Duet of Mystery
The musician brothers, Flat and Sharp, are the composers behind such magical songs as The Sun’s Song in Hyrule and The Song of Storms in Termina. But their musical prowess does not end there. There is much more to these siblings than meets the eye. The story of these two brothers, when in life, is quite interesting. There are many secrets to be revealed by hearing their tale.
The brothers in Hyrule and the ones in Termina are dead, as they only show themselves as poes. In Ocarina of Time they appear individually after Link reads each of their graves in Kakariko Village’s Graveyard.
After defeating them in combat they tell the story of their life and their death. This must be done before learning The Sun’s Song, as they will say nothing relevant after Link learns this song.
This is what the brothers have to say when spoke to separately:
Those speeches give us a lot to think about. The pieces of text provide many leads to create valid theories on many of the subjects linked to the composer brothers. It is better to separate the quotes into smaller pieces while exploring each idea separately.
Origins
“I am one of the ghostly composer
brothers of Kakariko Village.
All the people in this village are
born to serve the Royal Family of Hyrule.
We brothers also served the Royal
Family.” – Sharp
Sharp says he and his brother are natives of Kakariko Village. While Link is a child, Kakariko Village seems to be a town in remodeling and is inhabited by very few people. It doesn’t seem that those persons are born to serve the Royal Family of Hyrule, as they never mention them and seem to be in servitude of no one. So why does he say that about them? Who Sharp may be referring to is to the previous inhabitants of Kakariko Village, the Sheikah.
Throughout the progression of the game we are told that Kakariko Village was founded by the Sheikah and therefore must have been their home. The inscriptions in one of the graves in the Kakariko Graveyard reads as follows:
“R.I.P.
Here lie the souls of those who
swore fealty to the Royal Family of Hyrule.
The Sheikah, guardians of the Royal Family
and founders of Kakariko, watch over
these spirits in their eternal slumber.”
There is also a quote from a villager that says Impa founded Kakariko Village some time ago.
“A great woman, Impa, opened up
this village to us poor folk.” – Man in Kakariko Village
Impa opened up the village to the public but, judging by the inscription on the grave, when she did this there must have been more Sheikah besides her.
Sharp, by revealing he and his brother are from Kakariko Village and were born to serve the Royal Family of Hyrule, is saying that both he and Flat were Sheikah in life. The composer brothers also seem to be older than Impa, which suggests that they lived in the Sheikah-exclusive village before it was opened to everyone. There is an erroneous belief among Zelda fans that identifies the Sheikah as a race of warriors and combatants. Although this may be true with Impa, it does not mean it was true with the rest of the Sheikah. Impa tells Link this after he defeating Bongo Bongo in the Shadow Temple:
“We Sheikah have served the
royalty of Hyrule from generation
to generation as attendants.” – Impa
The Key Word here is attendants. This can mean anything from bodyguard to a scholar. After analyzing all of this, it is evident that the composer brothers were indeed Sheikah. We also confirm that the Sheikah tribe was not composed entirely of fighters and body guards.
Royalty and Mysticism
“We brothers also served the Royal
Family, and were assigned to
study the hereditary mystic
powers of the family.
Though we never could figure out
the power of the Triforce” – Flat
Flat says that he and his elder brother, Sharp, were assigned by the Royal Family to study the powers that are passed through their lineage. This hereditary mystical device can only be the Ocarina of Time.
The Ocarina of Time is a mystical treasure passed down from generation to generation within the Hylian Royal Family. After obtaining the Ocarina of Time in the waterway outside Castle Town, the item description reads as follows:
You found the Ocarina of Time!
This is the Royal Family’s hidden
treasure which Zelda left behind.
It glows with a mystical light…
Flat says he and his brother were assigned to study the “hereditary mystic powers of the family”.
The Ocarina of Time is a hereditary artifact that has remained in the Royal family for ages. It also holds “mystical” powers which are mentioned by both the item’s description and Flat. It is undeniable that the Ocarina of Time contains some sort of power as it acts as one of the keys to open the Door of Time.
Flat also mentions the Triforce, saying they were unable to figure out it’s power. The Ocarina of Time, along with all three of the Spiritual Stones, is the artifact needed to open the Door of Time. This is why they were studying the Ocarina of Time, to open the Door of Time and study the Triforce itself.
“Our names would be a part of
Hyrule’s history if we could
complete our research!
We kept our study extremely
secret until we completed it.” – Flat
The investigation was kept a secret as it involved the Triforce. The legend of the Triforce was a secret within the Royal Family. Princess Zelda says this when Link first meets her in Ocarina of Time.
“OK then, Link…
I’m going to tell you the secret of
the Sacred Realm that has been
passed down by the Royal Family
of Hyrule.” – Princess Zelda
Connecting the dots between the secrecy of the Triforce and the mysterious power of the Hylian Royalty should not be hard now. The Royal Family has not manifested any mystical powers by themselves after all, so it is safe to assume the composer brothers were studying the Ocarina of Time to unlock the secrets of the Triforce.
The Secret Song
The melody to turn day into night and night into day has the composer brothers as its author. In Majora’s Mask, their counterparts write the Song of Storms. This is not their only work, for another song may be attributed to them as well; a song known to control the flow of time in a similar way to The Sun’s Song. It is none other than the Song of Time.
“To tell the truth, each of us
was studying a different song, one
to summon the sun and another to
summon the moon.” – Flat
Here, Flat explains how, by summoning the Moon and the Sun, they created the Sun’s Song . The composer brothers have also proven to be able to manipulate time at will with one of their songs.
“we had almost completed our
study of controlling time with the
tones of ocarinas.
Uh, I mean…
Actually, we did complete
that study!” – Sharp
That phrase makes mention of controlling time. However, day and night are not mentioned nor hinted in there. It is true it may be a reference to the Sun’s Song as well, but the brothers never mention time when speaking of the Sun’s Song directly. The Sun’s Song was created uniting individual compositions together, but this quote refers to a song in which they might have worked on together: the Song of Time.
“Ye who owns 3 Spiritual Stones
Stand with the Ocarina of Time
And play the Song of Time
That is how the inscription reads.”
That is what the inscription at the Temple of Time’s altar reads. After reading this inscription, the brothers could have assumed that they must play a special melody tied to the flow of time. Once they composed the song, thereby unlocking the power of the Ocarina of Time, they might have named the song after the title in the inscription.
The fact that they were studying the Ocarina of Time and wanted to reach the Triforce solidifies the idea of their creating the Song of Time. Somehow, they must have found out that the power of the Ocarina of Time can be triggered with a melody, and thus they composed this melody.
“We would have been famous, if
that hateful Ganondorf had not
tried to steal our results.
We could never let him reap the
fruits of our research!
That’s why we gave our lives to
protect the secret.” – Sharp
The composer brothers kept the melody a secret, showing it only to the people they served, the Royal Family. Ganondorf in his desire to reach the Sacred Realm attempted to steal the Song of Time. He was already collecting the keys to open the Door of Time as we know he visited the Great Deku Tree, the Gorons and the Zora for their spiritual stones. It is logical to believe he was after the Song of Time as well. The Sun’s Song would do him no good, so we know he wasn’t after that. The fact that Ganondorf wanted to steal their song which controlled time gives deeper evidence as to the composer of the Song of Time. Why else would Ganondorf, while still undercover, go through the trouble of killing the composer brothers if he wasn’t after something? Yes, he most certainly wanted the Song of Time.
Sharp and Flat, the Great Composer Brothers, held many more secrets than met the eye. They seem to be the composers of the only song from Ocarina of Time without a clear author: the Song of Time. Thus another mystery may be solved today, but perhaps one day we will put together the much larger puzzle that is Zelda.
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July 17th, 2009 at 6:38 am
I don't understand why the Royal Composer Brothers were trying to unlock the secrets of the Triforce. Does this mean that the Royal Family did not know the secrets of the Triforce, because Flat and Sharp were working for them?
July 17th, 2009 at 7:14 am
I guess even for the Royal Family, the Triforce has many misteries and secrets. I mean, they are the Royal Family, but they are mortals after all. They can't know everything about the Gods' power.
July 17th, 2009 at 7:52 am
I have to say that's a well thought through theory, and I for one believe it. Well done on piecing this altogether!
July 17th, 2009 at 10:10 am
You're probably right but there are still many unanswered questions of this theory, such as how did the inscription show the name of the song before they wrote it (I read the writer's theory but it sounds slightly iffy) and how could two ordinary composers write a piece of music that was essentially a key and get it exactly right? I don't know.
July 17th, 2009 at 1:07 pm
You are reading to much into this, it's a far fetched theory.
"“we had almost completed our
study of controlling time with the
tones of ocarinas…."
Well changing day to night and night to day IS controlling time isn't it? And if you go in to the tomb you find sun's song, not the song of time. It's more logical that they are talking about the sun's song, besides the song of time actually doesn't affect time at all, it mearly makes the door of time open and some blocks go away. The reason these composer brothers apear in MM is probably because Nintendo reuse characters, it could be totally different people who happened to have the same names. I mean what's the likelyhood for dead people to somehow find the entrance to Termina and then following Link on his new adventure? What's the likelyhood for two totally unrelated people to have the same name I hear you ask? Well, what's the likelyhood of totally unrelated Links and Zeldas to always have those same names, erhm… Nintendo is reusing characters that fans remember?
July 17th, 2009 at 2:24 pm
a well thought out theory and i am 99% sold by it
July 17th, 2009 at 2:44 pm
Yeah, true.
But the Song of Time was probably a lost melody they found by accident/decrypted throught ancient documents
July 17th, 2009 at 4:33 pm
Pretty interesting theory but i have a problem with this part,
Ye who owns 3 Spiritual Stones
Stand with the Ocarina of Time
And play the Song of Time
That is how the inscription reads.”
That is what the inscription at the Temple of Time’s altar reads. After reading this inscription, the brothers could have assumed that they must play a special melody tied to the flow of time. Once they composed the song, thereby unlocking the power of the Ocarina of Time, they might have named the song after the title in the inscription.
This seems too farfetched, wouldn't it be more logical to assume that Sharp and Flat actually created the alter and inscription?
July 17th, 2009 at 5:00 pm
Makes perfect sense, though, like Business Shrub said, the brothers could have been just talking about the Sun's Song, as it controls time more than the Song of Time does.
Wouldn't you say it's a little odd that an inscription that says "The Song of Time" would be speaking of no specific song? *I can hardly believe that they would've composed it, and then based the name off of an inscription.
But yes, the composer brothers could totally have composed the Song of Time. After all, the song must have been composed by *somebody*.
July 17th, 2009 at 5:37 pm
If they were part of the Royal Family, the Sheikah, I'm not sure here, but I think the Temple of Time would have been there for longer than their existence. They were, after all, studying this stuff, serving the Royal Family, not creating the temple where the triforce should have been.
Also, a few things here may look far'fetched, but then again, Ganondorf, in the plot, even though it's hinted he visted all the places to get to the triforce, he let Link do the rest of the job cause he realized Link was connected to the Royal Family more than he was. That's how Ganondorf, somehow learned knowledge that Link would open up that place… but for what? He certainly didn't find the Triforce, but the Master Sword. Then again, when he fell asleep cause he wasn't the right age to wield the sword, Ganondorf took the chance and entered. He just has ONE part of the triforce, though, and he took possession of Hyrule.
I think the theory of the brothers here is well placed, even though there are much more plotholes to solve withing the whole story of the game.
July 17th, 2009 at 6:47 pm
I am almost completely positive that they wrote a song that coincidentally opened the door. But i also think that they studied inscriptions and stuff like that to get the song.
July 18th, 2009 at 12:56 pm
Well im just guessin here, but in majoras mask the song of time did controll time, but in THREE ways. But ya in Ocarina of time the song of time had one use in like, the entire game. I think that termina and everything in MM didnt really happen. There is a theory on youtube that makes PERFECT sense. But that doesnt have to do with this so….
July 18th, 2009 at 1:43 pm
It's a very well argued theory with evidenciary support and only some suppositions. The strongest argument against the song they're talking about being the sun's song is that Ganondorf was only concerned with the tools with which to enter the sacred realm. And he wanted their 'secret'. Sure he may not have known what it was, and hence may have assumed the sun's song was linked to it. However, for an ambassador; an emissary, he knew a surprising amount about the Royal Family secrets.
I support the idea that the altar pre-dates them. They may have composed it having no reference besides the name. I.e. it may have existed and have been lost. Or they may have decrypted it and come to the song.
Since there is no prescribed author for the song, it is possible it is an equivalent to pi, and that it is a constant found in nature. The Song of Time may be a constant found in time. Just some explanations of possible scenarios, I guess.
July 18th, 2009 at 2:34 pm
I absolutely agree with you. I believe that what they did was decode it or rebuild it from ancient avidence. Hence, they "created" it. Besides, they were studying, researching.
July 18th, 2009 at 2:35 pm
mmm…I don't think so. In OOT the Song of Time DOESN'T control time itself, it only opens the Door of Time. The time traveling in OOT was forced because Link was too little to weild the Master Sword, it's not that entering the Door of Time makes you able to travel in time. They're called "song of time" and "door of time" just because they both relate with the Temple of Time (which is called "Temple of Time" for gameplay porpouses). Pullin the Master Sword is the key to the Sacred Realm, not to flow of time. So…I think there are some inconsistences in this theory….
July 18th, 2009 at 4:35 pm
It does, however, control time in MM. It is the same song as in OoT, you can't deny it has time altering attributes.
July 18th, 2009 at 6:01 pm
maybe some of the sheikah were used to retrieve the stolen information from ganondorf and were killed
July 18th, 2009 at 6:06 pm
you guys should add this to zeldawiki and spread the word
July 18th, 2009 at 11:24 pm
mmm…you're absolutely right…but I tend to consider MM as a "recicle game", where EVERYTHING from OOT was reused to develop a game as quickly as possible…so…I'm confused about MM elements, I don't know if the most of them can be considered canon or not (for example: does the Water Sage of Hyrule REALLY have a double who is a jazz singer in Termina, or the whole thing of the alternate dimension is just an excuse for reusing NPC models from OOT?)…The original porpouse for the Song of Time was to open the Door of Time, any "recicle" of MM needs another explanation (if in OOT the SOT really had the power to alter time as in MM, the whole plot would have ended when Link and Zelda first met; they would have gone in the past to prevent the alliance between the King and Ganondorf)
BTW time is so abstract…
July 19th, 2009 at 4:44 am
"The Royal Family has not manifested any mystical powers by themselves after all"
Er… Zelda has visions of the future as a child, though her father doesn't believe her. We don't even know about the rest of the family, but they might have had other mystical powers themselves. And it may be attributed to her triforce, but she also uses magic to disguise herself, to raise the iron gates in the falling castle, and to hold Ganon in place while Link and the Sages finally attacked and sealed him. Or are those just her powers as the "Seventh Sage"?
But I'm not really arguing against anything said in the article. It's quite possible that the brothers thought any magic the royal family had was intertwined with that of the Ocarina. Seeing the future is sorta related to the magic of time. And the rest could be attributed to sage status or…something.
July 19th, 2009 at 4:56 am
I'm on board for the "constant found in nature" concept. Time is a universal influence in nature. If your world had a Temple of Time with a Door of Time, a magical Ocarina of Time, and legends of a Hero of Time, then TIME would be an important concept in your universe. Finding a melody that describes and influences time when played on the magic Ocarina seems logical.
Also, Ganondorf works with two witches who might be able to magically spy on the royal family. He was also an enemy in a recent war, during which Link's mother died. He might have captured people who knew some secrets, or his spies might have found out. He would probably follow any lead that he had, including a couple of Sheikah studying the magic Ocarina.
July 19th, 2009 at 5:31 am
Well, everything apart from the visions is probably because of the Triforce of Wisdom. Besides, Link has visions too. Is he royalty?
All in all, who knows. I just thought of this while playing Wind Waker when drunk(go figure).
July 19th, 2009 at 6:26 am
Yes, but the Song of Time was not reused, and it does have the power to control time. That power is just not used until Majora's Mask, when Link gets the ocarina back.
July 19th, 2009 at 9:11 am
Perhaps the Composer Brother's stumbled upon or uncovered the Song of Time during their research into time manipulating for their own song, the Sun's Song. This theory would explain why the pedestal had the song's name scribed into before they wrote the song, and why Ganondorf killed them – for the information they had found.
July 19th, 2009 at 4:07 pm
I can not remember the exact history of the Temple of Time but I'm saying that it's possible that the brothers built the alter, (They obviously had a lot of pull within the Royal Family.) and most likely built the inscription.
July 19th, 2009 at 4:50 pm
if they did, wouldn't they have gotten that fame they were talking about?
July 20th, 2009 at 5:27 am
He does have visions. He's a child of destiny and all. Part of his Hero of Time powers or something. For all we know, he might be related to the royal family. *is shot by Link x Zelda shippers* But it's not like the royal family has to be the only magical family around.
Like you said, who knows? It's fun to speculate, but we don't have any real information on the royal family apart from Zelda. King of Red Lions can manipulate the magic rock in WindWaker, does that count? Tetra said something about being the only one who could use it. I think it was supposed to be a chunk of gossip stone, but can't remember. I might have made that up one of those nights I was playing until 5 a.m. D:
July 20th, 2009 at 11:31 pm
Great article. I have a theory
So when Sharp says:
“we had almost completed our
study of controlling time with the
tones of ocarinas.
Uh, I mean…
Actually, we did complete
that study!”
Perhaps he's talking about the Song of Time's powers in Termina. It is suggested that there are some dimensional differences between Hyrule and Termina. So maybe after the two brother's died.. they realized that they were on the right track.. and that the Song of Time DOES in fact control time. It just doesn't control time in the dimension they would like it to. Instead, Hyrule's Song of Time creates a sun block.. but the Terminian Song of Time calls upon the Goddess of Time (either Nayru or a fourth Goddess).
This would explain why Sharp corrects himself when he says: "Uh, I mean… Actually, we did complete that study!”
July 21st, 2009 at 5:06 am
There really needs to be a page dedicated to these articles if there isn't one already. I mean all the research for each game dissecting symbolism and scripts to find out what actually happens in the Zelda Universe.
It's weird how 10 years later we still are finding new things out about the world that was in Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask as examples.
Awesome-ness!
July 21st, 2009 at 6:00 pm
Good thinking, Adanac! They might have made the alter. But, I think someone else made it like the Royal family. But good thinking!
July 21st, 2009 at 6:05 pm
Good thinking, Adanac. They MIGHT of made the alter. But, I think the Royal Family made it. But, I could be wrong.
July 22nd, 2009 at 9:01 pm
Yes, but wasnt the Song of Storms in Ocarina of Time too?
July 28th, 2009 at 7:11 am
"We would have been famous, if
that hateful Ganondorf had not
tried to steal our results."
April 25th, 2010 at 6:30 pm
I really enjoyed this article, but I think your conclusion that the Composer Brothers wrote the Song of Time is misguided.
The Door of Time and its keys were crafted long before the events of "Ocarina of Time". These seals to the Sacred Realm were put in place by the Ancient Sages and would ultimately predate the Composer Brothers' lifetime. The Zeldawiki comments that the Sacred Realm "was protected with a seal controlled by the Master Sword, which evil cannot touch, and the Door of Time, which could not be opened unless one possessed the three Spiritual Stones, the Ocarina of Time and knowledge on the Song of Time."
Because of its immense importance, the theory that Sharp and Flat composed it has little backing. We know they were killed by Ganondorf and lived to meet the Princess Zelda ("you remind me of princess Zelda"), which supports the idea that they weren't alive when the song was written. Therefore, while they may have had knowledge of the Song of Time (and may have been researching its powers), it seems a bit far fetched to give them credit for COMPOSING the song.
June 12th, 2010 at 3:50 pm
This is pretty interesting but it does have flaws. The royal family DOES have mystic powers, remember?