#tryna

So in regards to Kingdom!Matoro (or Matoro as a Mahri I'm general) he was bestowed with the kanohi Tryna - the mask of necromancy reanimation. An interesting choice by the Ignika (which is the supposed source of his and the other Mahri’s mutation) but it got me thinking... (ie I was VERY bored at work).

Now again, this is not to be taken seriously, but after rereading the Into the Darkness podcast transcript again, something just really bugged me about the whole situation with Teridax and Matoro. So, Teridax’s goal was to blackmail Matoro into reanimating Tuyet, because she had remnants of the Nui-stone embedded in her armor (though apparently in the main universe, it wasn’t Nui-stone fragements), and the reason was...so he could bestow it on a Toa? 

That got me to thinking just what this implies. We’re all fully aware of Teridax’s psychopathic ability to plan and prepare a thousand backup plans to his backup plans. We also know he has an invested interest in The Plan to take over the Matoran universe, but it can’t be achieved if Mata-nui dies. So, taking into account his tendency to have backup plans in stacks, could he have, say, predicted Matoro being given the Tryna, and thus, his plans for the Nui-stone were in fact to somehow sway Matoro to his side, give him the Nui-stone, and in the event Mata-nui dies, have Matoro harness the stone and, I don’t know, reanimate the husk? At least enough to allow Teridax to slip into the Core Processor and do what he needed to do, because as it stands, it SOUNDS like for him to even get into the GSR, Mata-nui HAD to die at least briefly. 

And to me, it just doesn’t entirely add up. Or maybe I’m not remembering things correctly (it’s been A While since I read the books). Why would he want the Nui-stone to begin with? As far as I can tell, it’s used exclusively to enhance Toa.

He showed an unusual interest in Matoro, and I’m going to guess it’s because, one, Matoro is inherently linked to the Ignika for obvious reasons, and two, he has a mask that may or may not be of use to Teridax in some way if something goes wrong. 

So, if given the Nui-stone, could Matoro have proved useful in reanimating Mata-nui? My guess is yes. In Tuyet’s hands, she apparently was able to essentially take over the Toa Empire Universe. If given that enhancement, Matoro probably could reanimate a massive, universe-sized robot with very little strain; at least long enough for Teridax to do whatever he needs to do. 

On the flip side of things, there is also the possible reason why Matoro got the Tryna. The Inika/Mahri were mutated by the Ignika, and due to the Ignika’s sentience, I wouldn’t be surprised if it had chosen their masks from the get-go. So why the Tryna for Matoro? Why such an obscure, taboo mask? 

Supposedly masks are a sort of nod to a trait of a Matoran/Toa's personality or ability, or perhaps at the least prove utility to their programmed profession. So, supposedly, masks align with one’s destiny. Matoro’s destiny is to die to revive Mata-nui. If we assume over-use of mask powers causes strain, we can assume if he tried to reanimate Mata-nui without a Nui-stone, he would probably die in the procees. But what would be the point? There is no utilitary reason for Matoro to have the Tryna that isn’t just symbolism (which is rife within the MU, but I digress). The other Mahri, on the other hand, all got masks they could utilize to their new enviroment. Jaller got echolocation, Hewkii got gravity powers, Hahli can mimic Rahi, Kongu can summon demons and Rahi and god knows what else, and Nuparu got stealth ninja powers. One could argue there’s A Lot of dead things in the ocean, but there is literally SO many other masks Matoro could have been given that would have been much more useful in The Pit. 

So does the Tryna just imply his destiny is to revive someone (ie Mata-nui)? Or was he given the Tryna because, regardless of the Ignika and REGARDLESS of whether or not Matoro dies or if he has a Nui-stone, the Tryna would act as an end all contingency? I can't see it being the former, and while the latter is REALLY pushing it, it makes more sense. This may or may not also be supported by the fact that a contingency mask DOES exist, and that is the Ignika itself. It’s supposed to both be Mata-nui’s defibrillator, but it’s also a reset button.  

I don’t know, it just feels very off to me, both Matoro’s mask and Teridax’s motivations for the Nui-stone. I can’t recall if it was ever expanded upon if he even had a Toa in mind to give the stone to, and if not, I doubt he would have gone to the trouble of finding it. That’s a HUGE detour to take when he’s on such a tight time crunch now.