Great masks on Mata Nui

[doodleloot]

Now this might seem like a stupid question, but I've been wondering about this for a while.

In the 2001 story the Toa Mata each had to search for 12 masks scattered around the islands.

But how did the masks get there in the first place? And were there exactly 72 of them for the Toa, or were there more than that?

Again, I'm sorry if this is a noobish question, but I'd really like to know.

[ALVIS]

There have been a variety of explanations for this. I think the canon one is that the Toa Metru brought those Kanohi with them from the Great Temple, then Teridax's Rahi stole them and hid them around the island. Other theories have included the Turaga themselves hiding them, or even Artakha (or was that the Kanohi Nuva?).

 

Personally, I say it was the work of a time-traveling Vezon. Because why not.

[fishers64]

I'm pretty sure that the Turaga hid them as tests for the new Toa.

[Makuta_of_Oz]

I actually wondered if it was the doing of the OoMN. They sent an agent to watch over the island, but Teridax murdered the agent.

[Just A Dot]

Well, there technically would have only been 60. Each Toa and Turaga already had one

[Master Inika]

I think it was in one of the 2005 Adventures books that the Toa Metru hid them before sacrificing their power, at the same time they created the Toa Stones found by Takua. They hid the masks as tests for the new Toa.

[northmarch]

Yeah Nokama picked them up from the great temple with Gaaki in 05. Before the Vakama incident.

[Voxumo]

There have been a variety of explanations for this. I think the canon one is that the Toa Metru brought those Kanohi with them from the Great Temple, then Teridax's Rahi stole them and hid them around the island. Other theories have included the Turaga themselves hiding them, or even Artakha (or was that the Kanohi Nuva?).

 

Personally, I say it was the work of a time-traveling Vezon. Because why not.

Artakha was involved in the creation and hiding of the other kanohi nuva, not the original masks

[Arcee]

I distinctly remember a few quotes about the Turaga/Toa Metru hiding them but continuity between story factoids has never been Bionicle's strongest point.

 

I've always thought it was kind of silly that the masks were hidden as a test of strength when the island was in dire need and it would have been better for everyone's safety if the Turaga just, you know, gave them to the Toa.

 

I've never seen the Rahi theft explanation but that's my headcanon from now on--Makuta wanted to eliminate the Toa's chances of defeating them so he hid the masks of power as a precaution.

[fishers64]

I've always thought it was kind of silly that the masks were hidden as a test of strength when the island was in dire need and it would have been better for everyone's safety if the Turaga just, you know, gave them to the Toa.

Well, the thing is that they didn't know that the Toa Mata were legit and another Makuta trick. So they hid the masks and had the Mata find them to prove that they were loyal to the Turaga and the Matoran of Mata Nui.

 

We all know what happens when people blindly trust the people who show up in canisters. *cough* Voya Nui *cough*

[bonesiii]

Was definitely the Turaga (albeit as Toa) -- I had theorized that before it was revealed so 'twas cool to see it confirmed and I'm not likely to ever forget it, heh.

 

The Rahi moved to guard them (some of them anyways), but did not steal them.

 

And the Turaga's thinking was that one of the Matoran would find the Toa stones and become Toa the way they did. They didn't hide them with the Toa Mata in mind. Then, the new Toa would need some practice before taking on Makuta directly, so using their powers to retrieve the extra masks would prevent them from foolishly going right to their defeat or deaths.

 

That last bit was coopted for the Toa Mata, for the reason fishers states above, but by that time the Turaga couldn't really choose differently; you had to be Toa basically to get to the masks by then.

[Indigogeek]

I actually wondered if it was the doing of the OoMN. They sent an agent to watch over the island, but Teridax murdered the agent.

Just curious, where does it state this? I've never heard this one.

 

Also, in regards to makuta making the rahi hide the masks, couldnt he just destroy them? Or even some of them? We've seen broken masks before (Jaller's old mask, kopeke's old mask, actually a lot of matoran) I never understood that.

[Master Inika]

 

I actually wondered if it was the doing of the OoMN. They sent an agent to watch over the island, but Teridax murdered the agent.

Just curious, where does it state this? I've never heard this one.

 

Also, in regards to makuta making the rahi hide the masks, couldnt he just destroy them? Or even some of them? We've seen broken masks before (Jaller's old mask, kopeke's old mask, actually a lot of matoran) I never understood that.

 

He probably could have, but his plan was to eventually fake defeat, so giving the Toa false hope from finding the masks would make it seem more real.

 

Also, according to a GregF quote I can't find, Makuta himself wasn't sure if the Toa Mata were really the Toa from the legends (according to the quote, his "I am Nothing" speech was a test to see if the Toa would back down). Makuta might have left the masks intact as another test.

[Katuko]

I've said it before, that if Teridax wanted to intervene directly on Mata Nui, he could easily have broken his one-year promise, killed the Turaga, and then let the Matoran complete their sphere slumber as intended, with him appearing as their "savior". He abandoned this plan at some point between his unexpected imprisonment in Metru Nui and the arrival on the surface of the island, which means that the current plan at the time of the Toa Mata arriving was indeed to let them "win" and then later have them unwittingly fulfill the final stage of the Grand Plan. (That is, I agree with Master Inika here). This means that Teridax was most likely not planning to hinder the Toa Mata all that much, beyond testing their mettle with some Rahi while they went searching for Kanohi. In all likelihood, he would have been able to conduct a raid on the villages and destroyed the Suva if necessary - it was clear that a single Bohrok-Kal and/or a few Rahkshi could tear through both Matoran and Toa defenses alike.

Edited May 15, 2014 by Katuko

[25K Now!]

Terry probably planned everything up to his death.