Did you notice that the way all of the biomes lined up looked a lot like breath of the wild map the desert in the same place the forest areas in the same place death mountain could have just froze over in this after a while and a new one could have appeared so maybe in the sequel will check out some of the old dungeons after thousands of years and that they go through the mining facility to find gannon's corpse
The dragonfly inspiring the Gerudo name is reflected in their symbol: a stylized dragonfly face. To desert dwellers who pride themselves on being hardy survivalists, it’s not hard to imagine that their ancestors saw the insect ruling over the harsh desert as a source of inspiration.
Your comment on the gerudos being named after the dragonfly got me researching. Turns out that female dragonflies tend to live in dry meadows while the males prefer wetlands. Ergo females are more common in dry areas while males would be seldom seen much like the actual gerudo tribe.
Also Ganondorf’s full name is Ganondorf Dragmire (in the Link to the Past instruction booklet as well as mentioned once on the official website) and Ganon’s full name is Mandrag Ganon (again, in Link to the Past) so the fact that Gerudo’s official insect is a dragonfly might be a callback to this fact as they all share the same root word.
That could be where Nintendo got the inspiration for an all-female tribe of the desert! Cool! Not to mention Ganondorf's obsession with Hyrule since it is much more lush in comparison. EDIT: I also just noticed that the Gerudo emblem kind of looks like the head of a dragonfly, connecting them to the insect.
I would like to understand how the province went from being in the south west in skyward sword and a wasteland to being a wetland and in the east during BOTW. like wtf
@@terralore720 Lanayru was a wetland before it was a desert in Skyward Sword, so it could've transformed back after thousands of years of the land not being mined of resources!
@@MonsterMaze that’d be awesome I’d already worked on a personal theory of a civilization that would of lived in the Fire Sanctuary but to see you do it would be better
@@MonsterMaze I have a reasonable theory on why this depressing area of lanayru desert was even created to begin with...Lanayru desert was probably made because of people at Nintendo being really concerned about the climate change in real life, and earth could end up like lanayru desert faster if we don't take action and stop
Lanayru Desert is my favourite area of any Zelda game, despite Skyward Sword being my least favourite of the 3D Zelda games, The Timeshifts, sand ship, traversing the ancient sea and desert at the same time, it even has a roller coaster! And usually I think Desert areas are boring, but they turned it on its head, amazing stuff!
@@MonsterMaze what was the reason for you to stop? I did enjoy the game until I experienced major issues with the wii mote which ruined many important moments for me.
@@moskbarto9436 It was a combination of many things back then. A general decline of interest in video games, as well as some issues I had with the game at the time. I didn't like the direction Zelda was going in. Now I've made a complete 180.
LD-301 actually comes from "Lanayru Desert" as you said, the names in other languages confirm it, as in Japanese they are called RS-301, it comes from the Japanese ラ ネ ー ル 砂 漠 (Ranēru Sabaku), which means Lanayru Desert, the fact that it does not make sense since they were not made in the desert is more of a plot hole that zelda games usually have
Funny that they're named RS-301 in Japanese since, if read as a quantitative number, it'd be 三百一 (San・Byaku・Ichi), and San Byaku sounds very similar to Sabaku. Probably just a coincidence though (笑).
It's actually always been a desert (arid region with little rainfall), but it wasn't always a wasteland of sand. The transformation between the two states was sudden and drastic.
@@sebastianrodriguez8936 as my girlfriend likes to say, "what does that have to do with the price of eggs?" Parts of the surface being an archipelago or islands separated by water doesn't mean that some of those lands weren't dry. Again, a desert is characterized by its lack of annual rainfall and, usually, this is reflected in its vegetation and animal life. Grasses and wildflowers with sparse trees are typical of arid regions, including deserts! Sand seas of dunes and dust are not the typical "desert", but it is what we think of first as one.
I hated it there. The timeskip was incredible, the minecarts were hysterically good fun, and the big Medusa thing was exhilarating in my opinion, but Hylia above, I am SO sick of the enemies. Never make me go near those electric snail crabs again.
the fact that time shift stones would be radioactive would explain why robots were used to excavate them and why the thunder dragon was sick, but I still wonder how scrapper was found, he must have been above the sky barrier to be discovered by a hylian
Yeah given how the video mentions those robots traveling to the now sealed temple to construct the 2nd time gate it makes sense if at least a single transport robot may have powered down around the piece of land that was raised skyward
Japanese fiction also deals a lot with nuclear physics concepts because of the unique history of nuclear warfare and energy in the country. So that would make a lot of sense.
So it's basically magical uranium fuel. I would of loved to see a functional technological civilization in the Lanayru past with people actually living normal lives instead of time crystals being used to power time doors
Lanayru is definitely the most interesting province. My head canon is that the Thunder Dragon set up all the high-tech infrastructure and "thunder"-powered robots in an effort to cure his illness. It gives the entire region a suitable tinge of melancholy. Your theory is obviously much better researched and logical though - the similarities in Skyward Sword and Breath of the Wild's maps kinda blew my mind! By the way, I can't believe how much I enjoyed Skyward Sword and take back every mean thing I've ever said about it. Will never base my judgment just on reviews and video essays again! I finished the game in a week and had a blast.
Yeah, I remember reading all these reviews (back when the game was new) that disliked the game mainly because of the sky gameplay. I bought it, nonetheless, and boy did we have fun in the clouds! It will definitely be one of the next games I'll buy for our Switch.
The trajectory of reception SS received is astonishing, but it's a case where the Zelda Cycle people meme over isn't as absurd. I remember quite clearly when it released how it was revered on the levels of Ocarina of Time for being great design and changing the formula. In came the Gamespot 7.5 review, the open world overhype from Skyrim's release, the trend of bashing motion controls and the awful GameGrumps videos and the public perception shifted. This despite hearing from many that they skipped the game. In my humble opinion, SS is a top 3 Zelda. And btw, hi Tim!
Hey everyone :) @@TheHylian64 I think releasing alongside Skyrim had a large effect on public perception, because Zelda still had the open-world vibe from older games which had largely been abandoned in SS. Just like with Mario 3D World, the fact that a more open Zelda (something that many people, me included, were hoping to see for a long long time) now exists makes it easier to appreciate SS for what it is. For me it does, at least! Current ranking for me would be BotW, ALBW, SS, LA.
Maybe the people of Eldin had some sort of prophetic abilities and that’s how they knew about the two gates of time. You do get the fortune tellers crystal ball from the exterior of the Earth temple. That also might be why the mural shows the gate in the desert instead of grassland like it used to be. Because they foresaw Lanayru would become a desert?
ooh, good catch about it being depicted as a desert! maybe thats why they named them LD-xxx robots, since they knew it would inevitably turn that way, just not sure of exactly when? would also explain why they called it the 'Sand Sea'. perhaps they simply didnt fight the desertification because it was always going to be that way- they just had to get as much done as possible before then
Or since their technology was so advanced they could have simply used that to predict that climatic changes would eventually lead to Lanayru becoming a desert. It is likely that less advanced civilizations could have misinterpreted their advanced technology as magic.
Another Possibility: The Murals in the Eldin Palace (Temple) were painted after Lanayru Docks became Lanayru Desert. What if those murals weren't painted to celebrate or document the creation of the Time Gates, but rather in remembrance? What if those murals were painted during the decline of the planet so that once they were gone, there would be a record of the Time Gates for someone in the future? It would stand to reason that once Hylia removed the Humans/Hylians from the planet, the planet went to crap. It's obvious that without the Hylians, several civilizations either died out or went into hiding. The Robots just ceased functioning. The Eldin people died out since they're structures are in similar states of ruination as the Lanayru Mining Facility. The Sheikah are, obviously, in hiding since the only one we ever see in Skyward Sword is Impa and, thanks to Breath of The Wild, we know that she's not the only one left.
We kind of do in BotW. It’s in a lush state with wetlands and lakes by that point in the timeline. The sand sea is probably the same spot where the Lanayru Wetlands are in BotW.
Interesting Note: The Robots use retractable claws to mine, and the Mogma also use their claws for digging, maybe even for mining as well. Not only that but the Mogma also make special gloves for other species to mimic their abilities. Maybe the Kingdom that ruled over Eldin was a sophisticated Mogma Civilization?
@@MonsterMaze Interesting. If the Robots, or the Sheikah, invented the Beetle, why would an older model be in Skyview temple? Was it because of Hylia knowing we would need it, or something else?
@@elitegamer9310 That's actually not far fetched since Faron holds 1 of the sacred springs, it's very feasible Hylia ordered a shiekah to put the beetle there for the hero of legend.
If it's been over a thousand years since the ancient societies then it's possible the Mogma fell into decline too. Especially if they were a rich nation of traders and manufacturers, then the war came, the Hylians disappeared, Lanayru shut down, and the Shieka seem to be non-existent besides Impa (maybe they also went to the sky?), who is left to build or trade for? The Mogma clearly survived but it's a lot less organized society and their workmanship has mostly been forgotten as the craft was no longer needed.
@@Kahtisemo and faron is perfectly fine? How is this possible when it literally neighbored a desert, faron woods should've been affected by climate change too
Hylia is essentially the goddess of time. Which is why there are many “time” objects and “time related items and events associated with her throughout the whole series. Skyward sword itself is a time paradox. We go down to save Zelda meantime past Zelda is crystallized in the yellow huge shard behind old impa in the very beginning and she’s been like that for hundreds of years since the era of the goddess to seal demise, she traveled back in time with impa to do it. . The legend says that Hylia managed to seal demise in the surface, the way she did it was with herself as the mortal Zelda who traveled back in time to make the seal. Hylia knows what’s about to happen in the future which is why she planned ahead and made all those preparations for when she reincarnates as a mortal and her link is born. Fun fact: there have always been 2 zeldas this whole time. One sealed for hundreds of years and the other one who was your childhood friend and got kidnapped. All this is a time paradox/loop.
I think I have a theory about the whole paradox/loop thing. Hylia says she is watching and guiding at the edge of time. What happens with Zelda was always meant to happen That's why Shiek is there to protect her. I don't know how many people have seen the show Andromeda. There is a god like character. She actually can influence what happens by going back in time and trimming branches of time that didn't work. While Zelda was always meant to happen. Link wasn't. Hylia went though alternate time lines and all those other time lines had failed. So what does Hylia does trim those branches, till eventually you get a Link time line. While she put in place all the plans the only one that worked was the Zelda plan but that wasn't enough. The Hero plan was never enacted because Link for some reason or another never born. Until this one. And that's when the loop was broken. The Hero plan and the Zelda plan were both needed for success. So until the time line was trimmed and shaped enough for something to change IE Link was born it was always meant to be a never ending loop. So for countless numbers of loops Hylia was destined to fail.
In the part of the story explaining hylia's war against demise i thought there was a siluet of a robot, which could indicate that the mining operation was going on before the war and creation of skyloft.
Even tho it makes little sense, I believe that the LD Prefix in the Robot Names actually means "Lanayru Desert". In german - my native language - the Area is called "Wüste Ranelle" - and the prefix in german is "WR". Same goes for dutch. Lanayru Desert in Dutch means "Lanayru woestijn" and their tag is "LW". I know it makes little sense, if you consider those robots were build in an era where it wasn't a desert yet, but maybe - just maybe - the Thunderdragon knew of the upcomming climate change. Since the Dragon Spirit Levias is even descriped to be encyclopedic, I don't think that the Thunderdragon would be any less knowledgeable. Maybe he tried to prevent the change with those mined Timeshift-Stones and that's why he sent the Robots to mine them! And since they're assigned to prevent the Lanayru Area from desolation, they got the LD - prefix.
@@dillonbonner9112 That's what I was thinking. A desert is an arid region, some place that doesn't get much rainfall but deserts can have a surprising amount of vegetation. It would be drought-resistant grasses, shrubs, and trees with intense but short blooms when there actually is significant rain. That wouldn't be enough for agriculture so you wouldn't have major settlements unless there was enough of a shipping network to bring food and water in from outside. Because deserts don't get much rain their ecosystems are extremely fragile. There really isn't much wiggle room, so to speak. Thus if you start drastically changing the region's topography, like with a massive mining operation, you start a series of cumulative changes in air flow, air pressure, humidity, and where and how much ground water there is that can over time cause the area to become even more arid. Sure there's a sea right next to it but if air currents aren't actually bringing water vapor up over land where it can cool and condense into rain then you might be in trouble (or that water vapor just passes over the desert heading elsewhere to cool and fall as rain). Remove ground water sources, add drying air and eventually the plants die out, allowing the soil to literally blow away. Then you've got a whole lot of ground where little can grow because there aren't any nutrients. This is assuming that climate changes weren't already in motion. The world did go through a hell of a lot of trauma thanks to Demise's forces and Hylia ripping chunks of land up to put them in the sky.
Since time travel is the purpose of the mineral being excavated, maybe the robots were actually made in the future, or at least designated with future in mind.
11:54 "Let's make robots to work and save our people the strife." "Yeah, but let's give them personalities and emotions" "Uhh, why?" "And fears." "..."
@@ShadowSkyX I which game? The one in OoT could be anything along those lines: the eyes of a dragonfly, the markings on the back of a cobra, heck, even the eyes of a raccoon.
Yeah but if I remember correctly this one was specifically placed to test the hero. He also has a crown and is not depicted as a pirate. Wonder why that is if they are the same Model or if they just aware enough to dress up differently
May I point out the similarities between beamos and guardians? Specially the stationary ones. They both shoot straight energy beams and even have the spinning propeller thingies at their heads.
Wonderful breakdown of the region! Regarding the naming scheme of the droids, the differences in the naming by region actually supported further the intent of its code-name. I did a bit of quick digging myself, and, going by your suggestion of LD being Lanayru Desert, I found that the letter changes in other languages does follow this exact naming scheme... except Russian. L speaks for itself in the languages it's present. The presence of R in Italian, German and Japanese correspond the names of the region in the mentioned languages (Ranel, Ranelle and Raneeru respectively). It stands to reason this applies to Russian as well. The difference from D in other languages follow their wording for Desert (Subaku in Japanese, Wüste in German, and woestijn in Dutch). In conclusion: this was most likely a reference to Lanayru Desert, but the storytellers didn't think this through... unless the Japanese word that starts with S refers to something else and other regions made mistake of assuming it was desert. But I have my doubts. And with regards to the construction of the gate of time, you are not wrong, but there is one good evidence to use that was a missed opportunity. The legend of old that opens the game shows the Age of the Goddess. And one of the beings living among the goddess were the droids. This is a great connection of how old they are and what their purpose might be. I'll be exploring these topics in my channel once my video series on the complete history of Hyrule begins some time from now. But I can tell you as someone who has dug up a lot over the years, this video of yours is very well done. Congrats MM!
Awesome. Was honestly craving some theories on this region. Such a cool region, a sad showing of how environments can change, and the time shift stones themselves. Plus it even has a temple of time. Makes sense I suppose considering the very existence of the time shift stones. I find the whole desert situation interesting. In order to build the gates of time and secure the future, the region had to be decimated environmentally. That leading to a desert that was itself a powerful motivator for Ganondorf to strike against Hyrule. Obviously the curse was the biggest thing. But that inhospitable region was a factor.
It seems to me that in an effort to stop a bloody different future, Hylia caused it anyways. A self-fulfilling prophecy, the road to hell being paved with good intentions, etc... Or her clairvoyant abilities even as a god were finite. Or the war went on for so long she either didn't see Demise's curse clearly, forgot about it, or didn't care anymore... Or she knew precisely what she was doing every step of the way and used it as an opportunity to bind the royal/leading line of the demon tribe to a mortal coil. She bound herself to mortal flesh and in turn her power, while subtly stacking the deck against the demon tribe by making sure her mortal fighters had a network of people and deities backing them up.
What was it that Ganon said about the Gerudo desert in Wind Waker? Something about how he hated the burning wind that only brought death? Your comment made me think of that and how tragic it is if it didn’t have to end up that way.
If you speak to the fire dragon he will tell you that eldin wasn't always volcanically active as you can see by the few trees that you sometimes see and those are still alive such as the trees that water fruit grows most likely had to adapt to there changed but deadly environment which would explain the thorns to protect themselves much like cactus.
Aaah that explains it. Very neat detail. So the ancient kings and his people don't necessarily had to have Gorons. They could've been humans, or another race entirely.
I just love the grim detail that those 2 robots in slippers retreat are most likely skippers family just waiting for him to return from his voyage despite slowly losing power and even in skyward swords present skipper can’t leave his boat without returning back to death so he can never return home to reawaken his family
I wonder why it's impossible for him to get a small piece of timeshift stone, maybe from Link that he could carry? Perhaps there's a certain "minimum size" requirement for the low purity stones to work. There's obvious implications of different grades, the stones still in the ores generate a much smaller shift zone than the ones with the eye symbol. I'm probably overthinking it but isn't that half the fun anyway? :)
The german prefix for the robots "WR" might stand for "Wüste Ranelle" where Wüste means Desert and Ranelle is the german name of Lanayru. It doesn't make much sense lore-wise but I still think that's what it is meant to mean.
Great video. Just two things: 1. The initials of the robot names, do align with the initials of Lanayru Desert in their respective languages, at least, I can infer that from DL in both Spanish versions from Desierto de Lanayru, which is important to note that Spain and Latin America have different enough dialects of Spanish to have different translations. Though, it is my headcannon that LD stands for Lanayru Dragon, as he is who oversees the mining operation. 2. In Hyrule Historia, it is mentioned that the Ocarina of Time is probably made out of a Timeshift Stone.
Maybe LD stands for Lanayru Dragon? I actually wondered what LD stood for way back when I first played the Wii version. So nice to get a theory on this!
Since the first time I played SS I got such a nostalgic and sad atmosphere from the desert like an abandoned place. Such a great area in the game and amazing video as usual ✨
Lanayru Desert is always one of my favorite video game locations of all time! The time shift stones mechanic is done really well, it has the best Skyward Sword dungeon in the game, the Sandship and it’s cool to see various areas in their past state. The futuristic like area in its past state looks really cool as well as the enemies such as Technoblins. The music is really well done in this region!
It still amazes me that Skyward Sword is the earliest entry in the Zelda Timeline, and even then there are already ancient civilizations that have already come and gone, it really makes the Zelda world feel ginormous!
Small note. Link did know about the second Gate of Time prior to the second Girahim fight. The reason Link is in the Fire Sanctuary is to get the sacred flame so that he can activate the Gate.
18:25 The first gate of time drawing has cactus and pyramids around it, as well as the color yellow. It is clearly a "modern" drawing, featuring the current desert, rather than an ancient one (could still be very old, but I don't think it took part during the gate of time's construction).
I thought Lanayru explicitly says he built them? Maybe I'm wrong, but he definitely gave link a "codename" when he meets him, implying that he at least is involved in running the operation to some capacity...
People keep arguing that Hylia isn't the Goddess of Time (like Din of Power, etc.) because Nintendo never _explicitly_ states this. Every time they do (if I notice), I point out Skyward Sword and the various statements by Fi, Hylia's plan that relied on time manipulations, etc. and tell them to stuff it.
Hylia's nature is really mysterious though. You can think that she is the Goddess of Time based upon Skyward Sword and the power of the Master Sword to bend time as seen in Ocarina of Time, but then again "Time" is a thing that really fits Nayru as well, because she is the Goddess that brought law and order to the world. It is even her region in Skyward Sword that contains the Timeshift stones. Also in Oracle of Ages the Oracle of Time is called Nayru. Furthermore I don't think that Hylia can be compared to the other Goddesses as she has not the same rank. She did not participate in the creating of the world. Hylia in general seems to have power over aspects of all the three Golden Goddesses though as she can command the three elemental dragons and the Master Sword is forged with the power of the three flames of the Goddesses. I personally think that the Golden Goddesses have created Hylia to watch over the world and by doing so Hylia has dominion over some powers of all the three Golden Goddesses. So she can have control over time, because she has this gift from Nayru, but she can also cut a part of the earth and seperate it from the land by sending it into the sky, which seems like something Din would be able to as she is the Goddess associated with earth.
@@randomdude2026 I can't remember where, but I think it was mentioned somewhere that Hylia was created by the Godesses to watch over the lands named after her.
@@randomdude2026 Really? Din, Farore, & Nayru "created" Hylia? Hylia is not of the same "rank"? Where oh where did you come-up with such fascinating ideas? Because what Nintendo HAS said is that, after the afore-mentioned Golden Goddesses returned to the Heavens, they entrusted the protection of both their newly-created world & Triforce to Hylia. That's pretty well it. This does not imply creation of a Goddess wholesale, nor does it state that Hylia is "below" them. If anything, it implies that the 4 Goddesses are equals or near-equals, as Hylia was "entrusted", not "ordered". Hell, we have no idea if there are even more Goddesses (or a God) in Hyrule's Heaven - the religious aspect of Zelda games are a plot device, not an integral story element. As for Nayru being the Goddess of Time, that's speculation at best. CAN "Law & Order" be interpreted as time? In a way, yes. However, observe the cut scene in Ocarina of Time detailing the creation of Hyrule. When it's Nayru's turn to have at it, she is shown "creating" the cloud-spotted sunny blue sky, implying breathable air & water, and allowing light to shine upon the world - _effectively creating the Sun._ Why bring this up? Because a good deal of mythologies in the world dictate that the Sun, or the God/Goddess representing the Sun, is the ultimate authority of Law and keeps Order (as Order (the Sun's) polar opposite is Chaos, represented within the creation myth of Hyrule itself as the formless void that existed prior to their descent). tl;dr: Nayru creating "Law & Order" is Nayru creating the Sun - the ultimate arbiter of Law & Order as it is the polar opposite of The Void/Chaos. Light = Law & Order, Dark = Anarchy & Chaos. Heck, one can interpret the Light Arrows used in multiple games as a physical embodiment of Law & Order (segue into the Light Spirits & their role in Twilight Princess here...which I won't because I'm tired), which is why they're devastatingly effective against Ganon(dorf), a being who represents Anarchy & Chaos in the Zelda games. For your point about Nayru being the Goddess of Time in the Oracle games - _Capcom-developed titles._ Sure, aspects of these titles have continued into future games (notably Minish Cap - developed by the same outside group). However, the key point to keep in mind is that the Din, Nayru, and Farore who appear in these games are _not_ the creation Goddesses of Hyrule. Heck, the Oracle games don't even take place IN Hyrule! So, using third-party developed games & characters that are named for but are not the actual Goddesses as proof of the domain of an actual Goddess is kinda...weak. Do they have power? In much the same way as a "sage", yes. But not Goddess power.
@@ChaoticHoly That Hylia was created by the other Goddesses was my assumption. That doesn't need to be true. She could have existed before but still I don't think she is equal to the other three Goddesses. Hylia has no Triforce-Part and wasn't involved in the creation of the world. That is no speculation, that is a fact. (Tetraforce is only a theory, a debunked one even, although that doesn't have to mean anything) So how can Hylia be equal to the other Goddesses, if the Triforce is THE ultimate Power of the Zelda-Universe? So if Hylia wasn't involved in the creation, what or who has created time if not Nayru by giving the world "order"? I am with you when you say she created sun and light, yes that is shown in the cutscene, but that is not all that is order. Generally speaking "order" in the case of creation is nature's laws. And time is one of these laws. Like the cutscene says that Farore created Life in all of its forms but shows only plants. Still Farore pretty much created all animals and even humanoids. (except demons probably) I think Hylia being the Goddess of Time is a interesting theory, don't get me wrong, but in my eyes, as much as there is evidence for that, there also things, atleast in my eyes, speaking against it. It could be possible though that Hylia is strongly connected to Nayru, more so than to the other Goddesses and because of that connection she has power over time. Evidence for a strong connection between Nayru and Hylia is also provided by Zelda being chosen by the Triforce of Wisdom. I know that the Oracles are not the same as the Goddesses, but to say there is no connection between the Goddesses and the Oracles would be wrong. So please don't get mad over me having a different opinion. I like theorizing over lore and I think part of the fun is that there are things that are unclear and debatable. I atleast won't hate you for theorizing that Hylia is the Goddess of Time, and who knows maybe you are right and it gets confirmed in BotW 2?
@@randomdude2026 Zelda does imply that she didn't know much about "the old gods" she could have been THE supreme life form created by farore without ever actually meeting the Goddesses, just having a built in knowledge that her purpose is to protect all life on the earth and watch over the triforce. The creation myth in OOT certainly seems to imply the goddesses zipped in and zipped out.
This is by far the best area of the game. The creators clearly agreed because it is as big as the other two regions combined and has almost all of the coolest stuff, barring Ancient Cistern.
@@MonsterMaze my theory is that there were developers that were actually worried about the real world, knowing that the earth could die sooner if we don't stop polluting it, lanayru desert shows just this...
I was always wondering: What happens, when one of the stones is struck in the past? Does the time shift a thousand years further into the old generations? Or do they connect to the point in links time, like the gates seem to be? Does the surrounding area seem like it's decaying fast, if the person strikes one from the past?
Missed a bunch of things. Dreadfuse has obvious relationship to robot pirate captain. Lanayru tries to give Link name model number "LD-Link-16", implying he named the ancient robots therefore was their possible creator. Climate change does not work like that, even if you cut down every tree & burn the earth, it does not cause the sea to turn to sand. The symbol for the ancient robots is based on the crest ornament on their heads. Tree of life seed/fruit are said to take thousands of years to mature. Most of all, the skipper's room is one of the most mysterious places in the game that I am surprised you did not cover more. There are hanging objects of weird things, perhaps miniatures of a whale (Levias?), and some UFO like flying object. Most importantly the interior dome seems to be painted like a map of the world! Possibly the only world map we have of in the Zelda series on the lands outside Hyrule!
Since you mentioned both Lanayru and Eldin provinces there is one things I noticed. There is a mark on each of the robots' heads that match a symbol in the room where you fight Girhahim the second time. It's on one of the large triangles(mountains?) paintings. Considering both places house a Sacred Flame it's more than likely those who built that place were servants of the Dragons or maybe the robots built it since we do see Scrapper enter the area without trouble. A similar question could be asked of those who built the Fire Temple in OoT.
I have a very overthought theory: I have always found odd that the captain of the ship knows he is standing in the future, but staying alive because of the timeshift stone (and other robots, but he tells you specifically when you are travelling through the sea. He sais things like "If I go to far from the boat, I will stop working" and other things). I have always wonder "how is this possible? wouldn't they see all the past around them?" To me, from their perspective, if they exit the time-shift zone, they would see YOU dissappear, as you have vanished from their past, while you are just visiting their present in some chunks of space. Now, I think you could resolve this by assuming these: 1. The Timeshift stones began to be mined around the time when the war between Hylia and Demise was about to start. 2. In that time, the Lanayru Region WAS ALREADY A DESERT and was a green region long before the war. 3. The robots were made in this time, to harvest more Timeshift stones. And the story would be like this: 1. Hylia wants to build the Gates of Time, as she know their would be useful for the Hero or maybe for other purpose of her. 2. She commands the thunder dragon to gather TimeShift stones from the Lanayru Desert, where she knows there are mines. 3. The dragon start harvesting and so he creates the robots, which power from his electricity (he even calls them "my boys", at least in spanish) and the power of TimeShift stones, but it is all happening in the present at this point. So the robots, named LD because they are built in the Lanayru Region being already a Desert, operate solely in the TimeShift stones regions, and so they appear to work "in the past". Remember, they are aware they are in the present. 4. Finally, the problem of robots living in the past, as are the pirates in the sandship or other robots in the harbor, that seem to have lived there. Well, if they constructed a gate of time, maybe they sent some robots to the past THROUGH THE GATE to speed up some processes of harvesting or construction instead of having to use TimeShift stones, or even to keep the Sacred Flame in a really safe place. Maybe the pirates are some group of old robots who saw in the real past some opportunity of freedom, and they traveled through the gate and settle in the sea as rebels. And that's that. Maybe it is a little overthought, yes, but I think it resolves the problems and set new scenarios to work with.
As a spanish speaker, DL could mean "Desierto de Lanayru" (As in "Lanayru Desert") but I don't think it could mean "Digger" ("Excavador") but it could be "Droid" ("Droide") Now about the japanese one... i get why it would be R, because of Lanayru ("Raneiru" or something like that) but the S? I searched for "Digger" and "Droid"/"Robot"/"Automaton" in google, for the japanese language, but doesn't match... now "Desert" is "Sabaku" So it's definitely "Lanayru Desert"
Yup, I just checked, and every language fits the "Lanayru Desert" Ranēru Sabaku > RS in Japanese, Wüste Ranelle > WR in German, Désert Lanelle > DS in French, and so on and so forth
You know, the map of the Lanayru desert shown in 0:47 has a striking resemblance to Breath of the Wild's current Lanayru province. Sand Sea -> Wetlands Ancient Harbor -> Inogo Bridge Area Central Area -> Zora's domain Lanayru Gorge -> The valley between Mount Lanayru & the province
But why is the Lanayru's Gate of Time depicted as in a desert in the Fire Sanctuary decoration? I think the Eldin old kingdom comes later in the timeline, maybe 500 years ago. And the king (or someone that worked for him) found out about the gates of time somehow. Anyway, outstanding work as always!
The ancient King of Eldin could not have been trading with the robots of the Lanayru Providence because the artistic depictions of the gates of time in the Fire Temple show cacti around one of the gates. The cacti could only have started growing there long after the mines became non functional.
True. It kinda depends when the drawing was made. They could've traded with the sheikah until the project was done, and then made the drawing years later, when lanayru already dried out. It's clear that Lanayru started falling into decay at the tail end of the project. Maybe even years later.
Unless the desertification started from the gate due to the radiation. So even the region was depleted over time, the Eldin people made a note to look for where the cactus start appearing in this fertile region to know they were nearing the gate? Not knowing it would eventually swallow the whole Lanayru province
I always theorized that the Ancient Robots were used to construct all the various dungeons, temples, etc. all across Hyrule that Link visits across the franchise's history
Quality throughout. Like a great musician, you know what notes to play and when. The choice to leave certain theories makes the paths you decide on feel more impactful. A maestro of the medium and a pleasure to watch. My highlight was the extrapolation of the transportation of the Timeshift stones which has been further evidenced in the comments. Even the almost throw- away observation that the stones may have been shipped to other areas has application, with documentation linking the blue shade of the Ocarina of Time to the aforementioned stones. Thank you Don, this level of quality does not simply happen, it’s the result of a lot of hard work.
great video! and glad i could help out with the map :D - i always thought lanayru (the dragon) was responsible for building the robots, since he suggests naming link like one of them xD (edit) you know what, the gerudo symbol does look like an insect head viewed from the front .....
A) Good point. Also Ganondorf’s full name is Ganondorf Dragmire (in the Link to the Past instruction booklet as well as mentioned once on the official website) and Ganon’s full name is Mandrag Ganon (again, in Link to the Past) so the fact that Gerudo’s official insect is a dragonfly might be a callback to this fact as they all share the same root word. B) I believe at one point in the game the Thunder Dragon refers to the LD series as his children or some other term of endearment so I always assumed he created them. Maybe I am conflating it with your point of wanting to give Link a model number. Regardless it would make sense because although the Sheikah are technical geniuses, I’d imagine creating sentient beings being beyond their capabilities. Whereas it would make sense that a divine being like a dragon could easily have that power.
Another amazing video. You ALWAYS deliver quality content! I can't imagine you not being a part of the best Zelda-tubers out there. Thanks for this. I thoroughly enjoyed it.
This is fascinating stuff dude! You've made me more interested in this world. Would love to see you explore more of this specific version of hyrule . By the way skipper mentions that "the pirates are dead". The pirates were organic beings that gradually made themselves more mechanical
I think he meant Scervo's crew were Bokoblins, who are only alive in the past, and after beating the dungeon they are locked up in the cell where the robots were locked up. Scervo was the captain tho, and that's why the Ship was still sailing in current day during the game.
Amazing video, as always. Reminds me why TLOZ is my favorite game series. So much depth written all over the place without outright saying/stating it. I love TLOZ's affinity to story-tell by... showing, not telling. How goes the saying: "Show, don't tell."
Your video making skills are incredible! Be it animation, editing or composition, everything feels very high quality and professional! I'd watch it for the content alone but this makes it even more enjoyable and puts you right at the top of the list of my favorite zeldatubers. Thank you for your passionate work!
Ok, BUT.... In the scene with the two gates of time, one is portraid to be in a forest like place and the other in a desert. So one gate in Faron and one in Lanayru, right? But in the past Lanayru wasn't a desert. So that's not possible. I can think of two explanations then: 1. Despite there being two gates, the second one is dormant, and maybe always was, being first activated by Link thousands of years after its creation. Thus, the decoration actually depicts the same gate of time in its two ends? Future Lanayru to the left and Past Lanayru to the right? And Ghirahim misinterpreted it but actually struck gold? 2. That decoration, and by extent all the Eldin Palace thing and maybe its civilization came to be only after Lanayru was already a desert, maybe centuries later? Maybe civilization migrated to Eldin after the desertification process?
Actually the depictions are corrent in portrayal as one shows cactus and the full triforce symbol with loftwing design like the giant statue in the desert the other one has a bunch of trees and even has a roof over it qt the top very much resembling the would be sealed temple given how the time of their construction it's true that the desert drawings aren't accurate to how Lanayru was back then however that depends on when those drawings were even made because perhaps in the thousands of year between the past and future Lanayru had already become a desert because to be fair let's face it climate changes can drastically change the land not even 50 years later so for several thousands of years that drawing can be quite accurate of the 2 time gates
The implication here is that even with as far back in time as Skyward Sword is set, there's still a vast amount of history before it that we know nothing about!
I just started working on Lanayru for the first time, and I am already loving it! Though I did notice something weird. A theory that I have frequently heard is that Groose is the ancestor of the Gerudo and name Gerudo dessert. However, one of the bugs you can catch are the Gerudo dragonflies, even though Gerudo is not around yet. Theory maybe?
When I was playing through this area playing skyword sword again, I went looking for a video very similar to this. Soon after, I found your channel, and now I finally get to watch a video about this topic.
I think, wierd as it may sound, LD-301 stands for lanayru desert becouse in the dutch version they're called LW-301, lanayru desert is called 'Lanayru Woestijn' in dutch (Woestijn is dutch for Desert). So thats probably why they have different letters
The eye on the Timeshift Stones looks exactly like the eye on Link's shield in the BoTW2 trailer when he is in the sky. While playing through this part in the game the resemblance the timeshift stones, especially the unrefined stones, have to luminous stones is uncanny in my opinion. Also every door on the sandship has a Zonai swirl, with a tick on the end, on them. It is well known that the Zonai were associated with luminous stones and if luminous stones are indeed Timeshift stones, and the Zonai swirl is present on piece of technology known to be made by the same people who made the robots, it is my belief that the Zonai are the tribe who created the mining facility.
The swirl is everywhere, but not only in faron. Sometimes it is stylized and sometimes its in slight variations but all regions have it, including skyloft. The symbol around lanayru mining facility's windmills - where you aim the gust bellows - are the same four swirls connected in a circle, just like the best wooden shield. There's an eye similar enough to the sheikah's but closer to the one in botw2's second trailer found on link's new shield is located as soon as you walk into skyview temple. The same bird statues found on skyloft can be found at lanayru's temple of time; im talking the one that opens the sky keep and those that lead to the goddess statue on skyloft. The swirl is also on the gate of time, and there's a moment right before it comes together it makes an eye shape. Also this symbol O=o is found in the twilight realm and gate of time. in fact, the twili, the sky people, their langauge and domonion rod, and the light spirits are all connected. Faron's appearance - rather how he appears - is very reminiscent of the reverse water/dive link in botw2's second trailer. And how hes shaped into swirl, the tip of his tail the effective tick. The pillars glowing green as faron appears is major sus in hindsight.
@@amandapeine6745 That's an interesting theory. To add to it; as the time shift stones degraded, the robots became more and more chaotic and violent giving them the barbarian nature described in BoTW.
WOOO more monster maze content! Always happy to see it! Been enjoying the History of Hyrule 4 part series over the last few hours and man, the amount of work you do is impressive!!
A few things I noticed about the desert. 1. The Giant robots seen when first arriving. 2. Skipper's possible family inside Skipper's Retreat might say more about how the robots eventually operated after the gates were created. Wife and children? 3. Gondo's grandfather's knowledge of the surface and Scrapper's role in that.
Because of you and other youtubers, the Zelda games stay interesting and relevant. You guys are doing such a precious work, thank you very much for every theory, it keeps me in the beautiful world of Hyrule even outside of the games!
My personal theory is that Sky Keep is some kind of spatial anomaly, since the inside seems much bigger than the outside, and additionally it contains climates from all over the Surface, which would be really hard to achieve by normal means. Heck, I'd say the inside of Sky Keep might even be a complete illusion/a non-physical space, seeing how the Silent Realms (which are an another creation of Hylia) work.
You, sir, are incredibly underrated. With such well written videos and clear effort put into them, it annoys me not to see you with at least a million subscribers.
I just really love your channel. It's incredible how well-researched and interesting, but also convincing and conclusive your video essays are! :) I really enjoy your videos, keep up the good work!
Something that I have been wondering for a while is just how the Sky Keep was built. Dreadfuse is there, another LD-002 robot, and the lanayru themed rooms have timeshift orbs, technology that only the pirates have. Plus, even in the sky keep, desertification happened in those rooms.
When you encounter The Thunder Dragon Lanayru, he asks your name. He then remarks that it's not a good name, and could use a model number. Based on this line of dialogue, I had assumed that the Dragon had built - or at least designed - the robots.
I think you might have the sequence of events a bit wrong. The gates of time were already finished by the time Hylia sacrificed herself and sent Skyloft into the sky. The gate of time is visible on the ancient tablet in it's unactivated state. Interestingly, the crest is not visible This means that the mining operation must have already existed and that the gates of time were more of a commission or a gift. Also, that is not Scervo in the picture. It's one of the robots standing in front of the things you hang onto to traverse the sails
This really made me re-appreciate this area of the game, there was so much thought and detail in by the developers yet it was so subtly presented in the game. They did a lot more than just make a visually interesting area with cool mechanics!
The fan interaction is top-tier man, I respect that a lot (though that probably means nothing coming from a nobody). You are also a talented creator, not over the top and the background music isn't too loud or distracting. 10/10 "ZeldaTuber"
LD definitely stands for Lanayru Desert, although it really doesn't make sense. In japanese it's RS (Ranairu Sabaku), Spanish is DL (Desierto Lanayru) and Dutch LW (Lanayru Woestijn).
Great video! Love to see new theories on...*checks game classification*...2006's The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess! Seriously though, it's interesting to see just how coherent the whole Lanayru area was in design, there's environmental storytelling here that feels like a test run for Breath of the Wild's Hyrule.
Another connection: The guardians and shrines in BOTW were said to have been based on the look of Jomon period pottery turned upside down. The Lanayru robots in SS resemble those same Jomon era jars, right side up.
These place videos are so great, where you explicate context and theories about the areas, this is probably my favorite video after the curious case of Kakariko
I kept expecting to hear you mention this! But since I didn't I'll just toss this out there. The hystoria implies the Ocarina of Time is made from timeshift stones
I noticed recently that if you look the ocean map in the captain house, you will noticed that not just the ancient sea bathes the lanaryu region but also could probably cross all the other two region's making it almost islands , explaining why link probably couldn't travel by feet between those locations, cuz probably still remains of this old ocean , making impossible to cross , except by flying . It also explains how the water dragon could flood so easily the faron woods.
This entire video is so perfect! That is going 100% into my personal theories about this amazing story. I can't find a single flaw. I never realized there was so much to think about in this area of the game! Beautiful video! You have really opened my eyes to a new understanding of the possible history of the whole series! Thank you! ♥️♥️♥️
Special thanks to Ganondoodles for making a custom map of Lanayru on a short notice. You are the best!
Ganondoodles Twitter: twitter.com/Ganondoodles
What a nice surprise for Ganondoodles' art to appear here
i bet the "N" part of skipper's model number is short for Navy
LD could also be Lanaryu Dragon...as in Lanayru himself 😋
Did you notice that the way all of the biomes lined up looked a lot like breath of the wild map the desert in the same place the forest areas in the same place death mountain could have just froze over in this after a while and a new one could have appeared so maybe in the sequel will check out some of the old dungeons after thousands of years and that they go through the mining facility to find gannon's corpse
@monstermaze
The dragonfly inspiring the Gerudo name is reflected in their symbol: a stylized dragonfly face. To desert dwellers who pride themselves on being hardy survivalists, it’s not hard to imagine that their ancestors saw the insect ruling over the harsh desert as a source of inspiration.
Yes, I indeed also noticed the eyes. That is a very cool detail they put in ^^
I never noticed the Dragonfly connection to the Gerudo symbol. Good catch!
I think the Gerudo symbol is one of a cobra, not dragonfly
I disagree with the symbol as it changed from the original game because it looked like the Muslim symbol.
I'm going to be honest I thought the symbol was one of the witch sisters as seen from the front stylized
Your comment on the gerudos being named after the dragonfly got me researching.
Turns out that female dragonflies tend to live in dry meadows while the males prefer wetlands. Ergo females are more common in dry areas while males would be seldom seen much like the actual gerudo tribe.
Also Ganondorf’s full name is Ganondorf Dragmire (in the Link to the Past instruction booklet as well as mentioned once on the official website) and Ganon’s full name is Mandrag Ganon (again, in Link to the Past) so the fact that Gerudo’s official insect is a dragonfly might be a callback to this fact as they all share the same root word.
I read this right as he said it
That could be where Nintendo got the inspiration for an all-female tribe of the desert! Cool! Not to mention Ganondorf's obsession with Hyrule since it is much more lush in comparison.
EDIT: I also just noticed that the Gerudo emblem kind of looks like the head of a dragonfly, connecting them to the insect.
@@tinyguy9398 and a mire is a wetland.
@@tinyguy9398 and yet they went with a pig design instead of a dragon fly or dragon design for ganon
I'm so glad that non-BOTW theories are back in full force around RUclips!
It seems like BotW provided some embers to enkindle some theories.
Bop
To be fair, this one *is* about the "most recent" game in the series.
I would like to understand how the province went from being in the south west in skyward sword and a wasteland to being a wetland and in the east during BOTW. like wtf
@@terralore720 Lanayru was a wetland before it was a desert in Skyward Sword, so it could've transformed back after thousands of years of the land not being mined of resources!
Ever since you mentioned an “ancient King in eldin” you NEED to do a video on the secrets of eldin.
I would be honored to do a video on the great king of Eldin ^^
Bro, it’s the akalla
@@juandinner8877 true
@@MonsterMaze that’d be awesome I’d already worked on a personal theory of a civilization that would of lived in the Fire Sanctuary but to see you do it would be better
@@MonsterMaze I have a reasonable theory on why this depressing area of lanayru desert was even created to begin with...Lanayru desert was probably made because of people at Nintendo being really concerned about the climate change in real life, and earth could end up like lanayru desert faster if we don't take action and stop
Only a few mins in and DUDE! I agree so much with this area being one of the best. Lore, Dungeons and of course the Mechanics!
It's amazing! I'm glad I got a second chance to experience this area. It was the point where I stopped playing back in 2011. Oh how wrong I was xD
Lanayru Desert is my favourite area of any Zelda game, despite Skyward Sword being my least favourite of the 3D Zelda games, The Timeshifts, sand ship, traversing the ancient sea and desert at the same time, it even has a roller coaster! And usually I think Desert areas are boring, but they turned it on its head, amazing stuff!
@@MonsterMaze what was the reason for you to stop? I did enjoy the game until I experienced major issues with the wii mote which ruined many important moments for me.
@@moskbarto9436 It was a combination of many things back then. A general decline of interest in video games, as well as some issues I had with the game at the time. I didn't like the direction Zelda was going in. Now I've made a complete 180.
@@MonsterMaze great for us you had a change of heart! I don't get tired recommending Life of a Bokoblin! 😂
LD-301 actually comes from "Lanayru Desert" as you said, the names in other languages confirm it, as in Japanese they are called RS-301, it comes from the Japanese ラ ネ ー ル 砂 漠 (Ranēru Sabaku), which means Lanayru Desert, the fact that it does not make sense since they were not made in the desert is more of a plot hole that zelda games usually have
Funny that they're named RS-301 in Japanese since, if read as a quantitative number, it'd be 三百一 (San・Byaku・Ichi), and San Byaku sounds very similar to Sabaku. Probably just a coincidence though (笑).
It's actually always been a desert (arid region with little rainfall), but it wasn't always a wasteland of sand. The transformation between the two states was sudden and drastic.
@@theloruleanhistorian it used to be an archipelago ._.
@@sebastianrodriguez8936 as my girlfriend likes to say, "what does that have to do with the price of eggs?" Parts of the surface being an archipelago or islands separated by water doesn't mean that some of those lands weren't dry. Again, a desert is characterized by its lack of annual rainfall and, usually, this is reflected in its vegetation and animal life. Grasses and wildflowers with sparse trees are typical of arid regions, including deserts! Sand seas of dunes and dust are not the typical "desert", but it is what we think of first as one.
Could be that the Sheikah or Hylia herself named the robots as such, who would have known the area would become a desert later
I hated it there. The timeskip was incredible, the minecarts were hysterically good fun, and the big Medusa thing was exhilarating in my opinion, but Hylia above, I am SO sick of the enemies. Never make me go near those electric snail crabs again.
ampilus amirite >.>
god, those things are so obnoxious...
I've always hated electric enemies. The stun is annoying af.
Shield Bash them :-)
YES
Not the crabs!
the fact that time shift stones would be radioactive would explain why robots were used to excavate them and why the thunder dragon was sick, but I still wonder how scrapper was found, he must have been above the sky barrier to be discovered by a hylian
It could be that he was on the land when it was raised Skyward, would make more sense than a robot being able to break through the cloud barrier.
Yeah given how the video mentions those robots traveling to the now sealed temple to construct the 2nd time gate it makes sense if at least a single transport robot may have powered down around the piece of land that was raised skyward
Japanese fiction also deals a lot with nuclear physics concepts because of the unique history of nuclear warfare and energy in the country. So that would make a lot of sense.
So it's basically magical uranium fuel. I would of loved to see a functional technological civilization in the Lanayru past with people actually living normal lives instead of time crystals being used to power time doors
Lanayru is definitely the most interesting province. My head canon is that the Thunder Dragon set up all the high-tech infrastructure and "thunder"-powered robots in an effort to cure his illness. It gives the entire region a suitable tinge of melancholy. Your theory is obviously much better researched and logical though - the similarities in Skyward Sword and Breath of the Wild's maps kinda blew my mind!
By the way, I can't believe how much I enjoyed Skyward Sword and take back every mean thing I've ever said about it. Will never base my judgment just on reviews and video essays again! I finished the game in a week and had a blast.
Hello there Tim! Fancy seeing you here ^^
Yeah, I remember reading all these reviews (back when the game was new) that disliked the game mainly because of the sky gameplay. I bought it, nonetheless, and boy did we have fun in the clouds!
It will definitely be one of the next games I'll buy for our Switch.
The trajectory of reception SS received is astonishing, but it's a case where the Zelda Cycle people meme over isn't as absurd. I remember quite clearly when it released how it was revered on the levels of Ocarina of Time for being great design and changing the formula. In came the Gamespot 7.5 review, the open world overhype from Skyrim's release, the trend of bashing motion controls and the awful GameGrumps videos and the public perception shifted. This despite hearing from many that they skipped the game.
In my humble opinion, SS is a top 3 Zelda.
And btw, hi Tim!
@@TheHylian64 It is definitely in my top ten. Though this list would wear a "not in particular order" badge...
Hey everyone :)
@@TheHylian64 I think releasing alongside Skyrim had a large effect on public perception, because Zelda still had the open-world vibe from older games which had largely been abandoned in SS. Just like with Mario 3D World, the fact that a more open Zelda (something that many people, me included, were hoping to see for a long long time) now exists makes it easier to appreciate SS for what it is. For me it does, at least!
Current ranking for me would be BotW, ALBW, SS, LA.
Maybe the people of Eldin had some sort of prophetic abilities and that’s how they knew about the two gates of time. You do get the fortune tellers crystal ball from the exterior of the Earth temple. That also might be why the mural shows the gate in the desert instead of grassland like it used to be. Because they foresaw Lanayru would become a desert?
ooh, good catch about it being depicted as a desert! maybe thats why they named them LD-xxx robots, since they knew it would inevitably turn that way, just not sure of exactly when? would also explain why they called it the 'Sand Sea'. perhaps they simply didnt fight the desertification because it was always going to be that way- they just had to get as much done as possible before then
Oooh the crystal ball is a good catch ^^
Or since their technology was so advanced they could have simply used that to predict that climatic changes would eventually lead to Lanayru becoming a desert. It is likely that less advanced civilizations could have misinterpreted their advanced technology as magic.
Another Possibility: The Murals in the Eldin Palace (Temple) were painted after Lanayru Docks became Lanayru Desert. What if those murals weren't painted to celebrate or document the creation of the Time Gates, but rather in remembrance? What if those murals were painted during the decline of the planet so that once they were gone, there would be a record of the Time Gates for someone in the future? It would stand to reason that once Hylia removed the Humans/Hylians from the planet, the planet went to crap. It's obvious that without the Hylians, several civilizations either died out or went into hiding. The Robots just ceased functioning. The Eldin people died out since they're structures are in similar states of ruination as the Lanayru Mining Facility. The Sheikah are, obviously, in hiding since the only one we ever see in Skyward Sword is Impa and, thanks to Breath of The Wild, we know that she's not the only one left.
I have always wished we could see all of Lanayru in its green state
@J Wilt No. The green state would have been completely programmed for the whole desert which it wasn't.
@@user-bf6gz8ej4o well that's dumb, I wanted to know what the place looked like, entirely green
We kind of do in BotW. It’s in a lush state with wetlands and lakes by that point in the timeline. The sand sea is probably the same spot where the Lanayru Wetlands are in BotW.
Interesting Note: The Robots use retractable claws to mine, and the Mogma also use their claws for digging, maybe even for mining as well. Not only that but the Mogma also make special gloves for other species to mimic their abilities. Maybe the Kingdom that ruled over Eldin was a sophisticated Mogma Civilization?
That would be amazing. Didn't the beetle also come from the ancient robots? They upgraded the one you got in Faron. Saying it was an "older model"
@@MonsterMaze Interesting. If the Robots, or the Sheikah, invented the Beetle, why would an older model be in Skyview temple? Was it because of Hylia knowing we would need it, or something else?
@@elitegamer9310 That's actually not far fetched since Faron holds 1 of the sacred springs, it's very feasible Hylia ordered a shiekah to put the beetle there for the hero of legend.
If it's been over a thousand years since the ancient societies then it's possible the Mogma fell into decline too. Especially if they were a rich nation of traders and manufacturers, then the war came, the Hylians disappeared, Lanayru shut down, and the Shieka seem to be non-existent besides Impa (maybe they also went to the sky?), who is left to build or trade for? The Mogma clearly survived but it's a lot less organized society and their workmanship has mostly been forgotten as the craft was no longer needed.
@@Kahtisemo and faron is perfectly fine? How is this possible when it literally neighbored a desert, faron woods should've been affected by climate change too
Hylia is essentially the goddess of time. Which is why there are many “time” objects and “time related items and events associated with her throughout the whole series. Skyward sword itself is a time paradox. We go down to save Zelda meantime past Zelda is crystallized in the yellow huge shard behind old impa in the very beginning and she’s been like that for hundreds of years since the era of the goddess to seal demise, she traveled back in time with impa to do it. . The legend says that Hylia managed to seal demise in the surface, the way she did it was with herself as the mortal Zelda who traveled back in time to make the seal. Hylia knows what’s about to happen in the future which is why she planned ahead and made all those preparations for when she reincarnates as a mortal and her link is born. Fun fact: there have always been 2 zeldas this whole time. One sealed for hundreds of years and the other one who was your childhood friend and got kidnapped. All this is a time paradox/loop.
I think I have a theory about the whole paradox/loop thing. Hylia says she is watching and guiding at the edge of time. What happens with Zelda was always meant to happen That's why Shiek is there to protect her. I don't know how many people have seen the show Andromeda. There is a god like character. She actually can influence what happens by going back in time and trimming branches of time that didn't work. While Zelda was always meant to happen. Link wasn't. Hylia went though alternate time lines and all those other time lines had failed. So what does Hylia does trim those branches, till eventually you get a Link time line. While she put in place all the plans the only one that worked was the Zelda plan but that wasn't enough. The Hero plan was never enacted because Link for some reason or another never born. Until this one. And that's when the loop was broken. The Hero plan and the Zelda plan were both needed for success. So until the time line was trimmed and shaped enough for something to change IE Link was born it was always meant to be a never ending loop. So for countless numbers of loops Hylia was destined to fail.
Nayru and Hylia seem to be related somehow
In the part of the story explaining hylia's war against demise i thought there was a siluet of a robot, which could indicate that the mining operation was going on before the war and creation of skyloft.
Even tho it makes little sense, I believe that the LD Prefix in the Robot Names actually means "Lanayru Desert". In german - my native language - the Area is called "Wüste Ranelle" - and the prefix in german is "WR". Same goes for dutch. Lanayru Desert in Dutch means "Lanayru woestijn" and their tag is "LW".
I know it makes little sense, if you consider those robots were build in an era where it wasn't a desert yet, but maybe - just maybe - the Thunderdragon knew of the upcomming climate change. Since the Dragon Spirit Levias is even descriped to be encyclopedic, I don't think that the Thunderdragon would be any less knowledgeable. Maybe he tried to prevent the change with those mined Timeshift-Stones and that's why he sent the Robots to mine them!
And since they're assigned to prevent the Lanayru Area from desolation, they got the LD - prefix.
And don’t forget that deserts don’t need to be full of sand, so it could still of been a dessert before just not sandy.
Or given what else was at Lanayru, maybe LD stands for Lanayru Docks?
@@dillonbonner9112 That's what I was thinking. A desert is an arid region, some place that doesn't get much rainfall but deserts can have a surprising amount of vegetation. It would be drought-resistant grasses, shrubs, and trees with intense but short blooms when there actually is significant rain. That wouldn't be enough for agriculture so you wouldn't have major settlements unless there was enough of a shipping network to bring food and water in from outside. Because deserts don't get much rain their ecosystems are extremely fragile. There really isn't much wiggle room, so to speak.
Thus if you start drastically changing the region's topography, like with a massive mining operation, you start a series of cumulative changes in air flow, air pressure, humidity, and where and how much ground water there is that can over time cause the area to become even more arid. Sure there's a sea right next to it but if air currents aren't actually bringing water vapor up over land where it can cool and condense into rain then you might be in trouble (or that water vapor just passes over the desert heading elsewhere to cool and fall as rain). Remove ground water sources, add drying air and eventually the plants die out, allowing the soil to literally blow away. Then you've got a whole lot of ground where little can grow because there aren't any nutrients.
This is assuming that climate changes weren't already in motion. The world did go through a hell of a lot of trauma thanks to Demise's forces and Hylia ripping chunks of land up to put them in the sky.
Maybe LD stands for Lanayru Dragon?
Since time travel is the purpose of the mineral being excavated, maybe the robots were actually made in the future, or at least designated with future in mind.
11:54 "Let's make robots to work and save our people the strife."
"Yeah, but let's give them personalities and emotions"
"Uhh, why?"
"And fears."
"..."
So cruel!
Now that you mention it, maybe the gerudo symbol represents the eyes of the dragonfly.
That's an interesting thought.
I truly hope that is the case
That thought crossed my mind, too, while watching the vid.
It's actually the shape of a cobra. I thought for a long time it was a bird
@@ShadowSkyX I which game? The one in OoT could be anything along those lines: the eyes of a dragonfly, the markings on the back of a cobra, heck, even the eyes of a raccoon.
Playing SSHD has definitely had me craving a good ol' Monster Maze video. Excellent stuff as always!!
There's also a second pirate robot model in Sky Keep.
Yeah but if I remember correctly this one was specifically placed to test the hero. He also has a crown and is not depicted as a pirate. Wonder why that is if they are the same Model or if they just aware enough to dress up differently
May I point out the similarities between beamos and guardians? Specially the stationary ones. They both shoot straight energy beams and even have the spinning propeller thingies at their heads.
But the premise of why they attack you is exactly the same as the constructs
Wonderful breakdown of the region!
Regarding the naming scheme of the droids, the differences in the naming by region actually supported further the intent of its code-name. I did a bit of quick digging myself, and, going by your suggestion of LD being Lanayru Desert, I found that the letter changes in other languages does follow this exact naming scheme... except Russian. L speaks for itself in the languages it's present. The presence of R in Italian, German and Japanese correspond the names of the region in the mentioned languages (Ranel, Ranelle and Raneeru respectively). It stands to reason this applies to Russian as well.
The difference from D in other languages follow their wording for Desert (Subaku in Japanese, Wüste in German, and woestijn in Dutch).
In conclusion: this was most likely a reference to Lanayru Desert, but the storytellers didn't think this through... unless the Japanese word that starts with S refers to something else and other regions made mistake of assuming it was desert. But I have my doubts.
And with regards to the construction of the gate of time, you are not wrong, but there is one good evidence to use that was a missed opportunity. The legend of old that opens the game shows the Age of the Goddess. And one of the beings living among the goddess were the droids. This is a great connection of how old they are and what their purpose might be.
I'll be exploring these topics in my channel once my video series on the complete history of Hyrule begins some time from now. But I can tell you as someone who has dug up a lot over the years, this video of yours is very well done. Congrats MM!
I love your pfp!
@@calebp6114 Why, thank you sport!
I was willing to check the exact thing, but I didn't think "Lanayru" would change in other languages and immediately though I was wrong. XD
couldn't the LD just stand for Lanauryu dragon? He says he named all the robots and I'm pretty sure they all serve him.
@@nworder4life no, bc as I described, this should follow the change at least in Japanese. Dragon in Japanese doesn't start with an S.
Id think lanyrau droid G= Guard, N=navigator and S=supplier?
Good catch!
Gonk
In Japanese he does not have a model name, just the name Sarubo. I think it's likely an abbreviation of Salvager Robot (sarubējā robotto).
Awesome. Was honestly craving some theories on this region. Such a cool region, a sad showing of how environments can change, and the time shift stones themselves.
Plus it even has a temple of time. Makes sense I suppose considering the very existence of the time shift stones.
I find the whole desert situation interesting. In order to build the gates of time and secure the future, the region had to be decimated environmentally. That leading to a desert that was itself a powerful motivator for Ganondorf to strike against Hyrule. Obviously the curse was the biggest thing. But that inhospitable region was a factor.
It seems to me that in an effort to stop a bloody different future, Hylia caused it anyways. A self-fulfilling prophecy, the road to hell being paved with good intentions, etc...
Or her clairvoyant abilities even as a god were finite. Or the war went on for so long she either didn't see Demise's curse clearly, forgot about it, or didn't care anymore...
Or she knew precisely what she was doing every step of the way and used it as an opportunity to bind the royal/leading line of the demon tribe to a mortal coil. She bound herself to mortal flesh and in turn her power, while subtly stacking the deck against the demon tribe by making sure her mortal fighters had a network of people and deities backing them up.
What was it that Ganon said about the Gerudo desert in Wind Waker? Something about how he hated the burning wind that only brought death? Your comment made me think of that and how tragic it is if it didn’t have to end up that way.
If you speak to the fire dragon he will tell you that eldin wasn't always volcanically active as you can see by the few trees that you sometimes see and those are still alive such as the trees that water fruit grows most likely had to adapt to there changed but deadly environment which would explain the thorns to protect themselves much like cactus.
Aaah that explains it. Very neat detail. So the ancient kings and his people don't necessarily had to have Gorons. They could've been humans, or another race entirely.
I just love the grim detail that those 2 robots in slippers retreat are most likely skippers family just waiting for him to return from his voyage despite slowly losing power and even in skyward swords present skipper can’t leave his boat without returning back to death so he can never return home to reawaken his family
I wonder why it's impossible for him to get a small piece of timeshift stone, maybe from Link that he could carry? Perhaps there's a certain "minimum size" requirement for the low purity stones to work. There's obvious implications of different grades, the stones still in the ores generate a much smaller shift zone than the ones with the eye symbol. I'm probably overthinking it but isn't that half the fun anyway? :)
@@lukebengal1352 true the question would be where he could get one without leaving the boat but if that’s possible he could save them
The german prefix for the robots "WR" might stand for "Wüste Ranelle" where Wüste means Desert and Ranelle is the german name of Lanayru.
It doesn't make much sense lore-wise but I still think that's what it is meant to mean.
the japanese is also RS, seemingly for for Ranēru Sabaku (= lanayru desert)
Same in French, it's DL, standing for Désert de Lanelle
I'd love to have a futuristic style zelda that explains the tech from the past more, the downfall of the tech era.
Great video. Just two things:
1. The initials of the robot names, do align with the initials of Lanayru Desert in their respective languages, at least, I can infer that from DL in both Spanish versions from Desierto de Lanayru, which is important to note that Spain and Latin America have different enough dialects of Spanish to have different translations. Though, it is my headcannon that LD stands for Lanayru Dragon, as he is who oversees the mining operation.
2. In Hyrule Historia, it is mentioned that the Ocarina of Time is probably made out of a Timeshift Stone.
you know what else is made out of time shift stones? Those blue blocks that disappear in OOT when you play the song of time.
@@nworder4life probs
Maybe LD stands for Lanayru Dragon? I actually wondered what LD stood for way back when I first played the Wii version. So nice to get a theory on this!
Since the first time I played SS I got such a nostalgic and sad atmosphere from the desert like an abandoned place. Such a great area in the game and amazing video as usual ✨
The little robots bring so much joy and fun to the game! They’re so cute!
Lanayru Desert is always one of my favorite video game locations of all time! The time shift stones mechanic is done really well, it has the best Skyward Sword dungeon in the game, the Sandship and it’s cool to see various areas in their past state. The futuristic like area in its past state looks really cool as well as the enemies such as Technoblins. The music is really well done in this region!
It still amazes me that Skyward Sword is the earliest entry in the Zelda Timeline, and even then there are already ancient civilizations that have already come and gone, it really makes the Zelda world feel ginormous!
Small note. Link did know about the second Gate of Time prior to the second Girahim fight. The reason Link is in the Fire Sanctuary is to get the sacred flame so that he can activate the Gate.
18:25
The first gate of time drawing has cactus and pyramids around it, as well as the color yellow. It is clearly a "modern" drawing, featuring the current desert, rather than an ancient one (could still be very old, but I don't think it took part during the gate of time's construction).
I think the castle isn't as old as the robots
Seeing this video AFTER Totk, just makes me think this little robots are from the Zonai...
I thought Lanayru explicitly says he built them? Maybe I'm wrong, but he definitely gave link a "codename" when he meets him, implying that he at least is involved in running the operation to some capacity...
He just says they are is friends. And wants to give a similar name as them. But who knows.. maybe he (the dragon) did play a bigger role in this ^^
Yeah true not to mention he preferred to call people by codenames
People keep arguing that Hylia isn't the Goddess of Time (like Din of Power, etc.) because Nintendo never _explicitly_ states this. Every time they do (if I notice), I point out Skyward Sword and the various statements by Fi, Hylia's plan that relied on time manipulations, etc. and tell them to stuff it.
Hylia's nature is really mysterious though. You can think that she is the Goddess of Time based upon Skyward Sword and the power of the Master Sword to bend time as seen in Ocarina of Time, but then again "Time" is a thing that really fits Nayru as well, because she is the Goddess that brought law and order to the world. It is even her region in Skyward Sword that contains the Timeshift stones. Also in Oracle of Ages the Oracle of Time is called Nayru.
Furthermore I don't think that Hylia can be compared to the other Goddesses as she has not the same rank. She did not participate in the creating of the world.
Hylia in general seems to have power over aspects of all the three Golden Goddesses though as she can command the three elemental dragons and the Master Sword is forged with the power of the three flames of the Goddesses. I personally think that the Golden Goddesses have created Hylia to watch over the world and by doing so Hylia has dominion over some powers of all the three Golden Goddesses. So she can have control over time, because she has this gift from Nayru, but she can also cut a part of the earth and seperate it from the land by sending it into the sky, which seems like something Din would be able to as she is the Goddess associated with earth.
@@randomdude2026 I can't remember where, but I think it was mentioned somewhere that Hylia was created by the Godesses to watch over the lands named after her.
@@randomdude2026 Really? Din, Farore, & Nayru "created" Hylia? Hylia is not of the same "rank"? Where oh where did you come-up with such fascinating ideas? Because what Nintendo HAS said is that, after the afore-mentioned Golden Goddesses returned to the Heavens, they entrusted the protection of both their newly-created world & Triforce to Hylia. That's pretty well it. This does not imply creation of a Goddess wholesale, nor does it state that Hylia is "below" them. If anything, it implies that the 4 Goddesses are equals or near-equals, as Hylia was "entrusted", not "ordered". Hell, we have no idea if there are even more Goddesses (or a God) in Hyrule's Heaven - the religious aspect of Zelda games are a plot device, not an integral story element.
As for Nayru being the Goddess of Time, that's speculation at best. CAN "Law & Order" be interpreted as time? In a way, yes. However, observe the cut scene in Ocarina of Time detailing the creation of Hyrule. When it's Nayru's turn to have at it, she is shown "creating" the cloud-spotted sunny blue sky, implying breathable air & water, and allowing light to shine upon the world - _effectively creating the Sun._ Why bring this up? Because a good deal of mythologies in the world dictate that the Sun, or the God/Goddess representing the Sun, is the ultimate authority of Law and keeps Order (as Order (the Sun's) polar opposite is Chaos, represented within the creation myth of Hyrule itself as the formless void that existed prior to their descent).
tl;dr: Nayru creating "Law & Order" is Nayru creating the Sun - the ultimate arbiter of Law & Order as it is the polar opposite of The Void/Chaos. Light = Law & Order, Dark = Anarchy & Chaos.
Heck, one can interpret the Light Arrows used in multiple games as a physical embodiment of Law & Order (segue into the Light Spirits & their role in Twilight Princess here...which I won't because I'm tired), which is why they're devastatingly effective against Ganon(dorf), a being who represents Anarchy & Chaos in the Zelda games.
For your point about Nayru being the Goddess of Time in the Oracle games - _Capcom-developed titles._ Sure, aspects of these titles have continued into future games (notably Minish Cap - developed by the same outside group). However, the key point to keep in mind is that the Din, Nayru, and Farore who appear in these games are _not_ the creation Goddesses of Hyrule. Heck, the Oracle games don't even take place IN Hyrule! So, using third-party developed games & characters that are named for but are not the actual Goddesses as proof of the domain of an actual Goddess is kinda...weak. Do they have power? In much the same way as a "sage", yes. But not Goddess power.
@@ChaoticHoly That Hylia was created by the other Goddesses was my assumption. That doesn't need to be true. She could have existed before but still I don't think she is equal to the other three Goddesses. Hylia has no Triforce-Part and wasn't involved in the creation of the world. That is no speculation, that is a fact. (Tetraforce is only a theory, a debunked one even, although that doesn't have to mean anything) So how can Hylia be equal to the other Goddesses, if the Triforce is THE ultimate Power of the Zelda-Universe?
So if Hylia wasn't involved in the creation, what or who has created time if not Nayru by giving the world "order"? I am with you when you say she created sun and light, yes that is shown in the cutscene, but that is not all that is order. Generally speaking "order" in the case of creation is nature's laws. And time is one of these laws. Like the cutscene says that Farore created Life in all of its forms but shows only plants. Still Farore pretty much created all animals and even humanoids. (except demons probably)
I think Hylia being the Goddess of Time is a interesting theory, don't get me wrong, but in my eyes, as much as there is evidence for that, there also things, atleast in my eyes, speaking against it. It could be possible though that Hylia is strongly connected to Nayru, more so than to the other Goddesses and because of that connection she has power over time. Evidence for a strong connection between Nayru and Hylia is also provided by Zelda being chosen by the Triforce of Wisdom.
I know that the Oracles are not the same as the Goddesses, but to say there is no connection between the Goddesses and the Oracles would be wrong.
So please don't get mad over me having a different opinion. I like theorizing over lore and I think part of the fun is that there are things that are unclear and debatable. I atleast won't hate you for theorizing that Hylia is the Goddess of Time, and who knows maybe you are right and it gets confirmed in BotW 2?
@@randomdude2026 Zelda does imply that she didn't know much about "the old gods" she could have been THE supreme life form created by farore without ever actually meeting the Goddesses, just having a built in knowledge that her purpose is to protect all life on the earth and watch over the triforce. The creation myth in OOT certainly seems to imply the goddesses zipped in and zipped out.
Great video as always, the timeshift puzzles are EASILY my favorite part of this game. Especially the sand ship
This is by far the best area of the game. The creators clearly agreed because it is as big as the other two regions combined and has almost all of the coolest stuff, barring Ancient Cistern.
It almost feels like a specific part of the team was assigned to this province. It's so unique!
@@MonsterMaze my theory is that there were developers that were actually worried about the real world, knowing that the earth could die sooner if we don't stop polluting it, lanayru desert shows just this...
I was always wondering: What happens, when one of the stones is struck in the past? Does the time shift a thousand years further into the old generations? Or do they connect to the point in links time, like the gates seem to be? Does the surrounding area seem like it's decaying fast, if the person strikes one from the past?
I think the oddness of The Lanayru Desert is that almost every other game has Lanayru a water centric region.
Missed a bunch of things.
Dreadfuse has obvious relationship to robot pirate captain.
Lanayru tries to give Link name model number "LD-Link-16", implying he named the ancient robots therefore was their possible creator.
Climate change does not work like that, even if you cut down every tree & burn the earth, it does not cause the sea to turn to sand.
The symbol for the ancient robots is based on the crest ornament on their heads.
Tree of life seed/fruit are said to take thousands of years to mature.
Most of all, the skipper's room is one of the most mysterious places in the game that I am surprised you did not cover more. There are hanging objects of weird things, perhaps miniatures of a whale (Levias?), and some UFO like flying object. Most importantly the interior dome seems to be painted like a map of the world! Possibly the only world map we have of in the Zelda series on the lands outside Hyrule!
Since you mentioned both Lanayru and Eldin provinces there is one things I noticed. There is a mark on each of the robots' heads that match a symbol in the room where you fight Girhahim the second time. It's on one of the large triangles(mountains?) paintings. Considering both places house a Sacred Flame it's more than likely those who built that place were servants of the Dragons or maybe the robots built it since we do see Scrapper enter the area without trouble. A similar question could be asked of those who built the Fire Temple in OoT.
I have a very overthought theory: I have always found odd that the captain of the ship knows he is standing in the future, but staying alive because of the timeshift stone (and other robots, but he tells you specifically when you are travelling through the sea. He sais things like "If I go to far from the boat, I will stop working" and other things).
I have always wonder "how is this possible? wouldn't they see all the past around them?" To me, from their perspective, if they exit the time-shift zone, they would see YOU dissappear, as you have vanished from their past, while you are just visiting their present in some chunks of space.
Now, I think you could resolve this by assuming these:
1. The Timeshift stones began to be mined around the time when the war between Hylia and Demise was about to start.
2. In that time, the Lanayru Region WAS ALREADY A DESERT and was a green region long before the war.
3. The robots were made in this time, to harvest more Timeshift stones.
And the story would be like this:
1. Hylia wants to build the Gates of Time, as she know their would be useful for the Hero or maybe for other purpose of her.
2. She commands the thunder dragon to gather TimeShift stones from the Lanayru Desert, where she knows there are mines.
3. The dragon start harvesting and so he creates the robots, which power from his electricity (he even calls them "my boys", at least in spanish) and the power of TimeShift stones, but it is all happening in the present at this point. So the robots, named LD because they are built in the Lanayru Region being already a Desert, operate solely in the TimeShift stones regions, and so they appear to work "in the past". Remember, they are aware they are in the present.
4. Finally, the problem of robots living in the past, as are the pirates in the sandship or other robots in the harbor, that seem to have lived there. Well, if they constructed a gate of time, maybe they sent some robots to the past THROUGH THE GATE to speed up some processes of harvesting or construction instead of having to use TimeShift stones, or even to keep the Sacred Flame in a really safe place. Maybe the pirates are some group of old robots who saw in the real past some opportunity of freedom, and they traveled through the gate and settle in the sea as rebels.
And that's that. Maybe it is a little overthought, yes, but I think it resolves the problems and set new scenarios to work with.
As a spanish speaker, DL could mean "Desierto de Lanayru" (As in "Lanayru Desert") but I don't think it could mean "Digger" ("Excavador") but it could be "Droid" ("Droide")
Now about the japanese one... i get why it would be R, because of Lanayru ("Raneiru" or something like that) but the S? I searched for "Digger" and "Droid"/"Robot"/"Automaton" in google, for the japanese language, but doesn't match... now "Desert" is "Sabaku"
So it's definitely "Lanayru Desert"
In german it is WR that could be Wüste as desert is Wüste in german as Lanayru is Ranelle in german so it is Wüste Ranelle. It must be Lanayru Desert
Yup, I just checked, and every language fits the "Lanayru Desert"
Ranēru Sabaku > RS in Japanese,
Wüste Ranelle > WR in German,
Désert Lanelle > DS in French, and so on and so forth
I get it being named that from a gameplay perspective, but from a lore perspective, it doesn’t make much sense since the desert didn’t exist yet.
@@Cometstarlight or at least it looked a lot different?
I loved the Lanayru Desert! The Timeshift stones make it so much more fun, and introduces interesting puzzles as well. I wish we knew more about it
You know, the map of the Lanayru desert shown in 0:47 has a striking resemblance to Breath of the Wild's current Lanayru province.
Sand Sea -> Wetlands
Ancient Harbor -> Inogo Bridge Area
Central Area -> Zora's domain
Lanayru Gorge -> The valley between Mount Lanayru & the province
But why is the Lanayru's Gate of Time depicted as in a desert in the Fire Sanctuary decoration?
I think the Eldin old kingdom comes later in the timeline, maybe 500 years ago. And the king (or someone that worked for him) found out about the gates of time somehow.
Anyway, outstanding work as always!
I like the full circle moment that happen at 11:50, because you was losing me for a second lol
The ancient King of Eldin could not have been trading with the robots of the Lanayru Providence because the artistic depictions of the gates of time in the Fire Temple show cacti around one of the gates. The cacti could only have started growing there long after the mines became non functional.
True. It kinda depends when the drawing was made. They could've traded with the sheikah until the project was done, and then made the drawing years later, when lanayru already dried out. It's clear that Lanayru started falling into decay at the tail end of the project. Maybe even years later.
Unless the desertification started from the gate due to the radiation. So even the region was depleted over time, the Eldin people made a note to look for where the cactus start appearing in this fertile region to know they were nearing the gate? Not knowing it would eventually swallow the whole Lanayru province
@@MonsterMaze or a major plothole
I always theorized that the Ancient Robots were used to construct all the various dungeons, temples, etc. all across Hyrule that Link visits across the franchise's history
22:21 Now that I think about it, the Gerudo emblem kind of looks like the head of a Dragonfly, maybe that’s what inspired the tribe’s symbol.
Maybe the tribe that settled in the desert region respected the Gerudo Dragonfly's ability to survive in the harsh environment.
That’s a good point.
Quality throughout. Like a great musician, you know what notes to play and when. The choice to leave certain theories makes the paths you decide on feel more impactful. A maestro of the medium and a pleasure to watch. My highlight was the extrapolation of the transportation of the Timeshift stones which has been further evidenced in the comments. Even the almost throw- away observation that the stones may have been shipped to other areas has application, with documentation linking the blue shade of the Ocarina of Time to the aforementioned stones. Thank you Don, this level of quality does not simply happen, it’s the result of a lot of hard work.
great video! and glad i could help out with the map :D
- i always thought lanayru (the dragon) was responsible for building the robots, since he suggests naming link like one of them xD
(edit) you know what, the gerudo symbol does look like an insect head viewed from the front .....
Make a drawing of that ^^
A) Good point. Also Ganondorf’s full name is Ganondorf Dragmire (in the Link to the Past instruction booklet as well as mentioned once on the official website) and Ganon’s full name is Mandrag Ganon (again, in Link to the Past) so the fact that Gerudo’s official insect is a dragonfly might be a callback to this fact as they all share the same root word.
B) I believe at one point in the game the Thunder Dragon refers to the LD series as his children or some other term of endearment so I always assumed he created them. Maybe I am conflating it with your point of wanting to give Link a model number. Regardless it would make sense because although the Sheikah are technical geniuses, I’d imagine creating sentient beings being beyond their capabilities. Whereas it would make sense that a divine being like a dragon could easily have that power.
Another amazing video. You ALWAYS deliver quality content! I can't imagine you not being a part of the best Zelda-tubers out there. Thanks for this. I thoroughly enjoyed it.
This is fascinating stuff dude! You've made me more interested in this world. Would love to see you explore more of this specific version of hyrule .
By the way skipper mentions that "the pirates are dead". The pirates were organic beings that gradually made themselves more mechanical
I think he meant Scervo's crew were Bokoblins, who are only alive in the past, and after beating the dungeon they are locked up in the cell where the robots were locked up. Scervo was the captain tho, and that's why the Ship was still sailing in current day during the game.
It's also sad considering only 3 of the hundreds, maybe thousands of robots actually survived
Amazing video, as always.
Reminds me why TLOZ is my favorite game series. So much depth written all over the place without outright saying/stating it.
I love TLOZ's affinity to story-tell by... showing, not telling. How goes the saying: "Show, don't tell."
Love your theories, honestly Lanaru is such a mysterious place
Your video making skills are incredible! Be it animation, editing or composition, everything feels very high quality and professional! I'd watch it for the content alone but this makes it even more enjoyable and puts you right at the top of the list of my favorite zeldatubers. Thank you for your passionate work!
Ok, BUT....
In the scene with the two gates of time, one is portraid to be in a forest like place and the other in a desert. So one gate in Faron and one in Lanayru, right?
But in the past Lanayru wasn't a desert. So that's not possible. I can think of two explanations then:
1. Despite there being two gates, the second one is dormant, and maybe always was, being first activated by Link thousands of years after its creation. Thus, the decoration actually depicts the same gate of time in its two ends? Future Lanayru to the left and Past Lanayru to the right? And Ghirahim misinterpreted it but actually struck gold?
2. That decoration, and by extent all the Eldin Palace thing and maybe its civilization came to be only after Lanayru was already a desert, maybe centuries later? Maybe civilization migrated to Eldin after the desertification process?
Actually the depictions are corrent in portrayal as one shows cactus and the full triforce symbol with loftwing design like the giant statue in the desert the other one has a bunch of trees and even has a roof over it qt the top very much resembling the would be sealed temple given how the time of their construction it's true that the desert drawings aren't accurate to how Lanayru was back then however that depends on when those drawings were even made because perhaps in the thousands of year between the past and future Lanayru had already become a desert because to be fair let's face it climate changes can drastically change the land not even 50 years later so for several thousands of years that drawing can be quite accurate of the 2 time gates
If you pause it and look.. you'll see the green has one more set of pillars
Did you also notice the name of the Mogmas are named after minerals and metals. Ledd, Cobal, Silva (Lead, Cobalt, Silver). There more too
It’s actually kinda sad about what happened to Desert
And when you grab the windmill and scrapper says this place feels familiar. Definitely pulled a heartstring
Yeah, the fact that the climate in their home was rapidly changing and there was nothing they could really do to save it :(
@@randomfrog6966 "slowly changed to a desert" is an understatement
Awesome!!
Really liked your analysis. Great vid man!!
So happy that Skyward Sword is getting more airtime :)
The implication here is that even with as far back in time as Skyward Sword is set, there's still a vast amount of history before it that we know nothing about!
I just started working on Lanayru for the first time, and I am already loving it! Though I did notice something weird. A theory that I have frequently heard is that Groose is the ancestor of the Gerudo and name Gerudo dessert. However, one of the bugs you can catch are the Gerudo dragonflies, even though Gerudo is not around yet. Theory maybe?
The gerudo flag is the dragonflies eyes, maybe they got their name from it?
Gerudo desert is named after the Gerudo dragonfly that inhabits the area. That is the common belief among theorists.
Gerudo desert is named after the Gerudo Dragonfly that inhabits the area. That is the common belief among theorists.
They should've called it Grooseland :(
I'm so mad that I somehow missed this game. I need to get a switch and play it! It seems so cool and I love Zelda lore!
Lanayru desert is my favorite location, especially the dungeons and the sand sea with the time stones
wait imagine time stones in botw?
Bring back the timeshift stones for sure!
When I was playing through this area playing skyword sword again, I went looking for a video very similar to this. Soon after, I found your channel, and now I finally get to watch a video about this topic.
Your theories are always so interesting! I just bought SS on the switch a few days ago, even though I already own it. The struggles of a Zelda fan...😂
Skyward Sword, despite being a remaster, might be my favourite game of the year so far. It has been an amazing ride ^^
@@MonsterMaze I totally agree!
I think, wierd as it may sound, LD-301 stands for lanayru desert becouse in the dutch version they're called LW-301, lanayru desert is called 'Lanayru Woestijn' in dutch (Woestijn is dutch for Desert).
So thats probably why they have different letters
The eye on the Timeshift Stones looks exactly like the eye on Link's shield in the BoTW2 trailer when he is in the sky. While playing through this part in the game the resemblance the timeshift stones, especially the unrefined stones, have to luminous stones is uncanny in my opinion. Also every door on the sandship has a Zonai swirl, with a tick on the end, on them. It is well known that the Zonai were associated with luminous stones and if luminous stones are indeed Timeshift stones, and the Zonai swirl is present on piece of technology known to be made by the same people who made the robots, it is my belief that the Zonai are the tribe who created the mining facility.
The swirl is everywhere, but not only in faron. Sometimes it is stylized and sometimes its in slight variations but all regions have it, including skyloft. The symbol around lanayru mining facility's windmills - where you aim the gust bellows - are the same four swirls connected in a circle, just like the best wooden shield. There's an eye similar enough to the sheikah's but closer to the one in botw2's second trailer found on link's new shield is located as soon as you walk into skyview temple.
The same bird statues found on skyloft can be found at lanayru's temple of time; im talking the one that opens the sky keep and those that lead to the goddess statue on skyloft.
The swirl is also on the gate of time, and there's a moment right before it comes together it makes an eye shape. Also this symbol O=o is found in the twilight realm and gate of time. in fact, the twili, the sky people, their langauge and domonion rod, and the light spirits are all connected. Faron's appearance - rather how he appears - is very reminiscent of the reverse water/dive link in botw2's second trailer. And how hes shaped into swirl, the tip of his tail the effective tick. The pillars glowing green as faron appears is major sus in hindsight.
What if the more advanced robot models became the Zonai? Then they disappeared because the time shift stones lost their potency.
@@amandapeine6745 That's an interesting theory. To add to it; as the time shift stones degraded, the robots became more and more chaotic and violent giving them the barbarian nature described in BoTW.
WOOO more monster maze content! Always happy to see it! Been enjoying the History of Hyrule 4 part series over the last few hours and man, the amount of work you do is impressive!!
This was so interesting!
A few things I noticed about the desert.
1. The Giant robots seen when first arriving.
2. Skipper's possible family inside Skipper's Retreat might say more about how the robots eventually operated after the gates were created. Wife and children?
3. Gondo's grandfather's knowledge of the surface and Scrapper's role in that.
yeah, i remember the giant robots, those things were as big as the divine beasts
The robots in this area are actually very similar to that sky guardians like thing in (so called) botw2 trailer
Because of you and other youtubers, the Zelda games stay interesting and relevant. You guys are doing such a precious work, thank you very much for every theory, it keeps me in the beautiful world of Hyrule even outside of the games!
Another question, how did timestones get into Sky Keep?
My personal theory is that Sky Keep is some kind of spatial anomaly, since the inside seems much bigger than the outside, and additionally it contains climates from all over the Surface, which would be really hard to achieve by normal means. Heck, I'd say the inside of Sky Keep might even be a complete illusion/a non-physical space, seeing how the Silent Realms (which are an another creation of Hylia) work.
Sky Keep originated from the surface inside faron right? Pretty much right next to the temple of Hylia.
You, sir, are incredibly underrated. With such well written videos and clear effort put into them, it annoys me not to see you with at least a million subscribers.
I just really love your channel. It's incredible how well-researched and interesting, but also convincing and conclusive your video essays are! :) I really enjoy your videos, keep up the good work!
Thank you max, that means a lot!
yay im the first to comment!
Yo good for you 🥳
Just when I thought your quality couldn't get better, it did tenfold.
Something that I have been wondering for a while is just how the Sky Keep was built. Dreadfuse is there, another LD-002 robot, and the lanayru themed rooms have timeshift orbs, technology that only the pirates have. Plus, even in the sky keep, desertification happened in those rooms.
When you encounter The Thunder Dragon Lanayru, he asks your name. He then remarks that it's not a good name, and could use a model number. Based on this line of dialogue, I had assumed that the Dragon had built - or at least designed - the robots.
I think you might have the sequence of events a bit wrong. The gates of time were already finished by the time Hylia sacrificed herself and sent Skyloft into the sky. The gate of time is visible on the ancient tablet in it's unactivated state. Interestingly, the crest is not visible
This means that the mining operation must have already existed and that the gates of time were more of a commission or a gift.
Also, that is not Scervo in the picture. It's one of the robots standing in front of the things you hang onto to traverse the sails
This really made me re-appreciate this area of the game, there was so much thought and detail in by the developers yet it was so subtly presented in the game. They did a lot more than just make a visually interesting area with cool mechanics!
The fan interaction is top-tier man, I respect that a lot (though that probably means nothing coming from a nobody). You are also a talented creator, not over the top and the background music isn't too loud or distracting. 10/10 "ZeldaTuber"
LD definitely stands for Lanayru Desert, although it really doesn't make sense.
In japanese it's RS (Ranairu Sabaku), Spanish is DL (Desierto Lanayru) and Dutch LW (Lanayru Woestijn).
Great video! Love to see new theories on...*checks game classification*...2006's The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess!
Seriously though, it's interesting to see just how coherent the whole Lanayru area was in design, there's environmental storytelling here that feels like a test run for Breath of the Wild's Hyrule.
Another connection: The guardians and shrines in BOTW were said to have been based on the look of Jomon period pottery turned upside down. The Lanayru robots in SS resemble those same Jomon era jars, right side up.
I finished the game about 20 min before this came out and now this is giving me severe emotional pangs. One of my favourite Zelda games
These place videos are so great, where you explicate context and theories about the areas, this is probably my favorite video after the curious case of Kakariko
I total thought the robots were hovering too. You’re not alone, man!
Loved the ending. Very good writing!
Skyward sword was my first Zelda Game, and I cried when I found out that Lanayru was not a desert in Breath of the Wild.
I kept expecting to hear you mention this! But since I didn't I'll just toss this out there. The hystoria implies the Ocarina of Time is made from timeshift stones
I noticed recently that if you look the ocean map in the captain house, you will noticed that not just the ancient sea bathes the lanaryu region but also could probably cross all the other two region's making it almost islands , explaining why link probably couldn't travel by feet between those locations, cuz probably still remains of this old ocean , making impossible to cross , except by flying .
It also explains how the water dragon could flood so easily the faron woods.
Those robots and their situation are becoming extremely relatable. *lethal lava land/shifting sand land theme intensifies*
This entire video is so perfect! That is going 100% into my personal theories about this amazing story. I can't find a single flaw. I never realized there was so much to think about in this area of the game! Beautiful video! You have really opened my eyes to a new understanding of the possible history of the whole series! Thank you! ♥️♥️♥️