The Missing People of Ocarina of Time - A Zelda Mystery

[@MonsterMaze]

Have great week everyone! Also, give it up for Gunondorf 👉

[@n1nj4l1nk]

Where/how did you get that map at 2:24? It looks cool af.

[@gaelonhays1712]

I *_really_* don't know how to respond to Gunondorf. You got a laugh, though.

[@MonsterMaze]

@@n1nj4l1nk Oh yeah! I should probably put a link to that in the description. Thanks for reminding me ^^

[@n1nj4l1nk]

​@@MonsterMazenice, thanks for the update. I just went and checked it out and I love the style of it.

[@ganonfan]

As one of the biggest fans of Ganondorf in the entire community, I give my seal of approval to Gunondorf! 🤘

[@Warrior-Of-Virtue]

The way the soldier talks about his knowledge of ghosts being useful one day makes it sound like he knew what was coming. Maybe he had already turned his coat long before Link began his quest.

[@javiervasquez625]

Nabooru does mention to Link that Ganondorf had "followers" who served him. Could that guard be one of such followers?

[@kurenian]

Underrated comment.

[@simonjiha3434]

Well, somebody had to lower the drawbridge to let Ganondorf escape with Zelda-

[@anotterwithaphone3077]

​@@simonjiha3434 Impa.. Impa escaped with Zelda.. Ganondorf was giving chase... Till he saw Link.

[@glidershower]

I think he simply adored chaos, maybe tired of the monotone life of a royal soldier. I would even venture to say he dabbled in magic and sorceries by the time Zelda went into hiding and Hyrule fell, giving him an extra edge during the collapse, and feels thankful to Ganondorf for unintentionally making the world more akin his own vision. I mean, if he was working under Ganondorf, why would he even help you? _Even Ingo did more than him to try to stop you._

[@CZsWorld]

I feel like the fact that the graveyard boy's entire family disappeared suggests that they all fled Hyrule together.

[@JuwanBuchanan]

Probably and since we know other lands and kingdoms exist beyond Hyrule it wouldn’t be too far fetch to suggest that some inhabitants of Hyrule just simply fled to get away from Ganondorf as far as they could.

[@Thor-Orion]

I think the evidence supports that hypothesis, although it’s certainly not conclusive.

[@amf198]

Apparently the graveyard boys father goes missing, and the boy gets lost in the lost woods looking for him, and then turns into a skullkid.. I don't know what happened to the mother though lol. Source is a Japanese magazine that interviewed Yoshiaka Koizumi. It was translated to english by a channel that frequents OOT facts. I can reply the title of the vid if someone wants. It was posted like 1 year ago by " Looygi Bros. ".

[@TheRealDoctor1AndOnly]

AWW NO WAY CZ, love your videos bro, glad to see you enjoy good games as well as movies 😂🤘🏻

[@nickynegron3515]

I'm more surprised to see CZ here on a Zelda video, but now I want them both collaborating on a spooky Zelda theory for spooky season

[@kurenian]

I’m continually amazed by OOT being able to tell its story in the 90s. Also I always thought as a kid that the missing ppl became the redeads.

[@QuesoCookies]

I'm fairly certain that's what you're supposed to understand. The square full of people are still there, just not the way they were before. Just because you can't account for all of them doesn't mean you should ignore the obvious parallel.

[@Schwarzorn]

@@kurenian Makes sense. There's a lot of being cursed into a monstous form in this game. The Stalfoses and Stalbabies (NoA: Stalchildren) are Hylians. And the Stalkids (NoA: Skull Kids) are Kokiries. And the rich family in Kakariko village became Staltulas (NoA: Skulltulas). I think ReDeads are Hylians that died and were brought back as zombie-like monsters. The Stal-type monsters seems to be...from living Hylians and Kokiries? They LOOK dead, and maybe they are, but if so, they probably became that when they died. Unlike dying normally and then being revived.

[@gabbzziiee]

I misread that as redheads 😭

[@rickyi3523]

My headcanon as a kid was that the lady in the yellow and blue dress is actually a disguised Gerudo. Not much evidence, but one of the Gossip Stones mentions that Gerudo women will sometimes go to Castle Town looking for boyfriends. I ran around with the Gerudo Mask looking for any interesting reactions and the yellow/blue dress lady comments something along the lines of finding it funny/charming to see Link wearing it. That and the fact that she's "dancing" right across from a man in town made me think that she was one of the aforementioned single Gerudos in town. I like to think she's alive somewhere in Gerudo Fortress in the future.

[@SeaLight-r7k]

Nice story line

[@Kokally]

You have 11 dead souls to account for, and 10 big poes to collect as Adult Link. Where's the 11th one? In the Gerudo Wasteland, leading Adult Link to the Spirit Temple.

[@strawberrymins]

OOOOOOFFF that hit

[@javiervasquez625]

Why go there though? You would expect the Big Poe to hang out alongside it's brethren in Hyrule Field.

[@tvb5509]

Considering they only appear while on horseback, they might exist before the takeover.

[@tvb5509]

I'm not sure about the wasteland guide. Can you access that area in the past? If so, the sign introducing it might also be there to prove its existence.

[@Leeloo-Foxx]

@@tvb5509 the sign is there in the past too, its possible to get there in the past if you know how to run the path in reverse

[@Roonifer]

In an April 1999 interview with Ocarina of Time’s development staff, 64Dream Magazine actually asked what happened to Graveyard Boy. Yoshiaki Koizumi tells us that, unfortunately, 5 years after he encounters Link (which would make the boy 8 years old, apparently) he chooses to investigate the disappearance of his father. This leads him to the Lost Woods, where Koizumi states the boy transformed into a Skull Kid, and once Link encountered him, the boy simply attacked Link due to Skull Kids’ infamous distrust for adults.

[@dedbatt8869]

Do you think they had details like this for all the characters but didn’t include it all, he could’ve made this up on the spot

[@Roonifer]

​@@dedbatt8869 Tôru Ôsawa was also present during the interview. He was Ocarina of Time's script designer and director. While it's all possible that the information could have been made up on the spot, it's still worth considering seeing as the man who wrote the game's story was among the developers present and was answering lore-based questions as well. (What happened to Grog, if Ruto's mother is alive, what the Poe Sisters' story is, why the Kokiri are present outside of the forest, whether or not there are female Gorons and how the Gerudo reproduce were all touched upon in the interview.)

[@Andoser]

Regarding the "Ganondorf's men" bit, that was indeed a translation choice. It is meant to convey that Ganondorf had something of a corps supporting his coup attempt, but the Japanese does not specifically indicate they were male. It just means he had a force of accomplices

[@darthpaul99]

Yeah, I see it as his monsters are his “men.”

[@handsoaphandsoap]

I think it’s just a royal “men”, as in his underlings or allies. “Men” isn’t always gender exclusive, it just depends on the context.

[@ryanb2633]

Men is just a general group term in this case.

[@moddedpan4252]

I interpret "men" in this case to just be a catch-all term for everything and everyone fighting for ganondorf. This includes a whole lot of monsters, some gerudo soldiers, and maybe even some traitorous hylians we simply did not see. Ingo likely wasn't the only hylian trying to gain favor with ganon

[@JimMilton-ej6zi]

Men is gender neutral when used as a general term, that's why you can say "you guys" to a bunch of women and it will still be okay. That's why you can call a woman a "repairmam". A lot of people didn't pay attention to English class.

[@QuasarEE]

That Ganon had accomplices in his effort is an old detail that was coherent with A Link to the Past, where it says that once his "band of thieves" reached the Sacred Realm, he vanquished his own followers and, "with blood-stained hands," grasped the Triforce. Helps to explain why there's no love between him and the remaining Gerudo in the future I think. I wonder if some of them were traitorous Hylians as well, promised a share in the power that they would never actually see.

[@lasercraft32]

1:11 "Especially when you realize not everyone made it out alive." *cheerful music playing in the background*

[@S2ATunes]

I was like "NOOOOO RICHARD" and then you said he most likely lived a long and happy pupper life

[@citronsaley]

when you watch closely at 12:28 you can see his stuffed corpse on the left 😭😭😭

[@TheFriskySquid]

I always thought the redeads were the missing people. It kind of makes sense, plus they are usually found where the dead reside. I don't really think that Ganondorf would invade with an army of slow moving redeads.

[@homerman76]

It's also important to note that those Redead will crowd around any that you kill, almost as if they're mourning those that "die," though they could also be planning to eat the dead ones, hard to really say, but the former makes more sense since they just stand and stare.

[@luciuseclipse]

the soldier who mentions Ganon's "men" could also just be using "men" to refer to Ganon's soldiers in general and not meaning to imply male soldiers specifically.

[@EntertainMeTV]

Ganon’s yaoi harem is now canon I guess 🤷‍♂️

[@JeffreydeKogel]

As a fellow Dutchie, I couldn't help but snicker at you saying "Screw the monarchy" while showing a picture of Willem Alexander and Maxima. Love your videos man! Groetjes!

[@maximus7109]

Came here to say just that.

[@Demanufactur3r]

Same!

[@AdventureRuben]

Haha, ook echt die foto erbij 😂😂

[@Little-Dude]

You attempting to "age up" the graveyard kid gave me a chuckle, lol.

[@elchikoriko592]

About the whole “Ganondorf’s men’ thing that starts at about 8:00 - “Men” could be a reference to the soldiers and armaments not the actual sex or gender of the people participating. People usually refer to how many men are on their side when talking about war which is exactly what’s about to start here.

[@ericpeterson6520]

9:15 Either way, there was definitely a band of Gerudo who remained loyal to Nabooru and opposed Ganondorf the whole time, so we can just assume the Hylians are mature enough to know that the entire race isn't their enemy

[@SupremeCaptainHWD]

Only for so long. Some of the Gerudo in the child timeline eventually attack Hyrule in retaliation for their imprisonment of Ganondorf, resulting in their entire race getting genocided.

[@overwatchtheater8165]

Huh? This never happens lol​@@SupremeCaptainHWD

[@Szriko]

I'm just saying... Gerudo only account for 13% of the population, but 80% of the crime and villainy. At some point you have to realize it really is just that they're naturally like that.

[@rtyuik7]

6:00(ish) - my headcanon says that Returning to Childhood puts you at the same point in the timeline as the ZeldaEscape cutscene (where she tosses you the Ocarina)...by pulling the Sword, you allow time to move forward, and Ganondorf continues his attack after losing Impa's horse...but by putting the Sword back, time reverses to where Ganondorf is still chasing the fleeing princess and her protector... there's only a few minutes' window, if anything, between "pre-Swordpull Child" and "Returned Child", as the Market NPCs still talk about 'that white horse' after putting the Master Sword back, but theres One NPC who is only available BEFORE you pull the Sword for the first time (but after seeing the OoT Cutscene)-- the Back Alley Guard that dies after speaking to Link...he obviously isnt anywhere in the Adult version of Hyrule, but his corpse is also cleared out when going back to the Child era... so thats what ive got-- placing the Master Sword back in its Pedestal returns Link to a point in time where Ganondorf has Started his attack (perhaps already taking the King's life, now focusing on the king's Bloodline)...trying to visit Zelda in her Courtyard is now impossible, as theyve added 'guaranteed-catch' guards to the area where the Crawlspace leads to, but also because Zelda is no longer in her Courtyard to meet-- she's fleeing on Impa's horse, trying to shake Ganondorf so she can become Sheik... ...meanwhile, Link's playing the Treasure Shop game, with the Lens of Truth he found after playing a song he hadnt learned yet from the guy he taught it to...wibbly-wobbly timey-wimey whatever...

[@feenickstv4209]

In an old interview it was said that the graveyard boy wandered into the lost woods and became a skull kid...

[@PsychicStones]

I’ve always found the celebration at the ranch so eerie. Obviously the game has a limited amount of models, but it still feels so… empty. It really gives off the impression that these few dozen people are all that’s left after only seven years under Gannon.

[@ZakMcallister]

10:23 “because most of the other races look exactly the same” sounds like something my grandpa would say

[@MonsterMaze]

Oh man... I knew I would catch flak for this haha

[@ZakMcallister]

@@MonsterMaze Joking obv! (Not about my grandpa) great vid

[@TransformersBoss]

“It's true you don't see many Goron-women. And in fact, they are so alike in voice and appearance, that they are often mistaken for Goron-men, and this in turn has given rise to the belief that there are no Goron-women, and that Gorons just spring out of holes in the ground! Which is, of course, ridiculous.”

[@RobbWes]

​@@TransformersBoss where is that from? Also I'm pretty sure that the gorons are a single gender race.

[@TransformersBoss]

@@RobbWes it’s repurposed dialogue from Gimli, son of Gloin, in The Two Towers

[@QuesoCookies]

I think I've always found it strange that the bad guys would want to destroy the world and rule over chaos. Like, what is Ganondorf getting out of this? He just sits in his castle and plays the organ all day? Where is his food coming from? Does he have law enforcement in Kakariko making sure the economy is still functioning? Where did he get the money to build a new castle, and who built it for him? I know he's supposed to be "evil" but what is the point? Just because you're evil it means you can't be rational? You want a strong and thriving kingdom because that's where your actual power comes from. Burn it all down and you're not a ruler, you're a nobody with nothing.

[@bummedmachinist7483]

Asking the real questions! ... Although I hear he did strike a sick deal with a rancher, so I guess that's still around

[@rebellemuria]

I think there's an interesting combination of Wind Waker lore and Skyward Sword lore that might explain Ganondorf. I don't think he comes from a culture with much interest in the rule of law beyond immediate survival. Then you have his whole speech in Windwaker about how he felt like the Gerudo were always deprived and he resented that other lands had more resources, but I'm not sure he's that interested in returning those resources to the Gerudo more than just expressing spite towards Hylians. However, I think also we have the information that Ganondorf is also a reincarnated king of demons, a powerful dark sorceror, who seems to be able to either use his own dark power to conjure monsters and resources into existence, or will it into existence with his piece of the triforce. I think he has a sort of loyalty to his monster forces and sees them as symbolic what he thinks the world and Hyrule should be, which probably is a hold over from his past life when he was the demon king. He's sort of the living embodiment of the darkness prior to the golden goddesses (and at some point Hylia) showing up and bringing about existence and light.

[@QuesoCookies]

@@rebellemuria Okay, but you can't be an anarchist and also a communist or want to return resources to your people and also build yourself a giant castle you live in alone. And it never makes sense for forces of darkness, death, chaos, or the void to be living, ordered, corporeal beings. Their existence and their persistence of it flies in the face of their philosophy. They should want to erase themselves as much as they want to erase everything else. Just making everything look the way they want it to look is exactly what the "forces of light" are doing just goth themed.

[@isaic.4339]

“Surprisingly, the Triforce created this world to fulfill Ganon's wish. What is Ganon's wish, you ask? It is to rule the entire cosmos! Don't you think it might be possible with the power of the Triforce behind you?” - Dark World Tree (ALttP) Ganondorf was never that interested in ruling Hyrule, he's an ambitious, power hungry mortal who wants to obtain godhood through the Triforce.

[@alphiekent2399]

Ive always stood by the idea that it depends on the timeline for some of the npcs, particularly the graveyard boy and his family.

[@Demokirby]

Nitpick, there is 3 soldiers at Kakariko Village, one is up by Impa's house.

[@Tonberry2k]

I think the ReDeads are definitely connected to some of the missing characters.

[@BrentJones-g2x]

Please make more vids. These get me through work when I pop an earbud in. Makes it so much more enjoyable. Could listen to you theorize this series all day

[@DracoHandsome]

In April 1999, JP magazine 64 Dream did an OoT interview and specifically brought up the graveyard kid. Rough translation from Reddit: Q: Where did the little stalker in the graveyard go when you were in your [adult] time? Koizumi: Five years later, when he was eight years old, he wandered into the Lost Woods in search of his missing father and got lost. At that time, he became a Skull Kid. Skull Kids don’t talk to adults, so when he encountered adult Link, he just attacked him and didn't ask him what happened to him.

[@ChuyR.]

i do remember this and being sad about it, man this game was dark af.

[@jonatanmonsalve11]

I'd say the remaining people of Castle Town are indeed alive because the blob of people that's in front of the tent in Castle Town was used three times during the party cutscene, which means there were three blobs of unidentified people in the party when there was only one in Castle Town. Those other two blobs of unidentified people could be the remaining survivors of Castle Town that are still in Hyrule, just all in the same place instead of being separated

[@JackSpadeTaylor]

I’m awaiting for the spin off of Mario with a Shotgun: Ganondorf with an AKM

[@IamCanadian3333]

So fun fact, there was an interview with the OOT devs in Japan shortly after it's release (in a magazine called 64Dream, similar to Nintendo Power) where they were asked a bunch of questions with regards to some of the game's side-lore. And one of the questions that came up was what happened to the Graveyard Kid during the 7-year-gap and why he wasn't present in the "Adult era." So about 5 years after Link pulled the Master Sword, the kid's father (presumably the Death Mountain Trail guard) went missing in the Lost Woods and the Graveyard Kid went there to look for him but got lost and became a Skull Kid (which further disprove the "Graveyard Kid = Poe Collector" theory). And they further insinuated that he may have been one of the Skull Kids that attacked Adult Link in the Lost Woods (fun fact: they are also "killable" at this point so it is actually possible to actually "kill" this kid when he's apparently a Skull Kid o_O ). This also seems to imply that his father becomes a Stalfos and might actually be one of the Stalfos fought (and killed) in the Forest Temple. Apparently, in that same interview, it was stated that after the Carpenter's son becomes a Stalfos, he goes to live in the Forest Temple. (Maybe, since the cucco-chasing little girl seems to be friends with the graveyard kid, she joined him to help search for his father, and similarly also became a Skull Kid...maybe the 2 Skull Kids we see in the Lost Woods on the double-tree stump are them...:O ...Yeah a bit of headcanon on my part, but fun to speculate. ) Pretty dark indeed, especially considering it's entirely possible we killed both of them (though what happens to his mother goes unanswered...maybe she eventually just sadly passed away, having lost the will to live, losing both her son and her husband). Also, fun fact: when Death Mountain erupts after defeating Volvagia, there is a brief cutscene showing this from the view of Kakariko Village (namely from the perspective of the man sitting on one of the rooftops). Now, if you managed to hack the game and look around the village while this is going on, there are various npcs present in the village just chilling there, that aren't actually there when Link ever goes there, and aren't even seen at the end of the game at the Lon Lon Ranch celebration. Search the "Ghosts in Kakariko Village" video. Creepy stuff indeed

[@boigeorge1149]

Source?

[@JuwanBuchanan]

@@boigeorge1149Google is your friend. Look up Graveyard kid 64 dream interview. Not that hard to find

[@Jaded_Canadian]

I wonder if the father went to the forest temple to find Link? No one would have known he went to the temple of time and the forest temple must of had some importance to the royal family. With the Forest Temple being corrupt I can see it calling Stalfos to it.

[@michaelabbamondi8892]

@@boigeorge1149 their Dad works at Nintendo

[@JerseyWolf]

The Forest temple DOES look like it used to be the kind of place that would have a weapons cache in it, almost like a stronghold against invading forces. It would make some sense for the soldier to know about it, without knowing it's true purpose.

[@HMMadsen]

Content: Talking about people who disappeared and may have died during Ganondorf's takeover of Hyrule Music: Happy upbeat New Donk City theme

[@Pheebeee_]

I often believe that the little boy's family did escape... AFTER the guard was killed trying to protect Hyrule. With Ganon attacking it's no doubt all soilders would be summoned to the castle town as re-enforcments.

[@ChapC_YT]

They all died DON... ALL OF THEM 😭

[@MonsterMaze]

YeeeeEEEeep! All dead

[@Schwarzorn]

I found out that Koume is pronounced koh-OO-mehy, matching koh-TAH-kehy. Spelling them in my head as Ko-také and Ko-umé helps. Their names mean Little Bamboo and Little Plum. Cutesy names for witches, but they come from a Japanese novel with twin witches. Maybe they weren't evil, tho.

[@complain9269]

I heard from a different video, I don’t know which, that the developers or someone at Nintendo said The Graveyard Boy wandered into the Lost Woods and became a Skullkid or something. I really wish I knew which video I watched or any of the proof or something, but it makes sense for something so dark to happen to such an innocent character.

[@snoozepooze2171]

Maybe Ganondorf’s “men” could be referring to iron knuckles?

[@JJAB91]

I also wanna know what the text says in the original Japanese. When you argue over minute grammar such as this then making sure you're reading the original language correctly is paramount.

[@cheesykatie]

@@JJAB91 It says 私はガノンドロフの追っ手を食い止めていたのだが… the part translated "Ganondorf's men" being ガノンドロフの (Ganondorf's) 追っ手 ("otte", in this context "followers" or "posse"). "Ganondorf's women" unfortunately might connote something very different than "Ganondorf's men," so I actually think the translators did fine here... it sounds like how a soldier would refer to an armed group accompanying a leader. They could have said "soldiers," maybe, but "men" makes it sound less official to me, while not sounding as silly as "posse" or as vague as "followers."

[@JaidynReiman]

The problem with your argument regarding the Gerudo is that they have not disavowed Ganondorf. Most of them call him "the great Ganondorf". It is only Nabooru specifically who called him an evil man. Nabooru being brainwashed might be what led to her becoming second in command though. Nabooru being brainwashed may have kept the other Gerudo in line to follow Ganondorf.

[@feitme]

Great could just mean overwhelming and powerful, calling him great doesn't necessarily mean it's a happy endorsement.

[@williamsfan9237]

@@feitmeor maybe some of them were being sarcastic.

[@ashleyblack7419]

there is one major thing that speaks against people dying in Kakariko, the amount of graves only went up by 1 which is dampé which means the people who have died all became casualties. The others made it to other regions of hyrule, most likely regions we don't see in OOT or even left hyrule. As Twilight princess suggests there's many regions that are not directly accessible but they do exist.

[@Mike.Knight69]

I always assumed the redeads in the castle town were the missing civilians, and anyone else who wasn’t seen again was clearly killed in the destruction of hyrule castle. Possible executions were implemented to keep everyone in check. Oot was a dark mature game especially with the bloody torture racks under the well and shadow temple

[@Bad616]

Glad to see Monster Maze upload after TOTK it seems like a lot of the Zelda KZbinrs went quiet so I’m always happy to see an upload from some my favorites

[@Dragan3rd]

I was one of the ones that took it a step further and said the victims became ReDeads, but also more too; I figured there had to be more than 8 casualties since the number of ReDeads in the Market was so small. But there are also Stalfos guards within Ganon's Castle which used to be human... its entirely possible that they were forcefully taken to the Lost Woods so that Ganondorf could capture them as Stalfos and make them loyal to him either in his own Castle or in any of the Temples that he'd occupied. Just makes it all the more sinister that Link is probably unknowingly fighting and killing the very people he's trying to protect. It does fit Ganondorf's narrative too, he would absolutely use a human shield or as a mindless servant, and being King he must have approved for his surrogate mothers to do that exact thing to Nabooru! Edit, I also think you might be missing two characters from Kakariko. Across from the kid's mom's house, isn't there someone anonymous in the house directly across? I know if you try going in through the back (as young Link), they'll say something like "Coming in through the back door? Such a naughty boy." There's that person, and the guard standing directly outside Cucco Lady's house who also isn't there in the future. And I would love to know, aside from the tent, where the heck does Running Man live? Is he a gypsie or something? lmao

[@GreenOfFields]

Gotta be honest, I didn’t expect much from today except for sporadic texts from relatives and a good steak dinner. A new Monster Maze upload, and one that discusses the game that defined my childhood, was NOT the birthday present I expected!

[@MonsterMaze]

Ah good steak is always nice tho! Also, happy bday ^^ 🎂

[@GreenOfFields]

Thank you

[@AlekPixi]

Happy birthday 🎉

[@ralphfrescasjr.6549]

I like the well thought out analysis of these characters. But it brings to mind the theory of the royal family experimenting with life and magic and their connection with the redeads. Like how under Kakariko Link encountered redeads and the green glowing streams, and how the magic decanters are green. Maybe that's what happened to missing people and some became redeads and some were just dead...

[@Spaceman_Sp1ff]

I love the idea that the triforce of power is actually just an AK-47 and everyone else is using medieval weapons

[@pkmntrainerred4247]

Ik youre joking but wouldn't Ganondorf just have unloaded his AK47 on Link the same way he did during his takeover of hyrule? Just imagine Ganondorf pulling up his AK and going "Didnt have to use this bad girl for 7 whole years... till now" and just fucking shoots Link

[@jbradleymusic]

Don's back! And the Gunondorf was one of the best WTF jokes I've seen from a ZeldaTube type in a long time. :)

[@TomastheHorrorfan]

That visual of ganondorf wielding a gun is just way too funny.

[@SevoraLF]

Love your videos about these older titles man, always fun to revisit them and their intricacies. Can’t wait to watch!

[@Shoeknight]

I hold onto a pet theory that we DO get to see the battle for Hyrule, albeit in a very different place. I like to think that Raoru's timeline in TotK is a retelling of the events of OoT, but instead of the hero, we get Zelda coming all the way back from the Calamity. The scene where Gannondorf swears allegiance to Raoru is almost shot-for-shot a dead ringer for the scene you see from the garden, but from a different perspective. Making the invasion of Hyrule in TotK the very same invasion that ruins Hyrule in OoT.

[@Buphido]

Here‘s another mystery: Ganondorf is the king of the Gerudo, and he successfully conquered Hyrule. So why is the bridge to Gerudo Valley wrecked, the Gerudo trapped on the other side, and no Gerudo in sight in main Hyrule? Surely there was time to rebuild it, with how quick the carpenter fellas are once you free them (and no, I doubt it was them who were hired by Ganondorf/the Gerudo to fix it, as the Gerudo took them captive instead).

[@Accrovideogames]

Ganondorf doesn't care about his people, only himself. Besides, most of the Gerudo grew to hate him during those seven years.

[@igotnopatience1717]

Because ganondorf is a hypocrite and seems prone to rewrite history in WW to justify his actions

[@WretchedRedoran]

Dude, I adore the little animations you put in your videos. They really elevate the videos themselves to a whole other level, it's awesome!

[@JuwanBuchanan]

It wouldn’t be out of character for Ganondorf to wipe out innocent citizens with no care in the world especially those that probably would start a rebel and overthrow him.

[@javiervasquez625]

I'm pretty sure "rebellion" is the least of Ganondorf's worries after he obtained a divine relic of omnipotent power to permanently subjugate the people of Hyrule for eternity. If he did kill all of the townfolk, it was most likely out of sheer amusement after gaining the powers of a god.

[@Leeloo-Foxx]

@@javiervasquez625 ganondorf literally started feeding gorons to a dragon in a gruesome warning not to rebel, you wouldnt do that if you werent worried about rebellion.

[@javiervasquez625]

@@Leeloo-Foxx He could deal with the rebellion by himself with his magic, but since he didn't want to bother flying all the way up to Goron City in order to halt the revolt on his own, he had his _minions_ prevently dispose of the Gorons by setting them up to being devoured by Volvagia. The only worries Ganondorf had were his _idleness_ keeping him from doing anything himself.

[@davisbowe8668]

If that's the case then why did he spare Kakariko Village?

[@SunnySparksTV]

This is such a fascinating take on Ocarina of Time! It’s making me rethink a few things I’ve been working on, especially with how mysterious elements in games like this go unnoticed. Has anyone else gone down the rabbit hole of gaming mysteries lately? The more you look, the more you find…

[@tristank8076]

6:48 it didnt end well for Gannodorfs men either as only he made it past him. Heres to the bravest hyrlulain soldier in that era

[@theoaremevano3227]

There was a line that clarified the clash between Gunondorf and Hyrule's forces. If memory serves it was Zelda herself, or maybe Impa who said "On that day, Ganondorf suddenly attacked, and Hyrule Castle surrendered after a short time." This indicates that he did engage in assailing the castle itself, and won swiftly. As for his 'men' I'm glad you addressed that because it always made me wonder too... if the game were somehow to incorporate logic from Tales of Zestiria/Berseria, perhaps Ganondorf's Moblins, Stalfos and Lizalfos might still appear human to a normal person, and only those sensitive to the darkness can see their monstrous forms? Or maybe Ganondorf concealed their appearances via dark sorcery? Or maybe after the battle, those soldiers who took Ganondorf's side changed into those forms? After all, a lost soul in the forest can become a Stalfos, so why wouldn't a soldier who's soul is lost to evil become a monster too?... weirdly logical clash of lore, I know... XD

[@taker610]

I hope Echoes of Wisdom gives the Zelda community some more things to chew on.

[@MonsterMaze]

From what I've heard so far, the lore is very deep and interesting!

[@00yiggdrasill00]

I was doubtful of it to start with. thinking it would be a peach showtime sort of thing. But I'm very looking forward to it now.

[@sasuskieyang4840]

Bro this video turned out more hilarious than I expected it to! 😂 But can we talk about the animation change for the lady at the beginning who is not dancing but in fact scratching her back. Why did they made her look crazy? 💀

[@TheSidetrackYT]

Consistently blown away by the production value of your videos, not to mention how much i love the topics you choose to cover! And the jewelry on top of all this, absolutely my favourite youtube channel to support. Always looking forward to another upload!

[@treybrzezowski3259]

My headcanon is this: The Loyal Soldiers of Hyrule would've been fighting a losing battle, Between Ganondorf's invading army and the Turncoats in their ranks. With the King dead and the Princess already spirited away to safety, the Priority of the soldiers would've been the people, and getting as many of them out of Castle Town as possible. Many people would've died during the initial attack, with the rest having escaped to Kakariko (half of our missing people dead via Massive Monster attack). During Link's 7 year slumber, many others would've seen the increasingly dangerous condition of Hyrule and gotten the hell outta dodge before things managed to get even worse; the Kakariko Gatekeeper being a soldier, he'd likely have at least a passing knowledge of other nearby nations and could lead the refugees (including his family) to a safer country to live in. Kinda seems to be a theme that if you're a kingdom in the Zelda universe _not_ called Hyrule, you're probably pretty well off.

[@roundninja]

I always wanted to play a game set during the seven years between the child and adult portions of Ocarina of Time. Maybe you'd play as one of the last few Hyrule guards trying to protect the citizens, or maybe you'd play as Impa or Zelda/Sheik. It's such a fascinating time and we're directly shown so little of it.

[@thereaver8083]

I always just assumed they were killed during the invasion. Never really put that much thought into it lol.

[@ryukiravenwing8530]

Since hyrule is a kingdom, its possible some people fled to other kingdoms. Perhaps the graveyard kid and his mom fled when his dad, a soldier, was killed in the coop.

[@Lexyvil]

Love the thumbnail. I always found Ocarina of Time's Ganondorf to be the most epic and menacing of them all, and does look like the one guy you don't want to mess with.

[@theknightowl3476]

OH MY GAWD... I just realized... 'Graveyard Boy' and The Cursed Father/Pamala's Father of the Ikana Canyon in Majora's Mask have the same hair color AND a very similar hairstyle. It's almost as if The 'Graveyard Boy' IS Pamala's Father as he was much younger! Could he have somehow ended up in Termina during the 7 year span and ended up spending a good bit of his time there instead? I do realize the opposite 'asset' of him in Majora's Mask are the 'Bomber Kids' of Castle Town, but they seem to be hinted at to have different hairstyles or longer hair under their hats... I do also vaguely recall their being an older NPC in one of these two games with a similar hairstyle as well, but I don't fully remember who it was. It is all real fun to speculate on though because I'm not sure if Pamala's Father has a 'version' of his 'asset' back within Hyrule.. Lol

[@R3SerialDreams]

KZbin's recommendations brought me here. First video I've seen from you and it's pretty darn good. The production value is great, the pacing is smooth, and the attention to detail is spot-on. Subbed. :) That end bit... XD

[@enforcerridley158]

One more casualty you can add to the list, though this only applies to the Downfall Timeline is Link himself, but not where people believed it happened (during the Final Battle) but within the Temple of Time after Link pulls the Master Sword. For some reason, this allows Ganondorf to claim the entire Triforce instead of just the Triforce of Power, however, he, somehow, ends up stuck in the sacred realm. This really isn't just Head Canon too. This is according to some information in _A Link to the Past._

[@sidnew2739]

I always assumed that the Re-Deads in castle town ARE some of the civilian casualties.

[@pauloldfield8378]

According to one of the shieka stones the gerudo women go to hyrule castle town to look for boyfriends, which I think is a ruse to do some reconnaissance on the town to find out about the town's defenses, makes sense if you think about it. As for the dog village, the dog race track in majora's mask.

[@davisbowe8668]

I mean, it could still be both. After all, the Gerudo do have to reproduce somehow.

[@HappyCucco.]

Ganondorf with an AK makes so much sense xD

[@MonsterMaze]

The timeline would definitely be shorter xD

[@HappyCucco.]

@@MonsterMaze Link will adapt, matrix vs zelda universe with bullet time and x-ray glasses 😎 can you hear the music going?

[@vman103]

My dad went out for milk and never came back...Did Ganondorf get to him too? Curse you, Ganondorf!

[@AntiRiku]

Every time I watch anything of OoT I always want to go and play it immediately. Such a magical game.

[@IkeyIlex]

Most of the unaccounted for people probably died. The little girl chasing the cuccoo almost certainly lived though; If the soldiers of Hyrule protected anyone, she would be the highest priority probably. The guy from the Treasure Shop looks kinda redneck, so he probably ran into battle alongside the soldiers with reckless disregard for his own life. Hell, he might be the one who saved the girl. That's my headcanon.

[@WorldWalker128]

I'd like to see Oracle of Seasons and Ages get a remake that made them similar to OOT, Windwaker, TP, and so on. Being able to explore those places again but from either 3'rd or 1'st person perspective instead of top-down would be a treat!

[@rebecca_rh]

11:35 I love how you counted the lovey dovey couple as a singular person here xD

[@Ternalin]

Ganondorf with an AK is absolutely everything I wanted to see... I can die happy. XD

[@archmdc370]

You "heartless bastard!" LOL I think this is a pretty good analysis of this. Well done.

[@felixmckinney7132]

I love the Poe collector, he’s hilarious. I always love characters who seem like they’d be scary but are actually funny.

[@alexprice38]

wonderful attention to detail and video editing as always

[@anarchond]

"men" can be a broad term for your army which can definitely include women

[@Ed_man_talking9]

20 rubies says the graveyard kid is the poe merchant. edit: i guess i'm losing this bet. enjoy your red rubiee

[@97nived]

But there's a LOT of evidence that it's the guard that rested in the original space, that is the poe merchant

[@spamtong.spamton8416]

That's what I always thought too just because they have an affinity for ghosts and they both carry sticks. Although now that I think about it, the Hyrulean soldiers do wield spears and the Poe Collector's stick could be the remnants of his soldier spear or just a random stick picked up off the ground to fill the void left by the spear going missing or something.

[@darkblades1201]

A red rupee! Don't spend it all in one place!

[@OtakuUnitedStudio]

Either autocorrect hit you hard or you only played the CDi games. I don't know which is funnier.

[@Ed_man_talking9]

@@OtakuUnitedStudio lol thanks, I won't fix it.

[@sylvanstrength7520]

I had nightmares about redeads for YEARS

[@Kappa....]

I always thought the zombies were the villagers dead and resurected with dark magic

[@JuwanBuchanan]

Assuming how fast Ganondorf’s takeover was during Link’s 7 year sleep some of them probably didn’t make it out of Castle Town alive. I doubt all of them did

[@kolbycheeze7607]

Glad OG Zelda lore is still being cooked up and served to us 🤘

[@teejayaaron]

I thought the boy and his father went to the Lost Woods and got... lost?

[@reubenoakley5887]

I absolutely love Gunondorf! I actually came up with that name while watching the video, and I'm glad to see that you have given him the same moniker 😂

[@mcchungusamungus8011]

i figure taking Hyrule castle was relatively easy for Ganondorf, considering the guards struggled (and ultimately failed) to keep a 10 year old kid out.

[@hiddenscorpiusXI]

Ganon with an AK-47 might be my new favorite gag XD

[@AidanFuschett]

The visuals of this video are mindblowing 🤯It's like you're living in the games by first person... it's just so good that I hope the video never ends! I'll never be tired to say that i love your big talented work, it is so clear that you have a great vision and attention to details. Really well done!

[@andrewteifke422]

Man those gun Edits for Ganondorf (that first one look likes a whole new model was used) had my LOL each time. Very nice work there. I don't have anything to add to the tropic, I mostly agree with what ya stated.

[@DeadDancers]

Oh my god imagine if BOTW really did that. If you literally played as the child who found the Master Sword, who was catapulted from ‘promising young son of a knight’ to The Hero at *twelve*, the entire city knowing him for the blade on his back. BOTW tells us that he was beating grown knights at aged six (I just have to picture WW Link) and beat Lynels when visiting his childhood friend Mipha later on. There could have been SO MUCH set in a world of restrictions and rules, because the King is alive and The Hero has been found long before any disaster has struck. The opposite of an open-world game, it would have been ruled by set scenarios and tasks to accomplish and invisible walls in place of the invisible chains that would have bound his choices. You would have experienced Zelda’s envy and disdain, the finding of the champions, the build up to Calamity Ganon… and then experienced the silence from the divine beasts, all all four failed to deploy. The impossible flood of Guardians, making the climactic end battle a ‘fight to survive long enough to escape’ failure, in large part because Zelda hasn’t activated her powers and is not only someone to protect, but someone who can’t help you like she could in all other games. And then you die. And then you wake. And all of your friends are dead. You have all the freedom the game denied you at first - and you understand the full horror of what was lost. And Breath of the Wild as we knew it has *only now just begun*. Still new and full of places to explore - because you simply couldn’t roam where ever you pleased before. Damn I wish Nintendo let fans make AU games.

[@WildflowersCreations]

love how in-depth you go in all of these videos, thank you

[@Ihavenoname711]

You made my day... was wondering when the next video would be released!

[@cd31000]

I'd like to believe that Fallen Timeline didn't die against Ganon at his castle, but rather didn't have the time travel ability and thus witnessed the attack on Castle Town before chasing Ganondorf and while defeating him ended up losing to Ganon on Death Mountain during his attempt to resurrect Volvagia.

[@jonathanferguson7791]

The problem is believing in the fallen timeline in the first place. Nintendo, amongst many increasingly bad ideas, really goofed officializing any timeline. Especially considering they put gameplay over everything else. (which is wild bc botw and totk weren't very fun to me) There is only one timeline by the canon mechanics of OoT.

[@bummedmachinist7483]

@@jonathanferguson7791 I think it makes the most sense in non-mechanical time travel, where time traveling moves you to a new parallel timeline every time you travel instead of there being the one single timeline you travel back and forth on. A fallen timeline is created the second link travels back in time to aid nabooru in the past (or at any point) creating a timeline split between that specific timeline that moves on without him and a new identical timeline where he returns the moment he left

[@jonathanferguson7791]

​@@bummedmachinist7483 It still doesn't work. It was just nintendo trying to capitalize on the fan framework when they were gameplay focused. If you plant a bean bush in the past it's there 7 years in the future. Aiding Nabooru in the past changes the future. Link does NOT DIE hence the "fallen" part of the timeline and if so why isn't there an official nintendo canon/timeline for everytime Link WOULD have died? Because canonically he doesn't die. He beats Ganon. The last scene he goes back and sees Zelda and is implied to have put a stop to the events that took place. Like you,, I've watched a metric eff ton of Zelda lore tubers and played probably just as many Zelda games as you have. I get wanting to make it work, I get wanting to like it but it just doesn't add up. It was a great mechanic in OoT that was a consistent mechanic unfortunately done away with in many other games. Not to mention how blatantly evident some type of "timeline convergence" has become to make botw a consistent part of the timeline when it was clear nintendo just wanted to make a playground for the player. A boring one to me, but a playground nonetheless.

[@bummedmachinist7483]

@@jonathanferguson7791 I actually haven't watch a lot of lore youtubers or know that this was such a controversial topic. I was just thinking from a narrative sense It just made sense for OOT to have a hero fallen timeline if that didn't actually imply death. (Also I am curious if the term in Japanese has any different implications than in english) The timeline split definitely seemed intended by the dev team atleast for the adult and child timeline, it's not crazy to me. But I'm not particularly dogmatic about it. These old Japanese dev teams seem to really have thought about a lot of the minutia and even really obscure lore bits that at most get like one or two lines of dialogue or are never stated whatsoever (Like how a 1999 interview reveals they had a full line of events for what happened to the graveyard boy and his family that just never got put in any official documentation, but which they thought about) So I could believe it if they told me the timeline split was discussed or though about. But like you said, I don't think the fallen timeline makes sense if the supposition is that Ganon killed link, only that he "failed" in his quest because of time travel. And yeah I respect the read that the past changing the future could negate this, but if we have to work under the supposition that the timeline split was intended, then the fallen ending being explained through multi-versal time travel justifies why only OOT has a "hero fails" timeline. Also, I'm totally sympathetic to maybe this not being the intention of the og writers, but I just don't see why it's a big deal if it was indeed a later choice. maybe you could explain the harm? Literal observation is one way to read a game story but author intention is also correct. I definitely disagree if you think literal reads are the only correct way to digest stories like this; I think themes and symbols that are meant to convey story elements are just as important to get an accurate picture of what a story is supposed to convey because those are have links to real world concepts and they are what informed the literal details in a story in the first place. These two aspects can contradict but usually one is primary to and informs the other yeee boy I lured us into a structural narrative discussion, LETSS GOOO! I will be very grateful if you can hammer out any general flaws in my thoughts here, I enjoy this back and forth and would appreciate it.

[@jonathanferguson7791]

@@bummedmachinist7483 Well I love that you had a well thought out and clearly researched response! Genuinely. I promise to do this some justice a little later

[@homerman76]

Regarding the line talking about Ganondorf's men, I think it makes sense that Ganondorf likely had a separate band of thieves and followers that he brought with him when you consider "A Link to the Past" where it's noted that Ganondorf slaughtered the thieves he brought when he claimed the Triforce, which seems strange at first that he would kill his Gerudo followers since he only has something against Hylians, but makes more sense when you consider that they were some group of expendable people he brought together when he got into Hyrule. Edit: I also had a thought about the Castle Town villagers that could be dead, it's really important to note that the Redead in that area will crowd around any Redead that you kill, indicating that at least some of the Redead likely were originally the citizens, though this depends on your interpretation of why do this.

[@MazinGo-1972]

I do find it interesting which of the NPCs the developers liked the most by including them in Majora's Mask since they weren't all brought over and new ones were made instead despite the shorter dev time they had. I feel most of the NPCs in Hyrule Market Town weren't meant to be full-fledged characters and just random generic townspeople with a limit cap to how many could be on screen to give the town square some life to it. They could expand on the crowds astronomically by Twilight Princess.

[@WhoopsyDaisyDoo]

It’s so cool how supportive your partner is of your channel. Talented too!

[@HeyNimbus]

*This type of video is incredibly well produced, good job! Can you make one about Wind Waker?*

[@russellsample2763]

Gunondorf goes crazy

[@Skeif13]

One of the devs, Yoshiaki Koizumi, said in an interview that the graveyard boy got lost in the Lost Woods while searching for his father and became the skull kid Link sees as an adult. Though, that could just be an idea he thought sounded cool but had after the game was made, or made up on the spot during the interview.

[@boo-rian2717]

You know, I never thought about all the dogs at night at Castle Town and what would have happened to them. You know...all those dogs with uniform BROWN fur...I wonder if there are a lot of BROWN things hanging around castle town when you're an adult...could it be that the doggos get transformed into the Redeads?!?!?!?! What dark magic Ganondorf has indeed...

[@spamtong.spamton8416]

I always thought the Poe Collector was the kid with the stick in the graveyard.