The Zonai-Sheikah Connections - The Legend of Zelda Theory

An eye for an eye.
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#zelda #thelegendofzelda #breathofthewild #tearsofthekingdom

[@MonsterMaze]

A wizard is never late... he arrives precisely when he means to Anyway, here's the link to the webshop of my significant other: www.joyouscrafts.com/collections/zelda Thanks as always for watching, and I look forward to reading your theories and ideas about the Zoni and Sheikah!

[@leoluna7412]

I would so love to buy all of these, they're so beautiful! Please keep the shop up so I can get at least one as soon as I have more sufficient funds!!

[@MonsterMaze]

@@leoluna7412 Great to hear! I'll still be here by the time you're ready. It's not one of those "limited offers", haha

[@seraphimsforge-master5433]

You bring up very good points, things I've thought about as well trying to connect the Zonai to the Sheikah... Now I think about it, it seems as if the creators deliberately kept things non specific, for us to keep guessing... especially when there was that running timeline theory

[@M33f3r]

I'm trying to buy your stuff but you don't have a USD option and it's not letting me.

[@farideh4698]

That stuff looks amazing!

[@DogsRNice]

I really hope at some point there will be a zelda game that takes place during a period of advancement for Hyrule

[@MonsterMaze]

Zeldapunk 2077

[@chasethemaster3440]

Same

[@SickSoundingStuff]

Industrial Revolution Hyrule Edition. That could be kind of neat. A Final Fantasy 7 type Zelda adventure. Maybe they could have a Zelda/Mega Man Mashup. After thought: I'd prefer a life like high fantasy Zelda game. I have to keep reminding myself I'm playing a children's game at times when I both about how easy the game is. I want a very mature Zelda game.

[@javiervasquez625]

We sort of had that in Twilight Princess and Spirit Tracks with Fyer's cannon technology and the titular Spirit Tracks respectively. The problem is that the people of Hyrule are cursed to repeatedly endure some kind of "catastrophe" (most likely caused by the Demon Tribe's curse) which forces them to loose their technology and restart their civilization back from zero.

[@jaredr1621]

Nintendo will never add guns, but I've been sitting on the idea of a Deku Musket for 15 years

[@legomaster2538]

I still really wish Paya became the Sheikah Sage of Shadow. Not having a Sheikah in the final battle with Ganondorf was a little upsetting.

[@MonsterMaze]

I concur!

[@snsnsnsn2922]

Having a Sheikah sage doesn’t really seem realistic for the era of the wild imo. most Sheikah in BotW & TotK are just normal people not great with fighting or utilizing their tech. Unless somehow Kogha pulls an Age of Calamity and doesn’t blow himself up😅 also Maz Koshia is nowhere to be found cuz obviously he disappeared Also in a sense we have a sage of shadow in Ganondorf, the text on his secret stone says “darkness” (the Shadow Temple in OoT is “the Temple of Darkness” in JP, same word)

[@jesusramirezromo2037]

Or Purah being the spirit

[@aidandsouza2005]

@@jesusramirezromo2037yeah that could of been an option too, she also looks really similar to Mineru

[@saraross8396]

Breath of the Wild has concept art for both Kokiri and Sheikah Champions. These of course were abandoned in the end but would have made the traditional set of sages in terms of numbers. Six Divine Beasts would perhaps have been a bit much assuming they were thought of at the time.

[@RednasTheRed]

Not wanting to do merch managed by a third party out of fear that you're contributing to the abuse of sweatshop workers in low income areas of the world is so unbelievably thoughtful and considerate in a way I've never ever seen any other KZbinr ever talk about! Everything being crafted in house by your family sounds so unbelievably cool that I might check it out, even if it's pricier than if it was made in some factory somewhere. Never was a big merch buyer, but this sounds like an excellent gift idea!

[@MonsterMaze]

Thank you so much rednas . I've always found it more appealing to own something that actually comes directly from the source. We own a couple of necklaces made from sea glass, which were hand-picked from a beach and turned into a necklace by my fiancee's favourite vlogger. Very neat!

[@jackpraught8515]

Yeah, Monster Maze is the actual GOAT

[@cqllel5186]

Wouldn't that be the same as 'not buying and eating meat bcuz you wanna "save" the animals' logic? The same amount of animals being harvested stays the same whether one goes vegan or not. More meat on the shelf for the rest of us. "If you're not gonna do it, somebody else will" logic If refusing to give low-income workers work bcuz you don't want them to be abused, wouldn't that also make it worse for them? Don't they need the money? They might not even have other income options

[@mbii7667]

Uh where the heck are you getting all of that from?

[@dafilmqueen556]

​@cqllel5186 , true, and if you want to help them too, you gotta help improve their circumstances, which is nearly impossible. Consider the problems with trying to improve their overall work environment-you have no idea where they live, the economy they rely on, and the conditions they live in. Add to that your own lack of power as an ordinary citizen, and you know there's no way you'll be able to make that much of a difference regardless of how much you want to. Other people will work against you, and even the most well-intentioned people can't guarantee that their work won't be misused once someone else takes over. Our world is so complex that we stand little to no chance at creating a truly perfect solution to all our problems, and that's simply us humans. We cannot be our own masters, we'd fail ourselves and each other..

[@raffaelm6558]

While watching your video I suddenly realized that there is another existing entrance into the Depths before the Upheavel and there's a Sheikah Tower slap bang in the middle of it: The large seemingly bottomless chasm where the Gerudo Sheikah Tower was. It's now an entrance to the Depths so the Sheikah definitely knew of their existence.

[@matthewboire6843]

Oh that a great point, yea they had to have known

[@Foxy018]

Can you tell me where it is??? Please

[@user-dc5dc3qb7z]

Directly north of of gerudo town, and a slight bit to the east, next to the Yiga hideout. It's a huge hole in the ground, Google a map and you will easily find it.

[@raffaelm6558]

@@Foxy018 The biggest chasm in the Gerudo Desert, near the geoglyph. You can’t miss it, it’s a giant hole in the cliffs. In Breath of the Wild there was a Sheikah Tower in that location that definitely would have reached down into the Depths implying that the ancient Sheikah knew about what was down there.

[@Foxy018]

@@raffaelm6558 okay im going there right now, thank you very much its something i did missed

[@Beerbones928]

Maybe the library of Mineru suffered a similar fate to the Library of Alexandria. The sheikah may have frequented the library in their endeavors to build the guardians and divine beasts, and if the king at the time felt threatened by that technology, he may have felt threatened by the knowledge that led to the creation of that technology, and sought to have it destroyed so it could never be recreated.

[@AlluringBagel]

Regarding the Zonai temple of time, I’d like to propose that it’s purpose isn’t actually of the standard “temple of times” we’re used to. It’s the resting place of a secret stone, specifically Zelda’s as the sage of Time. When looking at the other secret stone resting spots, they’re all in “element Temples”, like the thunder temple or fire temple. It’s possible that the Zonai temple of time is the “time temple” as homage to Sonia, like the others were to their sages. I think it’s not called the “time temple” specifically because temple of time is much easier to say. The other temples are dungeon or maze-like in nature, but Sonia’s hypothetical one is that of a garden, which I believe reflects her more docile nature. I think it’s an interesting perspective to look at the temple from. Zelda’s remaining secret stone might have been put there as homage to her connection with Sonia.

[@MonsterMaze]

Good stuff!

[@willian1917]

zelda's secret stone is actually Rauru's secret stone from the future. Probably was the temple where Sonia's secret stone was. this was the "hylian village " at the time, like the fire temple was

[@teagorl1568]

That's definitely an interesting take, but my only issue is, Zelda swallowed her stone. So it would have been inside her. So how would they still be able to keep it in the temple of time?

[@RetroJack]

@@teagorl1568Heard of poop? :P

[@MelissaBrownell-pz3fe]

Zelda ate her stone, AND sonias was stolen.

[@Soulflame-iu8hs]

One of the things i was most hyped for when totk released were upcoming Theories. There's nothing better after a long day then sitting down and watching Zelda Theories

[@Zoroark_Master]

But that’s just a theory…

[@skchabauzinha7118]

​@@Zoroark_Mastera ZELDA THEORY!

[@Zeltik]

Incredible video as usual mate - great ideas, presented flawlessly

[@MonsterMaze]

Thanks a bunch as always mate!

[@ErickStarkA10]

I agree! I was looking for a video like this. Playing Tears of The Kingdom I realized some of the points presented here. But I needed more opinions.

[@gio9255]

The zonai were initially the most disappointing plot element of TOTK. We only encountered two of them, the story of the depths was completely ignored, and the only legacy of them left behind in the skies were their constructs and devices. If the sheikah were truly inspired by them and chose their part moving forward after the Imprisoning War, that would have made a fascinating side story. I hope if the Zonai return as a plot element, it is to enhance the Sheikah's place in the new Kingdom of Hyrule.

[@poenpotzu2865]

I highly doubt it, but we can still dream.

[@4wheal]

Unlikely, the Japanese version is a lot more clear in the fact that Zonia have all died off before Rauru time with him and his sister the last lf there race.

[@thegreattoost7260]

A small thing i noticed during my exploration of the wind temple, was the cannons that aimed at Link with a red laser for a few seconds, before shooting a big fire projectile. Really reminded me of a certain Sheikah attack..

[@lpanza3736]

*dramatic piano music intensifies*

[@dimitrifuschetto7806]

The quality of this video is unbelievable. The script, the direction, it is quite clear that ther’s a big and talented work behind. Really well done!

[@MonsterMaze]

Thank you for the kind words!

[@thevoyagingcreator]

There's one thing you didn't mention about Spirit/Ancient energy: both might be present at the Zonai shrines and Ganondorf's seal. If you look closely, the spiral starts as blue then transitions to green. I agree that Ancient/blue energy is a more potent/refined version or Spirit/green energy, but I disagree that it was mixed with Malice to get to that point. I think that one of Zeltik's old videos is closer in that the Sheikah used divine force to power their tech, which could be supported by the fact that the Zonai are the closest race to the gods, signified by their long ears.

[@MonsterMaze]

Ah, so it might get weaker as it dissapates you mean? Hence why the energy stream is more blue at the start. Good stuff!

[@thevoyagingcreator]

*Extra:* I just realised that we've seen blue force twice before in the series: first in OoT, the Temple of Light was pretty much a fountain ofthe stuff, and second is when you beat the first 4 dungeons in Spirit Tracks, a wave of blue energy will run from the temple to the Tower of Spirits turning the rails the same color. While neither of these are directly linked to spirits, one is in the Sacred Realm, which is connected to the gods, correlating with what I said in the main comment, while the other comes as a result of force gems, which leads me to color/force pair-ups like this: Green: basic life energy Blue: refined green force. Possible divine connections. Orange/Gold: positive emotion, mainly happiness and grattitude. The regular rails from ST do not correlate. Purple: negatve emotion, mainly hatred and malice. Red: controled and concentrated purple force.

[@zombieslaya3456]

Just wanted to say, its really cute seeing you and your partner working on something together. Its so cute how you help her pursue a new hobby and its cute that she also supports yours.

[@MonsterMaze]

We are definitely partners in crime, minus the "crime" part haha

[@verdantmistral442]

I think the Hylian who wrote the slabs was a Sheikah, if not a past incarnation of Impa. She definitely seems to have been drawn to Zelda.

[@troudbalos333]

My personal canon is that zeldas little trip back in time did have an effect on the timeline and instead that the sheikah being the technologically dominant one, the zonai are. Cuz in the last game the zonai pretty much were just like aztecs. It could also be just the creator wanting to explore the zonai in botw but it ended up being cut content and in totk pushed the sheikah aside to do just that.

[@a.jthomas6132]

I wish Tears of the Kingdom would show more about the Zonai since we have only seen Mineru and her brother King Rauru as the only member.

[@4wheal]

There's also the fact that the race is dead, so unless we get a game based before TOTK past, we probably won't see them again.

[@ArcadeTheatre]

Never ask a Goron if they can eat any rock, a Zora if their best friend is a fish, a Rito if they want a cracker, and never ask a Shiekah... *What their people were doing during the Hyrulean Civil War.*

[@Prismark]

One of the greatest hints that Sheikah in the Era of the Wild are more Hylian, was the missing red eyes with 2 confirmed exceptions (Impa and Purah). I saw this as a similar explanation as though why Gerudo have Hylian's pointed ears. But given that we only saw Impa's red eyes and Sheik's (who was just posing as Sheikah) in previous Zelda games, we actually never had confirmation of red eyes being a staple.

[@MonsterMaze]

Absolutely. Both the original Gerudo and Sheikah genes seems to have been diluted over the ages. Both with more and more Hylian features. Perhaps Impa and Purah's bloodline is one of a few, or even the only that is still directly connected to the Sheikah of old. While the rest have become a mix between classic Sheikah and Hylian.

[@crunchysalmons]

ganondorf has round ears btw

[@MonsterMaze]

@@crunchysalmons 'Cause Ganondorf is old school yo!

[@solarwreathe3789]

yeah they mostly have white/grey hair + brown or grey eyes. i think it's supposed to mean this is actually the most prevalent sheikah look, and red eyes are a rare recessive gene. on that note some of the totk npcs that look too young to have white hair (teli, mina, letty, lecia, juney, baumar) may either be young adults who have left kakariko to travel, or at least have sheikah ancestry. so the line between sheikah and hylian has definitely been blurred in this era.

[@TinyAnnieLeonhart]

It makes a ton of sense that Ganon was able to take control of the tech if he served as the power source in the first place. What if the king of old found out that Sheikah tech is powered by Ganon juice and that's the reason he banned it? Not because he foresaw what would happen but merely on a hunch that this was a bad idea.

[@jordanlucas7392]

That’s such a good theory

[@Zaxlz]

5:37 there was another bottomless pit in botw that's now a chasm in totk, and it also had a Sheikah Tower in it, the one for the Gerudo Highlands

[@RavenThryfe]

Yep that place was one of the locations on my "hit list" for exploration when I first started the game.

[@yolomationanimation9784]

Sometimes I think Zelda, in her seemingly short time in the past with the zonai, had instructed them to make sure the shrines were landed in the familiar places where the Sheikah shrines once were, considering that the zonai shrines are either popping in or landing from the sky onto hyrule… meaning the sheikah inspired Zelda, and Zelda inspired the zonai.. what a paradoxical line of inspirations lol

[@hiddenscorpiusXI]

The eye-symbol is most definitely a coincidence. According to the chronology stated in the video, the Sheikah were a culture long before the arrival of the Zonai and they have a pretty clear history behind the origin of the eye and teardrop symbol, and one cannot argue that they were born with a third, functional eyeball on their foreheads. The possibility of the similarities being deliberate in-universe is miniscule; at BEST the Zonai could have added the teardrop markings to their faces after arriving to Hyrule, but that is still a fat chance.

[@MonsterMaze]

Precisely. At the very most the Zonai could've reintroduced the symbol but even that is a bit of a stretch. I'm sure the original Sheikah symbol was simply passed down from old Hyrule. Just like the Triforce on Sonia's arm.

[@1shogunate696]

I would wager that Rauru and mineru weren’t the first zonai to visit hyrule, He’s literally named after the sage of light from OOT. Also OOT Rauru could transform into an owl which is something that isn’t seen ever after (there’s probably no relevance there but it is worth bringing up). Not exactly sure where I’m going with this but maybe Totk rauru is a distant descendant of OOT Rauru with mainly zonai dna

[@teo_many]

I've always been fascinated by Sacred ground ruins, aka Lookout Landing. It's basically the Greenwich of Hyrule, and I was hoping the sequel could give us some answers as to why it's specifically linked to Din, Farore and Nayru. Halfway through the game I was hoping we could see the Zonai form of the three goddesses, but I guess that without the DLC I have to let go of my "Zonai terraformation" fantasies.

[@MonsterMaze]

That would've indeed been amazing to know more about. At least we did learn that it connects to the castle via a network of tunnels. It was basically a sort of emergency shelter for the royals ^^

[@boredape1986]

Today will be a good day

[@FirstNameLastName-okayyoutube]

Link's ability to die and learn from it is a part of his time powers. Special conditions override it. Such as if he is fighting Ganon and the Temple of time is in an activated state. I've seen on KZbin good Arguments for four or five timelines such as the opening credit timeline.

[@Lmjacks]

your fiance’s jewelry collections are STUNNING, and it’s incredibly cool that you found something so genuine and so very unique to the two of you to create and sell. i would definitely like to support by purchasing something if you can ship to the states-will have to think about which design speaks to me the most. oh and fantastic video as always. cheers

[@Mentaclink]

While the Sheikah symbol does look like a Zonai eye with the tear tattoo I personally believe that what their symbol actually represents in the Wild era is Zelda’s sacrifice. The Sheikah of the time must have been the ones who created the geoglyphs and must have known the entire truth about Zelda and the future, and they adopted a Dragon’s Tear motif so as to honor her sacrifice and make sure they wouldn’t forget it. This is probably part of why they seemed to be so knowledgeable about the future and also so devoted to the Royal Family

[@rin_okami]

Something I don't think gets recognized enough in all our zelda theorying is the INSANE timescales. Like, Nintendo out here chuckin around 10,000 years like it's nothing but like... 10,000 years is about two times older than the Great Pyramids. TWO. TIMES. 10,000 years ago was the Quarternary Extinction event, when the Ice Age megafauna died out. It was right before we started domesticating WHEAT ffs. The Calamity is literally older than bread. And that's just as far back as the Calamity, what about the rest of the Zelda timeline? We could easily be dealing with a full timeline that is longer than the amount of time our species has existed at all. That is absolutely insane!

[@Banuune]

Oh! And i love that your fiance got into crafting!! I know how fun this can be!! And her work is amazing ❤ Sadly i dont have any money to spare right now but hopefully next year 😊

[@MonsterMaze]

If anyone knows about crafting, it's you! Your stuff is amazing. Still got my little Minish sitting on the shelf next to me, as well as the oil painting ^^

[@nathanapodaca3456]

I think this is one of my favorite videos you've done so far. I had a thought while watching: What if the Zonai were servants of the Goddess Hylia who were sent back to earth to reestablish Hyrule following it's destruction at the end of the era of myth? Maybe Hyrule was created by Hylia(SS Zelda) as a means of containing Demise's curse. It is funny how Hyrule does seem to reinvent itself constantly djring every crisis

[@b00mtrap83]

Could whoever "covered up" the zonai architecture in Faron be the warlike tribe mentioned in the barbarian armor's description? I'm unsure of the motivation as to why they did it, but they did live in Faron in ancient times according to the description.

[@randaltd]

Nicely done! I think another connection would be that in BotW DLC, Link can acquire the Master Cycle Zero and is considered a Divine Beast. Perhaps Maz Koshia learned of Zonai technology (building vehicles, use of headlights), but didn’t understand how to power it (Zonai charges). Instead, their version of it required materials to power it up. It’s was deemed it destined for the Hero (perhaps due to reference of the statues of the Ancient Hero in the depths)

[@BacchaeOphanim]

Random theory: I have been wondering whether or not Rauru and Mineru are actually full blood Zonai themselves or are actually mixed blood with Hylians. Like, if we assume that the Hero's Aspect *is* supposed to be a Zonai, that would explain the differences between it and them.

[@SEMIA123]

That wouldn't make sense as they predate the hero by unknown thousands of years.

[@javiervasquez625]

It could also be that the Zonai were a physically _dimorphic_ race of beings with different "breeds" of Zonai which looked nothing like the other just like in the case of the Lake and River Zoras. While the Rauru's breed ressembled goats the Ancient Hero's breed ressembled lions as implied by his red mane, tail and and feet.

[@MonsterMaze]

Oh yeah, the missing tail and red hair is a BIG one

[@mbii7667]

​@@javiervasquez625I did not freaking realize he has a tail

[@HenningGu]

Paya with the help of Mineru as the Sage of Spirits would have been such a nice way of incorporating both.

[@architurtle17]

So happy to see such an amazing craft store! This solved my problem of finding a gift for my mom for her birthday. I know she's going to love this gorgeous handmade art!

[@theBeastcub]

I thought Purah was going to be the last sage and a descendant of Mineru and I am still so miffed that was not the case! Sheikah existing as descendants of Zonai makes so much sense! In BotW/TotK all the Sheikah have white hair, it is possible that all the Zonai have white hair, we know of at least one Zonai x Hylian couple, the origin of the Sheikah could have been explained as children of Zonai x Hylian couples! The white hair a super dominate trait passed down from their Zonai parentage and persisting no matter how much Hylian blood was added to the line (same as how all Gerudo have red hair despite Hylian husbands) presumably the extra long lifespan passed along as well (easy enough for that to be a Zonai trait) And as the children of Zonai they would have inherited the tech, and having lost access to Zonaite they would have adapted and changed the tech and with that it would have taken on the look and functions we see in BotW, and it would fully explain why the tech is so similar (right down to both having automatons/robots) it would explain the sage's animal masks matching the Divine Beasts, and AUrrRG it would have been SO NEAT

[@veronicabetancourt9816]

It makes sense. I knew it! I love it!

[@Aziara86]

I really think that the Sheikah were descendants of Sonia and Rauru, just like the royal family, but were younger siblings who didn't inherit the throne. All these little brothers and sisters would still be royalty, and eventually coalesced into a noble class over generations, with their own cultural identity. Consider: Zelda's dad also has billowy white hair, and he's not that old. I think Sheikah are closely related to the royal family. Which would also explain their role as body guards and nursemaids for young royals.

[@HyruleGamer]

Been really looking forward to this one, and it didn't disappoint! Awesome video Don :D

[@MonsterMaze]

Merci as always Adam!

[@Hanakothemizumiko]

On a meta level I like how the dev team, aside from pre-columbial mesoamerica, also used spring and autumn period china as a basis to the zonai (which might be why so many, including myself, compared the zonai with the twili once the sept trailer launched), it makes it more in your face that the sheikah were inspired by them, just like how the japanese got inspired by the chinese in regards to architecture, culture etc

[@MonsterMaze]

Indeed! Even the aspect of swallowing an object that turns you into a dragon comes from Chinese mythology. The story of the Dragon Pearl I believe it was.

[@jiographic]

i like to think that maybe the 3 sources of energy could be the sacred flames or at least similar. we mostly see the blue flame being used by the sheikah, but both the zonai energy and ganondorf’s gloom are seen in that state as well. there are green flames around shrine entrances and red flames around mummy ganondorf in the beginning of the final boss cutscene. so it makes me wonder if similar to the way the sheikah utilized the blue flame to operate their technology, perhaps all 3 can be used as energy sources that are extracted from the ground

[@MonsterMaze]

Oooh that is a good one!

[@davve346]

The transformation at 2:32 is top notch

[@RSanchez111]

I wonder if the Oocca ever had any interactions with the Zonai. They were also sky people with highly advanced technology and aome connection with the Sheikah (of the distant past).

[@pigaboyAKAthecoolestguyonearth]

Ever since literally the fist day of the game coming out i noticed the similarities, i hope that people don't just pass it off as "these 2 tribes are quite similar, what a funny coincidence" since they have absolutely theorized and believed things that make way less sense. It's not just that the Zonai and Oocca both lived in the sky through technology, they're both tribes said to be closer to gods than the Hylians and also to have been directly involved in the creation of Hyrule, but even their culture is very similar, the Oocca use a green material for the dominion rod just like the Zonai materials, and both have their machinery powered by green energy, which is also an energy that directly floats in the machines, their floating structures also both have those weird overhanging spikes and *HAVE YOU SEEN THE FACE OF THE STATUES WITH THE SKY LETTERS?????* they are unbelievably similar to the faces of Mineru's constructs and statues and that's just TOO incredible but ok. The biggest difference is their appearance, which really isn't that weird with the history of "evolution" in other Zeldas but even then they have slight similarities (though that's a bit more of a stretch) they both share these really weird deformed proportions like their long neck and short legs, which is a bit funny. Though it ultimately doesn't really matter if they are one in the same or not, the reason i wanted to have proof that the Zonai and Oocca were the same tribe was so i could believe that these huge events from the almost start of the timeline and not previously seen in any other game were actually shown in TP and that the Oocca had a bigger role than being randomly said to be the creators of Hyrule and then being forgotten again. But now that we know what actually happened with the creation of Hyrule, even if they were widely accepted as the same tribe, it would be no different to if they weren't connected at all, it's just not as satisfying to think that they would do the same thing twice, thousands of years apart. Oh well.

[@RSanchez111]

@@pigaboyAKAthecoolestguyonearth someone really should make a video on that *ahem* monster maze *ahem*

[@tamed4171]

This is one of the few zelda theories and definitely the only totk theory that I 100% agree with. Everything in it just makes complete sense to me, and I feel like I've discovered a much deeper understanding of the game and lore as a result, even if nothing in this video ever gets "proven" by Nintendo. Great vid!

[@MonsterMaze]

Thank you! I don't expect a stamp of approval from Nintendo, but... as long as my viewers are content I am happy ^^

[@BlackbirdProjectOne]

The apparent connection between the Zonai and Sheikah is by far one of my favorite story elements of the game, and imo is made better by the fact that Nintendo leaves so much about this connection unspoken. One little detail in the game is the apparent connection between the helper constructs and the mini Frox. Early in the game, one of the constructs mentions that its ancestors instructed it to "fix its gaze forward." This is exactly what the mini Frox does before lunging at Link. When you consider this, as well as the visual similarities between the heads of the Frox and construct, and the fact that the Frox themselves appear to make use of Zonaite, it makes you wonder if they aren't some devolved form of Zonai themselves.

[@riahimed3400]

2:32 Omg that eye transformation was phenomenal

[@themissionslayer]

Outstanding video as always my friend! Also, I appreciate how genuine you are, and I think you idea for merch is awesome. I love the homemade aspect of it which will add a personal touch. Keep up the grind!

[@Kirima-13]

This video was well worth the wait & with the high quality you've always produced

[@BCKearns]

Another really cool detail supporting this connection is that all the music for the Zonai dungeons (Fire, Water, Wind, Thunder Temple) are playing off the music tracks of entering the Divine Beasts. For example, the theme for the Thunder Temple is the theme of when you storm Divine Beast Vah Naboris with Riju.

[@noahb3370]

I love how you used that legendary song of time remix at 20:27, this video was amazing. Keep it up Don!

[@MonsterMaze]

One of the best renditions of the song of time for sure!

[@Robottsie]

One possible connection between the Sheikah and Zonai is how Zonai locations like shrines and light roots are seamlessly compatible with the Purah pad, this could suggest that Zonai and Sheikah were around at the same time and worked together to make these, or that Sheikah later tampered with these shrines, especially since this is the only time anything Zonai related uses blue, at least that I can think of. Since every Sheikah shrine is an elevator that seemingly goes way down I think that every shrine might have taken place in the depths, especially since the equivalent Zonai shrines also go all the way down into the depths via lightroots. We also know one explicit instance of sheikah tech going into the depths because of the Gerudo tower, and one of Mineru's constructs mentions that they're always finding Sheikah arrows in the depths. I'm not sure if the pillar under hyrule castle is specifically meant to turn Ganon's power into energy, as mentioned the purpose of hyrule castle was to seal ganon and I think that pillar absorbing ganon's energy was part of that seal since Rauru couldn't completely contain him as shown by the Calamities. Someone else mentioned how Rauru's energy goes from blue to green but it's also worth noting that lightroot energy instead goes from gold to green, so at the top a shrine goes from blue to green, and at the bottom it goes from gold to green, maybe worth looking into? Some sort of connection between light power and Sheikah energy?

[@mooncrowsong]

Great video! I think your insights are spot on. And what a fantastic merchandise offering! I finished ToTK last night and ordered the Light tear pendant this morning as a way to celebrate all the fun and joy both Tears and Breath have brought me over the last 2 years. Cheers.

[@josephasbury4492]

All the Zonai dragons have a triangle silhouette on their backs near the last set of limbs. Dragondorf has no such markings. The Light Dragon has three triangular scales butted against each other in this spot, perhaps as a reference that Zelda is "drawing" upon the power of the Triforce. I believe that the three shrine guardians were Zonai who each took on a piece of the Triforce before transforming in order to keep the knowledge of the Triforce from the world. The Triforce was likely the main factor in deciding to merge the timelines at the end of the Era of Myth, seeing as it had caused so much chaos. After Hyrule's "reset", I believe Sonia's bloodline were the ones who eventually retrieved glimpses of the Era of Myth using Recall. This would explain Sonia's Triforce tattoos, and how modern Hylians are able to allude to certain events.

[@MonsterMaze]

Great finds!

[@seanoconnor5473]

These are all incredible. Your fiancée did an amazing job. Just glad to see these new videos. Also, I was always convinced that there was a big Zonai influence, especially where you fight Maz Koshia atop the Temple of Resurrection, looks so similar to the Temple of Time. It has to be Zonai built.

[@MonsterMaze]

It IS a giant floating platform, so that screams Zonai

[@CrazyWeridoRH]

This whole video I’ve been going “Yes. Yes! YES!” Because I’ve had these exact same theories and it feels so good to have them validated.

[@Saracen93]

Purah is Mineru’s sage successor. They have the same kooky goggles + Purah was the only non-sage (aside from Link) at the true ending scene + the Purah pad connection, which itself is a bit of a time loop. Nintendo either didn’t have the time to unpack that and all the complexities that come with it (the time travel split TotK creates is already mind boggling), or wanted to leave it vague for potential future games.

[@will6374]

Really really good video! Very well made and thought out! Every connection is super logic and is explained incredibly!

[@itselectra5578]

Exceptionally in-depth video as always, Don. Noticing the similarities throughout the playthrough couldn’t be helped and you compiled them wonderfully and got into great detail on some things that the creators no doubt left for thought. Thank you so much! Also, just got myself some pendants 😃 your fiancée’s work is amazing, and your merch is some of the few I’ve been excited to get, and it is so special, too! Can’t wait to get them 😊 see you in the next one!

[@BoyProdigyX]

Whoever made that 'Zonai->Sheikah' eye animation @ 2:30, Bravo! 👏 That was sick!

[@JonnZth]

18:08 From the very beginning of Totk I was thinking that the Zonai tech was impressive, but way more magic-dependant than sheikah tech. Like, it was still impressive and sheikah tech still had some magic stuff, obviously, but what makes them so insane is not simply technology yk

[@MonsterMaze]

I agree. The Zonai stuff is much more magical, which the Sehikah seem to have brought it down to a science.

[@ganonfan]

I just thought about something really interesting. Did anyone notice that the Zonai cooking pot uses a blue flame to cook the food, and the flame looks super identical to the Sheikah blue flame used to power Sheikah devices. I wonder if this cooking flame inspired the sheikah, or if its just a coincidence.

[@johnnyringo35]

Love your work my man.... Always on point and entertaining.

[@GozMaster]

Incredibly well done video! Definitely sets a high bar for Zelda theory videos!

[@muggs5574]

Yo, I’ve gotta say that’s actually some of the coolest KZbinr merch I’ve ever seen. Producing it all between the two of you is really impressive & adds an extra layer to it.

[@danyx855]

2:32 God that sick eye animation gave me the chills, overall awesome job on the visuals as always :)

[@brodyphillips5355]

The fact that you also were lead to believe that we'd get a shiekah sage of spirit is so reassuring. My hopes for paya with a secret stone were so dashed :(

[@BrunoLiraArraisMaia]

Amazing video as always. Your theories are always on point

[@_Just_Another_Guy]

Since Sheikah is a tribe and not a race (they're still Hylian according to the Purah Pad descriptions of Sheikah characters like Robbie and Josha), I've always thought that they were once part of the Hyrulean Royal Bloodline that have split off somewhere down the line. And since it was established in TotK that the Hyrulean Royal Bloodline descended from the union of Zonai (Rauru) and Hylian (Sonia), this also means that the Sheikah have some Zonai blood in them. I perceive the Zonai to be the primordial architects of Hyrule. So it stands logically that they were the first ones to innovate and bring (magical) technology to Hyrule in the form of Zonai devices. When the age of Zonai ended after the Imprisoning War and with Mineru (the last surviving Zonai) succumbing to her wounds, the era that followed were Hylians (including Rauru's and Sonia's descendants) preserving the history of the events including the Imprisoning War. This era was when the chamber behind the Forbidden Temple as well as the murals beneath Hyrule Castle, and the modern Hyrule Castle itself was constructed. It was probably during this time that the Sheikah tribe split from Hyrulean Royal Bloodline and they became the "preservers of Hyrulean history". And in their pursuit to preserve history, they eventually came across Zonai (magic) technology but being separated for hundreds of centuries from the age of the Zonai, they weren't aware of who the Zonai actually were nor that they too were descended from them. But nonetheless, the Sheikah innovated off of Zonai technology and used it to create their own new Sheikah technology from it. And eventually they learned of Calamity Ganon and they constructed the Divine Beasts and Guardians during the ancient era. And the rest is modern history from the games. So TL;DR: - The Sheikah splintered from the Hyrulean Royal Bloodline - The Hyrulean Royal Bloodline were descended from the union of Zonai (Rauru) and Hylian (Sonia) - The Zonai were in the primordial era and created their own Zonai technology - The Sheikah were in the ancient era and created their Sheikah technology from the Zonai tech that they discovered

[@_Just_Another_Guy]

Furthermore, both colours of the Zonai and Sheikah "magic" are closely related: Zonai = green energy runes Sheikah = blue energy runes Whereas Red magic or energy in both BotW and TotK were always used to depict forces of evil including Calamity Ganon and Ganondorf. Even the Blood Moon is red. And Red is directly opposite to Green in the colour wheel, signifying how the good (Zonai) is directly opposite to evil (Ganon, Ganondorf). The Sheikah magic colour is closer to Zonai magic colour than it is to the red evil magic. Even their enemy, the Yiga clan that have further split off from the Sheikah clan, uses red magic when they teleport.

[@MonsterMaze]

I personally never knew what to make of the Sheikah. Impa from Skyward Sword was already living on the surface of Hyrule, so it's implied that they've been there all this time. While the people of Skyloft, which would eventually become the Hylians, were chilling in the sky, haha. I always thought they were completely seperate. and maybe they were at some point, but similar to the Gerudo in BotW, they've been mixing with hylians more and more. Not all Sheikah in BotW have red eyes. In fact, most of them have blue eyes.

[@soirema]

Rarou eye to sheikah eye is the best thing i have ever seen ;O

[@bilsuart]

Your motion graphics work is truly amazing, so inspiring. I need to work on my own

[@netweed09]

Great video, really enjoyed it! 👍 I have to say the Best I've seen from any Zeldatuber covering the Switch-era Zelda games.

[@MigueUgartechea]

270 hours later I just finished TotK, so now I just resubscribed to you, zeltik, bandit, nbc, and a ton of other chanels to catch up with everything. Feelsgood❤

[@laminzi_art6399]

Ooooooh my. What a nice video. Even as an absolute Zelda geek I had to go back into your video several times to think about the possible connections you made. Videos like these are a big reason to why Totk was literally the first video game I was so excited about that I had to get it as preorder. Content creators like you make these kind of series so much more valuable and exciting than they initially seem. I am looking forward to your next videos! PS: Your fiancés creations are beautiful! I am so happy to see that you too combine what you love and support each other so much.

[@Noteturtle90]

Waiting for this for so long! Love the content (:

[@ejb3059]

Nice video 👍🏻 keep up the great work!

[@FilmAshton]

I love these videos! Excellent work Don

[@milestryhard]

You are one of my favourite creators on KZbin. I adore your videos and thank you for making them!

[@gamesmiths]

Great video as always Don, a treat of a theory and stunning edits

[@Local_Noah]

Something I noticed in both games (I’m not sure if it’s just for consistency or gameplay) is that in both games, the teleport is in the same place of the shrines(right infront of the shrines) and that when you teleport, the same animation and sound is used, and the teleportation in totk was unlocked by raru, whereas the teleportation in botw came from the shekah slate

[@rinforthewin-ks1vk]

Excellent video as always, Don. Definitely worth the wait!

[@aroventalmav888]

Sheika tech being powered by gloom/malice makes a lot of sense actually. It worked once when it took him by surprise, but afterward it was fertile ground for corruption.

[@blacklynx2526]

As always, amazing video! Great theory, great animations, great editing! Keep it going Don!

[@MonsterMaze]

Thanks as always! See you at the next stream... whenever that will be

[@blacklynx2526]

@@MonsterMaze when ever it will be, I will be there!

[@emmamiller.]

Zelda lore is so darn fascinating. I wish I could focus on school like this.

[@aaronz6615]

College can wait, this is amazing 🎉

[@MonsterMaze]

Thanks! Dont fail your tests over my ramblings though

[@AshleyIsArtsy]

Was literally pondering this when I was on the loading screen of TOTK (I got distracted ok) and saw the closeup shots of the stone carved walls. Rauru's eyes, specifically in the shot where he's marrying Sonia, looked too much like Sheikah eyes to me to be coincidence, lol. Great video, though I do wonder if Malice, Spirit Energy and Ancient energy aren't just yet another representation in the Zelda series of a Triforce dynamic. I mean... They're even green blue and red, lol

[@triforcehero6264]

I’m so excited that you’re expanding into merch! I’ll definitely buy a Secret Stone necklace sometime soon!

[@carlitoxcalaverita2102]

The fact that the Zonai structures got new "layers" built on top is very similar to prehispanic civilizations where the game took inspiration from, a lot of prehispanic cultures would build huge cities, then getting to the point were resources got spent and they had to move out, only for the remains of their cities to be found by other people, getting refurbished and built over and over. Maybe in the Sheika did not try to intentionally obscure the Zonai, but it is clear that at some point they clearly lost record of them, the ruins were already built over too many times so getting down to who originally built them was lost to time already. I don't know, but I loved this video!

[@radiorebel8223]

Actually, I think mineru could very well be the sheikah representative, she’s very much like them. And remember she is the sage of spirit. There’s no need for her to blood represent them, but spiritually representing them entirely makes sense with her sage powers and the spirituality of the sheikah

[@Erimgard13]

Gonna listen to this at work, been looking forward to it

[@VRGEMUSIC85]

I just have to say, Monster Maze, I think you run this channel so incredibly well and produce such thought provoking and entertaining content. Zelda jewellery is an amazing idea and I can't wait for the next theory video!!!!!

[@clarechaddon2545]

The origin of the shiekah fuel source could have definitely been another point of contention. I mean, harvesting evil goop spewing of the corpse of your kingdom's enemy certainly seems controversial to me.

[@krystaljk5276]

that’s some beautiful jewelry!! love the Zelda selection so far, I can’t wait to see what else may come.

[@Pissmaster420]

The ganondorf being the fuel thing also lines up with him saying something like “ you bind my power and steal my magic” like obviously he didn’t know they literally could harvest it but when you think about sheikah tech it really is like magic. Just a thought

[@fightronin3753]

Great and well made video!!!! Keep up the great work!!!!

[@immagical7036]

17:37 “and found a way to prolong their lives for thousands of years” (shows the Shiekah Monks at the end of the trial of the sword) The Shrine Monks were probably so damn bored my god. (At least the aforementioned group of Monks had each other XD)

[@spicysquire3521]

7:27 idk if anyone has already mentioned this, and i could be wrong, but I saw a reddit post a while back with a translation of the japanese version of the scene where ganondorf swears fealty. He says specifically that the zonai all perished except for rauru and mineru, not just that they no longer "grace the world with their presense". Again i could be wrong and I'm too lazy to search for the post right now but i figured id leave a comment. Fantastic video as always, i was really excited when i saw the notification and its been a fun watch so far

[@unironicallylikesranger7122]

One thing I’ve wondered since beating the game is if ganondorf has some Zonai ancestry. His green skin is something of an aberration among the gerudo with only Koume and Kotake sharing it, and those three in particular are known to be powerful wielders of magic even before the secret stones.

[@keo528528]

Banditt made a very compelling theory about Ganandorf recently. I suggest you check it out.

[@javiervasquez625]

It's always been believed that their green skin is the product of all 3's over reliance on black magic which caused their skin tone to "decay" as a result. Since black magic isn't a usual phenomenon in the Zelda world it's possible that Ganondorf's overuse of it might have come with the cost of affecting his appeareance to the point of developing greenish skin.

[@unironicallylikesranger7122]

@@javiervasquez625 but Vaatis abuse of dark magics left him ashen, same for Astor and the villainess of oracle of ages whose name I forgot, and with Yuga and Hilda. Only Ganondorf and his mothers have this specific colouration, then and the zonai

[@javiervasquez625]

@@unironicallylikesranger7122 Vaati is a _Minish_ who relied on the titular Minish Cap to use magic without ever outright using black magic like Ganondorf which is why he lacks the same skin tone. Astor NEVER used black magic but instead _Malice_ which we know is "Calamity Ganon's" accumulated hatred explaining why he didn't have greenish skin. Veran the Sorceress of Shadows actually HAS *green* skin according to her concept art so my conclusion regarding the effect of black magic on an individual perfectly applies with Veran as another example. As to Yuga and Hilda they too NEVER specifically used black magic during the course of A Link between Worlds but rather their own unique brand of Lorulean magic with which they were able to carry out their plans to obtain Hyrule's Triforce. The Zonai don't have green skin last i checked so i don't know why you believe that to be the case.

[@unironicallylikesranger7122]

@@javiervasquez625 you look at the thumbnail, and at the ancient hero, and tell me that the zonai aren’t green. Also, black magic is a pretty general term, this isn’t dnd with disparate and defined schools of magic so saying yuga definitely isn’t using dark magic because lorule isn’t hyrule is grasping at straws. Same with saying that Astor using the product of ganons dark magic doesn’t count as dark magic and Vaati wishing to become a sorcerer isn’t him using dark magic. Was ghirahim not using dark magic because he’s just using demises power? Was majoras mask not dark magic because someone called it a hexing artifact and not a dark magic artifact? It’s just not well defined and a bit of a broad term, and I think your narrow definition of it might put you in a position to be opposed to theorizing when Zelda games don’t really explicitly define many elements of its story or design

[@quackerzdb]

Cool merch. I like the idea better than shirts and other junk, plus you get 100% of the profit.

[@TimeAxis]

The only tiny nitpick I have is that I don't believe all of the Zonai came down to the surface with Mineru and Rauru. I could be wrong, but my understanding is that Rauru and Mineru came alone. The mural only depicts one Zonai which seems to be Rauru. And Rauru doesn't seem to know much about their people, which suggests to me that they may be the last survivors or maybe pariahs in some fashion. Ganondorf also seems to kind of hint at this in his meeting with Rauru.

[@sarah_notheotherone8954]

This jewelry is so beautiful, def getting one for myself and as a gift for a friend!

[@swordsman7959]

This makes so much sense to me! Digging into the lore like this really is a treat.