User blog:DarknessApogee/LTA - Let's Talk About... The Space Between Us

Hello ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to this new blog format : Let's Talk About ! It's a new concept I wanted to develop in order to talk about things I post on CBW, but in a more detailed fashion than the few info I put in every Trivia section on my pages. Today, we're going to discuss a story titled The Space Between Us, which is the prequel of my personal storyline Shadows of Darkness. I would advise to read the story before this blog post if you haven't already done so (obviously) and if you want to keep the mysteries of it open, then don't read this blog because I am going to spoil and/or explain everything. With that being said, let's go !

What is The Space Between Us ?
First of all, what is the story about ? We follow a new Toa team, the Toa Thevan, that is set on a mission to find a rogue Toa of Space called Dabohi. That's about it. TSBU simply revolves around them actually finding Dabohi, after nearly 80 years of search. Let's dissect the four parts that made up this short story. In the prologue, we're introduced to Dabohi and Kaadin, the first being the "antagonist" of the story and the second being the Toa Thevan of Earth. The way they are introduced tell a lot about who they are and what it is they do. Both of them speak for the first time with a question : "Do you see the shadows ?" for Dabohi, and "Did you kill them ?" for Kaadin. There is a broad difference between the two characters because Dabohi speaks in riddles, in complex sentences, and seems to be on a different dimension, like if he knows things Kaadin doesn't - and as a matter of fact, he does know such things - whereas Kaadin is straight to the point. In a few paragraphs, everything is set up : Dabohi is being looked for because he's the suspected murderer of Tren Krom and Karzahni (I'll come back to this later), he claims he isn't and reveals that he killed Velika because he is the true murderer. The first chapter then goes a little back in time to serve as an introduction of all characters. Each Toa Thevan is introduced, who they are, why they are on this mission and how they succeeded in it. Each of them is introduced in a way that we know who they are, how each one goes along with the others, etc... Actually it is very important for the following events and I'll come back to it in the third partof this blog, "Points of view". So now, we know who they are. In the second part of the chapter, Onahu explains how they ended up on this mission. Eighty years of search, and we get it's getting long for everyone with the repetition of "again". But then, he tells that a Fe-Matoran has seen Dabohi and this is why they find his cave. So obviously we don't get to see anything that has happened in this eighty years, but now we arrive in the story at the moment everything unfolds. In the last part of the chapter, the team separates to explore the cave where Dabohi hides, which explains why Kaadin was alone finding him in the prologue.
 * Tavus, Toa of Plantlife, leader of the team
 * Vana, Toa of Glass, only female of the team
 * Tyne, Toa of Fire
 * Onahu, Toa of Gravity
 * Gallus, Toa of Stone
 * Kaadin, Toa of Earth

The second chapter is also divided in three parts. First, Tavus and Vana realize Gallus and Kaadin have found Dabohi, so we see every Toa of the team joining in the cave for the final showdown. Second, Kaadin explains why Dabohi is actually innocent. Third, they all fight together with Dabohi being way overpowered compared to the Toa Thevan and it ends with a huge flash of light and everyone disappearing. Uh.

Then comes the epilogue, but it is a bit apart from the rest so I'll explain it in the end of this blog.

A lot of things are left unclear when reading the story. Some elements can be explained when you read the character's articles, but it still isn't much. So, let the mysteries of TSBU unfold...

The things I left unclear
The first thing that is quite obvious in TSBU is that there is no real beginning or end to the story. We're just "in between" the things. TSBU is set eighty years after The Powers That Be, the very last canon BIONICLE story of the first generation, where Tren Krom and Karzahni are murderer by Velika and where Kopaka and Pohatu are teleported to the Red Star. We arrive after the eighty years, after the murders, and after Velika was himself killed by Dabohi. So, it just seems everything important already happened before TSBU starts. And then, at the end, everyone suddenly disappears. The fight doesn't really end, we don't know where the Toa are, we don't know anything. This idea of arriving in the middle of the story is purely voluntary from my part, because, well, that's exactly what happens after in Light Submerged, the next story in the Shadows of Darkness storyline. Tavus finds himself in an alternate universe where he doesn't know where he is, and it seems a lot of things happened before but he just arrives in the middle of it all. There is a reason why TSBU is the prequel of Shadows of Darkness. It's because I set up everything. What happens here in two chapters is like a summary of the entire storyline in general. As a continuation to this aspect of the story, a lot of things are said "off-screen". For example, there is a huge part in the second chapter where Kaadin explains briefly that the Matoran known as Velika was actually a Great Being and that it is him that killed Tren Krom and Karzahni, and that Dabohi is innocent. He explains that briefly. The reason for that is that, we, as readers, know this is true. But let's put ourselves in the other Toa's shoes. How could they possibly believe that ? We are talking about Great Beings here, who are basically their gods, and Dabohi is saying not only one of them began murdering people, but was hiding as a Matoran. This is why there is a fight. This is why everything screws up in the end. We know everything is true because we read the story before. But the characters don't. Now the last thing I want to talk about in this part is how the story is divided. Prologue, two chapters, epilogue. Each chapter divided in three parts. There is a meaning behind the chapters' titles and how they are divided. As far as the epilogue is concerned, we'll see later.
 * Prologue - The Powers That Were. As I mentioned in the Trivia section of the article this is an obvious reference to the title The Powers That Be, which is basically the prologue of TSBU. However, it is now in the past tense because the "powers", aka Velika, is now dead.
 * Chapter I - What We Are Living For. Now this title actually comes from how the chapter is divided in three parts. Actually, each part is centered around one of the three virtues : Unity, Duty, Destiny. The first part introduces the Toa Thevan, how they are are individuals, different, but united as a team. "Eclectic indeed, but united until the end of times." Then the second part explains the mission of finding Dabohi, what is the Toa's duty. "So that we can finally accomplish our mission..." And then in the last part, the Toa are in front of Dabohi's cave, so they can finally reach the end of their journey, this is their destiny. "Come on, my friends, let's meet our destinies." In this regard, "What We Are Living For" works as a double-entendre. The chapter explains what the Toa Thevan are looking for, their mission, which is literally what they are living for, but also represents the three virtues, which are, since they're Toa, also what they are living for, what guides their lives.
 * Chapter II - To Right the Wrongs. Once again the title can have multiple significations : righting the wrongs is obviously what Dabohi tries to do by killing Velika (righting the murders before by killing the murderer). It is also about unveiling the truth about the events in The Powers That Be to the Toa Thevan (they are wrong in the sense they think Dabohi is the killer, so they need to be set right). In the end, it's all about Dabohi explaining himself. The three parts are also important in the sense that they show what the entire storyline will be made up of : exploration (part 1), meaningful debates and discussions (part 2), fights and battles (part 3). Once again it plays in the role of TSBU as a prequel, to show off everything that will constitute the storyline.

Points of view
One thing that is flagrant in TSBU is that the point of view constantly changes. Each part of the story follows one of the characters : Why did I do this ? It can be confusing, but, like everything else, it was for a reason. There is no main character in TSBU. Every Toa has his moment of glory, his own part of the story, whether said Toa is a protagonist or the antagonist. And the way the characters behave in their respective part is absolutely defining of their personality, and most notably defines how they react when in chapter II they have to choose between fighting Dabohi or leaving him alone. Let's investigate this. This last part is extremely important. Choosing to follow the antagonist's POV is actually the very basis of the Shadow Alternate Universe in which the rest of the storyline takes place. The basic idea is : what if the good guys are the bad guys, and the bad guys the good guys ? That's what it is all about. From Dabohi's POV, he's a nice guy trying to avoid fights and to right the wrongs.
 * Prologue - Kaadin
 * Chapter I Part 1 - Tavus
 * Chapter I Part 2 - Onahu
 * Chapter I Part 3 - Tyne
 * Chapter II Part 1 - Vana
 * Chapter II Part 2 - Gallus
 * Chapter II Part 3 - Dabohi
 * Kaadin is presented as wise, calm and thoughtful. He talks with Dabohi instead of attacking him directly, which explains why he chooses against the fight in chapter II.
 * Tavus is linked with the Unity part of chapter I. This shows that what matters most to him is his team. He is also shown to walk behind everyone else to ensure everyone's safety. He literaly puts his team before himself, and this is why in chapter II he chooses a middle way between everyone else without putting his personal opinion on the table.
 * Onahu is clearly tired of this mission. In his part, he rests a few minutes. So it is understandable that he would want to fight Dabohi and be done with it all. Moreover, his part is the Duty part, and he is friends with Tyne so it is likely he would follow Tyne's vote.
 * Tyne is the youngest and most excited Toa of the team. He's dynamic, energic, irreverencious and he swears quite a lot. With such attitude, of course he would choose to fight Dabohi.
 * Vana is reserved and follows the lead of everyone else, as shown while she follows Tavus' orders in her part. She is also sensible, so it understandable that she would fear Dabohi and consider him as a threat. Even if she doesn't really appreciate fighting, that's why she chooses the fight side against Dabohi, even if it makes her cry.
 * Finally, Gallus is presented from the very beginning as the peaceful giant of the team. In his part, he acts more as a spectator than an actor, looking how everyone reacts and talks and stuff. This explains why he chooses the peace side with Kaadin.
 * But then, we have the Dabohi part, and it is really interesting. Because, in all of the parts preceding his, he's introduced as an antagonist, as a murderer, as a threat. Why is that ? Because the other parts follow the Toa Thevan's point of view. But when we follow Dabohi's point of view, we actually discover that he's not such a bad guy, since his first action is to knock Vana out so that she is not injured in the fight. In the same way, he tries not to hurt anyone, just looking for a way out of this.

About the epilogue
Now let's explain this mysterious epilogue. What happens ? At the end of chapter II, Dabohi gains back control of his Elemental Space powers, there's a flash of light and everyone disappears. Obviously, everyone teleported away. We have a mix of sentences and song lyrics. The sentences seem to follow each other, bu strangely enough, sometimes the sentences use "he", one time "she". I think you see where this is going. There are eight sentences in the epilogue (I don't count the song lyrics). How many parts are there in TSBU ? Oh, what a surprise ! Eight. Each sentence actually follows a different character, in exactly the same order as they have their parts in the story. But what about the eighth sentence and the song then ? The song is about being free, and the last sentence : "The echo of his song came back to him from the neverending corridors. A distorted voice. Or maybe it was just how he sounded now ? This thought made him laugh. A lone laugh in the darkness. And again, the echo." And hat is the title of the eight part of the story, the epilogue ? Redstar. I won't say more than that.
 * Kaadin : "The rocks surrounding him were hard and cold. What had happened ?" Once again show Kaadin's character. He thinks and analyzes his environment.
 * Tavus : "There was only darkness around him. A light above cast some shadows. Then it all faded to black." This one was pretty obvious, since I reused it as the first sentence of Light Submerged. It is revealed that Tavus was teleported in the Shadow Alternate Universe (darkness around him, some shadows), underwater (light above, actually over the surface).
 * Onahu : "Dreams. Nightmares."
 * Tyne : "His insides were burning from rage and despair, and yet this fire was nothing compared to what was outside." The ideas of "burning" and "fire" were hidden references to Tyne, Toa of Fire. He is enraged, as he is throughout the second chapter, but we also know that there is an hot environment around him.
 * Vana : "She felt sheer terror." And that is basically what she feels in the entire story too.
 * Gallus : "Could he ever go back ?"
 * Dabohi : "He would find a way. He had too." A way to what ? Well, in the story, Kaadin mentions that Dabohi still has something to do. Remember, in The Powers That Be, Velika kills Tren Krom and Karzahni BUT we also have Pohatu and Kopaka disappearing. This disappearance is never directly addressed in TSBU, but it is what Kaadin refers to as "something else to do". Dabohi wants to save Kopaka, as explained in his article too.

References and cameos
Finally, to end this very long blog post, let's have a look at all the references hidden in the story. That's it for this LTA, hope you enjoyed reading TSBU, hope this blog helped clearing some mysteries left in the story, and hope to see you around ! Don't forget to check out the current story of the Shadows of Darkness storyline, Light Submerged, and if you have more questions about the story or simply have some comments, feel free to comment below ! Schweppes ! ~ Darkness Apogee  Do you see the  Shadows  ? 13:11, May 18, 2018 (UTC)
 * The Powers That Be is referenced in many ways throughout the story (obviously), with the murders of Tren Krom and Karzahni, Velika, but also Toa Orde ("That was some delusional Toa's theory. An almighty Great Being, hidden amongst the Matoran for his dark schemes to go unnoticed") and the machine used by the Vorox to retain a Toa's Elemental Powers.
 * David Bowie. Many references to him, from the name of Dabohi, to the blindfold on his eyes, to the title of the epilogue that is "Redstar" just like Bowie's song "Blackstar", and obviously the song in the end is "Lazarus", a song about dying but also reliving after death.
 * The line "Sometimes it's a case of cruel to be kind" uttered by Dabohi comes from the song "Gold In Them Hills" by Ron Sexsmith. The song is about seeing the good things in life, despite everything going wrong ; this can be seen as Dabohi's philosophy of life.
 * The following dialogue comes from the movie Cloud Atlas, my favorite. It is important to show the fact that truth can depend on the POV of the people saying it.
 * "If I had remained invisible, the truth would have stayed hidden in the darkness." "And what if no one believes your truth ?" "Someone already does"
 * The holographic orrery scene in chapter II was inspired by similar settings in Treasure Planet, Prometheus and Alien : Covenant.
 * The Kanohi Benkhem, Mask of Deviation, worn by Onahu, was created by CaptainLandr0ver who's one of my favorite writers on this wiki. It was put in as a small reference to him.
 * And last but not least, the unnamed Fe-Matoran that told the Toa Thevan where Dabohi was is none other than Rode.