How the Triforce Really Works Throughout All the LoZ's Involving the Great Cataclysms

The Triforce seems to have inconstant methods of how it works. It also seems to have different properties on how it is obtained throughout other LoZ’s. However I have come up with a theory on how the sacred triangle woks all around, consisting of Triforce Legends and Triforce scenarios from other LoZ’s that back up why the way things work out when it is obtained.

Now let s look at the first basic Triforce Legend mentioned by the Hylian lore in OoT.

Zelda (Past) Triforce Legend:

The three goddesses hid the Triforce containing the power of the gods somewhere in Hyrule. The power to grant the wish of the one who holds the Triforce in his hands, if someone with a righteous heart makes a wish, it will lead Hyrule to a golden age of prosperity... If someone with an evil mind has his wish granted, the world will be consumed by evil...That is what has been told... So, the ancient Sages built
the Temple of Time to protect the Triforce from evil ones.

Well this is simple enough to understand regarding what will happen if someone evil will obtain the Triforce. This legend omits the part of the destined hero that will arise to stop the one who unleashes the Great Cataclysm. This is mentioned by one of the captured maidens from ALttP in the below text.

Maiden in Skull Woods:

Link, thanks to you, I was able to escape the clutches of the evil monsters. Thank you! ...Do you know the prophecy of the Great Cataclysm? This is the way I heard it...If a person with an evil heart gets the Triforce, a Hero is destined to appear...and he alone must face the person who unleashed the Great Cataclysm. If the evil one destroys the Hero, nothing can save the world from his wicked reign. Only a member of the Knights of Hyrule, who protected the Hylian royalty, can become the Hero... You are of their bloodline, aren't you? Then you must rescue Zelda without fail!

OoT Link fills this spot of the destined hero. Yet Link in the future never stopped the cataclysm but only subdued it when he had returned to the past, the cataclysm was never really fulfilled and Link never completely destroyed Ganondorf in the past, nor the future. This leads me to believe that as the WW prologue stated that Ganon brought on another cataclysm, where the hero did not show up, because Gannon may have knew the destined hero would appear, regardless what ever the situation of his return, and the only way to stop destiny would be to subdue it in return. Why? Because their can only be one cataclysm dealt with at a time regaurding the situation involving the Triforce, and when the hero is victorious their cannot be a second cataclysm afterwards according to the Triforce legend of the Great Cataclysm – But that event in OoT had never been dealt with completely up until WW where Ganondorf was killed (I say he is killed because he did not have The Triforce of Power to support him a new life as in OoT.) A true second cataclysm will only happen if the first one has totally been completed and a new foe is reborn in return to threaten Hyrule. The fact is evident that the evil one that has obtained the Triforce must me completely destroyed in order to officially stop the cataclysm at hand and therefore in TP Ganon will be destroyed completely in the Sacred/Evil Realm because the WW prologue implies that he was revived from the seal that was kept on him. Thus that gives Ganon the right to unleash a second cataclysm after an age of peace has happened after his last true defeat. (Same Ganon but revived after TP)

The Great Catalysm says that the Hero must destroy the evil one that has touched the Triforce and if he fails nothing can save the world from evil. Of course this would make people think that Link fails in TP. But looking at the two scenarios of Link failing or being trapped in his succeeding, it is possible for both factors to happen. Link will defeat Ganon in TP but as a result he will be trapped in the Twilight Realm being the true hero to save Hyrule and stop the first Great Cataclysm that was unfinished in OoT. Thus Ganon would be revived and a second Great Catalysm would happen mentioned in the WW prologue. The Hero of Winds would stop the cataclysm in the WW age after the gods subdued the cataclysms’ events in the past. (Its seems history repeats itself here again…) Then only way Ganon can be revived again in another age for another cataclysm to occur after WW. (ALttP)

This is the only way for the Triforce to work correctly if it holds true to the Great Cataclysm Legend in Hyrule.

Now lets look at the final Triforce Legend mentioned by Sheik in OoT (Future):

Zelda (Future) Triforce Legend:

If you would seek the sacred triangle, listen well... The resting place of the sacred triangle, the Sacred Realm, is a mirror that reflects what is in the heart...the heart of one who enters it...If an evil heart, the Realm will become full of evil; if pure, the Realm will become a paradise. The Triforce...the sacred triangle...it is a balance that weighs the three forces: Power, Wisdom and Courage. If the heart of the one who holds the sacred triangle has all three forces in balance, that one will gain the True Force to govern all. But, if that one's heart is not in balance, the Triforce will separate into three parts: Power, Wisdom and Courage. Only one part will remain for the one who touched the Triforce...the part representing the force that one most believes in. If that one seeks the True Force, that one must acquire the two lost parts. Those two parts will be held within others chosen by destiny, who will bear the Triforce mark on the backs of their hands.

Here we see something VERY important about the Triforce. No matter where the Triforce is, if someone obtains it the person’s heart will reflect upon it and will reflect upon the Sacred Realm negatively or positively. This proves that the Triforce is bond to the Sacred Realm linking the obtainer’s heart to reflect upon its sacred resting place. This is simple enough to observe from this legend that the Tiroforc is bond to the Sacred Realm.

Now the part of the legend that tells about the the Triforce splitting up when someone with an unbalanced heart touches it, will be instilled into those chosen by destiny. There is confusion here to why this would happen like this in OoT and not happen in ALttP. We may never exactly know how Ganon acquired the True Force in ALttP but it is definite that he held it. This would possibly mean that destiny had never chose anyone in this age of chaos because of the fact that the destined hero would appear to save Hyrule as the Great Cataclysm Legends foretold. That in itself held a different path towards destiney. Ah but remember, the Triforce is bond to the Sacred Realm where it rests, so therefore when Ganondorf wished upon the Triforce in the Sacred Realm, it will grant his wish then separate and stay within the Sacred Realm because it is nowhere outside of the Sacred Realm in order to return to its sacred place. That is simple enough to understand how it stays within Ganon’s reach since he rules the now Dark World of the Sacred Realm. The Triforce is to his command any time he wants.

So I have concluded the main facts on how the Triforce works:

1. Whenever the Triforce is touched for the first time as a whole (meaning no one has acquired the True Force previously by collecting lost parts) it will grant the persons wish or split up if destiny has chosen it to happen accordingly.

This does not mean that it will split up every time someone evil touches the Triforce because destiny is a chosen situation where no one can predict until it happens or is foretold by someone or something. Destiny is inconsistent because it can take many paths that can be altered by different factors that do not allow one scenario to happen but another one in return. Example: OoT Link and Zeda received the lost Triforce pieces to prevent Ganondorf from ruling the world. But in ALttP Ganon obtained the Triforce, BUT the Seven Sages of that era sealed the gateway between the worlds behind his back unlike where Ganondorf in OoT could have returned back to Hyrule with the Triforce, but destiny had a different path chosen so the world would never fall into chaos in OoT. The situation was under control in ALttP and the Triforce was not ment to split up. Destiny took another rout for the Legendary Hero to appear to stop the Great Cataclysm in the ALttP age. So therefore destiny takes different paths and does not have to happen the exact same way every time.

2. Whenever the Triforce has been acquired piece by piece like in WW and AoL the Triforce will grant the person’s wish then separate and return to the Sacred Realm because it is bond to its final resting place as proved previously.

These are the two main conclusions and facts that explain how the Triforce works throughout Hyrule’s History. The Triforce actually does not have inconsistent ways of how it works.

Many conclusions can be made from this theory regarding the timeline. But I will let you all think up your ideas and I’ll express my opinion later. This is all enough for now in this theory.

I will briefly sum up of where the three different cataclysms officially start and end as Ganon would have had to be revived:

1. OoT – TP: The first cataclysm

2. Golden Age after TP ended – WW: The second cataclysm

(FSA – Ganondorf officially stated reborn)

3. The Great War (Seal War) – ALttP: The third cataclysm

A well thought through theory you have written there, which raises some good points, very interesting to read. I never even given much thought about the mention of the 'prophecy of the Great Cataclysm' and its connection to the other games.

Well done.

Originally Posted by chr1s

A well thought through theory you have written there, which raises some good points, very interesting to read. I never even given much thought about the mention of the 'prophecy of the Great Cataclysm' and its connection to the other games.

Well done.

Thanks. I have yet to find errors but have not. I do not believe this theory is wrong myself. There is no other explanation for how the Triforce works altogether and does not act differently throughout any LoZ. It has properties that never change. They just get unoticed and confused and many people think it all has to happen on different tracks when in reality it all falls on one track. Anyone could have figured this out. My goal now is to break away the connection of ALttP to OoT based on the History of the Triforce and the Great Cataclysms' Legends.