Jaller and Takua/Takanuva Musings

Look. This is my dreamwidth, and I choose what I do with it, and so far only two people follow me so you're gna be the ones subjected to this. Apologies in advance. I just need to get these thoughts out of my system and also have something to look back on when I finally decide to write a fic about this. This is not going to be super organized but eh whatever.

I keep spending way too much time thinking about Takua and Jaller's friendship - look, I know that Bionicle gave Jaller the cute little thing with Hahli to appeal to The Straights, but I think there's a shit ton to talk about with Jaller and Takua, okay? The fact of the matter is, Takua didn't want to be a Toa originally. He tried to shove his responsibilities onto Jaller, who took it on with no shortage of grumbling but he does it. And then he dies for it in order to save Takua's life.

Let's unpack this for a second! Takua refuses to take responsibility until the last possible moment, and even then Jaller ends up dying to save his life. He only accepts his fate to become a Toa after it's too late. How much did that haunt him. Greg Farshtey I demand answers.

Granted, Jaller does come back to life in this random power that Takua-now-Takanuva has after fusing with the Makuta, which seems more like a gimmick for kids shows to not have any major characters die than anything that makes sense with the actual lore, but whatever the thing that matters is that Jaller's back, Takanuva is a Toa now, and they've beaten the bad guy and are going back to their 'homeland' of Metru Nui to reclaim it after centuries of it lying dormant. Hooray! Except not hooray because god and consequently the universe is dying.

I'll need to dig to see what Takanuva was up to this whole time but I mainly remember he's trying to help clear out and rebuild the city - meanwhile, Jaller and select other Matoran (conveniently one of each element, wonder how this is gna turn out) are working on figuring out what the hell is going on. The Toa Nuva have gone to help and aren't coming back, Takanuva has been a Toa for like, a week and is barely qualified to protect the entire city, and it's left up to six little guys to figure it all out - and then Nokama spills the beans.

Now we're getting to the good shit.

Jaller and the squad head out and Takanuva follows - how could he not? He's the only one left in this city with anything resembling the power that would be needed to get to Voya Nui and to save Mata Nui's life - the Matoran, while not quite powerless, had none of the elemental or Mask powers that would allow them to defend themselves on this journey. Of course Takanuva's coming. Until he cannot.

Thinking about the moment with the light barrier makes me insane in the membrane, in case you were wondering. Takanuva physically cannot cross this barrier. The six Matoran have already crossed and cannot come back. Takanuva can do nothing but watch his best friend walk away into which is almost certainly his own demise. "I may never see you again, and I can't even shake your hand," he says sadly in the books, and I think he should be sad that he can't KISS HIM GOODBYE I MEAN WHAT-

What was going on in Takanuva's head in this moment. Greg Farshtey I am rattling the bars of my cage. Takanuva says that Jaller should have been a Toa, not him, and I fully believe that he means it - Takua was the Chronicler once, he wandered the land and recorded the exploits of the heroes. He spent so much time chasing after those more powerful than him - while he has his own fair share of brave moments, there's a reason he tried to push the responsibility of the Herald away from him. And Jaller - Jaller was the Captain of the Guard. Jaller never would back down from fighting for what is right. Jaller does not hesitate to sacrifice himself for the life of his best friend.

And now Takanuva has all of this power, he's the Toa of Light, he's meant to be the Seventh Toa who will save them all and he can't even repay Jaller for his life. He can't even protect his best friend. He can only watch as he walks away into the darkness.

What happened in those months following, I wonder? We know what happened to the Matoran - they all became Toa themselves, one of the most disgustingly competent teams of Toa in the entire series. And no wonder there - they'd been defending their homes for centuries with nothing but their wit and determination, of course they'd bring that experience with them when they got powers of their own.

I think about Jaller as a leader a lot. It's mentioned that he's cautious - he's spent so much time hearing about the mistakes of previous Toa of Fire, of their recklessness and failures, and with a mission that means the literal life or death of the universe, of course he's going to be careful. He didn't even want this kind of power - he even says to Takanuva, just before leaving, that it's hard enough being a Matoran.

And Takanuva. He's been left behind, he's the sole defender of this massive city that they're still figuring out how to rebuild. He's spent his whole life chasing after the Toa as the Chronicler, and even as the Toa of Light he's following Jaller, a mere Matoran. The sudden shift in power and responsibilities after his transformation - did Jaller and Takanuva ever get the chance to just sit down and talk about everything that happened? Or was Takanuva too busy for his old friend? Jaller clearly told Takanuva about his decision to leave and go after the Toa Nuva - how did that conversation look?

How unqualified must Takanuva feel, being a Toa for mere months and left to defend an entire city alone?

I think about their reunion a lot. How did Takanuva feel seeing Jaller again as a Toa, knowing that after that brief interlude of vastly different power and responsibility levels that they were finally on the same level again? But there's no time for that, especially given that the Toa Mahri's return to Metru Nui is defined by two distinctive events - they've saved Mata Nui's life, and Matoro is dead.

(I also think a lot about how close Jaller came to sacrificing his life again in those final moments before Matoro died. Even after becoming a Toa, he has not changed.)

Anyway the time that follows is them fighting for their lives especially after Teridax takes over the robot but if I ever wrote a fic of this, I would absolutely write a Takua/Takanuva character study from their time on Mata Nui up until their reunion after Matoro's sacrifice. There's a shit ton to unpack there, and it makes me feel slightly deranged to think about. I'll get there eventually but for now enjoy this extremely niche rambling about these two fuckin guys.