Toa of Ice - 1987]

Looks like GregF pulled a fast one on us when he came up with this decision, not a big deal for me (Because it reminds me of the Thirteen legendary primes from Transformers)  , 

He did make a lot of retcons regarding questions in the years after bionicle was over like he was just tired of it.
But this reveal is oddest of all.
I wonder if he is chuckling about this himself and secretly did this as a form of "payback" for the negative backlash he got when fans hated the Teridax name reveal many years back.

Edited August 17, 2017 by necross hordika

[MrSciFiGuy]

It's disappointing to me. 10+ years of thematic hype and mystery and it's some genius Glatorian? In my mind, they'll always been some unknown race, akin to Forerunners from Halo.

[CommanderKumo]

It's disappointing to me. 10+ years of thematic hype and mystery and it's some genius Glatorian? In my mind, they'll always been some unknown race, akin to Forerunners from Halo.

Good comparison between the forerunners, I have the exact same thoughts 

[Boidoh]

If the GBs were just super smart Glatorian, would the dead Glatorian found in the Core Processor of the GSR possibly be GBs? Food for thought.

[Ford]

If the GBs were just super smart Glatorian, would the dead Glatorian found in the Core Processor of the GSR possibly be GBs? Food for thought.

I thought the same, but BS01 states that they are actually Glatorian warrior class.

[bohrokmaster]

The Great Beings as super intelligent Glatorian or someone like the 13 legendary primes from transformers sounds really cool to me (That might give me an idea for another Bionicle Fan Fic). But it would, in a way, take away the mystery element of Bionicle.

 

Would you think that the "souls" in matoran universe beings would be made up as "wi-fi"? Like for example, when a matoran, a Toa, or a Turaga dies and goes to the Red Star, their mind and their spirit wouldn't be "shown" leaving their body but somehow transmitted itself to the RS (like casting your online videos to your television set using the Google chrome device), and telling the Kestora to build the new bodies for them soon after. That might seem like a possibility. Sorry if I'm off topic.

Edited September 3, 2017 by bohrokmaster

[Icarax16]

Yep.

[Azani]

I'm not to sure if anyone has posted this here or not but... Apparently Greg has revealed that the Great Beings are just super intelligent Glatorian.

 

Your opinions on this BZPower members?

The way that I'm justifying this is that any "super-intelligent Glatorian", which is, to my knowledge, not his original phrasing, can fall into a ton of different categories. They may be as far removed from Glatorian as we are from Chimpanzees on our world. I mean, just look at the Vorox.

 

Aside from the incalculable, indescribable disappointment that this came into the world as, I have to wonder if Greg's decision was influenced or borrowed from old story team discussions at all. In all honesty, he may not recall what the Glatorian were intended to be; I may very well have forgotten similar things that I discussed eight or more years ago. Though I clearly can't be certain as to whether or not the fellow was clinging to the remnants of official G1 storyline or not, I would be very surprised if this was, say, the idea back in late 2001, when the Great Beings were first mentioned at length in canon. It shouldn't have been a rushed concept, though it may have been a rushed delivery; after all, one would think that the characters would have been conceptualized back in 1999 or 2000.

 

But this reveal is oddest of all.

 

I wish.

 

Further...

 

Personally, I have a suspicion that this wasn't the original plan for the Great Beings...

Uh, this might sound nuts - a little scary, actually, but...

 

What if there wasn't one?

 

What if that wasn't supposed to every be discussed?

 

That, to me, would have been the greatest achievement of Generation One - the very implicit placement of real-world religion in the most sneaky way imaginable.

Edited September 12, 2017 by Azani

[NickonAquaMagna]

Woah, what? I'd always thought they were an alien race that settled down of Sphereus Magna and helped the native Glatorian advance from a previously caveman-like status.

[You just lost the game]

The mysticism of Bionicle is what originally drew me towards the story. The more Greg reveals, the more it has pushed me away.