Talk:Hyrulean Civil War

I've transferred the "theory" portion of this article here, in it's entirety. IfIHaveTo is correct; currently, the text below is mainly uncited speculation, and many of the concerns raised here are valid. For any of this information to form part of the article, it would need to be proven to be fact by correctly citing using relevant quotes from the game; I have included those which I know to be of relevance in the article, please add others if they exist. Alternatively, a brief summary of this theory (correctly cited) could be included in it's own section. --Adam 15:24, 19 December 2007 (EST)

I think this does a major disservice to those who might like to engage in research about the topic. And a "brief" summary is not going to present all the facts that have been generated in support of it, as facts are the only basis for the whole theory. I think putting it back in the article under its own theory section as it is would be FAR more beneficial to the community for those who may know something about the war that we don't and have only forgotten it and need it triggered in their memories again. I don't think a theory section within the article would be detrimental at all, but as long as the theories are based on fact and not outlandish fiction, I think it would be a great addition to the article, which for being an encyclopedia article contains little useful or interesting information if presented only with the little hard fact we do know from Ocarina of Time about the war. What's the point of even having an encyclopedia that people can add things to if you're not going to let them take what we do know and try to put it together to make sense and draw connections between the games as Miyamoto originally intended? People come to an encyclopedia to discover things they didn't know previously, and if you just put the minimal amount of information there as they saw it in the game, they have no need to even visit the encyclopedia to look at something they already knew to begin with. And I really don't understand what you mean by "correctly cited" because it's almost impossible to "cite" a video game unless you merely tell where in the game it occurred, which is what was done here. It's not like a book where you can go and just cite the page number, edition, date, etc. And if someone has played the games (as many who visit this encyclopedia have) then they should know where in the games the listed facts are. But that's about as good as you can get citing a video game, beyond that I don't know what else you expect us users to provide. Link87 16:32, 19 December 2007 (EST)


 * I'll be brief:
 * We operate a slightly less strict policy than wikipedia. However this still applies to any encyclopedia.
 * The below represents one possible theory. Others exist. For them not to be presented along with this one in the article gives it false credence and biases the reader.
 * This theory belongs on a forum, as I have suggested here.
 * No reply necessary - this is not a discussion. --Adam 17:28, 19 December 2007 (EST)


 * And I'll be brief as well:
 * Technically this "is" a discussion as per the title atop the page.
 * Yes, this is one theory. It would be nice for everyone to be able to share any coherent theory on the pages themselves, not solely this one.  That was my suggestion.  To censor any attempt to connect the dots between the games defeats the purpose of the whole encylcopedia.
 * Perhpas theories are "debated" in forums, but any coherent findings should be reported to the overall world. No one likes to dig through the actual "debate" that goes on in forums to find out the outcome.  That is why I suggested allowing those with coherent theories to have the opportunity to share it with the findings of others.
 * No reply necessary to this either because as far as I'm concerned, this wiki has been corrupted by the same good ole boys system that afflicts almost all of them. I will go to the games for information if I want it, since this "encyclopedia" obviously doesn't want to share new information.  --Link87 18:50, 19 December 2007 (EST)

Theory
The Hyrulean Civil War or Unifying War was a conflict that occurred shortly before the events of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. While the war's history is not entirely clear, its history can be pieced together with careful study of the texts and cutscenes that appear throughout the series. What is definitely known (via OoT) is that it resulted in the unifying of the country of Hyrule under one banner and that it occurred shortly before the outbreak of the Imprisoning War, orphaning the child that would grow up to become the Hero of Time and leaving him under the guardianship of the Great Deku Tree. It can be surmised from Link's age at the time of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time that it occurred about ten years prior to OoT's events, as Link was noted to have been born during the war and orphaned as a result of it. It can also be surmised that Ganondorf's service in the war earned him some standing with the King of Hyrule (which he put to good use at the opening of the Imprisoning War), as the King was not so quick to believe Princess Zelda's accusations concerning Ganondorf's treachery without concrete proof, seemingly trusting him. It was noted in the opening cutscene of The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past that there was a war between the tribes of Hyrule over the Triforce at some point in Hyrule's distant past ("...the people began to quarrel and fight..."), and seeing as this war lead almost directly to "evil power flowing from the Golden Land," it can be surmised that this particular conflict it was describing was the Hyrulean Civil War that took place shortly before Ganondorf unleashed the Great Cataclysm and sparked the Imprisoning War. It was noted that the Triforce had become a desireable object amongst Hyrule's tribes in ALttP, and that somehow the fierce fighting broke out amongst them over it, meaning that at some point one of the tribes most likely threatened to seize it for their own. We know from The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess that the ancestors of the Twili, the Dark Interlopers, tried to do just that, which would make perfect sense as to what catalyst triggered the civil war. The presence of the Temple of Time in TP also suggests that the game occurred within a century following OoT, lending credence to the possibility that the story of the Twili's banishment to the Twilight Realm occurred around the time of OoT. With this information, it is possible to discern roughly when, how and why the war took place and under what conditions. A possible (although not certain), more collective synopsis of the conflict, as pieced together from information gathered throughout the series, follows:

Ten years before the events of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, a group of Dark Interlopers (the Twili) attempted to use their dark magic (in the form of a relic known as the Fused Shadows) to seize control of the Sacred Realm and the Triforce that was held within it. Upon learning that one tribe was trying to take the Triforce for themselves, the other tribes of the land of Hyrule began to quarrel and fight, as depicted in the opening sequence of The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, leading to a massive civil war that engulfed the entire land. The three Goddesses of Hyrule sent the Light Spirits to drive the Dark Interlopers into a realm known as the Twilight Realm, as depicted in The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess. They also sealed away the Fused Shadows within the Great Deku Tree (later to become a successor Forest Temple), the Fire Temple (later known as the Goron Mines), and the Water Temple (later known as the Lakebed Temple). As the civil war raged across Hyrule, the Gerudo King of Thieves, a man named Ganondorf, came to help the King of Hyrule unify the land and to quell the destructive war that was tearing the land apart. As a result, the Hylians were able to end the war with Ganondorf's help, and Ganondorf won the King's trust. It was due to this war that Ganondorf learned of the sacred Triforce and the power it represented, which he would covet not so long afterward in another even greater war known to legend as the Imprisoning War. During the course of the war, a Hylian mother tried to escape the fighting with her infant son, but was gravely injured in the process. As she fled to the Kokiri Forest, her time grew short, and her only choice was to entrust the child to the Great Deku Tree, the guardian spirit of the forest. The Deku Tree could sense this was a child of destiny, whose fate would affect the entire world. After the mother passed away, the child was raised as a Kokiri, completely unaware of his lineage as a Hylian and descendant of the Knights of Hyrule or of his destiny as the Hero of Time that would come to pass in due time when Ganondorf returned to Hyrule a decade later.