#The Greg Farshtey Recap

[ankutnui]

The Greg Farshtey Recap #2

Welcome back to the Greg Farshtey Recap, where we’ll be looking through every available Q&A session and forum thread featuring the author of the BIONICLE comics, story serials and majority of the books, in order to understand what’s really important about those threads. Today we continue going through the BZPower interviews preceding the Official Greg Discussion Topic. Without further ado, let’s get to it!

“Q: How do the Toa/Tohunga/Turaga(etc) eat and drink and breathe?

A: Well, we know they breathe, and I assume they breathe the same way all the rest of us do. I don't know if they eat or drink at all.”

While in MNOG the Matoran were seen eating (for example in the scene where Matoro gave Takua some Bula berries), that appears to not have been officially determined by the story team, as many creative decisions in the aforementioned game came directly from its developers. About a year later, a confirmation would be presented in "Tales of the Masks", which outright shows Onua and Whenua having a snack during one of their adventures:

Later, the Toa and the Turaga sat in a small cavern and shared a meal from their packs. -Tales of the Masks

—————————————————————————–

“Q: How long do you see the Bionicle biz to keep going?

A: Well, let me put it this way. The BIONICLE storyline is divided into "books" by the heads of the story team. The books are different lengths, and I believe that at end of this year we will only have completed one. There are at least 7 books that I know of in existence, possibly more. So as long as there is an audience for it, we have stories to tell.”

This would be the first mention of the famous “Seven Books of BIONICLE” (from which only three got to be told), if not for the fact that in an earlier interview someone already asked a question using that terminology:

“Q: Would you call this "Book" (2001-2004), the "Book of Makuta"? If so will this be the ultimate end of makuta? Or is this just the beginning of what Makuta has got in store for us?

A: Well, I don't know what I would call the book... I do know the movie will offer some resolution to the conflict with Makuta, but I honestly cannot say whether that will be the last time he appears. At this point, I know the story plans through '04, but not much beyond that, and I know there are plans that go well beyond '04.”

It’s speculated that the first mention of the Seven Books actually happened when Greg initially explained that the BIONICLE line wasn’t being discontinued in 2003, as this was the main reason he came to the BZP boards in 2002 in the first place.

-—————————————————————————–

“Q: Will there be any type of "before time" story of the krana and every other creature? (krana could of been an intelligent race but were turned into small masks and lost there free will because of the bahrag)

A: That's possible, but I don't think it will happen in the immediate future.”

Once again, when Greg doesn’t deny something there’s a reason for it. In this case it’s most likely in reference to the prequel Books, as at this point the Metru Nui story was already in development, and we know from the author of the concept of Books, Bob Thompson, that the next prequels would go back in time even further. Another interesting thing is the backstory for the Krana proposed here by the fan, as it brings to mind the Zyglak, who were a byproduct of the Great Beings making Krana. I doubt that the suggestion was used years later, especially since Greg wasn’t allowed to read fanfictions so he couldn’t be accused of stealing someone’s idea, but it’s an interesting coincidence nonetheless.

—————————————————————————–

“Q: In the video of the "New Invention Saves Onu-Koro" update on Bionicle.com it says that when a Bohrok looses it's Krana it can't move, but in the first Bohrok comics Vakama says that if a Bohrok looses its Krana it can be humbled, can you clear this up?

A: In some cases, Bohrok who lose their krana aren't moving, but that's usually because they have been stunned (making it easier to get their krana out of them). Bohrok with their krana removed do not freeze up and shut down... they basically become like cars still in drive with no drivers. They wander aimlessly until someone comes along who can essentially reprogram them and give them direction again.”

That is a surprisingly thoughtful detail, and most importantly one that would play a role in the story, as after the defeat of the Bahrag, the Kranaless Bohrok get reprogrammed to help Matoran rebuild the villages. The relation between the Swarm, Krana and Matoran is a very interesting one and there will be many more questions that will give us a chance to explore it.

—————————————————————————–

“Q: Why are the Toa having trouble overcoming their differences? Didn't they already do that?

A: Yes and no. They have been forced to work together, because they weren't powerful enough individually to stop the Bahrag, or Makuta, etc. But some, like Kopaka, really don't like working in a team. And after months of constantly being together, they are starting to get on each others' nerves. Add to that suddenly they have this new power and think they don't need each other anymore, and it makes sense they would split up. (After all, you probably have some good friends, but do you want to be around them ALL the time?)”

This is something that the fans argue about to this day, and personally I’ve always shared the interpretation given here. It feels more relatable that you don’t always learn a lesson or grow past your flaws in just one adventure. Sometimes, it takes time and many tries (especially here, given how polarizingly different personalities some Toa have).

—————————————————————————–

And with this we conclude the second entry in our recap series! Like the first time, let’s quickly go through what we have learned from each question about the state of things in late 2002/early 2003: -eating and drinking by the Matoran wasn’t determined yet, even with MNOG showing the former -some fans were already familiar with the concept of the “Seven Books of BIONICLE” -Greg didn’t deny the possibility of flashback stories -Losing Krana on its own didn’t cause the Bohrok to freeze -Greg saw Toa constantly splitting up as something that would make sense for those characters

Once again, shoutouts the The Great Archives and I’ll see you again (hopefully) on Ankut Nui day, with something quite special...

[ankutnui]

The Greg Farshtey Recap #1

Welcome to the first Greg Farshtey Recap, where we’ll be looking through every available Q&A session and forum thread featuring the author of the BIONICLE comics, story serials and majority of the books, in order to understand what’s really important. We’ll be starting with a series of BZPower interviews that ran from late 2002 to early 2003 and were a predecessor to the Official Greg Discussion Topic.

Without further ado, let’s get to it!

“Q: Have you worked with LEGO on other projects besides BIONICLE? How did LEGO originally approach you to work for them?

A: I am on staff at the LEGO Company, employed in the Creative Center in Enfield, CT. I write the LEGO Magazine, some web content, the BIONICLE comic, the GALIDOR comic, and whatever else anyone asks me to do. I started in October 2000, and got the opportunity to write the BIONICLE comic based on some sample script pages I submitted.” This question is a good reminder that Greg worked for LEGO already before BIONICLE (and continues to do so to this day). It’s also interesting that he only got to write the comics based on script submissions. That is because he originally wasn’t supposed to do them but ended up replacing the original writer. Greg talks about it more in the final episode of the Gathered Friends podcast ------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“The Toa Nuva stay armored at all times in the storyline” This comes from a BZP news post with highlights from an interview that unfortunately seems to have been lost to time. That small tidbit implies that the Nuva armor is something that can be detached, which fits with its later portrayal in the books: Then he removed his Nuva armor and tossed that aside as well. “There. No mask. No weapons. No extra armor. [...]” -Onua in Dark Destiny -----------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Q: Will there be any more toa? A: Possibly, but not for a while yet.”

It’s very interesting to see that the answer wasn’t a “No” or “Cannot be revealed yet” (though I suppose the second one would imply that there definitely is something planned). The idea of there being more Toa has always been pretty strong within the fan imagination, as seen with the legendary Toa Voriki, or even many Toa concepts that appeared in the Zany Brainy Mask Contest. Another thing to remember is that at the time of this interview, the “Mask of Light” movie was already in production so Greg would most likely be aware of Takanuva. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Q: What is a Matoran? In other words, is a Matoran just a new name for the Tohunga, or does it consist of everyone. Hafu, Huki, Onewa and Pohatu are all Po-Korans. Does this mean that these four are now Matorans, or only Hafu and Huki?

A: "Matoran" is only used to refer to the villagers, although technically a Turaga is a Matoran who has ascended to a leadership role. But when we use it, we mean villagers.”

This question addresses something that is still a bit undefined to this day: a unified name for the Matoran/Toa/Turaga species. The description Greg gives here for the nature of Turaga is reminiscent of the Protectors from G2, which are just chosen Okotans. This reinforces the early hierarchy which went as: Matoran>Turaga>Toa, as the one we are used to knowing from Legends of Metru Nui onward (Matoran>Toa>Turaga) wasn’t developed yet. I highly encourage checking out Mister N’s article about the early role of the Tohunga and Turaga if you want to learn more about this subject. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Q: how long does it usually take to come up with story elements for the toys?

A: The story team works way ahead of time on the story.. we are in the process of putting together 2004's story now and getting it concept tested.”

Nothing much to say, just very important to always keep that fact in mind while going forward into the future questions -----------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Q: Are there plans for the Shadow Toa to return in the future?

A: Not that I know of. However, the overall planning for the BIONICLE storyline is done by the BIONICLE team in Europe and America, so they may have things in mind for the future that I am not aware of yet.”

I initially thought that the first mention of the Shadow Toa happened with their first official appearance in the 2003 novel, “Tale of the Toa”, since the videogame in which they were originally meant to debut, “BIONICLE: the Legend of Mata Nui”, was cancelled. It would appear that actually they were officially mentioned in a short recap included in the first comic from the Bohrok Saga, and that's why we’re seeing them being asked about already in 2002.

“Finally, they overcame shadow versions of themselves and achieved a great victory over Makuta!” ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- And that will be all for today! To do an even shorter recap, in late 2002:

-Greg have worked for LEGO before BIONICLE -Nuva armor was already considered to be something detachable -Greg didn’t deny the possibility of more Toa -Turaga was considered to be a higher Matoran -The story team already worked on the 2004 line story -People were asking about the Shadow Toa, though there weren’t any plans yet for their return

Big shoutouts to The Great Archives, the website hosting all of archived conversations with Greg (which of course I used and will be using for all the recap posts). See you next time on the Chronicles of Ankut Nui!

[ankutnui]

GSR Interior sketches from 1999

Last month, two fans known as Wolk and Joint Dogg discovered a portfolio website of Bo Torstensen, an artist who worked with LEGO in the 90's on visualizing concepts for different lines, including BIONICLE. On one of the pages we can see some concept sketches for it, including the earliest look at the interiors of the Great Spirit Robot.

As you may know, Matoran's work of keeping Mata Nui alive used to be more literal in the early lore, as originally they were to be service workers maintaining the Robot’s systems, with Toa acting as security guards. While that concept evolved over time, the idea of GSR’s “backrooms” survived in some form, as can be seen in the Mata Nui Saga or The Legend Reborn.

I encourage you to check out Torstensen’s portfolio (found here) for yourself as it features other concept pieces with many interesting details. But that will be all for today, take care and see you next time on the second Greg Farshtey Recap!

[ankutnui]

Welcome to the Chronicles of Ankut Nui, a place where we’ll look at the legend of the BIONICLE like never before, analysing all of its media, lore and behind the scenes information! Right now you can expect to see two main types of content: 1. Recaps of the Greg Farshtey Q&As, going chronologically through every forum thread and topic in order to get glimpses at some of the development and understand what’s really important about them 2. Accounts of research by a mysterious Toa Ankut... Polish versions will appear on Facebook and you can also find the project on Twitter See you soon on the Great Study!