Fridge / The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

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Fridge Brilliance

• Since Zelda from Zelda II: The Adventure of Link is not the Zelda from the first game, Breath of the Wild Zelda is the thirteenth incarnation of the princess we meet in the Hyrule Historia timeline, and the one who lost Hyrule to Calamity Ganon. Also, if one is going by the Hyrule Encyclopedia timeline, this game has the thirteenth Link, and he is adventuring in a Hyrule After the End.
• The Bag of Spilling situation that Link is in after his awakening seems like your typical invoked videogame trope... at first. Link was in stasis for a hundred years. Anybody who's spent a long time similarly hospitalized knows that your body goes feeble with the inactivity; it's only natural he'd reawaken far weaker than he was in the past. Think his retaining of his skillfulness with weapons is a contradiction? Think again. Amnesia patients are known to retain skills and muscle memory, only losing active memory.
  • Not only that he has lost his memory and has nothing but the clothes on his back in the middle of nowhere. Link has nothing to go with but his survival instincts. Is it any wonder why players consider him a Memetic Psychopath?
  • As Zelda's sealing power is nearly exhausted at the time Link is revived by her voice, his weakness might simply indicate that the Shrine didn't have time to finish restoring him fully. Had she let him sleep another fifty years, he might've been as tough as the knight Zelda remembers, but Ganon was so near to escaping that she had no choice but to cut Link's hospital stay short.
• Why is Hestu so large in comparison to other Koroks? Well, his power is expansion, after all...
• How come Link seems to know both the monk's name and what kind of trial awaits him at each shrine? Well, he opened the shrine by using his Sheikah Slate which would most likely have downloaded the info.
  • The name appears by simply finding the shrine first. Which still makes sense since your Sheikah slate is a map with damaged info. By finding the shrine, the slate simply recovered some info such as the location name.
• It may seem odd that Dark Beast Ganon is an Anticlimax Boss, seeing as how Zelda warned that it will ravage what's left of Hyrule if it can. This all makes more sense when one remembers that the only thing in all existence besides the Master Sword that can defeat the monster is the one and only Bow of Light, something you can only get from Zelda. Also, look at the stats on that bow. It hits like a nuke.
• There's a certain Meaningful Echo to how Link defeats Beast Ganon: just like with every beast he's hunted, he shoots for the head.
  • Also, there's a Meaningful Echo to how Zelda defeats Calamity Ganon in the climax: She engulfs Ganon in light and makes him vanish. Like an ancient arrow would a monster.
• When you meet Corrupted Naydra, everything about its state is brilliant: it's been polluted with Malice. Kind of fitting when one considers Breath of the Wild's central theme about nature, with Ganon's malice representing civilization's effect on nature.
• The Blight Ganons have a lot of parallels to the Divine Beasts and the Champions that they have slain. In a slight case of Fridge Horror and sick irony, they are even designed to outclass the Champions that they defeated, right down to using similar fighting styles and weapons... which explains why Link could succeed where the Champions all failed. The Blights were each geared to a specific Champion, so Link is a curve-ball to them.
  • Waterblight Ganon has a long-reaching spear just like Mipha's Lightscale Trident, and can use ice powers just like Vah Ruta. However, it floats above the platforms in the battle arena, which would make fighting it more difficult for Mipha, and its spear can reach most of the water around the platform that it floats over.
  • Thunderblight Ganon uses a sword and a shield just like Urbosa's Scimitar of the Seven and Dawnbreaker Shield, but likely overwhelmed her with its lightning speed. It also uses electric attacks like Vah Naboris. However this is through summoning metal spikes that attract the electricity that can counter Urbosa's fury.
  • Windblight Ganon uses a blaster: while not exactly the same as Revali's Great Eagle Bow, it's still a ranged fighter like he was, and can even fire multiple times like Revali's bow. It also flies just like Vah Medoh. Furthermore, it can create cyclones that surround it, making Revali's Gale and higher-altitude advantage useless against it.
  • Fireblight Ganon is a slow, heavy hitter, just like Daruk with his Boulder Breaker, and even has a twisted variant of Daruk's Protection which allows him to charge a very powerful attack that requires a shield to reflect, which was not something that Daruk fought with. It can also draw power from the volcano just like Vah Rudania.
  • It's worth noting that all of the above take place in the second part of their respective boss fights, which implies that the fight could have gone reasonably well for the Champions prior to that point.
  • Link, however, does not have a Blight set on him despite being Ganon's archenemy and biggest threat. Why? Because he's the hardest to counter. As a Hylian, Link doesn't have the specific strengths or weaknesses of the other races that Ganon could take advantage of. He's also the only Champion to carry multiple different weapons as well as more exotic tools, meaning he's able to adapt quickly and use tactics that no single other Champion ever could. Combine that with Link also holding the Master Sword, which means that there isn't a single minion he could tailor make to counter everything that Link could do. This is why the demon lord was forced to wear him down with sheer numbers of minions while refusing to attack directly until Link was on his doorstep.
  • While the above might be true, the second DLC seems to show that though the Champions may have been outclassed, they did, for the most part, stand a chance and were not in a completely hopeless situation. We can infer this because we are now allowed to fight the Blights again, but this time with equipment comparable to that of the Champion slain by the each Blight, and with that very Champion's power already at our disposal. In the specific:
    • Fireblight's shield is now revealed to be easily defeated by Daruk's Protection if we use it to bounce his attacks back at him, no need for shields or bombs.
    • Thunderblight is shockingly very much vulnerable to Urbosa's Fury. But then that is perhaps not surprising when we originally had to get him hit by his own lightning using Magnesis on the metal poles. These do not block Urbosa's Fury, at least not when used by Link, so no need for the rune.
    • Windblight especially makes me question how Revali was unable to beat him since all his attacks, cyclones included, can be stunted by quickly hitting him in the eye with arrows, and Revali was supposed to be a great marksman. Maybe his bow was worn out and broke too soon.
    • This video posits that Revali (and the Rito in general) have terrible night vision, and thus he may not have been able to even see during his battle.
    • Waterblight, because of its second phase, is the hardest to defeat without using runes or Champion Powers. It can be done by quickly swimming to the ramp that led down into the boss room, getting to the top, jumping down and bulls eying Waterblight in-between ice cubes. Mipha may have had a easier time if she was able to leap out of the water and draw a Zoran bow, but either way, she was met with the hardest challenge. All of this is moot anyway because she states after beating a few times that she was completely ambushed.
  • Age of Calamity gives us further insights on this subject, since we get to see the Champions battling the Blights in cutscenes; Urbosa seems to be overwhelmed by Thunderblight's speed, Revali is overwhelmed by Windblight's constant lasers and manipulation of the winds that he's using to fly, and both Mipha and Daruk are simply unable to keep up with the amounts of attacks and projectiles that Waterblight and Fireblight are using. In addition, the floor of Vah Ruta has been frozen over, putting Mipha at an additional disadvantage since she can't use her aquatic abilities to evade Waterblight's attacks.
  • Age of Calamity also shows that the Blights were a lot tougher during Ganon's initial attack; in that game, all of them have altered designs, including expanded weaponry, and are positively overflowing with elemental energy. They're so powerful that three Champions are needed to take each one down. By the time of Breath of the Wild Ganon has been sealed away for a century, so he was no longer around to issue orders to the Blights, and they had possibly even been separated from Ganon's power. A hundred years of basically doing watch duty in the Divine Beasts had left them to age, and their powers waned to the point that Link could kill them by himself.
• Each Blight Ganon has an aspect of Ganondorf/Ganon.
  • Waterblight Ganon wields a polearm like Ganon wielded a trident.
  • Fireblight Ganon can fire energy balls as Ganondorf did as a Tennis Boss, and its BFS works just like the two Ganon liked to wield.
  • Windblight Ganon, just like most forms of Ganondorf, likes to hover out of reach and spam magic shots at Link.
  • Thunderblight Ganon is a Lightning Bruiser like Ganondorf, which manifests as Teleport Spam.
  • Just like your typical Ganondorf fight, Calamity Ganon itself is a fast-moving sword user that counters everything Link does with its own equivalent, and has a phase that requires you to use a particular weapon to break its defenses.
• The Master Sword becomes unusable for a time after using it on anything that isn't Ganon or Malice. It's a precaution, because the sword rusted after Link fought so hard with it during the Calamity.
• Why does Link not have his iconic green tunic? Well, it's the ultimate reward for beating all the shrines. Link has to prove he's worthy of it.
• In the trailer showing Zelda crying into Link's arms, many fans believed that the English version of the scene had Zelda too subdued with her sobbing as if she's still trying to hold back, even though she's crying over how all she did was for nothing. A particular journal you can read at Hyrule Castle explains Zelda's demeanor, stating that the King of Hyrule raised Zelda to be proper and stern in order to prepare her for being the kingdom's princess, and he also noticed that Zelda didn't really mourn over the loss of her mother. Even though Zelda still wanted to do things her way with research when her father had forbidden her to do so, she still did what he expected her to do with her training on her sealing magic out of some respect and love to him. Ergo, in the crying scene, she's still trying to keep it together as her father would have wanted it. When viewed in that context, Zelda's crying scene in the English version makes more sense.
• The Sheikah Slate gets new information or updates by having a terminal drip water onto it. Link's plight is enough to get tears from a stone.
• You can survive in cold climates by having a fire-enchanted blade equipped (or it at least helps in keeping warm). Why? It's basically an enchanted torch. Likewise, carrying an ice-enchanted weapon will keep Link cool in hot climates (to a point, anyway).
• The Master Sword's glow:
  • The Master Sword only activates and enters a nearly unbreakable state around bosses and Guardians. The last might seem like a plot convenience to deal with the things, but there is a common thread: Ganon's influence. The Blade that Seals the Darkness reacts to the malice in the machines too. Noticeably, it does not activate when fighting Guardians in shrine trials: these machines are still under the monks' control, are devoid of Ganon's malice, and Fi has no reason to make Link's training any easier anyway.
  • It's also a subtle callback to earlier games. The Master Sword only enters its full power state before Malice infused enemies, but not regular enemies like Moblins and Lizalfos, despite their connection to the Blood Moon and thus Ganon. They aren't connected to pure evil. The game gives hints that the monsters do things other than just be evil: they talk and dance and hunt for food, they even have some evidence of building structures for themselves. They are enemies yes, but they aren't pure evil. It's even a nice little reference to a long history of good version of monsters showing up in games, like the Moblins in hidden caves in the original games, the King River Zora in A Link to the Past and Oren in A Link Between Worlds, and the Deku Scrubs having Business/Friendly Scrubs that help you vs the more antagonistic Mad Scrubs. While the monsters in this game aren't like this, it's a nice callback.
• While it is played exclusively for laughs, the "How to interact with Voe" class in Gerudo town has some merit. Gerudo are tall, imposing, and have a culture that encourages them to be confrontational, yet they value equal relationships in a marriage. They'd need a solid grasp of Hylian cultural norms to know how to approach men and be sincere without scaring them off.
• It does make sense why the Desert Voe and Radiant armor sets would be hidden from regular Gerudo. Males (Voe) aren't allowed in the town and the Gerudo Women likely wouldn't dress as one. As for Radiant Armor, the dialogue in the town (and with Riju) suggests a very strong respect for spirits/the dead in Gerudo culture, and the Radiant Armor summons Stal enemies.
• The Gerudo's zero-tolerance policy towards men is pretty sensible when you remember that it's common knowledge that Ganon once took the form of a once-in-a-century-born Gerudo man. Even if it's known he was also beaten by a man it's understandable why they would want to avoid any association they could have with that stain on their history that they can, and if nothing else this rule gives an broad explanation to a young male Gerudo why his other tribesman wouldn't want him there without cruelly singling him out or bringing up Ganondorf's specific example against him. On the other hand, we are told in game that at least one reason for the law is to motivate young female Gerudo to go out and see the world, as if they could get men within the town many would likely stay there their whole lives.
• Two of the more iconic enemies in the series are missing from this game, but it makes sense when you realize why Armos and Beamos are missing... because they were likely prototypes for Guardians. Since the finished product came out, there was no need to keep the experimental ones around.
• Amber:
  • There are Amber earrings that are just as powerful as the Soldier's Helm. While this may seem like Fridge Logic, you have to remember that the earrings were made by the Gerudo; a very spiritual culture. If Amber still has the same significance in Hyrule, and since magic is confirmed to exist in this universe, then it makes sense.
  • Amber is said to bring victory, so just by wearing it you are fated to succeed by a magical talisman.
  • Beads of Amber are an active repellent of malicious and evil forces, such as curses and "evil eyes". In addition, it is believed to have healing properties.
  • Also, since the fairy has enhanced it, it has bolstered these properties to obscene levels, more defensively potent than any soldier's helm from old Hyrule.
  • The Amber Relics in Skyward Sword are somewhat implied to be fragments of the barrier Zelda used to protect herself during her sleep. If this is same kind of amber, then that would explain why it's so protective against evil: that's what it was made for!
  • Even from a scientific standpoint, it makes sense. Amber contains succinic acid, which enhances endocellular metabolism. It slows aging, normalizes blood circulation, and generally improves the condition of one's body.
• Zelda's diary reveals that Link adopted a "strong and silent" attitude because of his responsibilities and expectations. This Link is one of the most playful, though. He hums while cooking, and jokes and puns with people. Without his memories, we're seeing his natural personality.
• The Yiga Clan has a reason for liking Mighty Bananas just beyond Kohga being a goofball; check the ingredients list, and you discover cooked Bananas increase attack power. This may explain why the Swordmasters in the Hideout can one-hit kill Link, but not outside.
• While most of the things the Champions say as Link works his way through each beast are mainly just a reflection of their character (with Revali being a Jerk with a Heart of Gold and Urbosa being the Team Mom), what stands out is how each reacts when Link is about to start the main engine. While every champion tells Link to be careful in their typical manner, it makes especially sense that Mipha warns him not to let his guard down as she was essentially killed before even realizing she was in danger.
• Each species has a different interpretation to who Link is, which varies according to their outlook on life. The Sheikah have always known the true fate of Link. The long-lived Zora and Koroks know he's the same person from the past because they personally remember him. The Gerudo believe he's the real Link, because deeds equal truth in their eyes. The Gorons don't particularly care who he is, because his selfless actions make him worthy of being called a "brother". The Rito logically (though incorrectly) conclude he's a descendant, since history records he fell in battle and Hylians, if they live more than 100 years, are rarely as spry and young looking as Link is.
• All of Kass's songs you find throughout the world are ultimately clues for Shrine Quests... except one, oddly enough. The Hero's Cache has you use the shadow of a rock on the eastern coast to head out to sea and find a treasure chest. Kass is somewhat disappointed by this result, and the player probably would be too... however, to a particularly sharp player (or a particularly dull one who misses the treasure chest), they realize that the shadow also points to Eventide Island.
  • Indeed, the meagerness of the cache could constitute a particularly shrewd "screening method" for visiting the Island. If Link discovers the chest early in the game, when he's too weak to handle the Island anyway, he may also be satisfied with a small payoff. If he finds it later, once he's grown tough enough to tackle Eventide's challenge, he'll probably also be rich enough to dismiss the chest's rupees as an insufficient reward for solving Kass's riddle, and search farther out.
• A lot of painstaking work went into ensuring each Hylian and Sheikah looks different from each other. However this level of individuality isn't quite as strict among the Korok, Rito, Zora, Gerudo, and Goron Non-Player Character population. Reasoning? Link innocently has a Phenotype Stereotype of them, and they sorta look alike to him. Made even more apparent by the fact that the more humanoid Gerudo clearly have more differentiation (including different skintones, haircuts, body shapes, and clothing colours) than that of their less-humanlike counterparts of the Rito, Zora (who don't have it as badly as the other non-human races because it's suggested that Link spent a lot of time with them), Korok, and especially the Gorons. The Gorons are arguably the least humanlike, and are basically all the same character model (aside from Daruk, Yunobo, and Bludo) in a couple of slightly different skintone shades.
• In addition to the reasoning given under the Stealth Pun entry in the main page, "Breath of the Wild" may also refer to the lasers fired by the Divine Beasts after they are freed by Link, since it looks like they are emitting the lasers from their "mouths." Furthermore, Dark Beast Ganon himself shoots a laser from his own mouth during the final battle in Hyrule Field.
• There's a reason why the Koroks say the Test of Wood is the hardest of their trials (apart from the obvious pun). Whoever's partaking in the trial has to use the Forest Dweller's Sword, Bow, and Shield, which were specifically made for Hylians. As a Hylian, it's not overly difficult for Link, but a tiny Korok would have a much harder time lugging all that equipment around.
• Thunderblight Ganon being That One Boss for many players makes a lot of sense from a few perspectives, depending on how to interpret it. Most obviously, while none of the champions were pushovers, Urbosa was the only one to come from a race that was born, bred, and prided in battle and conflict, meaning that she was likely second to Link in raw skill in combat, so Ganon would have sent the strongest of his incarnations to take over Nabooris. Another possible interpretation is that since Urbosa fought with sword and board, just like Link is very likely to be when you tackle him, he's already fought an opponent like Link and knows how to go after his weaknesses. However, unlike Urbosa, Link is packing a few new tools like his bow and arrows and Sheikah slate runes, and indeed, those make the boss fight much easier than a straight up sword duel. Age of Calamity seems to back this up, as during the rescue, Urbosa will have the most remaining HP out of any of the champions when you aid her - she had been putting up the best fight of any of the four, even with their successors being pulled from time to help the rescue (Riju meanwhile, is at the lowest HP out of anyone involved, because she wasn't anywhere near ready to fight an opponent like that).
  • It could also be a touch of Fantastic Racism on Ganon's part; being a prior Gerudo himself, he possibly considers their race more competent and dangerous than Ritos, Zoras, or Gorons.
• If you compare the shade of blue exhibited by the Shrines, Towers, and the Sheikah Slate with the blue exhibited by Guardians that haven't been alerted to your presence, you'll notice that the Guardians have a noticeably darker shade of blue. At first, you might think this is merely intended as a bit of visual differentiation that also still points to the common origin of all these things. But some interesting implications come up when comparing these with the clothing of the main heroes. The Champions, Link, and most crucially Zelda◊ all have a Blue Is Heroic theme, specifically a light sky blue. However, Zelda also has a more formal royal dress◊ she is depicted wearing for special occasions or when on the grounds of Hyrule Castle that has a darker shade of blue. The two memories in the base game in which she is wearing this latter dress are ones where she is distinctly unhappy and repressed: the first is when she is knighting Link while the other Champions note how somber she looks, with Urbosa noting that Link is a living reminder of Zelda's failure to fulfill her destiny; the second is when her father scolds her for spending so much time researching the Guardians. Meanwhile, all the happy memories happen to be ones where she is wearing the sky blue clothes. "The Champions' Ballad" also adds another memory where Zelda acts serious and regal while formally requesting Urbosa to pilot the Divine Beast in her royal dress but lightens up considerably when talking with Urbosa afterward in her sky blue outfit. It seems that the color scheme overall is a symbolic shorthand for "light blue equals happiness and freedom, dark blue equals resentment and repression." The likelihood (stated on this page and elsewhere) that Zelda might have discovered some way of immunizing the Guardians from Ganon's influence if her father had given her the chance serves as further evidence.
• The facts that the Zora are portrayed as Long-Lived and are also given more of a Shark Man design are not coincidental. Whale sharks and spiny dogfish are known to reach 100 years of age on occasion, and one Greenland shark studied in 2016 was believed to be at least 272 years old, making it the longest-lived of all known vertebrates.
• The Gerudo forbid all males from entering their town...except Gorons. This seems odd at first, but the reason that they keep males out in the first place is to encourage young Gerudos to leave the city on their own to find husbands, not because they hate men in general. Gorons, unlike the other races of Hyrule, are rock people that likely have different biology and ways of reproducing that would be incompatible with Interspecies Romance anyway. Male Gorons are allowed in because they have no interest in trying to romance the Gerudo women, while male Hylians, Sheikah, Zora, and Rito might.
  • Assuming no female Goron are seen because they don't exist at all and they do still reproduce conventionally like the other races it could also be an act of solidarity of sorts. The Gerudo understand the woes a single-sex race of towering, hardy, and somewhat confrontational people might have with finding mates of their own and the Goron are even less "conventionally attractive" then they are at that. Hylians, Sheikah and the like can easily find a member of their own species to reproduce with, whereas neither the Gorons nor the Gerudo have that luxury.
  • If one wants to be more cynical and still assumes Gorons are a male-only race, and one with a lot of access to the ores and gems Gerudo are seen to use in most of their works, the Gerudo would need to make an exception for them to safely allow for trade between the two races since Death Mountain is extremely dangerous for everyone who isn't a Goron. Whether or not Goron would be interested in Gerudo women in the first place would be a secondary concern after that.
  • It is possible that the guards just can't tell their gender and ignore it.
  • Another way of looking at it is that, unlike the Gerudo which do have males, just exceedingly rarely, the Gorons don't have females at all. Although Gorons are usually referred to as male, the above plus their bizarre rock biology could indicate that the Gorons don't really have sex/gender in the first place, just a very masculine culture, and so the Gerudo don't really consider them voe or vai. This can also be seen as not just the Gerudo's but also Nintendo's way of acknowledging it, as the Gorons have always been male-only, yet no game until now has ever explicitly talked about it.
  • Tears of the Kingdom explains that Gorons are "Born of the Land" in a literal fashion, meaning they don't reproduce normally at all. They are not physically male or female, as they have no need for the parts.
• The weapons Link can obtain that represent each of the main 4 races is directly attributed to their physical attributes.
  • The Gorons have sheer brute force and physical strength, hence their crushing weapons. They don't have any shields because they're made of rock, so not too many things can hurt them. They have no ranged weapons because it's not in their character, preferring to attack head-on.
  • It's stated in-game that Rito weapons are lightweight so that Rito warriors aren't weighed down in aerial combat. Their shield of choice is the Kite shield, light enough to act like its namesake when not in use to avoid the weight problem, but the rarity of these shields makes sense since acrobatic flight makes the Rito that much harder to hit in the first place.
  • The Zoras prefer spears for melee, and spears have long been used in fishing. Stabbing with a spear is easier to do underwater than slashing with a sword, due to water resistance. Lowered water resistance also explains why Zora weapons feature (decorative) cutouts. All their gear appears to be plated with silver, which resists water corrosion better than iron or steel.
  • The Gerudo merchant culture might explain why they favor one-handed scimitars over spears or claymores: easier to carry and easier to whip out when ambushed by monsters while on the road. Their rounded shields are especially good for shield surfing, specifically sand seal surfing: the fastest (and most fun) way to travel the desert.
• Why is Calamity Ganon's Villainous Breakdown so drastic? Regardless of whichever timeline this game follows, he's been sealed multiple times over, losing his body somewhere along the way, with this 10,000 years being potentially the longest. He finally breaks free after all this time, after presumably undergoing multiple recurrences of Go Mad from the Isolation and Bored with Insanity, only to have Zelda immediately stall him for yet another 100. When he actually breaks loose from that, lo and behold, Link's right there with the one weapon that can truly defeat him, and despite the villain's integration of Sheikah technology to give himself an edge, he gets thrashed again, not only by Link, but by the Champions and their sacred beasts, which, judging by his brief reaction, caught him completely off-guard. And to top it all off, he's still internally fighting Zelda this entire time! Basically, any Hope Spot that Ganon sees for victory keeps getting countered, and in shorter and shorter intervals, until the Humiliation Conga caused him to snap completely and go for his Dark Beast form, which was pure power and no strategy whatsoever.
  • Calamity Ganon really feels like a tragedy being played out if you do everything before fighting him.. For one, it seems that he initially became his Calamity form by sacrificing his physical being for raw power, which corrupted him further. In this form, he was sealed once by the Hero and Princess with the backup of the Divine Beasts. The second time, he took over the technology and succeeded in destroying Hyrule, but was sealed again for 100 years before he could regain his physical form and power. Then, Link awakens and Ganon starts trying to re-form, but Zelda struggling within his essence slows him down and chains him to the castle, and Link arriving ultimately forces him to emerge as a half-formed amalgamation of Malice and Sheikah technology. As he's ready to fight, the the four Divine Beast lasers cut him down to half health, and Link shows the Master Sword to him, and it (likely) becomes a Curb-Stomp Battle. Regardless of the translation, Ganon is so desperate he forms the Dark Beast, likely giving up his chance to ever be what he once was again, and is defeated and sealed once more. It looks like a chain of ill-advised sacrifices for power ended up ruining Ganon forever, and even though he became dangerous and powerful, it cost him everything.
• The fragility presented by the Master Sword and how it came so close to being destroyed makes some sense, in context during the Calamity, the sword was the only weapon Link had against an army of Guardians. Guardians, it should be reiterated, are autonomous creatures made completely and entirely of metal. The Master Sword's sacred power doesn't amount to much when it comes to actual, physical prowess, and if you take any sort of a weapon and just start hacking away at a thick metal shell like that, it's bound to lose some of its edge sooner rather than later.
  • The cutscene showing Link's fall creates another key piece of context: Link doesn't have a shield on him. Guardians do one thing, and it's one thing they do very well, spam Frickin' Laser Beams ceaselessly, and Link was fighting a veritable horde of them all at once, and his primary objective was protecting Zelda on all sides. It's no wonder the Master Sword got worn down like never before, he had to use it to block an onslaught of lasers made to fight something like Ganon.
• You'd think a shop would have more than a few bundles of items for Link to buy at any given time, since selling goods is a merchant's job and the profit motive drives business. But you have to keep in mind there are other people who are interested in buying things, so they can't place all their eggs in one basket, so to speak. A merchant would be chased out of town if they sold their wares exclusively to the one guy from out of town, especially if he bought everything on the shelf and left nothing for the rest of the town. On top of that, arrows are limited because [a] the merchants don't want anyone using their wares to kill their own and [b] the guards need arrows to kill as many monsters as possible before they get close enough for sword and board to matter. This also explains why Kilton has no such restrictions on what Link can buy; he's the only guy who wants to buy from him.
• There is no shortage of evidence that Zelda's powers manifest themselves fully when Link was at death's door with a Guardian bearing down upon them both. However, that's not the only reason. As Ocarina of Time explains and Skyward Sword demonstrates, the Triforce's full power can only be harnessed by one who holds Power, Wisdom and Courage in balance. The former uses it as justification as to why Ganondorf only had the Power piece when he tried to claim it, whereas the latter tested Link to his limit in all respects before he could use the whole thing. Zelda was far from lacking in Wisdom, which is her innate affinity for the wayward fragments in Ocarina; in this instance, she recognized that not only was blind piety utterly worthless in awakening her power, but that she had roles to fulfill outside that of her divine heritage, roles which could make or break her as a mortal ruler. Surprisingly enough, however, she had no shortage of Power, either; she knew she was worthless on the battlefield without her birthright at her command, but her strength of conviction was such that the Deku Tree commented on it first when she arrived to place the Master Sword in its care. What she lacked was Courage. While there is bravery in knowing and embracing one's failures, greater courage demands that one grow from one's mistakes, which requires mental and spiritual flexibility in regards to one's own limitations. Zelda constantly pushed herself beyond her limits to quell her feelings of inadequacy, which would be admirable if she wasn't also ignoring the need for rest on top of needlessly adhering to a failing regimen for awakening her powers. By the time Mipha opted to advise Zelda, the Calamity had begun, and she was left in the dark as a result. It was only by violating everything she was taught and gambling her own life to save Link's that balance was achieved and her powers were unleashed for the first time.
• Notice that, according to the chronology of the recovered memories, the next region Link and Zelda visit after Zelda's resentful outburst and insistence that Link not follow her is the Gerudo Desert. Zelda likely decided to go to places where men were disallowed from visiting in order to force Link to stay behind. The Champions Ballad eventually ended up making this explicit.
  • Outright stated in Urbosa's diary that Zelda used the rules of the village to slip away from Link. Turns out the player's time in the area wasn't the first time Link had to disguise himself to gain entry but by that time she had already left for the Divine Beast.
• Despite his arrogance and pride, there are several hints that Revali is bound to end up being humbled by the end of the story.
  • Apart from Revali's Landing, there are no memorials or testaments erected by the Rito in honor of him. Very few of them even mention him at all.
    • The Champions' Ballad reveals that the flight range was constructed for him in honor of his accomplishments, and he originally was the only one allowed to use it before he opened it up to the public. Though this is only mentioned in his journal, occurred before his death, and it doesn't bear his name.
  • In his diary, Revali describes Link as "a rock" and huffily declared that he can't understand why so many people like the young Hylian. Revali's resentment towards Link might be further fueled by simple jealousy of the boy's apparent popularity.
  • His Divine Beast is named after Medli, who was very meek and humble even after discovering she was a sage.
  • His own theme that plays is very subtle and quiet, noticeably lacking in any sort of grandeur.
• The Champion weapons all have the best durability of the type of weapon they are (except for Urbosa's sword and shield, which are outshone by the magically enhanced Master Sword and Hylian Shield respectively). When one breaks, you find out that the ingredients to reforge them requires a pre-existing weapon and a diamond, so no wonder they're all so hearty.
  • It even avoids Artistic License – Geology concerning diamond's brittleness by adding flint into the process. As flint is made up of quartz which is incredibly tough.
• The way Link insists on being rewarded for doing certain quests may seem selfish, not at all like previous Links. But this is a game where he started with nothing (not even clothes!), where weapons break and food stores have to be managed. Too much charity could cost him his quest, and he knows it.
• Why does Link's crossdressing disguise work well against most of the Gerudo? Because the majority of them have not been outside the village to deal with men to begin with! They can't imagine somebody crossdressing to enter their village and wouldn't know what to look for. The one's that DO suss Link out are mostly elder Gerudo, who've that have been outside of the village and have dealt with men, therefore they pick up on other cues.
• Despite all of his mistakes, Zelda's father unknowingly secured a chance for Hyrule's future by forbidding her from continuing her studies into the ancient technology. If Zelda had been at the castle on the day of Calamity Ganon's return, instead of praying at the Spring of Wisdom like she ended up doing, it's very likely that she would've been trapped inside and killed after the Guardians were corrupted, just as everyone else was.
• The Majora's Mask makes Link blend in with most enemy types, effectively being a souped up version of all of Kilton's masks. Not only is it because the mask resembles a monster, but it also emulates the effect of the Stone Mask (wherein most enemies do not engage Link in combat), a mask present in the game that Majora's Mask came from.
  • Additionally, the Amiibo rune seems to exist in-universe as something that opens portals from other timelines or dimensions, if the special EX chests are the same way, it's possible it's not just a replica, but the real deal, and thus has enough evil power left that the monsters think your aura belongs to a creature of darkness like them.
• You'd think that after getting his leg burnt by Vah Medoh, Teba would want to fly back to Rito Village to let Saki and others help him get the wound tended to rather than the Flight Range where he'd have to take care of it by himself. But keep in mind how reluctant gentle Saki is to let Teba train Tulin in archery afterward. Teba probably decided that it would be best if Saki didn't know how badly hurt he was so she wouldn't worry more than she does already.
  • ...but Teba does return to Rito Village for a little while to recuperate, and talking to him after some time will trigger a small cutscene where he travels with Tulin to the Flight Range. Perhaps he goes automatically if you haven't checked up on him for a while after clearing Medoh?
  • Perhaps it goes like this: Teba goes to the Flight Range to patch up his burnt leg, during which Link manages to free Medoh of Ganon's influence. Afterwards, Medoh perches itself on the rock formation in the middle of the Rito Village. It's likely that Teba's Papa Wolf instincts kicked in the moment Medoh approached the village.
• Shops have varying time between restocking items, usually this is logical based on the time it would make to fletch an arrow, churn up some butter, ect. ect. The rare shops that sell monster parts, however, will only restock after a blood moon: either the shop owner or another merchant must go monster hunting afterward. In other words, they're taking advantage of enemy respawns just like the player is.
• When the Zora Prince Sidon hands Link a shock-resist potion, he mentions that it doesn't work for Zoras. Of course he'd know that! Zora can't use the shock arrows necessary to take down Vah Ruta, so of course they've experimented with ways to become shock resistant.
• Kilton's entire Mon system seems a little strange. How does he expect to make a profit when he's only getting fake money that he had to give to his customers in the first place? Actually, it's not the money he's after. It's the monster parts. His system ensures that he's never in short supply of research material, and he rewards the people who give him that material for their efforts.
• Whenever you meet the Old Man during the prologue, day or night (except when he's demonstrating hunting and lumberjacking), he carries a staff with a lantern hanging from it—because he's a Poe. Ghosts in Zelda games almost always carry their souls in lanterns, and the King of Hyrule is no exception.
• The Superboss of "The Champions Ballad" is Maz Koshia, the Shrine Monk who tasked you with beating the Champions' challenges in the first place. Consider that the Shrines are basically the bulk of the challenge in Breath of the Wild, and they were used in much of the advertising for the game. With that in mind, it makes a great deal of poetic sense that the last boss the game has you fight is one of the guys who built and maintained said Shrines.
• In gameplay, a disguised Yiga Footsoldier will only drop the facade and attack if Link decides to talk to them. In Urbosa's memory in the Champions' Ballad, they behave the exact same way. They casually walk by her and Zelda at first, and only cut the act when Urbosa addresses them directly, demanding a fight.
  • The same happens in the Stolen Heirloom sidequest. The lurking Yiga Blademaster only appears when Dorian demands him to show himself.
• Why does Maz Koshia run towards Mighty Bananas when dropped like a Yiga Clansman will? The Sokushinbutsu ritual means he must be starving, and this is the first food he's had in more than 10,000 years. This also explains why, unlike in other cases where you can do weird things to distract the final boss, this only works once.
  • It also serves as a sort of Call-Back or reference to other Final Bosses in the series. The player can use unorthodox items or weapons to either distract or even damage the final boss in some games, like a bottle or the fishing rod. Seeing as how Maz Koshia serves as the Final Boss of the Champion's Ballad DLC, it's pretty fitting that he also gets something like this.
  • Also, Word of God is that the Yiga inherited their love of bananas from the ancient Sheikah they descended from; as one of the most ancient Sheikah around, of course Maz Koshia would likely be a genuine banana fanatic too.
  • And, as noted above, a cooked Mighty Banana increases attack power.
• The Double Axe (one strike to fell a tree) is more efficient than the Woodcutter's Axe (two strikes to fell a tree) because the double-sided axe was a technological improvement that significantly increased the efficiency of lumberjacks in harvesting wood.
• Wearing the Tingle costume makes people become defensively hostile or fearfully disgusted towards Link. Why? Because the creators acknowledge the fact that, despite being popular in Japan, Tingle is HATED with a passion by the west for his appearance which is very unsettling even for all of the races of Hyrule.
  • This ties into how he was arrested in Wind Waker for pretty much setting off all the alarms in people's heads (also theft). How would you react if someone just walked up to you dressed like that and had a straight face like Link? You'd think they lost their minds.
• Why do the Guardian class weapons have low durability? Because they're supposed to be connected to a power source, which, in this case, is a guardian itself. Without being connected, the weapons can only hold so much charge. Contrast this to the Ancient class weapons, which are specifically made to last without having to be attached to a guardian.
• In general, why does durability only seem to affect Link? Look how he uses weapons compared to literally everything else in the game. Bokoblins have the equivalent intelligence of cavemen, and they are far gentler with their weapons. His aggressive attack style is bound to wear down his weapons far sooner than later.
• The Champions' Ballad introduces a new, stronger variant of Moldugas called the Molduking. It doesn't appear until you begin the Champion Urbosa's Song quest. But why is it only showing up now? Sure, it's part of the trial, but that doesn't mean it couldn't be around before. Well, it spawns near where Vah Naboris was roaming around before it was freed, the Compendium says it lays dormant underground for centuries, and it has a weakness to electric attacks. Put all this information together, and it seems likely the Molduking was hiding from Naboris to avoid being struck by its lightning, and has decided it's safe to come back to the surface now that the Divine Beast has moved somewhere else.
  • The same may be true for the other new boss, the Igneo Talus Titan. Now that Rudania's not causing magma bombs to rain down around the Death Mountain's radius, it was able to safely emerge.
• As Link journeys to the four corners of Hyrule to subdue the Divine Beasts, he finds that while the Long-Lived Zora know who he is due to them personally remembering him, the other three races never catch on. However, Riju is able to figure out who Link is based on her knowledge of the Sheikah technology, unlike the leaders of the Rito or the Gorons, and Buliara is able to follow along due to her own similar knowledge. Why do they have a greater knowledge of all that than the other two races? Because Riju's pre-Calamity predecessor, Urbosa, was a very good friend of Zelda's who undoubtedly heard much more about the Sheikah technology from the Princess than the other Champions would have. Furthermore, because Zelda was so close to Urbosa, it's likely that the Princess probably would have wanted to make a special point of informing at least a few high-ranking Gerudo about Urbosa's demise in the Calamity, which would have also given her the opportunity to tell them a bit about her plans for Link and the Shrine of Resurrection. So even if the Gerudo as a whole wouldn't have been privy to Link's identity or knowledgeable about Sheikah technology, the Gerudo leaders would have likely passed down tales about both.
• The memory titled "Zelda's Resentment" deals with Zelda lashing out at Link out of resentment over the fact that he has such an easier time fulfilling his destiny. You'll notice that not only does this take place very close to Revali's home of Rito Village, but the picture that triggers the memory shows Divine Beast Vah Medoh in the background. It's a subtle visual reminder that both characters resent Link at that point.
  • The Champions' Ballad DLC adds more evidence for this: it's outright stated that while Mipha, Daruk, and Urbosa Jumped at the Call as soon as Zelda asked them to pilot their respective Divine Beasts, Revali was a Jerkass about it and deliberately delayed giving an answer just to make the princess squirm. She may have even been visiting Rito Village before the cutscene only to get a non-response again, or at the very least was reminded of his antagonism by being near the town. As such, Zelda was likely already in a bad mood because of Revali's antics, and the failure to open the Shrine only exacerbated that mood.
• This game takes a Revisiting the Roots approach that has been much commented upon. But there is also one subtle throwback present in the camera system. You are able to pull the camera angle to directly above Link, something that couldn't be done in any of the previous 3D Zelda games. This gives you the option of having the camera angle be similar to the 2D overhead games.
• Ties in with Heartwarming Moments. You can visit Lover's Pond all you want, but Link will never meet his true love there. The reason? Whether it's Zelda, Mipha, or even Paya, Link has already met his true love.
• The memories relating to the Champions, whether in the base game or "The Champions' Ballad," focus at least a bit on their special abilities. For the base game memories, this also serves as Foreshadowing for the abilities that Link himself will receive once the Divine Beasts are freed. But if you pay attention closely to the other memories Link recovers, you'll notice that most of them also focus on at least one gameplay mechanic, whether in the cutscene itself or in the process of searching for the memory locations:
  • "Subdued Ceremony" prods you to get used to sneaking past and/or battling Guardians by virtue of being located deep into Guardian-infested territory.
  • "Resolve and Grief" deals with Zelda using the map function of the Sheikah Slate to find the best route to Goron City.
  • "Zelda's Resentment" deals with finding and opening Shrines.
  • "Blades of the Yiga" deals with Yiga Clan ambushes.
  • "A Premonition" deals with the Level Scaling of enemies as the plot moves forward and Ganon's power grows.
  • "Silent Princess" deals with collecting plants and small animals in the wild and how certain items have certain stat effects.
  • "Shelter from the Storm" subtly focuses on the prayer statues under the tree, prodding you to discover that they are a Korok Seed puzzle. Pikango's comment about the statues when you show him the picture calls further attention to it.
  • "Father and Daughter" prods you to make multiple trips to Hyrule Castle well before you plan to fight Ganon himself.
  • "Slumbering Power" points you in the direction of the Spring of Power.
  • "To Mount Lanayru" deals with riding and soothing horses. The fact that the White Stallion is in the vicinity is also hinted at by having its ancestor featured in the memory.
  • "Return of Calamity Ganon" hints at Mount Lanayru being important to a Shrine Quest by calling attention to it and discussing the Spring of Wisdom upon it.
• After Ocarina of Time stating that the Master Sword needs a wielder of a certain age and Wind Waker seemingly contradicting that by having an equally young Link wield it, this game finally reconciles the two seemingly contradictory lores by providing a new explanation: that the Sword itself requires strength of will and body to withstand the strain of its holy power. In most Zelda games, the Master Sword is received at the halfway point of the game, and this is because the first half of each game is dedicated to their respective Link tempering himself to be able to wield it, intentionally or not. The Master Sword in Wind Waker did not put Link to sleep because it was de-powered, but in the process of restoring its power, the Hero of Winds physically strengthened himself to be able to wield the True Master Sword. As for why it doesn't just put the Link of Breath of the Wild to sleep? As Ganon is on the verge of breaking loose after Link's healing slumber, Fi has no time to attempt such a measure, so the only test available is to administer the life-threatening trial that it normally has.
• Unlike previous titles you can't find Rupees just by cutting grass. The reason for this is because of the blue rabbit-like Blupee spirit, which, according to the Compendium, goes around and collects Rupees, which in itself also explains why it drops Rupees when shot or hit.
  • Furthermore, none of the monsters in this game drop Rupees upon defeat barring one exception: members of the Yiga Clan. Which makes perfect sense, as the Yiga often disguise themselves as ordinary Hylians to infiltrate places, so of course they would carry money to both sell the illusion and to potentially buy stuff they want/need.
• One subtle case of thematic music throughout the game is the usage of piano. It often accompanies numerous actions, from the rhythm of riding a horse, to soaring through the skies, to the exploration of the world and even Link's memories. While subdued most of the time, during the more faster-paced sequences it picks up. So when's the most fast-paced the piano gets? During the Dark Beast Ganon battle after forcing Calamity Ganon into a Villainous Breakdown, and accompanying the game's main theme as you take the fight to the open world surrounding the castle. All signs point towards the piano essentially being a sort of audible indication of the "breath of the wild" of the decayed yet still-kicking Hyrule around you on top of Link's nostalgia and memories of better days, which is why the piano goes absolutely crazy in a determined manner with frantic notes during this battle unlike anything else in the game, and is briefly "smothered" when Ganon's theme kicks in.
• After purchasing the entirety of the house upgrades (exterior, lights, door, and gear displays) at Hateno Village, Bolson throws in a pre-placed furniture set as a free bonus. Looking at the situation, it looks like the gear displays weren't all Bolson offered, but rather, all Link asked for, so maybe Bolson decided to cut him off and throw in some furniture, worried that Link would never get around to asking for it like a responsible homeowner. He was just sidetracked with having a hero's house and completely neglected to make it livable, so Bolson stepped in.
• The game design. Firstly, it manages to achieve the RPG-style power growth despite its nonlinear game design. Tough enemies and overworld bosses are scattered around the map, so no matter where you go, there's something to give a beginning player pause, and make them feel some combination of fear or frustration when they try and fail to fight the threat. But once you upgrade enough and get good armor and weapons, you'll be walking right up to Guardians (well, behind them) with no fear, slashing Hinox without ever once needing to shoot them in the eye, and even facing down Lynels with much less anxiety than before. The game can feel pretty mean and unfair when you start, but you start to get better and more capable because of the second thing: exploration. Exploration is the game's entire design thesis, and it's even the source of every reward in the game. You don't get stronger from killing enemies; there's no EXP system. You get stronger from exploring. Exploring to find shrines for Spirit Orbs that can upgrade your health a bunch, exploring to get the Master Sword after you've upgraded your health a bunch, exploring to find armor and exploring to find the Great Fairies to upgrade it, and exploring to find the Hateno lab and upgrade your runes. All of these things will make you much more powerful, and you can't get any of them without really experiencing the world. And while you're trying to reach all of these places, the game will inevitably pull you off course several times along the way, just as it should.
• Hudson having his marriage vows include giving their children names that end with "-son" may just seem like it was included for Rule of Funny, but it actually ensures that his kids will always be able to easily find work when they grow up, and that the Bolson Construction Company he loves so much will always have a workforce available.
• The Camera Rune can be used to tell sleeping Guardians apart from permanently dead ones, distinguish inactive Talus and Pebblits from normal rocks, and differentiate Treasure Octoroks from treasure chests. It can also be used to tell the real Maz Koshia from his clones during his boss fight. In other words, you can use the camera as a makeshift Lens of Truth... which is another artifact made by the Sheikah, just like your slate.
  • All cameras have a lens, even small cameras found in phones and tablets. It would not be too farfetched to think that the Sheikah Slate has a built-in Camera Lens of Truth, which would explain why it can see through those disguises.
• The Sheikah monks are clearly emaciated mummies, with darkened skin, lots of wrinkles, and visible bone structure. Yet they're also remarkably symmetrical and look pretty detailed, with none of the grotesque warping and loss of detail found in most real mummies, including their inspiration, the mummified Buddhist monks. On the one hand, this seems like it would be a convention of appealing character design, to make them eerie but clearly benevolent, so they don't look like they're monsters. But...these are Sheikah. It only seems natural that these masters of spirituality, magic, and technology would have found a way to perfect self-mummification so their bodies remain in such shockingly good condition after ten thousand years.
• The electrically-infused weapons - the Thunderblade, Great Thunderblade, Thunderspear, and Shock Arrows - all have a forked, two-pronged design. They have this shape so that hitting an enemy with the bladed part closes a circuit and sends an electrical charge through the opponent's body. Tasers and cattle prods have the same two-pronged design.
• Ancient Cores and Giant Ancient Cores are the rarest ancient part that Guardians can drop. Why, exactly? Well, the Guardians all explode upon defeat, and a core, which is likely its main power source/control center, would be much more intricate and fragile. The cores you find are the ones that were hardy enough to survive the Guardian's destruction, while in most cases, they're destroyed by the explosions.
  • Rather pointedly, Decayed Guardians don't drop Ancient Cores, which of course they wouldn't if this is the case; they're already barely functional, so the last few swings that destroy them probably rupture the core, too.
• If you think about it, most if not all the shrines involve at least one aspect of the Triforce in order to find and clear them. This is most prevalent in the Springs of Power, Wisdom, and Courage.
  • Instead of the usual blessing shrine found at the other Springs, the shrine at the Spring of Power features a test of strength. Naturally, you'll need Power to clear it.
  • The Spring of Wisdom hints towards opening the way to the other shrines after you free Naydra from the Malice by having you place one of Naydra's scale in the Spring. In other words, you gained Wisdom towards opening the way to the other shrines at the other Springs. It's also the only spring that isn't in a temperate environment; to even reach it, you must come prepared with some way to survive the extreme cold.
  • The way to the Spring of Courage itself is a swamp littered with Lizalfos packing Shock Arrows and capped off with a Moblin. If you plan to get to this Spring, then you're going to need quite a bit of Courage.
• From a game-design and lore standpoint, it makes perfect sense that the Divine Beasts are this game's big dungeons. In a Hyrule this devastated, the only large structures that would still be logically navigable setpieces would have to be either extremely well-engineered or intentionally spared by Ganon's destruction...and the Divine Beasts are both. Same goes for the shrines, which were sealed off and high-tech enough to survive through the Calamity. Temple dungeons like the previous games would stick out like a sore thumb amongst the ruination (which spared no non-Sheikah work) and even if they were ruined, the challenge would instead be on the ruin rather than the designed challenge inside the dungeon. This works for Hyrule Castle, which logically wouldn't be a dungeon without being ruined. But otherwise, that approach would mean either the dungeons weren't at all challenging and they're only difficult due to destruction, contradicting previous dungeons, or there would be a conflict between dungeon challenges and ruin challenges. If they didn't get in the way of each other, it would look contrived, but if they did, it would feel like sloppy game design. The Divine Beasts, love them or hate them, were the best choice for this particular game.
  • This is showcased with the Forgotten Temple. The temple could have been an imposing and possibly even confusing dungeon, but it has almost all hallways caved in and most of the structure is broken or covered in sand. The only challenge left inside it are the many guardians that shoot you the second you enter. If not for them, all that is there is a big empty hall with broken stuff, just like the early found Temple of Time ruin.
• The Goddess Hylia asks for four Spirit Orbs before you can receive a stat boost from her. The Spirit Orbs are guarded by mummified Sheikah monks who worship Hylia, passing on after giving them to you. They're giving you their souls, and showing them to Hylia is proving the monks' devotion to her. Pleased by the devotion of the monks and your diligence in bringing the monks' souls as a messenger, Hylia sees fit to make you stronger.
• A number of people have complained about how ridiculously fragile the Royal Guard equipment is. However, it makes some amount of sense in-universe; the stuff is given to guards, not soldiers. Their job is to keep assassins and other ne'er-do-wells out of the castle, not fight in prolonged battles in a war. As such, their equipment is optimised to bring down an intruder quickly; it doesn't matter if it breaks after seven or eight uses when it'll kill anything in two.
  • As an added bonus, their low durability means that if the wielder is somehow disarmed mid-fight, the weapon can't be used against them for very long. This also neatly explains why the royal guardsmen have them; avoiding being wrecked by such a weapon requires no small amount of skill, and so giving them to the best fighters in the land (aside from the champions) reduces the likelihood of a Hoist by His Own Petard situation.
  • The better explanation is that they're ceremonial weapons not designed for combat in the first place. The idea they were specifically designed to break down doesn't make it any better (and frankly, makes it worse).
  • The ceremonial weapon angle doesn't quite work, given that they do twice as much damage as their Royal counterparts, and some even outclass the Master Sword itself in terms of raw damage. Why bother sharpening a blade that's just meant for show? It's more likely they're meant to be Glass Cannon weapons in-universe as well as out, which only makes them practical in the hands of the Royal Guards (who need strong weapons but don't need to engage in protracted battles).
  • The weapon bios for the Royal Guard weapons indicate that they were originally intended to be used against Calamity Ganon; however, the Sheikah were unable to overcome flaws in the process of forging them, which resulted in their low durability. It's likely that they were given to the Royal Guards after the experiment was declared a failure, both due to the reasons mentioned above and so that the weapons themselves wouldn't simply go to waste.
• It might seem odd that the Great Fairies have forgone their usual role of healing Link's wounds in favor of simply upgrading his clothing's defense. But then, consider what their later upgrades are shown to subject him to. Odds are being manhandled, nearly suffocated, and dragged underwater are bound to leave more than few bruises on someone. The Great Fairies probably use their healing magic to leave Link in the same shape he was before each upgrade, basically Intimate Healing, which also explains why they're so nonchalant about it.
• Link's shield doesn't degrade if he does a Perfect Parry. While this is clearly an Anti-Frustration Feature, it makes sense from an in-universe perspective, too; Link isn't taking the full brunt of the attack on the shield, like he would if he blocked, he's instead deflecting the attack where it can't hurt him, and therefore taking almost none of the actual force behind the attack. (How this works with things like Guardian lasers, we'll never know.)
• If you look at the Triforce carved in the stone at the Sacred Ground Ruins, you'll notice that the bottom-right triangle - the Triforce of Courage - is severely cracked. This likely refers to Link's fall during the Great Calamity one hundred years prior.
  • Similarly, there's a crack between Courage and Wisdom, symbolizing Link and Zelda being so close yet so far.
  • And on the Triforce carving in the forest, you can see Zelda's favorite flowers, the Silent Princess, growing on the Triforce of Wisdom.
• Each of the Champion Abilities corresponds to a different spell from Zelda II: The Adventure of Link:
  • Mipha's Grace heals, just like Life.
  • Daruk's Protection deflects attacks, just like Reflect.
  • Revali's Gale launches Link into the air, just like Jump.
  • Urbosa's Fury causes lightning to strike, just like Thunder.
• Stables and towns acting as a neutral zone makes sense from a lore standpoint as well as a design standpoint. From a design standpoint, it wouldn't be fair if you were on your last bit of health and you were attacked by monsters just as you were inches away from an inn to restore your health. From a lore standpoint, each of them likely has divine protection on their side. The towns are obviously protected by Hylia through their respective Goddess Statues, but the stables also have effigies of Malanya on their roofs, most likely to curry his favor. In doing so, Malanya grants them protection from dark forces for praising him and his work. It might also explain why no monsters can be found near Robbie's lab, since he has the Sheikah frog deity statue outside his lab.
• The food you obtain follows the process of domestication. First food items available are things that hunter-gatherers could easily obtain: mushrooms, fruits, and meat. Next come foods available in pastoral-horticultural societies: such as dairy products and farmed edible roots. Finally come foods that large scale agriculture allowed to grow commercially and nowadays make up the bulk of human nutrition: namely wheat and rice.
• Why does Urbosa have lightning abilities? The last ruler of the Gerudo we know of was Ganondorf Dragmire, and even before gaining the Triforce of Power he was able to electrify his enemies. Perhaps it's In the Blood?
• The beginning of almost every Zelda game has Link waking up from sleep, usually to a character important to him (his uncle in Link to the Past, Aryll in Wind Waker, Zelda's Loftwing in Skyward Sword). This entry amps it up to eleven, since this time Link has been asleep for over a century.
• It's not a coincidence that topaz, rubies, and sapphires are the most valuable gemstones in the game, second only to diamonds. Real-world gemstones have historically derived their value from religious significance in addition to rarity; the three aforementioned gems have the same elemental properties (electricity, fire, and ice, respectively) as the three dragons, which are in turn associated with the three Golden Goddesses. It would only be natural for Hylians to place a high value on gemstones that embody the powers of venerated spirits/deities.
• Bows and arrows make perfect sense as the preferred weapons of the Rito from an anatomical standpoint. Birds and other flying vertebrates have very strong pectoral muscles so they can lift their bodies off the ground which would give them greater upper body strength and a bow string needs great strength in order to draw it back, birds also have incredible long-distance vision due to spending much of their time high in the air which would give them superb aim. Their flight also gives them an edge over ground based opponents as they could simply rain arrows down on them while being too high up to easily hit.
• The Master Sword's ability to repair itself over time is actually in accordance with a bit of flavor text you could come upon in Skyward Sword. If you revisit the Sandship after defeating Tentalus, one of the crew members explains that it was able to be repaired so quickly after the attack thanks to the protection of Nayru's Flame — the power of which was also imubed into the Goddess Sword.
• Even if you cheese a Shrine, the Monk inside will still give you your reward. The reason for this is simple - they're looking for your resourcefulness and ingenuity, not your willingness to just do what's presented to you. That's why Cutting the Knot is perfectly fine for them, since in their view, you still thought of a way to get to the end even with the limitations given to you. And that resourcefulness proves that you are worthy of saving Hyrule, since anyone can just grab a sword and fight a monster. But a real hero can think and plan their way around obstacles, and maintain their power without compromising themselves.
• The Rito are adept with the bow and arrow. Too-small wingspan aside, the general consensus with Bird People is that they'd have ridiculously strong wing/arm and back muscles to power their flight needs, so archery is a logical conclusion for them.
• Each of the races have noticeable differences in how and where they live:
  • Hylians live in a few normal but small towns. Being the franchises' closest thing to humans, their towns and villages look much like ones we'd be familiar with, but smaller and more spread out due to the state of the world. They also seem fairly prone to wandering and traveling, so towns don't need to be that big to hold them all because not that many of them stay in one place.
  • The Sheikah live mostly in Kakariko Village. Like Hylian towns, it's similar to real world human villages, but noticeably is almost hidden away in the mountains with only one or two convenient entrances. This helps keep them secret and protected from the rest of the world. Notably, the hideout of the Yiga Clan (who are also Sheikah) is set up in a similar way, though more underground.
  • Zora's Domain is large and extravagant, with fancy pathways and statues that likely took a long time to make. Zoras are very long-lived, so they have more time to devote to crafting and building, and generally their creations have a fancier feel to them. At the same time, they don't have actual houses, instead just sleeping together or wherever they need to, giving them the feel of a close-knit community.
  • Goron City seems to just have been a place hastily set up by the Gorons near where they can mine. Since they live in the arid Eldin region right near Death Mountain, and are rather sturdy to begin with, they don't have much need for actual shelter. And being a simpler folk, they just set up whatever's necessary for themselves so they can focus on work.
  • Rito Village is incredibly vertical, with the entire place being located wrapped around a large pillar. Since Rito can fly, going up or down is as simple to them as walking is for us, and this way they don't take too much space up.
  • Gerudo Town is surrounded by large walls, and the only entrances are guarded. Between the dangerous desert and the nearby Yiga clan, as well as anyone who might bear a grudge against them due to Ganon originally being a Gerudo, they likely have to constantly be on guard. The rule against males entering town just adds even more justification.
  • Koroks don't really "live" anywhere. They reside in the forest, but don't have houses or anything, just hanging around, and of course there's at least nine hundred others all throughout Hyrule. Nobody (besides Link) can see them, which presumably includes enemies, so they have no reason to be afraid of anything except maybe weather, so they're free to wander and don't need specific shelters.
• The Zora, Gerudo, Rito, and Gorons have varying knowledge on Link and his plight. Why exactly?
  • Most of the Zora remember Link because of their long lifespan, and they outright say they knew Link back before the Calamity. The King even aknowledges Link's sword as his while the other leaders just bring it up.
  • The Gerudo are distant from the rest of Hyrule, but one of their previous chiefs, Urbosa, was friends with Hyrule's queen, and Ganon took the form of a Gerudo in past lives. As such, the one ruling the Gerudo would indeed know about the stories of Link, as Riju does.
  • The Gorons and Rito don't know as much about Link's past. Kaneli of the Rito only thinks Link is the descendant of the hero when he sees the Sheikah Slate, but begins to believe he is the hero if he sees the Master Sword. Bludo of the Gorons hardly brings up the hero, only really pondering it when he sees Link's sword. Neither the Rito nor Gorons are enemies of Hyrulians, but they are distant, living in far off areas that often require Link to wear protective gear, so they probably didn't get as many Hyrulian tourists, and unlike the Zora and Gerudo, their Champions didn't have the personal history with Hyrule royalty or Link that Mipha, Urbosa, or Ganon did. However, the fact that they bring up the Master Sword regardless shows that Link's story did indeed reach them.
• A neat little Book Ends is that the Old Man directs you to the Temple of Time by telling you to check your map and imagine the four shrines you conquered forming an X, the Temple of Time being at the center. What do the Divine Beasts all do once they're freed? Form an X, with the castle holding the Final Boss right at the center.
• Lynels have commonly only appeared in top down Zelda games. Commonly the top down Zelda games are associated with the "Doomed" timeline where Ganon had defeated Link and took over Hyrule. In Breath of the Wild, the calamity ravaged the land for over 100 years.
• Why is Maz Koshia immune to Stasis+ compared to Master Kohga and even Calamity Ganon itself? Simple. The description of Stasis+ states that it only works on evil creatures. Maz Koshia is still a Sheikah who wants to help Link with his quest and partake in friendly sparring. Additionally, this raises the question why it also works on non-corrupted Guardians just part of the tests. Remember that Stasis is primarily used to freeze objects in space, so the Sheikah Slate probably sees the Guardians as regular objects as opposed to monsters.
• Calamity Ganon is essentially the antithesis to Wind Waker's Ganondorf. Both are the Big Bad in a Hyrule After the End. Calamity Ganon fully caused this apocalypse while the flood from Wind Waker was made to stop Ganondorf. Ganondorf ultimately became Older and Wiser, and had little issues with Link, while Calamity Ganon is made of his hatred for the hero, the princess, and Hyrule as a whole. Ganondorf has an openly tragic air to him, with more sympathy than what the Master of Evil usually earns. Calamity Ganon is Hated by All, and is treated as little more than a horrific force that must be stopped, and what little sapience he shows depicts him as one of the most vile incarnations of Ganon out there. Ganondorf in Wind Waker wanted the best for his people, and dies as a man, free from Demise's curse. Calamity Ganon's entire character is that Ganondorf is all but said to be gone, having been reduced to a somewhat cunning, but ultimately feral and angry beast who wants nothing more than everything in Hyrule, the Gerudo included, dead.
• Why are Silent Princesses used to upgrade the Champion's Tunic? That's Zelda's favorite flower, and she made the Champion's attire, Link's tunic included.
• To fit their respective Triforces, Link starts the game with next to nothing, not even memories, but still shows remarkable courage; Zelda aids him throughout the game, offering helpful wisdom; and Ganon is a raging beast with no physical form, simply a bunch of raging power.
• The Master Cycle Zero is vastly different from the other Divine Beasts because it was designed for an entirely different purpose. The four Divine Beasts' main role is to strike the opening blow against Ganon from a safe distance. Thus, they're big, beefy, and designed to throw as much power as possible out in their lasers. The downside of this is they're slow, lumbering, and need special exterior defenses to repel unwanted attackers. By contrast, the Master Cycle was designed to carry the hero into battle against Ganon. Something as big and slow as the other Divine Beasts would be a sitting duck in close combat; instead, the Master Cycle is small, swift, and maneuverable to help the hero dodge Ganon's attacks and quickly get into position to take advantage of any opportunity to strike. It doesn't need the raw power of the other Divine Beasts to fulfill its purpose. What it needs is speed, agility, and adaptability.
• Most of the places containing large numbers of Guardians are either places that Ganon would logically want guarded, places that he could reasonably guess would be points of interest for Link (such as holy sites), or the sites of battles during the Calamity that the Guardians just never left.
  • Notably there is not a single Guardian in the Gerudo Desert, which could have two explanations. Guardians are large, heavy, and walk around on a small number of relatively thin legs — traits that would cause them to quickly sink into the sands of the desert and become inoperable, or at least extremely slowed, meaning that any invasion of the desert would be wildly impractical. Alternatively, since Ganondorf was a Gerudo he might simply still have some fondness for his people (or at least a desire to rule over them rather than destroy them), and wouldn't want to invade them.
• You rarely find the Rito anywhere while traveling and seem to be the most closed off compared to the other races. Biologically, the Rito have the luxury of flight so they can simply move from point A to point B without touching the ground. Geographically, the Rito village is surrounded by high mountains with Guardian sentries on one end and the snowy Hebra mountains on the other so travel may just be a hassle for the Rito.
• The Akkala region has four islands named for Tingle and his family as introduced in The Wind Waker: Tingel (Tingle), Ankel (Ankle), Davdi (David Jr.), and Knuckel (Knuckle). The first three islands each have at least one Korok on them, but Knuckel Island doesn't have any. Then you remember that in Wind Waker, Knuckle was only available to people who had a Game Boy Advance connector cable and, as such, didn't need to be photographed to "officially" finish the Nintendo Gallery. In other words, if you want to get 100% Completion in both games—either by collecting all 900 Korok Seeds in Wild or filling the Gallery in Wind—you don't need to visit Knuckle.
• Each Divine Beast has both an SOS and an SAD (Search and Destroy) signal in Morse Code hidden in the soundtrack that plays when Link first boards them. At many points, the SAD signals overlap with the SOS signals, representing the Champions calling for help while the Blights relentlessly attack them.
  • Vah Ruta's SOS/SAD signals begin right at the start, almost before the instruments kick in, and repeat frantically a few times before cutting off. In addition, the SAD starts first, with the SOS coming in a moment later. This fits with how Mipha says she was ambushed and taken by surprise; Waterblight had the advantage from the start, and the battle was over almost as soon as it began.
  • Rudania's SOS and SAD play at the same time, suggesting that Daruk spotted Fireblight right as it attacked and had just enough time to defend himself. The SOS and SAD then repeat at long intervals, suggesting that Daruk and Fireblight fought a battle of attrition.
  • Naboris's SOS almost completely finishes before the SAD starts, suggesting that of all the Champions, Urbosa was the one who saw her Blight coming earliest and had the most time to react and defend herself. The SOS and SAD's repeat frequently, giving the sense that Urbosa and Thunderblight fought a fast-paced battle.
  • Medoh's SOS starts up much later than any of the others, fitting Revali's arrogant personality. However, it also suggests that Revali may have fared best against his Blight initially, only calling for help when the battle turned against him. The SAD first comes in a second or two after the SOS, then repeats several times in quick succession, suggesting that things went downhill quickly for Revali as soon as the Blight gained an advantage. Age of Calamity lends further weight to this, as while Mipha, Daruk, and Urbosa are all at the end of their endurance and clearly on the defensive in their cutscenes, Revali is shown dodging Windblight's attacks and even getting a few shots off, only for the tide to abruptly turn when Windblight scores a hit on him.
• Supplementary materials state that Link was originally from Hateno Village. During the Calamity, Fort Hateno is where he falls. Link's line of thought heading to Hateno seems pretty clear - take Zelda somewhere defensible, and protect home. Hateno Village would have been a good place for the princess and her knight to start fighting back, if not for the fact that Link didn't have time to recover from his injuries before his last stand.

Fridge Horror

• Why is the Master Sword, a holy, reportedly unbreakable weapon, rusting, and lacking its evil-banishing glow? Remember what happened last time it lost its luster. It gets even worse when you actually see how it got rusted. It wasn't by being left alone for too long, it was because Link fought hordes upon hordes of monsters with it, nonstop, until both sword and hero were utterly broken. This can either be seen as Fridge Logic and a look at the new weapon breakage mechanic in-story, or as full-on Horror, as this Link fought harder than any before him, even before the game started (and the previous Links were no slouches either).
• You don't get items by cutting grass or smashing pots or etc. Not that horrifying, until you remember that there's an in-story reason for items to show up in grass, bushes, and pots. There's a tiny race called the Minish that hide stuff where you can find them. A race that has survived Ganon's tyranny for years, wars from the Interlopers to the Imprisoning to Civil War, even the flooding of Hyrule itself. If they aren't around, then that suggests that things are even worse than they have ever been.
  • You actually can find some rupees and gems under rocks and in grass, but not much. Perhaps the ones in Hyrule were unfortunately wiped out during the Calamity, but the 100 year door has just recently opened again.
• If you go to close to the side of a bridge and a NPC comes your way, they will think you're attempting suicide and will try to talk you out of it. Just how many people have been Driven to Suicide in all the years of Hyrule being a Crapsack World?
• After all of the death and destruction Calamity Ganon caused, including the total ruin of Hyrule, the true ending hints that he may return yet again.
• At the end of the game, Calamity Ganon has forsaken reincarnation to manifest all his power into the Dark Beast, which implies that Calamity Ganon is at risk of being Killed Off for Real. But there is an alternate interpretation: Ganon has died and reincarnated multiple times throughout the continuity of the games, but forsaking reincarnation allows him to access his full power for the first time outside of any incarnation. Given that the true ending hints at Ganon's return, Ganon may now have Complete Immortality and can never die.
  • In the Japanese version this is reversed. Ganon refuses to give up reincarnation instead of giving up reincarnation. It means that Ganon will be back again, and again, forever.
• Urbosa mentions in her specific memory, when talking about how much Zelda pushed herself to try and access her sealing powers, that the poor girl once passed out in freezing cold waters trying to do so. Other memories and journals show that Zelda faced an inordinate amount of pressure from her father to access these powers, so apparently Rhoam once pushed Zelda to the point that she nearly killed herself in her efforts to do as he wanted with nothing to show for it, and he still kept that pressure on her. Furthermore, Urbosa's diary in "The Champions Ballad" mentions that Urbosa had to drag Zelda out of the water against her will before the latter froze to death. Reading Rhoam's diary briefly has a mention of this same trip, and the only notable thing about it is the implication that it took her a while to come back. Zelda not only nearly died trying to please her father, but she also never told him about it, possibly because of that constant pressure and disappointment he kept laying on her.
  • "The Champions' Ballad" adds another disturbing wrinkle to this. Urbosa's Diary says the near-freezing incident happened a mere year after Zelda's mother had died. Not only was Zelda's grief for her mother still pretty fresh at the time, cross-referencing this with King Rhoam's diary makes clear that Zelda was only seven when she nearly froze herself to death.
• For playthroughs where Link just bum-rushes Ganon, there are some seriously horrifying Inferred Holocausts that render it a Pyrrhic Victory. Most notably, who says The Corruption within the Divine Beasts is completely destroyed? Vah Ruta will cause a flood if not stopped, Vah Rudani is raining fireballs that will eventually destroy civilization around Death Mountain, Vah Naboris is consuming the entire desert in sand and lightning storms, and Vah Medoh is denying the Rito their airspace. Good news: At least when you do bum-rush Ganon you need to fight your way through all four of his blights first, which should free the beasts from their unnatural corruption. However the bad news is what that leaves for the four champions you abandoned to their fates. Not only do you show them that Link didn't care about trying to remember any of them or even try to recognize any of their people's plights in favor of trying something that nearly killed him once before, and how devastating knowledge like this would be to Mipha, but it also basically says that their lives as the pilots of the divine beasts were worthless as you didn't need them to help stop Ganon anyway. Who's to say that these potentially angry, frustrated and hurt souls will be okay with just having their beasts go idle, when they could instead go try to give a piece of their minds to their former companion for insulting them like this? And on a specific note how exactly will Mipha's family be made to realize she really is dead inside Ruta in this scenario and what will the Zora's anger towards Link mean for this Hyrule's future even with the flooding crisis hopefully avoided?
• Luminous Stones:
  • Luminous Stones are kind of a big source of these, since they're supposed to contain the souls of the dead. Every time you mine them, you desecrate a grave-site.
  • Zora's Domain is one of the more dangerous areas and sees the most misfortune in many of the games. It's implied that it's built from these stones, which is why it seems the very universe is trying to punish the Zoras, and why Ganon (a Gerudo) targets them with the most violent actions.
  • When you wear Radiant Armor, it disrespects the dead. It doesn't summon them, it's such a severe affront that they actively try to seek you out and punish you.
• It's mentioned that Calamity Ganon was a threat 10,000 years ago. Add in the 100 Link was napping, that's about 10,100 years. Or, in real world numbers, between now and the creation of agriculture. Yet Hyrule hasn't changed much from other games, possibly even regressing if the fact they once had the ability to build giant mecha elephants was any indication. Demise's curse has become such a problem that it routinely forces the civilization of Hyrule to regress and have to start from scratch. This is supported by the timeline of Wind Waker showing that Ganon has at least once come upon a Hyrule with no Link to protect it. Who's to say other incarnations of Demise's will haven't done the same?
  • The slow pace of technological development may also have to do with the magic capabilities of the populace. Hyrule lacks substantial innovation because magic allows them to overcome obstacles that traditionally promote development like improving long-distance travel or medical care. The horror is that Hyrule may be intentionally designed that way. The game shows how easily Ganon's power can thwart technology and turn it against the populace. If they had predicted Demise and his later incarnations would always be a threat to the population, promoting technological change that rendered divine relics like the Master Sword forgotten and useless would have ultimately led to their destruction regardless. Their survival literally depends on their limits.
  • With all that said, it turns Majora’s Mask into a metaphor for the spiritual concept of Link and Zelda’s lives. And we’re still just looping time.
• The fact that your reward for finding every Korok is a golden piece of crap really sheds a new, horrifying light on the "distinct smell" that the Korok seeds give off according to the description.
• Zelda fruitlessly followed the orders of her father, who had neither the Triforce of Wisdom nor the blood of Hylia to guide him. It's implied that had she followed the path she saw for herself and assisted with the study and deployment of the ancient technology, she could have prevented the calamity.
  • If you find and read King Rhoam's diary inside the castle's library, it details how conflicted he felt in insisting Zelda focus on awakening her power rather than furthering her studies like she wanted to, and how he planned to sit and talk with her "as a father" about continuing those studies when she returned from the Spring of Wisdom, the day Calamity Ganon returned. Considering her awakening power seems to tie into The Power of Love, there exists the possibility that such a heartfelt talk might have accomplished what they both had been hoping for all along.
• An extremely minor example: Zelda states in one of the flashbacks that the "silent princess" flower is extremely endangered and all attempts to cultivate it have failed. But of course, its relative rarity isn't going to stop you from going and picking it every time you see one. Granted, the ending cutscene shows a whole field of them, but you certainly aren't helping the situation.
• More like Fridge Grossness, but sometimes when you kill a Sea Octorock along with the normal Octo Balloons or Tentacles, fish will be amongst the entrails that you can gather. More than likely, the fish you gather from them were in its digestive tract when you killed it.
  • The same thing can happen with other monsters too, most commonly with Hinoxes, since cooked fish are also often included in the loot they drop.
• One side quest has some villages request Link go to a nearby water tower to clear out the monsters, allowing them to go there and fish. Now, imagine them fishing there, when a blood moon suddenly rises.
• Paya's entry on the Characters tab notes that she is The Ingenue in large part because she has not interacted with any Sheikah of her generation, who seem to be curiously absent from Kakariko Village. Look at how most of those villagers are elderly or middle-aged, and then look at how the Yiga characters tend to have robust physiques and young-sounding voices. Furthermore, the elderly Olkin notes that it is unusual for someone as young-looking as Link to be present in Kakariko Village. It seems that the young Sheikah of Paya's generation almost all joined the Yiga clan. This theory would also handily explain her overzealous Facial Markings. Unlike others of her generation, she's expressing her devout loyalty to the Sheikah clan by following the same selfless path to aid The Chosen One as the Shrine Monks (who just happened to turn out being exactly her type).
• The three massive Leviathan skeletons in various places across Hyrule bear a disturbing resemblance to the Wind Fish, Levias, and the Ocean King. Not only is it tremendously sad to see these benevolent entities long dead, but they were all protective deities that preserved the peace of domains beyond Hyrule.
• Link only remembers his time with Zelda when viewing places where she took a picture, and he only remembers his time with the Champions when a statue or other object associated with them is pointed out by someone in the present who knows about them. Yet Link's parents don't seem to have been particularly famous enough to be remembered one hundred years later, and the only mention of his dad in the photo memories is Zelda's rhetorical "if you knew you weren't meant to be a knight" question. This means that Link will likely be unable to ever remember anything about his parents.
  • Link's parents do have one advantage over Zelda and the guardians (aside from Mipha, of course): they would be present in his memories of his early childhood, which are much more deeply ingrained than memories made during adulthood. All it would take is for Link to experience something that makes him nostalgic for his childhood in general (it wouldn't even have to be looking at something; smelling certain smells, or eating certain foods, would easily be enough to do it), and he'd remember.
• The Shrine Monks sit patiently, waiting for Link to arrive so they can give him a soul orb and pass on... except there's so many shrines, many players are unlikely to seek them all out...
• How badly did Link atrophy in strength since going into the Slumber of Resurrection? One of the memories shows the aftermath of a big fight he had with monsters, among whom were lots of Bokoblins, Lizalfos, and two Lynels, all with only a minor wound on his arm. Yet going up against just a single Lynel in the main game proper is a major challenge.
• You find out that if Vah Ruta's production of rain is left unchecked, it would flood much of Hyrule downstream. You'll also find the ruins of several Hylian villages in the vicinity of Lanayru province that are partially flooded and lack the decayed Guardians found in all the other village ruins across the land. Who's to say Vah Ruta didn't already cause some kind of flood after the Great Calamity?
• The Horned Statue in Hateno Village seems to be a pretty mild Deal with the Devil, but think about it in terms of anyone who isn't Link. Link's health is explicitly supernatural after the first three heart containers, sacrificing it for money isn't a big deal because he can easily get more or trade it back with his equally supernatural reserve of stamina. But imagine a normal Hylian making a deal like that, it would greatly reduce their odds of surviving a scrape, and if hearts equal overall health in all aspects, may even shorten their lifespans. It's a mild Deal with the Devil for Link, but for anyone else, it's severe enough that his imprisonment by Hylia was completely justified.
• After having purchased a house in Hateno, Link receives the option to have a sign with his name on it built to mark his land. This seems charming on the surface, but it's also pretty ominous for anyone who has already cleared the Yiga Hideout. After that point, there will be an endless horde of ninjas pursuing you. They could theoretically choose to appear silently wherever they wanted. And every one of them knows your name. And now? You probably just let them know where you sleep, too.
  • Alternatively, Link is so badass he’s taunting an endless horde of ninjas and telling them he doesn’t care, because he doesn’t need to be awake to kill them when they come for him. Fridge horror for the ninjas: if your target puts up a sign, you don’t want to even try.
• If you visit Zora's Domain at night, you'll see that the Zora all sleep in the same pool under the throne room. What would happen if one of them (e.g. a toddler or elder) suddenly had toilet troubles while sleeping?
• While you're in Hyrule Castle, around midnight you can catch a glimpse of red sparks flying through the air. You see the same exact thing anywhere else when a Blood Moon rises...but none comes. Now remember what Zelda first told you about it? The Blood Moon is when Ganon's power rises toward its peak. Ganon is continuously struggling, trying to gain ground against the seal Zelda keeps him under and come closer to his full revival. The Blood Moon is what happens when he succeeds.
• You eventually find out that Calamity Ganon was sealed up directly beneath Hyrule Castle for 10,000 years. Zelda's Research Notes also mention that the greater majority of the Guardians they were trying to excavate were stored in the five columns buried around the perimeter of Hyrule Castle that eventually emerge when Ganon returns. It's no wonder Ganon was able to take them over so easily; he had 10,000 years to closely analyze them as they were buried practically right next to him the whole time.
  • Oh, geez. The reason that all the Guardians were placed under the castle was to guard Hyrule from Ganon. If he hadn't pulled the ability to possess robots out of nowhere, he'd have started his rampage by getting shot in the everywhere by an endless laser barrage of lasers. Ultimately, the ancient people were just a bit too clever for their own good.
• The memory titled "Zelda's Resentment" deals with her lashing out at Link due to her frustration at being unable to enter Tena Ko'sah Shrine. Go down into that Shrine, and you'll discover that it is A Major Test of Strength. If Zelda had somehow been able to make her way in there, she probably would have gotten killed by the Guardian.
• Zelda is barely keeping Ganon contained within Hyrule Castle, and the game all but spells out to you that her power to do so will eventually run out (even though it never actually does until you enter the throne room), and when that happens, Ganon will finish the job he started a hundred years ago. Most of the NPCs you meet, especially younger ones like children? They have no idea they're living on borrowed time.
• The game drops a disturbing hint as to what happens to Link when he's pulled inside the fairy fountains. When he meets Mija in Akkala, she laments that he's smaller than she expected him to be, but then changes her mind and admits that someone Link's size will do nicely for what she has in mind. Going by the implication most players probably think of for the fourth upgrade, if the Great Fairies could alter their size, then Link's own proportions wouldn't be an issue to them. And the way Mija describes him as a "slim little lad"...It's not hard to imagine the alternative she's thinking of.^note The Italian version is even worse in this regard; there, Kaysa's post-upgrade dialogue has her state that Link should still be able to "feel [her] warmth" on him.
• In the Champions' Ballad DLC, before facing the Phantom Blight Ganons, the monk will tell Link it is a lingering fear he has to overcome, and that you are essentially transported into a physical manifestation of his mind. Basically, ever since defeating the Blights, Link has been suffering terrible nightmares about them. If you don't own the DLC, he may never get over them.
  • Even worse: the rematches give Link only the gear and equivalent outfits to what the Champions would have had during their final battles. Link has been having nightmares about himself as the defeated Champions ever since he learned about what killed them, and the monk implies that up until now, he's dreamt of himself dying every time. It's only when given the chance to end the nightmare triumphantly that Link can get over it. It's more poetic realizing that Link is essentially rewriting the scene by winning the rematch. He sees himself as the Champions, but this time, he (and they) can win.
• Link has been regenerating for a hundred years. The land of Hyrule is still awash in guardians (including about a dozen or so Guardian Stalkers). Presumably, they have been free to kill the people of Hyrule at will for a hundred years, with almost nothing to stop them because even Link has difficulty destroying them until fairly late in the game.
• You can find the statue of the Eighth Heroine of Gerudo somewhere west of Gerudo Highlands, far from the statues of the other Seven Heroines which are found to the east of Gerudo Desert. This is not the horror part; the horror part is that unlike the other seven whose swords are in their hands or at least nearby, the Eighth Heroine's sword is somehow lodged on the other side of a nearby mountain (take note that the heroines' statues are maybe 10-stories tall each, and their swords are just a little smaller). Just what could have caused the massive sword to be planted so far away from the statue? Something mundane (the people responsible for moving the sword died en route and thus the sword never reached its intended destination)? Or something... worse (an unknown force somehow ripped that sword out of the statue and threw it across the mountain)?
• The events surrounding the death of Zelda's mother take on a more disturbing wrinkle when one considers that Zelda's failure to show signs of grief was probably because she was repressing her emotions — a deeply unhealthy coping mechanism, especially for a six-year-old. Her father's diary confirms that he approved of Zelda's lack of emotion, taking it as a sign that he'd done a good job of teaching her to be a strong and proper princess. Even back then, the King was deeply out of touch with Zelda's feelings and didn't know her well enough to recognize something was wrong (which could explain why she never shared important things like her near-drowning with him in later years). All of this might explain why Zelda tended to lash out at Link to deal with her frustrations as a teenager: she was always expected to ignore her feelings and act like a proper princess and was likely never taught how to express her emotions in a healthy way, so she would hold them in until they boiled over.

Fridge Logic

On the headscratchers page.

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