Shadow Temple Theory

Necromantic Symbolism; A Theory Regarding the Shadow Temple

In Mythology, the Underworld if often depicted as a large labyrinth where the lost souls wander for eternity. The Shadow Temple features a labyrinth-like interior, and It's nearly inescapable without the proper equipment. The entrance is hidden to the naked eye, much like many myths describe the passage to the lands of the dead. Of course, the Graveyard being so close to such a place is symbolic in It's own right.

But back to the Shadow Temple interior; it has a very dark, gloomy atmosphere. As is expected of a place with such a name. Darkness and shadows are among the most common words used to describe the state of death in many poetic writings.

The invisible blocks in one of the Shadow Temple's largest rooms also implies the prior mentioned "Hidden Path", or perhaps blindly walking through oblivion. Meaning to step into the unknown, as death itself is a little-understood thing. The twirling blades in another room resemble the Grim Reaper. The messanger of death. Also, the Owl statue in the first room is a symbol as well. Since the Owl is said to call out the names of the deceased. Pointing the statue toward a skull could also have some relevance towards that as well, although I've yet to find any concrete evidence of that.

*Getting to the point of Necromancy, at the bottom of the Kakariko Well, dead bodies are strewn about. Corpses have no business down there. Especially when they're scattered about in such a manner. Using Navi to inspect one of the bodies, it hints at how to get to the other side. Almost as if guiding the Hero to the tool necessary to travel through the shadows and defeat that which controls them. That being Bongo-Bongo.

This got me thinking; did the dead people want Link to find the Eye of Truth? The Dead Hand certainly didn't. In my opinion, the Dead Hand could have been interpreted as "Death's Icey Grip" or "Hand of the Grave". Fighting the Dead Hand, you see many long arms come out of the ground and hold on to Link, and wait for the Dead Hand to get him. Which could also be thought of as like a hand of Death holding on to Link for final judgement.
(Final Judgement, of course, meaning the Dead Hand is going to kill Link and drag him into the Underworld.)

Back to the topic of the Well corpses, I was thinking that perhaps the spirits of the deceased wanted Link to defeat the demon Bongo-Bongo.
I theorize that Bongo-Bongo is the spirit of a Necromancer. Otherwise, why would he live in a temple of the dead? The Undead enemies within the Shadow Temple could have been reanimated puppets under Bongo's control.

Which brings me to the Spirit that came out of the Kakariko Well. Which was most likely Bongo-Bongo, sealed inside to keep him from bringing back the dead in the Shadow Temple. Of course it could have been the man who originally owned the Eye of Truth who sealed Bongo.
It could have been the Eye that originally created, or awakened Bongo. Then the man somehow sealed him into an underground tomb (later being the Well.) along with the Eye. There seems to be no reason to get rid of such an item, unless there was a good reason. However, this part of my theory is a little "out there".

But that's all I've got for now. Please Discuss

*(Which also brings up the question; did the villagers actually drink that water? I would hope not, considering dead people were down there.)
(I apologize if this is too obvious, or if It's been done before, It's my first time writing a theory.)

You forgot the most obvious link: in many mythologies, a ferry is used to bring the souls of the dead to 'the other side'.
There's no doubt that the Shadow Temple possesses a strong link with Death. However, I think jumping from that to 'Bongo Bongo was a necromancer' is a little bit of a stretch. It seemed to be fairly self-evident in my eyes that Bongo Bongo was the embodiment of all the negative emotion that had accumulated in Hyrule's bloody history.

Originally Posted by Evilsbane

It seemed to be fairly self-evident in my eyes that Bongo Bongo was the embodiment of all the negative emotion that had accumulated in Hyrule's bloody history.

Yeah...that's much better than my theory.
And about the Ferry thing. I knew I was forgetting something. Thanks for mentioning that.

Anyway, I've yet to find an apparent reason for dead people being at the bottom of the well. Any ideas on that?

Originally Posted by Golden Chicken

Yeah...that's much better than my theory.
And about the Ferry thing. I knew I was forgetting something. Thanks for mentioning that.

Anyway, I've yet to find an apparent reason for dead people being at the bottom of the well. Any ideas on that?

Sacrifices, perhaps

Originally Posted by Golden Chicken

Yeah...that's much better than my theory.
And about the Ferry thing. I knew I was forgetting something. Thanks for mentioning that.

Anyway, I've yet to find an apparent reason for dead people being at the bottom of the well. Any ideas on that?

Maybe the well was originally the entrance to catacombs (like the catacombs where they found the tomb of the knight in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade), but got flooded when the windmill stopped?

I figured that the person who lived where the well stood was actually Bongo-Bongo in life, capturing and torturing people there while using the Lens of Truth to see through his traps. Eventually, in the Fierce War or by the Sheikah's hands, possibly even old age, he died. Impa demolished his home and sealed his soul where it once was. He may have been inspired by the Shadow Temple, or he could have been building his labyrinth to eventually connect to the Shadow Temple.

Also, the skeletal face seen everywhere might be the face of some dark deity.

It could quite possibly be that the guy who lived where the well is could have been Skeikah and their culture included sacrificial ceremonies. The shadow temple could be the main area for the ceremonies and during one of these, the Sheikah accidentally awakened Bongo Bongo.

My theories are based off of other threads similar to this one.

Originally Posted by Average Gamer

I figured that the person who lived where the well stood was actually Bongo-Bongo in life, capturing and torturing people there while using the Lens of Truth to see through his traps.

Originally Posted by Pyroman472

It could quite possibly be that the guy who lived where the well is could have been Skeikah and their culture included sacrificial ceremonies. The shadow temple could be the main area for the ceremonies and during one of these, the Sheikah accidentally awakened Bongo Bongo.

Actually, there's more than one way to perform Necromancy. In ancient Greek stories, Necromancers were Prophets, and Priests who summoned and communicated with the spirits of the dead, or an occasional spiritual exorcism. The original purpose of Necromancy was to obtain knowledge from Ancestors, because they believed that they were all-knowing. It's a form of Divination.

Capturing and torturing people, or sacrificial ceremonies aren't exactly Necromantic, but pretty close in the long run.

Other kinds of Necromancy involve an actual corpse, or invoking Demons. In this day and age, Necromany is most often practiced in Satanic rituals. Zelda doesn't take place anywhere near a time period close to ours, so my idea with the Necromancy part of my theory had to do with nekros manteia. (dead divination).

The most prominent link in the Shadow Temple towards mythology was the Ship in the deeper part of the temple. It is a direct and deliberate reference to the river Styx, and the act of 'crossing the river of the dead to reach the underworld' . In Greek mythology, one had to cross the river Styx to reach the underworld. Wether this reference has any literal meaning for Hyrule and some sort of underworld isnt specified. Regardless, it is an interesting link.

Another important feature to note about this Temple is the 'chute' that you fall down to reach Bongo-Bongo in the boss room. In another famous Zelda Dungeon, the Stone Tower, the boss was accessed in the same way, and there is sufficient evidence that the 'chute' in the Stone Tower is an entrance to Terminian Hell. Perhaps the Shadow Temple is Hyrule's Equivilant?

As for Bongo Bongo being tied with the bottom of the Well and the 'man who could see the truth', there is no direct evidence to suggest that, but there is a link regarding the lens of truth and its uses both in the Shadow Temple and the bottom of the well. And of course the 'man who could see the truth' lived in a house directly above where the well now stands. There is a connection, but it is murky and undefined.

Who knows what the exact nature of the connection between the 'man who could see the truth' and the Shadow Temple/Bongo-Bongo? their are many possible interpritations of the link between them, but they all seem nearly equally unlikely to me.

I love Sheikah threads so much!

Some more theories on the shadow temple.
The Shadow temple, Bottom of well, royal graveyard, and race for hookshot area are all (IMO) Connected. Not litterally but they're sheikah tunnel systems. The man who lived at the well is definatly sheikah. Weather he's good or not, I can't tell. But Many believe the sheikah were the interlopers so we can't look at them as these perfectly good people.

The sheikah and the fourth god...The "TetraForce" Theory

Focuss on my posts since some think the fourth god would represent the gerudo
In the royal graveyard you learn the sun's song. The sheikah dug the grave and they probably wrote the song. Back to the whole goddess of time thing. The door of time and the blocks have a shining sun on them, sun's song relation? A Time block blocks the exit to the place you get the hookshot. Does the song of time relate to the sheikah? You get the hookshot from Dampe but his journal suggests he found it. He digs graves in the sheikah graveyard so he probably found it with a sheikah body. More evidence of the hookshot being a sheikah item is that it's needed to get throught the first part of the shadow temple. Anyone have any idea on the hover boots/

Going along with your sun's song theory, WWLinkmasterX, the hoverboots do appear to have a sun-like object glowing underneath as you hover.

In the royal graveyard you learn the sun's song. The sheikah dug the grave and they probably wrote the song.

Isnt it a well known fact that it was written by the composer brothers, Sharp and Flat? They had to hide their research in the Royal Family's tomb for fear of Ganondorf reaping the fruits of their research. Sharp and Flat were born to serve the royal family, as they were born in Kakariko, but I dont think that means they were Sheikahs.

You get the hookshot from Dampe but his journal suggests he found it. He digs graves in the sheikah graveyard so he probably found it with a sheikah body.

To call the Graveyard a 'Sheikah Graveyard' is a bit of a stretch. Those buried there were supposed to 'serve the royal family', but it wasnt explicitly pointed out that this was a Sheikah graveyard. To illistrate my point, I will provide the quote from the front headstone in Kakariko Graveyard:

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.

I do not doubt, however, that Sheikah were buried in this graveyard in the past. For Dampe to get the hookshot from a Sheikah grave is likely, but not certain.

The man who lived at the well is definatly sheikah.

Once again, im not saying that this isnt likely, but it isnt definate either. I dont remember any quote within Ocarina Of Time that claims this man to be a Sheikah.

The door of time and the blocks have a shining sun on them, sun's song relation?

Ah, this I agree with. Sharp and Flat, the two composer brothers, explicity noted that they were reasearching the Royal family and the power of the tones of Ocarinas over the sun and moon. I wouldnt be surprised at a connection between the 'Song of time' blocks that are activated by the Ocarina and the reasearch that the composers did surrounding the Sun's Song.

Originally Posted by Clock Town

Isnt it a well known fact that it was written by the composer brothers, Sharp and Flat? They had to hide their research in the Royal Family's tomb for fear of Ganondorf reaping the fruits of their research. Sharp and Flat were born to serve the royal family, as they were born in Kakariko, but I dont think that means they were Sheikahs.

I thought that Kakariko village was a Sheikah village untill just recently in OoT as Impa opened it up for outsiders.

That would mean that the graveyard is Sheikah and that any people from past Kakariko were Sheikah.

I thought that Kakariko village was a Sheikah village untill just recently in OoT as Impa opened it up for outsiders. That would mean that the graveyard is Sheikah and that any people from past Kakariko were Sheikah.

But I have reason not to believe that the graveyard is prodominantly Sheikah. Firstly, Impa opened up the village to the public, but that doesnt mean that proir to that everyone in the village was a Sheikah. Notice that for years Sheikah numbers have been very limited, and seven years later, Sheik was described as the 'survivor' of the Sheikahs. They seem to be a very scarce group - and have been so for years, and that includes before Impa's lifetime, which is evidence that Kakariko's graves may contain a large amount of Sheikah, but it is not certain what amount of them were. This is evidence that the hookshot could have very easily not been a Sheikah artifact, assuming that Dampe dug it up in the first place, which is also uncertain.

to my understanding the Sheikahs were a race, not a tribe. Just because a village is named a 'Sheikah village' does not mean that all those who dwell within it are Sheikah. I have reasons to back up this point above.

I think it was a mass grave from the Great War.
Just wondering, why do some many people make theories about the shadow temple? Why not try the Arbiters Grounds or Great Bay for a change?

That's make me think.

shadow temple has the most mystery