Mystery, adventure, exploration, and discovery, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild has it all. An amalgam of every timeline possible creates one of the biggest riddles in recent gaming history, and one incredible game. Yet, one oft-forgotten question is what exactly did the Shrine of Resurrection do to Link? How did it restore his body? Was it magic, perhaps technology, maybe a combination of both. But, most importantly, did the restoration process alter Link’s internal body structure in a meaningful way? Or did it simply heal his injuries and send him on his way after a hundred years? The possibilities are endless when Sheikah technology is involved. Moreover, what if it not only brought him back from his near-death state; it also made him better?

Sheikah Technology
Players of Breath of the Wild have little information on the inner workings of Sheikah tech. Technology that is seemingly capable of creating veritable miracles such as teleporting matter, materializing hard light constructs, and more. There is almost no limit to the potential technological ceiling of this wondrous magitek that has developed giant mecha and even motorcycles.

But, what if it could also go the opposite route? Instead of simply being capable of creating giant robots, it could also build the smallest of entities? Nanomachines that can heal damaged tissue, reinforce bone structures, and enhance the senses of an average Hylian are just some of the boundless possibilities of Sheikah technology.

Especially if we consider the limited knowledge we have on the subject matter, and what kind of “resurrection” process Link went through while slumbering in the Shrine of Resurrection. But, first, let’s focus on the nanites themselves.

Nanomachines
The best examples of nanomachines in recent pop culture history are The Avengers: Endgame and looking back a bit further, Metal Gear Solid specifically, the fourth iteration Guns of the Patriots.

Tony Stark’s Iron Man suit in the movie is composed of nanites that form around him, creating whatever is necessary at a given time (this is how he created an Infinity Gauntlet). In this case, we can easily compare the hard light bombs created by the Sheikah Slate to the shield generated by the suit in Endgame. The looks of these products are nearly identical with a blueish tint, but while the Mark 50 can produce semi-transparent shields, the Sheikah Slate generates a dark blue non-transparent explosive.

If we were to compare these technologically, the similarities would stop at creating items out of seemingly nowhere. But, if we look at the other functionalities of the Sheikah Slate, we’ll find that both the Magnesis and Stasis runes produce transparent light! Thus leaving the possibility of being similar technology wide open!

Alternatively and in a more subdued fashion, we have the nanomachines from Metal Gear Solid IV: Guns of the Patriots. We see a world full of strife, where soldiers live in a state of constant war. Their bodies upgraded by nanomachines, these gunmen fight with enhanced senses thanks to these microscopic entities surging through their bodies.

They react faster, are stronger, think sharper, and can fight better than any ordinary human. We can experience this, via the use of the protagonist Solid Snake, and his superior combat abilities. Easily capable of handling combat with multiple enemies and other feats of extreme strength. Yet, almost every enhanced soldier in that game exhibits similar abilities to a lesser degree.

In Breath of the Wild, Link demonstrates these abilities himself. He is capable of lifting enormous weapons with ease, taking on creatures twice or triple his size without problems (depending on player skill of course), and more! He’s also capable of hyper metabolizing food he eats within milliseconds and healing instantly. Hang tightly from a paraglider that he can materialize from his pockets instantly for as long as the stamina wheel endures.

Even having the ability to pull it out at the last second from freefall to prevent massive damage. But, think of the amount of stress that doing these actions would place on a regular body in an instant. The pressure exerted could potentially break bones or worse, his spine! Yet, Link is capable of performing this action with no physical consequences.

However, while those last few feats of superhuman ability weren’t shown in the past, wasn’t Link established as an extremely fierce and borderline superhuman fighter in the past? Certainly he was, but his natural fighting prowess doesn’t mean he has a spine made of adamantium. We can even analyze Link in the past to see the limits of his newfound abilities.

A Hundred Years Ago
The lore of BotW establishes that Link was a talented fighter from an early age. Chosen as Princess Zelda’s Knight after an event involving a pot lid and a rogue Guardian. Link reflected a laser blast using this cooking utensil at the last minute, demonstrating quick thinking, sharp reflexes, and talent from the beginning.

Throughout the game, you’ll get the opportunity to reenact some of these scenarios. Living up to the anecdotes and legends established by the lore. Right after waking up as well, if the player chooses it.

But, after a hundred years of slumber, why is his body still as spry as it was a century in the past? Shouldn’t have such a prolonged stagnant period caused more than just a loss of memory? By all means, it should, at least according to science.

The Science of Comas
Prolonged periods of inactivity bring about a plethora of negative side-effects. The most relevant to our theory is the loss of muscle tissue. The human body can’t handle that amount of time without moving and not suffer from atrophy. At the very least, Link should have had a harder time leaving the Shrine of Resurrection than he did.

Instead, he woke up and walked off as if it was nothing. Link might as well have been sleeping for a single day with the way he waltzed out of the inner chamber. What could potentially explain this feat in a world where technology and magic have merged? Clearly, through the use of nanotech.

In real life, humans can mitigate (not completely eliminate) the loss of muscle mass with a combination of shock therapy and massages for stimulation. However, keen players will notice that Link has been alone in the chamber due to its state of uncleanliness.

Ruling out the possibility that an external entity is providing his body with massages regularly, is the fact that the Great Plateau is isolated from the rest of Hyrule. Additionally, only a few key individuals knew of Link’s location. Plus, after a few decades these would have either died out or become too old (like Impa) to make the journey regularly.

But, what if the muscle stimuli was coming from inside his body? What if, in order to preserve his body while sleeping, the liquid inside the chamber flooded Link with nanites?

Robots capable of providing his body with all the nutrients and stimulation required to survive this prolonged stasis whilst simultaneously preserving his youth.

This idea would partially explain why only his mind deteriorated instead of his body. But, let’s focus on the effects on his brain for a minute.

Amnesia
Sufferers of amnesia recognize that when active memory is lost during amnesia, inactive memory isn’t. This fact explains why Link retains muscle memory when fighting. But, his body wouldn’t benefit from this if it was atrophied.

Armed with this knowledge, the Ancient Sheikah focused on creating a chamber that can preserve a body without worrying about the mind. After all, it’s not implausible to think that their advancement in the fields of medicine and technology meant they knew about the inner workings of the brain.

The Sheikah could have known that a jolt to the mind would restore crucial memories. Focusing on simply preserving the body allowed them to develop their technology even further and achieve their goals of “resurrecting” their target. Keeping all of this information in mind, we can assume that part of Link is now at least internally composed of microscopic robots.

Diminutive entities that allow him to stay young, digest good instantly, convert all of it into energy, survive a free fall by stopping himself with a paraglider due to his improved skeletal durability, and move/fight as if nothing had changed after a century of slumber. Not to mention, eat food so horrible, it’s pixelated to block out the nastiness. Thus, making him in the most rudimentary way possible, a Sheikah/Hylian cyborg.

We don’t know the full extent of Sheikah technology. While Nintendo did a great job of demonstrating some of their advancements, they did little to explain the inner workings of their scientific knowledge. We don’t understand how much farther they developed than the few bits we see, and from our point of view, these are just apps on the Slate that can create borderline miracles.

But, if they had the technology to create a “phone” with the ability to store pixel-perfect images, and the capacity to create explosives out of thin air. What gives us the right to think that they haven’t developed nanomachines to give their warriors an edge in combat?

After all, they were the most advanced race in Hyrule, and their technological prowess was unmatched by anything available at the time. Not only was their technology on par with our own, but in some manners, it’s even further than what we currently have right now.

**Originally this article was posted on Medium.Com and stayed exclusive for 30 days. Now I, it’s writer have moved it here for further exposure.**

Dash The Bomber

Dash The Bomber is a sailor is his 20's with a penchant for goofy, yet deep thoughts. An avid gamer for generations he has played everything from the Atari 2600 to the PC in which he writes his work on. He currently lives in the middle of the ocean and appreciates donations in order to buy goodies from Amazon while deployed (makes his life slightly better). You can help the guy out by donating here: paypal.me/dashthebomber.