I know I introduced the concept art in the Zelda Project thread, but I've decided to make an individual thread to the subject, because it relates to many, many aspects regarding numerous titles in the series.
Now.. what became of Termina in the Adult Timeline? Link never went off to save it, and so it was inherently destroyed. Now give that world a good number of centuries to heal and rebuild. Was the entire planet destroyed, or just the country of Termina - or even less, was it simply damaged on a mass scale?
I've long since imagined a game chronicling a re-venture into this land along the Adult Timeline. For instance, what if a third part was added to the Oracle series (Seed of Courage aside) where the Triforce warped Link to Termina to parallel the alternate lands of Holodrum and Labrynna, which don't get me wrong, I do not believe are actual parallel worlds to Hyrule like Termina is. This is of course, if you are willing to cast aside the assumption that the Great Sea in Phantom Hourglass is actually a flooded Termina. Or to avoid such troubles, simply base the game somewhere else along the timeline. Here's original concept art of what I believe would have happened to Termina:
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- SYNOPSIS -
I. Geographical Build
II. Cultural Survival
III. Majora
IV. Fate
I. This world is one suspended in an infinite sky, orbiting a weak gravitational pull birthed from the collision between the moon and the planet. Just as Hyrule was subject to an apocalypse that left it waterbound, its counterpart Termina was forced into a skybound world to regather itself. This would further emphasize the polarized relations that these two worlds share; growing more and more opposite. Hyrule's name was buried beneath the ocean, adopting the new title of "The Great Sea", so Termina too will have lost its name, claiming "The Great Skylands".
The countless floating islands orbit the core, or what is now known as the "sun" of the planet, which having weakened in power, cannot seem to weave the land back together; exerting just enough energy to create a gravitational field to keep this semi-planet intact. A large shell-rock, now dubbed as the "moon" orbits closely around the core, blocking light and creating the illusion of night. Normal sunlight from the planet's real sun no longer penetrates the atmosphere, as it is coated with far too much debris. All light is generated by the core (sun). With the exposed core of the planet, it serves as an equal to the now-absent sun, providing enough heat to breathe life into the world. Oxygen is definitely abundant. But alas, Zelda isn't about science - it's about the imagination.
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II. One would think that as many customs that survived the Great Flood of Hyrule, so too would survive the crashing of the moon in Termina. Comparing OoT and WW, a lot has changed, and an incredible amount of tradition and culture has been erased. The same could be said for Termina. The survivors probably knew that Majora's Mask was behind the apocalypse, so the mask-based tradition might diminish for the sake of preventing such an occurrence again.
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III. As for Majora actually surviving. I think it should and should not survive, and I will explain how this happens. Majora was essentially a virus, looking for a host to corrupt in order to spread its evil and destroy Termina. If this is the aftermath of its reign, then perhaps it still exists at large, yet ever-so powerless. I think that Majora has actually become part of the world, rather than a single inhabitant. Link would have to work on healing the entire world, rather than a select few individuals, which means a return of the Song of Healing, and a larger and more effective purpose for it. Perhaps to avoid the musical-focus of this game, a single instrument (in league with the Horse Call from TP) plays the song when activated.
I see this world as a fusion between the spirit of Majora and the body of Termina and the Moon.
Naturally, all living organisms want to grow; to become more than what they currently are. We are more than what we were 10 years ago, and so we will continue to leech on the world to grow into more than what we are right now. I see Majora as a fiend that fully embodies this concept, but with zero morals. It does not care about anyone or anything aside from itself, and so it will do what it can to destroy the entire world in order to expand its being, and if the means necessary are breaking from its physical shell to flood the energy plane - which would consequently effect everything - then it will.
I see Majora as an introverted galaxy just itching to expand and consume until it becomes all that there is. Majora is not human and so it does not share the morals of humanity. It is not any type of creature - it is a certain type of concentrated energy, and just as Termina functions oppositely of its sister Hyrule, so too does Majora function oppositely of its world Termina. A world that is trying to grow technologically will be undone by a hungry fiend that grows by destroying others.
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IV. It's interesting to note that, with the concept of "fate", Termina, as it is so named, is supposed to be destroyed. Majora is living out the purpose of this world, but Link is the true villain, as he disrupts the nature of Termina. The blasphemic Triforce markings throughout the Stone Tower Temple suggest that Termina hates the sacred symbol of Hyrule, and furthermore, Hyrule itself, and that may be because Termina wants to die, yet Hyrule won't let it. Hyrule interferes with Termina's suggested fate of self-termination by sending its hero, Link to save it. Hyrule is an elitist queen, while Termina is its oppressed sister not fit for the throne. To keep up its image of a preservering and upholstered kingdom, Hyrule will fashion itself to be the savior of the whole world. Ganondorf sees this flaw and wants to undo it. He wants the world to see that Hyrule is not absolute and that it can be toppled. He even succeeded before, until divine intervention washed his dreams away with The Great Flood.
I see Ganondorf as not a figure of dark contempt, but rather one that opposes the hallowed visage of the land which he lives in, and one simply with a different idea of how his country should be governed. Being a Gerudo, oppressed already with his desertbound people, he knows the struggles of being in the lower-eschelon of the social hiearchy, and he knows that Hyrule - as an entity - naturally works to raise itself higher and higher above all else. He wants to undo this, to balance the land, and I completely agree with him on this. Similarly, Termina wants to destroy itself so that it may no longer resemble Hyrule, but again through fate, it will forever mirror Hyrule to some extent, as the two suffer world-changing apocalypses.
Just as the Triforce and the Cardinal resemble balance, so too will the worlds grow in that direction, and their denizens will help to carry out these fates.
________________________________________
Thoughts? What do you believe would have happened to Termina, and do you think we'll get to revisit the land in some form or another in a future installment in the series?
- INTRODUCTION -
Now.. what became of Termina in the Adult Timeline? Link never went off to save it, and so it was inherently destroyed. Now give that world a good number of centuries to heal and rebuild. Was the entire planet destroyed, or just the country of Termina - or even less, was it simply damaged on a mass scale?
I've long since imagined a game chronicling a re-venture into this land along the Adult Timeline. For instance, what if a third part was added to the Oracle series (Seed of Courage aside) where the Triforce warped Link to Termina to parallel the alternate lands of Holodrum and Labrynna, which don't get me wrong, I do not believe are actual parallel worlds to Hyrule like Termina is. This is of course, if you are willing to cast aside the assumption that the Great Sea in Phantom Hourglass is actually a flooded Termina. Or to avoid such troubles, simply base the game somewhere else along the timeline. Here's original concept art of what I believe would have happened to Termina:
________________________________________
- SYNOPSIS -
I. Geographical Build
II. Cultural Survival
III. Majora
IV. Fate
I. This world is one suspended in an infinite sky, orbiting a weak gravitational pull birthed from the collision between the moon and the planet. Just as Hyrule was subject to an apocalypse that left it waterbound, its counterpart Termina was forced into a skybound world to regather itself. This would further emphasize the polarized relations that these two worlds share; growing more and more opposite. Hyrule's name was buried beneath the ocean, adopting the new title of "The Great Sea", so Termina too will have lost its name, claiming "The Great Skylands".
The countless floating islands orbit the core, or what is now known as the "sun" of the planet, which having weakened in power, cannot seem to weave the land back together; exerting just enough energy to create a gravitational field to keep this semi-planet intact. A large shell-rock, now dubbed as the "moon" orbits closely around the core, blocking light and creating the illusion of night. Normal sunlight from the planet's real sun no longer penetrates the atmosphere, as it is coated with far too much debris. All light is generated by the core (sun). With the exposed core of the planet, it serves as an equal to the now-absent sun, providing enough heat to breathe life into the world. Oxygen is definitely abundant. But alas, Zelda isn't about science - it's about the imagination.
________________________________________
II. One would think that as many customs that survived the Great Flood of Hyrule, so too would survive the crashing of the moon in Termina. Comparing OoT and WW, a lot has changed, and an incredible amount of tradition and culture has been erased. The same could be said for Termina. The survivors probably knew that Majora's Mask was behind the apocalypse, so the mask-based tradition might diminish for the sake of preventing such an occurrence again.
________________________________________
III. As for Majora actually surviving. I think it should and should not survive, and I will explain how this happens. Majora was essentially a virus, looking for a host to corrupt in order to spread its evil and destroy Termina. If this is the aftermath of its reign, then perhaps it still exists at large, yet ever-so powerless. I think that Majora has actually become part of the world, rather than a single inhabitant. Link would have to work on healing the entire world, rather than a select few individuals, which means a return of the Song of Healing, and a larger and more effective purpose for it. Perhaps to avoid the musical-focus of this game, a single instrument (in league with the Horse Call from TP) plays the song when activated.
I see this world as a fusion between the spirit of Majora and the body of Termina and the Moon.
Naturally, all living organisms want to grow; to become more than what they currently are. We are more than what we were 10 years ago, and so we will continue to leech on the world to grow into more than what we are right now. I see Majora as a fiend that fully embodies this concept, but with zero morals. It does not care about anyone or anything aside from itself, and so it will do what it can to destroy the entire world in order to expand its being, and if the means necessary are breaking from its physical shell to flood the energy plane - which would consequently effect everything - then it will.
I see Majora as an introverted galaxy just itching to expand and consume until it becomes all that there is. Majora is not human and so it does not share the morals of humanity. It is not any type of creature - it is a certain type of concentrated energy, and just as Termina functions oppositely of its sister Hyrule, so too does Majora function oppositely of its world Termina. A world that is trying to grow technologically will be undone by a hungry fiend that grows by destroying others.
________________________________________
IV. It's interesting to note that, with the concept of "fate", Termina, as it is so named, is supposed to be destroyed. Majora is living out the purpose of this world, but Link is the true villain, as he disrupts the nature of Termina. The blasphemic Triforce markings throughout the Stone Tower Temple suggest that Termina hates the sacred symbol of Hyrule, and furthermore, Hyrule itself, and that may be because Termina wants to die, yet Hyrule won't let it. Hyrule interferes with Termina's suggested fate of self-termination by sending its hero, Link to save it. Hyrule is an elitist queen, while Termina is its oppressed sister not fit for the throne. To keep up its image of a preservering and upholstered kingdom, Hyrule will fashion itself to be the savior of the whole world. Ganondorf sees this flaw and wants to undo it. He wants the world to see that Hyrule is not absolute and that it can be toppled. He even succeeded before, until divine intervention washed his dreams away with The Great Flood.
I see Ganondorf as not a figure of dark contempt, but rather one that opposes the hallowed visage of the land which he lives in, and one simply with a different idea of how his country should be governed. Being a Gerudo, oppressed already with his desertbound people, he knows the struggles of being in the lower-eschelon of the social hiearchy, and he knows that Hyrule - as an entity - naturally works to raise itself higher and higher above all else. He wants to undo this, to balance the land, and I completely agree with him on this. Similarly, Termina wants to destroy itself so that it may no longer resemble Hyrule, but again through fate, it will forever mirror Hyrule to some extent, as the two suffer world-changing apocalypses.
Just as the Triforce and the Cardinal resemble balance, so too will the worlds grow in that direction, and their denizens will help to carry out these fates.
________________________________________
Thoughts? What do you believe would have happened to Termina, and do you think we'll get to revisit the land in some form or another in a future installment in the series?
Maybe this should take place very shortly after it is destroyed(maybe three or four years?)
