Theory

We can start this book off with a story about the weirdest thing that I found as a kid. In the Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time, you play as a kid from the forest named Link. This child is the chosen hero, and he goes off to find the princess of the land who is named Zelda. The princess instructs you to gather three Spiritual Stones, which can open the door in the Temple of Time. Why do we need the door open? Well, behind the door is a weapon called the Master Sword which we need to get in order to defeat the desert king, Ganondorf.

I know that's a lot of information to handle all at once, so I'll recap: main character needs to gather three stones to open the door and get the sword to defeat the bad guy. As a kid first playing through the game by myself, I tend to explore a lot at different times in the game. Before I went to gather any of the stones, I decided to walk around the castle market, which is right outside the castle itself.

Everything was normal. People were running around different shops, the back alley of the market was filled with the people who lived there. And mind you, there is only one back alley. This is very important.

So, I gathered all the stones and headed back to the castle to tell Zelda I'm ready to open the door of the temple. At the drawbridge, there is a cutscene of Zelda riding on her horse as fast as possible away from the castle. A couple of long seconds later, the evil king Ganondorf rides out of the castle as well. Apparently, he raided the castle while we were gone.

Everything in the market was still fine, which doesn't make sense because only a few people mention Ganondorf and his horse. See, the market is the only way in or out of the castle, so Ganondorf must have gone through it. People should have seen him, right? None of the guards even say anything!

Finding this odd, I decided to check the whole market. And in the back alley, there was someone who wasn't there before. A castle soldier propped up against the side of a building, looking as if he was killed.

Upon approaching the soldier, I was surprised when he lifted his head up to the main character and said these words: "Unnngh...are you the boy from the forest...? I-I-I've finally met you... I-I-I have something to t-t-tell you... Ganondorf, the Gerudo King of Thieves, betrayed our King... Zelda's nanny, Impa, sensed danger and escaped from the castle with our Princess... I tried to stop Ganondorf's men from chasing them...but...the Princess was...waiting for a boy from the forest...that's you... She wanted to give something to the boy... If you received it from the Princess, hurry...to the Temple of Time..."

If you approach him again, your fairy companion will tell you that he's not moving anymore. This, as a child, creeped me out. But, I was so confused for the longest time. Why did no one help him? Did no one see him? Certainly, that was impossible.

There has to be a reason for the dead soldier to be in the game. Most people think it's to tell you to go to the Temple of Time, but I don't think so. That's the number one priority of the game anyway, so why do we need reminded? Plus, the soldier is hidden in the back alley, so why put him there if he is the one we need to remind us to go to the temple?

I'm scratching that off the list. He's not there to remind you to go to the temple.

The second thing. None of the villagers, even the ones further down the back alley, mention him. So, this means, he must have been attacked without people noticing at all.

We know one solid thing: he is a castle guard, not a civilian guard. He was at the castle when the attack happened because he mentions Zelda talking about the boy from the forest. So, how did he get to the market?

I think he was sent to the market to protect the people. The soldier says Ganondorf had followers with him during the attack, so someone had to defend the people. But, why don't the people mention Ganondorf's minions or the soldier dying? Because they were ushered into safe places by the soldier himself. Only a few stray people, the ones who do mention Ganondorf, were left outside and unable to get to a safe place.

While the soldier was helping the people, Ganondorf's minions raided the castle. Zelda managed to escape through the market, but Ganondorf was hot on her heels. Ganondorf's minions also tried to stop the princess, but the soldier defeated them. That's when he noticed some minions going into the back alley where the bombchu shop is. This makes perfect sense because the bombchu shop is illegal, and of course Ganondorf's followers would want to steal from here. The soldier follows and tries to stop them, but is gravely wounded. Ganondorf's followers forget about the shop and follow their master.

That's where we come in. We see the soldier and witness his last words. He wasn't a mistake in the game, he's not just an Easter egg, he was there to tell the story of what happened in the market. Nothing would make sense otherwise if the soldier wasn't there to help.