Anticipating the Return of the Sages

Well, my exams are over now, so I’m free to continue writing! Before you read the rest of this editorial, I must warn you, it is going to be similar to Axle the Beast’s recent editorial, but I assure you, I was planning this for a week or two before his editorial was published, and because I couldn’t write it until now, well… yeah. Though, this editorial will be different because I’ll be talking about some other things that I’ve wondered about the Sages, including a potential eighth Sage…

As you guys know from my previous editorial, I had originally believed the Seven Maidens to be returning in A Link Between Worlds. When further official artwork was released, it appeared that in fact it’s the Seven Sages who are returning… so I was close. So who exactly are these Sages?

WARNING: This editorial deals heavily with spoilers! If you are trying to remain spoiler-free before playing A Link Between Worlds, I recommend reading on with caution.

The first Sage that we saw (before we knew he was a Sage) was the unknown boy, who we now know to be called Gulley. It is yet to be confirmed that Gulley is actually a Sage, but given that he gets turned into a painting, it is fairly likely. Some have theorized that he represents the Sage of Forest, and that he is a Kokiri, or a descendent of them. While I don’t find it likely that he is a Kokiri, I do believe that he is the Sage of Forest, which some of the aforementioned theorists thought that it meant he had to be a Kokiri. We know from the Seven Sages in Ocarina of Time and the Seven Wise Men and the Seven Maidens in A Link to the Past that the role of being a Sage is not hereditary, so he can still be the Sage of Forest but not be a Kokiri.

Next, we have Seres, the girl garbed in blue who we see get turned into a painting by Yuga. Again, we did not know that she is a Sage when she was initially revealed, and, due to the Sage that has come to be known as the pretty dude/man/guy slightly resembling a woman in an earlier trailer, this is where I got my idea that the Seven Maidens were returning. It is yet to be revealed which Sage she actually is, but I personally think that she could well be the Sage of Spirit, though she could also be the Sage of Light. I only reached this conclusion through deduction, though, as each of the Sages that have been revealed are pretty heavily connected with certain other Sages in particular.

Now, I move onto the pretty dude/man/guy himself. When I realized that this was a guy, my instant impression was that he is the Sage of Light. The colour yellow, grey hair, hairstyle, his outfit, the Triforce on his front, and just his general aura, all reminded me of Rauru (though, yes, his cloak is orange, not yellow). Though, like Seres, I cannot be certain; they could both be either the Sage of Light or Sage of Spirit; we’ll just have to wait and see.

When artwork for the rest of the Sages was unveiled, I thought it was interesting to see a large man resembling a Goron. I always had a theory that, due to the Gorons’ absence from the Downfall Timeline (except for the Oracle games, though they were set in other worlds from Hyrule) that Ganon had killed them all, because he had intended do so by feeding them to Volvagia before Link killed the Subterranean Lava Dragon. Whether he is a Goron or not is yet to be confirmed, but what most people have accepted is that he is most likely the Sage of Fire. This is derived not only from his associations with the Gorons, but also from the red frame that he is placed in when he is turned into a painting. No matter his species, this is further proof that being a Sage is not hereditary.

Next, we have who most people believe to be Queen Zora. She could be a redesigned Queen Zora, or Queen Zora after you free her from a curse (given that she was fat and bathing in purple water in an earlier trailer, but in a recent trailer, we see her skinny and bathing in clear water in the same tub), but, like Gulley and the large man, it is generally believed that she is the Sage of Water due to her being a Zora. However, due to her being framed in an orange frame when she is turned into a painting, and orange being associated with the Sage of Spirit, could this mean that she is in fact the Sage of Spirit? Are Nintendo further messing with the conventions of Zelda by associating the Sages with new colors? Once again, we’ll just have to wait and see.

And finally, we’ve got Impa and Zelda. Given that they are framed in purple and gold frames, respectively, it appears that they are retaining their roles from Ocarina of Time as the Sage of Shadow and the Seventh Sage, respectively. And there we have it: all Seven Sages. But hold on, we’re missing something. As Roth commented on Axle the Beast’s editorial, in this artwork to the left, we can see the Seven Sages and Zelda, not the Seven Sages including Zelda. Furthermore, when you think about it, there were the Seven Wise Men and Zelda. Zelda was the Seventh Maiden in A Link to the Past and the leader of the Sages in Ocarina of Time, but this time, perhaps not.

You might be thinking, “Well, so what? Seven people get turned into paintings; therefore, these people are the Seven Sages. Zelda’s one of them. That’s it,”. But it isn’t! Of the frames that Nintendo released artwork of, there was a dark blue frame, the occupant of which was recently revealed. If you go back to the aforementioned recent trailer, and pause it at 2:08, you can see that the dark blue frame is being occupied by Irene the Witch. I was unable to get an image of this to include, so if you want to see for yourself, you’re going to watch the trailer.

But going back to the fact that there are eight paintings in total, there can’t be eight Sages, there are only seven, that is a simple fact. So why are there eight paintings? Well, when you think back to A Link to the Past, the Seven Maidens are descendents of the Seven Wise Men that sealed Ganon in the Sacred Realm, and that, on top of the Maidens, there are other descendents of the Wise Men, notably, Sahasrahla. As a result of this, and due to the fact that none of these ‘Sages’ clearly represent any one Sage in particular, I think it is fairer to call these people descendents of the Sages, rather than actual sages, and Yuga needs them to complete his mission.

But what do you guys think? Do you think these are actual Sages, or descendents of the Sages? Do you think that they could still represent any Sage in particular? Let me know in the comments!