(Note: This isn’t really a ‘story’ so much as it is a detailed lore concept of mine. This still seemed like the most apt place to put it. Also, this does directly contradict the established canon of The Awakening. However, I feel it conceptually works with pretty much everything established in canon before the 2010 story serials dropped that on us.)
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The Symbiosis
An alternative explanation of sapience within the MU and Mata Nui’s purpose, in stark contrast to The Awakening
As time has gone on, I’ve grown to have very mixed feelings about The Awakening. The realization that some/all of the inhabitants of the Matoran Universe were never meant to be truly sapient and alive (in particular, the Matoran), was a massive revelation, and one that came out of left field. Even more surprisingly, the peoples of the MU gained their sapience (and thus, the emotions that drove them to form complex societies) from Velika, the Great Being in disguise. How exactly this happened was never explained, as the story serials were cancelled long before this new concept had time to develop. And admittedly, if we’d had more time to see where the story was going, perhaps this would’ve all made sense. But as it stands now… The Awakening conceptually presents some problems within the lore.
Problems with The Awakening
My problems with The Awakening can be broken down into three main categories: characterization in the Karda Nui arc, the abundance of seemingly-purposeless species in the MU, and the complexity of the MU’s world and geography.
––Firstly, we have the Karda Nui Arc. In the novel Swamp of Secrets (Legends #10), we are treated to flashbacks of the Toa Mata’s training, and their first mission to Karda Nui, where they fought off the Avohkah and helped evacuate the Av-Matoran, before entering the Codrex and beginning their 100-millennia slumber. It is important to note that all of this happens before Mata Nui fully comes online. The Awakening occurs after Mata Nui comes online and begins his mission. So when we see characters in these flashback scenes (Tahu, Kopaka, Helryx, Hydraxon, etc.) acting like fully sapient beings and not merely complex automatons… their sapience is not due to Velika’s machinations.
Furthermore, the Av-Matoran in Karda Nui (like Solek) have very emotional attachments to their memories of the Toa Mata who saved them all those years ago. If the Av-Matoran weren’t sapient at the time, this doesn’t fully make sense.
Now, this doesn’t outright contradict the Awakening. Since it’s nebulous exactly who did and didn’t have sapience before Velika’s intervention, one could argue that beings with a higher purpose (like Toa) were meant to be sapient, while the Matoran workers were not. And the Av-Matoran were the first Matoran, so they were special and designed differently from the rest, thus explaining their sapience. It’s a bit of mental gymnastics, but it works. However, other problems are not so easy to explain.
––Secondly, we have the abundance of species in the MU. Outside of the Matoran species (which includes Toa and Turaga as evolutions of Matoran), there are the Vortixx, Skakdi, Makuta, the Shadowed One’s race, the six individual races of the Barraki, and countless others. The Matoran have the very clear purpose of maintaining the GSR through their work. (How exactly this occurs is nebulous, but their general purpose is still clear). The Makuta were meant to be scientists, designing and creating the Rahi to populate the world. But this leaves all the other races of people within the MU without purpose. Were they also meant to maintain the GSR, but in some sort of different way? Why were they necessary, if the Matoran already existed? Why design so many different varieties of complex automatons?
––Thirdly, and most pressingly: the complexity of the world and geography within the MU doesn’t make sense if the Matoran were meant to be automatons, and not living sapient beings. Why design so many different biomes? Why have so many separate land masses? And why fill them with dangerous Rahi that could damage or destroy the Matoran? The design of the MU is complex in a way that provides no benefit and actively hinders the functioning of the Matoran, if they’re meant to merely be worker automatons. Perhaps somehow the Silver Sea was somehow necessary for the GSR to function, and the different landmasses were meant to correspond to maintaining different parts of the GSR’s body… but this still doesn’t explain why these lands had complex biomes and wildlife. It doesn’t make sense to add that if the Matoran are meant to be, in essence, sophisticated worker drones.
There are other little details that don’t mesh with the idea that some or all of the MU’s inhabitants were never meant to have sapience and free will, but these are the big three. Add it all up, and it seems strange that, within the framework of the MU, the Matoran (and possibly most or all other beings) were never meant to be sapient, and that their complex societies were a product of Velika somehow granting everyone sapience and the capacity for emotions.
So… I present the alternative, which I call…
The Symbiosis
The crux of The Symbiosis is this: The Great Beings designed the Matoran (and all other species in the MU) to be sapient from the start, and intended them to form distinct and complex societies, to aid in Mata Nui’s ultimate purpose.
Mata Nui’s purpose was to scour the stars and observe alien civilizations, so that he could not only fix the the shattered planet of Spherus Magna, but also fix its shattered peoples, and ensure a conflict like the Core War never occurred again. The GSR would go from world to world, hiding itself out of sight and observing the civilizations on that planet, to gather data for Mata Nui to analyze. (The mechanics of how his occurred are never explained, but aren’t really important for this.) But if Mata Nui was meant to observe societies and study them to help heal the people of Spherus Magna… who better to observe than the peoples living within his own body? The Matoran were physically designed to mirror the Agori, after all. It seems only fitting that their societies were meant to be studied, to provide data to help fix Agori society.
So, the Great Beings designed the Matoran, with the expressed purpose of having them form societies within the GSR, which Mata Nui would then study and analyze to help fulfill his ultimate goal. They form a symbiotic relationship, which exists on two levels. The Matoran maintain the GSR, and thus the GSR’s existence houses the world for the Matoran to live in. And the Matoran form societies for Mata Nui to observe and study, while Mata Nui gives the Matoran their guiding virtues and purpose, which are at the very heart of their culture. This Symbiosis is the foundation for the GSR and Mata Nui’s purpose. (See, there’s the name.)
With this explanation, the earlier problems with the Awakening are now addressed. They not only make sense, but also add to the world of the MU.
–Regarding the complexity of the MU’s world and geography, this is now expressly by design. After all, if Mata Nui is to get useful data from studying Matoran civilization, their societies need to exist in a complex, living world. These different landmasses and biomes will cause different groups of Matoran to evolve and develop differently, and these differences are crucial in providing a wider sample of data for Mata Nui to analyze. And the existence of Rahi and other dangers to the Matoran also makes sense, so Mata Nui can see how the Matoran societies react to external threats. A world with no danger wouldn’t provide much useful data for Mata Nui to use for healing Spherus Magna, after all.
–Regarding the existence of so many other species, this is also by design. By creating many different sapient species who will form many distinct and different societies, the Great Beings have further widened the pool of data for Mata Nui to draw upon. Seeing how these different cultures evolve and develop provides contrast and comparison to the Matoran, something that wouldn’t occur if the MU only had Matoran. These other species will exist alongside the Matoran, creating a vibrant and complex world of many peoples and cultures that will provide Mata Nui a wealth of data.
Mata Nui will still scour the stars for other alien civilizations, of course. The Great Beings realize that their vision is limited by their own experiences, and anything they create will carry those biases. So the GSR is still sent out to find and observe alien civilizations, collecting data on races and societies even the Great Beings couldn’t imagine. But within the GSR, there will always be an array of peoples inhabiting the MU, peoples that Mata Nui will always be observing and studying. The data from the peoples of the MU, combined with the data from alien civilizations, would ideally provide a sufficient knowledge and wisdom for Mata Nui to heal the people of Spherus Magna and grant them an age of unprecedented peace and prosperity.
–And of course, the characterization of characters in the Karda Nui arc creates no issues, if the people of the MU were meant to be sapient from the beginning.
There’s a lot of little details and nuances that further support The Symbiosis, but this is the meat of it. The peoples of the MU were always meant to be sapient and form complex cultures, because observing those cultures was a massive part of Mata Nui’s intended work. And while this doesn’t necessarily explain every little element of the MU, there’s not all that much in pre-2010 canon that directly contradicts this idea. Just mysteries that would need their own explanation. (And mysteries, after all, are a huge part of what made Bionicle so fun!)
Feel free to share your thoughts on this. I know this technically breaks canon, but it breaks one specific part of canon, while gelling with basically everything else. And I really like the way it ties the people of the MU and Mata Nui together in a deeper way.
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(This is a concept I came up with alongside my friend Kafu, over on Instagram. I had been talking about my issues with The Awakening, and trying to square them away, and she suggested the idea that the Matoran were always meant to be sapient, as part of Mata Nui’s purpose. Together, we began fleshing this idea out, and came up with this! I’m quite proud of it, personally, and it is something I will be going forward with in my own AU.)