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The Legend of Zeldais a series in which people are in love with the lore, despite how fast and loose Nintendo themselves are with it. Each game will introduce something new or play around with a legacy idea in some new way.
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One of those, a concept that has appeared across many of the games, are the Sages. They vary in number and in race, in purpose and in members, yet they are still one of the most reoccurring elements of the series. But what exactly are the Sages? Let’s find out.
What Do The Sages Do And Represent?
Sages have existed since some of the earliest games in the series, beginning back with a brief appearance in The Adventure of Link. Since then, they’ve appeared in the majority of games, always sharing a similar purpose -the protection of the Triforce.
Once again, this changes by game. Sometimes they are nothing more than a cameo and exposition, while in other games they form the bulk of the story. Each time thoughthey are granted powers descended from some of the earliest Sagesthat give them the means to protect the Triforce from the forces of evil. In most scenarios (but not all) this results in a battle against Ganon.
The Sages In A Link To The Past And A Link Between Worlds
The first appearance ofthe Sages as a group of seven was in A Link To The Past. In the game’s introduction, the Seven Sages are shown working alongside the King of Hyrule to seal away Ganon in the Dark Realm. Of course, time passes for all and so the Sages eventually passed away, their power passing onto their descendants.
In this regard,seven young women known as the Maidens were the inheritors of this power,though were not themselves trained to be Sages. In a plot to release Ganon, Agahnim, the right hand of the King, kidnapped the Maidens and indeed succeeded in his task.
However, Link claims the Master Sword with the help of other descendants of the Sages and eventually saves the Maidens, Zelda amongst them, and defeats Ganon once again.
ForA Link Between Worlds,the role of the Sages is greatly expanded. Acting as a form of sequel to A Link To The Past, the same tale persists of Seven Sages who sealed Ganon in the Dark realm, and the Sages of this age are their descendants, this time much more confident in their powers.
In A Link Between Worlds, there are Seven Sages, the only occurrence where Zelda is not a member of them. They are as follows:
Each and every one of them is kidnapped by Yuga to, like Agahnim before him, release Ganon from his imprisonment. Just as before, Link embarks on a quest to save the Sages, who guide him to the Master Sword and grant him the Triforce of Courage, and defeats Ganon.
The Sages In Ocarina Of Time
Chronologically, Ocarina of Time is the first entry in the series to make the sages the forefront aspect of the story and build a deeper lore around their purpose and existence. Ocarina of Time begins with Link being guided towards Hyrule Castle to meet with Princess Zelda by the Great Deku Tree. However, after gaining access to the Temple of Time and wielding the Master Sword,Ganondorfambushed him,breaking into the Sacred Realm and seizing the Triforce of Powerfor himself.
In the age of Ocarina of Time, Sages do not exist in times of Peace as their goal is toprotect the Triforce. Instead,it is a power that lies dormant in certain people that can be activated by the Triforceitself when it becomes threatened. In that sense, all but Zelda and Rauru were unaware of their place as a Sage.
In Ocarina of Time, each Sage bar Zelda is associated with an element. The Sages and their respective elements are as follows:
In this world, the Sages are stolen away as per usual, though many of them are much more formidable and we see their growth across a vast span of time. Like before, they guard the Triforce, though only after it has already come into danger.
As such,it is Rauru who ultimately watches over both the Triforce and Master Sword, having built the Temple of Time to lock away both from unworthy hands.
The Sages In The Wind Waker
The Wind Waker follows on in the adult timeline where Link is revered as the Hero of Time. That said,the legend of he and the Sages, and of Ganondorf’s defeat has become muddled since the flooding of Hyrule. The Triforce is still splintered, and its Sages are assumed to have since passed.
However, new Sages are introduced. Rather than watching over the Triforce and Master Sword collectively,a separate set of Sages exist exclusively toprotect the Master Sword. However,Ganondorf is freedafter the seals on his prison weaken, and heseeks out these new sages and murders them.
It then becomes Link’s task tofind the spiritsof these dying Sages andawaken their successors.
The original Sages are nowhere to be seen in Wind Waker, their powers unnecessary.After Ocarina of Time, the Triforce did not reunite. Instead, the Triforce of Courage splintered across the land, the Triforce of Power stayed locked away with Ganondorf, and the Triforce of Wisdom stayed within the Royal family, even after its demise. As such,only the Master Sword needs protection, and the sages that protect it are ever-present in their goal rather than being called upon when needed.
The Sages In Twilight Princess
In Twilight Princess, like much of the game’s theming, the Sages have a more pivotal, dark task. Following on from the child timeline of Ocarina of Time,Ganondorf is imprisoned for his acts and ultimately sentenced to execution by the Six Sages.
For the task, they crafted a unique weapon of Light known asthe Sword of the Six Sages. It was wielded by the Six Sages during Ganondorf’s execution, yet the blade only left a gaping hole of Light in his chest, the Triforce of Power dulling the weapon’s impact. As such,the Sages resorted to using the Mirror of Twilightto lock Ganondorf away following the failed execution.
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The Sages, unlike in previous entries,offer a guiding presence in this game, rather than Link being the one to assemble them. They wear masks that hide their identity, so there is no way of knowing if they are the same Sages as from Ocarina of Time. They appear throughout the game to guide Link towards the shards of the Mirror of Twilight to access the Twilight Realm, and ultimately aid Midna in reclaiming her place as the ruler of the Twili.
The Sages In Tears Of The Kingdom
Tears of the Kingdom marks the return of Sages in the mainline games since Twilight Princess, and has the most prominent appearance of the Sages since Ocarina of Time. Here,the Sages are shown to have been ancient people associated with the Zonaiand their mystical stones of power. However, many of the Sages were not Zonai.
Throughout Tears of the Kingdom, you will encounter the original Sages duringthe time of the Zonai, though Link’s goal is to help guide worthy individuals to take up their mantle. Ultimately, their power and associated mystical stone are required to defeat Ganondorf once again.
There are six Sages in Tears of the Kingdom, each as follows alongside their element:
In this game, the Sages take on a role somewhat similar to Ocarina of Time in how they must be awakened to defeat Ganondorf, thoughthey have no specific intent with regard to the Triforce or Master Sword.Instead, they are simply gifted individuals empowered by mysterious stones.
Other Sage Appearances And Shared Traits
Though these entries encompass the majority of the Sages' appearances across the series, they have also had more minor roles in other games, like sequels and spin-offs.In some cases, they take the role of Maidens instead or simply exist as a lore piece of cameo.
For example, the men who provide Link with a sword in the original Legend of Zelda are said to be Sages, while in the Adventure of Link, it isa Sage protecting the Triforce of Courage. Likewise, Spirit Tracks features a tribe called the Lokomo that act as Sages, and in Four Swords Adventures, there are Seven Maidens that utilise the same colour scheme as the Lokomo.
Aside from these, the Sages exist primarily as small details. For example,each of the Divine Beasts in Breath of the Wild are named after previous sages, and Princess Ruto is directly mentioned in the annals of history around Zora’s Domain. In Skyward Sword, though no Sages are present, the symbols that defined them in Ocarina of Time are ever-present in the Temple of Time.
