Hyrule's DEEPEST Secrets Finally Unearthed! - Exposing the Depths (ft. @commonwealthrealm)

Send Konrad some love! https://youtu.be/koVxhrk6j-w?si=wtBZFtzazv5UU8uH

What's funny is that Zeldatubers put more time and effort into thinking about the Zelda timeline than the developers do.

It's allegorical / mythical instead of literal. Japanese / Buddhism has layers and different "realms" that beings ascend or descend to based on karma and how they live their lives. The Depths are, iirc, a realm of beasts - nothing but emptiness and hunger and stagnation which is why the creatures you find there are monsters and the destructive, foolish Yiga only interested in selfish power. On the flip side, Japanese culture believes the royal family descends from the Sun Goddess who married the first Emperor, similar to how Sonia marries Rauru and founds Hyrule. The "heavens" are the sky, where the gods live.

I feel like Ive been converted to an adult timeline believer now. The items of the other timelines still existing but just underwater really makes sense as well. Majoras Mask for example was still real in the adult timeline it just had a different fate you could say (found and stashed in a chest as a colisseum prize)

My theory for Zelda having the Triforce in BotW/TotK lies in Zeldas Pilgramage before the calamity. She visited 3 very special Places called the springs of Power, Courage and lastly Wisdom. I think that Hylia or Naryu, Din and Farore (or the Dragons) bestowd Zelda there with their respectiv Fragment of the Triforce so shed be powerful enough for the upcoming battle.

How you gonna hit me in the feels with the snowed Rito Village theme like that... 🥺 Also, you know what's something that really intrigues about the Depths? Those pillars that let you Ascend to the surface! Why are they located where they are? There's one on each corner of the map, one under Korok Forest...and then several pillars in random locations that, upon closer inspection, actually lead you to vantage points that let you view a Geoglyph... ...but the Geoglyphs shouldn't have been there during the time the Zonai were active to build those pillars...besides, why didn't the Zonai set up the pillars near the abandoned mines, where they would be much more convenient? Lastly, why is the ambient music that plays near the pillars so creepy?

I don't think it's accurate to say the only thing we can assume is that Ganondorf was sealed underground based on that Windwaker quote. It's also possible that he broke free of the seal and in doing so was warped down below the earth. Entry to the sacred realm is always done via portals and magic. Assuming he sent himself back, it's possible he entered back into Hyrule below the land. I think the depths are the land of ancient Hyrule. I think BOTW/TOTK Hyrule was founded on the islands above. The deku tree was connecting the islands and hoped to make one big land where the people who lived there would join hands and make a better future.

Although I'm a bit skeptical to these kind of theories, of course, Ganondorf resting and recovering in the same place where his previous incarnation was locked would be so cool.

The Sacred Realm is the Pre-Deluge Hyrule, which got covered in mud that solidified (became the soil of the next iteration of Hyrule) over time. The Zonai didn't dig, they built normally, at their ground level.

In a link between worlds in the sacred realm, the pillars next to the triforce look like the pillars in the depths in tears of the kingdom.

I personally think that modern TOTK is the end of the Timeline, but that Rauru and Sonia's time came before Skyward Sword. That would explain the missing Champion and the missing Master Sword much easier (hadn't yet been created), and would also explain why so many different iterations of Ganondorf/Ganon/Demise/Malice are shown to come up from the ground: they're all just manifestations of the Demon King's power seeping up and being reborn while the Demon King lies imprisoned. But I still think your theory that the Modern timeframe of TOTK/BOTW was built on top of a Hyrule buried by the ocean and by the Korok's land. Consider this: what if the Hyrule that Zelda went to in the past is the one eventually covered by the Ocean? She realizes instantly that its a completely differently Hyrule than her own, maybe thats because its topography is immediately, noticeably different to her? Added to the theory, what if it was her and Mineru who raised the Skyloft islands before Skyward Sword, not Hylia? They just mistook her for Hylia because she draconified soon after, and all the dragons have Goddess counterparts, even back during SS? And that's why nobody saw the Sky Islands before the Upheaval, because the Cloud Barrier hid them until the Light Dragon broke that barrier at the beginning of TOTK. (When you first see the Light Dragon, you can't see the surface because the clouds beneath you are too dense to see through to the surface. She flies up through those dense clouds beneath you, and they all dissipate so you can see the surface.) To me it would just make the most sense to have TOTK essentially be the endcaps to the entire series: Sonia and Rauru's time being the beginning, and Link's destruction of Ganondorf being the end.

It is definitely the Triforce at work when Zelda's power eclipses Sonya's. You can also see the Triforce formed when Rauru unleashes his power when you look frame by frame. You can see the golden triangle form and then at 18:07 you can see 3 triangles expanding out pointing upward in the standard formation of the Hyrulean Triforce. At 18:08 you see three downward triangles similar to the Lorulean Trifoce. Moments later at 18:08, the Hyrulean Triforce (possibly complete) appears. It is unknown if these stones would be harnessing the power of the Triforce in other instances, but they are here. Also, loved the video with you and Conrad; both brilliant Zelda theorist!

the sheer amount of collaboration within the Zelda YT community continues to impress and baffle me

Also, Malladus is sealed beneath the world in ST. That's one extra Demon King in the evil realm.

Every time I see a video about totk I end up playing it more. I'm 280 hours deep. My first save was about 260 of those hours, then I reset it all to do it again I just love this game so much.

Great video from 2 great channels when it comes down to al Zelda related theories. Very entertaining to watch, well put together.

The depths are an exact mirror of the topography of the land above. If it were the old Hyrule I feel like after several thousands of years they wouldn't mirror each other so perfectly. The lightroots down there are also directly connected to the shrines Rauru places around Hyrule for the purpose of purging and cleansing evil. If anything I feel like the depths are a purgatory for spirits and not the sacred realm especially since TotK has heavy emphasis on spirits. Also to me the depths and the plant life there have more in common with caves with all the moss and mushrooms.

It’s also interesting to note that (source: a theory I saw a while ago) the chamber of the Trial of the Sword looks like it’s underground, similar to the rest of the Sheikah stuff in breath of the wild. And, in that theory, the guy had some pretty solid proof that the chamber of the trial was the Sacred Realm. (I might come back and edit this with the source)

11:40 this tiny funny bit caught me so offguard as I was enthralled by this phenomenal theory, I burst out laughing and rewinded 5 times! *Honks horn at you guys*! 😂

7:40 a side note, but I immediately thought, those trees the Koroks were planting must be the origin of those huge tree husks you find all over in BotW/ToTK (ie: the hills around Deya Village)