Matoran Universe Map: problems and solutions

[Toa of Italy]

OK, this is an issue that has been widely debated for years. The structure and geography of the Matoran Universe was revealed to us over time. Sometime between 2004 and 2006 we learned that the universe was made up of a series of islands, all contained within underground domes connected by Sea Gates. In 2004, we learned of Metru Nui, then we started seeing other locations, often in flashbacks or short stories.

In 2007, BIONICLE World gave names and descriptions of some of these locations and also began illustrating how they lay in relation to one another. Then, in 2008, we finally received a map of the universe, which also revealed to us its true nature.

 

 

But the issue did not end here. The map has obvious problems. The two main ones, in my opinion, are:

• it does not show domes, which are left to our imagination
• its proportions are wrong (more on that below)

I would like this topic to be a place to discuss this issue (though it has already been discussed at length in the past). Point out any other problems, propose solutions, post your own maps.

 

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My map

 

From here on, I'll present my own modified map. I developed this map for my epic, End of a Universe, Birth of a Kingdom, but I've tried, to the best of my ability, to follow canon in designing it. Here it is; the justifications for my choices follow.

• White - dome wall
• Red - sea gate/waterway
• Orange - hidden/blocked sea gate/waterway
• Yellow - disguised dimensional gate (see below)

As you can see, the outline of the Great Spirit Robot is superimposed on the image (this is the original image of the robot). Now, we know the robot is about 12,200 km (I'm Italian, so I use metric system; 1 km is 3280 feet) tall. To be honest, I never understood just why Greg made up that particular figure: it was ridiculously large, to the point where it was impossible to accurately depict it in comics, books and movies (Glatorian and Agori pulling together pieces of a robot two thirds this size... to form a body slightly bigger than the village of Tesara? Come on!). Still, this is what we have to work with. If we accept that these are the robot's dimensions, then there are several landmasses inside which become way too big if we stick to the original map. It was thus necessary to resize them.

 

Some of the domes stick out of the robot's form; it was inevitable, since this is an approximate map. In addition, I did not take the robot's joints into consideration and thus may have positioned islands on knees, elbows and inside the robot's neck.

 

Metru Nui

 

According to BS01, the island of Metru Nui is 65,2 km long. I don't know where that figure came from, but it probably originated back in 2004, so I accepted it as accurate; it is also the right size for a metropolis, like Metru Nui is supposed to be (though with just 1000 inhabitants... I'll deal with that some other time).

Unfortunately, the head of the robot is more than 500 km long, if the proportions are correct. It is thus impossible for Metru Nui to occupy it all, like on the original map. I thus shrank it considerably. It is a small speck now, but it is closer to its "actual" length (to be honest, it's still a bit too large) of 65,2 km (which is quite a respectable size for a city, though far from unheard of).

 

The resize also allowed me to place Metru Nui at the center of the wide Silver Sea, like all the descriptions portray it (whereas there was little space for the Silver Sea on the original map). The island is contained within its own dome, as numerous sources state.

 

Sea gates

 

All the sources say that the sea gates leading to Metru Nui lie only to the south. Their number is less clear. To be honest, the books always seemed to imply the presence of several portals. But they never said so explicitly, so I decided to limit myself to four.

Something else that is not specified is how exactly these gates are structured. Are they mere openings between the wall of one dome and the next? I preferred to see them as tunnels, sometimes very short (when the walls of two domes touch) and sometimes hundreds of kilometers long. The width would be that of a navigable channel, so as to allow for heavy sea traffic.

 

The easternmost waterway, that winds west of Karzahni, leads to the eastern island chain. It is the one used by the Piraka in Legacy of Evil and by the Shadowed One and Sentrakh in Time Trap to get to Metru Nui. 

The straight waterway immediately to the east of Karzahni is the main southern sea gate mentioned in BIONICLE World when giving instructions on how to reach Xia.

The two western waterways are not mentioned in any source I can think of. I added them to increase the number of gates and because it seemed to me that several routes should exist between an important and large area such as the Northern Continent and Metru Nui; in addition, the westernmost waterway can also be used by travellers from the western isle chain.

 

Karzahni

Karzahni lies just south of Metru Nui, in its own dome. At one point, to the north, the land actually touches the dome wall. This is where the future Toa Inika and Takanuva pass on their way to Karzahni (before Takanuva is forced to turn back). The land where they emerge from the underwater chutes coming from Metru Nui is the peninsula jutting into the Metru Nui dome (too small to be depicted here); the tunnel that devours light is carved into the dome wall and connects the Metru Nui dome and the Karzahni dome (indicated as a hidden gate). Then there is a stretch of land flanked on either side by violent seas, the light-repelling archway and then the mountain road to the bowl-shaped canyon housing the realm of Karzahni proper.

 

After some consideration, I decided not to resize Karzahni (I merely tweaked its dimensions and position a bit to fit it into the outline of the robot). Although it takes Jaller and his team, on foot, no more than a day or two to reach the canyon, it might be that said canyon covers only a small portion of the land, whereas the rest would be taken up by barren mountains and plateaus, stretching out for hundreds of kilometers. This would also make Karzahni extremely difficult to reach but by using the mountain road, which is exactly what BIONICLE World says. That guide also says that in the past there was a sea route to Karzahni. This justifies the presence of a second gate to the south, though this must be hidden or blocked as well, since Karzahni has been completely isolated for millennia. In addition, BIONICLE World talks about the sea routes drying up; however, in Dark Destiny we see that the sea still occupies the Karzahni dome; it may be that the route in question passed from the sea into a navigable river that connected the canyon to the sea and that it was this river that dried up.

 

Northern Continent, Zakaz, Xia, Stelt

South of Metru Nui and Karzahni lie the Northern Continent, to the west, and the islands of Xia, Zakaz and Stelt to the east. Now, in BIONICLE World, it confirms that Zakaz lies south of Karzahni and it says that to reach Xia one has to sail through Metru Nui's main southern sea gate and then turn east, following the dome wall. This thus implies that there is one continuous dome wall stretching all the way to Xia and that, therefore, at least Zakaz and Xia are in the same dome. I placed Stelt inside it as well, so that the three islands could form a chain.

Eventually, I decided to let the islands share one huge dome with the Northern Continent; there was no real reason to do so, though, except that I thought that the Northern Continent should be connected to Metru Nui via its most important gate, the main southern sea gate, which we know it leads to the dome of Xia and Zakaz; it follows that the Northern Continent, Xia, Zakaz and Stelt are all in one dome.

 

I did not resize the Northern Continent (tweaked it a bit, maybe, but no more). I felt that, being a continent, it should be far larger than an island city like Metru Nui.

I also deliberated not to resize Zakaz and Stelt. We know that, before the Skakdi Civil War began, there were cities on Zakaz; for there to be a number of large urban centres, the island itself needed to be large, far larger than Metru Nui. In addition the island had to be big enough for its land to be parcelled into the territories of the various warlords. The same applies to Stelt, which is also a land dominated by war between various factions (though personally I believe the factions of Stelt are more similar to mafia organizations, or to drug cartels, than to armies warring out in the open).

 

On the contrary, resizing Xia and maintaining its proportions with Metru Nui seemed necessary. Xia is basically covered by a single (hungry) mountain entirely surrounded by a city of weapon factories. Now, a single mountain cannot, I think, be several hundred kilometers wide. In addition, it seemed strange for the city on Xia to be larger than Metru Nui, the city by excellence in the Matoran Universe; not to mention that the Xian city was destroyed by the Tahtorak and the Kanohi Dragon, Rahi that, although large, could not have caused such damage had the city been so big. Thus Xia has been shrunk and its proportions to Metru Nui are the same as those on the original, official map.

 

Eastern island chain (Nynrah, Visorak)

The western island chain is connected to the rest of the universe via three gates, one to Metru Nui, which I’ve already spoken about, and two to the central dome, one close to Xia (since we know the island is well connected to the rest of the universe) and one further south, to add another sea route and link the island chain better.

 

From the first dome, a long waterway reaches a second dome containing Nynrah, Visorak and another island. Since we’ve never seen Visorak and barely visited Nynrah in Destiny War, I saw no reason to resize these islands. I decided however to fit them within the same dome, which would have made it easier for Tobduk to seek refuge on Nynrah after his homeland (which was later renamed Visorak) was ravaged by the newly-created spiders. This dome is connected to the southern islands via a concealed dimensional gate (more on those later).

 

Odina

Odina must be treated separately from the other islands of the chain, since it was by far the most difficult to place on the map.

It is immediately obvious that Odina is the land that was most reduced in size on my map: not only did I shrink it proportionally to Metru Nui, but I then reduced its dimensions further, to make it smaller than the island-city. I then placed it in a small, lateral dome not connected to the main route to Nynrah, but simply linked by a hidden gate to the northernmost dome in the chain.

 

I’ve done this for a variety of reasons. For a start, we know Odina was a secret location far away from any trade routes. It is therefore evident that Odina had to be positioned in a lateral dome, without obstructing the route from Nynrah to the rest of the universe, which was, I think, a busy sea route indeed, given the renown of the Nynrah Ghosts and also given the presence of a large Brotherhood of Makuta force on the island (as we see in Destiny War). The gate to the dome also needed to be concealed in some way, to prevent discovery.

 

Now, the size. There were two reasons in my decision to shrink Odina so much. The first was the size of the fortress: dominating much of the southern side of the island (according to BIONICLE World, both text and images), the fortress was almost as big was Metru Nui. Of course, my hypothesis is that the actual building is at the center of the web-shaped complex: the lines surrounding it are something like natural ridges or valleys which have been equipped with walls, weapons and defensive systems to protect the central fortress; even so, though, the fortress seemed far too large. I therefore reduced its size and that of Odina itself until the dimensions of the fortress were comparable to those of Metru Nui’s Coliseum and smaller than those of Destral Fortress, given that, in my opinion, a power such as the Brotherhood of Makuta would be able to construct a far larger fortress than an organization of mercenaries and thieves, no matter how rich or powerful.

The second reason is that, when Odina is depicted in the storyline, it is implied that characters move across it in a matter of hours. Of course, it is possible that they use vehicles or something like that, but, still, it seems hard to believe that the island is hundreds of kilometers long, like it seems to be when measured on the original map and compared to the size of the robot as a whole.

 

Artakha and western island chain

To the west of the central, northern dome, two long waterways, which eventually merge into one, lead to the western island chain. Along the way, they bypass the dome of the island of Artakha, which is linked to them only via a hidden waterway (which was needed, since the forces of the Brotherhood that raided Artakha came from the sea).

 

Given that Artakha’s location was a secret, it needed, like Odina, to be housed in a separate dome, not to be crossed by vessels on the way to and from the islands of the western chain.

The size of Artakha is a bit more problematic. Artakha does need to be a bit large, since, in Downfall, it takes the Toa Nuva three days to reach the fortress from the beach where they arrive at the end of the Toa Nuva Blog.

However, it could not be the size that was shown on the map, to begin with because it would have been very hard to keep it secret, but most of all because, according to BIONICLE World, it was once linked to a larger land mass, which was then destroyed after the Brotherhood’s raid on Artakha. Now, if we base ourselves on the original map, we conclude that a land larger than Artakha would be at least the size of the Northern Continent. How could you keep such a location, and its destruction, secret?

 

I thus reduced Artakha to about the size of Zakaz, which still makes it large enough to house multiple settlements and to require some days to cross it. The unnamed landmass to which it was once linked would have been located to the south of its elongated dome and, since it is implied that it was once Artakha’s access point, I placed a second hidden gate (perhaps on land, like the access point to Karzahni) there.

 

To the south of Artakha lies an island chain about which we know little; the domes are thus placed without any particular criterion and the islands have not been resized, since there was no reason to. The only exception is Tren Krom’s Island; when we see it in Federation of Fear, it is described as “little more than a piece of barren rock”. I thus reduced its size, keeping the same proportions with Metru Nui as on the original map. I then placed it far away from the nearest land, since it is an almost unknown location, seldom visited by anyone.

The dome of Tren Krom’s island is connected to the Southern Continent via a concealed dimensional gate.

 

Concealed dimensional gates

This is a theory I’ve had for ages, though I never managed to get it canonized (and have no wish to try again now, given that recent canonizations have, in my opinion, discredited the process as a whole). In Federation of Fear, it is stated that the weapons of Brutaka’s team were originally to be placed by Botar and Trinuma on an island just off the mainland, i.e. the Southern Continent. But an attack by Makuta Icarax killed Botar and Trinuma was forced to flee, hiding the weapons “at the first place he came to”. This island turns out, coincidentially, to be Tren Krom’s Island.

 

Now, how could Tren Krom’s Island, located at the far end of the robot’s arm, be the first place an Order agent operating near the Southern Continent, in the robot’s lower torso? My idea, which I must have proposed at least half a dozen times, is that there was a connection between the two, which however could not be a solid waterway, since we’ve seen the arm of the robot separate from its torso. The solution is a dimensional gate of sorts, which would be concealed somehow, so as to appear as an ordinary sea gate. To a traveler crossing it, it would appear as a short, ordinary archway linking two domes, but they would actually be traveling hundreds of kilometers between the torso and the arm; and a passage of this kind could remain open even if the robot moved its arm.

 

Since there is a gate to the west, symmetry requires a gate in the east. In this case, I decided to use the dimensional gate to link the Nynrah dome to the island north of Keetongu’s homeland, which houses the Energized Protodermis source that Helryx and Keetongu visit in Destiny War. This justifies (or at least makes slightly more likely) the statement that Helryx’s and Keetongu’s journey from Nynrah to that island was a short one.

 

Southern Continent

The Southern Continent is located just south of the main northern dome. Its dome, which it shares with no other island, is linked to the northern one by six sea gates, again to facilitate travel, and features sea gates to the south as well, providing a connection to the Southern Islands, and a dimensional gate to the west.

 

The Southern Continent has not been resized, merely tweaked, since, like the Northern Continent, it should be large to deserve its name. However, this choice came at a price: it is in open contrast with the fact that the robot’s lower torso is actually composed of three large tubes, whereas the Southern Continent is a single landmass, too big to be housed in any of the tubes. I cannot find a way around this. I refuse to reduce the Southern Continent to let it fit above or below the tubes, for it would become ridiculously small at that point and would require a significant rearrangement of the surrounding lands. Instead, I’ve decided to consider the three tubes mere artistic license; after all, though we see them in nearly every image of the robot, they are never described explicitly in the storyline and their presence is not relevant in any way (to be honest, I wonder what the reason for their presence is; how come Greg and his team first produce this map, and then design a robot that, with its three tubes, is in open contrast with the same map? It doesn’t make much sense…).

 

There is one location on the Southern Continent which required resizing, though: Voya Nui. If we stuck to the original map, the dimensions of the island would be in the thousand-kilometer range and Voya Nui would constitute an immense portion of the Southern Continent: its separation from the mainland would be thus catastrophic, far more, I think, than Voya Nui’s was, at least for the rest of the continent (it was undoubtedly catastrophic enough for its inhabitants).

Since, in the storyline, it takes mere hours to travel around Voya Nui, I decided to reduce its size and keep it proportional with Metru Nui. I then fitted it at the center of the continent, not far from the Tren Krom River.

 

Destral and Daxia

I’m discussing the bases of the Order of Mata Nu and of the Brotherhood of Makuta together, though in fact they could not be more different.

 

Destral is a moving island and thus, while depicted near the Southern Continent (where it was positioned following the discovery of Karda Nui’s entrance), can actually move and does not require a dome. Destral has been described as “little more than a jagged rock in the silver sea” and is almost entirely covered by the Brotherhood fortress. Both these facts argue against it being hundreds of kilometers long, as it appears on the original map. I thus reduced its size, while maintaining the same proportions to Metru Nui. I would point out that, although smaller, the island still has a fortress dozens of kilometers wide, impossibly big by our standards; but it does seem fitting for the Brotherhood to have a fortress this large, so Destral’s dimensions remain about a third of Metru Nui’s.

 

I was seriously undecided on whether to resize Daxia. Its secrecy requires that it have a dome of its own, but it is difficult to construct or imagine if the size and position of the island are left unchanged. Ultimately, though, I decided on this course, the reason being that, in Swamp of Secrets, we see that Daxia has a large variety of landscapes and ecosystems, too large for an island a few dozen kilometers long (this argument is not very solid, since in the Matoran Universe ecosystems often have sharp borders, which sometimes separate regions with completely different climates). Of course, this means Daxia Fortress is a bit too big, nearly the size of Metru Nui (on my map), but I decided to dismiss this as artistic licence.

 

Southern Islands

Given that we know so little about the Southern Islands, the domes are mostly placed around at random, with sea gates connecting them to allow travel all the way to the feet of the robot. The lack of information also made me decide against resizing any of the islands, since there was no real reason to. Of course, this means that the southernmost isles (which have their own domes) are enormous, comparable to the continents. However, there is nothing in the storyline that conflicts with this, so I decided to leave them as they were, merely tweaking the eastern one to make it fit into the robot’s outline.

 

And this is my theory, feel free to comment upon it. But once again, I wish to emphasize that this topic should not be merely on my theory, but is meant to be a space where the issue of the Matoran Universe map is discussed in general

Edited September 25, 2019 by Toa of Italy

[ToaTImeLord]

To my knowledge the domes were the interior spaces within the Matoran Universe.

The joints of the robot were the sea/water gates and the limbs were domes.

 

The physical islands were shells for the Matoran to escape to if the Matoran Universe became broken.

The islands could extend past the dome because the islands were ment to cover parts of the robot above the water's surface and the surrounding area.

 

Just look at Voya Nui the whole island was supported by a thin structure.

Edited May 12, 2017 by Toa TimeLord

[Toa Imrukii]

Let me just say that as of the time of writing this have yet to read anything, but it would seem to me that we have a bit of a predicament in terms of borders and just where everything is. So I have come up with a map of my own that may help with that.

Edited May 28, 2017 by Toa Imrukii

[SPIRIT]

Since Voya Nui is above Karda Nui, which is supposed to be the Robot's heart, shouldn't it be further north?  Right now you've got it down in the "navel" region, when I think it should be more in the chest cavity region.  Also if you watch The Legend Reborn, the Mask of Life is fired out from the Robot's chest, suggesting that this is the location of Karda/Voya/Mahri Nui.

 

It does require a bit of squishing on your map to make both continents fit, though.

 

My personal theory is that when Greg first introduced the "southern continent" he only meant it to be "southern" in relation to Metru Nui,  Then as time went on and they just never developed a name for it, he had to introduce the "northern continent" for the name to make any sense. (If anyone can disprove this, I'd be interested to hear it.)

[Toa Imrukii]

Since Voya Nui is above Karda Nui, which is supposed to be the Robot's heart, shouldn't it be further north?  Right now you've got it down in the "navel" region, when I think it should be more in the chest cavity region.  Also if you watch The Legend Reborn, the Mask of Life is fired out from the Robot's chest, suggesting that this is the location of Karda/Voya/Mahri Nui.

 

It does require a bit of squishing on your map to make both continents fit, though.

 

My personal theory is that when Greg first introduced the "southern continent" he only meant it to be "southern" in relation to Metru Nui,  Then as time went on and they just never developed a name for it, he had to introduce the "northern continent" for the name to make any sense. (If anyone can disprove this, I'd be interested to hear it.)

 

I mean if you look at the drawn map I provided you can see that I managed to do just that, squeeze it in. That was my major gripe, how exactly would the continent fit when there are two massive pistons and a central more-so flexible spine in the way? How would it fit there?

 

 

EDIT: Okay, so I have measured the length of the Mata Nui Robot, from just south of Macapa Brazil out into the middle of the Ocean between the Arabian Sea and the Indian Ocean:

 

Edited May 12, 2017 by Toa Imrukii

[The 1st Shadow]

Most of the problems you noted can be summed up as this, as Greg once told us:

Greg Farshety sucks at drawing.

 

When asked about the odd proportions of the map, he told us that he'd given the book artists a rough sketch of the entire thing, with a few names and descriptions thrown in. They later finalized the map according to what he gave them, but it didn't turn out how he nor anyone else really expected it to.

 

So, the answer is that the map we got is not accurate. That's why it doesn't make sense. The map is wrong. It's been redrawn by many people over the years, like you've done here, fixing the issue. That said, easiest thing to do is pretend that map doesn't exist and just refer to the fan-drawn, more accurate ones.

 

Because, honestly, if Voya Nui was really that big, the entire MU would have filled up with water in two days.

[Toa Imrukii]

Most of the problems you noted can be summed up as this, as Greg once told us:

 

Greg Farshety sucks at drawing.

 

When asked about the odd proportions of the map, he told us that he'd given the book artists a rough sketch of the entire thing, with a few names and descriptions thrown in. They later finalized the map according to what he gave them, but it didn't turn out how he nor anyone else really expected it to.

 

So, the answer is that the map we got is not accurate. That's why it doesn't make sense. The map is wrong. It's been redrawn by many people over the years, like you've done here, fixing the issue. That said, easiest thing to do is pretend that map doesn't exist and just refer to the fan-drawn, more accurate ones.

 

Because, honestly, if Voya Nui was really that big, the entire MU would have filled up with water in two days.

 

How big exactly is Voya Nui? If the Matoran Universe is 7580.75 miles long, than how big is Voya Nui?

[ToaTImeLord]

Quick note the Matoran Universe's head is based off the size of Denmark.

[The 1st Shadow]

 

Most of the problems you noted can be summed up as this, as Greg once told us:

 

Greg Farshety sucks at drawing.

 

When asked about the odd proportions of the map, he told us that he'd given the book artists a rough sketch of the entire thing, with a few names and descriptions thrown in. They later finalized the map according to what he gave them, but it didn't turn out how he nor anyone else really expected it to.

 

So, the answer is that the map we got is not accurate. That's why it doesn't make sense. The map is wrong. It's been redrawn by many people over the years, like you've done here, fixing the issue. That said, easiest thing to do is pretend that map doesn't exist and just refer to the fan-drawn, more accurate ones.

 

Because, honestly, if Voya Nui was really that big, the entire MU would have filled up with water in two days.

 

How big exactly is Voya Nui? If the Matoran Universe is 7580.75 miles long, than how big is Voya Nui?

 

From what we know, really tiny. A lot smaller than Metru Nui The depiction in the MU map makes it look bigger than the northern continent. With that in mind, and Greg's response to this very question, my answer is: Just ignore the inaccuracies with the map because it's probably all wrong, anyway. 

[Toatapio Nuva]

I personally use this map of the MU. It's the most accurate/plausible map I have encountered so far. The Southern Continent and Karda Nui being underneath is probably the most problematic aspect, since it makes absolutely no sense, and wasn't even planned that way originally. My guess is that Greg's the one to come up with that particular aspect, but I have no proof of this.

 

If Karda Nui didn't have to be underneath the Southern Continent, it would solve the most glaring problem with the MU map.

 

As for the size of the MU, that was also originally planned differently. Mainly, it was planned to be significantly smaller. It's definitely that way in my headcanon, cause it makes much more sense. Even with that size, however, the prototype robot on Bara Magna would be impossible for the Agori to assemble, given that the pieces would still be the size of entire countries.

Edited May 13, 2017 by Toatapio Nuva

[ToaTImeLord]

In my head cannon I convert the feet to inches and you have a robot 1/12 the size.

Still gigantic but more realistic.

[Toa of Italy]

I personally use this map of the MU. It's the most accurate/plausible map I have encountered so far. The Southern Continent and Karda Nui being underneath is probably the most problematic aspect, since it makes absolutely no sense, and wasn't even planned that way originally. My guess is that Greg's the one to come up with that particular aspect, but I have no proof of this.

 

If Karda Nui didn't have to be underneath the Southern Continent, it would solve the most glaring problem with the MU map.

 

As for the size of the MU, that was also originally planned differently. Mainly, it was planned to be significantly smaller. It's definitely that way in my headcanon, cause it makes much more sense. Even with that size, however, the prototype robot on Bara Magna would be impossible for the Agori to assemble, given that the pieces would still be the size of entire countries.

 

I'm sure I've seen that map before as well, but I had completely forgotten about it. You're right, it's quite good. Still, it doesn't solve several problems I highlighted in the first post, namely the size of Xia, Odina and Destral (I think they're too big compared to Metru Nui) and the position of Artakha, Odina, Daxia, Karzahni (which is situated in the middle of the main Metru Nui sea gate, which doesn't seem likely at all) and Tren Krom's island. It does do a better job than mine at positioning the continents, though at the cost of considerably shrinking them.

 

 

Since Voya Nui is above Karda Nui, which is supposed to be the Robot's heart, shouldn't it be further north?  Right now you've got it down in the "navel" region, when I think it should be more in the chest cavity region.  Also if you watch The Legend Reborn, the Mask of Life is fired out from the Robot's chest, suggesting that this is the location of Karda/Voya/Mahri Nui.

 

It does require a bit of squishing on your map to make both continents fit, though.

 

It does, that's exactly the problem. Since I did away with the three tubes, I suppose I could also dismiss the Ignika shooting out of the chest as artistic license; or I could imagine a conduit connecting Karda Nui to that spot. For instance, the robot's power source could be fitted in the heart, but the reactor, so to speak, could be further south and connected to the heart via a conduit through which the Ignika was then ejected.

 

It does seem a bit like clutching at straws, but the alternative, which is to shrink the continents, would make the northern one the size of Mata Nui island; too small, in my opinion. I sacrificed the tubes and the location of Karda Nui in the heart of the robot mainly because neither had any storyline influence at all and so it seemed harmless to dismiss them.

[Toatapio Nuva]

I'm sure I've seen that map before as well, but I had completely forgotten about it. You're right, it's quite good. Still, it doesn't solve several problems I highlighted in the first post, namely the size of Xia, Odina and Destral (I think they're too big compared to Metru Nui) and the position of Artakha, Odina, Daxia, Karzahni (which is situated in the middle of the main Metru Nui sea gate, which doesn't seem likely at all) and Tren Krom's island. It does do a better job than mine at positioning the continents, though at the cost of considerably shrinking them.

 

I agree with you on the sizes, but I don't see how any of the positions are problematic (aside from Karda Nui being underneath the Southern Continent, obviously). With Karzahni, for example, why couldn't it be where it is depicted? That part of the robot is quite large, and the gates themselves may only be at each end of the large tunnel.

Edited May 23, 2017 by Toatapio Nuva

[Toa of Italy]

 

I'm sure I've seen that map before as well, but I had completely forgotten about it. You're right, it's quite good. Still, it doesn't solve several problems I highlighted in the first post, namely the size of Xia, Odina and Destral (I think they're too big compared to Metru Nui) and the position of Artakha, Odina, Daxia, Karzahni (which is situated in the middle of the main Metru Nui sea gate, which doesn't seem likely at all) and Tren Krom's island. It does do a better job than mine at positioning the continents, though at the cost of considerably shrinking them.

 

I agree with you on the sizes, but I don't see how any of the positions are problematic (aside from Karda Nui being underneath the Southern Continent, obviously). With Karzahni, for example, why couldn't it be where it is depicted? That part of the robot is quite large, and the gates themselves may only be at each end of the large tunnel.

 

 

It's basically because they're hidden islands. Thus they can't stand in the very center of a dome that must be sailed through to get to other islands, because if they did, then everyone sailing to those islands would know of their existence. And remember, the Brotherhood was actively seeking out both Artakha and Odina; Daxia is another story, but I still don't see how it could just be off the coast of the Southern Continent without anyone finding it. In other words, I think it is indispensable for Artakha, Odina and Daxia to have their own dome, which must be isolated from the rest of the universe, not open for passage.

 

Karzahni also has remained isolated for hundreds of thousands of years. While in that case the landscape might be a factor (the realm is contained within a canyon, which might be hard to reach without following the route the future Toa Inika took), it seems odd that a land that has been virtually forgotten, except in legends, should be situated at the center of the main tunnel leading away from Metru Nui, which must inevitably be a major trade route, given the importance of the City of Legends.

[Wiriamu]

 

 

I'm sure I've seen that map before as well, but I had completely forgotten about it. You're right, it's quite good. Still, it doesn't solve several problems I highlighted in the first post, namely the size of Xia, Odina and Destral (I think they're too big compared to Metru Nui) and the position of Artakha, Odina, Daxia, Karzahni (which is situated in the middle of the main Metru Nui sea gate, which doesn't seem likely at all) and Tren Krom's island. It does do a better job than mine at positioning the continents, though at the cost of considerably shrinking them.

 

I agree with you on the sizes, but I don't see how any of the positions are problematic (aside from Karda Nui being underneath the Southern Continent, obviously). With Karzahni, for example, why couldn't it be where it is depicted? That part of the robot is quite large, and the gates themselves may only be at each end of the large tunnel.

 

 

It's basically because they're hidden islands. Thus they can't stand in the very center of a dome that must be sailed through to get to other islands, because if they did, then everyone sailing to those islands would know of their existence. And remember, the Brotherhood was actively seeking out both Artakha and Odina; Daxia is another story, but I still don't see how it could just be off the coast of the Southern Continent without anyone finding it. In other words, I think it is indispensable for Artakha, Odina and Daxia to have their own dome, which must be isolated from the rest of the universe, not open for passage.

 

Karzahni also has remained isolated for hundreds of thousands of years. While in that case the landscape might be a factor (the realm is contained within a canyon, which might be hard to reach without following the route the future Toa Inika took), it seems odd that a land that has been virtually forgotten, except in legends, should be situated at the center of the main tunnel leading away from Metru Nui, which must inevitably be a major trade route, given the importance of the City of Legends.

 

I've honestly half wondered if any attempts to locate Artakha were thwarted by security measures left behind by Kojol and created by Artakha since the invasion; it wouldn't be too surprising if similar defenses existed for Odina and Daxia. With regards to Karzahni, I think most of the legends surrounding it are probably Matoran based and probably either come from Metru Nui-who never had a need to send anyone there-or various regions that had no contact with it. The quest of the future Inika made it seem like the overland route was the only way of reaching it, but it's notable that other parties-such as Naho and later the Dark Hunters-were apparently able to bypass Karzahni with little to no difficulty.

[Toatapio Nuva]

 

It's basically because they're hidden islands. Thus they can't stand in the very center of a dome that must be sailed through to get to other islands, because if they did, then everyone sailing to those islands would know of their existence. And remember, the Brotherhood was actively seeking out both Artakha and Odina; Daxia is another story, but I still don't see how it could just be off the coast of the Southern Continent without anyone finding it. In other words, I think it is indispensable for Artakha, Odina and Daxia to have their own dome, which must be isolated from the rest of the universe, not open for passage.

 

Karzahni also has remained isolated for hundreds of thousands of years. While in that case the landscape might be a factor (the realm is contained within a canyon, which might be hard to reach without following the route the future Toa Inika took), it seems odd that a land that has been virtually forgotten, except in legends, should be situated at the center of the main tunnel leading away from Metru Nui, which must inevitably be a major trade route, given the importance of the City of Legends.

 

 

I've honestly half wondered if any attempts to locate Artakha were thwarted by security measures left behind by Kojol and created by Artakha since the invasion; it wouldn't be too surprising if similar defenses existed for Odina and Daxia. With regards to Karzahni, I think most of the legends surrounding it are probably Matoran based and probably either come from Metru Nui-who never had a need to send anyone there-or various regions that had no contact with it. The quest of the future Inika made it seem like the overland route was the only way of reaching it, but it's notable that other parties-such as Naho and later the Dark Hunters-were apparently able to bypass Karzahni with little to no difficulty.

 

With regards to Artakha, do we know if any of the other islands in that "arm" were actually commonly visited? The only location we know of there is Tren Krom's island, which was also a well-hidden place, so I don't think Artakha would need to be in a different spot than it already is. Furthermore, I imagine it wouldn't necessarily be that difficult to cloak the island with the superior technology they have there, and boats going further into the arm would just pass by Artakha.

 

I would apply the same reasoning to Odina, since the other islands in that chain are also not that well-known. The only problem with this would be Nynrah, which was commonly visited by the Makuta, so if they were also trying to find Odina, it wouldn't make sense to know of Nynrah but not that island. This depends on the level of contact with Nynrah though.

 

With Daxia you are probably right, and it would make sense for it to have its own dome, since the central dome is so enormous anyway. Plus, the Southern Continent was very central and probably widely populated, meaning that it would be a bad idea to build a top secret base right next to it.

 

With Karzahni, I always imagined that only the two sea gates on either side of the "neck" were used, and that the central one was deemed too dangerous for travel. That would allow Karzahni to stay hidden, though it does create the problem of there being only two sea gates. Then again, nowhere in the story is it specified how many there have to be, so two of them may already be enough. All we know is that there are supposed to be more than one.

[Takatu]

 

With Karzahni, I always imagined that only the two sea gates on either side of the "neck" were used, and that the central one was deemed too dangerous for travel. That would allow Karzahni to stay hidden, though it does create the problem of there being only two sea gates. Then again, nowhere in the story is it specified how many there have to be, so two of them may already be enough. All we know is that there are supposed to be more than one.

 

This makes sense to me. The problem I always had with Karzahni's placement was that, as of the Voya Nui storyline, Karzahni himself didn't have the slightest idea what was going on outside of his realm for the entire time the Matoran universe existed. He didn't know who the Makuta were, what Metru Nui was, etc. until Jaller and his group told him. I don't see how that's possible when his realm is smack in the middle of the (seemingly) only passage to and from the biggest trade hub in the universe. But Toatapio's explanation above could make sense.