Spoiler Why Did Link Need to Open the Second Gate of Time?

[PhantomTriforce]

I've been thinking lately, in Skyward Sword, why did Link need to open the second Gate of Time? Because there was no real reason too, and it actually ended up being more of a hassle than if it were never opened, because Link needed to defeat the revived Demise in the past.

So here is what would happen if Link never opened the second Gate of Time.

Link gets the Master Sword but it is never upgraded to the True Master Sword. The Old Impa tells Link to learn the Song of the Hero. Link does and finds the Triforce in the Sky Keep. Demise (The Imprisoned) dies, and there is no way for Ghirahim to ever revive Demise again.

Is there something I am missing that makes it essential for Link to open the second Gate of Time?

 

[Ventus]

Yes, but what about Princess Zelda? Wasn't she locked behind the second Gate of Time? In fact, she was behind the second gate. Recall that after that one encounter with Ghirahim, the one where you obtain the Harp, Zelda and Impa (young) travel through the first gate of time. To get to Zelda (which is Link's goal, to rescue the girl), Link had to travel back in time. This wouldn't be possible without the Gate of Time. :/

 

[PhantomTriforce]

Yes, but what about Princess Zelda? Wasn't she locked behind the second Gate of Time?

Zelda went to the past to keep Demise sealed. But if she went to the past, her body is still there in the present. Compare this to Impa. Zelda gave Impa the bracelet in the past and she was seen with it in the present. Same with Zelda. Her body is still there, but it just has not aged at all.

Also, when Link goes to wake Zelda up, I don't think he goes in the Gate of Time, but just into the back room of the Temple.

 

[Night Owl]

Link wanted to meet up with Zelda again to find out about what all is going on.

Impa could have told link everything, But to keep her memories intact she needed Link to go to the past and meet Zelda and have that conversation.

Zelda would likely have been angry when she woke up since if Link had kept her waiting 1,000's of years.

 

[PhantomTriforce]

Link wanted to meet up with Zelda again to find out about what all is going on.

Impa could have told link everything, But to keep her memories intact she needed Link to go to the past and meet Zelda and have that conversation.

Zelda would likely have been angry when she woke up since if Link had kept her waiting 1,000's of years.

I don't know exactly what you mean by keeping her memories intact.

And also, what is more important. Some chick not getting angry at you or not risking the fate of the world?

 

[Random Person]

I think I can clear something up. Without the second gate of time, Link could not go back to plant the tree which was the key to reviving the Thunder Dragon. Without the Thunder Dragon being alive and well, Link could not learn the song, therefore, could not get to the last temple, therefore could not get to the triforce and therefore could not stop the Imprisoned and Zelda would've been sealed forever... or until the Imprisoned eventually ate her.

 

[Dragoncat]

And also, what is more important. Some chick not getting angry at you or not risking the fate of the world?

If he wants a chance with her at all, then her not being angry is more important. I know if I were her, and he kept me waiting for forever, then he could forget about ever getting past being just friends. Girls don't tend to find guys that are late all the time very attractive xD

But anyway. What everyone else said.

 

[Night Owl]

I don't know exactly what you mean by keeping her memories intact.

And also, what is more important. Some chick not getting angry at you or not risking the fate of the world?

Impa had memories of Link coming to the past to meet Zelda. If Link didn't come then those memories would be gone.
Which wouldn't be a big deal, unless she knew what Zelda was going to tell him because of those memories then a paradox would occur.
She needed Link to go to the past to keep history intact as she remembered it.

Perhaps Hylia's wrath is worse than demise? Or perhaps they could not foresee the consequences of using the second gate.

The Thunder Dragon quest requires use of the past to heal the dragon and get part of the song of the Hero.
But if you could bring time shift stones with you you wouldn't need the gate.

In reality Timeshift stones could have done everything Link used the second gate for without the risk, Aside from Impa's memory of the gate being active.

 

[PhantomTriforce]

I think I can clear something up. Without the second gate of time, Link could not go back to plant the tree which was the key to reviving the Thunder Dragon. Without the Thunder Dragon being alive and well, Link could not learn the song, therefore, could not get to the last temple, therefore could not get to the triforce and therefore could not stop the Imprisoned and Zelda would've been sealed forever... or until the Imprisoned eventually ate her.

I feel like we could have just given him a fairy.

If he wants a chance with her at all, then her not being angry is more important. I know if I were her, and he kept me waiting for forever, then he could forget about ever getting past being just friends. Girls don't tend to find guys that are late all the time very attractive xD

But anyway. What everyone else said.

I'm sure that ensuring that a Demon King does not get resurrected is a reasonable excuse.

Impa had memories of Link coming to the past to meet Zelda. If Link didn't come then those memories would be gone.
Which wouldn't be a big deal, unless she knew what Zelda was going to tell him because of those memories then a paradox would occur.
She needed Link to go to the past to keep history intact as she remembered it.

Perhaps Hylia's wrath is worse than demise? Or perhaps they could not foresee the consequences of using the second gate.

The Thunder Dragon quest requires use of the past to heal the dragon and get part of the song of the Hero.
But if you could bring time shift stones with you you wouldn't need the gate.

In reality Timeshift stones could have done everything Link used the second gate for without the risk, Aside from Impa's memory of the gate being active.

I guess I'm seeing your point about Impa, but I'm not all that convinced. And yeah, I guess we could have gotten Scrapper to carry a Timeshift Orb for us.

 

[Sir Quaffler]

From Link's perspective, he's done everything in his quest to get Zelda back, and going to see her again as soon as possible is top priority, laws of causality and time travel be damned.

From a time-travel perspective, the memories of these past events were already with Impa, so to not go through the timegate would unravel all of that. The point that everything that happened with the timegate could also have been accomplished with a timeshift orb is a fair point, but also a moot one. Yes, they technically COULD have done it that way, but that's not what ACTUALLY happened. It's a sort of self-fulfilling prophecy: You know something in the past will happen in a certain way due to evidence in the present, so you have to go back and make it happen in the same manner. Sorta a butterfly effect, if you carried out the events in the past contrary to how others remember it happening, you create all sorts of paradoxes, and the universe could potentially collapse in on itself.

 

[Random Person]

Sorta a butterfly effect, if you carried out the events in the past contrary to how others remember it happening, you create all sorts of paradoxes, and the universe could potentially collapse in on itself.

Or in Zelda's case, create a split timeline... and do we really need another one of those?

 

[Sir Quaffler]

Or in Zelda's case, create a split timeline... and do we really need another one of those?

Exactly. Time travel's confusing enough as it is....
So far, only that theory posed by Ducknoises a bit back in the SS ending thread makes any sense in Zelda games.

 

[Ghirahimiscool]

If Link didn't open the second gate of time, then we wouldn't have got to see the cutscene where it awakens. (And I really liked that cutscene)

 

[PhantomTriforce]

If Link didn't open the second gate of time, then we wouldn't have got to see the cutscene where it awakens. (And I really liked that cutscene)

Yes we would have. If you pay attention to the cutscenes, Zelda awakens in the present, not the past.

 

[Guest_1]

If I recall, the first Gate of Time was destroyed in the Temple of Time, when Ghirahim caught up with Zelda and Impa in Lanayru. Impa had laid an explosive to detonate the gate to prevent Ghirahim from pursuing them any further.