Master Inika

The thing about the Vahki is, while I like them so much as a whole, I find each individual Vahki so forgettable compared to a Barraki or a Piraka I rarely want to vote for one. Ideally, I'd want at least one to pass on, I just can't figure out which one.

What becomes of the Dark Hunters on Spherus Magna would depend heavily on what kind of society it is that Spherus Magna ends up being. In the real world, at least, organized crime is most influential in places where the legitimate government doesn't or can't provide protection to its people. In Spherus Magna, we could be looking at a New Republic-type situation in the current Star Wars canon, where they're really just letting the First Order grow right under their noses. The Shadowed One isn't going to let people leave his group if he can help it. In the MU, leaving was a big no-no. If you're a Hunter, you're a Hunter for life. The only way I could see DHs leaving in meaningful numbers is if Spherus Magna society is willing to take them in and give them protection and something to do. Maybe they will, but BIONICLE has traditionally leaned very heavily into the "Beauty Equals Goodness" trope. Who knows, this could be the foundation for a great fanfic. I think it's interesting you focus on Tyrant. The impression I got from him is that he's a small-time punk who is only really impressive against Matoran. The Shadowed One could kill him in five seconds if he tried to, and Tyrant knows it. I'm not sure if the DHs moving to Spherus Magna is going to change that. Tyrant is no fool, he knows TSO is more powerful than him, that's why he spends so much energy biding his time and planning. Maybe the move to a new planet will give him the push he needs to make his move. I feel like it wouldn't work out too well for him, though, and it would be a pretty anticlimactic end to an interesting villain we never got to see in-depth.

Even in the first few minutes of Season 2, I like how whimsical and carefree we get to see Sensei Wu (voiced by Paul Dobson, who was Nidhiki, Whenua and Sidorak in the second and third BIONICLE movies). He fully trusts the ninja to do things on their own, so he gets to lean more into the trope of a wacky and unpredictable eastern master. It’s rewarding to see how his relationship with the ninja has evolved so much. Seeing the ninja without their Golden Weapons and elemental powers reminds me of seeing the Toa Nuva without the Nuva Symbols or their powers, so even if it’s a totally arbitrary reason to, I like this chapter of Ninjago so far. (This is a really small nitpick, but when Garmadon is using all four weapons, where are the second Ice Shuriken and Lightning Nunchuk? I know they’re just someone not visible but accessible. It bothers me more than it should.) Once again, Skales is the best Serpentine. I can feel his frustration trying to keep the others from going with Garmadon so much. It is very well done. I like that they touch on why the ninja don’t use their hero status to at least get a place to live. Seeing them having normal jobs after helping defeat the Devourer is really funny and reminiscent of Peter Parker. After the Alpha Team, the Toa, the knights of Morcia, the Exo-Force and the Hero Factory heroes, I think the ninja are the first LEGO heroes to ever canonically have to pay rent. LEGO’s first Millennials. Honestly, realistically, Jay probably could have received a large settlement suing the pizza maker for failing to provide a safe working environment. Jay was physically assaulted and kidnapped on the job. If Jay had provided the other ninja as an emergency contact and the pizza maker contacted them when Jay did not return, they might have been able to stop the Serpentine in time. Dareth is a perfect character (and is the best comic relief character the show has had thus far), and it just makes me happy watching heroes with elemental powers again. Are Jeffy and Phil (Dareth’s students) supposed to look like Harry Potter and Ron Weasley? Because they do. I shouldn’t like Ninjaball Run. But I’m a sucker for Wacky Races-type episodes, ever since my Billy & Mandy days. It makes me realize just how many characters there are, and how well-written they are that you can cram so many of them in and still have them stand out. Child’s Play is a great, epic episode. I’m currently midway through Wrong Place, Wrong Time and as far as time travel stories go, this one’s not too bad. It’s interesting seeing the Skulkin animated with the noticeably better 2013 animation as opposed to 2011’s. The episode where they cross the sea to the Dark Island and meet Zane’s father is good. It establishes the sense of a great adventure well. My only issue is, when the Leviathan is looking into the tower, and they have to pretend no one except Zane’s father is there, how does the Leviathan not notice the Bounty on shore? On the whole, the recent episodes of Ninjago have been pretty epic. I have noticed that Ninjago villains exist on a spectrum from Silly to Serious: the Skulkin are almost exclusively Silly, while the Serpentine were a good balance. The Stone Army is consistently depicted as Serious. In fact, depicting the Skulkin kidnapping and forcing Zane’s father to build their technology makes them seem far crueler and more formidable than they were when they were actually the main antagonists. It’s interesting how, once they’ve been defeated, the Skeleton Army seems to have been more of a threat after the fact. Seeing the ninja at their lowest in “The Last Hope” was powerful. I’m glad Jay and Nya’s relationship is a real part of the show and not just comic relief. In the same episode, we also see the Stone Army begin to slide into Silly territory with the ninja making fun of the ancient language. I didn’t realize until this episode that Misako is voiced by Kathleen Barr (Gali/Roodaka). There is something cathartic about Nidhiki/Sidorak and Roodaka’s VAs finally in the same production as real friends. There’s something genuinely upsetting about seeing Garmadon with normal fingers when he transforms into the Overlord. That whole sequence is pretty scary and epic. I was just reflecting on how, as just a glowing orb until this point, the Overlord is the first Ninjago villain without a set form. It was a bold move on Lego’s part. As of General Kozu being beaten up by Dareth’s students, the Stone Army has officially entered Silly territory. The final episode was okay. It reminded me a lot of both the Web of Shadows and The Legend Reborn climaxes. The Lloyd vs. Overlord segment also reminded me of Takanuva vs. Makuta, but it’s not really to the show’s credit that this final battle has no identity of its own and just reminds me of other, better final battles. Kung Fu Panda 3 and Sonic the Hedgehog 2 also come to mind. I also think the action scenes showcase how ill-equipped the show is for LEGO animation. The Overlord’s tank and Nya’s gun platform look awesome. The Overlord himself, though, is too organic. I’m on the fence about how I feel about Lloyd’s mech. They use it to cross the ocean, but it gets scrapped in battle and forgotten almost immediately. It’s not bad per se, just forgettable. I find the most memorable Ninjago episodes to be the funny ones, like Jay’s first date with Nya and the Wacky Races-style episode. Those are what hold up, but I can’t really imagine being excited for this final battle even if I were in the target demographic. If anything, the very end most reminds me of the Takanuva/Makuta Kolhii match ending. It doesn’t do a good job of explaining things. I’m divided on Garmadon’s redemption. It is cathartic to watch, but it also feels poorly set up and a little unearned. It feels as though what was being built up to was a conscious choice on Garmadon’s part, not for him to be magically turned good again. Good Garmadon has a gray version of Anakin Skywalker’s hairpiece, though, which is neat. I’m left with a lot of questions: How did Lloyd beat the Overlord? I thought I paid attention, but it feels like Lloyd just turned gold and beat him. What happened to the Stone Army? I honestly thought Dareth finding the helmet was a pretty good twist, but where are they? Did they get destroyed by Nya’s turret and completely disappear? Even one shot of them rebuilding the city, like the reprogrammed Bohrok, would have helped wrap up that loose end. In my final analysis, I am a little disappointed. It feels like it was written to be the series finale if they needed one, but wanted to leave themselves open for more. I will be watching the next season, and time will tell how I find it.

Interesting, I found it funny and memorable. The key, at least for me, is to just take Ninjago for what it is. Early on, I was comparing it to BIONICLE, which really was a mistake. Ninjago's strength is humor and heart, not necessarily big epic plotlines.

This guy looks awesome. The use of the rubber band holders is naturally what jumps out at me, but looking at it further, it's clear to see that it's not just a gimmicky MOC to use those pieces, it's a great model on its own.

For a while, I've been working on something. It's a 100-page history of the entire world, beginning with the invention of writing in ancient Sumer and going all the way to the modern day. It has not been easy. I have been able to work on it twice a week and make 5-8 pages per session. I am 90% of the way done, and my mind is racing. This is something that part of me has always wanted to do. I loved watching The History Channel and asking my dad about the Civil War and American Revolution when I was a kid. Even then, I always wanted to somehow categorize all this knowledge, and now I'm actually doing it. Honestly, I was bored in history class in school. I always wanted to go deeper and look at more primary documents. But at the same time, whenever I tried to do my own research, I quickly found myself overwhelmed at all the books and articles I had access to. I never knew where to start. It is titled Elementary World History and one of the reasons I am writing it is to provide something I would have benefitted from as a child. It is a sampling of history, not going too deep into any of the topics I cover. (Getting the entirety of World War II into a single page was not easy, but I did it.) The finished book will be dedicated to my nephew, who is still a baby. I hope he grows up to love history and gets some enjoyment out of it. I'm going to print it out and put it in a binder for him. I don't know anything about actually getting stuff published. I've written novel-length stories before that none of the publishers I reached out to wanted. Honestly, I'd say the publishing aspect is harder than actually writing the book.

G1 had too many ideas, G2 didn't have enough ideas. G1 was amazing, G2 was forgettable.

Cryoshell didn't record a song specifically for BIONICLE in 2010, so for whatever reason I just listened to one of their non-BIONICLE songs ("Falling") from the time and arbitrarily decided that was their BIONICLE Journey's End song. Did anyone else do that, or use any of their other songs? I also sort of associate "Murky" with Journey's End, but TBH I simply did not care for it as much as "Falling," which I feel also captures the themes of the year pretty well.

I'll believe it when I see it.

1. Coca Cola (can) 2. Barq's root beer 3. Pepsi 4. Mug root beer 5. Coca Cola (bottle) Peach tea is somewhere before or after Pepsi.

It's not unique to BIONICLE. When it comes to hobby stuff, if multiple people all want to buy it, it gets bought. Back in around 2015, I worked over about $175 for about nine misprint masks, and I still don't regret it. It sucks that this is how it is, and it's probably going to just get worse as BIONICLE becomes more nostalgic to the people who grew up with it. If I were able to responsibly, I'd bid on that disk. This are completely non-utilitarian pieces of plastic; ultimately, all of its value is subjective and comes from the happy thoughts it brings us, whether it's $10 for that feeling of $100.

Presumably, the Turaga were the ones who taught them the legends of the Toa, so the real question is, when did the Toa Metru learn about the Toa Mata? They are never mentioned in any capacity during the LoMN or Great Rescue arcs, so it would have to have been at some point after becoming Turaga. I wonder if the Red Star and star prophecies in general had anything to do with it. BIONICLE has never been very clear as to how valid they were in-universe. That would also make it more likely that Nixie or the Ko-Matoran were the ones who "discovered" the prophecies, not the Turaga. OR, it could be Vakama's visions, which have also never been clearly explained in-universe. I'm comfortable crediting their knowledge of the Toa to Vakama's visions, aside from it just being Early Installment Weirdness.

Another solid chapter. I especially liked Nokama's rescue. It captured the comedic scenes of him slamming into things very well, which I wasn't expecting and am surprised translated so well into prose. Looking forward to the next one.

Atakus' BIONICLE.com quote is: "No one rides into Roxtus without getting past me. And those that do, heh, never leave." It sounds intimidating at first, until you realize Atakus is admitting he's bad at his job. I thought more about the quote, too, and realized there's quite a bit more going on here than at the surface. When Atakus says "getting past" does he mean "sneaking past" or passing him at all? Are there certain people he is supposed to let in, or is he supposed to turn away everyone? I detect no fewer than three possibilities: 1) Atakus' job is to prevent anyone from entering Roxtus, and those who do enter Roxtus without him knowing are caught and killed. (This interpretation doesn't work for character reasons. It makes Atakus sound incompetent for sometimes failing to keep people out. Sure, it makes me not want to try going to Roxtus, but because of whoever kills me once I get inside, not him specifically. The "heh" makes it sound like Atakus is trying to talk himself up.) 2) Atakus' job is only to prevent some people from entering Roxtus, but some others are allowed in. (This interpretation fails because it indicates that even those who are allowed to visit end up getting killed.) 3) Roxtus is such pleasant and welcoming place to live that everyone who visits inevitably chooses to stay there of their own accord. Atakus' job is to make Roxtus sound scary to stop everyone from trying to live there. (This is the least likely of the three possibilities, but as stated, Atakus' words do leave this a distinct possibility.)

In episode 5, “Can of Worms”, when one of the ninja asks, “How come you don’t teach us how to tell if a man is lying by the twitch of his nose?” a beautiful opportunity is missed when Sensei Wu does not reply, “Because we don’t have noses.” The revelation that Zane is a robot comes earlier than I expected it would (episode 7, “Tick Tock”, which does explain the episode’s name). In the same episode, Sensei Wu announces that the ninja’s training is complete and leaves them to go on his own side mission. It is a serious and beautiful scene, both well-earned by the ninja and bittersweet for losing him as a friend and mentor. Like Zane’s robot revelation, the end of their time as students also came earlier than I expected, and I felt a wave of sadness watching it. Zane’s memory of his father is legitimately sad and moving, too. So far, I think “Once Bitten, Twice Shy” is my favorite episode in the series. It’s attained a surprising amount of narrative complexity: the ninja vs the Serpentine, Wu and Garmadon and Jay and Nya’s date. Speaking of which: Jay and Nya are adorable, and I love how their relationship went from a joke to his true potential. And despite all the lighthearted and victorious scenes, it is another tactical failure for the ninja: the Serpentine obtain the first Fangblade, succeeding in their goal and incurring no real losses on their end. Kai is so cringey in “The Green Ninja,” but in a believable way. Were I not aware of future Ninjago, I would have thought Nya was the Green Ninja. There was a time in children’s media when the girl being the Chosen One would have been a subversion indeed. Kai being the only one to suspect Garmadon in this episode is similar to Lloyd being the only one to suspect him in the movie. Honestly, while Kai does act entitled and insufferable, he is right to be suspicious. Wu telling Garmadon to go get the weapons, alone, is an incomprehensible choice on his part. They all know he is not truly reformed. Best case scenario, it is a temporary truce to get Lloyd back. I would have liked more time being spent showing Garmadon earning the others’ trust. Further, in the episode when Lloyd is taken by the Serpentine, Kai was the last ninja with him. While it is not mentioned again, I wonder if that is part of why Kai is so obsessed with proving himself. In the temple, it’s funny how perfectly the rocks fall to block the exit as someone leaves. While the animation is better than in the pilot episodes, there’s still much left to be desired with the environments. Everything looks like plastic, but only the characters look like LEGO plastic, everything else looks like plastic trees or rocks. I never thought I’d say this, but TLR and HF were better animated. Kai choosing saving Lloyd over the Fangblade isn’t the cutting dilemma it’s made out to be. It’s established many times that the ninja don’t actually desire any of the Fangblades, they just want to stop the Serpentine from getting them. Destroying one would be the same. Now, I’m fairly confident they’ll just have the Fangblade be lavaproof and the Serpentine will get it later, but the implication is clearly that it’s being destroyed. At least one line of dialogue earlier, establishing that the blades can never be destroyed, would have gone a long way to make Kai’s dilemma more understandable. Witnessing Kai’s true potential is a cathartic and well-done moment. As it Lloyd’s revelation as the Green Ninja. “Rise of the Great Devourer” is so good at building up a sense of dread. It’s comparable to knowing Order 66 is coming in the final season of Star Wars: The Clone Wars. You know Pythor’s aboard, so you want to scream at the TV for the ninja to stop talking and just throw the Fangblades overboard. The explanation that the Fangblades are made from the Great Devourer’s own teeth and are therefore impervious to almost any heat level is a good one. I just wish it was established earlier. I have a very weird investment in Skales’ character development. I don’t know, I just felt happy for him when he commandeered the Ninjago tour bus and impressed Pythor. Maybe it’s because Ninjago is so soft and kid-friendly, in terms of its villains, that I don’t hate them the way I hate Makuta or the Shadowed One. Part of me wishes Ninjago took itself more seriously (I cringed when Pythor said “So long, suckers!”) but at the same time Hero Factory takes itself more seriously, and the result was just forgettable. Only BIONICLE could play itself dark and brooding properly. It’s good Ninjago sticks to what it does best. I like that the Serpentine don’t kick the bus driver off, they keep him and make him drive the bus. It’s just funny. Why? I’ve been pretty critical of the animation this for. I just don’t think it looks very LEGO. The desert chase battle changed that. The ninja’s and snakes’ vehicles in this whole sequence are both awesome. It was the first time since watching the show I seriously considering going on BrickLink trying to get some. The Serpentine eventually do make the driver leave! Then Pythor just drives it himself, with his single snake tail. That’s pretty funny. They actually went for silent credits. Bold movie. Final Thoughts: Season 1 was definitely an improvement over the pilot, and I am excited to get to Season 2 and see what Garmadon's up to with the weapons. At age 15 when Ninjago was first released, I wasn't exactly in its target demographic, and I was still to sour over BIONICLE's cancelation to be open to a new LEGO theme. (What I ended up getting seriously into circa 2011 was My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, of all things.) Ultimately, the characters are fun, the action scenes at the very end are gripping, and the show is very funny and wholesome, which I would say is Ninjago's greatest strength. Excited for Season 2.

Good choice. I believe the Chronicler's Company cues were reused (isolated) for the long walking sections in MNOG II, and I thought they fit that role just as well.

THE TOA MATA'S NUVA'S HOTEL ICE CREAM PARLOR EPISODE II: DEEP FREEZE *SOLEK is at his ice cream parlor, providing delicious and refreshing cold desserts to the good people of Spherus Magna.* SOLEK: Goodbye, come again soon! *The Toa Nuva appear behind him.* TAHU: They WILL come again soon... to OUR ice cream parlor!! SOLEK: Nooo! Why would you do this? LEWA: Because, it's always been our brother-friend Pohatu's dream to own an ice cream parlor! *Pohatu is in the corner, drawing a picture of himself as a famous monster truck driver.* POHATU: Crash, crush! Destruction! LEWA: ...at least, it had always been his dream yesterday! *Gali readies her tools.* GALI: Come on, Solek. We can do this the easy way, or... *Solek flees in terror.* SOLEK: Those guys have gotten way less cool since they haven't had any bad guys to fight. TAHU: Great work, team! Solek's Ice Cream Parlor is now OURS! *Tahu shoots a celebratory firebolt, which ignites the ice cream parlor, but Gali quickly conjures a raincloud to put it out.* GALI: Not this time, Tahu's powers! *Enter TANMA and PHOTOK.* TANMA: Hey, what happened to our friend's ice cream store? ONUA: It's ours now, bub! LEWA: Yeah! PHOTOK: But it's always been Solek's ice cream stand. TAHU: If you want ice cream, you've come to the right place. If you want to talk about ancient history, Turaga Whenua is over there. *Tanma and Photok look to where Tahu is pointing, which is just empty space.* TANMA: Um... no, he isn't. *At Whenua's house, he looks up from his book.* WHENUA: Huh, I have the strangest feeling someone just mentioned my name while insulting someone... oh well. *Back at the ice cream parlor.* TAHU: I'm being poetic! Just buy some ice cream or scram!!! *The Av-Matoran flee in terror as RADIAK, GAVLA and KIROP enter.* RADIAK: What's their problem? GALI: No idea. Want some ice cream? *The Shadow Matoran buy their ice cream, but then stand around awkwardly without leaving.* GAVLA: You know, this ice cream would be even more enjoyable if we had a place, a home away from home, where we could enjoy it! *A light bulb goes off over Tahu's head.* TAHU: Thanks, Takanuva! TAKANUVA: No problem, buddy! TAHU: Guys, I just had the BEST idea ever! What if, along with ice cream, we rent out space in a large, multi-storied building, offering amenities such as meals, electricity and a pool, so that people can go there for relaxation! That way, we'll sell even more ice cream! ONUA: Why, that almost sounds like some sort of... hotel-like institution! TAHU: Yeah, but even better, because we'll have ice cream! ALL TOA and ALL SHADOW MATORAN: Hooray! *Meanwhile, in the ruins of Makuta's Lair, the BOHROK, the RAHKSHI, the VAHKI and other villains have gathered before a SHADOWY FIGURE...* SHADOWY FIGURE: You all may be wondering why I have gathered you here today... VEZOK: Um, not really. Your flyer said "REVENGE ON THE TOA NUVA" in big red letters, so we all just kind of showed up for that. KALMAH: And the free cookies! *The SHADOWY FIGURE removes his hood, revealing himself to be...* SOLEK: You fools! I don't have all day to explain it all, we just have to launch an attack on the Toa Nuva and defeat them once and for all! VILLAINS: Yeah! Who will win in the final confrontation between Ice Cream Parlor Operators and non-Ice Cream Parlor Operators? Find out next time on THE TOA NUVA'S ICE CREAM PARLOR!!!

When we say we "like" the Spider-Verse movies, we mean that we enjoy watching them. It's not a matter of Sony doing anything "right" or "wrong." At the end of the day, Sony, Marvel, DC, and LEGO are all corporations trying to get as much of us nerds' money as they possibly can, and sometimes making really good art in the process. If you don't like the writing, directing, animation or other aspects of the Spider-Verse movies, that's fine, you don't have to. Most fans do seem to like those movies, though, so you're just going to have to admit you're in the minority view. Okay, I feel as though this is the heart of the issue. The end of BIONICLE (the first end, at least) was a hard thing for me, too. I remember thinking BIONICLE G1 would go until 2020 or even 2025, and then the news dropped. You should not view it in terms of you "losing" these franchises, though. If you have not, I highly recommend The TTV Channel's "BIONICLE Autopsy: You Killed BIONICLE." YouTube video. It goes over many points, but the main idea is: the memories you have of enjoying BIONICLE are still yours. The sets, the movies, the comics, the books and everything else still exist, they didn't go anywhere. LEGO or any other corporation cannot "take" your memories away from you. Have you ever heard of the boy who cried wolf? When you tell people rumors, and then they don't come true, it makes you look unreliable and stops people from getting excited when the next batch of speculation comes along. There have been rumors of BIONICLE coming back every year it hasn't been on shelves, and they've only been true once. But another issue is this: even if the Spider-Verse movies aren't good (which is subjective anyway), Sony or other companies aren't "abusing" these properties by making media you don't like. Copyright is not determined by who can make the material which will best satisfy you personally. (Copyright law is severely messed up, but for unrelated reasons.) I'll be honest, I don't think this idea makes sense at all. Spider-Man is a fictional character who Marvel and DC compete for the right to make movies about. Movies are the main product. BIONICLE is primarily a toy. Plus, LEGO has nothing to gain by giving BIONICLE to anyone else. Even if it's not making them any money now, maybe in the future, when BIONICLE is really historically significant and retro (maybe circa 2050) LEGO could really have a valuable BIONICLE revival on their hands. I get your pain, but you're not doing anything productive about it. What goes on with LEGO and what goes on in the comic book fandoms are almost completely unrelated, so BIONICLE existing or not existing shouldn't determine how you feel about Spider-Man or anything else. (Plus, social media just encourages people to be toxic anyway for engagement, but that's a talk for another time.) My main point is, don't take it too personally.

I initially thought, based on the title, you were asking us what we think should have happened in HF, but I see that the actual post never asks that. No offense, but, like... why? Imo, Rise of the Rookies already suffered from having too many characters. The only villains who I think really had any personality at all were Von Nebula and Rotor, because of their relationships with Stormer and Furno, but everyone else seemed like a total blank slate to me. Trying to cram Rotor and Vapour into the final battle would have made this problem even worse. Plus, from Von Nebula's point of view, it's actually quite shrewd on his part to never have all of his underlings in one place. It makes sure, worst case scenario, at least one of them will still be active. (If you've seen the movie Baby Driver, the criminal mastermind uses the same strategy, never using the exact same crew for a heist twice.) As for Von Nebula's Gang lacking an actual name, that also arguably makes sense if you think about it. Irl, the mafia doesn't actually call itself "the mafia," they call themselves Cosa Nostra, "our thing." I can understand wanting Valor to have an in-story appearance, but why would you actively prefer if you got rid of the model? LEGO Magazine has always included alternate builds and combiner models which, for story-driven themes, don't actually appear in the story. The needs of the story and the physical toys are never going to line up 100%. Otherwise, the story would be cluttered with random vehicles and locations that don't actually add to anything. This was actually a big problem with TV shows in the 1980s, they were essentially just 30-minute-long commercials, and actually having some restraint and not throwing in everything they can has been one of LEGO's strong points as an entertainment company. As for a hypothetical Bulk-Stringer-Surge combiner... yeah, I guess. But LEGO can't create every conceivable combiner model. (This is also my response to points 6 and 13, regarding the Drop Ship pilot and Mak Megahertz.) Your point about Surge is a hard disagree for me. Surge being in peril was what gave the TV episode real weight. Aside from nameless refueling station employees, Surge was the only character in danger. It created a sense that, if the heroes don't win, they lose a real friend. This weight was completely absent from the comic, which never got a follow-up anyway. Your first point is that Bulk and Stringer should have helped in Ordeal of Fire. Points 4, 5 and 8 are similar: essentially, you want all the heroes to be present for all the missions. That's just not how producing these characters works. LEGO creates new characters as previous ones don't sell well. (Notice the first heroes dropped, Bulk and Stringer, had comparatively subdued colors and were replaced with Evo and Nex, notably more vibrant characters.) Had it been done better, it could have created excitement with each new wave: who's going on this mission, and who's sitting out? Perhaps one of the reasons BIONICLE was giving diminishing returns was because of its predictability: six mains, in six (mostly) constant colors. It was called "clone" syndrome for a reason. Points 7, 9, 10, 11: Yeah, I agree for the most part. Some of them are good fanfic ideas that I can still why LEGO didn't actively pursue (the sets are only on shelves for about a year at a time, keep in mind), but I strongly agree that Villain Factory was one of the coolest concepts HF had and they dropped it completely, and the climax of Invasion From Below was one of the weirdest and most confusing narrative choices I've ever seen in a LEGO story, and I mean that as a strong criticism. (Thresher's first name is another weird thing to linger on. In fandoms like BIONICLE, it's never going to be possible to get concrete answers for every conceivable question. Most BIONICLE fans, and fans of other properties, have headcanons, answers to these sorts of questions they personally hold to be true but are not officially canon. A common BIONICLE headcanon is that Lariska is a Vortixx, even though she has no official species. The real name of Makuhero Planet and other details like that are also ripe areas for headcanon.) Hard disagree. I've gone into why I think so elsewhere. You did teach me that UDD/HF symbol thing, and that's pretty cool. Still, it's really more just fun trivia than an active reason for them to share the same universe. Point 14 talks about discrepancies between the TV show and the comics. Creating TV shows and creating comics are both fairly involved processes, and it would be prohibitively time-consuming to make sure they tell the exact same story. Plus, they are simply different mediums which have different strengths. In a comic book, the strength is still images. Translating Corroder and Von Nebula's conversation to screen would not work as well because, well... it's just two people talking. Animation's strong point is fast-paced action. Admittedly, BIONICLE handled this a lot better by generally avoiding telling the same story in both print and screen, sidestepping these problems for the most part. But on the whole, Hero Factory seems to have struggled with figuring out exactly where and when they wanted to deliver their story beats. That's... actually a really good idea. No disagreements here. Tracking down anything post-Savage Planet in decent quality has been a nightmare. I don't have as much to say about your episode ideas. They're definitely worth exploring in longer form. I know HF wanted a more "flexible" storyline, kind of like BIONICLE in the very early days: the Toa wake up, they find the masks, they team up to defeat Makuta. The implication for the child was to act out how they found the masks, fighting various Rahi along the way. BIONICLE at that time shied away from putting heavy emphasis on hard details, like which order they found the masks in or things like that. The only detail I can remember is that Kopaka discovered the first mask, and it was his Hau. By 2004, actually playing with my BIONICLE sets in a way that didn't explicitly contradict canon was pretty hard, since it felt like every second of the storyline was already featured in some book or comic. For that reason, it's probably more in-line with HF's storytelling style for you to choose to interpret these as having been the story. Actually animating them might be too ambitious for us, but they would make good fanfictions. Dropping Tinseltown Toons was definitely a mistake. They weren't perfect, but they had a certain unified aesthetic for HF. Whoever made Invasion From Below just didn't get it at all. The animation, the pacing, the action, the story, it was all wrong. Imo, the worst and least watchable HF episode. As I said before, I'm not a fan of your proposed shared-universe idea. Maybe you can prove me wrong, but I can't imagine it being done in a way that isn't rushed and awkward. As much as I'd love a full Galactic Conspiracy storyline, it really seems like something only Greg specifically was passionate about. Everyone else working on HF seemed content to just pump out generic, cookie-cutter plotlines that barely had anything to do with each other. All in all, quite a batch of takes. Some I agree with, some I don't. You've definitely given me a lot to think about.

Very creepy and beautiful. Looking at it head-on, I'm surprised as I look realizing just how much BIONICLE is it in. What's especially impressive is how solid it looks. Whenever I've tried using BIONICLE to make large-scale vehicles, they always come out looking full of gaps, which is fine enough for aircraft or chariots, but unacceptable for a boat, for obvious reasons. Your boat avoids that, though. It's an amazing MOC indeed.

I like him. His proportions are a little off, mainly in the neck, but I like how bulky and well-armored he is. He reminds me of the Dark Hunter Ancient, who also had pretty non-human proportions and for whom I think it worked. I love his weapon, it looks perfect for fighting or utilizing as a tool for climbing or other uses. This is the second MOC I've seen with the Knights' Kingdom shinguard, which is a piece I am fond of. You've also used the shoulder armor from the same set, which gives it a unified aesthetic. I would not have imagined Knights' Kingdom armor fitting so well with the Kraahkan, but seeing them all in the same color, they do look designed to go together. The Iruini Hagah chestplate also fits the smooth aesthetic well. The Metru feet take away from the unified "medieval" look a little bit, being just technical and detailed enough to stand out. If you are looking for constructive criticism, I'd find other pieces to replace them, and focus on the proportions too. But only the torso I would say has any problems, everything else looks very good. That is not to say the torso is bad by any means, I particularly like the tubing and heartlight.

Personally, I've always found Toa Nidhiki a weird basis for a MOC, because we basically already know what he looks like: he probably has Lhikan's armor style, just green and silver instead of red and gold. Whether you're Team Volitak or Team Kualsi, that's still only two mask types that even remotely fit the character. Even his weapon is just a scythe. There's only so much you can do with that concept. (At least the Hagah, if you include custom pieces, have potential for cool new mask, weapon and armor designs.) It's a similar problem to the buildable Darth Vader LEGO figure. Vader's just a humanoid, so what the set ended up being was a bunch of parts to make a mundane shape. Grievous was a much better use of the CCBS style. That being said, given those criticisms, I like how experimental your figure is. He does have a lot of pieces you wouldn't expect to find in a Toa Nidhiki MOC, but it does not feel forced. I can buy that this is really just what Toa look like on the Tren Krom Peninsula. Even his weapon, I like what you did with it. It's no scythe I've ever seen, but it's still believably a scythe. Plus, I like his waist articulation, and it uses the G2 friction joint, so he doesn't look like he's flopping around like Pridak. He really does look sneaky and agile. Excellent MOC, sir. I approve.

Nice! Everything about him comes together well. Even the colors (dark red, black, gold and trans-blue) feel like they should be too much, but I think they work. The shinguards are especially impressive. Personally I found that Nexo Knight power-up piece too specialized to be useful for anything else, but you managed to integrate it effectively and naturally. Do you think he's good or evil? The colors make me think "hero," but the Mask of Control makes me think "villain." Even his wings look like they could be viewed as either angelic or demonic. If I had to pick a criticism, the feet are a little lackluster. The rest of him has so many cool custom builds, it's strange seeing his feet are just two normal pieces. Since they're solid black, they also just look like shoes, which might not be what you were going for. Black is mostly just an accent color on the rest of him, so it's a lot of black in one area on the feet. Even just using red Metru feet with the black as accents would have done something to keep from drawing too much attention to them. That's just a nitpick though. Jodoth is a beautiful, artful figure. I love his wings, his hand build, and all the creative part usage throughout his body and legs.

He looks cool. It's always nice to see the Knights' Kingdom shin guard back in action. I will say, the black background makes it a little hard to make out the details, which look quite intricate. Does the staff actually connect to the hand? Those claws do look very nice in renders, but I wonder how stable they would actually be if you built them physically, especially gripping a weapon.

Very beautiful. I don't know much about Warhammer (I assume this is from Warhammer 40K, just from the aesthetic) but he also reminds me of the scuba troopers from Star Wars: The Clone Wars. I am fond of the colors and part use, particularly the Kaukau Nuva shoulder pads (which blend in so well I did not notice they were masks at first). Usually, parts as big as the Kanohi Nuva used as something other than a mask sticks out to me, but you integrated them very well.