Secrets of the UPHEAVAL - Tears of the Kingdom Lore

[@MonsterMaze]

Have a great rest of your weekend everyone!

[@Cliffordlonghead]

First

[@Cliffordlonghead]

Awesome video

[@willian1917]

I'm just excited for part 2!

[@LawfulBased]

9:03 About the castles flight. In TotK it is "reasoned" that the Castle itself being stuck in the ground... was somehow enabling a strenghtening of the seal. So Ganondorf did had a reason to just lift it up. In order to break free. It was necessary for him to break free. He was bound by more than just physical walls. There was some kind of holy force holding him back as well, in form of the Castle being stuck in the ground.

[@Cannon_The_Guy]

⁠also I believe ganondorf lifted up the castle because it was meant to protect the seal over him. How he may have known this I don’t know

[@akakay0131]

The way I saw it, the Upheaval is the result of two opposing plans, Hyrule’s and Ganon’s, coming into effect. For example, there’s a Construct on the Great Sky Island that explains that the Sky Islands were made to keep important structures out of Ganondorf’s reach in preparation for his inevitable return. It makes sense that, upon said return, they automatically lowered themselves just close enough to the surface that Link could access them. In that way it’s a lot like the Sheikah’s tech (the five pillars especially), which were also designed to automatically activate when Ganon was detected. I also assumed the whole falling ruins thing was unintentional, a result of all those ancient structures being moved for the first time in millennia.

[@MonsterMaze]

Absolutely! There were 2 plans being executed at the same time

[@paulog123]

Hyrules plan = zelda’s plan!

[@d3va383]

@@MonsterMazedoesn’t the beginning of the game show Zelda in dragon form part the cloud barrier that keeps you from getting to the surface in the tutorial? My interpretation was that the dragon parted the sky barrier that was also present in skyward sword. My personal theory was that the dragons went above the sky barrier in BOTW, and those were what the portals were. Maybe the light dragon was hiding above the cloud barrier in BOTW and that’s why we haven’t seen her until now.

[@tumultuousv]

​@@d3va383well yes. That's exactly it honestly

[@speedude0164]

That's pretty much it. The people of Hyrule likely made it so the Sky Islands and Shrines would appear after what I assumed was Rauru's awakening, but this video suggests it's the purification unit's activation. This means Link can then travel to the fallen Ring Ruins in Kakariko Village resulting in him meeting Mineru and embarking on a quest to find the Master Sword and other 4 Sages. However, Ganondorf learned of the plan and unleashed various regional phenomena to hide the Secret Stones, then corrupted Mineru's construct and deceived the researchers to prevent Link from reaching her. The chasms I think are how he unleashed the Gloom that summoned all the monsters and decayed the weapons.

[@Dieozam]

I would have NEVER thought the platform from the beginning was another floating structure, I thought it was attached to a pillar akin to the one under the castle. My mind is BLOWN!

[@Limoncita_]

Same!!

[@fallatiuso]

I didn't even _notice_ that it was a floating platform, i thought it was all floored and the center platform fell because the floor broke due to Ganondorf.

[@howlpendragon36]

I think the floor broke on purpose When the purification unit was activated, it was probably designed to break the floor and stop Ganondorf from escaping the chamber

[@kobiestarr4770]

Huh?

[@paolog3213]

I think (also reading the stone tablet under the castle) that the Castle itself was a kind of seal. He had to move this "seal" to free himself triggering the purification unit.

[@onewingedmoogle]

I agree. It does make sense that it would have other purposes besides acting as a seal, though. The ones who built it likely knew that it wouldn't hold if Rauru's primary seal broke and planned for certain events to trigger if the seal was ever removed.

[@rangedweevil6150]

Same, when I first saw it I assumed it was basically just another, albeit colossal, sealing spike, akin to the one used in the sealed grounds to keep the Imprisoned Demise at bay

[@jakobr_]

I imagine it’s like a gigantic cork.

[@12parakeetsinahumansuit]

This was my assumption as well. Plus, i feel like removing the castle would make it a bit easier for him to release gloom into Hyrule. Like a sink drain, but in reverse

[@Blubbpaule]

To add on to this, this entire contraption was also a big fat warning. If the seal broke the castle would rise and a lot of stuff happen that ANYONE on the kingdom knew whats going on. Sorta home security warning because of an intruder. It would be much worse if the seal broke and ganondorf got a silent getaway.

[@dradon.]

Something I noticed is that sheikah technology seems to be made of zonaite. We know the sheikah had at least some access to the depths with the birida lookout and yoga clan chams in botw, both of which had sheikah technology at the bottom. In the spirit temple, there is a construct who exchanges zonaite for ancient blades, implying it is making the blades out of zonaite. Another point is that the divine helms, are upgraded using large amounts of zonaite.

[@MonsterMaze]

Good call! The helms are already on the list of talking points for the upcoming video

[@hugoah0]

And your battery becomes blue when you're fully upgraded, instead of green !

[@loamjomes]

This is accurate to the properties of zonaite as well: it doesn’t conduct electricity and has a dull sheen

[@coffeec8873]

i’m pretty sure the ancient blades were discovered in the depths by that construct! it tells you that it found them while searching for materials - i can’t remember if it just found a couple or like a whole pile.

[@mandrag4286]

Keep in mind that the Sheikah also are Hylia's emissaries and are endowed with mystical abilities as an act of divine providence on her part, for which she also has ties to blue hue energy like the Skyward Strike and the Gates of Time. On the flip side though, the land of Hyrule is also referred to as the "Holy Land" on account of it being the first place the Goddesses touched ground, and its a given that its rich with an abundance of latent force that condenses into ore material that can be extracted and refined/converted into energy. Ore and mineral stones like Timeshift ore, Opal, Topaz, Sapphire, Rubies, Rupee ore, Zonaite, the four elements from The Minish Cap, etc, are all collectively endowed with elemental latent energy on account of Hyrule being the Holy Land blessed from the eminence of the Goddesses at the dawn of creation.

[@dorianwiesner4477]

I always thought Ganondorf pushed Hyrule Castle in the air, because of its purpose as a seal. It not only works in a magical way like this, but also in a mechanical way to prevent Ganondorfs power from actually reaching the surface, like a bulkhead on a damaged ship prevents the water from flooding the rest of the ships hull. Looking at Hyrule Castle always reminded me of an extended piston.

[@FierceDeity35]

Exactly. We even get a tablet saying so.

[@cheez-it808]

Calling the geoglyphs “Hyruleglyphs” is actually pretty fun and unique.

[@chrislevack405]

Pretty sure he said heiroglyphs... but I love the idea of Hyruleglyphs, so that is officially their name now.

[@javiervasquez625]

I bet Nintendo will canonize the word in the next sequel.

[@MonsterMaze]

Smart!

[@jimmicks8185]

​@@MonsterMazeits geoglyphs smh lol

[@sboinkthelegday3892]

It's the same story with TotK as Ancient Cistern, The Spider's Thread. Since elevation references escaping the land of death, it makes sense Zonai look like Anubis. Your heart has to be as light as a loftwing feather. Sheikah towers just have this The Jetsons aesthetic that Hyrule Castle joins now.

[@CatlordCalamity]

10:10 I remember being told somewhere in the game that Hyrule Castle is actually a seal itself. Ganondorf's character profile stated that Rauru's seal weakened because of the Calamity that damaged the castle severely, and Ganondorf rose the castle is a way of him to stay away from the castle so that he wouldn't get sealed again.

[@SEMIA123]

I think it's neat that a lot of the sky islands can be matched up to spots on the surface of hyrule where they lifted off from.

[@JorgeRodriguez-xz5ec]

They weren't on the surface though, the sky islands appear after Zelda altered the present by time traveling to the Past and telling Rauru about the stuff happening in the present.

[@raskolnikov6443]

@@JorgeRodriguez-xz5ecthey were already there. It’s a closed time loop.

[@SebbyWest]

With other theory channels I never have really big “oh my gosh that makes so much sense” type revelations, but you somehow always give me that reaction. Your videos are so well researched and thought provoking. Love it!

[@MonsterMaze]

Thanks Aydens, that means a lot to hear! I try my best to structure my videos that way, haha.

[@sietebueyes]

This is BY FAR the best TotK's theory since the game released. Happy to see Monster Maze back and clearly in good shape!

[@mkjjoe]

It's well done and explained but I'd call these more facts than theory, people infer all sorts of incorrect things but I don't see much room to interpret this part differently

[@sietebueyes]

I agree with you. More facts than theories, but still a gently amount of speculation and a lot of room to do so. I mean, Zelda's lore is everything but conclusive. At least the last time I checked. 😅

[@tecinde3669]

“purification unit” is really interesting to me because Ganondorf says “you bind my heart and steal my magic” to Rauru - what immediately jumped to my mind was the possibility that it’s literally purifying all the magic being siphoned off of Ganondorf by Rauru’s seal, and using that as an energy source. Maybe even some of Rauru’s magic as well. it would be really interesting if some Zonai, even Sheikah tech (a central control unit exists, after all) is literally powered by the seal that the castle is built on as well. I do think it’s likely Mineru had at least a hand in the direction of the Upheaval. she did raise the Great Sky Island, after all, and I’d think the measures in place related to her sage questlines were of her design as well. that being said - the Zonai/Sheikah connections, which btw I’m very excited to see your thoughts on since they’re a topic I’ve thought about a lot in the past, do make me wonder if it couldn’t have been a bit of both - her and the ancient Sheikah. Mineru herself has more than a few links to the Sheikah, so it’s very possible that she worked with them in some shape or form imo. (yes I’m the Mineru person from discord. I’m only a little biased, dw.) really intriguing video and observations. glad to see you back!

[@adrienetourneau5988]

That really reminds me of Zeltik and NBC’s theory a while ago when we only had the first trailer, where they basically theorized that Ganondorf’s malice/gloom was purified to be used as the energy source of the sheikah technology

[@tecinde3669]

oh hmm, the shrines of light say they “imprison and _purify_ evil”

[@tonym3697]

Ohh, that would explain why people say the shrines started to "glow" after the Upheaval. They are channeling and storing the energy that Rauru is purifying from Ganondorf all those years. So, when the seal was broken, the shrines activated to be used for purifying the people who reaches their end! That's very cool if true. Gosh I wish they would let all of these unanswered questions to search in post game missions or something, to complete the lore. It would have been glorious.

[@davidwave4]

My guess on who set it all up is that Mineru, Zelda, or Rauru left behind plans to the first Hylians, and the plans ultimately helped a certain subgroup of them -- the Sheikah -- becomes technologically advanced in their own right.

[@tylerpharez901]

I think when zelda disappears it changes the past, zonai tech means sheika never needed to develop it

[@Gyaradosage]

Which makes a sort of “song of storms” paradox, because Zelda’s expertise is sheikah technology.

[@ExtraBurntToast]

​@tylerpharez901 Due to the fact that the murals in the depths show Zelda as a dragon, it seems more likely than not that Zelda was always meant to go back in time. This means her time travel never affected anything since she already existed in the past.

[@GossipGeist]

Awesome observation. I noticed the floating platform Ganondorf was on but I never saw the constellations on the purification unit, what a great catch! That one little detail makes everything come together perfectly. It might have even triggered the dematerialization of almost all existing sheikah technology, save for the few pieces scattered around the Tech Labs and Lookout Landing. Another amazing video!

[@MonsterMaze]

Thanks Gossip! I see you've been on a roll with your content, cheers!

[@emprax_D]

One of the theories that I've got is that Rauru's spiraling output energy is powering that central unit, using his secret stone to drain ganondorfs power and utilizing that power.

[@odile2odette]

rauru really turned himself into a zonai shrine for the greater good

[@MonsterMaze]

The origin of the aAncient Energy from BotW perhaps? 👀

[@sboinkthelegday3892]

Clearly a reference to nuclear energy. I've been keeping tabs on everything blue, and it's now clear it's converted malice into energy, that Sheikah found as a fuel source. Gloom could be it's radioactive waste product. However I think Fujibayashi is hinting at time itself being this energy source, even in Age of Calamity that he supervised. Green is the fusion of time, and so it's a "green" energy version of energy from STOPPED time. Let's say Sonia has actually USED time powers before, for actual, tangible effect. And this was a mass recall. She prevented a war in the future by recalling it's components into her time, the people, Zonai, and the Secret Stones that would be invented for that purpose. But by postponing such a war, she placed it actually EARLIER, in HER time. Now she has a passive effect of drawing things from the future, including Zelda, which is like the counter force to upheaval. Upheaval fills the gaps when things are dislocated in time, but the idea of time dislocation is to prevent a single, massive overflow all at once in a time of calamity. This is what she tries to teach Zelda to do, because THIS is the function of Hyrule.

[@aratherbritishdinosaur]

Just what I needed right now. With this and Zeltik’s video on the same day, looks like the big theory channels are back to making theories. I’ve been waiting for this! Edit: I think Ganondorf lifted Hyrule Castle to create the Hyrule Castle Chasm so his gloom could reach the surface world, meaning he could create new monsters and decay the weapons, among other things.

[@hikkun_ch]

My take with this is that the trigger was not the hit but the amount of malice used. Kinda like a trigger they intetionally put there to send a signal to the sky islands, telling them that Ganon awakened and was time to lower the islands. And the plataform falling was a safety measure they tried to maybe kill or delay Ganon, 15:04 here the altar breaks from the '"edge to center", trying to prevent him from running away. I say this cuz falling objects tend to fall at same speed so the altar breaking apart like this could be on purpose,

[@aylinilya.]

my theory is that the sheikah were behind the zonai structures built after the imprisoning war, the older looking zonai ruins are obviously drastically different from the architecture in the sky, i think the sheikah were imitating their style, this would explain all the sheikah shrines tied to the ruins in botw, not to mentions the “sheikah zonai ruins” can be seen breaking and falling apart and behind those ruins are the cleaner “actual zonai architecture,” so the sheikah were covering it up to keep it safe from the outside world, this would also explain why the zonai were perceived as barbarians, another cover up story by the sheikah, this would also explain why the sheikah tech looks so similar to the zonai tech

[@UltimateTobi]

The Lomei Labyrinth structures in the Depths have the same, "barbaric" style like the ruins in Faron. Either that is an oversight, or the Sheikah had access to the Depths and built these structures/covered them up, too. I'd assume the Depths had been mined long before,during and some time after the past shown in TotK.

[@MonsterMaze]

I think you absolutely nailed it. And I will definitely be talking about the Zonai ruins on the surface vs those in the sky/depths

[@Ryujishida]

​@@UltimateTobiThe issue with that is the floating parts of the labyrinths. If the Sheikah did build the surface and depths parts of the labyrinths how would that account for the Zonai trials that require you to complete all three? I think the older Zonai ruins are just that. Zonai ruins from before they first ascended skyward and the three different clans mentioned at each labyrinth give us a look into how the Zonai society was structured. There was a line of Tauro's in game mentioning how the Zonai ruins on the surface seem to predate the ones that fell from the sky after all.

[@UltimateTobi]

@@Ryujishida The idea wasn't exactly that they built them, but covered them up, as mentioned in the initial comment, in order to make it seem more crude. The ruins in Faron do have the sleek Zonai architecture beneath the crude stone work/cover. The same one as the Lomei Labyrinths have. Also the ones in the sky. Now the question is: did the sky parts rise from the ground or were they always there like the rest?

[@jotasietesiete4397]

This has a flaw, the sky islards rose shortly after zelda's draconification, but the sheikah we know of didnt appear until many calamities later (enough to spot a pattern), this leaves many thousands of years between he sky islands and the sheikah

[@bepperrs9801]

Finding out that theirs sheika markings on the purifier literally blew my MIND, I'm so happy to see the sheika being used even in small ways that fill major plot holes

[@a.jthomas6132]

While it is true that the Sacred Stone of the Zonai is capable if amplified the user's abilities, I feel the who reason how Ganondorf became so powerful and all that cataclysms are happing in both games is due to the dark magic he learned from the two Gerduo Masked figures. If you remembered playing Ocarina of Time, Kotake and Koume are the surrogate mothers of Ganondorf who taught the Gerudo King everything from dark magic to military strategies so they could lead their people out of their misery by placing his false legions to the Hyrulian King to get up close for reaching the Sacred Realm which hold his grand prize: The Triforce. When facing them in a boss battle, the two Gerudo witches fused together into Twinrova. Since they names are written in every Gloom weapons and they have made a brief appearance in two Dragon Tear memories, my hope is we get to see how this version of Kotake and Koume in Ganondorf's story a possible future Tears of the Kingdom DLC.

[@blacklynx2526]

Great video! Really cool theory with the Purification Unit Bering some sort of central action unit. But I wonder what is now holding up the sky islands? Great to have you back Don!

[@MonsterMaze]

It's good to be back! Yeah it's difficult to tell what holds up the other islands. There must be even more to it. We know not all islands are the same. The Great Sky Islands was said to be lifted into the sky by the sages. But other islands are much older and had to have existed back when the other Zonai were still around.

[@jotasietesiete4397]

​@@MonsterMaze they may have some kind of secondary power generation, or part of the island is just a big battery (which considering the power density of large bateries, these islands could still keep floating for eons)

[@excelup5358]

i love the idea that ganondorf's hubris and self importance in rising hyrule castle as a trophy was in actuality a trap put in place by the zonai and sheikah to trigger the upheavel and assist link in his journey to defeat him it actually shows that they learned what kind of a person ganondorf was and was able to predict how he'd act. they used his overwhelming power against him to essentially boost all of the ancient zonai tech back into overdive

[@paperpopper2586]

All these huge and important things that we just *wouldnt* know if it werent for people digging into the game and fans doing their own research. Personally i think this kind of lore solving is really neat; letting people come to their own conclusions and interpretations based on what the different parts of the games show and tell us. Its a lot funner than having the game just tell you everything outright imo

[@MonsterMaze]

It's very fun digging into things that aren't accesible through regular means. It's like peaking behind the curtain ^^

[@PuffnStuff117]

They’ve been doing this since Demon Souls, and most fromsoft games lol. It works for those games. Not Zelda games

[@paperpopper2586]

@@PuffnStuff117 yeah, i love those games too lmao. But i do think it works for botw and totk at the very least, they arent your conventional zelda games after all

[@tumultuousv]

​@@PuffnStuff117wrong.

[@iceneko9170]

that fact that ganondorfs sealing platform was floating makes that scene make SO much sense. great video man.

[@cosmo2590]

considering that she was involved in the making of sky islands by leaving her records to link, and that impa fulfilled this role in many zelda games, i wonder if the chamberlain was actually the first sheikah of botw/totk

[@pivotguydc1149]

Fascinating. I originally called the "Purification Unit" a "Sealing Spike". I just played through Skyward Sword and thought the name reuse was apt. But also, there might be a theory there...

[@pikmin4743]

the upheaval was like champagne and ganon woke up and hastily popped the cork 🍾

[@Demanufactur3r]

What was Ganondorf even doing this deep below the castle? Can't imagine him being tricked to go there only to be ambushed.

[@SMM00797]

The quality and depth of these videos are truly unmatched.

[@legomaster2538]

5:02 Conveniently, the gloom decayed all weapons except those wielded by Teba and the new four sages.

[@obits3]

The wind sage has his bow stolen. The fire sage is drugged out by a mask. The water sage is forced to contend with massive pollution. The lightning sage is bad at aiming. The sage of spirit is trapped. The demon king probably thought he had his bases covered. Also, it is established that the champion weapons can be remade from even decayed weapons, so destroying them wouldn't be as effective.

[@legomaster2538]

@@obits3 The bow Tulin had stolen from him wasn’t the Great Eagle Bow, it was a Swallow Bow.

[@dsur5547]

@@legomaster2538bows weren’t decayed at all

[@legomaster2538]

@@dsur5547 I know, I just wanted to include the Rito.

[@PorkShark]

The Purification Unit is Nintendo doing a pun. If you combine Central Control Unit and Purification Unit, it becomes Central Purification Unit, whose acronym is *CPU*

[@mackerel6099]

Awesome to be able to see the full models of the platform and the purification unite. Excited to hear more of your thoughts on who put it together to orchestrate the upheaval. It may be possible that Mineru and Zelda had a hand in it even if it was just laying out plans for others to carry out depending on what exactly the timeframe was from Imp. War to Draconification.

[@-emir5484]

The name purification unit makes me wonder, does it purify ganon's malice/gloom by drawing it out? If so, maybe that's why the underground is full of it and that might also be why people had to move out of the depths because iy was getting too dangerous to live there

[@MonsterMaze]

I think so! It may even be the source of the Ancient Energy from BotW. Which was abundant in specific locations around Hyrule. The castle being the most potent one if I remember correctly.

[@FiveFour5454]

I always thought that the shieka tech simply no longer existed in tears of the kingdom, because all of the things they would have had to make were made by the zonai in the timeline zelda accidentally made.

[@hydenseek22]

I WAS THINKING THE SAME THING ALL THE WAY BACK IN JUNE! Thanks for putting it all in a more cohesive video! I also have some ideas on how the time travel may have affected the Upheaval too, but that's a little more complicated.

[@dragnbane]

What if after Ganondorf was imprisoned, the purification unit was added to use the malice, but also as a type of security device for when he woke back up? Like, making the castle rise up so high, what better way to let the entire kingdom know something was going down than to raise the capitol up so everyone would see it?

[@mxmoore]

4:08 As pointed out in the video, the Japanese term for “Upheaval” refers to some sort of cataclysmic event, but the individual characters literally translate to something along the lines of “the skies change and the earth separates” which is wonderfully appropriate for what actually happens during the Upheaval. I’m sure the localisation team toiled over how to translate this into English (as someone who works in translation / localisation I can relate), I think they did a really good job as “Upheaval” evokes a feeling of heavy movement.

[@scottcrimmins1754]

Glad to have you back. Hope you're well

[@skyesilverwing8922]

Personally, I figure the purification unit as being built into the base of the castle to amplify and reinforce Rauru's seal. It might be similar to some of the ornamentation seen above the statues at the end of the Shrines. I think Ganondorf was flexing his might by pushing away an object that had been metaphorically and literally holding him down, and in doing so, pushed the castle up a hundred feet. I do think that most of the changes that we see throughout Tears of the Kingdom from Breath of the Wild are actually caused by Zelda's temporal meddling. It fits solidly with Skyward Sword's "the tree was always here, but I don't know why we didn't think to pick the fruit before now" time shift style. The missing Shieka tech, without even so much as a hole left behind and the fact that there are mysteriously "new" ruins situated on Akala Citadel seems to prove a change in the past has altered the current landscape without most of the people even noticing. Who is behind it all? Zelda. You want more proof? Look at the Light Dragon during the tutorial. It is missing the ribbons of light that indicate that the Master Sword is there, until you send the sword back in time.

[@Bromaster]

That Thumbnail art looks Badass!

[@DonutSwordsman]

Amazing editing at 3:30. Castle looks so cool with the moon like that

[@amirhosseinmaghsoodi388]

Interesting as always. It makes sense since the hylians of that time did a lot to prepare.

[@philippelavoie5674]

Ganondorf rased Hyrule castle to break his seal.

[@sa3270]

I keep wondering how Link and Zelda made their way to the imprisoning chamber prior to the upheaval. Presumably those passages were sealed up during the upheaval. It seems they may have come down that stairwell with all the lizalfos on it, and those areas that we see them in with the dondon would have been above that.

[@MonsterMaze]

Yep, there's a whole network of rooms and hallways down there. It's crazy!

[@sa3270]

@@MonsterMaze That dondon from the trailer may have been trapped down there.

[@JoshyG]

What a BANGER video! I’m happy to hear about your recovery as well. Thanks Don!!

[@alexandertkachenko1432]

I think the sky islands actually were always there. They were just obscured by the cloud barrier which was broken by the light dragon once link sent the master sword back in time. Maybe the ring ruins and sky temples being revealed was intentional on her part. (Revealing two secret stones and mineru) Ganondorf likely sensed this and sent Colgera and Muktorok to guard the stones.

[@b00mtrap83]

I love theories like this that are more of a reveal of findings. I had no idea about the constellations in the imprisoning chamber and I always wondered what those antenna things on the bottom of islands where. This is great!

[@FierceDeity35]

Yeah, things like 3d models and their names are far more interesting to me

[@Nyxael5845]

In the European and Latam Spanish translation of Tears of the Kingdom, the Upheaval is known as "la catástrofe" which translates to "The Catastrophe"

[@mooredaxon]

This actually makes so much sense now. I always wondered where the sky islands came from, because it wasn't just from the ground out of the chasms like i thought the game wanted me to believe. The islands are just too big. Okay so here's my theory: First, the Purification Unit was somehow "purifying" Ganondorf (hence the name) and he needed to destroy it or push it away for him to start recovering, which explains why he does it. We know, because of the minigame atop the True Temple of Time, that the sky islands were put into the sky long ago so that Link would have a place safe from Ganondorf as he recovered. What if they were MUCH higher. Up at near space altitudes. And when Ganondorf struck the purification unit, it was deactivated, dropping all the sky islands to the ground. It likely had a failsafe so that, if/when it was deactivated, it would reactivate soon after to prevent the islands from wiping out Hyrule, but it activated a bit late, causing some structures to crash into Hyrule anyway.

[@ArtemisWasHere]

10:12 my guess, given the end of the giant column has raurus magic circling around it, is that it’s like a stopper or cork on a bottle of very angry champagne

[@MonsterMaze]

An angry champagne is probably the best analogy to describe Ganondorf in this game xD

[@FierceDeity35]

​@MonsterMaze there's a stone tablet saying something similar under the spiral staircase in the royal passageway. It calls the castle a seal and the condition of the castle is directly linked to the effectiveness of holding Ganondorfs power back. Since the original calamity, the castle has fallen into ruin... leading to the malice seeping out.

[@ArtemisWasHere]

@@MonsterMaze can’t take credit for it, I quoted from Zeltic

[@banukaii]

Another great video, as always MM. I wonder if the name Purification Unit is supposed to mean that at some point in totk's development the old "battery theory" was the direction they were going. G says "You bind my heart and steal my magic" too. We know this isnt the case anymore, but totk went through so many changes in dev that it just makes me wonder.

[@BakkerfeelingAdventures]

Cool video, very nicely presented and well put together. I always enjoy watching these lore videos after completing the game to pick up on things I might have missed. It really makes sense that the purification unit, once triggered, set of a series of things that were intentionally prepared for Link to aid on his mission and give access to places that were hidden from sight. Being so that when Ganondorf woke up, all was set in motion. As Mineru help Zelda before her hibernation into the Pura pad, she might also have helped with the construction of the purification unit. Preparing everything to aid the hero in the future. Just like the Goddess Hylia did in Skyward sword for example. But the Zonai-Sheika connection seems like an interesting option too. Looking forward to see that video. Thanks for the work that went into making this one. May the Goddess smile upon you. 😄👍

[@raevis9]

I kinda thought that the falling platform was one last futile trap mechanism that activates when he wakes up. As in "at least launch him into the abyss and hope he hits his head, instead of just letting walk out the door". They probably didn't know Daddy Ganondorf would need time to recover his strength or weren't sure of how ready Link would be.

[@jasonblome5287]

Glad you’re feeling better. Excited to have quality analysis of Tears begin to flow and this one did not disappoint! Thanks for what you do!

[@chelsea_umberger]

So glad you’re back and this was such a great topic!!

[@cato3277]

Insane hype whenever you upload, can’t wait to see this one

[@Splitboltxful]

Wow, looks like there was more thought put into the worldbuilding than I originally thought!! Great video, love the detail

[@CivRev10]

The in-depth analysis from this channel is the best of any other Zelda tuber out there and I love it. Thank you so much for your hard work.

[@BloopersINCjr]

“It’s been so long…” Seriously tho glad you uploaded again!

[@MonsterMaze]

It's been... 84 years

[@BloopersINCjr]

@@MonsterMaze “Now I think you are ready to know what happened 84 years ago…”

[@getignored]

this thumbnail goes so incredibly hard

[@NoiseDay]

I'm so excited for the Sheikah/Zonai analysis! Hoping for a Twili mention as well. Also, I'm curious if falling into the depths is actually going through a portal to the Dark World a la Link Between Worlds.

[@Ryujishida]

The Dark World in Link to the Past (Link Between Worlds was Lorule, not the Dark World) is the Sacred Realm corrupted by Ganon's wish on the Triforce, and it was returned to normal at the end of Link to the Past by Link's wish. So I doubt it and the depths are the same.

[@M33f3r]

@@RyujishidaTrue but it’s an extremely large nod to it with how the depths are a sort of inverted mirror of the surface

[@Ryujishida]

@@M33f3r Oh, definitely, intentional or not, it's hard to argue that point. And to be honest, if it wasn't so easily countered by the information provided in LttP, I'd have thought that the depths and the Dark World being the same would be a really interesting theory.

[@thegreattoost7260]

So excited for the sheika/zonai video !

[@iLikeDucks_]

I always wondered what those updide down antennas were on a lot of the sky islands, this makes so much sense! The green crystal is also on a lot of the little floating rocks in the water temple

[@MonsterMaze]

Yes! I even recorded that part of the water temple, but I couldn't fit the footage in. Next video though!

[@concordia_jp]

Yess!!! Haven’t watched yet but so excited for some more monster maze content. Hope you’re feeling better, Don!

[@MonsterMaze]

I sure am, thank you!

[@BowsettesFury]

the platform and chasm are basically the same type of imprisonment device as in the first Kung Fu Panda movie. both failed. was probably designed that way in case the seal broke and Link with the master sword wasnt the cause of it. doubt it wouldve changed anything though.

[@olaczajnik]

Very good theory overall. But Zelda and Mineru definitely orchestrated it all. The ancient tablets written by the chamberlain that you get for Wortsworth explicitly say so

[@UltimateTobi]

The Construct in the Gerudo Abandoned Mine mentioned that he remembers chasms being in the Lanayru region. That would mean chasms have existed before he was constructed. But they clearly aren't there in BotW. But perhaps they were and only the superficial layer of earth gave way during the Upheavel. Irregardless, these chasms are not creations of Ganon(dorf) and so I'd think they are just corrupted with Gloom, but were created to have easy access to the Depths (be it for mining, construction, etc.)

[@MonsterMaze]

Aah, good catch. Yeah the chasms must've exited long before Ganondorf became the Demon King. Their placement is also way too coincidental for them to be random holes.

[@sa3270]

Perhaps they were created by, or for, the dragons long ago, since they seem to enjoy using them now that they've reopened. It's funny, because when I first stumbled upon the Yiga pit in BOTW, it was before I found the front of their hideout, and I thought that must be where the dragons come out.

[@WildflowersCreations]

Thank you for all the insight and for sharing the pictures of the models.

[@Silvio_Nightwind]

Always a good day when I catch one of your videos. Hope you're taking care of yourself Monster Maze!

[@JPBrooksLive]

Man I can't wait for all the new Tears of the Kingdom theories and lore!

[@stephcee4319]

Great video! Glad you’re back!

[@farideh4698]

So glad to hear you're feeling better! I've missed your videos.

[@bonegloveGG]

The castle probably got risen up so Ganondorf had access to the surface. It'd be hard for all his Gloom to go out into the world via 1 or 2 cramped tunnels.

[@althrouve007]

Another prolific and insightful video! I think that the placement of Ganondorf below the purification units is to serve both as a source of the raw energy that powers the major floating Zonai structures and as a fail safe mechanism. That upon the disruption of said energy source and the unfortunate effect of them falling from the sky is to alert Hyrule’s incarnation of the hero and goddess of that era. As a means to start training the hero for the battle ahead. I also would like to hypothesise that Zelda and Mineru might have brought the inception and establishment of the Shiekah clan as the people behind the scenes to keep the knowledge alive albeit in secrecy. Further, I see strong semblances of Mineru on Purah’s designs. Lastly, one last observation and might be quite symbolic as well. On the cutscene of Mineru’s passing at the end of the game, when all the other sages were pledging their fealty to Zelda, the scene shows Purah standing in solidarity although in the shadows or by the shade of a column reaffirming the “in the shadows” nature of the Shiekah, after all Mineru was the Sage of Spirit, and she was wise yet cloistered away in the shadows (as per the other cutscenes and the location of her temple/Secret Stone).

[@MonsterMaze]

Couldn't agree more. "Purification" also indicates that it's filtering something out, leaving you with a new substance. Perhaps the Ancient Energy the Sheikah tapped into in BotW? It would be amazing if the Sheikah turn out to have been established in the way you describe it. I also see the resemblances. I even expected them to go there in TotK, where it turns out Paya would take up the role of the 5th sage or something. I think that would've been more interesting.

[@althrouve007]

@@MonsterMaze I wholly concur that the Purification unit must be responsible for synthesizing the corrupted/raw energy from Ganondorf, (fitting that he is the holder of the Triforce of "Power") and it could be that that is the case regarding the energy source utilized by the Shiekah, after all the towers, shrines, even the furnaces were connected to the ground where its sourced. Which also leads me to believe the reason why for example the bombs were almost instantaneous when recharging as there is ambient energy everywhere coming from [hypothetically] the towers, and could also be one other reason why and how Ganondorf was able to posses or infect the ancient technology as it was already feeding off of him. Whereas, when in the present, said energy got cut short, we are then forced with the need to expand the Zonai batteries or wait for them to fully recharge before being able to use again or use the expendable Zonai charges. The way it panned out in my head regarding the establishment of the Shiekah is as follows: Of her time spent in the Founding Past, Zelda must surely be talking about the future Hyrule she is from, coordinating with King Rauru and the other sages, learning to hone her divine skills from Queen Sonia, and Mineru being the wise and inquisitive sort must have also learnt much from Zelda and both hatched a plan to establish a sect of select individuals to become the Shiekah tribe. Thus resulting in them being more cognizant and adept at using technologies similar to the Zonai and creating their own version. As for Paya, I agree it would have been truly interesting of a twist is she became the Sage of Spirit. Her character became more developed in ToTK and she became more studious per se about the Ring ruins and the Zonai. However, she was under the guidance of Impa and was already wearing the hat that looks like it has a tower on top in BoTW, which led me to believe that she will be following the footsteps of Impa.

[@althrouve007]

@@MonsterMaze PS. Thanks to auto-correct by the way, when it corrected Zonai to Sonia... you reckon that is the reason why Rauru chose her to be his and Hyrule's founding Queen? Haha! Also I hope that you are feeling much better and continually recuperating. We as a community appreciate your videos. Thank you again.

[@thephalange8630]

Ugh, I'm so happy you're starting with videos 😭 I need this, love the connections you've doscovered, how very interesting. I have to say, I didn't enjoy the game as much, just too little story. You coming in and starting to fill the gaps is gonna be awesome

[@jommyheyman1180]

From seeing what the Purification Unit is, it sounds pretty plausible to me that it was originally made by the Ancient Sheikah. Perhaps the Ancient Sheikah were also the ones who worked with the sages to lift up the Zonai Sky Islands, originally just replicating the technology the Zonai had made before them. Then over time their technology advanced & diverged to eventually become the Ancient Sheikah tech we know & love. I say "advanced" because I personally think the Sheikah tech was a bit more practical than the Zonai tech. It's a theory of mine that the Sheikah tech was powered by & based around the use of another dimension (the Blue Aether you see above the ceilings of Sheikah shrines). Not only could the blue liquid which filled it be used infinitely by devices powered by Ancient Furnaces, but things like Shrines or Divine Beasts could occupy space in that dimension rather than the Normal world (since, you know, the Sky & Depths are filled with things that shouldn't be interfered with). The dimension could even be used to teleport you or a group of people to designated spots in that dimension or the normal world. But yeah I definitely can't wait to see what the opinions are on the relationship between the Zonai & Ancient Sheikah!

[@QuasarEE]

There's even a name for that dimension in the game's files - it's called the Illusory Realm.

[@MonsterMaze]

It really feelks like the Sheikah started out as "copycats" who eventually evolved the Zonai's technology to something even more sophisticated. I can't wait to go in-depth on this connection

[@AmitafAmitaf-lz2is]

Hyped to watch this one, already know it's gonna be awesome :)

[@trapadvisor]

Have you noticed how the perfect circles within circles the zonai use are naturally forming on the silver enimies horns such as the lizalfo and lynel. I think this could imply something about how secret stones are used and it may be Ganons way of making a mockery out of what the zonai have created. Or it’s a natural forming pattern from use of secret stones.

[@KDJewl3]

The area from the intro being a floating island and the whole Purification Unit thing is absolutely incredible. I can't wait to hear more thoughts and opinions on that stuff, thats so cool

[@KParsa]

Another masterfully done video! The question I have now is why was ganondorf in that chamber specifically at the time of war? Was he cornered by the sages and Rauru or did he have a reason to be in that particular part of the depths?

[@MonsterMaze]

That is a very good question, and one I've been curious about as well

[@AppleJackSix]

Nice, been waiting for real TotK theory videos like this one. Awesome vid!

[@milliondollarmistake]

The Upheaval being a sort of security system is really interesting. Upon detecting Ganon's awakening it destroys the platform holding him up but also raises the castle into the perfect defensive position.

[@Zerolink30]

Feels good to be able to watch Zelda videos again..... took me way too long to decide to just up and finish the game and forget the few side quests i had left.

[@alan.mcswank]

I think we're getting a third installment explaining more of the Zonai

[@MonsterMaze]

I'm sure NBC is on it ;)

[@squisho3590]

4:08 Funfact: The german translation of the game is a lot closer to the japanese original than the english translation, that's why the upheaval is also called "Kataklysmus" in the german version.

[@evan_mirDM]

Just want to point out the Japanese for the upheaval is also quite clever. Aside from meaning disaster, if you split the kanji 天変地异 in 2 you’ll get “sky change” and “foreign earth/land”. Which is exactly what’s happening in totk with the sky ruin appearing, new cave and entire foreign land in the form of the depth

[@Earthquaker_Pan]

to think i found out about ur channel from the life as a boko vid alone

[@ChangedFigure]

Regarding Hyrule Castle, I think Ganondorf lifted it up to make a way out, not just physically but also to remove an extra layer of a seal. I noticed before this video that the writing on the pillar underneath Hyrule Castle was Zonai writing and so I assumed that after his initial seal, they put a separate seal around the castle, in case he ever got revived.

[@DesiB717]

Based on the small stream off malice we see going from Ganondorf into the Purification Unit, I wouldn't be surprised if Ganondorf himself was the power source for those hover stone antennae, with the Purification Unit pulling Malice out of him and purifying it into a usable energy source

[@alundrajehuthy1801]

Better content than there is in the game itself sadly. Imagine finding all of this in the actual game's story instead of theories on youtube....

[@martianargonautttt]

The TOTK lore is literally a 7 years worth of these type of videossssssssss

[@V4xREL4]

I didn't know I had KZbin Premium. Keep up the amazing work.👍 Looking forward to the upcoming videos.

[@Haregue]

Glad you’re back MM! These vids get my inner lore man buzzing!

[@CaptainDoge1]

Such a cool thumbnail 😎 very nice job to the artist.

[@MonsterMaze]

Oh yeah, Jerome is an extremely talented concept artist! He made this artwork long before the game was even out

[@Mr.G_717]

No u

[@CaptainDoge1]

@@Mr.G_717 u 🫵

[@LinkAlmeida]

Everyone and their mothers know that Zelda is a dragon...except if they live in Hyrule 😅

[@WistyFish]

Haven’t finished the video but what if the energy coming from sealed ganondorf was keeping the sky islands floating, and when that energy stopped, the islands fell?

[@WistyFish]

Oh hey kindof the same wavelength!

[@josephasbury4492]

This is fantastically concrete! Super super job well done! With all of this, I'd like to propose one final thing: We know that Fi mentions the Chamber of Resurrection when Zelda tries to save Link 100 years prior to BOTW. Fi similarly communicates that Link is safe in the Present after being sent to the Distant Past, something that she could personally attest to. What if Fi was aware of the Chamber of Resurrection because the Ancient Hero had used it? We know that none of the Zonai should have been left alive, and yet somehow a Hylian with both Zonai and Gerudo features existed during the Ancient Calamity. His spirit seems to be channeled when we don the Ancient Hero's Aspect. With everything that occurred within the Sealing Chamber having been done intentionally, I believe the remains of Rauru were collected when they constructed the castle and had re-positioned the Demon King's corpse. We know that the Depths below the CoR hold the Revival Spring, so perhaps there was an attempt made there to revive him. When a later Hero came along, they had used their then advanced technology to heal him at the Chamber of Resurrection. A side effect, however, was that he had been thus exposed to and inherited chimeric qualities from both King Rauru and Ganondorf's remains. Luckily their spirits were both sealed, meaning that they couldnt (at least majorly) influence his decision-making. This would explain the Hero's bizarre appearance and allow the line Ganondorf states about the Zonai being wiped out to remain true. We've seen aspects (ba-dum-tish) of this having happened in previous zelda games as well. Chancellor Cole takes on a warped appearance when he hosts the spirit of Malladus, and Yuganon takes on the likenesses of both Yuga and Ganon when they fuse. Zelda likewise takes on an altered appearance when possessed by Ganondorf in Twilight Princess, and the Phantoms take on an aspect of Zelda when inhabited by her in Spirit Tracks. Bodies channeling the spirits of others seems to have been a concrete feature of the franchise ever since Majora's Mask; their the Spirits' masks warped Link's body to reflect the former patrons. All of this tells me that the Ancient Hero's Aspect is more Canon than it is just Easter Egg.

[@raoullupin5412]

Yeah, this makes sense... The Upheaval being the result of two plans by clashing forces, the aforementioned forces being Ganondorf and the long game plan that Hyrule made for his return would explain a lot! And as someone who's a fan of the Sheikah, I am looking forward to that Zonai/Sheikah video! I feel bad for Founder-King Rauru, he was a genuinely good man, and while he screwed up, he was more than willing to face the consequences of said screw up, or "Pay the Price" to quote Ganondorf.

[@itselectra5578]

Exceptional video as always, Don! And so glad you’re back in good health!! :) I’m back in the Zelda Theory fandom since I (finally) beat the main story this weekend after putting it off forever because I didn’t want it to end lol I got way too attached to these characters. Anyway, the quality of your research and editing is always top notch! The info about the purification unit and a possible connection to the Sheikah brings up very compelling arguments that a lot of thought went into putting up systems to keep the seal on Ganondorf. I can’t want for your video exploring that connection. Should be a great one. Glad to have you back, see you soon!

[@christophernash8166]

Great video! Not all TOTK theory videos grab me, but this one did.