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THE SETUP Sometime in the distant past, the Brotherhood Of Makuta was once an organization dedicated to serving the Great Spirit Mata Nui , and protecting the Matoran people. However, the Brotherhood eventually became corrupt, and believed that they could protect the Matoran best by dominating them. At least one member, known only as " Makuta ," was also jealous of the reverence that the people gave Mata Nui (it is unclear whether Makuta is the leader and the Brotherhood is named after him, or he is just a member and "Makuta" is a title shared by all members). Whether the plan was mainly Makuta's or shared by the whole Brotherhood, the goal was to send Mata Nui into an eternal sleep, letting Makuta and other Brotherhood members take his place as the Matorans' objects of worship. All were aware that such an attack could eventually prove fatal to Mata Nui, but they went ahead with it anyway. While we don't know the actions of the Brotherhood as a whole with regards to the Great Cataclysm, we do know Makuta's part in it. Makuta focused his actions on the city of Metru Nui (it is presumed that other Brotherhood members took action in the other parts of the world). About a year and a half before the Cataclysm, he kidnapped the city's leader, Turaga Dume , and secretly took his place. In this position, he ordered that all routes out of the city be closed, and got rid of the Toa who protected the city by sending them off on missions from which they never returned. He also brought in a pet of his, a bird of prey called Nivawk , to act as a spy; and asked the city's best maskmaker, Vakama , to make him a Vahi Mask of Time. Meanwhile, Mata Nui saw what was being plotted against him, but couldn't or wouldn't stop it. Instead, he took precautions that the laws of nature would keep working while he slept, and made sure that agents of his would arise to look after the Matoran and eventually wake him up again. About a month before the Cataclysm, Makuta began the main part of his plan: he would put the Matoran into stasis in Matoran Spheres , where they would forget all about the Great Spirit that they revered; he would then become their savior by waking them from their endless sleep (he wanted a Mask of Time so that he could speed up this process). To this end, he unleashed a plant monster of his called the Morbuzakh on Metru Nui; the Morbuzakh would drive the Matoran to the center of the city and also begin kidnapping Matoran to put into stasis; as Turaga Dume, he would also order Metru Nui's robotic enforcers, the Vahki , to secretly kidnap Matoran for the same purpose. But the city's lone remaining protector, Toa Lhikan , became suspicious of "Dume", and decided that a new team of Toa were needed. Makuta had seen in prophesies that new Toa were about to appear, and so attempted to influence Lhikan to choose Matoran other than the ones prophesized to become the new Toa. However, Mata Nui knew Makuta's scheme, and so created false prophesies; Makuta would end up steering Lhikan ''away'' from the fakes and ''toward'' the Mata Nui's choices for Toa. Makuta hired two Dark Hunters , Nidhiki and Krekka, to deal with Lhikan; they were able to capture him, but not before he gave Toa Stones to six Matoran. Once the Matoran used the Toa Stones to become Toa Metru , the Hunters began to pursue them as well. The Toa Metru soon defeated the Morbuzakh (despite the Hunters' interference), but as the Vahki were also kidnapping Matoran, the victory did little to stop the disappearances. The Toa Metru then went to present themselves to Turaga Dume, but "Dume" proclaimed them imposters and ordered their arrest. While three of the six Toa were able to escape, they were on the run as fugitives from both the Vahki and the Dark Hunters; leaving Makuta the freedom to see his plan through. As Dume, Makuta had all the remaining Matoran climb into stasis spheres "in preparation for an upcoming crisis". The imprisoned Toa Metru were able to break out and regroup with the others; and they and now- Turaga Lhikan discovered the real Turaga Dume sleeping in one of the spheres. They raced to confront the imposter Dume, but they were too late; every last Matoran had been put to sleep by then, and the Great Cataclysm was about to begin... THE CATACLYSM When the Toa Metru arrived at the center of Metru Nui 's Coliseum, Makuta was waiting for them. Revealing himself to be the false Turaga Dume, he then began to cast what Toa Nokama called "the Great Shadow"; sending Mata Nui , the Great Spirit that protected the Matoran and kept the universe alive, into a sleep from which he might never wake up. With Mata Nui asleep and unable to hold them back, disasters began to strike Metru Nui. An earthquake devastated the city and shattered stasis tubes in the Onu-Metru Archives, freeing nearly all the Rahi within. At the same time, a dual eclipse blocked out the twin suns (actually, Metru Nui was underground and the "suns" were holes in the cavern wall that let in light; the "eclipse" was both holes being plugged); one sun would continue to shine after the Cataclysm, but would be greatly dimmed. And the effects of the Cataclysm reached far beyond Metru Nui. On the planet's surface to the south, a chunk of land broke off from a continent and "rocketed up"; this would land on the water and become the floating island of Voya Nui . Elsewhere, in response to Mata Nui's falling asleep, six Toa Canisters containing the Toa "Mata" were launched so that the Toa could go and begin the task of waking Mata Nui up again. In the midst of this, the Toa Metru grabbed a few Matoran Spheres and started to flee the Metru Nui; vowing that they would come back for the rest. Makuta tried to stop them, absorbing Nidhiki , Krekka , and Nivawk into his body in order to increase his power quickly. Toa Vakama remembered the Vahi Mask of Time that the false Dume had asked for, and finished making one from the Great Kanoka Disks that the Toa had collected in the fight against the Morbuzakh . He then faced Makuta one-on-one, trying to use the Vahi's powers; however, his lack of control left both combatants caught in slow-motion. Vakama was only saved from a fatal attack of Makuta's when Turaga Lhikan jumped in the way and took the blast instead. After watching his hero die, Vakama gained the conviction to keep fighting and the ability to use his mask power of invisibility; and began using them to get the upper hand against Makuta. In the fight that followed, the Vahi fell into the sea and was lost. The other Toa Metru soon joined Vakama; they combined their powers and sealed Makuta inside a Protodermis prison which could not be broken by any means except a combination of six Toa powers. Makuta had been defeated, but the damage had been done. Beyond the physical destruction of much of the city, Mata Nui had been sent into an endless slumber; the great protector of the Matoran could no longer protect anyone, not even himself. THE AFTEREFFECTS While Mata Nui could not or would not prevent the devastating attack, he made sure that heroes would come to restore the worst of what was lost: The most immediate matter was that the had summoned the Visorak hordes to invade Metru Nui, and Toa Vakama 's overconfidence led the team to be mutated into half-beast Toa Hordika . However, in the end, the Toa were cured of their mutation and the Matoran were safely relocated to a tropical island that the Toa had discovered and named " Mata Nui ", in honor of the sleeping Great Spirit. Once there, the Toa Metru gave up their Toa power to wake the Matoran from their stasis, becoming Turaga , thus completing the Matoran-Toa-Turaga cycle. But their victory had come at a price - Makuta had been freed from his prison, and would certainly be back. Another preparation made before the Cataclysm was that the Toa "Mata" entered Toa Canisters that would bring them to the island of Mata Nui, so they could begin the task of reawakening him. However, something went wrong, and the Toa Canisters were left drifting in the sea for a thousand years. In this time, Makuta indeed returned, and enslaved the native Rahi wildlife and constantly had them attack the Matoran, in order to keep them near the safety of the villages and away from Metru Nui. Meanwhile, the real Turaga Dume and the Rahaga (who had been allies of the Toa Hordika) stayed in Metru Nui and did what they could to begin restoring the city. Eventually, a Matoran named Takua gathered the Toa Stones that the Toa Metru had once made, and bringing them together shot a beam of light into the sky that finally summoned the Toa "Mata" to the island. They would challenge both Makuta and the Bohrok swarms that he awakened; becoming Toa Nuva in the process. However, defeating Makuta was not the Toa Nuva's destiny, that honor belonged to another. Takua discovered the Kanohi Avohkii , the Great Mask of Light, an ancient Kanohi mask said to belong to the Toa of Light who would defeat the darkness. After a journey of self-discovery, Takua realized that he was the prophesized hero; he put on the mask and transformed into the Toa of Light, renaming himself Toa Takanuva . He went to challenge Makuta himself, and in the course of the battle the two fell into a pool of energized Protodermis , emerging as a single being called Takutanuva. Takutanuva then reopened the gateway to Metru Nui, letting the Matoran return to their city home. Afterwards, Takutanuva was crushed by the giant gate; Takanuva was quickly revived but Makuta is presumed dead. However, Takanuva is not sure of the finality of Makuta's defeat; while fused with Makuta, he got the feeling that there were bigger plans at work, ones that the Matorans' return to Metru Nui will not stop... Recently, Turaga Dume revealed that he has discovered that the attack on Mata Nui was indeed deadly, and the Great Spirit is in danger of dying, with only a matter of weeks left. If Mata Nui were to die, the universe would die along with him. Dume has sent the Toa Nuva to Voya Nui to find the Ignika Mask of Life that could possibly save the Great Spirit's life, but they have run up against a group of Piraka ("thieves and murderers") who are also looking for the mask. But it seems that, again, it is not the Toa Nuva's destiny to claim the mask - six Matoran followed the Toa to Voya Nui to give their help, but they were struck by lightning from the mysterious Red Star and changed into Toa Inika . |
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