Spoiler BOTW Interesting Theory information

[Ominethious]

Not so much a theory in of itself [if there's a better place for something like this, please do relocate], but i feel the need that these things should be looked upon. Though I may jump around spastically.


A few interesting things worthy of note to come from BOTW's main plot is;

- How does Calamity Ganon manage to have a clear conscious mind after being defeated and sealed 10,000 years ago? How does he create a plot to posses the Guardians, and create 4 Blights to annihilate the 4 Champions?

- Another posed question revolves around a cutscene of Urbosa monolouging ontop of Naboris. How is it Urbosa can recall some text explaining that Calamity Ganon was once a Gerudo, However given the time gap of 10,000 years +, Wouldn't the last true Gerudo form of Ganon be Gannondorf from Ocarina Of Time? I would see it as skeptical a book can survive that long..

- With how many location name Easter Eggs are, you'd assume all location names aren't in any way linked to a previous game. I would however, cite one particular location that might give bearings to a timeline. *albeit if you look at it in one of two ways* Far out into the Gerudo Desert sits the site named the "Aribiter's Grounds" It is one of the few locations ingame that make any actual physical reference to the name it's given. this being a set of Sandstone column ruins.

- Given how the fight with Calamity Ganon ends in BOTW, one would assume this was the end of Ganon's reincarnation.. However, It's seen in BOTW that Ganon wasn't meerly sitting in a Cocoon for one hundred years to surprise Link. It would seem Calamity Ganon yearned for a body to fester into rather than his more Force of Nature appearances. Which when this amalgamite body of Sheikah Tech and Malice is destroyed by Link, does he then give up on obtaining a new body, becoming the Beast Ganon.

- This next bit is an add on to the previous point. On writing all this, it does seem peculiar that even before the 10,000 year time skip, the Calamity Ganon existed. Perhaps given the circumstance that this version of Ganon was never allowed to fully die, and reincarnate; This torturous cycle of being freed, and sealed caused what was left of any flesh to be whittled away into pure malice. Thus giving us the current form we see as a swirling mass of Demise's Hated.

- Again, an addition to the previous point. Simply Sealing Ganon away hadn't killed him, thus allowing this Ganon to learn from every fight he loses. Eventually getting to the point that he could turn the automatic Sheikah Defenses against Hyrule, and create the Blights that would inevitably be HAND CRAFTED to kill the Champions.

- A last bit of interesting information is how the Calamity was sealed away 10,000 years ago. From what King Rhoam mentions in his narration to link, is that the Calamity sprouted from deep within Hyrule Castle. Now, the only 2 types of structures even remotely related to sealing away the Calamity were the 4 pillars, and the huge dome room you fight Calamity Ganon in. It is interesting too that, either to parallel or reuse assets, the massive room in which you unlock more power for the Master Sword in the Master Trials DLC, is an exact but pure mirror of the room aforementioned above.

Well, I don't expect much to come from all this, but if there's anything you guys can come up with, i'd love to see some Comments!

 

[YIGAhim]

To be Honest, I think all of these gaps were accidental

 

[Jirohnagi]

Not so much a theory in of itself [if there's a better place for something like this, please do relocate], but i feel the need that these things should be looked upon. Though I may jump around spastically.


A few interesting things worthy of note to come from BOTW's main plot is;

- How does Calamity Ganon manage to have a clear conscious mind after being defeated and sealed 10,000 years ago? How does he create a plot to posses the Guardians, and create 4 Blights to annihilate the 4 Champions?

- Another posed question revolves around a cutscene of Urbosa monolouging ontop of Naboris. How is it Urbosa can recall some text explaining that Calamity Ganon was once a Gerudo, However given the time gap of 10,000 years +, Wouldn't the last true Gerudo form of Ganon be Gannondorf from Ocarina Of Time? I would see it as skeptical a book can survive that long..

- With how many location name Easter Eggs are, you'd assume all location names aren't in any way linked to a previous game. I would however, cite one particular location that might give bearings to a timeline. *albeit if you look at it in one of two ways* Far out into the Gerudo Desert sits the site named the "Aribiter's Grounds" It is one of the few locations ingame that make any actual physical reference to the name it's given. this being a set of Sandstone column ruins.

- Given how the fight with Calamity Ganon ends in BOTW, one would assume this was the end of Ganon's reincarnation.. However, It's seen in BOTW that Ganon wasn't meerly sitting in a Cocoon for one hundred years to surprise Link. It would seem Calamity Ganon yearned for a body to fester into rather than his more Force of Nature appearances. Which when this amalgamite body of Sheikah Tech and Malice is destroyed by Link, does he then give up on obtaining a new body, becoming the Beast Ganon.

- This next bit is an add on to the previous point. On writing all this, it does seem peculiar that even before the 10,000 year time skip, the Calamity Ganon existed. Perhaps given the circumstance that this version of Ganon was never allowed to fully die, and reincarnate; This torturous cycle of being freed, and sealed caused what was left of any flesh to be whittled away into pure malice. Thus giving us the current form we see as a swirling mass of Demise's Hated.

- Again, an addition to the previous point. Simply Sealing Ganon away hadn't killed him, thus allowing this Ganon to learn from every fight he loses. Eventually getting to the point that he could turn the automatic Sheikah Defenses against Hyrule, and create the Blights that would inevitably be HAND CRAFTED to kill the Champions.

- A last bit of interesting information is how the Calamity was sealed away 10,000 years ago. From what King Rhoam mentions in his narration to link, is that the Calamity sprouted from deep within Hyrule Castle. Now, the only 2 types of structures even remotely related to sealing away the Calamity were the 4 pillars, and the huge dome room you fight Calamity Ganon in. It is interesting too that, either to parallel or reuse assets, the massive room in which you unlock more power for the Master Sword in the Master Trials DLC, is an exact but pure mirror of the room aforementioned above.

Well, I don't expect much to come from all this, but if there's anything you guys can come up with, i'd love to see some Comments!

Gonna take a stab at this from 1-7 sooo bear with it.

1. Calamity Ganon is stated to be an elemental force a being that has transcended mortal flesh he is technically immortal while like this and due to his bestial nature would be acting on intuition. If you stop a predator once then it'll look for a new way around. In this case he was stopped by Guardians and Divine Beasts so his first move was to eliminate the controllers of each beast and to try to kill Zelda and Rhoam who are nominally in charge of the guardians.

2. The Gerudo strike me as a people who don't rely on books but more so on oral traditions. Ganondorf could've become a legend to his own people and given the series name it's not impossible for it to have been passed down from mother to daughter.

3. If you look at a certain location you can also find a monument split into 4 pieces exactly akin to the Mirror of Twlight. We still don't have a placement for BOTW on the timeline.

4. As i said in #1 Ganon has given up on the cycle of reincarnation when he becomes the Malice beast, Ganon has been contending with zelda for 100 years as a pure spirit and held at bay by her powers. To fight Link he'd have needed a physical vessel to fight him as being a spirit only would've likely gotten him killed. You can see his body is a combination of Blights, Guardians and Malice. Some people around here think that some parts were specially fabricated by the Yiga to aid him. (namely the skull which resembles G-dorfs TP skull)

5. You have to remember Ganondorf/Ganon/Calamity Ganon are all a result from a curse from Demise, Demise's spirit constantly re-incarnated to try to slay the other two and take the triforce. Over the centuries he's died so many times and in at least one case has been completely ended. But you have to remember it all comes back to Demise a being who he himself transcended Time and could see it all as stated by himself. For all we know the malice could be the final remnants of Demise's power which is then finally shucked off alongside the cycle of Reincarnation. Calamity Ganon himself exists as an elemental force he is in effect immortal and likely went back to the state after his defeat.

6. Bear in mind he's had 10,000 years to learn about hyrules defenses after being sealed away, I wouldn't say the blights were created specifically to kill the champions but in fact we Calamity Ganon's method to kill the beasts (or in other words corrupt them) Each Blight is tailored to the beast not the champion. And the champions were only novices when compared to ganon's Blights.

7. Those 4 Pillars were held deep in the earth beneath the castle and in fact held the the guardians inside of them they were also a method of warning/containing Calalmity Ganon as they only arose when he came forth. (Zelda's Journal) The large chamber we fight Calamity Ganon i at first assumed was where he was sealed but i was informed by a reputable member that it's in fact the Shiekah Laboratory under the Castle where Guardians were built and maintained. I'd say Ganon could've emerged ANYWHERE in Hyrule he wanted but he chose the heart of it all when the real contenders to his power were away. I do think those pillars are also linked to the 4 beasts which could explain how the blights gained control so damn fast.

The entire Trials of the Sword could've happened on another plain of existence, namely the spirit realm which we've seen exist in SS and it could exist in much the same capacity. To make the Hero's Spirit stronger through literal trials of fire. (as for the appearance re-using assets undoubtedly)

One thing that fascinates me is WHERE we the divine beasts themselves hidden? They aren't exactly small and they couldn't have been hidden in mountain ranges as none are quite that size unless a mountain was turned into rubble excavating them.

 

[Ryuu Kage Desu]

I wouldn't be surprised if Gannon is returning/reverting to Demise. Even though Demise chose a human form when fighting Link in Skyward Sword, the calamity seems more fitting for Demise's true form. It could mean that Demise is slowly being 'cleansed' as it is held prisoner, or that Demise is slowly slipping free. It could be that the mechanized Gannon we fight under the castle is more of a proxy, or temporary shell.

As far as the Gerudo's grounds of arbitration, I don't think it is very far fetched for a new site to be chosen, specially for sentencing Gannon, in the Twilight Princess timeline. I personally place Breath of the Wild in the Downfall timeline, which is also the timeline of the last hero. To me, this indicates that all iterations of Link are one in the same. I view the story from 10,000 years ago as a telling of the sealing war, and many of Link's memories taking place after A Link Between Worlds. After Link has saved Hyrule many times over, he finally falters, and needs to recuperate for 100 years. If I am right, then the Gannon from 10,000 years ago was Gerudo born.

The way I understood the divine beasts, and each boss, is that Calamity Gannon sent a proxy to take over each mechanical beast. If those pillars are indeed linked to each beast, it would make this easier. The controlled beast was then used to kill each champion, and the proxy trapped the champion. It's a bit gruesome and sad to think about it, but each boss seems to use fighting styles that would match each champion, not counter them. Plus, each spirit does not appear until after the boss is defeated. I felt like I was fighting Links un-dead friends during those battles, freeing their souls in the process.

 

[Aku]

- How does Calamity Ganon manage to have a clear conscious mind after being defeated and sealed 10,000 years ago? How does he create a plot to posses the Guardians, and create 4 Blights to annihilate the 4 Champions?

Do you mean how it is possible that he managed to remain sane despite being isolated for 10,000 years? Simple, he no longer has a human mind, plus he probably spent large portions of that time inert, likely just passively 'monitering' everything through some sort of low level mental telepathy while the rest of him remained 'asleep' and regenerating.

- Another posed question revolves around a cutscene of Urbosa monolouging ontop of Naboris. How is it Urbosa can recall some text explaining that Calamity Ganon was once a Gerudo, However given the time gap of 10,000 years +, Wouldn't the last true Gerudo form of Ganon be Gannondorf from Ocarina Of Time? I would see it as skeptical a book can survive that long..

Well, it's possible that as someone said earlier, that there is an oral tradition, however I can't see this lasting perfectly over 10,000 years either. It's like that old game of 'Telephone,' eventually the message is going to be distorted over time, with people either mishearing, misinterpreting, reinterpretating or misunderstanding whatever gets heard. It's like the older a legend or story, the more variations you will eventually find of it, like there is in 'real world' tales. Plus there is the added pickle of what the Ancient Sheikah say about him in their Compendium which makes you wonder if they discovered something about him that we didn't know before, because they would be the ones to ensure accuracy and permanence, rather then relying on hearsay or fairy tales. With that, I would say that it's possible that Ganon(dorf) is not strictly human, that since he's the product of a demon's curse it might be he might not be all that he simply appears. The Gerudo are simply repeating only what they know and have been told, there is likely more to Ganondorf that goes beyond OoT and links directly back to SS.

- Given how the fight with Calamity Ganon ends in BOTW, one would assume this was the end of Ganon's reincarnation.. However, It's seen in BOTW that Ganon wasn't meerly sitting in a Cocoon for one hundred years to surprise Link. It would seem Calamity Ganon yearned for a body to fester into rather than his more Force of Nature appearances. Which when this amalgamite body of Sheikah Tech and Malice is destroyed by Link, does he then give up on obtaining a new body, becoming the Beast Ganon.

As someone else said, him appearing purely in spirit form tends to make him more vulnerable. Plus the accurate Japanese translation is that he has NOT given up on reincarnation, so it will just be a matter of time.

- Again, an addition to the previous point. Simply Sealing Ganon away hadn't killed him, thus allowing this Ganon to learn from every fight he loses. Eventually getting to the point that he could turn the automatic Sheikah Defenses against Hyrule, and create the Blights that would inevitably be HAND CRAFTED to kill the Champions.

I don't think Ganon can be destroyed, only sealed. Unfortunately this means that he has time to think about what went wrong, so it is likely the same strategy won't work on him twice. He also seems to get stronger as time goes on, thus seeming to no longer need (or want) the Triforce, which seems to only be able to seal him now, not destroy. It might have at one point been possible to destroy Ganon, but this no longer seems to be the case. He might even be surpassing Demise now in power, because not even Demise could survive past one encounter with the Sword...

 

[Ominethious]

Well, it's possible that as someone said earlier, that there is an oral tradition, however I can't see this lasting perfectly over 10,000 years either. It's like that old game of 'Telephone,' eventually the message is going to be distorted over time, with people either mishearing, misinterpreting, reinterpretating or misunderstanding whatever gets heard. It's like the older a legend or story, the more variations you will eventually find of it, like there is in 'real world' tales. Plus there is the added pickle of what the Ancient Sheikah say about him in their Compendium which makes you wonder if they discovered something about him that we didn't know before, because they would be the ones to ensure accuracy and permanence, rather then relying on hearsay or fairy tales. With that, I would say that it's possible that Ganon(dorf) is not strictly human, that since he's the product of a demon's curse it might be he might not be all that he simply appears. The Gerudo are simply repeating only what they know and have been told, there is likely more to Ganondorf that goes beyond OoT and links directly back to SS.

Problem with this theory is how Urbosa worded her speech: "It was written that Calamity Ganon once adopted the form of a gerudo."

She also mentions Nabooru, the Gerudo sage of spirit. That is extremely specific information when mentioning her as; "(a) Legend of the Gerudo, celebrated over the ages. - And you, who were named to honor her."

I think, this quote eliminated the child timeline completely. Check'mate.

See, from all I can gather is (unless FS contradicts me) the sages were never awoken in the Gerudo-hylian war. Plus, from what we can tell the Gerudo post TP were either extinct, or fled the Hyrule region.

 

[Aku]

Problem with this theory is how Urbosa worded her speech: "It was written that Calamity Ganon once adopted the form of a gerudo."

She also mentions Nabooru, the Gerudo sage of spirit. That is extremely specific information when mentioning her as; "(a) Legend of the Gerudo, celebrated over the ages. - And you, who were named to honor her."

I think, this quote eliminated the child timeline completely. Check'mate.

See, from all I can gather is (unless FS contradicts me) the sages were never awoken in the Gerudo-hylian war. Plus, from what we can tell the Gerudo post TP were either extinct, or fled the Hyrule region.

I didn't forget Urbosa's quote. In fact it was being talked about that it was weird that a piece of writing survived for so long. Not even the Zora's cliff writing is lasting, some of it is already starting to deteriorate. You also forgot about the Compendium stuff on Ganon, which is built on 10,000+year magitech.

I don't think anybody disagrees with Ganon having been Ganondorf, only I am postulating he might not be altogether human. It would explain why he could do all of this stuff, why he alone seems to wield this power, and why he seems to be able to achieve world destroying abilities that pale even beyond Demise. That's pretty impressive for what used to be a mere desert dwelling human who 'Coveted that wind, I suppose.'

 

[DragonEleven]

why he seems to be able to achieve world destroying abilities that pale even beyond Demise.

I'm not sure we can make an accurate comparison to Demise, as we don't seem to have seen him at full power... we're told that he has to absorb Zelda's soul in order to be revived, but Link defeats him before he can fully do so (in order to save Zelda)... if he had only partially absorbed her soul, we can assume that he had only been partially revived, so was probably not back to his full strength.

 

[Jirohnagi]

I'm not sure we can make an accurate comparison to Demise, as we don't seem to have seen him at full power... we're told that he has to absorb Zelda's soul in order to be revived, but Link defeats him before he can fully do so (in order to save Zelda)... if he had only partially absorbed her soul, we can assume that he had only been partially revived, so was probably not back to his full strength.

SS backstory at the start of the game gives us a glimpse of a full powered demise, he was able to lead a war upon the gods and went hand to hand against a goddess in fact he couldn't be killed by said goddess only sealed away.

Demise at only partial strength was able to create a pocket dimension and see all times

 

[Dio]

Plus the accurate Japanese translation is that he has NOT given up on reincarnation, so it will just be a matter of time.

So the western translation leads players to believe the complete opposite of what Aounuma intended for the story? Well done translation team.

 

[Ominethious]

Well, I have a few things i'd like to throw to the wind:

Do you suppose that Link has a more intense relationship with Mipha, than Zelda? One of love, not friendship?

- I postulate, That since Mipha- as inscribed in one of the 10 Zora history slabs - was sent by her father to train with the Hylian Knights, she was able to establish a long relationship with Link. Now Link, being raised by a father skilled enough to become a Hylian Knight, was raised in his Father's footsteps to become a Knight. It is likely Link and Mipha met under these circumstances. Likely sparred together. likely shared many moments with eachother. This also explains why a Hylian, would end up spending quite a bit of time in the Zora's Domain. Enough time to leave an impression on the zora children who would grow up many years later.

Now, the relation with Zelda and Link before the events of the second Calamity is relatively unknown. However given Link's status, It's likely Link knew from an early age who Zelda was. Yet, never really interacted with the princess until he reached a much older age. What can be assumed from this point is that Link became far more adept than the rest when it came to combat prowess, enough to catch the eye of King Roam. So much so that even Zelda took notice at this formidable Knight. Though Zelda's reaction would have been one of disgust. Thinking of him only as a Knight, one of a crowd of men who vow to serve the Royal Family, and for that matter Hyrule.

Even in the days before the second Calamity event. Zelda was very reserved with Link. Only after he saved her from dying by the hands of a Yiga Assassin did she begin to open up into Link's motives. Then, there is the prying Zelda does with link that reveals his troubled past. The fact he had lowpoints in his childhood, and suffered many hardships to get where he is then. It struck a chord with Zelda that even though Link shows his skill like a Flawless diamond, it took a painful process to get to this refined state. Now finally, when the Second Calamity struck, and both Link and Zelda fled the battle. Zelda collapsed in grief of the events that occurred. As some have argued, this moment is where link shows his affection for Zelda. However with how their relationship is framed, this moment was more of Sympathetic compassion in seeing her full of sorrow. Instead of dragging her to run he embraces her. On feeling her grief he remembered his own struggles. He knows she hasn't unlocked the power to seal the Calamity, and now it has cost everything. Her father, Her status, Her people, Castle, Kingdom, Friends. Everything was lost. The sheer weight of that guilt would be enough to bring anyone to tears, and to embrace the sole person who must bear that weight of guilt. It is now that i bring up Link's death at Fort Hateno. Not only was it his duty to serve Hyrule and the royal family, but in that moment of absolute courage he put his life forward to save Zelda. That he pays the ultimate price for Zelda on her sake on that fateful day.

 

[Ryuu Kage Desu]

That's similar to how I took it. The strongest theory for time line placement, in my opinion, is the downfall line, which is also labeled as the last hero. This would mean that Link in all of those games is literally the same person. This would mean that earlier memories take place after A Link Between Worlds. In that game, it is said that Zelda was falling in love with the "Hero of Legend," as he was portrayed in the murals. After Link saved the day twice, the royal family deemed him as the Hero, with a capital H. This is when Zelda realizes that he is not how she imagined, and is upset. Link is whisked away by the Triforce to save to island nations, wakes the Wind Fish on the way back, and saves Hyrule two more times, while bringing Zelda back from the brink of death. This all happens before Link's last memories.

 

[Siphonix]

So about that “coming from within Hyrule castle” isnt it possible that they moved the Temple of Time (the gate to the sacred realm) and hold it under Hyrule castle under “better protection” and the current temple of time is now just a shrine to the goddess (temple from oot). So he (Ganon) used to power to escape the sacred realm and busting through the grounds of Hyrule castle.