Breath of the Wild I translated the Sheikah text on the back of the map!

[breadofthewild]

We got a closer look at the special edition map in the latest Nintendo Treehouse footage. Nate Bihldorff says that the map tells the legend of Calamity Ganon, and when I saw that there was Sheikah text, I thought I could get some story detail out of it by translating it. While the Sheikah text in-game translates to English, the Sheikah text on the map is actually Japanese. Unfortunately, this is not all of the text (there are 5 other full sentences that are all too blurry/small to read), so we are missing some context.

Based on this, it's pretty much confirmed that the four giant Sheikah beasts are the main dungeons in the game, with their pilot being the boss of each dungeon. Due to the lack of context, I'm not sure if the text on the map is based on the events of the past or the events of the present in the game, and I don't know what order these are meant to be read in.

What do you guys think we could learn about the story from this?

 

[Azure Sage]

I think the theory that the Sheikah technology (specifically, the guardians) falling out of Sheikah control and under Calamity Ganon's influence is looking more and more likely, especially when you see the scene in the latest trailer of the Guardians destroying Hyrule Castle Town (we know it's Castle Town because you can see the Castle in the background. It's the same castle that Zelda was looking towards at the end of the trailer).

I saw this the other day that breaks down the symbols on the map, as well.

 

[breadofthewild]

Yeah I agree that the Sheikah tech is definitely under Ganon's control. I'm just wondering about the rider/pilots of each of the giant beasts because I'm not really sure how they fall under Ganon's influence, unless ganon isn't controlling them at all.
We see Link fighting an enemy wearing a Sheikah mask in the trailer.

What I think is interesting is the fact that not only is the Sheikah eye upside down, but there are golden protrusions coming from the jaw area. I think that this is actually the pilot/rider of the giant elephant. The upside down Sheikah eye shows that they're corrupted (or at least that something's not right about them), and the golden protrusions are actually meant to resemble the elephant's tusks, making the rider match its beast. I think each of the riders/pilots will follow this kind of pattern, if it's the case that this person is one of them.

 

[Djinn]

This is really interesting. I was wondering if it was going to be a technology run amok type of story.

It looks like this pretty much sets up the quests for the first half of the game. Kill/seal/awaken something something divine beasts in the four corners of the world. That does not go as planned, then Ganon is either freed or something happens that allows him to do more than be a purple cloud in the middle of the map. Then the later half of the game happens.

Now I'm wondering if the sheikah are corrupted in some way or if it was more of a betrayal type of situation.

 

[Fraxinus]

I thought the guardians being influenced by Ganon was kind of obvious since their normal blue sheikah engravings shown in earlier footage and artwork are replaced with the pink used to highlight Ganon's angry cloud thing in the most recent trailer. #GanonIsTheRussianHacker2017

What I think is interesting is the fact that not only is the Sheikah eye upside down, but there are golden protrusions coming from the jaw area. I think that this is actually the pilot/rider of the giant elephant. The upside down Sheikah eye shows that they're corrupted (or at least that something's not right about them), and the golden protrusions are actually meant to resemble the elephant's tusks, making the rider match its beast. I think each of the riders/pilots will follow this kind of pattern, if it's the case that this person is one of them.

Other than jokingly throwing Lorulean jokes in here, an inversion of a significant symbol could be interpreted in several ways. One, it could be a collective action done to signify that a faction of the tribe is in distress/mourning over something. Kind of like how flags are brought half staff in mourning. Two, it doesn't necessarily have to signify corruption, rather, going rogue. They may not be on Link's or the Sheikah's side (that is, assuming Link and the Sheikah are even on the same side), but that doesn't necessarily mean they're on Ganon's side either.

The horns/tusks don't mean they actually have horns on their face, by the way. I'm not sure if that's what you were saying but in a lot of fantasy games, a lot of riders' designs seem to have them dress in homage to their mount. Or, going back to your corruption speculation, it could be done in homage to Ganon. Ganon has horns/tusks like that as well.

Now I'm wondering if the sheikah are corrupted in some way or if it was more of a betrayal type of situation.

We know hardly anything about the Sheikah and I'm hoping this game will fill us in some more on their background. But their elusive nature in general always gave them this neutral or grey-area vibe in terms of them being good or evil. Even if they aren't meant to be in design, seeing the darker/eviler side of them might explain things in other games, such as the Shadow Temple.

 

[the8thark]

I saw this the other day that breaks down the symbols on the map, as well.

I see that as something totally different.

In Zelda 1 all of the dungeons (1st quest) had a animal or thing represent them. That was the rough outline of each of the dungeons's map.

Level 1 - Eagle
Level 2 - Moon
Level 3 - Manji
Level 4 - Snake
Level 5 - Lizard
Level 6 - Dragon
Level 7 - Demon
Level 8 - Lion
Level 9 - (Death) Mountain

To that end I think the the items on the map are just represnetive of their shrines or areas.

Calamity Ganon - That is similar to level 9 2nd quest which had a map of Ganon's face. Level 9 in the 2nd quest was literally Ganon with Ganon as the boss too.
Bird, Lizard, Elephant, Camel, I feel they are shrines or dungeons.

Does that mean I am saying the flying bird fortress is a dungeon of sorts? I don't know but I think that's a possibility.

 

[TatlTails]

GUYS. IF GANON HAS HOLD OF SHIEKAH TECH. THE GREAT BETRAYAL. THAT WAR THAT CREATED THE SHIEKAH TEARDROP. WHAT IF. WHAT IF THAT.

 

[breadofthewild]

GUYS. IF GANON HAS HOLD OF SHIEKAH TECH. THE GREAT BETRAYAL. THAT WAR THAT CREATED THE SHIEKAH TEARDROP. WHAT IF. WHAT IF THAT.

Interesting idea, but I don't really think that's the case, considering the fact that the teardrop is featured on the eye symbol in skyward sword, which takes place before Breath of the Wild. I think it's safe to assume that from and in-universe standpoint, the symbol has always looked like that.

 

[Jamie]

I'm not incredibly interested in what is written there as I think it's mostly stuff we vaguely knew, but I want to thank you for translating this especially since it's in Japanese, I appreciate it when people do this kind of stuff for a community.

 

[breadofthewild]

The horns/tusks don't mean they actually have horns on their face, by the way. I'm not sure if that's what you were saying but in a lot of fantasy games, a lot of riders' designs seem to have them dress in homage to their mount. Or, going back to your corruption speculation, it could be done in homage to Ganon. Ganon has horns/tusks like that as well.

Yeah I didn't mean literally having tusks as part of their body but like just a part of their outfit/appearance. I never considered that they could be a reference to Ganon's tusks. That's a really interesting idea.

 

[breadofthewild]

I'm not incredibly interested in what is written there as I think it's mostly stuff we vaguely knew, but I want to thank you for translating this especially since it's in Japanese, I appreciate it when people do this kind of stuff for a community.

Yeah of course, you're welcome! There is more text that we can't read and unfortunately I think it's all the important text that we can't see. :'0 All the text in the upper section of the map is really, really tiny, meaning the sentences are longer and probably more important (ugh). And then there's one sentence on the bottom that you cant read. It comes before "In the end, the Sheikah disappeared" which means it probably explains what happened to them to make them disappear. I'm so mad that I worked really hard on translating this just for all of it to be stuff we already knew.

Truthfully tho, I'm not fluent in Japanese at all (I'm learning!) One of my friends is a native speaker and translates Japanese/English for their job and is a huge Zelda fan, too. Normally they help me with Japanese language stuff but this time they wouldn't :'( ! I don't know if they were trying to teach me a lesson by making me do it myself, or if they were just too lazy to.

 

[Amy Lu Minati]

Pre TP anyone? Maybe these Sheikah sided with Ganon and were banished (not killed) into the Twilight realm. I saw a translation that said banished earlier. Does anyone else see what looks like darknuts on that? There are still a lot of holes in this backstory, what happens in between the Divine beasts and the Sheikah disappearing!?

 

[Azure Sage]

Pre TP anyone? Maybe these Sheikah sided with Ganon and were banished (not killed) into the Twilight realm. I saw a translation that said banished earlier. Does anyone else see what looks like darknuts on that? There are still a lot of holes in this backstory, what happens in between the Divine beasts and the Sheikah disappearing!?

But that doesn't make sense because we KNOW what happened to the Sheikah. They sealed themselves in the shrines to wait for the hero's return. Didn't you see any of the E3 footage?

 

[Tibari]

The divine beasts might be mecha beasts, with the bird airship, the giant thing walking around the Death Moutain, and two other things?

 

[breadofthewild]

The divine beasts might be mecha beasts, with the bird airship, the giant thing walking around the Death Moutain, and two other things?

yeah. they're a bird, lizard, camel, and elephant.