The Dark Origin of Ancient Arrows (Zelda: Breath of the Wild Theory)

What really are Ancient Arrows, and why can they instantly destroy enemies in a single hit?
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#Zelda #Nintendo #LegendofZelda

[@nemesis9755]

Imagine midna just getting sent thousands of lynels and guardians daily

[@AgnusCavichioliPereira]

So, BOTW 2 is basically Midna getting pissed off and coming back to kick Wild's ass

[@___Artemis___]

Honestly I was JUST thinking that maybe they get sent into the Twilight Realm

[@19TheFallen]

@@___Artemis___ I remember the Legend of Zelda creators saying there was a chance that we may see Midna in a future game.......What if BOTW 2 IS that chance?

[@Eclipse_101]

ACTUALLY, the guardians aren’t teleported. They explode. They’re literally destroyed, not teleported into oblivion.

[@noriakikakyoin7961]

@@___Artemis___ Will Link Be A Blond Wolf? With a little tunic on him - w -

[@nintendoge1575]

“I don’t kill my enemy, I just move them to a time period where they are no longer alive”

[@nhelpix5387]

But what about when the arrows dont teleport, but split the enemies into Atoms which are sprayed around so the enemy never has the possibility to reform himself.

[@nintendoge1575]

MasterofPhoenix It was a joke/reference to Halo Reach :)

[@Tinbeef22]

Thats sound like killing em

[@hugopieterse5703]

Maybe the effects of the teleportation don’t appear bcs they don’t move to a other place, they go to an other dimension and don’t go to an other place in the dimension

[@lucastep310]

NintenJosh so you’re that guy jun knew of.

[@SwaySilva]

Also “cutting the monster, but never pasting it” is one of the most threatening sentences I’ve ever heard...

[@liamreade]

Agreed

[@actualzelda]

@@liamreade ikr it's unsettling

[@chimuoma390]

It is The Zelda Equivalent Of Hakai!That How I See It!BADASS!

[@lunely]

Imagine a shrine quest where you’re transported to a place where every monster you’ve hit with an ancient arrow is teleported and you have to beat them

[@redstonecat1232]

So I have to fight like 100 lynels, and the enemys from the quest where you have a quarter of a heart to kill everything, but you have the ohko weapon. Welp I'm screwed

[@goobi8881]

Well, guess I gotta fight that 1 deer I hit when Beddle gave me the arrow.

[@sandismuizarajs]

All those lynels that I shot when I accidentally came across them can get their revenge

[@zizochemlali4639]

What if I fire ancient arrows at them will they just explode and deal massive damage like with guardians and bosses

[@ReAgentMusic_]

@@sandismuizarajs tip for the future, if you ever run into a lynel you don't wanna fight, simply keep your weapons sheathed and it won't attack

[@Lanosrep]

There's another obvious reason why the daggers and the other weapons act different. A dagger would be a last ditch weapon, small, able to be carried easily, and upon using it the enemy would disappear, but you would be left without a weapon. If this effect was on an axe for example, it would work on the first enemy, but then you would be left utterly defenceless, and you would have been lugging around this massive weapon for a single kill

[@orpheus2644]

What if it wasn't for an enemy? Say a Sheikah assassin was discovered before or during a mission, these could also be used as your cyanide pill equivalent, single use, leaves no trace and no way of finding the source. Big yikes.

[@Lanosrep]

@@orpheus2644 Big yikes

[@eggbuh]

@@orpheus2644 I mean would Nintendo really think of that? But honestly thats a pretty cool theory there

[@orpheus2644]

@@eggbuh I just kept reading the comments and found out some people have similar ideas. One reason for this suicide dagger idea is, they probably were given just one dagger because say the Sheikah was found out by a group of 5 enemies, he is not going to be carrying tons of daggers for every single enemy he could find and even if he used the one on an enemy there's still four other guys to deal with. It is easier to just "die for the mission" than to get captured, tortured and probably revealing the purpose of the mission. It is a really cool and dark theory hopefully BOTW 2 will give some more lore on the specifics of ancient tech.

[@jordanspitzer4053]

cheesy bread stick Nintendo has made some really dark references.

[@mrgoat5764]

Next up on Zeltik: The DARK origin of the E M P T Y B O T T L E

[@anonymousfellow8879]

Mr GOAT It can contain spirits like fairies and poe souls as well as repel Ganon’s attacks. So yeah, it warrants a theory. That ain’t glass.

[@abadhaiku]

Why is it empty? The answer may surprise you...

[@12145sonic]

@@anonymousfellow8879 Not to mention the fucking Deku Princess

[@Adahn99]

@@anonymousfellow8879 Also it can storage the most dangerous and poisonous material in the franchise: milk

[@alejandrotenorio80]

Doll - Master grandma soup

[@vanessamorales5851]

I thought he was gonna be darker like “the dagger was a last resort. Essentially erasing both the handler and the victim.” Or something like that.

[@Aydrenn]

Suppuku

[@Yeetoslolol]

Same lmao

[@doverboy1]

Considering it explodes after impaction Yes, thats true

[@shadenox8164]

I mean if you look at the way it acts, there's a reason Robbie tied it onto an arrow and called it an arrow.

[@GameGarbage]

12:14 BOKO FRIEND NOOOOOOO *Other jumps in front as body shield, “Oof”*

[@liamreade]

His sacrifice was worthless, however, as the original target proceeds to die

[@NPC_5439]

That's so sad

[@CZsWorld]

I've never tried wasting one on a regular enemy.

[@LordHogWaterer]

Lol same

[@ookjannesplanting1296]

I've never tried wasting one, period. I don't think I fired a single one in 100 hrs of playtime

[@bradhedgehog12]

Dr4g0nblade me too. I use them if I really need to.

[@madelinebernal6546]

@Nom Nom yep, they're the most difficult enemy, glad they're gone in master mode. would have been too difficult

[@austin8030]

I always saved mine for guardians

[@SoulsOfWisdom]

What's cool in that reveal trailer that I never noticed is that Link pulls a string of some sorts to make the dagger appear. Nice little attention to detail.

[@troloinkto]

And at a superhuman speed

[@vinilla02]

That’s so cool!

[@DeadlockDrago]

@@troloinkto To be fair, he does A LOT of things in-game at super human speeds.

[@nichii1603]

DeadlockDrago i mean he can technically slow down time (flurry rushing)

[@alecwhatshisname5170]

Holy shit. Bravo nintendo

[@jmr_draws]

Sheikah: Makes an easily concealable dagger designed to stealthily assassinate people Also Sheikah: “Let’s make the blade glow blue and explode like a firework”

[@J0hnB09]

Likely that it was supposed to be used on alone targets, plus maybe they had no choice, plus it might’ve been a last resort seeing as it had an enormous impact for such a close range weapon, but this is a meme so probably gonna get wooooshed...

[@jmr_draws]

@@J0hnB09 You damn right you are

[@braddutchak2084]

@@J0hnB09 now that you said that it prob wont...

[@Mossmuncher]

@@J0hnB09 I have to fulfill my destiny r/whoosh

[@lonelee5353]

i just noticed that the ancient glaive is just a bigger ancient arrow

[@sirlancerstien]

When you look closely at the after-effect of the enemy disappearing you can see a blue smoke rise from where they were. This might imply that when they are disassembled in the same way link is for teleportation the raw materials are just let into the air. That blue smoke could be atomically disassembled matter. Wack!

[@justsaying6341]

I think you‘re exactly right. after all, simply deleting matter and energy from existence would be impossible, even in a fictional world such as zelda

[@osoriochavezmiguelangel4813]

I propose to you, that the ancient Arrow (originally "Ancient Dagger") was created as a Sheikah's last measure; but by the means of it imploding with a large area, it meant that both the enemy and the Sheikah warrior were doomed. Robbie simply managed to bypass that restriction by strapping them on arrows, nullifying the collateral damage on the user. What do you think?

[@ciarangale4738]

this seems pretty likely to me considering the indiscriminate blast radius around the arrow when it lands

[@cag_0k642]

Weird that the sheikah didn’t think of that themselves

[@joelheinitz2139]

It's certainly an interesting idea. However, if the ancient arrows are used at melee range in game, they don't affect you. This may be just a game mechanic, but it's just as likely that the teleportation technology only affects the target, rather than having an area of effect.

[@terrabenluk4017]

Now I know that Smash is not canon, but Sheik clearly uses needles or throwing knifes. They could also have been used as such

[@ciarangale4738]

@@terrabenluk4017 hmm thats a cool theory! The only bone i have to pick is they seem to be rather poorly designed for throwing

[@CodyVanNess]

The black hole explosion makes me feel like this wouldn't be a close range weapon that you would expect to use and come away from unharmed. Maybe a last ditch "if I'm going down I'm taking you with me" kind of thing, maybe a ritual suicide dagger, or even something to prevent yourself from being taken captive.

[@chiliboy06]

Maybe it was a type of throwing dagger

[@Demoneye097]

Maybe it was just a failed experiment made into a weapon

[@kulitmed]

So it is a suicide dagger

[@angelchiarucci4238]

Imagine capturing a Sheikah and (s)he just says: Bye, I'm going home, stabs him/herself and disapears

[@eric_gz]

Like the garo! You know "To die without leaving a corpse... that is the way of us Garo."

[@Diemund1]

Zeltik: "It makes sense that Link can't instantly K.O. the hardest enemies" I'm pretty sure you can one-shot Lynels tho.

[@mrayrick7631]

Lynels aren’t that hard when you know how to dodge and headshot

[@PanguinBoy2]

@@mrayrick7631 and parry

[@actualzelda]

@@mrayrick7631 lol yeah

[@liamanderson6318]

The game for some reason doesn’t count lynels as bosses so that’s why this happens

[@christopherfleetwood5252]

@@mrayrick7631 just headshot, I killed my first golden lynel just the other day by shotgunning it repeatedly in the face.

[@Yet_AGOTI-2]

While I can see where the theory spawns from, it feels like something is being assumed that shouldn't be. It's being assumed that the daggers imploded originally rather than being stable blades. Anything that produces energy of some sort has to have a power supply of some sort. The Occam's Razor explanation seems to be more that it's a dagger strapped to an arrow and tinkered with to overload the power source and force a surge of sacred energy that is clearly directed into the enemy. I think we see it as an "implosion" because - like the eye of a guardian drawing in energy for a laser - we are just seeing energy being suddenly drawn in to where the dagger would have impacted, stabbed in, then overloaded. This would also explain why smaller enemies are instantly obliterated and larger enemies only damaged. There would only be so much energy in the core. Likely only enough energy to destroy a small amount of matter. The bigger, tougher enemies have too much mass for that much energy to act on all at once, so it merely causes some damage before it is spent. Kinda like a firecracker can blow finger off, but it won't blow down a door. Use 100 firecrackers in rapid succession, though, and you might eventually break through. Same idea here. Hit a big ol' Hinox, it burns and hurts but cannot disintegrate the matter of the creature. Hit a guardian in its dense, thick metal that's made to withstand its own power and energy? It might make a dent or heat it up and warp it, but you'll have to infuse that energy directly into its system to get it to do anything. We see it intake energy through its "eye," so hitting it with an arrow is just driving all that energy meant to keep that dagger running in a battlefield directly into its systems. Overloaded from the inside. The fact that it specifically damages guardians and was specifically modified to kill guardians once Ganon had control of them, if I recall, it seems more likely that a detonation or energy infusion of some sort is more likely the case. Smaller creatures? I'd say it's more like it's sublimating them. Infuse them with energy to the point that their atoms just rattle apart. The blue energy we see is just the overflow of energy that their limited mass literally cannot contain and radiates off, like a log that's not quite on fire but still smoldering giving off a red glow. I can appreciate the thought that went into this particular theory, I just think that it's impractical to assume that the dagger was originally anything more than a dagger and that the explosion / implosion / energy infusion was not a part of the modifications made to the dagger in order to make it into a properly destructive arrow. And, of course, this is just a theory of my own a few months after the vid went up and I happened across it, so take it for what it's worth, internet.

[@Gh0stSh33p]

Yours makes way more sense than the video, specially the part about tinkerin with the blades to make them unstable

[@ArsenixOnVr]

*what*

[@braddutchak2084]

wha... uhhhhhh... yaaaaaaaa... defenetly read all of that

[@copperfish8816]

Hello. I'm just an average person. I am too lazy to read all of this, so I and many others would greatly appreciate it if this context was put into a video for easier understanding. Thank you and have nice day.

[@BriarTheShark]

I haven't even watched the whole video yet, and your theory just made me not want to. I'm not going to, I think I know all I can about Ancient Daggers/Arrows now

[@Prime-gu8xw]

It could’ve also been a sort of “last resort” in case of capture or discovery. Leaving no evidence or connection to the sheikah

[@ciarangale4738]

this was my thought. the handle and close range aspect of a weapon that destroys such large amounts of matter i feel would take out the user as well as the target, so i was thinking it might be for suicide. one problem with it being for in the event of capture is it would likely be just as easy to teleport to a destination. on the other hand, maybe teleporting to a specific destination was costly/difficult so such advanced techniques were saved for specific high tier items such as the sheikah slate and master cycle

[@grantdixon9421]

Die I shall, leaving no corpse. That is the law of us gar- sheila, I meant sheika.

[@crapperplays8381]

You have 69 likes ima keep it that way

[@tatotaytoman5934]

lazer switchblade

[@8-ball350]

Seppuku 2.0

[@NintendoBlackCrisis]

Loved the video! I always thought it was interesting that the ancient arrow was simply a dagger tied to a normal arrow.

[@aryan1985]

Don’t let this forget you from remembering that Mr. Krabs sold Spongebob for 67 cents.

[@dren3083]

You want B R E A D

[@EeveeWoot]

Now that you think about it, it looks kinda unsafe. It's just strapped on.

[@pooppgod]

Yes

[@thefoodyscarecrow7391]

O wow no fan boys in this reply section? Lemme change it: OMG HI NINTENDOBLACKCRISIS I LOVE UR VIDS SOOOOOOO MUCHHHHHHHH

[@presidentelmo4516]

Zelda: I entrust you with the bow of light, a powerful weapon in the face of evil Robbie: Just give me an arrow and some porks and I'll do it in 5 seconds

[@hm.9467]

Imagine if revali was alive when the ancient arrows were created-

[@ghettokage6104]

LMHAO

[@randomlycommenting2597]

The revenge of revaoli

[@ghettokage6104]

@@randomlycommenting2597 revali lmao

[@randomlycommenting2597]

@@ghettokage6104 its a joke

[@ghettokage6104]

@@randomlycommenting2597 if you were trying to make a joke, you should’ve spelled it right. I believe you meant Ravioli

[@archmdc370]

This almost feels like History Channel documentary about ancient weaponry! Your storytelling was so good that my wife asked from the other room, "Is that real, or Zelda?" LOL You make a really good argument for this. I thought of the Star Trek teleportation where if the conditions weren't good or if there wasn't enough power that the person being teleported could indeed be killed/lost.

[@eitanr]

Yeah. Seems like the Federation is in need of Sheikah tech

[@archmdc370]

@@eitanr lol for real!

[@tysondennis1016]

Explains Enterprise’s Triforce

[@reekraftwithak2734]

exactly my thoughts

[@DragoonMS]

Probably why the transporter technology would've possibly been improved upon during Star Trek: The Motion Picture & Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, after the deadly mishap in ST:TMP...

[@sheikuh7736]

Imagine if all those enemies you have teleported with the arrows ends up regrouping as one being. It might be the most disturbing enemy ever faced.

[@mafumafusnumberonefan]

Me, who has used every ancient arrow I had on lynels.

[@CrypticConsole]

I have used none lol

[@nightstudios5685]

So a giant skywatcher...... Time to shoot it some more🏹

[@lasercraft32]

@@mafumafusnumberonefan The Lynelynelynelynel.

[@kenziebailey9142]

the anxiety i feel watching you dust a red boko with an ancient arrow is unmatched.

[@gabrielhenson5751]

noo don't waste the precious ancient arrows, those things suck to make, lotsa rupees involved and lotsa guardian parts.

[@bethebig_]

yeah, i get angsiety too

[@michaelrobins2955]

"To comprehend the full answer requires years of temporal study. In short, they were now never born in the first place." -Teferi

[@kingcrimson293]

The ancient arrow, probably the most dangerous weapon ever created in Zelda

[@hiddendesire3076]

Nah, that’s a bottle.

[@jpbrother]

@@hiddendesire3076 agreed.

[@Alfonso88279]

There are many weapons that can instakill anyone. Just think in receiving an arrow in the head, or the heart, or the neck. To me it's more important the TERROR and USEFULNESS of being able to just wiped someone from existence. Without letting any body behind. Just think in how useful that would be in any stealth game. You can kill anyone, that's easy. But you won't let tracks to be followed. No bodies to be discovered, no blood. Guards won't discover you. No one will know what happened. People just... disappeared.

[@heibk-2019]

There are other weapons (even other arrows) in the Zelda series that can instakill

[@josuecenturiondomaniczky9297]

You're forgetting the fishing rod

[@thegreatmajora5089]

I remember watching that first trailer over and over again, absolutely fascinated by that arrow activation animation. Something about it is just so satisfying.

[@jenniferchough]

i also like how the ancient bow folds and unfolds it's parts when you wield it. Really cool details.

[@buttonsbox2476]

JenJo same

[@aridicaexmontaudon1296]

I just realized, you can see link activate the arrow

[@benjaminokonski9186]

@@aridicaexmontaudon1296 That's what did it for me. And I didn't eve notice that until today!

[@Martdogg3000]

I would imagine that the daggers worked like the regular energy weapons initially, but Robbie retooled them to expel all their energy at once, which is what causes the effect we see.

[@lasercraft32]

All the damage inflicted by a guardian sword in its lifetime but condensed into a single hit...

[@supercharged5-39]

It’s probably like, “oop gotta get rid of the body”

[@01loganmc10]

That Bokoblin at 12:14 be like: "GET DOWN MR. PRESIDENT!"

[@gavinator2730]

Guess he failed to protect his president

[@optillian4182]

n-word

[@brisell]

Hahahahaha

[@tey1728]

Lol

[@adaml6128]

Yesssss

[@WarmLillie]

I just notice something a different about the ancient arrow, It’s the only piece of ancient gear that lacks a core when making it. Does it mean it’s unstable to uses? Maybe the dagger is unstable giving it’s destructive power. It’s overload foes with that energy. Maybe when the shieka was learning teleportation or the blue power, They had some fail attempts they learned the destructive side of the power? The sheikah probably used the dagger for killing but because of the weapon unstable nature it took the shiekah assassin with it? If so did they discarding the design because of how harmful it was? Now I wonder thou, If the arrows were used for killing and redesign for Ganon killing. But we’re first daggers for the shiekah to use. With the ancient gear and guardian able to replicate and surpass magic and other creature of hyrule abilities. What were these dagger trying to copy?

[@crowsarewatching540]

The daggers were prob thrown by Shieka assassins, and didn’t have a core because they weren’t meant for close quarters. The instability makes them lethal for thrown or ranged weapons.

[@lorlok623]

Maybe the arrows(or dagger) act the same as teleporting, disintegrating and re-forming the target, but without the later

[@curtisirons7491]

Maybe the dagger is too small too include a core hince the instability

[@bestwaifu3852]

Might've not even been for killing, but for suicide so they wouldn't leak any info if captured by the enemy. I was also thinking the weapons don't explode the enemy like arrows is because the only time you get to break them is when their energy/durability is low and only has a few hits left. So the lack of power isn't enough to do what an arrow does. But them not having a core and being unstable sounds better, would make sense why they're the only ones that erupt on impact.

[@johnfulcher8448]

Its nuts how meticulous the developers, writers and directors are when making the Zelda games on all aspects from music to lore. Zelda will always be the gold standard

[@antiquity4117]

To be honest I always thought the ancient arrows head were meant to be ranged just not in the form of arrows... I think they could have possibly been throwing knives.

[@bethebig_]

thats what i thought

[@itsyahomiescott3742]

That’s the definition of daggers; throwing knives.

[@Seven-9090]

In the glitch “clipping out of the dark beast Ganon fight” and “laurelen village gambling glitch”, when you use the bow of light on an enemy it does not one shot a foe, much like the twilight bow in this game. It doesn’t one shot enemies like an ancient arrows do. Well I mean the bow of light does friggen 100 damage, so it essentially 1 hits most enemies, but the items are dropped. (these 2 glitches are used to be able to have bow of light outside of the boss fight and have the enemies spawn, also you can teleport and save, I don’t recommend doing these because if you lose your original save file, you lose all your progress, or unless you want to ruin your game)

[@calixxweise1519]

watching this first thing in the AM with a bowl of cereal is god tier

[@jerryseinfield9609]

THATS EXACTLY WHAT I DID 🤣

[@timdoesstuff4312]

That actually sounds pretty good! 😄

[@TheMrAlexander]

Well that's my plans tomorrow settled. Thanks KZbin! 👌

[@qxeenaquila]

I respect your ways

[@MinistryOfMagic_DoM]

What kind of cereal?

[@gasjebasje99]

Meanwhile, an underground cave is filled with lynels and other enemies

[@Void_Echoes]

gasjebasje95 I like to imagine that if the teleportation theory is true, they just get warped inside Death Mountain and burnt

[@DarpMasta_JDKg1375]

@@Void_Echoes what if they are immune to fire and/or lava

[@cag_0k642]

Or maybe that’s where all the master trial enemies come from, when you think about it the only way to get there is to teleport

[@DisasterEnby]

@@cag_0k642 Trial Of The Sword, but it's filled with nothing but Silver Lynels and Guardians.

[@phatphungus6453]

an NB not-quite-french fry it’s probably why you can retry the master trials beginning, middle or final, because the lynels and others got teleported

[@arkamtheultima6649]

I feel like the ancient arrows were trying to replicate zelda's sealing powers to an extent

[@gabriellockwood2780]

... When we beat Calamity Gannon/"Shiekah Gannon" The Shiekah Tech that made up the robotic body should have been left over when we transition from the Observatory to Hyrule Field. But the Shiekah Tech isn't left behind, and instead is taken- along with the Malice -and assimilated into Dark Beast Gannon. That's why the Ancient Arrows work on DBG.

[@cullenhutchison6528]

I guess I had never considered the plural of "Hinox" to be "Hinoxen".

[@liamreade]

I thought it was like fish. There is a group of fish, or there is a fish, but replace fish with hinox

[@Sansibit]

What is Hinoxen?

[@JarFileInTheWeb]

Sounds like german grammar to me lol

[@brandonwiley5372]

12:13 GET DOWN MR. PRESIDENT

[@barexexxed6061]

Lmaoaoaoao

[@localtoaster6747]

.-.. --- .-..

[@shiotsh6087]

this is late but lmao

[@localbrachiosaurus]

@AR RAYYAN BIL ILM BIN AHMAD FAEZAN Moe they were the Vice President

[@virtuesc0rn354]

Fantastic video, definitely my new favorite theory. Here’s a little theory from me! It could be that the Sheika made the daggers for use by the princess and other members of the royal family for use in case of an assignation attempt. They most likely would be in close range and not have much time to react. With the princess not being a fully trained knight, a dagger that could do some real damage without being gruesome or needing much skill to wield would be desirable.

[@RTDelete]

"We'll take all our enemies, and move them somewhere else" --Ancient Sheikah

[@goron712]

I have an idea on how it works. The “teleportation lines” that the arrow and guardians produce when they charge their weapons is the matter of the “teleported” fiends. So when you kill something with the arrow their matter is not teleported but it stays in the air but separated. Then when a weapon is activated it gathers the matter of the fiends and shoots it as a concentrated beam. That’s my theory

[@noun7635]

As if the matter was scattered in the air, and air will always contain this matter? And the arrows simply re-concentrate a certain amount of that said matter in order to create a destructive explosion. I dont know if it's worded well but I hope you understand

[@caspianhorlick4529]

So, ancient arrows basically disseminate their targets atoms into the atmosphere

[@askinnyball785]

Thats a cool idea

[@askinnyball785]

Thats a cool idea

[@goron712]

Noun yeah that is what I meant and you worded it better than me lol

[@CarlosSaulRodriguezA]

"Why did Zonai dissapeared?" Cause a war against Sheika's tribe with Ancient Daggers xD

[@crumblast]

The daggers appear to act the same way as Zelda's sealing power that she uses in her cutscene with calamity Ganon and on the guardians.

[@christopherfleetwood5252]

Not really… One is disassemble, don’t reassemble. The other is NUKE! 🍄

[@ramenguy4583]

1:01 I was playing video games while listening to the vid and when this part came on I got scared af

[@hallonkatt]

And then we have the question of... HOW does ancient arrows end up in Hyrule Castle? If Robbie invented the ancient arrows after the Calamity... then... did he go back to Hyrule Castle to plant random treasure chests with ancient arrows there? Wouldn't that be incredibly dangerous? Or did he go there to collect guardian parts, and leave the arrows while he was at it? And if he could do that... and not die... then WHY would he hang around in Akkala waiting for Link to get his sleepy bum out of bed? Clearly, Robbie would've been perfectly capable of defeating Calamity Ganon on his own long before Link ever woke up.

[@Cyfrik]

Headcanon: The chest in Hyrule Castle only contains daggers, and Link takes the initative to tie them together with some arrows that conveniently happen to be nearby.

[@puhteeah4876]

He doesn't have enough heart containers he would die in one hit

[@OreganoParsley]

Not sure if this is a serious question or not but I’m pretty sure chests and stuff with arrows aren’t really canon. Like how in some games better weapons in gameplay aren’t necessarily better, it’s just gameplay.

[@hallonkatt]

@@OreganoParsley It wasn't particularly serious, it was mostly me having fun. But I appreciate you taking the time to answer. Admittedly, it would have been more amusing if Robbie COULD have defeated Calamity Ganon but just didn't feel like it for a hundred years. ^-^ Or MAYBE. We know Beetle got his hands on an ancient arrow (since he gives Link one). So we know Robbie gives/sells them to other people. Maybe he sells them to adventurers/treasure hunters who then venture into Hyrule Castle and these arrows are left behind when they perish?... Okay, now it got dark. :(

[@OreganoParsley]

@@hallonkatt lol yup that’s a good theory

[@lunapiller]

What if the reason the zonai tribe were removed from existence by these daggers? It would explain why there nowhere to be found and also how they vanished suddenly. Just a thought

[@michaelbailey1242]

I like this theory, maybe the Zonai offended the royal family or the sheikah, or perhaps they had something to do with Ganon's return, and so were wiped from existence by the sheikah, to be forgotten deep in faron woods

[@joelheinitz2139]

This seems likely, as the Akkalla Citadel, one of the Kingdom of Hyrule's strongest fortresses was built to repel sea invaders, who were possibly the Zonai. If so much effort was put into combating the Zonai, it is likely that they would be a suitable target.

[@LordHogWaterer]

Who are the Zonai?

[@joelheinitz2139]

@@LordHogWaterer They were an ancient warrior race that has long since gone extinct. The ruins in the Faron region and the barbarian armor were their design.

[@gabrielsilveira8246]

Hmmmmm

[@Solrex_the_Sun_King]

Another reason the dagger doesn’t autokill bosses is because they are too big. In essence, the game is censored because of its rating, but against a boss, it essentially removes a radius of flesh by teleporting it to oblivion. If you did that to an eye, not only is that super effective, the eyes are stalks that grow out of the brain, so the brain is also within that radius. For guardians, the motherboard must also be right next to the eye to minimize lag. So that would be a weak spot. This is really cool.

[@drakedegen6130]

@Zeltik I thought about this 2 years ago or so. What I thought of was when the dagger makes impact into the target it breaks, and at that time the "battery" of it overloads and all the energy is throw at the target at once thus causing the teleportation. The normal weapons, might not have the same effect simply due to it's size in comparison to the dagger. While it has more damage output the energy thats used it greater, but not enough energy to go "boom." The effectiveness of Sheikah tech against guardians and ganon related things can be one if not both of 2 things; 1: because the sheikah energy overloads like NBC said 2: the sheikah just decimates the malice within. This could be why generic monsters vanish, they're being of malice as opposed to a guardian which is both.

[@ABurch13]

If they could also be “programmed” with a destination they could be used for capturing for interrogation or a quick escape

[@ryangutierrez775]

They were made by Robbie 50 years after the calamity

[@agon-eery]

ancient daggers were created by the sheika long before the great calamity

[@KSupes]

@@ryangutierrez775 the daggers were made long before the calamity. The *arrows* made from the daggers were made by Robbie 50 years before the calamity

[@mieperb6579]

I like it! Of course the next step would be to summon the monsters you've captured and make them fight other monsters for you!

[@TPalidin]

This gave me a strange image of the concept: Impa just Stabbing or Cutting someone with this kind of dagger to teleport them out.

[@Razznm]

They totally nerfed this is Smash Ultimate. I get why.

[@Everan614]

Wish it was a Final Smash move.

[@shaggy5052]

@@Everan614 lol it is he shots it as a final smash

[@eyesac3538]

r/woosh

[@eitanr]

I mean, Marth and Lucina's final smash is already a 1-hit KO. So if they really wanted to, they could've added another instakill

[@eggbuh]

@@shaggy5052 Its a joke

[@harryguidotti3815]

Aside from the amazingly well put together theories and other Zelda content, I think your voice is one of the reasons I rewatch these so many times. Seriously. You could read a dictionary and everyone listening to you be extremely interested and enthralled.

[@tammerman77]

I am fascinated by pretty much every theory video. I find it so interesting to hear what others (Zeltik) think of the lore/items/everything Zelda.

[@vyxel5671]

the 'being wiped from reality' makes sense even more when you remember that you don't get loot after using an ancient arrow to one-shot anything; the enemy hasn't left anything behind because it's not dead, it's been moved

[@foldervtolvr]

It’s been cut, but never pasted

[@vyxel5671]

@@foldervtolvr exactly!

[@frogmancoolboy1631]

It probably was an trap for me when i tried killing an lynel wich it and i went like "Where did he go? Did he die? Wheres all the loot?"

[@pankajsaroj8937]

Lmao I was swearing when I realized that the loot also goes away

[@bendavis6457]

Imagine not fighting Lynels with a pot lid, and ladle.

[@webgem14]

Same thing happened to me with that lynel in the coliseum. I thought I was cool with a plan to use an ancient arrow, then he completely vanished and I got nothing out of it.

[@notoriousnosk8876]

I did the same thing

[@biglion3179]

@@bendavis6457 so long as you have a durable bow and are a master at parryng, this is possible.

[@lilymurphy1001]

I thought of them as bombs, which would be why the normal weapons don’t have the same effect and why they’re attached to arrows, if normal ancient weapons had the detonation link would die as well

[@octupleodyssey]

This is definetly an interesting theory to say the least. However, there is a huge hole in your theory. Your theory suggests that the Ancient Arrow doesn't kill the enemy. But why would Ganon's peak power during the hour of the blood moon be able to ressurect them, if they never died? Perhaps spending to much time in the teleportation sequence causes an enemy to disintegrate, but if an enemy is struck by an Ancient Arrow shortly before a blood moon, it is still ressurected, invalidating that statement.

[@jaredbarker9515]

So the enemy goes through a process akin to vaporization, but on a subatomic scale... That's so metal.

[@nawalpandey718]

Master cycle zero is stored in sheikha slate. We can see this after defeating monk maz koshisa like other ruins. It converted into blue liquid and stored into slate. So I think ancient arrows converted normal enemies and lynel into energy and stored it into sheikh slate. It also explain why it destroy guardians in one hit when hitting on eye. It transferred all of energy inside guardians into slate.

[@bagel4943]

If you could summon the enemies you’ve hit with Ancient Arrows using a rune, I’d farm Lynels and Guardians all day.

[@cancatervating]

The dagger victim being transported to the Sheikah Slate is a pretty cool idea but I think that rather than that or teleportation happening, the ancient dagger actually collapses a certain amount of matter of the victim. This sort of explains why smaller, weaker targets with less overall mass are easily affected but boss type, large size enemies are not. The dagger probably doesn’t work as well on other Sheikah creations such as Guardians because they were built to withstand a total collapse in case an enemy of the Sheikah got hold of the dagger.

[@brlwww]

@@bagel4943 same

[@fansundertable649]

Maybe since the streams of blue light go inward's after shooting an enemy, maybe its crushing the enemy into nothing.

[@Eclipse_101]

That’s what I was thinking.

[@insertnameornoun6637]

I love your videos and video style! Keep on being awesome!

[@delicam2963]

NBC and Zeltik uploading theories on the same day, this is a very good day!

[@loganschuetz4955]

A good day indeed

[@chiffmonkey]

"Consigned to oblivion" Sudden Elder Scrolls.

[@RBEO22]

You're assuming that they have the same affect up close that they do from a distance. None of the ancient weapons do that, so it is most likely the result of strain it was never intended to endure. If you replace an arrowhead with a pocket knife then the blade will be destroyed on its first and only use.

[@RBEO22]

@@cewla3348 Except they're not made of the same material.

[@1dad640]

Excellent video. I’m very impressed with all the thought and research you put into your videos.

[@Snens64]

Didn’t the scientist have a ,,new‘‘ assistant maybe the other one tried the dagger and was sent away too. That’s why he used arrow after that ?

[@Hyrule_86]

I really like how while he’s seriously explaining the dagger Link is just pointing an arrow at a sleeping woman 10:38

[@jordanrosario3304]

that was mellie, a WOMAN.

[@Hyrule_86]

Jordan Rosario My apologies

[@notoriousnosk8876]

“close range assassination”

[@braddutchak2084]

i was about to like this but isaw it had 69 likes soooooo... :P

[@Hyrule_86]

@@braddutchak2084 that makes you a champion

[@Omega-mf9kj]

I think that the matter is scattered instead of vanishing completely because of the law of conservation of matter.if anyone wants to argue this and say that its magic and science doesent apply,look up Clarke's third law.

[@thelthrythquezada8397]

Them slowed down shot of the daggers opening are sick!

[@andregirgis8846]

Everybody: When will we ever get rid of COVID-19??? Zelda fans: well why don’t you just shoot an ancient arrow at it man?

[@Xelaria]

Maybe people tried but everyone missed, cause they to small

[@marvelisbetter5784]

lol

[@renegade7357]

Better Still, Use Them On The Anti-mask/vaccine Conspiracy Wankers!

[@theultimatep1e40]

I could watch this for hours, idk, i just like your vids, cant expain why, but i just like it

[@Kelserran]

What an interesting theory. Come to think about it, the fear of the previous king of Hyrule was not just the guardians and the Divine Beasts, but Sheikah assassins as they must have been some of the greatest spies and assassins of the kingdom. Even the One-Hit Obliterator seems to back this up even more as a close ranged lethal weapon from the Sheikah.

[@ethanm3335]

The daggers were used against the sheikah's enemy tribe: The zonai

[@joelheinitz2139]

This is actually a really interesting theory. Besides large stone ruins, there's no sign of the Zonai anywhere else in game. Seeing as the Zonai were a (potentially hostile) warrior tribe of magic-wielders, it would likely be in the Kingdom of Hyrule's best interest to get rid of them. Since the Sheikah served as assassins for the royal family, it is likely that they approached this threat with their most powerful asset: daggers that can remove their targets from existence.

[@MarcoParcoDarco]

Joel Heinitz That’s a really interesting theory.

[@lightning-assassin6434]

Actually that would be the yiga

[@jordanrosario3304]

???

[@mafumafusnumberonefan]

@@lightning-assassin6434 The Yiga were banished Shiekah, they may have a counter to the Shiekah’s attack. The Zonai appear to be barbaric, with no technology at all.

[@therealsquimby3191]

They turned Killer Queen into a dagger

[@solidsnake4567]

What if Link got the requiem arrow?

[@henryharwood8549]

More like Za Hando if you ask me

[@jakotasizelove5116]

"not eve i know where those that get hit by the hand go"

[@cholomilk2749]

link can also stop time

[@shootyshootpew2591]

What if he got Enyaba’s arrow

[@TheDan337]

“Might the ancient dagger have achieved instant destruction of its target by simply moving them elsewhere, to a remote location, a prison, or another dimension?” Although I agree the “cutting . . . but never pasting” hypothesis is more likely, the idea above could lead to some interesting story and gameplay. You might regret using so many ancient arrows should you have to visit that remote location, prison or dimension.

[@amanofnoreputation2164]

This thing came about when devising the "ancient" tier of weaponry. I wanted them to tie into the lore of the Shekiah as a technologically advanced civilization by giving them all kinds of mysterious and inexplicable abilities. The ancient arrows in particular are based on the way Link could combine arrows and bombs in Twilight Princess to make bomb arrows -- they aren't something the Shekiah themselves ever used, but rather are an improvised weapon dreamed up in the buildup to the calamity by affixing ancient daggers to arrows. Eliminating enemies in a single hit at the cost of negating their drops was intended to reflect their "elemental affinity" in a similar fashion to the three elemental arrows. So like in some other games, ancient weapons are a bit like the mysterious implicit fourth element that stands above the others. I think the ancient arrows came about when I noticed that arrows fired in Skyward Sword seemed to travel in a straight line for a fixed distance and *then* drop off into an arc instead of forming a consistent arced trajectory. What's extra cool about this is that the straight line path of the arrows also mirrors the way guardians fire lasers that travel in perfectly straight paths, making it a kind of guardian bow. Likewise, the ancient shields came about when trying to think of ways for the player to combat guardians. Considering the kinds of resources it takes to acquire, the player is most likely beyond needing it by the time they get it, but it's still cool.

[@Joe-ik1ph]

Nice video, but I have some problems with the idea that ancient daggers were assassin weapons. One, it glows in the dark. Surely somebody would notice an unnatural blue glow in their room during the night. Two, the results of it hitting a target. The ancient arrows make quite a loud noise and give off a bright blue flash of light. Everybody nearby is going to notice that. Also, since the Sheikah tech has a blue glow to it, everyone would know that a Sheikah killed that person. I think ancient arrows were an accidental creation made by Robbie. He tried to recreate the daggers ancient Sheikah used, but the blue energy of the blade was too unstable. He threw it, saw the explosion it causes, and later discovered how it could destroy some enemies instantly. He then decided that they would make great arrows and found that simply tying the failed dagger to a regular arrow works.

[@joelheinitz2139]

The folding mechanism of the blade could possibly be an attempt to conceal the unnatural blue glow that you mentioned until absolutely necessary. Also, I have theorized that the daggers are one use only, but now I think that they just have a more violent reaction to being broken. Think about it, with the exception of boomerangs, all melee weapons break upon contact with the target when thrown, and do so in a rather loud way. However, if the dagger were used in a melee situation to assassinate a target, it is probable that the dagger would still have the desired effect of teleporting the target to nowhere, but in a less explosive way.

[@songoku9348]

That ALBW footage makes me want to play it again, I hope switch receives more Zelda games in future.

[@anonymousfellow8879]

Dante LBW is honestly one of my favorites. Great story, fantastic remastered music, godly weapons. (It would’ve been nice if Zelda did more than Plan Ahead and Stall for Time. Hilda’s crazy powerful, and theoretically Zelda should have that same power + triforce of wisdom. Instead...she only throws the light arrows at Link at the last possible moment)

[@puhteeah4876]

The sequel of botw is currently in development and is supposed to release in 2021

[@haribo1302]

5:38 I don’t know if that was u who made that shot Zeltik but if it was then damn that’s some accuracy right there. What a shot!!

[@fr4gic651]

Nice video! 😊👍

[@ceilyurie856]

It doesn't wipe them from reality, that violates conservation of matter. it simply rips their body apart into individual molecules and atoms and scatters it.

[@ciarangale4738]

mate the laws of physics dont apply to this world the way they apply to ours

[@TempestRex_]

We can’t slow down time either, anything goes in Zelda

[@JustAHat]

@The Lavian no they dont, black holes eventually spit out everything they suck up in the form of pure energy, called quazars, or slowly decay and disappear (releasing their energy back out, but slower) due to hawking radiation

[@Mrelectricm]

@@JustAHat Hawking radiation in theory causes the destruction of that information

[@gabrielsilveira8246]

Since it's a Zelda game, it can break this laws with magic. Or maybe the matter is transformed into pure energy and dissipated. Or even an black hole of sorts

[@WarmLillie]

The ancient arrow are so strange as they are powerful.

[@outzymes3636]

4:04 that music gave me FLASHBACKS

[@desmondschneider5397]

I think the purpose may have been the guardians. We see in Daruk’s diary “Link was appointed after parrying a malfunctioning guardian’s laser.” Maybe the dagger was attached to the arrow to overload the guardian of it was malfunctioning and beyond repair.

[@pigglywiggly2474]

Sheikah slate: teleports link to towers and shrines Sheikah dagger: teleports foes to the shadow realm

[@Attaxalotl]

"Looks like you're going to the shadow realm, jimbo"

[@lazykiwi936]

I hope in the next game some enemy uses a ancient arrow on link and we get to see where it takes the enemies when we shoot them. Then after you are taken to this mysterious place you have a boss rush basically having to fight all the baddies you sent there along your journey.

[@lu-wg5oo]

the one deer in there is your mount for added difficulty

[@galaxygaming5613]

Link after being sent there well it's good I killed my horse

[@CyanicCore]

Very well thought out.

[@iamwhoknocks1417]

I read this in a fanfic; when in the Akkala Tech lab, Robbie explained the stuff he made with Cherry and how the arrows were made to be daggers but ultimately designed them into ancient arrows

[@loooooooooby]

This video kills me, seeing ancient arrows being fired off so frequently. I use them so sparingly.

[@HYPERxSONICxFANx2012]

I have like 800+ ancient arrows

[@LordHogWaterer]

I don’t use them at all

[@triforcesisters497]

same, exept in the main boss, i stasis ganon, and go in bullet time and spam ancient arrows. BOOM HEADSHOT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@cloveremes2156]

Why does everything in Zelda have a “dark” or “mysterious” origins?

[@kristyburgess1582]

Because this is the stuff Nintendo wants to hide, have you seen the things they make blatantly obvious? There's a lot of dark stuff in Nintendo games, a good place to start is the Pokédex.

[@MMBeyblade]

kristy burgess Except Nintendo doesn't develop the Pokémon games. That would be Gamefreak. Nintendo just publishes the games.

[@bubblewrap8823]

I would say it’s mostly just dramatic storytelling on Zeltik’s part for details left ambiguous in game.

[@av_79]

Because it makes you click the video open.

[@anonymousfellow8879]

Because the royal family literally sanction state murder and genocide. Duh.

[@kimberlyjohnson2242]

10:39 that transition is really good

[@dcjulle]

This gave me chills 😂 Now I can't forget this everytime I teleport in BoTW. Also now I can't sleep.. xD Btw good video

[@tristanneal9552]

It amazes me that you can continue to create such in depth theories on Zelda lore. You'd think we'd be scrapping the bottom of the barrel at this point but it really doesn't seem like it.

[@rileymartin8284]

Nah, that's a really big barrel.

[@GabePuratekuta]

Why scrap just the bottom?

[@eggbuh]

possibly it could've been used when sheikah people got caught during a mission they could stab themselves to die without a trace. If they were found out by the other tribe it could start a war.

[@peepeepoopoo9702]

Couldnt they just teleport somewhere else tho?

[@nothingtoseehere8063]

Your point with the size was great, as lynels are obliterated, despite being overworld minibosses.

[@ghosted0352]

brilliant concept

[@Drewtheaxew]

Ah yes the soothing voice of Zeltik in the morning and a hypothesis that is interesting to pair with breakfast cant get much more chill than it is right now. Thanks for another great video Zel! ^-^

[@AnachronisticALLOS2401]

Hm. You know, here's a thought on the train of being struck by an ancient arrow 'cutting' you from reality without 'pasting' you back; What if, when a monster is 'disintegrated' by the arrow, their matter is instead 'uploaded' to some unknown database? Like dropping files into a storage drive. When Ganon uses the blood moon and revives all monsters, he manages to pull back their 'data' from that database, pasting them back into the real world. And, further thought, if monsters reborn by the blood moon are not the same as the ones they were spawned in place of, new spawns instead of respawns, what if there's just an ever-increasing pool of monster data hovering somewhere, and one wrong move could release all those monsters back into the overworld, thus creating a surplus of monsters?

[@andrewsprojectsinnovations6352]

Sounds like a potential "plot point" for BotW 2. I mean it wouldn't be the first time evil was banished to an alternative dimension, only to be released by one wrong move... A Link to the Past, Twilight Princess, and Skyward Sword instantly spring to mind. Heck, even Ocarina of Time involved an invasion of the Sacred Realm!

[@iciclecold2991]

See, the comment threads of Zelda theory videos should be something Miyamoto checks on a regular basis...especially Zeltik and NintendoBlackCrisis

[@cancatervating]

or instead of the victim being uploaded to a database or anything, their body is simply ripped apart atom by atom, and Ganon gathers all the pieces of a monsters body back together on a blood moon.

[@elisibethjames7488]

Just putting it out there: the talk on what happens upon impact reminds me of the bomb rune, but on a more powerful scale.

[@aydenlivingston9661]

This video has blown my mind but still is the best example of what the ancient arrows are

[@tarobug2560]

When you brought up the streaks when the guardians fire their lasers I realized that they're not shooting from an internal source, and instead gathering ambient energy (thanks Bleach) and that's why shooting them in the eye with the ancient dagger arrows kills them. They can't pull ambient energy without their eyes. Big hm!

[@hawavelasco]

I think your theory makes a lot of sense. In the end, teleportation is basically the disassemble of particles so they can be re assembled in a different location. Ancient arrows seem to use only the disassemble part.