Bionicle Guru

In a perfect world, yes, it is ideal to finish what was started. I was definitely a fan of seeing "Samurai Jack" (something that came out the same year as BIONICLE first did!) finished twelve years after the last episode aired. "Samurai Jack" was Genndy Tartakovsky's baby and he finished the way he wanted it to, and you could tell. I can't speak to the "Hey Arnold" or Ninjago TV series, but there is a similarity here between them and "Samurai Jack" that BIONICLE sorely lacks: they are all television shows (one made to develop and help sell a LEGO theme), and BIONICLE is not. Heck, BIONICLE isn't even the creation of one single person. Granted, by the end of 2009, it was pretty much Greg Farshtey's story to tell, so I can understand why, by 2011, people were counting on him to "finish" BIONICLE. But at that point, BIONICLE wasn't a toyline, not a direct-to-video movie, and not even a comic book (delayed Papercutz graphic novels aside). It was a series of online serials. Entertaining, yes, but a far cry from the multi-platform story we got from 2001 to 2010. So even though it has been nine years, I don't think it would be the greatest idea to drag GregF out of BIONICLE retirement just to finish some web serials. If he wanted to, sure, I'd be all for it. But here is another consideration: what makes you think BIONICLE is "incomplete"? Going back to the example of "Samurai Jack" (since it is the only one I can talk about), the last episode released was about Jack saving and traveling with a baby. It was a cute, fun little episode, but it had little to no bearing on the overall plot of the series, which as you know, was all about if Jack was going to find a way to travel back in time to stop the evil of Aku from ever taking over the world. That was never close to being resolved, so justifiably, fans clamored for the "ending" to the show for years until Genndy finally got around to it and found the proper story to tell. This is NOT the case with BIONICLE. BIONICLE's main plot, the awakening of Mata Nui and the ultimate defeat of Makuta, was completed. We even got a last-minute deliverance to a new paradise thrown in for all the characters to enjoy. It was a great way to end the story. However, picture if the last bit of BIONICLE we got in 2010 was like the last episode of "Samurai Jack". After the events of "The Legend Reborn", the toyline shifts gears again like it did in 2004 to flashback to when Spherus Magna had just broken up and the Mata Nui robot rocketed off into space. On the desert world left behind, Agori and Glatorian begin rebuilding their lives. A new society is born, and we are introduced to Certavus and his Legionax of Spherus Magna--his old Core War veteran buddies, and suddenly, they're on a mission to find the corpse of a Great Being. In March of 2010, just as they find the corpse, they realize it was all a trap by the Skrall, and they barely manage to get back to southern Bara Magna. They agree to keep the Agori in the dark and start the Glatorian system. The End. BIONICLE is over, and we move on to HERO Factory in the summer. I completely made all of that up, but wouldn't that be a huge let-down? A good story, yes, but what about Mata Nui and his quest to get home? What about Makuta and the universe of characters we know and love? What happened to the Toa Nuva? Heck, what about Ackar, Kiina, Gresh, and Berix? What was up with that disassembled robot in the sands of Bara Magna? It sounds terrible, and if that had been the case, I'd be right there with you, picketing every day, "BRING BACK BIONICLE, AND FINISH THE LEGEND!" But hey, we live in this reality, where BIONICLE, for better or for worse, was completed. Yes, we still have some ongoing serials involving the characters thanks to GregF. Like any good writer, he knew before BIONICLE ended to plant seeds in all his stories for future development. Lucky for us, he got to develop them with some serials post-summer 2010. But he didn't get to finish those. That's what's left unfinished. Not BIONICLE. Just these serials. It sucks, especially for those that wanted to see it "all" finished. But for me, I see the big picture. I am definitely biased since I was about to begin my senior year of college when BIONICLE ended. I remembered the serials, but their specifics faded from my memory after a few years. However, the core BIONICLE plotline of 2001-2010 is still as fresh as ever in my mind. In conclusion, I respect and understand why you and so many others would like to see those serials concluded. But BIONICLE is not the unfinished story franchise like "Samurai Jack" or (big tears here) "Reboot". There are some hanging threads, yes, but even as you pointed out, others have jumped in to write their own takes on what direction BIONICLE could've gone in after the main story ended. Who is to say after enough years, fans would prefer the fan-endings more than something official churned out after the fact? And finally, remember that just because something can be "finished", doesn't mean it should be (looking at you, Star Wars sequel trilogy. Grrrr....).

Good point! Now I'm reminded of them, too, and yes, that does make the 8/10 date selection more fitting.

Those storyboards are fascinating! As an aside, I'm surprised no one has bought them up yet. Yes, you're right; in 2002, they clearly envisioned the Kraata rising from the "mercury" and then going on to enter Rahkshi bodies. From a sales perspective, LEGO knew even in early 2002 that BIONICLE sets had to be sold in waves. In those early years, it corresponded to releases in Q1 and Q3 for each calendar year. Based on the success of the theme in 2001 and early tracking they undoubtedly were aware of for Q1 2002 (when the Bohrok were released), they had to have something planned for Q1 2003. If the Kal really were a last-minute decision, that implies the Rahkshi were the originally-planned Q1 2003 release. No canister sets for Q3 2003, then, prior to the movie release? I don't think they wanted to let that happen, since the canister sets (particularly Toa) were the biggest sellers (I believe GregF once mentioned 2003 was a weaker one for BIONICLE sales overall because the only new canister sets released were villains). But of course, I wasn't in the room where all that was decided, and I have only the power of retrospect to guide my thinking on the matter. Again, this would all be great fodder for a large, well-detailed and researched "Making Of...BIONICLE" book. For all we know, there may be unseen conceptual imagery of the Toa Nuva rising that shows a further intermediate stage that makes the "bumps", whether they are Kraata or Bohrok Kal, more evident. Fascinating stuff to consider!

I called it the "Protodermic Swamp Chomper", but in spite of being one of the 50 first prizes, it was not chosen to be in the Official Rahi Guide that Greg Farshtey wrote and was published later that year. See below!

Maybe I'm just old, but while I "get" why 8/10 is being called "BIONICLE Day" (or is it 810N1C73 Day??? Can my descendants look forward to 5/3/8008 for another special-interest reason?), I cringe a bit at the usage of numerical pareidolia to determine the day on which we celebrate this great LEGO theme. What are we, the ALIEN fandom? Jokes aside, a good way to make this official is an announcement from LEGO regarding a certain tell-all retrospective on the making of BIONICLE, one that go into comprehensive detail on the chronology of the story, toy, music, and game development prior to launch in 2001, as well as concepts done to plan for all subsequent years. For the theme that saved LEGO from bankruptcy, BIONICLE deserves at least this much.

BIONICLE knock-offs: Not. Even. Once.

A character I couldn't be bothered to parody in BORNICLE, surprisingly. Describe Po-Koro statues in a line.

Since us old fogeys love to sit around and reminisce about the "good ol' days", I figure as one of the few still-active remnants of BZPower's glory days, I have a unique platform to keep the old BIONICLE flame alive, both just for fun and for future edification of fans born well after BIONICLE's start that may need some insight on what the theme was like in the early years of the 21st century. Today, I'll dive into the summer of 2005, the middle of a very convoluted year for BIONICLE. The first, in fact, if you ask me. The first big upset was, as a person living in the USA, only being able to obtain the Toa Hordika and Rahaga for the first half of the year. The Visorak, Roodaka, Sidorak, Keetongu, and the first BIONICLE playsets were all summer releases here. Lucky Europeans had been enjoying most of that (sans the playsets) since the year began. Feelings aside, this also created some storytelling difficulties, as in order to promote the Hordika in the USA, the magazines and comics couldn't really show off the Visorak or their masters. Unlike the case with the Vahki in 2004, there was no "substitute" enemy for the Toa to deal with until summer rolled around. Therefore, right out of the gate, we have the Hordika dealing with the Visorak and appearances of Roodaka, which was frustrating since there was no way to get the sets unless I wanted to buy foreign. So that set the stage for summer 2005. That year, I would spend the longest time away from home alone (to date) at a summer academy for math and science. That would begin in late June, so I hoped the Visorak at least would start making an appearance on Wal-Mart shelves by then. No such luck. But anyways, I had another important distraction! In 2004, I was one of the 50 first place winners of the LEGO Club Magazine Rahi Building Challenge. It was an amazing accomplishment for 15 year-old me, and it saved me a lot of money by having all six Vahki as my prize, along with a letter from the desk of Greg Farshtey himself congratulating me. Therefore, I hoped to have similar success in the Dark Hunter Building Challenge. By the start of summer vacation, I was just about done with him. I gave him no name, but after photography with my dad, he just christened him "Plasticman". My dad wasn't overly fond of my LEGO obsession, especially the BIONICLE component of it, but he humored me enough times, especially when it came to competitions like this. "Plasticman" was, in my opinion, a vast improvement over my Rahi from last year. Unlike my Rahi, he had a function! Instead of a left arm, he had a grafted wheel of assorted Kanohi Masks, pried from his fallen Toa foes (or other kinds of mask-wearing entities). By spinning a gear on his back, you could select the Kanohi he would use to augment his battle abilities. In this way, his species was able to utilize the power of the masks in a brutish way. In his remaining right hand, I gave him a "hunting staff", a probably remnant of his tribal upbringing before being recruited by the Dark Hunters. As you might guess from the attached picture, his whole look and design was born from looking at a Rahkshi spine and thinking, "Hmm, this would make one wicked mohawk". One Metru shoulder armor and two Bohrok teeth later, and I pretty much had his head. The torso was a bit of a puzzle, particularly integrating the gears for driving the mask selection spinner, but I finished it and quickly assembled his hips. The Hordika chest armor and Metruan silver chest piece made for a great "loincloth", fusing a tribal look in clothing with a "punk" sensibility to the coloring and "hair" style. With a week or so to spare before my departure for the North, I took my pictures of "Plasticman" with dad and mailed them to the LEGO Magazine. I wish I could remember the name and description I gave him, or even had a copy of the letter. But alas, that is lost to history, unless the LEGO Magazine keeps the photo and card in an archive somewhere. But the big news, of course, would be if I would win this time. Unfortunately, it was not to be. I was not selected even among the runners-up, and I lost again a chance to be a part of BIONICLE. You can look at the winners in the Official Dark Hunters Guide (if you own it; I don't). From what I've seen of them on BioSector01, I must admit I was a little out of my league. But I'll let you judge for yourself! Attached is my sole surviving photograph of my Dark Hunter. In all probability, I likely made a topic for him in the BBC Forum, but that was back in 2005 and is lost forever now. That pretty much wrapped up my summer as far as BIONICLE went! When I came back from the academy in August, I managed to spend the remainder of living expenses money on a Visorak (Keelerak, I think), along with Roodaka and Sidorak. At that point, they were old hat to me, but the "Web of Shadows" movie was still on the horizon for October. Fall would bring more surprises (and even more convolutions!) to the BIONICLE story. Stay tuned for further reminiscing!

So, an update after looking through my Private Messenger: apparently, some wonderfully kind soul gifted me Premier Membership back in the summer of 2004 as part of a promotion BZPower was doing for their anniversary celebration. So that was my first time. After it expired, I bought another membership for myself for a sweet Proto boost.

Haha, wow, I get that reference! Even better: BZPower exclusive BIONICLE 20th Anniversary Roundtable Interview with Greg Farshtey, Bob Thompson, and Christian Faber reveals "Voriki was always intended to be the REAL seventh Toa" and point to limited release in Luxembourg as proof.

By all means, I'd be happy to take new, MISB Exo-Toa sets off anyone's hands! That is probably one of my absolute favorite BIONICLE sets, and part of me always wanted a full set of six for all six Toa. But seriously, as you can read, I was like you in that every BIONICLE set I got, I immediately opened and built. I assumed when I put Brutaka away in 2007 that BIONICLE would still be going strong in 2011 and beyond. Boy, was I wrong! Now everything is a collectible, and growing rarer by the day. Now that Brutaka is deprecated by me building him, I still have the Nui Rama, Maxilos and Spinax, Nocturn, Lesovikk, Gorast, Rockoh T3, Tarduk, Tuma, and Skopio XV-1 still new and un-built. From pictures, I can tell Botar is truly a behemoth to behold in terms of size! When I first saw him in 2006, though, I thought he looked too much like a BIONICLE version of a Gremlin. You know, like from the movies with the three rules and whatnot. It was hard for me to take him seriously with his story role, looking so strange. But yeah, I'm missing out on the sheer awesomeness that is his mighty size.

He is huge! Eventually, I need to open and build Maxilos and Spinax, and I wonder if Maxilos manages to stand as tall as Brutaka. I never got Axonn because he was smaller and I disliked the usage of Metruan limbs for fingers on his hands. I know LEGO was trying to push the envelope here, but it just didn't look so great in my eyes. I do like those giant axe pieces, though, and the overall color scheme is great.

Brutaka holds an ominous distinction within not just my BIONICLE fandom, but my overall LEGO collection. 2006 was my last full year of high school before graduating in the spring of 2007 and going on to college after the summer. By the end of the year, it was not obvious what university I would be attending nor if my family could afford it. After throwing everything into obtaining the six Piraka and six Toa Inika, along with Vezon and Fenrakk, my spending for LEGO was severely throttled. I needed to save at last for college expenses! Thankfully, as the early months of 2007 rolled on, I got accepted in a few schools, including my second-favorite, and they gave me a very generous scholarship package. I knew all this by April 2007, so I could allow my personal wallet to breathe a little. With the Mahri and other BIONICLE "titan" sets for 2007 well on the way, I went about filling the gaps in 2006 collection. Brutaka was the most appealing of the larger sets, but I had been waiting for a sale. Alas, I grew impatient, and by May, I purchased him from Wal-Mart. And here is where the frightening distinction occurs: up to this point in my LEGO collection, I had opened and built every set I acquired. But I realized that when I bought Brutaka, I would only barely be able to build him before graduation, a family trip to Bolivia, and then preparing to be sent off to college out of state. I shuddered at the thought of him just collecting dust for the rest of the year, so I came up with an idea. I would leave the set sealed and stored in my closet until after I graduated college, whence (I assumed) would be the time that, with a career and the need to settle down wherever work took me, I would finally have the time and space to build him and any other sets collected between late 2007 and early 2011. Sadly, this was not (quite) to be. As my college years progressed, my LEGO collection indeed continued to grow at a faster pace, but with all boxed sets being merely admired before being stored in my closet back home. My naive hope for my post-college career backfired spectacularly when I landed a great job right out of graduation that (scarily enough) required me to essentially live on the road and in temporary housing wherever my worksites were. Even on my precious days and weeks at home, I was always too much of a nervous wreck over being called out to work again to just settle down and enjoy a lot of LEGO building. I didn't want to leave a bunch of incomplete builds collecting dust either! Many years passed. With a downturn in the market in 2016 and some family issues that forced me to take a lot of time off, I found a lot more free time wherein I could live day-to-day without worrying about having to pack up and drive away. After moving to a new apartment, I finally started to break open some sealed LEGO sets and enjoy building for the first time in ages. I guess it helped that my one actual vacation that year was to attend the LEGO Inside Tour in Denmark! And yet, by 2017, I still hadn't assembled anything BIONICLE from before 2010. I guess I finally got sick of it, and in 2017, I made an ultimatum with myself and my company. If they couldn't work with me to get that stable lifestyle I envisioned as a boy in high school, I would take my services elsewhere. And in early 2018, this is exactly what I did. I jumped ship for an offer from a much better company in a regular, Monday-Friday job scenario. With that kind of stability, I used my savings to buy my first house. And that brings me to the present. With the quarantining this year, LEGO has come to the forefront. Having a whole room in my house dedicated to it will certainly enable that hobby easily, but now I definitely had no excuse. And lo! I finally pulled that MISB Brutaka from my BIONICLE shelf and cracked those 14 year-old cardboard perforations open. Within 45 minutes, I had my first new BIONICLE character standing before me in gold and blue majesty. It was a great experience, and after some fiddling with his posing, placed the disgraced Order of Mata Nui member on the shelf with other assorted BIONICLE figures I rebuilt (including Thok, Kongu Mahri, Tohunga Nuparu, a Pahrak, Agori Berix, and a Nuurahk). Looking at the assemblage with pride, I wondered why it took me so long to finally build Brutaka. But in the end, I decided it didn't matter. The fact was, in spite of the wait, I did build him. I still felt that same joy that I knew would always find me when I built a new BIONICLE set. Those things have some magic in them, I tell you. For those who may be sitting on their own MISB BIONICLE stockpile, I encourage you to build them whenever you're able. Thank me when you're done!

Well, obviously, the island of Mata Nui is a huge favorite. I liked the beaches in particular. I grew up not seeing the ocean until the Christmas before BIONICLE was released, so being introduced a landscape surrounded by ocean gave me good feelings, a sense of the exotic that in my mundane world, had gotten to experience (albeit briefly). Bara Magna, however, probably was my favorite setting. Long before the LEGO Movie 2 introduced us to Apocalypseburg, Bara Magna was the original post-apocalyptic LEGO wasteland populated by fierce warriors, feral survivors, and cobbled-together technology. Plus, there were all those mysterious colossal robot parts sticking out the sands! Almost as much an air of mystery as the original setting on Mata Nui.

It seems that outside the BIONICLE story, the symbols were cool marketing graphics to lend some "fresh" identity to these new Toa sets that need to stand out from the ones sold the year before. However, considering the role of the Nuva cube and symbols in the 2003 storyline, it is also entirely possible that the BIONICLE team planned ahead for this and created the concept of the Nuva cube and symbols explicitly to set up the Bohrok Kal story that would tide us over until things could begin for the Mask of Light storyline. BUT, on further reflection, recall other contemporary story imagery from the summer of 2002! Alongside pictures of the Nuva cube and symbols, other images of the Toa Nuva were released, including the infamous one of Tahu Nuva rising from the energized protodermis, only the top half of his Hau Nuva Kanohi visible. It is an iconic image, but it was often cropped. The full image showed two other menacing "bumps" in the protodermis on either side of Tahu, but further behind him. Early theories in mid-2002 suggested these were the other Toa Nuva rising from the liquid, but the sinister, un-Toa-like appearance suggested otherwise. Eventually, Greg Farshtey came out and said the "bumps" were prototypes of the Rahkshi, and most accepted that, as Rahkshi are formed when Kraata are dipped in energized protodermis, just like the Toa were. This never sat well with me because the Mask of Light movie made it clear the Rahkshi were formed around the time of the Mask of Light's discovery, not when the Toa Nuva were created. Furthermore, although we have yet to see these "early prototypes" of the Rahkshi sets, those bumps don't look a lot like Rahkshi at all...they look more like the heads and raised handshields of silver Bohrok! Here's my point: if the Nuva cube and symbols were only introduced to kick-off the Kal storyline, then that means the story team had already planned out the first half of 2003 by mid-2002. Makes sense, considering how LEGO develops sets anywhere from a year to 3 years (or more) in advance. Considering that imagery of the Nuva (finalized imagery, not prototypes) was seen in early 2002, the images of the Nuva cube and the bumps in the protodermis are contemporaneous and precede the design process for the Rahkshi. So in conclusion, the "bumps" were actually the Kal, Greg was just misinformed (he didn't work in set design), and the Nuva symbols were all part of the story planned for the first half of 2003. They knew in early 2002 they had to start working on the movie and related sets, so I bet the Nuva cube and Kal were part of that "holdover story" for early 2003. It allowed the designers to quickly produce sets for 2003 and then focus on really innovative new ones for summer 2003 and the story team had a good coda to the whole Bohrok saga. Problem was, any long-term significance to the BIONICLE mythos was sacrificed. In the end, people look back on the Kal and the Nuva symbols as a mere footnote before Mask of Light: The Movie because perhaps that was all it was ever intended to be.

Anyone remember the planned "BIONICLE: The Album"? That was hyped up on the backs of the BIONICLE comics in 2002, and although I didn't know anything about the artists attached to the project (Woven, Cold, Rob Zombie, among others), music had played such an important role in the spirit of BIONICLE from before the toy release that I was excited to hear what new directions the music would be taking with the coming of the Toa Nuva. Alas, it was quietly shelved and never saw the light of day. So that was disappointing. Another disappointment from 2002: realizing we were all duped by slick CGI once again upon building the Toa Nuva and realizing the new limb pieces did NOT bend at the knee. Thank goodness the Rahkshi were only a year away. Personally, I was disappointed I never found a white metal or silver Krana Kal back in 2003. I spent a lot of time in stores looking into Bohrok Kal canisters, hoping I'd spot the tell-tale black bag. Alas, no luck, even as I read about people finding three in one store on BZPower! I didn't realize it at the time, but 2004 was the last time we got the original Kanohi mask designs in sets. I missed getting recolors of the original BIONICLE masks in later years, especially since some of the Matoran sets released between 2006 and 2008 could have used that extra spice of a classic mask. Yes, I understand the practical considerations of a LEGO part mold wearing out or not being financially viable for limited runs, but still, it was disappointing. Later on, my biggest disappointments became quality issues. Cracking connector sockets from all years, as well as cracked Toa Mata feet, cracked Bohrok feet, cracked lime green t-bone connector pieces, dried up and cracked rubber bands from my 2001 Rahi (big tears shed on that one), cracked Glatorian hand sockets, and any other Technic part that cracked. It is going to be a real challenge to collectors of the original BIONICLE toys to maintain a certain "purity" to them if they have to spend lots on Bricklinking old parts to replace cracked pieces. I already did it for my Exo-Toa and some original Toa Mata feet. As far as LEGO in general goes, that is a massive disappointment that will haunt BIONICLE for a long, long time.

Nice find. I know it wasn't important to be very detailed at that stage, but it is comforting to know as I look at those storyboards that my level of drawing BIONICLE characters back in 2001-2002 would have sufficed (or daresay better) for the plotting of the scenes of MNOG!

Someone else can feel free to correct me, but I'm fairly certain the Nuva cube and symbols didn't show up in other BIONICLE media at a chronological point prior to the Toa Mata becoming the Nuva. Remember, when the Toa imprisoned the Bahrag and became Toa Nuva, simultaneously on the surface of the island, their Suvas in each Koro lit up with energies of the Nuva and when they settled, the Nuva symbol, newly forged, was present. Therefore, without foreknowledge of the event, it was easy for the Turaga and Matoran to put two and two together that the symbols that conveniently appeared after all the Bohrok Krana died over each Toa's Suva belonged to the Toa Nuva and represent them. What nobody expected, however, was that the symbols themselves anchored the Toa Nuva's elemental power while in the Suva. I wonder how this worked after the Bohrok finally cleared off the island of Mata Nui. The Nuva managed to free the Bahrag by undoing the seal they made with their elemental powers, so no need to sacrifice their symbols. But with the Suva gone, what happened? Perhaps I should assume during the migration back to Metru Nui, the Turaga took the Nuva symbols and installed them in new, safe places in the various Metrus? Did that mean the Nuva had to spend their (short?) trip to Metru Nui powerless? Then again, I guess they had Takanuva to watch their backs.

Here is a radical idea. To "finish off" the original BIONICLE story, just ignore everything in an online serial posted after the conclusion of the Final Battle between Mata Nui and Makuta. Start from when Tahu told everyone, "My friends...it is time to begin." It's been so long since the serials were left in limbo, it'd be crazy to ask Greg (or even another author) to pick up those stories and finish them. I say, keep it simple and start from scratch, so no one has to worry who's in an alternate dimension, who's planning to betray who and who's entering an unlikely alliance and resurrecting you-know-who and yadda yadda yadda. The core of BIONICLE was with the Toa and their Matoran allies. To find out what happened to The Shadowed One, the Order of Mata Nui, or whatever, let us pretend none of that stuff post-BIONICLE Stars happened. And if you think I am being obtuse, look at what happened to Star Wars, what with the "continuation" of the original Star Wars trilogy in the run-up to the release of "The Force Awakens". Bye-bye old Expanded Universe. And there were plenty of finished and unfinished story concepts that will never be "officially" continued or acknowledged. With BIONICLE, there are only a few unfinished serials, so I'm willing to accept their loss. The only arbiters that matter in this decision would be GregF and LEGO, of course.

There's also Latin alphabet used in the BIONICLE comic from 2008 where the Toa Nuva enter the Codrex and discover the flying vehicles. Prominently written on the floor in front of the vehicle are the inscribed letters that spell "AXALARA T9". Again, I assume this is artistic license meant to make the meaning clear to the reader (gotta sell those toys, and little Timmy won't be able to tell Grandma what set to buy for his birthday if the text is in the Matoran alphabet and this just happens to be little Timmy's first exposure to BIONICLE). I assumed back in 2002 when that comic came out that the presence of the Toa Nuva carving in that cave was part of "takedown brainstorming" session wherein the Kal took whatever information they had on the Nuva and compiled it to organize their plan to awakening the Bahrag and releasing the Bohrok swarms once again. After all, the previous pages indicate several days (or maybe even a couple of weeks) have passed since their transformation into Nuva. It's still very fresh for them (hence the sparring match that goes out of control), but they are already aware of reconstruction efforts in the Koro with the aid of reprogrammed Bohrok and Bohrok Va. In all that time, the Kal had been awake, but being the intelligent foes that they were, they probably spent time in the Bahrag lair studying the cube, communicating with Krana that had been used by the Toa to open the doors to the Exo-Toa, and moving to the surface. In the comic, we see the culmination of their plotting, and in a final flourish, Tahnok Kal electrocutes the name of his merry band over the carvings of their plans. That's just a rough theory I have, though I'm sure arguments could be made that if several days have passed since the Nuva surfaced, any enterprising Matoran could've stopped in that cave to commemorate the sight of the heroes of Mata Nui transformed. After all, Po-Matoran are excellent carvers, and other Matoran (judging by the handiwork in the Wahis) aren't slouches either.

That video is...something else, I'll tell ya. Hard to conclude what the original intent was by having a clear or milky-white eye stem, since the prototypes shown all have Hau Kanohi. But that scan of the Kaita instructions give further credence to this concept. Wow, and all these years, I thought the clear eye stem on the pages was just a printing mistake (no green ink), not a hold-over from the prototype stage. Makes me wonder about other curious parts shown, like the third ball for Pohatu's parts diagram, but the actual set contained only two balls, one for each shoulder. And in the Mania Magazine that summer, there were instructions for a Fikou tree spider that you could build from Pohatu and Onua, but the instructions called for three ball pieces, and between both sets, there were only two. Very interesting find, thanks for pointing it out! And yes, I would've liked the milky/glow-in-the-dark version of Onua's eyes a lot better than the dark green!

Wow, people actually noticed that thing! I only remembered that pinned post today going through my saved PM folder, where I messaged the Forum Moderator (who was Hahli_Husky back then) about my idea for a round-table topic on what makes a Comedy a "comedy". Back then, that subforum was notorious as a dumping ground of sorts for only the most juvenile and incoherent writing. I did not see it that way, and wanted to help elevate my fellow comedy writers to a better standard. Hahli Husky approved, and with a gaggle of other members, I took turns describing some basic do's and don'ts of writing, using jokes, timing, and structure. Most of my fellow contributors fell by the wayside, but it had grown substantial enough to just leave it as is, as a pinned topic. Plus, it gave my comedy, BORNICLE, a bit more traffic! Says you joined in October 2008, and yes, that was indeed the start of "hiatus" from BZPower. I still checked it regularly, but my participation in the life of the forum dropped off. I was a sophomore in college back then. Thanks for the good summary on the changes. Time was, even after 2011 (at least until 2015, I think, maybe longer), even though your old, pre-2011 posts were gone, your total post count was still preserved. I know I had over 1300 forum posts! But it looks like these are new boards, and they scrubbed that. I also remember your member number used to be under your avatar along with the proto bar (when did that disappear???) and rank. I still remember being BZPower Member #12599. Part of the first 15000 BZPower members! Eventually, the site grew to have more than 30,000 members (and even more!), so I felt like part of the "old guard" in spite of not having been an official member since the Kanohi-Power or BZCommunity days. Ahhh, a legendary time. *sips*. 2003 was a good year. Yeaap.

Re-watching "Mask of Light", the Irish-tinged accent to Lewa's tree-speak is a little ridiculous. Lewa was a brash, more punk kind of Toa. Whereas Kopaka would be aloof and solitary due to his constantly-working intellect and caution, Lewa often went solo because he assumed he could handle anything that came his way, an impetuous youth who thinks he has figured out the world. For him personally, I would like to hear a bit of disdain or sarcasm in his voice and mannerisms, including treespeak. As for the Le-Matoran population at large, I imagine they would definitely speak with a more carefree, friendly tone. Sort of like "surfer speak", but omitting the terms and slang that tie it to the west coast of the USA.