You would be forgiven for running right past these ruins. After all, there’s hardly anything left when looked at from a distance, and chances are you’re trying to outrun the Guardians around it. You’re so close to Hyrule Castle that it might seem silly to stop now and poke around what appears to be a broken, roofless structure, nestled amongst the trees.
Run right past it and you miss one of the most interesting Recovered Memories in Breath of the Wild.
Recovered Memory #1 is a rare glimpse into the early fight against the Calamity, and an opportunity to see the Champions all in one place. The Sacred Grounds in the memory are whole, bathed in sunlight, and Link is surrounded by people who will eventually become his entire world. When the memory has finished, and you fade back to the present day, the contrast is stark.
Approaching from the south, the trees that have encroached on the ruins frame your view of Hyrule Castle in an almost melancholic way. The castle pulses with the sick red light of the Calamity, the building itself a looming silhouette, while the scenery around you is alive with verdant green moss and grass. The flagstones before you are overgrown, and you cross a crumbling stone bridge over a small stream.
This place immediately has the feeling of sanctuary.
Much like the Temple of Time, the land has reclaimed this monument. Cross the first stone bridge and you find a set of stone steps, grass growing to your right and left. The Sacred Grounds are a raised platform, a series of concentric circles alternating between water, stone, and overgrown grass. The water pooled between looks like it’s designed to be there, rather than having flooded over the years.
The remnants of eight pillars surround the central point, only two still intact. In the very centre is exactly what should be in the centre of the Sacred Grounds: the Triforce.
Inlaid into the stone is a beautiful and intricate interpretation of the Triforce. Each triangle has the symbol for each of the goddesses: Din, Nayru, and Farore. Power, Courage, and Wisdom. In the very center is the Triforce crest of the royal family of Hyrule, with its winged design.
Look at this from above, the stone mottled and the designs cracked and marred, and it’s a poignant moment. In the time I spent here, re-examining it for this piece, it rained frequently, only stopping for short periods before beginning again. Aside from the tropical areas of the map, I swear it doesn’t rain anywhere as much as it does right here, on this small point on the Hyrule Field.
This place, where Champions and heroes were consecrated, seems to tug on that deep history we as players have with the Legend of Zelda games. From the Triforce design of games gone by, to the little comment that Zelda herself makes during the memory, mentioning heroes’ past, this feels like a place of reflection and remembrance.
Going back even further, before the Champions gathered here to baptize Link as their hero, the Sacred Grounds can also be found in the very first level of Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity.
Full disclosure: at the time of writing, I have not played the game in full. But the very first stage of the game takes us right back to Hyrule Field, and there, right in front of the Castle, are the Sacred Grounds.
Look to the north and you’ll see Hyrule Castle. With its bright gray brickwork, banners flying in the wind, and dark-tiled, peaked towers, it looks like a Disney castle. This is how Hyrule Castle should look; grand and regal. After seeing it in pieces, with chunks torn out of it and ruin around every corner, it was a truly incredible moment to see it in the sunshine, framed against wispy clouds and blue skies.
Even in Age of Calamity the Sacred Grounds are overgrown, but much less so. There is ivy creeping up a column, and weeds sprouting between stones, but it at least hasn’t been ravaged by time and monsters yet. It shows signs of age, yes, but it is not abandoned.
Soon, in this chronology, Daruk will suggest that they follow the formula and raise their own spirits by dedicating Link here, promising him and them all to fight this fight to the bitter end.
It is as melancholic to stand here in the Sacred Grounds and know that, in the future, you’ll visit them as the Sacred Ground Ruins. Here you are in Age of Calamity back at the very beginning of your quest, knowing how it must end eventually. In between are parts unwritten and stories undiscovered, and who knows, maybe there is hope for some sort of happy ending to this game despite how you know it must end.
It’s like standing outside the Clock Town tower, having faced Majora down once in Majora’s Mask. You’ve been returned to your former glory, and there is still time to change the ending, but there is a hint of sadness to having to live through it all again. In amongst all that dejection, though, there is hope, and there are individuals whose lives you can embark on sidequests to change.
The architecture of the Sacred Grounds reminded me of some of the artwork in Twilight Princess. Something about the Romanesque pillars made me think of the Temple of Time. Maybe it reminded me of the Temple of Time in Ocarina of Time too. The Sacred Grounds, and maybe even more so their Ruins, is a place that connects us to the Legend of Zelda as a whole: The actual Legend of a Goddess-chosen Princess and her Hero Knight, sworn to seal away darkness until the end of time.
This single spot, for me, connects more than just Breath of the Wild with Age of Calamity. It places Link, Zelda, and the Champions in the much wider context of the series as a whole. Returning to the same place before it falls apart is what we do in Zelda games. It’s what the Hero should do. We go back and try again, try one more time to save it all. We ask for blessing, for courage and power and wisdom, and then we face down all the monsters in our path.
The Sacred Ground Ruins are a reminder that we made a promise to save the world.
We’ve done it before and we’ll do it again.
To celebrate the recent launch of Age of Calamity, we are dedicating all of our regular columns this week to the mighty Champions! Check out our Champions Week 2020 page.
