Red Star
"The red star had hovered above the island of Mata Nui in the days when Kopaka and his allies first arrived. Much later, he and the others learned that the star was in fact some kind of booster rocket system used by the Mata Nui robot to break free of a planet’s gravitational pull. It was not a true star, but an engine."
— Narrator, The Powers That Be
| Red Star | |
 The Red Star as seen from Mata Nui | |
| Vehicle | |
| Manufacturer | Great Beings |
| Users | Kestora Mata Nui (formerly) Teridax (formerly) |
| Function | Help Mata Nui Robot break free from gravitational pull of planets Revive Matoran Universe beings Transform Matoran into Toa |
| Status | Orbiting Spherus Magna |
The Red Star is an enigmatic celestial object in the Solis Magna System. Inhabited and run by Kestora, this interstellar space station was created by the Great Beings to assist the Mata Nui robot in taking off from planets. In addition, it helped conserve the robot's finite resources by reviving its inhabitants when they died: The deceased were transported from the Matoran Universe into the Red Star, where they would be placed in a new body and sent back.[1]
History
The Red Star was created by the Great Beings in the Valley of the Maze after the creation of the Mata Nui robot.[2][3] The Great Beings later placed many Kestora within the star.[4] The Red Star followed Mata Nui throughout the universe as he observed planets, orbiting around each new world that he investigated.[5]
The Red Star also received the deceased beings from the Matoran Universe. However, shortly after Gaardus's revival, the Red Star malfunctioned, and the revived beings were unable to return to the Matoran Universe, frustrating the Kestora.[6][1]
After Mata Nui crashed into Aqua Magna, the star moved into orbit around the planet.[7] The population of Matoran from Metru Nui, after arriving on the island that Mata Nui used to disguise himself, began observing the star, basing prophecies off of the constellations it formed.[8][9] The Red Star also had an unclear connection to the Spirit Stars of Toa who were outside the Matoran Universe.[2]
When Jaller, Hahli, Kongu, Nuparu, Matoro, and Hewkii were escaping from Karzahni's realm in Toa Canisters, a failsafe caused lightning from the Red Star to strike the canisters and transform the six Matoran into the Toa Inika, Toa charged with a lightning energy. The Toa Inika then combined their powers to unintentionally create six Spirit Stars, which went into orbit around the Red Star.[10][1]
After the island had been abandoned and wiped clean by the Bohrok, Gali was tasked with looking at the Red Star through the Great Telescope as instructed by a scroll left by the Great Beings. She was meant to record its position, but while looking at it used her Akaku Nuva to further zoom in on the star. She was able to see inside of it, and she discovered the beings that are living inside the Red Star.[11]
After taking over the Great Spirit's body, Teridax used the Red Star to depart from Aqua Magna.[12]
When Spherus Magna was restored, the Red Star began to orbit that new planet. Gaardus later encountered Toa Nuva Kopaka and Pohatu and was convinced to take them to the Red Star. Upon arriving, they met some of the Kestora, who threatened to kill them.[13] After a brief discussion, Kopaka froze the Kestora solid, and he and Pohatu started looking for a way to get back to Spherus Magna, as Gaardus had teleported away. The Toa quickly became surrounded by creatures aboard the star, but were rescued by Mavrah.[6]
Features
The Red Star, like the Matoran Universe, is made of Protodermis.[14] To Pohatu, the walls of the Red Star's interior seemed to be a combination of metal bands and organic tissue, similar to how he imagined the inside of a Toa would look. However, the material was still and as cold as ice.[13] It houses a population of Kestora, as well as the formerly dead inhabitants of the Matoran Universe. The Red Star uses a power source comparable to Mata Nui's and contains Energized Protodermis.[15] When Pohatu and Kopaka were stranded on the Star, Pohatu used his Kanohi Kakama to scout ahead and saw many laboratories and some old machinery and commented that it looked like it had "been jury-rigged a few hundred times."[6]
While in space, the Red Star was attached to Mata Nui's upper back. When the Great Spirit descended to a planet, the Red Star remained in orbit above him.[5] Once Mata Nui was prepared to leave the planet, the Red Star would reattach to his back and provide him with extra power to escape the planet's orbit.[16] However, it was and is not capable of faster-than-light travel.[17]
The Red Star was also meant to keep the population of the Matoran Universe stable. Beings who died in the Matoran Universe were transported to the Red Star, where they would be placed in a new body, and then be returned back to the robot in order to continue working.[18] It is unclear if the system revived Rahi.[19][20][21][22] The return function eventually broke down, and newly-revived beings were consequently trapped on the Red Star, unable to be teleported back. Additionally, while revived beings were intended to retain their memories and intact mental functions, the traumatic process of revival resulted in many beings' thoughts being temporarily scrambled.[23] This effect is temporary, however, and the mind is eventually restored to whatever state it was before death, together with whatever body existed then.[18][24][25][26] Beings whose bodies or minds were destroyed beyond repair could not be revived on the Red Star.[27][28][29][30]
The Red Star possesses a device on board capable of dispensing energy to its inhabitants to prevent starvation.[31] It also possesses water tanks allowing water breathers to survive.[20]
As a failsafe, the Red Star is also capable of creating new Toa from Matoran outside the Matoran Universe.[1] The Toa Inika were such Toa.
Inhabitants
- The Kestora
- Revived beings
- Botar[2]
- Gaardus (formerly, teleported out; now on Spherus Magna)[32]
- Guardian[33]
- Hydraxon[2]
- Ihu[34]
- Turaga Jovan[35]
- Turaga Lhikan[2]
- Mavrah[6]
- Nocturn[36]
- The Nynrah Ghosts who mutated Gaardus[37]
- The Nynrah Ghosts who created the Fohrok[38]
- A Ga-Matoran drowned by Tuyet[39]
- Many Toa of Iron and Magnetism killed by the Brotherhood of Makuta[38]
Trivia
- While searching through ruins outside the Arena Magna on Bara Magna, the Agori Tarduk discovered part of a map depicting the Red Star and the facility where it was built on the planet before Mata Nui left. His interest piqued, he gathered fellow Agori Crotesius and Kirbold and set out on a journey, albeit an unsuccessful one, to discover its meaning.[40]
- It is unclear whether beings composed of Antidermis can be revived on the Red Star.[note 1]
- The Red Star's teleportation powers have a range of 22,300 miles.[57]
- Though the Red Star was introduced in the earliest years of the series, the original story team did not envision it as a means to revive the dead. This function was added after the toyline's run by Greg Farshtey, when he decided that he wanted to do a "zombies on a space station" story.[58]
- Farshtey originally stated that Rahi could be revived on the Red Star, as they played an essential role in the Matoran Universe.[59] However, he later both contradicted and confirmed this statement on different occasions; when these contradictions were pointed out to him, he decided that Rahi were not revived on the Red Star, as the Makuta were the ones in charge of determining how many of them were needed in the universe.[21][60][22]
- The Ga-Matoran astrologer Nixie prophesied about the future by tracking the movements of the Red Star through the Great Telescope. When the Mata Nui Online Game was originally released, the player could use the telescope to see if the Red Star and other stars had changed positions, signaling that the game had been updated and new content was available. Despite this, Farshtey dismisses the Red Star's ability to predict the future as in-universe Matoran superstition.[61]
Appearances
| Books | Comics | Online | Multimedia |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Novels Guides |
Ignition |
Story Serials |
Online Games
|
Notes
References
| Locations | ||
| Solis Magna | Spherus Magna (Aqua Magna | Bara Magna | Bota Magna) | Red Star | |
| Matoran Universe (Mata Nui) |
Metru Nui (Maze of Shadows) | Karzahni | Zakaz | Xia (The Mountain) | Northern Continent (Tren Krom Peninsula) | Artakha | Stelt | Odina | Southern Continent (Voya Nui, Mahri Nui) | Karda Nui | The Pit | Destral | Nynrah | Tren Krom's Island | Visorak | Daxia | Southern Islands (Artidax) | |
| Alternate Locations |
Pocket Dimensions |
Zone of Darkness | City of Silver |
| Alternate Universes |
The Melding | Spherus Magna | Toa Empire | The Kingdom | |
| Other Locations | ||
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