Ask Greg (2007)

In 2007, BIONICLEstory.com had an Ask Greg section where fans could ask Greg Farshtey questions. An archived version of the site can be viewed on BioMedia Project using the Ruffle Flash emulator plugin. For convenience, the text is reproduced below, kindly provided by Wolk (the text may have minor errors or typos).

Ask Greg

Greg Farshtey is the author of the BIONICLE comics and the Scholastic book series, as well as a member of the BIONICLE story team. He has been with the company for over six years and serves as Editor in Chief for LEGO Magazine.

Name: Andrew.
Q: Why does Kongu have two Cordak blasters, but no weapon? What does/can he do when he runs out of ammo?
A: Well, if you were going to a battle with thousands of sea creatures, would you rather have a weapon that would allow you to fight from a long distance away, or one that requires you to be right in the middle of them? And there is plenty of Cordak ammo around that the Barraki captured from Hydaxon and the Toa stole from them.

Name: James.
Q: What will become of the Bohrok after they are done cleaning the island of Mata Nui? And also what sends to beacon for the Bahrag, Bohrok, etc. to awaken?
A: They will go back to sleep until the next time they are needed. And exactly how the signal is sent has not been revealed.

Name: Charlie.
Q: I head a rumor that there was going to be a 4th BIONICLE movie. Is this true?
A: Yes, there are currently plans for another movie.

Name: Sam.
Q: Why hasn’t Lesovikk turned into a Turaga?
A: To become a Turaga, you have to do two things - you have to fulfill your destiny and you have to choose to give up your Toa power. It’s very possible Lesovikk has not yet fulfilled his destiny.

Name: Dzulfadhli.
Q: Where did Maxilos get Spinax? And why?
A: Maxilos was given Spinax by Hydraxon many thousands of years ago. And he has him for the same reason many prison guards have dogs - to help track down escaped prisoners.

Name: Nicholas.
Q: What would happen if someone put the Mask of Life on their face?
A: Well, first, if they were not destined to wear the mask, they would be cursed for touching it. And second, they probably would not be able to control its power.

Name: Caleb.
Q: At the end of the seventh game, Matoro wears the Mask of Life. Will that really happen?
A: Sorry, Caleb, I can’t reveal future storyline.

Name: Govey.
Q: What is the strongest mask?
A: The two most powerful masks we know of are the Mask of Time and the Mask of Life.

Name: LKM.
Q: Didn’t the Toa Mahri have a second thought before they blasted the stone cord linking Mahri Nui and Voya Nui? Geez, the whole island is crashing on them! And how ‘bout the Voyanans?
A: Sometimes, heroes have to take risks. They had already saved the Voya Nui Matoran (see the September comic) and they knew that the cord had to be cut if there was any hope of saving Mata Nui.

Name: Tristan.
Q: How did the Toa Mahri get their cordak blasters?
A: The Barraki stole them from Hydraxon when they escaped their jail, and the Toa found them in one of the Barraki caves.

Name: Patrick.
Q: On average, what is the approximate natural lifespan of a Matoran?
A: Hasn’t been revealed, but we know there are some who are close to 100,000 years old if not older.

Name: Andy.
Q: Are any more comics and/or books going to star the Toa Nuva?
A: In the future, yes.

Name: Xander.
Q: Whatever happened to Toa Likhan’s team? Has he always been alone?
A: Lhikan’s team was station on Metru Nui for a long time. Some members left on their own, one (Toa Tuyet) went to the Pit, one (Nidhiki) became a Dark Hunter, and the rest were sent to their deaths by Makuta when he was disguised as Turaga Dume.

Name: Daniel.
Q: Why aren’t there any Turaga in Mahri Nui?
A: Because there weren’t any on Voya Nui, and Mahri Nui broke off of Voya Nui. The Turaga of Voya Nui, Jovan, died when that island broke off the mainland 1000 years ago.

Name: Ryan.
Q: Why wasn’t it the Toa Nuva’s job to retrieve the Mask of Life?
A: Cause saving Mata Nui’s life is not their destiny. Their destiny is to wake up Mata Nui. The Mahri’s destiny is to deal with his life or death.

Name: Tristan.
Q: If Gadunka has no clue what the mask is or does, then why is he after it and how do all the creatures end up with squid launchers and cordak blasters?
A: Why does, say, your dog fight you for your slippers - dogs can’t wear slippers. He does it because he thinks they belong to him. As for your second question, the Barraki have extras of their weapons, so it is not hard to stumble across one when you are in the pit.

Name: Nathan.
Q: How does Jaller use his fire element underwater?
A: We have, in our world, torches that can burn underwater, so we feel it is okay to have Jaller us his power too. It’s just harder and very tiring for him now.

Name: Edgardo.
Q: Is it true that Mahri Nui is under Voya Nui, and how did the Toa Mahri get to Mahri Nui?
A: Yes, it is true. And Voya Nui and Mahri Nui are connected by a stone cord that is hollow inside. The Toa Mahri traveled down the cord to reach Mahri Nui.

Name: Tyler.
Q: Does the Mask of Life have a mind of is own?
A: Sort of. It doesn’t think like you and I do, but it does have memories and it does react with emotion.

Name: James Abad.
Q: Why do the Toa always evolve?
A: Basically, LEGO Company has two choices every year - make new Toa or bring back old ones. If we bring back the old ones, we have to change the sets, otherwise no one will want to buy the same sets they just saw last year. So we evolve them into new forms. The only other choice would be to nevr have the same heroes for more than a year.

Name: James.
Q: Why does Makuta use Maxilos’s body to take revenge? There are plenty of strong bodies in the world and how did Makuta survive when he was crushed by a wall?
A: Okay, your last question first. Makuta does not hae a physical body, he is just energy in armor. So all crushing his armor did was force his energy to leave to find another body. You can’t kill energy by crushing it. As for why he went into Maxilos, Makuta can only possess two kinds of bodies - a robot body, or a living body that has no spirit already in it. Since Maxilos is a robot, that was the easiest one to get into.

Q: Did Gadunka always look the way he does now?
A: Yes, but he used to be much smaller. Gadunka was a tiny marine creature, until he took shelter under the Mask of Life. Exposure to the energies of the mask resulted in hims growing to many times his original size. His strength and his appetite grew too, but his nasty temper was unchanged.

Q: I’ve heard that Hydraxon is really Dekar. Is that true?
A: Yes. The original Hydraxon was killed 1000 years ago when an earthquake shattered the Pit and the prisoners (including the Barraki) escaped. Recently, when the Po-Matoran named Dekar was about to drown, the Mask of Life used its power to transform him into a duplicate of Hydaxon so he could fight the Barraki. He has all the memories of the real Hydraxon just up to before the death of the original and really believes he is the Pit jailer.

Q: Where do the Toa Mahri get the Toa Terrain Crawler? And is it a beast or a vehicle?
A: The Toa Terrain Crawler is a Rahi beast that has been modified to serve as a vehicle. The Toa Mahri get the Crawler from Axonn later in the storyline and use it to return from Voya Nui to the Pit.

Q: Does the BIONICLE storyline take place on Earth, or some other planet?
A: No, the BIONICLE storyline does not take place on Earth.

Q: Why wasn’t Makuta banished to the Pit after trying to take over Metru Nui and putting Mata Nui into a coma?
A: Good question. Let’s look at the answer. Prisoners are sent to the Pit by the Order of Mata Nui, a secret organization that even the Brotherhood of Makuta does not know exists. The fact that they are secret gives them a big advantage - they can operate where they like, do what they need to, and any enemies can’t find them or even know they are out there.
If the Order sent Makuta to the Pit, all the other Brotherhood members would have wondered why he disappeared. They would have started investigating and eventually found out about the Order. The Order’s bes weapon - their secrecy - would have been gone, all to get rid of one Makuta, and leaving them with many more still to deal with. The Order felt it was too big a price to pay at this point just to punish one enemy. They know someday they may have to go to war with the Brotherhood, and it is much better to keep their existence a secret until then.

Q: Why did they send a robot (Maxilos) to guard the Pit? And why does the Mask of Life create guardians left and right who fight each other when Matoro is the guardian?
A: Lots of questions here. First off, on Maxilos - well, robots can’t be bribed. They can’t be frightened. They can’t feel threatened. You can’t even insult one because they have no feelings to be hurt. That makes them pretty good guards.
As for the Mask of Life - it does what it needs to do. And Matoro is not a guardian of the mask, he is the one destined to carry it where it needs to go. Umbra is a guardian of the mask; Hydraxon was created to fight the Barraki, not really guard the mask; and Gadunka’s transformation from a tiny creature to a big one was purely an accident (in seeking shelter under the mask, Gadunka was exposed to the energies of the Ignika and evolved).
I think you have to put yourself in the mask’s “shoes.” If you were it, would you reasonably expect that Matoro, on his own, could fight off six Barraki and their armies and all the others who want the mask? Or would you try to bring others into being who could fight for you?

Q: Why were the Barraki sent to the Pit?
A: The Barraki and their armies attempted to rebel against the Great Spirit Mata Nui and seize power roughly 80,000 years ago. They were defeated and sentenced to spend eternity in the Pit.

Q: Does the word “Barraki” mean something in the Matoran language?
A: Yes, “Barraki” means “warlord” in Matoran. The Barraki were once conquerors and rulers of much of the universe.

Q: Did the Barraki always look the way they do now?
A: No. The Barraki once looked very different. But they were mutated by exposure to the waters underneath Mahri Nui and now look like sea creatures.