Spoiler Some Interpretations on the Finale of the Wind Waker...

[Fraxinus]

This contains some spoilers to the ending of the Wind Waker

A thought donned on me today while I was playing the Wind Waker. In the end of the final battle, Link deals a blow to Ganondorf’s head, shattering the gem on his forehead, and sealing him in stone. Being the odd self I am, I had to put more thought into it—perhaps so I can prove that Ganondorf may or may not be dead in this “Adult” Timeline.

When the sun rose into the sky, a burning wind punished my lands, searing the world. And when the moon climbed into the dark of night, a frigid gale pierced our homes. No matter when it came, the wind carried the same thing... Death.

He states above that the wind of the Gerudo Desert was the cause of his people’s suffering and demise. And analyzing what he says after the final blow, it can be taken two different ways:

The wind… It is blowing…

Ganondorf could be referring to the same wind that wiped out the Gerudo, or perhaps he is acknowledging the fact that Link is the Hero of the Winds. Link is also referred to as the Waker of the Winds… Link, in a sense, awoke the wind of Gerudo Desert by defeating Ganondorf.

During the final battle, I believe I have already pointed this out, but, you can still see the Crest of Power on Ganondorf’s hand even after the Triforce once again separates into three directions. Somehow, he still possesses the Triforce of Power. Any normal mortal being would not get petrified or sealed in stone. The Triforce had to have reacted to the Master Sword’s blessed power. Again, I think I had a thread about this part, saying that since Ganondorf reformed the Triforce, he is able to keep that fragment of it.

Some say he was turned to stone, whereas others think he was just sealed in it. Either way, it is still stone. But, getting a bit scientific on this, I have to ask: “What kind of stone was it?” You may not think this is of much significance, but… at first, I thought it was a type of sedimentary rock, perhaps limestone or shale. But if Hyrule became flooded with the Great Sea, sedimentary can be soluble in water. The only possible metamorphic rock I could come up with that is reasonable would be marble, but I do not think Michelangelo would want to make a sculpture of Ganondorf… The only other thing I can point out, is that not only Ganondorf was petrified—his swords were too.

Just some observations… even though I don’t want it to be exactly true, I do believe he is done for… (I have been doing a terrible job at keeping him off of my mind -.-)

 

[ScaryMunky]

He said the wind always brought death. When you deliver the final blow, he says the wind is blowing, which means he is acknowledging that death is coming. That's how I translated it.

 

[Mr.Verto]

Good points, Also to add to your thread remember Link left the Sword stuck in Ganon, this could mean something or maybe not, we dont know if the Sword killed him or sealed him. He is probably sealed since he kept the ToP, if the tiforce is with him is bacause he is not dead.

He said the wind always brought death. When you deliver the final blow, he says the wind is blowing, which means he is acknowledging that death is coming. That's how I translated it.

Ganondorf's quotes are allways "riddle like" so everyone can interpret them differently, he probably means Hyrule was gonna die, he was gonna die, or he was telling Link he was going to die; they are many possibilites!

 

[ironknuckle1]

This contains some spoilers to the ending of the Wind Waker

A thought donned on me today while I was playing the Wind Waker. In the end of the final battle, Link deals a blow to Ganondorf’s head, shattering the gem on his forehead, and sealing him in stone. Being the odd self I am, I had to put more thought into it—perhaps so I can prove that Ganondorf may or may not be dead in this “Adult” Timeline.



He states above that the wind of the Gerudo Desert was the cause of his people’s suffering and demise. And analyzing what he says after the final blow, it can be taken two different ways:



Ganondorf could be referring to the same wind that wiped out the Gerudo, or perhaps he is acknowledging the fact that Link is the Hero of the Winds. Link is also referred to as the Waker of the Winds… Link, in a sense, awoke the wind of Gerudo Desert by defeating Ganondorf.

During the final battle, I believe I have already pointed this out, but, you can still see the Crest of Power on Ganondorf’s hand even after the Triforce once again separates into three directions. Somehow, he still possesses the Triforce of Power. Any normal mortal being would not get petrified or sealed in stone. The Triforce had to have reacted to the Master Sword’s blessed power. Again, I think I had a thread about this part, saying that since Ganondorf reformed the Triforce, he is able to keep that fragment of it.

Some say he was turned to stone, whereas others think he was just sealed in it. Either way, it is still stone. But, getting a bit scientific on this, I have to ask: “What kind of stone was it?” You may not think this is of much significance, but… at first, I thought it was a type of sedimentary rock, perhaps limestone or shale. But if Hyrule became flooded with the Great Sea, sedimentary can be soluble in water. The only possible metamorphic rock I could come up with that is reasonable would be marble, but I do not think Michelangelo would want to make a sculpture of Ganondorf… The only other thing I can point out, is that not only Ganondorf was petrified—his swords were too.

Just some observations… even though I don’t want it to be exactly true, I do believe he is done for… (I have been doing a terrible job at keeping him off of my mind -.-)

I agree with others that Ganondorf's speech is very ambiguous. But here is something to think about when he says wind in "the wind...it is blowing..."is that the idea of wind kind of like how link is the waker of the winds and the hero of the winds could be thought of as symbol to mean the hero or obstacle that Ganondorf can never overcome. Ganondorf 's statement in other words could be saying that Link (like heros before him) is like the wind that tormented and hurt many gerudos. That Link like the gerudo winds is something that ganondorf has to overcome (or something similar).

In other words his words can be seen as an extended metaphor comparing Link and heros before him to the tormentous winds the gerudos endured.

 

[Locke]

I suppose it's my duty to state that we have a quote confirming his death in WW already, but this is still a very interesting subject to explore.
I think you should also consider the context of that first quote. Not only does he talk about the desert winds, but he also talks about Hyrule's winds. It is important to consider both as his reference to the wind later on could be to either one.

The wind that blew on the land of Hyrule brought something other than death

Yes, Ganondorf is Gerudo so he could be talking about the Gerudo winds, but don't forget that this scene takes place in Hyrule. Ganondorf was a rather round and dynamic character in WW (at least much more than he was in other games), showing responsibility, mercy, etc. This could be a final realization that with his death comes life and freedom for everyone in (above) Hyrule.

I agree that he was most likely referring to the desert winds, but the alternative is still interesting to consider.
Of course, Zeldafan's cases are also plausible. Perhaps he's saying that the desert winds are blowing in Hyrule, predicting his revenge and Hyrule's demise because of his death, much like Obi-Wan. This of course only works if Ganon is a spirit independent of Ganondorf and lives on after its host's death, or if he was predicting some other calamity not related to himself.


The crests in the final scenes in WW aren't very reliable, as there are obvious inconsistencies (iirc, Link's is gone for a while, then reappears, or vice-versa, changing between battle and cutscenes or something). Also, we have seen that the crest does not necessarily mean ownership of the ToX. It can also mean that one is destined for it (AoL) or has had it in the past (OoT CT ending and I think MM). Since the entire Triforce is shown flying away, I find it contradictory for Ganondorf to still possess its power. So even if the crest is canon, it merely means that he had once controlled the ToP.

 

[PhantomTriforce]

I agree with you in thinking that Ganondorf in the AT is not dead. They can easily bring back, by making the legend of the Hero of Winds fade into the generations, and unknowingly, another Link pulls that master sword out of Ganon's head (he can't see the state as it is buried underground).
Zelda in MC and Tetra in PH were turned into stone and revived, so why not Ganondorf? Those are my thoughts.

 

[Anemos]

Great job on the theory, mandy. I actually made an attempt to prove Ganon wasn't gone from the adult timeline here.

I must commend you on your science though. Didn't think to use geology in my theory. It just revolved around end scenes that had certain flaws.

 

[David]

I really like this theory. I don't think that Ganondorf is dead in the adult timeline. I think that he was just sealed by the master sword. And who's to say that the sages won't die out and get bored of keeping the power to repel evil infused in the master sword? I think that over time, Ganon will regain his power and will break free of the seal. Then a new hero will arise and defeat him again. It seems like a great new story.

 

[Majora's Cat]

In the adult timeline it seems as if Ganon is dead - he's dead in my timeline as well.

But... Ganon never dies. Nintendo will always find a way to resurrect the great king. The Zelda series wouldn't be would it is if Ganon never appeared in the series - Ganon is what made the series so epic. Epics like Twilight Princess, Ocarina of Time, Legend of Zelda, A Link to the Past and Wind Waker have all had Ganon as the main antagonist - and what a great villain he is.

It becomes inevitable that a curious young boy finds the ruins of Ganon buried underneath the seabed... and when that time comes... another legendary adventure will unfold. I prophesize that Link will rise again and come to defeat the great peril once again. As we've seen in the past, Ganon never dies. He's come close several times in the past, but he shall always come to fruition again. That is what the Zelda franchise is based on - without Ganon in another game the legendary series shall come to an end.

Ganon will never be sealed away forever - the seal will always be broken one way or another, and when that day comes, I'll be ready with cash in hand.

 

[ScaryMunky]

He's come close several times in the past, but he shall always come to fruition again. That is what the Zelda franchise is based on - without Ganon in another game the legendary series shall come to an end.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't Miyamoto state that Twilight Princess was their last "normal" Zelda game, and that he wanted to get away from the whole Triforce/save Zelda/kill Ganondorf theme?


Edit: lol.. wow, someone subtracted rep points for this post? Class act.

 

[ComposerBrother]

Despite the stone that Ganondorf has turned into-he is dead.
The master sword could be keeping him in that form, or he is permanently petrified.
Nevertheless, the pounding of the waves or just the simple currents underwater will gradually erode him to nothing.

 

[Alar]

Ganondorf always finds a way to return no matter what.
I reckon that Ganondorf becomes the pedestal in which the master sword lies. Then Hundreds of years later a new evil comes to be, along with a new link. His Guide tells him to go and take the master sword out of it's pedestal (a.k.a Ganondorf) to defeat this new threat and BOOM Ganondorf springs to life or something like that.

 

[DuckNoises]

Moderator's Note:
Argh! So many overlapping discussions here. If the primary focus of this thread is the death of Ganondorf in TWW, then there are many threads about this. I already see some overlap with the "Multiple Deaths of Ganondorf" thread, as to the notion of whether or not Nintendo really would "kill off" a character, and I see a lot of references to some of Ganondorf's other defeats. I don't think I will close this thread at the moment, but I think there should be some looking into this thread:
http://zeldadungeon.net/forum/showthread.php?12544-The-Multiple-Deaths-of-Ganondorf!

As for the notion of the Gerudo being wiped out, see the above thread, or look at this one:
http://zeldadungeon.net/forum/showthread.php?12934-The-Gerudo-The-Mechanics-of-Life