Last night in my playthrough of Ocarina of Time, I finished up the Fire Temple and headed (as one does) to Zora Domain, expecting it to be (as the rest of the game has been so far) very much like the original in structure, just visually more elaborate. And it was, mostly. But as I passed through the realm, I also encountered one of my favorite new additions to the remake so far, one that simultaneously clears up one of Ocarina of Time‘s long-enduring inconsistencies, while also adding pretty significant elements of both horror and hope to the original story.
In the original Ocarina of Time, Zora Domain in the adult timeline is completely frozen over. When Link enters, there are no Zora to be found—just an iced-over pond and a frozen waterfall. At the top, you can find King Zora, encased in red ice. Through your adventures in Ice Cavern and later Water Temple, you learn that Ganondorf is (of course) responsible, and that all the Zora have been completely frozen. Sheik was able to save Ruto, who goes on to become the Sage of Water, and you’re later able to thaw out King Zora using Blue Fire.
But the fate of the rest of the Zora is sort of…ambiguous. Presumably due to technical limitations in the original, Zora Domain in adult timeline remains frozen over even post-Water Temple, and the Zora people are nowhere to be found. It’s just King Zora, sitting on his icy throne, for the rest of the game, and Ruto now effectively dead to the world in the Sacred Realm as a sage. You do see some Zora in the credits sequence at the end of the game, implying that some survived, but just what happened to Hyrule’s aquatic folk more broadly remains pretty murky.
The remake clears that up, but the way it does this made me say “holy shit” out loud several times.
When you enter Zora Domain as adult Link, you’re treated to a souped-up version of the same sight: frozen pond, frozen waterfall, frozen everything. New to the remake is a haunting new piece of music that does a great job of conveying the frozen emptiness you’re faced with. I hate that you can occasionally hear snippets of the main Zora theme instruments creeping in between the weird, spooky noises! Agh!
But even worse (read: better) than this is what you see when you go out onto the pond. And look down. Into the ice.
Are those the Zora?!
Uh, yeah. That’s what that is. That’s where they are. They are actively frozen beneath their own pond. You can just. See them. Down there. Trapped. Dead? Effectively tortured by cold?! Holy shit.
I haven’t finished the Water Temple yet. I considered waiting until I had finished it to write this blog, but I decided to write it now because I wanted to talk about the other emotion, aside from horror, that seeing this inspired. If the Zora are in there now, that opens the door for them to be freed when I finish Water Temple. There are no technical limitations prohibiting Nintendo from thawing out Zora Domain when the time comes and giving these people their lives back. Can Ruto and I really, truly, conclusively save the Zora this time around?
Right now, I am loving the anticipation! I can’t wait to finish the Water Temple tonight, and while I’m a little afraid of being disappointed by the outcome in case Nintendo decided to leave the Zora in this horrible frozen state until the credits, the overall excellence and attention to detail of the Ocarina of Time remake so far has given me ample reason for hope.
