- Joined
- Jul 13, 2020
- Gender
- Male
I looked through a few pages of past discussion and didn't find any topics like this, so here's something I've been thinking about. It's a theory on how the Master Sword and Ocarina are used to change the past, and I think it ties together a few details of the game's story and ending, and possibly some timeline inconsistencies.
Whenever Adult Link puts the Master Sword back into the pedestal in the present, he's sent back to the moment just before he drew it as a kid. The actions he does then impact the future he came from. Some people might say they change the future in a different timeline because going to the past causes a split, but for reasons I'll explain, I won't consider it like this. But Link can't be completely free to change history, otherwise he could have just left the Master Sword in the pedestal and let the Royal Family deal with Ganondorf. Instead, he makes some relatively modest changes to the past, and afterwards always goes back to the Temple of Time and pulls the Master Sword. This suggests that there are limitations to what can be changed in the past.
First of all, why draw the Master Sword again? This is what let Ganon into the Sacred Realm and should be the one thing to make sure not to do. This must mean pulling out the Master Sword is an essential part of the time-traveling ritual. It makes sense to suppose that a process begun by placing the sword in the pedestal is completed only once it's redrawn. This parallel is made pretty clear in the cutscenes where Link is surrounded by the same circle of blue light in both cases (although this also appears the first time you draw the Master Sword, when no time travel is taking place). This might also mean that by redrawing the Master Sword, Link returns immediately to the present and doesn't have to go through the whole seven-year sleep, which I think isn't made obvious in-game. But rather than just assuming this is how the Master Sword's powers work, could there be a deeper explanation for why the sword must be drawn?
All the changes made to the past are caused by the Master Sword's magic, that is used by putting it into the pedestal. So no matter what new sequence of events is caused by Link's actions in the past, it must lead to the Master Sword being placed back in the pedestal, which is the event that caused these events in the first place. But for the sword to be returned to the pedestal, it would have to have been drawn at some point. So if Link wants his changes to carry forward into the present, he needs to seal the deal by drawing the Master Sword, so it can then be put back some time in the future. So the Master Sword is predestined to return to the pedestal no matter what.
After making a few more leaps, I think this gives an interesting explanation of the game's ending. In the ending, Zelda says the Master Sword must be returned to the pedestal to close the Door of Time. The paragraph above would explain why this has to be done. But if this is no different than all the other times the sword is placed in the pedestal, Link would again be sent back to the past. The only way to stop this endless cycle would be if Link went back to the past and didn't draw the Master Sword, leaving the Door of Time closed behind him. My hypothesis is that this is what creates the true split in the timeline, since the Master Sword can't reconcile this new past with the present in the Adult timeline. Sadly, this means Link must say goodbye to Zelda and her timeline.
Finally, the post-credits scene which shows Link arrive at his usual spot in front of the Master Sword. But this is before he gathered all the Spiritual Stones, so how did he get in? Maybe Link entered the Temple of Time just before he met Zelda for the first time at the castle. At the time, he couldn't enter the room with the Master Sword. But as she returns the Master Sword to the pedestal in the Adult timeline, Zelda sends Link back to this moment along with the Spiritual Stones, and with her melody from the Ocarina opens the way to the room of the Master Sword in the past. This makes it possible for Link to go back to before the trouble started, and leads into the Child timeline.
What do you guys think? I think it offers some explanation for what Zelda does in the ending, and why it leads to a split timeline while the other instances of time travel don't. I know I made a lot of assumptions in an attempt to explain everything neatly, but it was interesting to me so I thought I'd share it.
EDIT: After re-reading this, I get the feeling it could be explained a bit better. I would really appreciate if someone could point out the things that don't make as much sense.
Whenever Adult Link puts the Master Sword back into the pedestal in the present, he's sent back to the moment just before he drew it as a kid. The actions he does then impact the future he came from. Some people might say they change the future in a different timeline because going to the past causes a split, but for reasons I'll explain, I won't consider it like this. But Link can't be completely free to change history, otherwise he could have just left the Master Sword in the pedestal and let the Royal Family deal with Ganondorf. Instead, he makes some relatively modest changes to the past, and afterwards always goes back to the Temple of Time and pulls the Master Sword. This suggests that there are limitations to what can be changed in the past.
First of all, why draw the Master Sword again? This is what let Ganon into the Sacred Realm and should be the one thing to make sure not to do. This must mean pulling out the Master Sword is an essential part of the time-traveling ritual. It makes sense to suppose that a process begun by placing the sword in the pedestal is completed only once it's redrawn. This parallel is made pretty clear in the cutscenes where Link is surrounded by the same circle of blue light in both cases (although this also appears the first time you draw the Master Sword, when no time travel is taking place). This might also mean that by redrawing the Master Sword, Link returns immediately to the present and doesn't have to go through the whole seven-year sleep, which I think isn't made obvious in-game. But rather than just assuming this is how the Master Sword's powers work, could there be a deeper explanation for why the sword must be drawn?
All the changes made to the past are caused by the Master Sword's magic, that is used by putting it into the pedestal. So no matter what new sequence of events is caused by Link's actions in the past, it must lead to the Master Sword being placed back in the pedestal, which is the event that caused these events in the first place. But for the sword to be returned to the pedestal, it would have to have been drawn at some point. So if Link wants his changes to carry forward into the present, he needs to seal the deal by drawing the Master Sword, so it can then be put back some time in the future. So the Master Sword is predestined to return to the pedestal no matter what.
After making a few more leaps, I think this gives an interesting explanation of the game's ending. In the ending, Zelda says the Master Sword must be returned to the pedestal to close the Door of Time. The paragraph above would explain why this has to be done. But if this is no different than all the other times the sword is placed in the pedestal, Link would again be sent back to the past. The only way to stop this endless cycle would be if Link went back to the past and didn't draw the Master Sword, leaving the Door of Time closed behind him. My hypothesis is that this is what creates the true split in the timeline, since the Master Sword can't reconcile this new past with the present in the Adult timeline. Sadly, this means Link must say goodbye to Zelda and her timeline.
Finally, the post-credits scene which shows Link arrive at his usual spot in front of the Master Sword. But this is before he gathered all the Spiritual Stones, so how did he get in? Maybe Link entered the Temple of Time just before he met Zelda for the first time at the castle. At the time, he couldn't enter the room with the Master Sword. But as she returns the Master Sword to the pedestal in the Adult timeline, Zelda sends Link back to this moment along with the Spiritual Stones, and with her melody from the Ocarina opens the way to the room of the Master Sword in the past. This makes it possible for Link to go back to before the trouble started, and leads into the Child timeline.
What do you guys think? I think it offers some explanation for what Zelda does in the ending, and why it leads to a split timeline while the other instances of time travel don't. I know I made a lot of assumptions in an attempt to explain everything neatly, but it was interesting to me so I thought I'd share it.
EDIT: After re-reading this, I get the feeling it could be explained a bit better. I would really appreciate if someone could point out the things that don't make as much sense.
Last edited: