The Notch

The Notch was a named section of the Chute SystemThe Chute SystemThe pressurised liquid Protodermis transit network of Metru Nui, run from Le-Metru's Moto-Hub and carrying Matoran, cargo, and Rahi across the city. in Metru NuiMetru NuiThe city beneath Mata Nui functions as the Great Spirit's brain, housing the Matoran whose labor keeps the god alive., located in Le-MetruLe-MetruThe teal district where Le-Matoran managed everything that moved through Metru Nui, from chutes to airships.. Its single recorded appearance in the canon places it as the location of the Le-MetruLe-MetruThe teal district where Le-Matoran managed everything that moved through Metru Nui, from chutes to airships. Great DiskThe Great DisksThe six legendary Kanoka of Metru Nui, one hidden in each district, recovered by the Toa Metru during the Morbuzakh crisis and later fused into the Kanohi Vahi., which had become lodged at the center of a Force SphereForce SphereThe Metru Nui chute-system hazard in which a broken segment of magnetic field wrapped around itself, swept up debris, and imploded inside the transport network. growing inside the section. The Notch was entered by ToaThe Toa: Heroes of the Matoran UniverseThe Toa were biomechanical guardians sworn to protect the Matoran, bound by a strict code and defined by sacrifice across every age of the universe. MatauMatauA former Le-Metru test driver who became a Toa Metru, Matau wielded air, illusion, and shape-shifting before sacrificing his Toa power to wake the sleeping Matoran. during the Toa MetruToa Metru and Toa HordikaSix Matoran elevated by Lhikan to save their city, mutated by Visorak venom, and restored in time to deliver the population to safety.'s recovery of the six Great DisksThe Great DisksThe six legendary Kanoka of Metru Nui, one hidden in each district, recovered by the Toa Metru during the Morbuzakh crisis and later fused into the Kanohi Vahi., and was destroyed shortly afterward when the Force SphereForce SphereThe Metru Nui chute-system hazard in which a broken segment of magnetic field wrapped around itself, swept up debris, and imploded inside the transport network. completed its collapse cycle and imploded under the wreckage of the surrounding chute. The Notch is one of the small number of named chute locations in the published record and the only one whose destruction is documented in primary sources.

Position in the Le-Metru chute network#

The Notch sat within the Le-MetruLe-MetruThe teal district where Le-Matoran managed everything that moved through Metru Nui, from chutes to airships. portion of the city-wide Chute SystemThe Chute SystemThe pressurised liquid Protodermis transit network of Metru Nui, run from Le-Metru's Moto-Hub and carrying Matoran, cargo, and Rahi across the city.. The network was the principal high-speed transport infrastructure of Metru NuiMetru NuiThe city beneath Mata Nui functions as the Great Spirit's brain, housing the Matoran whose labor keeps the god alive., built from tubes of liquid protodermisProtodermisThe engineered substance building the Matoran Universe, protodermis exists in countless refined states from mundane metal to diamond-hard crystal to the destruction-or-transformation force of energized form. held in place by a pulsing electromagnetic sheath and operated from chute stations distributed across all six metruMetru NuiThe city beneath Mata Nui functions as the Great Spirit's brain, housing the Matoran whose labor keeps the god alive.. Le-MatoranLe-MatoranGreen-powered Matoran obsessed with thrills and transport. They're basically Bionicle's daredevils. chute operators ran the system, and the Le-MetruLe-MetruThe teal district where Le-Matoran managed everything that moved through Metru Nui, from chutes to airships. section was the densest single concentration of chute infrastructure in the city. The Notch was one segment in that dense local network, identifiable enough by name to appear in the BIONICLE: EncyclopediaBIONICLE Reference BooksSix Scholastic and AMEET reference titles published between 2003 and 2009 form the primary printed canon for the Matoran Universe. This page catalogs what each book contains and where the editions diverge. and the later BIONICLE: Encyclopedia UpdatedBIONICLE Reference BooksSix Scholastic and AMEET reference titles published between 2003 and 2009 form the primary printed canon for the Matoran Universe. This page catalogs what each book contains and where the editions diverge. entries, alongside other named Metru NuiMetru NuiThe city beneath Mata Nui functions as the Great Spirit's brain, housing the Matoran whose labor keeps the god alive. locations.

No surviving record describes the Notch's exact route, its endpoints, or its position relative to the chute stations of Le-MetruLe-MetruThe teal district where Le-Matoran managed everything that moved through Metru Nui, from chutes to airships.. It is identified in the published material strictly by name and by the event that destroyed it. The Chute SystemThe Chute SystemThe pressurised liquid Protodermis transit network of Metru Nui, run from Le-Metru's Moto-Hub and carrying Matoran, cargo, and Rahi across the city. reference and the Force SphereForce SphereThe Metru Nui chute-system hazard in which a broken segment of magnetic field wrapped around itself, swept up debris, and imploded inside the transport network. entry both place the Notch in Le-MetruLe-MetruThe teal district where Le-Matoran managed everything that moved through Metru Nui, from chutes to airships., consistent with the operational fact that the section housed a Le-MetruLe-MetruThe teal district where Le-Matoran managed everything that moved through Metru Nui, from chutes to airships. Great DiskThe Great DisksThe six legendary Kanoka of Metru Nui, one hidden in each district, recovered by the Toa Metru during the Morbuzakh crisis and later fused into the Kanohi Vahi. and that the chute operator OrkahmOrkahmOrkahm was a Le-Matoran Ussal rider of Le-Metru, Matau's chief rival, one of the six finders of a Great Disk, and later a Gukko Force member on Mata Nui. supplied its location to the Toa MetruToa Metru and Toa HordikaSix Matoran elevated by Lhikan to save their city, mutated by Visorak venom, and restored in time to deliver the population to safety..

The Le-Metru Great Disk in the Notch#

Each of the six metruMetru NuiThe city beneath Mata Nui functions as the Great Spirit's brain, housing the Matoran whose labor keeps the god alive. held one of the six Great DisksThe Great DisksThe six legendary Kanoka of Metru Nui, one hidden in each district, recovered by the Toa Metru during the Morbuzakh crisis and later fused into the Kanohi Vahi., the most powerful KanokaKanoka DisksMetru Nui's most versatile artifact: flying disks equally at home in sport, combat, and crafting. disks ever produced in Metru NuiMetru NuiThe city beneath Mata Nui functions as the Great Spirit's brain, housing the Matoran whose labor keeps the god alive.. The locations of the disks were known only to a handful of MatoranMatoranThe most abundant species in the Matoran Universe, chosen by Mata Nui to inhabit and maintain his cosmic body. selected by ToaThe Toa: Heroes of the Matoran UniverseThe Toa were biomechanical guardians sworn to protect the Matoran, bound by a strict code and defined by sacrifice across every age of the universe. 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. before his disappearance. The Le-MatoranLe-MatoranGreen-powered Matoran obsessed with thrills and transport. They're basically Bionicle's daredevils. chute operator OrkahmOrkahmOrkahm was a Le-Matoran Ussal rider of Le-Metru, Matau's chief rival, one of the six finders of a Great Disk, and later a Gukko Force member on Mata Nui. was the keeper of the Le-MetruLe-MetruThe teal district where Le-Matoran managed everything that moved through Metru Nui, from chutes to airships. disk's location, and his information identified the Notch as the section in which the disk had become trapped.

The disk, recorded as KanokaKanoka DisksMetru Nui's most versatile artifact: flying disks equally at home in sport, combat, and crafting. code 589, was lodged at the center of a Force SphereForce SphereThe Metru Nui chute-system hazard in which a broken segment of magnetic field wrapped around itself, swept up debris, and imploded inside the transport network. that had formed inside the Notch. A Force SphereForce SphereThe Metru Nui chute-system hazard in which a broken segment of magnetic field wrapped around itself, swept up debris, and imploded inside the transport network. was a chute-system failure in which a section of the chute's magnetic field broke off and wrapped around itself, becoming a sealed sphere of magnetised energy that travelled along the chute interior, drew in tools, debris, and disks, and grew stronger the longer it persisted. By the time the Toa MetruToa Metru and Toa HordikaSix Matoran elevated by Lhikan to save their city, mutated by Visorak venom, and restored in time to deliver the population to safety. located the Le-MetruLe-MetruThe teal district where Le-Matoran managed everything that moved through Metru Nui, from chutes to airships. disk, the Force SphereForce SphereThe Metru Nui chute-system hazard in which a broken segment of magnetic field wrapped around itself, swept up debris, and imploded inside the transport network. in the Notch had already absorbed it and was continuing to gather mass.

Matau's retrieval#

Following VakamaVakamaA Ta-Metru maskmaker transformed into the Toa Metru of Fire, leader of his team through the Visorak war, and Turaga of Ta-Koro for a thousand years.'s vision in the Great TempleGreat TempleThe Great Temple is a structure situated in Ga-Metru, Metru Nui, associated with the Ga-Matoran and the Bordakh. It formerly fell under the influence of Teridax, though it currently holds no such power., the Toa MetruToa Metru and Toa HordikaSix Matoran elevated by Lhikan to save their city, mutated by Visorak venom, and restored in time to deliver the population to safety. split up to recover the six Great DisksThe Great DisksThe six legendary Kanoka of Metru Nui, one hidden in each district, recovered by the Toa Metru during the Morbuzakh crisis and later fused into the Kanohi Vahi.. The Le-MetruLe-MetruThe teal district where Le-Matoran managed everything that moved through Metru Nui, from chutes to airships. retrieval was assigned to MatauMatauA former Le-Metru test driver who became a Toa Metru, Matau wielded air, illusion, and shape-shifting before sacrificing his Toa power to wake the sleeping Matoran., whose Toa power over airToa of AirWielders of the Element of Air, typically transformed from Le-Matoran, tasked with protecting the Matoran Universe. made him the only member of the team with a credible chance of surviving entry into an active Force SphereForce SphereThe Metru Nui chute-system hazard in which a broken segment of magnetic field wrapped around itself, swept up debris, and imploded inside the transport network.. The operation is recorded in the comic BIONICLE 17: Disks of DangerThe Po-Metru and Le-Metru Recoveries: In the Grip of the MorbuzakhThe Toa Metru's Great Disk-recovery operations in Po-Metru and Le-Metru, the rogue Tunneler in the Sculpture Fields, and Matau's Force Sphere ride through the Notch., the novel BIONICLE Adventures 2: Trial by FireThe Quest for the Great Disks and the Burning of the King RootThe Toa Metru's hunt for the six Great Kanoka Disks across the districts of Metru Nui and their assault on the Morbuzakh's central core in the Great Furnace of Ta-Metru., and the film BIONICLE 2: Legends of Metru NuiLegends of Metru NuiThe chronicle of how Toa Mangai Lhikan passed his power to six Matoran, how Metru Nui fell to Teridax, and how Toa Vakama forged the Kanohi Vahi., with all three accounts describing the same event.

MatauMatauA former Le-Metru test driver who became a Toa Metru, Matau wielded air, illusion, and shape-shifting before sacrificing his Toa power to wake the sleeping Matoran. entered the Force SphereForce SphereThe Metru Nui chute-system hazard in which a broken segment of magnetic field wrapped around itself, swept up debris, and imploded inside the transport network. directly while it was travelling through the Notch. The book account notes that the sphere soared through the Notch with MatauMatauA former Le-Metru test driver who became a Toa Metru, Matau wielded air, illusion, and shape-shifting before sacrificing his Toa power to wake the sleeping Matoran. inside as he attempted to reach the disk, and that he narrowly escaped before the implosion. Once inside the sphere, MatauMatauA former Le-Metru test driver who became a Toa Metru, Matau wielded air, illusion, and shape-shifting before sacrificing his Toa power to wake the sleeping Matoran. generated a tornado from his elemental airToa of AirWielders of the Element of Air, typically transformed from Le-Matoran, tasked with protecting the Matoran Universe. power, used the localised pressure differential to push himself back out through the sphere's magnetic wall, and emerged with the Great DiskThe Great DisksThe six legendary Kanoka of Metru Nui, one hidden in each district, recovered by the Toa Metru during the Morbuzakh crisis and later fused into the Kanohi Vahi. in his possession. The crossing was reported to have nearly killed him. He cleared the sphere with very little margin before its accumulated mass and field intensity reached the threshold at which the surrounding chute could no longer contain it.

Destruction by the Force Sphere#

The Force SphereForce SphereThe Metru Nui chute-system hazard in which a broken segment of magnetic field wrapped around itself, swept up debris, and imploded inside the transport network. completed its collapse cycle immediately after MatauMatauA former Le-Metru test driver who became a Toa Metru, Matau wielded air, illusion, and shape-shifting before sacrificing his Toa power to wake the sleeping Matoran.'s extraction. The surrounding chute structure failed under the sphere's growing field, the magnetic sheath gave way, and the sphere imploded under the resulting wreckage. The Notch was destroyed in the same event. The Chute SystemThe Chute SystemThe pressurised liquid Protodermis transit network of Metru Nui, run from Le-Metru's Moto-Hub and carrying Matoran, cargo, and Rahi across the city. wiki record states the destruction directly: after MatauMatauA former Le-Metru test driver who became a Toa Metru, Matau wielded air, illusion, and shape-shifting before sacrificing his Toa power to wake the sleeping Matoran. escaped, the Force SphereForce SphereThe Metru Nui chute-system hazard in which a broken segment of magnetic field wrapped around itself, swept up debris, and imploded inside the transport network. destroyed the Notch.

The destruction was consistent with the standard endpoint of a Force SphereForce SphereThe Metru Nui chute-system hazard in which a broken segment of magnetic field wrapped around itself, swept up debris, and imploded inside the transport network. event. The sphere collapsed the chute it occupied, then imploded inside the collapsed section, leaving a permanent breach in the local chute network. No standing procedure for repairing a Notch-style breach is recorded in the canon. The procedure for an active Force SphereForce SphereThe Metru Nui chute-system hazard in which a broken segment of magnetic field wrapped around itself, swept up debris, and imploded inside the transport network. was to seal the affected section against further traffic and allow the sphere to run its course, which was precisely the outcome here, with the additional complication that the Toa MetruToa Metru and Toa HordikaSix Matoran elevated by Lhikan to save their city, mutated by Visorak venom, and restored in time to deliver the population to safety. needed to retrieve a Great DiskThe Great DisksThe six legendary Kanoka of Metru Nui, one hidden in each district, recovered by the Toa Metru during the Morbuzakh crisis and later fused into the Kanohi Vahi. from inside it before the cycle completed.

No primary source records the Notch being rebuilt. The retrieval took place during the MorbuzakhMorbuzakhA sentient plant monster created by Teridax to terrorize Metru Nui and control its population through fear. crisis, weeks before 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., and the period between the loss of the Notch and the disaster did not include any documented Chute SystemThe Chute SystemThe pressurised liquid Protodermis transit network of Metru Nui, run from Le-Metru's Moto-Hub and carrying Matoran, cargo, and Rahi across the city. reconstruction work in Le-MetruLe-MetruThe teal district where Le-Matoran managed everything that moved through Metru Nui, from chutes to airships.. The Chute SystemThe Chute SystemThe pressurised liquid Protodermis transit network of Metru Nui, run from Le-Metru's Moto-Hub and carrying Matoran, cargo, and Rahi across the city. as a whole suffered far heavier damage in the Cataclysm itself, and the entire network was eventually restored after the MatoranMatoranThe most abundant species in the Matoran Universe, chosen by Mata Nui to inhabit and maintain his cosmic body. returned to the city through the application 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.. Whether that restoration reinstated the Notch is not recorded.

The Notch is therefore preserved in the canonical record almost entirely through a single operational event: the recovery of KanokaKanoka DisksMetru Nui's most versatile artifact: flying disks equally at home in sport, combat, and crafting. 589 by MatauMatauA former Le-Metru test driver who became a Toa Metru, Matau wielded air, illusion, and shape-shifting before sacrificing his Toa power to wake the sleeping Matoran. and the loss of the section in the same minute. The disk itself was carried back to the rest of the Toa MetruToa Metru and Toa HordikaSix Matoran elevated by Lhikan to save their city, mutated by Visorak venom, and restored in time to deliver the population to safety., used in the assault on the King RootThe King RootThe sentient central core of the Morbuzakh plant, grown in the Great Furnace of Ta-Metru and destroyed by the Toa Metru using the fused Great Disks. of the MorbuzakhMorbuzakhA sentient plant monster created by Teridax to terrorize Metru Nui and control its population through fear., and ultimately fused by VakamaVakamaA Ta-Metru maskmaker transformed into the Toa Metru of Fire, leader of his team through the Visorak war, and Turaga of Ta-Koro for a thousand years. with the other five Great DisksThe Great DisksThe six legendary Kanoka of Metru Nui, one hidden in each district, recovered by the Toa Metru during the Morbuzakh crisis and later fused into the Kanohi Vahi. into the Kanohi VahiKanohi VahiThe Kanohi Vahi was the Legendary Mask of Time, forged by Toa Metru Vakama from the six fused Great Disks of Metru Nui during the city's evacuation., the Mask of TimeMask of TimeThe Kanohi Vahi is the Matoran Universe's deadliest mask, capable of stopping or accelerating time, and its creation nearly tore Metru Nui apart.. The Notch, by contrast, ceased to exist as a transit segment the moment its Force SphereForce SphereThe Metru Nui chute-system hazard in which a broken segment of magnetic field wrapped around itself, swept up debris, and imploded inside the transport network. imploded.

Significance#

The Notch's documented importance is narrow but precise. It is the only chute section in the Metru NuiMetru NuiThe city beneath Mata Nui functions as the Great Spirit's brain, housing the Matoran whose labor keeps the god alive. record whose destruction by a Force SphereForce SphereThe Metru Nui chute-system hazard in which a broken segment of magnetic field wrapped around itself, swept up debris, and imploded inside the transport network. is described in primary sources, and the only one to host a Great DiskThe Great DisksThe six legendary Kanoka of Metru Nui, one hidden in each district, recovered by the Toa Metru during the Morbuzakh crisis and later fused into the Kanohi Vahi. at the time of the Toa MetruToa Metru and Toa HordikaSix Matoran elevated by Lhikan to save their city, mutated by Visorak venom, and restored in time to deliver the population to safety.'s retrieval. The combination makes the Notch a useful anchor point for the Force SphereForce SphereThe Metru Nui chute-system hazard in which a broken segment of magnetic field wrapped around itself, swept up debris, and imploded inside the transport network. entry and the Chute SystemThe Chute SystemThe pressurised liquid Protodermis transit network of Metru Nui, run from Le-Metru's Moto-Hub and carrying Matoran, cargo, and Rahi across the city. reference, both of which cite the section by name when illustrating how the hazard ran its course. Within the broader Le-MetruLe-MetruThe teal district where Le-Matoran managed everything that moved through Metru Nui, from chutes to airships. record, the Notch sits alongside the chute stations and the Moto-HubMoto HubThe vehicle factory at Metru Nui's center, where Le-Matoran built chutes and ground transports before the Great Cataclysm. as one of the few specifically named locations in the district's transport infrastructure. Its appearance is bound to the Great DiskThe Great DisksThe six legendary Kanoka of Metru Nui, one hidden in each district, recovered by the Toa Metru during the Morbuzakh crisis and later fused into the Kanohi Vahi. arc; once that arc ended, the Notch had been destroyed and the canon moved on.