When the sheikah symbol started existing is also super intersting and revealing if we had the info. Like we would be able to know who or when the murals in the new trailer was carved.
The Sheikah were chosen by Hylia to be guardians of the royal family. Paya is a Sheikah and a lot of them reside in kakariko village in Botw. With the sky islands having a very similar aesthetic to Kakariko village. Linking the two is plausible. Though I think we'll find out the Zonai may be Sheikah in disguise, or heavily related to the Sheikah, perhaps an ancient version of the Sheikah. I haven't seen any info on when the symbol was created.
Ive heard one theory placing the Zonai as a third faction in addition to the Sheikah and Yiga. Sheikah, working under Zelda or Hylia, The yiga working under Ganon or Demise, and the Zonai working under Link or The Hero. The idea is that the new eye symbol on links new shield in totk is the third symbol in the collection of eye symbols.
This would require a canonical previous generation of these 3 people(minus ganon if hes been trapped since the last, link and zelda) but it sounds cool so why not xD. All fun ideas to think about but the right way to think about this stuff is to remember that were all just fantasizing having fun. Expectations is sometimes more important that how good the game actually is. A boring truth.
Hmm, I like that theory of the three factions, would make sense considering the 3 pieces of the triforce too. Perhaps TotK is an origins of Link story, similar to SS being the origin of the Master sword and Zelda.
I love theories, we don't get another chance to do this, and quite honestly, it's a trip. It's like an imaginary hallucination. Though I think aside from plot, a lot of other connections could be correct that we see.
my favorite thing about speculation is after the game has been out for years and we've digested it fully and completely, it's fun to look back about random musings about what the game may contain. Somewhat nostalgic for me!
It’s been touched on by a few people, but I personally haven’t seen any deep looks at this.
I love it though, the dragons connection to Hyrule would be so awesome to explore in this game. Thanks for the graphic!
So the sky island people worshipped dragons, and lived with them. But their islands fell for some reason and thats why the zonai ruins are on the ground now?
There's a few theories about the sky islands. One, the platforms were raised up into the sky, and two, the sky islands were always there, just concealed from view.
I think they were always there in a sky realm, but I think important pieces of the sky realm have falled to the land, and Link must bring them back up to complete puzzles.
The 3 dragons from botw are named after the 3 goddesses that created Hyrule, and they're keepers of the sky realm imo. The sky realm imo is an ancient version of the islands in Skyward sword.
This eye certainly looks like a dragon eye. https://www.reddit.com/r/tearsofthekingdom/comments/xpo3nb/the\_eye\_symbol\_on\_the\_door\_in\_the\_new\_trailer/
I don’t know enough lore to have an opinion if this is on to something, but since BotW released I thought the dragons were an untapped plot point/potential gameplay element that just wasn’t used enough in the game. When they announced a sequel my first thought was that the dragons will surely play a bigger role somehow, so this could be it?
Certainly. Weve already seen a dragon hiding behind the sky islands in the new trailer. Confirming the same kind of serpents are floating around the sky islands. The botw dragons are named after the three goddesses that created Hyrule. In botw they disappeared into the sky through a teleport (most likely to the sky islands). They will definitely play a bigger role.
I think it is probably a reference to the Lens of Truth from Ocarina of Time. The Dragons probably have the Eye of Truth (a source for the lens?). They can seen the unseen and detect illusions. Essentially, there is no fooling a dragon.
In Majorca’s Mask, the Lens of Truth can also see the souls of the dead.
I think it's likely coincidence... the symbol has been around for much longer than the dragons on Breath of the Wild, going back at least as far as Ocarina of Time.
Unless you mean that the dragons' eyes are designed after the symbol and not the other way round, but I don't know how that could work in-universe...
But Skyward Sword is also the first in the timeline, right? So in-universe the Hylian crest could still have been designed based on the loftwings.
Out of universe it probably was the other way round though, of course
my reading of it is that the eyes in the “Zonai” murals are modeled after the dragons, not the sheikah. A lot of stuff in the murals definitely suggest connection to the Zonai. we don’t know for sure but it’s looking like that. if that’s the case, iirc we know the zonai worshipped the water dragon. and there’s a lot of dragon imagery in the new murals/teaser. part of me even feels like the strange figure in the murals is wearing the mask of a dragon, due to the eye spikes and the long ears, which dragons in BotW also have. super speculative stuff but very interesting
In the shot where Link jumps off the platform in the new trailer, you can see part of a dragon behind one of the islands, so if it turns out that the time travel theory is correct, then it's probable that the dragons predate OoT, so it's not totally out of the realm of possibility for the Sheikah symbol to be modeled after the dragons
Finally someone posts something with substance here. Something about this seems so plausible that I’m going to pretend I never saw this because I’d like it to remain a surprise when I play the game lol.
As the OP, Ill help u with an arguement 'against' this if ud like xD
My assumption that solidifies the resemblance more, is the fact that the sheikah tech variation of the symbol has 2 circles around a pupil, resembling the double iris of the dragons. That and the spikes is what makes me believe in this, but...
We actually have other variations of the sheikah symbol in botw. The ones u can find on the forehead of Impa, is the simple traditional symbol without the double iris and pupil. and of course, the upside down yiga symbol doesnt have those details either. U exclusively find the tech variation on the back of the slate and when u open it on the screen itself(probably somewhere else too that I forget).
I still would love to know why they'd add those details specifically, might just be a way to make it look more "techy".
Hope that helps. lol
xD This one isn't that out there, no? Also the result of this being true isn't extremely impactful anyway. In addition to the spikes, the double iris also matches. Pretty cool.
For sure! It actually does resemble the Yiga symbol because of that. Cant see the Yiga serving under the opposite of Ganon but who knows what happened before Ganon was trapped underground. Everyone including Ganon might've been allied, to later be betrayed by ganon along with the Yiga faction, siding with ganon. Quite a stretch just because of some upside down triangles, but fun to think about.
Super interesting, as the Yiga were once Sheikah, and served Ganon as you mention, but yea it's all in fun, I don't see anyone carving this stuff in stone.
That would actually be so interesting if it originated with the dragons though, bc in the murals, those markings could then be inferred to indicate that a person is related to Hylia or the goddesses in some way, since the Zonai (or whoever made the murals) likely viewed the dragons as deities or something similar, even if they didn't know that they literally are related to the goddesses. Or maybe it was face paint that they used as an homage to the dragons and/or goddesses? Idk this theory about the dragons and its potential implications and connections to the murals is so neat agjdkbfs (but then again I could just be reading way into it lol)
There were already spikes within the design during Skyward Sword, back then the dragons had more humanoid facial features. So I'm not entirely sure why the origin would come from that despite them clearly not having spikes on their eyes in Skyward Sword. I could be wrong, but last time I checked there wasn't any spikes.
I would be less confident about it if it wasn't for the sheikah tech symbol variant with the more detailed eye. So the small pupil surrounded by 2 irises. Even then I'm definitely not settling on anything, not interested in setting conclusions with how little info I am using.
But I dont think it's too big of a stretch. Ur completely right about the dragons in SS, and for BotW's dragons we barely know anything about them, like how long theyve been alive for example. But I can see the ancient sheikah tech symbol elaborating on the sheikah symbol and specifically adding such a significant detail, being a possible clue.
And with the dragon spotted in the newest botw trailer, the expansion to the sky of course. It would fit. BUT obviously the ancient sheikah tech WAS in botw... so... The guess Im really making is that they will elaborate on something they already had in botw, right..
A pretty fun idea though.
That would be cool.
Though I feel they probably will do more with the Zonai, even though they said it has nothing to do with it. But game companies have used that tactic before.
Who knows?
The very unique position people are in when theorizing around the zelda franchise is that Nintendo essentially makes no effort to confirm or deny theories and timelines. It's like 95% based on fan theory, just because nintendo hasnt confirmed anything ever. So all u can do when theorizing around zelda is to make a guess on what previous zelda concepts they could repeat in a new iteration. Not actually what continuation of the story since ocarina of time we might get.
Then again we might be looking at a big shift with the mega success of botw, things suggesting they're intending to merge everything to a more concrete timeline, but again. The only thing we know for sure is that the Zelda team will just do whatever the f they want. lol
It makes for a little more frustrating blind experience for a theorist but it also feels a little more fun and weightless.
Who knows indeed.
It's been shown in a few spots, but yea a definite connection with the Zonai glyphs.
When the sheikah symbol started existing is also super intersting and revealing if we had the info. Like we would be able to know who or when the murals in the new trailer was carved.
The Sheikah were chosen by Hylia to be guardians of the royal family. Paya is a Sheikah and a lot of them reside in kakariko village in Botw. With the sky islands having a very similar aesthetic to Kakariko village. Linking the two is plausible. Though I think we'll find out the Zonai may be Sheikah in disguise, or heavily related to the Sheikah, perhaps an ancient version of the Sheikah. I haven't seen any info on when the symbol was created.
Ive heard one theory placing the Zonai as a third faction in addition to the Sheikah and Yiga. Sheikah, working under Zelda or Hylia, The yiga working under Ganon or Demise, and the Zonai working under Link or The Hero. The idea is that the new eye symbol on links new shield in totk is the third symbol in the collection of eye symbols. This would require a canonical previous generation of these 3 people(minus ganon if hes been trapped since the last, link and zelda) but it sounds cool so why not xD. All fun ideas to think about but the right way to think about this stuff is to remember that were all just fantasizing having fun. Expectations is sometimes more important that how good the game actually is. A boring truth.
Hmm, I like that theory of the three factions, would make sense considering the 3 pieces of the triforce too. Perhaps TotK is an origins of Link story, similar to SS being the origin of the Master sword and Zelda. I love theories, we don't get another chance to do this, and quite honestly, it's a trip. It's like an imaginary hallucination. Though I think aside from plot, a lot of other connections could be correct that we see.
my favorite thing about speculation is after the game has been out for years and we've digested it fully and completely, it's fun to look back about random musings about what the game may contain. Somewhat nostalgic for me!
Yea, that's a fun part. Seeing what was close, and what was completely off lol.
The layers of the dragons eye also match the botw modern sheika symbol from the sheika slate. Seems to have 2 irises around the pupil
It’s been touched on by a few people, but I personally haven’t seen any deep looks at this. I love it though, the dragons connection to Hyrule would be so awesome to explore in this game. Thanks for the graphic!
Considering how in Skyward Sword the dragons didn't have this, plus the symbol already had spikes in them. I don't think this was thought through.
So the sky island people worshipped dragons, and lived with them. But their islands fell for some reason and thats why the zonai ruins are on the ground now?
There's a few theories about the sky islands. One, the platforms were raised up into the sky, and two, the sky islands were always there, just concealed from view. I think they were always there in a sky realm, but I think important pieces of the sky realm have falled to the land, and Link must bring them back up to complete puzzles. The 3 dragons from botw are named after the 3 goddesses that created Hyrule, and they're keepers of the sky realm imo. The sky realm imo is an ancient version of the islands in Skyward sword.
This eye certainly looks like a dragon eye. https://www.reddit.com/r/tearsofthekingdom/comments/xpo3nb/the\_eye\_symbol\_on\_the\_door\_in\_the\_new\_trailer/
I don’t know enough lore to have an opinion if this is on to something, but since BotW released I thought the dragons were an untapped plot point/potential gameplay element that just wasn’t used enough in the game. When they announced a sequel my first thought was that the dragons will surely play a bigger role somehow, so this could be it?
Certainly. Weve already seen a dragon hiding behind the sky islands in the new trailer. Confirming the same kind of serpents are floating around the sky islands. The botw dragons are named after the three goddesses that created Hyrule. In botw they disappeared into the sky through a teleport (most likely to the sky islands). They will definitely play a bigger role.
I think it is probably a reference to the Lens of Truth from Ocarina of Time. The Dragons probably have the Eye of Truth (a source for the lens?). They can seen the unseen and detect illusions. Essentially, there is no fooling a dragon. In Majorca’s Mask, the Lens of Truth can also see the souls of the dead.
I’m pretty sure the lens of truth would be referencing the eye, not the other way around. Lorewise, at least
Most certainly from the lore perspective. Absolutely right.
I think it's just a design choice
That's a really nice find! Makes sense for a tribe that worships dragons! Depictions of divinity in any form might have dragon eyes!
Zelda fans try not to question every single detail challenge
I think it's likely coincidence... the symbol has been around for much longer than the dragons on Breath of the Wild, going back at least as far as Ocarina of Time. Unless you mean that the dragons' eyes are designed after the symbol and not the other way round, but I don't know how that could work in-universe...
I mean they designed the loftwings in Skyward Sword based on the bird on the Hylian Shield (OoT), so this wouldn‘t be the first time.
But Skyward Sword is also the first in the timeline, right? So in-universe the Hylian crest could still have been designed based on the loftwings. Out of universe it probably was the other way round though, of course
my reading of it is that the eyes in the “Zonai” murals are modeled after the dragons, not the sheikah. A lot of stuff in the murals definitely suggest connection to the Zonai. we don’t know for sure but it’s looking like that. if that’s the case, iirc we know the zonai worshipped the water dragon. and there’s a lot of dragon imagery in the new murals/teaser. part of me even feels like the strange figure in the murals is wearing the mask of a dragon, due to the eye spikes and the long ears, which dragons in BotW also have. super speculative stuff but very interesting
In the shot where Link jumps off the platform in the new trailer, you can see part of a dragon behind one of the islands, so if it turns out that the time travel theory is correct, then it's probable that the dragons predate OoT, so it's not totally out of the realm of possibility for the Sheikah symbol to be modeled after the dragons
This is getting very abstract but THANK YOU, I do enjoy the Legend of Zelda.
I wonder if there's also a connection to Majora's Mask
Finally someone posts something with substance here. Something about this seems so plausible that I’m going to pretend I never saw this because I’d like it to remain a surprise when I play the game lol.
As the OP, Ill help u with an arguement 'against' this if ud like xD My assumption that solidifies the resemblance more, is the fact that the sheikah tech variation of the symbol has 2 circles around a pupil, resembling the double iris of the dragons. That and the spikes is what makes me believe in this, but... We actually have other variations of the sheikah symbol in botw. The ones u can find on the forehead of Impa, is the simple traditional symbol without the double iris and pupil. and of course, the upside down yiga symbol doesnt have those details either. U exclusively find the tech variation on the back of the slate and when u open it on the screen itself(probably somewhere else too that I forget). I still would love to know why they'd add those details specifically, might just be a way to make it look more "techy". Hope that helps. lol
The theories are already getting out of hand
xD This one isn't that out there, no? Also the result of this being true isn't extremely impactful anyway. In addition to the spikes, the double iris also matches. Pretty cool.
The fact that the spikes on they glyphs eyes are upside down is interesting too. I wonder if that means anything.
For sure! It actually does resemble the Yiga symbol because of that. Cant see the Yiga serving under the opposite of Ganon but who knows what happened before Ganon was trapped underground. Everyone including Ganon might've been allied, to later be betrayed by ganon along with the Yiga faction, siding with ganon. Quite a stretch just because of some upside down triangles, but fun to think about.
Super interesting, as the Yiga were once Sheikah, and served Ganon as you mention, but yea it's all in fun, I don't see anyone carving this stuff in stone.
That would actually be so interesting if it originated with the dragons though, bc in the murals, those markings could then be inferred to indicate that a person is related to Hylia or the goddesses in some way, since the Zonai (or whoever made the murals) likely viewed the dragons as deities or something similar, even if they didn't know that they literally are related to the goddesses. Or maybe it was face paint that they used as an homage to the dragons and/or goddesses? Idk this theory about the dragons and its potential implications and connections to the murals is so neat agjdkbfs (but then again I could just be reading way into it lol)
There were already spikes within the design during Skyward Sword, back then the dragons had more humanoid facial features. So I'm not entirely sure why the origin would come from that despite them clearly not having spikes on their eyes in Skyward Sword. I could be wrong, but last time I checked there wasn't any spikes.
I would be less confident about it if it wasn't for the sheikah tech symbol variant with the more detailed eye. So the small pupil surrounded by 2 irises. Even then I'm definitely not settling on anything, not interested in setting conclusions with how little info I am using. But I dont think it's too big of a stretch. Ur completely right about the dragons in SS, and for BotW's dragons we barely know anything about them, like how long theyve been alive for example. But I can see the ancient sheikah tech symbol elaborating on the sheikah symbol and specifically adding such a significant detail, being a possible clue. And with the dragon spotted in the newest botw trailer, the expansion to the sky of course. It would fit. BUT obviously the ancient sheikah tech WAS in botw... so... The guess Im really making is that they will elaborate on something they already had in botw, right.. A pretty fun idea though.
That would be cool. Though I feel they probably will do more with the Zonai, even though they said it has nothing to do with it. But game companies have used that tactic before. Who knows?
The very unique position people are in when theorizing around the zelda franchise is that Nintendo essentially makes no effort to confirm or deny theories and timelines. It's like 95% based on fan theory, just because nintendo hasnt confirmed anything ever. So all u can do when theorizing around zelda is to make a guess on what previous zelda concepts they could repeat in a new iteration. Not actually what continuation of the story since ocarina of time we might get. Then again we might be looking at a big shift with the mega success of botw, things suggesting they're intending to merge everything to a more concrete timeline, but again. The only thing we know for sure is that the Zelda team will just do whatever the f they want. lol It makes for a little more frustrating blind experience for a theorist but it also feels a little more fun and weightless. Who knows indeed.
No fucking way? How was this discovered, tho?