The Zonai of the Depths

Part 1

Part 2

Part 4

In part 2, a rough outline of Zonai history was sketched. They originated in the Depths and built the various fire-themed temples of Skyward Sword in the natural Depths-Surface trade hub of Eldin Volcano/ Death Mountain. They then experienced a societal rupture (probably involving Demise) and resettled in the Sky. A second societal rupture led to their settlement of the Surface. In short, there are three distinct eras of Zonai history: Depth, Sky, and Surface.

This entry will sketch the nature of the Depths epoch.

Most of what the player sees in the Depths, in Tears of the Kingdom, is unexplained. One of the more pertinent mysteries involves a series of small statue trails that lead the player to various important locations in the Depths. Each statue trail depicts a known species of Hyrule (there’s a Goron trail, a Zora trail, etc.) except one. There’s a series of small statues that depicts a race never before seen. So, who are they? Some fans have speculated that they’re Mogma, the treasure-hunting mole people from Skyward Sword. Others speculate that they’re a sub-species of Zonai. The fact that the statues lead the player to the Ultra-hand ability (presumably important to the Zonai) indicates a close affiliation with the Zonai and (to my mind) makes the subspecies option more probable. In Tears of the Kingdom, the Heroes Aspect armour (which the player receives for completing all of the Shrines) reveals that the ancient hero, who defeated the First Calamity, was a Zonai Warrior. Only he doesn’t look like the other Zonai (Rauru and Mineru). This, too, has led to speculation. The Ancient Hero might be a Human-Zonai hybrid, a different species, or a Zonai subspecies. This last suggestion supports the possibility that the statues also depict a Zonai subspecies. The highly stylised designs of the statues may obscure some of their more prominent Zonai features.

There are many Zonai-themed Armour sets in Tears of the Kingdom, each with a specific purpose, which generally indicates that the Zonai had a very stratified and ordered society. This, in itself, may be an unsettling revelation. If combined with the existence of subspecies, it could point to a highly oppressive social structure. The statues, be they Mogma or a Zonai subspecies, could depict an oppressed labour caste. The Depths Miner armour does have chains on it. Perhaps, after the first rupture, the robotic Steward Constructs were built to replace a now extinct subspecies that once did the manual work. This may be going too far. There is reason to think that Zonai Depths society was egalitarian, even if highly structured. When Breath of the Wild was released (when only the name of the Zonai was known), it was often theorised that the Zonai had a connection to the Triforce. There are three animal motifs, that decorate their ruins, thought to represent the three Triforce aspects: an owl for wisdom, a dragon for courage, and a bull for power.

The existence of three different subspecies could also be a reflection of the Triforce. If, for example, wisdom characterises Rauru and Mineru’s subspecies then the Ancient Hero could be courage, and the statues are power. This implies equality between the groups (since the Triforce pieces are equal). That divinity would affect the Zonai to this extent is plausible. First, they come from the Depths, which is not just a place but seems to serve a mystical role. It’s a bridge between the world and the afterlife. Any species that emerged in the Depths, especially one as powerful as the Zonai, would presumably have some mystical qualities as well. Second (and this will sound weird), they have really big ears. In the Zelda universe, ear size indicates a connection to the gods. The bigger your ears (an NPC tell us in Ocarina of Time), the easier it is to hear the god’s commands. It’s perhaps notable that the Hylians of the ancient past, in Tears of the Kingdom, have bigger ears than the contemporary Hylians, but that’s beside the point. The Zonai (or at least Raura and Minerus subspecies) have the most prominent ears of all, indicating a close connection between Zonai biology and divinity and providing an explanation for the temples of Eldin Volcano.

As a side note, Ganondorf states, in a Totk flashback, that Rauru and Mineru are the last of the Zonai. This seemingly precludes the possibility of the Ancient Hero (who lived in a chronologically later era) from being a Zonai. It is possible, however, that the different subspecies of Depths people had different names. In Breath of the Wild, only one of the Zonai-themed ruins is named for the Zonai. The others have unexplained names, such as the Lomie Labyrinths and the Typhlo ruins. These could be the names of the other subspecies. The courageous Ancient Hero, for example, could be a Lomie (if the mazes are a test of courage) whilst the statues could be depicting the powerful Typhlo.

It has so far been suggested that, during the Depths era, there were three groups of Zonai living in the Depths, each representing a different aspect of the Triforce. The society was highly organised (with various social roles) and deeply religious, building temples at the Eldin trade hub. But the Depths is more than just a semi-mystical place where the Zonai lived, and their theorised connection to the Triforce also raises questions.

In the opening of Skyward Sword, it’s said that a war between the Goddess Hylia and the Demon King Demise began when the ground cracked open, and the demon hoards poured out. Breath of the Wild features a location called the Breach of Demise as a reference to this event. That the demons came from beneath the surface implies that they once existed in the Depths, a possibility with substantial implications for the Zonai. The Depths in Tears of the Kingdom do not appear (to my knowledge) to have any corresponding location to the Breach of Demise, but the dungeons and structures of Skyward Sword may, again, provide some answers. The underground section of the Ancient Cistern (the fourth dungeon) is visually very similar to the Depths. It contains zombified monsters and a toxic substance called Malice (which is widespread in the Depths of Totk). The implication being that Link may have briefly visited the Depths during Skyward Sword. At this time, the Depths also contained chains and bars and the skeletal remains of enormous monsters, suggesting that it was once a prison. The above point, that Demise emerged from the Depths, could further suggest that the Depths was a prison for demons. And a prison needs jailers. The following is highly speculative.

What if, long before Hylia’s war with Demise, the Golden Goddesses who created the world (and to whom Hylia answers) imprisoned Demise and his demon followers within the Depths and personally created the Zonai in order to guard them? That could be why the Zonai subspecies reflect the aspects of the Triforce. Its three components are, ultimately, reflections of the three Golden Goddesses. The Zonai subspecies, if the rampant speculation above is reasonable, don’t directly reflect the Triforce but the Golden Goddess who created both themselves and the Triforce. This could be why the Zonai are so close to the gods. They were created, by the gods, for a specific purpose and were subsequently able to commune with them. The gods could have also given them the secret stones so that they could actually contain the demons. It’s further possible that they were directly assisted by the Goddess of Light, briefly mentioned in Tears of the Kingdom (contrary to the game implication, I do not think that Hylia is the Goddess of Light, but that is not pertinent here). This would explain both the Light roots and Rauru’s light powers.

This has all been highly speculative, but it isn’t easy to talk about the Zonai without speculating a bit. Still, the Zonai Depths era has, hopefully, been brought into clearer focus. The three Golden Goddesses created three groups of Zonai (or Depths peoples) to help them imprison Demise and his demon armies within the Depths. For this purpose, they were armed with secret stones and assisted by the Goddess of Light. They were subsequently close to the Gods (big ears) and built several prominent temples to them, including the trade hub temples of Eldin Volcano.

This may point to the nature of their first social rupture. When Demise eventually got free, his Zonai jailers were naturally his first target…

-Dexter