Fraxinus
chunky plant goop
I think I've tossed this idea around in the shoutbox a bit back in 2017 but since I'm playing BotW again, I thought I'd make a thread about this. So basically, I have had this thought for ages that the weapons you pick up in BotW are actually projections of the physical weapons that the Sheikah Slate then scans in. My main evidence for this is the fact that the versions of the weapons Link carries are often times a different scale than their original format (this is especially noticeable with larger ones like lynel weapons), so the Slate quite literally converts a physical item into data and stores it, that Link can then call upon to use (quite similarly to how Link fast travels, now that I'm describing it). This could explain why weapons that were previously being used by enemies have full durability once Link acquires them--brand new weapons are indicated by that sparkle on the inventory screen and new drops always have this. And this could also explain why the weapons shatter into Sheikah tech-looking sparks when their durability has been expended. So, the durability of each weapon could be byproduct of the Sheikah Slate's memory storage of these weapons rather than a physical durability. I'd like to make a sidenote that--without sequence breaking glitches that may or may not now be patched anyhow--you cannot leave the Shrine of Resurrection without the Slate, and therefore have no way to acquire a weapon without having the Slate in your possession. What are your thoughts on this?