Two Deserts(or larger then we thought?)

[Johnathan Cevi]

Today I will be discussing the first part of a series of theories that I have about the maps of the Zelda games and their connections to each other .First off is this, What if the desert that we see in TP is not exactly the same? Lets take a look at the maps.

I have circled the deserts red is the Gerudo desert from area that we see in OOT . Red is the Gerudo desert from TP, and Orange is the Gerudo desert from OOT. As you can see in OOT the Gerudo Desert and the spirit temple are far to the north west of Lake Hylia .Where as in TP the Desert is directly to the west. My theory comes from the fact that in both games there s blank sections in the map of both games that correspond with the area of the other respective desert. Part of my larger theory (That I will go more in depth in explaining at a latter date)is that a massive earth quake happened between OOT and TP that caused a lot of the discrepancy`s between the two maps including the opening of new paths , Locations being abandoned, and the huge ravines that are found through out the Hyrule fields in TP . That along with normal geological changes that happen over hundreds of years such as water erosion making Lake Hylia larger. The haunted waist land could expend far in to the south of where we explore in ocarina of time and merge with the Gerudo desert in TP . Other clues to this include the Spirit temple and the Arbiters grounds. Most people believe that they are one and the same , I on the other hand do not. They are far to different to be the same building even if the spirit temple was renovated , for one the spirit temple is a massive stature built in to a giant rock. Where as the Arbiters grounds is a large coliseum like structure with a prison bellow it. I will go in to more detail on the geological change of the land of Hyrule at a latter date but what do you think ? Could the two deserts be separate or are they just one and the same? Let me know I want to know what all of you think.

 

[Spiritual Mask Salesman]

Take a look at were Hyrule Castle Town is on the OoT Map, The Desert is practically due west of the Castle Town. If you look at the TP map the desert is still almost exactly due west, atleast the very edge of it. This certainly indicates that in Twilight Princess there might be a section of the desert in the soutwest region of the map (which is blank), and that section would be exactly were the Desert Colossus (Spirit Temple) and the Desert Wasteland from Ocarina of Time should be. They are probably one and the same, one really big desert.

 

[Jirohnagi]

To be fair the Haunted wastelands was likely a far bigger place, we can't know for certain due to the shifting sands of it and the constant desert wind, my guess would be, the desert is indeed massive a desert is by no means small, i think the gerudo are indeed further to north as we see that the source of Lake Hylia flows through here well at least one of the sources. TP's desert is more to the south in the areas previously cut off, we know TP happens on the child timeline, so maybe the Haunted Wastelands Winds are caused by Twinrova who likely didn't have as much power at that point.

 

[Spiritual Mask Salesman]

To be fair the Haunted wastelands was likely a far bigger place, we can't know for certain due to the shifting sands of it and the constant desert wind, my guess would be, the desert is indeed massive a desert is by no means small, i think the gerudo are indeed further to north as we see that the source of Lake Hylia flows through here well at least one of the sources. TP's desert is more to the south in the areas previously cut off, we know TP happens on the child timeline, so maybe the Haunted Wastelands Winds are caused by Twinrova who likely didn't have as much power at that point.

Maybe the winds gradually moved the entire desert over time? Lol.

 

[ReveredPartisan]

I agree with nearly this entire post-- firstly, that there are in fact two deserts; and secondly (and less importantly), that the Spirit Temple and Arbiter's Grounds cannot be one and the same (although I do believe they share a similar period of construction-- but that's a far removed theory for another time).

Like you, I've also been fostering a (very lengthy) theory for a year or two now as to the differences in geography between OoT and TP-- although, in contrast, I've tried to attribute much of the causation to social/economic factors and minimize the natural factors at play. I've actually drifted away from it as of late, but I might actually give it a second going over and possibly (probably) a massive revision if I think the conversation will be viable in the coming weeks or months or however long, really.

My one disagreement might be that the (orange) desert, as far as TP's map goes, should be a little father east-- north of the Eldin Fields.

 

[Jirohnagi]

Maybe the winds gradually moved the entire desert over time? Lol.

That's actually part of desertification, the wind will change and start stealing moisture from already existing areas and then it will slowly turn into a desert or get covered with sand sooner

 

[Crono]

There is more than one desert in Hyrule as shown in games like Adventure of Link, A Link to the Past, etc.

 

[NintendoCN]

It is possible the gods don't want to give every single Link the same trials, therefore changing the world drastically and wiping everyone's memory of how the world was before, as well as any records of previous worlds. Each game has a different map after all. And if the Hero Chosen by the Goddess, just did exactly what the previous Link did, what would be the point of selecting a new one? Why not just give the first one eternal life? I mean in WW Ganondorf had eternal life... sort of, so why not Link or even Zelda?

 

[DeactivatedUser2]

I know it's a rather old video, but does
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vWDkE7d3C2A
this still contain any relevant information relative to the location of the Desert Colossus? If you look at the map that OP posted, Spiritual Mask Salesman noted that the desert in OoT was directly west of the Market; in TP, it's southwest of the town, and the Mirror Chamber is at the very north tip of the desert, so it would make sense that if you looked through the bars of the Mirror Chamber, you'd see the southern area of the Haunted Wasteland/Desert Colossus. There may even be a possibility that it's a ruined or abandoned Gerudo Fortress. (Of course, it could also be a big dumb rock.)


Also, I personally believe the Haunted Wasteland is a type of "cross roads" for the desert; while only a chunk of Gerudo Desert is explored in all of the games (and it's unlikely we'll ever get a game fully expressing every possible area in the desert unless Zelda U has anything to say about it. It's also important to note this statement could be debatable since Skyward Sword's Lanayru Desert region and Sand Sea all pretty much fit the bill for areas in future Zelda games (eg; Sand Ship becomes the Gerudo Fortress, pirate Stronghold becomes the Spirit Temple, ect.)) the Haunted Wasteland is explored in (potentially) two games. We know for sure that it's explored in OoT, but there's a possibility it's also explored in Four Swords Adventures. The fact the Desert of Doubt works on most of the same ideals as the Haunted Wasteland, it's not too far of a stretch to say they're nearly the same location. The fact the Gerudo still guard it with their lives and it's whole "wrong way and you're back at the start" idea pretty much narrows the two down. Basically, The Haunted Wasteland/Desert of Doubt is the top right half of the desert, while the bottom left half could be the area explored during Twilight Princess. I would try to bring other games with deserts in them, such as Skyward Sword (which, now that I think about it, may indeed explore the entirety (or most of) the desert) into this, but I think it'd be more simple to find common grounds with the thread's basic motive.

Anyways, unless the Haunted Wasteland suddenly stops and then starts back up again in FS:A, I believe that the area visited in TP is an abandoned part of the desert ruled mostly by monsters that actually pose a sort of a threat (as apposed to harmless Leevers and Guays) so the Gerudo simply moved up to the area near the Haunted Wasteland. This could mean the Haunted Wasteland isn't as big as everybody originally thought. However, what this doesn't explain is the Pyramid and the Zuna tribe in Four Swords Adventures; while the desert is still guarded by the Gerudo, why the heck would the Zuna be there and the Pyramid exist? Of course, this theory doesn't really tie into the desert at all, and ties more into the origins of the Dark Mirror (and possibly the Mirror of Twilight.)

tl;dr,
I believe the Haunted Wasteland is only a small third of the desert and is the only area that is still inhabited by the Gerudo. The area explored in Twilight Princess is abandoned and unused because of the Bulblins, Moldorms, and the Mirror of Twilight holding domain, effectively making the area a red zone.


smaller tl;dr
Not two desert, one huge desert


(Not to say Hyrule doesn't have many other deserts which has already been clearly proven by other games)