So does anyone else think it does not quite make sense how the Makuta (a species made of energy encased in armor) were able to even be mutated by the mutagenic waters of the swamp flowing from the sea above Karda Nui? It makes about as much sense to me as saying a Maxilos robot can be mutated by the mutagen. Let me know your thoughts and theories and if it makes sense to you!
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The funny thing is that it/Teridax wasn’t mutated, even though Maxilos/Teridax was exposed to the Pit Mutagen.
My theory is that only the bodies of the Mistika Makuta were mutated, but not their energy. Since their bodies were mutated that limited which powers they could use (the same things happens when a Makuta possesses a robot to some extent). Additionally, their mutated bodies would react to usage of certain powers stranegly - such as Krika being forced to drain… was it heat or light? to keep himself from vanishing due to his strong Intangibility powers. Gorast’s body might have been mutated in a way that made it dependent on oxygen (hence why Gali could “suffocate” her).
In this theory the Mistika Makuta could have changed bodies if their old one was destroyed - the reason why they didn’t do so was an unavailability of suitable bodies in Karda Nui.
As far as I remember the only thing kinda contradicting this theory is that it mentioned either indirectly or directly that the Makuta were now forever stuck in their mutated form… I don’t remember the exact phrasing, though.
Another theory is that the mutagen while mutating the Makuta’s armor slowly “seeped” through it. That would at least explain how it got to the Makuta’s Antidermis in the first place. How it could actually mutate the Antidermis I have no idea, though. We neither know how exactly Antidermis works nor how exactly the Pit Mutagen works and we’ll probably never know…
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Haha yeah he was actually, strange how that didn’t effect him…but your theories could definitely be feasible. In the past I thought the mutagen reverted them back to being biomechanical but then Gorast would not have feared her essence escaping and being burned up by Icarax’s heat vision/laser vision.
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That Teridax was never mutated is an interesting thought; I never considered it. We do know that Antidermis took a long time (what, 70000 years?) to evolve into a gas, though. 2007 took place over a really short time period, maybe like a week, IIRC, so maybe that’s a factor as well, considering the Mistika were sitting in the swamp for months, And teridax was in-and-out of the pit in a few days.
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The mutagen worked instantly on other characters, however. But maybe Makuta do have a bit of a resistance to it.
The Karda Nui Makuta were only there for a few weeks, though, if I remember correctly (which is still longer than Teridax was in the Pit of course). On the other hand Teridax actually possessed and left the Maxilos robot underwater, so his Antidermis would have come into direct contact with the mutagenic water.
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It’s possible that the water in Karda Nui was more mutagenic than that of Mahri Nui. The water in Mahri Nui only starts to mutate you when you inhale it (see Brutaka, the Toa Inika). However, the waters of Karda Nui seem to mutate anyone who touches it (see the bug that Onua knocks into the water in Swamp of Secrets). Since Makuta don’t need to breathe, Teridax would be immune to the waters of Mahri Nui, but the Karda Makuta were affected the moment they touched the water.
~W12~
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I just found this topic. I thought about this problem for some time.
What we know about pit mutagen is, at least according to BS01: the deeper you go into the black water the higher the mutagen concentration, meaning the highest concentration should be in the swamp of secrets. So the Mistika had to transform immediately. If Makuta found the Maxilos on a higher sea level he may have gotten there before the he got exposed to a critical concentration, like Toa Hahli during her first dive. Another coincidence would be if the suit is mutagen-resistent, since the body is robotic.
The final problem would be escaping the destroyed body. Apparently Teridax waited some time until escaping. And he fought the Barraki, meaning he had to be on a noticable deeper level… Yeah that’s the nail in the coffin for that explanation attempt.
I believe @Willess12 theory about concetration and/or proximity to the core.
Radiation from the core started to seep into water. Water in mahri nui/pit is less toxic than water on karda nui. Teridax simply wasn’t there long enough as a gas for it to take effect.
Brutaka was also somewhat immune to the mutagen effect, he is from a species that strengtens from antidermis meaning maybe makuta too would share this resistance.
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Okay, I oversaw that the energy radiation from the codrex was the cause for the creation of the mutagen. That would of course mean that there is a noticable difference between the swamp and the bottom of the ocean.
But I don’t think Brutakas Antidermis-compability is working as an answer for Teridax’ resistance.
That also doesn’t work, Brutaka mutated although he didn’t inhale the water. Ehlek just shocked him to make him realize that he can breathe underwater and that the transformation had already taken place.
Perhaps its because the Makuta, beings that specialize in creation/mutation of other rahi, built themselves bodies that they could also modify at their will? So the open tangibility of the way they designed their physical bodies left it open to susceptible to mutation?
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