The Great Dark Skeleton Mystery! (Tears of The Kingdom) 

Correction on my part: I may have misunderstood the true definition of "immortal" my bad 😅

My uncle's a paleontologist, and he says that those are all just clearly the skeletons of perfectly normal bears.

Fun fact: each dark skeleton houses a gloom spawn! Always wondered if it may be the early stages of ganondorf attempting to re-animate them through the gloom.

My theory: Those creatures are the true reason the act of Draconification is "forbidden". The three Elemental dragons flying around Hyrule each have a general purpose, even though I think they were originally Zonai. What I think is that at least three times, some evil fool swallowed a Secret Stone to be immortal, didn't realize the true cost, and went on a rampage. Heck, probably more than three times, which is why some dragon skeletons litter the surface, and these three are in the Depths. It is also probably why the Elemental dragons have returned to flying through the depths on occasion....because they had to venture down here before to battle some evil dragon that might have been immortal, but not indestructible. They may not have minds enough to remember doing it, but they remember they were down there before, for a very important reason, so they keep mindlessly returning, now that the depths are once again accessible by the surface.

considering we're able to obtain dragon parts (meaning the dragons can be marred), and kill ganondorf, even after draconification, i'm thinking mineru's account is more about not being able to die of old age.

“Immortal” commonly just means “won’t die of natural causes”, not “cannot be killed”. They could easily be dragons felled by some incredibly powerful enemy and not contradict the description

In many works of fiction, immortal has been used to describe beings who don’t die from old age. The elves in The Lord of the Ring for example. But they can still be killed. So just because the dragons in TotK are immortal, doesn’t mean they can’t be killed. Demon Dragon was killed Link after all. So those three skeletons could have draconified people that were killed. They were probably evil because they are called Dark Skeletons.

Well, my uncles aren't paleontologists, so that's that. The spikes on the skeletons, or spinous processes, wouldn't stick out of whatever beasts those were. They're to small for that. I mean, we have those too and they make up about half of the length of a vertebra, and we don't have spikes coming out of our backs

It could be that the dragon's "immortality" is more akin to that of a phoenix. Their bodies can still die, but they just keep coming back to life afterwards.

what if every "layer" in TOTK represents one timeline. The lowest one represents the fallen timeline, the "neutral" one the heros legacy and the sky layer the "hero of winds" timeline. Resulting in truly combining the timelines

with all the enormous skeletons littered around Hyrule, it’s a shame there wasn’t a massive Stal-lord boss fight in the game 😑

Anything I say will sound like a joke, but whatever. Paleonthologist here. The Eldin Leviathan skull has a distinct lack of a temporal fenestra (basically a hole behind the eye socket), which would either classify it as a close relative of turtles or early reptiles, depending on how this species evolved (we need Hyrule scientists to step up here). The Eldin depths skeleton on the other hand had one singular temporal fenestra, which would put him ironically in the synapsid group, so he is kind of related to mammals. Go figure. Okay, now I feel like finishing this analysis since the leviathans have very different morphologies. Depths skeletons are all identical. Gerudo Leviathan: One temporal fenestra, so also a synapsid. Hebra Leviathan: Very weird, seems to have a vestigial temporal fenestra. Maybe a new branch derived from Synapsida? Also, the skull is very similar to a whale skull. In conclusion, the Gerudo leviathan seems to be the closest relative to the depths skeletons. And I have several more questions but that's enough for now.

Minor nitpick but those "spikes" along the spines of the skeletons are actually attachment points for muscles. We to have similar "spikes" along our spines for our back muscles. The spikes on the top of the heads though like at 1:45 could be anchor points for spikes or some keratinous structure that was once there. Also something cool to note about the skull at 3:59 is that it appears to have 2 sets of jaw bones! Kind of like that of a moray eel though still clearly different as the secondary jaw seems to be attached to the main jaw bone. Perhaps the smaller, internal jaw once held a second row of teeth which would be pretty unique!

"Immortal" is commonly used to mean ageless. Meaning they won't ever age or die of natural causes, but can be killed. We killed Ganondorf on screen, so he obviously wasn't immortal.

Im gald someone is talking about the even bigger skeletons, cause great skeletons can be explained but i wanna know who the BIG ones are

Immortal could refer to not dying from age/illness, etc. They could still be killed by injury.

Being in the Depths, I kind of thought they might have been dragons, but more snake like as opposed to airborne like the Great Dragons. No arms or legs, slithering along through the depths.

Just like to say immortal does not mean invenerable. Immortal being will live forever yes but providing they dont sucome to injury, illness or toxants. Immortal beings can still die just not due to the passage of time as in growing old. They could be being who consumed the stones but were of a darker nature so the zoni put them down.

I'm personally fond of the theory that the 3 Dark Skeletons who were once Zonai (like the 3 Noble Spirit Dragons we know), who went down a darker path. These 3 were likely males compared to the 3 today being female if the size difference between the Light and Dark Dragons are anything to go off of; with the Light Dragon Zelda being the same size as the elemental Dragons, and the freaking MASSIVE Demon Dragon Gannon being roughly the same size as the Dark Skeletons. What if these three, upon eating their sacred stones, were consumed by the darkness in their hearts? And the reason they're dead now despite being "Immortal" is because they were felled by the Elemental Dragon Trio? We know that the Dragons _can_ be harmed (we chip their parts off all the time) and even killed if they take enough damage (See the Demon Dragon).

Fun fact - Each dark skeleton has a gloom spawn and a piece of the wild gear.

It’s fun to speculate about these sorts of things in games. I like to think that these skeletons are of dragons, ones even older than the 3 we see in BOTW/TOTK. I think that dragons made through draconification with secret stones are not actually immortal, but can eventually die of old age (we at least know they can be killed with means not natural). They simply live for so long that they seem immortal. Secret stones do appear to have a limit to their power, so it’s safe to assume that after long enough the dragons run out of the divine energy and die of “old age”. The depths is commonly patrolled by dragons. As soon as they reopened, the three dragons instinctively knew how to traverse the depths and immediately made consistent routes to follow. But why? Well, there are many animals IRL that have consistent migration patterns or territory patrol routes for different reasons. In this case, I believe the dragons patrol the depths because they know there safer and because it’s their burial grounds. One day, though after a very very long time, they will die and need a place for their bodies to rest and decay. The dragons are not intelligent whatsoever. They are about as intelligent as reptiles IRL: incredibly dumb. They would never do anything with a reason made from conscious thought, they would run off of instinct. Because the dragons have no need to hunt, eat, drink, or what have you, their brains haven’t needed to grow. They don’t need brainpower to survive. All they know is “fly in circles, go to depths, and fly into portals in BOTW”.

Ganondorf turned into a huge demon dragon, so perhaps these three dragons were also demon dragons?

They're probably not unconditionally immortal, and can die if enough physical trauma is inflicted. Hence, Drago-Ganon getting his shit rocked up all Evangelion explosion ways.

Okay, it is NOT COINCIDENCE that right after I was in the Depths just a few minutes ago and thinking, "I really want a video about the Great Dark Skeletons" a video for this pops up! WHAT SORCERY DID YOU DO?! XD

The first time I came across with one of these skeletons, I also thought they were the remains of Volvagia. Especially because the first one I found was the one under Death Mountain. But I discarded the idea when I discovered the rest. Even so, I think these remains could be related to the fall of the ancient Kingdom of Hyrule. We all know that the Hyrule of TotK and BotW is a completely different Kingdom than the rest of the games. But what we don't know is what happened to the old kingdom, and what caused its fall. Perhaps these remains could be a clue about the type of cataclysm that devastated the kingdom tens of thousands of years ago.

A bit unrelated, but I noticed something a while back that I don't think I've seen anyone talk about. You can see Shrines of Light on the Great Plateau in the memory cutscenes, but they're in the locations of the Breath of the Wild Sheikah Shrines. In The Gerudo Assault, you can see one in the area where the Cryonis Shrine was originally, and in Tears of the Dragon, you see one at the Stasis Shrine's old location. I dunno if you've already covered this, but I'd love to hear your thoughts on it.

If there could've been more public input on what should be added into the BOTW and TOTK games, then I think they should've had a major Stal boss created from a resurrected leviathan skeleton. It could be like a cursed bokoblin where some of its skin comes back but the rest of its body is covered by mutated masses of malice/gloom.

The presence of these three skeletons in the depths means that there could have been mirrored (and possibly had mirrored in intent) of the great beings of the surface. Like, people wouldn’t have even known these huge and just as powerful beings dwelled beneath their feet. Chilling.

I feel like the conflation with the depths as the "evil" location because of how it is during TOTK takes away the nuance of how it used to be a place the Zonai were heavily involved and theoretically very present in. Plus the fact that the three sacred dragons travel through the depths during their cycles, I think the skeletons could still be related to Zonai-- but more in the way their architecture is designed, with serpent like dragons that lack arms and legs. The more squared off about, too, matches the square designs of (especially botw) Zonai reliefs as well. Additionally, after staring at the skulls for a long time and feeling they looked incredibly familiar, in struck with how similar to a Utahraptor skull they appear, especially with the 3-4 main cavities in the skull, slightly square appearance, and the way the jaw would fit in. The Depth's skull has more of a little dip in the nose than a raptor does, but maybe we're looking more toward ancient extinct animals for inspiration.

9:36 - Lookin good! 😎 Great vid, man!

The Secret Stones curse people to become dragons, regardless of the nature of the person. This lines up with Ganondorf's death at the end of the game. For no matter how long he would have aged...he would be killed eventually. Perhaps for these ones, they died from injury, perhaps from a war long ago. The Depths have probably been around since before Skyward Sword, so who knows what these creatures are.

What do you think the Dark Skeletons were?

Thank you so much for making such interesting videos! Most of the other zelda youtubers i follow have stopped uploading which is sad, but whenever i see any new content from you i get super hyped! your theories and analyses are always really cool and i love learning and seeing new ideas about games i love. thank you again for the amazing videos! ^^

The dragons are immortal (as in, can’t die of old age), not invincible (as in, cannot be killed). Someone who’s invincible but not immortal will die of old age. Someone who’s immortal but not invincible could easily die from a stab wound.

Wow wow... This is exactly the type of theory I'd wanted since the very beginning of the release! I think you forgot to mention that the Dark skeletons dwarf the great skeletons in size, which I found fascinating since I first discovered them. I'm not sure about the true definition of Immortal. I take that to mean a fleshly body that doesn't die. If you go beyond that, you're getting into reincarnation territory. "The Zelda cycle" may be finding a bottom, and on the way out of this bear market. But HG has always been making new highs. ☺️

We know the dragons don't die of old age (that we know of) and no dragon was ever reported dead in any circunstance (are leviathan remains actual dragons?). Does that mean they can't be killed? No. Draganon was killed in spectacular fashion. If we take the draconification method as absolute, we end up with at least 10 known secret stones (3 dragons, 4 sages, 2 zonai and 1 human). Maybe the dark skeletons also ate secret stones way back when times were darker and someone had to do some dragon killing to save Hyrule. Also, the current dragons do in fact visit the depths, so who knows if those were even evil. What really bothers me about the depths is its timeline of events, as in, were those dark skeletons already there when the Zonai were digging zonaite at max capacity?

The Depths my beloved.♥ But yeah, the Dark Skeletons are colossal and serpentlike, but... not necessarily "dragons" of the deific kind we encounter in the game. Maybe there was a time when there was entire population of this species.

SPOILERS I do personally think that the skeletons are likely dragons from the draconification ritual. Despite the fact that they're "immortal" dragons, the Demon Dragon can be killed. I think the interpretation of immortal in this case is that they can't die of aging or illness, but they can still be forcefully killed

I'm so glad you made a video on these dragons in the depths, they're something I am sooo curious about in TotK. I really think they are parallels of the dragons above ground too! The contrast could also be a result of Demise's curse or just a nice parallel that Nintendo added. Always love the content!

My theory is- They are from way before breath of the wild. From wind waker when the land was full of magic water that only fish men and monsters could live in. Meaning those skeletons could have been from unseen Ganon minions. Biggest giveaway for me are the koroks. Because you see them in wind waker and then in breath of the wild connecting those time lines in a way.

small correction: only the Eldin skeleton is Levias, the Hebra one is the Wind Fish from Link's Awakening and the Gerudo skeleton is some other big fish/whale thing from another game

I suspect they are some individual who swallowed a secret stone to become a dragon. The game said becoming a dragon was irreversible, yet, Zelda was returned to her Hylian self after being one. So the part saying it was an irreversible was not true, maybe the Zonai only thought it was, at least up until the end of the game. It could always be a way to scare people off from swallowing a secret stone? The immortal part might also be wrong. Link defeated/killed Dragon Ganon at the end of the game, so not immortal. These dragon might not age or be able to die from old age but might still get killed? When it comes to the dragon bones in the depths, maybe the Zonai killed those who swallowed a secret stone for whatever reason?

Also a few more interesting things I want to point out: - immortal doesn't always mean unkillable. - the dragons we have now sometimes go underground for some reason. - The zonai knew how to become dragons, meaning someone did it before Zelda and Ganon, but the 3 dragons we see around Hyrule now are basically servants of the gods which makes me think they weren't normal people turned dragons.

Hyrule Gamer, Your videos always make me happy, so I subscribed!

2:42 that one silver horoblin was like: who are you talking to?

The leviathan heads are whale skulls, also with the giant fins/flipper skeletons. They were giant whales, no doubt, possibly from the flooded age of Wind Waker.

I’ve been waiting for this one

I appreciate Hyrule Gamer being one of the few Zelda RU-vidrs still making TOTK lore videos after everyone else kinda gave up on it ( for reason I definitely understand)

It was so intresting to listen. Maybe, more little dragons wanted to find big bodies, so they wanted to do a chasm, but died while they did it.

They were giant monitor lizards, land dragons like Komodo dragons, or massive snakes, like the Titanoboas, but bigger.

My uncle is a paleontologist who works for Nintendo, and he said those skeletons were Mario, Luigi, and Waluigi respectively. When asked about the presence of Wario, a grim look fell across his face before moving on to the next question

Volvagia's idle animation just be sitting there jamming to some music while waiting around for Link to finally show up. XD

The "spikes" on the spines are Vertebral Processes, which are protrusions from the bone that provide a place for muscles to attatch to. We have them, giraffes have really long ones, it doesn't always appear visible on the living creature

idk if you do it on purpose or if its just so firmly cemented into your dialect that its subconscious, but i love when you call things "wee" in the intro of your videos!!

“Ganondorf turns into an immortal dragon” Yup, and got nuked a good 5 minutes later so… Plus we’ve seen the dragons seem to be pretty comfortable going down into the depths with the exception of Zelda, so that adds to the likelihood.

It is wise to remember the difference between immortal and invincible. Immortal generally means that you cannot die of old age and natural causes, be it you aging infinitely or ceasing to age entirely. To be invincible means to be impervious to physical harm of any sort, sometimes to disease/illness and random ailments. A direct synonym of invincible is invulnerable, they mean the exact same thing technically though invulnerable is generally used to describe inanimate objects or solid protective material on an organism such as scales or shells. A being that is immortal and invincible can safely be called unkillable. It cannot be killed, unless you say that the rules do not apply to disease. However, they are not necessarily powerful. A truly all-powerful being would be invincible, immortal, and able to exert force that cannot be stopped. It is both the unstoppable force and immovable object.

what i think is really interesting is that volsvagia(sp?) and the skeleton skull we find in the depths seem to have the same kind of snout shape and the same lack of teeth (possibly having a sort of jaw bone plate function in a similar way) although the horns are obviously missing on the skulls. i dont think this actually proves anything but i like to think the species are in fact somehow linked or related, even if just in the art and design process

I really hope that there's more info on the depths lore in later games, even if they don't come back to this hyrule. But the first thing I think of with these skeletons is the quote "As above, so below".

I have just started another play through and thanks to your lore videos I'm enjoying it more than and paying attention to things. Also my Dad's a Forensic Scientist and he just gave me a look when I asked about the skeletons and said 'they're definitely not human remains'. So an expert in crime scenes has confirmed they're definitely not human. I would post this amazing information on Reddit, but I don't go on Reddit as I value what little sanity I have left.

So a while back, I saw a video which talked about the potiental origins of the Depths and how it connects to a Quest in Wind Waker. Since in WW the quest to water the saplings which gets planted by the Koroks has it confirmed that overtime, the small islands will all become one land mass. And in the Depths, we see what can be described as massive roots coming from the ceiling. Plus the plant life in the Depths seems almost aquatic in nature. Of course, this is only one possible origin. But it does explain some part of its existance.

When the timeline split in three, there became 3 of the same leviathan. When the timelines were braided together again by the goddesses, there became 3 in one timeline and they died out. The ones in the depths are like the opposites which you describe and couldn't exist without the leviathans

I think when Mineru says “to swallow a secret stone is to become an immortal dragon” she means functional immortality instead of the standard run of the mill immortality we are used to. I think she’s just trying to say that turning into a dragon makes you live for an extraordinarily long time, possibly near infinite, but since we can damage and kill Ganon by the end of the game it’s most certainly not immortality in the traditional sense. Either way I still love the theory, the environmental story telling in this game is amazing

Hyrule Gamer, This made me laugh so hard, thanks for sharing!

The Depths also mirror major changes to the surface, this is evident in the Dueling Peaks split being mirrored in the Depths and the Ancient Underground Fortress matching a wholly man made structure of the Akala Citadel. This could be due to tied fate, ie: if it happens on the surface to change the landscape, a mirrored event happens in the depths to match it. So when the surface leviathan's were cemented enough in the surface world as landmarks, creatures in the depths were born and/or died to match them. The Great Dark Skeletons could have just been created as a result of connected fate and really weren't very significant creatures themselves.

An idea I had for an underground part of TotK, which we now obviously know as the Depths, would’ve been a Land of the Leviathans. A massive play space similar to what we see in the final game but filled with ancient gargantuan leviathans of different species that are still alive and roaming. Many of the ancient bones and creatures’ remains we saw on the surface from Botw would’ve been present and alive down here. Some would’ve been docile while others, extremely hostile. There could’ve also been some pretty cool side quests with them. I think it would’ve given the Depths much more of an interesting hook while also justifying the extremely large play space with not much to actually do and discover.

My first thought was that they looked similar to the Hylian dragons roaming Hyrule. I don’t necessarily believe immortal means unkillable, especially when thinking about how dangerous malice is in these games. Maybe they were previous elemental dragons (a previous reincarnation, or maybe a wind and earth version or something), and they were attacked and infected by malice and this is how they met their end.

Can’t believe it’s been almost a year since this came out!

"Immortal" doesn't necessarily mean unkillable. It usually just means "eternally youthful/unable to die via aging." So those skeletons very well might be immortal dragons that were killed, although their physiology definitely seems to differ from the five live examples we've seen.

With all the dragons we know in LoZ, if they're not immortal dragons they're possibly Barba. Or, if you like the theory The Depths used to be the great ocean eventually covered and drained, they could be remains of Deep Pythons from Majora's Mask

I think you're jumping to a conclusion when you say the snake skeletons have to be evil just because they are in the Depths. One interpretation of the Depths is that it is the sacred realm. The light roots directly correspond to all surface shrines, and light up the darkness. In the games, the sacred realm is good until it is infected by an outside evil. It seems presumptuous to say they are evil because they are located in the Depths. Maybe they died near each other because they were allies fighting something that killed them both.

I could’ve sworn that they were just the bones continuing deeper underground. I didn’t think of them as separate skeletons.

"As above, so below".

It could still be the Zonai Dragons. We see in the final battle that an "Immortal" Dragon like Ganondorf could be killed. So, by that logic, the dragon bones in the depths could've been Zonai Dragons that were killed and burried, though in hindsight development wise, they're probably just there to mirror the leviathan bones.

Does anyone else see Molduga when they look at the big head and snout, with the giant eye sockets where Moldy's goofy googly eyes go? Maybe these are an earlier evolution, or even the same family line, as the Moldugas in Gerudo Desert.

I have to say, your dismissal of them being "Immortal Dragons" because they're dead feels a little short sighted. The "Immortal" part comes from the fact that they won't die from old age. We literally kill the "Immortal Dragon" that Ganondorf turns into! Sure, he explodes like a nuke and doesn't leave any remains behind, but whose to say the other dragons couldn't have been killed with Zonai tech back in the day? We've also only seen 2 people turn into dragons, Zelda and Ganondorf, two incredibly power beings, even without the secret stones. What if the remains were people who just couldn't handle being transformed into dragons and died after it happened?

I think that because the depths is an exact mirror there may have been a nesting ground of sorts at these locations where they went for the end of there life’s which was mirrored below.

"Immortal" doesn't equal "invulnerable." In this context, immortality through draconification simply means you'll never age. As Demon Dragon Ganondorf was more than happy to show us, these dragons could still be killed. I personally like to think the Leviathans chose their final resting areas intentionally, laying directly above The Dark Skeletons as sort of "posthumous guardians" against these creatures even after death.

I do have an *idea* regarding the dark skeletons. Admittedly it's not a well supported idea, but hey, what theory *is* well supported when dealing with these things? And even if it's not a true idea, it's still a fun one that I think is worth sharing. My idea mainly comes from two details we see in game (major spoilers for anyone who hasn't reached the end of the game). Detail 1: Ganondorf's dragon form is killed. This shows us that, while dragons created from secret stones are immortal in the sense of having a never ending life span, they're not immortal in the sense of being unkillable (although due to only having one point of reference, it's possible you have to be capable of reaching the secret stone and destroying it in order to kill one, but that's a little up in the air due to, as previously mentioned, only having Ganondorf as a point of reference). Detail 2: The skeletons have patches on gloom on parts of the bones. We don't know how long the gloom in the depths has been where it is, we just know that it started reaching the surface some time between the end of BotW and the beginning of TotK. Considering the depths was sealed off from the surface prior to the upheaval, the creatures that the skeletons used to be probably lived in the depths, and if we assume Ganondorf was able to spread the gloom through the depths significantly sooner than he was able to spread it to the surface, the creatures that the skeletons used to be might very well have gotten exposed to it (and based on a theory I saw some time ago, I don't remember where, it seems likely that the purpose of the gloom is to drain life energy of creatures across hyrule in order to revitalize Ganondorf). So here's my idea; what if the skeletons *were* dragons created by secret stones, but, being creatures of "eternal life", they were prime targets for Ganondorf's gloom to siphon life from, and so they ended up getting exposed to the gloom and ultimately being killed by Ganondorf who siphoned away their vitality to keep himself alive during his imprisonment. Like I said, it's not a particularly strong theory, but I think it's fun enough to be worth considering, and not entirely implausible.

My theory is that these skeletons were once serpents that roamed Ancient Hyrule, but due to either powerful hunters or lack of food, some burrowed to the depths in search of life. However they could not get back up to the surface and started to die off in the depths. This doesn't quite explain their positioning in the depths but maybe we can just chalk it up to coincidence.

"Immortal" but not "invincible"? Maybe they were people turned to dragons from consuming stones, but they were killed?

I think I’ve got a mystery for you and this one is more so related to real life while also being Zelda related like why do so many people simultaneously know and don’t know what happened to Skyloft after skyward sword because those who do know figured out that Skyloft due to a lot of similarities resembles the great plateau not to mention Skyloft was pretty small of a sky Island and not very big even though it was the biggest in skyward sword but there could be potentially bigger sky Islands that weren’t featured in skyward sword but did exist during the time just not featured within the story

I know I’m just pointing out what a lot of other people in the comments are pointing out, but it’s very likely that these immortal dragons were functionally immortal, much like the elves of Lord if the Rings or the Eternals from Marvel Comics. The exact specifics of what they can actually be felled by can vary drastically, yet it’s consistent across all of these beings that they cannot die of old age. It is entirely likely that they are indeed Zonai, but I’m partial to the dark god theory. There are heavy themes of the “as above, so below” concept in this game. Every major settlement, every mountain, and even every sacred spring or grove has a mirrored counterpart in the depths directly below them. There’s a point in TOTK where you can talk to Robbie’s wife about the horned statue. She speculated that the statue is actually not a demon but Hylia’s dark counterpart-the Horned God. Hylia and this unnamed Horned God have existed in tandem from the beginning and cannot exist without or destroy the other. This might seem like an unrelated tangent, but, thematically speaking, I don’t think it’s too far fetched to propose that the dragon remains in the depths are of old dark gods whose existence may or may not have been tied to the leviathan gods on the surface.

As others have pointed out, immortal in this sense doesn't mean can't be killed. Din, Farore and Nayru are probably related to the goddesses who created the land and left behind the triforce. Perhaps they became immortal dragons at some point or were cursed to it? Or each was left by one of the goddesses. We know the process of becoming a dragon using a secret stone is forbidden- and involves 'losing one's self'- how do we know this? Perhaps those who did it attacked the land, or the people, and were forced underground by the three goddess dragons. Perhaps they fought ferociously and killed each other.

TotK confirmed the camp skulls aren't made of rock, as some camps are close to caverns and we could see that below them we have ribcages and backbones.

I know it’s a boring not lore dive answer but I think the dark skeletons are directly underneath the leviathan skeletons so that the player can easily locate the special armour set that you find at each one. When you find 2 (or even one if you’re super smart and take a guess) you realise there’s a pattern and if you know where the leviathans are from botw you immediately know where to look for the rest of the set.

They still could have been Immortal Dragons as the Immortality spoken of has to do with age and disease no longer being relevant rather than "cannot be killed by anything' style immortality. The Immortal Dragons can still be killed - it just isn't going to be by either getting too old or from disease - it would be from someone going out of their way to kill them with overwhelming physical damage.

The lack of limbs and teeth, as well as the fact they're in the Depths, points less to dragons and more to giant serpents, imo. The dragons we've experienced in the Wilds era are immortal - they don't age and seemingly can't die, so there's no reason to believe there would be remains on the surface, let alone the Depths. I think it's more likely they're either a precursor to dragons or some Depths-based serpent that could burrow to the surface and have since gone extinct, likely well before Hyrule's Founding, when the Zonai were still at the height of their power.

mysterious depths bones: the meaner, weird cousins of the leviathans who lived in another city, which you know exist, but you've never actually met them.

The problem I always have with the Levias connection in these things is the fact that he and the dragons of SS times were also immortal, so while we know they can be killed, the doing it part is always hard to do except for being done by people like Demise and his incarnations. The idea of just six or more of these colossal beasts being felled with no idea as how is always just odd to me. Since those scenarios would likely become legends themselves. Beyond that all of them should still be alive if they really were like Levias

If I recall well, in BotW, the elemental dragons are referred to as spirits. Maybe these skeletons are their physical bodies, and maybe, by immortality, what Mineru means that one's spirit will linger even long after their bodies have decayed. Which would be pretty good news for Ganondorf lol

My big sister is a paleontologist, she'd probally say its too big for my studies lmao

I really liked this one! I'm really into paleontology, so this video was right up my alley.

These dragons might have died because of the Malice/Gloom. We do know that the dragons touch the Depths by flying into the Chasms, chasing their light into the darkness. As we know the fossils of the Leviathans are references to the other dragons/creatures which we could also visit in Breath of The Wild, they are in a strange time period considering that Links Awakening happens in a different timeline. Now to go back to the fossils within the Depths, they seem to be the opposite fossils from the ones above, hinting at another *duality* idea like you mentioned. These fossils might just be strange placements from Nintendo as assets and such, however they did think about them because the areas we can find them in are named, we are ment to find them. They tell the story that the Depths are nothing but death, anything dead related is to be found in this underworld. Gerudo Graveyard, Spirit Temple, spirits and demons. Your idea was pretty cool about Volvagia, these fossils could be where Ganondorf managed to find and revive them. One mention though for you, you forgot the Skyward Sword fossil in the Earth Temple boss room! That dungeon/temple has a lot of dragon references.

Maybe because we see pieces of the hero of the wild’s armor set, maybe the idea is this is one of link’s ancestors who was possibly a dragon slayer in his time if we follow the evil dragon theory

They're remains from a REALLY weird crossover episode where Gannondorf inherited the powers of the founding titan.

Immortal dosnt necesserely mean unkillable. After all we kill Ganandorf. So its possible "Immortal Dragon" simply means they live forever, they dont age but still can be killed.

The skull of the dark skeletons seems to have no place to attach horns and grow like the rest of the immortal dragons have . The body also seems to have no place for legs to be, and immortal dragons have six legs. Also, the only dead immortal dragon we know of didn't leave a skeleton, so it's weird, these three did.

The little "spikes" are something all spinal columns have technically: spinous processes are like a series of levers for our muscles and tendons. I dont doubt he had spikes, but a spiked spine doesnt mean that since we all have spikey spines

The demon dragon was killed at the end of totk, I assume these dragons were probably defeated similarly. They’re also massive compared to the 3 main dragons, and similar in size to the demon dragon, so maybe there was a need to kill them to restore peace. Which also resulted in draconification being forbidden, to prevent any other evil dragons from appearing (since they’re probably very difficult to kill)

I'm a paleontologist so I can infact confirm, that those are ant skeletons