This is just fun speculation, so I'm not proposing anything final! Just having fun speculating.

I once thought the Zonai were the interlopers who became the Twil. I put that idea aside for long, but started revisiting it recently. And it may perhaps have merit?

Because what got me thinking, was when Rauru talks about the downfall of the Zonai in AoI. He doesn't just say the forbidden constructs brought on the downfall of the Zonai, but that they brought on chaos "upon the world" - not a direct quote, but basically that the world was affected, thus implying that it wasn't just the Zonai in the heavens. And that made me think:

Could the Interloper War, and the downfall of the Zonai, be the very same event? We know the Forbidden Constructs were made by the Zonai - possibly Zonai who still lived in the Depths, as the Depths is where the chamber of these constructs are found. And for the Constructs to create such a calamity, it seems like they need to be infused with dark magic, as we see Ganondorf do. Perhaps a faction of the Zonai turned to the dark side, created these constructs for the sake of power, and this became the Interloper War? Where the "Interlopers" were evil Zonai, coming with their dark magic and weapons, that both brought the Zonai almost to extinction and created a war on the surface?

The reason I'm considering this at all instead of seing them as two completely seperate events, is the insanely many similarities between the Zonai and Twili.

The Fused Shadow is filled with swirls, including the "horns" that have the same swirly edge as we see tons of Zonai constructions and achitecture have. The sides of the Fused Shadow have three "eye"-shaped cirlces stacked on top of each other, just like the sides of the friendly Zonai constructs have. And, the backside of the Fused Shadow has a big eyeball with three eye lashes on top, just like the Zonai's 3rd eye. The Twili also use green magic just like the Zonai, have anti-grav technology/magic just like the Zonai, and Zant's throne room is both filled with the same kind of swirl-architecture as Zonai constructions have, and Zant's throne has the same Zonai/Sheikah eye on it.

And with that perspective, I simply found it interesting how Rauru described the forbidden construct's damage to be a chaos "onto the world", and not just to the Zonai tribe in the sky, and thus wanted to revisit this idea of their connections, and the idea that the Interlopers may have been the very same Zonai who made the forbidden constructs and made these constructs almost whipe out the Zonai race as a whole.

Some things I've noted down that may be of help in the speculation:

• In Master Works, the bright pristine stone material used in the Zonai structures in the Depths and skies are referred to as "Type 1" architecture, while the rougher, darker, browner and more "moldy" stone architecture is known as "Type 2". Not only is the materials between the two types different, but the motifs and style is different too, where Type 1 has a more "clean" alien style with less details and with Zonai writings on them, while Type 2 structures often have pillar and arch-like textures as well as a seemingly bigger focus on swirls (like the round swirl type seen on the Type 2 owl statues)
• The Type 2 structures are almost exclusively found on the surface; either in the Zonai ruins and surrounding ruins in Faron, or in Typhlo Ruins, or other specific places like certain underground caves - and of course in the 3 mazes. But interestingly, the only place where this type is used in the skies and Depths is also in these mazes. It seems like the mazes in the Depths and surface are physically connected, while the ones in the sky used to be connected to the part of the maze on the surface, but this in-between section of them were most likely destroyed at one point as there are floating debris between them. So the mazes were definitely made as huge, connected structures, stretching from the Depths all the way to the skies
• On the mazes in the sky, the entrance platforms use the Type 1 aestethics, and not the Type 2 one like the rest of the maze.
• We don't get any proper explaination of the Type 2 aesthetic in Master Works, but there are suggestions and theories presented. At one point, the book theorizes that these Type 2 surface ruins were built before the Zonai ascended to the skies, and that other races have put their own touch on the ruins of the countless years, essentially building new ruins over/around the old Zonai ruins (as we can see hints of during Mineru's quest, where we see some Type 2 ruins destroyed, revealed Type 1 ruins inside).
• Just a few pages later, however, the book seems to suggest that the ruins were made by those "following faith/appreciation of the Zonai tribe". Not sure if this means they were made by people appreciating the Zonai while they still walked on the surface (as suggested above) or if they were made after the Zonai were gone, which would be a different theory from the one suggested above. But I take it as the Type 2 ruins we see were additions to the original Type 1 ruins, done by people in faith of the Zonai after they ascended to the skies, which is in line with the theory above. It would also make sense, as the circular swirl symbol on the Type 2 owl statues is the same as the ones on the Sandship doors in Skyward Sword.
• It's unclear if it still is canon or not, but in TOTK's original teaser trailer, we saw the entrance to the temple underneath Hyrule Castle - and it actually uses Type 2 aesthetics, just like the surface ruins. Now again, this could just be how all Zonai architecture was originally supposed to look in TOTK before they changed it to the white, clean Type 1 we see in the final game, and thus the teaser's entrance design is outdated. And since we never actually enter this place in-game, because we skip it in the beginning of the game and it's destroyed after the Upheaval, there's no telling what the final version of this entrance looks like. But in Master Works, there's concept art of both this entrance and the corridors inside... and the corridors inside use the new, Type 1 aesthetics, while the temple entrance still uses Type 2 aesthetics... So what could this imply?
• The voice speaking to you first of all is definitely a Zonai, as the voice-sound and text-visuals are all Zonai, plus you activate Zonai terminals to make them talk. They seem to refer to themselves as the "Ruler of Dragons, Owls and Boars", and in the sky versions, they use the phrase "You who set foot in MY labyrinth", indicating that these labyrinths were indeed built by some kind of Zonai.

And that all begs some questions. If the Labyrinths were made by someone of the Zonai, and the Type 2 ruins were made/added on by those worshipping the Zonai or honoring the Zonai, either during or after their time on the surface, then how come the labyrinths are built in the Type 2 style? You could say that "just like the rest of the surface ruins, the people who followed them added their own stonework around them", but how were they able to do this in the Depths, let alone the sky - and why didn't they also then do more of this work on Zonai ruins in the sky and Depths?

Furthermore, the entrance platforms on the sky mazes are, as mentioned, using the Type 1 aesthetics. If there were people coming after the Zonai who added onto the Zonai's ruins (even in the sky mazes), why did they leave out this entrance platform? Why didn't they build around that, too? A logical conclusion to make is that it's the other way around; that the Type 1 platform was added onto the labyrinths, explaining why it sticks out as the only part that's of a different style, instead of someone rebuilding the entire massive construction and leaving out ONE platform/piece of ground. But again, that also clashes with what we (assume) we know about the Type 2 ruins, and that they came after and were built around Type 1 ruins. So another possibility is that this new entrance platform in the sky with the Type 1 aesthetic came out of the labyrinth due to the Upheaval.

It's also the curious case of the Zonai talking to you here are the "rulers of boars, dragons and owls". Were they mighty Zonai? High ranked Zonai? Godly Zonai? Were they perhaps the ones who swalloed secret stones and became the 3 dragons?

And in all of this, what does "Lomei" mean? Is it the name of a faction of the Zonai? Or perhaps the name of the tribe of people that did this Type 2 rework on the Zonai ruins?

Finally, one possibility I could see is that the Type 2 ruins are originally the oldest style, predating the Type 1 ruins. The "godly era ruins", as Master Works calls the temple underneath Hyrule Castle, is said to be of the earliest Zonai constructions. If the temple entrance is made of the Type 2 aesthetics, perhaps this was the oldest form of Zonai architecture, meaning the 3 labyrinths are of the oldest period of the Zonai, before the "modern" Type 1 style took over, and that after the Zonai left (or died out), followers of the oldest Zonai built around the modern Zonai structures with the style of the ancient Zonai as an honor to them.

What do you think of all of this? What are your thoughts? Any details that I've missed that may help explain things more, perhaps?

Haven't been able to play the game myself yet, so I wonder for those who have played it: I've seen people say this game confirms Rauru doesn't know about the Master Sword, but is there a direct quote to confirm this? If so, could you link it or tell where/when in the game he says this?

I've yet to recieve an e-mail of a collab or sponsorship that isn't a scam. I've recently recieved two that seem rather legit, however, and I really need help to determine if it's safe/legit or not! Sorry if it's a long post - I really, really appreciate it if you read it all and give me your thoughts!

#1: JP FANS

First, from something known as Jp Fans. The e-mailer's adress ends in "@jpfans.net", and the first e-mail is as follows:

Dear *youtube channel name*,

I'm Lin from JPfans. We help a global audience discover and shop for premium Japanese goods.

Your community clearly values the quality and authenticity that our products offer, and we think a collaboration would be a perfect fit—especially for Japan-exclusive games, limited edition consoles, and rare collector's items that are hard to find outside Japan.

Here’s how we can support you and your channel:

Free Products: Pick what you or your fans would love.

Referral & Sales Earnings: Get paid for sign-ups and purchases made through your link.

Free Shipping: We handle the delivery costs for you.

Paid Collaboration Projects

We'd love to set up a long-term partnership and can share more specifics if you're interested.

If you’re interested, reply “YES” with your location and your audience’s main regions, and I’ll send your tailored collab plan!

Best regards,

Lin

JPFans Manager

Lin
JPFans Manager

I then replied requesting more information as it sounded interesting. I got a repons with details, including the proposal, which seemed realistic compared to all the scams I've been getting; 5$ per new user who makes an order from JP Fans, referral bonuses, 3% comission on international shipping fees, and 100$ for a 2 min ad in a video + a dedicated unboxing video between 5 and 10 minutes long. How does all of this sound?

#2: Click Talents

Got an e-mail that ends in "@tryzano.com", and the first e-mail goes as follows:

Hey *youtube channel name*,

Let me get straight to it: your content slapped us across the face (in the best way), and we need you on our roster.

Clicks Talent isn’t just an agency. We’re a creator-powered revenue engine. We rep over 5,000 influencers across 65+ countries, pulled off campaigns with brands like Uber Eats and Sony, and we’ve been around since the Musical.ly era (aka ancient TikTok).

We want to represent you. That means:

• Paid campaigns (real ones, not "we'll pay you in exposure" nonsense)
• A dedicated agent pitching you to 100+ brands a month
• All your contracts, invoices, and deadlines handled for you
• You = creating. Us = negotiating + chasing payments

I’ll send you a quick deck if you're curious. LMK if you're down to talk!

Cheers,

And then it had a signature card with links to social media for Click Talents. I asked for more information here, too, and got a reply with info; an e-mail adress to a coordinator I could contact for more info, and he said we could organize a call if I prefer that, and a Google Drive link to a full presentation of Click Talents. What do you all think?

There are three books that were only released in Japan. These were "Artwork Collection" 1 - 3.

The second one (Artwork Collection 2) was released in 2014 (I believe), between Hyrule Historia and Hyrule Encyclopedia. It featured an updated timeline with information from A Link Between Worlds.

And the strange thing is... The Era of Chaos, when the Interlopers invaded Hyrule, and Rauru sealed the Triforce in the Sacred Realm, now happend *after* Hyrule's founding.

But in both Encyclopedia, and the later Artwork Collection 3, it's returned to The Sacred Realm is Sealed -> Hyrule is founded.

From my research, it seems like Hyrule Historia and the two Wild Era books are the most reliable, as Historia is supervised and edited by Aonuma, and the Wild books feature a ton from the devs themselves. Encyclopedia is supervised by Nintendo, and so it seems the timeline is as canon as you can get, but the rest is writer interpretations to be taken with a grain of salt. And the japanese-exclusive Artwork Collection books seem to have no supervision from Nintendo, so these are by far the least reliable.

So seing as the 3rd book is back to the original order of events, it seems like this was an error in the second book based on the myths told in A Link Between Worlds. Interesting nontheless

I'm one (of the few?) who believe in a True Founding, for many reasons. I'd love to hear where you stand, and why. I would also be very interested in being asked/questioned by you on why I believe in a True Founding, and I'd love to answer the questions as good as I can!

I feel there are so many interesting and mysterious things surrounding Ganondorf in the Wind Waker.

-His necklace is a green head of some sort of creature. It doesn't look like Ganon, seing it seemingly has long pointy ears. And it has a glowing stone in the middle. First thing I thought was Zonai, but then brushed that off... Until I noticed something else.

-The face on the back of his robe isn't a smiling face looking straight forward. It's **two dragons from the side, mirrored so they are facing each other**. Not only this, but the dragons are holding a circular object in their talons...

-There are two native-styled shields or boards outside of Ganondorf's hut in Forsaken Fortress that both have the Sheikah symbol on them. This is one of the very few places in the WW where the Sheikah symbol appears

-His katanas read "Kotake Koume" in most versions, but on his Smash Bros Brawl trophy they read the names of the blacksmiths in Majora's Mask. The blacksmiths' names are also written on Phantom Ganon's sword in the WW

-Interestingly, Ganondorf never transforms into Ganon in the WW. He seems to transform into Puppet Ganon at first, but after the fight, it seems clear that the puppet was just a puppet, and that Ganondorf was just controlling it as a puppetmaster from above

-Finally, what even is Ganon's Tower..? In the barren destroyed Hyrule where only Hyrule Castle and a few ruins remain, Ganon's Tower stands out as the only other structure still standing. And it's not a castle or a fortress, but instead a thin, tall tower with very strange tech-like symbols all over its exterior. And in the underground path leading into the tower, between the staircase sections, is this odd pause-room with friendly yet off-putting music, a portal back to the surface, and a strange maze-like chamber below. The staircase sections has big eye-symbols all over the walls. And then, the strange tower itself... is mostly empty. A pool of shallow water at the bottom, with a single exit at the very top, leading outside onto the tower's flat roof. What IS this tower? What is/was its purpose? Did Ganondorf build it, or just overtake it from someone else? Is it built recently, or is it ancient?

Hey!

Dumt spm men jeg er utrolig lite vant med å kjøre i storby. Skal kjøre sørover, forbi Elverum og Oslo og til Drammen.

Jeg vil 110% ikke kjøre gjennom Oslo sentrum. Noen jeg spurte sa at man ikke trengte det; at man kjører E6 nedover, og over på E18 mot Drammen, og at man da slipper godt unna kjernen av Oslo. Men med alle mulige reiseruter jeg prøver på Google Maps, så viser den alltid en rute som går gjennom selve kjernen av Oslo; altså gjennom Operaen, Akershus Festning og hele pakka.

Noen tips? Er det andre ruter enn det Maps viser, eller må jeg gjennom sentrum? Trenger jeg i det hele tatt Maps akkurat der, eller er å følge skilting nok?

What theories do you have surrounding this?

The Sheikah became highly advanced after the Imprisoning War, aka long after the Zonai were gone.

TotK seems to hint towards the ancient Sheikah energy being refined Zonai energy/magic, given how your battery goes from green to blue when upgraded. With Rauru's continous purification of Ganondorf's Gloom, the purification unit in that chamber going straight up into the bottom of Hyrule Castle where the mysterious Astral Observatory is, and with the purification unit having these big golden "ancient Sheikah-like" constellation things installed onto it, I always concluded all of this with the ancient Sheikah using Rauru's purified Gloom, refining it, mastering it over a long time, and using it as an infinite source of that Zonai energy, with the Astral Observatory functioning like a power plant. This made them advanced, and that's what the ancient blue Sheikah energy is.

HOWEVER,

that brings us to my question! Because for some strange reason, we can find the Ancient Blade item in TOTK, which is basically an ancient arrow from BOTW but just the blade. Same blue blade, same black and orange swirling design. Same functionality. Now if we only found it randomly in the overworld, it wouldn't be as mysterious; it could just be remains of the ancient Sheikah Tech that disappeared after BOTW.

But what makes it weird is that a Zonai construct deep down in the Spirit Temple sells you these, alongside Zonai weapons. And seing as the blade has the Ancient Sheikah tech design, and has the refined blue energy, and the Sheikah became advanced and made these long after the Zonai were gone from the world.. How can this be possible? How can a forgotten Zonai construct deep in the locked Spirit Temple make and sell you something that the Sheikah made long after this construct was sealed off down here?

I myself have 2 theories.

One is that it isn't canon, and is only there for gameplay reasons as a late-game way of aquiring more Ancient Blades.

My second theory is that the Zonai had started refining Zonai magic themselves, with new designs, and the Ancient Blade is one of the few "upgraded" Zonai deviced that the Zonai made before their extinction. That this black-and-orange design is a result of more advanced Zonai tech, and that this blade became the basis for the design and technicality of the ancient Sheikah tech.

Because, if they just wanted it to be a strong device that worked just like an ancient arrow, why didn't they just make a Zonai variant of it? The fact that they chose to give it the ancient Sheikah design has to mean something.

What do you think?

Perfect *for me*, of course.

I think the map's visuals and style are incredible, the music is fantastic, the main quest is replayable with a very tough boss fight, wonder weapon is unique and not a "save-me-immediately" weapon, OSCAR is very unique, having Mars as a playable area adds a ton to the map, the mythos is very mysterious and interesting and nostalgic, and more.

My problems with the map lie in 2 places: How you aquire the Wonder Weapon, and the side quests.

So first off, let's get the Wonder Weapon quest out of the way first: I think the quest is one of the most unfun quests we've had for a Wonder Weapon. Gathering the parts and how you aquire them is completely fine, and killing Oscar with the 3 traps is also fine; each one requiring slightly different approaches to OSCAR, as they test you in different things. The problem comes with finding OSCAR, and bringing OSCAR to the traps. Especially in Cursed where the minimap is gone, this is not difficult, it's just simply tedious. As OSCAR is also moving around, there have been several times where I've walked through the whole map without finding him, because he moved away into a location I had already checked. And luring him to the traps themselves is just slow. So the Wonder Weapon quest is, imo, simply way too tedious/uninteresting due to the searching and waiting. I'm not sure what the best solution to this would be, but what I have considered is that, whenever he spawns into the map again, he always spawns next to you, like any other special enemy do. That way, you can strategically spawn in OSCAR where you want, close to the trap you need to take him out with.

Now, for my biggest issue with Astra and where I feel there's so much wasted potential: The side quests.

I'm one of those that value side quests so much that it can make or break a map. Side quests with unique rewards for the rest of the game add so, so much to a map. Things to do, satisfying quests to go for (or just aquire from stuff like the Mystery Box), gives the map so much more depth and uniqueness, and so on. It's the reason I love Gorod Krovi so much, actually. Astra Malorum not only is a bit underwhelming in this area, but also made some very weird choices imo.

Aside from the Wonder Weapon, Astra basically have these unique rewards:

• Mega Death Machine from killing OSCAR
• Shiny Trinket from killing OSCAR
• Lantern Orbs
• DG2 turret

Alongside these are of course the various perk quests, and the time slow-down quest with the clocks, but even though that's unique, it's not something you do and then get a reward for the rest of the game. It's more like a trap, something you have access to from the start, but with a different activation method. My problem with the 4 listed above is that they're underwhelming or, imo, weirdly designed/implemented.

Mega Death Machine is actually cool; a Death Machine that is clearly much more powerful than the regular one. I just wish it had something to give it a more visual flare. A bigger feeling of it being something unique. The Shiny Trinket is a unique tactical equipment, and yet is only used to give you a one-time brain rotted Raveger, which to this day I still don't understand the logic behind at all. I have literally no idea what the thought process was behind this one, unless there's something we're missing still. The Lantern Orbs are cool on the surface, as they are something you get rewarded with permanently and they can be used both offensively and to get a free Ray Gun, but they lack an "ompf" feeling, they aren't very effective against Zombies, and they don't even give you any points for killing Zombies. Finally, the DG-2 turret is both lacking as it is ripped from Ashes, but it's also so quick and easy to aquire, and using it is a death trap as Zombies immediately blast you with meat, so you're dead if you use it for more than 5 seconds.

Here's how I would change all 4 of them, and in the end, there are 2 more additions I would add to the map that I will explain.

• Mega Death Machine: Simply give the Death Machine a camo, a new name (instead of just Death Machine in a legendary rarity) and a PaP firing sound effect. That would go a long way.
• Shiny Trinket: Again, I simply don't understand this item or quest at all. Why make a brand new tactical that gives you something a Bran Rot ammo mod can give you, and then leave you with a useless tactical for the rest of the game? What I would do is, once you do the friendly Raveger quest once, the Trinket will now spawn in Bongo every time you throw it. That way, the Trinket becomes a unique tactical that doesn't have the same attraction powers of a Monkey Bomb, but it also lasts longer and kills more Zombies overall, and you have a renewable source of it by killing OSCAR.
• Lantern Orbs: Simply give their firing animation more of an "ompf" feeling, make them kill more Zombies, and make them actually give you points for killing Zombies.
• DG-2 turret: Instead of breaking the floating rock with 1 explosive, make it take many explosive hits before it breaks. That way, the DG-2 turret is something you can work towards throughout the game, throwing grenades at the rock as you pass by the area. When you finally get it, it will feel more rewarding. And then, change how it works: Instead of getting on it any time you want and be stoned to death immediately, make it into a trap. You can purchase it like a trap, and you get a certain amount of time with it, where Zombies cannot damage you.

Finally, there are 2 side quest additions I would have added, each with a unique reward:

• The dagger. When it was teased with Astra, I was sure this dagger was something we would use. But it's only in the museum as a piece of lore. I think it would be awesome to have this optional melee wonder weapon in the map, being this dagger with Vril-Ya powers implemented into it. It doesn't even need to be very complicated; it could hit many Zombies with each attack, like Etheral Razor in BO4, and perhaps have a percent chance to create a stun explosion that stuns all nearby Zombies.
• A map-unique support streak: Meteor shower. With 115 meteors raining down during Raveger rounds, and meteors being a big part of the map visually, I think it would be so fitting to have an actual meteor equipment. I imagine it not like the Wonder Barrage or Dragon Strike, but rather a support streak you just call in, and it would rain down meteors on the entire map.

If Astra had these changes (that of course are very tailored to my preferences), Astra Malorum would be a 10/10 map for me.

I had a thought about Calamity Ganon that I don’t see discussed much. Unless I've missed something, or unless there are details I've missed that immediately busts this theory lol

From what I've seen, people usually assume Calamity Ganon has always been a bodiless cloud of malice. But do we actually know that? In BOTW, the only version of Calamity Ganon we personally see is the one that emerged 100 years ago, the one that is trying to build itself a new body. But there isn't anything confirming he has always been this way? Malice and hatred incarnate, sure. But a physical body?

I'm one of those who believe in a True Founding and that OOT Ganon was essentially the first Calamity Canon. And in the last few days there are 3 things that have boggled my mind:

1. If he's sealed, why does he come out from beneath Hyrule Castle where TOTK Dorf is?

2. Why does it want a body/why doesn't it have one?

3. Why did it take an entire 10 000 years between the last calamitues?

My theory is that the Calamity from 10,000 years ago was still the original Ganon — the same Ganon we saw for the first time in Ocarina and the one with the repeated returns in the timeline.

Over time, especially in the Downfall Timeline, Ganon becomes less human and more monstrous. He returns again and again, becoming more like a mindless beast than a person. By the time of the ancient Calamity 10 000 years ago, he had become known as “Calamity Ganon”, basically the final, most destructive form of the original Ganon. Still with his physical body.

And then the Sheikah technology changed everything.

The Divine Beasts and Guardians didn't simply seal him, but they may actually have destroyed that version of Ganon for good.

That would explain why there is such a massive 10,000-year gap before Calamity Ganon appears again. If Ganon normally keeps returning, 10,000 years feels very long. But if the original Ganon was actually destroyed, then the long gap makes more sense. Thus, I believe the Calamity Ganon we see in BOTW is not be the same Ganon from 10 000 years ago. I think it's a new manifestation of hatred forming from the source beneath Hyrule Castle, a new Ganon, which would explain why it has no body yet and is trying to create one, and why king Rhoam said it came out of beneath Hyrule Castle... because it was newly created, released by TOTK Dorf for the first time.

So basically:

TOTK Ganondorf releases his hatred and malice for the first time, manifested as Ganon, and it's given a physical body through OOT Ganondorf (by the works of Twinrova, most likely). He keeps being sealed and resurrected again and again, becoming more and more mindless, eventually becoming known as Calamity Ganon. 10,000 years ago, the Sheikah finally destroyed Ganon, and this marked the end of the original Ganon.

It then took TOTK Dorf 10 000 years to create and release a new Ganon. The Calamity in BOTW was a new bodiless manifestation, a new Ganon, and just like the original, it is originally pure malice that seeks a physical body - and this time around, it tries to create one itself. And just like 10 000 years ago, Ganon is not sealed, but instead destroyed by a hero and the Sheikaj tech (like the main quest tells us: "Destroy Ganon", not "Seal Ganon").

And, if Hyrule Castle and Rauru's seal wasn't disrupted, another Ganon (aka, another manifestation of TOTK Dorf's malice) would probably spawn 10 000 years in the future. This means Ganon is, and always has been, TOTK Dorf's hatred manifested, and as long as he lives, Hyrule is in a Ganon-cycle, where you can destroy Ganon, but another one will be made in around 10 000 years.

Not confirmed, obviously. But I think it makes the 10,000-year gap, Ganon’s body-building in BOTW, and the connection between older Ganon lore and TOTK’s Demon King fit together pretty well.

When things finally started to click for me with the Spear, and I got the ability to swap between the Shield and Spear on the fly... The pure satisfaction from that gameplay is some of the most fun I've had in a video game - maybe ever. I love Eternal, but for me personally, it became too focused on weapon swapping, using the right weapon, and dashing. I've always prefered TDA, due to the more heavy-feeling combat, the visual and audio feedback on everything, and just the weight of it all and how it focuses on reaction and timing in the way it does.

And Revelations just amps that gameplay loop up to a new level man. In Eternal, it felt like I was screwed if I wasn't standing in the right place or constantly moving around. But here, that speed is transferred to the insane amount of options you have for counter attacks and offensive attacks combined. I feel I can still survive even if I don't constantly move, because with the right focus, I can block the incoming and dodge the incoming attacks in just the right way and stand my ground. In a way, I feel more offensive in TDA than in Eternal, especially with Revelations.

>!I just got the 3rd of those stones and started the boss fight.!< For those who have finished the DLC, about how far do you think I am in the DLC? Am I like 30% done, or more close to 70%, or what do you think? (Just asking because I hope there's a ton of content left hah)

In my head, I think I may have solved something huge. It's impossible to "solve" it as we simply don't have enough information to confirm many things, but to me, this all started clicking into place and became very, very interesting for me...

So, as far as information we know, this is some of what we have regarding the Zonai's timeline leading up to the Great Calamity where the Ancient Hero appears:

1. The Zonai begin on the surface, discovers the Depths, and start mining. These were the ancient Zonai.
2. Eventually most of them move to the skies. Some apparently remain on the surface and in the Depths
3. They prosper in the skies. Constructs and other tech are sent from the Depths to the skies
4. After possibly thousands of years, they are almost wiped out by a corrupted, advanced construct. They return to the surface
5. They join the Hylians, mate with them, in an attempt to save their species
6. X amount of years later, Rauru is born. Eventually, he and Mineru are the apparent last of the Zonai
7. Imprisoning War happens. Rauru and Mineru are both "gone", and so is the Zonai race
8. X amount of years later, Calamity Ganon first appears
9. Many years later - houndreds, or possibly thousands of years for all we know - the Sheikah have become advanced, created the Divine Beasts and Guardians to prepare for a return of Calamity Ganon. Calamity Ganon emerges, and so does the mysterious Ancient Hero wielding the Master Sword

So first off, is the Ancient Hero a Zonai? I've seen many believe he's a Zonai-human hybrid, a decendant of Rauru and Sonia perhaps. But that doesn't make sense; a mix of Sonia and Rauru wouldn't result in a Hylian with canis (dog/wolf) legs and feet, and a tail. Yet, he seems to be of some sort of Zonai: The body paint and full-on Zonai clothing, the big snout and animal-inspired anatomy. IS he a Zonai?

Here, it's important to remember something important: We believe we know how the Zonai actually look, yet we've only seen two individuals of an entire lost race.

But even if he's of Zonai blood, how come he's alive in the Great Calamity when the Zonai have been extinct for possibly thousands of years?

And here's where I think we've been wrong: We have looked at things backwards.

I don't think the Ancient Hero is a late evolution of the Zonai at all. I believe he's part of the original, ancient Zonai.

In the Depths, there's the famous 5th statue of a species that is unknown. In Master Works, one of the 3 speculated options is that this is a more primitive Zonai. And I think it doesn't make sense for the statue to be anything else than a Zonai. If they were the race that essentially ruled the world in the ancient times, why would there not be a statue of them alongside the other 4 major races? And it just so happens that this statue has the same dog/wolf-like legs and snout as the Ancient Hero. And these statues were obviously built around the era when the Zonai were still operating in the Depths - aka during the time of the ancient Zonai.

If that's the case, then the wolf-legs-and-snout Zonai (the same type that the Ancient Hero is of) is indeed the primitive Zonai. Their original, ancient design, which also fits with the mining gear and how it's clearly made for this kind of anatomy. This also makes sense with how Rauru and Mineru look. Their ears are longer and they have a third eye. It makes sense that watching over the godly Secret Stones and living in the heavens brought them closer to the gods, evolving their species to have longer ears and more godly abilities. And, most importantly, the Zonai came back to the surface in order to survive. To mate with Hylians. I believe this is precicely why Rauru and Mineru are more human in their design; human legs and feet, no tail, etc.

It's not that Rauru and Mineru has the original design of the Zonai, and the Ancient Hero is an evolution of that. Instead, it's the other way around; the Ancient Hero is the one with the original Zonai design, and Rauru and Mineru's more human design is a result of generations of breeding with Hylians.

The Ancient Hero's Aspect is given to us on the Great Sky Island, as a gift from Rauru and Sonia after completing all shrines. Thus, Rauru hid away this aspect containing the hero's spirit on the Great Sky Island before he sealed himself underground with Ganondorf. And as mentioned, the hero has the original Zonai design. All of this, in my opinion, is proof that the Ancient Hero did not originate in the Calamity 10 000 years ago. He lived long before Age of Imprisonment, before Rauru, before Hyrule's founding. And yet, it's stated that the Ancient Hero was one who once saved Hyrule, and he appears in the 10 000 year old Calamity. So how can this be?

Skyward Sword tells us that there are many legends lost to time, and Fi tells us that the oral tradition of preserving history is the least reliable way to preserve it. Link defeated Demise in the past thousands of years prior to SS, and the surface history was before this again - aka a long, long, long time ago. And we can see on the surface that there's so, so many ruins and constructions and facilities down there. Heck, we can even see in the ceiling of the entrance to the Godess Statue that the symbols of the 7 sages are depicted. There is truly an entire ancient world we know almost nothing about - and a part of this history is the Zonai living on the surface.

This is what I believe: I think the Ancient Hero is the original hero, the first incarnation of "the spirit of the hero". One that existed thousands of years before Skyward Sword. He was a Zonai, he had the design/anatomy of the original Zonai. He fought in some sort of great conflict, and his spirit was contained within the Ancient Hero's Aspect. This conflict could be one of many lost legends in the ancient world that SS hints towards - and I think this conflict in question is one we actually know happened, but one we don't know any information about.

After Hylia originally seals Demise, he is reduced to The Imprisoned, and is sealed underneath the Sealed Grounds with magic alone, because as we see in the past, there is no Sealing Spike to be found there. Girahim resurrects Demise to his full form, Link defeats him, and he is sealed and is slowly degrading within the Master Sword. However, we know he at one point escapes, because in the present, the Demise is once again sealed underneath the Sealed Grounds as The Imprisoned - only this time with the Sealing Spike. This means, sometime in the thousands of years between Link's defeat of Demise and the present day, Demise escaped (either as full-power Demise or The Imprisoned), and someone had to have been there to seal him away, and this unknown person made/used a Sealing Spike to enhance the seal. Who was this?

It was the Ancient Hero. Which race/clan do we know is closely associated with the Zonai? The Sheikah. Who was watching over the seal? Impa. I believe Impa requested aid from the ancient Zonai who were now living in the skies. The Ancient Hero became this hero that history has forgotten, and the Sealing Spike is a Zonai artifact. Why is it a Zonai artifact? Because in TOTK's voice memories, Rauru explains the shape of ancient Zonai arcitecutre, the style that points downwards and extends upwards, using the Zonai Temple of Time as an example. And he says, and I quote:

"It was believed that such a design could pierce through evil."

The Sealing Spike has such a design, and its job is literally to pierce through evil. It even uses the same white material as the Zonai do in their arcitecture. I believe one of the many unrecorded events is the Ancient Hero of the Zonai coming down with the Sealing Spike to defeat and seal Demise once again. And his spirit was infused inside the Ancient Hero's Aspect, just like Mineru put her spirit in the Purah Pad. TOTK's item description literally says that it's an item containing his spirit.

Because he's of the (most likely) original Zonai design, because Rauru was able to hide it away in his time, it seems impossible for the Ancient Hero himself to have been in the Great Calamity many years after Rauru's time. Therefore, my conclusion in all of this is that the Ancient Hero depicted on the 10 000 year Calamity tapestry isn't the physical Ancient Hero himself, but rather someone wearing the Ancient Hero's aspect. Perhaps another Link, or perhaps there were no one with the spirit of the hero at that time, and so the Ancient Hero's aspect was worn by someone else in order to have the spirit of the hero there to help them fight Calamity Ganon. Perhaps that's why his spirit was contained within the aspect in the first place; so that in the time of need, when the Demon King's seal would break (or any other incarnation of the Demon King appeared) and no hero was around, the spirit of the ancient hero could be summoned to help by wearing the Ancient Hero's Aspect.

The Ancient Hero thus isn't just ancient from a present-day perspective. He isn't the last of a hidden faction of the Zonai that survived for thousands of years after Rauru. He is the spirit of the very first hero that fought the Demon King, even before Skyward Sword Link (or, technically SS Link fought Demise first chronologically due to time travel, but the Ancient Hero was the first one born with the spirit of the hero)

Vært facinert av det bygget siden jeg fant ut om det. Det er jo gigantisk, med stor G...! Kan bare være at jeg er facinert av forlatte bygg, særlig når det er slike enorme bygg som dette hah

Men mener å ha lest for et par år siden at investorer hadde gått inn og at det var planer å endelig renovere og gjøre det om til noe aktivt igjen - og tror det var hotell eller noe lignende? Men finner inge nyheter om det eller informasjon om status

Sikkert en ganske random post, men vet noen hva ståa er på det bygget og hva planene er?

Watching guides, I found it confusing what is what, and what is locked to an order of events compared to what can be done freely at any time.

So if I understand right: The egg is basically collecting evidence items for 5 people. But what the guides are not mentioning is what can be done in any order you want and what requires certain events to be met first.

For example, what exactly are the "key items"? Are they items needed to aquire certain evidence? And are these locked to an order of events or can you get them in any order?

And can you thus get all evidence for any 5 characters in any order - only that you must deliver/place down the items from image left to right?

Or how does it work exactly? Basically, what are the difference between evidence and key items, and what stuff can you get/do in any order VS what can you get only after other conditions are met?

My memory might be fuzzy so there might be an explaination I don't remember.

But as far as I remember, in OOT, Zelda has a dream that Link will visit her, that he needs to collect the spiritual stones in order to be able to one day defeat Ganondorf. She even tells this to Impa, where the dream also included Impa teaching Link Zelda's Lullaby.

So where are these prophecy dreams coming from? Is it just a "it's fate, and Zelda has dreams about the future", or does it have an explaination? Or, do you have some theories around what it could be? To take it a bit "out there": Do you think her dreams is a direct result of the Downfall Timeline? That events happened a certain way before resulting in Link being defeated, and this is a new timeline where someone or something is giving Zelda these prophecy dreams in order to change history?

In the Aether story (WaW - BO4), the multiverse existed with seemingly unlimited universes, Agartha on "top" as the first universe and home of the Keepers, and the Dark Aether underneath as a sort of "junkyard" where the Apothicons were trapped.

In Tag, Nikolai didn't destroy the multiverse and Agartha, but rather he sent it all of it to the Dark Aether, creating a fresh new single universe, with the Dark Aether underneath.

But even with the multiverse gone, variants of the 4 originals are now in the Dark Aether. And this begs several questions I don't understand (and that we may or may not have answers to yet, so I'm asking here to see if there are some answers you guys know so far):

1. At first I thought that these variants were from the original multiverse, that were sent to the Dark Aether when Nikolai used the Agarthan Device. Is that/could that be the case?
2. But afaik, the multiverse couldn't be destroyed until the souls of the 4 characters (who basically share a soul through all multiverse universes) were dead. So why did only Primis and Ultimis need to be killed off, and not the limitless other variants of them?
3. If these aren't from universes in the OG multiverse, then where are they from? Is there a new multiverse? Did Eddie create a new multiverse/restore the old multiverse at the end of Reckoning when used the Sentinel Artifact?