I just realized, Ganon's ability to create earthquakes likely stems from the Triforce of Power, Din's piece. Din is the Goddess of Power, the forger of Hyrule's land, after all.
Plot Twist: The prophecy, which states that the _power to oppose Calamity Ganon lies dormant beneath the ground_ *IS correct.* That power lying dormant is the *imprisoned Ganondorf himself.* It was the _interpretation_ of the prophesy by the King and his advisors/court/Sheikah that was incorrect. Keep in mind that the spider-bot Guardians would've still activated upon Ganondorf's awakening/seal-failing, as the vast majority of the bots were stored within the pillar/spires surrounding Hyrule Castle; spires which had burst through the surface and released the still-functioning bots upon Calamity Ganon's resurrection. It's entirely possible that the Divine Beasts would've awakened in the same manner, and Ganondorf's plan would've come to fruition even without the excavation performed for the broken-down (and subsequently repaired) Guardians.
He told us where Ganon was yet we are so conditioned to fight a boss - ganon specifically - at the top level of the castle we did not question why we fight and find his cocoon up there instead of where Rhoam told us he emerged from. That was the first red flag. Sure 100 years passed and he could've moved, but thats just it. The second red flag was that the malice didn't start manifesting from the top of the castle, where zelda's light shined...it started from the bottom. The third red flag is that we never found any specific power underground and anything we knew to be underground had been unearthed already by the time we get off the great plateau.
"And the power to oppose it lies dormant beneath the ground." Oh man, what if this didn't even allude to the ancient technology but Ganondorf's body and the magic hand holding him in place?
It’s also worth noting that before Link became the Champion a “rogue guardian” started attacking his village and targeted him. Luckily Link already had access to the most powerful weapon in game, a pot lid.
I definitely agree that Breath of the Wild as an individual game could have had a much better villain. But knowing/believing that Ganondorf was in fact controlling Calamity Ganon gives the story a bit more context. Let’s hope it’s a good sequel.
It's been widely speculated that BotW was DRASTICALLY cut content-wise due to massive issues during development and going overtime by a year or so, and further speculated that BotW2 is the cut content reworked into a sequel. Which means that the four Divine Beasts were meant as the equivalent as the medallion dungeons from ALttP/Spiritual Stone dungeons from OoT.
Fluffynator I think calamity ganon is really just a product of spending all that time in the divine beasts. Maybe they fused with him so he could survive because he was expending his malice too far between too many things
In the middle of a HUGE thunderstorm right now! Very awesome. And hopefully this means some cooler temperatures are on the way. Have a GREAT rest of your weekend everyone!
Also I would like to say great job on another truly great and interesting video Monster Maze, I can watch your videos over and over because they are so good. Thank you for putting your time and effort into these videos.
@@jroz1692 Breath of the Wild's voice acting was amazing, what you talking about? The only weird acting was the king at the beginning. Probably the first voice acted character tbf.
“If I had a rupee for every time a Zora simp was primed to help ruin my plans, I’d have two rupees. Which isn’t a lot, but it’s weird that it happened twice.”
Man, I'd kill for a fully voiced Ganondorf, but I have no idea who should voice him though. Anyways, I'm going to watch LotR again now, you got me in the mood for it.
@@limeraldguy9784 Not in regards to the "canon" games in the series. Ignoring the japanese voice actors who only did screaming noises for the Smash games and Hyrule Warriors there's the one who played him in that crappy 90s cartoon and also the one from the CD-I games.
This theory has already been touched on by other Zelda theorists, however Monster Maze did mention a few things that still unknown today. For instance, the "misinterpretation" of the prophesy, though I personally think that the "power laying dormant beneath the ground" may have been referring to something OTHER than the Divine Beasts and Guardians! Also, the Yiga likely had spies littered throughout Hyrule prior to the Great Calamity, including those embedded within Hyrule's Royal Court (i.e. the monster cake loving Minister/Chancellor of Hyrule), which could have easily passed on news to Ganondorf or even carried out the assassination of Zelda's Mother! Finally, the evidence that Calamity Ganon was clearly a puppet for Ganondorf is the fact that Calamity Ganon takes on 3 very similar forms to that of Wind Waker's Puppet Ganon (i.e. the Boar, the Spider, and the Snake).
I was going to point out the Wind Waker connection as well. The boar and serpent forms of Calamity Ganon aren't too coincidental as the boar is a staple, and the serpent is just a practical form for his initial assault. But a spider? That's just weird, and the only other time we've seen a spider ganon form in all of zelda history is in the wind waker puppet fight. So having all three match up perfectly, and also be puppet avatars for ganondorf? It's just too strong of a connection to be a coincidence. I think this was a way of the Zelda team hinting to us that calamity ganon was just a puppet to a hidden ganondorf this entire time.
Not quite related to this video, but something that I’ve noticed: the art behind Impa which represents what happened 10 000 years ago looks like a hybrid of the style of sheikah designs and zonai designs, maybe there’s more to the art piece, perhaps in the presence of whatever the glowing hand is, more is revealed, perhaps leading to a massive revelation?
I've started to believe the possibility that the Zonai may actually be just another faction of Sheikah similar to the Yiga who rather than serve/worship either the Goddess Hylia(Wisdom) or Ganondorf(Power) instead alligned themselves with the Hero(Courage) as implied by their ruins been found in the Faron Woods and their use of the Kokiri symbol. This could very well explain the "Green Hand" that's sealing Ganondorf been possibly powered by the Zonai's "Courage"(their own spirits). ¿Has anyone thought about this theory?
I agree, also at first I always wondered why the hero depicted in the art had red hair, since we commonly associate redheads with Gerudos, but if we consider that the barbarian helmet also comes with red hair, the hero depicted could be a Zonai warrior version of Link 10,000 years ago
I guess its time for a channel review: This channel's videos are focused mainly on subjects the creator enjoys/ has enjoyed and therefore the videos hold a personal value to him. Much effort and love has been put into them, this guarantees an excellent video with focus on otherwise unnoticed aspects of the games included. This already makes it better than The Game Theorists channel by just the pure value the mentioned subjects in the videos have to the creator. I hereby give a rating of 17.6 out of 10 only not being 20 for the restricted range of video subjects (although this also makes the videos way better). Oh, and the only reason I didn't include more is because I'm going back to rewatch Monster Maze's other videos!
@@royaldragonair7814 Considering how long he's been down there while likely suffering greatly in that state, SOMEONE'S gonna be the target of a VERY, VERY pissed of Ganondorf! Whether it's the usual targets in Link and Zelda or someone was both lucky and suicidal enough to successfully put him in that state for so long, in the former's case I worry for Link and Zelda as he'd likely make their lives HELL if he can and in the latter's case, considering he's a master tactician and he wants to RULE Hyrule, he'd likely put his feud on hold with Link and Zelda so they can take care of the idiots who started this if they're still around since "enemy of my enemy is my friend" and it's not the first or even second time he's had Link and or Zelda do his dirty work, just would be the first where he let's them in on the it since their goals and interests align in this case with the ones responsible having indirectly caused the Calamity Cycle to begin since again, GANONDORF WANTS TO RULE HYRULE! He may hate Link and Zelda to the point where murdering them slowly and painfully is HIGH on his to do list complete with torture but Hyrule is something HE WANTS TO CONTROL! Not destroy but take over and rule as a tyrant! He can't do that if THERE IS NO ONE TO RULE OVER! Obviously this isn't a redeemed Ganon situation but rather one where they'll put their usual shtick on hold until the idiots who caused the Calamity Cycle are confirmed gone for good.
@@javiervasquez8995 Agreed, the man would be (understandably) Doom-Slayer levels of PISSED at whoever or whatever put him in there! this is NOT a story that needs a WW style Ganon! However, yes he needs to be watered as if he's gonna be Ganondorf Dragmire at his most powerful yet, I MUST insist on him being a master Spellsword where when fighting him, he uses both magic and swordplay (absurdly skillful and peerless magic and swordplay at that) to devastating effect! the man's a master of both blade and spell and is the holder of the Tri-force of Power which amplifies both, let us fight Master Spellsword Ganondorf!
The pillars surrounding Hyrule Castle have been confirmed to have been a vessel from which Guardians emerged in times of calamity, I believe that within Princess Zelda's diary in-game she even mentioned herself of tales of such megalithic pillars beneath the castle but that they were never found upon excavation of the castle grounds, she herself stipulating that perhaps they are too far beneath the earth for even their best excavation efforts - as we see in Breath of the Wild, upon Calamity Ganon re-emerging, these great pillars rose up from deep beneath Hyrule Castle (similar to the Sheikah Towers but deeper still) with the majority of the Guardians pouring out from within them, these then being corrupted by Ganon's malice and being sent to destroy the lands, spreading from Hyrule Castle to Castle Town and further outwards. So it seems regardless of the kingdom's excavation campaign these pillars and the majority of the damage, at least where the Guardians were concerned, would still have happened - it is definitely, however, interesting to speculate how Ganondorf may have used some form of influence to have the Divine Beasts excavated additionally, which seemingly wouldn't of happened without the king's order of mass excavation and the search of ancient relics such as these, as you yourself have speculated here; love your work Monster Maze!
Well considering how things turned out, it probably would have been in Ganondorfs best interest to leave the divine beasts buried. I mean, he didn't even use them over the past 100 years.
My Yiga theory: They aren't the same Yiga of the past, instead being a bunch of goofball fanboys who chose the side of the enemy without thinking of the consequences and adopted Yiga stylings.
This is what is actually _F E E D I N G_ me right now. Nintendo hasn't released another trailer since a year ago. And honestly, everyone else's theories are repetitive, inaccurate, or boring.. Thank you for feeding me ✋😭
The coolest part? I think he’s actually almost 100% spot on with his predictions. It looks like Nintendo leaves these hints in for dedicated fans that take the time to notice, the way he’s laid it out so clearly almost makes it seem like it has to be a plot point of both games, Breathe of the wild seems like it was made to be 1 story spread across 2 games. This feels like the final successor to OOT and Majora’s mask. Nintendo is getting way better at story writing in Zelda games. I’m impressed.
Regarding the Yiga and the possibility that they were communing with Ganondorf, remember that they also stole the Gerudo's heirloom -- the Thunder Helm -- an artifact that was pivotal in Link gaining access to Vah Nabooris. It's possible that Ganondorf, or some agent of his, told the Yiga to take the helm.
I would love to see a villain like this in a video game, an intelligent strategist who lets the hero do the work for them(it would also be interesting to see if this ganondorf is shown to be MUCH more intelligent than his other selves)
Wouldn't be the first time Ganon let Link do most of his job for him. Link and Zelda opened the Door of Time for him in Ocarina of Time. Link broke the seal on his power by drawing the Master Sword in Windwaker. When it's not Link, it's usually another puppet like Aghanim or Zant doing the job.
Honestly that's exactly why Ganondorf is my favorite villain in fiction... They lock him in the Sacred Realm so he doesn't destroy Hyrule, he turns it into a power source and comes back more powerful... I can go on BUT the best example is how he uses the Sword of the Sages in Twilight Princess... The sword that SHOULD have killed him. Instead he pulls it from his chest, kills his executioner with it and keeps it.
The perfect theory to end the day with, always a pleasure to fall asleep after one of your video's! Enough dreaming material, thanks for the upload MM!
I really do think that Link, as the Hero, was always destined to fail and rise up to try again.The Shrines are trials for the Hero to determine if he is capable of defeating Ganon. The Shrines are shown to have been available pre-Calamity, yet were inaccessible, even with the Shiekah Slate in hand. Zelda even tried to enter the shrine at the Ancient Columns herself, but couldn't because there doesn't seem to be any "power" to the shrine for it to open. Yet, after obtaining the Shiekah Slate, Link has no problem entering the shrines, but it's only AFTER he activates the tower on the Great Plateau that all the shrines light up and allow him to enter. What is the point in practicing for a life-or-death event when the tests meant to prepare you are only available after the life-or-death event has occurred? I think that for this reason, Link was always destined to fail and the ancient Shiekah knew it. There is one other thing I want to point out, and that's that the Guardians were always going to be an issue, whether they were excavated or not. In the cut scene where King Rhoam reveals himself to Link, it is shown that when Calamity Ganon rises and surrounds the Castle, the Guardian pillars arise automatically. And, as we all know by now, those pillars are where the Guardians were being stored, to be released on Calamity Ganon's return. As for who this "fortune teller" could possibly be, I have my own theory of their identity and possible role. I believe we've previously discussed that.
The Shrines needed the Hero to activate the Tower in the Great Plateau in order to function so it could be possible that the reason they didn't manage to work before the Second Great Calamity was because the Royal Family and the Sheikah lacked vital information regarding the "prophecy" as revealed by the fortuneteller. If we assume the fortuneteller was a genuinely good person and not a henchman or lackey of Ganondorf one could argue that they either didn't manage to see the "whole" prophecy detailing information regarding the Sheikah Slate(possibly due to Demise's Curse somehow affecting their abbilities to have premonitions) or that maybe they may even had an "agenda" of their own and willingly chose to hide said details regarding the Slate for some unknown reason we might get to see unveiled in the sequel.
@@javiervasquez8995 Where is it specifically stated or even implied that it HAS to be a Hero who activates the towers or shrines? The shrines are supposed to test whether the person that enters them has the courage to be a hero, not that they are already a Hero and already attained the right to enter. The only pre-requisite is the Shiekah Slate. Link activates that one tower on the Plateau after being told to and it, in turn, powers all the shrines and other towers. Have you ever watched a speedrun? Without the Plateau tower activated, you can't enter any of the 120+ shrines by normal means. It's generally known and accepted that there were people that either lived on the Plateau or visited it regularly. Are you telling me that no one ever noticed a half buried tower? Or that Zelda didn't try the Shiekah Slate on every pedestal she could find? You even see her in a memory trying the slate on a shrine pedestal. It's also mentioned several times how both Zelda and the Shiekah were actively investigating the shrines to try to get them open. You assume that the royal family didn't have all the pertinent information, then how did King Rhoam know to tell Link to activate the tower first before attempting any of the shrines? No my friend. I'm certain that, while most of the shrines were clearly accessible on the outside but not the elevators inside, the towers weren't at all. That means the Plateau tower is the key to powering all the shrines and other towers, and that it wasn't unearthed until either the Guardian pillars arose from underneath the Castle or when the Shrine of Resurrection was activated. Both events are post-Calamity, so the Shiekah either had the forethought or the foresight of a Hero failing and it was only luck that the King's remorseful spirit waited a century to guide Link to the tower in the first place.
@@kingdaniel3519 By "Hero" i was talking *specifically* about Link himself. I was under the impression that Link(been "the Hero of Legend") was the ONLY person that could actually activate the Tower and Shrines as a way for the Sheikah Monks to both test his "Courage" and strengthen his spirit through their Spirit Orbs. As Zelda herself was unnable to access the Shrines with the Slate i assumed there was some sort of "genetic factor" that gave Link the necesary requirements for the Shrines to activate after sensing his "Hero genes/spirit" and thus only he could use it to enter them. Regardless of wether the people Hyrule or even the King himself already knew about the Plateau Tower been the key to unlocking all 120+ Shrines spread across Hyrule it was Link's very own "person" and role as the legendary "Hero of Hyrule" that actually made the Plateau Tower, the rest of the Sheikah Towers and the Shrines to open up to him. I guess you could say he was the "missing Key".
@@javiervasquez8995 I see what you're saying, that by Hero you specifically mean Link. However, there is nothing to suggest it HAS to be Link. As I previously stated, the only prerequisite is the Shiekah Slate. There is in game evidence to support my conclusion. In the cut-scene immediately after descending the activated tower on the Plateau, the disguised King Rhoam specifically states that "...This tower and others just like it have erupted across the land, one after another. It's almost as though...a long dormant-power has awoken quite suddenly..." He then points out the first shrine and says:"...It began glowing at the EXACT MOMENT those towers rose up from the ground..." Then, you have the message from the monk in the first shrine:"...To you who sets foot in this shrine...In the name of the Goddess Hylia, I offer this trial..." At no point is it ever suggested, mentioned or explained that whoever enters the shrines has to be a Hero or specifically has to be Link. Only that the monk offers a trial to anyone that enters and that the shrines aren't accessible until after the Plateau Tower has been activated. The tower only requires the Shiekah Slate to activate. King Rhoam specifically sends Link to activate the tower THEN points out the first shrine. The only thing Monk Oman Au says regarding a hero is that, upon completion, Link has " proven to possess the resolve of A hero..." not THE Hero. Every shrine thereafter is almost the same, explaining that Link has whichever quality of "a hero" the trial was testing for. The only exception is the last shrine the player completes, the 120th shrine. In the last shrine, the monk will state:"...Having fulfilled our purpose, we monks bestow upon you this... the warrant of THE TRUE HERO..." You're not a hero or even the hero until you complete all 120 shrines. Link wasn't THE Hero or even A Hero, he was Zelda's Knight and a Champion of Hyrule Kingdom.
@@kingdaniel3519 Right the King did say the Towers began to rise around the same time as Link's recovery inside the Shrine of Resurrection took place meaning there had to be some "other factor" that lead to their activations. Maybe the Sheikah Monks themselves where the ones who chose to reveal the Towers from beneath the ground at that specific time due to some unspecified reason that is yet to be revealed. Maybe they acted according to a different prophecy that was independent of the one said by the mysterious Fortuneteller which forced them to seal the Towers and Shrines until the right moment arrived to unlock them in order to test the Power, Wisdom and Courage of a potential Hero. All this unknown information might end up been fully explained in detail once the sequel comes out so until then we can only speculate on the true nature behind the Towers's sudden appereance at the start of Breath of the Wild. Having said that i must admit that when it comes to the "character" of Link as seen throughout the *entire series* of The Legend of Zelda the simple labeling of his BotW incarnation as just being "Zelda's Knight" and also "a Champion of Hyrule" is being rather completely dissmisive of his obvious *lineage* that spiritually links him(no pun intended) to all his ancestors/previous incarnations who also shared the title of "Hero of Hyrule" dating across Time all the way back to the Era of Skyward Sword. To say that the Link from Breath of the Wild is just some "random teenager" who was randomly placed in a position where he could save Hyrule instead of been the one *destined* to save it as part of the Cycle caused by Demise's Curse shows complete dismissal of both the Lore and Mythology that makes it clear that the individual known as "Link" is an entity that's always been *fated* to battle Demise's many incarnations across History. With this taken into account one must come to the conclusion that this new incarnation of Link is just as much THE Hero of Hyrule as were all his predecessors before him and that the final outcome of the game's events were *inevitably* meant to lead to the defeat of Ganondorf's reincarnation once again as part of the Cycle. This is how it has always worked out in the series ever since the original game anyway and so the events that played in the story of Breath of the Wild were no exception to the *rule* that the character known as Link was, is and will ALWAYS BE the Hero who's destined to vanquish Demise's Hatred for all of Time.
Its impossible for me to not support your content, you are a true Zelda detective and fan ! You analyses are clever and well thaught and damn, you made me shake my head more than one time as all of you ideas are bound to something very plausible, especially for a sequel. Nice video as always man, can't wait for the next one !
I have a theory for how Ganondorf sees. If my memory is correct, in Skyward Sword, a part of Demise was sealed inside the Master Sword. Perhaps this is how he knew Link was on Vah Rudania, and where Zelda was in the Gerudo Desert, because the sword was with Link the whole time, like a GPS tracker. It would be an interesting twist to have to destroy the Master Sword in order to defeat Ganon and maybe even break the curse.
The prophecy says: "The signs of a resurrection of Calamity Ganon are clear, and the power to oppose it lies dormant beneath the ground" I think the fortune teller is correct about the claim, but Hyrule mistook the Guardians and the Divine Beasts as "the" power, unknowingly it was the green hand that is sealing Ganondorf below the Hyrule Castle all this time as seen in Breath of the Wild 2 trailer.
What if the prophecy was correct and the way to deal with Ganon was buried underground? Maybe the trailer for BotW 2 shows them figuring out that they were just digging in the wrong place the whole time. Could be that uncovering the Sheika technology was simply a situation that Ganon took advantage of. Or I could be totally wrong.
Yes, some have indeed suggested that. Perhaps "buried beneath the ground" refered to Ganondorf's corpse, and not the Guardians and Divine Beasts. That would be a tragic mistake :O
"And the power to oppose it lies dormant beneath the ground." Of course there are words like power to oppose and stuff, but this point should still be considered. What if that was misinterpreted and it is actually refering to Ganondorf being underground (the body I mean) and not referring to to ancient Shiekah tech.
The Gerudo fortress is where the hole is, and the yiga took over it because it has access to the hole. That hole was made by the ancient shika to access ganons chamber. Makes sense that the hole would have been put in the middle of the desert near the arbiters grounds, and it would make sense that the shika put a trial down there to train the hero and show him where to stop it for good
Or... the way to defeat Ganon is “beneath the ground” had nothing to do with the tech but was an unclear map to the source of the resurgent malice, the root of the problem; but the Hylians simply believed the tech was the answer. The tech, it seems, was used 10,000 years before and the hero and princess didn’t finish their task/ they cut the weed, left the root, and it returned.
Or the entire thing was a Shiekah plot. The Shiekah understood the correct interpretation, but offered up the guardians as a reasonable substitute and distraction from the Shiekah bad juju mine.
The Zelda mythology is very similar to the LotR books anyway when you think about it so it's likely that Nintendo took some "inspiration" from Tolkien's work when creating the Eyes of Calamity Ganon.
Since they said each clash woth calamity ganon faded into legend, there were probably much more than the two mentioned. And since Ganondorf creates a new ganon every time the previous was sealed, theres probably like 20 calamity ganons just chilling in the sacred realm
So, you mentioning the possibility of a spy being the fortune teller, and me playing through Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity got me thinking.. What if Astor was the 'fortune teller' who foretold Ganon's return? It's likely that at the time, Astor was likely still working with the Yiga to ensure Ganon's revival. He's also heavily into magic, perhaps using his skills to pose as a Fortune Teller for the King, and Ganon, using Astor, manipulated the kingdom into unearthing the Guardians and Divine Beasts.
royal families arent exactly known for being open to new blood. the possiblity that zeldas parents were of the same bloodline, thus the power able to come from either, is totally possible.
We should've been way more hella suspicious since Rhoam says ganon festers, _deep below hyrule castle,_ gaining strength. Yet we find his egg near the top of the castle, like in nearly every game, so conditioned to expect that's where he is going to be found; and I didn't think twice about it. i finally realized the contridiction after watching some theory videos and replaying the game myself...and initially assumed Rhoam might've been simply wrong because that was the last location he knew Ganon to be. He could've easily moved elsewhere in the castle since the King's passing. No. _we_ were wrong. _We_ were the ones not paying attention. He knew about the seal below the castle, I think. If you look at the swirling aura of malice, it's _thicker near the bottom._ there are luminous stones on the bottom level. In fact including koroks seeds, there's luminous stones usually not too far away from many of the shrines. Near the zonai ruins in Faron, a level or two above the Dragon statue - that suspiciously looks the size and design of a divine beast, that is also conviniently buried in the backside of the dueling peaks, where it is thought _a dragon_ split the mountain in two - is littered with luminous stones.
@@ShadowSkyX It would seem the Luminous Stones have an important role in maintaining the "Hand" that's keeping Ganondorf sealed if so many of them happened to be buried alongside him. Considering that both the sealed Ganondorf and a "mine" of Luminous Stones are under Hyrule Castle one has to wonder wether the Royal Family of Hyrule may have intentionally built the Castle above said mine so as to keep both it and it's prisoner hidden away from the rest of the world for wathever unknown reasons. Wathever circumstances might have lead the Royal Family to keep Ganondorf's imprisonment a secret from the rest of the Kingdom the events shown in Breath of the Wild make it clear that the simple act of burying your enemy under your own castle and then assuming he won't be able to find a way to continue plaguing your bloodline through some indirect manner WILL inevitably lead to dire consequences...
Now that Age of Calamity is a thing, I’d like to add on to 14:48 This is where Astor was in BOTW. Everyone was talking about his prevalent role in AoC and how he then never made an appearance in the other timeline (spoilers btw sorry...) This is what he was up to. Since he never had a corrupted Terrako to help execute his master plan, he decided to lay low, make small assassination attempts here and there, and report back to Ganondorf to keep him informed of everything going on up above. Ofc I could be completely wrong about this, but that just hit me almost immediately as I listened to this part. Great vid man, keep up the great work!
"hahahahahaha nothing can reasonably go wrong! The sheikah researchers are accidentally building me the strongest army to ever exist, Zelda seems to have no idea how to use her sealing powers, and a few dozen guardian blasts will make short work of Link. all that has to happen now is for the fish lady to NOT say the magic words and..." "wait." "that bloody fish is going to say the magic words" "*N I E T*"
I can't wait for this game. I really do hope it has a more "active" story. I would like the story to happen around me, and not just memories from 100 years ago.
The biggest reason why I had an inkling that BotW was an unfinished story (regarding truly defeating Ganon) was because Link did not utilize the Master Sword in any way to weaken the Dark Beast before Zelda finished it off. The Master Sword was given a lot of meaning and purpose throughout the game; a lot of characters refer to it and, of course, there is a lot of importance placed on it in the Korok Forest and the Trials. The fact that Link doesn't even wield it in the final confrontation made me think, "This isn't the end." The second clue was how everyone called Calamity Ganon "It." Knowing the Lore as we do, and as you pointed out, this iteration was a faceless evil; just an entity. Calling Calamity Ganon "It" made the evil feel so detached and disconnected from the lore and the connection with our two heroes, since they are each a part of three. When Botw2 was announced and we saw Ganondorf, it all made sense. There is the source. The power we have seen destroy Hyrule this far is nothing compared to what awaits us in the depths. It's an exciting prospect. The tapestry with the green arm of the hero...the green arm that Link will now inherit... it's all coming together. I think this was the plan all along. Thank you for putting the details, imagery, critical thinking, and the concrete words to that niggling in the back of my brain that has been simmering in curiosity for the last few years.
That is indeed a very good point Jen. he Master Sword does react to the malice, but it is not necessary to beat him. So that was definitely a big hint that he was just a puppet. And yeah, it does feel like things are coming together ^^
@@jenniferchough It feels good to be back ^_^. I missed all of you too! And it makes getting back to normal life a lot easier knowing that you are all still here
In the short time that this channel has been up I have already come to love the videos and have watched them all, The content that this channel posts is one of top quality and I can tell that he puts his time and effort into it and that makes his videos all the better. This was another great video. Great Job Monster Maze!
Yeah, "Calamity Ganon" was, ultimately, just a bigger Blight. A stronger one, but one nonetheless. A fusion of Malice and Sheikah to create a more stable form. Also, I do agree the "Fortune-teller" might have been a Yiga. Seems too convenient.
Here's something you as a theorist might wanna think about: BOTW2 has to start from "3 hearts, no items"... Where does Link lose his power and equipment? Just saying.
He looses his arm and has to spend his energy fighting back the particle effect giving him contextually useful protagonist powers clinging to the stump, leaving him with exactly 3 hearts and one standard stamina wheel. Good thing he collected and redeemed exactly as many spheres as you remember, if he'd gotten only a few less, he could have died! His gear all broke, and they decided to put the Master Sword back because, I mean, the game was over. Credits were rolling. The Master Sword goes back. Them's the rules. He ate all the food you collected, and cooked all the inedible materials into debatably edible food, then ate it, too. He probably figured out a way to cook and eat his clothes, too. He also ate all the horses he registered. He also probably ate Wolf Link, if you used him. Ate half of his rupees, then realized he could buy other food with them instead of eating them. Actually, that might be where all his hearts went, too. Heart disease. His decked out Shiekah Slate was appropriated by Zelda because she had about ten thousand missed messages, and she gave him a stock, storebought slate with a shitty data plan and an "updated" bomb and stasis Rune that insists it's the same great taste, but we all know it's worse and not even approved by Hylian NASA, that was rolling around, or possibly that she had gotten as a present for her dad, but he couldn't figure out how to activate. Mipha's spirit dumped him after Zilink became cannon, Revali's got insecure after Link won, so dipped, Urbosa's decided Link and Zelda needed some alone time, and thinks the screaming after the whole arm severing is just really kinky, and Daruk's spirit went off to clap spirit rocks with Darmani. And the Master Cycle was DLC, and thus not cannon. Link actually just spent the end of BotW's play cycle running around making motorcycle noises.
Wow, I watched this video once before and didn’t give it much thought. Watching this again.. I think you have literally figured out the plot and done an excellent job. Great video man! This makes me even more excited for Breathe 2. Edit: at around 15:41 I want to make a prediction. The giant hole had a sheikah shrine because that tunnel was dug by the sheikah, and there are we entire underground network of tunnels and transportation under Hyrule! Like subways or trams built with ancient sheikah tech. Maybe a bit out there, but I’m excited to see if I’m right at all. I think you saw all the hints the Zelda devs hoped people would notice, but you’re the first to point out how link almost died suspiciously so many times... it almost feels silly now to think that’s anything BUT Ganon trying to intervene. Sorry for the essay here haha. Again, this is a really well made video. I can tell you really thought about this and it really makes sense. You got yourself a new fan. Subscribed.
Great video, as always. But I do have a counter point for one specific argument regarding the prophecy. You claim that Ganon would require the Sheikah tech to have been dug up to be used in his plan, but that’s not necessarily true. In Creating a Champion/Masterworks we learn that the pillars around the castle are actually storage devices for guardians that were designed to rise and expel guardians when Ganon returns. The majority of guardians we see in the game, both alive and destroyed came from these pillars. With these Ganon would have no real reason to want the few other guardians dug up, especially since that would reveal the divine beasts to the Hylians.
Well, taking control of the Divine Beasts is pretty good, so I do think he would still do that. But it is true that a majority of guardians would come from the pillars.
@@lordecramox7394 If it weren't for the prophecy leading to the massive excavations, the Divine Beasts may not have ever been rediscovered. It all leads back to the prophecy.
Because Ganon adapts and evolves over time, i'd like him to actually come to terms that he's destined to lose in every timeline because of the demon king Demise's curse. thus realising that the only way out is to team up with link and he actually becomes the key to saving / breaking the curse? would be a really cool twist !
Just founding your videos and I must say your theories are Fascinating !!! I totally enjoy them and I really hope you're right because it makes everything so much deeper and rich !!! ♥♥♥ Thanks for sharing this with us !
I love the idea that master Kohga survived the fall and landed next to Ganondorf and is now malice filled and the most powerful boss in the game is amazing to me. Like imagine if the whole him being disappointingly easy thing is just a set up to beat our butts next time!
Oh my god, that would be so amazing! We never really see him die. Can you imagine if the first cutscene of the game is the camera panning down the hole, and you see Master Kohga laying on the ground or something like that.
@@MonsterMaze I mean you learn more from Failure than success and I can see as a grand finale after having to deal with a 2 on 1 scenario so many times, THIS TIME it's an Ornstein and Smough situation, with Link and Zelda having to fight Ganondorf AND a massively buffed up Kohga. think about it: Ganondorf like Smough while not too fast (but faster than you'd expect mind) is tough, sturdy, and to quote one of my favorite Zelda fics (a Twilight Princess one, I'm a sucker for LinkXMidna and the author is a pretty damn good writer) "He hit's like a battering ram kisses" IE REALLY REALLY HARD! meanwhile the buffed up Kohga on top of being EXTREMELY speedy and hard to keep track of and hit like you'd expect of a badass Ninja Assassin... albeit one who tends also serve as comic relief due to being a goofball while NOW being EXTREMELY competent (Ganondorf is in this case fully aware of what happened in AoC and isn't gonna ever risk losing having his counter to Hyrule's Sheikah like the AoC version of him did) while also being akin to the Maz Kosha fight taken and turned up to eleven! What better way to end what's one of Zelda's hardest stories regarding the BOTW saga and arguably the closest equal Nintendo has in terms of tough but fair difficulty and environmental story-telling than fighting against the King of Evil at his most powerful and a Hyper Mode version of the Yiga's Top Banana! ...Preferably with the Cutscene leading to said fight with as a nod to the first 3D Zelda involving Ganondorf playing his beloved Organ (that the Yiga managed to... "acquire" with it being very ornate considering Ganondorf likes to indulge in the Non-Traditional Deadly Sin of Vanity every so ofter)... and Kohga maybe playing something that one would expect a Sheikah to play like a Koto or a Taiko drum. I mean, it'd make sense since Ganondorf's smart enough to know a creative release can really help with planning down the line and again, he's not gonna make the same mistake Astor and his AoC self wound up making, at the very least he's gonna make sure that the Yiga STAY as his followers since... well let's be honest someone like him is ALWAYS gonna have a need for what happens to be the Yiga's specialty: Stealth, Subterfuge, Intelligence, Spying, Sabotage, and Assassination. WHY WOULD HE RISK LOSING A COUNTER LIKE THIS TO HYRULE'S SHEIKAH?! Doubly so since they share the same hate towards Link's Incarnations and the Hyrulian Royal Family meaning THEY HAVE A SHARED GOAL IN THAT RESPECT!
You're a fantastic commentator. Like someone else said, certain theories have gotten repetitive. Your format and presentation is really nice. Cant wait for the sequel 😌
I dont get why some people dont think the figure in the trailer is ganondorf. There entitled to there opinion of course. But the gerudo clothing. The malice the jewel on his head which is very similar to what he has had in other games. Personally I'm 100% confident that we will be seeing the return of ganondorf.
I’ve seen people claim it’s Demise, others claim that it’s Astor, others claim it’s someone new. I don’t think these people have ever seen Ganondorf before.
I feel like the memory where Zelda is scolding Link for being careless after fighting a GIANT HOARD of lynals and various monsters is better proof that Ganon was trying to kill them both then a rock falling from an active volcano. But regardless it's a pretty convincing theory.
So many beautiful details in this vid, damn. One thing: dont forget that the yiga likely stole the hideout from the gerudo. So there is the chance that the gerudo made the hole too.
That actually makes a lot of sense... He could be the most insanely intelligent reincarnation of all the Ganondorf’s. Quietly waiting. Scheming and working in the shadows, using his will to possess and control others in doing his bidding, using what the land gives him to exact his plans upon Link and Zelda... He might be leading Link and Zelda right into his plots, tens of thousands of years of planning. He might have tons of contingency plans especially since Zelda and Link have waltzed right into his lair... I doubt his Malice Puppet is the end of it... This Ganon’s clearly got a razor-sharp wit and is using all of his tools to his disposal, so it would likely be that when one of his plans end, he has another one waiting to strike back just as fierce as the heroes did to him.
@@kaitoudark1 both, at the same time. Why not bring back Ganondorf, but have him have an almost Wind Waker moment of humanity. THEN at the moment of hesitation, Demise just says "screw THIS!" and whatever's left of him in the Master Sword, escapes, jumps into the Dorfmeister, and tears his way out of Ganondorf's chest wound. And this, at the mid point of the game. >: )
6:46 Theory: Would if it’s talking about Ganondorf? Ganondorf IS underground after all. Maybe they were supposed to FIND Ganondorf so he can escape! That would make sense.
I agree with you on the divine power part. I believe that Ganon killed the Queen in order to prevent Zelda from using her power so that he could rule Hyrule.
I'm a bit late but in age of calamity there is a profet of doom, Astor, that communicates with ganon and has the yiga as allies, so your theory was correct, if we can say that age of calamity has canon elements. (it isn't canon but I think Astor was also in botw)
Hmmmm... What if it was not ganon's hand that destroyed Hyrule, but Zelda's? That explosion set off, looked devastating.... Also, notice the tapestry at 17:24. It seems to be aware of a split in time with something *very* significant happening with the moon and the stars.
With everything that Ganondorf manipulated into happening - the Queen's death, the increase in monsters, the "prophecy," the assassination attempts on Link and Zelda, and the interruption of Mipha's conversation with Zelda - it doesn't seem like too much of a stretch that Ganondorf would want Link and Zelda to come to him to release him, as a plan B. In fact, I would go so far as to say that Ganondorf manipulated Link and Zelda into defeating his puppet, Calamity Ganon, for two reasons: 1, to lull them and Hyrule into a false sense of security, thinking they have defeated Ganon when they actually haven't, and thus catch them off-guard yet again, and 2, to unseal his body so he can unleash his rage upon Hyrule. If Ganondorf is powerful enough to conjure up an entity - that by itself, is capable to destroy Hyrule - while being sealed, I shudder to think how much more powerful he will be once he's released from his seal. Combine that raw power with a level of cunning and manipulation spanning millennia, it looks like we are about to face the strongest iteration of Ganondorf yet. Yikes!
For my BOTW 2 ideas from a while ago, the idea would be to immediately establish that this version of Ganondorf is able to knock Link unconscious with one blow. This would be intentionally done to present a clear message: this version of Ganondorf is going to be an utter pain in the ass to kill and should scare you.
Excellent video! I believe in the whole concept as well: Ganondorf actually doing not much real work while he manipulates those who would normally stand against him to do the work for him. He would be incredibly cunning and use his manipulation skills to do most of the work, but when the gloves must come off, he would come across as an utter monster. For example, an idea I have with BOTW 2 is to create a cutscene that shows just how powerful and intelligent Ganondorf is in order to make the player fear him immensely. In this case, when he is barely out of his near dead mummy form, he would let Link tire himself out with all the best attacks the hero has at his disposal while Ganondorf just dodges every single one. Then, when Link gets tired enough, Ganondorf would strike him in the chest with one fist, and the blow would send Link flying into the nearby rocks with enough force to incapacitate him. Luckily, Link would still be conscious, but only for a few more minutes before he fades out of consciousness for a while. With this entire cutscene, in less than 15 minutes, it establishes that Ganondorf is far more powerful and cunning than the player can comprehend. This, rightfully, would throw the player into high levels of fear as their most powerful weapon against the King of Evil has just been temporarily nullified with a single punch to the chest.
People say BotW doesn't have a lot of story but there are so many in-depth analysis videos of even the most minute details, more than for "story rich" games. Rather than having no story, BotW shows you glimpses of the story during your playthrough and there are little details to discover everywhere and you can piece everything together yourself. This approach is very similar to Mad Max: Fury Road: Show don't tell. I think it's a far better way of telling stories than having characters tell you what is happening in boring dialogues (like in Witcher 3).
Agreed. It's also what makes theorizing about Zelda so fun and potent. If a game spells out everything, there is very little reason to speculate. For instance, I love xenoblade. But most things in the story are explained in detail. Especially in Xenoblade 2, at the end pretty much everything gets cleared up. So making a theory video about that game is much harder. Not to mention multiple theories over the span of multiple years.
Love this vid. Maybe some food for thought: the parallels to LotR are evident. Only in Zelda the key figures are a bit different. Sauron is effing massive, one of the mightiest beings. Ganon/Ganondorf too. But in opposition to LotR, Zelda has...well... Zelda. I would guess the second mightiest being after the three golden godesses. So yeah ganon feels kinda lame bc he faces off against the godess and the hero, i would suggest.
Calamity Ganon should have had more of those "Sauron moments" where he just stares down link and sends some sort of ring wraith equivalent if Link ran into one of those eyes.
Sometimes i’ve heard that the three virtues of the triforce can be represented with sheikah blue liquid (wisdom), green and possibly zonai hand string things (courage), and malice (power). The sheikah blue stuff can contain writing, and the green string energy looks like some sort of scripture, so do you think Ganondorf’s corpse can send out malice that contains writing/a message and that’s how he communicates with monsters and yiga?
18:34 If he is fully voiced, I wouldn't be surprised if his voice resembles that of the Gravemind from the Halo series, minus the bit where it always speaks in poem language.
This version of Ganondorf seems to be the best aspects of every other Ganondorf. He's a brilliant schemer like Wind Waker's Ganondorf He's got the ridiculous power levels of A Link To The Past's Ganon And he's got the focus, commitment, and sheer will of Twilight Princess's Ganondorf He likely didn't care too much about the calamity being halted again. It was just another delay, another thing he would account for next time.
Yep. Except this time he has an advantage against Hyrule because, well, the kingdom doesn't even exist at this point since the entire government for the country was razed during the Second Calamity. With all previous Calamities, we can presume that the kingdom of Hyrule was able to survive relatively unscathed. Unlike THOSE encounters, though, the Second Calamity has left the land practically defenseless as most people at this point think the catastrophe is permanently over when it's merely just cutting the head off the snake; To Ganondorf, it's nothing more than a slight irritation.
It's so cool to think that this will be the most powerful villain to date. Calamity Ganon already is, or at least the best at what it does. And Ganondorf didnt even directly do this. His puppet did. I cant even imagine what he plans for when he awakens.
In creating a champion, it does say that the Queen of Hyrule held the sealing power. So, the King of Hyrule was likely the one who married into the royal family, probably from a family of nobility.
I like this theory a lot. Some in game stuff didn’t add up to me at first but this vid makes sense to it. Also I love the idea of Dehydrated Ganon attempting multiple assassinations on Zelda and Link, failing every time going: Fuck! Fuck!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
What if Astor was the prophet just like in Age of Calamity, and the reason why we don’t see him is because he is the one talking straight to Ganondorf. The reason why he’d be more shown in AOC is because he doesn’t need to follow Dorf’s plan because he can see the future
I am so glad to have finally found a video of someone talking about this. Since I first played the game I thought it was amazing how Ganon was able to desecrate Hyrule with just his Malice... I don't think he moved the chess pieces to a beneficial position though. Probably just me, but his usual M.O. is to seize an opportunity when it's presented instead. He didn't want to get thrown into the Sacred Realm, he just found a way to use it. He didn't plan on getting stabbed with the Sage's sword, he just used it when he was able to. I could be wrong though
And that big hole in the Yiga Clan Hideout, used to be a Gerudo hideout. Ganondorf is a gerudo. The gerudo could have made that hole to bury ganondorf somewhere where no one would ever find him. Or that's what they hoped anyway. But, before they could fill in the hole the Yiga found and took over this hideout also finding ganon in the process. It's just something that I thought of randomly, but I think it's cool with this theory.
I just realized, Ganon's ability to create earthquakes likely stems from the Triforce of Power, Din's piece. Din is the Goddess of Power, the forger of Hyrule's land, after all.
That is an amazing observation
Plot Twist: The prophecy, which states that the _power to oppose Calamity Ganon lies dormant beneath the ground_ *IS correct.* That power lying dormant is the *imprisoned Ganondorf himself.* It was the _interpretation_ of the prophesy by the King and his advisors/court/Sheikah that was incorrect.
Keep in mind that the spider-bot Guardians would've still activated upon Ganondorf's awakening/seal-failing, as the vast majority of the bots were stored within the pillar/spires surrounding Hyrule Castle; spires which had burst through the surface and released the still-functioning bots upon Calamity Ganon's resurrection. It's entirely possible that the Divine Beasts would've awakened in the same manner, and Ganondorf's plan would've come to fruition even without the excavation performed for the broken-down (and subsequently repaired) Guardians.
It could also be some sort of zonai magic
Omg yes
This. Thanks for saying it, now I don't have to type it all!
@@TheGalaxyWings THE HAND
its come full circle
He told us where Ganon was yet we are so conditioned to fight a boss - ganon specifically - at the top level of the castle we did not question why we fight and find his cocoon up there instead of where Rhoam told us he emerged from. That was the first red flag. Sure 100 years passed and he could've moved, but thats just it. The second red flag was that the malice didn't start manifesting from the top of the castle, where zelda's light shined...it started from the bottom. The third red flag is that we never found any specific power underground and anything we knew to be underground had been unearthed already by the time we get off the great plateau.
"And the power to oppose it lies dormant beneath the ground." Oh man, what if this didn't even allude to the ancient technology but Ganondorf's body and the magic hand holding him in place?
It’s also worth noting that before Link became the Champion a “rogue guardian” started attacking his village and targeted him. Luckily Link already had access to the most powerful weapon in game, a pot lid.
I definitely agree that Breath of the Wild as an individual game could have had a much better villain. But knowing/believing that Ganondorf was in fact controlling Calamity Ganon gives the story a bit more context. Let’s hope it’s a good sequel.
I fully agree with that. The announcement of BotW 2 alone made the lore of BotW more interesting already.
It's been widely speculated that BotW was DRASTICALLY cut content-wise due to massive issues during development and going overtime by a year or so, and further speculated that BotW2 is the cut content reworked into a sequel.
Which means that the four Divine Beasts were meant as the equivalent as the medallion dungeons from ALttP/Spiritual Stone dungeons from OoT.
Fluffynator I think calamity ganon is really just a product of spending all that time in the divine beasts. Maybe they fused with him so he could survive because he was expending his malice too far between too many things
Ik it was too ez
Botw was just the intro for its sequel
In the middle of a HUGE thunderstorm right now! Very awesome. And hopefully this means some cooler temperatures are on the way. Have a GREAT rest of your weekend everyone!
You too! Congrats on 20k!
When I comment before Monster Maze does: surprised pikachu face
@@CloaxHere Thank you!
Yes i agree you too Monster Maze
Also I would like to say great job on another truly great and interesting video Monster Maze, I can watch your videos over and over because they are so good. Thank you for putting your time and effort into these videos.
Please Nintendo, I want Ganondorf to actually be scary in BotW 2. The atmosphere in the teaser was so promising!
Yes!
And one way that they could make him scary, is to give him a voice.
David Newbon the voice acting better be better than it was in botw
@@jroz1692 Breath of the Wild's voice acting was amazing, what you talking about? The only weird acting was the king at the beginning. Probably the first voice acted character tbf.
Bentein Bjerke idk it felt a bit off to me at times it was amazing and sometimes it just felt really unnatural
13:30
Ganon: (listening to them)
Mipha: (is about to give Zelda a really good tip)
Ganon: Oh heck, time to go is now then!
Not to mention shake the ground so hard that they cannot ignore it haha
“If I had a rupee for every time a Zora simp was primed to help ruin my plans, I’d have two rupees. Which isn’t a lot, but it’s weird that it happened twice.”
Man, I'd kill for a fully voiced Ganondorf, but I have no idea who should voice him though. Anyways, I'm going to watch LotR again now, you got me in the mood for it.
Sauron
Doesn't Ganon already have a voice actor
@@limeraldguy9784 Not in regards to the "canon" games in the series. Ignoring the japanese voice actors who only did screaming noises for the Smash games and Hyrule Warriors there's the one who played him in that crappy 90s cartoon and also the one from the CD-I games.
I vote for whoever did his awesome laugh in Ocarina of Time.
You know that guy who plays senator Armstrong, hed be good on my opinion
I love how you say Ganondorf is "a very patient man". But in reality, he's probably just immeasurably angry.
"10,000 years can give you such a desire for destruction"- Lich King Gannon, probably
Stuff can be two things lol
Hmmmm Ganondorf vs doom guy sounds interesting now.
Battle of the angry boys
@@quaintgentleman344
Let’s be honest here. He just wants some freedom of movement so he can work that crick out of his neck.
@@felixthescholarlytitan4437, dammit you said the joke before I could!
This theory has already been touched on by other Zelda theorists, however Monster Maze did mention a few things that still unknown today. For instance, the "misinterpretation" of the prophesy, though I personally think that the "power laying dormant beneath the ground" may have been referring to something OTHER than the Divine Beasts and Guardians! Also, the Yiga likely had spies littered throughout Hyrule prior to the Great Calamity, including those embedded within Hyrule's Royal Court (i.e. the monster cake loving Minister/Chancellor of Hyrule), which could have easily passed on news to Ganondorf or even carried out the assassination of Zelda's Mother! Finally, the evidence that Calamity Ganon was clearly a puppet for Ganondorf is the fact that Calamity Ganon takes on 3 very similar forms to that of Wind Waker's Puppet Ganon (i.e. the Boar, the Spider, and the Snake).
Like Ganondorf....
Dang nice observations!
I was going to point out the Wind Waker connection as well. The boar and serpent forms of Calamity Ganon aren't too coincidental as the boar is a staple, and the serpent is just a practical form for his initial assault. But a spider? That's just weird, and the only other time we've seen a spider ganon form in all of zelda history is in the wind waker puppet fight. So having all three match up perfectly, and also be puppet avatars for ganondorf? It's just too strong of a connection to be a coincidence. I think this was a way of the Zelda team hinting to us that calamity ganon was just a puppet to a hidden ganondorf this entire time.
Not quite related to this video, but something that I’ve noticed: the art behind Impa which represents what happened 10 000 years ago looks like a hybrid of the style of sheikah designs and zonai designs, maybe there’s more to the art piece, perhaps in the presence of whatever the glowing hand is, more is revealed, perhaps leading to a massive revelation?
That would be awesome. And possible, given that the Zonai were still around 10.000 years ago.
Wow that's epic
I've started to believe the possibility that the Zonai may actually be just another faction of Sheikah similar to the Yiga who rather than serve/worship either the Goddess Hylia(Wisdom) or Ganondorf(Power) instead alligned themselves with the Hero(Courage) as implied by their ruins been found in the Faron Woods and their use of the Kokiri symbol. This could very well explain the "Green Hand" that's sealing Ganondorf been possibly powered by the Zonai's "Courage"(their own spirits). ¿Has anyone thought about this theory?
I agree, also at first I always wondered why the hero depicted in the art had red hair, since we commonly associate redheads with Gerudos, but if we consider that the barbarian helmet also comes with red hair, the hero depicted could be a Zonai warrior version of Link 10,000 years ago
I have a theory that the Zonai were the Sheikah, but broke of just like the yiga did.
I guess its time for a channel review:
This channel's videos are focused mainly on subjects the creator enjoys/ has enjoyed and therefore the videos hold a personal value to him. Much effort and love has been put into them, this guarantees an excellent video with focus on otherwise unnoticed aspects of the games included. This already makes it better than The Game Theorists channel by just the pure value the mentioned subjects in the videos have to the creator.
I hereby give a rating of 17.6 out of 10 only not being 20 for the restricted range of video subjects (although this also makes the videos way better).
Oh, and the only reason I didn't include more is because I'm going back to rewatch Monster Maze's other videos!
Why thank you! What a stunning review ;D
10/10 review-everyone but IGN
I hope we see rehydrated Ganon in BotW 2
Give that man a jug of water ;)
As long as he's only rehydrated and not "redeemed Ganon" then yeah i agree the man needs to get watered after been trapped down there for so long.
@@javiervasquez8995 true and there is absolutely no way he would have the same mind set as windwaker Gannon
@@royaldragonair7814 Considering how long he's been down there while likely suffering greatly in that state, SOMEONE'S gonna be the target of a VERY, VERY pissed of Ganondorf! Whether it's the usual targets in Link and Zelda or someone was both lucky and suicidal enough to successfully put him in that state for so long, in the former's case I worry for Link and Zelda as he'd likely make their lives HELL if he can and in the latter's case, considering he's a master tactician and he wants to RULE Hyrule, he'd likely put his feud on hold with Link and Zelda so they can take care of the idiots who started this if they're still around since "enemy of my enemy is my friend" and it's not the first or even second time he's had Link and or Zelda do his dirty work, just would be the first where he let's them in on the it since their goals and interests align in this case with the ones responsible having indirectly caused the Calamity Cycle to begin since again, GANONDORF WANTS TO RULE HYRULE! He may hate Link and Zelda to the point where murdering them slowly and painfully is HIGH on his to do list complete with torture but Hyrule is something HE WANTS TO CONTROL! Not destroy but take over and rule as a tyrant! He can't do that if THERE IS NO ONE TO RULE OVER! Obviously this isn't a redeemed Ganon situation but rather one where they'll put their usual shtick on hold until the idiots who caused the Calamity Cycle are confirmed gone for good.
@@javiervasquez8995 Agreed, the man would be (understandably) Doom-Slayer levels of PISSED at whoever or whatever put him in there! this is NOT a story that needs a WW style Ganon! However, yes he needs to be watered as if he's gonna be Ganondorf Dragmire at his most powerful yet, I MUST insist on him being a master Spellsword where when fighting him, he uses both magic and swordplay (absurdly skillful and peerless magic and swordplay at that) to devastating effect! the man's a master of both blade and spell and is the holder of the Tri-force of Power which amplifies both, let us fight Master Spellsword Ganondorf!
The pillars surrounding Hyrule Castle have been confirmed to have been a vessel from which Guardians emerged in times of calamity, I believe that within Princess Zelda's diary in-game she even mentioned herself of tales of such megalithic pillars beneath the castle but that they were never found upon excavation of the castle grounds, she herself stipulating that perhaps they are too far beneath the earth for even their best excavation efforts - as we see in Breath of the Wild, upon Calamity Ganon re-emerging, these great pillars rose up from deep beneath Hyrule Castle (similar to the Sheikah Towers but deeper still) with the majority of the Guardians pouring out from within them, these then being corrupted by Ganon's malice and being sent to destroy the lands, spreading from Hyrule Castle to Castle Town and further outwards. So it seems regardless of the kingdom's excavation campaign these pillars and the majority of the damage, at least where the Guardians were concerned, would still have happened - it is definitely, however, interesting to speculate how Ganondorf may have used some form of influence to have the Divine Beasts excavated additionally, which seemingly wouldn't of happened without the king's order of mass excavation and the search of ancient relics such as these, as you yourself have speculated here; love your work Monster Maze!
And I love input like this man. Thanks!
Well considering how things turned out, it probably would have been in Ganondorfs best interest to leave the divine beasts buried. I mean, he didn't even use them over the past 100 years.
REJOICE! MONSTER MAZE HAS UPLOADED
Wait I’m first.
My Yiga theory: They aren't the same Yiga of the past, instead being a bunch of goofball fanboys who chose the side of the enemy without thinking of the consequences and adopted Yiga stylings.
7:40 You could say it led to his Demise.
oh, you!
S T O P
@@jobrenmar7513 No, please continue.
This is what is actually _F E E D I N G_ me right now. Nintendo hasn't released another trailer since a year ago. And honestly, everyone else's theories are repetitive, inaccurate, or boring.. Thank you for feeding me ✋😭
And thank you for watching ^_^
Yum?
Or BotW 2 speculation videos
The coolest part? I think he’s actually almost 100% spot on with his predictions. It looks like Nintendo leaves these hints in for dedicated fans that take the time to notice, the way he’s laid it out so clearly almost makes it seem like it has to be a plot point of both games, Breathe of the wild seems like it was made to be 1 story spread across 2 games. This feels like the final successor to OOT and Majora’s mask. Nintendo is getting way better at story writing in Zelda games. I’m impressed.
Regarding the Yiga and the possibility that they were communing with Ganondorf, remember that they also stole the Gerudo's heirloom -- the Thunder Helm -- an artifact that was pivotal in Link gaining access to Vah Nabooris. It's possible that Ganondorf, or some agent of his, told the Yiga to take the helm.
The accuracy of this theory is terrifying
I would love to see a villain like this in a video game, an intelligent strategist who lets the hero do the work for them(it would also be interesting to see if this ganondorf is shown to be MUCH more intelligent than his other selves)
Wouldn't be the first time Ganon let Link do most of his job for him.
Link and Zelda opened the Door of Time for him in Ocarina of Time.
Link broke the seal on his power by drawing the Master Sword in Windwaker.
When it's not Link, it's usually another puppet like Aghanim or Zant doing the job.
True I was just thinking of a more long term plan one that has lasted thousands of years not only a few
Honestly that's exactly why Ganondorf is my favorite villain in fiction...
They lock him in the Sacred Realm so he doesn't destroy Hyrule, he turns it into a power source and comes back more powerful... I can go on BUT the best example is how he uses the Sword of the Sages in Twilight Princess... The sword that SHOULD have killed him. Instead he pulls it from his chest, kills his executioner with it and keeps it.
OoT Ganondorf set Link up to open the sacred realm while also locking away the master sword... and link.
Blue Dragon kinda does this.
It fiddles with quite a few JRPG conventions in general.
Ganondorf: "You know the rules, and so do I"
9:32
You beat me to it
He never gives up, he never runs around and he never says goodbye, but he will always hurt you.
You know the rules, and so do I. SAY GOODBYE
The perfect theory to end the day with, always a pleasure to fall asleep after one of your video's! Enough dreaming material, thanks for the upload MM!
Aidan
If Daruk wasn’t there Link would’ve just parried the Boulder...
With his SWORD
What if the prophecy about what is laying underground was reffering to the corpse of Ganon?
I saw a theory suggesting it was Fi who lead Link and Zelda to Ganondorf, btw
Could also be. Nothing is certain regarding BotW 2. We will have to wait and see when more information comes out ^^
Another dream I bet. This time though, it won't be clouded in the same way like before
I really do think that Link, as the Hero, was always destined to fail and rise up to try again.The Shrines are trials for the Hero to determine if he is capable of defeating Ganon. The Shrines are shown to have been available pre-Calamity, yet were inaccessible, even with the Shiekah Slate in hand. Zelda even tried to enter the shrine at the Ancient Columns herself, but couldn't because there doesn't seem to be any "power" to the shrine for it to open. Yet, after obtaining the Shiekah Slate, Link has no problem entering the shrines, but it's only AFTER he activates the tower on the Great Plateau that all the shrines light up and allow him to enter. What is the point in practicing for a life-or-death event when the tests meant to prepare you are only available after the life-or-death event has occurred? I think that for this reason, Link was always destined to fail and the ancient Shiekah knew it.
There is one other thing I want to point out, and that's that the Guardians were always going to be an issue, whether they were excavated or not. In the cut scene where King Rhoam reveals himself to Link, it is shown that when Calamity Ganon rises and surrounds the Castle, the Guardian pillars arise automatically. And, as we all know by now, those pillars are where the Guardians were being stored, to be released on Calamity Ganon's return.
As for who this "fortune teller" could possibly be, I have my own theory of their identity and possible role. I believe we've previously discussed that.
The Shrines needed the Hero to activate the Tower in the Great Plateau in order to function so it could be possible that the reason they didn't manage to work before the Second Great Calamity was because the Royal Family and the Sheikah lacked vital information regarding the "prophecy" as revealed by the fortuneteller. If we assume the fortuneteller was a genuinely good person and not a henchman or lackey of Ganondorf one could argue that they either didn't manage to see the "whole" prophecy detailing information regarding the Sheikah Slate(possibly due to Demise's Curse somehow affecting their abbilities to have premonitions) or that maybe they may even had an "agenda" of their own and willingly chose to hide said details regarding the Slate for some unknown reason we might get to see unveiled in the sequel.
@@javiervasquez8995 Where is it specifically stated or even implied that it HAS to be a Hero who activates the towers or shrines? The shrines are supposed to test whether the person that enters them has the courage to be a hero, not that they are already a Hero and already attained the right to enter. The only pre-requisite is the Shiekah Slate. Link activates that one tower on the Plateau after being told to and it, in turn, powers all the shrines and other towers. Have you ever watched a speedrun? Without the Plateau tower activated, you can't enter any of the 120+ shrines by normal means.
It's generally known and accepted that there were people that either lived on the Plateau or visited it regularly. Are you telling me that no one ever noticed a half buried tower? Or that Zelda didn't try the Shiekah Slate on every pedestal she could find? You even see her in a memory trying the slate on a shrine pedestal. It's also mentioned several times how both Zelda and the Shiekah were actively investigating the shrines to try to get them open. You assume that the royal family didn't have all the pertinent information, then how did King Rhoam know to tell Link to activate the tower first before attempting any of the shrines?
No my friend. I'm certain that, while most of the shrines were clearly accessible on the outside but not the elevators inside, the towers weren't at all. That means the Plateau tower is the key to powering all the shrines and other towers, and that it wasn't unearthed until either the Guardian pillars arose from underneath the Castle or when the Shrine of Resurrection was activated. Both events are post-Calamity, so the Shiekah either had the forethought or the foresight of a Hero failing and it was only luck that the King's remorseful spirit waited a century to guide Link to the tower in the first place.
@@kingdaniel3519 By "Hero" i was talking *specifically* about Link himself. I was under the impression that Link(been "the Hero of Legend") was the ONLY person that could actually activate the Tower and Shrines as a way for the Sheikah Monks to both test his "Courage" and strengthen his spirit through their Spirit Orbs. As Zelda herself was unnable to access the Shrines with the Slate i assumed there was some sort of "genetic factor" that gave Link the necesary requirements for the Shrines to activate after sensing his "Hero genes/spirit" and thus only he could use it to enter them. Regardless of wether the people Hyrule or even the King himself already knew about the Plateau Tower been the key to unlocking all 120+ Shrines spread across Hyrule it was Link's very own "person" and role as the legendary "Hero of Hyrule" that actually made the Plateau Tower, the rest of the Sheikah Towers and the Shrines to open up to him. I guess you could say he was the "missing Key".
@@javiervasquez8995 I see what you're saying, that by Hero you specifically mean Link. However, there is nothing to suggest it HAS to be Link. As I previously stated, the only prerequisite is the Shiekah Slate.
There is in game evidence to support my conclusion. In the cut-scene immediately after descending the activated tower on the Plateau, the disguised King Rhoam specifically states that "...This tower and others just like it have erupted across the land, one after another. It's almost as though...a long dormant-power has awoken quite suddenly..." He then points out the first shrine and says:"...It began glowing at the EXACT MOMENT those towers rose up from the ground..." Then, you have the message from the monk in the first shrine:"...To you who sets foot in this shrine...In the name of the Goddess Hylia, I offer this trial..."
At no point is it ever suggested, mentioned or explained that whoever enters the shrines has to be a Hero or specifically has to be Link. Only that the monk offers a trial to anyone that enters and that the shrines aren't accessible until after the Plateau Tower has been activated. The tower only requires the Shiekah Slate to activate. King Rhoam specifically sends Link to activate the tower THEN points out the first shrine. The only thing Monk Oman Au says regarding a hero is that, upon completion, Link has " proven to possess the resolve of A hero..." not THE Hero. Every shrine thereafter is almost the same, explaining that Link has whichever quality of "a hero" the trial was testing for.
The only exception is the last shrine the player completes, the 120th shrine. In the last shrine, the monk will state:"...Having fulfilled our purpose, we monks bestow upon you this... the warrant of THE TRUE HERO..." You're not a hero or even the hero until you complete all 120 shrines.
Link wasn't THE Hero or even A Hero, he was Zelda's Knight and a Champion of Hyrule Kingdom.
@@kingdaniel3519 Right the King did say the Towers began to rise around the same time as Link's recovery inside the Shrine of Resurrection took place meaning there had to be some "other factor" that lead to their activations. Maybe the Sheikah Monks themselves where the ones who chose to reveal the Towers from beneath the ground at that specific time due to some unspecified reason that is yet to be revealed. Maybe they acted according to a different prophecy that was independent of the one said by the mysterious Fortuneteller which forced them to seal the Towers and Shrines until the right moment arrived to unlock them in order to test the Power, Wisdom and Courage of a potential Hero. All this unknown information might end up been fully explained in detail once the sequel comes out so until then we can only speculate on the true nature behind the Towers's sudden appereance at the start of Breath of the Wild.
Having said that i must admit that when it comes to the "character" of Link as seen throughout the *entire series* of The Legend of Zelda the simple labeling of his BotW incarnation as just being "Zelda's Knight" and also "a Champion of Hyrule" is being rather completely dissmisive of his obvious *lineage* that spiritually links him(no pun intended) to all his ancestors/previous incarnations who also shared the title of "Hero of Hyrule" dating across Time all the way back to the Era of Skyward Sword. To say that the Link from Breath of the Wild is just some "random teenager" who was randomly placed in a position where he could save Hyrule instead of been the one *destined* to save it as part of the Cycle caused by Demise's Curse shows complete dismissal of both the Lore and Mythology that makes it clear that the individual known as "Link" is an entity that's always been *fated* to battle Demise's many incarnations across History. With this taken into account one must come to the conclusion that this new incarnation of Link is just as much THE Hero of Hyrule as were all his predecessors before him and that the final outcome of the game's events were *inevitably* meant to lead to the defeat of Ganondorf's reincarnation once again as part of the Cycle. This is how it has always worked out in the series ever since the original game anyway and so the events that played in the story of Breath of the Wild were no exception to the *rule* that the character known as Link was, is and will ALWAYS BE the Hero who's destined to vanquish Demise's Hatred for all of Time.
Its impossible for me to not support your content, you are a true Zelda detective and fan !
You analyses are clever and well thaught and damn, you made me shake my head more than one time as all of you ideas are bound to something very plausible, especially for a sequel.
Nice video as always man, can't wait for the next one !
That intro STUNNED me. I was not expecting two of my favourite RUclips channels (that aren't really that well known) to collaborate in a video
Perfect timing! Currently watching this while my bread is baking
I love bread
I have a theory for how Ganondorf sees. If my memory is correct, in Skyward Sword, a part of Demise was sealed inside the Master Sword. Perhaps this is how he knew Link was on Vah Rudania, and where Zelda was in the Gerudo Desert, because the sword was with Link the whole time, like a GPS tracker. It would be an interesting twist to have to destroy the Master Sword in order to defeat Ganon and maybe even break the curse.
The prophecy says:
"The signs of a resurrection of Calamity Ganon are clear, and the power to oppose it lies dormant beneath the ground"
I think the fortune teller is correct about the claim, but Hyrule mistook the Guardians and the Divine Beasts as "the" power, unknowingly it was the green hand that is sealing Ganondorf below the Hyrule Castle all this time as seen in Breath of the Wild 2 trailer.
When you click on a video only 30 seconds after it was posted:
*I am s p e e d*
(but seriously tho wtf I'm never this early)
I am Groot
What if the prophecy was correct and the way to deal with Ganon was buried underground? Maybe the trailer for BotW 2 shows them figuring out that they were just digging in the wrong place the whole time. Could be that uncovering the Sheika technology was simply a situation that Ganon took advantage of. Or I could be totally wrong.
Yes, some have indeed suggested that. Perhaps "buried beneath the ground" refered to Ganondorf's corpse, and not the Guardians and Divine Beasts. That would be a tragic mistake :O
@Monster Maze
That’s what I think.
"And the power to oppose it lies dormant beneath the ground." Of course there are words like power to oppose and stuff, but this point should still be considered. What if that was misinterpreted and it is actually refering to Ganondorf being underground (the body I mean) and not referring to to ancient Shiekah tech.
The Gerudo fortress is where the hole is, and the yiga took over it because it has access to the hole. That hole was made by the ancient shika to access ganons chamber. Makes sense that the hole would have been put in the middle of the desert near the arbiters grounds, and it would make sense that the shika put a trial down there to train the hero and show him where to stop it for good
Or... the way to defeat Ganon is “beneath the ground” had nothing to do with the tech but was an unclear map to the source of the resurgent malice, the root of the problem; but the Hylians simply believed the tech was the answer. The tech, it seems, was used 10,000 years before and the hero and princess didn’t finish their task/ they cut the weed, left the root, and it returned.
Yes, you are correct. The prophecy was actually refering to the green energy that is able to seal Ganondorf.
Or the entire thing was a Shiekah plot.
The Shiekah understood the correct interpretation, but offered up the guardians as a reasonable substitute and distraction from the Shiekah bad juju mine.
Around 13:33. I made a comment about Ganon saying “aight, Imma stop you there” right at the moment when the shaking began. 😂
Dang it, this made me want to watch lord of the rings again
I am watching it next weekend. While editing this and hearing some of the music... oof... gave me watery eyes, ngl T_T
The Zelda mythology is very similar to the LotR books anyway when you think about it so it's likely that Nintendo took some "inspiration" from Tolkien's work when creating the Eyes of Calamity Ganon.
Monster Maze Extended please, or nothing.
Javier Vásquez The mythology has nothing to do between the two
Javier Vásquez Maybe the villains are the same because they both use eyes to watch everything but no...
Since they said each clash woth calamity ganon faded into legend, there were probably much more than the two mentioned. And since Ganondorf creates a new ganon every time the previous was sealed, theres probably like 20 calamity ganons just chilling in the sacred realm
So, you mentioning the possibility of a spy being the fortune teller, and me playing through Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity got me thinking..
What if Astor was the 'fortune teller' who foretold Ganon's return? It's likely that at the time, Astor was likely still working with the Yiga to ensure Ganon's revival. He's also heavily into magic, perhaps using his skills to pose as a Fortune Teller for the King, and Ganon, using Astor, manipulated the kingdom into unearthing the Guardians and Divine Beasts.
royal families arent exactly known for being open to new blood. the possiblity that zeldas parents were of the same bloodline, thus the power able to come from either, is totally possible.
No it was an actual prophecy but they misinterpreted it, the prophecy was saying to find ganondorfs body and kill him permanently
Lol "kill him permanently". Yeah good luck with that. 👌😏
Javier Vásquez lol yup
We should've been way more hella suspicious since Rhoam says ganon festers, _deep below hyrule castle,_ gaining strength. Yet we find his egg near the top of the castle, like in nearly every game, so conditioned to expect that's where he is going to be found; and I didn't think twice about it. i finally realized the contridiction after watching some theory videos and replaying the game myself...and initially assumed Rhoam might've been simply wrong because that was the last location he knew Ganon to be. He could've easily moved elsewhere in the castle since the King's passing.
No. _we_ were wrong. _We_ were the ones not paying attention. He knew about the seal below the castle, I think. If you look at the swirling aura of malice, it's _thicker near the bottom._ there are luminous stones on the bottom level. In fact including koroks seeds, there's luminous stones usually not too far away from many of the shrines. Near the zonai ruins in Faron, a level or two above the Dragon statue - that suspiciously looks the size and design of a divine beast, that is also conviniently buried in the backside of the dueling peaks, where it is thought _a dragon_ split the mountain in two - is littered with luminous stones.
@@ShadowSkyX It would seem the Luminous Stones have an important role in maintaining the "Hand" that's keeping Ganondorf sealed if so many of them happened to be buried alongside him. Considering that both the sealed Ganondorf and a "mine" of Luminous Stones are under Hyrule Castle one has to wonder wether the Royal Family of Hyrule may have intentionally built the Castle above said mine so as to keep both it and it's prisoner hidden away from the rest of the world for wathever unknown reasons. Wathever circumstances might have lead the Royal Family to keep Ganondorf's imprisonment a secret from the rest of the Kingdom the events shown in Breath of the Wild make it clear that the simple act of burying your enemy under your own castle and then assuming he won't be able to find a way to continue plaguing your bloodline through some indirect manner WILL inevitably lead to dire consequences...
This is a well thought-out theory, I like it a lot! Makes tons of sense. My jaw dropped when you brought up the giant hole in the Yiga Hideout lol.
Now that Age of Calamity is a thing, I’d like to add on to 14:48
This is where Astor was in BOTW. Everyone was talking about his prevalent role in AoC and how he then never made an appearance in the other timeline (spoilers btw sorry...) This is what he was up to. Since he never had a corrupted Terrako to help execute his master plan, he decided to lay low, make small assassination attempts here and there, and report back to Ganondorf to keep him informed of everything going on up above.
Ofc I could be completely wrong about this, but that just hit me almost immediately as I listened to this part. Great vid man, keep up the great work!
Mipha just about to tell Zelda how to control her power
Ganon: ain’t not happening
"hahahahahaha nothing can reasonably go wrong! The sheikah researchers are accidentally building me the strongest army to ever exist, Zelda seems to have no idea how to use her sealing powers, and a few dozen guardian blasts will make short work of Link. all that has to happen now is for the fish lady to NOT say the magic words and..."
"wait."
"that bloody fish is going to say the magic words"
"*N I E T*"
Ain't not? Double negative is a positive. Thus
Ganondorf: "HAPPENING!!"
I can't wait for this game. I really do hope it has a more "active" story. I would like the story to happen around me, and not just memories from 100 years ago.
The biggest reason why I had an inkling that BotW was an unfinished story (regarding truly defeating Ganon) was because Link did not utilize the Master Sword in any way to weaken the Dark Beast before Zelda finished it off. The Master Sword was given a lot of meaning and purpose throughout the game; a lot of characters refer to it and, of course, there is a lot of importance placed on it in the Korok Forest and the Trials. The fact that Link doesn't even wield it in the final confrontation made me think, "This isn't the end." The second clue was how everyone called Calamity Ganon "It." Knowing the Lore as we do, and as you pointed out, this iteration was a faceless evil; just an entity. Calling Calamity Ganon "It" made the evil feel so detached and disconnected from the lore and the connection with our two heroes, since they are each a part of three. When Botw2 was announced and we saw Ganondorf, it all made sense. There is the source. The power we have seen destroy Hyrule this far is nothing compared to what awaits us in the depths. It's an exciting prospect. The tapestry with the green arm of the hero...the green arm that Link will now inherit... it's all coming together. I think this was the plan all along. Thank you for putting the details, imagery, critical thinking, and the concrete words to that niggling in the back of my brain that has been simmering in curiosity for the last few years.
That is indeed a very good point Jen. he Master Sword does react to the malice, but it is not necessary to beat him. So that was definitely a big hint that he was just a puppet. And yeah, it does feel like things are coming together ^^
@@MonsterMaze - Welcome back from your trip/hike. We all missed you ^.^ This vid was well-worth it!
@@jenniferchough It feels good to be back ^_^. I missed all of you too! And it makes getting back to normal life a lot easier knowing that you are all still here
The Yiga also seek revenge for the Royal Family banishing them.
Indeed. That is a long grudge to uphold. It happened like 10.000 years ago. Yiga don't forget haha
No, Yiga are egg people
@@catalyst539 lol
imagine a master kogga puppet made of malice.
since he fell in that hole, maybe ganondorf 'revived' him
*Master Kohga*
Welcome back. How was your trip?
Congrats to 20k subscribers, you deserve it.
PS: Great video as always.
The trip was very very nice! It was kind of hard to get back into my normal lifestyle the first few days after returning but.. Im good now ^^
GREAT VIDEO! So interesting! Really liked the theory about the yiga and them maybe communicating with ganondorf!
In the short time that this channel has been up I have already come to love the videos and have watched them all, The content that this channel posts is one of top quality and I can tell that he puts his time and effort into it and that makes his videos all the better. This was another great video.
Great Job Monster Maze!
Yeah, "Calamity Ganon" was, ultimately, just a bigger Blight. A stronger one, but one nonetheless. A fusion of Malice and Sheikah to create a more stable form.
Also, I do agree the "Fortune-teller" might have been a Yiga. Seems too convenient.
Here's something you as a theorist might wanna think about: BOTW2 has to start from "3 hearts, no items"... Where does Link lose his power and equipment? Just saying.
My guess? Loses it all when Ganondorf wakes up from his mummy state.
He looses his arm and has to spend his energy fighting back the particle effect giving him contextually useful protagonist powers clinging to the stump, leaving him with exactly 3 hearts and one standard stamina wheel. Good thing he collected and redeemed exactly as many spheres as you remember, if he'd gotten only a few less, he could have died!
His gear all broke, and they decided to put the Master Sword back because, I mean, the game was over. Credits were rolling. The Master Sword goes back. Them's the rules.
He ate all the food you collected, and cooked all the inedible materials into debatably edible food, then ate it, too. He probably figured out a way to cook and eat his clothes, too. He also ate all the horses he registered. He also probably ate Wolf Link, if you used him. Ate half of his rupees, then realized he could buy other food with them instead of eating them.
Actually, that might be where all his hearts went, too. Heart disease.
His decked out Shiekah Slate was appropriated by Zelda because she had about ten thousand missed messages, and she gave him a stock, storebought slate with a shitty data plan and an "updated" bomb and stasis Rune that insists it's the same great taste, but we all know it's worse and not even approved by Hylian NASA, that was rolling around, or possibly that she had gotten as a present for her dad, but he couldn't figure out how to activate.
Mipha's spirit dumped him after Zilink became cannon, Revali's got insecure after Link won, so dipped, Urbosa's decided Link and Zelda needed some alone time, and thinks the screaming after the whole arm severing is just really kinky, and Daruk's spirit went off to clap spirit rocks with Darmani.
And the Master Cycle was DLC, and thus not cannon. Link actually just spent the end of BotW's play cycle running around making motorcycle noises.
@@aprinnyonbreak1290 This is canon. Nobody can change my mind.
6:44 ahh yes this makes sense as dew to the events of A.O.C we found out about a crazy fortune teller known as Astor
Wow, I watched this video once before and didn’t give it much thought. Watching this again.. I think you have literally figured out the plot and done an excellent job. Great video man! This makes me even more excited for Breathe 2.
Edit: at around 15:41 I want to make a prediction. The giant hole had a sheikah shrine because that tunnel was dug by the sheikah, and there are we entire underground network of tunnels and transportation under Hyrule! Like subways or trams built with ancient sheikah tech. Maybe a bit out there, but I’m excited to see if I’m right at all. I think you saw all the hints the Zelda devs hoped people would notice, but you’re the first to point out how link almost died suspiciously so many times... it almost feels silly now to think that’s anything BUT Ganon trying to intervene. Sorry for the essay here haha. Again, this is a really well made video. I can tell you really thought about this and it really makes sense. You got yourself a new fan. Subscribed.
Great video, as always. But I do have a counter point for one specific argument regarding the prophecy. You claim that Ganon would require the Sheikah tech to have been dug up to be used in his plan, but that’s not necessarily true. In Creating a Champion/Masterworks we learn that the pillars around the castle are actually storage devices for guardians that were designed to rise and expel guardians when Ganon returns. The majority of guardians we see in the game, both alive and destroyed came from these pillars. With these Ganon would have no real reason to want the few other guardians dug up, especially since that would reveal the divine beasts to the Hylians.
Well, taking control of the Divine Beasts is pretty good, so I do think he would still do that. But it is true that a majority of guardians would come from the pillars.
@@lordecramox7394 If it weren't for the prophecy leading to the massive excavations, the Divine Beasts may not have ever been rediscovered. It all leads back to the prophecy.
Because Ganon adapts and evolves over time, i'd like him to actually come to terms that he's destined to lose in every timeline because of the demon king Demise's curse. thus realising that the only way out is to team up with link and he actually becomes the key to saving / breaking the curse? would be a really cool twist !
Just founding your videos and I must say your theories are Fascinating !!! I totally enjoy them and I really hope you're right because it makes everything so much deeper and rich !!! ♥♥♥ Thanks for sharing this with us !
This is terrifying. I'm sold! This happened, it's Canon, and nothing can change my mind!
It’s Ganon*
This was honestly a very well made and thought out theory on something that I've personally wanted to see covered in depth for a while
I love the idea that master Kohga survived the fall and landed next to Ganondorf and is now malice filled and the most powerful boss in the game is amazing to me. Like imagine if the whole him being disappointingly easy thing is just a set up to beat our butts next time!
Oh my god, that would be so amazing! We never really see him die. Can you imagine if the first cutscene of the game is the camera panning down the hole, and you see Master Kohga laying on the ground or something like that.
@@MonsterMaze I mean you learn more from Failure than success and I can see as a grand finale after having to deal with a 2 on 1 scenario so many times, THIS TIME it's an Ornstein and Smough situation, with Link and Zelda having to fight Ganondorf AND a massively buffed up Kohga. think about it: Ganondorf like Smough while not too fast (but faster than you'd expect mind) is tough, sturdy, and to quote one of my favorite Zelda fics (a Twilight Princess one, I'm a sucker for LinkXMidna and the author is a pretty damn good writer) "He hit's like a battering ram kisses" IE REALLY REALLY HARD! meanwhile the buffed up Kohga on top of being EXTREMELY speedy and hard to keep track of and hit like you'd expect of a badass Ninja Assassin... albeit one who tends also serve as comic relief due to being a goofball while NOW being EXTREMELY competent (Ganondorf is in this case fully aware of what happened in AoC and isn't gonna ever risk losing having his counter to Hyrule's Sheikah like the AoC version of him did) while also being akin to the Maz Kosha fight taken and turned up to eleven! What better way to end what's one of Zelda's hardest stories regarding the BOTW saga and arguably the closest equal Nintendo has in terms of tough but fair difficulty and environmental story-telling than fighting against the King of Evil at his most powerful and a Hyper Mode version of the Yiga's Top Banana! ...Preferably with the Cutscene leading to said fight with as a nod to the first 3D Zelda involving Ganondorf playing his beloved Organ (that the Yiga managed to... "acquire" with it being very ornate considering Ganondorf likes to indulge in the Non-Traditional Deadly Sin of Vanity every so ofter)... and Kohga maybe playing something that one would expect a Sheikah to play like a Koto or a Taiko drum. I mean, it'd make sense since Ganondorf's smart enough to know a creative release can really help with planning down the line and again, he's not gonna make the same mistake Astor and his AoC self wound up making, at the very least he's gonna make sure that the Yiga STAY as his followers since... well let's be honest someone like him is ALWAYS gonna have a need for what happens to be the Yiga's specialty: Stealth, Subterfuge, Intelligence, Spying, Sabotage, and Assassination. WHY WOULD HE RISK LOSING A COUNTER LIKE THIS TO HYRULE'S SHEIKAH?! Doubly so since they share the same hate towards Link's Incarnations and the Hyrulian Royal Family meaning THEY HAVE A SHARED GOAL IN THAT RESPECT!
"The Yiga might be Badass Ninja Assassins! ... From outer space!" Amazing
You're a fantastic commentator. Like someone else said, certain theories have gotten repetitive. Your format and presentation is really nice. Cant wait for the sequel 😌
Ganondorf: We do a little trolling every once in a while
I dont get why some people dont think the figure in the trailer is ganondorf. There entitled to there opinion of course. But the gerudo clothing. The malice the jewel on his head which is very similar to what he has had in other games. Personally I'm 100% confident that we will be seeing the return of ganondorf.
For some odd reason, they think it’s Demise, even though he’s straight up sealed in the master sword
I’ve seen people claim it’s Demise, others claim that it’s Astor, others claim it’s someone new. I don’t think these people have ever seen Ganondorf before.
@@yang6642 I don't think they've played any other game than BotW and RUclips videos to explain the lore
@Miss Misery Bullshit, the old man looks nothing like Ganondorf.
I feel like the memory where Zelda is scolding Link for being careless after fighting a GIANT HOARD of lynals and various monsters is better proof that Ganon was trying to kill them both then a rock falling from an active volcano. But regardless it's a pretty convincing theory.
So many beautiful details in this vid, damn. One thing: dont forget that the yiga likely stole the hideout from the gerudo. So there is the chance that the gerudo made the hole too.
Yes indeed. From what I understand, parts are ancient gerudo, and the yiga expanded it by digging deeper into the mountain.
@@MonsterMaze ah! Ofc this is very possible. We'll see if BotW2 can surprise us there. ^^
That actually makes a lot of sense... He could be the most insanely intelligent reincarnation of all the Ganondorf’s. Quietly waiting.
Scheming and working in the shadows, using his will to possess and control others in doing his bidding, using what the land gives him to exact his plans upon Link and Zelda...
He might be leading Link and Zelda right into his plots, tens of thousands of years of planning.
He might have tons of contingency plans especially since Zelda and Link have waltzed right into his lair... I doubt his Malice Puppet is the end of it...
This Ganon’s clearly got a razor-sharp wit and is using all of his tools to his disposal, so it would likely be that when one of his plans end, he has another one waiting to strike back just as fierce as the heroes did to him.
In MY head canon, Ganondorf: IS, and always HAS been the puppet.... Demise's puppet
You mean for a redemption arc, or a return of Demise?
@@kaitoudark1 both, at the same time. Why not bring back Ganondorf, but have him have an almost Wind Waker moment of humanity. THEN at the moment of hesitation, Demise just says "screw THIS!" and whatever's left of him in the Master Sword, escapes, jumps into the Dorfmeister, and tears his way out of Ganondorf's chest wound. And this, at the mid point of the game. >: )
6:46
Theory: Would if it’s talking about Ganondorf? Ganondorf IS underground after all. Maybe they were supposed to FIND Ganondorf so he can escape! That would make sense.
Very enjoyable video man, I liked hearing your thoughts on this area of Breath of The Wild :)
There's a big problem with that theory, the pillars
Ganon himself raised the pillars and made a lot of guardians come out of it
I agree with you on the divine power part. I believe that Ganon killed the Queen in order to prevent Zelda from using her power so that he could rule Hyrule.
Damn man! Another GREAT VIDEO! That's one of the greatest theory I've seen, and make total sense.
I'm a bit late but in age of calamity there is a profet of doom, Astor, that communicates with ganon and has the yiga as allies, so your theory was correct, if we can say that age of calamity has canon elements. (it isn't canon but I think Astor was also in botw)
I honestly really like this theory, it makes ganon seem more intelligent and cunning than he does in breath of the wild
Hmmmm... What if it was not ganon's hand that destroyed Hyrule, but Zelda's? That explosion set off, looked devastating....
Also, notice the tapestry at 17:24. It seems to be aware of a split in time with something *very* significant happening with the moon and the stars.
I just wanna say that I really appreciate the hard work you put into your videos because it really shows. Keep up the amazing work!!
Thank you! ^_^
With everything that Ganondorf manipulated into happening - the Queen's death, the increase in monsters, the "prophecy," the assassination attempts on Link and Zelda, and the interruption of Mipha's conversation with Zelda - it doesn't seem like too much of a stretch that Ganondorf would want Link and Zelda to come to him to release him, as a plan B.
In fact, I would go so far as to say that Ganondorf manipulated Link and Zelda into defeating his puppet, Calamity Ganon, for two reasons: 1, to lull them and Hyrule into a false sense of security, thinking they have defeated Ganon when they actually haven't, and thus catch them off-guard yet again, and 2, to unseal his body so he can unleash his rage upon Hyrule. If Ganondorf is powerful enough to conjure up an entity - that by itself, is capable to destroy Hyrule - while being sealed, I shudder to think how much more powerful he will be once he's released from his seal. Combine that raw power with a level of cunning and manipulation spanning millennia, it looks like we are about to face the strongest iteration of Ganondorf yet. Yikes!
Absolutely terrifying :O
For my BOTW 2 ideas from a while ago, the idea would be to immediately establish that this version of Ganondorf is able to knock Link unconscious with one blow. This would be intentionally done to present a clear message: this version of Ganondorf is going to be an utter pain in the ass to kill and should scare you.
The fortune might have been a real fortune but it wasn't refering to the shiekah tech instead it was saying the had to seal Ganondorfs real body
Excellent video! I believe in the whole concept as well: Ganondorf actually doing not much real work while he manipulates those who would normally stand against him to do the work for him. He would be incredibly cunning and use his manipulation skills to do most of the work, but when the gloves must come off, he would come across as an utter monster. For example, an idea I have with BOTW 2 is to create a cutscene that shows just how powerful and intelligent Ganondorf is in order to make the player fear him immensely. In this case, when he is barely out of his near dead mummy form, he would let Link tire himself out with all the best attacks the hero has at his disposal while Ganondorf just dodges every single one. Then, when Link gets tired enough, Ganondorf would strike him in the chest with one fist, and the blow would send Link flying into the nearby rocks with enough force to incapacitate him. Luckily, Link would still be conscious, but only for a few more minutes before he fades out of consciousness for a while. With this entire cutscene, in less than 15 minutes, it establishes that Ganondorf is far more powerful and cunning than the player can comprehend. This, rightfully, would throw the player into high levels of fear as their most powerful weapon against the King of Evil has just been temporarily nullified with a single punch to the chest.
This is a great theory. Well done Monster Maze.
People say BotW doesn't have a lot of story but there are so many in-depth analysis videos of even the most minute details, more than for "story rich" games. Rather than having no story, BotW shows you glimpses of the story during your playthrough and there are little details to discover everywhere and you can piece everything together yourself. This approach is very similar to Mad Max: Fury Road: Show don't tell. I think it's a far better way of telling stories than having characters tell you what is happening in boring dialogues (like in Witcher 3).
Agreed. It's also what makes theorizing about Zelda so fun and potent. If a game spells out everything, there is very little reason to speculate. For instance, I love xenoblade. But most things in the story are explained in detail. Especially in Xenoblade 2, at the end pretty much everything gets cleared up. So making a theory video about that game is much harder. Not to mention multiple theories over the span of multiple years.
You know you have your priorities straight when you're supposed to be studying but monster maze is obviously more important
Love this vid. Maybe some food for thought: the parallels to LotR are evident. Only in Zelda the key figures are a bit different. Sauron is effing massive, one of the mightiest beings. Ganon/Ganondorf too. But in opposition to LotR, Zelda has...well... Zelda. I would guess the second mightiest being after the three golden godesses. So yeah ganon feels kinda lame bc he faces off against the godess and the hero, i would suggest.
Calamity Ganon should have had more of those "Sauron moments" where he just stares down link and sends some sort of ring wraith equivalent if Link ran into one of those eyes.
Sometimes i’ve heard that the three virtues of the triforce can be represented with sheikah blue liquid (wisdom), green and possibly zonai hand string things (courage), and malice (power). The sheikah blue stuff can contain writing, and the green string energy looks like some sort of scripture, so do you think Ganondorf’s corpse can send out malice that contains writing/a message and that’s how he communicates with monsters and yiga?
18:34
If he is fully voiced, I wouldn't be surprised if his voice resembles that of the Gravemind from the Halo series, minus the bit where it always speaks in poem language.
Monster Maze uploads a video*
clicked it*
I love it already
This version of Ganondorf seems to be the best aspects of every other Ganondorf.
He's a brilliant schemer like Wind Waker's Ganondorf
He's got the ridiculous power levels of A Link To The Past's Ganon
And he's got the focus, commitment, and sheer will of Twilight Princess's Ganondorf
He likely didn't care too much about the calamity being halted again. It was just another delay, another thing he would account for next time.
Yep. Except this time he has an advantage against Hyrule because, well, the kingdom doesn't even exist at this point since the entire government for the country was razed during the Second Calamity. With all previous Calamities, we can presume that the kingdom of Hyrule was able to survive relatively unscathed. Unlike THOSE encounters, though, the Second Calamity has left the land practically defenseless as most people at this point think the catastrophe is permanently over when it's merely just cutting the head off the snake; To Ganondorf, it's nothing more than a slight irritation.
It's so cool to think that this will be the most powerful villain to date. Calamity Ganon already is, or at least the best at what it does. And Ganondorf didnt even directly do this. His puppet did. I cant even imagine what he plans for when he awakens.
In creating a champion, it does say that the Queen of Hyrule held the sealing power. So, the King of Hyrule was likely the one who married into the royal family, probably from a family of nobility.
I like this theory a lot. Some in game stuff didn’t add up to me at first but this vid makes sense to it. Also I love the idea of Dehydrated Ganon attempting multiple assassinations on Zelda and Link, failing every time going: Fuck! Fuck!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
What if Astor was the prophet just like in Age of Calamity, and the reason why we don’t see him is because he is the one talking straight to Ganondorf. The reason why he’d be more shown in AOC is because he doesn’t need to follow Dorf’s plan because he can see the future
"Okay so it turns out the Calamity is actually five Phantom Ganons in a trenchcoat."
-King Rhoam
I am so glad to have finally found a video of someone talking about this. Since I first played the game I thought it was amazing how Ganon was able to desecrate Hyrule with just his Malice...
I don't think he moved the chess pieces to a beneficial position though. Probably just me, but his usual M.O. is to seize an opportunity when it's presented instead. He didn't want to get thrown into the Sacred Realm, he just found a way to use it. He didn't plan on getting stabbed with the Sage's sword, he just used it when he was able to.
I could be wrong though
And that big hole in the Yiga Clan Hideout, used to be a Gerudo hideout. Ganondorf is a gerudo. The gerudo could have made that hole to bury ganondorf somewhere where no one would ever find him. Or that's what they hoped anyway. But, before they could fill in the hole the Yiga found and took over this hideout also finding ganon in the process. It's just something that I thought of randomly, but I think it's cool with this theory.