Is snowpeak ruins a knight academy?

[Amy Lu Minati]

Yeti House is a Knight Academy theory. I don't know if someone else ever discovered this, but I'll share anyways.

So, anyone who's played TP and payed attention to their surroundings, should have seen this painting on the wall next to a painting of the Zora Queen. This painting could be one of two people (that we know of), it could be Rauru the sage, or it could be headmaster Gaepora. I'll admit right now that it looks a lot more like Rauru than Gaepora, but this picture is blurry so who knows. (Those two are probably the same person anyway since Rauru turns into an owl that has Gaepora in it's name... Also, if he shaves his eyebrows he'd literally be identical to this pic).

Throughout the Yeti house there are a few different areas, we have a comfy looking area with couches set up, we have a kitchen or storage room, we even have a classroom! Remember in the Knight Academy in Skyward sword where you had all of those benches lined up in front of a desk? Well there is a similar (not identical) room in TP with rows of benches, and i don't believe it was a church. The SS KA has a kitchen and storage area in it as well, and there are only two floors in both of these buildings.

Also, scattered around the whole house are what? Armor and weapons. RACKS AND RACKS of armor and weapons. And let's look at the layout of the cannons. Are any of these cannons set up in useful places for firing at an enemy? Maybe 1 of them. The others are set up in the courtyard. I believe these cannons must be for training purposes. They are bolted to the floor for crying out loud!

BUT AMY! What about the Zora Queen!? Who the heck is she!? Is she Rauru/Gaepora's WIFE!?
Probably not, no. Maybe she taught at the Academy or helped fund it so they put her picture up all over the place in there. Probably, I dunno. Zora's domain IS right next door, and they have a lot of history that I'm sure people could have profited from.

The reason this academy is bigger than SS's academy is simple really. The SS one became all or partly destroyed on it's way down (now there is no bell tower) and they had to rebuild/remodel most of it. The master bedroom is probably where Zelda from SS stayed (or maybe the Zora Queen on her visits.) if we look at the snow temple from Spirit Tracks it DOES have a bell on it like the Knight Academy and it is in the snowy mountains just like Snowpeak Ruins are, Huh.

;D but hey! it's just a theory! Take a walk through the Yeti house and tell me if you find it to be something else!

Have a ripping jolly good time.
(I was going to provide pictures, but it wasn't working for me for some reason. :'( )
EDIT: Nevermind the pictures worked. I just put too many of them in there.

 

[DragonEleven]

I doubt it was ever a knight academy... it's design is far too elaborate, and there's no real evidence of combat training (dummies, training weapons, etc.).
The cannons do seem strange, but I don't think they're actually bolted down, as they do recoil when they fire... I think they're just too heavy for Link to do anything other than turn them. It also wouldn't make sense for them to be firing canons (even for training) in those locations, so I think it's more likely that they were just stored there.
The room with rows of seats may not be a church in the traditional sense, but it is certainly not a classroom... the space does not seem to be set out for a speaker to stand at the front... it seems more likely that something was enshrined in the space at the front of the room, with the seating simply being used for prayer.

The building itself, and most of the decoration make it extremely likely that this was once the residence of an extremely wealthy family... likely well travelled, given the range of characters and locations depicted in the artwork, and probably had ties to the army.
The majority of the weapons and other supplies appear to have been added later, with the mansion probably having been commandeered as an outpost during a war before it was abandoned (presumably because of the deteriorating weather).
Seeing as a number of the paintings in the mansion are duplicated in multiple places, it's possible that one of the former residents may have been an artist, having painted the same subject repeatedly to perfect the piece.

Personally, I think the most evidence points towards Ashei's family.
We know she was raised in the mountains by her father (likely a family tradition) but does not give any indication of having lived in the mansion (her family likely left before she was born, and were unable to return)... which makes sense given the ruined state of the building and the harsh weather conditions.
Her father was also a Knight, which fits the family connection to the army, and Ashei is able to sketch Yeto with a Reekfish accurately enough for the Zora to identify the fish, so she appears to possess some artistic talent as well (which makes sense if one of her ancestors was also an artist).

 

[Dio]

Interesting theory. I'm not sure it was an academy for Knights but if not I am guessing there would have been a military presence there once for some reason or other. Ashei seems to have connections to snowpeak so perhaps it even belonged to her family.

Though...what if the humans once garrisoned themselves in there to fight Yeti invaders and then lost. What if yeto and yeta were not as innocent as they seem and in fact massacred many humans simply to get their dream home!?

I do not believe Rauru is Gaepora from SS. I think it more likely he was born Rauru and the name he uses in owl form is likely as a tribute to the first monarch of Hyrule.

 

[Dizzi]

its probably Yeta and Yeti were Ashei's parents and they were cursed while Ashei was out and they were a military family

 

[Amy Lu Minati]

I do not believe Rauru is Gaepora from SS. I think it more likely he was born Rauru and the name he uses in owl form is likely as a tribute to the first monarch of Hyrule.

Perhaps, but we didn't know anything about Rauru's past to begin with, so he could really be anything. (Did Gaepora even ever come down to hyrule?)

I doubt it was ever a knight academy... it's design is far too elaborate, and there's no real evidence of combat training (dummies, training weapons, etc.).
The cannons do seem strange, but I don't think they're actually bolted down, as they do recoil when they fire... I think they're just too heavy for Link to do anything other than turn them. It also wouldn't make sense for them to be firing canons (even for training) in those locations, so I think it's more likely that they were just stored there.
Personally, I think the most evidence points towards Ashei's family.
We know she was raised in the mountains by her father (likely a family tradition) but does not give any indication of having lived in the mansion (her family likely left before she was born, and were unable to return)... which makes sense given the ruined state of the building and the harsh weather conditions.
Her father was also a Knight, which fits the family connection to the army, and Ashei is able to sketch Yeto with a Reekfish accurately enough for the Zora to identify the fish, so she appears to possess some artistic talent as well (which makes sense if one of her ancestors was also an artist).

I like this theory as well! :/ I never even considered Ashei's painting and stuff. good point. As for those cannons not being used for training though... I think I'd have to disagree with your points there, those cannons have barely any range on them and Link is plenty strong since he can swing around that massive ball and chain, not to mention that he can walk at a quicker pace than he should be able to sporting those iron boots of his and wrestle Gorons.

@Dizzi that is really sad. Why is Ashei wearing a yeti skin though?

 

[Castle]

Sometimes I wish I knew what the history of Snowpeak Ruins is, but then it would lose all mystique and a lot of what I love about my second all time favorite Zelda dungeon would be lost.

There are enough cues to form some vague picture though- much, much more to go off of than my no.1 fav dungeon, OoT's Forest Temple.

Snowpeak is both a military outpost and an opulent residence. So two theories are possible. It was either the domicile of a lord or the ornate trappings were simply built to house a military company in comfort during their stay. The problem with the former theory is that Hyrule doesn't ever seem to have any sort of lesser lords or vassal states. The resident could have just been supremely wealthy and was able to afford his own garrison or all those weapons and armor are simply for show. Could have been a collector. Independently wealthy Hylians are well known of in the series, including several in TP. The problem with the latter theory is why anyone would fund such lavish trappings for a military company. Military garrisons tend to be woefully sparse.

If it is a private residence then why would anyone be living all the way up there in the mountains? This is not difficult to consider if the owner was a recluse or if the manor was a mountain getaway. If it was a military garrison, then what were Hylian soldiers doing there? I speculate that given Snowpeak is a new region (or maybe not - search for my theory on Snowpeak being Death Mountain) Hyrule sent an expeditionary force up the mountain. Of course one might have to consider that the ruins are not of Hylian construction and the occupants were from some land beyond Hyrule, but this is unlikely given the artwork throughout the manor depicts locals from all over Hyrule. The ruins may have also been guarding against incursion from some neighboring kingdom beyond the mountain, but there is nothing in Twilight Princess that mentions any recent threat from any foreign land (unless it has something to do with the Gerudo's unexplained absence - the manor could have been guarding against their return.)

When you look for clues as to who the ruins former occupants were, Ashei is the obvious connection. However, she never mentions the ruins and if she even knows about it she somehow doesn't suspect that a couple of Yetis have made it their home. She does explain that she was trained by her father, a knight, alone in the mountains which would easily make the ruins her most likely residence. The Yetis as well could have something to do with the manor. If it was a military garrison, then soldiers may have been staged there to fight the Yetis. No history of the Yetis is ever given in the game, however. And the couple encountered are perfectly friendly (twilight shard corruption notwithstanding). This Yeti conflict theory is also supported by Ashei's Yeti pelt. It would be quite sick and awfully cruel of her to wear the skin of a sentient creature. It is unknown whether Ashei obtained the pelt herself, but the existence of the pelt at all suggests either a conflict with Yetis or a prevailing misconception that they are feral monsters and thus acceptable to hunt. It is also unknown how many Yetis exist.

Other possible occupants are of course the Royal Family. Agatha is inexplicably wealthy and there is no mention of her parents, but her wealthy family could be tied to the ruins somehow. Giovanni is certainly not affiliated with the ruins given he got rich quick on a wish so his cursed fortune doesn't predate the ruins unless his family was wealthy anyway. He never mentions having lost a family fortune though. Presumably other wealthy Hylians exist in Castle Town, given an exclusive store that serves them and Castle Town's generally upward living standards.

Another connection to Snowpeak Ruins is the iced over cave in the Lanayru section of Hyrule Field. The equipment inside as well as the blocks are identical to the equipment found in the ruins. The cavern struck me as a military cache the first time I saw it. It is a well secured but distant location that would be perfect for a soldier or group of soldiers to restock and resupply on the go. It is also located along the road from Hyrule Castle to Peak Province through Zora's Domain (the only know route to Snowpeak).

 

[DragonEleven]

As for those cannons not being used for training though... I think I'd have to disagree with your points there, those cannons have barely any range on them and Link is plenty strong since he can swing around that massive ball and chain, not to mention that he can walk at a quicker pace than he should be able to sporting those iron boots of his and wrestle Gorons.

Just because they didn't fire very far when Link used them does not mean they couldn't fire further... that could easily be put down to the power of the bombs Link was using to fire them... a more powerful explosive would easily increase the range.
Just because Link's stronger than normal does not mean he's strong enough to move those canons around... they're substantially larger than anything else we see him move, and would have been designed specifically not to be moved easily in order to minimise recoil when they were fired, only turn so that they could be aimed, which Link is able to do.

 

[YIGAhim]

I never thought about this...

It's more than likely that the picture is of Rauru, because this game came out 5 years before SS, so the headmaster didn't even exist back then...

 

[Amy Lu Minati]

Just because they didn't fire very far when Link used them does not mean they couldn't fire further... that could easily be put down to the power of the bombs Link was using to fire them... a more powerful explosive would easily increase the range.
Just because Link's stronger than normal does not mean he's strong enough to move those canons around... they're substantially larger than anything else we see him move, and would have been designed specifically not to be moved easily in order to minimise recoil when they were fired, only turn so that they could be aimed, which Link is able to do.

Did you see any stronger bombs that I didn't? Did you not see link push those massive ice blocks or pick up the giant goron?
https://youtu.be/vEFiRew2Ef8?t=1m8s
That guy is substanstially larger and definitely heavier than that cannon. Link also has enough grip strength to trip the boss:
https://youtu.be/yejBe_u0S0E?t=1m57s
Everytime Link opens a door in that game he has to lift or pull them open, and those doors look pretty darn heavy. Also, he has to have some super freaky squat powers to be able to "spin" those gears:
https://youtu.be/fAtOk6_3YbY?t=9m21s

Link isn't just stronger than normal, he is literally the strongest person, and that's in a game where he doesn't even get a gauntlet buff. If Link can't lift it, it can't be lifted. I do think those cannons were made to be completely immovable. Can you even think of a way to move them? They wouldn't fit through all of the doors and it would be a massive pain to lug them around. There are slots made to transport the cannon balls to the cannons, not the other way around. From where those cannons are sitting there is no purpose for them besides being used for training.

 

[DragonEleven]

Did you see any stronger bombs that I didn't? Did you not see link push those massive ice blocks or pick up the giant goron?
That guy is substanstially larger and definitely heavier than that cannon. Link also has enough grip strength to trip the boss:
Everytime Link opens a door in that game he has to lift or pull them open, and those doors look pretty darn heavy. Also, he has to have some super freaky squat powers to be able to "spin" those gears:

Link isn't just stronger than normal, he is literally the strongest person, and that's in a game where he doesn't even get a gauntlet buff. If Link can't lift it, it can't be lifted. I do think those cannons were made to be completely immovable. Can you even think of a way to move them? They wouldn't fit through all of the doors and it would be a massive pain to lug them around. There are slots made to transport the cannon balls to the cannons, not the other way around. From where those cannons are sitting there is no purpose for them besides being used for training.

Ice has an extremely low friction coefficient, so it would not take a lot of force to get even a big block of ice moving.
With the Goron, it looks like Link just uses the Goron's weight against him (like you see in Judo)... rather than actually lifting the Goron, it's more like Link is using himself as a fulcrum to just redirect the Goron (remember that the platform is angled... it's only the iron boots stopping Link from falling off).
Grip strength has next to nothing to do with how strong Link is in general... even a person who is relatively weak could have a strong grip... and if you think about it, it doesn't take all that much to trip someone up... all Link has to do is act as dead weight and that's enough to trip Fyrus... it'd take next to no strength.
The doors may look heavy, but they are designed to be opened... chances are there is some sort of counterweight or some other mechanical system assisting Link with the opening and closing of doors... and the same would apply to the gears as well.

The canons would likely be be moved by several people working together... the same as would have traditionally be done in real life... plus there's the fact that they obviously weren't made in place, so they must have gotten them into the Snowpeak Ruins somehow... so there must be some way to move them.

 

[Amy Lu Minati]

Ice has an extremely low friction coefficient, so it would not take a lot of force to get even a big block of ice moving.
With the Goron, it looks like Link just uses the Goron's weight against him (like you see in Judo)... rather than actually lifting the Goron, it's more like Link is using himself as a fulcrum to just redirect the Goron (remember that the platform is angled... it's only the iron boots stopping Link from falling off).
Grip strength has next to nothing to do with how strong Link is in general... even a person who is relatively weak could have a strong grip... and if you think about it, it doesn't take all that much to trip someone up... all Link has to do is act as dead weight and that's enough to trip Fyrus... it'd take next to no strength.
The doors may look heavy, but they are designed to be opened... chances are there is some sort of counterweight or some other mechanical system assisting Link with the opening and closing of doors... and the same would apply to the gears as well.

Because we all know that Link knows Judo. You can throw the Goron without being that close to the edge and link does indeed toss him up off of the ground (https://youtu.be/z9p8ALrdt5w?t=1m42s), he isn't just sliding him. Link is strong AF, dude. He legit stops the goron AND THEN he slides him. He's not using any Judo moves. If he can't lift it, it can't be lifted. You can imagine the doors working however you want, but I can actually see Link push, pull and slide them open. Fyrus' walking would pop Link's arms off if he's iron booted to the floor. We can see the ground shake, we know that guy has got to be pretty dang heavy. You can't rationalize every time Link proves to us that he is the strongest person in the world when he does it multiple times. Explain how he could literally swing that massive chain and ball FOREVER, he doesn't even have to pick up the momentum, he can just pull it out and instantly swing it at top speed. he wouldn't even get tired, he could literally swing that thing around and around through the end of time. Not to mention that he can shotput that thing through walls! And then with one yank he can send it flying back into his hands.
:/ If these cannons were ever moved they'd have to be completely disassembled first. They are too wide for the doors and they would be way too heavy for anyone who isn't Link to carry around. That cannonball that Link easily carries above his head would take at least 3 normal people to carry, that is like 5 times as big as a regular cannonball which already weigh almost 50 pounds. And as big as that cannonball is, the cannon is even bigger. Now let's say that the possibility that these cannons could be carried existed, okay, then why move them into the courtyard at any time? How come there isn't a single cannon in a place where you could shoot out at enemies? How come the one cannon that is close to an opening isn't even aiming high enough to get it through the opening? You can't even raise the height on the cannons, with the way they are built, it would be impossible. You can't tilt the cannon at all because the bottom of it rests on a railroad tie. So what use would a cannon be that can't be aimed, that can't shoot very far, is set up where it can't hit anything outside and would be nearly impossible to move, except in training people how to load a cannon? :/