And when the King, looking out from his castle’s highest keep, saw a forest of Sheikah Towers dotting the landscape, feeling out energies deep within the earth, a skepticism surely must have claimed his heart. With mechanical creations that could traverse any type of terrain, fire beams of unknown energy, and take to the skies in order to track enemies, and with Divine Beasts larger than even the tallest tree, it is wholly understandable that the citizens of Hyrule would feel either apprehension or outright fear toward such machines. But this is a one-sided telling without historical rigor, because what we also discover is that this technology was far beyond the understanding of the Hyrulean people. It seems that legend would hold such a victory in high regard. With Ganon’s defeat, the Sheikah had once again fulfilled their charge to the Goddess Hylia in protecting the Royal Family and Kingdom of Hyrule. In Breath of the Wild, we quickly learn that, millennia ago, the Sheikah led the Hyrulean efforts to defend the kingdom against the inevitable return of Ganon their technology was absolutely critical in his defeat ten thousand years in the past. To clothe our abstractions in fiction, then, we need to attempt to penetrate the collective mindsets of both the Sheikah and the Kingdom of Hyrule in an age long past. I think there is a great deal this division between the Yiga and the Sheikah can teach, if we allow it. Yet, once an emotion arises - be it anger, frustration, or fear - this better angel of our nature is almost impossible to follow once angered, we seek only to justify our anger, rooting it in moral language and injustice, which leads to a righteousness that oftentimes occludes our hopes for ourselves - how we believe we should think and act toward others in our best moments. When suffering an injustice, do we react with humility and understanding, remembering that even those who oppress us are suffering some form of mental poison? Or do we reject their humanity, much like they rejected ours? Clearly, each road will lead to a starkly different outcome, and to those reading this with a clear head, it seems as though we all wish we could react in a way that befitted our common humanity. Confrontation with adversity and prejudice is one of the telling marks of character. ![]() One group remembered their legacy of service and connection to Hyrule, while the other, embittered, gave themselves unto anger and vengeance. When faced with oppression at the hands of the Hylian majority, the then-united Sheikah split into two factions. Both tribes are distant reflections of one another, sharing much the same essence, but channeling the spirits of their peoples toward vastly-differing destinies. ![]() ![]() The division between the Sheikah and Yiga represents a singular case study in Hyrulean history as to the choices people can make when confronted with adversity.
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