I like the reference, but the name doesnt seem to fit. But hey Zeltik, were we ever gonna get the Tower of the Gods video from Wind Waker? It never came out.
I know this is a joke but if you were serious that would only make sense if there was nothing under the rock it should be Crap did I put stuff in the wrong place again?
When they made the game and the map layout they might have had an idea or concept for it and then got scraped but decided to leave the island in the game anyway cause it’d be too much work to take it out and or didn’t matter if it was still in, unfinished. Or maybe wanted to use it for some DLC that never got made.
amber is hardened tree sap, and opal can form from petrified wood. on an island where everything's dead, are you sure there's no korok under that rock?
The way I see it, Makar Island represents Mekar's last stand. In a forgotten area, it took 9 formidable, heavily equipped enemies to bring him down. And maybe they weren't even able to. He is the tree, after all. Still summoning wind. That is what the single rock hints at - a Korok missing.
Would it be weird to hope that's what it is? Seems kinda beautiful in a way because even after all the Calamity bs and so far into the future, Makar's legacy still exists
That's not how the Kokiri works though. They're spirits that can change form, but don't actually become that form. Like Saria. She was in human form, but not actually human, hence she did not age. If anything, i'd say it could be a tree touched by his spirit
I was thinking the same thing. I thought that the koroks eventually became trees and that's how places like Kokiri Forest came to be? There was something the Great Deku Tree said in either OoT or WW that made me think this. However, I could also be completely wrong. Haha
@Parry Otter yes i havent gotten it yet but im not going to get it im just going to max the bow stash,wepon stash,and sheid stash and then im done i am not getting hestus gift i mean why out of everything why a big lump of golden poop?
Certainly has nothing to do with Dungeons, that's for sure! Breath of the Empty simply has an allergy to anything exciting and secretive. Only tired, withered cryptic markings. Jeez - the developers forgot, this is a _game_ - I know there was a mass apocalypse of Malice but _Live_ a little devs!!
@@netweed09 1: breath of the empty is hilarious 2: the fact that EVERYTHING in the game isn’t just a gimmick for a dungeon or a korok seed is the appeal otherwise things like the guardian in the Zora domain is just there for history and how the stalnox on satori mountain ALSO didn’t give you a seed or a dungeon it’s just another aspect of how satori prevents a stal from spawning including the stalnox. Not everything has to be protagonists fuel sometimes SOMEONE ELSE IS IMPORTANT
In reality, at Nintendo: Let's allow the intern to do this random irrelevant island just to get him acquainted with the system. Intern: overdoes it to make a good impression.
Some dev: hey, intern, pitch me an idea for some minor scenery Intern: explains reference Dev: awesome, let's do that Probably how a lot of easter eggs n neat little stuff like this ends up in games, especially big open ones like this and Elder Scrolls, honestly. Less "no one cares" and more "give me a cool idea to add flavor to this otherwise boring bit of scenery".
Can you imagine being this extra that an enormous world is filled to the brim with references, secrets, history, puzzles, etc. No wonder they delayed it's release. And I will wait however it will take so that botw 2 will be just as rich and interesting.
I was thinking that the tree WAS Makar, that he and possibly other people(the ones that would start a campfire) had taken shelter and were cornered by enemies. With Makar's death, he became a tree, possibly like the Great Deku Tree, and his spirit lives on in the wind, constantly blowing and even harder when you are on top of him.
I remember stumbling on this island looking for korok seeds. Once I landed and found none I saw the bones and figured that some Stalfos would appear at night. Was totally caught off guard by the platoon of high level monsters
We're not "finding stuff," we're learning stuff that was already found. Plus it's only been 2 years* and a half, it's not like those decades-old games where we find some kind of secret message in a hidden room no one knew about for all that time because some developer finally told us how to find it.
@@namenamename390 The engine is already there which saves a lot of time. I don't think they'd wanna make the same mistake with teasing a game that's years and years off again. They purposefully teased BotW2 to get conversations going.
While watching the video, I've gotten a much darker idea. Know how in wind waker, Koroks would scatter across the sea planting korok seeds to grow great trees? Remember how those trees were the spots that koroks lived and died to give birth to great trees? What if it was Maker's tree? What if it was his grave?
That same thing happened to me when I started my Botw gameplay and I had low hearts & bad armor. I got shooted by icearrow and got hit by good weapons. Also game needed automatically save when I came to this island 🙄 and same enemies killed about 10 times.
Perhaps this island is where Makar was ambushed and killed by the undead. His body sprouted a tree, which was inhabited by his spirit. I think that he is using the winds to guide Link away from the island, and protect him from succumbing to a similar fate - like the hero saved him eons ago.
So cool to imagine that the very first dungeon is hidden away forever right beneath Link's feet. Only thing missing is the wooden bridge to the island, not surprising that it wouldn't be there anymore after tens of thousands of years.
@@outdater9302 Not really, it's just more of an easter egg. The main, canonical story directly references Twilight Princess, so that confirms the child timeline for me, although I know there's some debate.
@@gungaloscrungalo8925 If you're referring to one of the memory cutscenes, the game that gets referenced actually changes depending on the translation. If memory serves, the line "or steeped in the glow of twilight" is either replaced or added to by the line "crossing the ocean and making a link to the past" in European translations. So that one cutscene references games from every branch of the timeline. Just some food for thought.
@@AliceMeder I dont know how they're called in other languages, but in spanish they are called dragon too. Well, in spanish Revali's gale it's called "Furia de Revali", that translated would mean "revali's fury" so I dont know whats ok and what not haha
What if the developers meant it _literally_ when they said BoTW takes place in all 3 timelines. What if all 3 timelines collided in the great catastrophe 10k years ago, and there wasn't one Ganon, but potentially 3! The wierd mixed landscape is because the odd slightly different timelines literally collided and the great plateau is a chunk of a different timeline that landed there, and they built the wall around it to protect the landscape. What if the Deku forest is another chunk of a different timeline? What if they are actual _physical_ chunks of alternate timelines and universes brought crashing together, nearly destroying all 3! It would explain why certain landmarks have moved or are slightly different, why certain characters or races from different universes are all present. It would explain a lot! It's my current headcanon.
Zelda devs: "Sir, what should we do if they want us to make a sequel? We're already running low on ideas." Fujibayashi: "Stick some random shit in there and have Zeltik make up stories for us later."
This island has always confused me. I 100%ed this game twice, I KNOW what a suspicious place looks like. I KNOW how to find Koroks. When I saw this Island I was DEAD CERTAIN something was there. But... nothing. Then The first DLC was announced, and I thought I finally figured it out: Mekar Island, Of course! This place was made in advance, to hide a DLC item there! Surely, this must be where the Korok Mask will be hidden, it's too perfect! But then... nothing. Again. 2nd DLC comes and goes, and still... nothing. No korok, no treasure, no shrine no item, absolutely nothing that would give this island any right to exist in the game. I am extatic that you finally covered this. I never thought this was a mystery anyone could or would solve. But this just blew my mind. Yes, the evidence is somewhat flimsy, but it's more than ANYTHING we ever got out of this island in these past 2 years. And you managed to once again blow my mind. One question though, if this IS somehow a reference to the same island, looking at the size of the trees.... wouldnt you think there's an implication BotW somehow takes place _before_ the original TLoZ? Surely that can't be possible, right?. Whatever it means, I'm so happy you made a video about one of the few things even a veteran like me still could not figure out.
perhaps this is the same island, but after thousands of years, a few generations of trees have grown and died on this island, and we are seeing the reseeding of a new cycle of just a few trees. the dungeon could be under there, somewhere, buried beneath the earth, lost after 10000 years.
When I played last month I got destroyed on this island, and i was surprised there was nothing on the island during the day. Not even any chests in the water near and around it. So weird! 2 years playing and I'd never gone to it.
Don't feel bad I have the same amount of hours and missed that village full of people right off the shore with a shrine and I stumbled on it by accident exploring.
@@jesciapatterson244 Lurelin village? If that's where your talking about,I think I found it by accident as well. And if you're talking about a different village,then I guess I need to go exploring again.....
When you revealed the Zelda one comparison, I could not stop smiling. It felt so good to know that it could be a reference to the very beginning of one of my favorite game franchises ever.
Mekar Island is the physical embodiment of "Mom/Dad, what is [something] for?" "To make you ask questions." Well-played, Nintendo. Jokes aside, this is absolutely amazing.
@@ZainKaneko , this is exactly how I feel about the Zonai ruins near the Spring of Courage. It's an excellent way to reuse elements of the first game, but still create new challenges and content
It's the little locations like these In Breath of the Wild that are my favorite and what I think make the exploration so much more fun. Something mysterious that feels like neither you nor anyone else was ever supposed to be (Which is why I actually grew tired of shrines being your reward for finding the weird out of the way places. They kinda made the experience a bit too artificial for me). Personally, I do wish there was a bit more to this strange island, perhaps more clues as to what this place could have been, even if they didn't want any kind of solid reward. Of course, since there really is no explanation for it, my preferred narrative is that the tree may have been Makar, however, the land around him (or perhaps what remained of him by the time of the game) had somehow become cursed and killed everything around him. In response, he used his power of the wind as a means of trying to deter any would-be explorers from visiting his lonely island where nothing but death would await them. Explains the weird wind anomaly around the island and the fact that you are hit with wind when on top of the tree, as well as the stalfos army. The fire could be some poor slob ending up there before you did. Yea, it's a bit of a stretch, and tragic, but hey, I liked Majora's Mask allot XD. Honestly, the evidence really does seem to point to it just being an obscure reference to Zelda 1. Hope to see allot more weird locations like this in Breath of the Wild 2 though!
I spent a good 30 minutes on this island wondering what the point of it all was. What kind of test was it being swarmed by the stalfos. Literally till this day it always annoyed me that nothing was there. I knew there had to be some reference. And I think this is by far my favorite. I absolutely love Zeltiks theory & it shall give me peace.
@@Mandude4200 I always figured it was not terribly in-depth. That's King Dodongo. Link scribbled it on there in a fit of prophecy, delivered by his mother who is the tree across the road, IIRC.
I suspect that lone statue of the eighth hero seemingly "guarding an entrance" of the gerudo highlands might house a dungeon behind it. And wouldn't be surprised if it was lava-ice mechanic based dungeon. Like there was a ice dungeon with a pool of magma far below (I think it's in Link Between Worlds). I mention magma because of all the air currents and in the hebra region, the hot springs.
There was a temple-like building in the same canyon where you find the descendant of Ganondorph's horse that you cannot enter, yet its noted on the map: thats probably going to be another dungeon too!
A lonely little island where the winds ominously push everything away from it, almost as if warning you to turn back. You arrive there to find piles of bones scattered about, and a dead tree. You lift the single rock expecting to find a happy little Korok, especially given the name of the island, but instead find a piece of either fossilized tree resin or opal, which decaying wood often plays a roll in forming. Night falls, and an onslaught of stal-enemies with notably powerful weapons rises and attacks. You survive the ambush only to come up empty-handed after all of your efforts. Nothing to show at all for having been here. Finally, you climb the tree, and a strong wind begins to blow directly away from the home of the Koroks. This place always gave me chills, and I can't help but think there's an implication that something tragic befell Makar here.
Could you do a theory about those stone pillars/towers found across Hyrule? Not the Sheikah towers, but the ones that often have chests on top. The book: “Creating a champion” mentions that they were built by the Zonai but their purpose is a mystery.
@@michellemanly1365 I don't think so. There isn't just a model of it hanging from the ceiling, there are also some propelers around the lab (made to make it actually fly). And if it was just a model why would they only study Vah Medoh? Probably to find out how to make a similar smaller Vah Medoh, but it would make more sence to me that Sheikah were planning on making mini Vah Medoh for faster travelling service. It would be a really fun video, but you are by far the only person that I know who acknowledges the mini Vah Medoh.
Marissa Chamberlain Of course it’s not a coincidence, this game took many many years with hundreds of people, there’s no way they just stuck random assets everywhere
Spectacle Rock which is the entrance to another dungeon in Zelda 1 is also in the game right? How about this for a conjecture: All of the dungeon entrances in Legend of Zelda 1 exists in Breath of the Wild in some kind of reference, such as the Spectacle Rock and Mekar Island. That, or there are only Mekar Island and Spectacle Rock to reference the first and last dungoen in LoZ1 respectively.
I can't even think of any defining traits of the other dungeons. Level 4 or 5 needs a raft and is on an island. 3 is in a moblin filled forest. One is under a bush... And another is under a lake that's revealed with a flute (level 6?)
Best I can think of, is the Raft leading to Eventide Island, the Moblin Forest one happening in Faron Woods, and the one under the lake as the one below ground in the middle of Lake Hylia. I'm sure there's several mountain dungeons to pick from. And maybe that place where that one statue's eyes light up is the dungeon next to the graveyard..? Some might be a stretch, but I went with it as best I could.
I guess the biggest problem is that these places were added as a reference as on mekar island the four smaller trees wouldn't have been planted until after Link went to sleep cause they're way younger than 100 years.
That makes sense, there's a korok That gives you a shrine mission near the deku tree, it seems very old and if you look him close it's like is becoming a tree
man that actually fits perfectly, I very much remember traveling along the side of the lake and seeing the island, making my way over and being super confused; super obscure or subtle references are the best.
Maybe Makar on his adventures found this island and was mysteriously drawn to it by the tree. The island wanting to kill him. Yes I'm saying the tree's Magic. Still drawn to the tree, every night he would fight the stalfos enemies that would appear until he himself decayed like the tree. He felt inclined to save the tree while it still had some leaves left but ultimately ended up decaying himself. The winds that you find is Makar keeping you away so that you don't Decay like him and the tree, fighting hordes of monsters every night. The wind on the top of the tree is Makar trying to get you away from there. But that's just a theory. A GAME THEORY!!!
Gotta say, I've genuinely had a lot of fun playing archaeologist in the ruins, trying to imagine what the buildings used to look like, guesing at what they were used for, that kind of thing. In Faron especially, that kind of thing has actually helped find hidden loot on more than one occasion.
I personally think the tree is Makar... My theory is after wind waker and when spirit tracks begin. Makar maybe went to that island and decided to rest there for the day and when he slept there the army of skeletons appeared at night and attacked him... he may have been able to survive the night but when day came he was to weak to fly away so he was forced to die on the island alone... being the wind sage, he was the one who made the winds to have other go away from the island so they dont end up like him... once the tree grew he made a guest of wind that can help others escape if they did come on the island...even away from the forest so they dont get lost so the add to the army....but that's just my theory😅😋
Here is my theroy: The small tree is where another great deku tree was planted, and the spirit of mekar had resided there as well. As travlers came and went, it drew in the attention of some creatures. They killed the travlers, and while feasting on the island, they became traped and died of hunger (or something, idk.) Now the winds try to blow others away, trying to push away more people. The wind on top of the tree is the last atempt to get you away, trying to get you to fly back to the shore before night falls and you get swarmed by stall enemies, or if you do manage to either defeat the enemies or realize something isnt right, and need to get off, you can use the breeze to WOOOSH out.
If this is true. (Very possible) Then the developers went deep with botw. Even deeper then i ever hoped. That we might never know, makes this game series so good
I don’t know if it’s your amazing narration and comentary or simple intense nostalgia for my absolute favorite game series but I often find myself shedding a tear or two during your videos
The four divine beasts of botw make reference to 4 different sages (Darunia, Ruto, Nabooru and Medli), 4 different elements (fire, water, lightning and wind) and 4 different races (Gorons, Zora, Gerudo and Rito). What if Mekar island is the location for an additional divine beast that got cut? A divine beast that represented Makar, an earth/forest element and Koroks/Kokiri/Minish. Perhaps the Divine Beast hung up in Hateno Lab would have been it. A Korok champion would have been small enough to pilot it.
Ronald Barreto same here. I literally just commented the same thing and then saw your post a few minutes later. I truly think that’s the real meaning of the island. A callback to where it all started
I've been playing "Zelda" since 1988....and I would love it if Mekar Island was a tribute to the first dungeon of LOZ. I just wish they would have hollowed out the tree.
0:48 "Who were the Zonai, who decorated the land with their intricate stone structures?" Me watching this after the release of Tears of the Kingdom: "Huh, well I definitely don't know!"
I seriously didn't think there would end up being any big meaning to it XD I was pleasantly surprised by the ultimate connection you made. Bravo! I really need to play this game again. I don't think I made it onto Mekar island.
First! To spot and reply to a notable RU-vidr making a comment on a popular video that isn't theirs, which is arguably even trickier than a usual first! :P
I think that the dual reference is intentional by the designers since their intention was to have BotW set at the end of all of the timelines so seeing locations that clearly reference multiple timelines works to that end very well.
I thought it was a reference to the forbidden woods from Wind Waker. I thought that was the reason why no koroks were there because they are not allowed to go hear the forbidden woods. I was also thinking the wind was a reference to the mini cyclones that spin around the forbidden woods. I never thought about it being a reference to Level one though.
A reference to the 1st dungeon in a Zelda game, a call-back to the Deku Tree sprout, or the last remains of the Forbidden Woods from LoZ:WW? Good luck figuring that out!
Hey Zeltik, i know you probably don't look at older videos anymore but this video made me sad because it made me miss Makar. He was the last person I saw before stopping WW. This video makes it seem like this is where he died. While WW wasn't one of my favorites he was one of my favorite characters. Cheers for a great video, never stop following your passion.
These intelligent and well-articulated dissections of seemingly obscure details in BOTW are hands down my favorite videos on your channel. They really shed light on just how many layers of thought and story development were put into the game.
I found this very random.when i didn't even have the map, i guess or i have never been in that direction before. I found it strange but didn't think much more of it.
I know many people don't like botw's style of story telling, but I quite like when a game has a story that's not "in your face" and focuses a lot more on gameplay and atmosphere. Botw does it quite well with giving slightly inquisitive players a decent story if you go looking around interacting, talking and reading things, but hides something much, much deeper in plain sight that only series veterans can uncover. This makes watching these videos incredibly interesting (I've watched so many of these theory videos) while not making the actual game too busy with explaining references that could take away from the awesome atmosphere that speaks for itself. And when the sequel comes out, it'll probably explain a lot of these things with deeper storytelling (since that's maybe what the sequel is going for), so it'll satisfy people who would love a more narrative driven zelda game. I would probably love botw 2 even if it was narrative driven, but the first one will always be one of the best games I've played from the atmosphere standpoint, and also since it was uniquely focused on what matters most to me in a game: gameplay, while not being just a sandbox game engine test.
I don't think the story telling is the problem, they took away the hearts and rupees when you cut the grass and sometimes the music is too soft. The story is the same as it always has been, it's just being spent a different way, I didn't care much for the whole survival wilderness mess but I would have accepted it more if there was a choice in whether I could keep the hearts and rupee gathering, normal. There are other things that they didn't have to change but they did and I just wish we had the option to keep some of those things. Like when entering hyrule field, wouldn't it have been great to hear the song from Ocarina of Time's field in this vast open area, even if they had played it in a softer tone, it would have been super beautiful. I feel like they missed some really good opportunities.
@@DBZProduction If this would've been a new IP I would have loved the game. Nothing about it felt like Zelda to me. I keep finding little things that bother me even more as time goes on. It's a decent game in its own right... but it should have never had that name attached to it.
@@peazeralus I really felt and still feel the same way you do about it but I will be honest, if it wasn't for the Zelda name attachment, I would never have played it at all lol. I do not like these types of games.
It would be interesting if in BotW 2 you had to complete dungeons (like one in the tree on Mekar Island), all from the first game, or possibly from a bunch of different Zelda games.
As people have pointed out, Amber is petrified Tree Sap, and Opals can form from Wood. Also, while Flint is an odd choice, it could be used as a substitute for Charcoal (as it doesn't exist in BOTW), another resource died to dead trees. Between that, all of the Stal enemies, and the general theme of 'death' around that Island, I think there may have been a 1000th Korok we missed. As for the wind, well, it's named after Makar, the WIND sage. You have to SWIM to the island, like how you have to sail to it in Wind Waker.
This video has provided me with so much thought, consideration and joy. It finds me at a time where im stricken with harsh circumstance towards my work and personal life. To have found this, and become aware of such an incredible discovery, has truly lifted my spirits far beyond where they were prior to pressing play. Thank you, Truly.
i went around that place for hours, lighting it up section by section with fire arrows to get an idea of what it looks like inside. i wish it lit up after you found the shrine! anyway, it's all zonai ruins, fallen columns, and other zonai structures. loads of hidden treasure chests in the dark that you can find using the sheikah sensor and some patience. though i have a sense of how it looks in small sections, i still would love to see it as a whole.
@@jenniferchoughI figured it was Zonai, but I was wondering why it was shrouded in darkness? Is it a curse or a way to protect it? Who left it like that? What is it protecting, sealing, or why was it attacked with such darkness?
