Spoiler The Sacred Flames and the Three Treasures

[Lord_Cathaseigh]

Ok, this is my first theory--so please, stay open-minded!

Anyways, everyone who's beaten Skyward Sword should know that the Master Sword was forged with the Sacred Flames. THREE sacred flames. To those who don't know, the three Sacred Flames are ethereal flames that have been around since at least the time of the Goddess. Each of the flames represents the three virtues e.g., wisdom, power, and courage. The original creators are never confirmed, but the Goddess and the original goddesses are both considered possible creators. Each of these flames are protected by guardians, in case evil should seek them. In order to forge the Master Sword, the Goddess Sword must be tempered with each of the flames and given Zelda's Blessing.

So what happened to these flames?

My answer is simple. In order to preserve them, they were contained within three treasures. These treasures would act as proof of the hero, in whatever form he/she would appear. In the Zelda universe there are three sets of treasures: the Spiritual stones(in OoT), the Pendants(in ALTTP), and the Goddess Pearls(in WW). All of them are gems colored the colors of the goddessess: blue, red, and green.

With ALLTP as exception, they also have one more gift: the Ocarina of Time, as proof from Zelda for the Hero, and the Sages Prayers to power the Master Sword.

Not only do the three treasures allow one access to the Master Sword, but at least two of the sets cast a mysterious light. In WW, they have a bright glow; Prince Komali also mentions a warmth coming from his Pearl. OoT is a bit more to difficult, but in the quote at 10:20 Let's Play Ocarina of Time, Part 09 - Goron City - YouTube you can see that the light from the stone actually lights the entirety of Goron City.

If they were the flames, it would make sense that they would be protected to such high degrees. It would also make sense that Ganon could have given the first bosses the Pendants(i.e., the spiritual stones), so that noone could re-awaken the Master Sword.

What do you think? I think it all fits together nicely, but I'm welcome to any criticism.

 

[Spirit]

I'm not a huge Zelda theorist (in fact I suck at it) So i'm sure someone will think of something to debunk this, but i really like this idea. =]

 

[Cfrock]

It's a nice idea but once the Flames tempered the Goddess Sword into the Master Sword, the blade stays that way forever. Seemed to me that you never had to get the Flames again because they had already played their part.

However, you are right about the Hero needing three objects before he can retrieve the Master Sword. The only exception is Twilight Princess, in which you had to get three Fused Shadows but they weren't used to get the Master Sword. While I don't necassarily think the Pendants of Virtue, Spiritual Stones or Goddess Pearls contain the Sacred Flames, it does seem likely that the creator of the Flames created these other relics to serve a similar purpose, to test the Hero and make sure he was worthy of the Master Sword.

But you have a good point about the Goron Ruby providing light and Din's Pearl being warm so maybe there is more to those relics than we first thought, or maybe, since those two are associated with Din, that 'heat' is a result of her influence. The Great Deku Tree described her as having "strong flaming arms" and she's associated with volcanoes and fire. Is it possible her relics would reflect that?

Either way, good post. You've got me thinking more about where all these artifacts came from.

As a side note, I always found it odd how the Pendant of Wisdom in A Link To The Past was red while the Pendant of Power was blue.

 

[Lord_Cathaseigh]

Thank you very much! This is exactly the kind of criticism I was looking for.

As for the Master Sword, I don't think that it would ever need reforged. However, it is possible that a new Master Sword would need to be forged should the original be lost. I also don't think the Flames would be so disposable, seeing as they weren't just hidden, but also protected. Then again, I could be entirely wrong.

My main point in the artifacts containing them is like you said, a test. While they don't have to contain them, it would add more to the story if they might, IMO. The flames were also a way to prove the hero worthy of the Triforce, so seeing the similarities between the treasures, you could say that gaining the pendants of "virtue", you would be worthy of the Triforce.

Does anyone know if you can meet Zelda after you get Goron's Ruby? I'm pretty sure you can, so I'm gonna make sure she doesn't have anything else to say about the Stones.
It seems when you first meet Zelda, she asks quote"...You wouldn't happen to have... the spiritual stone of the forest, would you? That green and shining stone..."unquote. She could be saying that it shines some kind of light or she might just mean that it's shiny. Take that as you will...

 

[Heros Temporis]

Unfortunately, there isn't much evidence for this theory; that's not to say it's a bad one. It's just that Nintendo barely tells us anything about any of these objects, and, really, treats them just like objects with no real signifigance.

That said, this theory, while hard to prove, is, in my opinion, pretty solid. Good old-fashioned reasoning makes a perfectly acceptable substitute for proof in cases like these where little information is available, and I must say that the OP has convinced me.

 

[Lord_Cathaseigh]

^Well said. Unfortunately it seems that keeping such items around isn't always the best decision, but what can you do? Then again, just giving us this kinda info also takes away from the mystery, too I'm just glad the theory has had a good reception so far. You can't beat that feeling of earning those pendants, that moment when the pearls are placed and they bring up the TotG , or the moment when you pull the Master Sword. So maybe not totally disposable.

 

[oshi_yoshi]

I never thought about that. I always figured they were lost in ruins. Good theory!

 

[Terminus]

Well, three is an important number. The :triforce: is a set of 3 triangles, you start out with 3 hearts (Usually) and there are three treasures in most games.

 

[Lord_Cathaseigh]

@ Terminus

When I saw someone posted with the name Terminus, I had to do a double-take. I used to use Terminus as an username a lot before, so I kinda got confused. lol

Yup, it's pretty important, especially in Zelda. I think someone brought up the 3-way split in the timeline, too. It's also interesting that they made the four-sword in contrast to that.

Makes me wonder though. Will we see a form of the treasures in the Adult Timeline? Now that the Master Sword's gone, there's room for a new sword. Although having someone bring the Master Sword back like how the Lady of the Lake gave King Arthur excalibur would be epic, too.

 

[the_gamer]

If they were the flames, it would make sense that they would be protected to such high degrees. It would also make sense that Ganon could have given the first bosses the Pendants(i.e., the spiritual stones), so that noone could re-awaken the Master Sword.

This is about OoT, right? I am sorry but this is wrong. Ganon had not given them to the bosses. Ganon wanted to have them but could not get them. The Great Deku Tree didn't want to give him the first stone so Ganon sent him a parasite to destroy him. The Gorons didn't want to give him the second stone so he blocked the way to their food. And Ruto had the Sapphire all along. I don't know exactly what happened here but it seems like Ganon couldn't find her(she was inside of Lord Jabu Jabu) so he gave another parasite to Jabu Jabu to force the Zoras to give him the third stone.

The three stones are the key to the Sacred Realm where you can get the triforce. It would make no sense for Ganon to give them away. He wanted them all the time... and Link did the dirty work for him in OoT.

 

[Cfrock]

This is about OoT, right? I am sorry but this is wrong. Ganon had not given them to the bosses. Ganon wanted to have them but could not get them. The Great Deku Tree didn't want to give him the first stone so Ganon sent him a parasite to destroy him. The Gorons didn't want to give him the second stone so he blocked the way to their food. And Ruto had the Sapphire all along. I don't know exactly what happened here but it seems like Ganon couldn't find her(she was inside of Lord Jabu Jabu) so he gave another parasite to Jabu Jabu to force the Zoras to give him the third stone.

The three stones are the key to the Sacred Realm where you can get the triforce. It would make no sense for Ganon to give them away. He wanted them all the time... and Link did the dirty work for him in OoT.

He was referring to A Link To The Past, in which Link has to collect three Pendants of Virtue in order to pull the Master Sword from its pedastal. When Lord_Cathaseigh mentions the Spiritual Stones in brackets, he means that, following his theory, Ganon understood that the Spiritual Stones lead to the Hero getting the Master Sword and he didn't want that to happen again and so he gathered the Pendants (which were once the Spiritual Stones or, at least, contain the same power as they did) and gave them to the bosses of the first three dungeons to prevent a Hero getting the Master Sword again.

At least, that's what I think he meant. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

 

[Terminus]

@ Terminus

When I saw someone posted with the name Terminus, I had to do a double-take. I used to use Terminus as an username a lot before, so I kinda got confused. lol

Yup, it's pretty important, especially in Zelda. I think someone brought up the 3-way split in the timeline, too. It's also interesting that they made the four-sword in contrast to that.

Makes me wonder though. Will we see a form of the treasures in the Adult Timeline? Now that the Master Sword's gone, there's room for a new sword. Although having someone bring the Master Sword back like how the Lady of the Lake gave King Arthur excalibur would be epic, too.

Yeah, I use "Terminus" a lot, since it's one of my favorite words. Also, if the Master sword was removed from Gannondorf's skull, he might come back... interesting possibilities there...

 

[Lord_Cathaseigh]

Cfrock, you're correct. What I was trying to say was that the bosses in a Link to the Past had the pendants; and that someone had to have given them the pendants. The reason I said Ganon had hidden them away was to prevent the Master Sword from being drawn. It's also possible the Sasrahla or some of the sages gave them the pendants to protect as a test.

The only reason I was leaning towards the former was that this is the downfall timeline and Ganondorf would've known about the Spiritual Stones. Another thing is that the Spiritual Stones are missing when you become an adult. Remember how Ganon tricked Link into opening the Sacred Realm? He could have snatched the stones right on his way in, which would explain why they're missing. Agahnim could have hidden the pendants for Ganon, too. It mentions something about this on the Pendants of Virtue page on Zelda Wiki, but they didn't list a source.

@Terminus It'd be cool to see a new version of Ganon/Demise's curse, too. I think Ganondorf's pretty much dead, but who knows?
It could definetly happen.