Ascending The Peak
Warning! SPOILERS for The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild from here on out!
In the previous post, we viewed Captured Memory #10 and I mentioned that it made me tear up a bit. I've thought about it and I have some ideas as to why: I can totally relate to Zelda. As I related in this post, where I tell the story of my first magic teacher and Initiator, one of our arrangements was that I take a student by age 17. I tried, but didn't find one. I mean, nevermind that my teacher was only ever able to teach me so much, being a 14 year-old boy. I think this has been the impetus behind a lot of what I've done over my lifetime ever since; all I've really done is changed up how I'm doing it at any given time. I can also relate to a failure to awaken one's power "in time," but that's a story we won't be getting to for quite a while. Even here, it's gonna sound a little woo-woo if I bring it up now. I'm still preparing the ground. This post, however, will move mountains in that direction.
I had also written in the previous post that we'd be heading to Zora's Domain next, but I changed my mind. We have one more pit stop to make first: Mount Lanayru.
Link has a dilemma: What does he do with two horses? Well, we shouldn't fret too much, because the game allows Link to stable several horses at a time. However, that's hardly the point. Look, these are living creatures, not cars. Ruby and Link have a solid bond, as we'll soon see. Yeah, I'm doing the ceremonial alchemy thing here and making intentional use of color symbolism and similar choices; it's nice that Link just got this symbolic horse, but he doesn't need another one. Aside from that, hey, he rides the dark horse in Memory #10. Besides, we love our Ruby girl, don't we? Lastly, Toffa was so happy just to see Alba that I think it would be a nice gesture to leave Alba with him for the time being. It's okay, we can still ceremonially carry the meaning of that quest with us in the form of the Royal Bridle and Royal Saddle, which we can put on Ruby. In fact, at Outskirt Stable, we meet Canni, who can not only switch out horse gear, but also apply cosmetic changes. She will only do this, however, if you have a bond of 100% with your horse (this is covered by simply remembering to press L and pat them every once in a while as you ride).
So, not only am I keeping Ruby, but my baby girl got a makeover, too:
The Road To The Top
Odd little aside that will serve as foreshadowing (you'll see when the time comes): I couldn't resist snapping a screenshot on Proxim Bridge as I rode across Hylia River because the sun looked so awesome, and I accidentally caught Brigo being pessimistic. Ironic as fuck, right? Kind of eerie, too.
Let's talk about Link's change of clothes here, which you might have noticed.
I've outfitted Link in the Stealth Set. This has a couple of meanings and purposes. I've written before about the Phantom Ganon Set as reflecting a person I don't want to be anymore. That set is so close to the Sheikah Stealth Set it's not even funny, except it's arguably worse (although, I've discovered a very good use for its bonus of additional damage with Bone weapons like Bokoblin Arms, which I had mocked in that previous post I linked to above: Using them against the very Stalkoblins they tend to come from without damaging any of your good weapons. That works well because they only take two hits to kill no matter what kind of weapon you use). However, since I am playing under special ceremonial rules in this playthrough, I can't use the Phantom Ganon Set anyway.
Playing in Master Mode under the rules I've set up is going to require a paradigm shift: The monsters are much tougher, and in Master Mode, they also regenerate health very quickly once they stop taking damage for a while. This, more than anywhere else, is where one of the game's main lessons becomes apparent: Unlike previous entries in the Zelda franchise, this game is not a slasher you win by swinging your sword around like a lunatic. Particularly in the early part of the game, before Link has the best weapons or fully-upgraded armor, it pays to use stealth instead to either avoid fights altogether, or plan them and win them swiftly (Link does Critical Hit damage if he can sneak up behind a monster for a Sneakstrike). To aid in this, the Sheikah Set also has a bonus to movement speed at night. If Link is going to be facing heavy opposition at this stage, it's thus a good idea to use campfires or beds to make sure he is executing his operations at night. This new way of playing involves being more thoughtful, strategic, and deliberate. The stealth approach takes time and consideration.
Aside from that, this armor has another notable feature stemming from the previous post, where I spoke of Link and Zelda as representing a separated Divine Androgyne. One thing I've noticed about the Sheikah Set is that when Link is wearing the headpiece, which covers his lower face in a mask and gives him a nice long hairdo done up with kanzashi, his gender is more difficult to pin down. It could go either way. In fact, in the Sheikah Set, Link really reminds me of Sheik in Legend of Zelda: The Ocarina of Time, who (spoiler alert for that game) turned out to be none other than Zelda herself. Thus, I'll consider this his "Divine Androgyne" outfit (okay, one of them...but we'll get to that in the future).
Another odd aside—these are almost like "glitches in the Matrix"—I stopped for a break and saved my game earlier at a very specific spot for the express purpose of taking a nicely-staged selfie for this post because I was going to talk about the Sheikah Set. There's a land pillar just outside Kakariko Village with a nice, panoramic view of...like...everything. Atop this pillar is a tree stump, along with a Silent Shroom, some Silent Princess, and plenty of Blue Nightshade—all ingredients used for Stealth-boosting meals and elixirs. Since the Sheikah utilize stealth heavily, this place is thematically appropriate as perhaps a staging ground for something more important than selfies: Night operations. Anyway, as I said, I saved there and quit after taking a selfie.
Then, when I went to load the save file to play later, a Blood Moon triggered immediately, giving me plenty of time to line up the above shot. How about that? Then, I glided down to the center of town where Ruby waited as the Blood Moon animation sequence filled the screen with Malice. Just as I neared the statue of Hylia, the cutscene animation triggered.
So, Ruby's all decked out, Link's suited up in Sheikah gear and has cooked up some Spicy Sauteed Peppers to combine with his Warm Doublet because damn, it's cold up there. He rides valiantly through Lanayru Promenade, to Lanayru Road - East Gate.
Despite having done several playthroughs, I've only gone to the top of Mount Lanayru for this quest once before, and I didn't go this way; instead, I approached from the South, from Hateno, because I had another quest in between the two that I could knock out on the way to Mount Lanayru. One reason I'd never gone through this way is because it's patrolled by a Lynel. The Blue-Maned Lynel wandering between East Gate and the entrance to the road to Lanayru Spring not only looked scary, but got a couple swipes in at me and shot at me with Ice Arrows, but I got past him.
The road to the top was so surprisingly littered with monsters: Ice Chuchus, Ice-Breath Lizalfos, and Ice Keeses galore! No stretch of the road seemed to be without one or the other. I just grinned this time, using the Sheikah Set's night speed boost and judicious Stamina/Sprint management to avoid the battles, knowing this is the essence of the lesson this place is meant to teach.
Bullseye
I got this quest very early in my first playthrough (Link picks it up in Hateno Village), but didn't do it until near the end of that playthrough; I was intimidated by it. I did my best to preserve the novelty of the game, trying not to look too much up, but I was perplexed about the dragons. I didn't understand them yet and thought I was in for a very advanced boss fight. I figured I would save it for near the end. I plan to dedicate a post to the Dragons of Hyrule, but briefly here for context: There are three dragons that roam on paths throughout Hyrule. The Triforce has been an essential part of Zelda symbology since the beginning and the three dragons are one of this game's most direct manifestations of it. The Triforce is divided into three aspects: Power, Courage, and Wisdom. Likewise, each of the dragons represents one of these as well. There is one quest connected with each of the dragons to collect a scale from the respective dragon and offer the scale at the corresponding spring.
After all the time I spent putting the quest off because I was afraid I wasn't ready for it, I ended up doing it without taking any damage at all; but I did it last. Once I saw how easy it was, I started to see reasons to do it first instead. In order to explain, let's push a bit more into this quest.
The dragon coiling around the peak of Mount Lanayru is Naydra, the dragon of Wisdom. As the statue of the Goddess Hylia comes to life and explains to Link, Naydra has been infected with Calamity Ganon's Malice, a dark, corrosive extension of his presence; whatever Malice touches is "possessed" by Calamity Ganon. Malice tends to grow eye stalks that are its weak points, but are also obviously watching Link. This stuff shows up all over the place, but this is the first case we're dealing with.
Naydra is the only dragon infected in this way, which suggests Naydra is the one who needs Link's help the most. This is one reason Naydra comes first in the order; however, there are deeper and better reasons.
Ganon essentially made a beeline for Naydra upon awakening. One of my favorite YouTubers, NintendoBlackCrisis, looks into this:
I'd like to weigh in on why Ganon went straight for Naydra, and also why The Spring of Wisdom should be the first one Link visits: Because out of the three aspects of the Triforce, Wisdom is the most important one and also the only one that can stand alone without doing any harm.
Courage is noble, but Courage without Power is wasted and Courage without Wisdom can make mistakes that hurt others.
Power is important, but Power without Wisdom leads into wanton destruction, and Power without Courage is how beasts like Calamity Ganon are born.
Wisdom alone is a wholly good quality and never harms anyone (unless necessary). It is good for its own sake and balanced within itself.
Ganon knew what he was doing when he went after Nayda.
So, Link is tasked with purifying Naydra.
He does this by shooting the Malice eye stalks dotting Naydra's body. The first shot is free, then Naydra is aroused and begins to circle above the peak of Mount Lanayru. Link takes another eye.
Naydra eventually descends into Naydra Snowfield, where Link finishes shooting eyes out.
After shooting all the eye stalks, Naydra is cleansed and returns to the peak—as does Link.
In return for ridding it of Ganon's influence, Naydra willingly offers Link its scale:
Link offers the Scale at the Spring, and a door opens to a Sheikah Shrine. This is a new kind; some of the Shrines have no puzzles, but reward Link just for making it there.
Mystical Encounter
In Set Flame To The Night, I mention the Peak of Awakening and some strange things that happened there. I've had strange encounters with all three of Hyrule's dragons, in fact. I'm going to tell the story now because it involved Mount Lanayru. In order to tell the whole tale, I will need to first jump far ahead, to the very end of the game, to the last memory Link unlocks. It puts the other memories we've seen thus far into perspective, along with the rest of Link's quest.
It was on my second playthrough, and I had finished the Captured Memories quest and turned it in to Impa. Surprise! Once you do, she reveals that there's a 13th memory in the quest, and she shows Link where to go and retrieve it. It looks very familiar because he's been there before; although I've mentioned it, we have not formally visited it yet. It's a spot out in the middle of Ash Swamp. When Link finds the spot, here is the memory he recovers:
There's an important lesson here. In the memory we viewed in the previous post, Zelda reluctantly declares her intention to visit Mount Lanayru to try to awaken her powers. As we learn in the first memory we viewed, in this post, she failed to awaken her powers there; on top of that, Calamity Ganon awakened soon after. In the above memory, Zelda finally unlocks her powers when Link, taking his last stand at Fort Hateno, falls in battle and is suddenly threatened by a Guardian possessed by Calamity Ganon; in the 11th hour—so most fans believe—it was the power of Zelda's love for Link and need to protect him that finally awakened her powers. However, Link fell, and that is how he wound up in the Shrine of Resurrection, where he woke up at the beginning of the game. It was because Link fell in this way that Calamity Ganon made it to infect Naydra.
On that playthrough, after viewing the video, I couldn't decide where to go next, but, looking at my map, I had my eye on the Peak of Awakening, which I had been meaning to investigate. I was close by, so why not? I teleported to the top of Mount Lanayru and set off on a glide from its peak down to the Peak of Awakening. I noted that I would be passing over Purifier Lake in order to get there, as well as Nirvata Plateau (change one letter, of course, for "Nirvana Plateau").
As I approached the Peak of Awakening, I saw the shadow of a dragon cast on the mountain peak before me. I rotated my camera to catch this timely shot of Naydra flying over the Spring of Wisdom with the sun just behind her (interesting phenomenon: The dragons are all officially gender-neutral, but lots of people perceive them as gendered along the same lines). Given the themes floating around here of Wisdom, Awakening, Nirvana, etc., I was struck by the composition of this photo that depended wholly on timing. It looks like a picture of the Eye of Providence over the pyramid on the dollar bill!
When I landed on the Peak of Awakening, I saw a stone there and knew exactly what I was about to find: A Korok Seed. I haven't talked about these yet, but it's a sidequest for Link to collect these things, which he finds at certain kinds of special spots all over Hyrule (there are over 900 to be found!). These seeds work like a "currency" Link can spend with Hestu to increase the amount of weapons, bows, and shields he can carry.
Even as I pulled the stone, I thought to myself, "And let's see how many Korok seeds this makes?" And it just so happened to be my 23rd Korok Seed.
For those unaware, the number 23 is theorized to have mystical properties connected with wavelengths from the Sirius star system. Ever seen The Number 23? This is like something out of that film. "The 23 Enigma" has been written about by Robert Anton Wilson, who said he heard of it from William S. Burroughs. The phenomenon often manifests through strings of highly improbable "coincidences" surrounding the number 23 and other related numbers (most notably, 17. Wait, what does the number 17 have to do with this locale? Hmmm…). It's often tied into Illuminati conspiracy theories (how about that Eye of Providence now?). It gets deeper.
When I first saw Naydra flying there, it made me think of a friend of mine, with whom I'd had at least two meaningful conversations about the Number 23 Enigma. In fact, I always think of that same friend when I think of Naydra; I'll go into this in greater depth in the future post about the dragons, but to make a long story short, Naydra connects with Owls in more ways than one, and I have this association with certain others as well, including this person. There are various other reasons Naydra reminds me of that same friend. So, to pull my 23rd Korok Seed on the Peak of Awakening 15 seconds after an encounter with Naydra that made me think of that friend, of all people, was really fucking trippy.
When you free a Divine Beast, it will move to a special position and train a targeting laser on Hyrule Castle in the center of the map, where Calamity Ganon sleeps. When all 4 have been freed, the lasers come together in a cross that looks awesome in the skies. Earlier that same day, I had been idly wondering where the best place might be to get a balanced and aesthetically-pleasing view of that; I think the Peak of Awakening was the place. My goal was in clearer view than ever. This has hidden meaning I will get into later.
The number 23 also has associations with sacred geometry and the number 5 (2+3=5); Hyrule Castle, which sits right at the bottom of an incline starting at the peak of Mount Lanayru, is surrounded by ancient towers that have risen up from beneath the earth, arranged in the form of a pentagram:
Here's a video about some of this stuff to help the uninitiated understand the significance of this all:
We'll explore some more layers to this theory later, but here is the theory that is shaping up: Not only is Breath of the Wild an intentionally-designed "Initiation Chamber," and a well-built one at that, it also seems to be Initiatorily active, beyond mere concept, in the sense that it's so attuned to Initiatory currents that spiritual phenomena routinely happen in-game. It is an attuned and consecrated vessel. It's the real deal, not just an analogy or a metaphor.
With that groundwork laid, the next post is going to lay out the Master Plan for the rest of the show.
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