10 Unanswered Questions ➤ Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom

[@BanditGames]

Hi guys, I'm alive. How many hours have YOU put in to Tears of the Kingdom???

[@GossipGeist]

Not nearly enough!

[@NebuloreYT]

@@GossipGeistI see you’re here too 👀

[@GossipGeist]

​@@NebuloreYTlmao, you know it.

[@FierceDeity35]

About 500 hrs atm.

[@aratherbritishdinosaur]

205+ so far.

[@kakarikokage2514]

On the subject of building the shrines of light, monsters were running rampant in Hyrule, so the shrines were built as a way to help repel the evil. As for why Rauru's hand let go of Ganondorf. I like to think he sensed Link approach and was like, "Sweet! Alright Ganondorf, that guy I said would come to kick your butt is here. Go get him, Link!"

[@orianefaton1885]

It may be more likely it somehow recognised Zelda, and assumed the other was Link.

[@Shid_idk]

No, it’s actually cause the Great Calamity weakened the seal on Ganondorf and due to perfect bad timing, Zelda and Link came at the perfect time for Ganondorf to awaken, send Zelda back in time and make link’s arm go gloom.

[@derzeldagamer7931]

That's actually answered. It was the calamities fault and maybe even the true intention behind causing the calamity at all, if Ganondorf or even Calamity Ganon were capable of such planning in their respective states of mind and stuff. The Seal was directly connected to the castle and it's structure, when that began to crumble under the repeated attacks of the calamity, it weakened the seal enough for Ganondorf to break free. Link and Zelda simply were at the wrong spot at the wrong time.

[@hedwigon6951]

I think Gabon could sense their presence and tried to move, but failed, making a tiny twitch the only movement possible, accidentally (but luckily for him) knocking off rauru's hand.

[@kakarikokage2514]

@@orianefaton1885 True.

[@kildaver]

In regards to question 7: the reason the sword didn't just rewind a day or so is because it *needed to absorb sacred energy to get stronger.* It's said as much to our faces in the tear cutscenes.

[@Irish_Enderman]

True, also Recall can't repair things anyway, I can't think of a single situation in which Recall can be used to repair something that's broken so why would it work for the Master Sword?

[@catalyst539]

That’s funny when you consider gameplay, since the one from BotW is stronger in that field. But that’s neither here nor there.

[@Chris-gx1ei]

​@@Irish_Enderman It would maybe need a mix of very powerful recall and fusion to stick all the pieces back together Sonja describes Recall not as something to rewind time entirely, she describes it as using the Memories of that Object to make them return to their previous position.

[@EKOddLink]

I mean, the easy answer for why the Sword didn't use Recall to repair itself is because it needed to become STRONGER than it oreviously was, and attain a higher power. That's why it goes back to Zelda, A Hundred thousand plus years ago. Not just to repair, but to become truly powerful and invulnerable to Ganondorfs Gloom

[@mr.awesome6011]

This. It is explained in game during the memory where Link and Zelda get the Master Sword from Korok Forest that the sword can heal itself and become stronger over time hence why Zelda turns herself into a dragon in order to protect it during it's multi millenia long restoration in order to get it back to Link ready and able to take on even the Demon Dragon.

[@Defender1876]

@@mr.awesome6011 there is the problem that if they keep letting zelda wield the sword they will no Longer need Link

[@javiervasquez625]

​@@mr.awesome6011 She also used the _Triforce_ hidden _inside_ her body to imbue the Master Sword with Light so that it would both repair at a faster rate and also become even more powerful than Ganondorf's Gloom.

[@javiervasquez625]

​@@Defender1876 Note that Zelda does not wield the Master Sword in combat but simply powers/reforges it up so that the _Hero_ birthed by the Goddesses could use it against the ever reincarnating Demon King.

[@primrosett]

​@Defender1876 she never weilds it. What are you talking about?

[@EthanMiguelScott]

If you translated all the tablets, one of them mentions that Sonia was "with chylde"( pregnant) when she and Rauru worked together to read the land of monsters and found the kingdom. So yes, their kid is around somewhere, probably cared for by Mineru and Zelda. Which must have been incredibly weird for Zelda, playing temporary parent to her own ancestor.

[@owenmurray1405]

Man that kid would look weird

[@oraclescrolls]

@@owenmurray1405you mean like the secret hero weird cause it looks like a fusion of a Sinai and hylian

[@Simonpumpernickel]

She was with child which means PREGANT and we saw her murdered right? So there was no kid….

[@pigaboyAKAthecoolestguyonearth]

@@Simonpumpernickel If that was when they were building the shrines and established the kingdom, then that must be at least a little while before the main events of the past, by the time Zelda appeared the whole kingdom had the Zonai architecture and golems (constructs), incorporated, so i doubt Rauru's time as king was too short, the shrines were already there too, and obviously the fact Sonia doesn't look like she's pregnant.

[@aliceandrade7164]

Makes sense they just didn´t show the child possibly to protect them from Ganondorf or cause it was really young to participate in rulling a kingdom and helping/knowing Zelda's situation, also this kinda happened before in BOTW since Riju is a descendent of Urbosa but we never ever saw mention in diary or cutscenes of her daughter and the same happen with Yunobo cause he is also Daruk's descendent and no little rock around

[@themysteriousone9973]

The shrines of light were created to seal away monsters. It's explained in one of the floating archives that monsters existed before Ganondorf and the shrines were used to seal evil away inside of them to prevent them from respawning and ensure peace within the kingdom, monsters only appear again after Ganondorf gets the secret stone. It's also theorized that Malic is a weaker form of gloom that was able to escape Raruu's seal and was based on anger and hate, while gloom is a much stronger form of those feelings.

[@verdantmistral442]

On top of that... it seems like the Shrine use their roots to potentially purify the Depths. Like the dialog in the Shrines seem to imply there is a greater darkness they are attempting to purify.

[@douglas2604]

so Gloom is Malice syrup.........yum yum yum

[@jockson7574]

Maybe they were used as trainings and to seal away an evil the Zonai used to fight which is why him and Mineru are the last of their kind? Either Ganondorf or some other evil like Demise?

[@themysteriousone9973]

@@jockson7574 Honestly, it might be from their species from declining and refusing to go into other species sorta like the gerudo. Raruu was the first to marry outside the species which I think the other Zonia of that time disapproved of. I think that was on a floating archive.

[@TheOmegaDragon]

I consider Calamity Ganon an avatar of Ganondorf since when you awaken the sages with their tears, they are able to conjure an avatar that helps Link.

[@Davidblue110]

I believe that the ancient zonai hero could very well be a hybrid descendant of Rauru and Sonia (a mix of zonai and hylian blood), I mean, he is mostly zonai, except for Link's blue eyes, but most importantly, the ears, which are physically hylian.

[@c.r.blankenship9040]

You might be on to something… if the first calamity was after the TotK memories then in order for that ancient hero to have been Zonai (as he clearly seems too be) he’d have to either be a descendant of Rauru or Mineru. Whether he was a first generation descendent is perhaps in doubt… don’t know how long those memories are before BotW but I think I saw someone say 100,000 years? That would mean the Ancient hero would have had to exist 90,000 years after Rauru and Mineru, which would mean there’d have to be many more generations in between (or that Zonai can live for tens of thousands of years, which we don’t technically know that they can’t)

[@Halfendymion]

Quite remarkable, that such different species could create viable offspring... Evidently, Zelda having light and time powers would prove she is a descendant of the King and Queen, meaning Zonai and Hylians _can_ interbreed.

[@amytaf2387]

That's actually a really good point, definitely didn't think about that. 🤔 but I'd have to say not related to mineru or rauru....basically because links spirit gets reincarnated, wouldn't that make him spiritually related to zelda lol

[@D4Skewer]

Yes technically even the most slight difference in chromosome count would make offspring impossible to successfully conceive, and Rauru and Sonia would have VAST differences in chromosome build, let alone count. But, genetics do ruin the fun of fantasy worlds which generally allows for crossbreeding between *species* so Fiction is enough of an excuse. And an acceptable one too

[@hanburgundy4317]

​@@Halfendymion It's gross lol Literal bestiality is now canon in Zelda. Yippee.

[@kenmagoesblep]

I believe the difference between Malice and Gloom might be intent. As in, right before Rauru seals Ganondorf, he speaks about how the years are gonna pass in the blink of an eye, which leads me to believe Ganondorf was in a sleep-like stage while he was sealed. That to say, I think the malice coming out of him while he was "asleep" is a physical manifestation of his hatred of the world and desire to conquer it seeping out of him, taking form and wrecking havoc but not necessarily directed by Ganondorf. Meanwhile, when Ganondorf directly uses his magic to attack (and as the seal weakens and he's regaining consciousness) is putting direct thought and intent in it, thus making it Gloom. I hope that makes some sense! Although it's still weird that Zelda was able to pick up on the change...

[@mrphan09]

Was about to comment the same this is exactly how I interpreted them.

[@Selcryn]

My only issue with that theory is that means we should have been seeing Malice in at least *some* of the previous games.

[@mrphan09]

@@Selcryn true there is malice in skyward sword the earliest game but none others as far as I'm aware.

[@rubellite4480]

@@mrphan09 maybe malice in skyward sword since its the earliest but also the one that started the timeline by sealing ganon? so the seal was still holding strong then, but by the time totk and botw roll around its probably been a really long time so the seal has weakened

[@kenmagoesblep]

@@Selcryn that's fair! it's a fan theory, things are not gonna fit in perfectly all the time. The lack of malice in the other games (aside from SS, BOTW and TOTK) doesn't compromise my theory to me, though, in my opinion. The concept of malice is a pretty recent one in Nintendo games and going back into all the older games is impractical unless they re release every Zelda game. As for an in-game explanation, it's entirely possible malice was in Hyrule in other forms (like inside the monsters), we just don't see the malice "goo" around; or it's in areas we don't explore as Link. Geography in Zelda games tend to be pretty wacky and all.

[@sweepydreepy]

In regards to the shattering of the master sword, I think it was already in a weakened state during BotW. I mean, you saw how messed up the blade was after fighting all the Malice infected guardians in the memories. If Malice is diet Gloom then the sword was already on it's way to breaking. The 100 year rest helped restore it to functioning status but under Ganondorf's targeted attack it couldn't hold up. At least that's my own personal theory.

[@Halfendymion]

I mean, just how old is this sword anyway? Does divine power last for over 100,000 years without a recharge?

[@finnheisenheim8274]

​@@HalfendymionDefinitely older than 10k years, before Ganondorf and his calamity fart.

[@Chris-gx1ei]

The Master Sword actually was never considered as Unbreakable if you think back to A Link to the Past where you can let it get tempered by Black Smiths to make it sharper, in my eyes the Master Sword is still bound to the laws of physics, meaning Ganondorf could theoretically use his mere strength to shatter the sword - which probably would Kill him in the process.

[@jeremycampbell4021]

@@Chris-gx1ei It may never be explicitly stated the Master Sword is truly indestructible, but it's largely implied not even just by words, but by the deeds the blade accomplishes over time. From literally slashing through powerful blasts/waves of darkness energy to cutting or stabbing large monsters like Ganon the blade has done some crazy stuff and come out completely unscathed. The only instances we've seen of any "wear" the blade ever really has is it's energy which can be recharged and brought back to full. You'd think a blade commissioned by the goddesses themselves would come with the stipulation of being unbreakable. This just seemed like an asspull move in this game to take it from Link so the player would have to get it all over again when they easily could've gone more canon-friendly routes. They could've easily made it where the Master Sword was just knocked into the chasm out of Link's hand and Link would have to recover it later, or make it where instead of breaking the Master Sword just runs out of energy (since they love that retarded mechanic during gameplay so much) and becomes unusable against Ganondorf til it's recharged, SOMETHING other than breaking it for shock-value.

[@01001011010010010100]

Ganondorf's character profile that you get after beating the game mentions that the magic holding him down was weakened due to Breath of the Wild's great calamity damaging the castle.

[@ARentz07]

Yes. Good catch. This could explain why he was able to once again use Gloom.

[@maffooo2040]

​@@ARentz07 my personal theory for a lot of these is that zelda going into the past somehow changed the events of the imprisoning war, and events of the whole timeline shifted immediately after Zelda was sent back. For example malice being replaced with gloom and other things.

[@rubellite4480]

@@maffooo2040 i doubt zelda changed the events, since if you return to the end game area and break the murals from the intro sequence, you can see murals depicting zelda's draconification so its probably like a time loop or time paradox thing

[@derrickcrowe3888]

@@maffooo2040 The problem with this theory is that mummy Ganondorf recognizes Zelda and knows Link's name *before* Zelda goes back to the past. This would only be possible if Zelda was always there and the timeline didn't change.

[@PunsandPixels]

Also I find it interesting that in botw when the calamity started you see this dragon like gloom spiral around the castle. And then we know what happened with ganondorf at the end of totk

[@jakobr_]

10:19 I believe it was the ancient Hylian text quest that has you visit all the flower-shaped islands in the sky for pictures of their inscriptions that explains that Rauru and Sonia set up the shrines to seal monsters away. This implies that monsters existed before Ganondorf got the secret stone, and possibly that by the time Zelda was sent back the monsters had all been sealed and were no threat.

[@KnucklesAndBig]

From one of the memories we see that Moldugas existed before Ganondorf got the stone, so I think it's definitely possible

[@s.colins2050]

Also, zonai secret stones only enhance a power that already exists, independently of an individual. Ganondorf nor the secret stone created gloom, he just had the ability to control it to create things like the zelda imposter. The secret stone just made that power exponentially stronger. The gloom had to have already existed, and it's implied to have in the depths before the zonai with the gloom armor and the bargainer statues.

[@TomWDW1]

My theory on the hand stopping at the exact moment Link and Zelda walk in is that Rauru's spirit knew they would come (since Zelda would have told him the story). So, in order to keep the time loop on track, he stopped holding Ganon (which was likely draining his energy) and dropped the stone for Zelda to pick up. We know that he still had some energy left in him since he grabs Link as he is about to fall into the Depths.

[@Matthew10950]

I assumed this as well. He mentioned he would hang on until link would come to beat Ganondorf.

[@brad6546]

@@Matthew10950yeah I always just thought he could sense that link and Zelda arrived and he could finally let go

[@verdantmistral442]

Probably less sensed and more saw. Rauru was a spirit of some sort at the beginning of the game. Not really sure what kind of spirit though, he didn't look like the spirits of the King and champions from BotW. He actually looked more like the clones the sages could summon.

[@matthewwilliams931]

@@verdantmistral442the issue with that is that in the beginning, he thought Zelda would be waiting at the temple of time, but when she wasn’t there, he was shocked and told link as much. He also did not know she was draconified, because he would have told link if he knew. It’s more likely his consciousness was trapped down there along with ganondorf, and he only regained his consciousness above ground once he brought link to the GSI

[@verdantmistral442]

@@matthewwilliams931 I agree. I just said that he was probably aware down there in the tunnel where his arm was. In fact, considering the fact the arm saved Link before transporting him... it seems that Rauru's spirit was still connected to his physical remains right up to fusing his arm to Link.

[@halyoalex8942]

My personal theory for "why haven't we seen Zonai in other time periods before" is that the "hyrule" that Rauru is the first king of, is actually a new kingdom after the previous Hyrule fell into disrepair at some point after every other game in the timeline. There's probably a million tiny holes you could poke in this theory, but it's the only way I can wrap my head around it.

[@Scoodily]

Same!

[@Heavens_Rejected]

Pretty much the same, my head cannon of the whole "unification timeline" of BOTW and TOTK is that Nintendo wanted a semi hard reset on the lore, so these games are set SO flipping far into the future that the past events basically don't matter anymore. even Zelda going back 100,000+ years into the past is still WELL after the split timelines "merge".

[@Justic_]

There's certainly more speaking for this assumption than there is speaking against it. Like how a lot of items that reference past Zelda-games can only be found in Zonai ruins, implying they and knowledge of the events of the past Zelda-games is far older than Raurus kingdom of Hyrule. Or the general inconsistencies between Raurus ancient Hyrule and the games that are set between Skyward Sword and BotW, which aren't inconsistencies by the time of TotK again.

[@dazeo4393]

If i recall correctly, botw mentions the kingdom was once covered by sea, much like it was in windwaker. would it make sense that after the land shifted to become a land mass again that the zonai settled it? i always thought that there was probably two or more more savage groups of soon to become hylians living in the land right before the zonai appeared. the barbarian set being a group of them, and based on architecture there were some located in the north of hyrule and the southeast. perhaps sailors like the ones who live in lurelin, people from far off lands, stranded after shipwrecking and then settling the untamed landscape and then worshipping the dragon spirits and zonai through the ages. which would explain the more archaic looking zonai buildings in botw, and why the hylian guards in the memories in totk are aztec inspired

[@silverthehero1295]

It wouldn’t be the first time Hyrule was reestablished. Maybe the curse of Demise doesn’t just affect Link and Zelda but the land they cherished, continually tearing it down after being built up.

[@GabePlaysYT]

The biggest question I had throughout my playthrough of TOTK was where the heck all the Sheikah technology went. Divine Beast Vah Ruta could have washed away all the sludge. Vah Naboris could have lightening'd all the Gibdos. Each of them could have massively helped with all the regional phenomena and monsters, but they literally disappeared with no mention at all.

[@tumultuousv]

They were deconstructed like most shiekah tech. Not the best explanation but that's basically what they tell us

[@Isuream6331]

Also they mentioned in the true ending of BOTW that the Divine Beasts were shutting down. It’s possible the Sheikah Monks didn’t know about Ganondorf, so designed them to shut down after Calamity Ganon’s death.

[@wildstorm3486]

⁠@@Isuream6331wasn’t it because the pilots of the divine beasts passed on to the after life? They were connected to the beast. So when their spirits left the DB shut down. Sure they could have found new pilots. But I’m assuming they got rid of them because of two different t reasons. 1) as far as anyone new the threat of the calamity was over for the next 10,000 yrs. They don’t really need them. 2) they got rid of them because they don’t want a repeat of 100 years ago when the calamity took over the Shika tech. And burned the kingdom down.

[@Anna.K..]

But the sheikah towers are left in totk. And are used at the present time from sheikah and hylians. So why ban all sheikah tech but towers?

[@Mariwend]

@@Anna.K.. Malice never targeted them, and they were the most outwardly useful of the sheikah tech. Maybe they even had some sort of malice antivirus.

[@ecoslit3rarios]

Regarding the bravery islands, I think we are forgetting the fact that the zonai were the tribe of the skies... Maybe, Rauru and Mineru lived their youth up in there like all the others and the sky islands were nothing but their "old land". Something that could explain the extinction of all the other zonai is how those islands are all wrecked. What happened to make them go down?

[@captainch6182]

My girlfriend has a theory that due to the Zonai building constructs, they were basically able to automate every basic task of their lives and didn’t need to learn any productive skills to preserve their culture any longer other than the secrets of magic or something, so the rest of the Zonai became decadent and ‘spiritually’ died out. So basically, it was due to a takeover by artificial intelligence. This is somewhat hinted at by what Rauru says when you talk to him in various places on the Great Sky Island in the beginning of the game. Rauru and Mineru perhaps wanted a fresh start for their civilization so they descended from the sky and made an arrangement with the Hylians (including marrying Sonia) and founded the kingdom of Hyrule or at least this iteration of it.

[@aratherbritishdinosaur]

In the Japanese version of the game, it is explained that Ganondorf wanted to create a world where only the strong and brave survive, a world where chaos reigned and peace was frowned upon. A world in his image.

[@4wheal]

Whitch is funny because the second he starts to lose to Link, he basically throws a temper tantrum and rage-quitting because he can't stand losing

[@ewerton8463]

so he's the smt chaos rep

[@rtuggle82]

Is the same word used for both gloom and malice in the Japanese versions?

[@mr.awesome6011]

This is one thing that Nintendo does that is really annoying. They'll add lore and quotes to one region's localization of a game and change it and or not included it in another. I understand that localization needs to make a game suitable for the countries they release in but at least keep the canon as consistent as possible across the globe.

[@DarkBloodAssa]

​@@mr.awesome6011This only concerns the English localisation, though. Other versions share more similarities as they have far more accurate translations.

[@doctorg5056]

The Triforce is very much present in TOTK. It appears on the back of Zelda's hand during her transformation into the Light Dragon.

[@NatetheSensitivePlant]

I belong to the group of just because it is triforce shaped doesn't mean it is the triforce Raruru and Sonia said that both of their powers were present in Zelda. The powers of Time and Sacred light so they have another source of sacred power that no longer requires the explanation of the triforce to explain her sealing powers and other weird glowy things.

[@lizblue159]

Didn’t Sonya have a tattoo of the triforce

[@drakardaentaris8422]

Sonia does have a tattoo on her hand too, I think on both sides.@@lizblue159

[@jakemelliot]

Few observations about this story that concerns me where the franchise is going: 1. The alien zonai race invaded Hyrule. Because Ganondorf/Demon King was already there, why would they settle in a cursed kingdom? 2. Rauru seemed to assert his rulership over Hyrule - and Sonia (whoever she is) ‘marries’ (?) him to accomplish his kingship? So now Hylians with the Zonai are suddenly the dominant rulers of other races? 3. So there is a lot more sentiment for Ganondorf to be upset with the ‘establishement’. Ganondorf seems to be reacting to this ‘invasion’. 4. These ‘secret stones’ are alien technology that binds all the ‘races’ together, this alien technology STILL not as powerful as Ganondorf until Rauru sealed him. 5. So one thing I’ve noticed is that there is much more of invasion ‘from the sky’ polluting Hyrule with all Zonai junk, above and below. While Ganondorf represents more of Hyrule’s unruly, chaotic wildlife. Victim narratives are fun to play. So I’ve wondered for a long time, to break the traditional story telling of the typical Zelda franchise, if we were going to start seeing through the eyes of Ganondorf. With the way this story has developed - it looks like a big phat yes.

[@jakemelliot]

BTW - the power that was used between Zelda/Link to ‘heal’ the Master Sword was recall. That’s why Sonia had that conversation about the power of recall with objects, discussing the “objects memory”. Thought that was very clever.

[@magsol13]

Regarding the Triforce: in at least one of the dragon tear memories, I could see very specific Triforce emblems on Sonia’s clothes. Like, incontrovertibly a Triforce. Which meant that, at the very least, the Hylians at the founding of the kingdom of Hyrule knew of the Triforce, even if we never actually heard it mentioned onscreen.

[@javiervasquez625]

It's possible that Sonia's own ancestors sealed the Triforce _within_ Hylia's bloodline as a permanent safeguard to prevent anyone (aside from Hylia's descendants) from ever using the Triforce for evil deeds. This would explain the many symbols of the Triforce been carved onto Sonia's clothing in reference to the golden relic which dwelled within her.

[@homerman76]

This would actually prove the events come after Skyward Sword, now that I think about it, because the Triforce wasn't created until after the Demon War with Demise 🤔

[@javiervasquez625]

@@homerman76 ¿Did you play Skyward Sword? The prologue makes it very clear that Her Grace had been tasked with protecting the Triforce _before_ demons erupted from within the Earth's crust to attack the surface world. As confirmed in A Link between Worlds the Triforce is the source of *balance* and Order in the Zelda universe meaning it has always existed ever since the very moment the Goddesses created the world.

[@catalyst539]

@@javiervasquez625 I am genuinely wondering if you have any basis or ground for your “Sonia’s ancestors sealed the triforce inside her bloodline” theory to stand on. Not trying to discredit or disprove the idea, because I actually think it’s a good theory. Also I don’t think TotK’s ancient past has any relevance to SS. It’s probable that Rauru and Sonia re-founded Hyrule, though it’s more likely that Nintendo doesn’t care about the lore, as shown by most of TotK’s lore screwing up the rest of the timeline.

[@MikePhantom]

@@catalyst539 FINALLY someone else who is not a damn dingus. YES that is exactly the case. people take raurus words way to factual when this guy has been shown to be wrong at every possible turn

[@kyleharlan100]

I tend to subscribe to the unified timeline theory, and that Rauru and Sonya’s “founding” of Hyrule is a re-founding some time after all the other games. My headcannon as to why it isn’t more present or talked about is that some time after all the other Zelda games, the triforce was used to unify all 3 timelines into one, and this either resulted in it’s partial destruction from such a big wish, or it all ended up in an ancestor of Zelda’s afterwards. Maybe Hylia saw what a mess the triforce was causing, destroyed its physical form so no one would fight over it anymore, and only left its sealing power in Zelda.

[@Azureflame20]

Triforce appears on Zeldas hand when she's holding and restoring the master sword in that little vision you have of her 4:10 Referring to this section around here. It's still in her possession in some shape or form

[@javiervasquez625]

Popular theory among the fandom is that Sonia's ancestors locked up the Triforce within Hylia's bloodline as a permanent safeguard to prevent it's existence from ever causing conflict and violence again as it once did during both the Hyrulean Civil War and Interloper War. This would explain the many Triforce symbols decorating Sonia's clothes in reference to her ancestors passing down the relic from mother to daughter until the Zelda from Breath of the Wild.

[@Link_1129]

I came here to see if this had been commented yet. Nice catch.

[@TheOmegaDragon]

Sonia did mention that Zelda possessed "Sacred Power" within her. The very power needed to restore the Master Sword and Zelda is able to communicate with the Master Sword (Fi) and called the sword a "she" when she restored it. They said Rauru had the power of Light but, never was it mention that the Light is Sacred. The Triforce is as sacred as sacred gets.

[@javiervasquez625]

@@TheOmegaDragon Also if Zelda's power was only tied to Hylia's then Sonia would _also_ have carried it within her since she's also a descendant of Hylia like her descendant. The fact that Zelda carries a power which her ancestor lacks is further evidence that it's indeed none other than the Triforce after it was passed down to her from her mother.

[@Chris-gx1ei]

​@@TheOmegaDragon It is Light that Repells Evil that Rauru posesses, so it is sacred

[@Neutra77]

My theory for totk Hyrule's birth is that it's not the birth that took place before/after Skyward Sword, but actually one that took place inbetween botw and the rest of the zelda games. The gist I got of botw's separation from the other games is that there was such a large gap in the time between them, greater than even the gaps between those earlier games, that there was time for Hyrule to fall and be re-established by Rauru and Sonia. While it might seem convenient, it does save us from the litany of questions and issues that arise from totk Ganondorf being stuck underground and totk Zelda being a flying noodle throughout the entire timeline(s).

[@MikePhantom]

applause. you are correct, you ahve not been fooled by the words of a goat man who has been wrong all the time

[@Neutra77]

@@MikePhantom Not sure if Rauru was lying per say. Could easily just be that enough time passed with Hyrule being disassembled that Rauru did think he was the 1st king.

[@blueknightshade5395]

Flying noodle 💀

[@zelda_ray6757]

My theory is that it does take place after Skyward Sword, but in a parallel timeline from all the others. The others exist in a timeline where the Zonai never came down from the sky. References to other games are parallel universe similarities. I also came to this idea by questioning how Ganondorf's mummy could be down there through all timelines yet Demise's curse was still manifesting when the mummy isn't technically dead??

[@raevis9]

@@zelda_ray6757 Yeah, my theory is similar, though imo the reason for the timeline split is Zelda travelling back in time. If Zelda had not travelled to the past, would G-Dorf have gotten hold of the stone, or would Rauru have sealed him..? whatever it is, this is were the other games happen. And then there is the timeline with Zelda travelling back, resulting in BOTW & TOTK. It is not a waterproof theory, but hey 😅

[@Chris-gx1ei]

Tears if the Kingdom Ganondorf's Motives are passively explained: He is a Man that loves War and Combat, in other Translations he also referrs that before the Zonai there was Battle everywhere you see, meaning Ganondorf is a Bloodthirsty Maniac that finds his pleasure in killing for the thrill of it.

[@basicallyjustagamer7115]

that's dumb. saying he did these things "for the kicks" makes him seem like an impulsive idiot rather than a master tactition with an actually complex motive. the other Ganondorf from the rest of the Zelda series has much better writing than this, even in OoT. Ganondorf isn't some mustache-twirling villain who wants to rule the world because he "loves war and combat", he's the ruler of a people who he felt was always opressed by Hyrule, and he wants to see that things are set right. this new Ganondorf is a complete and utter joke when compared to the one we had before, and his motivation simply being "because he wants to" solidifies that fact even more.

[@StonetheDestroyer42]

That's not really how I read it. I think that's kind of it, but misses on one key thing: Ganondorf believes himself the mightiest, believes no one can match his power and oppose him. I think there's some depth to how he gets to the place he ends up, though. He's the leader of the Gerudo, and jealous of Rauru and Hyrule. He wants what they have, and intends to take it by force. When that initially fails, he identifies the Secret Stone as the only reason Rauru can outclass him in battle, a mere tool he's missing, which, if he had it, would allow his superior power to shine through. He's consumed by his hatred and jealousy when he hatches his plan, and when he gains the stone. The stone amplifies the user's powers, but perhaps it also amplified Ganondorf's hatred and jealousy and ego. It seems the Gerudo tried to split from him when he got the stone, based on there being a Gerudo sage and Ganondorf's new army being entirely composed of monsters. I think he sought for a world enveloped in combat and conflict because such a world would see him at the head of it, as the mightiest of all. When he got the Secret Stone, he became consumed with his own power and his lust for more power, to the point that he lost sight of his ambitions to rule, and saw only his ambition to exert power, especially through war. His ego is through the roof by the time Link faces him, and I found his combination of ego and bloodlust both menacing and compelling.

[@Chris-gx1ei]

​​@@StonetheDestroyer42 Then how do you explain Four Swords Adventures Ganondorf? He grew up in a Village of Gerudos who dont live from robbing others, yet this Ganondorf grew up along with the Darkness in his heart increasing, this Ganondorf is literally just born to be evil. And I only see something similar to Tears of the Kingdom's Ganondorf, he only seeks for power and dominance and even dumped his own People after he got a better army. And actually being evil for the thrill of it perfectly fits to Ganondorf as much as it fits to Ridley from Metroid. Both are Ruthless leaders of Thiefs/Pirates with just the very purpose for their existance being evil and bloodthirsty And also Rauru actually offered the Gerudos multiple times to join the Kingdom of Hyrule like the Zoras, Gorons and Rito did. Yet Ganondorf refused the offer DESPITE getting invitations repeatedly, he could have been part of something bigger, a Union of Tribes all across the region, Yet it was greed and lust for Power that drove Ganondorf, not jealousy or anything.

[@Chris-gx1ei]

​@@basicallyjustagamer7115 Well, lorewise I don't mind a Ganon that is evil for no reason. Ganondorf isnt meant to be a mere man, he is meant to be the Hyrulian Equivalent to the Anti Christ, the Ultimate Champion of Darkness that would bring down the Gods Tribe, and I think a whiney crybaby backstory like this wouldnt actually fit at all to him, eventhough it would be interesting seeing him as a vessel and a puppet of Demise would be an more interesting topic instead of just acting out of his own ambitions

[@AlyssDawn121]

I would actually really love some lore about the 3 giant depths skeletons. They look like the dragons we can see in Hyrule with slight differences and appear to be larger.

[@dragonlord908]

i've noticed that they lack horns and had tiny crests kinda resembling the zonai dragon statues and carvings.

[@ryanscanlon2151]

The unmentioned child/children of Rauru and Sonia are worth a whole video honestly. It is extremely weird that they weren't mentioned at all, and i suspect we might actually have an intentional paradox on our hands. I think this will lead up to story that merges the timelines together in order to correct the paradox zelda created by preventing the birth of her own ancestors and prevent reality from unraveling.

[@4wheal]

It's much like BotW and how it never showed off Urbosa daughter dispute the fact we know she had one as Riju is her descendant. Whitch is kind of funny how Sonia is now the second mother figure that Zelda has had that paid more attention to her than their own kids She is collecting mum's likes it's going put of style

[@ryanscanlon2151]

@@4wheal yeah but there was no time travel to worry about in BOTW to accidentally prevent your own birth lol

[@azzyiseternal4745]

nah they fucked 100%

[@javiervasquez625]

They were simply not relevant to the story which is why Nintendo didn't bother addressing their existence throughout Zelda's memories of the past. While it's possible we'll get a DLC in the future that will further delve into Rauru and Sonia's backstory Zelda's passing mention of been their direct descendant is all we know to aknowledge that they're all blood related.

[@Selcryn]

@@javiervasquez625 its also possible they were still working on the kids designs when TOTK was slotted for release. How do you go about mixing those two fairly different forms, or do you go with the whole idea of the kids coming out one or the other (but possessing powers from both) that fantasy settings sometimes do.

[@timeAmbassador]

The only thing I can assume about the gloom = malice thing is that Malice was the more violent, less controlled version of Gloom, and Gloom is the purest form of Malice, which you can see by the fact that Malice flames were wild and untamed, while Gloom flames are a lot more controlled and less aggressive

[@hanburgundy4317]

It's just another reskin, like every other aspect of the game.

[@Drakogy]

I'd always had the impression that the Zonai were native to the depths and that Rauru was responsible for illuminating an otherwise extremely dark land. The particulars surrounding the lightroots are unknown. I theorize that the Zonai could have functioned as the behind the scenes chroniclers of world history archiving and preserving what has occurred above ground. However when Zelda merged the 3 timelines together, this shook things up and may be the reason why the Zonai are active players in History.

[@tumultuousv]

Zonai are literally depicted as descending from the heavens. Quite the opposite as being from the depths.

[@Drakogy]

@@tumultuousv Native was the wrong word, however ones origin does not cover later residences.

[@jgee8421]

Botw events still would have happened to happen in some way.. there’s a whole class on it

[@TheRealNintendoKid]

@@tumultuousv They are, but what actual evidence is there to suggest that's the case? They are able to raise islands into the sky, but they only did that because Zelda told them to, to create a safe place where Link could recover. The depths makes a lot more sense for where they came from considering all the ancient mines they have down there.

[@Sarah_H]

@@TheRealNintendoKid except the statues in The Depths of all the different races, and the Bargainers, and that one statue that we're supposed to take a photo of for Josha's quest, don't look like Zonai-style architecture. It's in a different style and is even made of a different material. Could Josha's quest statue be a depiction of the race that actually did live in The Depths? Did *they* build the statues, and did the Zonai collaborate with them to mine more Zonaite?

[@donkyman1000]

You actually do see the triforce! It took me a while to see it, but in the memory when all three come together to create that huge beam attack, you see it very loosely and briefly as the laser shoots out

[@Aristocratic13]

Came to say this and it’s in the scene with Zelda holding the sword

[@AtlasArtAnimation]

Welcome back… about the sky islands, the steward construct told link how the garden of time and great sky island was ascended, not how all of the islands were. And A question you did forget to consider was “Where did the other Zonai go?”. Because Mineru and Rauru are the last two Zonai in hyrule. Did the others leave to the sky, went away to discover new lands, die off in a genocide or apocalyptic level event. I would love an episode on that..

[@orianefaton1885]

If we supposed the siblings weren't the last Zonais alive, and just the last ones that stayed in Hyrule, then it may not be weird to see a hero with some zonai ancestry. (though a another good question is... does it mean technically, Link could have any other race blood in his veins, as long as he is also part hylian, he may reincarnate in this body ?)

[@annieandelsieofarendelle3294]

@@orianefaton1885 Personally, I subscribe to the theory that the Ancient Hero was actually a Prince of Hyrule.

[@javiervasquez625]

According to the japanese translation of the game when Ganondorf is attempting to forge an alliance with Hyrule he outright states that Rauru and Mineru where the last remaining Zonai in the world implying they all became extinct. If the Zonai are still alive somewhere they must be on the Heavens away from the surface world.

[@AtlasArtAnimation]

I see

[@myriam_avenger]

I believe that the constructs were “revived” by Mineru, who was very into the ancient zonnai and that may be the reason why they mention “zonnai youth” Also, as it’s said that the zonnai descended from the heavens, maybe the other sky islands is where they lived and they were hidden above the clouds (maybe except the ones with shrines on them) up until the moment the great sky island also appeared, which was probably also hidden above the clouds

[@c0mm0d0re]

I always personally headcanoned that the Ancient Hero’s Aspect was always Rauru and Sonia’s son, or at least directly related to them, given that the Ancient Hero’s appearance contains both Hylian and Zonai traits. Is there holes in that theory, well yes, but it’s a suitable explanation and I quite like the idea. We already know that Rauru and Sonia had to have had a child of some kind (even if they’re not shown in the game at all, which is a shame) since Sonia says that her and Zelda are related by blood. Again, there’s holes in it but it’s a bit heart-warming to think that Rauru and Sonia’s legacy lived on despite their deaths in the wake of Ganondorf’s attack on Hyrule.

[@ghoulchan7525]

that wouldn't really work since it was described as the Princess of 10K years ago was the one with the sealing powers. so it can't really be the ancient hero that's the decendant. or the hero and princess of that era are siblings and he hit a weird genetic lottery.

[@TheOmegaDragon]

There is Mineru too. She could have easily had a Hylian husband and had a child. I would like the idea that the Ancient Hero and the ancient Princess being cousins fighting evil together.

[@c.r.blankenship9040]

@@TheOmegaDragonthat game would slap too

[@maddym.5466]

If you watch the credits, during the time when Zelda is healing the Master Sword, you can see the Triforce on her hand helping with the healing process.

[@nobleskywalker4639]

Isn't this shown in the cutscene where you find the master sword? Also doesn't the game make it clear that Zelda has the power of the triforce since BOTW. So in other words the Master Sword in TOTK is infused with the power of the Triforce

[@thomashicks3785]

About the shrines of light, they aren’t just for helping link. A side quest that has you take pictures of ancient text on silent princess shaped sky islands says that the shrines were made to seal powerful monsters, and that this was one of the first acts done by the queen and king together after hyrule’s founding.

[@yuppymike]

It may say that but that doesn’t make sense. No where in the shrines do you see a monster at all. Every one is a test which grants the person that completes them some power. This seems like a strange afterthought by Nintendo.

[@ghoulchan7525]

@@yuppymike maybe they changed the insides of em?

[@frostbyte2899]

@@yuppymikeTo say this correctly, they’re meant to seal the souls of monsters and likely destroy them. Which is why you don’t see anything

[@Delta_117-22]

To seal those powerful monsters... peraphs those monsters are the bosses in the depths, and since shrines are connected to lightroots in the depths, maybe some sort of mechanisms does the sealing of these monsters to prevent them from coming to the surface??? just a theory building on ur theory :)

[@RafaelGarcia-ue6uc]

I think the simplest and most attractive explanation is that the 'ancient past' is still more recent than the events of any previous Zelda title. The Zonai founded a later 'incarnation' of hyrule that postdates that of Skyward Sword.

[@WayWardWonderer]

My theory is that the hero seen through the "Ancient Hero's Aspects" armor is the son of Rauru and Sonia, or a Zonai/Gerudo hybrid since he had bright red hair. But if he has the blue eyes of a Hylian, then perhaps Link is a descendant of this mysterious hero and through the blood connection Link has power that normal Hylians don't have any control over.

[@4wheal]

Honestly, I'm not even sure if the ancient hero is even a Zonai as he has a couple of physical differences that we don't see in the other Zonai, such as a tail and digitigrade feet combined with the hair makes me wonder if he is from some unknown race/species

[@StormsparkPegasus]

@@4wheal Exactly. He looks almost nothing like a Zonai. He looks nothing like any race we've seen, though he could possibly look like traits combined from different races. Most likely he's just some new race we haven't seen before. Which would be very rare since Link has always incarnated as a Hylian before.

[@derzeldagamer7931]

@@4wheal maybe he was a normal hylian that got zonai armor or genetics implanted to help him fight? Overall i dislike the inclusion of him, makes the whole "Link is always hylian" rule a bit weird.

[@4wheal]

@@derzeldagamer7931 I don't think we have ever seen a character get the DNA of another spices put into them do that they physically change before. It's always just been just magic, and the transformation is always temporary. Also, as others have said, there has never been an official rule that the spirit of the hero has to be a Hylian.

[@derzeldagamer7931]

@@4wheal It was never stated, yeah, just is a bit weird that we never ever saw a Link be anything other than hylian. Aside from transformations like in majoras mask or twilight princess.

[@eileensmiller8041]

Bandit, the malice/gloom is easily explained by their definitions. Malice is the intention to do evil (the multiple calamities prior to BotW) while Gloom is to cover in Darkness (spoiler but like that memory when Ganondorf first uses his newly acquired secret stone to create the first ever blood moon and to bring back and add to his army of monsters. Also if you look at the symbol on that stone it's a stylized version of the kanji for the word Yami or Darkness)

[@Foop6570]

The dragons were likely zonai. Their manes resemble mineru and raurus hair with the different colours. Their snouts also differ from the light dragons, who was formed from a hylian. Maybe the features are different depending on the race they originate from. Also, the great dragon skeletons have very similar snouts to that of the elemental dragons. Maybe they were also zonai turned dragon, however the dragons are supposed to be blessed with immortality so im not sure how theyd end up dead.

[@kretisme]

I think they where killed by the other dragons at some point maby they where not as gentle as the ones we see this could also be where the story of the mountain being split by a dragon in Botw comes from interestingly when you look at the map in the forgotten temple I think it's called the mountain which is now the dueling peeks is not split on that map some dragons being aggressive would also be a big reason for it to be forbidden to become one of them

[@Foop6570]

@@kretisme that's actually a really good thought. I was considering that maybe it was Zelda that split the mountain but the fact that she immediately flew above the clouds after her transformation says otherwise.

[@blackmark2899]

A great enough power can kill a dragon. Ganondorf is proof of that. He was turned into a dragon but still got killed by Link. I think Dragons don't have true immortality but more functional immortality. As long as they are not killed, they will not die. Disease can't harm them, time means nothing to their bodies, and they breath both underwater and high in the sky. As long as they are not being actively attacked by something, they will never die.

[@Foop6570]

@@blackmark2899 very good point. Though I do wonder why ganondorfs secret stone was still visible when he transformed

[@snoozepooze2171]

They also have very Zonai-like ears.

[@Collinized]

An idea for the malice gloom conversation. Gloom is the more concentrated source of Ganondorfs evil while the malice is what leaked from his sealing that caused the Calamity therefore why he chooses to use gloom

[@thebatmary5954]

Spoilers for the very end of the game. I think the Triforce did show up, not literally but thematically. When Zelda was un-draconified, we have three contributors to that magic. It seems like they embody the Triforce pretty well. Raru is power (the king of Hyrule, a god-like Zonai), Sonia is wisdom (she is said to be super intelligent and insightful), and Link is- obviously- courage. It seems like the echo the Triforce is here. Little less than a Triforce wish would help Zelda, but this setup lets Link fulfill basically what would be his wish on the triforce at the present moment. Ganondorf is already defeated, and his only main quest is to get Zelda back. Only by channeling the power of three people who embody these attributes is he able to bring that about. I’m not saying that the recall idea is wrong; actually, I think it’s correct. I’m just saying that thematically Nintendo is sticking to the triforce. (Copy/pasted my own comment from another video).

[@tumultuousv]

I had basically this thought the other day! Nice

[@javiervasquez625]

Zelda has the Triforce locked up _inside her_ as proven by the Light coming from her _right hand_ been similar to when she used her "Sealing Power" to defeat Calamity Ganon twice. Also it's possible that when Rauru, Sonia and Link combined their Power, Wisdom and Courage that reaction activated the Triforce within Zelda granting them their wish for her to return to her mortal self.

[@darklordyianni4463]

you realise you can see the Triforce on tattoos, clothes, monuments, etc, right....?

[@homerman76]

​@@javiervasquez625 This then begs the question, why does Zelda contain the power of the Triforce? The presence of all three wishing for Zelda's return to human form would also explain why she would turn back though, it was dormant, but the united wish of those that represent the three pieces probably sparked it's activation, much like how Zelda's loss caused her to tap into the sacred power in BotW 🤔

[@thebatmary5954]

@@darklordyianni4463 Yes, the symbol is all over the place. To clarify, what I meant when I said “Triforce” is the actual relic.

[@animeg0d731]

Here is my personal theory as to why Rauru's hand fell off randomly. The sealing magic slowly disintegrated Rauru's up until the events of totlk, where we can see the only thing left of him was his arm. I think if Zelda or Link didnt show up the arm would have disintegrated with only the secret stone left remaining, meaning Ganon would have another secret stone in his possession. Rauru knew this so when he was given the chance to get it out of Ganondorfs possession he took it. rate my theory pls :))

[@VGInterviews]

Eight

[@ThebSayraduka]

Curious inquiry about the Fealty memory: the part where Ganondorf mentioned that only Rauru & his sister are the only remaining Zonai left- HOW would he know that unless he didn't have some part to play in their extinction? Another thing to note about the Light Shrines: if you do the side quest where you have to locate 13 stone slabs across Hyrule, you learn some interesting tidbits about the ancient past even from BEFORE Sonia & Rauru were married. One slab details how the pair created the shrine as a means of protecting the kingdom from monsters. The shrines sealed the monsters away, making them unable to be resurrected by the Blood Moon, or by any other means. Also, YES I'm bitter about no mention of Rauru & Sonia's child(ren) that continue into Zelda's bloodline Still love the game no matter how much I've delved into it >83

[@AppleJackSix]

In terms of raising the islands and the tests of Zonai bravery, I think that Mineru insinuates at some point that they didn’t completely invent floating islands from scratch and that ancient Zonai had used them before. Alternatively, maybe the tests of bravery still involved them jumping off a cliff through rings into water, but it was originally on the ground and not too high a jump, and each location became elongated and distorted when it went into the sky.

[@jinaiallegra1050]

Wasn't this also hinted at in the song about the Stormwind Ark? Didn't it say that a God (probably a Zonai) fell from the sky and they built the Ark to take them back up and then they saw dozens of sky islands? Since Rauru and Mineru would have already been dead if that happened AFTER Zelda's journey back through time, there had to be sky islands BEFORE the founding of Hyrule.

[@alexandreleroux9399]

I think malice is gloom but a diluted version by the light power of Rauru, because it’s not a dark red like gloom but a magenta (Ganondorf’s red power + Rauru’s white-ish secret stone = a magenta like color)

[@StormsparkPegasus]

It's pretty much spelled out that that's exactly what it was. Malice was a much weaker version of Gloom, from when Rauru's seal was stronger. The fully powered Gloom only started emerging once the seal finaly started failing.

[@Isuream6331]

So Gloom is acid and Rauru’s light magic is alkali, and they cancel eachother out. Neat

[@fishnewt1331]

Oooh, let’s see if I can answer/guess the answer of some questions: 1) “What is Ganondorf’s motivation?” According to the Japanese version, Ganondorf found the era of Rauru’s reign to turn the people into peace-loving cowards. It is made apparent he admired the time of when monsters were running rampant across the lands and he wanted to go back to that. (Potential theory fodder for the Barbarian Armor?) Also, hot-take: Wind Waker Ganondorf is totally lying about his motivation. You are a literal child in the game and OoT Ganondorf did not once make any attempt to even fulfill his initial goals he states in Wind Waker. It is very on-brand for him to be a cunning bastard and tricking a child would not be far off from his normal behavior. 2) “Timeline stuff” The past of TotK have been determined by the community to be one of two places. Either after Skyward Sword or after the end of all three timeline splits. Explaining all the reasons would be too long, but the most hard-hitting would be that Demise’s curse coming after Ganondorf’s dealing would make no sense. 3) “Does Malice=Gloom?” Most likely. Impa makes it clear that the Calamity is the embodiment of Ganondorf’s hatred after doing the Dragon Tears quest and returning to Kakariko. So, Gloom/Miasma is most likely a more concentrated version of Malice, since it comes directly from Ganondorf. 4) “Why is the Secret Stone still fully-powered after Rauru’s arm runs out of power?” This very plot-convenient, but it’s probably because Rauru was waiting for Link. His arm is technically stated to be out of power by the time Link wakes up, so it can be presumed that Rauru was at the last vestiges of his energy he can hold after his death. He had enough to replace Link’s arm and teleport Link after holding Ganondorf, but that was it. As for the Secret Stone, if we use Sonia as an example, the Secret Stone seems to revert back to its blank form without a host. If Rauru found reason to finally let go by Link’s arrival, then the Secret Stone was probably never out of power, but only merely hostless. 5) “Did Zelda and Mineru raise all of the Sky-Islands?” Most likely, since Rauru and Sonia’s shrines are all over the Sky Islands, denoting Mineru would know of these areas and would tell Zelda and the Sages about them. 6) “The Ancient Hero is a Zonai?” The community is split on this. Some think it’s a Zonai, but others (like me) doubt it is just a Zonai if there is any genetics of Zonai inside. The Ancient Hero has features the Zonai do not have in their art pieces created by Hylians or even Rauru and Mineru. The Ancient Hero’s snout is much smaller than the Zonai, bears red hair, and has a tail that the Zonai do not have. The red-hair can be hand-waved as maybe a Gerudo mated with whatever the Ancient Hero’s ancestor is. After that, it could be any number of combinations of species in it. The tattoo markings only are signifiers of them being a member/knight of Hyrule, since Zelda and Sonia also bear tattoo markings. 7) “Why didn’t they recall the Master Sword to fix the damage?” Oh, that’s easy. Zelda is untrained in her time powers, even now. She can recall objects to a different point in time, but we have no reference as to how far she can go or how long she can do recall. And Link can only do a limited aspect of recall. Not to mention that the Master Sword needed to not just heal. It needed to get stronger. 8) “Who became the three dragons?” All theories at this point. What I will say is that their features match the Zonai in contrast to the Light Dragon and Demon Dragon, who both bear Hylian and Gerudo features. whoever they used to be, they were most likely Zonai before they became the three dragons. 9) “Are the amiibo canon?” Ugh, I’m there with you. I’m gonna give a tentative “yes”, but only for the armor sets, since we don’t have hints of Wolf-Link or Epona’s anywhere in the game. Fun Fact: In the cave at the Sage Temple Ruins by the Ancient Tree Stump, there is a plaque inside stating the Dusk Claymore used to reside there and was moved to the Typhlo Ruins. (Theory Fodder~) Also, more theory fodder: Was Misko an ancient Zonai? His armor set treasures are usually held behind Zonai tech/nearby Zonai Tech.

[@heather9930]

Totally agree with you!

[@rubellite4480]

im pretty sure about the zelda and mineru raising the sky islands bit, theres a quest on top of the zonai temple of time that gives you some history of the sky islands and it says that the sky islands were raised by the ancient sages

[@matthewwilliams8267]

​@@rubellite4480Iirc, Zelda had asked Mineru to raise all the sky islands, so that Link would have a safe area to go to. Not just heal, but to train and improve even more than BOTW

[@blackmark2899]

I would say that as far as Ganondorf's motivations. Pure selfishness wasn't gonna have the Gerudo follow him, even when he's their chief. He most likely started out with pure intentions (well at least by a Gerudo standpoint). He wanted a better home for the Gerudo, his people. But at some point, Demise's hatred manifested within him and his motivations got twisted and selfish until they were the Ganondorf we know, as I think the lore book said that he was harsh but always thought of his people with his actions. WW Ganondorf may be recalling why he started to want to conquer Hyrule in the first place, unaware that it was all because he was being manipulated by Demise's hatred directing him to Hyrule. He's probably not lying per se but he is unaware of the "why" he targeted Hyrule specifically and didn't think to try and settle in other lands that may be more hospitable to his people.

[@Sarah_H]

4) “Why is the Secret Stone still fully-powered after Rauru’s arm runs out of power?” I think it was a similar reaction to the other sages coming close to their secret stones. It sensed Zelda's presence and moved to where she could pick it up, but to do that, Rauru's hand had to let go of Ganondorf

[@Corrupted_Eon]

Totk was amazing. And, scary… the gloom hands won’t leave me alone

[@Broockle]

arrows op

[@layzzzee9484]

​@@Broocklebombs too

[@MrBurn360]

I haven't felt that kind of anxiety exploring the depths since like Silent Hill 1 on the PS. There was just something so unsettling about exploring the depths the first couple of times. I loved it!

[@StormsparkPegasus]

When I see gloom hands now I'm like "Ugh not again, I don't have any room in my inventory for another demon king's bow and gloom weapon". They and Phantom Ganon are SO easy. Bomb arrows just shred them. And in the very rare situation in hot areas in the depths where you can't use bomb arrows, spears take them down pretty quick. The most hilarious thing I saw someone call the gloom hands was the Assgrabber 5000.

[@Corrupted_Eon]

@@StormsparkPegasus took me eels if prep for the deku tree it was over kill (like master sword with light dragon horn Daruks crusher with a a fire dragon horn ravalis bow with bomb flowers and miphas trident with a kings scale overkill)

[@onlyougi]

on the subject of who the 3 dragons are i think its very interesting to note that the light dragon looks VERY different from the others, especially with her pointy hylian ears. then if you compare the 3 to mineru and rauru they have the same goat like snouts and droopy ears which suggests to me that theyre definitely draconified zonai

[@hazzard_destroyer]

I think the master sword was only able to be broken because of its damage taken during the calamity and during the 100 year sleep it wasn’t able to fully recover because it wasn’t bathed in sacred light or enough of it and it was just strong enough to beat Calamity Ganon. Which also would explain why in BOTW it needed to recharge.

[@tumultuousv]

Doesn't it need to recharge In totk? Which happens after being bathed in light for millenia

[@heroofmasks]

​@@tumultuousvyea but that's due to gameplay otherwise people would get it asap and use no other weapons outside bows at the end it does become unbreakable against Ganondorf.

[@rubellite4480]

im pretty sure in one of the dragon tears (memory #01, you get it after saving the deku tree), link lets the master sword recharge before the events of totk so it might've fully recovered, but it was just that gloom was much stronger and managed to shatter the blade this ties in with a theory i've been seeing much of in this comment section - that the master sword went back in time because it knew it needed to come back stronger to properly face off against ganon. if you've seen some glitch videos, the prologue master sword cant deflect ganon's gloom projectiles but the revitalised one can

[@KnucklesAndBig]

My theory about the "first king and queen oh Hyrule" thing is that BotW and TotK take place so far ahead of the split timeline that Hyrule might have fallen and been remade possibly many times over. The original calamity which is depicted in the tapestry takes place 10,000 years before the calamity of BotW, and the game itself takes place 100 years after *that* calamity, so who's to say the events of Skyward Sword don't take place millions of years before the original calamity. Our actual recorded human history is only about 5,000 years, and we know the earliest homo sapiens evolved around 200,000 years ago, meaning there's around 195,000 years of human history that we know little to nothing about, maybe something similar has happened to this Hyrule. The events of all previous games are such ancient history that they're straight up forgotten all other Hyrules that have come before

[@c.r.blankenship9040]

I’m pretty sure states getting re-founded on the same land under the same name has happened probably multiple times in our own history, likely because the names were derived either from the name of the people or from the name of the land itself.

[@nathanapodaca3456]

One other thought: In Twilight Princess, during the quest to find the Sky Cannon and get to the city in the Sky, it's revealed the Occa had created the Kingdom of Hyrule. Zeltik and Nintendo Black Crisis have a fantastic theory video on that topic, but I've been wondering if it's possible the Zonai returned to the Skies where they evolved into the Occa, but a few stayed behind and eventually died out at Hyrule's founding. Maybe the Ooca evetually died out as well or found a way to move on to other realms. You've also got the Wind Tribe in Minish Cap(released on Switch shortly before TOTK dropped, mind you) a race of humans who live in the skies, so plenty of lore questions raised

[@Isuream6331]

If that theory is true, then the Zonai need a refund. Evolution screwed them over

[@nathanapodaca3456]

@Isuream6331 Bahahaha yeah you right. Maybe Raaru saw what happened and was thinking "Nah I'm good, I'll stay here"

[@4wheal]

Expect that we see no evidence of the Ooca ever being in the sky in TotK. There is no evidence of the city in the sky or of any other possible settlements. Do you think they would have been some reference on one of the sky islands? Definitely, if runis from an earlier point was still there. Then again, we don't see any references at all of the past civilizations that lived in the sky, which is one of the most disappointing aspects of the sky.

[@c.r.blankenship9040]

@@4whealsadly, I think the sky would be one of the worst places for preserving ancient civilizations due to erosion. I 100% believe that the sky islands inhabited by the Zonai could easily be the same ones that once held Skyloft and perhaps the Occa as well, but they’ve just been lost to time, which is probably realistic

[@4wheal]

@@c.r.blankenship9040 There is nothing really realistic about floating islands that are protected by a cloud barrier that somehow makes them invisible to those below but allow light to come through. Also, apparently, most of the islands were originally on the ground before the Zonai lifted them up after the Imprisoning War. So it's not even their normal home and is just a place they left things for Link later on. Really shows what a waste it was as a idea.

[@lasercraft32]

9:55 Well yeah... That's not at all surprising. That's _how Recall works._ When you have a Zonai vehicle and it breaks, using recall doesn't combine all the pieces back together, it just Recalls the one part you selected.

[@calebbarnes5652]

I actually thought you would have to look all over hyrule, find shards of the sword, and use fuse to add them all back. Would have been cool.

[@Selcryn]

That would have been fun, and a nice way to pay homage to the very first Legend of Zelda.

[@s.colins2050]

Gloom is heavily implied to have existed and created monsters in the depths before even the events surrounding ganondorf and the birth of hyrule. Remember, the zonai ruins in the depths that weren't specifically for the purpose of mining were ancient even to Mineru and Rauru, and the gloom armor and bargainer statues imply people existing and living down there even before the zonai mines were built. Also, the zonai secret stones are only capable of enhancing a power in someone that is already there and elementally distinct from the individual person. Ganondorf's enhanced his preexisting ability to use gloom which already existed, it didn't grant him that ability nor create the gloom, and that's why he could still use it to create the Zelda imposter before actually obtaining Sonia's secret stone. Rauru almost explicitly created the shrines to ward off monsters and gloom that would plague hyrule from the depths before they had something (Ganondorf) controlling them, and given that they were either placed directly on top of the lightroots or the lightroots grew from beneatg them, it was almost certainly known that the monster were originally amd continuously coming from the depths rather than ganondorf.

[@11338325]

These are good questions to ask and it'd be nice if Nintendo did release a DLC to answer them. However, Eiji Aonuma said in an interview, “There are no plans to release additional content this time, but that's because I feel like we've done everything we can to create fun in that world." So we'll regrettably not be getting DLC for "Tears of the Kingdom" As for the Triforce, Zelda still has it. You can see in the memory cut-scene when you pull the sword out of the Light Dragon's head, if you focus on Zelda's right hand (with a bit of editing and filtering the light) you can see the Triforce glowing on the back of her hand.

[@darthsanz3701]

So many years and we still don't know sht about the Zonai 🙃

[@dazeo4393]

as a vague answer to the last question posed of why did they raise all the other sky islands, the answer is no. those other sky islands were likely there before the zonai descended down to the surface to form hyrule. as at the beginning its said that the zonai were a people thought of as gods who came from the heavens, when really they were actually an advanced civilization who happened to live in the sky. so, naturally, they would have some landmasses up there in classic zelda style, to live on. thus, the skydiving test islands make sense :)

[@EKOddLink]

I definitely subscribe to the theory of this being a new timeline entirely that takes place in the timesplit from Skyward Sword (at least at the moment). Always thought it was strange that Ocarina of Time got a time split but Skyward Sword didn't? Even though Demise was defeated in two different timelines. It would make sense since we go back to the birth of Hyrule, and it wasn't founded by Skyward Sword Link and Zelda, but rather Sonia and Rauru, Sonia probably being the descendant of the alternate timeline SS Zelda who did not know of her purpose or Blood of the Goddess because SS Link from the original timeline killed their Demise as well. It would also explain why there is another Ganondorf Dragmire, that doesn't come from the Ocarina of Time split and therefore doesn't remember anything from previous games and has his own motivations (that we have yet to have explained fully).

[@orianefaton1885]

And, technically, this option would mean that some events would likely still happen. For exemple, princess Ruto would still be born, so you do get a sage of water with that name and all this. So, it is either this, a retcon (which I don't wanna consider, honestly) or somehow, like I heard someone else say. Rauru *thinks* he is the first king of Hyrule, and maybe... there was a kingdom a really long time ago, but it fell and was destroyed for so long that nobody somehow remembered it and Rauru just recreated Hyrule without realizing. So, as far as he knows, he is the first king, but he would just have recreated a new Hyrule (kinda like in Spirit track where we are in a new Hyrule kingdom made by Tetra and her crew)

[@EKOddLink]

@orianefaton1885 I could definitely see that as well, though honestly, it would be a little less solid to me. I always loved the idea of Breath of the Wild Unifying the timelines and everything in the past is so far back that it literally is Legend, and BotW just takes place after a long time/a cataclysmic event, but TotK kinda threw a wrench in that plan. I still feel like it could be possible that it takes place at the end of the timeline but just wouldn't make as much sense. Like how is there another entirely different Ganondorf (I don't like thinking of Four Swords Adventure as Canon), and why would the Zelda team explicitly make Rauru the founder of Hyrule. It just feels less messy to me if it's a new timeline from the beginning even if a little less satisfying than being the Timeline Unifier I wanted it to be

[@annieandelsieofarendelle3294]

​@@EKOddLink But that can't be possible because the Royal Family doesn't exist without SS Zelda and SS Zelda left for her own era without leaving any descendants in the past. We also know that Zelda and Princess Who Sealed the Calamity were her descendants.

[@TheJasoncash83]

@@orianefaton1885 its a retelling of ocarina of time tbh. Zelda going back in time changed it, as stated by Rauru.

[@4wheal]

@@TheJasoncash83 Expect that Ganondorf already knew who Zelda and Link were because he had already met her and been informed of Link by Rauru. This means that Zelda going back in time had already happened whitvh means she changed nothing.

[@MaxWelton]

12:19 The arm noticed that Zelda didn’t have a secret stone, realized what that meant, and provided one.

[@evefarrel]

The only image of the triforce we got, is one of the tattoo's on Sonia. It is among the other sheikah like symbols she has on her wrist. I had to check a model because I was positive I saw it there.

[@4wheal]

When Rauru lets off that blast of light magic to wipe out the monsters, the energy briefly takes the form of the trifroce, but it's only about a split second

[@Matthew10950]

At some point zelda is holding the master sword and you can see a shine coming from her right hand

[@4wheal]

@@Matthew10950 Again doesn't necessarily mean anything as the trifroce symbol has often been linked to holy/ light magic that had no actual connection to the trifroce.

[@Matthew10950]

@4wheal You're right, I know, but the holy light plus the location on the hand...that is just too tempting to play down.

[@4wheal]

@@Matthew10950 Hay, if you want Zelda to have the trifroce, that's perfectly okay, and you are entitled to thay. But personally, I really hope it's not, and the trifroce is just in some unknown location like the sacred realm and not just reduced to a nameless power for Zelda to use.

[@Zerolink30]

13:20 my quesion here is "where is Skyloft? Does any Sky Island resemble it? And why weren't the "Forest Ostriches" called "Flightless Loftwings"? Put the Eldin Ostrich and Loftwing next to a Forest Ostrich and tell me which one it resembles the most.

[@linderofhyrule]

If you watch the memory zeldas wish when she's holding the sword it looks like the triforce on the back of her hand

[@Polar1s2]

I have two questions, First, Does Ganondorf make the moon approach Earth or it's just an ilusión? Second, The Master Sword going back in time creates a paradox. Imagine, most likely there was a Master Sword at that time, meaning there would be two swords. And the sword would be in the dragon's head for thousands of years, but link in breath of the wild takes the sword from the forest, and then in tears of the kingdom, from the dragon, there would be 2 swords. And if Zelda was a dragon for thousands of years would that mean there are two Zeldas? I mean, Zelda is still a dragon when Ganondorf awakening happens, but is also a human. My mind simply can't process this information.

[@alfredmus3876]

The only thing I want to know is whether we'll be getting a playable Daddy Ganondorf in the inevitable dlc 😏

[@17DecimalsPerHour]

Don’t forget the legendary return of fierce daddy link

[@thelivingtrebuchet6180]

it can be answered who the dragons are, there's a full video on. male zonai, the protectors of the springs of the goddesses

[@globaled1694]

i was so bummed when i found out there was no dark link / malice link fight :( that fight from OoT is unforgettable man

[@Skybound-wd4pm]

My headcanon for the malice to gloom change was that the malice burned bright as the hatred and rage incarnate that was calamity ganon. When Zelda destroyed the calamity, the hatred turned to regret and sorrow at ganon's faliure.

[@4wheal]

Honestly, the secret stones are kind of a mess story wise as they seem to behave differently depending on what character is currently using it. The sages get about a 1.5× power boost and get access to a new ability they never had before dispute this not being how the stones work. While Ganondorf gets a power boost of about 1000 insted. Even when he goes dragon, his form is different from the others as his secret stone is on the outside of his body and can be damaged

[@tumultuousv]

The stones literally just amplify power. What are you on? The sages literally use the abilities before having the secret stones. There mimic things are from looks new arm. Not the stones. Ganondorf is literally pure hatred and the demon king. He's just that strong, where the stone makes him OP

[@4wheal]

@@tumultuousv The sages show no actual increase in power after gaining their stones. Their elemental powers do not change dispute the fact that the stones themselves gain the name of their elements. Insted they each gain the ability to create spirt copy's of themselves that they can send off to help Link whitvh is not a ability any of them had beforehand. Expect that he doesn't even show a faction of that power beforehand, and the power boost he gets is massively more extreme than any other character. Basically, the stones don't make any actual sense and are just a lazy plot device that the developers put little thought in.

[@LikeADerp99]

⁠@@4whealit’s literally explained that it doesn’t give them power, it augments their current powers and that mastery of control over their stones is dependent on the user. Ganondorf had built up his rage and has innate evil it’s quite literally his entire being. His entire live has been a constant channel of evil and hatred so it make sense why he’s able to master his abilities to a such high level right away. Zelda didn’t even know she had time powers, it was all subconscious but she slowly learned after being taught. She knew she had latent light powers and she was able to tap into it in BOTW. But time powers is something she wasn’t aware of (fun fact in AOC we see her time and light powers act in tandem with her sacred power cleansing the guardians over Gabon’s control and terako manifesting her time powers)

[@4wheal]

@@LikeADerp99 Then why did 4 sages, each with different elemental powers, all sudden gain the exact same ability in making spirt copes but saw no increase the abilities they already mastered? You're basically now arguing that the sages only got a power boost in an ability they didn't have before and had no training in but suddenly got complete control over, but there actually normal powers remained the same. Is is because this Ganondorf is clearly not the one from past games he is a new version with more in common with FSA Ganondorf. So we can't even say anything about his backstory for certain as the game spends no time showing us anything about him. You can try and make excuses, but it's very clear Nintendo just didn't put any real thoughts into the story, and that's why it dosent make sense.

[@galaxystarroad]

10:00 I think the game explains that Ganondorf is so strong Zelda has to give her power to the sword so it can stand a chance or smth like that. Becase when it's restored, it's stronger than usual

[@GabePlaysYT]

tbh I felt like Ganondorf's motivations were expressed pretty well in TOTK. Before the Zonai showed up, the world was chaotic and savage which suited him just fine because he valued power above all else. When Rauru created a kingdom of peace, this confused and infuriated him. He was outraged that someone from a godlike lineage wouldn't just create a kingdom of "peace-loving cowards running rampant", but validate it behind his incredible strength and Secret Stone. He feels personally offended that someone would try to control him or what he views as the natural order. It's why he says Rauru was squandering his power when he took Sonia's stone: because he didn't understand why he didn't use it to conquer like he would. His motivation is to return the world to it's savage, primitive, state where only the strongest survive.

[@4wheal]

It's funny that he talks about how only the strongest should rule because the second he starts to lose to Link, he loses his cool and then basically commits suicide and tries to take Link with him. If he truly did believe that the strongest should rule, then he should have acknowledged Link his better and followed him.

[@GabePlaysYT]

@@4wheal He's always had a pretty inflated opinion of himself, huh? xD

[@4wheal]

@@GabePlaysYT Honestly, this version of Ganondorf just comes off as a bully that likes to act tough by attacking those weaker than him and can not handle anyone stonger.

[@MaxWelton]

8:16 it’s very simple actually. Ganondorf uses gloom and Ganon uses Malice. It’s that simple.

[@Cooper_Vision]

He's back! 😊 I'm on 225 hours and trying to defeat Ganon, I fight bad.

[@avatarnujy8713]

if ur struggling on ganon use rocket sheilds to fly up and hit him with arrows (ideally with a savage lynel bow with gibdo bone arrows) and bring multiple stamina up foods so you can stay in bullet time and keep firing arrows

[@RooMoo_DooMoo]

yep, I spend too much time on this game

[@4nothernpc]

"Why are you evil?" Ganondorf: "Yes."

[@herkimerlloyd7332]

Im on the still after timeline merge theory. I someone made a video talking about how how could the rito be there, they had not evolved yet. How could the Zora be there, they too had not evolved. TOTK's ancient past definitely takes place after all the other games.

[@kretisme]

We actually get what could be the answer to the rito zora problem with the zora princess sidons wife to be she says she comes from another domain that means they are spread out so it's possible that only one group of zora evolved in that way where as the rest did not personally I am on the fence with timeline merging and inevitable future side of things

[@herkimerlloyd7332]

@@kretisme but in skyward sword there is none yet and it's that seems to be where all hyrules tribes originated. The rito are only seen in the wind waker, they evolved from help of a random magic dragon. Plus like the Great Pluto. And the biggest kicker in my opinion is the motuga. They are seen in TOTK's past and present but there is no enemy of the same name elsewhere. I feel like too much stacks towards it talking place after timeline merge theory. But that's just me I'm sure it stuff can be finagled in somehow, all up you the fans interpretation u suppose.

[@herkimerlloyd7332]

Ps if interested the video I refer to is. Why raurus Kingdom is isn't the first, by thinking at max volume!

[@shawnmccullough9374]

I think Malice is like a low-power version of Gloom. Rauru's power kept it from reaching its full strength, but the sheer volume of less empowered Gloom manifested as Malice and the projection of Ganondorf's will into the Calamity Ganons.

[@Aurelyn]

Almost all of these questions are answered very simply: the writers just want to make a good original story and they don't care about consistency with timelines and old Zelda games. They just make a few references to old games as fanservice but the writers just want this game to be good on its own.

[@Kaden970]

The ancient hero wasn’t a zonai. Similar certainly, but the ancient hero has different ears than Rauru and Minaru. He also had a tail which neither Rauru nor Minaru appear to have.

[@min4414]

My theory for gloom/malice is that gloom is only present when Ganondorf is awake. This explains why he uses gloom 10,000 years ago and then turns to using malice. While hes asleep, malice leaks out as a weaker form of gloom until Ganondorf wakes up. Hyrule is then covered in gloom as Ganandorf is alive again. I do have a theory for why the Master Sword broke to gloom originally but then doesn't anymore. My theory is that the Master Sword is able to learn from what it experiences, and that it learnt to be gloom resistant and strong against it. This also explains why the Master Sword never breaks to Malice in BotW, before Link went to the Shrine of Resurrection, he was only fighting Malice-Powered guardians. These guardians are not a pure form of Malice, but they allowed the Sword to be powerful against it.

[@NightClawprower]

I'm pretty sure the triforce appears on Zelda's hand when you see her final wish, though my memory could be faulty here

[@Gamerman2910]

On the subject of the master sword is totk, Link gives the sword to Zelda, all the way to the near beginning of the timeline. Then Zelda tyrns into a dragon and slwoly repairs the sword for all of the timeline, presumably high in the sky to never be bothered. In that case, how come all of the future heroes of hyrule have master swords? Isnt it with zelda innthe sky for tens of thousands of years until totk link gets it???

[@bloodbond3]

Update: The inevitable DLC has been "evitabled"

[@sirrogerjalbert]

I think the ancient hero is minish/picori. I think he was the 8th hero and fought a demon king before rauru started hyrule and before Ganondorf ruled the gerudo.

[@lymphomaniac7579]

I think the majority of sky Islands were built and used by the Zonai, while the Great Sky Island was the last and largest one. Many were even managed regularly by the sages afterwards, but fell into obscurity after one of the many calamities.

[@MaxWelton]

11:41 Misko is canon. They also hid less 4th-wall-breaking armor.

[@Tarro57]

Even though the Triforce isn't directly shown, when Zelda is reforging the Master Sword we can see in the memory her holding it with golden strands coming from the back of her hand, the same hand she summoned the Triforce to seal Calamity Ganon in BotW. I'm certain that this implies she used the Triforce to heal the Master Sword, and is the reason why it is golden. I do wish we got more plot with the Triforce besides that though.

[@lasercraft32]

"in the inevitable DLC" *Cries in no DLC*

[@kevincordova6969]

The tablets across hyrule explain that all the sky islands were raised by mineru and rauru to provide solace for link and places for him to recover across hyrule that were out of Ganondorf's reach. Also the questline with Master Kohga starts with a device only working for you because of Rauru's arm tricking it into thinking you're zonai. The diving platforms could still have been designed for link with the idea that he would have to use them as a zonai somehow

[@lasercraft32]

What makes these unanswered questions so infuriating is the simple fact is they DON'T HAVE ANSWERS AT ALL. They just didn't think about it or didn't care. Its a big reason why so few Zelda channels seem to make Totk theories, there's just nothing to go off of. Everything might as well just be the Zonai from Botw all over again.

[@BunnyMalice]

'Inevitable DLC' that aged so poorly and I'm so sad it did 😭

[@DekuSMASHOneForAll]

A question that is never brought up in this video is if Zelda was the light dragon with the master sword during the events of Breath of the Wild, which we know because Zelda went back in time in Tears of the Kingdom, how was Link able to defeat Calamity Ganon without the master sword nor Zelda? In Breath of the Wild at the end of the fight against Calamity Ganon, Zelda deals the finishing blow against Calamity Ganon by using her light powers to seal Ganon away, so without Zelda nor the master sword Link probably wouldn't have been able to defeat Calamity Ganon, yet this still happens. In Zelda's diary it tells us that the Calamity was defeated. I think that this is a big question that could potentially become a plot hole in the story of Tears of the Kingdom if this isn't explained in the DLC if there even is going to be DLC.

[@SailorYinYang]

Hey Bandit, I'm sure others have said this but just in case. In the memory after you pull the Master Sword, look very very closely at Zelda's upper hand. It's barely visible but the Triforce mark is there in Tears.

[@asterthehedgehog6861]

I’ve got some bigger questions I’m concerned about: 1. Why is this Ganondorf NOT the same as the Spirit of the Calmity we fought in BotW? He should already know who Link and Zelda were since they killed him as the Calamity 2. Why did we NOT get any deeper dive into the Sheikah tech or the ancient Sheikah’s (the zombie figures) tie to the hero?

[@rubellite4480]

iirc calamity ganon was an incarnation of real ganondorf's hatred and how hellbent and unrelenting he was regarding reincarnation so calamity ganon and totk ganondorf are not the same; as for how he knows link and zelda, i'll give you a spoiler warning spoiler: he knows zelda since she travelled back in time in the intro of the game and fought against him in the imprisoning war (memory 10) , was there when he killed sonia (memory 9) and was there when he swore fealty to rauru (memory 7). he knows link since he heard of him from rauru when rauru sealed him away and told him of link, hyping link up as a swordsman that would be able to defeat ganon (memory 10)

[@Daewo]

its so nice to coming back to my favorite zelda channel after 2 years

[@cs4215_]

What if malice is just gloom during ganondorfs sealed state? Before and after the sealing he uses gloom, so that could be it?

[@daisukemonobe9573]

I think there’s just one more question to ask… should tears of the kingdom be the resting point for that version of legend of Zelda and move onto another type of Zelda game

[@danielmunoz1275]

"There's not even a single appearance of the Triforce, even a glimpse like BotW" Zelda's final message to Link: Am I a joke to you? Now seriously I've been seeing many many miss this detail. Zelda is literally healing the Sword with light that is COMING OUT OF HER HAND, and when the camera is panning closer to her on the back of her hand the Triforce is glowing. It is a bit difficult because of the white background and the light that is coming out of it, but c'mon, if it coming LITERALLY out of her hand, there is a huge clue (more like a balloon popping in front of you in terms of "subtlety"), and this and many other channel are about theories and analysis. Meaning that this guys should have hawk eyes for this, when I played on my home TV I could see the Triforce, and as I said it can be difficult to see it at first glance or casual view, but it is not that hidden for attentive players to see.

[@frostbyte2899]

I’d like to note that the founding of Hyrule still takes place way farther down compared to the very first founding. Considering that it takes place in a timeline where all previous events are practically just myths and legends

[@neryleal5265]

10:10 that's not true because when the master sword got recalled to the beginning of hyrule to pass of to zelda to repair, it was still damaged. Also she and the Deku Tree said it would take a very long time to repair the sword

[@Akaza__hakuji]

The gloom malice thing isnt explainee but. I feel like malice was just a unfinished typ of gloom bc ganon was stile sealed for a bit

[@foeloko]

A lot of totk has lots of ocorina of time and windwaker references and wind waker canonically is a sequel to ocarina . So my theory is The king of the red lions wish indirectly caused the time lines to merge. It’ll explain why this hyrule we see is a new one. Because the king clearly states they’ll go on to found a new hyrule. Their hyrule so whos to say this isn’t the 3 or 4 time hyrules been founded

[@JsYTA]

"I'll continue to seal ganon while I wait for your hero, Link. It can't be that far into the future." (Montage of Rauru patiently waiting below Hyrule as every single iteration of Link fights evil above ground never coming to his aid. With the series adventure theme playing in the background.)

[@foeloko]

Ganondorf did know about the tears. He says finally it’s mine or something like that. And he knows of the zonai. My theory is on the next game it’s going to explain that somehow someone wished upon the triforce forcing indirectly the merging of all timelines as well as the creation of the tears

[@a_person4742]

We dont know how much time passed between him finding out during the molduga attack and him killing sonia. Could be 2 years or something

[@babsus4938]

The thing that I'm questioning the most is Ganondorf's existence across the entire timeline. The male Gerudo is supposed to be born every 100 years. Since BotW stated (or implied, I don't remember exactly) that there hadn't been a male born in much longer than 100 years, it suddenly made sense when TotK was revealed that the reason for this was that the previous Ganondorf hadn't actually died and was instead just sealed away beneath the castle. But if the 'Birth of Hyrule' era that Zelda gets sent back to happens before other games in the timeline, wouldn't it mean that there has been two incarnations of Ganondorf alive at once? Like if Zelda gets sent back to before OoT, then OoT would have it's own incarnation of Ganondorf AND TotK's Ganondorf sealed away somewhere. It just doesn't make sense to me at all. Then there's the ever-changing landscape of Hyrule. If TotK Ganondorf was sealed away at almost the very beginning of the timeline, that would mean that every version of Hyrule Castle must be the same one, without rebuilding or relocation, but doing so would presumably disturb the seal. These things, along with the existence of the Zora and Rito together in the distant past, lead me to think that maybe BotW and TotK take place so long after any other game that the Kingdom of Hyrule has died out entirely and been reborn again, and that the 'Birth of Hyrule' era that Zelda goes back to is the birth of a new Hyrule rather than the original one from the beginning of the timeline. But even this has problems, it's all very complex.