The Secrets Of Skyward Sword: The Sheikah Tribe

Welcome to the fourth chapter in the Secrets of Skyward Sword series. With each article I dig a little deeper into Skyward Sword, exploring how some of the most longstanding and mysterious questions in the Zelda series may find their answers in Skyward Sword. Previously we’ve uncovered the secrets of The Presence of Evil, The Silent Realm, and The Goddess of Time. This time around we’ll take a look at a fan-favorite tribe whose origins have long been shrouded in mystery: The Sheikah. This deep look into the fabled tribe will reveal their origins and their purpose, while debunking a common misconception that has plagued their legacy. If you’re avoiding SPOILERS then avoid this article, but otherwise, join me as we uncover the Secrets of Skyward Sword.

This isn’t the first time I’ve investigated the Sheikah Tribe. If you’ve been following this site for some time you may recall the article Fact or Fiction in Zelda: Sheikah Connections. At the request of our readers, I studied everything we know about the Sheikah to get a better idea of who they are, what they do, and whether or not they are connected to two other shadowy tribes mentioned in Zelda lore.

To summarize, I concluded that the Sheikah served as a sort of “secret service” for the Royal Family, taking any means necessary to secure the safekeeping of the Triforce. While some of their methods are certainly dark and questionable, with interrogation, torture, and execution all implied in connection with the tribe, it didn’t appear to me that they were related to the Interlopers of Twilight Princess or the tribe that misused Majora’s Mask.

My investigation gave what I believe to be a pretty good picture of the purpose of the Sheikah Tribe, but it still left a lot unanswered. How did the Sheikah Tribe come to be connected with the Royal Family? What were the circumstances under which they submitted to their rule? Why were they given the honor of having such intimate knowledge of the Triforce? Why were they, seemingly more than any other tribe, blessed with the gift of prophecy? The answers to these questions, of course, lies in Skyward Sword.

When a mysterious woman with a Sheikah symbol was first spotted in a Skyward Sword trailer, the Zelda theorizing world was set ablaze, as many of us had been hoping for and even anticipating Skyward Sword to feature the Sheikah Tribe extensively. We probably didn’t get quite the treat we had hoped for, but confirmation of the woman as being none other than Impa was still a very nice story element for Sheikah fans.

Impa is the only Sheikah physically shown to be around at the time of Skyward Sword, but her role in the game, and the fact that she mentions her tribe by name does plenty to aid the investigation. Referred to throughout the game as “the servant of the goddess” by Demon Lord Ghirahim, Impa’s destiny of serving the Goddess Hylia dictated her every action. In her original and divine form Hylia served as the protector of the Triforce, and Impa stood by her side as her eternal servant. As you know if you’ve played Skyward Sword, Hylia was forced to selflessly sacrifice her immortal form in order to save humankind from certain destruction. Reincarnating into a the form of a human girl, Hylia was forced to give up much of her power and all of her memories. But ever loyal, Impa’s servitude spanned a millennium as she was reunited with Hylia in the form of the goddess incarnate, Zelda.

Impa’s undivided attention and sense of duty towards the greater good is unquestioned throughout Skyward Sword. Several times throughout the game her actions, such as harshly criticizing Link and forbidding Zelda to waste time in seeing Link, seem to border on cruel, but her motives remain true throughout. As the servant of the goddess nothing is more important than fulfilling Hylia’s duty: protecting the Triforce. Even with Demise defeated and the Triforce presumably safe, Impa chooses to stand guard over the Master Sword for a thousand years to ensure its safekeeping.

By studying Skyward Sword’s Impa, the original servant of the goddess, we can get a much firmer grasp on the actions of the Sheikah Tribe. Though Hylia no longer exists for the Sheikah Tribe to serve, the bloodline of her human form would eventually bring about the existence of the Hylian Royal Family. Consider the words of King Daphnes to Tetra in Wind Waker when he reveals her true identity as Princess Zelda:

This necklace you wear is part of a sacred treasure called the Triforce of Wisdom, which has been passed down for many ages within the royal family of Hyrule.

Your mother passed this down to you and instructed you to treasure it…and to guard it with your life. Am I not correct?

The Triforce of Wisdom is none other than the sacred power of the gods that we have kept from Ganon’s clutches for so many long years.

The gods placed upon your ancestors the task of protecting it from evil’s grasp.

You, too, must abide by the laws of the past…and so the time has come for me to teach you the fate into which you were born, the very reason that you live.

As the reincarnation of Hylia, the duty of protecting the Triforce was transferred from Hylia to Zelda. This tradition would continue on through the bloodline of the Royal Family for all time. Likewise, the burden of servitude to Hylia that Impa and the Sheikah tribe took upon their shoulders transferred to Royal Family of Hyrule. Just as Hylia had intimate knowledge of prophecies and the Triforce, as her servants, the Sheikah Tribe carried this knowledge throughout the ages.

As the face of the danger that threatened the Triforce changed, so did the actions of the Sheikah. I noticed quickly in Skyward Sword that, while on the surface their purpose remained the same, the Sheikah-created Gossip Stones were subtly different. The Gossip Stones in Ocarina of Time seemed to know more of the personal details of the various denizens of Hyrule, whereas the Gossip Stones in Skyward Sword were specifically there to guide the Hero.

In my former investigation of the Sheikah Tribe I proposed that the purpose of Sheikah Stones was to spy on all of the land, revealing potential threats to the Triforce. At the time of Skyward Sword, Demise, and his monsters could be pinpointed as the sole source of danger, and thus by aiding Link in his quest to kill Demise, they served their purpose in eliminating the threat. But in the ages preceding Ocarina of Time, news of the Triforce spread throughout Hyrule, and a mad scramble of power-hungry people from all over the land ensued. The purpose of the Gossip Stones had to change because any and all information that could be overheard could prove vital to the cause of protecting the Triforce.

It’s easy to see Impa as a “good guy” just doing her duty in Skyward Sword, in contrast to the questionable morals of the Sheikah Tribe in Ocarina of Time, but is that a fair assessment? I believe that, given her devotion to duty, Impa would have done whatever she deemed necessary to protect the Triforce, just as her descendants would in ages to come. There was no change in the morality of the Sheikah, but rather the widespread threat of violence and treason among the common people drove the Sheikah to take drastic measures. For the Sheikah, if it meant protecting the Triforce, the ends justified the means when it came to places like the Shadow Temple and the Bottom of the Well.

Although already addressed in the previous article, there’s the often brought up question of the potential evil past of the Sheikah. Most of it stems from a commonly believed fallacy about the Ocarina of Time manga. It’s often falsely reported that the Sheikah added the tear to their eye symbol after they betrayed the Royal Family. This supposed betrayal, combined with similar descriptions, have led many to believe that the Sheikah are somehow connected to the Interlopers of Twilight Princess or the ancient tribe of Majora’s Mask, both evil groups. If you’ve read the manga, you know the story of betrayal is actually the exact opposite. The manga states the the Royal Family betrayed the Sheikah, and that was the origin of the tear in the Sheikah symbol. Although the manga is sometimes used as sort of “supplemental canon” filling in the cracks of stories in the games, it’s not to be considered absolute. Skyward Sword shows us that the tear symbol predates the existence of the Royal Family entirely, so we can safely assume this story was just a writer’s interpretation, and not factual evidence of any betrayal.

Skyward Sword shows the loyalty of the Sheikah to the Royal Family to exist since the beginning of recorded history without faltering or failing. Given what we’ve seen, to say that either side of this alliance would betray the other seems baseless and absurd at this point.

Though by the time of Ocarina of Time the Sheikah are on the brink of extinction, they have been a staple in the series since Impa’s very first appearance in the original Legend of Zelda. In each of her appearances, her devotion to Princess Zelda, the Triforce, and the protection of Hyrule has been an incredible display of loyalty. Divinely decreed since the beginning of time, nothing will stand between the Sheikah Tribe and their sacred duty. As long as there is an incarnation of the goddess, there will be a servant standing loyally by her side, no matter what the cost.