I’ve been playing The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D lately and I am reminded of an age-old theory.

The “Sages are Dead” theory is one I’ve heard about for years, but I never gave much thought into it because it had been a while since I played Ocarina of Time. This playthrough has opened my eyes to the theory and I think I’m finally on board, with a few caveats.

Spoiler Warning: We will discuss spoilers for Ocarina of Time past this point as well as some plot points from Breath of the Wild. Reader discretion is advised.

A lot of these thoughts came from listening to Hello Hyrule, a Zelda-themed podcast that covers each game from a travelogue perspective. Hosts Pete and Chris discussed this theory and after I played through the game, I think I agree with their assessment.

They posited that the sages are dead, but there are instances where Link sees them alive. Their theory was the sages only die once they awaken to their true purpose.

Let me provide an example.

When you come across Darunia in the Fire Temple, he is about to go to fight Volvagia and he charges you to find the other Gorons in the temple. He then proceeds to the boss room and we don’t see him again until after you defeat Volvagia.

I think the point where you meet Darunia prior to him entering Volvagia’s room, he is alive and not aware of his sage purpose yet. We don’t see him again after the boss fight so I think it’s safe to assume he died in battle.

The next time we see him, he acts surprised that he is a sage, saying, “I, the wild Darunia, turned out to be the great Sage of Fire. Isn’t that funny, brother? Well, this must be what they call destiny.”

I think this is an indication that he didn’t know his destiny heading into Volvagia’s lair. I also think this is the case for the others sages.

When you see Ruto in the Water Temple before she floats up, I think she is alive. When you see Nabooru as a kid, I believe she is alive, but then dies once the witches get ahold of her.

When you see the sages in the Chamber of the Sages, I believe this is the point where they are dead. A point that bolsters this, for me, is you see Saria without her fairy.

These fairies accompany the Kokiri throughout their lives and serve as a guardian and friend to each one. Seeing Saria without one leads me to believe she no longer needed one as she has passed on.

Sages dying is not without precedent. If we move ahead to Breath of the Wild, we learn the champions each die in the calamity. They reappear to Link at various points of the game.

While this is not a direct comparison, Breath of the Wild did draw a lot of inspiration from past games. Within the kayfabe of it all, it’s not unheard of for the sages to be dead in some instances.

Of course, there are plenty of gamey-wamey explanations for this theory, and the developers could have had no explanation at all for any of this. Still, it is fun to theorize and provides a great way to connect with the lore of Ocarina of Time.

So what do you think? Are the sages dead in Ocarina of Time? Are they dead whenever Link interacts with them as an adult or do they die at a certain point. Why do you think they are alive or dead? Let us know in the comments below or head over to our Discord channel to join the conversation.

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Nintendo Pow Block: The Nintendo Podcast of Boss Rush Media and the Boss Rush Network

Nintendo Pow Block – Nintendo Pow Block is Boss Rush Media’s Nintendo Podcast. Each week, Edward, Corey, and their friends from around the internet come together to talk about the week that was in the world of Nintendo, including news, rumors, games, fun facts, and more, including fan favorite segments like Snacktendo, Playing with Power, Game Fact Advance, and Question Block. Look for the question thread in the community Discord.

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