I need someone slightly more Zelda brain rotted than me to answer this question, I’m playing through Breath of The Wild again and they brought up something I can’t stop thinking about
10000 years before BotW the Ancient Sheikah made the technology to help Hyrule.
But then somehow, in Tears of Kingdoms, set 5 years later of Breath, 10000 years before that game, The Zonai and Hylians found Hyrule???
HOW?
What if,
I told you,
I could make an argument as to why The Water Temple in Ocarina of Time, story speaking, is the best temple in the game
Prove it,
Prove that it is the best story beat of the game.
Alright here we go 👏
Water Temple and why it's seen as the infuriating one, but also the best one.
It's designed that way to have Dark Link's existence make sense.
Sure you could’ve plopped him into Shadow Temple but that’s not that’s temples purpose.
The Water temple is created as a place of reflection according to the Zora, and test you and your resolve.
The way it's laid out and how to problem solve can become overwhelming and start to make you, as Link start to feel angry and confused on why this has to be you, why you as the hero, and in the place that is about self reflection and in a game series that tells us negative emotions can manifest into their own beings
Dark Link appears, all of your negativity and frustrations as one solid spirit you now have to fight.
And after you finally beat em, the Temple is a walk in the park cause now you have the means to finish it via the Longshot.
You clear your mind, progress through the last layers of the dungeon and take Morpha out in one of the easiest fights in the game because from a story stand point, the Temple’s enemy was your own negativity.
That is why it stands as the best temple.
Crazy Ass Zelda theory thought bubble but hear me out,
Lorule and Termina are the same place,
But different outcomes in the same timeline parallel of Hyrule.
-Both have a fascination with masks, with the Mask cult in Lorule, and the Whole gimmick of Termina’s items
-They have Hylian counterparts with more bombastic personalities,
-Both lack a legend of a hero, only endless conflicts with Lorule and Ikana vs Garo in Termina.
