Hey everyone! Figured I’d kick off my joining the message boards with a theory that has been on my mind regarding the Bionicle story in its entirety.
The Great Beings are a group that has been kept in the shadows throughout the entirety of Bionicle’s story run, despite their incredible relevance in the story, kick-starting essentially every aspect of it. Despite this, they are often referred to by the story characters as wise… but fallible. This is obviously due to the fact that they let down Spherus Magna before the shattering, and created beings that ended up throwing off Mata-Nui’s mission countless times, resulting in numerous deaths and tragedies for the citizens of Mata-Nui’s universe.
I always thought it strange that beings so clearly intelligent beyond comprehension could make mistakes so many times, especially with their divine-being (rivaling God-like) place in the story. However, the more I thought about it, the more something came to my mind. The universe was set up through the story as being a well-organized system, just like a human body. Every being served a specific purpose to ensure that the body of Mata-Nui was maintained, from the matoran maintaining the workings of it to the protocairns destroying old structures and creating new land to be worked upon. Everything is so well thought-out, so premeditated… so what if all the failures of the MU were too?
The overarching goal of the universe was to recreate Spherus Magna, but Mata-Nui was also designed to study other species throughout the galaxy to ensure he had a proper understanding of functioning societies and ways of life. It can only be assumed that it would be taken into account to have the inhabitants, freed after the mission, to have a similar purpose. The main failure that resulted in the shattering was the element lords were given power and told to rule, without them being proven as leaders who had experienced hardship, making them arrogant, war-ready, and poor leaders for the world.
Taking all this into consideration, what if the Great Beings led the story to play out the way it did as part of a massive foreseen plan?
Destiny is a common theme in Bionicle, and protodermis has been stated to only change those “destined” to be transformed. Similarly, only matoran destined to be toa can become toa. Would it not make sense that they were pre-programmed/created to do so? Would it not make sense to have the residents of the universe experience hardships as well as peace, to make them appreciate the good and fight the bad? To show them how horrible tyranny is, and how glorious proper leadership and companionship is? How wonderful it is to be one with nature, and to have culture and lifestyles?
Perhaps even Mata-Nui was influenced to create the Makuta from a toxic substance that would inevitably create a race of villains, and Tren Krom was bound to an island to influence a Makuta visitor by convincing him that the inhabitants of the MU would have no purpose after Mata-Nui’s destiny would be fulfilled, making him take destiny into his own hands (I know Mutran visited TK instead of Teridax, but man what a great plot point that could have been. The mind meld would give Teridax infinite knowledge and make his referring to MN as brother make so much sense). All this to set forth tragedies that would make the perfect next generation of civilization for Spherus Magna.
Now, the first thing that comes to mind is “wow, they let them go through all that suffering and killed off all those people? How unbelievably heartless.” Fair point, but consider: the red star. A resurrection device for the MU inhabitants. A final gift from the Great Beings as retribution for the hardships they faced (perhaps the malfunction was completely intentional, meant to return them as soon as the reformation and Marendar events took place, which would explain Tren Krom showing it before his demise).
Speaking of which, Marendar. The last test for the inhabitants of Spherus Magna. A foe so great that the agori and matoran would have to set aside their differences and work together to overcome. A final hurtle to seal the relationship of the people.
It would have been an amazing plot point if the Yesterday Quest team came upon Angonce, and he allowed his mind to be read by Orde, showing him the outlines of this grand design. Orde would strike out in anger for their allowal of so much suffering, while Zaria would stop him, realizing the necessity of it, and thanking Angonce for giving them all life, and preparing for the final battle.
I’m sure there are holes that could be punched in this theory, but I’d still love to hear everyone’s thoughts. Personally I believe this revelation would bring the Bionicle story from a masterpiece to a true epic. Either way, predetermined or not, it cannot be denied that it was one incredible ride. Thanks for reading!