A few years ago now, I wrote a post exploring the dark origins and purpose of the Shadow Temple from The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. Zelda lore being what it is, it mostly consisted of ideas I’d seen floating around the internet over the years and my own suppositions,. No hard facts, unfortunately, but it darn fun to both write and think about, so now, as part of our celebration for Zelda’s 40th Anniversary, I figured I’d do the same for another oddly dark temple from the N64 era. Yup, this time we’re exploring Stone Tower Temple and the sinister reasons for its existence!
What We Know
Let’s start with what we know, which, admittedly, isn’t very much. We know that Stone Tower Temple, like the other three temples in Termina, was a place of power within which the Skull Kid imprisoned one of the four giants. We also know that it’s ancient, as it seems to greatly predate Ikana Kingdom (based on how the King of Ikana talks about it), which itself is older than places like Clock Town.
We know that it was created for dark purposes and that it’s either evil by nature or has likely been cursed for a very long time (maybe even both). This is evidenced by the King of Ikana’s account of what happened after someone opened the tower’s previously sealed doors. Its power (and/or cursed) leaked out and led to the ruination of Ikana and the curse upon it that prevents the dead from resting.
Finally, we also know it’s an extremely powerful place since the king also remarks that not even an entire army could hope to quell the dark forces within. It’s all very vague, I know, but hey, that’s Zelda lore for you. Everything that follows after this is just fan theory and personal conjecture, so please don’t take any of it as though it were the official story.
Who Built Stone Tower?
Some fans have theorized that Stone Tower and its temple were created by the ancient tribe that also created Majora’s Mask, the main evidence in support being the large statue at the temple’s entrance that bears an uncanny resemblance to the mask. Other support includes the fact that Majora’s Mask was used in hexing rituals and that both the temple and tower are very ritualistic in their design.
Another idea that’s been floating around for a very long time is that Stone Tower was originally built in an attempt to reach the heavens, perhaps as an affront to the golden goddesses (the same ones that created Hyrule). Again, the overall design and detailing of the place supports such an idea.
Not only is Stone Tower absolutely colossal in scale, but it (and the area around it) is filled with blocks and pillars depicting the triforce (the sacred symbol of the goddesses) being licked by some kind of impish monster. There’s also the flaming finger pointing straight up at the sky. Fan theory suggests that all of this was done to mock and blaspheme the goddesses, and, if you combine that idea with the idea of the ancient tribe and its hexing rituals, it does seem to fit.
The Downfall of the Builders
Would it be terribly out of character for an evil people, one capable of such constructions and wielding power enough to craft an artifact like Majora’s Mask, to become drunk on its power and seek to prove itself greater than the gods? Such a progression would also explain the ancient tribe’s disappearance, Majora’s sealing and the utter lack of reference to the triforce throughout the rest of Termina.
Fans have surmised that the goddesses turned the ancient tribe’s hubris and made it their downfall. As we see in the game, when the bloodstained sigil is struck with purifying light, the reality of the temple is flipped upside down. So now, instead of a portal to the heavens at the heart of the temple, you get a portal to…somewhere else, represented as an endless empty desert with a single altar in its center.
That altar is surrounded by pillars bearing the image of Majora’s Mask, so we can perhaps surmise that the ancient tribe became trapped here when it tried to open its portal for the first time. Or, it only became trapped later, perhaps after all its members crossed over thinking they’d managed to invade the heavenly realm and had made preparations for one final ritual to go after the gods themselves.
Such would explain the tribe’s disappearance and provide an accessible place for Majora’s Mask to be sealed within. Such a sequence of events could also explain why (according to fan theory) Termina is a land (world?) abandoned by its gods. Perhaps the tribe’s actions were too much of an affront to the goddesses and they left after ensuring the tribe’s destruction.
So, What Happened Here?
So, if we’re going by fan theory, Stone Tower and its temple predate most of Termina by quite a lot, and was always a place of evil. It was constructed by the same ancient tribe that made Majora’s Mask for the purposes of showing said tribe’s power, mocking the goddesses and possibly even as a place from which to stage an invasion of the heavens themselves.
The rituals conducted there were both horrific and gruesome, likely involving death and blood sacrifice considering how often its sigil is referred to as “bloodstained.) This went on for a very long time, right up until the goddesses took revenge on the tribe, long enough to leave a very powerful and permanent imprint (or curse) upon the place, one strong enough to ruin Ikana practically overnight when its enemies (presumably the Garo) managed to open Stone Tower’s doors and unleash that power.
It was then, shortly before the events of the game, used by Skull Kid (under the influence of Majora) to seal a giant there via the lifeforce of Twinmold, a creation born of Majora using the latent power of Stone Tower. I say that because if Twinmold weren’t tied to the tower in some significant way, defeating it wouldn’t break the curse.
Though, it’s possible that the beast was the result of the ancient tribe’s final hex and it, as the central anchor of Stone Tower’s evil power, was just convenient means of sealing the giant. Such is the (theorized) history of Stone Tower. It is an always was a place of evil. Constructed to mock the gods, used first as a means to combat them, then transformed into a prison for its creators.
It then became a blight upon the land and then was used again to seal one of the only protector entities that Termina had left. Its curse and power were eventually broken by Link, but, notably, this didn’t destroy the tower itself. Stone Tower and its dark, bloody history will likely remain for as long as Termina itself persists. Whether it could eventually be put to good use, well, I guess we’ll never know.
And that’s the origin story of Stone Tower Temple! What do you think? Any theories you’ve heard that you want to add? Comment them below and stick around for more Zelda fun!
Image is promotional material for The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask 3DS remake