Easily Destroying Destral

[Baron Von Nebula]

I have wondered this ever since I read Chapter 2 of the Mutran Chronicles, why Pridak thinks he can conquer Destral that quickly. I guess some possibilities could be:-He doesn't realize how powerful Makuta are. Unlikely, since it is known he went to Xia and saw Icarax smash everything.-The Barraki are quite overconfident. It would fit with their personalities.-The Makuta had not made their fortress as well-defended yet. Possible, since Miserix would have little reason to do this. Anyways, according to the Mutran Chronicles, the Makuta were not yet antidermis-in-armor yet. This could explain why Pridak thought it would take so long for them to make more Rahkshi. What really got me is that he doesn't seem to realize Makuta tear through most beings like paper...

[bonesiii]

Interesting point. Question, do we know if Destral could teleport at the time?Anyways, you have to keep in mind that believing something to be true and it being true are two very different things. I think your second possibility is probably the right one. Notice Mutran's wording:

Ah, Pridak ... it was not so very long after our excursion to Xia that he left the service of the Brotherhood of Makuta for "greater things." I gather that Makuta Miserix kept an eye on him, through an easily corruptible character named Takadox. And so the formation of the League of Six Kingdoms came of little surprise to us.That's not to say we were happy about it. Oh, my, no. It was one thing to know you were always below the Great Spirit on the ladder of power – quite another to be receiving strongly worded "requests" from six jumped-up warlords who didn't know their proper place in things.

Emphasis added.On the other hand, Makuta have been overconfident themselves at times, so maybe it is Mutran who doesn't understand his place at the time. :shrugs:Another factor might be that Pridak is really saying, as a subtext, "Sure, you would win in such a fight, Makuta, but do you really want to waste time, resources, and servants in a war?" And I doubt the Makuta would want that. So Pridak might be talking big, but knowing that they all know what he really means is much smaller -- just big enough that the Makuta wouldn't want it. Or he might actually think big, but the Makuta would realize that instead.Or maybe he just thinks that by sheer force of numbers they could overcome Makuta opposition regardless. Edited November 8, 2011 by bonesiii

[Baron Von Nebula]

I'm almost positive they couldn't teleport yet. The Olmak was from a Toa on Jovan's team who lived a while after these events, as I recall. Unless the Makuta loaned it to that Toa and took it back when he died, they couldn't have had the mask. It also seems likely that since, at that time, the Brotherhood focused on Rahi making, rather than conquest, so the Destral fortress may have been more like a big laboratory with a wall around it.

[Erebus]

Well, we don't know for sure if the Kanohi Olmak combined with the teleportation device was used to teleport Destral.Takanuva did find the teleportation device in the ruins of Destral, so it may not have been an Olmak at all.

[Baron Von Nebula]

I kind of assumed that the device was just the Olmak, which wasn't named for some reason. I guess it would make sense if it is a machine the Makuta/Nynrah Ghosts invented to amplify Kanohi power (specifically the Olmak).

[Exo-Kahgarak]

It's quite possible that the Makuta hadn't defended their fortress as well yet. It's also quite probable that the Barakki were extremely overconfident. Considering how quickly the Brotherhood managed to raise an army large enough to rather easily defeat the League, they seemed to have quite a bit of power already, but (at this time) their focus was not on conquests (their own or others').

[Katuko]

Judging by Mutran's comment on the matter, Pridak really was overconfident. Pridak did mention that by the time his army had descended upon Destral, the Makuta wouldn't have been able to gather their own. If we go by the assumption that they didn't stay on Destral for very long at a time, mos tof their forces wouldn't be there, especially not if they needed to keep order in the rest of the universe.Since the Makuta were still biomechanical at the time, it would also have been easier to kill them even with their Quick Healing power. Catch one by surprise, or overwhelm him with your army, and you can blast his head off before he can react. Also: Even though the Toa Nuva had trouble with the Rahkshi, they honestly didn't seem that powerful once they learned what they were. Keep in mind that any newly-created Kraata would be at a low level and thus not useful as a real army. The Makuta can easily win against multiple opponents, but if only one or two had time to show up for the battle, then they would be in trouble.This goes double if the theory about the fortress not being finished stands true.Take note that after Mutran hears Pridak say this, the blog skips to after the war, where the Barraki have all lost. They really weren't as powerful as they thought. It's even possible they invaded Destral easily but got thrown off again just as easily once the Makuta actually rallied their army.

[Baron Von Nebula]

One thing is for sure, the Makuta could not have been counted as "unable to get to Destral in time", as they could communicate telepathically and teleport at the time. I don't think the Makuta were keeping order throughout the universe yet; that happened after the Barraki were defeated.

[Katuko]

That's true, but even though they hadn't carved the universe into territories yet, Mutran mentions that they spent a lot of their time away from Destral. Also: we don't know the limits of Makuta telepathy/teleportation. The Level 6 Kraata description is "Has the power to teleport itself through any wall or other structure", but it says nothing of range, though the other levels at least mentions that line of sight is not required. Level 5 Mind Reading says "Able to read and understand the thoughts of nearby creatures", while Level 6 only says that it can now read stronger minds. Again, nothing about range. If we judge by Makuta's ability to see most of the island back in 2001-2003, though, we get that the range is at least several miles (unless that was some of his tech doing the viewing).Even if we assume that one Makuta gets word of the invasion the minute it starts, he might not be able to warn the others in time if they are too far away. And even if he can, they might not be able to teleport that far that quickly. And even then, if they do, they could not take their armies with them. You would then have maybe two dozen beings against a vast army. True, the Makuta were terribly powerful even before they "melted" into energy forms, but if Pridak had a proper strategy (he would have), he would have a definite advantage.Think of it as an RPG or RTS battle: it's your army of weak humans/archers/mages versus several titans with brutal powers. Even if most of your army gets murdered, you can often still win through scratch damage/Zerg rush or even just a lucky shot. Even as a Makuta mows down 50 of your soldiers with Chain Lighting, it only takes a single well-placed disintegration beam to the back of the head for him to fall.Of course, the Barraki lost, that speaks for itself. I doubt the Makuta left their fortress completely unguarded anyhow. I'm just saying that with proper planning and a good surprise attack, the Barraki could possibly have taken Destral before they got annihilated. They would lose in the end, but they might get that victory first.

[bonesiii]

Yeah, I think it's wise to generally theorize (but not assume ) that all powers have an automatic range limit, unless like the Olmak it is specified otherwise. (Technically even the Olmak has range limits, but uses wormholes to shorten the distance between any two points, so it "cheats" to get past the limit.)And the Makuta wouldn't exactly be likely to broadcast exactly what those limits are. They probably hope most people would assume they could teleport anywhere at any time instantly, all the while knowing to themselves they can't. Rule by inspiring paranoid overestimation.

[Katuko]

Yeah, it's the same principle some robbers work under: They may not actually have a gun at all, but if you fake one under your shirt with your fingers, most people wouldn't dare risk it.Still, I believe Pridak would have been close enough to them to leech some info during his stay with the Brotherhood.

Edited November 18, 2011 by Katuko

[BZCoolness]

The Barakki were always overconfident, not just Pridak. They wouldn't have been able to destroy Destral, even if the teleportation device wasn't activated, and even if they massed large forces. Overconfident leaders tend to have large flaws in their plans that they don't notice or don't care about because they're so sure it won't matter. The Makuta would have found ways to utilize these flaws to take down the armies.

[Guest]

I don't think Pridak said that because he was overconfident, it says nowhere in his bio that he is and it doesn't really work if you think about his success as a military leader. You don't get to rule a large part of the universe by putting your life and those of your soldiers on the line for every one-in-a-million chance there is, you have to pick your battles.What seems far more likely to me is that Pridak was bluffing. Miserix might not have known how powerful his own forces and those of the League were, and if Pridak said he could beat them, seemingly with complete confidence, he might have intimidated Miserix into compliance. And it worked at first too, the Brotherhood supplied them with Rahi for seven more millennia.

[Erebus]

Pridak probably thought Miserix wouldn't want to start a war in the MU, so intimidation does make sense. Having a war would disrupt work which would be horrible for the MU.

[crazykal]

In City of the Lost it almost makes pridak seem stronger than any other being. I think the barraki could have beat the protodermis out of them

[Toa of Ice - 1987]

I think personally that Pridak might have had a good chance in that war considering they had various species in their forces including rogue toa, thieves and murderers of many kinds and beasts. But he was propably inexperienced in making proper tactics and learning the Makuta's weaknesses.I also think that the Barraki were soundly defeated because they underestimated the Brotherhood, and it was propably the simple team of Teridax Miserix Mutran, Icarax....and what might have been a considerably large army of rahkshi (propably a infantry force of rahkshi who never leave the compounds and always ready to be deployed).