Venturing into the Dark: Comparing the Silent Realms with the Depths

Mirror worlds have long been featured in the Zelda timeline. Most recent is the Still World in Echoes of Wisdom. Before that came the Twilight Realm, Lorule, and the Silent Realms, all eerie reflections of the Hyrule overworld in their respective games. Of these, the Silent Realms are widely regarded as one of the most nerve-wracking challenges in the series, despite the game they appear in – Skyward Sword – not being one of Zelda’s more darkly-themed titles. 

Skyward Sword history and lore swung back into focus when Tears of the Kingdom revealed its inclusion of Sky Islands, reminiscent of Skyloft – Link and Zelda’s home in the 2011 title – and the surrounding area. So it is no surprise that, when it came to Tears of the Kingdom’s trailers, the Sky Islands were most often front and center. Monuments of Hyrule’s history with their radiant golden grass and curious Zonai constructs, they entice exploration and promise a certain level of safety, as long as you don’t go tumbling over the side without a paraglider. That said, it was the very first look at Tears of the Kingdom back in 2019 that first teased the other side of that coin: the Depths. An area that would turn out to not just be a small pocket of darkness under Hyrule Castle, but a Gloom-ridden expanse spreading beneath the entirety of the map. 

The threads between the games, and indeed the rest of the series, are many. Since the Silent Realms are some of the most memorable parts of Skyward Sword, let’s take a look at how Tears of the Kingdom’s counterpart measures up.

Mirror Worlds

The Silent Realms are a near-identical copy of their ‘real world’ (i.e. the regular Surface location)  parallel, only with an eerie air to them. The teal-shaded areas are free of regular monsters and enemies, replaced instead by Guardians and Watchers. Separate from the Guardians in Breath of the Wild, these are Hylia-serving beings designed to protect the Silent Realm from intruders – including Link, if he alerts them.

The Depths is not a mirror world in the same regard. Its threats are not confined to a spiritual realm, nor are those who lurk in its darkness servants of Hylia. Yet, it is still a mirror world in a sense as areas on the map reflect the surface level: Shrines are directly above Lightroots, mines are below villages, mountains reflect chasms and vice versa, and so on. It lends a faint sense of familiarity and some help predicting what you’re about to stumble onto, but not enough to lull you into feeling safe down there.

After all, while the Silent Realms shift the colors of each area to more other-worldly tones, the Depths start out as complete blackness. Before you start activating Lightroots, hurling Brightbloom Seeds at the walls and floors, or stocking up on torches or Zonai lights, you’re completely blind to what’s around you. That said, you can progress through that darkness one tiny step at a time. As long as you’re not wading through Gloom and losing hearts, there’s no time pressure. In the Silent Realms, however, the clock is ticking the moment you set off. No matter how carefully you tread, if you don’t pick up any Sacred Tears within 90 seconds, Link will have Guardians chasing him down. With that kind of pressure, making the area pitch black in the same way the Depths are would just be cruel.

Locked and Linear

Skyward Sword is a more linear Zelda game. While there are chances for exploration, the order of story quests – and the areas they unlock – are locked into a specific order, including the Silent Realms and the trials they offer. As such, you can only access the Silent Realms once you’re already pretty far into the game, meaning you’re familiar with how to play, the surroundings, and generally what to expect. You’re not thrown into the challenge as a brand new player, and you physically cannot access the trials without already having explored the Surface in the ‘real’ world.

On the other hand, these are challenges that present different rules to the rest of Skyward Sword’s gameplay. Any fighting skills you may have picked up will be of no help to you, since the Guardians are entirely indestructible and will take Link out with a single strike. All rests on your ability to move quickly but carefully, dodging the Guardians’ gaze and collecting Tears before the timer runs out. A tough challenge, but still undoubtedly made easier by being reserved for a later point in the story.

Open and Opportunistic

Being an open world game, Tears of the Kingdom allows no such luxury of hiding tough battles behind locked doors. If you truly want to, you can go tumbling down into the Depths right after the opening tutorial with only 3 Heart Containers and a mushroom fused to a stick to your name. Link probably won’t have a great time down there, but it’s possible. That also means it’s possible to explore the entire Depths before you do much of anything on the surface of Hyrule. Again, not advisable, but possible.

Here, your skill (and creativity) in battling enemies will make a difference. No matter where you are in the game or what resources you have, if you’re good enough with what you have, you can beat any enemy you face. For instance, many players would hightail it in the opposite direction when they came across the Lynel coliseum in the Depths, yet there are no doubt some who can go striding in and come out without having lost a single quarter-heart.

Fighting isn’t even your only option, though. The art of running away is timeless, provided you’re not in a spot where the doors lock behind you. Being open in that regard allows the Depths to be navigated with both fight and flight as valid, valiant options.

Simple Living

Just as the Silent Realms don’t require or even allow for weapons, the majority of enemies are also removed from the equation. As this is a realm of the Goddess’ making, none of the monsters in Demise’s ranks are present. Since they are unbeatable, Guardians are also far more straightforward than regular enemies. There’s no parrying, no fighting back, only the hope of evading them completely. 

All of this makes for a far more controlled environment, which makes sense, since the Silent Realms are designed as trials for the hero. Link has to prove himself within the strict parameters of Hylia’s rules, no ifs, no buts. That means if you’re struggling to complete the trials, there’s only a limited amount of strategy changes you can make – a different route through the tears, for example. Other than that, your only choice is to keep trying until it’s done.

Everything but the Kitchen Sink

Tears of the Kingdom not only allows for a far more chaotic approach to problems, but encourages it. Earlier, it was mentioned that you can go right to the Depths with barely anything in your inventory. Conversely, you can also go to the Depths armed to the teeth with weapons, Zonai devices, enough food to feed the entire Hyrulean army (which, to be fair, is currently…Link), and pretty much any other item that can be picked up and thrown at monsters. The enemies themselves are also far more varied, from bothersome Keese to reappearances from full-on bosses from the four Temples.

A traditional approach is still possible and preferred by some, putting enemies to the sword in a noble fight. The alternative is to create a construction of Zonai devices so vicious it makes Breath of the Wild’s Guardians look like sweet, forgiving companions. And, if at first you don’t succeed, there are virtually unlimited possibilities to try out instead.

That doesn’t just go for fighting enemies. Traversing the Depths is made infinitely easier once you have a decent haul of Zonai devices, or even just two fans and a steering stick. Where the area is initially an unsettling, danger-filled place, there comes a point in the game where Link can suddenly zoom around on an ancient Hyrulean hoverboard entirely unfazed. If such a thing were possible in the Silent Realms, they too would lose their creepy edge.

Music

The use of music in Zelda has at times been divisive, especially with the minimal approach taken in Breath of the Wild, but it pretty much always delivers in creating atmosphere for the space or story. The Silent Realms are no exception, its music uniting with the visuals to create a distinctly otherworldly feeling. But though certain points in each track are certainly disquieting, the pieces as a whole could actually be taken as rather soothing – if you distance yourself from the looming threat of being chased through the various Realms by Guardians. In fact, if that threat were removed completely, what’s left is an ethereal place of the Goddess devoid of Demise’s violence and anger.

The Depths are not all that ethereal. Well, certain spots do have beauty to them, such as the Springs, but for the most part, they do not hold the same spirituality that the Silent Realms do. Its music, though not aggressive or overwhelming, carries more of a reminder of the dark nature of the environment and the dangers lurking within, its quiet moments and echoing notes reflecting the sheer, cavernous expanse of the place. Danger isn’t just in what you can see, but also what’s hidden from you, and the music ensures you never really feel that risk has gone away.

Naturally, comparisons like these have a certain measure of subjectivity to them. With that disclaimer out of the way, initially, the Depths create a bolder, more threatening atmosphere. Being surrounded by utter, pitch black with a few fragile weapons to my name, unaware of what lurks beyond the darkness, made me feel far more unsettled when I first fell into the area. That said, once you begin to get a handle on the Depths – learning how the mirrored landscape works, building Zonai devices to traverse it, gaining enough weaponry and skill to fight threats, and lighting up the area –  the threat evaporates exponentially. It is difficult to feel disquieted while watching a Yiga Clan member run down his fellow footsoldier because you lobbed a Muddle Bud at his head from afar, really.

The Silent Realms have a more persistent uneasiness to them. You don’t spend enough time in them to get used to them, and so there isn’t a chance for resistance to be built to their creepy quirks. Similarly, Link will never be immune to the threats in those Realms. Guardians will always be able to one-shot him, and the timer counting down until they awaken will never shorten simply because the player is better at the game than they were a few hours ago. The Silent Realms’ atmosphere perseveres so well, in fact, that it remains in Zelda fans’ collective memory even after all this time. And so, while the Depths has the initial edge on creepiness for me, the Silent Realms are the ones that stand the test of time.