Secret Mission #5 Review

[Master Inika]

I've already given my preliminary thoughts on this book in a blog post, where I discuss the funny and ridiculous implications of the Citadel universe. Here, I'll dive more into what this book implies and represents for the Hero Factory franchise as a whole.

The Hapaka in the room is Mirror World's similarity to the BIONICLE story serial Dark Mirror (they even have confusingly similar names). Since The One, Rick and Morty, and the MCU, alternate universes seem to be everywhere. They offer an interesting look at established characters in scenarios that the main storylines can't tackle. In that respect, the Multiverse allows for something almost like, paradoxically enough, canon fanfiction.

Hero Factory, in my opinion, doesn't do enough to earn this distinction. I have seen every episode of the TV show and read most of the previous Hero Factory Secret Mission books, and HF doesn't rise to anywhere near the level deserving this kind of introspection. At this point in the books, I still feel as if I am getting to know Furno and the rest of Alpha Team as characters, so seeing what they would be like in another reality simply does not interest me that much.

This brings me to another issue with the story I have. The Mirror World story is topical. As we learned in the last book, there exists a Galactic Conspiracy that wants to eliminate Hero Factory; this book shows us a world where Hero Factory indeed doesn't exist. However, it is noteworthy that the ruler of the Mirror World dystopia is Von Nebula--a former Hero. The Galactic Conspiracy has a point. If the books are to be believed, Hero Factory is the most powerful faction in the galaxy, and it's entirely a private enterprise seemingly controlled by one being. Von Nebula's choice to flee from his first mission is exclusively framed as a moral failing on his part, and I really don't think that's fair.

Hero Factory creates sentient beings with personalities. One of them, Von Ness, didn't want to be a Hero, which is perfectly valid. The fact that he tried to flee and leave his leader to die (it would have been more impactful if Thresher actually did die, IMO) is obviously not ideal, but no one's asking the real questions of just why Von Ness, despite lacking any real desire or ability, was put in a real combat scenario anyway. Is this standard Hero Factory operating procedure? Did Hero Factory change its training or how it makes Heroes in any way in response to this? In Mirror World, the alternate Akiyama Makuro and Stormer both treat Von Nebula with unrestrained contempt, even though, I would say, Mr. Makuro is equally responsible for creating Von Ness and putting him in that situation.

IIRC, Hero Factory began when Mr. Makuro "saw a need for heroes in the galaxy" or something like that. So little is actually given to explain exactly why he felt that way. (In fact, a big flaw with HF is that, unlike the Turaga from BIONICLE G1, Mr. Makuro seems to exist only to be a wise old mentor who spouts exposition. Sensei Wu and King Mathias, past LEGO mentor figures, were like Turaga Vakama in that I could fully believe they had their own equally exciting lives and adventures while young. Mr. Makuro is basically the LEGO equivalent of Elon Musk, and Hero Factory is basically what would happen if he set up his own private police force.) Mr. Makuro, were his character treated with more introspection, could have been much like Eldon Tyrell from Blade Runner. Does he regret making Von Ness? Just how bad was the galaxy before HF?

The book's writing style is good in the same way the previous HF books and BIONICLE books were good. Greg Farshtey excels at describing settings and doing comic book-style banter. In this book in particular, I would not be surprised if Greg knew HF was on its way out and was simply having fun with this one. I LOVE the way the Galactic Conspiracy works. Greg makes you really feel Stormer's frustration at not knowing who they are. Among HF's many unresolved plot threads, this is the one that I really think had potential to become an interesting story. I am also interested in how the Galactic Conspiracy would interact with the unseen enemies behind the "Villain Factory" plot alluded to in Breakout.

Despite thinking HF is definitely a step down in terms of quality from BIONICLE, I must say I am sad there are no further Secret Mission books to read, and I regret waiting so long to read them. If you have interest in HF, or if you are nostalgic for Greg's writing style with BIONICLE, you might enjoy them.

[Lenny7092]

I love Greg’s writing (though he should give the combination model and alternate model stuff more spotlight. Plus, more fights, put more time in the story, make things consistent, and bring everything together. I’m still upset about the infamous unfinished story serials). He was doing his best writing some stories for Hero Factory. His original HF stories, who are basically minor stories in HF’s main story arcs, are pretty good because they almost had the feel of Greg’s Bionicle works. 

I too read book number 5. It was quite an interesting story. It takes place in an alternate universe where Von Ness betrayed the Hero Factory earlier and helped Black Phantom and the Legion of Darkness destroy the Hero Factory in its early days. Due to that, no more Heroes were made (including Evo, Rocka, Breez, and Surge. Nex wasn’t mentioned in the book for some reason, but it’s logical that he wouldn’t exist if Hf was destroyed during its early days). Von Ness became Von Nebula, and he, the Legion of Darkness, XT4, and Core Hunter formed the Citadel, who took over much of the Galaxy. Von Nebula also got distorted by the power of the Black Hole Orb Staff rather than combining with it due to interference with Stormer, who also got distorted by the staff. It’s an alternate take of “Secret Mission 2: Legion of Darkness”. It’s like Bionicle’s multiverse stories, like Dark Mirror, but this story is about a group of villains (the Brains with wings) trying to go to the prime reality because of their evil intentions. Would you imagine Tuyet from Dark Mirror and Teridax from Bionicle’s The Kingdom planning to use a Kanohi Olmak to get to the prime reality to conquer it? That would have been unconventional, but interesting. 

It was very nice to see alternate versions of Von Nebula, the Legion of Darkness, XT4, and Core Hunter, the villains from 2010 and 2012. They made a dystopia on the Galaxy, and this is what happens in the prime reality if Hero Factory wasn’t there to protect it from them. It’s also interesting that Furno existed in the early days rather than the recent events in the prime reality. Plus, there are these Brains with wings, who evolved, are big, and can do mental blasts (like Hakann from Bionicle). They only wanted to destroy stuff, and they want mindless robotic bodies to do their heinous hobby. They look at Hero Factory as a way to do it, so that was why they wanted to go to the prime reality. 

The book introduced alternate versions of some details of Makuhero City, or Von Nebula City, that we don’t know. Plus, there’s that clerk robot lady named L-22. I wish the prime reality stuff have introduced their own versions of these things. 

As for the Galactic Conspiracy (I’m not sure if that’s their real name), these guys are selfish people would be remotely hurt their own men to accomplish their goals. They remotely paralyzed Perjast to help Karter use a hologram device to sabotage the Hero Factory’s generator in an attempt to destroy it (but generator did the inter-dimensional teleportation on four Heroes, which made the Brains want to go to their prime reality. When the Heroes came back from the alternate reality and then noticed Karter calling his boss, Stormer threatened the boss, but the boss claimed that Karter is their way to get to him, and then remotely killed Karter. The Conspiracy is thinking about moving to another location before they would get ready to fight the Hero Factory. For these situations, I felt bad for Perjast and Karter. Karter is a wretch who caused problems in book number 4 and 5, but his boss killing him? That’s not nice. For Perjast, he, Dumacc from number 4, and Geb from number 1 are better off working for Hero Factory because they are mistreated by their villainous accomplices. 

From what you said about Von Nebula and Makuro, let me say that. Makuro does not like crime, so that’s why he created the Hero Factory. He wants the Heroes to be good, like how the Great Beings want the Toa to be that way. However, several Heroes are flawed, and Makuro did not see that coming. Von Ness (unknown first name) and Core Hunter (he may have a real name since he was once an Hero. I mean, why name a Hero “Core Hunter” when he hunts down Hero Cores? A villain would do such a thing, so yes) are examples of Heroes who became villains, as Von Ness became Von Nebula, and some guy became Core Hunter (Note: The prime reality’s Core Hunter is still alive. He is imprisoned in the Hero Factory again. I’m glad Greg was considerate of him since Core Hunter has a set in 2012). It’s okay to have free will. It’s that Hero Factory isn’t actually perfect. Ask Nidhiki and Tuyet about it. In the alternate reality, Makuro called Von Nebula a “metal mistake” because Makuro did not like what Von Nebula did to him, his city, and the Hero Factory. I wonder if the alternate reality Furno may have pressured Von Ness into becoming a villain. Von Ness is cowardly, anyway. Von Nebula is obsessed with destroying Stormer because of his ruined body. Why not get someone to repair the two’s bodies? That did not make sense. 

The prime reality Heroes are quite smug with their “crimes” in Von Nebula City. That’s one thing that I like about the book. It’s because they know how to deal with the alternate reality Von Nebula, Legion of Darkness, XT4, and Core Hunter because they fought and defeat their prime reality counterparts before. However, the Heroes had no experience fighting the villains’ guards called Jolters and the winged Brains until later on. 

For the alternate Heroes, which are a much smaller group than the one in the prime reality, they suffered because of the Citadel. I felt bad for them (I’m also surprised that we don’t see alternate Bulk or Thresher (plus, Thresher’s first name is unknown)). 

For the winged Brains, these things are vile wretches that want to destroy stuff, and they believed that the prime reality’s Hero Factory would be a way to do it because they want mindless robotic bodies, so they would build battle machines. If the Brains had noticed Takanuva, Mazeka, Vultraz, and Vezon inter-dimensional traveling, they would find them and then go find a Kanohi Olmak to invade the prime reality as well as the Kingdom reality, the Toa Empire reality, the Melding reality, and the Spherus Magna Reformation reality (imagine people from the Matoran Universe and Spherus Magna have to fight those things). Alternate Teridax, the good one with Light powers, would have to fight the Brains as much as Shadow Takanuva. That would be interesting to see as well. 

Overall, book number 5 is a good story. Not the best, but it’s kind of fun. This multiverse-thing is becoming annoying in many franchises, though, and I feel this needs to stop (I believe that could be why people think that the Marvel Cinematic Universe is “not doing so well these days”. I believe it still does. It’s just that it needs to get all of its lost character rights back completely. Good thing that there are rumors where this is possible of some ways). 

Sadly, book number 5 is the last of the Secret Mission books. The Galactic Conspiracy wasn’t taken care of. For the prime reality Brains, their creator is still on the loose. We got Invasion From Below, instead, which is a story arc that did not pick up where the Brain Attack story arc left off. I would also be nice if the BA story arc had an actual confusion before IFB happened. I would like to think that the Brain maker had copied DNA from the prime reality’s own winged Brains in order to make the small ones. During the Brain attack, this guys had build mindless robotic bodies for the winged Brains, so they would build battle machines. All nine main members of the Alpha 1 Team would get Brain Attack upgrades, find the Brain Factory, defeat the maker and the winged Brains, and destroy the factory to end their threat once and for all. 

Anyway, you should go read Face Off: Makuro’s Secret Guidebook and those four DK Readers books because they expanded on the story a little more.

[confused piraka]

3 hours ago, Lenny7092 said:

Face Off: Makuro’s Secret Guidebook

that exists? what's in it?

[Lenny7092]

18 minutes ago, confused piraka said:

that exists? what's in it?

It’s a guidebook in 2013. It tells some info on the 2010-2013 story arcs.

[confused piraka]

any exclusive information?

 

[Master Inika]

13 hours ago, Lenny7092 said:

I love Greg’s writing (though he should give the combination model and alternate model stuff more spotlight. Plus, more fights, put more time in the story, make things consistent, and bring everything together. I’m still upset about the infamous unfinished story serials). He was doing his best writing some stories for Hero Factory. His original HF stories, who are basically minor stories in HF’s main story arcs, are pretty good because they almost had the feel of Greg’s Bionicle works.

So, I'm pretty sure that, by the time the actual sets are released, both Greg's stories and any combiner/alternate model builds had to be finalized, so it wouldn't really be practical for all of them to be included in-story. You will notice that Protodax appear in one of the 2006 books but not in the corresponding comic scene. This is probably because it was easier for LEGO to have Greg write an extra segment featuring them than it would be to have more comic pages drawn and colored. But furthermore, Greg didn't personally decide things like how many books there would be, or how long they are. That probably came from corporate, with Greg having to work within that framework. Thus, he wouldn't necessarily know if he'd have time to properly conclude all his story arcs.

13 hours ago, Lenny7092 said:

From what you said about Von Nebula and Makuro, let me say that. Makuro does not like crime, so that’s why he created the Hero Factory. He wants the Heroes to be good, like how the Great Beings want the Toa to be that way. However, several Heroes are flawed, and Makuro did not see that coming. Von Ness (unknown first name) and Core Hunter (he may have a real name since he was once an Hero. I mean, why name a Hero “Core Hunter” when he hunts down Hero Cores? A villain would do such a thing, so yes) are examples of Heroes who became villains, as Von Ness became Von Nebula, and some guy became Core Hunter (Note: The prime reality’s Core Hunter is still alive. He is imprisoned in the Hero Factory again. I’m glad Greg was considerate of him since Core Hunter has a set in 2012). It’s okay to have free will. It’s that Hero Factory isn’t actually perfect. Ask Nidhiki and Tuyet about it. In the alternate reality, Makuro called Von Nebula a “metal mistake” because Makuro did not like what Von Nebula did to him, his city, and the Hero Factory. I wonder if the alternate reality Furno may have pressured Von Ness into becoming a villain. Von Ness is cowardly, anyway. Von Nebula is obsessed with destroying Stormer because of his ruined body. Why not get someone to repair the two’s bodies? That did not make sense.

I don't think your comparison of Makuro and the Great Beings holds up. IMO, one of the big messages of BIONICLE is that the Great Beings were arrogant and thought their intelligence gave them a pass to do whatever they wanted. Notice that the only people who really like or respect the GBs are their creations, who never actually met them. The inhabitants of Spherus Magna, some of whom might have actually met them in person, have nothing but contempt for the GBs. We as the audience are led to believe that the Spherus Magnans' opinion of the GBs is the more accurate one.

But even more than that, the GBs are not implied to be as directly involved in their creations' personalities as Makuro is. Taking Nidhiki as an example, since he became a Toa on the Tren Krom Peninsula (where "heroes had to strike from the shadows, or they did not last long"), that probably played a bigger role in his betrayal than anything the Great Beings did. Nidhiki ultimately betrayed Lhikan because he didn't trust Lhikan, because he didn't trust anyone. In that sense, Nidhiki is a profoundly tragic figure. In contrast, the Heroes are implied to basically come into existence with their personalities already fully formed.

What should HF have done with Von Ness and Core Hunter? Are there any protocols to try to identify future traitors? If they did have a way of knowing, what would Makuro do with them? Should they be terminated? After creating a Hero, does Hero Factory have the moral right to terminate their existence? Do HF view their Heroes as living beings, or as hardware, Mr. Makuro's property?

Who determines what "good" is? Who determines what counts as a "crime"? In the Ordeal of Fire episode, we see that summoning Hero Factory requires nothing more than pressing a button. What's the process for getting one of those buttons installed? This kind of surface-level view of good vs. evil works just fine for the Saturday-morning-cartoon-level of seriousness the TV episodes go for, but Greg is a better writer than that. Had the Secret Mission series progressed further, I think the Galactic Conspiracy would have developed into something analogous to the Separatists from Star Wars, originally a well-meaning group that eventually got co-opted by villains, the original founders ultimately sidelined.

[Lenny7092]

10 hours ago, confused piraka said:

any exclusive information?

 

Yes. There are some stuff here and there. I guarantee it.

[Master Inika]

I'll probably be purchasing the guide book next, it looks like there are several cheap eBay listings for it for cheap. I'd really like to get Secret Mission #2 and fill out the collection, but that one's still more expensive for some reason.