The Great Dark Skeleton Mystery! (Tears of The Kingdom)

[@HyruleGamer]

Correction on my part: I may have misunderstood the true definition of "immortal" my bad 😅

[@side-beeetaloniswolfwolfac4179]

How does this change your theory? Now that you know, the implications must be intriguing.

[@auravaury]

@@side-beeetaloniswolfwolfac4179 In biology inmortality is an organism that doesn't age, cancer for example are considered inmortal cells since they stop aging. But that doesn't mean they can't die, as you can kill cancer cells with chemotherapy. In brief, an inmortal organism in biology can die if it's killed externally, but not for aging. Such as cancer cells, jellyfish, crabs and lobsters.

[@stwbmc98]

You’re fine, there are some stories that include invincibility with immortality, and others that don’t, so there isn’t a set definition

[@luridcodex]

@@side-beeetaloniswolfwolfac4179 I am also curious for a short update on this, as three zonai dragons being punched to death is an interesting tale no matter how you spin it.

[@josuerafaelrompichedeleon2838]

The game actualy gintes you that you can kill a dragon 😅

[@ZeoViolet]

My theory: Those creatures are the true reason the act of Draconification is "forbidden". The three Elemental dragons flying around Hyrule each have a general purpose, even though I think they were originally Zonai. What I think is that at least three times, some evil fool swallowed a Secret Stone to be immortal, didn't realize the true cost, and went on a rampage. Heck, probably more than three times, which is why some dragon skeletons litter the surface, and these three are in the Depths. It is also probably why the Elemental dragons have returned to flying through the depths on occasion....because they had to venture down here before to battle some evil dragon that might have been immortal, but not indestructible. They may not have minds enough to remember doing it, but they remember they were down there before, for a very important reason, so they keep mindlessly returning, now that the depths are once again accessible by the surface.

[@jjtrujillo5673]

This is actually my theory also, but I think the secret stones are the leftover refined teeth of natural dragons who were killed. It's forbidden to ingest them because they are a manifestation of the power killed to create them

[@Talic518]

Ooo, I like that theory. That's a good one

[@ArtemisWasHere]

The dragon wars… I love these open ended mysteries, it gets everyone’s imagination racing and the result is cool stuff like this!

[@chickenfila379]

i honestly believe that the 3 elemental dragons are the physical incarnations of the 3 goddesses, especially because their names are so similar, and they have reincarnated to protect the land from evil, which is why they could move in and out of the cloud barrier in botw, when it still existed

[@ArtemisWasHere]

@@chickenfila379 the three dragons of skyward sword also have similar names to the goddesses, but are different entities

[@lnsflare1]

My uncle's a paleontologist, and he says that those are all just clearly the skeletons of perfectly normal bears.

[@3eyup]

👀😂

[@chrislevack405]

No bear is normal... they're all freak monsters of absolute terror and destruction

[@aspiringwayfarer]

Yea, that tracks

[@KiomonDuck]

Sounds legit. Tell ur totally real Paleontologist Uncle that we need more people like him teaching the people of the world about stuff.

[@lnsflare1]

@@chrislevack405 As my uncle always says, "when all bears are freak monsters of absolute terror and destruction, then none are; trust me, I'm a paleontologist."

[@jaxpool155]

considering we're able to obtain dragon parts (meaning the dragons can be marred), and kill ganondorf, even after draconification, i'm thinking mineru's account is more about not being able to die of old age.

[@chrisshorten4406]

Biological immortality.

[@FoxFireStarlight]

Yeah, immortality doesn't mean invincibility.

[@dimsufferer9951]

Like a lobster

[@Xahnel]

According to BotW, the dragon parts are blessings granted by the dragons. You can't injure the four, only the last one, and only because his evil corruption forms tumors on the otherwise holy transformation.

[@cato3277]

@@Xahnel something interesting I’ve noticed is the Demon Dragon goes completely stationary when it spews out miasma, and its red glows disappears until it regenerates and only THEN it can start flying again. Maybe the reason it’s able to be killed apart from other dragons is that it’s expending a lot of magical energy; it’s destructive nature is making it rip itself apart, which is why it’s back has these abscesses. If it had just flown away and didn’t engage Link and Zelda, it might have been successful in razing Hyrule.

[@TinyTurtleDuck]

“Immortal” commonly just means “won’t die of natural causes”, not “cannot be killed”. They could easily be dragons felled by some incredibly powerful enemy and not contradict the description

[@TyRDlive]

possibly the same hero from the tapestry 10 000 years ago????? If he is zonai, he must know about the secret stones and the dragons

[@petiteminish2863]

The game itself offers the best proof for this: Link kills the Demon Dragon

[@AbeM.]

In the Latin American Spanish version they’re described as “dragones perennes”, which is closer to saying they’ll live forever, unchanged, but it doesn’t really include the implication that they _can’t die_ at all.

[@Lego3400]

This. Link kills Dragondorf afterall.

[@luridcodex]

Nah man, You can definitely NEVER kill a secret stone dragon. Just ask Gannondorf. ...oh wait.

[@Joe-ik1ph]

In many works of fiction, immortal has been used to describe beings who don’t die from old age. The elves in The Lord of the Ring for example. But they can still be killed. So just because the dragons in TotK are immortal, doesn’t mean they can’t be killed. Demon Dragon was killed Link after all. So those three skeletons could have draconified people that were killed. They were probably evil because they are called Dark Skeletons.

[@atlas956]

or, possibly, the event that killed them was in some degree very tragic, or culturally significant? Maybe the Zonai or whoever else considered them cursed?

[@Mitarari]

Or changed during translation?

[@MrSuperleobros]

Fun fact: each dark skeleton houses a gloom spawn! Always wondered if it may be the early stages of ganondorf attempting to re-animate them through the gloom.

[@fionngallagher2754]

Could be the reason as to why the calamity kept on returning there could have been 5 skeletons but ganondorf used two to try and return but they failed

[@MrSuperleobros]

@@fionngallagher2754 I always saw malice in botw as basically a decayed/diluted version of gloom, as the small amounts sullied with water. While it's health effects were weakened to inflict non-permanent damage it still retained the ability to hijack technologies (e.g guardians and divine beasts). Gloom does the same thing as seen with the seized construct, which is why I reckon it's possible if given time the dark skeletons could have been possessed too.

[@aidanhammans9337]

@@MrSuperleobros this is funny, as Gloom has two major disadvantages compared to Malice. Presumably due to added water, Malice was a sludgy substance that could block paths and form spikes, with Link having a hard time walking through any of it. In comparison, Gloom is a thin layer that can be walked through at normal speed, and cannot be used to block paths. You see a lot more Gloom than Malice, but that surely has more to do with Ganondorf’s power than Gloom being any more efficient.

[@cato3277]

Someone lied to me and said that the dark skeletons were boss fights, I got so excited :[

[@cato3277]

@@aidanhammans9337gloom does have the major advantage of being gaseous and degenerative though. Malice just seems to be corrosive.

[@rolandswift4311]

It could be that the dragon's "immortality" is more akin to that of a phoenix. Their bodies can still die, but they just keep coming back to life afterwards.

[@Gigi4u]

Wasn't it with the dragons more like functional immortality. You will not age or wither with time but can still be killed like the spoiler Demon Dragon at the end of the game.

[@JacksonVoet]

Like Skips the Mighty from Regualr Show.

[@kevinchong5424]

Well, my uncles aren't paleontologists, so that's that. The spikes on the skeletons, or spinous processes, wouldn't stick out of whatever beasts those were. They're to small for that. I mean, we have those too and they make up about half of the length of a vertebra, and we don't have spikes coming out of our backs

[@Eliasthescumbag]

we do have ridges tho but ye i see what u mean xD i was thinking the same thing

[@forthehonorforge4840]

I'm an archaeologist cross training into paleontology. You are right, the spinous processes typically do not protrude through the skin. They are for attaching muscles and stabilizing mothion. Even with green iguanas, which have large protruding dorsal spikes, their spinous processes don't look unusually long. Take the sailfin lizard as a example wherein unusually long spinous processes do not protrude through the skin. Bison and Camelids are more examples but their spines are covered with a lot more biomass than the adore mentioned lizards.

[@vlionheart]

Anything I say will sound like a joke, but whatever. Paleonthologist here. The Eldin Leviathan skull has a distinct lack of a temporal fenestra (basically a hole behind the eye socket), which would either classify it as a close relative of turtles or early reptiles, depending on how this species evolved (we need Hyrule scientists to step up here). The Eldin depths skeleton on the other hand had one singular temporal fenestra, which would put him ironically in the synapsid group, so he is kind of related to mammals. Go figure. Okay, now I feel like finishing this analysis since the leviathans have very different morphologies. Depths skeletons are all identical. Gerudo Leviathan: One temporal fenestra, so also a synapsid. Hebra Leviathan: Very weird, seems to have a vestigial temporal fenestra. Maybe a new branch derived from Synapsida? Also, the skull is very similar to a whale skull. In conclusion, the Gerudo leviathan seems to be the closest relative to the depths skeletons. And I have several more questions but that's enough for now.

[@hoshigumo]

Do you think the stones in the eyes of the leviathans are scleral rings/bones? I know modern fish and some birds have them, but wasn’t sure if any mammalian ancestors besides terrestrial Synapsids had them.

[@JacksonVoet]

It makes sense that they have some mammalian traits. One of the ones on the Surface is The Wind Fish, and another is Levias, both far more evocative of cetaceans than reptiles.

[@StormsparkPegasus]

"Immortal" is commonly used to mean ageless. Meaning they won't ever age or die of natural causes, but can be killed. We killed Ganondorf on screen, so he obviously wasn't immortal.

[@John-bj1zx]

It's a shame people conflate "immortal" with "unkillable" too often.

[@javiervasquez625]

​@John-bj1zx People tend to be dumb hence the mistake.

[@TheDomis4]

what if every "layer" in TOTK represents one timeline. The lowest one represents the fallen timeline, the "neutral" one the heros legacy and the sky layer the "hero of winds" timeline. Resulting in truly combining the timelines

[@Lady_Cibo]

I like that theory!

[@Lady_Cibo]

I like that theory!

[@imogennorbury1123]

Thats an amazing theory

[@JacksonVoet]

I mean, maybe symbolically, but I think it might be more complicated than that. After all, The Depths is a lot like the flora and stone of the ocean floor, and in one timeline, there was a unique magical fish less sea that was used to seal evil, and killed many people. Coincidence!? Eh, probably, but it’s fun to think about.

[@sandyawesomeness9219]

Wooooooowww that’s gunna make gooood vid I hope he uses this theory

[@horse14t]

Minor nitpick but those "spikes" along the spines of the skeletons are actually attachment points for muscles. We to have similar "spikes" along our spines for our back muscles. The spikes on the top of the heads though like at 1:45 could be anchor points for spikes or some keratinous structure that was once there. Also something cool to note about the skull at 3:59 is that it appears to have 2 sets of jaw bones! Kind of like that of a moray eel though still clearly different as the secondary jaw seems to be attached to the main jaw bone. Perhaps the smaller, internal jaw once held a second row of teeth which would be pretty unique!

[@fallatiuso]

I wonder if maybe the skeletons aren't from dragons, like they suggest, but sea-serpents of some kind? Hyrule was once flooded after all. 🤔 And you _did_ mention one bearing similarity to a moray eel. Maybe there's some merit to that line of thought?

[@KahviNauta]

Thank you!! I was about to comment about the "spikes" not being spikes, glad to know someone else got there before me!

[@horse14t]

@@fallatiuso That's a really cool theory! Especially since we don't get to explore underwater too much in Zelda games!

[@Sam_T2000]

with all the enormous skeletons littered around Hyrule, it’s a shame there wasn’t a massive Stal-lord boss fight in the game 😑

[@ArtemisWasHere]

I had a whole concept drawn up for a malice infested dragon stalord, who would be the final guardian of the fragments of the master sword

[@Sam_T2000]

@@ArtemisWasHere - sounds dope! 👌 the Moldugas and Hinoxen and such are really cool, and I especially love the Tali… but it would’ve been awesome to have a few completely unique overworld bosses, like one for the land, one for the sky, and one for the Depths?

[@moonchild3143]

Stal-lord was my favorite boss in Twilight Princess

[@JacksonVoet]

The massive stal of one of those Giant Gorons, that has to be fought like fighting a divine beast.

[@Frankthegb]

@@moonchild3143 if it was your favourite you’d know how to type it right

[@user-wk3on9mt7f]

Immortal could refer to not dying from age/illness, etc. They could still be killed by injury.

[@ariana1042]

Im gald someone is talking about the even bigger skeletons, cause great skeletons can be explained but i wanna know who the BIG ones are

[@ryotodoryu8919]

Just like to say immortal does not mean invenerable. Immortal being will live forever yes but providing they dont sucome to injury, illness or toxants. Immortal beings can still die just not due to the passage of time as in growing old. They could be being who consumed the stones but were of a darker nature so the zoni put them down.

[@charlesmwolf]

right? people easily confuse immortal to mean more then it does all the time. also id like to point out that immortality does not prevent ailments that come alongside aging still, just that you will not die from aging. immortality is used as a curse in quite a few folklores

[@ianbutler24]

Immortal actually can mean invulnerable as well. Like all words it's up to how the user utilizes the word. An example of this is if something is biologically immortal, they won't age but still suffer from ailments and such. Immortal refers to never dying or decaying. This doesn't mean they won't suffer from other conditions like hunger, pain, and thirst.

[@joemccallister4883]

Like a jellyfish

[@treybrzezowski3259]

I'm personally fond of the theory that the 3 Dark Skeletons who were once Zonai (like the 3 Noble Spirit Dragons we know), who went down a darker path. These 3 were likely males compared to the 3 today being female if the size difference between the Light and Dark Dragons are anything to go off of; with the Light Dragon Zelda being the same size as the elemental Dragons, and the freaking MASSIVE Demon Dragon Gannon being roughly the same size as the Dark Skeletons. What if these three, upon eating their sacred stones, were consumed by the darkness in their hearts? And the reason they're dead now despite being "Immortal" is because they were felled by the Elemental Dragon Trio? We know that the Dragons _can_ be harmed (we chip their parts off all the time) and even killed if they take enough damage (See the Demon Dragon).

[@DarkAngelBluejay]

Being in the Depths, I kind of thought they might have been dragons, but more snake like as opposed to airborne like the Great Dragons. No arms or legs, slithering along through the depths.

[@tdl487]

This comment made me realize that there are no snake enemies in Zelda. Giant subterranean snakes that went extinct when the Zonia begun mining their home or when gloom started infecting the landscape.

[@madmoblin]

@@tdl487 there are snakes in most of the 2d games, but they’re just kinda normal oversized snakes like how the keese are just bats

[@derrickdaniels3955]

I think that could be the case because the dragons above ground have feet. Do the dragons of the Depths have feet?

[@HyruleGamer]

What do you think the Dark Skeletons were?

[@elloisefarrow7769]

get the vibe that the skelletone snoots are a bit too short to be like the Dragons we've seen

[@Defender1876]

i noticed you did not question about the dark skeletons having the wild set in them

[@lindabirkedal5183]

I am guessing that it was that they where draconified people and even though it is said that it makes you immortal but you kill Gannon in dragon form so that is proboly not true I think that it just makes you immortal to age and that the skeletons are slain draconified people

[@matthewvandyk7773]

I am thinking either Dragons or Serpent like creatures. Nintendo has used real life mythologies snd Religions before in Zelda Games. But the fact that the sky and depths seem to make me think about Heaven and Hell; makes me think Serpent for these skeletons. Serpents and used as a symbol for Satan in Jewish and Christian beliefs. But the fact thst the Leviathan could be seen as potentially Angelic, based on multiple factors; it honestly makes sense to make the anti Leviathan a Serpent.

[@undeadgentalmen]

Well, with the coincidence of dying in the same spot as the flying leviathans as to settlements over mining spots it is a spirit or energy bonding to that level/tier. I don't think they anti or dark version, rather that they deities of different era. Remember in Wind Waker old Hyrule was covered by the sea. Get where I coming from this? Essentially, they could be ancient sea serpents. With the WW koroks growing new land to cover over the sea, the waters receded and those deities passed, and possible theory of being complete skeletons was enough influence from the leviathans laid to rest. The era sea and sky leviathans were over and thus begin a new age era of dragons. You could say a "Dragon Age: Origins" ... ... ... I'll see myself out. Remember to tip your host and waiters.

[@ectosludge]

They're probably not unconditionally immortal, and can die if enough physical trauma is inflicted. Hence, Drago-Ganon getting his shit rocked up all Evangelion explosion ways.

[@gavintheshiba8304]

Ganondorf turned into a huge demon dragon, so perhaps these three dragons were also demon dragons?

[@darkdagger5237]

actually in the japanese version they called him a black dragon questwithaaron has a video on this this also means that ganon became a water dragon

[@GossipGeist]

9:36 - Lookin good! 😎 Great vid, man!

[@darkdagger5237]

LOL

[@guts60]

It’s fun to speculate about these sorts of things in games. I like to think that these skeletons are of dragons, ones even older than the 3 we see in BOTW/TOTK. I think that dragons made through draconification with secret stones are not actually immortal, but can eventually die of old age (we at least know they can be killed with means not natural). They simply live for so long that they seem immortal. Secret stones do appear to have a limit to their power, so it’s safe to assume that after long enough the dragons run out of the divine energy and die of “old age”. The depths is commonly patrolled by dragons. As soon as they reopened, the three dragons instinctively knew how to traverse the depths and immediately made consistent routes to follow. But why? Well, there are many animals IRL that have consistent migration patterns or territory patrol routes for different reasons. In this case, I believe the dragons patrol the depths because they know there safer and because it’s their burial grounds. One day, though after a very very long time, they will die and need a place for their bodies to rest and decay. The dragons are not intelligent whatsoever. They are about as intelligent as reptiles IRL: incredibly dumb. They would never do anything with a reason made from conscious thought, they would run off of instinct. Because the dragons have no need to hunt, eat, drink, or what have you, their brains haven’t needed to grow. They don’t need brainpower to survive. All they know is “fly in circles, go to depths, and fly into portals in BOTW”.

[@JacksonVoet]

The dragons actually do retain important urges form their past lives. Zelda is protect Link and Hyrule, Ganondorf is kill opposition and create darkness, and the three shrine dragons is to keep being attendants of the goddess fountains. And honestly, it’s more likely that immortal just means, can’t die of natural causes. After all, the dragon in Skyward Sword that got sick degraded into bones, but his soul was stuck in his skull.

[@ZeoViolet]

Okay, it is NOT COINCIDENCE that right after I was in the Depths just a few minutes ago and thinking, "I really want a video about the Great Dark Skeletons" a video for this pops up! WHAT SORCERY DID YOU DO?! XD

[@speedude0164]

A bit unrelated, but I noticed something a while back that I don't think I've seen anyone talk about. You can see Shrines of Light on the Great Plateau in the memory cutscenes, but they're in the locations of the Breath of the Wild Sheikah Shrines. In The Gerudo Assault, you can see one in the area where the Cryonis Shrine was originally, and in Tears of the Dragon, you see one at the Stasis Shrine's old location. I dunno if you've already covered this, but I'd love to hear your thoughts on it.

[@fallatiuso]

Maybe the ancient Sheikah used the light shrines as a basis of their own? 🤔 Or even based their technology on them? Imagine that.

[@Bad616]

I appreciate Hyrule Gamer being one of the few Zelda KZbinrs still making TOTK lore videos after everyone else kinda gave up on it ( for reason I definitely understand)

[@TobiTheKat]

Thank you so much for making such interesting videos! Most of the other zelda youtubers i follow have stopped uploading which is sad, but whenever i see any new content from you i get super hyped! your theories and analyses are always really cool and i love learning and seeing new ideas about games i love. thank you again for the amazing videos! ^^

[@spenserfarman3045]

If there could've been more public input on what should be added into the BOTW and TOTK games, then I think they should've had a major Stal boss created from a resurrected leviathan skeleton. It could be like a cursed bokoblin where some of its skin comes back but the rest of its body is covered by mutated masses of malice/gloom.

[@nur_teno]

10:45 "they're clearly slender noodle dragons." best zelda theory ever

[@rampagingpower]

We were able to kill Ganandorf even though he draconafied, this makes me think that dragons can be killed just not as easily as other beings. Maybe they were Zonai and were killed by other Zonai or killed each other and went back to their homes in hope of survival only to perish. This makes me think that Naydra, Dinraal, and Farosh have an idea what could happen if they go psycho. Since each dragon is in the same elemental area as those three maybe the Zonai had some sort of power over these elements of some sort as to why they keep appearing.

[@BOOXMOWO]

The Depths my beloved.♥ But yeah, the Dark Skeletons are colossal and serpentlike, but... not necessarily "dragons" of the deific kind we encounter in the game. Maybe there was a time when there was entire population of this species.

[@madisonlange7039]

I'm so glad you made a video on these dragons in the depths, they're something I am sooo curious about in TotK. I really think they are parallels of the dragons above ground too! The contrast could also be a result of Demise's curse or just a nice parallel that Nintendo added. Always love the content!

[@EcnavMC]

The dragons are immortal (as in, can’t die of old age), not invincible (as in, cannot be killed). Someone who’s invincible but not immortal will die of old age. Someone who’s immortal but not invincible could easily die from a stab wound.

[@picky9687]

The presence of these three skeletons in the depths means that there could have been mirrored (and possibly had mirrored in intent) of the great beings of the surface. Like, people wouldn’t have even known these huge and just as powerful beings dwelled beneath their feet. Chilling.

[@pateputkimies2176]

2:42 that one silver horoblin was like: who are you talking to?

[@nobleoxidation]

I feel like the conflation with the depths as the "evil" location because of how it is during TOTK takes away the nuance of how it used to be a place the Zonai were heavily involved and theoretically very present in. Plus the fact that the three sacred dragons travel through the depths during their cycles, I think the skeletons could still be related to Zonai-- but more in the way their architecture is designed, with serpent like dragons that lack arms and legs. The more squared off about, too, matches the square designs of (especially botw) Zonai reliefs as well. Additionally, after staring at the skulls for a long time and feeling they looked incredibly familiar, in struck with how similar to a Utahraptor skull they appear, especially with the 3-4 main cavities in the skull, slightly square appearance, and the way the jaw would fit in. The Depth's skull has more of a little dip in the nose than a raptor does, but maybe we're looking more toward ancient extinct animals for inspiration.

[@JacksonVoet]

The Depths are overtaken territory, but without the gloom infesting it, it might be peaceful.

[@verdantmistral442]

The Thunder Dragon in SS was "dead" and skeletal when you first find him, but heavily implied to still be "alive" based on the eyes. Its possible that immortality comes with the possibility of not being able to "die" even when the body is decayed.

[@Aladato]

We know the dragons don't die of old age (that we know of) and no dragon was ever reported dead in any circunstance (are leviathan remains actual dragons?). Does that mean they can't be killed? No. Draganon was killed in spectacular fashion. If we take the draconification method as absolute, we end up with at least 10 known secret stones (3 dragons, 4 sages, 2 zonai and 1 human). Maybe the dark skeletons also ate secret stones way back when times were darker and someone had to do some dragon killing to save Hyrule. Also, the current dragons do in fact visit the depths, so who knows if those were even evil. What really bothers me about the depths is its timeline of events, as in, were those dark skeletons already there when the Zonai were digging zonaite at max capacity?

[@michaelkaduck1915]

The Secret Stones curse people to become dragons, regardless of the nature of the person. This lines up with Ganondorf's death at the end of the game. For no matter how long he would have aged...he would be killed eventually. Perhaps for these ones, they died from injury, perhaps from a war long ago. The Depths have probably been around since before Skyward Sword, so who knows what these creatures are.

[@Cretaceous158]

According to some theories, the depths were just Hyrule from before Wind Waker.

[@Xzi-izx]

I suspect they are some individual who swallowed a secret stone to become a dragon. The game said becoming a dragon was irreversible, yet, Zelda was returned to her Hylian self after being one. So the part saying it was an irreversible was not true, maybe the Zonai only thought it was, at least up until the end of the game. It could always be a way to scare people off from swallowing a secret stone? The immortal part might also be wrong. Link defeated/killed Dragon Ganon at the end of the game, so not immortal. These dragon might not age or be able to die from old age but might still get killed? When it comes to the dragon bones in the depths, maybe the Zonai killed those who swallowed a secret stone for whatever reason?

[@twinrovasheikah5940]

My theory is- They are from way before breath of the wild. From wind waker when the land was full of magic water that only fish men and monsters could live in. Meaning those skeletons could have been from unseen Ganon minions. Biggest giveaway for me are the koroks. Because you see them in wind waker and then in breath of the wild connecting those time lines in a way.

[@burghleyimeanberdly6513]

small correction: only the Eldin skeleton is Levias, the Hebra one is the Wind Fish from Link's Awakening and the Gerudo skeleton is some other big fish/whale thing from another game

[@Keanine]

SPOILERS I do personally think that the skeletons are likely dragons from the draconification ritual. Despite the fact that they're "immortal" dragons, the Demon Dragon can be killed. I think the interpretation of immortal in this case is that they can't die of aging or illness, but they can still be forcefully killed

[@A-RonHubbard]

Wow wow... This is exactly the type of theory I'd wanted since the very beginning of the release! I think you forgot to mention that the Dark skeletons dwarf the great skeletons in size, which I found fascinating since I first discovered them. I'm not sure about the true definition of Immortal. I take that to mean a fleshly body that doesn't die. If you go beyond that, you're getting into reincarnation territory. "The Zelda cycle" may be finding a bottom, and on the way out of this bear market. But HG has always been making new highs. ☺️

[@DitosLounge]

The only things that kept coming to mibd for me was one you kill Gandorf in dragon form so they can be killed but also if you look back to skyward sword in lenaru the eletric dragon is dead on the present day yet when you revert tike back he comes back to life while his sibling dragons are still alive in the lresent day and they are all snakey like dragons as well

[@guts60]

It is wise to remember the difference between immortal and invincible. Immortal generally means that you cannot die of old age and natural causes, be it you aging infinitely or ceasing to age entirely. To be invincible means to be impervious to physical harm of any sort, sometimes to disease/illness and random ailments. A direct synonym of invincible is invulnerable, they mean the exact same thing technically though invulnerable is generally used to describe inanimate objects or solid protective material on an organism such as scales or shells. A being that is immortal and invincible can safely be called unkillable. It cannot be killed, unless you say that the rules do not apply to disease. However, they are not necessarily powerful. A truly all-powerful being would be invincible, immortal, and able to exert force that cannot be stopped. It is both the unstoppable force and immovable object.

[@guts60]

The leviathan heads are whale skulls, also with the giant fins/flipper skeletons. They were giant whales, no doubt, possibly from the flooded age of Wind Waker.

[@error8877]

Also a few more interesting things I want to point out: - immortal doesn't always mean unkillable. - the dragons we have now sometimes go underground for some reason. - The zonai knew how to become dragons, meaning someone did it before Zelda and Ganon, but the 3 dragons we see around Hyrule now are basically servants of the gods which makes me think they weren't normal people turned dragons.

[@aatired7307]

I think you're jumping to a conclusion when you say the snake skeletons have to be evil just because they are in the Depths. One interpretation of the Depths is that it is the sacred realm. The light roots directly correspond to all surface shrines, and light up the darkness. In the games, the sacred realm is good until it is infected by an outside evil. It seems presumptuous to say they are evil because they are located in the Depths. Maybe they died near each other because they were allies fighting something that killed them both.

[@demi-qs5zc]

i have to agree. farosh, naydra and dinraal all pass through the depths and in no way are they evil; it could easily be the same for the skeletal remains. i’ve also noticed that gloom hands tend to be found in historically important locations in hyrule (often military ruins), which makes me question why there’s gloom hands found in the skeletons. personally, i’d assume they were protectors of the depths (in whichever way it looked in the past) and kill by gloom, which i don’t think would be illogical seeing how it affected naydra!

[@aatired7307]

The living dragons are another good point I didn't think of. Based on the Light Dragons path, The repeated trail of the dragons appear to loop around places that were important to them, so they could watch over them. If the three original dragons have changed course to regularly watch the depths, it stands to reason they traveled around those areas in the old days before they were dragons. Are we about to say the three dragons are evil because they spent time in the depths as mortals?

[@theoaremevano3227]

Volvagia's idle animation just be sitting there jamming to some music while waiting around for Link to finally show up. XD

[@mossbugprincess]

what i think is really interesting is that volsvagia(sp?) and the skeleton skull we find in the depths seem to have the same kind of snout shape and the same lack of teeth (possibly having a sort of jaw bone plate function in a similar way) although the horns are obviously missing on the skulls. i dont think this actually proves anything but i like to think the species are in fact somehow linked or related, even if just in the art and design process

[@garylefebvre2456]

They were giant monitor lizards, land dragons like Komodo dragons, or massive snakes, like the Titanoboas, but bigger.

[@Марк-б4э]

It was so intresting to listen. Maybe, more little dragons wanted to find big bodies, so they wanted to do a chasm, but died while they did it.

[@doctorlion]

My uncle is a paleontologist who works for Nintendo, and he said those skeletons were Mario, Luigi, and Waluigi respectively. When asked about the presence of Wario, a grim look fell across his face before moving on to the next question

[@novustalks7525]

The zonai all became dragons and died. Mineru even hints at this and saying "I thought we could transcend time"

[@scienceisanart]

The "spikes" on the spines are Vertebral Processes, which are protrusions from the bone that provide a place for muscles to attatch to. We have them, giraffes have really long ones, it doesn't always appear visible on the living creature

[@wolfzend5964]

It could still be the Zonai Dragons. We see in the final battle that an "Immortal" Dragon like Ganondorf could be killed. So, by that logic, the dragon bones in the depths could've been Zonai Dragons that were killed and burried, though in hindsight development wise, they're probably just there to mirror the leviathan bones.

[@CaptainDoge1]

An idea I had for an underground part of TotK, which we now obviously know as the Depths, would’ve been a Land of the Leviathans. A massive play space similar to what we see in the final game but filled with ancient gargantuan leviathans of different species that are still alive and roaming. Many of the ancient bones and creatures’ remains we saw on the surface from Botw would’ve been present and alive down here. Some would’ve been docile while others, extremely hostile. There could’ve also been some pretty cool side quests with them. I think it would’ve given the Depths much more of an interesting hook while also justifying the extremely large play space with not much to actually do and discover.

[@NationX]

“Ganondorf turns into an immortal dragon” Yup, and got nuked a good 5 minutes later so… Plus we’ve seen the dragons seem to be pretty comfortable going down into the depths with the exception of Zelda, so that adds to the likelihood.

[@michaelplantarich3375]

I really hope that there's more info on the depths lore in later games, even if they don't come back to this hyrule. But the first thing I think of with these skeletons is the quote "As above, so below".

[@twilso12]

The thing about a creature the size of a leviathan is that when it dies, it has enough blood to fill a large lake and in a world where magic exists in powerful beings, I would assume that it would be magical blood which would sink all the way into the depths. That would create feeding hotspots for large powerful creatures underground albeit to drink it itself and to lure in prey that is drawn to it.

[@GMoDiLLa]

Can’t believe it’s been almost a year since this came out!

[@zeroknight1311]

So a while back, I saw a video which talked about the potiental origins of the Depths and how it connects to a Quest in Wind Waker. Since in WW the quest to water the saplings which gets planted by the Koroks has it confirmed that overtime, the small islands will all become one land mass. And in the Depths, we see what can be described as massive roots coming from the ceiling. Plus the plant life in the Depths seems almost aquatic in nature. Of course, this is only one possible origin. But it does explain some part of its existance.

[@wholesomemusic9]

In addition to the theory that those dragons were indeed draconified beings, maybe a hundred secret stones were made for the strongest of warriors to increase their powers to aid in battle; but, if they had fallen into the hands of enemies or if the wielder had gone rogue, they would draconify themselves which led to the rule of forbidding it. Therefore, I believe that there were people who had to hunt them down. Once a dragon is born out of malicious intent, they would have to be killed before further damage could be done. Perhaps that's why the three remaining dragons had formed because they had pure intents as keepers of the springs, especially since you supposedly lose "all sense of self" meaning personality, but had kept their goodness of heart. And the best way to fight a dragon is to be a dragon. Additionally, i think the reason that the skeletons may differ is that different races could have formed varying appearances of dragons. We only see the goat-like features of the present dragons resembling Zonai, a sleek and sharper face of Zelda/Hylian, and still a sleek but wider snout of Ganon/Gerudo. Zoras, Rito, and Gorons also got their hands on secret stones and could have turned into weirder shaped beasts. Perhaps at 3:40 , the skeleton doesn't have teeth because it was more beak-like similar to a Rito's. The one at 6:00 makes it appear to be plated at the top like how the Zoras have extra plating on the tops of their faces. We have yet to compare one to a Goron's structure, but I think the prior skeletons line up reasonably enough (plus Gorons are just so chill). In summary, the existence of numerous secret stones could have led to the temptations to become draconified, which resulted in a wide outbreak of destructive dragons. These creatures were strong and supposedly immortal, but it seems a dragon is best suited to defeat another dragon. The three dragons still alive (Farosh, Dinraal, and Nayru) were protectors who volunteered to defeat those rogue dragons as the forbidding of draconification was established. People from different races produced a variety of skeletal remains upon their defeat, which meant that many different skulls would not match up. There are so many iterations of dragons across the Zelda universe that not all of them can traced back to a specific skull, but it's nice to imagine what every creature would look as a dragon.

[@zane1790]

The Depths also mirror major changes to the surface, this is evident in the Dueling Peaks split being mirrored in the Depths and the Ancient Underground Fortress matching a wholly man made structure of the Akala Citadel. This could be due to tied fate, ie: if it happens on the surface to change the landscape, a mirrored event happens in the depths to match it. So when the surface leviathan's were cemented enough in the surface world as landmarks, creatures in the depths were born and/or died to match them. The Great Dark Skeletons could have just been created as a result of connected fate and really weren't very significant creatures themselves.

[@KarstenDB]

I could’ve sworn that they were just the bones continuing deeper underground. I didn’t think of them as separate skeletons.

[@Enemyguitar]

I think when Mineru says “to swallow a secret stone is to become an immortal dragon” she means functional immortality instead of the standard run of the mill immortality we are used to. I think she’s just trying to say that turning into a dragon makes you live for an extraordinarily long time, possibly near infinite, but since we can damage and kill Ganon by the end of the game it’s most certainly not immortality in the traditional sense. Either way I still love the theory, the environmental story telling in this game is amazing

[@dougkiphut1362]

Does anyone else see Molduga when they look at the big head and snout, with the giant eye sockets where Moldy's goofy googly eyes go? Maybe these are an earlier evolution, or even the same family line, as the Moldugas in Gerudo Desert.

[@coryhafer7285]

When the timeline split in three, there became 3 of the same leviathan. When the timelines were braided together again by the goddesses, there became 3 in one timeline and they died out. The ones in the depths are like the opposites which you describe and couldn't exist without the leviathans

[@TACtheDragonRider]

Hey, to support your theory, i suggest you count how many sacred stones were introduce to Hyrul and how many remained at the end of the game. I believe 13 sacred stones were originally brought down. 1 is destroyed and the other are owned by sages. You will find some stones are unaccounted and the amount missing is 5 (unless 3 were used for for dragonfication of the other 3 LIVING Dragons we know about). Plus the Draconification i think was alao described as a "sacrifice" so maybe some transformed themselves to battle some great demon and died due to wounds

[@CheekieCharlie]

The little "spikes" are something all spinal columns have technically: spinous processes are like a series of levers for our muscles and tendons. I dont doubt he had spikes, but a spiked spine doesnt mean that since we all have spikey spines

[@rgentum_201]

Having Twilight Princess music playing over scenes from the Depths made me think I'd enjoy being in the Depths a lot more if a similar style of music played instead of what we got. I have this idea that whatever the Eldin Dark Skeleton was might have been what made the Gorons abandon Gorondia and move to the surface. I also kind of doubt they lived purely in the Depths. With how barren the Depths are, unless they ate the vegetation down there, I don't think there was enough food to sustain them. I could probably going on for hours about this (but that applies to SO many things in totk).

[@GenMars]

my guess is that in order to recover a sacred stone once it's being gulped down, you gotta kill the dragon

[@shadowgamer-vq8fc]

I think I’ve got a mystery for you and this one is more so related to real life while also being Zelda related like why do so many people simultaneously know and don’t know what happened to Skyloft after skyward sword because those who do know figured out that Skyloft due to a lot of similarities resembles the great plateau not to mention Skyloft was pretty small of a sky Island and not very big even though it was the biggest in skyward sword but there could be potentially bigger sky Islands that weren’t featured in skyward sword but did exist during the time just not featured within the story

[@AuraLeafstorm]

"Immortal" doesn't necessarily mean unkillable. It usually just means "eternally youthful/unable to die via aging." So those skeletons very well might be immortal dragons that were killed, although their physiology definitely seems to differ from the five live examples we've seen.

[@GaiaLegendNL]

These dragons might have died because of the Malice/Gloom. We do know that the dragons touch the Depths by flying into the Chasms, chasing their light into the darkness. As we know the fossils of the Leviathans are references to the other dragons/creatures which we could also visit in Breath of The Wild, they are in a strange time period considering that Links Awakening happens in a different timeline. Now to go back to the fossils within the Depths, they seem to be the opposite fossils from the ones above, hinting at another *duality* idea like you mentioned. These fossils might just be strange placements from Nintendo as assets and such, however they did think about them because the areas we can find them in are named, we are ment to find them. They tell the story that the Depths are nothing but death, anything dead related is to be found in this underworld. Gerudo Graveyard, Spirit Temple, spirits and demons. Your idea was pretty cool about Volvagia, these fossils could be where Ganondorf managed to find and revive them. One mention though for you, you forgot the Skyward Sword fossil in the Earth Temple boss room! That dungeon/temple has a lot of dragon references.

[@noladavis5085]

I have just started another play through and thanks to your lore videos I'm enjoying it more than and paying attention to things. Also my Dad's a Forensic Scientist and he just gave me a look when I asked about the skeletons and said 'they're definitely not human remains'. So an expert in crime scenes has confirmed they're definitely not human. I would post this amazing information on Reddit, but I don't go on Reddit as I value what little sanity I have left.

[@JetLagRecords]

Hyrule Gamer, Your videos always make me happy, so I subscribed!

[@gabrielryan-leon832]

Maybe because we see pieces of the hero of the wild’s armor set, maybe the idea is this is one of link’s ancestors who was possibly a dragon slayer in his time if we follow the evil dragon theory

[@Mari_Izu]

8:30 Is not like the series is consistent with monster sizes and proportions.

[@sodaah_shark]

mysterious depths bones: the meaner, weird cousins of the leviathans who lived in another city, which you know exist, but you've never actually met them.

[@SvanEsch123]

My first thought was that they looked similar to the Hylian dragons roaming Hyrule. I don’t necessarily believe immortal means unkillable, especially when thinking about how dangerous malice is in these games. Maybe they were previous elemental dragons (a previous reincarnation, or maybe a wind and earth version or something), and they were attacked and infected by malice and this is how they met their end.

[@andrewluce69420]

The demon dragon was killed at the end of totk, I assume these dragons were probably defeated similarly. They’re also massive compared to the 3 main dragons, and similar in size to the demon dragon, so maybe there was a need to kill them to restore peace. Which also resulted in draconification being forbidden, to prevent any other evil dragons from appearing (since they’re probably very difficult to kill)

[@DeusVultGames]

They're remains from a REALLY weird crossover episode where Gannondorf inherited the powers of the founding titan.

[@astroneer7117]

You think maybe they are the creatures from the logo? Or old dragons that died?

[@skulldrac0]

The three dark skeletons pose an incredibly interesting conundrum for the game. On the technical side, they were just fun easter eggs thrown in for fun to fill a baren landscape. It makes sense to find them under the leviathans, as with every overworld detail has /something/ in the depths for fun. But concidering in-game consequences is the fun part. The fact their skeletons are fairly close to 100% present complete means their deaths weren't really that violent. And being still together while going so far as to defy gravity suggests whatever they were, they like the leviathans, left relatively alone after death. Nothing's really scavenged them or the remains would be dispursed. So i gotta wondered why? Circling back to game design, i know the answer is the "Aesthetics" of a standing skeleton. But in game, what keeps them standing? Is it connected to the lack of post-mortem scavenging? If they're older then the Leviathans, what killed them and why did the leviathans die above them? If they were dragons, where are the legs? The leviathans clearly held onto their limbs so why wouldn't the dark skeletons? I think about these often

[@sleepyc9129]

My theory is that these skeletons were once serpents that roamed Ancient Hyrule, but due to either powerful hunters or lack of food, some burrowed to the depths in search of life. However they could not get back up to the surface and started to die off in the depths. This doesn't quite explain their positioning in the depths but maybe we can just chalk it up to coincidence.

[@irlRAT3000]

I think that because the depths is an exact mirror there may have been a nesting ground of sorts at these locations where they went for the end of there life’s which was mirrored below.

[@agentoregon7212]

idk if you do it on purpose or if its just so firmly cemented into your dialect that its subconscious, but i love when you call things "wee" in the intro of your videos!!

[@Mari_Izu]

TotK confirmed the camp skulls aren't made of rock, as some camps are close to caverns and we could see that below them we have ribcages and backbones.

[@Pomshka]

"As above, so below".

[@jacintacapelety9600]

I do have an *idea* regarding the dark skeletons. Admittedly it's not a well supported idea, but hey, what theory *is* well supported when dealing with these things? And even if it's not a true idea, it's still a fun one that I think is worth sharing. My idea mainly comes from two details we see in game (major spoilers for anyone who hasn't reached the end of the game). Detail 1: Ganondorf's dragon form is killed. This shows us that, while dragons created from secret stones are immortal in the sense of having a never ending life span, they're not immortal in the sense of being unkillable (although due to only having one point of reference, it's possible you have to be capable of reaching the secret stone and destroying it in order to kill one, but that's a little up in the air due to, as previously mentioned, only having Ganondorf as a point of reference). Detail 2: The skeletons have patches on gloom on parts of the bones. We don't know how long the gloom in the depths has been where it is, we just know that it started reaching the surface some time between the end of BotW and the beginning of TotK. Considering the depths was sealed off from the surface prior to the upheaval, the creatures that the skeletons used to be probably lived in the depths, and if we assume Ganondorf was able to spread the gloom through the depths significantly sooner than he was able to spread it to the surface, the creatures that the skeletons used to be might very well have gotten exposed to it (and based on a theory I saw some time ago, I don't remember where, it seems likely that the purpose of the gloom is to drain life energy of creatures across hyrule in order to revitalize Ganondorf). So here's my idea; what if the skeletons *were* dragons created by secret stones, but, being creatures of "eternal life", they were prime targets for Ganondorf's gloom to siphon life from, and so they ended up getting exposed to the gloom and ultimately being killed by Ganondorf who siphoned away their vitality to keep himself alive during his imprisonment. Like I said, it's not a particularly strong theory, but I think it's fun enough to be worth considering, and not entirely implausible.

[@Ivaknight]

I know it’s a boring not lore dive answer but I think the dark skeletons are directly underneath the leviathan skeletons so that the player can easily locate the special armour set that you find at each one. When you find 2 (or even one if you’re super smart and take a guess) you realise there’s a pattern and if you know where the leviathans are from botw you immediately know where to look for the rest of the set.

[@scifriskyxy]

The underground is said to have been underwater at some point. These could also be sea dragons or sea serpents

[@DarkLordTalon]

The problem I always have with the Levias connection in these things is the fact that he and the dragons of SS times were also immortal, so while we know they can be killed, the doing it part is always hard to do except for being done by people like Demise and his incarnations. The idea of just six or more of these colossal beasts being felled with no idea as how is always just odd to me. Since those scenarios would likely become legends themselves. Beyond that all of them should still be alive if they really were like Levias

[@skchabauzinha7118]

If I recall well, in BotW, the elemental dragons are referred to as spirits. Maybe these skeletons are their physical bodies, and maybe, by immortality, what Mineru means that one's spirit will linger even long after their bodies have decayed. Which would be pretty good news for Ganondorf lol

[@RaidFiftyOne]

Another thing to point out is that there is a gloom spawn under each one, so I am pretty sure they were evil/dark. Also the Demon dragon was defeated after eating a secret stone, so I imagine it takes a minute for the immortality to kick in. Also we can almost garantee either they or the three main dragons ate the stones as how else would they know they lose themselves? So knowing this here is what I think happened: The Zonia had 10 stones at fist being gifted by Nayru, Dinrall, and Farosh. One Zonia was researching a stone to understand them and decided to eat one.. They transformed into a dragon and lost his way, becoming evil. The Zonia defeated them and ether A. defeated them in the depths or B. threw the body into the depths. The act was forbidden until eventually 2 power hungry Zonia came along and ate stones to take over. The Zonia beat them (maybe with the help of the three dragons) and were left with 7 secret stones. Then the events of the game. Here are reasons I believe it happened this way: 1. For the researcher, I believe i happened this way as the Zonia knew he as good before and realized he lost himself. 2. I believe the three in the depths ate the stones because as he said the Zonia worship dragons and A. Whywould you worship something evil and B. the Zonia don't seem like the to kill dragons unecicerialy 3. Again, there is gloom under the skeletons implying they were evil

[@Enjoyer.762]

There's no evidence they are former Zonai. They're in the depths. It's gonna have gloom.

[@TheHitsubasa]

I’m really thinking they were former, more ancient iterations of the “modern” dragon spirits we see now. I know another theory was that the dragon spirits may have been priestesses of the Goddesses, so maybe it’s related in a way.

[@GeminiRandom56]

I’ve been waiting for this one