The Shrines of BOTW - All in Link's Mind?

[blitz_dragon]

Hey everyone!

In the trial of the sword DLC it is hinted by a monk that the trial takes place in Link's mind or in a simulation.

I quote: "In this illusory realm of sacred mystery, anything can happen" - Monk of the Trial

Since the Sheika seem to have been able to create code for the Sheika Slate, Towers, etc, it would be possible for them to have created simulations too.

As such do you think all the shrines (the inside of the shrines, not the actual shrine) are also simulations/in Link's mind? The Trial of the Sword seems to be a simulation, and since most underground parts of the shrines would require a huge amount of time/effort to have been physically created and some are simply too big to fit where they are currently (like the shrines on the Twin Peaks can't possibly be 15+ meters deep if they're 5 meters over a overhang, it's much more likely they're just simulations. This would also explain how even if someone where to use brute force to enter a shrine there would be nothing, only the visible shrine part we see, but the "inside" of the shrine is only a simulation accessible by the Sheika slate.

Extra example:
Objects that respawn in these shrines, like orbs and the like, are for gameplay purposes, but would be logical if it was a simulation.

Any thoughts?

 

[Jirohnagi]

Trial of the Sword may have not have been in links mind after all it's pretty established that the master sword when set in a specific plinth of sword spot can seperate links soul and keep it away from the body for 7 years or in fact temper it as seen in OOT and SS, the Shrines are most emphatically not simulations as other people in hyrule remark on the shrines and their locations in fact the shrine quests are all to do with them, as for the things inside i'd say it's more along the lines of fallout shelters places for a remnant of a lost civilisation to survive and re-hone any lost skills, case in point the shrines and guardians went hand in hand in case the Calamity returned.

The containers the Shiekah monks are in strike me more as cryogenic freezing, mummification or suspended animation where they reside until their duty calls for them to give up their spirit and pass on (yes i think the spirit orbs are literally the monks spirits manifest)

 

[blitz_dragon]

Trial of the Sword may have not have been in links mind after all it's pretty established that the master sword when set in a specific plinth of sword spot can seperate links soul and keep it away from the body for 7 years or in fact temper it as seen in OOT and SS, the Shrines are most emphatically not simulations as other people in hyrule remark on the shrines and their locations in fact the shrine quests are all to do with them, as for the things inside i'd say it's more along the lines of fallout shelters places for a remnant of a lost civilisation to survive and re-hone any lost skills, case in point the shrines and guardians went hand in hand in case the Calamity returned.

The containers the Shiekah monks are in strike me more as cryogenic freezing, mummification or suspended animation where they reside until their duty calls for them to give up their spirit and pass on (yes i think the spirit orbs are literally the monks spirits manifest)

No I do agree that shrines are a physical object but I mean the contents within are most likely a simulation

 

[Jirohnagi]

No I do agree that shrines are a physical object but I mean the contents within are most likely a simulation

Not really, as i said above they are more akin to fall out shelters which are built in the hopes of something surviving a nuclear fallout but in this case it's Calamity Ganon and not a nuke. The shrines are shown to be large subterranean complexes and there aren't two shrines sitting next to each other the closest we get to that are the dueling peaks one with one situated directly above the other but enough room to hold a fairly large shrines. We don't actually know how deep those elevators go.

The Shiekah Slate literally serves as a tablet, a very hi-tech one which has the ability to create simulcra and affect real world objects (how it does this no clue) but we know from the Great plateau alone that the Shrines aren't simulations as we see guidance stones which we can only find in towers or the two tech labs. The guidance stones are very real world object as is the material the walls are made up of, the material of the walls is the same as what the shrine entrance is made of (neither can be climbed)

 

[YIGAhim]

Well, the thing is that we don't know how deep they go down before they turn into rooms. For all we know, they're 10000000 meters down, where there's almost unlimited space

 

[blitz_dragon]

Not really, as i said above they are more akin to fall out shelters which are built in the hopes of something surviving a nuclear fallout but in this case it's Calamity Ganon and not a nuke. The shrines are shown to be large subterranean complexes and there aren't two shrines sitting next to each other the closest we get to that are the dueling peaks one with one situated directly above the other but enough room to hold a fairly large shrines. We don't actually know how deep those elevators go.

The Shiekah Slate literally serves as a tablet, a very hi-tech one which has the ability to create simulcra and affect real world objects (how it does this no clue) but we know from the Great plateau alone that the Shrines aren't simulations as we see guidance stones which we can only find in towers or the two tech labs. The guidance stones are very real world object as is the material the walls are made up of, the material of the walls is the same as what the shrine entrance is made of (neither can be climbed)

Oh ok I understand. Yet then why is Trial of the Sword taking place in your head? Is it because it's not really a shrine?

 

[Jirohnagi]

Oh ok I understand. Yet then why is Trial of the Sword taking place in your head? Is it because it's not really a shrine?

This exactly, we've seen that links soul can be separated from his body and we've seen there is some form of sentience to the Master Sword as shown in the final memory, so we can theorize that the sword will separate links soul from his body in order for him to grow as an individual and gain the full power of the Master Sword.

One Step further, the fact we have to thrust the sword into a pre-ordained spot mimics the Silent realms eerily well, as does the fact when entering the Trial and Silent realm you are stripped of all your gear and have to survive the trials in each alone.