Bionicle 2011 Serials

[Brickthing]

Bionicle has finished producing new sets, but as most of you know the story will be continued on Bioniclestory.com by Greg Farshtey until at least the end of this year.

The story updates haven't been the most frequent, so this topic will also serve as an updater to let you know when new serials are posted. That way you don't need to check BionicleStory.com twice a day anymore.

Sahmad's Tale, Chapter 7 is up!

Note: This topic is for discussing the serials, so please read the latest serial updates before scrolling down if you don't want to be spoiled! No spoiler tags need to be used in this topic.

[ultra hamster]

Yay!!

While this new chapter of Sahmad's Tale is short, it had some cool scenes and a name for this new tentacled creature:

Annona.

Weird name, it appears it's a "she". I thought it would be an "it".

Edited January 16, 2011 by ultra hamster

[Refia]

The next chapter of "The Yesterday Quest" is up and reveals quite a stunning twist that I never saw coming. And as you may have guessed, of course, the usual cliffhanger ending is present.

[Jouster]

Wow, I sure didn't see that coming. And as usual, cliffhanger at the end.

[Brickthing]

Good to have a new chapter, despite how long it was since the last TYQ update. The chapter itself was good and it was nice that it focused on one storyline only, but I disliked the new ideas/twists introduced into the story.

The first one, power nullification via a device seems to devalue the life and nature of MU inhabitants. Although they are artificial and mostly robotic, they've always been portrayed as sentient and living beings, but now they suddenly have a switch deep within them that can disable any of the wide range of abilities they are capable of using? Are there other "off-switches" that the GB have included that can disable/kill Toa instantly, or completely change their memories and personalities at the push of a button?

The second twist of a Great Being living amongst the characters all the time could form a very good plot if handled well, but I'm worried about it not being handled well. The Great Being will almost certainly be a character that we have know for a long time, that we can hopefully assume was one of the first beings created (Helryx, Artahka, even Takua?). Seeing as this character now has an agenda to get rid of the Toa by providing Kabrua will the means to do so (and he/she probably released Marendar), what happened to the past 100,000 years spent co-existing with Toa? I hope it isn't revealed that all their interactions with MU beings were cold charades, and that the GB never saw the life and value of their creations despite spending so much time with them.

[Matsuoka Nui]

There's a "mini" contest on picking a character to become a Great Being on BZP as of current. I guess this means that chapter 4 will be out soon! <3 Hopefully the next TPTB chapter will have interesting stuff with the Purple and Black Entities...

[Ikki o' Moopyville]

There's a "mini" contest on picking a character to become a Great Being on BZP as of current. I guess this means that chapter 4 will be out soon! <3 Hopefully the next TPTB chapter will have interesting stuff with the Purple and Black Entities...

Wait... so Greg is just deciding who the Great Being is on a whim?

Sigh. Can't say I'm surprised.

[Brickthing]

Wait... so Greg is just deciding who the Great Being is on a whim?

Sigh. Can't say I'm surprised.

He said that he already decided who the Great Being was before the mini-contest, but the idea to make that character a GB was new when he decided to do it.

So it's possible that the GB character doesn't make canonical sense as being a GB due to some obscure details in past story, and will be retconned to make it make sense.

[Refia]

The Powers That Be 4 is up. And it's the incarnation of filler. We learn nothing, except that Greg proves once again that he's good at Necromancy and bringing back the dead, a name for the purple beings and the fact that Axonn, Brutaka, Helryx, Tuyet, Arthaka, Miserix and Vezon (I doubt it) are all gonna die. I could have guessed that.

I don't like where this serial is going, to be honest.

[Phantoka Kopaka Nuva]

The Powers That Be 4 is up. And it's the incarnation of filler. We learn nothing, except that Greg proves once again that he's good at Necromancy and bringing back the dead, a name for the purple beings and the fact that Axonn, Brutaka, Helryx, Tuyet, Arthaka, Miserix and Vezon (I doubt it) are all gonna die. I could have guessed that.

I don't like where this serial is going, to be honest.

Can you sound any more negative? I don't think so. Be happy that we got a serial chapter after 2 months.

Anyway, Mavrah is alive. Woo. Usually, when a thought-to-be-dead character returns, there's always a reason. Some sort of story twist that makes the character all-important. *coughGBcough*

[CabooseBM]

Man, the fanwank at the end was palpable.

But hell, I couldn't help but crack a grin at it.

[Brickthing]

I agree with Refia about this episode. This update set up a lot of action for the next chapter, but the next chapter probably won't come for another 3 months.

Whoever the disguised Great Being is, they seem to know as much information as we do from reading the serials - are there any MU characters that are that omniscient? Hopefully we will get to see how they set up the fortress to be destroyed so quickly - I'm not at all satisfied with "a complicated and delicate job was done".

I also noticed that the Great Being thought or said "the fortress would be so much rubble" and "the Great Beings’ fortress and its occupants would be so much ash". The use of "so much" strikes me as a strong clue to who the Great Being is, only I can't remember if any/which BIONICLE character uses that phrase.

[Refia]

Can you sound any more negative? I don't think so. Be happy that we got a serial chapter after 2 months.

Sure I can. If you want me to be completely honest: I wish we didn't have these serials at all, since the update rate is, ehm, not very good at all, to put it nicely, and you'd think that for a long wait we'd get exceptionally good stuff... but, ehm, no, that's not really the case either. I wish Bionicle had ended with some dignity. These serials simply burst from the fanservice, and Greg's "making things up as they go" is far from a writing style I can appreciate. It's a mess, to put it simply, and I have the feeling we're in for more serial cross-overing like in summer 2008. And we all know how that worked out. I wish Greg put some effort into this, but, if I can still be honest, reading these chapters honestly gives me the feeling and impression that he'd rather not be bothered with this anymore.

I guess you could say that's my problem and that's just me, and yeah, it is. It's my feeling that these post-mortem serials are average at best. And idiot I am, I still check out every time a new chapter comes up in the vain hope that this time it'll be better.

I also noticed that the Great Being thought or said "the fortress would be so much rubble" and "the Great Beings’ fortress and its occupants would be so much ash". The use of "so much" strikes me as a strong clue to who the Great Being is, only I can't remember if any/which BIONICLE character uses that phrase.

It reminds me a bit of how Mutran used to talk, but he's dead, so it can't be him. Or actually, it can. Greg brings characters back from the dead as he sees fit.

Edited March 30, 2011 by Refia

[jala12]

Sure I can. If you want me to be completely honest: I wish we didn't have these serials at all, since the update rate is, ehm, not very good at all, to put it nicely, and you'd think that for a long wait we'd get exceptionally good stuff... but, ehm, no, that's not really the case either. I wish Bionicle had ended with some dignity. These serials simply burst from the fanservice, and Greg's "making things up as they go" is far from a writing style I can appreciate. It's a mess, to put it simply, and I have the feeling we're in for more serial cross-overing like in summer 2008. And we all know how that worked out. I wish Greg put some effort into this, but, if I can still be honest, reading these chapters honestly gives me the feeling and impression that he'd rather not be bothered with this anymore.

I guess you could say that's my problem and that's just me, and yeah, it is. It's my feeling that these post-mortem serials are average at best. And idiot I am, I still check out every time a new chapter comes up in the vain hope that this time it'll be better.

It reminds me a bit of how Mutran used to talk, but he's dead, so it can't be him. Or actually, it can. Greg brings characters back from the dead as he sees fit.

Man, it's like I've forgotten everything already. Who was brought back to life previously, before Mahvrah?

EDIT: Ah, now it's coming to me. Let's see, there's Tuyet and possibly Zaktan.Can't really think of anyone else right now. :(

Edited April 1, 2011 by jala12

[Phantoka Kopaka Nuva]

Just wait a second. So Tuyet and possibly Zaktan are brought back to life, but has Greg ever said that they're dead? I've been following the story for quite a long time, and there's no where that Greg explicitly states that they are dead. The only ones that has been stated dead are Matoro, the Makuta, and some others that hasn't been "brought back to life".

[jala12]

Just wait a second. So Tuyet and possibly Zaktan are brought back to life, but has Greg ever said that they're dead? I've been following the story for quite a long time, and there's no where that Greg explicitly states that they are dead. The only ones that has been stated dead are Matoro, the Makuta, and some others that hasn't been "brought back to life".

Well, it certainly seemed that Tuyet was dead. The remains were further evidence to prove that, but Greg managed to flip all that upside down by saying that they belonged to another Tuyet. As for Zaktan, he said that he was very dead not long after that serial chapter was put online. If you ask him now, the answer will likely be "wait and see". Next thing you know, Greg will say Botar rescued the real Matoro and let an alternate one sacrifice his life, lol.

[Phantoka Kopaka Nuva]

Well, it certainly seemed that Tuyet was dead. The remains were further evidence to prove that, but Greg managed to flip all that upside down by saying that they belonged to another Tuyet. As for Zaktan, he said that he was very dead not long after that serial chapter was put online. If you ask him now, the answer will likely be "wait and see". Next thing you know, Greg will say Botar rescued the real Matoro and let an alternate one sacrifice his life, lol.

I need to point out something here: while the characters seem dead, it has NEVER been explicitly stated anywhere in the story that they're dead. He has never written on any kind of public media that they're dead (so PMs to him don't count). So Greg has a legit reason to bring them back. Matoro, on the other hand, is totally dead. Bringing him back would make his sacrifice worthless. And also, Botar is dead too.

[Brickthing]

I need to point out something here: while the characters seem dead, it has NEVER been explicitly stated anywhere in the story that they're dead. He has never written on any kind of public media that they're dead (so PMs to him don't count). So Greg has a legit reason to bring them back. Matoro, on the other hand, is totally dead. Bringing him back would make his sacrifice worthless. And also, Botar is dead too.

Zaktan and his fishbowl were blown up. There was supposedly uncertainty around Tuyet's death when The Pit collapsed (did she die trying to escape or trying to stop other prisoners escaping?), but she was definitely said to be dead and the plot involving Teridax recovering Nui Stone fragments from her reanimated corpse confirmed it. At the time it shouldn't have required direct "She is dead" confirmation in the story to infer that she was dead, and not inter-dimensionally switched with a double by secret OoMN members only to escape & return two years later with little explanation.

[Phantoka Kopaka Nuva]

Zaktan and his fishbowl were blown up. There was supposedly uncertainty around Tuyet's death when The Pit collapsed (did she die trying to escape or trying to stop other prisoners escaping?), but she was definitely said to be dead and the plot involving Teridax recovering Nui Stone fragments from her reanimated corpse confirmed it. At the time it shouldn't have required direct "She is dead" confirmation in the story to infer that she was dead, and not inter-dimensionally switched with a double by secret OoMN members only to escape & return two years later with little explanation.

Oh, right. True, the Tuyet thing was pretty messed up. Still, there was doubt about Zaktan's death. I mean, sure, his tank blew up. But that's not a problem if he split himself into protodites, right? By doing that, only a few of his protodites would die, and he would escape without anyone noticing. Remember, protodites are very small and hard to notice.

[jala12]

Oh, right. True, the Tuyet thing was pretty messed up. Still, there was doubt about Zaktan's death. I mean, sure, his tank blew up. But that's not a problem if he split himself into protodites, right? By doing that, only a few of his protodites would die, and he would escape without anyone noticing. Remember, protodites are very small and hard to notice.

But you're forgetting that they can't breath without water now, since he enetered the mutagen.

[ultra hamster]

But you're forgetting that they can't breath without water now, since he enetered the mutagen.

No, Mata Nui gave all the pit mutants the ability to breath above water again at the end of Journey's End.

Honest mistake though.

Edited April 9, 2011 by ultra hamster

[jala12]

But Mata-nui was only able to do that long after that serial chapter. Even if not all of Zaktan's protodites exploded along with the tank, the rest would have suffocated to death long before Makuta was defeated. The only logical explanation I can see of him surviving is if there was some nearby water source and the remaining protodites fled into it and escaped.

[Phantoka Kopaka Nuva]

But Mata-nui was only able to do that long after that serial chapter. Even if not all of Zaktan's protodites exploded along with the tank, the rest would have suffocated to death long before Makuta was defeated. The only logical explanation I can see of him surviving is if there was some nearby water source and the remaining protodites fled into it and escaped.

You're assuming Zaktan ONLY breathes water. Remember, Zaktan was a mutant long before he turned into snake form. The Pit mutagen might have other effects on him. Who knows, he could be amphibious.

[jala12]

You're assuming Zaktan ONLY breathes water. Remember, Zaktan was a mutant long before he turned into snake form. The Pit mutagen might have other effects on him. Who knows, he could be amphibious.

Ah, yes, that's a possible explanation that Greg could use. Rather cheap though.

Edited April 14, 2011 by jala12

[Jouster]

Sahmad's Tale chapter 7 is up on bioniclestory.com