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Spoiler Skyward Sword's ending?

Joined
Jul 24, 2011
Okay, so I think everyone that has beaten this game can agree that the ending makes no sense. How can the game happen if at the end you destroy Demise in the past? It's a grandfather paradox too big to ignore. You could say that the timeline is split when Link goes back to the past to rescue Zelda from Ghirahim. They would abandon their own timeline, where all the game happened, leaving it without a Hero to be reborn (because Link essentially stopped existing). Demise would still be reincarnated into Ganondorf, but without a Hero, this world would end. Let's go back to Link and Zelda in the past. Here, Link killed Demise and left the Master Sword in Hylia's Temple. When they get back to the present, the Master Sword is still there and this would be a timeline in which Demise was dead from the start. But this simply can't happen. Since there was no Demise, there would be no reason for Skyloft still being in the Sky, because it was sent there to protect its people from Demise. But Skyloft is still up there and the Statue of the Goddess down in the Sealed Grounds, because it came back down to crush Demise in the present; but since there was no Demise to begin with, this can't happen.

So how can this game's ending possibly... work? I stumbled upon this article the other day that explains the ending in a way I found very plausible. If you're too lazy to read it, it basically says that when Demise was reawakened in the past, he wasn't at his full power yet, meaning that when Link fought him, some part of Demise was still sealed. So when Link killed him, he only killed a part of him, and the rest remained sealed. This part of Demise is what broke free from the seal as The Imprisoned and was ultimately crushed by the Statue of the Goddess, bringing Demise to his end. This way the game can still happen and there is no grandfather paradox. it could also explain why during the thousands of years between the past and the present he was never reborn (or so we think), because he wasn't completely dead.

So we got that out of the way, but what about the Master Sword? If Link left in the Temple of Hylia in the past, how come it's never there in the Sealed Temple in the present? I have an idea. As you can tell by my profile picture, I'm a Doctor Who fan. In The End of Time, the Doctor makes the TARDIS invisible by making it be out of sync with the rest of the universe. What if something like this happened to the Master Sword? After Link, Zelda, and Groose left the past, the Gate of Time must have closed at some point. When this link between the two eras closed, the Master Sword could not longer be "connected" to its past; it's creation hasn't even happened yet. So when the Gate of time closed, the Master Sword could have vanished. It would still be there in space, but not in time; so it would be essentially invisible. So in the present, the Master Sword would be there "waiting" for its past to be "completed" and be in sync again. So after Link came back from the past for the last time, the Master Sword would be in sync again and becomes visible again.

So if this is true, the ending makes some sense. So what do you think? I hope it made sense...
 

Spiritual Mask Salesman

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I've seen that theory before, that the power was distrubuted maybe. I've also seen theories that killing Demise in the past happens on some alternate timestream that Link accessed via the Gate of Time. At some point of the game the past is referenced as “The world of the past” suggesting it isn't just some portal linking two eras of the same timestream.

So we got that out of the way, but what about the Master Sword? If Link left in the Temple of Hylia in the past, how come it's never there in the Sealed Temple in the present? I have an idea. As you can tell by my profile picture, I'm a Doctor Who fan. In The End of Time, the Doctor makes the TARDIS invisible by making it be out of sync with the rest of the universe. What if something like this happened to the Master Sword? After Link, Zelda, and Groose left the past, the Gate of Time must have closed at some point. When this link between the two eras closed, the Master Sword could not longer be "connected" to its past; it's creation hasn't even happened yet. So when the Gate of time closed, the Master Sword could have vanished. It would still be there in space, but not in time; so it would be essentially invisible. So in the present, the Master Sword would be there "waiting" for its past to be "completed" and be in sync again. So after Link came back from the past for the last time, the Master Sword would be in sync again and becomes visible again.

So if this is true, the end
I always felt like they were trying to go with the whole past involvement must first take place thing. Like Link had to actually put the sword in the pedastal in the past before it can be seen in the present. It's kind of the same deal as the Tree of Life I suppose.

There is no doubt that Skyward Sword's ending wasn't thought out very well, for the past 4 years fans have debated it trying to understand it.

It's hardly the only confusing thing, have you seen the Two Zelda's theory? I wrote about it years ago.

http://zeldadungeon.net/forum/threads/two-zeldas.50125/
 
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Joined
Jul 24, 2011
That two Zeldas theory can be solved with Demise being "divided". When Link defeated him in the past, he wasn't completely destroyed, so Zelda didn't wake up in the past.
 
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I always saw it as just another timeline. When Link defeats Demise in the past, it creates a completely new timeline where Skyloft can descend down to the surface much earlier than it did during Skyward Sword. This is where I think Zelda U will be placed on the timeline, as the expansive, underdeveloped world and technology/clothing appears to be heavily based off of Lanayru Technology.
 
Joined
Jul 24, 2011
So are you suggesting another split? I guess it would make sense if Link, Zelda, and Groose returned to their original present after defeating Demise in the past. That leaves their present unaltered, and the past with Demise dead is the new timeline. But that wouldn't explain the Master Sword being in the Sealed Temple in the present.
 

Spiritual Mask Salesman

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So are you suggesting another split? I guess it would make sense if Link, Zelda, and Groose returned to their original present after defeating Demise in the past. That leaves their present unaltered, and the past with Demise dead is the new timeline. But that wouldn't explain the Master Sword being in the Sealed Temple in the present.
Link is believed to have took the Master Sword with him to the Child Timeline, but we see it in Wind Waker. I personally don't care for the assumption, but just throwing it out there.
 
Joined
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Link is believed to have took the Master Sword with him to the Child Timeline, but we see it in Wind Waker. I personally don't care for the assumption, but just throwing it out there.
Most people I've seen discussing the subject depict it as a Ben Kenobi moment; as Link goes into the Child Timeline, he disappears, but the MS simply doesn't go with him, so he just leaves the Master Sword, where it is then returned to the Temple of Time by Zelda.
 
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Well, if the gate of time takes Link to a separate universe, he would destroy Demise in that universe, but he would still live in Link's universe, so there will be two universes. However, then how could Zelda be in the past in Link's universe? The only possibility is if she remained young in the second universe (probably in some sort of seal) until she could use the gate of time to travel across the universes and back in time (to Link's universe) and then made a new seal for Demise there. Then, in order for the thunder dragon to be healed, the tree in the second universe would have to carry a seed that Hylia took with her back in time and to Link's universe, and planted (as well as that she would have to redo the soil). This is quite complicated, but it works.
 

Beauts

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You also have to remember that the Master Sword is a huge variable. At the start of the game it's the Goddess Sword you find, and it doesn't become the True Master Sword til the very last leg, and it's this that Link takes through the Gate of Time and uses to defeat Demise. So in the timeline you describe, if Demise had already been defeated in that version of the past, if you found any sword at the beginning of the game it would have been the True Master Sword, not just the Goddess Sword. But also remember Link is also a variable. As he was the Chosen Hero he was the only one who could use the goddess sword let alone forge it into the Master Sword. Nobody else could have been the hero, never mind was. So I happen to be inclined to believe that it's a timeline split similar to OoT, where if Link had failed to defeat Demise in the past then the world would have changed in the future, but if he succeeded then nothing would change/ different long term outcome a la Twilight Princess vs Wind Waker vs Majoras Mask. Admittedly the time travel paradigm in SS is kind of clumsy but considering their history of doing this in Zelda games it makes some sense.
 

Dio

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Well, if the gate of time takes Link to a separate universe, he would destroy Demise in that universe, but he would still live in Link's universe, so there will be two universes. However, then how could Zelda be in the past in Link's universe? The only possibility is if she remained young in the second universe (probably in some sort of seal) until she could use the gate of time to travel across the universes and back in time (to Link's universe) and then made a new seal for Demise there. Then, in order for the thunder dragon to be healed, the tree in the second universe would have to carry a seed that Hylia took with her back in time and to Link's universe, and planted (as well as that she would have to redo the soil). This is quite complicated, but it works.
Demise was crushed by Skyloft in Links original universe. In the alternate reality Ghirahim would have gone to which resembles the past of Link's original reality Demise was then destroyed preventing him from coming back to Link's reality.
 
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Don't forget that demise was sealed in the master sword so Link kinda bought him to the present (unable to do anything but make the curse on the Hero and the Goddess)

Taken from the Zelda wiki: After Demise's body dissolves, his residual consciousness is absorbed into the Master Sword before the weapon is sealed away so the fiend can completely dissolve over time.
 
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Didn't scroll through the thread to see all responses, but is it Demise's being sealed away that could give the Master Sword more power? Like, it's so powerful because it's basically absorbed the most evil the universe had known prior to Ganondorf's era?
 
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I talked about this in my zelda thepry show mysteries of hyrule on youtube

Zelda tells link about an ancient hero chosen by the goddess who slew demise. She gives link a "replica" sailcloth of the one the hero used. However, link later goes back in time to when this 'old hero' shouldve exsisted, with the sailcloth crafted by the goddess herself (being zelda) just like in the legend. He then slays demise just like in legend. Tge reason demise comes back as the imprisoned is because of the famous curse he places. Link is the hero he leanred about in legends.

That leaves us with one paradox, the master sword. Where is it? We have two possibilities.
A) inpa couldve hidden the master sword from link,

Or the more interesting

:cool: because the goddess sword already exsisted in that timeline, the master sword removed itself from the timeline to avoid a paradox.

The mastee sword is the real wildcard. Also the tree. Why doesnt that tree also exsost? Its the same deal as the master sword. Heres a new theory.
Every time link goes back in time he creates a new timeline. Just like in ocarina of time.

So when link goes back in time and kills demise, becoming the hero of legend, he goes back to an entirely new tomeline, thus the ttimeline your in at the beginning of the game is not the same as the one your in at the end. So the hero who initially sealed demise was actually a link from the previous timeline. When link plants the tree or places the mastersworx, he comes back to a new dimension where the sword/tree was always there.

You can go see my zelda theory show "Mysteroes of Hyrule" for more info
 

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