The story ofThe Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Timespends much of its time re-developing the lore of Hyrule first generated by its predecessors, namelyLink to the Past. One thing it keeps in spirit but changes are the Spiritual Stones and their exact purpose.
Much ofOcarina ofTime’sstory revolves around the three goddesses Din, Nayru, and Farore. After the three goddesses created the Earth, the law, and life respectively, they left behind the Triforce. However, leaving the Triforce in the mortal world led to a Hyrulean Civil War that takes place before the events of the game, one that has lasting ramifications for Link.
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Spiritual Stones and Their Narrative Weight
Nintendo’s story-driven formula for theZeldaseries starts with the release ofA Link to the Past, which first tasks players toacquire the Master Swordby obtaining the three Pendants of Virtue. These Pendants served as the first iteration of a now-recurring three MacGuffin quest, and inOcarina of TimeNintendo chose to turn the Pendants into the Spiritual Stones. The Pendants of Virtue grant Link the ability to draw the Master Sword from its pedestal, and the Spiritual Stones grant him the same access. Yet, the stones have more narrative weight behind them.
The Spiritual Stones are divine items that are essentially useless on their own. Before the events ofOcarina of Timewas the Hyrulean Civil War. The point where the three goddesses of creation left the world is the location of the Triforce, which has the power to grant any wish to the one who comes into contact with it, and so all of Hyrule waged war over that power. In order to stop the war and restore balance to Hyrule, the Triforce was sealed away in the Sacred Realm behind the Door of Time. The location of the Triforce wassupposed to be kept a secretin Hyrule’s royal family.
Sealing the door is the power of the three Spiritual Stones gifted to the three races' guardians: the Kokiri’s Emerald was gifted to the Great Deku Tree, the Goron’s Ruby to Darunia’s ancestors, and theZora’s Sapphire to Zora royalty. Ganondorf’s evil plan to claim the Triforce is discovered by the guardians and he is not granted the stones, which leads him to curse each of the guardian deities.
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Link’s Quest for the Spiritual Stones
The player’s quest for the Spiritual Stones starts with acquiring theKokiri’s Emerald, bestowed onto Linkby the Great Deku Tree: the guardian deity of Kokiri Forest. The Great Deku tree dies after gifting the stone to Link, but not before explaining Hyrule’s creation story. This is a powerful moment as it goes to show how strong Ganondorf could become if he obtains access to the Triforce - which generates a real sense of urgency in the world. With the first stone in hand, Link goes on to receive the other two.
The Spiritual Stones backfire on the land of Hyrule, however, as Link breaks the seal on the Door of Time and grants Ganondorf access to the Sacred Realm where he obtains the Triforce of Power. In this sense, it seems that the duty of the Spiritual Stones to protect the Triforce only delayed the inevitable. However, the Triforce did not grant itselfentirely to Ganondorf, leaving him to collect the other two pieces from their owners: Link and Zelda. Perhaps it was only a matter of time until someone evil gained access to the Sacred Realm, it would make sense then that the seven sages are a backup plan for order to be restored, which takes up the rest of Link’s adventure.
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3Dis available on the 3DS.
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