The Shattering

"What the Great Beings feared came to pass, as violent tremors shook the planet and cracks appeared in the earth. Deep in the molten core of Spherus Magna, the energies of the strange substance ran wild, building to inevitable disaster. In later years, Agori would call this "the Shattering" - the moment when their world exploded into pieces and their old lives ended, forever."
— Narrator, All Our Sins Remembered

The Shattering
← Core WarSkrall War →
Event
Witnesses	Residents of Spherus Magna
Time	100,000 years ago
Actions	Spherus Magna splinters into three pieces
Significance	Major

The Shattering was a cataclysmic event that took place on the planet Spherus Magna.

History

The event was triggered when Energized Protodermis leaked from the core of the planet to the surface. Ice Agori soon discovered the substance and its destructive properties. The other tribes soon discovered it, and what it was capable of, and began warring for its control, under the command of the Element Lords.

As the war raged, the old rulers of Spherus Magna, the Great Beings, collected a sample of the liquid and discovered that its spread was causing infrastructural damage to the planet itself, and that any efforts to drain it would cause massive damage. When the efforts to make the fighting stop proved unsuccessful, the Great Beings created a giant robot that would observe other worlds and other cultures, trying to learn from them so as to prevent a war from breaking out again. Then it would return to Spherus Magna and help repair the damage to the planet.

The Fire Tribe, in an effort to claim the power of the Energized Protodermis, managed to break into the Ice Tribe's well, and began siphoning off the substance from its spring. A chain reaction began in the core of the planet and eventually it caused the planet to shatter into three pieces.

Mata Nui departs Spherus Magna.

The majority of the population was stranded on the largest chunk, housing the region of Bara Magna, the White Quartz Mountains, the Black Spike Mountains and the area immediately north of the two mountain ranges. This chunk eventually developed into a new planet. The jungle covering a large part of the region was reduced to just a few trees and shrubs, while the desert expanded, causing most of the rivers in the region to disappear. Of the Agori who had been in the region when the Shattering occurred, a large number died, while the rest tried to find shelter in the ruins. They lost the ability to invent new things and were forced to rely on what was left of the Great Beings' technology. The Sand Tribe, in particular, regressed to a primitive and savage state. North of the Black Spike Mountains, the Rock Tribe, who had been cut off from its homeland along with its warriors, established an empire. The other four tribes, who had lost most of their warriors, began to rebuild and established a new social system thanks to Core War veterans and other Agori, such as Raanu.

The other two chunks of Spherus Magna became worlds of their own. The piece housing the Great Sea was completely covered by water and became Aqua Magna, while the Great Jungle and the Northern Frost formed the celestial body of Bota Magna.

The shattered pieces of Spherus Magna

Aftermath

Many of the denizens of the planet were killed or injured as a direct result of the Shattering. Spherus Magna separated into several fragments, including Aqua Magna, Bara Magna, and Bota Magna. Bara Magna became home to the majority of the surviving population.

With many of the former cities of Bara Magna reduced to ruin, the tribes settled into small villages, each home to hundreds of Agori. The Rock Tribe established a home up north, near the Great Volcano, and attended its own affairs. The nomadic Sand Tribe society regressed into a savage, animalistic state; its warriors became known as Vorox, and its Agori became the Zesk.

The survivors on Bota Magna led much more comfortable lives, being surrounded by a region of plentiful flora and fauna. Some Agori came to blame the technology of the Great Beings for the disaster, and combined their armor with plant matter to become closer to nature. A Sand Tribe contingent led by Kabrua established their own city and established hunting traditions.

No Agori or others are known to have survived on Aqua Magna, which was entirely underwater.

Appearances

Books	Comics	Online
Novels BIONICLE: Raid on Vulcanus (M) BIONICLE: Journey's End (M) Guides BIONICLE: Mata Nui's Guide to Bara Magna (M) Activity BIONICLE: Glatorian The Crossing (M)	Graphic Novels All Our Sins Remembered Fall and Rise of the Skrall (M)	Chronicle Mata Nui Saga Story Serials Destiny War (M) Riddle of the Great Beings (M) Empire of the Skrall (M) Sahmad's Tale (M) The Yesterday Quest (M) Short Stories Decadence (M)