Master Sword Energies?

[Shadsie]

Having been tooling around in Ocarina of Time lately... I got to thinking about how mysterious the Master Sword is.

We all know that Young Link was too young to wield it, so it put him to sleep for seven years, at which time/age/strength he'd be able to wield it, right? He went from being 10 to 17, or 12 to 19... whatever your theory on his age is... in any case, the sword chose Link, but could not be weilded by a kid, so it put him into a magic-coma until he became an adult. Link misses out on seven years of his life and wakes up in Ganon's post-apocalypse Hyrule. Poor soul.

So, how come Link of Wind Waker could take the Master Sword at age twelve - as a little kid?

In the various games, it seems that Link gains the Master Sword at various ages. His age is unclear in A Link to the Past and the Oracles games, but he looks to be around 14-15 by the game art in both of those. The Master Sword is sort of a non-issue in the Classic game unless you go by the theory that the Magical Sword is the same object, in which case, again, Link is a kid there. It's a non-issue in Twilight Princess as Link is 17 or so, already a young adult. Apparently, in Skyward Sword, he's supposed to be even older.

But there is a clear "Huh?" going on between Ocarina of Time and Wind Waker in that "the Master Sword cannot be wielded by a kid" to suddenly, in Flood Hyrule, "He's a kid, so what, no problem."

The Master Sword is supposedly a blade that chooses its master, so, what, did it change its mind?

Although I think a "change of mind" explaination is valid, I have a personal theory that deals with magical energies.

I think that in Ocarina of Time, the Master Sword was still... "fresh." It's energies were very strong and overwhelming to Young Link's little body (and spirit?) and could not be wielded by him in its full strength until he matured.

In The Wind Waker, however, the Master Sword, when the boy who would become the Hero of Winds found it, was significantly de-powered. I think it let him draw it because its energies were not overwhelming. The energies were restored to the sword when Link awakened the two Sages he needed to awaken and brought them to the place where they could pray for the sword. By this time, he was slowly becoming accustomed and attuned to the sword's energies in de-powered form. The sword didn't send him to sleep because it wasn't "fresh" - but powered up gradually for him, allow him to become "in tune" by increment.

Whereas Young Link from OoT touched the sword, felt its full energies and WHAMMO!

What do you think? There has to be some coherent explaination for the discrepency in the Master Sword's behavior toward the Links in OoT and WW.

 

[Locke]

"the Master Sword cannot be wielded by a kid" was never said. Only that Link was too young to fulfill the prophecy of the Hero of Time. OoT Link was put to sleep in order to fulfill this prophecy. No such prophecy was said about WW Link, so he was not held to such criteria. Nice idea about the MS's power level though!

@FD, I like to think that the castle was the ToT, remodelled after the destruction of the original castle.

 

[Djinn]

In a way WW Link already proved his worth to wield the Master Sword by passing the Tower of the Gods. The tower's original purpose was to test the upcoming hero and see if they were worthy of returning to old Hyrule and defeating Ganondorf. And since Link succeeded then he has proven worthy. Link of OoT only gained the spiritual stones from the leaders of the Gorons and Zoras, while the Deku Tree gave him the emerald after his death. Obtaining the spiritual stones was not the same task as proving heroic worth to the golden goddesses in the Tower of the Gods. OoT Link never proved his value specifically to the gods, only the leaders of the tribes, and gained the ocarina of time by being nearby during a crisis at the castle. So OoT Link had to wait until he was truly worthy of holding the master sword. Which meant that he had to wait another seven years.

Even LttP Link had to obtain the three pendants of virtue proving that he had courage power and wisdom before he was worthy of pulling the master sword from the stone in the lost woods. So a real test was set forth by the powers that be. The challenges OoT Link faced in Dodongo's cavern and Jabu Jabu were more helpful on an individual basis towards King Zora and Darunia. He was helping them on their recent troubles not proving himself to any gods.

 

[Master Sword13]

I agree with everyone else, it was never specifically said that the Master Sword couldn't be wielded by a kid, but the legend stated that a man would do it, and because Link was the hero, he needed to be a man. In WW, there WASN'T a prophecy to begin with, Ganon was never meant to return. That being said, Link was still the hero, so he was able to draw the Master Sword. However there's still the possibility, Shadsie, that because the Sages were dead the the MS was not powered by the Gods/Goddesses, it could not be fully protected by enchantments. However, as Djinn said, Link needed the 3 pendants in ALttP to draw the Master Sword. However, in that defining of the Hero, anyone could obtain the Pendants and get the MS. However, Link was the only one who NEEDED the Master Sword, and because Ganon/Aghanim/Evil couldn't touch the MS because of the magic within it, only Link was able to use it.

However, back on the WW note, it could be said that Link could wield the MS because he obtained the 3 pearls and beat the guardian of the Tower of the Gods. Because, as we know, that's how Link was able to get to Ancient Hyrule in the first place. So, let it be pointed out that we can't really be sure. For me, I have one or two theories, but not so many as to prove anyone else wrong. It's somewhat up to you, as if it's a matter of opinion.

 

[Retsdob]

You always beat me to it. Of course, there may not be a direct correlation between the gods and the Master Sword. Hopefully we're about to find out in Skyward Sword.

 

[TrueVirtue]

It wasn't that he was too young to wield the master sword, it was that he wasn't ready to face Ganandorf.