*＊✿❀ A Legacy of Warriors ❀✿＊* ❀ Episode 2, Season 1 ❀ Phoenix's Zelda Theories *＊✿❀❀✿＊* *＊✿❀❀✿＊* *＊✿❀❀✿＊* ❀ In Breath of the Wild, Link is able to obtain five weapons that once belonged to the Champions of 100 years prior - Mipha, Revali, Urbosa and Daruk. After clearing each Divine Beast, he receives their power and a piece of equipment they once used. Most players will see this as an interesting gimmick - the ability to use these for yourself - and surmise that they have no real historical importance. After all, these are just special, custom weapons - right? This is what I also thought - until Tears of the Kingdom released and provided me with new information. Though likely skipped over or missed by most players, I noticed that in the cutscenes showing the battle against Ganondorf, the Sages are wielding some very familiar items. That’s right - the Champions’ weapons aren’t as new as we think. There’s evidence that they existed thousands of years before they even laid hands on them. The Rito Sage uses the Great Eagle Bow, while the Goron Sage uses a Boulder Breaker, and so forth. Identical to the ones we can use in-game, they clearly are one and the same, or else made with the same design. And that’s not all. If we consider who exactly owns each weapon, we can name three individuals for each - as an example, the Rito Sage, Revali, and now Tulin have all owned the Great Eagle Bow. What do those three have in common? They’re all Rito, yes, but they also possess the same ability - control over the winds. As I mentioned in a previous explanation/theory (it's really old, I'm gonna repost it), these powers are only found within the Sages’ bloodlines, marking them as Sage descendants. Since Tulin is the Rito Sage’s descendant, and Revali is Tulin’s ancestor, then these three are all related. This ties in with the succession of the weapons. The only ones who end up using them are Sages or Sage descendants. In addition, it’s said multiple times that these weapons are suited to their bearers, and that the average member of that tribe would find it difficult to wield. For example, in Breath of the Wild, the Boulder Breaker’s description says this: “This two-handed weapon was once wielded by the Goron Champion Daruk. Daruk made swinging it around look easy, but a Hylian would need an immense amount of strength.” Teba also says this: “That thing is way too heavy to use in aerial fighting—I'd end up sacrificing all of my speed just to take a shot. Now, if I had both the strength and speed of Master Revali, that would be a different story." This means that the wielders of these weapons are above-average warriors, and usually possess abnormal skill. Other item descriptions mention how the Champions had incredible battle skills and used these high-caliber items like they were nothing. These aren’t just your everyday bows and swords - they’re only meant to be used by the best of the best. As such, the tribes highly prize these weapons and, in the case of the Gerudo, refer to theirs as “priceless treasures of the people”. Not just anyone can use these - they require a lot of skill. Since these tools are handed down through the generations, it also makes sense that in each tribe, there’s someone who knows how to repair, and even craft, their specific weapon. For example, Harth in Rito Village can make you a new version of the Great Eagle Bow. It makes sense that people still know how to make these, since I’d imagine today’s weapons have undergone quite a bit of reforging and repair, if they’re as old as the ones from the past. They may have also been broken at some point in time, as when you destroy these, you can simply get new ones. Artifacts this precious should always have a means of repairing them, and this craft has survived for thousands of years. So there you have it! The complete history of the Sages’ weapons, explained! Once again, please heart and star if you enjoyed this! The reason I posted it so quickly is because it's already been written for a while and was just sitting in a Google Doc lol. I'll be posting new theories every few days to continue this series. Leave a comment if you want to be pinged for future updates!
