Talk:Nireta

Nireta as the Lab Worker in Mystery of Metru Nui

While Nokama's promotional CD shows Nireta as the lab worker, the novel refers to the lab worker with the masculine pronoun "his", which we do not know Nireta to have ever gone by. Since Nokama's CD is canonically questionable, what should we do regarding this? It could be that Nireta was not the actual lab assistant and the CD is incorrect, that Nireta went by masculine pronouns on Metru-Nui, or (most likely) that the novel simply used the incorrect pronoun, especially likely since the novel only refers to the lab worker in a gendered manner for the single word "his". Though it isn't that important, the answer does affect several pages, so I don't want to put any changes in yet. Firespitter Lhii (talk) 15:06, 9 October 2023 (UTC)

I would have regarded it as a typo, but apparently Greg thinks it was not a Ga-Matoran: https://greg.thegreatarchives.com/2003-2008/page23#post910-line23-24 :/ Could someone check that the interaction is definitively the same one? ~ Wolk (talk) 15:47, 9 October 2023 (UTC)

It's just a typo. Greg's answer is simply him trying to come up with an answer without being aware of the minutiae of the CDs (he deviated in some minor details), which tell the same story in a different medium. His "solution" also contradicts what we are being told about the lab workers all being Ga-Matoran.--ToaKebaka (talk) 21:07, 9 October 2023 (UTC)

Could you cite all the lab workers being Ga-Matoran? That would be helpful here. ~ Wolk (talk) 22:36, 9 October 2023 (UTC)

Actually, I could find no place stating that all lab workers are Ga-Matoran, and in fact on page 94 of The Bionicle Encyclopedia and page 125 of Bionicle Encyclopedia Updated! both include the line, "Ga-Metru employed Matoran from other districts to do menial tasks so that GA-MATORAN could focus on their studies." Furthermore, Makuta's Guide to the Universe says on page 3, "Much of the daily work done in the metru is done by members of other tribes so that Ga-Matoran can be free to study." While it isn't clear whether or not the work of a lab worker is considered menial or general daily work, but given that the lab worker in Mystery of Metru Nui says, "Hey, I just take care of the lab. I never --," it seems like they are not really deemed a participant in the research itself. I don't know how to look through the chat with Greg archives, but since none of the sources used on any of these pages say that lab workers were all Ga-Matoran, and what sources there are seem to suggest the opposite may be true if anything, I think that is just not true. We should probably put that Nireta is likely not the lab worker, though we can't be certain that it was an error. Firespitter Lhii (talk) 14:30, 10 October 2023 (UTC)

To be honest, I don't really see a point of dispute in this - we have a source that specifies Nireta as the lab worker whom Nokama questioned. That is all we need. An alternate source covering the same story (the book) does not specify. It also contains a minor mistake using a male pronoun for a female character (wouldn't be the first nor last time in Bionicle). When asked about the mistake, Greg failed to cross-check with other sources and came up with his own answer incompatible with the established setting. And that is ok, he can't be expected to remember every last minor detail from every possible source in a multi-media franchise. But anyway, I will establish why the possibility of the lab worker being from other Metru does not really fit what we know. Metru Nui - City of Legends explains how Ga-Matoran are evenly divided between teachers and students and the ordinary mundane jobs were relegated to hired Matoran from other metru. The objects of study of teachers and students were numerous, but among them the most prominent and important was the science of protodermis and the purification process. There are labs everywhere where Ga-Matoran work and/or learn to develop better ways to purify protodermis. Nokama CD states most students even have small versions of protodermis purification systems at home for homework assignments and classes have models of separation tanks. In the lab where Nireta is found it says: "Ga-Matoran are constantly working and inventing ways to perfect purification methods, and keep models of the best inventions in their labs for inspiration." Among the many awards Nokama recieved, one of them was for Innovative protodermis purification. Metru Nui - City of Legends also says: "The very best students get to work in the Great Temple as protodermis purifiers." What I am getting at is that having a job in a protodermis purification lab is one of the most important and prestigious positions you can have in Ga-Metru, so definitely not a menial job. The hierarchy in Ga-Metru is student < worker < teacher, where students are training for their eventual job and teachers are workers skilled enough to teach others: https://greg.thegreatarchives.com/2003-2008/page27#post1060-line2-3 https://greg.thegreatarchives.com/2003-2008/page32#post1253-line10-11 A lab worker is someone who takes care of the lab, keeps an eye on the students who do not yet know what they are doing, preps materials for classes, and cleans up after them (just like in real life). If being a student is considered more important for Ga-Matoran than the afformentioned "menial tasks", then a position above it in the Ga-Metru pecking order surely wouldn't be appointed to someone unqualified from a different metru. It simply wouldn't make sense. Metru Nui Ministry of Tourism even mentions how visitors from other metru are not even allowed to the labs and can only watch the students from behind windows.--ToaKebaka (talk) 20:29, 10 October 2023 (UTC)