Play Devil's Advocate for a second...

I definitely get the impression that the nature of the Dark World isn't as simple as it seems. I have observed several clues:

-Dark World causes people to transform
-The portal entrances are square vortexes
-Ganon can't get out; there's no exit
-It's a twisted version of Hyrule
-A climate of fear descended upon the people of Hyrule shortly before ALttP
-It seems to share a space with actual Hyrule; what happens in one affects the other
-The sky is golden
An image that seems to depict a time before Ganon arrived:


All this leads me to believe that the Dark World and the Twilight Realm are somehow the same. 'Now wait', I hear you say, 'the Dark World is the Sacred Realm; OoT and ALttP both say so'. You're right. 'Also,' I hear you say, 'it's probably just a theme they've reused for TP'. This I don't buy. Not to that degree of similarity. There's got to be SOME kind of reason why the developers made the Twilight Realm so similar to the Dark World. It's TOO similar to not be intentional. So the question arises: why did the developers do it? Again, I contend that the Dark World and the Twilight Realm are somehow the same.

If you disagree, so be it. But humour me for a little bit: ASSUME it's true. What would that mean? How could it be possible?

I have my own theory but I'll hold off so as not to bias you.

That artwork always gave me this: "wtf why did they make the twilight realm look exactly like that" feeling. And what's even stranger, they developers changed the twilight realms look from blck and white to the sacred realm/darkworld like colours. Why?
But it just wouldn't make sense. The main problem is:
Why would the light spirits bann the interlopers into a place they tried to invade?
I honestly have no idea how to work around that, so I am curious what people think about it.

the TR does not share space with Hyrule though, the TR encroached upon Hyrule with Ganondorf's power. Zant/Ganondorf kept corrupting areas of Hyrule beyond the reach of the TR but the DW is simply a mirror of Hyrule under Ganon's wishes.


If Ganondorf could create the TR with just the ToP, why did he have the whole triforce in LttP?


I think that the TR may have actually influenced the DW somehow if anything, but no real evidence supports this timeline-wise. It may just be a recurring theme.

Wouldn't that mean that the interloper wars would've happened after Child OoT? Which means that Ganon would have got sent to the Twilight Realm right at the same time the interlopers did, right?

Something interesting I noticed.

Interlopers isn't used in the Japanese text.

Originally Posted by Som

Wouldn't that mean that the interloper wars would've happened after Child OoT? Which means that Ganon would have got sent to the Twilight Realm right at the same time the interlopers did, right?

Something interesting I noticed.

Interlopers isn't used in the Japanese text.

LOL are you saying the Twili are descended from Ganondorf? That the Interlopers were the thieves that Ganon brought with him to invade Hyrule? That's so crazy... it just might work. Midna does mention that they lost their king to evil.

Originally Posted by TP Sages

You seek it...but the Mirror of
Twilight has been fragmented by
mighty magic.
That magic is a dark power that
only he possesses...
His name is...
Ganondorf.
He was the leader of a band of
thieves who invaded Hyrule in the
hopes of establishing dominion
over the Sacred Realm.
He was known as a demon thief, an
evil-magic wielder renowned for
his ruthlessness...
But he was blind...
In all of his fury and might, he was
blind to any danger, and thus was
he exposed, subdued, and brought
to justice.
Yet...
By some divine prank, he, too,
had been blessed with the chosen
power of the gods.
His abiding hatred and lust for
power turned to purest malice...
Perhaps that evil power has been
passed on to Zant...

Originally Posted by Midna

Traitors, ha! You want to know why
none would call you king? It was
your eyes, Zant.

All saw it, a lust for power burning
in your pupils... Did you think we'd
forget our ancestors lost their king
to such greed?

Add to that the fact that the Gerudo are missing in TP, their fortress replaced by a tower that houses a portal to the Twilight Realm, and Veran and Onox, both possessing Twili-like characteristics and who have been summoned from the 'Dark World', wear the Gerudo symbol on their clothing.

On top of that, I seem to remember another blue-skinned sorcerer who was of the 'Tribe of Evil'... Agahnim. And we all know who HE was.

I'm saying that's the only possible way the TR could be the SR. Otherwise we'd see them in the SR in other games on the AT.

I was actually working on a theory that involved Ganon being with them when he got caught. But it hit a dead end.

EDIT: Wait no. I'm not saying their descended from Ganon. I'm saying that they would have gotten sealed in the TR at pretty much the exact same time as Ganondorf.

Maybe the Interloper Wars happened after Child OoT.

Originally Posted by Som

I'm saying that's the only possible way the TR could be the SR. Otherwise we'd see them in the SR in other games on the AT.

I was actually working on a theory that involved Ganon being with them when he got caught. But it hit a dead end.

EDIT: Wait no. I'm not saying their descended from Ganon. I'm saying that they would have gotten sealed in the TR at pretty much the exact same time as Ganondorf.

Maybe the Interloper Wars happened after Child OoT.

The Interloper Wars WERE OoT:

Originally Posted by TP Sages

Ganondorf.
He was the leader of a band of
thieves who invaded Hyrule in the
hopes of establishing dominion
over the Sacred Realm.

In my opinion, the corrupted Sacred Realm and the Twilight Realm are incredibly similar, because they are both Makais of Ganon. Thus, they also both bare similarities to the "Dark World" of FSA.

Lanayru's story states that the Interlopers tried to invade the Sacred Realm, and because of that were banished to "another world entirely". I think that makes it pretty clear that they are not the same place.

The Interloper Wars WERE OoT:

I'd say they were before OoT.

They certainly can't very well be after, as Ganon [according to Eiji Aonuma] was banished to the Twilight Realm "a few months" after OoT.

Originally Posted by Erimgard

In my opinion, the corrupted Sacred Realm and the Twilight Realm are incredibly similar, because they are both Makais of Ganon. Thus, they also both bare similarities to the "Dark World" of FSA.

Lanayru's story states that the Interlopers tried to invade the Sacred Realm, and because of that were banished to "another world entirely". I think that makes it pretty clear that they are not the same place.

Originally Posted by Lanayru

It was then that the goddesses
ordered us three light spirits to
intervene.
We sealed away the great magic
those individuals had mastered.

Originally Posted by Midna

What do you think happened to
the magic wielders who tried to
rule the Sacred Realm?
They were banished. They were
chased across the sacred lands of
Hyrule and driven into another
realm by the goddesses.
It was another world entirely...
The antithesis of Hyrule, where the
sun shines bright.

Sounds like the Twilight Realm was another realm from HYRULE. They were imprisoned in the very place they wanted to control. But with the Triforce split, it was useless to them. Talk about irony.

Why would Lanayru talk about the Sacred Realm, talk about Hyrule, and then talk about "another world entirely", if that other world was the Sacred Realm?
It's just common sense. Context is completely against the Twilight Realm being the Sacred Realm.

Also, that would mean that the Interlopers were trapped inside the Sacred Realm during Ocarina of Time. I sure don't recall anything about that.

Originally Posted by Erimgard

Why would Lanayru talk about the Sacred Realm, talk about Hyrule, and then talk about "another world entirely", if that other world was the Sacred Realm?
It's just common sense. Context is completely against the Twilight Realm being the Sacred Realm.

First of all, it was Midna who said it, not Lanayru. Secondly, the context makes PERFECT sense...

Originally Posted by Midna

It was another world entirely...
The antithesis of Hyrule, where the
sun shines bright.

Originally Posted by Essence of the Triforce, ALttP

Ganon's wish was to conquer
the world. That wish changed
the Golden Land into
the Dark World.

Not when you realize that in the same breath she talked about the Sacred Realm.
If she wanted to state that they were banished ironically into the very place they wanted to go in the first place, why would she not remotely imply that?

And why do you say only the ToP would have been in the Sacred Realm anyway?

Originally Posted by Erimgard

Not when you realize that in the same breath she talked about the Sacred Realm.
If she wanted to state that they were banished ironically into the very place they wanted to go in the first place, why would she not remotely imply that?

Because it was another world entirely. Completely different. They wanted to conquer the Sacred Realm and instead were imprisoned in the Twilight Realm. That the latter used to be the former might not even be something she was aware of.

The only link left between Hyrule and the Twilight Realm is the Mirror of Twilight.
The Sacred Realm is connected at the Temple of Time, and has some sort of connection with all the other temples as well.

also, people in the twilight do not change shape except link, they sort of become wraiths. In the DW, anyone except the bearer of the moon pearl would change.

Let's also look into the moon pearl a bit; in LttP, you can get the MS but not the moon pearl and still change into a rabbit. In TP, once you touch the MS your curse is lifted and goes under your control. You can even become human in the twilight realm once you have the MS.

so why doesn't the MS do the same in LttP? It must be a different realm.

^
In the aLttP DW, the transformation is caused by the Triforce. The Triforce is split up in TP, thus, no transformation powers.

Originally Posted by Erimgard

The only link left between Hyrule and the Twilight Realm is the Mirror of Twilight.
The Sacred Realm is connected at the Temple of Time, and has some sort of connection with all the other temples as well.

If you could enter the Sacred Realm through the other temples, Ganondorf would have done so in OoT.

Originally Posted by Evilsbane

If you could enter the Sacred Realm through the other temples, Ganondorf would have done so in OoT.

Link does so every time he conquers a temple.
Also, Ganon's power is said to be flowing from the Sacred Realm into the temples. They are clearly all connected.

Originally Posted by Erimgard

Link does so every time he conquers a temple.
Also, Ganon's power is said to be flowing from the Sacred Realm into the temples. They are clearly all connected.

No no I mean before the Seal was lifted. All of that happened after Link opened the Seal on the Sacred Realm, allowing Ganon in. Since the Seal was seemingly unbroken in the CT, the only means of access would be the Mirror. This also reminds one of the DW in ALttP, although the directionality of the Mirror is reversed.

There are a few conflicts.

-In the DW, you turn into something that best reflects your personality. In TR, it's always a spirit or a monster.
-Link in the TR transformed into a 'divine beast' not because of personality, but because of the Triforce of Coirage.
-The Master Sword seems to protect him from transforming. Whereas in ALttP, it was the Moonpearl and the MS had no effect on the transformation.