I thought it might be interesting to note that a lot of important plot twists through my series probably didn't exist until the chapter they occurred. I'm very curious to see how you guys (my, like, 3 readers =P) would've liked the series if it had gone the way I originally planned. I'll do this in the form of an outline...

The Tables Have Turned

*Book 1 stayed true to the original plans, for the most part. The betrayal of Xironu and the deaths of Onathei and Desurk were planned for at the very beginning.

*Auserv's appearance in Book 1 was completely done on a whim. Originally, Auserv was not supposed to have any part in this series at all. But he found his way in and ended up becoming a main character--completely by accident.

*Desurk's revival wasn't the original plan; Desurk was going to stay dead, but then as I wrote Chapter 15, I started feeling bad for Xironu and decided to have Desurk come back and use this to set up the story of Book 2.

*What there was of Auserv's backstory in Book 1 was made up as I went along. Interestingly, the events he describes become key to the entire series, and are continually referenced throughout the rest of the series.

To Be A Hero

*Barnoka's death was at my brother's own suggestion, because I was at a loss as to how to get Dyteeli back to normal. My brother suggested a sacrifice, and went on to suggest Qedono, because he hates the name. (Speaking of which, Qedono was originally going to be Krandorn's name, but my brother hated the name so much that I changed it to Krandorn. Eventually, I created a character with that name anyway, but Qedono--and Lenurin and Tyaseri--were not originally planned for.) I decided that it would be better for Barnoka to do the sacrifice. Also, the way Barnoka managed to hang around until the second-to-last chapter (by his energy remaining alive but divided among the Dairuno Stones) was not planned for. Originally Barnoka was gone for good.

*The scenes of Book 2 that checked up on Ayomeii were not planned for, but I had already decided on Sihnozu, Tekarou, and Geoku being the main villains of Book 3 and wanted to introduce them early.

*The character of Dairuno was never supposed to appear more than in the power plant (and the legend later in the story that explained him).

*Originally, after Zirralo smashed Grunekt's mask, he was supposed to go into a coma and stay that way for the remainder of the book (until the chapter right before the Dairuno Stones of Black and White). I decided against it because it got too confusing and I noticed that even though Grunekt was supposedly in a coma, he managed to somehow wind up with some speaking lines anyway XD There are still references to a "Dairuno Stone of Awakening", probably, that was originally used to awaken Grunekt.

*Roqini's death and Auserv's drifting away from the island were made up pretty early in the writing of the story. Roqini getting sacrificed into the Dairuno Stones, and Auserv washing up on Rode Nui, however, were not part of the original plan... Both of them were originally going to be out of the series from then on. (I apparently have a lot of trouble killing off my favorite characters, lol.)

*Guutana's depression was made-up on the spot, and worked quite well to lead into Book 3.

In The Dying Breath

*Mehikir and Hibuthil and Nejodis were originally not supposed to have as big roles in the story as they did. Mehikir was supposed to only appear in that one scene, but I grew to like him and I invented the characters of Hibuthil and Nejodis to go with him.

*The Negative Toa were not in the original plans for the story and were made up at the last second because I realized that 3 villains against almost 30 Toa was ridiculous, and decided to even it out a little bit.

*Auserv was never actually supposed to be revealed (as you can see, I have problems with this character finding a way into every book against my will =P). There were supposed to be hints that Auserv was on Ayomeii, but he wasn't really supposed to appear in my original plans. Tahkeh originally wasn't going to become a Toa on Ayomeii either.

*Koenori was made up no sooner than the day I posted that chapter, but he's going to end up being a key player in the series.

*Perhaps the biggest change in the course of the series: At the end of the book, Qedono, Lenurin, and Tuitru were all going to die. Qedono and Lenurin would be killed in the way that Guutana ended up dying (crushed by rubble in evacuating the Matoran from the island), and Tuitru was going to die in a final duel with Sihnozu in which they would both kill each other at the same moment. Tyaseri went to Tolliwam and became the Toa there, while Zirralo became the lone Toa of Dyteeli.

*The Dying Breath was made up shortly after I began posting Book 3. It was a random idea I'd had that wasn't originally related to Bionicle, but I got obsessed with the idea and shoved it into the story. It fits pretty well, doesn't it?

Beyond

*Had it not been for the Dying Breath idea, the series would've ended after the flashback trilogy. I might have later done a supplementary epic to talk about the very early history of the Ayomeii dome that would have explained all the mysteries of the series, but the third, fourth, and fifth trilogies all hinge on the existence of the Dying Breath.

*There was a planned short story in which the Toa-Kal's death was gone into detail about. Dark Hunters invaded and killed the five Turaga of Tolliwam, and Tyaseri sacrificed them all into the Dairuno Stones, which were later stolen by the Dark Hunters. Somehow, none of them are overwritten, so all the Toa-Kal spend the rest of eternity stuck together in the Dairuno Stones, which sat in a sack among the Shadowed One's treasures. This story, which I began writing shortly before the Dying Breath was invented, referenced Qedono and Lenurin's death. Looking over it the other day, it inspired me to make this entry.

You know, I'm thinking that for a chapter in Book 7, I'll make a divergent universe where things turned out the way they originally would have... That would certainly be interesting to write.