So, the current running podcast topic is what would Bionicle G3 look like if it was run by TTV, and they keep saying they want feedback, but so far as I can tell there is no official topic to give that feedback, so I made my own. I also posted this in the Patreon comments on episode 234, but I’m not sure how often that gets checked and therefore I’m copying it over here.
I’ve formulated a whole pitch based on the TTV discussion so far, this being the best marriage I can see of all of their ideas, along with a couple of my own. Enjoy.
First off, in this pitch the years go as follows:
YEAR ONE: Rahi
YEAR TWO: Rahkshi
YEAR THREE: Bohrok
Now into a more in depth look at each year:
YEAR ONE:
STORY:
We begin in the island of Mata Nui with the various villages being attacked by Rahi, driven mad by Makuta. During a Rahi attack the various matoran that become the Toa Mata snap under the stress and undergo the change of becoming a Toa (similar to how one becomes a planeswalker in Magic the Gathering), then proceeding to fend off the current attacks on their villages. After the Rahi incursions the matoran are stunned to see the return of the Toa, spirit warriors that haven’t been seen for centuries, and the Toa must struggle to find their place in their own villages. As the Rahi attacks increase in intensity, the Toa are forced to leave their villages in search of the Great Kanohi Masks and Toa Tools of the previous Toa, lost to time in ancient temples scattered across the island. In their search they run into the other Toa and, after working through some differences (as not all of the tribes are on great terms), they work together to find the Toa Temples and then to cleanse the island of the mad Rahi. Having cleansed the island they discover that the Rahi madness was caused by small creatures (kraata) lurking in the background that had come over from the larger continent of Okoto to the West (I literally just chose a direction), and they set sail to find the source of the evil. End of year one.
SETS:
WAVE ONE:
The first wave consists of attacks on the villages, each including:
- The Toa
- A matoran or two
- A set piece
- A Rahi
- And a small kraata in the background
The size of the set would be determined by how big the set piece/Rahi is.
WAVE TWO:
The second wave would consist of the Toa Temples and size would be determined by the size of the temple and how many Toa were included (as they did meet during the search and would this be in smaller groups depending on how many of the had met).
YEAR TWO:
For the second year the story would need to backtrack slightly in order to set the stage for when the Toa arrive, similar to how Bara Magna was set up before Mata Nui got there, so:
SETUP:
The Okotian continent is vastly different from the tribal setting of Mata Nui, here there are sprawling cities as opposed to isolated villages, and matoran of merit are taken into monasteries and trained for years to undergo the Toa Trials. Those that succeed are granted the honor of receiving power from the ancient Toa Stones (for appearances sake they are carved in the shape of the Nuva Symbols) and transformed into Toa. Six of these aspirants failed the trials, and were seduced by Makuta at the promise of an easy path to power, they were each granted a Kraata, a piece of Makuta himself, which fused with them allowing them to take on the power of the Rahi and filling them with sick twisted versions of the elements, and he named them the Rahkshi meaning: sons of shadow. In secret the Rahkshi sought out the fragments of the legendary Mask of Time, and used it to freeze the continent and all of it’s Toa protectors so that their master’s plans could go uninterrupted. Having been used the mask shattered and returned to it’s sanctuaries.
BACK TO THE TOA:
The Toa arrive on Okoto to find everyone frozen and, after searching through the archives, come to the conclusion that only the Mask of Time could have caused this, and thus, only the Mask of Time can fix it. They also find some cryptic riddles referencing the hiding places of the shards of the Mask of Time. Armed with this knowledge they set off in search of the pieces, only to run into the Rahkshi as they search. Finding themselves vastly outmatched, as the Rahkshi were classically trained to become Toa and the Toa themselves have no idea what they are doing, they are forced to try and beat the Rahkshi to the remaining pieces and steal the ones the Rahkshi already have. After much trial and strife, the Toa are eventually able to get all of the pieces of the Mask of Time and unfreeze the island. They then team up with the native Toa to defeat the Rahkshi, and picking up some training along the way. The Toa take on the name the Toa Mata to differentiate themselves as they are from Mata Nui, and it is revealed that in terms of raw power they are far above the Okotian Toa as they were transformed naturally rather than by an ancient Toa Stones. However it turns out that the chaos was able to buy Makuta enough time to activate his endgame, as they year ends with the awakening of the Bohrok.
SETS:
WAVE ONE:
The first wave consists of the Toa’s quest to construct the Mask of Time and would depict the various battles between smaller groups of the Toa and the various Rahkshi of the fragments of the Mask of Time.
WAVE TWO:
The second wave shows the Toa Mata teaming up with the native Toa in order to defeat the Rahkshi.
YEAR THREE:
With the Bohrok unleashed, swarms stream across the continent destroying everything in their path, cleansing the island in preparation for the rise of the Bahrag, the slowly awakening queens destined to devour this world and give birth to the new one (taking a page out of Norse mythology). The Okotian Toa must struggle to hold back the Bohrok swarms as the Toa Mata go to defeat the Bahrag.
SETS:
WAVE ONE:
The first wave would show the struggle of the Okotian Toa against the Bohrok, and would be varied in size based on the number of Bohrok and Toa included as well as the size of the set piece that set the stage of the fight.
WAVE TWO:
The second wave would have to be the battle between the Toa Mata and the Bahrag, and would probably be accomplished through individual Toa sets (larger for the more popular Toa) with small set pieces and maybe a Book or TWO, that could then link together along with a large Bahrag set in order to depict the entire battle.
Now, to address some things I’ve thought about since making the Patreon comments that I copied above:
You may notice the complete lack of any mention of the Great Spirit, asleep or otherwise, this is not because I have scrapped the idea, but instead I feel that it should be left out of the three year plan. It’s easy to give the existence of the Great Spirit with a couple of lines about “the Great Spirit who protects all” and maybe even some totems of the Great Spirit scattered around the villages. It’s even easy to give the impression that something may have happened to the Great Spirit with a matoran screaming “why would the Great Spirit let this happen?” But it still doesn’t tie it into the main story, and this it doesn’t create loose ends of the line only goes for the three years. If the line did get extended, it would be easy to then take those few lines of foreshadowing and explore what happened to the Great Spirit, this opening up for another long story arc.
As far as Makuta’s motivation to want to unleash the Bahrag and destroy the world, I was basing that off of the idea that someone (I can’t remember who) on the podcast threw out that Makuta wants to remake the world in his image. That’s why I included that the Bahrag devour this world and give birth to the new one. Mata is using them as a tool to reset the world so he can remake it in his image.
Moving into farther exploration of the Rahkshi, I think it would be cool to have their personalities and backstories mirror their powers. For example: upon failing the Toa Trials, the matoran Kurahk was filled with rage, so when became a Rahkshi, he is still on an incredibly short fuse, fighting with every ounce of fury he has, while also instilling rage in those around him, destroying their unity and taking strength from the very thing that weakens his opponents. Or Vorahk, whose failure consumed him to the point of being empty, and so when he became a Rahkshi he’s filled with an insatiable hunger for power, so he devours the strength of his enemies in an attempt to fill the void. Perhaps Turahk was so afraid of failing the Trials that he chickened out and didn’t even try, so as a Rahkshi he lies in wait, cowardly ambushing his opponents before dissappearing into the shadows again, gaining confidence as they grovel in the fear that once controlled him. Panrahk could simply be a broken man, one whose spirit was shattered by his failure at the Trails to the point that life had no meaning anymore; and as a Rahkshi he is incredibly apathetic, not really caring what happens and just destroying things because it’s not like it matters anyways. Maybe for Lerahk, his powers are something like pestilence instead of poison. Maybe he was sick on the day of the Trials, and it was because of that he was too weak to finish; and so when he became a Rahkshi, he weakens those around them, as though his very presence is a sickness. And then for Guurahk… actually I can’t think of anything for Guurahk. But I really like the idea that when creating the Rahkshi, Makuta took their greatest weaknesses and made it into their strengths so that they could inflict it upon others. It seems to hold some sort of poetic justice in my opinion.
But anyways, those are just my thoughts. Congrats if you made it all the way through, and thank you for listening to my rambling ideas. As always I’d love to hear what others think of my take on TTV’s take on G3.