MuraRengan
Banned via Warnings
Last night, I had a dream about the bottom of the well in Kakariko Village. The dream was fairly scary, and really helped cement the idea of what exactly the bottom of the well is: a torture chamber. When I woke up, it was all I could think about: Why was there a torture chamber hidden underground in Kakariko Village? I came up with several interesting deductions and theories, which will be explored here.
The Man with the Eye of Truth
Remember Kholdstare’s thread about the origin of Bongo Bongo. It theorizes that Bongo Bongo is the spirit of the man whose house stood where the well is now. I think this is correct; however, I think we have this man’s history wrong. Visualize the dungeon. It is huge and expansive, the underground digging and bricklaying is much more than one man could accomplish alone. Whoever built that dungeon had lots of help. Who do I think that help was? The Shiekah tribesmen who lived in the village, and there is support to that claim.
1.When you talk to the old man in blue in Kakariko village as an adult, he tells you:
2. Now, visualize the dungeon again. Remember the crest of the Royal Family that is inscribed on the ground where the water flows from the mouth of the statue. Why would an outlaw give reverence to the Royal Family? He wouldn’t, but the Shiekah, who are sworn to protect the Royal Family, would.
3. Visualize the second room in Sharp and Flat’s grave. There is a pool of some deadly liquid (possibly acid) in the ground meant to harm intruders. Without a doubt, the Shiekah built this grave, meaning that they are responsible for the acid pool that exists there. Where is the only other place where this acid appears: In the bottom of the well.
4. When Bongo Bongo escapes from the well, he grabs Shiek and throws her around. Why would he attack Shiek and no one else? Perhaps when the spirit of the man escapes and sees a descendant of the people who killed him he was filled with rage.
Those are my reasons for thinking the dungeon was built by the Shiekah, if you agree with me so far, then we can continue on to the next question. Why was this dungeon built? Well, since the Shiekah were servants of the Royal Family, the dungeon was probably ordered by the Royal Family for the purpose of torturing enemies of the kingdom, and the Shiekah did the torturing.
So why was the man killed? I think the man was living on the spot so that the dungeon could be adequately be hidden. He knew of everything that was going on, but he hated the tortures and the Royal Family. It is said that this man could see the truth, and the truth isn’t portrayed in a negative light, so perhaps this man knew the “truth” about the Royal Family, a truth that none of the other Shiekah could see. Perhaps, he could no longer put up with the lie he was forced to live with every day, going on underneath him, and betrayed the Shiekah by destroying his own house, and uncovering the truth of the cruelty ordered by the Royal Family. Perhaps he was killed because he saw the truth.
Don’t think this is possible? Then I ask you to look to the Shadow Temple. Numerous times in the temple you’ll hear a voice informing you of what the temple is about. The most striking quote is the one which says:
Yes, perhaps after the house was destroyed, and the secret revealed, the Shiekah had to move the base of their torturous operations somewhere else - the Shadow Temple. I think that Bongo Bongo knows that the Shadow Temple was (and possibly is still being) used for torture, and wants to uncover it by hiding himself there. That way, anyone who went to look for him there would have to see the horrors hidden away there.
End Theory
The Well, the Windmill, and the Song of Storms
Now onto another interesting thought. As I was thinking, I thought about the well. One would see it and immediately think it was the source of Kakariko Village’s water. However, I don’t think this is true. The rumor around the village is that the well is “bad.” There’s even a sign up saying that the well is dark, narrow, and scary, which is not very inviting for a water source. I think that the people of Kakariko Village are aware of the legend of the well and do not drink from it. Why? because if young Link floods the well in the past, then that would mean that the people would’ve been without a water source for 7 years. However, they could just as easily leave the village and get water from the tributary of Zora’s river that flows right along.
So what’s the true purpose of the well? I think that after the incident with the man many years ago, the Shiekah still wanted to hide the torture chamber from the public, so they built the well as a cover. This is supported by the fact that there is no way that the well could spring any new water. The bottom of it is covered by cement blocks, likely the path that the Shiekah would walk to bring prisoners to the chamber. Water would never access the well the way it is built, thus the water that is already in there has probably been there for years, replenished by natural rains. Shiekah that knew of the cover-up knew the well was not a real well, and probably refused to drink from it anyway out of fear.
So then, what is the relationship of the windmill to the well? The townspeople think that the Windmill draws water up to the well, but we know that that is impossible. The answer lies at the entrance to the bottom of the well. The small area right before the crawl space has no bloodstains on the walls or floors, yet, the areas within the dungeon, immediately after the crawlspace do. If the entire well had been full with water, then that means all parts of the torture chamber would have been full with water as well. The blood would’ve floated to the top, plain to see in the well. The fact that this didn’t happen means that all areas before the crawlspace were dry, and that something blocked the crawlspace making it so that the water in the well would not drain into the inner dungeon. Whatever that blockage was, is implied to have been moved by the windmill when the Song of Storms was played.
This means that the Song of Storms purpose is, foremost, related to the well and its history. This is supported if you believe that the music box that the Guru-Guru plays is playing the Song of Storms. It’s possible that it’s simply background music, but it is also possible that the box is a Shiekah relic meant to keep the memory of the man alive. This, of course, is all speculation, but it fits well with the function of the windmill. Who would want to leave even a possibility that this secret could be unveiled? The crawlspace was clearly put there on purpose, but the only use it could possibly have would be to cause people to learn of the underground dungeon. So perhaps there was another person involved, who sympathized with the man and wanted people to know the truth in time. Perhaps someone made that crawlspace and made it possible for the windmill to open it. Perhaps the Guru-Guru’s music box has been enchanted to make people want to play it near the windmill, and perhaps the song was composed with the hopes that the holder of the Ocarina of Time, which is apparently the only instrument that can make the windmill go hay-wire, would come and play the song in the windmill to cause the mechanism to remove the blockage and drain the well. This is all nice thought, but there’s little evidence to back it up. However, it seems like more than a coincidence that the song to drain the well existed in plain sight so close to it.
End Theory
I hope you’ve enjoyed this post, and please share your thoughts on this interpretation of the meaning of the well. I thought I could come up with a theory on the purpose of the lens of truth, but I can’t seem to form a string of logic that isn’t contradicted at some point. If someone else has some thoughts on that, then I hope we can discuss them.
The Man with the Eye of Truth
Remember Kholdstare’s thread about the origin of Bongo Bongo. It theorizes that Bongo Bongo is the spirit of the man whose house stood where the well is now. I think this is correct; however, I think we have this man’s history wrong. Visualize the dungeon. It is huge and expansive, the underground digging and bricklaying is much more than one man could accomplish alone. Whoever built that dungeon had lots of help. Who do I think that help was? The Shiekah tribesmen who lived in the village, and there is support to that claim.
1.When you talk to the old man in blue in Kakariko village as an adult, he tells you:
The village was founded by the Shiekah, so the only people who were living there a long time ago were the Shiekah; they are the only ones who would’ve been there to help build the dungeon.
2. Now, visualize the dungeon again. Remember the crest of the Royal Family that is inscribed on the ground where the water flows from the mouth of the statue. Why would an outlaw give reverence to the Royal Family? He wouldn’t, but the Shiekah, who are sworn to protect the Royal Family, would.
3. Visualize the second room in Sharp and Flat’s grave. There is a pool of some deadly liquid (possibly acid) in the ground meant to harm intruders. Without a doubt, the Shiekah built this grave, meaning that they are responsible for the acid pool that exists there. Where is the only other place where this acid appears: In the bottom of the well.
4. When Bongo Bongo escapes from the well, he grabs Shiek and throws her around. Why would he attack Shiek and no one else? Perhaps when the spirit of the man escapes and sees a descendant of the people who killed him he was filled with rage.
Those are my reasons for thinking the dungeon was built by the Shiekah, if you agree with me so far, then we can continue on to the next question. Why was this dungeon built? Well, since the Shiekah were servants of the Royal Family, the dungeon was probably ordered by the Royal Family for the purpose of torturing enemies of the kingdom, and the Shiekah did the torturing.
So why was the man killed? I think the man was living on the spot so that the dungeon could be adequately be hidden. He knew of everything that was going on, but he hated the tortures and the Royal Family. It is said that this man could see the truth, and the truth isn’t portrayed in a negative light, so perhaps this man knew the “truth” about the Royal Family, a truth that none of the other Shiekah could see. Perhaps, he could no longer put up with the lie he was forced to live with every day, going on underneath him, and betrayed the Shiekah by destroying his own house, and uncovering the truth of the cruelty ordered by the Royal Family. Perhaps he was killed because he saw the truth.
Don’t think this is possible? Then I ask you to look to the Shadow Temple. Numerous times in the temple you’ll hear a voice informing you of what the temple is about. The most striking quote is the one which says:
Hyrule? Greed and Hatred? Who in their right mind would say such a thing about the beloved kingdom? As we know, Bongo Bongo escaped the well and went to the Shadow Temple, and if he is indeed the spirit of that man who was killed for uncovering the secrets of Hyrule’s brutality, then he would still hold a grudge against the kingdom and want to uncover even more of the “truth” which has been kept hidden. I think Bongo Bongo is the one talking to Link in the Shadow Temple.
Yes, perhaps after the house was destroyed, and the secret revealed, the Shiekah had to move the base of their torturous operations somewhere else - the Shadow Temple. I think that Bongo Bongo knows that the Shadow Temple was (and possibly is still being) used for torture, and wants to uncover it by hiding himself there. That way, anyone who went to look for him there would have to see the horrors hidden away there.
End Theory
The Well, the Windmill, and the Song of Storms
Now onto another interesting thought. As I was thinking, I thought about the well. One would see it and immediately think it was the source of Kakariko Village’s water. However, I don’t think this is true. The rumor around the village is that the well is “bad.” There’s even a sign up saying that the well is dark, narrow, and scary, which is not very inviting for a water source. I think that the people of Kakariko Village are aware of the legend of the well and do not drink from it. Why? because if young Link floods the well in the past, then that would mean that the people would’ve been without a water source for 7 years. However, they could just as easily leave the village and get water from the tributary of Zora’s river that flows right along.
So what’s the true purpose of the well? I think that after the incident with the man many years ago, the Shiekah still wanted to hide the torture chamber from the public, so they built the well as a cover. This is supported by the fact that there is no way that the well could spring any new water. The bottom of it is covered by cement blocks, likely the path that the Shiekah would walk to bring prisoners to the chamber. Water would never access the well the way it is built, thus the water that is already in there has probably been there for years, replenished by natural rains. Shiekah that knew of the cover-up knew the well was not a real well, and probably refused to drink from it anyway out of fear.
So then, what is the relationship of the windmill to the well? The townspeople think that the Windmill draws water up to the well, but we know that that is impossible. The answer lies at the entrance to the bottom of the well. The small area right before the crawl space has no bloodstains on the walls or floors, yet, the areas within the dungeon, immediately after the crawlspace do. If the entire well had been full with water, then that means all parts of the torture chamber would have been full with water as well. The blood would’ve floated to the top, plain to see in the well. The fact that this didn’t happen means that all areas before the crawlspace were dry, and that something blocked the crawlspace making it so that the water in the well would not drain into the inner dungeon. Whatever that blockage was, is implied to have been moved by the windmill when the Song of Storms was played.
This means that the Song of Storms purpose is, foremost, related to the well and its history. This is supported if you believe that the music box that the Guru-Guru plays is playing the Song of Storms. It’s possible that it’s simply background music, but it is also possible that the box is a Shiekah relic meant to keep the memory of the man alive. This, of course, is all speculation, but it fits well with the function of the windmill. Who would want to leave even a possibility that this secret could be unveiled? The crawlspace was clearly put there on purpose, but the only use it could possibly have would be to cause people to learn of the underground dungeon. So perhaps there was another person involved, who sympathized with the man and wanted people to know the truth in time. Perhaps someone made that crawlspace and made it possible for the windmill to open it. Perhaps the Guru-Guru’s music box has been enchanted to make people want to play it near the windmill, and perhaps the song was composed with the hopes that the holder of the Ocarina of Time, which is apparently the only instrument that can make the windmill go hay-wire, would come and play the song in the windmill to cause the mechanism to remove the blockage and drain the well. This is all nice thought, but there’s little evidence to back it up. However, it seems like more than a coincidence that the song to drain the well existed in plain sight so close to it.
End Theory
I hope you’ve enjoyed this post, and please share your thoughts on this interpretation of the meaning of the well. I thought I could come up with a theory on the purpose of the lens of truth, but I can’t seem to form a string of logic that isn’t contradicted at some point. If someone else has some thoughts on that, then I hope we can discuss them.
