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Spoiler Was Hylia's Sacrifice Worth It?

Joined
Nov 26, 2008
Where does it say Farore is higher than Hylia...as a goddess, shouldnt she have the power to do whatever? I think it's not "one goddess can do this and the other can't", but more like the gods and goddesses in Greek mythology, where they all had the same powers, but each one specialized in something, and that something was their strongest power. So I bet Hylia can also create and control life to a certain extent. But Farore is the goddess of life(and wisdom), so she'd have more clout in that area.
I thought it was rather obvious in the nature of both deities as depicted in the games (especially Skyward Sword), considering that the intro of the game talks about Hylia but also mentions the "old gods" creating the Triforce. Hylia never showed any ability to do anything remotely resembling the creation of such a powerful object, and in fact had to go through great lengths and personal sacrifices to do far less (become mortal just to convince someone else to stop Demise). It's rather obvious that Hylia is a lesser deity than the three Golden Goddesses.

It also should be noted that even in Greek mythology plenty of the gods are far more powerful than others or are even in charge of the rest. Zues was the leader of the gods, and aside from that, him and his brothers were commonly identified as the greatest of the gods: Zues, Hades, and Poseidon, all three identified as the rulers of heaven, the underworld, and the sea, respectively.
 

Sir Quaffler

May we meet again
I think that the actual process of sealing away Demise took away her divinity. Far from needless, she needed to keep Demise at bay until Link could come and kill him. Now, to be fair, Link seemed to have no trouble at all making a new seal with the Master Sword not even at full capacity. But then that was only for The Imprisoned, Demise's far weaker self. And the seal only held up for short bits of a time each. So either the specific seal Hylia used was so demanding that it literally required her to lay down her immortality to pull it off, or she was running out of time and options and this is the best she could come up with under pressure.
 

Ventus

Mad haters lmao
Joined
May 26, 2010
Location
Akkala
Gender
Hylian Champion
The only idea I think even remotely makes sense is that the seal required her divinity. Otherwise, it's just bad storytelling as well as a joke of an attempt to make a useless character become "important". As if we needed it to happen in the first place; Zelda is, more often than not, the reasoning behind Link's adventure.
 

Djinn

and Tonic
Joined
Nov 29, 2010
Location
The Flying Mobile Opression fortress
I think that the actual process of sealing away Demise took away her divinity. Far from needless, she needed to keep Demise at bay until Link could come and kill him. Now, to be fair, Link seemed to have no trouble at all making a new seal with the Master Sword not even at full capacity. But then that was only for The Imprisoned, Demise's far weaker self. And the seal only held up for short bits of a time each. So either the specific seal Hylia used was so demanding that it literally required her to lay down her immortality to pull it off, or she was running out of time and options and this is the best she could come up with under pressure.

In the story that Zelda tells you in the past, she says that the goddess was injured a little too badly in her fight with Demise and would never have the power to stand up to him in the same way again.

After a long and fierce battle, the
goddess, Hylia, succeeded in sealing
away Demise.

However, soon after the demon king
was imprisoned, it became clear that
the seal would not hold long against
his fearsome power.
Hylia had suffered grave injuries in
her battle with the demon king.
She knew that if he broke free again,
there would be no stopping him.

And if the demon king were to free
himself, it would mean the end of the
world for all beings of this land.

In order to put an end to the demon
king, Hylia devised two separate plans
and set them both into motion.

First, she created Fi. She made the
spirit that resides in your sword to
serve a single purpose: to assist her
chosen hero on his mission.
Her second plan...was to abandon her
divine form and transfer her soul to
the body of a mortal.

...She made this sacrifice, as you have
likely guessed, so that the supreme
power created by the old gods could
one day be used.
For while the supreme power of the
Triforce was created by gods, all of its
power can never be wielded by one.

Knowing this power was her last and
only hope, the goddess gave up her
divine powers and her immortal form.

A couple times in the story it is mentioned that a deity cannot use the power of the triforce. However it is assumed that a demon can or else Demise would have no interest in it. So Hylia gave up her divine form to be capable of using the triforce against Demise, which Link later did himself while Zelda was sleeping in the past. If Ghirahim did not find the other gate of time and go to the past as well the plan would have worked out. Only with Link making a wish on the triforce instead of Zelda.

The only questions that this leave open are, why did she not trust any hero in the distant past or the present to make that wish. Fi mentions a few times during the triforce quest later on in the game that the triforce does have the power to defeat Demise once and for all.

Even Zelda mentions that only certain people can use it, and then states that Link is one of those people.
If you can obtain the actual Triforce,
we will have the power to vanquish
Demise once and for all.

The problem is, among the countless
souls in this world, only a select few--
those with an unbreakable spirit--
can wield its might.
To face Demise and give the land hope,
the goddess, Hylia, needed someone
with an unbreakable spirit. That
someone is you, [Link].

But spirit alone wasn't enough.
You had to overcome many trials and
awaken the hero within yourself so that
you could wield that supreme power.
And so Hylia... I mean, and so I...

I knew that if it meant saving Zelda,
you would throw yourself headfirst
into any danger, without even a
moment's doubt...
I... I used you.

can't begin to tell you how sorry I am
for pulling you into all of this,
[Link].

But you have to understand this is a
war, and the fate of the land hangs in
the balance. I need your strength to tip
the scales in our favor...

This makes it seem that Link was important to the plan all along from the very beginning. Hylia knew that there would be that one individual with the unbreakable spirit born a few thousand years in the future. So she used herself as the method of prodding him into going on his quest. Not to save the land or stop any demon, but to rescue his childhood friend from danger. This might be why Impa did not allow him to join them on their journey across the land below even though she stated he was the protector and chosen hero. She could have known about this plan all along as well and also helped move Link in this direction, strengthening him, his spirit, and the goddess sword.

However it might also be possible that not anyone off the street has what it takes to make a wish on the triforce at all. That the unbreakable spirit is something that is earned or trained over a long period of time through many hardships. Zelda mentions something like this in the past as well.
Valiant hero, you have endured many
hardships and journeyed far in your
quest to reach this place.

Along your travels you have found
wisdom, power, and courage, and for
this I shall bless your sword with the
goddess's power.
May it give you and your sword the
strength to drive back the abomination
that threatens this land!

Now this again causes one to wonder why would she give up her divinity just to be that damsel in distress that persuades the hero into doing the right thing and making a wish on the triforce and stopping Demise. It might also be a part of her plan, for the hero to face Demise and defeat him anyway regardless of outcome. If the plan was just to make a wish on the triforce and kill Demise then there would be no reason to amplify the power of the goddess sword, or bless the Master Sword with the power to defeat demons all along. The wish would have accomplished that. Or in her amazing ability to plan for every possible outcome or just stack all odds into her master scheme by forcing all the pieces into place, she might have planned on having the hero with a special sword that is fully capable of exterminating demons face a very depowered Demise on a more equal footing and stop him for good. and all events were perfectly according to plan, which would have required Demise to steal some of the spiritual energies from a mortal and weakened Hylia to make a weaker than normal form that a hero could defeat.

Another thing to consider was that Hylia was injured in her fight with Demise. Possibly so badly that she might have been close to death herself. It may be possible that she could have survived but then she would not be anywhere near her previous level of power, not enough to be capable of being of much use if Demise were to return. Not powerful enough to stand against Demise, but devise so could not use the triforce either. So all of the plan was put into place because she would not have been alive at the time Demise's seal weakens enough to allow him to escape. So placing herself into a reincarnation cycle allows for her to be capable of taking part in resealing or even defeating him at a later date.
 

Beauts

Rock and roll will never die
Joined
Jun 15, 2012
Location
London, United Kingdom
Hylia was the one who originally sealed Demise. She couldn't use the triforce to do that if she wasn't mortal because the god's can't use the triforce. Obviously she failed to defeat Demise but maybe that was the gist of the original plan.
 
Z

Zeldacelli

Guest
I guess the best explanation, as Koosholts and Axle said, is that Hylia had to become Link's intimate friend to motivate him on his journey. Well, that sure paints a weak picture of SS-Link, especially when you compare him with someone like LoZ-Link who embarked on his adventure to save someone he didn't even know.

I don't think that creates a weak picture of Link; it makes him more believable and relatable. Maybe it's just because I'm an over-emotional girl, but I got a little weepy when Link was banging on the crystal before the quest for the flames. It makes much more sense that Link goes after Zelda, rather than a person he didn't know, because his love is so obvious and genuine and in turn, the player cares for Zelda as well.

Personally, I think it's better than anything Hollywood's come up with lately
 

AnimeHat

Humming Swordsman
Joined
Jun 21, 2012
Location
Arkansas, US
I guess it's only appropriate to start with "IT'S A SECRET TO EVERYBODY."
But seriously, what you're saying makes sense. It's just that findind the answer is hard. I'm pretty sure that Hylia was reincarnated as a human in order to keep the seal on Demise in place. And as Zelda slowly began to awaken, the seal lost it's power, the evidence of this being that the imprisoned managed to escape three times.
 
So let me get this straight...
1. The Triforce can't be used by gods.
2. The Triforce was the only hope to defeat Demise.
3. Hylia became mortal
4. Link used the Triforce to defeat Demise.

...what does #3 have to do with #4? Couldn't everything have worked out just fine with #3 omitted? Link's not a god. He can use the Triforce. So Demise can be defeated.

But Hylia decides to sacrifice her divinity needlessly... just so she can waste away as a mortal holding The Imprisoned's seal. Why does she need to be mortal for that?

So, what's the point of Hylia's second plan? I think it's bad storytelling. They really wanted Zelda to be important, but weren't able to come up with a good enough reason for it.
I actually have a theory that maybe Hylia was somehow tied to the Triforce. As long as she still had her immortality the Triforce wouldn't be able to be used as she intended. Why else would she sacrifice her divine form? I mean technically any of her followers should have been able to use the Triforce to wish Demise's destruction, so why would she set up an elaborate plan that'd take centuries to take place to do something that could have been done then and there? Maybe her exhistence as a divine being nullified the Triforce's power so that a wish couldn't be made? This is a pretty wild theory, does anyone maybe agree with me?
 
Joined
May 4, 2014
Location
California
It would be, if she ever actually seemed to do anything significant in the games other then be a damsel in distress. I know its significant in theory but in gameplay and story its just unnoticeable.
 

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