The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild handles many cultures at once, all with nuance; this allows the game to feel as immersive as it is. The Hylians, for example, were the race most devastated by the Great Calamity, so what is left of them implicitly informs the player of Hylian history. But what about ancient cultures? What about missing histories in other parts of Hyrule? The Zonai are a mysterious, ancient race The Lore Research Lab is set out to investigate, a race that has lost its voice over time. This first part serves as an overview; who the Zonai were and what there is to know about them solely based on gameplay. Welcome to the deep-dive on the Zonai.

Timestamps:

00:20 - Who were the Zonai?

4:22 - Zonai Remnants

> 4:41 - The Zonai Problem

> 5:14 - Zonai Ruins

> 7:10 - Armour Set Connection

> 8:03 - The Lomei Labyrinths

> 11:35 - Zonai Outliers

20:38 - The Mysterious Zonai

22:42 - Conclusion (Part 1)

Resources:

- Interactive Map of Hyrule

- The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild 2 Trailer 

Aonuma, Eiji. The Legend of Zelda: Hyrule Historia, translated by Michael Gombos et al. Milwaukie: Dark Horse Books, 2013.

Kayama, Naoyuki et al. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild - Creating a Champion, translated by Keaton C. White. Milwaukie: Dark Horse Books, 2018.

Sao, Akinori, Ginko Tatsumi, and Chisato Mikane. The Legend of Zelda: Encyclopedia, translated by Keaton C. White. Milwaukie: Dark Horse Books, 2018.

(Creator's Note: If you are not familiar with this game, we recommend that you listen to the episodes in order for this episode to make sense. We do not claim ownership over the products, sources, and images that come from this game; images have been taken from our own games and are solely being used for entertainment purposes.)

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild has shown us that it has a massive landmass to explore, but what about that landmass? What about Hyrule and all of its constituent provinces? This episode focuses on geography, how Hyrule is seen in Breath of the Wild, some locations that make each province unique, and why it is important to know about the provinces that make up this version of Hyrule. Theorizing and discussing geography in this franchise appears to be important, so this episode is dedicated to making sense of the wild.

Resources:

- Interactive Map of Hyrule

Aonuma, Eiji. The Legend of Zelda: Hyrule Historia, translated by Michael Gombos et al. Milwaukie: Dark Horse Books, 2013.

Kayama, Naoyuki et al. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild - Creating a Champion, translated by Keaton C. White. Milwaukie: Dark Horse Books, 2018.

Sao, Akinori, Ginko Tatsumi, and Chisato Mikane. The Legend of Zelda: Encyclopedia, translated by Keaton C. White. Milwaukie: Dark Horse Books, 2018.

(Creator's Note: For those that are not familiar/do not own this game, use the map that is linked here for any clarification on names and locations. If you zoom out fully, you can see the province names; zoom in as much as you can, and you will find names of minor locations, so toggling with this map can give you the necessary information. I do not claim ownership over the products, sources, and images that come from this game; images have been taken from my own game and are solely being used for entertainment purposes.)

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild has demonstrated its capacity to handle culture in a very nuanced way, in that there are multiple cultures to investigate, both old and new. Each culture has a different story to tell, almost literally in the Zelda franchise! This episode takes a look at the Gorons, a mountain-based, rock-eating race, one that has been in the franchise for many years and have appeared in multiple iterations. To celebrate the entrance of a new researcher, this slightly subversive episode analyzes the Gorons in detail, their timeline as a race in the franchise, and much, much more. Fair warning; English is still a language to grasped on this podcast.

Resources:

- Interactive Map of Hyrule

Aonuma, Eiji. The Legend of Zelda: Hyrule Historia, translated by Michael Gombos et al. Milwaukie: Dark Horse Books, 2013.

Kayama, Naoyuki et al. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild - Creating a Champion, translated by Keaton C. White. Milwaukie: Dark Horse Books, 2018.

Sao, Akinori, Ginko Tatsumi, and Chisato Mikane. The Legend of Zelda: Encyclopedia, translated by Keaton C. White. Milwaukie: Dark Horse Books, 2018.

(Creator's Note: I apologize for any peaks in the audio! I do not claim ownership over the products, sources, and images that come from this game; images have been taken from my own game and are solely being used for entertainment purposes.)

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild presents players a world that almost demands to be adventured through; it's hard not to with some amazing locations and beautiful sights to behold! However, this game begins in a post-apocalyptic period; it begins well after the Great Calamity. The Great Calamity was a catastrophe responsible for the ruination of many settlements, most prominently Hylian settlements. This episode looks at some locations that experienced the brunt of the Calamity's destructive force, speaking to more general Hylian locations affected by the Great Calamity. Keep in mind that verbal typos are a given when it comes to how this information is presented. Enjoy!

Resources:

- Interactive Map of Hyrule

Aonuma, Eiji. The Legend of Zelda: Hyrule Historia, translated by Michael Gombos et al. Milwaukie: Dark Horse Books, 2013.

Kayama, Naoyuki et al. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild - Creating a Champion, translated by Keaton C. White. Milwaukie: Dark Horse Books, 2018.

Sao, Akinori, Ginko Tatsumi, and Chisato Mikane. The Legend of Zelda: Encyclopedia, translated by Keaton C. White. Milwaukie: Dark Horse Books, 2018.

(I do not claim ownership over the products, sources, and images that come from this game; images have been taken from my own game and are solely being used for entertainment purposes.)

For a video game universe, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild does a wonderful job engaging players with the characters they meet and the cultures attached to the Hyrulean citizens. Though Calamity Ganon is a spirit-like villain entity, he once had a humanoid form, just like any other Hyrulean. In this third part, The Lore Research Lab’s established duo looks at the ways Gerudo culture, behaviours, history, and Ganon’s evolution over time in relation to the Gerudo leads to certain questions; how old are the Gerudo? Why is it important to know that this is the group Ganon hails from? What else are the Gerudo hiding in their culture, and do the Gerudo connect to any other more meta elements of the Zelda franchise? Welcome to the deep-dive on the Gerudo race. 

Timestamps:

00:57 - Gerudo Fun Facts + Gerudo Archaeology

06:47 - Gerudo Archaeology, Paleontology & More

26:39 - Real World Connections & More

> 27:14 - Urban Planning

> 35:04 - Cultural Inspirations

46:17 - Conclusions + Theories

1:21:24 - Other Conclusions + Theories

1:29:13 - Conclusion (Part 3)

Resources:

- Interactive Map of Hyrule  

- Map of Hyrule (Ocarina of Time)  

- Map of the land (Skyward Sword)  

- The Gerudo  

- Molduga  

- The Leviathan Skeleton Bones   

“What is Urban Planning”. School of Urban Planning, McGill University. https://mcgill.ca/urbanplanning/planning. 

Bozorgi, Khosrow. “Desert Utopia: The Hidden Unity of Iranian Architecture Conceptualization behind the Making of a Documentary Film”. American International Journal of Humanities and Social Science, 4 (2018), 15-30. 

Aonuma, Eiji. The Legend of Zelda: Hyrule Historia, translated by Michael Gombos et al. Milwaukie: Dark Horse Books, 2013. 

Kayama, Naoyuki et al. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild - Creating a Champion, translated by Keaton C. White. Milwaukie: Dark Horse Books, 2018. 

Sao, Akinori, Ginko Tatsumi, and Chisato Mikane. The Legend of Zelda: Encyclopedia, translated by Keaton C. White. Milwaukie: Dark Horse Books, 2018.

(Creator's Note: I apologize for when the audio cuts, and on the flip side, I apologize for when the audio peaks; we experienced some technical difficulties recording this episode so I apologize for the many segments. Some content in this episode deals with religions and myths in the real world; all research discussing such information is explained and described solely from a scholarly perspective. We do not claim ownership over the products, sources, and images that come from this game; images have been taken from our own copies of the game and are solely being used for entertainment purposes.)

This unofficial episode is a disorganized verbal thank you letter, wherein one of the researcher's here at The Lore Research Lab struggles to string together a coherent sentence -- nevertheless, we at The Lab are thankful for anyone and everyone that has listened to this mumbo-jumbo! All in all, this brief but (subjectively) fun bit describes some plans for The Lab going forward.

For a video game universe, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild does a wonderful job engaging players with the characters they meet and the cultures attached to the Hyrulean citizens. Though Calamity Ganon is a spirit-like villain entity, he once had a humanoid form, just like any other Hyrulean. In this second part, The Lore Research Lab’s newly-founded duo looks at Gerudo customs and provides some long-winded commentary on said customs … leading to an unprecedented discovery. Welcome to the deep-dive on the Gerudo race.

Timestamps:

00:29 - Gerudo Culture, Language

17:08 - Gerudo Practices & Laws

> 20:06 - Gerudo Clothing Rules

> 22:11 - Yiga Clan Complications

> 33:10 - Gerudo Women Enforcing the Rules

> 33:54 - Gerudo Trade Protocols

> 33:34 - Gerudo Town Significance & More

> 56:03 - An Unprecedented Discovery

1:12:27 - Conclusion (Part 2)

Resources:

- Interactive Map of Hyrule

- Divine Beast > Vah Naboris

Aonuma, Eiji. The Legend of Zelda: Hyrule Historia, translated by Michael Gombos et al. Milwaukie: Dark Horse Books, 2013.

Kayama, Naoyuki et al. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild - Creating a Champion, translated by Keaton C. White. Milwaukie: Dark Horse Books, 2018.

Sao, Akinori, Ginko Tatsumi, and Chisato Mikane. The Legend of Zelda: Encyclopedia, translated by Keaton C. White. Milwaukie: Dark Horse Books, 2018.

(Creator's Note: I apologize for when the audio cuts, and on the flip side, I apologize for when the audio peaks. We do not claim ownership over the products, sources, and images that come from this game; images have been taken from our own copies of the game and are solely being used for entertainment purposes.)

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of Wild offers an immersive and expansive land for players to adventure through, but danger lurks in many corners in the form of monsters. Both common monsters and niche monsters of this game are discussed and explored to give listeners an idea of what players are most likely to encounter in their travels throughout Hyrule!

Note: If more clarification is needed, check out The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild on the Wiki page on what monsters are and their variants.

Resources:

- Interactive Map of Hyrule 

Aonuma, Eiji. The Legend of Zelda: Hyrule Historia, translated by Michael Gombos et al. Milwaukie: Dark Horse Books, 2013.

Kayama, Naoyuki et al. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild - Creating a Champion, translated by Keaton C. White. Milwaukie: Dark Horse Books, 2018.

Sao, Akinori, Ginko Tatsumi, and Chisato Mikane. The Legend of Zelda: Encyclopedia, translated by Keaton C. White. Milwaukie: Dark Horse Books, 2018.

(I do not claim ownership over the products, sources, and images that come from this game; images have been taken from my own game and are solely being used for entertainment purposes.)

A year ago, fans of the Zelda franchise and specifically fans of this game were pleasantly informed of a direct sequel to The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. This unofficial episode breaks down this cryptic and short teaser; one of the researchers tries their very best to make any sense of their thoughts, because this teaser seems to be hiding a lot.  

Resources:

- The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild 2 Trailer   

- Interactive Map of Hyrule 

Aonuma, Eiji. The Legend of Zelda: Hyrule Historia, translated by Michael Gombos et al. Milwaukie: Dark Horse Books, 2013. 

Kayama, Naoyuki et al. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild - Creating a Champion, translated by Keaton C. White. Milwaukie: Dark Horse Books, 2018. 

Sao, Akinori, Ginko Tatsumi, and Chisato Mikane. The Legend of Zelda: Encyclopedia, translated by Keaton C. White. Milwaukie: Dark Horse Books, 2018.

(I do not claim ownership over the products, sources, and images that come from this game; the image has been taken from the sequel trailer and is solely being used for entertainment purposes.) 

In yet another unofficial episode, The Lore Research Lab's researcher continues to struggle in forming a coherent sentence in this breakdown on the gameplay of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. Here, you will find a review of controls, the land or game overworld, the different inventories accessible to the player, and more! Pictured in the thumbnail is a creature called a sand seal, they are really entertaining in this game.

Note: If more clarification is needed, check out The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild on the Wiki page or Wikipedia.

Resources:

- Interactive Map of Hyrule 

Aonuma, Eiji. The Legend of Zelda: Hyrule Historia, translated by Michael Gombos et al. Milwaukie: Dark Horse Books, 2013.

Kayama, Naoyuki et al. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild - Creating a Champion, translated by Keaton C. White. Milwaukie: Dark Horse Books, 2018.

Sao, Akinori, Ginko Tatsumi, and Chisato Mikane. The Legend of Zelda: Encyclopedia, translated by Keaton C. White. Milwaukie: Dark Horse Books, 2018.

(I do not claim ownership over the products, sources, and images that come from this game; images have been taken from my own game and are solely being used for entertainment purposes.)