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Breath of the WildandTears of the Kingdomdid an excellent job of developing the Gerudo’s culture, showing the inner workings of their society and their religion, which is different from the rest of Hyrule.
While the Gerudo focus their beliefs on the Seven Heroines, the Eighth Heroine is something of a mystery, with their statue being located away from the main seven, hidden in the snowy Gerudo Highlands. Breath of the Wild didn’t offer much insight into the history of the Eighth Heroine, but Tears of the Kingdom explores this more through one of its many side quests.
Who Are The Seven Heroines?
In Breath of the Wild, Link can speak with a budding Gerudo archaeologist named Rotana, who tells him about the Seven Heroines.
Rotana says they are meant to be the“divine protectors of the Gerudo,”now represented through the seven statues of the heroines, found east of Gerudo Town.
Each of the Seven Heroines is said to have their own power:“skill, spirit, endurance, knowledge, flight, motion, and gentleness.”
Not much else is known about the heroines. Even within Gerudo Town, it seems thatthere are conflicting opinions between the scholars.
For example, in Tears of the Kingdom, you’re able to find a stela that claims the heroines instead had the powers of “heart, skill, fortitude, wisdom, flight, mobility, and compassion.”
Because of the similarity between these phrases, it’s possible this could have been aninconsistent translationbetween Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom.
A Hylian man named Bozai tells Link of the possibility of an eighth statue in Breath of the Wild, though not much is known of it, and it isconsidered to be “an urban legend.”Link can then find the statue and its missing sword in the Gerudo Highlands, though the statue isincomplete and far away from the Seven Heroine statues.
In Tears of the Kingdom, Rotana says that some Gerudo believe that there is an eighth heroine, which is evidenced by the existence of the eighth statue and the stela that reads,“An eighth channels and guides the powers of these seven.”
Who Is The Eighth Heroine?
The Mysterious Eighth side questin Tears of the Kingdomexpands on the identity of the Eighth Heroine.After collecting the seven orbs and placing them on the correct statues in the Gerudo Shelter,a secret room opens up beneath themto reveal an even bigger orb.
A stela in the room says that the orb isthe key to opening the sanctuary in the North Gerudo Ruins. When Link uses the orb to enter the sanctuary, he discoversthe Statue of the Eighth Heroine Room, which contains gifts meant for the heroine, as well as another stelarevealing that the Eighth Heroine was male.
The stela says that the Seven Heroines werespecial vai tasked with protecting the Gerudo people. One day, these heroines faced “a monstrosity of the sands” that was attacking Gerudo Town, butthey could not succeed alone.
A hero “from afar” appeared, and encouraged them to “combine [their] strengths,” which helped tosave the Seven Heroines and Gerudo Town.
This hero wasnamed “the guiding light of the Gerudo” by the Seven Heroines, who revered him and were grateful for his assistance.
However,the hero was not permitted entry to Gerudo Town because he was a voe. This “severed” the connection between the Gerudo and the hero’s people.
Because of Gerudo’s strict laws, the hero was unable to be praised publicly, butthe Seven Heroines created the sanctuary to show their true gratitude. Despite this, the hero never received the gifts meant for him.
From this, it can be inferred thatthe Eighth Heroine’s statue was separate and incomplete because the heroine was in fact a herowho wasn’t welcomed by the Gerudo people.
Considering the Eighth Heroine was calleda “hero,” and the stela says the “link”between the hero’s people and the Gerudo was severed,it’s possible that it was a previous Link; however, there is no other evidence that hints at his identity because he has been forgotten from history.
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