Volume I: Q & A
Q:
There are crosses on Link's shield and tombs in the first two games; there also is a church
with a cross and a cross item in the second game and in the Japanese Hyrule Fantasy the Magic
Book is even called Bible. Is there Christianity in Hyrule?
A:
Obviously when the first two games were made, the programmers were mainly inspired by European
middle age epics among which, tales of the crusaders; so back then the answer would have been
yes. With the introduction of A Link to the Past though, they discontinued this conception and
created an all new mythology for the game. Even the Magic Shield had its design modified in
Soul Calibur II. If you wish to find a justification for those crosses still, you may consider
that before Christianity the cross had been to many cultures a symbol of the sun (because of
the form of its corona during eclypses), fire, divine triumph and the cycles of life and
seasons.
Q:
What is the Underworld? Why are there old men in there?
A:
Exactly what it appears to be: several underground mazes where the Triforce is hidden.
Most people assume that the Underworld (all of it) is Ganon's. And indeed, according to the voice
acting in BS Zelda they are "the evil king's labyrinths". But if they are Ganon's, why can't he
get the Triforce parts? That leaves two possibilities: either the guardians were placed there by
Zelda and/or the old men in the dungeons (but why put the Triforce parts in the enemy's
strongholds?) or the people who wrote this voice acting script didn't really think things
through... so let's disregard that line and assume the dungeons are not Ganon's
property (except the one he dwells in, of course)
So, regardless of whose dungeons these are, the lesser enemies may well be Ganon's minions
(trying to recover the Triforce) while the dungeon bosses have got to be some kind of guardians
to keep anybody from the treasure chamber (and in this sense I suppose it could be said that
Ganon's minions took them over... minus the rooms that matter most!)
If so then the old men within could be the dungeon's keepers (except they now holed up
themselves into certain rooms to escape the invading monsters) and they could even be the ones
that placed bosses to guard the Triforce (and this would explain why they know so much about
said bosses).
It's not so far out if you consider that at least the bosses (minus the fourth one?) and some
others (if not all) Temple enemies of AoL were chosen by the Just King who ruled with the
Triforce (and in TWW, the Tower of the Gods is filled with the same enemies that make up Ganon's
army, like Dark Nuts, etc.).
Still it'd be kind of odd that the enemies hold keys and are connected to the door triggers if
they're just meant to be Ganon's underlings who have infiltrated the dungeons... but I suppose
they want to get to the Triforce before you do. Furthermore, this doesn't explain the old men
that are in Ganon's own final dungeon... maybe they sneaked in to help the hero with their
knowledge? Or pehraps they are prisoners.
Q:
What is the symbol for the third labyrinth, the so called manji?
A:
It is an Asian symbol. In Bhuddism it's "the character for eternality", it represents universal
harmony, and the balance of opposites. Turned to the left as in this game it stands for love and
mercy. Reversed it stands for strength and intelligence (but after World War II the symbol is
often used for all these meanings while turned left).
Typically this symbol is used in Bhuddist temples also acting as a ward against evil.
Q:
Is the Master Sword sword in the first game?
A:
Almost certainly not. While one may argue that the programmers could have thought of the third
sword of Hyrule Fantasy when making the blade of evil's bane in A Link to the Past (nevermind
that it is said to sleep forever), when they made BsZelda, much later, they still called the
second and third swords White and Magic Sword respectively; if they really meant for one of them
to be the Master Sword they would have said so, wouldn't they? However, it is also true that the
BsZelda Magic Sword does resemble the Master Sword in its shape and is gold as the Master Sword
at the top of its power in A Link to the Past. Nevertheless, in Soul Calibur II, Nintendo put
both the Master Sword and the Magic Sword and made them look quite different (the only thing in
common being the color). So it appears we have a final answer at last.
Or not... now that the Magic Sword is out of the question, people are trying to find
similarities between the Master Sword and the second sword from LoZ, the White Sword. Honestly,
if the White Sword was really the almighty Master Sword, what would that make the Magic Sword?
The Fierce Deity's? While I may admit to some resemblance in the artworks for the two swords,
and while the Sacred Blade in MC (which bears some resemblance to the Master Sword in the GBA
port of ALttP), before becoming the Four Sword briefly takes the name of White Sword, I think
it's better we stop at that (a possible correspondence between White and Four Sword), lest we
all go crazy.
Q:
How can we further determine the identity of the Sleeping Zelda?
A:
The game gives us these clues: her father ruled with the Triforce, and hid that of Courage
until the time of Adventure of Link when it is used to awaken her. When A Link to the Past was
released, it was obviously meant to tie in with this story, as in the end the complete Triforce
is obtained by the hero and supposedly taken to Hyrule for the first time (I'd guess Agahnim
was probably meant to be the wizard that put Zelda into eternal sleep in the initial game
concept, but somewhere along the lines of development this idea was supposedly discarded). One
problem with this, was that the Triforce only obeys the first who touches it, thus Link would
have had to marry Zelda and be the great king, father of the sleeping Zelda... whom his next
incarnation marries; that's rather freaky. However, Link's Awakening had him leaving the world
of Hyrule (as he enters Koholint) so that could explain how the current king could perhaps use
the Triforce (although no foolish prince is seen in ALttP).
Either that or his grandson (or Zelda's husband) could have been the great king. Now with the
release of the Oracle games, this seems more than likely as the Triforce rests in Hyrule Castle
during those and we don't wander into it nearly enough to reasonably claim Zelda has no brother.
So, in conclusion, the Zelda of ALttP was more than likely (at least during the game's
development) meant to be the sleeping one, but that of the Oracle games turned out to be more
fitting for the role.
Q:
Who wrote the scroll Impa hands to Link?
A:
Contrary to popular belief, not the old man seen at the end of the game. The author of the
scroll says he has placed the guardians into the palaces and in the description for the
IronKnuckle is said that it is a soldier chosen by the king. Therefore, the author of the
scroll is the king that ruled with the Triforce, father of the sleeping Zelda (notice how she's
never mentioned in the scroll; she was still awake when it was written).
Q:
Is it really necessary to have a strong character with no evil thoughts and an inborn special
quality for one to use the Triforce?
A: (minor spoiler)
If that one is to use and not misuse it, then yes. I don't know what the special
quality is, but it probably has something to do with Link defeating his dark side.
Q:
So, Ganon's minions are calling reinforcements from the underworld? Does that mean it extends
past what we saw in the first game? Or that Link didn't conquer those mazes entirely?
A:
Actually no, this was a mistranslation. You see, the underworld from the first game
was defined with the word "chika" which does mean underground. However in this instance, AoL's
Japanese manual uses the word "makai", meaning "realm of the demon king", a term also used in
OoT regarding what the Sacred Realm would become like because of Ganondorf. Therefore, it seems
AoL's manual is where we first encounter a reference to the Dark World within the Zelda series,
even though at the time it was written this "demon world" did not have the story it would be
given in ALttP and was simply that: the demon realm (not difficult to imagine why it got
censored to underworld).
In fact, considering that the Dark World vanishes at the end of ALttP, we are probably better
off interpretating it as "the realm which belonged to Ganon", a place that doesn't have to be in
some other dimension but simply outside of Hyrule's territory.
Q:(spoilers for OoT)
In Adventure of Link, does the Triforce mark that appears on the hero's hand mean he has been
chosen by the Triforce of Courage like in Ocarina of Time?
A:
At a time, that's what I thought, that the authors meant to introduce a retroactive change and
explain the true meaning of that mark. But this wouldn't make much sense, because the old man
at the end clearly has the Triforce of Courage next to him as Link enters the room; he does not
reveal to Link that he had it all along. Furthermore, in the Oracle games a third meaning was
introduced for the mark and TP seems to give it yet another. In conclusion, the most reliable
source to answer this question is still the game's manual: the mark appeared on Link through
the King's spell, because he was worthy of undertaking the quest for the third Triforce. We
could however speculate that the king's spell bound him to that Triforce part (and that he is
already the only one that may use it), but that's unnecessary and has little basis really.
Q:
Is there any relation between Carock (fourth boss in AoL) and the wizard that put Zelda into
eternal sleep?
A:
There may be! On a close inspection, Carock looks a lot like the Wizard that cast the spell on
Zelda in the manual artwork (check the necklace), and this would explain why in the Japanese
version he was only said to have died. However, it seems absurd that Zeldas father, the King,
would have entrusted him with guarding one of the Temples; because while the King may have died
before Zelda was cursed, the wizard would have known full well where the Triforce of Courage
was... but this could just as well mean his only purpose was to cause discord and cast the curse
for whatever reason.
In the end, what seems the most likely, is that the malevolent wizard took over the temple either
as a first step to obtain the Triforce himself or to ensure that it would never be united by a
well meaning person whod break his curse.
