Effect Of Matoran Spheres

[CroMagnonMan]

So recently I was thinking about the spheres that Teridax used to imprison the Matoran of Metru Nui, and a few questions popped up.Two effects of being in the spheres are known: the Matoran lost their memories, and their bodies degraded into smaller and weaker forms. Now I'm curious about why they lost their memories as well (unless it was simply a function Teridax put into the spheres), but mainly I wonder in what way their bodies must have degraded. I can accept that their organic parts would suffer from prolonged incapacitation, but how could their mechanical parts degrade? Considering that they're 85% mechanical by the estimates I've seen, that would account for 85% of their mass, so how could they shrink so drastically, or at all?Also, according to BS01, the Matoran only suffered these effects a while after being awoken from the spheres, not while they were actually in the spheres. Why is this?~QMark

[Makuta_of_Oz]

I believe it may have been the same way as was the case with the Toa Mata in their Toa canisters, only the process was much quicker here because the Matoran were smaller and weaker.

[bonesiii]

Those are good questions, the sort someone probably should have asked before but as far as I recall didn't. :PWell, we've seen that protodermic mutagens of various kinds can affect the metal in ways beyond biological mutations. I look at these as evidence of my cyberclay theory; this would allow for metal to be "mutated" too because it's really made of something similar to nanites or microbots.In this case, perhaps there was a slow recoding "virus" that infected their molecules so that a similar mutagenic effect happened, but without an actual mutagen to speed it up. Thus it had to happen slowly. This would also explain the various odd effects; since no mutagen like it had been invented, perhaps Makuta found a way to circumvent the normal methods (such as Visorak venom or more to the point Makuta viruses) and put in a protodermic code directly.It's plausible since he learned through Mutran, from Tren Krom, all kinds of secrets to how the MU works.One of the things he could have learned is that the programming language is Matoran. And he would know of powers like Conjuring; perhaps it even contained protodermis with Conjuring power (but not in mask form, and we've seen before that powers in masks can have slightly different rules when in other shapes, like weapons). Though of course since we got that canonized much later than this that wouldn't have been intended by the story team when it was invented.A simpler explanation is just "that was simply the effects of the power." That might seem like a copout, but think about it. We know an infinite variety of powers are possible to be mixed with protodermis. It's virtually guaranteed that some will be strange, trivial, slow, ineffective, or just have weird downsides, due to the sheer random effect. So maybe he happened to mix that power one day and realized it could work for him, better than anything else he'd found yet.

Edited March 9, 2012 by bonesiii

[Axilus Prime]

They are part mechanical, but their mechanical parts do grow. That's why members of the same species (like Vortixx, Sidorak's Species, other characters who are supposedly "big" or "small" for a member of their species can look different in ways besides color. And if their parts grow, who's to say they can't grow in reverse?As for the Matoran Spheres causing it, well you understand that already. Stasis like that would cause shrinkage.

[Taipu1]

It's always possible that the Turaga quickly figured out the Matoran's muscles were weakened, and rebuilt them themselves. I can't imagine when they would have done that though, or that they would have done it for so many Matoran.Bonesiii's cyberclay theory is, as usual, perfect for explaining this problem.

[bonesiii]

They are part mechanical, but their mechanical parts do grow. That's why members of the same species (like Vortixx, Sidorak's Species, other characters who are supposedly "big" or "small" for a member of their species can look different in ways besides color. And if their parts grow, who's to say they can't grow in reverse?As for the Matoran Spheres causing it, well you understand that already. Stasis like that would cause shrinkage.

I'm curious what you mean by the last line. Could you clarify?

It's always possible that the Turaga quickly figured out the Matoran's muscles were weakened, and rebuilt them themselves. I can't imagine when they would have done that though, or that they would have done it for so many Matoran.Bonesiii's cyberclay theory is, as usual, perfect for explaining this problem.

Heh, thanks. But you raise another very plausible explanation -- it might also explain why they still had enough material to rebuild them back into something larger (albeit slightly different, but perhaps that can be blamed on set design and seen as noncanon? ). At least some of the original parts they swapped out might have been kept in storage, and later (after the weakening effects had faded enough or something) brought out and swapped back in. Maybe.