What is the Source of Tears of the Kingdom's Zonai Magic?

It is no secret that the Zonai and their technology are a central part of Tears of the Kingdom, their devices and magic playing a crucial role in both gameplay and story.
But one thing that has always intrigued me was the nature of their mysterious green magic.
It turns out that it goes much deeper than I originally thought.
So, sit back, relax, and let me take you on this journey, as we uncover the mystery of the Zonai’s source of power.
If you like this video, please hit that subscribe button to get notified of more videos to come!
Videos every week!
~ＳＵＢＳＣＲＩＢＥ~
Zelda Lore - kzbin.info?sub...
~ＳＯＣＩＡＬ ＭＥＤＩＡ~
Instagram: / zeldalore_yt
Twitter: / zeldaloreyt

[@jasonnewbery]

Shrines of exorcism sounds so metal and of course the english version has to be the little kid one

[@ZeldaLore]

It's also the same term used for the Master Sword, which is the "Sword of Exorcism" / "Sword of Repelling Demons"

[@lnsflare1]

The Zhonai are clearly Pokémon, so their power source is clearly fancy sandwiches.

[@iceneko9170]

the idea that zonite is purified/petrified gloom... that begs the question of if that has any relation to the chasm we see in 'glooms sanctum'(the abyss next to where ganondorf rests. its very much not a natural structure that far underground). what other being has resided there in the distant past that could radiate that substance? in an age where the lands of hyrule was riddled with demons, perhaps... it could be the creature depicted in the dark garb or whatever its called.

[@Pablo1517]

This is the most making sense theory in the zelda history

[@reigning_deer185]

All of this was so cool to learn and I wish the evidence you found in game, or mentioned by the developers had been better incorporated into the story of the game.

[@Chris-gx1ei]

I rather think that the Green Magic is "Neutral Magic" We basically see Red and Black Miasma from Ganondorf colliding with Rauru's Holiness - shown with White and Blue Light - and turning it into Green Energy, it is basically like Matter Anti Matter annihalation. Light and Dark obliterate each other and turn into neutral energy. And similar to spectral colors describe Red and Blue the two Extreme sides of the spectrum while Green is the middle, the Balance. Rauru's Holiness by the way gets surpassed by the Master Sword, as it does not just purify Ganondorf's Darkness to neutralize it but also reverse the effect completely.

[@Zenith8896]

You always go in full depth with your videos. You deserve a ton of more subscriptions Zelda Lore.

[@MrBarthalamul]

This chromatic theory of Zonite is just the level of likely that I can get behind! How do you think this would connect to the Secret Stones? And, side note, do you suppose there would be a reasonable connection to the Four Sword and its ability to split the welder into various pieces? Or nah, that's just purely a game mechanic?

[@ZeldaLore]

@@MrBarthalamul the secret Stones were apparently given to them by the gods the supposedly descended from. Aside from that they are quite literally a mystery (as their name in Japanese says, "Mysterious Stones") The Four Sword splits the user's soul into four individual fragments. It creates what is known as a Bunshin, an alter ego or copy of the soul. We've seen Bunshins in the series with Agahnim being one for Ganon, and both Oshus and Ciela splitting their souls to escape Bellum in Phantom Hourglass.

[@Cadialvaro]

I wonder if those gods were already dragons themselves in a pure state, with their cognitive functions and sense of self remaining intact. Hence draconification only happening to those Hylians swallowing their secret stone as a curse of some sort.

[@ZeldaLore]

@@Cadialvaro draconicaction can happen for any race. We know of three. Hylians, Gerudo (Via Ganon) and the Zonai themselves (the three dragons). When they transform they also retain characteristics of their past mortal life, hence Farosh, Naydra and Dinraal resembling Zonai down to the same hair as Rauru; Zelda as the light dragon retaining her golden hair and shorter ears, and Ganon his red hair and pig snout

[@Cadialvaro]

@@ZeldaLoreIkr I meant hylians as a whole, I know it can happen to any race. Just wondering if the Gods the Zonai descended from were dragons themselves, and whether they entrusted the Zonai secret stones as part of their selves.

[@ZeldaLore]

@@Cadialvaro Could be. Dragons are regarded as Kami (Gods) in the series, so it is perfectly possible that their ancestors really were gods. I personally don´t think so, but you never know!

[@landon1812]

pretty interesting video, I think tying in the Sheikah energy as one of the forms that the Zonai energy can take along with gloom makes a lot of sense.

[@nivaldowesley666]

in addition to connecting sheika technology with OoT, it also indirectly connects the blue flame! 😅

[@BradleyGodlyGovt]

Awesome to see your return to theory videos! This was awesome, keep up the good work!

[@BirdieSenpai]

Given Fujibayashi wrote Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom, I wonder if the Zonai played some role in Hylia's backstory from Skyward Sword, also written by Fujibayashi. Perhaps the Sheikah alone were not responsible for the advent of the Ancient Robots. I also wonder what this could mean for the ascension of Skyloft. More than any other Zelda content creator, you get me thinking critically on a deeper level than I otherwise would.

[@ZeldaLore]

The zonai were not thought of back then. By BOTW they simply wanted to include a Mysterious race that vanished long ago to give some more mystery to the world, it's with TOTK that they fleshed them out. The ancient robots from SS and the ancient technology from BOTW both are based on the Pottery of the Jomon Era of Japan, so they may have been created by thr Sheikah, who were the servants of Goddess Hylia specifically chosen by her

[@Chris-gx1ei]

I do think the Zonai are simply a One Time Appearing Race some time before Breath of the wild and after all of the games in the Timeline

[@ZeldaLore]

@@Chris-gx1ei retroactive continuity is a big part of the series, so they could easily say that the Zonai have been a part of Hyrule's History from the start, and it could fit, such as the Zonai being the ones who built the Tower of the Gods and Gohdan, for example, given the Zonai were viewed as Gods. Hylia and her goddess statues worked the same way. Retroactively, the Goddess Statue "Trophy" from The Adventure of Link would now be a Hylia Statue and worship of her would have been present throughout all games despite her not being thought up yet.

[@rat_mikey]

My theory/headcanon is that the Divine Beasts were named after the Ancient Sages. The divine helms matching the sages helms shows a connection, at least. Maybe the Ancient Sages are the ones that defeated the Calamity, even.

[@tahamoukhliss8420]

I'll say that Zonite is crystalized magical energy with likely similar origins to the Light Force of minish cap. Though more raw and neutral aligned then the former. If well refined it turns into the Blue Shika's ancient energy.

[@waitingfortherealthing6433]

This goes so hard

[@777Rowen]

Fantastic discussion and analysis of the aspects of the game.

[@FilthyCasualYT]

Zonite as purified gloom rock sadly only works if gloom existed before the rise and fall of Ganondorf, but it's a product of his body after obtaining the Sacred Stone. Though given both the technological and magical capabilities of the Zonai, it's entirely possible that their tech was able to transform gloom into a usable energy source by purifying it.

[@ZeldaLore]

@@FilthyCasualYT gloom, or Shoki, is a substance that exists outside of Ganondorf, Ganondorf merely harnesses it. Monsters already existed before Ganondorf rose to power, years before it, hence the creation of the shrines, which purify their darkness. And as mentioned in the video, the Bargainer, or Majin tribe also harnessed this dark energy, and these appear to be even more ancient than the Zonai themselves

[@FilthyCasualYT]

@@ZeldaLore There's no evidence of that. We see no other location where there is a natural wellspring of Gloom aside from Ganondorfs body. Yes, monsters already existed, that doesn't mean all monsters were/are made of Gloom. Ganondorf could have just made copies of the creatures he already knew, and any already fallen monster could be revived with enough gloom. And since the Sacred Stone only amplifies abilities and Ganondorf had control of the monsters before stealing it, he was probably using the forbidden and dark art of blood magic. The shrines purifying the darkness of Gloom I would argue is a bi-product of what they actually were intended to do. The Shrines were built to keep the monsters at bay. They were just supposed to repel evil. I also don't see any evidence for there to specifically be a Majin tribe. I believe these were set up by the Zonai to help in the creation of Zonite. Bargainer Statues collect poes, or souls, sending them to "the afterlife". But if Zonite is basically souls in rocks used as power, then souls not going into the rocks is a problem, hence Bargainer statue solution. They take the soul and disperse it into the ground.

[@ZeldaLore]

@@FilthyCasualYT zonai magic is specifically purified gloom. That's literally what it is, stated by the director of the game itself. Rauru absorbs it, and expels it as green spiral energy. The shrines do the same. The green energy literally is the inverted color of gloom to further show this purification. Gloom is quite literally a manifestation of Darkness, Ganondorf's secret stone literally proves this by spelling out the Kanji of Darkness. That's all it is, it is what spawns demons, demons are made of darkness. And this darkness was harnessed by the Majin to create garments to resist it, the darkness being specifically taken from monsters, in the form of Dark Clumps, which is pure, pitch-black darkness, dropped by Gloom Demons. I feel like I am repeating myself here, as all this I go over on the video itself.

[@javiervasquez625]

@@ZeldaLore Would you agree there's a chance that the "Majin Tribe" might have been teased as a major faction of relevance in the next major Zelda title? I feel Fujibayashi and company might be setting this brand new tribe as been focal to the series moving forward with the appearance of an Agahnim-like villain in the next sequel able to harness the power of Darkness for their own purpose (unlike Ganondorf who simply uses it to corrupt the world). If that's the case we might finally be delving into Majora's Mask and Twilight Princess territory again with a dark and scary new chapter in the series.

[@DonutSwordsman]

Could you do a video on how ganondorf in oot has zonai colored jewelry. Or how ruins in lttp are colored zonai too? Or how the statues in the intro of zonai have RED on the tops of their heads

[@Chris-gx1ei]

The Ruins in A Link to the Past are not all green, this is only the case for the Eastern Palace and the Desert Lake Palace of the Dark World, and these are built after the Sealing War that happened before A Link to the Past where they tried to prevent an Omnipotent Ganon from leaving the Golden Land and entering Hyrule. The Eastern Palace was build to hide the thee pendants required to get to the Master Sword, the sages couldnt find a Hero worthy to use fully the Power of that blade during the War, not even among the knights. And so they had to hide it and lock it in a pedestal to prevent thiefs from getting it. About the Dark World Temples... I don't know if they were there already or created under the influence of Ganon.

[@javiervasquez625]

​@@Chris-gx1ei At the end of Ocarina of Time we're shown Ganondorf floating in what looks like an empty white "void" devoid of anything implying the Sacred Realm to be completley empty aside from the Temple of Light which was not shown during that scene. With that evidence it's likely Ganondorf was the one who created the Dark World dungeons for the sole purpose of guarding the imprisoned 7 Maidens.

[@Chris-gx1ei]

​​@@javiervasquez625 I know this Debate I am now setting up might not really fit, though I gotta point out something about Ocarina of Time and the sealing of Ganon The A Link to the Past Story of the Manual is set at the time where Link dies, and wether Ganondorf is truly imprisoned in the sacred realm in the Good Ending, I have a feeling that this is more of a translation error since most other Versions say he has been put into the depts of hell or something, I have stopped fully trusting in the English texts because it is like the furthest away from the Original Japanese Just look up for the Video of Demise's True Origens from QuestWithAaron, he unwraps the Japanese texts as well and discovers interesting things lost to translation.

[@baroslair9378]

Ganondorf's gemstone in OOT is an amber gemstone. This is made clear in concept art found in the Hyrule Historia on p. 148 where it notes "Likes topaz jewelry. Has several pieces arranged all over his body." BOTW/TOTK references this by the description of topaz stating that "This precious yellow gem contains the power of electricity." As you might remember, Ganondorf summons bolts of electricity during his boss fight in OOT.

[@javiervasquez625]

@@Chris-gx1ei Don't worry as i've read the original japanese version of the game so i know what you're talking about. I've always assumed their usage of the word "Hell" was not intended as meaning a literal Hell where Ganondorf was sent to but rather a _figure of speech_ after he corrupted the Sacred Realm into the Dark World (or "Evil Realm" as it is called by Zelda in Ocarina of Time) by touching the complete Triforce and causing the Sacred Realm to reflect what laid in his evil heart. As Sheik states in Ocarina of Time: _"If you would seek the sacred triangle, listen well... The resting place of the sacred triangle, the Sacred Realm, is a mirror that _*_reflects_*_ what is in the heart... the heart of one who enters it..._ _If an evil heart, the Realm will become full of _*_evil;_*_ if pure, the Realm will become a paradise."_ Even though this is the english translation the Lore established in the game is very much still the same one as that of A Link to the Past where the Triforce itself reveals to Link why the Sacred Realm became a place of pure Evil as a reaction to Ganondorf claiming the full Triforce for himself. This confirms the conclusion that the "Evil Realm" mentioned by Zelda in the Adult Timeline is just as much the corrupted Sacred Realm from A Link to the Past given her explanation of what happens to the realm when it's corrupted. Also, i've already seen Aaron's video on the original japanese script for Skyward Sword so no need to worry as i'm also very much aware of the different meaning in the japanese ending of the game compared to the english one. Thanks still as i'm sure other readers will be interested in watching it to understand the true meaning underlying Demise's words at the end of the game.

[@Gigi4u]

I don't think zonite is purefide gloom. Before ganondorfs transformation there was no gloom in the depths but because zoni technology already exists it means zonite predates the first appearance of gloom which mean they are two unrelated elements. I think the reason gloom and other forms of evil are purified in to light is because its the safest way to neutralize the dangers force. However as seen with Rauru if the power is to immense enough it can leak from and damage the purification processor, in this case Rauru himself reducing him to a arm after thousands of years of trying to purifie ganondorf power away.

[@ZeldaLore]

@@Gigi4u the shrines of light were built years before Ganondorf rose to power. Those were built specifically to purify gloom from the monsters that threatened the land before the demon king was born, hence the green energy spiraling from the shrines, just like Ganondorf's seal. The reason Rauru decayed was due to Calamity Ganon disturbing the seal after damaging the castle. That caused the rapid decay of Rauru, who was intact before the emergence of the calamity

[@RSanchez111]

Is this why monsters in the depths mine zonaite? They want to liberate the purified gloom?

[@ZeldaLore]

It's never explained why they mine the Zonaite. Maybe they want to harness the power somehow? Ganondorf creates his own magical copy of Mineru's construct (a copy of the seized construct) in Gloom's Origin, so maybe he used the Zonaite mined to make it?

[@RSanchez111]

@@ZeldaLore yeah I think even the game itself says it's a mystery why the monsters in the depths mine zonaite

[@ZeldaLore]

@@RSanchez111 correct. The Yiga mention that they don't know why the monsters are mining Zonaite

[@stuffz1757]

What evidence is there of Gloom existing before Ganondorf? I know he makes a Gloom Zelda but that's all I can think of. If Anything I think its probably the reverse, that Gloom is corrupted Zonai magic, not that Zonai magic is purified Gloom.

[@ZeldaLore]

@@stuffz1757 Sonia and Rauru sealed away monsters before Ganondorf became demon king. The spiral energy, which is purified gloom, emanates from the shrines built before the rise of the Demon King

[@Cadialvaro]

I also think the gloom tree seen at Gloom’s Origin was already there. Look at all the broken Zonai doors (after what became the imprisoning war’s murals) designed by the Zonai so nobody would get inside. Yet, Ganondorf was presumably the one that broke them, and perhaps Rauru and the sages chased after him so he wouldn’t reach the source of gloom to amplify his power even further. The forgotten foundation has been confirmed to be the Temple of Light that was keeping the source of gloom under control. That strange place where we fight Demon King’s army and himself could very well be where Demise originated from back in Hylia’s era. It’s so mysterious I love it, I wish I could read Fujibayashi and Aonuma’s thoughts tho…

[@stuffz1757]

@@ZeldaLore I mean we know the energy coming out of Rauru when he seals Ganondorf is purified Gloom, but wouldn't it make more sense for the Shrine energy to be purified Malice? We don't really see any monsters naturally emit Gloom or be made of gloom, they all poof into Malice. The only gloom enemies we find are the ones who seem to be affected by Ganondorf himself.

[@stuffz1757]

@@Cadialvaro I'll have to investigate that area to see what doors you're talking about.

[@darkdagger5237]

@@ZeldaLore The shrines purify the dark power of demons. Shoki is only one aspect of that darkness onnen is another aspect both would be purified. As for the energy the Zonai used it appears to be force which is used to power multiple swords of evil's bane but has also been corrupted to empower demons.

[@DanDaMaN95cov]

When is master works coming out

[@ZeldaLore]

@@DanDaMaN95cov 30th of August

[@DanDaMaN95cov]

@@ZeldaLore hopefully it gives you guys some new lore. TOTK was lacking

[@ZeldaLore]

@@DanDaMaN95cov the few pages we have seen already already revealed some cool stuff, like the Imprisoning Chamber of Ganondorf being the Temple of Light. I'm sure there's going to be lots of stuff to talk about when It drops!

[@javiervasquez625]

@@ZeldaLore I wouldn't say that the side commentary on the one page concludes it is _the_ Temple of Light from Ocarina of Time as it could easily be a brand new incarnation of the temple just like the "Temple of Time" found in Great Sky Island so personally i don't think we should make rushed conclusons based on a single page without understanding the broader context revealed by the full book. Needless to say i'm hyped to learn what you guys find out once it's out.

[@ZeldaLore]

@@javiervasquez625 never said it was the Temple of Light from Ocarina of Time. It's very clearly not that temple. But it IS called the "Ruins of the Temple of Light"

[@Only_Some]

i just wanted to make a statement before i get to the 2 min mark of the video.. Zonite and its charges have hints of gold... what if the gold was used to make the triforce? this would explain why the people may have saw the zonai as gods there is already theory going around about the goddess sword being made of the same material BTW zonite existed before zelda even went back in time before the creation of ganons gloom... its in the history of the Zonai tech its more likely that the green energy is nothing more but life energy. and gloom is life energy with straight malice infused.. as we know light/time energy is represented by yellow light as this has ALWAYS been a staple in zelda games.. Farore the goddess that gave life to the land is represented by the color green a theory needs to be consistent with all the lore for it to make sense... yours has holes between the 2 min and 7 min mark