There's no use denying it: things look really, really bad for the inhabitants of the Matoran Universe. For all intents and purposes, Makuta Teridax's Matrix of Control is complete and inescapable. To sum up:

1. He has finally succeeded in supplanting Mata Nui's consciousness within the planetary-scale humanoid robot body that comprises nearly everything the Matoran have ever known as their world. As a result of this, he can control all natural phenomena. Also, more importantly, it is the ultimate blackmail: he obviously cannot be destroyed without also destroying the home of all the races inside him.
2. He commands innumerable hordes of obedient, heartless minions that have already overcome all major centers of resistance through brute force.
3. He can listen in on the thoughts of anyone, anytime, anywhere.
4. He is prepared to kill, imprison, torture, mind-control, or otherwise neutralize anyone whom he perceives as a possible threat, who has power and has not submitted to his rule.

All is not lost, however. There is hope.

As any perceptive theologian, philosopher, psychologist, metaphysicist, or reader of fantasy will tell you, "Evil always contains the seeds of its own destruction."

Let us back up for a minute here, and ask the question: What is evil?

First of all, it's a choice. A result of free will. Some will choose to follow that path, and it is up to them to decide whether to keep pursuing it or to turn back. Rest assured, they are faced with plenty of opportunities to see the light, and they are fully responsible for the negative consequences of their own choices.

From the point of view of pure good, evil is unnatural and insane. It is selfish, manipulative, parasitic, and destructive. As I see it, it is the source of imbalance in a cosmos that is ultimately in balance, therefore it must forever go against the greater overall flow of creation.

Evil knows nothing of creativity, except insofar as it aspires toward ever more sophisticated schemes for domination, manipulation, corruption, and diminishment of others in order to sustain itself. Therefore, it sees all truly creative impulses as frivolity, madness, or a threat to the established system.

Evil tends toward a rigid, top-down hierarchy. Slaves at the bottom, then minions, then elites, and then the master controllers at the top. Each level dominates the ones below it through fear, lies, and superior capabilities. One might be tempted to think that the way to destroy this hierarchy would be to strike at the eye of the pyramid. This is false. Yes, one might succeed in taking out the master controllers. One might even, though this is really a stretch, succeed in not merely taking their place in the power structure, or at least in remaining uncorrupted. Sound tempting? Tell you what: it'd never go down that way. Pure wishful thinking. So you've destabilized the structure. So what? It's still there. It'll stabilize again, bigger and nastier than before. All you've done is to feed into it. Why?

Because in the very act of striking out at what you perceive as evil, you have fallen victim to the great illusion: that evil is something external to yourself. It is the illusion of separation that allows us to think we can hurt someone else without hurting ourselves in the process.

By the same token: to help yourself, help others. See in them the spark of the same source that lives in you, and you cannot fail to love them.

This is the essence of good.

So what to do about evil? Should the Matoran all get together and concentrate on sending Makuta a big, white beam of love? Would that help him see the error of his ways, and overcome the darkness in his heart?

I'm afraid it doesn't work that way. Remember, Makuta chose his path. A path without genuine love. He cannot afford to give it or receive it. It would undermine everything he has worked for. He has built up a veritable fortress of psychological defenses against love. He would simply choose not to accept it. Worse, if any of that love being bombed at him were of a naïve, emotional quality, he would certainly turn it to his advantage.

No, all the Matoran can actually effectively do against Makuta (if they are to be aligned with good) is to become more aware of the kinds of attacks he is capable of, and to develop their ability to counter them. Of vital importance is staying out of fear. They must remember that, while Makuta controls many things, he does not control them. Why should they waste precious time and energy on fear when they have so much to live for?

The Matoran must realize that Makuta needs them. He needs them to give up the struggle and submit to him of their own free will. To that end, he will bring all manner of pressure to bear upon them -- but not destroy them outright. Barring unforeseen factors, as long as the Matoran resist, the situation is a stalemate. Fortunately for them, the universe is a very unpredictable place. Sooner or later, something will upset the balance. Odds are good that it will be in their favour, not Makuta's. All they have to do is hold on and keep the faith.

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This has been a rather incomplete analysis, but I am in need of sleep, and to delve much deeper would likely put this entry into "dangerous" territory. Make of it what you will. (I don't feel this would work very well as a Storyline & Theories topic, so it's staying here, on the blogosphere side.)

Good night.