The Great Deku Tree

[angelkid]

I was just thinking, at the beginning of ocarina of time, The Great Deku Tree tells Link about how he was cursed by Ganondorf. Then once you complete the temple inside of him, he says that the curse is lifted, but he still dies. My theory is, that perhaps There is no curse. The 'monsters' inside the great deku tree are just its natural inhabitants, and by killing Gohma, who perhaps has some link to the tree itself, Link kills the tree.

The Great Deku Tree then tells us that he was cursed. I was thinking that maybe he only say this because he does not want Link to know that he sacrificed himself just to test if Link was worthy of becoming the hero of time.

 

[Kaynil]

Hey. It is an interesting thought.

Though for me, the great Deku Tree was simply badly damaged by the time Link got to lift the curse and that is why he still died. At least I have the impression he says something among those lines before he entrust you the Kokiri Emerald.

 

[Shadsie]

Hey. It is an interesting thought.

Though for me, the great Deku Tree was simply badly damaged by the time Link got to lift the curse and that is why he still died. At least I have the impression he says something among those lines before he entrust you the Kokiri Emerald.

That's what I thought. Basically "You've proved yourself brave and worthy by fighting off my assailants, but I suffered mortal wounds, which you cannot help - but I can die happy now."

 

[MrMosley]

Agreed with the two posts above. You do pose an interesting theory angelkid, but from what I have experienced in Zelda over the years, if there was an underlying reason for the Deku Tree to test Link, it would have been revealed later on, probably by the Deku Tree Sprout. The Deku Tree did know that Link would have to take on his adventure, as he informed Navi of this at the very beginning of the game. So I would assume that regardless of if the Deku Tree knew he was going to die, or hoped that Link might be able to save him, he was going to give Link the Kokiri Emerald anyway.

 

[ChargewithSword]

It's basically like Land Before Time, even though the mother managed to kill the T-rex she was unable to live from her mortal wounds.

The Deku Tree could not survive basically because the damage was done, and even though I think that the Deku tree had that empty shell of his, I can guess what had been damaged. If you think about it, a tree can live with a few parts broken, but what if Gohma made that huge hole on the floor that would mean she would have clear shots at the Deku Tree's roots.

 

[basement24]

I like the theory that you pose angelkid, but I agree with the people above. It's not to say your theory is a bad one at all though, since it sounds like something the noble old tree would do.

I personally thought that the Deku Tree perhaps had a bit more of a will to live in order to see Link begin to tap his potential. Once he saw Link was on his way, he was able to go. It's like how some poeple say someone who is close to death will have the will to hold out to see a major event happen they know is coming (such as a wedding) and then afterwards will pass on.

 

[Zemen]

There is no evidence for this, really. I really think that he was cursed by Ganondorf and that Link had to destroy the curse to get the emerald and the wounds were too deep by then for the GDT to still live.

Jabu Jabu and the Dodongo Caverns were cursed by Ganondorf in his search for the stones so why wouldn't the GDT be cursed in Ganondorf's search for the stone?

 

[Onilink89]

Though for me, the great Deku Tree was simply badly damaged by the time Link got to lift the curse and that is why he still died. At least I have the impression he says something among those lines before he entrust you the Kokiri Emerald.

Same here. And i think its the most logical explaination.
Think about, the Deku Tree calls it a curse.
Q: But what is that curse?
A: The curse is Queen Gohma.

Q: What is Queen Gohma?
A: Some kinda parasite-like monster, and a big one too.

Q: What is a parasite?
A: A organism that sucks the energy and nutrients from its host (Deku Tree) to survive and can cause the eventual death of the host.

So to put it simple, Queen Sohma was such a glutton that the Deku Tree was going to die eventually.

 

[Caleb, Of Asui]

I was watching Caleb's video walkthrough for Ocarina of Time not too long ago, at the part where the Deku Tree dies. He (Caleb) talks a little bit about how it's a "training dungeon" - the Deku Tree knew he was going to die because of the curse, but sent Link inside him to get rid of it anyway, for the purpose of Link gaining both physical and emotional training for the quest ahead of him.

So, I wouldn't say he was sacraficing himself, angelkid. He was going to die either way, but he did, like you said, want to test Link's courage.

 

[The Punisher]

I was just thinking, at the beginning of ocarina of time, The Great Deku Tree tells Link about how he was cursed by Ganondorf. Then once you complete the temple inside of him, he says that the curse is lifted, but he still dies. My theory is, that perhaps There is no curse. The 'monsters' inside the great deku tree are just its natural inhabitants, and by killing Gohma, who perhaps has some link to the tree itself, Link kills the tree.

The Great Deku Tree then tells us that he was cursed. I was thinking that maybe he only say this because he does not want Link to know that he sacrificed himself just to test if Link was worthy of becoming the hero of time.

That's a good theory considering how Mido says that Link is "responsible" for the death of The Great Deku Tree which gives out a hint.

 

[Zemen]

The only problem is that there is no, real in game evidence of it just being a test. The only thing we are told is that he was cursed and the only thing we can imply from him dying is that too much damage was done for it to be reversed so he still died. The game was released many, many years ago and since there has been no quotes or games to say otherwise, it's pretty safe to say that he was just under curse, like he said he was.

 

[MrMosley]

Just one thing that I would like to bring to attention here... The Kokiri Forest was supposed to be a safe place. A place where no one else could enter. We learn this from the Deku Tree early in OoT. Many believe that the whole curse thing is contradicting because no one is supposed to be able to enter the forest. But Ganondorf did indeed do just that apparently. And in order for Ganondorf to have entered the Kokiri Forest, he would have had to have possessed a pretty good amount of magic power.

This is just something I would like to note because there are people that believe Ganondorf didn't, or doesn't, have any kind of power without the Triforce, or some outside source. This, to me, proves that just Ganondorf alone is a pretty powerful character.

 

[angelkid]

Good point. Maybe he didn't enter though. Maybe he managed to curse The Great Deku Tree from a distance. It is unlikely though as he would not be able to try and persuade the GDT to give him the spiritual stone from a distance.

Thing is, the GDT tells us that Link's mother comes to him dying with Link in her arms. So she managed to get in. Meaning either she is also very powerful, or it's really not that hard to get into the Kokiri forest.

 

[Clucluclu]

It's basically like Land Before Time, even though the mother managed to kill the T-rex she was unable to live from her mortal wounds.

The Deku Tree could not survive basically because the damage was done, and even though I think that the Deku tree had that empty shell of his, I can guess what had been damaged. If you think about it, a tree can live with a few parts broken, but what if Gohma made that huge hole on the floor that would mean she would have clear shots at the Deku Tree's roots.

This is basically what I have always thought about the Deku Tree.

 

[Chrono]

Or maybe the Kokiri Emerald was keeping him alive and it really was a test for Link. If he thought Link would be the savior, then it makes sense to test him before giving up his life. Because didn't he die right after he gave the Kokiri Emerald to Link?