Into the Darkness

Into the DarknessDarknessThe Dark Hunter who shadows the Shadowed One himself, waiting for any sign of weakness so he can kill his leader and take his place. was the descent of ToaWho are the Toa Mata?Six warriors built to order by Artakha, stored in canisters, dropped into the ocean. This is the origin story of Bionicle's heroes and why their first week of work was entirely amnesiac. MatoroMatoroA quiet Ko-Matoran translator who became a Toa Inika and then a Toa Mahri, Matoro gave his life with the Mask of Life to restore Mata Nui. into the ruins of the original PitThe PitThe Order of Mata Nui's maximum-security underwater prison where the Barraki warlords were held until catastrophe broke their chains. alongside the MaxilosMaxilos RobotsBuilt by Artakha and deployed by the Order of Mata Nui to guard the Pit, a single Maxilos unit was later hijacked by Teridax during the Mahri Nui arc. robot possessed by TeridaxTeridaxTeridax orchestrated a thousand-year scheme that ended with him occupying the Great Spirit Robot itself before his death on Bara Magna.. Told as a 2007 online serial, it ran alongside the Toa NuvaToa Mata and Toa NuvaSix biomechanical heroes created by the Great Beings to awaken Mata Nui and defeat the Brotherhood, transformed once and tested across an entire age.'s pursuit of the Staff of ArtakhaThe Staff of ArtakhaA restoration artifact forged by Artakha himself, used by Helryx to reverse the environmental damage of the Great Cataclysm., which IcaraxIcaraxHe thought scheming was for the weak and said so out loud, so the canon made sure the thing that finally killed him was a scheme. had taken. The descent found the remains of a long-dead ToaWho are the Toa Mata?Six warriors built to order by Artakha, stored in canisters, dropped into the ocean. This is the origin story of Bionicle's heroes and why their first week of work was entirely amnesiac. of Water named TuyetTuyetA Toa of Water caught in the Order's machinations, Tuyet turned from peer-seeker to rebel-schemer., whom Matoro reanimated under duress so that Teridax could get at the fragments of the Nui StoneNui StoneA red artifact that hunts Toa and drains their power within 3000 kio, sought by Tuyet in ancient Metru Nui to gain strength against enemies only she could see. in her armour. It came close to handing the BrotherhoodThe Brotherhood of MakutaAn organization of Makuta created by Mata Nui to build Rahi and keep order in his universe, later seized by Teridax and turned into the instrument of the Plan that overthrew the Great Spirit. a terrible new weapon. (Into the Darkness)

Background#

The events of Into the DarknessDarknessThe Dark Hunter who shadows the Shadowed One himself, waiting for any sign of weakness so he can kill his leader and take his place. sat inside the wider Mask of LifeThe Mask of Life (Kanohi Ignika), explainedA failsafe forged by the Great Beings to recharge a god. It curses everyone who touches it, and by the end of Bionicle it had learned how to be a hero. campaign. The Toa MahriToa Mahri: The Toa Who Saved the UniverseThe Toa Mahri were the water breathing form of the sixth Toa team, transformed by the Mask of Life on the way down to the drowned city of Mahri Nui. They fought the Barraki for the mask and recovered it at the cost of one of their own., recently transformed from the Toa InikaToa Inika: six Matoran struck by lightningSix Matoran of Metru Nui chased the Toa Nuva to Voya Nui and were struck by lightning from the red star. That strike made them the Toa Inika. by the Mask of LifeThe Mask of Life (Kanohi Ignika), explainedA failsafe forged by the Great Beings to recharge a god. It curses everyone who touches it, and by the end of Bionicle it had learned how to be a hero., were operating below the surface around Mahri NuiMahri NuiA matoran settlement that sank, survived, and was ultimately crushed beneath Voya Nui, leaving behind one of Bionicle's most poignant lost civilizations., the broken fragment of Voya NuiVoya NuiAn island born from catastrophe and hiding the universe's most powerful artifact, Voya Nui was everything Bionicle 2006 promised: danger, mystery, and a race against time. that had sunk into the PitThe PitThe Order of Mata Nui's maximum-security underwater prison where the Barraki warlords were held until catastrophe broke their chains. centuries before. The original PitThe PitThe Order of Mata Nui's maximum-security underwater prison where the Barraki warlords were held until catastrophe broke their chains. prison facility, destroyed in the Great CataclysmThe Great CataclysmThe day Makuta Teridax put the Great Spirit to sleep, the Great Spirit Robot fell from the sky, Metru Nui flooded, and Voya Nui tore loose from the Southern Continent., lay deeper in the same waters. Its escaped inmates, including PridakPridak: the most savage of the BarrakiPridak was the most savage of the six Barraki warlords and commanded an army of sharks. The League of Six Kingdoms ended with all six imprisoned in the Pit. and the rest of the BarrakiThe BarrakiSix warlords who built an empire spanning most of the Matoran Universe, fell to a Brotherhood strike, and spent millennia imprisoned in the Pit., the venom-touched NocturnNocturnNocturn was an amphibious prisoner of the Pit who served as Ehlek's lieutenant and briefly held the Mask of Life before its recovery., and assorted lesser prisoners, had had a thousand years to organise themselves into the warlord factions the Toa MahriToa Mahri: The Toa Who Saved the UniverseThe Toa Mahri were the water breathing form of the sixth Toa team, transformed by the Mask of Life on the way down to the drowned city of Mahri Nui. They fought the Barraki for the mask and recovered it at the cost of one of their own. were now contending with. Also loose in those waters was a recreated HydraxonHydraxonThe jailer of the Pit was killed once, then resurrected as the Matoran Dekar by the Mask of Life., the Pit's jailer, made when the Mask of Life transformed the Matoran DekarDekarDekar is a former Po-Matoran who serves as an Aqua Hunter on Spherus Magna. Colored yellow, black, and silver, he once wore a powerless Kiril and retains an inactive Stone element; his tools are Electro-Blades and an Air Launcher., and still determined to return every escapee to custody. (BIONICLE Legends 7: Prisoners of the Pit)

In the Pit, MatoroMatoroA quiet Ko-Matoran translator who became a Toa Inika and then a Toa Mahri, Matoro gave his life with the Mask of Life to restore Mata Nui. had learned what no one else knew: the MaxilosMaxilos RobotsBuilt by Artakha and deployed by the Order of Mata Nui to guard the Pit, a single Maxilos unit was later hijacked by Teridax during the Mahri Nui arc. robot was possessed by the spirit of TeridaxTeridaxTeridax orchestrated a thousand-year scheme that ended with him occupying the Great Spirit Robot itself before his death on Bara Magna.. The Makuta offered to work with him toward the Mask of LifeThe Mask of Life (Kanohi Ignika), explainedA failsafe forged by the Great Beings to recharge a god. It curses everyone who touches it, and by the end of Bionicle it had learned how to be a hero., and Matoro went along, telling himself he was doing only what he had to do to save Mata NuiMata NuiBuilt by the Great Beings to restore Spherus Magna, Mata Nui sustained an entire civilisation inside his body, was deposed by Teridax, and reclaimed his purpose as a mortal on Bara Magna.. That uneasy partnership shaped the entire serial. (BIONICLE Legends 7: Prisoners of the Pit; Into the Darkness)

The Barraki war#

TeridaxTeridaxTeridax orchestrated a thousand-year scheme that ended with him occupying the Great Spirit Robot itself before his death on Bara Magna.'s first move was to break the standoff between the BarrakiThe BarrakiSix warlords who built an empire spanning most of the Matoran Universe, fell to a Brotherhood strike, and spent millennia imprisoned in the Pit. factions that had been holding the local waters. MatoroMatoroA quiet Ko-Matoran translator who became a Toa Inika and then a Toa Mahri, Matoro gave his life with the Mask of Life to restore Mata Nui., using his TrynaKanohi TrynaThe Ignika handed Matoro a mask most Toa considered immoral, then sat back to see what he'd do with it. The answer involved a dead alternate Tuyet and a legion of sea-creature skeletons., raised dead sea creatures and turned them against the BarrakiThe BarrakiSix warlords who built an empire spanning most of the Matoran Universe, fell to a Brotherhood strike, and spent millennia imprisoned in the Pit., while the other Toa MahriToa Mahri: The Toa Who Saved the UniverseThe Toa Mahri were the water breathing form of the sixth Toa team, transformed by the Mask of Life on the way down to the drowned city of Mahri Nui. They fought the Barraki for the mask and recovered it at the cost of one of their own. set the warlords against one another. As the serial opens, Teridax gloats that they have seen heroes behaving like villains that day, and that Matoro himself has done things even a Makuta might hesitate over. Then he leads the Toa of Ice down to a great gap in the sea floor. (BIONICLE Legends 7: Prisoners of the Pit; Into the Darkness)

The ruins of the original Pit#

The gap was an entrance to the original PitThe PitThe Order of Mata Nui's maximum-security underwater prison where the Barraki warlords were held until catastrophe broke their chains., the prison wrecked in the Great CataclysmThe Great CataclysmThe day Makuta Teridax put the Great Spirit to sleep, the Great Spirit Robot fell from the sky, Metru Nui flooded, and Voya Nui tore loose from the Southern Continent. that had once held the Barraki. Teridax had found it soon after taking over Maxilos. Inside it was eerily quiet, with only the odd sea creature darting past and keeping its distance. (Into the Darkness)

TeridaxTeridaxTeridax orchestrated a thousand-year scheme that ended with him occupying the Great Spirit Robot itself before his death on Bara Magna. led MatoroMatoroA quiet Ko-Matoran translator who became a Toa Inika and then a Toa Mahri, Matoro gave his life with the Mask of Life to restore Mata Nui. to what he was seeking: a Kanohi half buried in rubble, with blue Toa armour scattered around it. (Into the Darkness)

TeridaxTeridaxTeridax orchestrated a thousand-year scheme that ended with him occupying the Great Spirit Robot itself before his death on Bara Magna. said it was all that remained of TuyetTuyetA Toa of Water caught in the Order's machinations, Tuyet turned from peer-seeker to rebel-schemer., a ToaWho are the Toa Mata?Six warriors built to order by Artakha, stored in canisters, dropped into the ocean. This is the origin story of Bionicle's heroes and why their first week of work was entirely amnesiac. of Water condemned to the PitThe PitThe Order of Mata Nui's maximum-security underwater prison where the Barraki warlords were held until catastrophe broke their chains. many thousands of years earlier. Her crime, as he told it, was tampering with an object of power that did not belong in her hands, the Nui StoneNui StoneA red artifact that hunts Toa and drains their power within 3000 kio, sought by Tuyet in ancient Metru Nui to gain strength against enemies only she could see.. It was too much for her; she went wild, and was defeated by LhikanLhikanToa of Fire, leader of the Toa Mangai, and the last Toa of Metru Nui, who surrendered his Toa Power to create the Toa Metru and died defending Vakama. and NidhikiNidhikiOnce a guardian of Metru Nui, Nidhiki traded his Toa honor for Dark Hunter gold and paid the price., and the stone was destroyed, or so the heroes thought. She had died in the Pit, though even Teridax did not know how. (Into the Darkness)

The Tryna and the reanimation#

TeridaxTeridaxTeridax orchestrated a thousand-year scheme that ended with him occupying the Great Spirit Robot itself before his death on Bara Magna. ordered MatoroMatoroA quiet Ko-Matoran translator who became a Toa Inika and then a Toa Mahri, Matoro gave his life with the Mask of Life to restore Mata Nui. to use the KanohiKanohiMasks that grant powers and sustain life, they're the most vital artifact in the Matoran Universe. TrynaKanohi TrynaThe Ignika handed Matoro a mask most Toa considered immoral, then sat back to see what he'd do with it. The answer involved a dead alternate Tuyet and a legion of sea-creature skeletons., the Mask of Reanimation, to give TuyetTuyetA Toa of Water caught in the Order's machinations, Tuyet turned from peer-seeker to rebel-schemer.'s body artificial life. MatoroMatoroA quiet Ko-Matoran translator who became a Toa Inika and then a Toa Mahri, Matoro gave his life with the Mask of Life to restore Mata Nui. already hated the mask he had been given when the Mask of Life turned the Toa Inika into Toa MahriToa Mahri: The Toa Who Saved the UniverseThe Toa Mahri were the water breathing form of the sixth Toa team, transformed by the Mask of Life on the way down to the drowned city of Mahri Nui. They fought the Barraki for the mask and recovered it at the cost of one of their own.. He told himself that as soon as he realised it could raise the dead, he should have cast it aside and never used it. (Into the Darkness)

MatoroMatoroA quiet Ko-Matoran translator who became a Toa Inika and then a Toa Mahri, Matoro gave his life with the Mask of Life to restore Mata Nui. called the idea insane and refused. Even if he brought her back, he said, she would have no spirit and no mind, and could not help recreate anything. TeridaxTeridaxTeridax orchestrated a thousand-year scheme that ended with him occupying the Great Spirit Robot itself before his death on Bara Magna. replied that he had always found the minds of Toa overrated, and made it plain he would kill Matoro and use the mask himself if he had to. Matoro, curious about the plan and knowing he could cut the mask's power later, gave in. (Into the Darkness)

MatoroMatoroA quiet Ko-Matoran translator who became a Toa Inika and then a Toa Mahri, Matoro gave his life with the Mask of Life to restore Mata Nui. used the TrynaKanohi TrynaThe Ignika handed Matoro a mask most Toa considered immoral, then sat back to see what he'd do with it. The answer involved a dead alternate Tuyet and a legion of sea-creature skeletons.. Mask and armour began to move, pieces rising out of the mud to rejoin the rest, until the body that had once been Tuyet stood unsteadily, waiting for commands. (Into the Darkness)

The Nui Stone fragments#

TeridaxTeridaxTeridax orchestrated a thousand-year scheme that ended with him occupying the Great Spirit Robot itself before his death on Bara Magna.'s purpose became clear in the next moments. Matoro noticed tiny, almost microscopic pieces of crystal embedded in the reanimated armour. When the Nui StoneNui StoneA red artifact that hunts Toa and drains their power within 3000 kio, sought by Tuyet in ancient Metru Nui to gain strength against enemies only she could see. exploded thousands of years before, most of it had vaporised, but some fragments had survived, buried in TuyetTuyetA Toa of Water caught in the Order's machinations, Tuyet turned from peer-seeker to rebel-schemer.'s armour. With them, Teridax said, he could recreate the stone as it once was. (Into the Darkness)

The fragments alone were not enough to reconstruct the artifact. He needed the proper tool. TeridaxTeridaxTeridax orchestrated a thousand-year scheme that ended with him occupying the Great Spirit Robot itself before his death on Bara Magna. named it: the Staff of ArtakhaThe Staff of ArtakhaA restoration artifact forged by Artakha himself, used by Helryx to reverse the environmental damage of the Great Cataclysm., which he expected the Toa NuvaToa Mata and Toa NuvaSix biomechanical heroes created by the Great Beings to awaken Mata Nui and defeat the Brotherhood, transformed once and tested across an entire age. to get for him. IcaraxIcaraxHe thought scheming was for the weak and said so out loud, so the canon made sure the thing that finally killed him was a scheme. had taken the Staff from Xia, the Toa Nuva had chased him for it, and Icarax later brought it to Teridax in the waters above the Pit. Teridax's plan for the remade stone was chilling: to find the next Toa who turned bad and use it to multiply that Toa's power a thousandfold, an all-powerful Toa at his command. (Into the Darkness; Toa Nuva Blog)

MatoroMatoroA quiet Ko-Matoran translator who became a Toa Inika and then a Toa Mahri, Matoro gave his life with the Mask of Life to restore Mata Nui., under the TrynaKanohi TrynaThe Ignika handed Matoro a mask most Toa considered immoral, then sat back to see what he'd do with it. The answer involved a dead alternate Tuyet and a legion of sea-creature skeletons.'s burden and the MaxilosMaxilos RobotsBuilt by Artakha and deployed by the Order of Mata Nui to guard the Pit, a single Maxilos unit was later hijacked by Teridax during the Mahri Nui arc.'s watch, could do nothing about the fragments or the StaffThe Staff of ArtakhaA restoration artifact forged by Artakha himself, used by Helryx to reverse the environmental damage of the Great Cataclysm. in the moment, though his mind raced with how to stop it. (Into the Darkness)

Hahli's intercept#

Swimming out into the open ocean with Teridax and the reanimated Tuyet, MatoroMatoroA quiet Ko-Matoran translator who became a Toa Inika and then a Toa Mahri, Matoro gave his life with the Mask of Life to restore Mata Nui. was hailed by HahliHahliA Ga-Matoran scholar who rose to become Chronicler of Mata Nui, then Toa Inika, then Toa Mahri of Water during the final crises of the Matoran Universe., the ToaWho are the Toa Mata?Six warriors built to order by Artakha, stored in canisters, dropped into the ocean. This is the origin story of Bionicle's heroes and why their first week of work was entirely amnesiac. Mahri of Water, with a sea full of manta rays behind her. She wanted to know where he was going and who the Toa with him was. In his mind, Teridax warned Matoro that one word to Hahli and neither of them would live to see another tide. (Into the Darkness)

MatoroMatoroA quiet Ko-Matoran translator who became a Toa Inika and then a Toa Mahri, Matoro gave his life with the Mask of Life to restore Mata Nui. told her everything was going just as planned, as smoothly as the time NuparuNuparuAn Onu-Matoran engineer from Metru Nui who built the Boxor and rose to become a Toa of Earth despite no warrior destiny. used his Mask of Flight to carry her over the chasm. Then he swam off. Only afterwards did HahliHahliA Ga-Matoran scholar who rose to become Chronicler of Mata Nui, then Toa Inika, then Toa Mahri of Water during the final crises of the Matoran Universe. remember that Nuparu had dropped her and nearly got her killed. Matoro had been sending her a message: he was in trouble, and she did not know how to get him out. (Into the Darkness)

Aftermath and significance#

On the way, KarzahniKarzahniBionicle used one cursed name three times, for a being, a realm and a plant, and every one of them earns it. This article untangles all three. attacked them for the Staff, and Teridax seized control of half the tyrant's Manas crabs and turned them on the rest, before Karzahni struck back with a vision of Mata Nui's vengeance that made the Makuta scream. With the Staff in hand from IcaraxIcaraxHe thought scheming was for the weak and said so out loud, so the canon made sure the thing that finally killed him was a scheme., Teridax began drawing the Nui StoneNui StoneA red artifact that hunts Toa and drains their power within 3000 kio, sought by Tuyet in ancient Metru Nui to gain strength against enemies only she could see. fragments together and froze Matoro in a stasis field when he charged. Then a blast struck Teridax from behind: BrutakaBrutakaBrutaka guarded the Kanohi Ignika on Voya Nui, betrayed the Order during the Piraka incursion, was mutated in the Pit, and later led the Order's strike team to free Miserix., mutated by the Pit, snatched the StaffThe Staff of ArtakhaA restoration artifact forged by Artakha himself, used by Helryx to reverse the environmental damage of the Great Cataclysm. and handed it to the Order of Mata Nui agent BotarBotarThe Order of Mata Nui's teleporting enforcer hunted universe-threatening dangers and locked them in the Pit until a Makuta's magnetic power stopped him cold., who vanished with it. Brutaka held Teridax off while Matoro escaped, and the Nui StoneNui StoneA red artifact that hunts Toa and drains their power within 3000 kio, sought by Tuyet in ancient Metru Nui to gain strength against enemies only she could see. was never remade. The Staff later reached the Order's base at DaxiaDaxiaDaxia is a location situated east of the Southern Continent, affiliated with the Order of Mata Nui and home to the Shallows Cat., where HelryxHelryx: the first Toa ever createdHelryx was the first Toa ever made, commissioned by the Great Beings on Artakha long before the Toa Mata. She founded and led the Order of Mata Nui. told the Toa Nuva it would undo the damage of the Great CataclysmThe Great CataclysmThe day Makuta Teridax put the Great Spirit to sleep, the Great Spirit Robot fell from the sky, Metru Nui flooded, and Voya Nui tore loose from the Southern Continent.. (Into the Darkness; Dreams of Destruction; Toa Nuva Blog)

The serial shows TeridaxTeridaxTeridax orchestrated a thousand-year scheme that ended with him occupying the Great Spirit Robot itself before his death on Bara Magna.'s long Plan up close. Its closing chapters reveal how he had nursed the Makuta's resentment of Mata Nui for ages and saw the plan as a water wraith's trick, winning by losing, and that he knew the Mask of LifeThe Mask of Life (Kanohi Ignika), explainedA failsafe forged by the Great Beings to recharge a god. It curses everyone who touches it, and by the end of Bionicle it had learned how to be a hero. could end the universe if it judged it a failure. Matoro got his own back in the last chapter, freezing Teridax inside super-hard ice until Jaller's flames melted him free. The episode also marked MatoroMatoroA quiet Ko-Matoran translator who became a Toa Inika and then a Toa Mahri, Matoro gave his life with the Mask of Life to restore Mata Nui.'s passage from a self-doubting translator into the ToaWho are the Toa Mata?Six warriors built to order by Artakha, stored in canisters, dropped into the ocean. This is the origin story of Bionicle's heroes and why their first week of work was entirely amnesiac. who would soon give his life with the Mask of LifeThe Mask of Life (Kanohi Ignika), explainedA failsafe forged by the Great Beings to recharge a god. It curses everyone who touches it, and by the end of Bionicle it had learned how to be a hero. to revive the Great SpiritMata Nui: Great Spirit of the Matoran UniverseBuilt by the Great Beings as a biomechanical guardian, betrayed by Teridax, and returned in a smaller form to reshape Spherus Magna.. (Into the Darkness; BIONICLE Legends 8: Downfall)