I want a spin-off called: The Legend of the Guard Who Actually Did Something

This actually fits with another theory. The bored Gate Guard he could of betrayed Hyrule just for a little fun and his reward for helping Ganondorf was to be transformed into the poe collector. This also adds another twist. The dying guard was probably the one who opened the gate for Impa and Zelda. He then was attacked by the bored guard and was mortally wounded for helping Zelda.

Wait, so I was wrong? It was not a theory about the bottles behind the soldier? Dang... I thought he drank too much beer, so he was a bit dizzy when you talked to him. Then he gets K.O... Common stuff

Once again, excellent theory, NBC! Also, if you haven't already, I ask that everyone would pay their respects to the fallen soldier R.I.P. Soldier of Hyrule Castle 1998-1998 and 2011-2011

To this day I still don’t know why Majora’s Mask is filled with Noodles.

Legend says his family still misses him today.. even if it was never confirmed he had one :P

Link: *breathes* Navi: "look out!!"

Maybe Ganondorf's men escaped through a secret passage in the alley where the dying guard is found. He could have chased them there to try and stop them and he couldn't find/open the secret way.

I believe Shiru the soldier is the back alley soldier from OoT. Link watched him die, but in Majora's mask, he gets "a second chance" to redo things; he can save him/bring him back to life with a red or blue potion instead of helplessly watching. Note he laments "why does no one see me? No matter how much I wave my arms and call out, why do they not notice me? Is it because I'm plain as a stone...?" That latter could be dark humor at the fact all the hylian soldiers look identical, though. But the fact you cannot see him unless you use the lens of truth is telling: he was perhaps dead already when you find him, and no one noticed or heard his "calls" because he didn't know he had died. He could've temporarily jolted back to life just long enough to pass on the message he was supposed to tell link.

I always thought it was kinda a given that it was an inside job. Why would the guards all be totally chill when their princess was missing otherwise?

This makes a lot of sense, and fits nicely with the existing lore. Ganondorf could have corrupted the guards by telling them of the triforce and its power to grant wishes, and once he, and his followers got to the sacred realm, Ganondorf killed them all and claimed the triforce for himself.

R.I.P Guard, May the goddess smile upon him

Wow, Ganondorf sure does like to take over Hyrule castle doesn't he. I bet you could make a whole video just on that topic! Dark castle Hyrule is wonderful in Occarina, but people don't pay much attention to what Vaati did to it in the minnish cap. Hyrule castle is a major target for villains, like the wizard Aganim in LTTP. And wow did it look freaky in breath of the wild! That castle ! Everyone wants that building, but all it is is stone really. Could it be that its the symbol of what it means is so important to these villains, or does the geographical location have some sort of secret??

A suggestion: The "men" might well have been strictly from the Gerudo tribe, but Ganondorf convinced them to go into battle disguised when they enacted the siege. The Gerudo have a fearsome reputation, to be sure... ...but how much more demoralizing would it be for the Hylian soldiers if they believed they'd been attacked either by their own people (thus making them fearful that anyone they met might be a traitor, which would aid in their defeat), or else by some mysterious outside force? Ganondorf is clever enough to try a tactic like that (and his foster mothers are wily enough to come up with it, if he didn't). It's easier to defeat a foe who has been thoroughly cowed into fearing even their best friends. Divide and conquer, to put it more briefly. If Twinrova could brainwash Nabooru into an Iron Knuckle's armor to fight Link, then it would be simple enough to convince the entire tribe to crossdress in order to psychologically defeat the Hylians before they'd even engaged them in battle.

If Ganondorf's "men" were royal guards that betrayed the king it would explain why nobody in town noticed much. They just saw guards and thought nothing of it.

What if Ganondorf's men were actually members of the shieka tribe that switched sides after the civil war at kakariko village?

Talk about an un sung hero.

I actually like the idea that ganon isn't king because of a legitimate claim to power (either by birthright or by being somehow granted the power), but rather because he stole the kingdom somehow. Remember, one of his titles is gerudo king of thieves. His power comes from nabooru's brainwashing not power the gerudo granted him.

That is a depressing tombstone. RIP Thomas: the one guard who actually did his job.

When I first got my 3ds, OoT was one of the games I picked up after years hearing about online, so I already knew about the soldier and knew I had to find him. It was a sad experience. He left such a deep impression on those that first met him on the 64 that they went onto share his existence, and when it came out on the 3ds, more people went to go find him. No one deserves to die alone, and we all made sure he didn't.

Finally an OOT episode

Based on how many Hyrule Captains betray you, constantly, in Hyrule Warriors, they don't have a very high shown loyalty.

what if he was ganondorf sending link to the temple of time to open the way to the sacred realm?

This is a really good theory. I would even go one step further and say that the uprising in the castle was still gone on when Link arrives. It could very well be that the King was in the middle of a battle when Zelda and Impa fled, and Ganondorf chose between continuing the battle with the King or going after Impa as shrew she Zelda fled with the only key to the Sacred Realm.

The dying soldier always creeped me out a bit. One of the details that I loved finding in the game.

This has been bothering me since that SwankyBox video. I'm glad you made a follow-up. The story you describe makes a lot of sense!

Well I believe Ganondorf knew from the very beginning what Zelda and link were up to and chasing zelda and capturing hyrule was to pressure them to open the door of time, which is why he doesn't kill link then and there even though he isn't above killing children, this is why he is there immediately after link opens up the sacred realm it is completely possible Ganondorf planted that guard to push him into opening the door. Never forget Ganondorf is as cunning as he is ruthless.

I've always wanted to know what that man meant

I feel like this video of yours is underrated, because this theory is one of my favorite.

While I don't doubt that Ganondorf had inside men in the Castle Guard, be they brainwashed or bribed. That said, I think Zelda's escape was a secret on Impa's part. There would be a few guards that would have known secret passages and back alleys to help the two escape, but of course there would be casualties along the way. For all we know, there's others within the castle walls also dead as Dorf pursued them.

Great video dude! Despite the topic already being talked about, you gave it a fresh new take! Very fun and viable theory!

1. When it comes to soldiers in games and movies, "men" is almost always used as a group of male soldiers. Other words are usually used when the group is female like "my group/my people/us/we" or "my ladies". There being women in the group means nothing, they would still be called "men" and if they were specifically Gerudo, they would've been identified extremely quickly. 2. Nabooru leads the Gerudo and her rebelling against Ganondorf while the Gerudo still respect and follow her imply that they all turn against him. In fact, i'm almost 100% something about this is mentioned in the game.

Great work, Will! Only one gripe: Koume (Koo•meh) Kotake (Koh•tah•keh)

Yes i needed something great to watch! :D

Damn low-key made me shed a tears

The monks in botw dissolve into a green smoke after you complete a shrine. The green is the same color as the supposing zonal magic potentially sealing ganondorf

Great content NBC!! never fails to disappoint! So happy i found your channel

3:43 I love this addition. The whole video is great and I'm totally with you, but this part made me S-M-I-L-E.

Haha the subtle swipe at "some people" haha.

what if in botw 2 demise's spirit invades Ganondorf's body because the master sword was damaged in botw and in ss demise's soul is sealed in the master sword meaning that you'd have to either damage or break the master sword to free it

Ocarina of Time was also my first Zelda game to be defeated! You're amazing as always! If you're looking for dark Zelda theories, how about the origins of that disgusting and creepy miniboss grabby guy in the Shadow Temple (i don't remember its name.) Seriously, I am 22 years old and that thing scares the crap out of me.

Do you have any theories about the Poe Collector from OOT in terms of identity and why they collected Poe souls? When I played it they were always a character that intrigued me

Thank you this is the Type of Video i was hoping to find about this topic! Nice job!

Wow! What an amazing video, nicely done!

rip ...thank you gard

This guard has the be the perfect example of an unsung hero. 😢

He may not be NCO or CO, but what a legend. He deserves the Medal of Honor.

What if the guards weren't brainwashed or manipualted, but its a hydra in shield situation where undercover followers of ganondorf have been hyrule guards for a while

It's cool to think about the epic battle the guard had defending the princess.

idk if this is also in the N64 version but in the 3DS version after you get the ocarina of time and re enter hyrule castle town the dialog of the npc's changes, some of them are indeed still blissfully unaware of whats going on but most either say they have a feeling something really bad is going to happen or they say they heard rumors that something went down at the castle and one even says they saw impa and zelda being chased out of the town by a gerudo on a black horse. the guards in the castle twn and in kakariko village on the other hand will say they heard something went down in the castle and wish they could go check but arent allowed to leave so no, at least in the 3DS version they are not all blissfully unaware of what is going on

I never knew that there are guard who stop you from entering the castle after Ganon invades the town because I almost always leg it straight to the Temple of Time to grab the Master Sword.

This is awesome NBC! I always wondered about the guard who dies. this is a great theory.

I like to think that the reason there were no other men chasing after Zelda is because that one guard solo'd them all to give Zelda time to escape.

I've played this game for years, and yet I remember absolutely none of this conversation with the guard. The most I remember is that he tries to say something, and dies before he can finish. Seeing the full dialogue is amazing and I'm really happy that there is this much evidence for a secret operation within the knights of Hyrule. Also, that Ganon killed the king! I don't remember that part either!

Wow this is definitely a mind blowing theory and it totally makes sense, awesome analysis bro!💯💯💪🏾🔥

I think there was a slide that showed up while they were explaining botw and they comment on it but the slide showed ganondorf on a floating mountain and in the trailer for botw2 the castle starts going up!

You actually have a pretty lit upload schedule Will! Miss ya man.

I love, love, loooooveeee zelda theories for this reason, making me see things in a different perspective!

That's what I always thought, that some of the knights betrayed their king.

I’m convinced that the guard is who the next Link descended from

The Japanese version says that: « He... He’s not breathing anymore »

PLEASE MAKE A THEORY ON WHAT HAPPENED TO THE HERO OF TIME AFTER MAJORA’S MASK!

great theory as always

Great theory as always

oml 4 people post within an hour I'm binging all these just as fast

My very first Zelda, my very first video game, full stop, was The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening on the original brick Game Boy. I was 9, and I was forever hooked.

This one was quite a nice comeback of a sad end, beautifull either way

5:01 It's pronounced "Koh-oo-may"* and "Koh-tah-kay"*. They're named for a Japanese pickled plum and a Japanese mushroom. *Correction: Koh-oo-meh and Koh-tah-keh. My mistake.

Amazing theory !

The only guard who attempted to put up a fight but perished in the process.

I have a theory: some people say that Majora’s Mask could possibly be a part of links afterlife. Either way I think this guard is who you get to save in MM with the red potion by stone tower.

I figured about the guard. but hearing your theory gives more info! =)

He was reborn as Fire Emblem Three Houses' Gatekeeper. This is true and you can't convince me otherwise.

So immediately I had a few ideas just from the dialogue: the guard could have been an undercover sheikah that was working with impa, the guard could have been connected to Links mother in some way; father of Link, a friend of hers, or even just received some kind of divine message that he followed through with and investigated ganondorf on his own. There's also the possibility that they were just Zelda's favorite royal guard member so they were privy to info like her prophetic dreams. They could also be a woman (possibly a hylian informant that communicated with the gerudo, she was the only soldier fit for the job due to being a woman) since the armor covers most physical features, its hard to actually determine anything by appearance. I think the guard definitely communicated with some important character at some point, leading to their actions, and then death. However, the possibilities are numerous. A very tasty tidbit nonetheless

Great video! It's been a long time since I've played Ocarina of Time but do you think that "Ganandorf's men" could have been the guards seen at 6:53? Do we ever see them outside of this scene? Seems to me all the other Hyrule guards resemble the dying one but we don't see the more elaborate ones anywhere else. I could be wrong though, again it's been a while.

Using men in this context can mean troops

I think in zelda breath of the wild 2 there might be a city of tiny people as Nintendo was planning to do it in breath of wild but due to a problem they cancel it

This doesn't really have to do with the video but while watching I had an idea that would be cool. What if there was a series, either movies or a TV show, made of OOT. Each installment would be each temple (or however much time would allot). Could be kind of like harry potter, or even stranger things (since the episodes are pretty long) and it could include the dying guard. Idk, just a thought 🤔

I just watched SwankyZone's video before this one, were he kept saying you must die

I always wondered about him...glad to hear there is/was someone worth trusting in the background. my fav easter egg has to be the tri-force in the moon. cant remember if it's in 64, but i know it's in the 3ds' ver LOZ:Oot 3d.

Ahhh interesting...as for easter eggs, I found an interesting one in BotW. After you tame Medoh, if you see Teba in the Flight Range before fully cleansing Medoh, he talks about his injury and says "Dammit!" I didn't think they'd put that in a game rated E10

Omg I luv his endcard

Nice video

Did anyone else notice that the guard helmets in OoT look like they were the inspiration for the soldier's helm in BotW? Same shape, same red plume, they both have ornate details on the brow, I mean that can't be a coincidence, right?

It makes sense that "men" in this context may not exclusively refer to a group of males. The word is being used by a soldier in a fantasy setting written in the 90s, so "men" being gender-neutral wouldn't be too surprising (if that is in fact what the writer intended). Either way, I like the implications of the royal guard being involved in the takeover. If I saw "men" or "man" being used as gender-neutral in a news article or social media post TODAY, I would bet on it being the awkward flub of a clueless/stubborn boomer. The word "guys" isn't quite at that level right now (plenty of people, including young women, say it innocently enough without being secretly sexist), but it does subtly suggest that male words are default and can therefore apply to anyone, while female words cannot. I think it's worth swapping out for truly gender-neutral terms, especially since it costs us nothing. Have a good day, y'all.

Nbl i actualy love your theorys about botw and love that one about the hero about 10,000 years ago was the hand holding ganon and that he was a member of the zonai.Really great and is amazing,i dearly support this and if you read this pls give a heart :)

Always thought the idea of guards concealing their faces seemed...strange

3:43-3:46 *OOOHH!* I know *EXACTLY* who NBC's referring to! I've seen commentaries on that video!

This is the creepiest video topic ever. great theory

And here I thought majora's mask was the darkest game I played but after learning this, idk...

interesting take.. but the guard could also be a trap purposely laid out by Ganondorf to confirm if Zelda did in fact give the OoT to a boy that she was talking to 'days' prior. we know that G-dorf saw Link with Zelda and probably figured she'd try something. we know the G-man is a master tactician and strategist, having tricking the king. so it wouldnt surprise me if he used dark magic to somehow create the illusion of a guard to coax Link into going to the temple asap. (this is assuming he has that kind of power before getting his piece of the golden doritos..

Makes senses

A part of me thinks hes links father maybe he faught in the war years ago and went to find his wife and child and when he found his wife dead he decided that it was safer to leave his child there then to bring him back cause the line he says about wanting to meet you seemed sus to me

RIP the humble soldier who actually did something. Your sacrifice was not in vain, my friend. The princess has been saved. I hope that the Hero of Time remembered you and passed your story down as well, knowing fully well your pain. Two heroes, forgotten by time itself, one in purgatory and another whose name is not even mentioned in the slightest. The humblest hero in this franchise has been forgotten by time, and only Time himself knows his story, who would've thought?

There's more reinforcement to the theory that there was a battle. If you go to Ganon's Castle in OOT 3D, and you go to a cliffside by the castle, there is a guard helmet laying beside a monster skull with a spear in it's eye.

3:44 That lowkey shade though lol. This video was really good. I always assumed something we didn't get to see happened to him and this explains it perfectly. Thank you for covering the forgotten characters of the series

What if there are no more men to pursue because the Champion Guard of Hyrule Castle slayed them all but took considerable damage in the process and hid in the alley to die in peace, saw Link and warned him of what had happened. Could also be a reference to Links uncle in the older Zelda game that I can't remember the name to.

Or the split happens before the Minish Cap. You kind of forgot the Hero mentioned in the intro of Minish cap. The hero of man. Which helped the Minish before and the events of Minish cap. Notable he used a sword looking very much like the Master Sword which in the events of Minish Cap broke and got reforged into the 4 Sword. Now many seem to think hey it's a different sword then the master sword. The master sword has a purple hilt. It does in almost all time line, but check out the official artwork for the Master Sword in AltP. It's golden hilt and noticeably pointier blade then all other iterations. Just like the four sword. A odd detail to bring back to a game apparently unrelated. Yet it strangely is part of the series AltP was released with. Odd coincidence if those timeline and games are absolutely unrelated. Sure that all can be just coincidence, but it is odd that every other artwork explicitly shows it in purple and only in the Minish cap and the games of the Fallen Timeline it doesn't. Unless you consider that the split happens during the time of the Hero of man. One time lone where the sword return to it's familiar pedestal unbroken remaining the Master Sword forged by the Hero of the Skies in Skyward Sword. To later have the Temple of time Build around it. In the other used by the royal family to bring peace to the land sealing away monsters into a chest slowly slapping it of it's strength untill Vati snaps it. Because isn't it odd how that happened isn't it. How a legendary blade, banishing a great evil and saving the world just gets snapped by Vati not even using his full power. Unless it's strength has been sapped over time from containing the monsters. We know from BotW and Wind Wakerthat the power of the master sword is not unlimited can be temporarily depleted. Leaving the sword in a weaker or even unusable state. We also know that it can be upgraded. Well it can be in one time line. Neither the Adult nor the child timeline (discarding the misplacement of 4 swords adventure) feature a way to upgrade the Master Sword. Sure the Sol give it a buff in TP, but only in the fallen timeline is it regularly upgraded and reforged. A sword of the gods reforged? How odd unless it no longer is. reforged by mortals and thus far from its original power. The master sword in the Fallen timeline can no longer hold evil as well as it used tl. Weaker in sealing and banishing evil it would result in evil coming back over and over again. As is evident with Ganon returning over and over again in the fallen timeline. A timeline characterised by some of the strongest, best equipped links in the whole series and yet it is the one where Gannon comes back time and again over and over. In some cases within the live time of a hero. Also curiously the only person able to seemingly elevate a normal sword to the level of the master sword is found in this timeline. Farore a girl relegated to the Hall of Secrets and the way unlock the true ending of the game. Merging the timelines of the game into one and experiencing the true ending. That's my theory. :D

REST IN PEACE JIMMY! 🫡🫡🫡🫡

I knew I saw this covered somewhere. I thought maybe you did but KZfaq copyrighted something in it so this was a reupload 😂