I think the Matoro point that was made was subjective it didn’t effect some and effected others. I wasn’t that into Matoro so it wasn’t life changing or anything that made me feel sad, but try to understand his state of mind and why he’s sacrificing himself and his realization that he was dying; it’ll hit you right in the feels.
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See that’s where I’d disagree. I understand his state of mind and reasoning perfectly, it’s just that my cold dark heart can’t care about it. Hundreds of fictional characters sacrifice themselves each year in completely selfless ways for various causes, and yet there’s only a select few I care about; those being the characters that I care about to begin with. Sacrifices don’t mean much unless the thing being sacrificed means something to me in the first place, and Matoro’s sacrifice still feels utterly bland and unengaging regardless of how long I think about it because I can’t make myself care about him one bit.
-MT
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well it’s all opinion MT 
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Of course, and I’m not suggesting it’s anything but.
-MT
Well I know this may be a lame excuse. But could Makuta possibly wanted Vakama to think he was scared? Let’s be honest, Makuta could have stopped him if he wanted to. Maybe Vakama realized that trying that again is extremely risky, Makuta could do a variety of things to stop him.
And I
think if the Matoran found out he was threatening to end the world, they wouldn’t be too happy about it.
I’ve had this debate with friends before, and I think it comes down to personal preference. You see, I actually like heros who are perfect in morals. A good example of this is Professor Layton. The guy is like literally perfect and totally unrealistic. But he’s my favorite character in all of video games. I happen to like the perfect characters, because sometimes, instead of a character to relate to, I like characters I wish I could be.
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Also, another point: on Mata Nui, Vakama most likely had the Mask of Time locked away in a vault somewhere, and didn’t want Makuta to know where it was. Back in Metru Nui, he had the Mask of Time in hand with a hammer inches from it.
He didn’t want to risk breaking the Mask though.
Yes, but let’s take a look at all the things he could have done:
- He could have used magnetism to throw vakama in the opposite direction
- He could have slown Vakama down and grabbed the mask himself (OK, not sure what “slow” powers really do honestly, so maybe or maybe now)
- Made Vakama fear what breaking the mask could do
- manipulated gravity around Vakama so he could break the mask
- Destroyed Vakama’s mask carving tool he was using to destroy the Kanohi.
There’s an endless list of options.
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So, yes, good points, but Makuta may not have had such fine control over his powers. Vakama and the mask were inches away from each other. One slip on Makuta’s part and time gets broken.
HUGE risk.
Hmm… Now I’m curious if slowing would prevent the Vahi from being broken by the hammer. Also, maybe slow power doesn’t work on the Vahi? Just a thought.
My head-canon is that the fear power is kinda like the Jedi mind-trick: it won’t work on those who have as strong a will as Vakama.
Again, risk hitting the Mask.
Huge risk there.
You make it sound like breaking a mask is super easy, we saw it thrown through rocks and off a cliff, and Makuta did act like he was scared I believe ( don’t quote me on that, but I think it says so in the Makuta’s guide to the universe book) so that he could trick vakama and allow the Toa to be summoned for his ultimate plan of taking over mata nui’s body.
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Professor Layton’s actually a really good example, and I wish I’d thought of him instead of Superman. Admittedly I’ve only played the crossover with Phoenix Wright, but I honestly wound up disliking him simply due to how perfect the game made him out to be.
I guess if that’s your thing, then that’s fine and all. I just find it supremely unengaging from a character standpoint, because perfect characters are unrealistic, and it’s (generally speaking) hard to connect with an unrealistic character.
-MT
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Superman’s not written right. He hasn’t been written right in a while. Arguably, ever. That’s his main flaw.
2009, to me, is the worst year of Bionicle. 2007 comes close, because underwater world is cool in concept, but rotten in concept.
Also, 9/10 female characters are pretty bad. Tuyet is the only one who was kind of interesting when she first appeared, and then lost it as time went on.
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If they were controllable they wouldn’t be as destructive thus defeating the very purpose of their existence.
Precisely! That’s why he was reluctant to release them. H
Jaller died from the Rahkshi Fear power…
I agree with some of these, but with the power levels, you mention the Piraka vs. Nuva and Piraka vs. Inika. It’s not just power, its how the battle happened. Avak used his prison power on Kopaka, leaving him with nothing to do, but when he used it on Kongu, his Suletu allowed him a way out. But in the battle with Umbara in Inferno, we see Ice is much more valuable than Air in that situation. If Avak had attacked Pohatu during the battle, Pohatu could have used his Mask of Speed to escape. If Vezok had been the first to the fight instead of Reidak, the fight could have gone very differently. Also, the Nuva decided to attack Reidak, the only one they couldn’t defeat. Plus the Piraka had surprise and higher ground. Also, in most '08 situations, the Nuva had the advantage of surprise and pre-planning. Also, the Skakdi Pridak killed probably lost his powers from mutation. Also, the Inika had 1-2 projectile weapons, while the Nuva had none. Basically, certain powers work better against certain beings, and it does not necessarily mean they are stronger.
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FLAW 2
This is pretty subjective, as everyone else has pointed out. I liked Matoro myself but he wasn’t the most interesting of the Toa Inika/Mahri. What surprised me about the death was it wasn’t expected. I don’t think anyone saw it coming. The only major deaths we had before were Jaller (which was almost immediately undone, rendering his sacrifice pointless) Kreka and Nihdiki (who were just goons and not important) and Turaga Lihkahn (who wasn’t the focus of that year.) Matoro was part of the main line and was still on the shelves. You’d think he’d wear his plot armor proud and true.
FLAW 3:
I guess you could say that Vakama no longer wanted to destroy the mask once the year was up. In Time Trap, it was just Vakama, Teridax, and some Dark Hunters in a ruined city. On Mata Nui Vakama was responsible for leading Ta-Koro and his people’s safety. The reward-to-risk ratio is a bit different here. Also, it’s not like Turaga Vakama has Makuta’s phone number. 
This just me coming up with stuff on the spot. In the end, though, I find the ending of Time Trap to be an overall nitpick.
Everything else, I agree with.
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That’s what I said about Flaw 3
The main threat Vakama has is the destruction of time itself, which would presumably be an adverse effect across the entire universe as opposed to one small region. The risk/reward is the exact same regardless of where the mask is destroyed.
-MT
But if you think about it, in Metru Nui, he has nothing. Absolutely nothing. The Matoran are still asleep, Makuta has the upper hand, and he’s standing in the ruins of his city. Compare that to Mata Nui, where the Matoran have constructed a thriving civilization, and there’s a prophecy saying that Toa would appear and stop Makuta. Also, in Metru Nui he was alone, and on Mata Nui he had the other Turaga, so he had people to stop him from breaking the mask.
The prophecy I can perhaps see, but he’s still risking just as much at either point. Sure, the Matoran aren’t awake yet, but the Toa just spent an entire…however long as mutants in Metru Nui trying to rescue them, so they clearly think they’re saveable. He’s threatening the fate of the Matoran, the other Toa, and every piece of sentient life around. He’s doing basically the exact same there. And honestly, if the mask is easy enough to break with a single person, I seriously doubt it would be a difficult enough process for someone to come in and interrupt him in the act of.
-MT
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Those were analogies…