Inherently Irresolvable Chaos and BIONICLE

[Master Inika]

I'll be honest, I'm rather tired right now and basing this on thoughts I had at work, where I'm usually bored to the point of delirium.

 

We all know that BIONICLE ended with the resolution (death of Makuta; Mata Nui going dormant) of the original problem presented (Makuta putting Mata Nui to sleep) without resolving the myriad of other new issues, among them being:

 

1. what Lewa, Artakha, Vezon, and everyone else in that weird little group is doing;

2. the Red Star's malfunction and how it relates to Gaardus;

3. Zaria, Orde, Chiara, and Gelu's quest to find the Great Beings;

4. Marendar and what he/it's doing, and arguably most of all;

5. the Dark Hunter-Barraki alliance;

6. Velika's plot to conquer Spherus Magna

 

This has left hardly anyone satisfied with BIONICLE's ending and all of these loose ends. Even if LEGO hadn't canceled the line, it's unlikely all of these plot threads would have been resolved as nicely as the original Mata Nui-Makuta conflict. However, I realized that the sensation this left me with is similar to how I feel at the end of various historical documentaries.

 

World War II documentaries come to mind, namely ​WWII From Space, but many other apply: they almost always end with a satisfying conclusion of Germany's defeat, but often emphasizing that the Cold War was just beginning, largely as a direct result of World War II. Naturally, it would be impossible for a single documentary or even a series to satisfyingly discuss every single aspect of any historical event, because all of them intertwine and bleed in to the unending (and largely un-beginning-ing) narrative of human history.

 

I realized that BIONICLE, as a credit to how well the storyline was able to imitate the chaotic nature of real life, can similarly never be concluded properly, at least not without compromising this honestly impressive acceptance of history's non-terminating nature. The idea of, say, the original six Toa riding their Kikanalo off into the sunset, every single bad guy defeated and peace guaranteed forever, exists as a rallying point to constantly strive toward, but, when you really think about it, is unattainable.

 

There's probably a briefer way of saying all this, but I just felt it so necessary to make this theory (of sorts) make as much sense as possible, because I see so much frustration and disappointment at BIONICLE's conclusion (my own included), even though the original conflict was resolved, with everything we received outside of it being a gift from the storytellers with no promise of a similarly satisfying conclusion. My general thesis here is that BIONICLE's loose story ends are, rather than a detriment, a testament to the series' realistic approach to telling the story of a world similar to our own.

[Pohaturon]

I get what you're saying, but the same effect can be, and has been done, in much more satisfying ways. You can give your audience closure without setting the future of the fictional universe in stone.

 

We were given all of these new, interesting plot threads that will never be resolved, which is frustrating. We (or at least I) don't want " the original six Toa riding their Kikanalo off into the sunset, every single bad guy defeated and peace guaranteed forever".

All we (I) want is for all of the plot threads to be resolved plus an epilogue that amounts to "and so a new age dawns for the Matoran, Agori, Toa and Glatorian. New threats will arise, new perils will be overcome, and new legends will be forged. For that is the way of the Bionicle"

 

Boom. You have closure with no plot threads hanging up in the air, plus there is still the theoretical possibility of further "history" to happen that is affected by the existing story.

 

I see where you are coming from, but there is no way the abrupt ending to G1 can be seen as a good thing. Sure, the main storyline was concluded with Teridax's defeat and death, but too many interesting plotlines remain unresolved.

 

[Fry]

I'll be honest, I'm rather tired right now and basing this on thoughts I had at work, where I'm usually bored to the point of delirium.

 

We all know that BIONICLE ended with the resolution (death of Makuta; Mata Nui going dormant) of the original problem presented (Makuta putting Mata Nui to sleep) without resolving the myriad of other new issues, among them being:

 

1. what Lewa, Artakha, Vezon, and everyone else in that weird little group is doing;

2. the Red Star's malfunction and how it relates to Gaardus;

3. Zaria, Orde, Chiara, and Gelu's quest to find the Great Beings;

4. Marendar and what he/it's doing, and arguably most of all;

5. the Dark Hunter-Barraki alliance;

6. Velika's plot to conquer Spherus Magna

 

This has left hardly anyone satisfied with BIONICLE's ending and all of these loose ends. Even if LEGO hadn't canceled the line, it's unlikely all of these plot threads would have been resolved as nicely as the original Mata Nui-Makuta conflict. However, I realized that the sensation this left me with is similar to how I feel at the end of various historical documentaries.

 

World War II documentaries come to mind, namely ​WWII From Space, but many other apply: they almost always end with a satisfying conclusion of Germany's defeat, but often emphasizing that the Cold War was just beginning, largely as a direct result of World War II. Naturally, it would be impossible for a single documentary or even a series to satisfyingly discuss every single aspect of any historical event, because all of them intertwine and bleed in to the unending (and largely un-beginning-ing) narrative of human history.

 

I realized that BIONICLE, as a credit to how well the storyline was able to imitate the chaotic nature of real life, can similarly never be concluded properly, at least not without compromising this honestly impressive acceptance of history's non-terminating nature. The idea of, say, the original six Toa riding their Kikanalo off into the sunset, every single bad guy defeated and peace guaranteed forever, exists as a rallying point to constantly strive toward, but, when you really think about it, is unattainable.

 

There's probably a briefer way of saying all this, but I just felt it so necessary to make this theory (of sorts) make as much sense as possible, because I see so much frustration and disappointment at BIONICLE's conclusion (my own included), even though the original conflict was resolved, with everything we received outside of it being a gift from the storytellers with no promise of a similarly satisfying conclusion. My general thesis here is that BIONICLE's loose story ends are, rather than a detriment, a testament to the series' realistic approach to telling the story of a world similar to our own.

At this point in the game, you might as well make your own headcanon ending. Or just ask Greg. He's still on Lego forums, right?

[Rahkshi Lalonde]

this all feels less the fault of the ending and more the fault of the Greg,

 

like, Orde/Charia/etc weren't even introduced until the very end, they have no real purpose and idk why he even bothered bringing them up so close to conclusion 0:

[Master Inika]

this all feels less the fault of the ending and more the fault of the Greg,

 

like, Orde/Charia/etc weren't even introduced until the very end, they have no real purpose and idk why he even bothered bringing them up so close to conclusion 0:

In his defense, as far as I understand it, he intended on continuing the serials in 2011 and onward, but couldn't because he had a child.

[Aanchir]

like, Orde/Charia/etc weren't even introduced until the very end, they have no real purpose and idk why he even bothered bringing them up so close to conclusion 0:

I get the idea it's one of those cases where he still had stories he still wanted to tell in the Bionicle universe, and he thought that he could justify telling them as a way of softening the impact of Bionicle's cancellation… letting fans down easy, as it were. But then between the work he was still being paid for and events in his personal life, he didn't have the time to finish telling the new stories he'd started.

 

In hindsight it probably would've been wiser for him to focus on wrapping up the loose ends that had already been established rather than starting new storylines, but as they say, hindsight is 20/20. I can totally understand how in his position he might have thought continuing the story would be the best thing for both him and the fans.

[Toa of Ice - 1987]

 

like, Orde/Charia/etc weren't even introduced until the very end, they have no real purpose and idk why he even bothered bringing them up so close to conclusion 0:

I get the idea it's one of those cases where he still had stories he still wanted to tell in the Bionicle universe, and he thought that he could justify telling them as a way of softening the impact of Bionicle's cancellation… letting fans down easy, as it were. But then between the work he was still being paid for and events in his personal life, he didn't have the time to finish telling the new stories he'd started.

 

In hindsight it probably would've been wiser for him to focus on wrapping up the loose ends that had already been established rather than starting new storylines, but as they say, hindsight is 20/20. I can totally understand how in his position he might have thought continuing the story would be the best thing for both him and the fans.

 

But maybe lego could have hired someone to take over and finish the serials so they could GregF focused as lego magazine Editorial Director but he could act as as supervisor the replacement story team? 

[Master Inika]

 

 

like, Orde/Charia/etc weren't even introduced until the very end, they have no real purpose and idk why he even bothered bringing them up so close to conclusion 0:

I get the idea it's one of those cases where he still had stories he still wanted to tell in the Bionicle universe, and he thought that he could justify telling them as a way of softening the impact of Bionicle's cancellation… letting fans down easy, as it were. But then between the work he was still being paid for and events in his personal life, he didn't have the time to finish telling the new stories he'd started.

 

In hindsight it probably would've been wiser for him to focus on wrapping up the loose ends that had already been established rather than starting new storylines, but as they say, hindsight is 20/20. I can totally understand how in his position he might have thought continuing the story would be the best thing for both him and the fans.

 

But maybe lego could have hired someone to take over and finish the serials so they could GregF focused as lego magazine Editorial Director but he could act as as supervisor the replacement story team?

 

LEGO wouldn't have paid someone to finish a story they weren't selling sets for anymore. GregF's original plan was to finish the serials on his own time just for the fans.

[Aanchir]

 

 

 

like, Orde/Charia/etc weren't even introduced until the very end, they have no real purpose and idk why he even bothered bringing them up so close to conclusion 0:

I get the idea it's one of those cases where he still had stories he still wanted to tell in the Bionicle universe, and he thought that he could justify telling them as a way of softening the impact of Bionicle's cancellation… letting fans down easy, as it were. But then between the work he was still being paid for and events in his personal life, he didn't have the time to finish telling the new stories he'd started.

 

In hindsight it probably would've been wiser for him to focus on wrapping up the loose ends that had already been established rather than starting new storylines, but as they say, hindsight is 20/20. I can totally understand how in his position he might have thought continuing the story would be the best thing for both him and the fans.

 

But maybe lego could have hired someone to take over and finish the serials so they could GregF focused as lego magazine Editorial Director but he could act as as supervisor the replacement story team?

 

LEGO wouldn't have paid someone to finish a story they weren't selling sets for anymore. GregF's original plan was to finish the serials on his own time just for the fans.

 

Yeah, even Greg Farshtey himself wasn't being paid to continue the Bionicle serials at that point. He was doing that purely because he wanted to, and because it's what he thought the fans would want as well. The purpose of the Bionicle story, for LEGO, has always been to promote the sets and give fans more ways to engage with them. In the absence of new sets, there was no reason to be paying extra to tie up another author's loose ends.

 

One of the only incentives of the story after 2010 was to try and foster good will with Bionicle fans so they wouldn't feel like LEGO simply abandoned them. But it's important to remember that by that point, the Bionicle fanbase was not even strong enough to justify Bionicle's continued existence. Many Bionicle fans had already moved on to other interests, and for many others it was only a matter of time before they did the same. So the success of post-Bionicle themes like Hero Factory and Ninjago would not depend on how much of the lingering Bionicle fanbase they could appeal to, but how many NEW fans they could entice.

 

By the time the last serial update was posted (June 30th, 2011), it was probably safe to assume that any Bionicle fans who had not yet moved on to other LEGO themes on their own merits either would do so on their own time or never would, regardless of whether the serials continued. And as far as the LEGO Group was concerned, the theme had already gotten as happy an ending as they could give it.

 

Meanwhile, by that point in 2011, Ninjago had already begun making an even bigger splash than Bionicle had in its first year. As of March the Ninjago TV specials had been the highest-rated programs among boys in their timeslot, and by late April it had been confirmed for a full 13-episode TV season in 2012. By the end of 2011 it was the LEGO Group's most successful launch for a new product line of all time. So there was little incentive for LEGO to focus their resources on an increasingly small demographic of disgruntled Bionicle fans when there were much bigger fish to fry.

Edited July 22, 2016 by Aanchir

[Jeffery Mewtamer]

Speaking as someone who never owned a G1 set and knows very little of either generation's story, it sounds like the end of the G1 story was very similar to a fan continuation that got cutoff partway because real-life got in the way except it was being written by someone who worked on the series in an official capacity prior to its cancellation.

[Lyichir]

In response to the original poster's comparison to historical documentaries, there's a significant difference between those and Bionicle—the former is nonfiction and the latter is fiction. Bionicle was not a realistic story, but rather an archetypal one, with larger-than-life heroes, a massive scope, and a mostly black and white morality. As such, there was no reason why an artificial structure with a clear beginning, middle, and end would not do it justice.

 

A nonfiction story, on the other hand, needs to purposefully pick one or more primary conflicts, follow them to their conclusion, and not extend beyond that into conflicts that were only tangential to the main story being told. And Bionicle even failed at that. The entire Bionicle story, up until that point, had had one primary focus—the battle between the Toa and Makuta. Other heroes and villains were introduced over time, but all of it tied back to that one primary conflict—up until the story just kept going after Makuta's defeat, launching into new conflicts that left off with the Toa divided (some of them in mortal peril), and with a new and underdeveloped threat (Velika, who the audience had previously known as a friendly but enigmatic villager, now retconned as a murderous psychopath).

 

To paraphrase a passage in Neil Gaiman's Sandman, all stories end in death if you keep them going long enough. The trick to delivering a happy and satisfying ending is knowing when to stop, and Bionicle G1 failed to do so.

[SirChronicler]

Why doesn't some of us just finish the serials in how we would end them. Until Greg does of course. I have written what I thought would happen already.