What's more frustrating? That there were plans for an Earth Tribe on Spherus Magna, complete with their own Element Lord, thus further confusing the Earth/Stone/Sand distinction? Or that the canonicity of the Earth Tribe is itself dubious, since it never appears or is mentioned in any official material, actively contradicts said material at several points, Greg waffled on its particulars constantly, and the name Earth Tribe was used both as a placeholder for the Iron Tribe in the concept stages and an alternative name for the Sand Tribe in official marketing?
Like on the one hand, a whole other tribe with their own lore to explore is pretty cool. And the Element Lord of Earth pretending to abstain from the Core War, all the while manipulating the other Lords into continuing the conflict so she could swoop in and claim the Energized Protodermis, makes for an interesting character. But the constant references to The Six Element Lords, by official story material, the other Element Lords, and even the Great Beings themselves, make the existence of a seventh one that was totally there the whole time guys trust me... a little jarring. And yeah, having Earth and Stone be distinct has always been a quirk Bionicle is known for, but the further distinction of Sand as its own thing too is where it starts getting a little ridiculous.
But then again, as mentioned above, the Earth Tribe was used in some official marketing to refer to the tribe the Vorox and Zesk belonged to. So maybe it would be possible to fold the Lords of Earth and Sand into a single character? They're the only two to have ever been (inconsistently in Sand's case) referred to as female, and the Lord of Sand doesn't exactly have a character of their own that would be erased. And it would smooth over the element issue in some ways. It does make sense that on a primarily desert planet, the element of Earth may manifest more prominently as Sand. But in that case, shouldn't Toa of Earth be able to control Sand? They never do in story, sticking to soil, mud, and clay, but unless I'm forgetting something, there's never any point where it's plainly stated that they can't. They do terrain, and sand is terrain, so maybe? But then why are Po-Matoran the desert dwellers? And in G2, Pohatu could control Sand. But that clearly wouldn't work in G1 because the Element Lords of Rock and Sand are definitively different characters. And around it goes again.
For the record I'm not interested in starting any debates here, BS01 has been having variations of this argument on and off for years, and I think at this point, especially when dealing with so much information that is Word of Greg-exclusive, it's best to let everyone decide their own headcanons here. I'm just curious what people's thoughts on this whole mess might be.
Gonna headcanon the Element Lord of Fire’s name as Flagra, as in Conflagration. Not only does it just sound cool to me and fits his vibes and appearance, but while there are plenty of terms associated with or describing fire...
Conflagration specifically evokes a type of uncontrollable, destructive fire; One that causes mass devastation. And I think that fits the Element Lords who scarred society with the Core War, before ultimately shattering their planet with it; Fire Lord himself was the one who triggered the energized protodermis and the Shattering!
The Element Lords are like primal, untamed nature. They’re Glatorian who’ve lost control of the elements and been consumed by them, until they’ve become those elements without any control or restraint, just chaos lashing out; The mindless will of natural disasters incarnate, who thematically tore apart their world and civilization. Basically Hordika but with elements instead of animalism, is how I like to think of it.
Let’s talk about the cancelled Bota Magna arc of Bionicle.
We know the general synopsis of the Valley of the Maze arc, which would’ve had its own film as a sequel to The Legend Reborn. We can see how 2009 laid the groundwork for what should’ve been 2010; There’s the mention of the Element Lords, as well as Tarduk’s quest. There’s emphasis on the maze and the Skrall, the setup of the Baterra that Tuma is struggling with, as well as the map that alludes to the Great Volcano up north; Later revealed to be artificial and housing a power source used in the Prototype Robot.
But I’m curious about the Bota Magna arc… The synopsis of the fifth film –which keep in mind was a rough draft- ended with the Great Volcano erupting, unleashing its power source in an arc of energy that would strike the Prototype Robot and power it. By this point, it’s ready for Mata Nui to control, thus setting the stage for the final battle with Makuta. However, Mata Nui is unable to do this, because he, Kiina, and Ackar are diverted to the jungle moon of Bota Magna instead.
I questioned what was even the point of the Bota Magna arc beyond presumable filler, an attempt to sell Bionicle dinosaurs as toys; We know that’s what Bota Magna would’ve had, hence Reign of Shadows mentioning biomechanical dinosaurs. And I presume Bara Magna’s Rock Steeds were the prelude to these dinosaurs, likely beasts who were left behind on Bara Magna and managed to survive in the desert.
But there’s an important plot thread set up multiple times in TLR, as well as the previous Bionicle saga; The Great Beings. We never get to see them show up despite all this buildup of finding them, and the Yesterday Quest has our team of protagonists search for the Great Beings… In Bota Magna. And it’s clear that Greg is trying to write in some cancelled concepts from the original years of 2010 and 2011 for Bionicle; The Element Lords being Velika’s generals is likely to make up for how they were robbed of being 2010’s main villains.
And while a lot of things are just Greg inserting stuff into canon for the heck of it, there’s also the confirmation of at least one Great Being on Bota Magna; The one cursed by the Ignika, which also plays a central role in the Bara Magna arc, despite its soft reboot nature. Thus, aside from pulling in buyers with the allure of dinosaurs, I think the Bota Magna arc would’ve served as the long-awaited introduction of the Great Beings, and likely wrapped up a lot of questions and origins for Mata Nui and the Great Spirit Robot.
After all, what else is there to do, when the Prototype Robot is fully-powered and ready to go by the end of 2010? What narrative reason is there to divert and delay Mata Nui from his quest, when he should otherwise be ready to fight Makuta… Besides the Great Beings? The Bota Magna arc would’ve brought in the Great Beings, and the dinosaurs would’ve been additional worldbuilding that leads up to their presence; It’s confirmed that the Great Beings modified fauna such as the Skopio or Iron Wolves, after all. So the region where they were located would, presumably, suffer the most from their science.
Mata Nui’s quest for closure on the Great Beings likely would’ve put him at odds with the Glatorian and Agori who despise technology. Their armor is ‘synthetic’, being a fusion of metal and plantlife, and they wield tools of similar substances, as well as stone. In addition to dinosaurs, we probably would’ve gotten some Glatorian-Agori sets with new armor and weapon pieces that reflect this symbiotic nature, likely dual-molded.
Thus, while Mata Nui has to grapple with dinosaurs, he inevitably earns the ire of the Bota Magna Glatorian and Agori when he brings up the Great Beings. And the presence of said Great Beings probably means that the Glatorian-Agori were at odds with them for a while, post-Shattering. Mata Nui might’ve eventually called the Great Beings out on their meddling with nature, and how their projects have potentially harmed Bota Magna and given its inhabitants more reason to be distrustful of them.
Not only that, but we might’ve gotten to see the Skrall homeland, which we know was on Bota Magna. Thus, it’s possible we could’ve gotten a set or two regarding Bota Magna Skrall, or it could just be a brief detail that Greg threw in, that wouldn’t factor into the primary storyline that much. There’s also the Northern Frost, where the Ignika was cooled, also located on Bota Magna; So both locations may have been planned for the cancelled 2011 arc.
Now I want to get onto the Mask of Life. As I mentioned, it was brought over with Mata Nui as part of the soft reboot nature of the Magna saga, and its deadly powers have been showcased; Imbuing weapons with elemental energy, transforming living things, and so forth. While the Cursed Being was introduced way back in 2006, I think he would’ve been brought back in 2011, as the story was nevertheless still exploring the power of the Mask of Life. So while Bota Magna finally shows us the Great Beings, in doing so this arc explores the origins of Mata Nui… As well as the Mask of Life he’s wearing. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that a place vital to Ignika’s creation, as well as a Great Being afflicted by it, is all here.
And given how verdant Bota Magna is, teeming with all sorts of biodiversity, it probably would’ve been a setting to further explore the Mask of Life’s full potential. It's got plenty of life to work with, as well as a Great Being who could give insight into its creation, with the Northern Frost providing additional lore. This Cursed Being could’ve been an antagonist as well, possibly bearing ill will against the Mask of Life and wanting it destroyed or removed, which would of course put him at odds with Mata Nui.
Who knows? If the Mask of Life was going to become more relevant and have its origins explored with Mata Nui’s on Bota Magna… Maybe its consciousness, as Ignika the person, would finally return! Given how Mata Nui’s arc is about learning to be a better leader and make up for his neglect, perhaps we would’ve seen Ignika continue his storyline of becoming a proper hero, and owning up to his mistakes; Possibly resolving things with the Cursed Being and freeing him of his curse as apology, setting up parallels with Mata Nui with taking responsibility. They are physically intertwined with one another, after all, to the point where Mata Nui is associated with Ignika, and Ignika has the GSR on its visage too!
Now, Kabrua and his Vorox. This is possibly just a thing Greg threw in of his own volition, but maybe it’s not! The Vorox did get a hard deal back on Bara Magna, and Mata Nui represents Sand; He’s the closest thing to a Glatorian Legend set for the Vorox that we’d get, his first encounter is against one, and his sword made from its stinger! Mata Nui is thematically tied to the Vorox in that sense.
They may not have had sets, but perhaps Kabrua and his Vorox would be antagonists, having a grudge on the Glatorian because they… Somehow know how their brethren on Bara Magna have been treated? Okay that’s kinda weak, but maybe there’s communication tech that told them, since Velika had that. Kabrua possibly recognizes Mata Nui’s sword as a Vorox stinger and is made even more hostile as a result.
As a growing ruler, Mata Nui takes it upon himself to help the Vorox, making peace with Kabrua; The Mask of Life, whose potential is being explored here, is offered as a possible solution. Given how it made Icarax devolve as a Makuta, perhaps Ignika could do the same/reverse, undoing the degeneration of the Vorox. Now it’s possible Kabrua actually tries to take the Ignika away from Mata Nui for this purpose, and this is another reason for conflict, rather than a solution to it; Getting some old Barraki vibes here…
Finally, there’s one more thing I want to discuss, and that’s the infamous Earth Tribe. Now, it’s possible that this was never planned, and Greg just made it up out of nowhere to throw the fans a bone with new story content, that sort of thing. But based on what we know about the Earth Tribe, as well as the Valley of the Maze film… I think the Earth Tribe was, for the most part, a planned part of the Bota Magna arc.
The first hint is the presence of Tera, a Glatorian of the Earth Tribe. They would’ve been in the Valley of the Maze film, and I don’t think Greg misremembered Tera’s element, either. The fifth film’s climax would’ve had our protagonists open a door requiring all of the elements, though Iron was unfortunately left out as always. Hence, that’s why the characters of ‘Buckethead’ the Skrall, Oris the Jungle Glatorian, Likus of Ice, would’ve been included; They fulfill elemental quotas. And I don’t think the toy designers and story writers would want to include a redundant protagonist.
Because Buckethead has so much of a role in the Valley of the Maze film, I doubt Tera was meant to take his place as Rock, and Greg made a mistake; Their name invokes Terra, meaning Earth to begin with! And I don’t think they were meant to be Sand, either- Mata Nui fulfills that role, he’s literally made of Sand and arguably more Element Lord than Glatorian. I think Greg remembered Tera’s element properly, that there was going to be a new tribe, the Earth Tribe, introduced- And Tera would be our setup to this ‘new’ element.
Their character could’ve also been a potential source of exposition, one foreshadowing and building up to the reveal of the Earth Tribe, for their proper role in the Bota Magna arc. I’m guessing we would’ve learned from Tera how the Earth Tribe didn’t participate in the Core War, with the Earth Lord’s machinations possibly laid outright, or saved to be revealed in 2011. If the Earth Lord’s evil isn’t known by this point, it’s possible Mata Nui and co. would assume the Earth Tribe as good thanks to their experience with Tera. We might’ve seen the Earth Tribe welcome them in with open arms, only for the Earth Lord’s evil to be revealed, as she plans to use Mata Nui for her own nefarious purposes.
Perhaps she would’ve been after the Great Beings, just want to control Bota Magna, etc. While the other Glatorian-Agori of Bota Magna are shown to be paranoid, it’s possible some deadly foreshadowing would occur, with a few warning Mata Nui and revealing the Earth Tribe’s machinations; Only to be dismissed as ignorant savages. Alas, just because Tera was good, doesn’t mean the rest of their tribe is… They’re introduced in the same year as Buckethead, who is also a good representative of an antagonistic tribe.
We know from Greg that the Earth Tribe would’ve had brown and black coloration, and their motif is agriculture. Their connection to Earth would’ve been about soil for farming, rather than mining; And in canon, they cited their lack of participation in the Core War as concern for the planet and nature. The Earth Tribe would probably be initially presented as harmless, nature-loving hippies, and the Earth Lord as a ‘good’ Element Lord, a Mother Nature-esque figure… Only for the Earth Tribe’s true colors to be revealed. The Earth Lord would take on the role of a Gaia-esque figure, perhaps a vengeful Mother Earth, though I’m not sure if she’d care about the planet like an actual Mother Earth character would.
The nature-loving motif of the Earth Tribe also places them well at home on Bota Magna, and in canon, most of their population was stranded on the jungle moon. That makes them an even better fit for Bota Magna, and thus gives more reason to believe they were planned as part of the Bota Magna arc as a whole. Since I speculate we would’ve gotten more lore and information about the origins of the series, the Earth Lord’s machinations in orchestrating the Core War would tie well into this.
Her control over soil would make the Earth Lord very deadly; Possibly allowing her to pull more weight than an individual Element Lord normally did in the previous year, thanks to suitable terrain. Her element’s connection to nature through the soil it grows in would be weaponized, to make the Earth Lord an antagonist well-suited to the setting; But not as OP as the Jungle Lord. Thus, the Earth Lord is connected enough to nature to be a threat in a verdant world, but not SO connected as to be unstoppable.
Hence, the Jungle Lord can’t be on Bota Magna because he’d be too powerful there, so we have Earth, an element close enough to elevate the Earth Lord over her brethren and justify herself as a separate threat and not just a rehash of 2010’s antagonists, but again; Not too connected to the environment as to be OP. This narrative balance would help the protagonists, and perhaps we would’ve seen Mata Nui and co. explore the treetops of Bota Magna to get away from the Earth Lord’s reach, thus setting up the introduction for Pterosaurs. In addition to her narrative weight as an orchestrator and connection to Bota Magna, I imagine the Earth Lord would’ve further stood out from her brethren thanks to having an actual army to work with; Her tribe still serves her.
Who knows, perhaps through the Earth Lord we would’ve learned about the origins of Energized Protodermis, and gotten further lore on this substance that caused it all. We could’ve learned more about Protodermis and its connection to its energized variant, which would be further topical as Protodermis is the literal building block of the Matoran Universe, Mata Nui’s own body. Thus, the conflict with the Earth Tribe gives Mata Nui and the audience more lore regarding Energized Protodermis, its nature, and even its contributions to his own body.
Going into further speculation, perhaps Mata Nui would’ve needed to address the existence of Energized Protodermis; Is it a necessary evil? It caused this Core War, but perhaps it wouldn’t have happened if not for the Earth Lord. HIS people didn’t start wars over it, so it’s possible the issue really is just in society and its unity, and not in the substance. Perhaps Mata Nui would contemplate what to do with Energized Protodermis, and maybe its consciousness would’ve also been reintroduced, similar to Ignika as the unnoticed mind of a powerful force. Perhaps the Energized Protodermis Entity would be revealed to be a puppetmaster of even the Earth Lord, forcing Mata Nui to defeat it.
It’s worth noting that in canon, energized protodermis is used to stabilize the GSR’s power source; And we know the Prototype Robot’s power source is unstable itself. This fact is brought up in our canon final battle but ultimately does little other than explain why the Prototype blew up to begin with… But I have to wonder if in addition to closure on the Great Beings, the Bota Magna arc would’ve brought much-needed energized protodermis. Thus, Mata Nui returns to Bara Magna with the substance, allowing him to stabilize his Prototype Robot, so he doesn’t have to worry about it exploding again.
This would be another contribution to the Prototype Robot’s reassembling, and further justify the Bota Magna arc, when Mata Nui seemingly already has what he needs to fight Makuta. Not that Bionicle has ever concerned itself too much with ‘narrative importance’, but regardless. The Magna saga seems to have been the story team’s attempts at telling a more concise story that’s easier to keep track of, hence the mainline films; So maybe they had this stuff in mind.
So to put in order my speculation on what was planned for the Bota Magna arc;
Mata Nui and co. land on Bota Magna. They encounter biomechanical dinosaurs, seeing the works of the Great Beings before their very eyes. Their goal is to head back to Bara Magna, but they get into conflict with the Glatorian-Agori who hate technology, whose sets introduce new dual-molded pieces meant to represent metal and plantlife.
These antagonists would reveal the presence of the Great Beings, thus incentivizing Mata Nui to find them as a way off Bota Magna, and to also get further aid and much-needed closure. We probably would’ve had an arc of Kiina adjusting to Bota Magna, since her whole deal was escaping the planet; Maybe she’d accept it, maybe she’d learn not to take her old home for granted. Perhaps Kiina would come to the conclusion that Bota and Bara Magna suck, leading to despair; Only for Mata Nui to bring hope when he learns from the Great Beings how he can bring new life to Spherus Magna after reforming it.
He possibly learns this when exploring the Mask of Life’s origins; He finds the Northern Frost where it was cooled. The consciousness of Ignika might return, to take responsibility in parallel to Mata Nui; Either way, these intertwined characters have both of their origins and pasts explored. The Cursed Being shows up, separate from his brethren, and is a likely antagonist and source of lore regarding Ignika, and a neat callback to 2006. To show how he’s a better ruler now, Mata Nui might free the Great Being of his curse; Perhaps he’ll reflect on how he treated Makuta as well, in parallel to Ignika.
We would’ve explored the Skrall homeland, possibly providing further closure to the Rock Tribe back on Bara Magna; Maybe Buckethead would help the scattered Skrall rehabilitate and learn to coexist with the Agori tribes, and Tuma may join in on this, or continue to be a background threat like in the fifth film. Mata Nui informs the Bota Magna Skrall that there’s peace now, no more reason to fight.
Kabrua and his tribe might show up, caring about their Vorox brethren back on Bara Magna; Thus, they have reason to be adversarial with our protagonists. They may or may not desire the Mask of Life, which might make or break Mata Nui’s conflict with Kabrua, regardless he’ll cure the Vorox anyway because he’s a good person. Given the Skrall’s penchant for enslaving Vorox, we might see the Bota Magna Skrall and Vorox fight a bit, with Mata Nui caught between and having to navigate this as well, hoping for both factions to make amends after meeting Buckethead.
Finally, we’d roll around to the Earth Tribe, the hidden tribe from whom Tera’s existence sets up. Not only was Tera a good person, but this Earth Tribe seems to be kind, nature-loving hippies who care for the planet, hence why they never participated in the Core War. Even their Element Lord is good, a benevolent Mother Earth figure, hence why she’s still on good terms with her tribe unlike the rest of her brethren.
However, something’s amiss about this group… Perhaps the tech-hating Agori/Vorox warn Mata Nui, but their previous antagonism makes the protagonists skeptical. Perhaps we’d see a common trope where all but one of the protagonists buys the act; Maybe Kiina would, wanting to believe in this new world she found, or she’d be suspicious of the Earth Lord, having professed her own wariness of the Water Lord in 2010. This leads to drama between the protagonists over whether or not to trust the Earth Tribe.
From the Great Beings and Earth Lord, we learn more of the Core War, the Great Spirit Robot’s creation, Ignika’s past, and so forth. The importance of energized protodermis is brought up in all of this, and Mata Nui realizes he needs some if he doesn’t want his Prototype Robot back on Bara Magna to explode when he takes control. The danger of energized protodermis is something Mata Nui struggles with, and its consciousness possibly reveals itself as the final antagonist behind it all.
The Earth Tribe’s treachery and machinations are revealed; Our protagonists have to evade the Earth Lord, maybe head to the treetops and encounter some pterosaurs. Mata Nui probably exercises his leadership in befriending the Bota Magna Agori, forming an alliance with them against the Earth Tribe, who seek to exploit the Great Beings, Mask of Life, and energized protodermis for themselves; He cites how the Earth Tribe caused this Core War, after all.
Perhaps the Bota Magna Agori didn’t know the truth of the Earth Tribe, but learning this helps them stop blaming technology for the Core War, but instead the true culprits. Thus, Mata Nui makes peace with the Bota Magna Agori, who are less hostile to technology now. Kabrua and his Vorox might recognize the Earth Lord as the domino effect cause of their brethren’s degeneration, and ally with Mata Nui and the Bota Magna Skrall against a common enemy, just like the Agori Tribes against the Skrall in 2009; And/or, Kabrua’s Vorox ally with the Earth Tribe since they also hate Mata Nui and his friends, only for that to inevitably fall apart.
Mata Nui learns about how the Earth Tribe has the last source of energized protodermis -with the rest being under Makuta’s control inside the Matoran Universe- thereby setting another goal and victory in defeating the Earth Lord, which he of course does. Mata Nui now has the substance he needs to properly rival his arch-nemesis. The Energized Protodermis Entity, set up as far back as a seemingly inconsequential side story from 2004, probably not even planned to be important like the substance it embodies, is potentially resolved; Revealed as a man behind the man for the Earth Lord. Maybe it even acts as an Element Lord of Protodermis, a final antagonist of that species after two years of fighting them.
Mata Nui finds closure from the Great Beings, who may or may not ally with him; They probably go off into space as Greg planned for the canon story serials. The Great Beings might leave information and resources to help Mata Nui with, either at the end of the final battle, or they skedaddle right before. Either way, Mata Nui fully understands his mission now, and he has a swanky new spaceship to fly back to Bara Magna; Maybe it’s the Red Star, which the Great Beings call over from Aqua Magna.
Its importance IS set up in Riddle of the Great Beings, and was tied to the Valley of the Maze; Maybe the Great Volcano was used to launch it into space alongside the GSR? Maybe the Red Star is where the Great Beings have always been, monitoring the Matoran Universe but unable to do anything to help besides create the Toa Inika. On Bota Magna, Mata Nui might activate a signal that calls the Red Star to him, where the Great Beings emerge and explain it all; Fans have speculated the Red Star would’ve contained the Great Beings in early 2001 concepts.
Kiina realizes she doesn’t have to choose between Bara and Bota Magna, because all three fragments will be reunited once more; She can still visit her old friends, like Berix and Gresh! The peoples of Bota and Bara Magna reunite, the Skrall reconcile with the Agori with the help of Buckethead, and Mata Nui stays true to his word and uses Ignika to heal the minds of the Vorox. Malum and Kabrua’s interactions are left up in the air, and as for the Earth Tribe…
Well, given the more positive and kid-friendly direction of the intended ‘Magna Trilogy’ of films, I imagine the Earth Tribe would also learn to make amends; Not everyone is bad, our first introduction to them is Tera! With Tera, we might see members of the Earth Tribe who want to just peacefully coexist, who are sick of the Earth Lord’s scheming. Thus, Skrall and Earth Tribe parallel one another, and join the Agori alliance with the Vorox.
Thus, the Bota Magna arc ends. This sounds like a lot, so maybe it’d take place across two years, like Bara Magna beforehand. Either way, the ultimate battle is finally set up; Mata Nui’s Prototype Robot is ready for him to control and fight Makuta with. The matter of the Great Beings is settled, and we actually get to explore Bota Magna as a setting. Lore, origins, and backstory are clarified here, instead of being subcontracted to a graphic novel.
Given how the Agori have been living inside of the Prototype Robot’s pieces, I have to wonder… Would they act as its workers, as a counterpart to the Matoran and other biomechanicals of the GSR? It’d make sense in-universe, perhaps Mata Nui learns from the Great Beings that the Prototype failed because it lacked energized protodermis and workers to maintain it.
It’d also be thematically fitting; Mata Nui fails the people of his old body, so he makes up for it and returns in a new body, with a new following of workers with whom he’s properly engaged with and united. This puts him at odds with Makuta, who has the biomechanicals, and contrasts in his tyrannical rule over them, a dark echo to Mata Nui as a terrible god. Mata Nui’s relationship with the Agori reassures the Matoran that their Great Spirit isn’t going to fail them again.
This does place potential complications in Mata Nui and Makuta’s final battle, of course; Now Mata Nui has to make sure the Agori inside of him aren’t hurt, either! Maybe the final battle would have both robots emptied of its inhabitants; This harms Makuta’s GSR as his workers are gone, giving Mata Nui a much-needed edge. It also allows the smaller inhabitants, the Agori and Matoran, to fight on ground-level against Makuta’s armies, in parallel to the battle of titans above.
Perhaps we’d see Mata Nui successfully reunite Spherus Magna before he has to fight Makuta; Which of course brings Makuta to him anyway, because now they’re on the same celestial object. Then we have what Bionicle Stars should’ve been, as a proper conclusion that bridges the Matoran Universe and Magna storylines, while also not being rushed.
I’m really curious as to what the Element Lord sets would’ve looked like, had Bionicle not been cancelled. The graphic novel and serials describe them as pure, raw forces of elemental nature, basically just the elements themselves- Which I imagine would be a lot harder to convey with Bionicle pieces, and some of that depiction would be lost in translation. I guess Stuart Sayger got to do much more stylized designs that didn’t fit with Bionicle’s aesthetic since the sets were never going to be released anyway, and thus didn’t have to be constrained by the limits of the system at the time.
But then again, the Glatorian sets ended up feeling a lot more vibrant and elemental than the actual Toa of later years, thanks to their bright colors and molded armor pieces designed to invoke the elements- So we could’ve gotten some really interesting designs regardless! I have to wonder if the Element Lords would’ve been canister sets, Titans, or divided somewhere between the two... And if we would’ve gotten proper names for them, I presume.
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
I finally finished another Bionicle fic! This time, I’m trying to fill in the abandoned 2010 graphic novel Power of the Great Beings, which would have featured Mata Nui’s journey through the Valley of the Maze and introduced the Element Lord of Sand. I took special interest in that last point and wanted to write a story that would give her some long-overdue characterization.
I’ve been working on this since 2016, and I’m overjoyed to finally have it out in the world. I have several more fics on the docket that are nearly complete; stay tuned!
*All present-day character ages are canon, taken from BS01*
So if Gresh is in the equivalent of his mid-20′s during 2009/2010, but is too young to remember the Shattering, which would mean he was an infant or even a newborn at the time, that would mean the 100,000 years between the Shattering and 09 is about the equivalent of 25 human years for Agori/Glatorian.
From this, we can determine interesting things, like that the conversion rate of human age into Spherus Magnan age is roughly 4,000 Spherus Magnan years to 1 human year.
We can also determine terrifying things, like how old certain characters were during the Core War.
Ackar is in his late 40′s during 09, which would mean he was in his early to mid 20′s in the war.
Scared yet? No? Well what if I told you that would mean Tarix and Vastus, around their early 40′s in 09, would have been teenagers no older than 17?
Not awful enough? Well how about the fact that it would mean Kiina, in her mid 30′s in 09 and confirmed to have fought in the war, would have been no older than the equivalent of 11 years old? Same likely goes for Gelu, Strakk, Malum, Perditus, and so. Many. More.
The Element Lords were fighting their stupid, pointless war with fucking child soldiers. As if blowing up your planet over a puddle of mutagenic mercury wasn’t bad enough, they gave children swords and guns and sent them off to die for it.
And what did the Great Beings do about it? Did they step in? Did they intervene? Did they protect those children? No. No, they didn’t. Instead, half of them built a giant robot and fired it into space so it could come back a few generations later to fix their problems for them. Meanwhile, the other half built an army of shapeshifting robotic murderers to kill the children. Because that’s how wars are ended.
