The Great-Spirit-Robot Reveal Ruined Bionicle's Mythology (Opinion/Rant)

[Pakari]

I don’t know, if anything, the mythology laid out in the early years of Bionicle turning out to be true, in a sense, is to me part of the wonder and awe of the reveal of the GSR.

Like others have said, it was always planned, and hints were dropped from year one that there was more beneath the surface (literally). I find things like the Three Finger Islands (that ultimately didn’t make it, but were planned for), the Onu-Matoran reaching an unbreakable layer beneath Mata-Nui, and even just the island looking like a face are all super interesting and mysterious.

Of course, this is all subjective, and I do agree that the laters years of Bionicle, in exploring the science fiction side more closely, did sort of lose a lot of the intrigue that made the early years so enthralling. It was a natural consequence of exploring that mystery over time, though.

But I don’t agree that it actively ruins the mythology. Nothing that was stated is inherently false or even ultimately untrue. I actually made a post of my own a little while ago pointing out the payoff between the original legends and the final battle proper:

This must have been intentional, and I can't believe I never noticed.

Hello everyone on the Boards! Allow me to explain… [image] At the beginning of Bionicle, this is what we were shown, and promised. Two insanely powerful beings fighting for the souls of the dozens of tiny beings on the sand beneath their feet. [image] At the end of Bionicle, this is indeed what we got, just in a way we never could have imagined. Two insanely powerful beings, fighting for the souls of the beings on the sand beneath their feet. One more thing: [image] The distinctive three cheek marks on the Mata Nui stone. [image] The distinctive three cheek marks of the Ignika, Mata Nui’s signature mask. Now, listen, I realize this is sort of an obvious realization. Hence the title. But how did I not ever realize this? The story came total full circle, and we haven’t been givin…

The belief system didn’t fail, it was just a little more simplified than it is was in reality.

And in terms of the points you made about why it ruins the mythology:

@Strato_Incendus

“awakening Mata Nui” is just a fancy term for starting a program designed to launch the robot back off Aqua Magna in case of an apocalyptic event

True, but isn’t “awakening” basically the same thing as booting up a computer? Does a biological brain not, in a sense, “boot up” when it awakes? We put our computers on “sleep” mode on occasion. Fundamentally, they’re just two different ways of describing the same thing.

@Strato_Incendus

the Toa are essentially just an anti-virus program to protect the robot from the virus the Makuta had infected it with

Again, the same issue of semantics. You could view the Toa as “just an anti-virus,” but that’s not what they literally are. It’s an allegory, and just because they are inspired by/based on/serve a similar function as that allegory doesn’t mean their in-story importance or mystery is ruined.

@Strato_Incendus

Most importantly, there isn’t any actual necessity to wake up Mata Nui to get him away from the planet, because there is no imminent threat (in contrast to the meteor that hit the Slizer planet ). The Turaga just think that’s what the Toa have to do.

Well, maybe. Spherus Magna is actively experiencing a catastrophe as it’s been shattered and the beings on the shards are suffering because of it. Mata-Nui’s return would be the end of a terrible period in time for the inhabitants.

And in the more immediate Matoran Universe, Mata-Nui’s sleeping would ultimately result in his death. The Toa are on a time limit for the death of the universe.

Those are just my thoughts, though. I echo the sentiments of wanting more of the tribal aesthetic in the later years of Bionicle, but I find the GSR reveal actually quite interesting.