The Truth About The Shadow Temple

The Truth about the Shadow Temple

"Shadow Temple... Here is gathered Hyrule's bloody history of greed and hatred..."

A long time ago, the old King of Hyrule had two sons named Argus and Dorak. Argus grew up to be a kind-hearted man, and served the king well as his personal advisor. He was brave of heart and courageous, but always unsure of his ability to lead. Dorak grew up differently. He was very self-centered and greedy, but he seemed like a fine leader and became a very tactical warrior. He was the exact opposite of Argus. Though Dorak's leadership skills, His father favored his younger brother, Argus. The king saw unlimited possibilities within him, so that is why Argus' opinion was held high in the king's court. Because of this, Dorak became deeply Jealous of his brother's position in his father's eyes. He became hateful and lost within the darkness, slowly slipping away into madness.

However, not before long, things got extremely complicated. The King's land had been splintered by civil war. Leaders from local governing bodies of Hyrule were leading a revolt of some of the policies of the King. They separated, creating huge fractures within the kingdom. Soldiers who had defected had started to attack Kakariko Village, as well as other villages in Hyrule. There was unrest within the land of Hyrule. A race of people known as the Sheikah, who had made an allegiance to protect the Royal Family of Hyrule many years ago, stayed a part of Hyrule, despite the tension growing in the King's land. The Zoras, Gorons, and Gerudos, though now allies of the king, did not want to risk open war. They remained neutral in the conflict. The Sheikah tried to help their best in the King's time need; However not everyone trusted the Sheikah. Everyone within the king's court, including Argus and Dorak, thought they were extremely mysterious beings. There warrior training, psychic abilities, and control over the mystic powers all around them. Most suspected their power to be a form of dark magic, and even went as far as to call them abominations in the eyes of the goddesses. Naturally, in a time of war, these prejudices grew tenfold, and they began to even suspect that they were spies trying to commit treason for the Revolutionaries. Though powerful warriors, The Sheikah were mainly peaceful people that kept to their sacred land in the Graveyard of Kakariko Village They did believe in spiritual power and ethereal magic, but they also believed in the goddesses as well. Unfortunately no matter how peaceful or helpful they were to the Hylian people, discrimination still raised in their hearts. The only one that most Hylians looked at as a friend was Impa, their leader. She may have looked like woman with serious nature, but she was very caring and protective of people. She respected the king above all others, as he was kind to her and her people.

The King began to have rising troubles in his own kingdom because of the fear of the Sheikah and the attacks happening within the kingdom by the separatists. He wanted the opinions of his own sons. Argus believed that the war growing within Hyrule could be finished through peaceful means, whereas thought that the kingdom should be protected at all cost, and suggested unleashing a full scale war, as well as saying to giving in to the wants of the people, and get rid of the Sheikah. In the end, the King was angry at Dorak for even suggesting it, remembering how Impa acted towards the Royal Family. He decided to try to appeal to the rebels, as Argus suggested; however this enraged Dorak. Although seeing the rebels as not much of a threat, as they were mostly unarmed, He had become obsessed with proving his brother wrong. He realized that he needed to do something quick, for he was afraid of this father and brother's shared weakness. His madness had fully set in, as he began to see his family members as traitors to Hyrule. During the night, while his father slept, he poisoned his father with no remorse, and then flung his brother Argus into a cell for murder, framing him for his father's death. Dorak took full control of the Kingdom of Hyrule, plunging its people into darkness. He immediately appealed to the people about the war and the Sheikahs, using his silver tongue to convince the people that they were enemies. With the approval of the people, Dorak had his soldiers apprehend the Sheikah. Some managed to escape into hiding, but most were put into custody. Impa was the first one to be captured. They waited until they had rounded up every last Sheikah man, woman, and child, and then they made an example of Impa. They executed in front of cheering people, as her people cried tears of anger and sadness. They were left stunned as their leader was made a mockery of by putting her head up on display.

As a blow to their beliefs, he held them prisoner in their own sacred temple, but he made changes. The temple was turned into a chamber of darkness. Every bit of the temple was surrounded in traps and torture chambers. Dorak personally oversaw the elimination of the Sheikah, as one by one, they were lead to their death or to be tortured. Anyone who passed the Graveyard in Kakariko heard screams and pleas for help. When they were murdered, Dorak ordered his soldiers to bury them within their own compound, creating the skeleton filled walls everywhere. Blood always covered the floors of the once beautiful temple, which Dorak the Shadow Temple, because of the fact that it reflected Hyrule's darkness. The whole place that they once all lived was turned into a dark place of pain and bondage. Women and children starved to death within weeks.

Soon enough Dorak went against the rebels and wiped them out. At first, the resistance started to fight with extreme vigor, wanting their freedom from a fascist king, but their fight didn't last long. They were eventually overpowered, and every armed and unarmed person of the rebelling faction were slaughtered. Their villages were burned by Dorak's men, and any person they killed or captured them entrapped within the Sheikah temple. Strangely enough, this is why a Hylian mother and her baby were made to flee into Korkiri Forest. The baby would soon to be known as Link, the Hero of Time. However their people were burned alive or tortured to death. Not only that, but all prisoners of war, Sheikah and rebel alike were forced to die within the temple. some spirits trapped within the newly christened Shadow Temple became dark and full of vengeful hatred. they were given life through darkness and became monsters, like stalfos or wallmasters.

Argus, still trapped inside the castle dungeon, managed to figure out a way out to escape his imprisonment. Using all his cunning, he managed to expose his brother's sin, and was eventually able to take him off the throne. He usurped command and eventually held him on trial for his actions. When sentenced to being thrown into and left to die in the Shadow Temple, all he did was laugh and said he did for the best of Hyrule. Argus was disgusted, for the Shekiah were all but destroyed, along with the rebels. He, being the new king, erected memorials all over Hyrule for both Shekiah and fallen Hylians in this horrible Civil War. In a few months, Argus was able to restore peace back to Hyrule, but left the Shadow Temple in touch, as it should be a reminder for the dark things that had occurred there; however, he had it sealed off and the entrance blocked off, so that no one could enter. Even the Godesses were angered at the thought of what happened, for the Shekiah were always loyal, and now however how many were left had nothing. The goddesses themselves knew that a certain prophecy would take place. So, in remembrance of this mass genocide, the goddesses dubbed that Impa's daughter, who she had also named Impa, would become a sage of Hyrulian legend, so that she may help the Hero of time when he began his journey

Dorak; however, did not die. He became insane with dark energy and was morphed into a dark creature that Impa would eventually have to seal up in the well of Kakariko Village. The darkness had completely overwhelmed him, turning him into a giant monster called Bongo Bongo…