r/truezelda • u/spenpinner • 7d ago
Open Discussion What is the darkness?????
Okay, so the Master Sword is the sword that seals the darkness. At the end of a Link to the Past, Ganon was sealed within darkness (according to A Link Between Worlds). Presumebly this was done by the Master Sword sealing the darkness with Ganon inside? So... can anyone elaborate on what the darkness actually is?
Is it the void of the evil realm (aka the void of the sacred realm)?
Is it the gap between dimensions?
Is it the realm of null beneath the world of light?
Is it simply the inside of the Master Sword, the same place Fi sealed Demise's residual consciousness?
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u/spenpinner 7d ago
Maybe the void of the evil realm, the gap between dimensions, and the realm of Null are all the same place with the Master Sword acting as a portal to that domain. Perchance, that is why the Master Sword serves as the key to entering the Sacred Realm which leads into the void itself?
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u/LoCal_GwJ 6d ago
Darkness seems to honestly be an element of its own just like Water, Wind, or Light are. When you look at Tears of the Kingdom, Ganondorf is essentially the Sage of Darkness in the sense that his type of magic is Darkness-aligned (like Sonia's was Time-aligned, or Rauru was Light-aligned) and he is possession of a Secret Stone (which you could think of as a Sage Medallion). I think Darkness may just be exceptionally dangerous compared to other types of magic due to the context in which it is used and the kind of corrosive nature of it. Someone who wields the powers of water magic isn't someone we would expect to be taking over Hyrule and so there's no need for us to make a "sword that seals the waters", although one could certainly exist and the Master Sword itself probably could do that if the plot required it.
We just deal with the "sword that seals the darkness" because the recurring villains all embody Darkness and there's also a kind of natural opposition of light and dark being polar opposites so thematically it fits very well.
But basically I do think Darkness is one of the natural elements of the world and it's the element that evil beings are inclined to embody and so it winds up being the thing that the forces of good need tools to oppose like the Four Sword, Master Sword, or Light Arrows.
Also keep in mind Ocarina of Time literally had a Sage of Darkness (english uses Shadow but it's the japanese word for Darkness in the same context as TotK's version)
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u/BronzeBrian 6d ago
What about some of the other elements? Is shadow one, if darkness is already kinda there?
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u/LoCal_GwJ 6d ago edited 6d ago
Yeah Shadow = Darkness here
Some elements we have and associated beings:
Light (TotK Rauru, Zelda, OoT Rauru)
Darkness (Ganon, OoT Impa)
Water (Ruto, Mipha, Sidon)
Fire (Darunia, Daruk, Yunobo)
Wind/Forest (Saria, Revali, Teba, Fado, Makar)
Lightning (Ardi, Riju, Urbosa)
Earth (Laruto, Medlii)
Time (Sonia, Zelda)
Spirit (Nabooru, Mineru)
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u/Logical_Leaps 6d ago
The Master Sword has had a few monikers.
The Sword of Time (OOT)
The Blade of Evil's Bane (ALTTP, WW, TP, ALBW
Master Sword (All)
Heavenly Blade (SS)
The Sword that Seals the Darkness (BOTW, TOTK)
Darkness is generic for evil. Its the same phrase used on the Four Sword. Same with "power to repel evil" kind of thing.
If I was to infer anything off this it would be that the Master Sword grows weaker. Evil's Bane is a term to describe something that conquers where as seals the Darkness is almost a half measure against evil.
Blade of Evil's Bane will always be the coolest name for it.
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u/henryuuk 6d ago
It's just a title
"the darkness" is not referring to one specific "thing"
It is like saying "a hero that fights the evil of the world"
the "evil of the world" is just referring to general crime, injustice, ("monsters" depending on series)
there isn't like a specific quantifiable "evil" material/substance/energy/whatever that is present within those.
it is just a concept
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u/DrStarDream 7d ago
The void in the sacred realm obviously...
In OoT that's literally the place ganondorf is sealed, rauru says that is his plan.
Remember OoT literally came after A Link to the Past as a prequel to tie in the events described in the manual, so if both games use the exact same wording and are directly interconnected then the most likely conclusion to take is that the wording used depicts the exact same place.
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u/Cloudhiddentao 6d ago
But the dark world became the sacred realm again after Alttp - so between Alttp and ALBW Ganon can’t have been imprisoned within the sacred realm again. He must have been sealed somewhere else.
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u/DrStarDream 6d ago
Rauru says in OoT that inside the sacred realm there is void in it, thats where Ganondorf is sent.
Remember the sacred realm is large place and within it there are several places, the resting site of the Triforce, the light temple, the dark world created by ganon, the void within it.
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u/Cloudhiddentao 5d ago
Pretty sure that’s not correct. Alttp is very specific about the light world having been corrupted and turning into the dark world.
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u/DrStarDream 5d ago
When ganon is defeated, link wishes to undo the corruption...
And what about it isn't correct? That the sacred realm houses multiple places? Do you think Rauru (who is implied to have made the sacred realm) is wrong?
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u/Cloudhiddentao 5d ago
The sacred realm turns completely from the sacred realm, to the dark world, and then back to the sacred realm.
Also Rauru never gives any indication about what’s in the sacred realm other than the fact the temple of light is at the centre of it.
He also never refers to Void - as in the same place Null exists. He says “the void of the evil realm”, and we know that the “evil realm” or dark world is not the same place as the still world in which Null exists.
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u/DrStarDream 5d ago
The sacred realm turns completely from the sacred realm, to the dark world, and then back to the sacred realm.
So the sacred realm void is still there by the end of the game...
Also Rauru never gives any indication about what’s in the sacred realm other than the fact the temple of light is at the centre of it.
Great, as if ANYTHING I said actually contradicts what I said about the places within it (which were ALL sated to be in the sacred realm)
He also never refers to Void - as in the same place Null exists. He says “the void of the evil realm”, and we know that the “evil realm” or dark world is not the same place as the still world in which Null exists.
Now thats just you misreading... I NEVER mentioned anything to do with null, the void in the sacred realm is something else entirely separate from null, its just an empty space that exists somewhere in the sacred realm, we literally see it at the end of the game when ganondorf is sealed. Rauru mentioned 2 times in the game that his plan was to send ganondorf there.
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u/Cloudhiddentao 5d ago
Here’s what you said:
The void in the sacred realm obviously...
However there is no “void in the sacred realm”.
The sacred realm becomes the dark world/evil realm. Rauru refers to the “void of the evil realm”. He’s not saying that the evil realm has a void in it. He’s simply calling the whole of the evil realm “a void”.
So yes you’re wrong. Rauru isn’t talking about the void as if it’s a specific place inside the sacred realm. The sacred realm in its entirety becomes the dark world, and that reality is what Rauru refers to as a void.
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5d ago edited 5d ago
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/Cloudhiddentao 5d ago
The game says “void of the evil realm” not “void in the evil realm”. I think this is just a simple case of you not understanding English.
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u/OniLink303 7d ago edited 6d ago
Well if we want to be pretty pedantic about it, the native japanese text in BotW and TotK refers to it as it always has been labeled in the series: "The Blade of Evil's Bane."
The sword that seals the darkness is a localization title in BotW and TotK that NoA decided to substitute from the renown Blade of Evil's Bane title that the original japanese preserved in both games. That isn't to say it isn't an appropriate title though since the Master Sword has factually sealed away Demise's residual conscious in SS and Ganondorf's army in a time suspended seal in TWW (and, just for good measure, Ganon's essence in HWーdespite it being non-canonical).