Tanagar Canyon

[Ryuu Kage Desu]

I decided to take a tour of the Tanagar Canyon, after crunching out my last theory. If you haven't seen it, here is the thread, The story we missed, behind the shrines. Breath of the Wild, look for the section titled, "The Forgotten Temple, and the Eighth Heroine," for more background on how the shrines inspired and brought this idea to light. I'm not going to re-post the whole section, hoping that this theory can stand on it's own. A few things I did mention in the other thread, that I do think is important, though, is that the Eighth Heroine is facing the forgotten temple, though not exactly. The Forgotten Temple also looks to have sunken into the ground, or swallowed. This is most obvious by the broken chunks of land that look to have crumbled and now rest on the top of the structure. It also shows in the pillars just outside of the building, which are sunk to different levels (as apposed to having the tops broken off like many other pillars in the game), and are leaned at different freestanding angles. Even the flooring inside the structure looks to have partly given way to some area below, and may still be crumbling away. There is also no water in the canyon, or even anywhere for that water to drain away to, so it is very unlikely that this canyon could have been formed by water flow; a very common way for canyons to be formed. The canyon does have the cluttered appearance of collapsed land having fallen in. This canyon was formed by a collapse.

The southern half of the canyon is decorated by windmills, and there is a single red flag about a third of the way. The windmills look to be more artistic, than for the power production; no electricity, no milling, no work being done. To my knowledge, these only exist in the canyon. This all suggests that their construction has something to do with the event that created the collapse, such as a memorial. The red (and pole) flag could be part of the same memorial, or a separate memorial, commemorating the same event (meaning it would have been placed by a different group). The singular placement, and circular clearing could be an indication of a grave site.

In the thread I mentioned above, I came to the conclusion that there may have been a blending of religions that angered the gods. While exploring the location again, I have come to the realization that it may have also been a powerful attack, originating from the Eighth Heroine, and my previous observations would still be just as valid. The Eighth Heroine has a striking resemblance to the Desert Colossus, from Ocarina of Time. If they are one in the same, Zelda (disguised as Sheik) describes the location as evil. Only a few things change, from the failed attempt at blending religions, versus the direct attack. There is still a high death toll. It is still related to religion. And, I think a road would have still been likely along the majority of the path. The main difference would be whether Hylians carried some of the blame, and how much of that blame would have likely been held against the Gerudo.

 

[Fraxinus]

I still feel obligated to stick with my stance on the canyon being an exposed underground rather than a true canyon. The amount of wind that passes through that there's windmills situated there (probably due to Dinraal taking a course through there) may have been enough to weather away and expose that area. That's a lot of earth to weather away at, though, so that will lead me into how it maybe was already a hollowed tunnel toward an underground temple in the first place, and that was then exposed over time.

Due to the lack of any real underground in Breath of the Wild's Hyrule, the conclusion I reached a few years back is that there is probably something being kept hidden from the surface. Maybe it's due to magic, or maybe its a structure or series of structures. Maybe it is related to the shrines themselves being underground. With the Guardians and Divine Beasts both said to have been housed deep underground and having to be excavated, on top of the fact that the Forgotten Temple was completely infested with Guardians honestly makes me think that it's always been underground, or that it has been underground for a very long time. Maybe, like the guardians, it is a relic from the time of the first Calamity.

Perhaps even the event that causes parts of Hyrule's terrain to break off in BotW 2 may be relevant to all of this, too. With that being fresher on my mind, I am a little more keen on the idea of there being a still intact underground network beneath Hyrule, and maybe there are tons of temples that are underground like the Forgotten Temple, that just haven't been discovered. Little bit of wishful thinking on my part but I'll hold onto it for awhile longer until BotW2 squashes my hopes.

I am intrigued by your proposal that the Eighth Heroine may have some link to the Forgotten Temple, though. Especially since they are both seemingly lost to time. The Heroines are arguably Gerudo, and you are right about that, but also the displacement of that statue from the others is unusual. It's possible it was built later and separately to the others, but then, how did she lose her sword in the mountains? Is it also related to a terrain change like what is happening in BotW2?

I suppose it's possible that there was some divine force involved in the displacement of the statue, but I'm not sure I believe the Forgotten Temple was displaced as she was. But if there is some sort of weird phenomenon that does indeed displace landmarks then it may open a can of worms about the Temple of Time on the Great Plateau indeed being the original Temple of Time.

 

[Ryuu Kage Desu]

I still feel obligated to stick with my stance on the canyon being an exposed underground rather than a true canyon. The amount of wind that passes through that there's windmills situated there (probably due to Dinraal taking a course through there) may have been enough to weather away and expose that area. That's a lot of earth to weather away at, though, so that will lead me into how it maybe was already a hollowed tunnel toward an underground temple in the first place, and that was then exposed over time.

Due to the lack of any real underground in Breath of the Wild's Hyrule, the conclusion I reached a few years back is that there is probably something being kept hidden from the surface. Maybe it's due to magic, or maybe its a structure or series of structures. Maybe it is related to the shrines themselves being underground. With the Guardians and Divine Beasts both said to have been housed deep underground and having to be excavated, on top of the fact that the Forgotten Temple was completely infested with Guardians honestly makes me think that it's always been underground, or that it has been underground for a very long time. Maybe, like the guardians, it is a relic from the time of the first Calamity.

Perhaps even the event that causes parts of Hyrule's terrain to break off in BotW 2 may be relevant to all of this, too. With that being fresher on my mind, I am a little more keen on the idea of there being a still intact underground network beneath Hyrule, and maybe there are tons of temples that are underground like the Forgotten Temple, that just haven't been discovered. Little bit of wishful thinking on my part but I'll hold onto it for awhile longer until BotW2 squashes my hopes.

I am intrigued by your proposal that the Eighth Heroine may have some link to the Forgotten Temple, though. Especially since they are both seemingly lost to time. The Heroines are arguably Gerudo, and you are right about that, but also the displacement of that statue from the others is unusual. It's possible it was built later and separately to the others, but then, how did she lose her sword in the mountains? Is it also related to a terrain change like what is happening in BotW2?

I suppose it's possible that there was some divine force involved in the displacement of the statue, but I'm not sure I believe the Forgotten Temple was displaced as she was. But if there is some sort of weird phenomenon that does indeed displace landmarks then it may open a can of worms about the Temple of Time on the Great Plateau indeed being the original Temple of Time.

There being an underground cavern makes sense because that's where the earth collapsed into, basically closing it off in the process. If it were just erosion, any tunnels would be exposed.

Seeing as how the Eighth Heroine appears to be part of the stone wall, I doubt that it was displaced. The sword and the other seven are far more debatable.

The temple, on the other hand, I think was built in the same place, but above ground. When the ground collapsed, the temple was swallowed up. I also don't believe that this was the Sealed Grounds. Not enough dome.

I am leaning towards this collapse happening before the shrines were built.

 

[GZ Zelda]

To my knowledge, these only exist in the canyon. This all suggests that their construction has something to do with the event that created the collapse, such as a memorial. The red (and pole) flag could be part of the same memorial, or a separate memorial, commemorating the same event (meaning it would have been placed by a different group). The singular placement, and circular clearing could be an indication of a grave site.

In early stages of BotW development, the entire canyon was going to be spiritually dedicated to previous heroes. The only remnants of this are the Forgotten Temple being very similar to (if not exactly alike) the Sealed Temple from Skyward Sword, and the Hero of the Wilds set being given by the Sheikah monks, seemingly via the Goddess, to Link after completing all 120 shrines.

Maybe the "windmill memorial" could be to the Hero of the Sky or the Hero of Winds or the Hero of the Minish, as Link has always had a connection to Wind Magic, especially since the Goddess that controls his virtue of Courage is also the Goddess of the Forest where he is often born and the Goddess of Wind that is associated with forests (the Forest Medallion initially being a Wind Medallion in OoT and the section in Ganon's Castle being wind-related, all the wind instruments throughout the series that Link plays that probably use wind magic (where Zelda uses string instruments)).

In the thread I mentioned above, I came to the conclusion that there may have been a blending of religions that angered the gods. While exploring the location again, I have come to the realization that it may have also been a powerful attack, originating from the Eighth Heroine, and my previous observations would still be just as valid. The Eighth Heroine has a striking resemblance to the Desert Colossus, from Ocarina of Time. If they are one in the same, Zelda (disguised as Sheik) describes the location as evil. Only a few things change, from the failed attempt at blending religions, versus the direct attack. There is still a high death toll. It is still related to religion. And, I think a road would have still been likely along the majority of the path. The main difference would be whether Hylians carried some of the blame, and how much of that blame would have likely been held against the Gerudo.

I suppose it's possible that there was some divine force involved in the displacement of the statue, but I'm not sure I believe the Forgotten Temple was displaced as she was. But if there is some sort of weird phenomenon that does indeed displace landmarks then it may open a can of worms about the Temple of Time on the Great Plateau indeed being the original Temple of Time.

I'm not sure the Eighth Heroine has to do with Tanagar Canyon, but the bottom of Tanagar Canyon does curve a little towards the south and would lead directly to Hemaar's Descent and the Statue of the Eighth Heroine. The statue might have been made by rebellious Gerudo, and thus whatever the Eighth Heroine did to the canyon (and, by extension, the Forgotten Temple) may be a proxy of Ganon's malicious wrath on Link's soulful courage ringing throughout the ages, idfk tho.

probably due to Dinraal taking a course through there)

Which came first, the dragon or the canyon? In the Lanayru region, the dragon Naydra cuts through the Lanayru Promenade region perfectly; in the Gerudo Highlands, at the summit, there is an area where Farosh is actively and currently chiseling away a canyon. I think the Tanagar Canyon may have just been formed when Dinraal decided that he wanted to fly a little lower over the course of several hundred years, and it was his presence that created the canyon. This revealed the long-buried Forgotten Temple. I'm not sure if the Temple sunk or was built underground; either way, it's down there now.

 

[Ryuu Kage Desu]

The statue might have been made by rebellious Gerudo, and thus whatever the Eighth Heroine did to the canyon (and, by extension, the Forgotten Temple) may be a proxy of Ganon's malicious wrath on Link's soulful courage ringing throughout the ages, idfk tho.

The statue may not have even been made by rebellious Gerudo. I am quite sure, though, that if it was an attack, Ganon would have been at the heart of it. Kotake and Koume are the two most likely to have actually initiated the attack, but even then, we root back to Ganon.

Which came first, the dragon or the canyon?

If the dragon carved the canyon, as you described it, I would expect the canyon to have a more weathered appearance, with more smoothed walls. Instead we see rubble, in what appears to be a collapse of some sort. It is possible that dragon is responsible for the canyon, creating it in a single moment, clearing, or collapsing the way. This strengthens the idea that the temple and the statue are related, though, because the dragon would have chosen this path.

 

[Ryuu Kage Desu]

This theory video was just published, and I think there are some strong ties. https://youtu.be/vY6nP4PIA20