I've been saying this since botw. Everyone always turned their nose up to my theory this is in the child time line. There is waaay to many references biggestest is Zeldas speech to link making him a champion talking about the burning embers of twilight.
I was coming up with the same theories about the Zoni & twilight realm had a connection. so this was so good to watch more in depth. also, glad that I'm not the only one that seen the similarities between them.
I'ma bit late to the party, but I definitely have been waiting for this theory to surface for some time other than the comments section responses. I always thought those Shiekah Monks waiting at the end of the shrines gave us some Zonai vibes. Notice how they are the same color as that dragon looking being who is depicted on the mural with the long ears. Could those Shiekah Monks possibly have been the ancient Shiekah that you described in your video, Jesse? I could definitely see some type of artwork made with those Shiekah Monks sitting / floating atop of those different colored flying dragons from Breath of the Wild with some really cool Breath of the Wild/Age of Calamity soundtrack tunes playing in the background. I swear, when I first played Breath of the Wild and started seeing those dragons, I thought at some point we were gonna have to fight them or something. They were the biggest mystery to me in that game
Zonai are said to be descendants from the gods - demi-gods with other words - and the Shiekah are direct servants of the Gods, I can imagine that there might have been a Shieka-Zonai-Connection, but I honestly don't know if the Twili are connected to either of them. They have powerful magic for sure, yet it doesn't even get close to the power of the Gods unlike the Shiekah who made weapons that could even harm Dark-Beast-Ganon
Sonia isn't a Zonai. In game it is mentioned that she is a Hylian Priestess that counseled the Zonai until Rauru married her and created the kingdom. The most likely version of events is that Sonia and Rauru had kids before Zelda arrived, (since Zelda has both powers we can assumed they had children before they died.) If they had twins with one inheriting the hylian appearence and the other with more zonai blood, a war of succession would be likely. After the war when the more hylian of the two won, the banished the other to the twilight realm and buried all evidence of the zonai from the records.
Cool! Did you know that Sonia came from outside of Hyrule? In TOTK, the Hyrule Historian quest will tell you a lot of BONUS LORE. So who is Sonia actually?
If you think that's bad there was also supposed to be a third game for ocarina of time and Majora's mask games but it's not something you can find online anymore to me and a few friends of mine believe it is a case of a Mandela effect. The games title was paradox of shadows and was to take place in the timeline after both those other games but before twilight princess you were going to have most of your gear from Majora's mask and recollect some of your gear from OoT as you try to repair the master sword and reseal the evil that now threatens hayrule and it's people. Witch one could say that they scraped that game to make Twilight princess but who knows sense it was supposed to let you play as the original sheik that Zelda disguised herself as in OoT as well as link with some sort of time magic as both bared the same piece of the triforce in there respective eras.
I feel like the Tunic of the Depths also fits into all of this, as it very heavily resembles Zants outfit, and has the serpent motif, and similar colors. Worth noting it also only has one eye visible, and it’s the same eye that Midnas mask still had in tact .
@possumwithacowboyhat5140 My take is that the Golden Goddesses took pity on the Twili after the events of twilight princess. They covered the realm with land like they covered water over the land in WindWaker. This would explain the depths. Since this realm doesn’t have its own Triforce the Goddesses would need to give the land sacred power to keep it from degrading, like Lorule was without their Triforce. This explains the dragons coming and going (it still never was stated that the 3 are Zoni who turned into a dragons, plus the names are closely related to the Goddesses). When you unlock the shrines you see a half circle just like the Twilight Mirror. Plus the Champions shadows scream interlopers to me.
Honestly, considering the possibilities, I think it’s entirely likely that the Zonai are the leftover humans that remained in Skyloft’s islands for centuries, eventually mutating into the almost bird-like appearance they now don. They didn’t forget about the surface, and it explains how they’re able to reproduce with Hylians. Meanwhile, the Shiekah were those humans that remained on the surface world with the Goddess Hylia. They retained much of their old magic, but eventually split into two separate clans. One clan was locked away after attempting to steal the Triforce, becoming the Twili (sounds similar to the Yiga, doesn’t it?). And then there’s the addition of the Zonai’s secret stones, which I almost immediately thought were similar to the Sacred Tears of the Silent Realm in Skyward Sword. We never learn much about them, save for the fact that the Silent Realm seems to act as a gateway between the Sacred Realm and the Mortal Realm. Perhaps the reason we never see the Silent Realm again is because it was repurposed into the Twilight Realm by Din, Nayru and Farore, all of whom were able to send the Original Hero to the Silent Realm through their power. It’s entirely possible that all five races (Hylian, Gerudo, Shiekah, Twili and Zonai) all branched off from the original human race. The Shiekah/Hylian split was the first. Then the Hylian/Zonai split. Then the Shiekah/Twili split, then the Hylian/Gerudo split. And the Zonai eventually formed the Hyrulean Royal Family with the Hylians, having been unable to sustain themselves without their continued protection from the Goddess Hylia.
wolf link was removed as a amiibo to spawn him in but honestly it would be nice if he could become like a dlc companion with better ai imagine a DLC where you get to go to the twilight realm midna is the main person u help and the vow is wolf link
If having the Twili connect to the Zonai mean getting to have even the slightest chance of seeing Midna again, then I'll believe it. But then again, that architecture between the two is almost uncanny, especially the glow of the Lightroot in The Depths.
Perhaps the twili race were simply zonai who were banished for their dark practices or corruption of the magics that the zonai incorporated? For instance, the portals they use to send beasts to attack link in Hyrule use Twilight magic but still have zonai-ish properties. It would explain their corruption and descent into madness throughout twilight princess. Just some food for thought.
I like this thought because we never find out why the zonai are dying off. There’s only two left somehow when they seem to have a lot of infrastructure and resources
And with the Pura pad in the past they could have used their advanced ancient tech to recreate the teleport feature and that's why the design is different but similar (small bites of information traveling)
In regards to the two serpents swallowing each other logo, in Alchemy it means Volatility. Meaning things are probably going to change for the worse rapidly, which it does with the Upheaval.
Whether or not they link the tribes is one thing, but I do think we will finally get in depth lore on the third eye symbolism. After all the dragon person from the trailer apears to have a litteral third eye that remains shut.
I would love for there to be connections between these two, especially since it could even tie all the way back to majoras mask. It's the kind of thing that probably wouldn't happen, but if it did I would spontaneously combust
Interesting theory. But i think its more likely that Shieka and Zonai learned from each other and picked up a simular style by dooing so and / or had by coincidence both the same fascination with dragons. The eye symbolic is easily explained, by Zonais having, 3 eyes, making them different from the other Hylian races. (Sonia isnt a Zonai, so it was probely part of either the sage or queen robe)
Hyrule and its people have a shared history. Hylians as we know them (and about everyone) come from the early arrivals following the Sky Era after Skyward Sword). The Dark Interlopers which would become the Twili race were of the same background. Currently it is unclear when exactly the Zonai arrived, but it was...at the latest...the 'Era of Prosperity' in which the Kingdom of Hyrule was founded by King Rauru (Zonai), and Queen Sonia (Hylian and descendant of Zelda). The Kingdom was also founded in joint efforts with the Oocca. Who are still kind of mysterious as they come, especially for a people who have a direct connection to the royal family and have only been seen and heard from once. Based on what little we are given it would seem the Zonai and Oocca 'moved into' the sky islands when the ancestors of the Hylians descended to the surface to settle it. The last we see of the Zonai before Tears of the Kingdom is during the Imprisoning war which saw the King and Sage Rauru were directly active in the sealing of Ganondorf which would eventually lead to the Calamity. Nearly ten thousand years later we got the events of Breath of the Wild. Keep in mind that it is AT LEAST ten thousand years following Spirit Tracks, Twilight Princess, and The Adventure of Line (the 'end' of the Three timelines which connect to BotW and TotK). It remains (at least without spoilers) unclear as to why the Zonai had disappeared following the initial founding of Hyrule starting in the Force Era (Minish Cap), which was pre-timeline split following Ocarina of Time....up until the Era of Hyrule's Rebirth (Spirit Tracks), Era of Decline (Adventure of Link), and the unnamed Era which sees Link return 'things to normal' as a Child where they catch Ganondorf before he ruins things in Ocarina of Time. Which he still manages to ruin and why Twilight Princess happens. Obviously the Zonai have missed A LOT with only the Oocca being around during the timeline split to help the Hylians in any way. Tl;DR - My belief, since there is no discussion of other sentient races...and the fact King Rauru (Zonai), wed a Hylian who was Zelda's descendant...it is likely that they (like the Oocca) were a group of 'Skyloftians' (not actually from Skyloft, but someone who remained in the sky following Zelda, Link, and the others settling the surface) that they branched off from the, eventual, Hylians. The Twili were Hylians (Part of the group which followed Zelda, and Link in settling the surface following the Era of the Sky) and therefore the Twili were related directly to the Hylians and Skyloftians (including those who stayed behind). Ergo, same roots, different branches. They are all distantly connected dating back to the Goddess' of creation if we want to be technical. With the Era of Sky being the branch-off point.
Also the tower of the gods interior in the wind waker has the blocky, orange and green stonework like the zonai constructs. It's exterior also features the constellation motif present in the shiekah shrines. Perhaps the tower was built by the zonai and sheikah?
I've wondered if the Twili will have a connection in TOTK since the first teaser. On the bridge we see Zelda and Link walking on, I immediately thought the shape language reminded me of Midna's helmet. Either way, I'm still super excited to to play TOTK later this week.
I noticed when looking at the front of the new switch and the design on the pro controller that the Triforce has a different design. We've theorized about a 4th triangle or power being depicted in the center of the three triangles, but this seems to be the first time that a 4th triangle is actually formed within the other 3. There are also three outer rings that are thicker, three inner rings that are thinner, and three extra triangles on the inside of the Triforce.
I'm sure you already know this by now, but the actual Zonai literally have a third eye and that eye is reflected on everything, including other people representing the third eye on their foreheads, with the sheikah literally having this eye drawn permanently there.
Im still under the impression that all the games before BOTW are just legends, stories. Now after tears of the kingdom i think now it makes more sense. Semi spoiler here, Zelda goes back in time, helps with imprisoning war. Boom legend of princess from the future comes hence legend of zelda. Over the centuries tales of this twist like a game of telephone the hero that zelda mentions to defeat ganondorf came about in the past and thats why all 3 time lines converge in BOTW.
I've been part of the "all the other games are legends" camp for a while now, as BotW/TotK seem like they're a way for Nintendo to de-convolute the timeline a bit by essentially rebooting everything. IIRC, there's even some stuff in the game from older games that's explicitly referenced as coming from "the age of legends," which probably encompasses the entire timeline as we already understand it.
@@RinzyOtt im all for an official time line but im not really about all 3 timelines converge back to 1. Mostly cuz of the adult timeline hyrule being in a different location in spirit tracks. I cant make that make sense lol. Still i wanna see where they go next. Maybe a game on the triforce in BOTW/TOTK time since there was no mention of it and maybe nintendo will clean this mess up. Id wish on the triforce to make all of this make sense logically 😂
BotW and TotK are definitely a reboot now. The other games are at best different stories/legends, some may have had historical roots, some may have even be different versions retelling the same story with different details, but we'll never know how accurate they actually were. Spoiler warning, just to be safe. The Rito have now have both existed during Hyrule's foundation and also evolved from the Zora after the great flood. The Real clincher though is Ganondorf, who has apparently been sealed under Hyrule Castle within one generation of the kingdom's foundation, meaning he can not reincarnate to fill the roles needed for the past games.
The Zonai and Twili could have cohabited alongside one another. Their energies seem to be very similar. Just, one is more Nayru's color, the other, Farore's color. So, maybe they worshiped a different Goddess. But, had a similar way of life and values.
The Zoni are probably just their own race instead of being versions of hylians, twilight people, or shieka. By the way midna says she would want to someday come back the hyrule at the end of twilight princess.
yes but it could be that the twili evolved to be more animalistic like the zonai we see (mineru, rauru and the ancient hero are all goat/dragon/dog like). we know that before the twili were banished, they used to look more human, but look more deformed and beastly in twilight princess, other than midna and zant. what if the twili, after midnas return lived in peace in the twilight realm and continued to evolve into the zonai society. then, they found a way to come back to hyrule and descended on the land from the sky like the tapestry in the first cutscene in totk describes. they then lived there along with hylians, but something went wrong which is why they went exctinct other than a few zonai. zonai, sheikah and twili all share powerful magic and tech , it would make sense if all of the descendants of the 'first hyruleans' before ss had a strong connection to magic and technology because they lived together with hylia herself. that would also explain why they all have the similar green/blue ish glow in their tech/magic AND the eye symbolism
I'm thinking the Twili represent Power, the Shiekah represent Wisdom, and the Zonai represent Courage. Power inherently corrupts, so I think that's why the Twili were driven into the twilight realm. The Shiekah as wisdom, since they prepared for Ganon and have stealth based clothes, meaning they aren't one for brute strength (or power). The Zonai seem a bit less courage-like, but i'm making a few assumptions as maybe they gave up protection to help the world below?
My problem is that the Sheikah technology vanished from ToTK, basically never existed. Neither is the triforce referenced, nor Hylia, nor the princess, link, and ganon. In Breath of the Wild the Triforce makes an appearance as Zelda seals Calamity Ganon and Hylia is referenced multiple times in the game. In Tears of The Kingdom however, the triforce is never referenced and Hylia is only referenced via the goddess statues at that point. A lot of the story has a hard time connecting both games together when there's random plotholes in the games.
Annoying it's not addressed, but it's not hard to imagine what happened. With the calamity averted the Sheikah tech likely returned to underground to await the next hero. Enough years have passed for some characters to have children somewhere from 10-14 years old? So during that time the ruined guardians would have been rounded up and disposed of so that if Ganon returned he wouldn't have a robot army again. Personally my issues are more how they've created inconsistencies with the games pre-botw. It looks like the start of a new Zelda continuity completely, and they haven't decided how much they want to keep or change.
You can find a Guardian still, in Hetano (if you haven't already found it in the two weeks since your comment) but I suspect the towers, the guardians, and Devine Beasts were pulled apart for parts (a lot of the parts of the Skyview towers are made from recycled sheika tech, like the claws that prepare Link when you first launch are the guardian arms)
@@NerdySalemSays The problem with that is that would mean they would've had to go across every corner of the map to scrap the guardians. Not to mention all of the citizens forget about the divine beasts and act like they never existed.
It's very interesting to think how would zonai end in the depths but the depths definitely is an alternate version of the twilight realm, all of the hylians on surface (in TP), when they were overshadowed by the twilight realm, were in the form of Totk poes. Little blue flames, that as the statue said, were once the souls of the people that were lost. As in all those souls are lost in the twilight realm. And even the depths clothes are exactly the same as Zant and midnas attire, with the cone shape hat. But i dont understand how yiga clan and explorers can live as humans in the depths
Loving the theories, but gotta say your quality assurance on this episode was somewhat absent. Listen through the segment talking about the origins of the twili and sheikh. There are several repeated lines where you forgot to cut out the unwanted audio. Very distracting
Here I was thinking they were the descendants of the Wind Tribe. Coming down and patching things up at the end of an Era to help the hylians and others to rebuild and continue to thrive. Considering Lynels don't appear in any timeline but the downfall timeline, and the wind tribe is absent, I think breath and tears come after Adventure of Link. Mind you its long, long after, but eventually the wind tribe came down as the zonai. The sheikah found the Zonai tech, and eventually found a way to replicate it with their own spin to try and stop the incoming Calamity, leading into the cycle mentioned in Breath. Just an idea, but it holds a bit if merit.
Interesting... My only thing is that you kind of focused on the squared spiral design as something that must make the groups related. Yet, the the real world similar designs can be found in Anicent Greece and Anicent China. Two cultures that had almost no interaction. Some designs just kind of overlap and only have a surface level influence. Look at the Pentagram and how that has been used by different cultures over time. So it is interesting noticing the pattern but it would be like saying southern plantation homes and anicent greece buildings come from the same culture became they both have columns in the design.
The yiga are the closest we get to twili. In the past before skyward sword, the hylians move to their sky islands, while the sheikah live in the shadows on the land. There are righteous sheikah, who serve the goddesses, while there’s an offshoot of sheikah who are at odds with the other because they support the return of the demon king. Just like the yiga they attempt to aid the demon king. they collect the triforce pieces preparing to revive demise but they are banished by the goddesses who created the twilight mirror. Eventually becoming the twili
Honestly, I think the Depths were the Sacred Realm. They mirror the world above; high altitudes become low and vice versa. That would strengthen the tie if we assume the Zonai are the Twili (and I think they are.)
I do think the Twili are a Zonai tribe that dabbled in dark magic during the Triforce Wars in the early days of Hyrule, and created Majora's Mask as a weapon in those wars. They were not ALL the Zonai, as the remainder seemed to have evolved into the Oocca race, but it would go a long way to explaining why the Zonai fell out of favor with the Hylians and they stopped interbreeding. The cutscene in TP of Link and Illea turning on each other in a murderous frenzy for the Triforce paints a very grim picture of the Zonai/Hylian alliance...
From the moment I started the game, I've been thinking the zonai were the progenitors of the twili. The long scope mask in twilight princess looks like the owl masks seen in totk.
I haven't seen anyone else point this out, but the Zonai ruins through out Totk suggest the existence of Deities worshiped by the Zonai. An Owl, Lord of Wisdom, a Dragon, Lord of Courage, and a Boar, Lord of Power. the lords even speak to you when you complete their respective labyrinths. Those animals have obvious meaning in the Zelda series, but of note, the Boar has very few monuments throughout Hyrule, with maybe two statues in the overworld and the largest ones being on the backs of the Giant Poe statues in the Depths. It suggests that the Boar was not a popular god to worship, and considering the ways "power" and "boars" tend to be depicted in Zelda games, it's clear to see why. I think this suggests that the Zonai were not one group, but three distinct tribes, with each tribe worshiping one of the three. Rauru's Tribe seems a shoe in for the Owl. There are a few options for the Dragon. But if anything, a group who worshiped the boar, the god of power, a group who's god is most represented in the lightless voids of the depths, sounds an awful lot like the Twili. It would explain why Zant so quickly recognized Ganondorf, wielder of the Triforce of Power and whose beast form is a Boar, as a god rather than as some kind of demon.
I saw in a Zelda Theory that there is a new timeline split from Skyward Sword that connects to BoTW and ToTK. The events of ToTK are parallel to OoT, so the events of the next game could be parallel to Twilight Princess. We could see the return of the Twili, or they could be a different Zonai tribe.
If you go where the shrine of resurrection is in tears of the Kingdom, and fall down the hole that is to the very end of where the shrine of resurrection is. When you fight the Yiga members after dropping down, you’ll end up speaking to the Stewart construct, who then says “thank you for defending off those interlopers”. So to me the interlopers are the yiga clan
One thing I have not heard anyone mention is; totk - based off ideas not executed in botw - Aliens as a plot device was mentioned in one of the art books - Zonai mysteriously came from the sky - humans already live in sky islands - Zonai are from space - ZONAI ARE ALIENS
For me there are two possibilities on where to fit BOTW and TOTK in the Timeline currently and that Video somehow helps me giving more explanation points to one of my theories, the first one would be its his own Timeline with no connections to ither Games and just Fanservices like the Lon Lon Ranch and the other one would be, BOTW and TOTK play between Skyward Sword and Minish Cap in the flashbacks then after all the other Games, if you watch the Flashbacks and the Storys about what happened in TOTK its stated Hyrule was just founded 10000 years prior to the Game, but in Skyward Sword its wasnt founded yet and in Minish Cap there is already Hyrule so the Flashbacks take place between SS and MC, 10000 years after the flashback scenes happened BOTW started which would then fit right after the last Games in the Timeline so thats the explanation for me on how to fit the two Games, that would also explain different other things like the Twili and totally fit with your explanation in this Video too
@@evanmisejka4062 both are possible but I also think the first one is the most likely, especially because the developer always hated the concept of a timeline which only exists because fans made pretty much pressure, so this could have been the chance to bring something completely new with just fanservice here and there
A new continuity seems like the most likely to me. The two games have made too many references to previous games for them to happen before those games take place, not to mention the Rito shouldn't even exist until the Zora evolve into them, and yet now exist during Hyrule's foundation.
I really don't get why so many people think King Rauru founded the Original Hyrule (which is not possible due to many reason, an example being Ganon undernesth the castle and said castle having been obliterated at least once during previous games. another example being that they stated that there were no ganon events during the ten shousand years between King Rauru and the events of botw)
Yaaas just opened UA-cam to this, I needed something to watch while I rest and this is perfect 🤘 this makes me a bit more impatient for the new game tho lmfaoo
To further add to the “ EYE “ symbology, in the new TotK , the “ pine cones “ are the shape of the Pineal gland in the brain which is associated with the “ Third Eye “ this should not be overlooked and makes it a very deep concept in the game 👁️. The pineal gland is associated with spiritual insight . 😉👌
all it means is that the zelda artists include similarities between their games over the years and like to recontexualize past inspiration, it means nothing about the lore or characters.
It would be dope if every dlc that releases somehow brings us back to each game …. A mirror in the depths to revisit twilight and a hidden forest path within korok forest to lead you to a deep forest with trees as high as the mountains and pure fog .. you come across the temple of parallel .. entering that would b where majora takes place ..
Sometimes I wonder if the Sheikah/Zonai/Twili are just convenient devices, variations of the "ancient wise ones" trope. They hold access to key plot points, acting as a kind of hinge to advancing the story, and hold complicated relationships with good, evil, and neutral forces. They all have their own form of magic or sacred power, and wield it at pivotal moments. And, it seems like their powers are all related. Especially since there are different branches/universes that the different games could exist within, maybe the three races of beings are are either related or unrelated, depending upon each of their respective games/branches/universes? When it comes to BotW and TotK though, I think the only verifiable connections between these games and the games of the past are with Ocarina of Time & Majora's Mark. The Dark Armor, Evil Spirit set, and Majora's Mask are so deliberately placed in story-driven and historic "landmark" locations, while the other sets have item descriptions that make their existence sound more like myths or legends than history.
Really hope there's an update after the info from the game. All the symbols of the... Uh... Five important people you gotta help in the game, all have symbols that represents them looks almost exactly like the sheikah eye
Seems like ToTK shows how Zelda became the reincarnation of Hylia, and the time paradox may have created an alternate reality which displays more of the Zonai history and influence in Hyrule. The Twili are likely a branch of the Zonai who banished evil into another dimension, and ToTK melds all the realms, tribes (Sheikah/Yiga, Zonai/Twili, Gerudo and ancient Hylians) and different worlds (sky islands, surface, depths) into one plain of existence.
After finishing TOTK I realized the similarities between midnas helmet designs and raurus arm. Not to mention the green glow. There seems to be a connection here, no?
Important to remember that when it comes to Zelda the design team has always taken a lot of inspiration from Aztec, Maya and Olmec designs. Blocky spirals, feathered dragons, heavy use of torquoise and jade green, these are hallmarks of these culture’s design philosophies. But they aren’t universally the same culture, and I would say, that the Zonai in particular seem to take more inspiration from the Maya while the Twili seem to have more in common with earlier Olmec designs. That being said, this actually further reinforces the theory that the zonai are a higher, later group derived or inspired by the twili
Uh, I don't know where you got the idea that the Twili are a multi-ethnic gestalt of various Hyrule races. They are called "interlopers." That means they are outsiders who intruded on a scene/world that was none of their business; in other words, they are not people from Hyrule.
In my opinon, it's not hard to believe that the Twili came about between the love of a Sheikah man and Gerudo woman. They have a significantly similar culture and symbolism to both of those races. And it's shown that the Sheikah can interbreed with the other races of Hyrule (like Queen Sonia and Rauru), so it's not much of a leap. Besides, that would explain the red hair. Both Zant and Midna, the only Twili people we really get a good look at, have red or orange hair. That's always been a quite distinctive feature of the Gerudo. And they're described as "interlopers" in Twilight Princess, which means, basically, "person or people getting involved in something they're not welcome in". Wouldn't it be an interesting idea if the offspring of the Gerudo woman and Sheikah man were seen as abominations to both of their tribes and forcibly banished to make their own way as a new peoples, called the Twili? The bluish skin, the exact same color markings as the greenish power Link is shown to use through Rauru's hand, and the red hair (as well as all the cultural symbolism, clothing, and jewelry we see) lead me to believe that this is how the Twili truly came about. Oh one little detail about Midna's hair: most often Gerudo are shown with dark red hair, as I mentioned. Forgot to talk about how usually the Sheikah have white hair. Can you guess what happens when you mix red and white? You basically get a color exactly like Midna's hair. Really, it wouldn't surprise me if Midna was among the first of the Twili race, or at least her relative was. Actually, that would make more sense bc of how long the Zonai have been gone, even when it comes to the events of Twilight Princess. It would actually explain why she's queen of the Twili as well: she's a direct blood descendant of their original founders, just like Zelda's a direct blood descendant of Rauru and Queen Sonia.
I don't know tho. Twillight princess was made a long time before botw and totk. When they designed the zonais, they probably got inspiration from the previous twili designs.
Great connections and explanations. I think the three gods depicted as dragons may have a lot to do with dragon references throughout the games and races of Hyrule.
------ SPOILERS---- There are a couple problems, most caused by TotK. Time travel always screws with stories. For starters the "sky islands" didn't start in the sky, in the game you can see that the structures that are now on the islands were once on the ground. We still don't know where the Zonai came from or where they went, we only see two of them in TotK. Rauru and his sister Mineru. The female character that keeps being called Zonai is NOT Zonai, she is a Hylian (Sonia) who was married to the Zonai Rauru. There are only two Zonai in the past scenes of TotK, one is a female and is distinctively similar to the male "first king of Hyrule" Zonai. TotK disrupts the timeline, but it is possible that the past parts of the story were before SS, this might make sense as their forehead eye is likely the origin of the Shiekah symbol, as well as the ancient culture of builders from SS that have long disappeared and had various time manipulation abilities as well as using crystals similar to Zonai tech. Demise could still be between TotK and SS because he could have been channeled by the Secret Stone into Gannondorf during the past in TotK, and later then come from below the land in SS history in full form. There is no distinct reference of the goddesses or of Hylia, the goddesses could have still created the world long before, and Hylia then to save Hyrule AFTER the events of TotK sending most of the Hylians into the sky to later come back down to rebuild the kingdom of Hyrule, the first Zelda could have be the first queen of the NEW Hyrule kingdom. The one major issue I can personally see from the lore of the rest of the games, is that the Rito existed in the ancient history of TotK, but in Wind Waker they were said to have evolved from the Zora, though that doesn't exactly make sense when the kingdom is covered in water why would fish people turn into birds? This could possibly be explained in some other way, such as misunderstanding in the games internal history. If Nintendo tries to put TotK into the timeline there will likely be a bit of retcon done to fit it in, some hand waving "this was a misunderstanding" of either us or from characters in game, the "time travel changed things" aspect, and of course "its a game" and doesn't have to have cohesion reason.
There are 2 major problems I've noticed that make it so that the Hyrule in BotW/TotK simply can not be the same one we see in previous games. Either it's now its own distinct canon or at best what we're seeing is Hyrule 2, established long enough after the previous one fell that its founder can think it was his idea. Just to be safe: Spoiler Warning Below -The first being the Rito problem. At first glance it doesn't make much sense that the water dwelling race became birds because there was too much water, but the official reason was that the magically created water wasn't suitable for Zora habitation, which does somewhat line up after thinking about it since many aquatic creatures are the ones most affected by climate change. Basically the water was just too wrong for them so they adapted to live on land and in air instead. This one could just be a retcon like you suggest, I'd be unhappy with it but it wouldn't be the biggest issue on its own. -The second and much bigger issue imo, is the existence of Ganondorf. His appearance in the past rules out any chance that this happened before SS, his Secret Stone amplifying his power and making him resemble Demise is a very good indication that he is an incarnation of Demise. However Ganondorf gets sealed away underneath Hyrule castle - sealed, not killed - which means his soul is not free to reincarnate into the Gandorf(s) we see in the other games.
@@WolforNuva The whole idea of "reincarnation" is obscurely vague at best anyhow, I don't think thats going to be much of an issue. I also don't think Ganondorf was supposed to be reincarnated, but more like Link where its the "essence" of evil that just happens to be named the same thing each time (you'd think the name would be forever not used just in case, but...). They also are skipping a few steps with the Rito even if they are evolved from Zora who don't like that water all the sudden. They likely will do a lot of retcon, maybe a "its a multiverse" to get around inconsistencies, but in the end its just a game and doesn't need to make lots of sense.
In this game, they will throw so curveballs at you "I thought Link and Zelda from SS started the Kingdom of Hyrule" Not in TOTK, this game will through you for a whirl. And I'm going to tell you right now, nothing from the old games truly matters in this game.
I don't want to be spoiled, so don't say anything spoiler-ish, however, the Kingdom of Hyrule was confirmed to have started long, long after the ending of Skyward Sword and many wars, so I don't think many people thought the Link and Zelda from SS started it.
@Mage The events of SS have near to zero consequences in the creation of the Kingdom of Hyrule, as per TotK. It's mind-blowing... This game will change so much that some might love it and others might hate it.
I would just like to say thanks for all your information on Zelda Tears of the Kingdom. Especially with not having any spoilers. You have been doing an awesome 👍 job. That is why I subscribed.
The Zonai established a civilization in the skies. We have the City in the Sky with the Oocca. The Minish/Picori also came from the heavens. The Wind Tribe established the Palace of the Winds and held close friendships with the Minish and Hyrulean Royal Family. Connections????
And now with every other creature and incidents like Majora, Majoras Mask, the ninja clan from Majoras Mask (I think they’ve been from there) and so on
Adding onto all of this I believe that the shiekah, zonai, and twili are all connected to the 3 dragons of Skyward Sword. We know the Zonai are heavily connected to dragons and sage stones turning people into dragons. Rauru and Mineru also share similar body types to the ancient dragons with Rauru straight up being lizard like with a dragon eye on his forehead. The Shiekah eye, Mask of twilight, Majora's Mask, and eye symbols on Zonai tech are all the symbol of a dragons eyes proven with the botw/totk dragons. We can surmise that the Shiekah based their symbol off of Zelda the crying dragon and likely were formed around her mysterious nature (which is ironic considering the dark nature of the shiekah and zelda basically being the embodiement of light). The twilight are most certainly an offshoot of the zonai with the the throne, floating islands, green energy, and alien look. I do not think the shiekah are the interlopers (most likely the gerudo are the interlopers as the eyes shed no tears). The zonai however were already present in the twilight realm (how remains unknown). The Zonai eventually intermingled with the gerudo and formed the twili as we know all twili have red hair. We also know twili are decently tall as adults and share height resemblance to the zonai. My thoughts are the Zonai descended from 3 SS dragons, branched off at somepoint into the twilight realm, intermingled with Humans to create hyrule, generations pass as gerudo are descended from Groose, Gerudo Interlopers are caught and banished to twilight realm where they intermingled with Zonai remnants and formed the twili species. The dragons we see in all titles are also descended from the 3 original dragons like Volvalgia, Valoo, Barba, Aquamentus, Gleerok, Gleeok, Argarok, as well as Dinraal, Naydra, And Farosh (who may be the direct children of the 3 dragons since they share similar names and are immortal).
I would find it weird that the Zonai worshiped dragons when they seemed so oppose to how one becomes a dragon. Granted there cpuld have been natural born dragons, but after learning what i just learned i guess it makes sense that they would have some respect for dragons. Makes me wanna know more about the elemental dragons as well.
Yeah given how it completely makes you a shell of yourself and turns you immortal I can see why the act is forbidden as it not only disrespect the dragons but also completely abuses the secret stones power and its proper use and considering how the dragons all look the same I'm assuming Dinrral, Farosh, and Naydra were once people who ate their stones to gain immortality
@@lugiamastero13they are the 3 goddesses, and they formed the triforce as well. left there 3 powers (hero of time got them) and overall they are the creator of hyrule (oot btw) so i believe the dragons could just be either named after the 3 goddesses or from their powers
Im convinced that the Zelda games take place in a super post apocalyptic Earth after we wipe ourselbes out and simultaneously evolve into Hylians, Gorons, and Zoras.
wait......impa was sent forward in time to guard future incarnations..........is Impa immortal? or a part of the cycle too? DOES IMPA KNOW EVERYTHING ALREADY?!?!?!?
Considering that we have three races that come from the skies to the lands of Hyrule (The Skyloftians, The Twili, and the Zonai), I've been assuming they have some significance to each piece of the tri force. (The Zonai = Wisdom, The Twili = Courage, and The Shiekah = Power) I believe this because the zonai are humanoid dragons and, in fiction, dragons are depicted as wise. The Twili represent courage because they still carried out their mission despite the adversity of the Goddesses. The Sheikah symbolize power because they harnessed powers they couldn't control which ultimately led to their own banishment. But it is interesting to think about which race came first and if they coexisted with each other. I am perplexed though. When they were created, were they always on the sky islands(I know the Hyrulians on Skyloft went from land to sky first)? Or maybe they discovered a way to go from the land to the sky?
What do you think of these connections between the Zonai & the Shiekah & Twilight Realm?
Now this I like💯💯
I've been saying this since botw. Everyone always turned their nose up to my theory this is in the child time line. There is waaay to many references biggestest is Zeldas speech to link making him a champion talking about the burning embers of twilight.
I was coming up with the same theories about the Zoni & twilight realm had a connection. so this was so good to watch more in depth. also, glad that I'm not the only one that seen the similarities between them.
I'ma bit late to the party, but I definitely have been waiting for this theory to surface for some time other than the comments section responses. I always thought those Shiekah Monks waiting at the end of the shrines gave us some Zonai vibes. Notice how they are the same color as that dragon looking being who is depicted on the mural with the long ears. Could those Shiekah Monks possibly have been the ancient Shiekah that you described in your video, Jesse? I could definitely see some type of artwork made with those Shiekah Monks sitting / floating atop of those different colored flying dragons from Breath of the Wild with some really cool Breath of the Wild/Age of Calamity soundtrack tunes playing in the background.
I swear, when I first played Breath of the Wild and started seeing those dragons, I thought at some point we were gonna have to fight them or something. They were the biggest mystery to me in that game
Zonai are said to be descendants from the gods - demi-gods with other words - and the Shiekah are direct servants of the Gods, I can imagine that there might have been a Shieka-Zonai-Connection, but I honestly don't know if the Twili are connected to either of them.
They have powerful magic for sure, yet it doesn't even get close to the power of the Gods unlike the Shiekah who made weapons that could even harm Dark-Beast-Ganon
Sonia isn't a Zonai. In game it is mentioned that she is a Hylian Priestess that counseled the Zonai until Rauru married her and created the kingdom. The most likely version of events is that Sonia and Rauru had kids before Zelda arrived, (since Zelda has both powers we can assumed they had children before they died.) If they had twins with one inheriting the hylian appearence and the other with more zonai blood, a war of succession would be likely. After the war when the more hylian of the two won, the banished the other to the twilight realm and buried all evidence of the zonai from the records.
Cool! Did you know that Sonia came from outside of Hyrule? In TOTK, the Hyrule Historian quest will tell you a lot of BONUS LORE. So who is Sonia actually?
Not just a war over succession, but also over the Triforce, if TP's history accounts are accurate (which they certainly seem to be)
It's also possible Rauru and Sonia never had any children. They're just the first king and queen of Hyrule, not the common ancestors of all Hylians.
@@Mecht Based on the game's own lore, Rauru and Sonia did at least have kids, as Zelda is their direct descendant.
Vid came out before game
Finding out Twilight Princess was gonna have a sequel just broke my heart😫 I loved that game and would have loved a sequel.
If you think that's bad there was also supposed to be a third game for ocarina of time and Majora's mask games but it's not something you can find online anymore to me and a few friends of mine believe it is a case of a Mandela effect. The games title was paradox of shadows and was to take place in the timeline after both those other games but before twilight princess you were going to have most of your gear from Majora's mask and recollect some of your gear from OoT as you try to repair the master sword and reseal the evil that now threatens hayrule and it's people. Witch one could say that they scraped that game to make Twilight princess but who knows sense it was supposed to let you play as the original sheik that Zelda disguised herself as in OoT as well as link with some sort of time magic as both bared the same piece of the triforce in there respective eras.
I loved that game too. Feel cheated that BotW got a sequel.
Just might get it with how things might go.
Twilight princess is my favorite loz
maybe for a 3rd in the BOTW line they'll have Koga find and reactivate the Mirror
I feel like the Tunic of the Depths also fits into all of this, as it very heavily resembles Zants outfit, and has the serpent motif, and similar colors.
Worth noting it also only has one eye visible, and it’s the same eye that Midnas mask still had in tact .
Glad I am not the only one who thought that
@possumwithacowboyhat5140 My take is that the Golden Goddesses took pity on the Twili after the events of twilight princess. They covered the realm with land like they covered water over the land in WindWaker. This would explain the depths.
Since this realm doesn’t have its own Triforce the Goddesses would need to give the land sacred power to keep it from degrading, like Lorule was without their Triforce. This explains the dragons coming and going (it still never was stated that the 3 are Zoni who turned into a dragons, plus the names are closely related to the Goddesses).
When you unlock the shrines you see a half circle just like the Twilight Mirror. Plus the Champions shadows scream interlopers to me.
I don't understand how anyone can dislike Twilight Princess.
It is like a nexus in the zelda universe, it connects ocarina of time to the future titles, twilight princess is my favorite zelda
Honestly, considering the possibilities, I think it’s entirely likely that the Zonai are the leftover humans that remained in Skyloft’s islands for centuries, eventually mutating into the almost bird-like appearance they now don. They didn’t forget about the surface, and it explains how they’re able to reproduce with Hylians. Meanwhile, the Shiekah were those humans that remained on the surface world with the Goddess Hylia. They retained much of their old magic, but eventually split into two separate clans. One clan was locked away after attempting to steal the Triforce, becoming the Twili (sounds similar to the Yiga, doesn’t it?).
And then there’s the addition of the Zonai’s secret stones, which I almost immediately thought were similar to the Sacred Tears of the Silent Realm in Skyward Sword. We never learn much about them, save for the fact that the Silent Realm seems to act as a gateway between the Sacred Realm and the Mortal Realm. Perhaps the reason we never see the Silent Realm again is because it was repurposed into the Twilight Realm by Din, Nayru and Farore, all of whom were able to send the Original Hero to the Silent Realm through their power.
It’s entirely possible that all five races (Hylian, Gerudo, Shiekah, Twili and Zonai) all branched off from the original human race. The Shiekah/Hylian split was the first. Then the Hylian/Zonai split. Then the Shiekah/Twili split, then the Hylian/Gerudo split. And the Zonai eventually formed the Hyrulean Royal Family with the Hylians, having been unable to sustain themselves without their continued protection from the Goddess Hylia.
I felt like the Zonai and the Twili have a direct connection. Their achitectures and similarities are way too uncanny.
They even play a small parts of Midna's lament in one of the temples ost.
@@Drstrange3000 which one
@@JWalker444 Wind Temple. I think it was in the middle part of the OST
wolf link was removed as a amiibo to spawn him in but honestly it would be nice if he could become like a dlc companion with better ai imagine a DLC where you get to go to the twilight realm midna is the main person u help and the vow is wolf link
If having the Twili connect to the Zonai mean getting to have even the slightest chance of seeing Midna again, then I'll believe it.
But then again, that architecture between the two is almost uncanny, especially the glow of the Lightroot in The Depths.
Perhaps the twili race were simply zonai who were banished for their dark practices or corruption of the magics that the zonai incorporated? For instance, the portals they use to send beasts to attack link in Hyrule use Twilight magic but still have zonai-ish properties. It would explain their corruption and descent into madness throughout twilight princess.
Just some food for thought.
I like this thought because we never find out why the zonai are dying off. There’s only two left somehow when they seem to have a lot of infrastructure and resources
And with the Pura pad in the past they could have used their advanced ancient tech to recreate the teleport feature and that's why the design is different but similar (small bites of information traveling)
In regards to the two serpents swallowing each other logo, in Alchemy it means Volatility. Meaning things are probably going to change for the worse rapidly, which it does with the Upheaval.
Whether or not they link the tribes is one thing, but I do think we will finally get in depth lore on the third eye symbolism. After all the dragon person from the trailer apears to have a litteral third eye that remains shut.
I would love for there to be connections between these two, especially since it could even tie all the way back to majoras mask. It's the kind of thing that probably wouldn't happen, but if it did I would spontaneously combust
Interesting theory. But i think its more likely that Shieka and Zonai learned from each other and picked up a simular style by dooing so and / or had by coincidence both the same fascination with dragons.
The eye symbolic is easily explained, by Zonais having, 3 eyes, making them different from the other Hylian races. (Sonia isnt a Zonai, so it was probely part of either the sage or queen robe)
Hyrule and its people have a shared history.
Hylians as we know them (and about everyone) come from the early arrivals following the Sky Era after Skyward Sword).
The Dark Interlopers which would become the Twili race were of the same background.
Currently it is unclear when exactly the Zonai arrived, but it was...at the latest...the 'Era of Prosperity' in which the Kingdom of Hyrule was founded by King Rauru (Zonai), and Queen Sonia (Hylian and descendant of Zelda).
The Kingdom was also founded in joint efforts with the Oocca. Who are still kind of mysterious as they come, especially for a people who have a direct connection to the royal family and have only been seen and heard from once.
Based on what little we are given it would seem the Zonai and Oocca 'moved into' the sky islands when the ancestors of the Hylians descended to the surface to settle it.
The last we see of the Zonai before Tears of the Kingdom is during the Imprisoning war which saw the King and Sage Rauru were directly active in the sealing of Ganondorf which would eventually lead to the Calamity.
Nearly ten thousand years later we got the events of Breath of the Wild.
Keep in mind that it is AT LEAST ten thousand years following Spirit Tracks, Twilight Princess, and The Adventure of Line (the 'end' of the Three timelines which connect to BotW and TotK).
It remains (at least without spoilers) unclear as to why the Zonai had disappeared following the initial founding of Hyrule starting in the Force Era (Minish Cap), which was pre-timeline split following Ocarina of Time....up until the Era of Hyrule's Rebirth (Spirit Tracks), Era of Decline (Adventure of Link), and the unnamed Era which sees Link return 'things to normal' as a Child where they catch Ganondorf before he ruins things in Ocarina of Time. Which he still manages to ruin and why Twilight Princess happens.
Obviously the Zonai have missed A LOT with only the Oocca being around during the timeline split to help the Hylians in any way.
Tl;DR - My belief, since there is no discussion of other sentient races...and the fact King Rauru (Zonai), wed a Hylian who was Zelda's descendant...it is likely that they (like the Oocca) were a group of 'Skyloftians' (not actually from Skyloft, but someone who remained in the sky following Zelda, Link, and the others settling the surface) that they branched off from the, eventual, Hylians.
The Twili were Hylians (Part of the group which followed Zelda, and Link in settling the surface following the Era of the Sky) and therefore the Twili were related directly to the Hylians and Skyloftians (including those who stayed behind).
Ergo, same roots, different branches. They are all distantly connected dating back to the Goddess' of creation if we want to be technical. With the Era of Sky being the branch-off point.
Also the tower of the gods interior in the wind waker has the blocky, orange and green stonework like the zonai constructs. It's exterior also features the constellation motif present in the shiekah shrines. Perhaps the tower was built by the zonai and sheikah?
this, plus the boss design has real wolrd native south american influences, just like all the zonai culture in botw and totk
If we somehow got midna back, my life wpuld be complete
nobody ever mentions the backwards lyrics used as music in twilight princess for the twili and in totk. That was the biggest take away for me.
Explain? (Please! I’m very genuinely intrigued lol)
I've wondered if the Twili will have a connection in TOTK since the first teaser. On the bridge we see Zelda and Link walking on, I immediately thought the shape language reminded me of Midna's helmet.
Either way, I'm still super excited to to play TOTK later this week.
I noticed when looking at the front of the new switch and the design on the pro controller that the Triforce has a different design. We've theorized about a 4th triangle or power being depicted in the center of the three triangles, but this seems to be the first time that a 4th triangle is actually formed within the other 3. There are also three outer rings that are thicker, three inner rings that are thinner, and three extra triangles on the inside of the Triforce.
I was making connections to the Zonai and Twili a month before this game released. Goes without saying, I'm inclined to believe this
Sonia isn’t Zonai.
Ganondorf calls her Hyrulean, NOT Hylian. I haven’t seen anyone mention this even once.
I'm sure you already know this by now, but the actual Zonai literally have a third eye and that eye is reflected on everything, including other people representing the third eye on their foreheads, with the sheikah literally having this eye drawn permanently there.
The mask in Rauru (Zonai) chest looks like Raurus (Sage) face.
14:32 seems like the kinstones from minish cap
TOTK makes BOTW look small ( im already playing the game btw)
the shiekah eye alomst looks based on the zonai. rauru with his eye open has it look exactly like the symbol.
Woo Hoo, I believe there is a connections between the Zonai & the Shiekah & Twilight Realm. I'm so glad your addressing this Jesse!
I want so bad for the Zonai be linked to that, "tribe", that sealed Majora's Mask away. I wonder what ever happened to the ocarina of time.
i feel like they should make a game where hylia and demise are in the game and have a final battle.
Im still under the impression that all the games before BOTW are just legends, stories. Now after tears of the kingdom i think now it makes more sense. Semi spoiler here, Zelda goes back in time, helps with imprisoning war. Boom legend of princess from the future comes hence legend of zelda. Over the centuries tales of this twist like a game of telephone the hero that zelda mentions to defeat ganondorf came about in the past and thats why all 3 time lines converge in BOTW.
I've been part of the "all the other games are legends" camp for a while now, as BotW/TotK seem like they're a way for Nintendo to de-convolute the timeline a bit by essentially rebooting everything. IIRC, there's even some stuff in the game from older games that's explicitly referenced as coming from "the age of legends," which probably encompasses the entire timeline as we already understand it.
@@RinzyOtt im all for an official time line but im not really about all 3 timelines converge back to 1. Mostly cuz of the adult timeline hyrule being in a different location in spirit tracks. I cant make that make sense lol. Still i wanna see where they go next. Maybe a game on the triforce in BOTW/TOTK time since there was no mention of it and maybe nintendo will clean this mess up. Id wish on the triforce to make all of this make sense logically 😂
@Rylee Evans well hyrule moves all the time
BotW and TotK are definitely a reboot now. The other games are at best different stories/legends, some may have had historical roots, some may have even be different versions retelling the same story with different details, but we'll never know how accurate they actually were. Spoiler warning, just to be safe.
The Rito have now have both existed during Hyrule's foundation and also evolved from the Zora after the great flood. The Real clincher though is Ganondorf, who has apparently been sealed under Hyrule Castle within one generation of the kingdom's foundation, meaning he can not reincarnate to fill the roles needed for the past games.
The Zonai and Twili could have cohabited alongside one another. Their energies seem to be very similar. Just, one is more Nayru's color, the other, Farore's color. So, maybe they worshiped a different Goddess. But, had a similar way of life and values.
The Zoni are probably just their own race instead of being versions of hylians, twilight people, or shieka. By the way midna says she would want to someday come back the hyrule at the end of twilight princess.
yes but it could be that the twili evolved to be more animalistic like the zonai we see (mineru, rauru and the ancient hero are all goat/dragon/dog like). we know that before the twili were banished, they used to look more human, but look more deformed and beastly in twilight princess, other than midna and zant. what if the twili, after midnas return lived in peace in the twilight realm and continued to evolve into the zonai society. then, they found a way to come back to hyrule and descended on the land from the sky like the tapestry in the first cutscene in totk describes. they then lived there along with hylians, but something went wrong which is why they went exctinct other than a few zonai.
zonai, sheikah and twili all share powerful magic and tech , it would make sense if all of the descendants of the 'first hyruleans' before ss had a strong connection to magic and technology because they lived together with hylia herself. that would also explain why they all have the similar green/blue ish glow in their tech/magic AND the eye symbolism
Facts: The Yiga Clan becomes the Interlopers; they are even referred to as such by the zonai construct found under the old shrine of resurrection.
I'm thinking the Twili represent Power, the Shiekah represent Wisdom, and the Zonai represent Courage. Power inherently corrupts, so I think that's why the Twili were driven into the twilight realm. The Shiekah as wisdom, since they prepared for Ganon and have stealth based clothes, meaning they aren't one for brute strength (or power). The Zonai seem a bit less courage-like, but i'm making a few assumptions as maybe they gave up protection to help the world below?
My problem is that the Sheikah technology vanished from ToTK, basically never existed. Neither is the triforce referenced, nor Hylia, nor the princess, link, and ganon. In Breath of the Wild the Triforce makes an appearance as Zelda seals Calamity Ganon and Hylia is referenced multiple times in the game. In Tears of The Kingdom however, the triforce is never referenced and Hylia is only referenced via the goddess statues at that point. A lot of the story has a hard time connecting both games together when there's random plotholes in the games.
Annoying it's not addressed, but it's not hard to imagine what happened. With the calamity averted the Sheikah tech likely returned to underground to await the next hero. Enough years have passed for some characters to have children somewhere from 10-14 years old? So during that time the ruined guardians would have been rounded up and disposed of so that if Ganon returned he wouldn't have a robot army again.
Personally my issues are more how they've created inconsistencies with the games pre-botw. It looks like the start of a new Zelda continuity completely, and they haven't decided how much they want to keep or change.
You can find a Guardian still, in Hetano (if you haven't already found it in the two weeks since your comment) but I suspect the towers, the guardians, and Devine Beasts were pulled apart for parts (a lot of the parts of the Skyview towers are made from recycled sheika tech, like the claws that prepare Link when you first launch are the guardian arms)
@@NerdySalemSays The problem with that is that would mean they would've had to go across every corner of the map to scrap the guardians. Not to mention all of the citizens forget about the divine beasts and act like they never existed.
@@Justin-si5po I didn't say it was realistic, I just said that's what happened.
It's very interesting to think how would zonai end in the depths but the depths definitely is an alternate version of the twilight realm, all of the hylians on surface (in TP), when they were overshadowed by the twilight realm, were in the form of Totk poes. Little blue flames, that as the statue said, were once the souls of the people that were lost. As in all those souls are lost in the twilight realm. And even the depths clothes are exactly the same as Zant and midnas attire, with the cone shape hat. But i dont understand how yiga clan and explorers can live as humans in the depths
I CANNOT GET OVER YOUR VOOIIIIIIIICE
Very much sparks the joy in me :3
Such an angelic voice lol
the sage helmets made (probably) by the zonai also have the same design as the heads of the divine beasts made by the sheikah
The divine beast helms can be found again in totk, and require zonaite to upgrade
DLC: Vow of Midna, sage of Twilight. It summons Midna riding Wolf Link
Loving the theories, but gotta say your quality assurance on this episode was somewhat absent. Listen through the segment talking about the origins of the twili and sheikh. There are several repeated lines where you forgot to cut out the unwanted audio. Very distracting
Here I was thinking they were the descendants of the Wind Tribe. Coming down and patching things up at the end of an Era to help the hylians and others to rebuild and continue to thrive.
Considering Lynels don't appear in any timeline but the downfall timeline, and the wind tribe is absent, I think breath and tears come after Adventure of Link. Mind you its long, long after, but eventually the wind tribe came down as the zonai.
The sheikah found the Zonai tech, and eventually found a way to replicate it with their own spin to try and stop the incoming Calamity, leading into the cycle mentioned in Breath.
Just an idea, but it holds a bit if merit.
Interesting...
My only thing is that you kind of focused on the squared spiral design as something that must make the groups related. Yet, the the real world similar designs can be found in Anicent Greece and Anicent China. Two cultures that had almost no interaction. Some designs just kind of overlap and only have a surface level influence. Look at the Pentagram and how that has been used by different cultures over time. So it is interesting noticing the pattern but it would be like saying southern plantation homes and anicent greece buildings come from the same culture became they both have columns in the design.
The yiga are the closest we get to twili. In the past before skyward sword, the hylians move to their sky islands, while the sheikah live in the shadows on the land. There are righteous sheikah, who serve the goddesses, while there’s an offshoot of sheikah who are at odds with the other because they support the return of the demon king.
Just like the yiga they attempt to aid the demon king. they collect the triforce pieces preparing to revive demise but they are banished by the goddesses who created the twilight mirror. Eventually becoming the twili
The "too long didn't watch" of this is 2 tribes have similar designs, therefore same tribe different spacetime, but dragged out for 18 minutes.
I think the connection is that they all come from the same artists in the same franchise. Let’s not forget that franchises keep common aesthetics
Honestly, I think the Depths were the Sacred Realm. They mirror the world above; high altitudes become low and vice versa.
That would strengthen the tie if we assume the Zonai are the Twili (and I think they are.)
I do think the Twili are a Zonai tribe that dabbled in dark magic during the Triforce Wars in the early days of Hyrule, and created Majora's Mask as a weapon in those wars. They were not ALL the Zonai, as the remainder seemed to have evolved into the Oocca race, but it would go a long way to explaining why the Zonai fell out of favor with the Hylians and they stopped interbreeding.
The cutscene in TP of Link and Illea turning on each other in a murderous frenzy for the Triforce paints a very grim picture of the Zonai/Hylian alliance...
From the moment I started the game, I've been thinking the zonai were the progenitors of the twili. The long scope mask in twilight princess looks like the owl masks seen in totk.
This is the most sensible theory so far, I remember the first time I saw raru in the trailer thought it was the twili’s
I want to see more Twilii history.
I haven't seen anyone else point this out, but the Zonai ruins through out Totk suggest the existence of Deities worshiped by the Zonai. An Owl, Lord of Wisdom, a Dragon, Lord of Courage, and a Boar, Lord of Power. the lords even speak to you when you complete their respective labyrinths. Those animals have obvious meaning in the Zelda series, but of note, the Boar has very few monuments throughout Hyrule, with maybe two statues in the overworld and the largest ones being on the backs of the Giant Poe statues in the Depths. It suggests that the Boar was not a popular god to worship, and considering the ways "power" and "boars" tend to be depicted in Zelda games, it's clear to see why. I think this suggests that the Zonai were not one group, but three distinct tribes, with each tribe worshiping one of the three. Rauru's Tribe seems a shoe in for the Owl. There are a few options for the Dragon. But if anything, a group who worshiped the boar, the god of power, a group who's god is most represented in the lightless voids of the depths, sounds an awful lot like the Twili. It would explain why Zant so quickly recognized Ganondorf, wielder of the Triforce of Power and whose beast form is a Boar, as a god rather than as some kind of demon.
I saw in a Zelda Theory that there is a new timeline split from Skyward Sword that connects to BoTW and ToTK. The events of ToTK are parallel to OoT, so the events of the next game could be parallel to Twilight Princess. We could see the return of the Twili, or they could be a different Zonai tribe.
If you go where the shrine of resurrection is in tears of the Kingdom, and fall down the hole that is to the very end of where the shrine of resurrection is. When you fight the Yiga members after dropping down, you’ll end up speaking to the Stewart construct, who then says “thank you for defending off those interlopers”. So to me the interlopers are the yiga clan
One thing I have not heard anyone mention is; totk - based off ideas not executed in botw - Aliens as a plot device was mentioned in one of the art books - Zonai mysteriously came from the sky - humans already live in sky islands - Zonai are from space - ZONAI ARE ALIENS
For me there are two possibilities on where to fit BOTW and TOTK in the Timeline currently and that Video somehow helps me giving more explanation points to one of my theories, the first one would be its his own Timeline with no connections to ither Games and just Fanservices like the Lon Lon Ranch and the other one would be, BOTW and TOTK play between Skyward Sword and Minish Cap in the flashbacks then after all the other Games, if you watch the Flashbacks and the Storys about what happened in TOTK its stated Hyrule was just founded 10000 years prior to the Game, but in Skyward Sword its wasnt founded yet and in Minish Cap there is already Hyrule so the Flashbacks take place between SS and MC, 10000 years after the flashback scenes happened BOTW started which would then fit right after the last Games in the Timeline so thats the explanation for me on how to fit the two Games, that would also explain different other things like the Twili and totally fit with your explanation in this Video too
Personally the first explanation is what makes the most sense to me. It seems like this games flashbacks are it's "Skyward Sword" events.
@@evanmisejka4062 both are possible but I also think the first one is the most likely, especially because the developer always hated the concept of a timeline which only exists because fans made pretty much pressure, so this could have been the chance to bring something completely new with just fanservice here and there
A new continuity seems like the most likely to me. The two games have made too many references to previous games for them to happen before those games take place, not to mention the Rito shouldn't even exist until the Zora evolve into them, and yet now exist during Hyrule's foundation.
I really don't get why so many people think King Rauru founded the Original Hyrule (which is not possible due to many reason, an example being Ganon undernesth the castle and said castle having been obliterated at least once during previous games. another example being that they stated that there were no ganon events during the ten shousand years between King Rauru and the events of botw)
Midna also basically has Ultrahand without the green glue. There's a "power in the hands" thing going on.
Yaaas just opened UA-cam to this, I needed something to watch while I rest and this is perfect 🤘 this makes me a bit more impatient for the new game tho lmfaoo
To further add to the “ EYE “ symbology, in the new TotK , the “ pine cones “ are the shape of the Pineal gland in the brain which is associated with the “ Third Eye “ this should not be overlooked and makes it a very deep concept in the game 👁️. The pineal gland is associated with spiritual insight . 😉👌
all it means is that the zelda artists include similarities between their games over the years and like to recontexualize past inspiration, it means nothing about the lore or characters.
It would be dope if every dlc that releases somehow brings us back to each game …. A mirror in the depths to revisit twilight and a hidden forest path within korok forest to lead you to a deep forest with trees as high as the mountains and pure fog .. you come across the temple of parallel .. entering that would b where majora takes place ..
Sometimes I wonder if the Sheikah/Zonai/Twili are just convenient devices, variations of the "ancient wise ones" trope. They hold access to key plot points, acting as a kind of hinge to advancing the story, and hold complicated relationships with good, evil, and neutral forces. They all have their own form of magic or sacred power, and wield it at pivotal moments. And, it seems like their powers are all related.
Especially since there are different branches/universes that the different games could exist within, maybe the three races of beings are are either related or unrelated, depending upon each of their respective games/branches/universes?
When it comes to BotW and TotK though, I think the only verifiable connections between these games and the games of the past are with Ocarina of Time & Majora's Mark. The Dark Armor, Evil Spirit set, and Majora's Mask are so deliberately placed in story-driven and historic "landmark" locations, while the other sets have item descriptions that make their existence sound more like myths or legends than history.
Really hope there's an update after the info from the game.
All the symbols of the... Uh... Five important people you gotta help in the game, all have symbols that represents them looks almost exactly like the sheikah eye
Seems like ToTK shows how Zelda became the reincarnation of Hylia, and the time paradox may have created an alternate reality which displays more of the Zonai history and influence in Hyrule. The Twili are likely a branch of the Zonai who banished evil into another dimension, and ToTK melds all the realms, tribes (Sheikah/Yiga, Zonai/Twili, Gerudo and ancient Hylians) and different worlds (sky islands, surface, depths) into one plain of existence.
I was waiting for something like thissssss
I'm on the "side" of not knowing nearly enough about this stuff to weigh in too much haha. I just enjoy learning about everything.
Great video brother!
After finishing TOTK I realized the similarities between midnas helmet designs and raurus arm. Not to mention the green glow.
There seems to be a connection here, no?
even if they arent connected, I still like that both the Zonai and Twili have Aztec and Maya architecture
Important to remember that when it comes to Zelda the design team has always taken a lot of inspiration from Aztec, Maya and Olmec designs. Blocky spirals, feathered dragons, heavy use of torquoise and jade green, these are hallmarks of these culture’s design philosophies. But they aren’t universally the same culture, and I would say, that the Zonai in particular seem to take more inspiration from the Maya while the Twili seem to have more in common with earlier Olmec designs. That being said, this actually further reinforces the theory that the zonai are a higher, later group derived or inspired by the twili
The impressive thing about the styling is that almosy all of those elements overlap with ancient Chinese motifs.
Uh, I don't know where you got the idea that the Twili are a multi-ethnic gestalt of various Hyrule races. They are called "interlopers." That means they are outsiders who intruded on a scene/world that was none of their business; in other words, they are not people from Hyrule.
Just like the Zonais
In the original Japanese text, the Twili's ancestors aren't called Interlopers. They're just referred to as powerful magic users.
In my opinon, it's not hard to believe that the Twili came about between the love of a Sheikah man and Gerudo woman. They have a significantly similar culture and symbolism to both of those races. And it's shown that the Sheikah can interbreed with the other races of Hyrule (like Queen Sonia and Rauru), so it's not much of a leap. Besides, that would explain the red hair. Both Zant and Midna, the only Twili people we really get a good look at, have red or orange hair. That's always been a quite distinctive feature of the Gerudo. And they're described as "interlopers" in Twilight Princess, which means, basically, "person or people getting involved in something they're not welcome in". Wouldn't it be an interesting idea if the offspring of the Gerudo woman and Sheikah man were seen as abominations to both of their tribes and forcibly banished to make their own way as a new peoples, called the Twili? The bluish skin, the exact same color markings as the greenish power Link is shown to use through Rauru's hand, and the red hair (as well as all the cultural symbolism, clothing, and jewelry we see) lead me to believe that this is how the Twili truly came about.
Oh one little detail about Midna's hair: most often Gerudo are shown with dark red hair, as I mentioned. Forgot to talk about how usually the Sheikah have white hair. Can you guess what happens when you mix red and white? You basically get a color exactly like Midna's hair. Really, it wouldn't surprise me if Midna was among the first of the Twili race, or at least her relative was. Actually, that would make more sense bc of how long the Zonai have been gone, even when it comes to the events of Twilight Princess. It would actually explain why she's queen of the Twili as well: she's a direct blood descendant of their original founders, just like Zelda's a direct blood descendant of Rauru and Queen Sonia.
You just made me think of how the Ancient Hero looks a bit Zonai and Gerudo. I bet you're on to something there, wouldn't you agree
I wasnt convinced until i went to use ultrahand and noticed its orange. Just like Midna's hand thing.
Don’t forget Vaati being one of those interlopers
I don't know tho. Twillight princess was made a long time before botw and totk. When they designed the zonais, they probably got inspiration from the previous twili designs.
Great connections and explanations.
I think the three gods depicted as dragons may have a lot to do with dragon references throughout the games and races of Hyrule.
------ SPOILERS----
There are a couple problems, most caused by TotK. Time travel always screws with stories.
For starters the "sky islands" didn't start in the sky, in the game you can see that the structures that are now on the islands were once on the ground. We still don't know where the Zonai came from or where they went, we only see two of them in TotK. Rauru and his sister Mineru.
The female character that keeps being called Zonai is NOT Zonai, she is a Hylian (Sonia) who was married to the Zonai Rauru. There are only two Zonai in the past scenes of TotK, one is a female and is distinctively similar to the male "first king of Hyrule" Zonai.
TotK disrupts the timeline, but it is possible that the past parts of the story were before SS, this might make sense as their forehead eye is likely the origin of the Shiekah symbol, as well as the ancient culture of builders from SS that have long disappeared and had various time manipulation abilities as well as using crystals similar to Zonai tech.
Demise could still be between TotK and SS because he could have been channeled by the Secret Stone into Gannondorf during the past in TotK, and later then come from below the land in SS history in full form.
There is no distinct reference of the goddesses or of Hylia, the goddesses could have still created the world long before, and Hylia then to save Hyrule AFTER the events of TotK sending most of the Hylians into the sky to later come back down to rebuild the kingdom of Hyrule, the first Zelda could have be the first queen of the NEW Hyrule kingdom.
The one major issue I can personally see from the lore of the rest of the games, is that the Rito existed in the ancient history of TotK, but in Wind Waker they were said to have evolved from the Zora, though that doesn't exactly make sense when the kingdom is covered in water why would fish people turn into birds? This could possibly be explained in some other way, such as misunderstanding in the games internal history.
If Nintendo tries to put TotK into the timeline there will likely be a bit of retcon done to fit it in, some hand waving "this was a misunderstanding" of either us or from characters in game, the "time travel changed things" aspect, and of course "its a game" and doesn't have to have cohesion reason.
There are 2 major problems I've noticed that make it so that the Hyrule in BotW/TotK simply can not be the same one we see in previous games. Either it's now its own distinct canon or at best what we're seeing is Hyrule 2, established long enough after the previous one fell that its founder can think it was his idea. Just to be safe:
Spoiler Warning Below
-The first being the Rito problem. At first glance it doesn't make much sense that the water dwelling race became birds because there was too much water, but the official reason was that the magically created water wasn't suitable for Zora habitation, which does somewhat line up after thinking about it since many aquatic creatures are the ones most affected by climate change. Basically the water was just too wrong for them so they adapted to live on land and in air instead. This one could just be a retcon like you suggest, I'd be unhappy with it but it wouldn't be the biggest issue on its own.
-The second and much bigger issue imo, is the existence of Ganondorf. His appearance in the past rules out any chance that this happened before SS, his Secret Stone amplifying his power and making him resemble Demise is a very good indication that he is an incarnation of Demise. However Ganondorf gets sealed away underneath Hyrule castle - sealed, not killed - which means his soul is not free to reincarnate into the Gandorf(s) we see in the other games.
@@WolforNuva The whole idea of "reincarnation" is obscurely vague at best anyhow, I don't think thats going to be much of an issue. I also don't think Ganondorf was supposed to be reincarnated, but more like Link where its the "essence" of evil that just happens to be named the same thing each time (you'd think the name would be forever not used just in case, but...).
They also are skipping a few steps with the Rito even if they are evolved from Zora who don't like that water all the sudden.
They likely will do a lot of retcon, maybe a "its a multiverse" to get around inconsistencies, but in the end its just a game and doesn't need to make lots of sense.
Now that the game is out it’s funny seeing a hylian called a zonai
In this game, they will throw so curveballs at you
"I thought Link and Zelda from SS started the Kingdom of Hyrule" Not in TOTK, this game will through you for a whirl. And I'm going to tell you right now, nothing from the old games truly matters in this game.
I don't want to be spoiled, so don't say anything spoiler-ish, however, the Kingdom of Hyrule was confirmed to have started long, long after the ending of Skyward Sword and many wars, so I don't think many people thought the Link and Zelda from SS started it.
@Mage The events of SS have near to zero consequences in the creation of the Kingdom of Hyrule, as per TotK. It's mind-blowing... This game will change so much that some might love it and others might hate it.
@@theyounglinker5044 I suppose I’ll see for myself, but again, idk what Skyward Sword’s story has to do with how the Kingdom of Hyrule was made.
@@WindMageMaster Saying more than that would spoil too much, so, yeah. It's better to see it for yourself.
@@theyounglinker5044 Would you say TotK retcons everything, or just adds a new layer of lore that makes SS’s lore less significant?
Was Sonia not an ancient hylian? Pretty sure she married Rauru but is clearly not Zonai.
It would be cool to put a complete massive dlc map of the twilight realm in TOTK. And th circles are oroborus symbol.
The color is Mint, but can often be a range between Turquoise and Emerald.
I would just like to say thanks for all your information on Zelda Tears of the Kingdom. Especially with not having any spoilers. You have been doing an awesome 👍 job. That is why I subscribed.
The symbol on Zance for head looks eerily similar to The Symbols I’ve seen in tears of the kingdom
The Zonai established a civilization in the skies. We have the City in the Sky with the Oocca. The Minish/Picori also came from the heavens. The Wind Tribe established the Palace of the Winds and held close friendships with the Minish and Hyrulean Royal Family. Connections????
I am truly starting to believe that the Era of the Wilds is just a reboot for the Zelda franchise
Anyone else noticed that thiers parts where it seems like an editing error? For example at 5:12
You need to listen back to these before posting. Lots of audio mistakes that make it tough to follow
You've stepped into... "The Twilight Zonai"
And now with every other creature and incidents like Majora, Majoras Mask, the ninja clan from Majoras Mask (I think they’ve been from there) and so on
Adding onto all of this I believe that the shiekah, zonai, and twili are all connected to the 3 dragons of Skyward Sword. We know the Zonai are heavily connected to dragons and sage stones turning people into dragons. Rauru and Mineru also share similar body types to the ancient dragons with Rauru straight up being lizard like with a dragon eye on his forehead. The Shiekah eye, Mask of twilight, Majora's Mask, and eye symbols on Zonai tech are all the symbol of a dragons eyes proven with the botw/totk dragons. We can surmise that the Shiekah based their symbol off of Zelda the crying dragon and likely were formed around her mysterious nature (which is ironic considering the dark nature of the shiekah and zelda basically being the embodiement of light). The twilight are most certainly an offshoot of the zonai with the the throne, floating islands, green energy, and alien look. I do not think the shiekah are the interlopers (most likely the gerudo are the interlopers as the eyes shed no tears). The zonai however were already present in the twilight realm (how remains unknown). The Zonai eventually intermingled with the gerudo and formed the twili as we know all twili have red hair. We also know twili are decently tall as adults and share height resemblance to the zonai. My thoughts are the Zonai descended from 3 SS dragons, branched off at somepoint into the twilight realm, intermingled with Humans to create hyrule, generations pass as gerudo are descended from Groose, Gerudo Interlopers are caught and banished to twilight realm where they intermingled with Zonai remnants and formed the twili species. The dragons we see in all titles are also descended from the 3 original dragons like Volvalgia, Valoo, Barba, Aquamentus, Gleerok, Gleeok, Argarok, as well as Dinraal, Naydra, And Farosh (who may be the direct children of the 3 dragons since they share similar names and are immortal).
The image behind the twili throne looks like the one hit obliterator
I would find it weird that the Zonai worshiped dragons when they seemed so oppose to how one becomes a dragon. Granted there cpuld have been natural born dragons, but after learning what i just learned i guess it makes sense that they would have some respect for dragons. Makes me wanna know more about the elemental dragons as well.
Yeah given how it completely makes you a shell of yourself and turns you immortal I can see why the act is forbidden as it not only disrespect the dragons but also completely abuses the secret stones power and its proper use and considering how the dragons all look the same I'm assuming Dinrral, Farosh, and Naydra were once people who ate their stones to gain immortality
@@lugiamastero13they are the 3 goddesses, and they formed the triforce as well. left there 3 powers (hero of time got them) and overall they are the creator of hyrule (oot btw) so i believe the dragons could just be either named after the 3 goddesses or from their powers
It seems that the other immortal dragons are deities, not sages.
Im convinced that the Zelda games take place in a super post apocalyptic Earth after we wipe ourselbes out and simultaneously evolve into Hylians, Gorons, and Zoras.
I think the Person Who is like Zelda is the 1st queen of Hyrule
8:01 I noticed that symbol has three eyes. Two looking outward and one in the middle.I think this is more evidence the dragon people are the Zonia.
Interesting video.
wait......impa was sent forward in time to guard future incarnations..........is Impa immortal? or a part of the cycle too? DOES IMPA KNOW EVERYTHING ALREADY?!?!?!?
Considering that we have three races that come from the skies to the lands of Hyrule (The Skyloftians, The Twili, and the Zonai), I've been assuming they have some significance to each piece of the tri force. (The Zonai = Wisdom, The Twili = Courage, and The Shiekah = Power)
I believe this because the zonai are humanoid dragons and, in fiction, dragons are depicted as wise. The Twili represent courage because they still carried out their mission despite the adversity of the Goddesses. The Sheikah symbolize power because they harnessed powers they couldn't control which ultimately led to their own banishment.
But it is interesting to think about which race came first and if they coexisted with each other. I am perplexed though. When they were created, were they always on the sky islands(I know the Hyrulians on Skyloft went from land to sky first)? Or maybe they discovered a way to go from the land to the sky?
I'm saying the Shiekah are descended from the Skyloftians like most Hyrulians
"interlopers" could be zonai that came afterwards and weren't as nice as rauru