And then from there on out it becomes hardcore edge and brutality
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Well, for Me, the most glaring con of Bionicle is how limiting and often frustratingly difficult it can be to revisit or retell the story in any new form that doesnât feel like another rehash of G1 or a completely different thing.
The basic concept of the whole theme still has a plethora of unpacked potential, but, as source material, it can be needlessly challenging at times to create anything with it that feels both refreshing and familiar at the same time.
Of course, Iâm saying all of this as an unprofessional storyteller, although; I could see that even a more talented and experienced writer could get into trouble with doing something under the âBiological Chronicleâ title that has to appeal to both older fans and newcomers.
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As a big 2004 fan, I was really sad that we didnât get more following the Toa Metru, so thatâs a big sad from me. I also donât like how at the start of Bionicle they started with some vibrant colors such as lime with green and orange with red, but it just turned into dark red, dark blue, dark green, etc. They also couldnât stick with a color for the Toa of Stone, so thatâs another downside.
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Ah, the curse of story with no particular main character(s), no singular setting, no definite series-spanning objective, no set genre, no primary medium. Iâve come to think that defining Bionicle is a bit like trying to define the Star Wars expanded universe without falling back on the movies, or like trying to define a well-recorded mythological tradition, such as Greek mythology. It is all of its stories, but not any of them in particular; it is irreducible. You can retell it, you can add to it, but trying to reimagine it will just result in something else entirely.
Agreed. Although they did a lot to expand the Matoran universe, from a retrospective view, the prequel years feel kinda pointless because they donât really set up anything meaningful in the present. We learn the tribulations and character development that the Turaga went through just in time for them to⌠drop out of the story in 2006. Few prequel characters have major roles later, and even though the Matoran move back to Metru Nui, the story immediately moves away from there. It doesnât help that the Mask of Time saga feels oddly underwhelming, or at least incomplete, once you realize that it was basically a game of keepaway - the mask is only actually used a few times ever. A scenario where the heroes must face off against a villain with the power of time or encounter a threat so great that only the power of time can save the day, just never materializes. At the very least, I wish one of the 2010 Stars had been an '04/'05 character instead of Gresh or Skrall.
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Yeah, I saw someone on the internet replace Skrall with a Vahki, which I think would have been a great idea (but I donât know how that could work in the story). A visorak may have also worked.
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I can never, for the life of me, figure out the geography of the GSR or the ridiculously convoluted timeline.
How do you reach Mata Nui from Metru Nui (which is INSIDE the GSRâs head) in small boats without sailing vertically up???
Apparently all of 2001-2008 happened in one year?? (Ok, Iâll admit this seems plausible) Why is there a timer in the Mahri movie that counts down from 24 hours, as if the entirety of the mission happened in 24 hours??
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I think thatâs actually what happened, at least in the last part of that yearâs story.
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The GSR has artificial gravity. Maybe they do sail vertically up, and just donât realize it because theyâre in a tunnel.
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I have no specific canon backing for this, but my theory is that you donât.
To my knowledge, we never actually see anyone sail directly from Metru Nui to Mata Nui. Most trips involved walking through tunnels at some point or flying through the âsun-holesâ (Mata Nuiâs eyes).
The only time anyone ever sails from Metru Nui to Mata Nui (or vice versa) is when the Toa Metru first discover the island, but even that wasnât uninterrupted: when the Krahli kidnapped the Toa Metru for Mavrah, the boat was taken through the tunnels to some other point where Vakama eventually found it.
My theory is that when the boat was taken through the tunnels, it was raised to be roughly at the surface of Aqua Magna, and when the Toa Metru escaped, they put the boat in an entirely different body of water.
There are probably still some artificial gravity shenanigans at play as well, but that wouldnât explain everything. Besides, Metru Nui was in the same orientation as Mata Nui at the time of the voyage. Wouldnât the artificial gravity be in the same direction as the natural gravity?
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Ah, the beauty of having your entire universe be a giant robotâŚ
As a geography nerd myself the anatomy of the GSR pains me to no end.
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