A Link to the Past Maidens vs. OoT sages

[GZ Zelda]

Which Ocarina of Time sages are the A Link to the Past maidens descendants of?
This is them pictured together: as you can see, there are two yellow maidens so we can't use this as reference for differentiating them.

I'll use the sprite map from the crystal cutscenes
From left to right:
Palace of Darkness Thieves' Town Ice Palace Misery Mire Skull Woods Swamp Palace



Here is their dialogue, the only thing behind appearance that differentiates them. I will bold and enlarge the important lines.

Palace of Darkness: "Link, because of you, I can escape from the clutches of the evil monsters. Thank you! ...This world used to be the Golden Land where the Triforce was hidden. But because Ganon, the boss of thieves, wished it the world was transformed...I'm sure he's intending to conquer even our Light World after building his power here. He is trying to open a larger gate between worlds near the castle using our powers. But the gate is not open completely yet...If we seven maidens come together, we can break the barrier around Ganon's hiding place. I will tell you where the other girls are held. I believe you will destroy Ganon. I will return to my original form at that time...................May the way of the Hero lead to the Triforce."

Swamp Palace: "Link, because of you, I can escape from the clutches of the evil monsters. Thank you! ...The Triforce will grant the wishes of whoever touches it, as long as that person lives...That is why it was hidden in the Golden Land. Only a select few knew of its location, but at some point that knowledge was lost...The person who rediscovered the Golden Land was Ganondorf the evil thief. Luckily, he couldn't figure out how to return to the Light World......Well, remember that you have magical powers, which only The Hero can make the most of! There are some other magical warping points like the one you saw on Death Mountain. By using them you can go between the two worlds and find the evils hidden in the Dark World. You are the only one who can destroy Ganondorf, the thief-- no, Ganon, the evil King Of Darkness! May the way of the Hero lead to the Triforce."

Skull Woods: "Link, because of you, I can escape from the clutches of the evil monsters. Thank you! ...Do you know the prophecy of the Great Cataclysm? This is the way I heard it...If a person who has an evil heart gets the Triforce, a Hero is destined to appear......and he alone must face the person who began the Great Cataclysm. If the evil one destroys the Hero, nothing can save the world from his wicked reign. Only a person of the Knights of Hyrule, who protected the royalty of Hylia, can become the Hero... You are of their blood-line, aren't you? Then you must rescue Zelda without fail. May the way of the Hero lead to the Triforce."

Thieves' Town: "Link, because of you, I can escape from the clutches of the evil monsters. Thank you! As the sages sealed the way to the Dark World, the Knights Of Hyrule defended them from the attacks of evil monsters. I heard that the Knights Of Hyrule were nearly wiped out that battle...You are perhaps the last one to carry on the blood-line of the Knights...It is ironic that the last one in the line has the potential to become the Hero of legend. Surely you can destroy Ganon! May the way of the Hero lead to the Triforce."

Ice Palace: "Link, because of you, I can escape from the clutches of the evil monsters. Thank you! They say the Hylia people controlled mysterious powers, as did the seven sages. But the blood of the Hylia has become thin over time. We who carry the blood of the seven sages do not possess strong power any more, either. Our powers will increase if we mix the courage of the Knights with the wisdom of the sages. Only a short time remains until the gate at the castle linking the worlds opens completely. If you defeat Ganon, this world will vanish and the Triforce will wait for a new holder. I believe in you...Good luck! May the way of the Hero lead to the Triforce."

Misery Mire: "Link, because of you, I can escape from the clutches of the evil monsters. Thank you! Ganon captured us because he couldn't break the seal of the sages with his power alone. And then, using the wizard Agahnim as his pawn, he drew us to the Dark World. After cracking the seal with our powers, he sealed us inside of these crystals. He then gave us to his loyal monsters. But Ganon didn't plan on your getting this far. Now, Princess Zelda is waiting for you inside of Turtle Rock. Please hurry! May the way of the Hero lead to the Triforce."

Ok this is almost nothing to go off of, everything is going to be a stretch, let's start!

Maidens

I think it is notable that two of the maidens are green and one is blue. A Zora-Hylian mix perhaps? But which one?! Maybe the one who mysteriously talks about her true form? Palace of Darkness Maiden is Ruto's descendant!

How many times does the Gerudo name "Ganondorf" appear in A Link to the Past. Twice! From the Swamp Palace Maiden! Who would pass the knowledge of Ganondorf's real name down? As shown in Breath of the Wild, the Gerudo would. Why is she green? Nobody knows! Swamp Palace Maiden is Nabooru's descendant.

You know who would know an awful lot about the Master Sword and its engraving about the Great Cataclysm? Sage Rauru. You know who else knows a lot about this? The Skull Woods Maiden! Why is she blue? Nobody knows! Skull Woods Maiden is Rauru's descendant.

The Thieves' Town maiden focuses her information on the Knights of Hyrule (The Hero of Time) Focusing on Link above all else? Sounds like Saria to me! After she leaves the Lost Woods, Saria would grow up without the Deku Tree's age-less Kokiri magic, and tell tales of the last of the Knights of Hyrule bloodline. Which other sage would? Ruto? Unfortunately, the Thieves' Town maiden is not green or blue. Thieves' Town maiden is Saria's descendant.

Who would know about the Hylia people? Maybe someone who's job it was to protect their bloodline? Impa! The Sheikah's tradition of watching the Hylia people carries on to the Ice Palace Maiden. Ice Palace Maiden is Impa's descendant.

That leaves the Misery Mire maiden and Darunia. I don't know how a Goron has a descendant who is a person, but that's not my job. She also basically just says what happened to her, adding no new information. Misery Mire Maiden is Darunia's descendant.

Zelda is Zelda's descendant.

Ruto	Dark Palace Maiden
Rauru	Swamp Palace Maiden
Nabooru	Skull Woods Maiden
Saria	Thieves' Town Maiden
Impa	Ice Palace Maiden
Darunia	Misery Mire Maiden
Zelda	Zelda

Thoughts? Feelings? Alternative interpretations? Remember, we have limited information!

 

[GZ Zelda]

Who are the Maidens present-day ancestors?

Besides the Seven Maidens, there are four characters who are also descended from the Seven Sages: the King of Hyrule, the Lost Old Man, Aginah, and Sahasrahla.

The Lost Old Man is confirmed to have a granddaughter: he lives alone on Death Mountain and is bald and shiny, with grey hair like a Goron. Perhaps he's many years descended, somehow, from Darunia and the Misery Mire Maiden is his granddaughter? This is the only character in the whole game who I can see being plausibly descended from a Goron tbh.

Aginah and Sahasrahla are siblings, and Sahasrahla is shown to have children and grandchildren. Aginah is the only other character besides the Skull Woods Maiden and the Master Sword pedestal to mention the Great Cataclysm, and so it is likely that he passed this knowledge onto her, after learning it from the lineage of Rauru.

Sahasrahla would then either be Ruto's descendant (no), Saria's descendant (no), Nabooru's descendant (no), Zelda's descendant? (But then he'd be related to the Royal Family, this seems unlikely), or Impa's descendant. I think Impa's "protector" role matches Sahasrahla's the most, plus his mystical telepathy powers are similar to the Sheikah's.

The only good Zora we see in the game is King Zora, and it may be that his daughter is the green Zora maiden who hints at her mysterious form. Otherwise, the Ruto-descended Zora maiden is just descended from a random river Zora; I think her being King Zora's descendant is the most plausible.

This leaves two left: Saria's descendant Thieves' Town Maiden, and Nabooru's descendent Skull Woods' Maiden. I'm going to fill these in for now, and in the next post about ALBW, I'll get into it a little more.

And the King of Hyrule is obviously Zelda's ancestor.

Darunia	Lost Old Man	Misery Mire Maiden
Rauru	Aginah	Swamp Palace Maiden
Impa	Sahasrahla	Ice Palace Maiden
Ruto	King Zora	Dark Palace Maiden
Saria	Flute Boy's Father OR Loyal Sage	Thieves' Town Maiden
Nabooru	Syrup	Skull Woods Maiden
Zelda	King of Hyrule	Zelda

Thoughts on who the Lost Old Man's granddaughter is?

 

[mαrkαsscoρ]

I don't think this can work considering
a. some of the sages are a different species whereas the maidens are all hylian
b. weren't they basically spirits or something by the end of oot? of which darunia is the only one to have shown to have a kid prior to everyone's awakening
c. even if you want to say that some of them did have a kid off screen prior to their awakenings, ruto and saria most definitely didn't

 

[GZ Zelda]

Who are the A Link Between Worlds sages descended from?

This image is from a post: https://aminoapps.com/c/zelda/page/...mberinglorule/ERot_PuwWGLgQ0wn2a06GPbGZjm2j26 which I've been thinking about since I saw it three years ago.


Osfala:

Osfala and Rauru seem obvious as the Sages of Light. Osfala is specifically not descended from Sahasrahla, but he may be his first third cousin thrice removed descending from Aginah.

Rosso:

Rosso is also obviously related to Sage of Fire Darunia, even while not being a Goron himself. This is partly why I think the Lost Old Man being Goron-resemblant is enough to suggest he is descended from Darunia.

Oren:

The Zora Queen Oren is also obviously descended from Ruto and the Zora Royal Family: another reason to think that one of the maidens was a Zora in disguise!

Impa:

Impa is descended from Impa, shocker!

Nabooru:

Ok, back to Nabooru. The Gerudo-descended candidate in ALBW is either Seres, Gulley, or Irene. Of these, it seems obvious that the magical witch Irene is most-connected with the magical witches of the Gerudo, and the other two don't work at all. This is also why I said Syrup was the Skull Woods' Maidens ancestor: Irene is the Witch's granddaughter, and the bloodline likely passed through the witches. Unnecessary Side Note (skip if you want): (I think it is possible that the Fortune Teller from A Link to the Past could be Irene's ancestor because of the Mage's resemblance to the Fortune Teller in FSA and Iris' similarity to Irene, and the fact that the Mages use Aveil the Gerudo's voicelines much more directly, but having six generations of witches is more occam's razor (and relies less on a linear timeline interpretation of MM-FSA-ALttP)). TL;DR Irene is Nabooru's, Syrup's and the Skull Woods Maiden's descendent.

Seres and Gulley:

Finally, the question of Saria. Seres and Gulley. One of these two is descended from Saria, the other is descended from the Royal Family. The post above makes the argument that Seres is descended from the Royal Family, but I am not totally convinced by this. I think Gulley may be descended from the Royal Family instead.

There are a number of characters that are inter-related:
Gulley, the Blacksmith (his dad), the Blacksmith's Wife (his mom), and the Dwarven Blacksmiths.
Seres, the Priest (her dad), the Loyal Sage, and Sonia.
Link (ALBW), Zelda (ALttP), Zelda (ALBW), Zelda (OoT), Saria, Mido, Fado (WW), Flute Boy (ALttP), Flute Boy (ALBW), and the King of Hyrule. (ALttP).
Link (ALttP), Gramps, Papa, Girl, Link's Uncle (ALttP)

Gulley is the Blacksmith and Blacksmith's Wife's son, but he's modeled after the ALttP Flute Boy (who is modeled after Link). The Dwarven Swordsmiths were the blacksmiths in ALttP, but the Blacksmith and the Blacksmith's Wife wear Link's green hat, their new apprentice is Link, they are the ones who call the Master Sword-wielding Hero of Legend Gramps.

Seres is the Priest's daughter, but she's modeled after Saria with her green hair (and theorized to be named after Saria as well). The Royal Family is known to have priests in it (Sonia), and maybe Sonia, Saria and Seres are all nomenclaturally related idk.

Gulley's name comes from "green," which is also where Mido's name comes from, and Zelda 2 town name Mido/Sage of Wind Fado and Flute Boy all have resemblance to Gulley (who has resemblance to Link). There is also the fact that there are EIGHT paintings required to undo the seal on Ganon, not 7. Though there are seven sages keeping the Triforce of Courage. Maybe Gulley is a Sage of Wind analog similar to Fado, and maybe his descendancy from Mido led to the Zelda 2 town name? Maybe. And then Seres is simply a descendant of Saria? Maybe.

But, for now, let's just stick to the seven. I will be honest: the idea above, along with the Loyal Sage's name having SAGE in it, really incline me to think that Seres is not related to the Royal Family and, instead, the Loyal Sage and Saria. I'll try to ignore this bias.

Essentially, the fundamental question is...what is more plausible: that the Loyal Sage or his descendants joined the Royal Family's line or that Link did? Perhaps this is the wrong formulation...what is more plausible: that the Loyal Sage joined the Royal Family's line or that the Flute Boy's family did.

Assuming the Flute Boy issue, the question becomes harder: is the Saria-descended Maiden sisters with the Flute Boy? Is the Impa-descended Maiden sisters with Sahasrahla's grandson? Is the Nabooru-descended Maiden sisters with Maple, Syrup's granddaughter? If the Saria-descended Maidens brother is the Flute Boy, then is Gulley's ancestor the Flute Boy's Father?

For the two leading theories, I'll do two demo charts:

Saria	Flute Boy's Father	Thieves' Town Maiden	Gulley
Zelda	King of Hyrule	Zelda	Seres

Saria	Loyal Sage	Thieves' Town Maiden	Seres
Zelda	King of Hyrule	Zelda / Link	Gulley

And then my preferred alternative:

Saria	Loyal Sage	Thieves' Town Maiden	Seres
Zelda	King of Hyrule	Zelda	Zelda
Mido	Flute Boy's Father	Flute Boy	Gulley

Among the two leading theories, I think I am most inclined towards the second: Gulley is descended from Link and Zelda. This is for several reasons:

1. The Loyal Sage being a Sage Descendant is important in justifying why he is called a Sage.
2. Seres' resemblance to Saria is more important in determining her ancestry than Gulley's resemblance to the Flute Boy.
3. There is another Flute Boy in ALBW who is unrelated to the Blacksmiths.
4. The Blacksmiths refer to Gramps as Gramps: it would make sense if he was their Gramps.
5. The Blacksmiths apprentice Link: much like Osfala apprentices with his relative, it would make sense for the new Link living in his old Great Great Great Great Great Uncle's home would apprentice with his relatives.
6. As a ZeLinker, it makes me very happy that the Hero of Legend's long battle to get home paid off.

If you disagree with this, please let me know, but I'm putting it in: Seres is descended from the Loyal Sage, the Thieves' Town Maiden, and Saria.

Rauru	Aginah	Swamp Palace Maiden	Osfala
Darunia	Lost Old Man	Misery Mire Maiden	Rosso
Ruto	King Zora	Dark Palace Maiden	Oren
Impa	Sahasrahla	Ice Palace Maiden Maiden	Impa
Nabooru	Syrup	Skull Woods Maiden	Irene
Saria	Loyal Sage	Thieves' Town Maiden	Seres
Zelda	King of Hyrule	Zelda	Gulley