Castle
Ch!ld0fV!si0n
- Joined
- Oct 24, 2012
- Location
- Crisis? What Crisis?
- Gender
- Pan-decepticon-transdeliberate-selfidentifying-sodiumbased-extraexistential-temporal anomaly
So I'm still trying to make sense of the discrepancies between the Ocarina of Time and Twilight Princess maps.
My last thread on the subject suggested that tectonic activity is responsible for TP's Death Mountain and may explain its perplexing location compared to previous games.
http://zeldadungeon.net/forum/threads/snowpeak-is-death-mountain.55135/
But taking a gander at the terrain of Twilight Princess one can identify signs of heavy tectonic activity all over the map.
First of all, in general Hyrule's terrain in Twilight Princess is extremely rugged. This is true for both navigable spaces as well as backdrops which tend to be the most rugged. Hyrule field features lots of hills, abrupt outcroppings of rock and most notably massive crevasse running straight through and all around them. The entirety of Eldin Field is essentially a plateau or mesa completely surrounded by deep, seemingly bottomless gorges. Even the forest region features rugged terrain, deep gorges, stark outcroppings of rock and vast highlands bordering the region. The flattest region of Hyrule in TP is the desert, and even it features the occasional outcropping, rolling terrain and is itself a highland plateau far removed from Lake Hylia by a massive cliff and bordered by highlands.
Lake Hylia is the most telling. The lake in TP is far far larger than before. It is also situated in an extensive valley. In OoT it was a lake on a flat plain. In ALttP it was a marshy wetland. In TP it occupies a massive basin bordered by cliffs and spanned by bridges. In order to get to the lakebed you have to travel many meters down. In one corner there are many spires of flat-top rock jutting up from the lakebed. TP's extensive river region features mind blowing evidence of a highland region ripped apart.
Where the desert seems to have been pushed upwards, Lake Hylia seems to have been collapsed downwards.
My theory? At some point after OoT Hyrule suffered MASSIVE geological instability that literally changed the map. This would account for the change in scale between OoT and TPs much larger atlas. It would also account for the relative change in position between Hyrule's various regions as well as the drastic change in appearance of each individual region. It tore massive holes in Hyrules geography that are still evident.
Socially, Hyrule also still features signs of recovery from such an event, with the Goron's massive complex from OoT notably absent and Hyrule Castle Town serving as the Hylian's sole civic center while Kakariko and Ordon serve as provincial towns. Hyrule Castle Town's inexplicably massive scale may be evidence of a building boom that often follows periods of civic destruction. TP's Kakariko Village is not the same as OoT's and appears to be little more than a fledgling frontier town. And Old Kakariko in TP is evidently OoT's Kakariko Village yet the two bear no resemblance. It is possible that OoT's Kakariko was leveled and some shoddy attempt was made to rebuild it and quickly abandoned. This would account for Old Kakariko's buildings consisting of little more than their front facades. Then there are the unidentifiable ruins found through Hyrule, such as the low walls and paved areas in Eldin Field some theorize are the remains of Lon Lon Ranch and of course what many believe to be the ruins of old Castle Town from OoT in the forest. An earthquake leveling OoT's Castle Town may explain the new location of Hyrule Castle in TP (spacial dependencies notwithstanding - which is why I am inclined to believe that the ruins in the forest are not castle town).
Obviously such an event would have had dire ramifications for Hyrule and its denizens. But what could have caused it? Was it natural or the result of a more man-made calamity a-la The Wind Waker's Great Flood? Could magic or divine intervention be to blame for such massive geological upheaval? To my knowledge, nowhere in TP is such a memorable event ever mentioned or alluded to. It may be taboo to mention it, but if it were the result of conflict you'd think people would be more inclined to discuss it. It is also likely that such a calamitous event would be attributed to the Gods which would loosen people's lips on the matter even more. But for whatever reason it never comes up as a point of discussion.
What about the theory itself? Does it hold weight? Is it bupkus? Is there any other evidence or speculation in support of or contrary to this theory? And could it have a bearing on Hyrule's history and narrative in past and future games?
My last thread on the subject suggested that tectonic activity is responsible for TP's Death Mountain and may explain its perplexing location compared to previous games.
http://zeldadungeon.net/forum/threads/snowpeak-is-death-mountain.55135/
But taking a gander at the terrain of Twilight Princess one can identify signs of heavy tectonic activity all over the map.
First of all, in general Hyrule's terrain in Twilight Princess is extremely rugged. This is true for both navigable spaces as well as backdrops which tend to be the most rugged. Hyrule field features lots of hills, abrupt outcroppings of rock and most notably massive crevasse running straight through and all around them. The entirety of Eldin Field is essentially a plateau or mesa completely surrounded by deep, seemingly bottomless gorges. Even the forest region features rugged terrain, deep gorges, stark outcroppings of rock and vast highlands bordering the region. The flattest region of Hyrule in TP is the desert, and even it features the occasional outcropping, rolling terrain and is itself a highland plateau far removed from Lake Hylia by a massive cliff and bordered by highlands.
Lake Hylia is the most telling. The lake in TP is far far larger than before. It is also situated in an extensive valley. In OoT it was a lake on a flat plain. In ALttP it was a marshy wetland. In TP it occupies a massive basin bordered by cliffs and spanned by bridges. In order to get to the lakebed you have to travel many meters down. In one corner there are many spires of flat-top rock jutting up from the lakebed. TP's extensive river region features mind blowing evidence of a highland region ripped apart.
Where the desert seems to have been pushed upwards, Lake Hylia seems to have been collapsed downwards.
My theory? At some point after OoT Hyrule suffered MASSIVE geological instability that literally changed the map. This would account for the change in scale between OoT and TPs much larger atlas. It would also account for the relative change in position between Hyrule's various regions as well as the drastic change in appearance of each individual region. It tore massive holes in Hyrules geography that are still evident.
Socially, Hyrule also still features signs of recovery from such an event, with the Goron's massive complex from OoT notably absent and Hyrule Castle Town serving as the Hylian's sole civic center while Kakariko and Ordon serve as provincial towns. Hyrule Castle Town's inexplicably massive scale may be evidence of a building boom that often follows periods of civic destruction. TP's Kakariko Village is not the same as OoT's and appears to be little more than a fledgling frontier town. And Old Kakariko in TP is evidently OoT's Kakariko Village yet the two bear no resemblance. It is possible that OoT's Kakariko was leveled and some shoddy attempt was made to rebuild it and quickly abandoned. This would account for Old Kakariko's buildings consisting of little more than their front facades. Then there are the unidentifiable ruins found through Hyrule, such as the low walls and paved areas in Eldin Field some theorize are the remains of Lon Lon Ranch and of course what many believe to be the ruins of old Castle Town from OoT in the forest. An earthquake leveling OoT's Castle Town may explain the new location of Hyrule Castle in TP (spacial dependencies notwithstanding - which is why I am inclined to believe that the ruins in the forest are not castle town).
Obviously such an event would have had dire ramifications for Hyrule and its denizens. But what could have caused it? Was it natural or the result of a more man-made calamity a-la The Wind Waker's Great Flood? Could magic or divine intervention be to blame for such massive geological upheaval? To my knowledge, nowhere in TP is such a memorable event ever mentioned or alluded to. It may be taboo to mention it, but if it were the result of conflict you'd think people would be more inclined to discuss it. It is also likely that such a calamitous event would be attributed to the Gods which would loosen people's lips on the matter even more. But for whatever reason it never comes up as a point of discussion.
What about the theory itself? Does it hold weight? Is it bupkus? Is there any other evidence or speculation in support of or contrary to this theory? And could it have a bearing on Hyrule's history and narrative in past and future games?