#i hope i delivered hjshswkedhjw

[luminecho]

Terrako/Harbinger Siv

A @hyrule-kingdom-updates theory

(HEAVY HKU & HWAOC SPOILERS!)

Siv is going to die in HKU.

Well, maybe not. Or maybe he will. Quill hasn’t exactly been clear with us. But there’s a bit of evidence stacked towards him dying (and in a very specific way, too— but we’ll get to that). Specifically this quote from the “Hearts and Minds and Livers” arc.

[Siv:] I... got this gut feeling...

[Launo:] Oh that’s compelling...

[Siv:] LISTEN. Now’s not the time to sass me, Birch! I feel like, well. I have a very strong suspicion that within the week I am going to die.

[Launo:] EXCUSE ME?!

[Siv:] And... it’s very hard to explain, but I’m quite certain that certain series of events are going to transpire that could maybe possibly harm myself, in the coming week.

This is a very specific piece of foreshadowing that I don’t see Quill putting in without reason. It feels less like a “gut feeling” and more like an omen. As of the current arc, it is still “this week.” Zelda’s birthday is still soon, and the Calamity is presumably going to strike VERY soon. If we trust Siv’s gut and assume that he truly IS going to die, then that begs the question: how will he die?

I’d like to take a moment to point out the very clear parallels between Siv and Terrako in the story so far. Because, if you think about it, Siv and Terrako have a lot more in common than meets the eye. In HKU, Siv has been repeatedly referred to as the calamity’s “vessel.” In Age of Calmity, Harbinger Ganon was the Calamity using Terrako as a vessel, possessing it and controlling its every move, using it to carry out his own deeds. In this timeline, Ganon has not latched onto Terrako, but Siv. The Calamity is using him as a vessel just like Terrako in AoC.

But it really makes you wonder if Siv’s similarities to Terrako don’t run deeper. If it’s even more intentional than it lets on. If perhaps, because of this, Siv will eventually share the same fate as Terrako.

Terrako (the good one)’s fate in Age of Calamity was to be possessed by Ganon, subsequently defeated by Link, before sacrificing himself for Zelda while on his last limbs. It’s, unfortunately, very easy to imagine Siv in this exact same scenario. We know Siv has quite a few people that he cares deeply about— no matter how much he denies it or spits insults at them, no matter how much they betray his trust, deep down, he still loves them. These people in particular being Larc & his family, Zavis, and Zelda.

In a hypothetical future, Siv might have snapped out of Ganon’s control long enough to realize that the people he loves are in serious danger... and he has the power to save them. He might decide to sacrifice himself to keep the people he cares about safe. The possibilities surrounding this scenario are endless, but the situation itself isn’t too hard to believe. The action wouldn’t at all be expected from him right now, not in his current state, but him making this choice as his final act could be a very plausible destination for his character development— for once choosing to put his loved ones above himself.

It’s not too hard to imagine. Especially when you consider the following evidence:

1. One of Quill’s OOC posts a long time ago in response to an ask was this:

Larc is sacrificing the greater good for his kids

Rhoam is sacrificing his kids for the greater good

Ligero is sacrificing his kids for himself

Siv is.......

...Hm.

I wonder what pattern, if any, will go from there.

Quill was obviously hinting at something, and even as far into the story as we are now, we still don’t know what Quill was talking about. But wouldn’t it be very fitting for the sentence to come after this to be “Siv is sacrificing himself for [the greater good or his kids]?”

2. Larc’s whole thing in “Sibling Fights, Hollow Knights, and Destiny Rewrites” was that he ended up intentionally hurting himself in order to prevent himself from hurting others. I could see this being used as either foreshadowing or a direct parallel to what Siv might do in the future. Again, it’s a very possible line of character development for Siv.

3. Two images tagged “???,” when brightened, showed to have a LOT of text in it, all of which have either appeared in actual HKU dialogue since the images were posted, or presumably will show up soon. This line in particular stood out to me, though:

Please! He didn’t do anything. My family didn’t do anything. It was all me.

Now, of course, we don’t know who’s speaking this. But, if we choose to assume that it’s Siv speaking, that would line up very well with the idea of him choosing to put his loved ones before himself, perhaps standing in someone’s path and preventing them from hurting his family...

Again, it’s entirely possible that this could be anyone else speaking. There’s a lot of other people it could be. But if it is Siv, then that would make a lot of sense with everything else I’ve mentioned.

4. This one is much more recent— a quote from Link’s Declaration during “Like the Eggs and Men Before Her”:

And if I’m wrong, well. Have my life then. But even then, I think we would rather die living as ourselves, and not vessels of someone else’s will.

There’s the word “vessel” popping up again... this line really feels like foreshadowing. Considering Siv is one of the few other characters associated with being a vessel... maybe he would rather die as himself than as a vessel of Ganon’s will, in the end.

So, there you have it. There’s a lot of evidence pointing towards the theory that Siv is going to sacrifice himself in the end in order to save the people he loves. He might get possessed entirely by Ganon, causing the others to have to fight him in order to free him just like Terrako in AOC— or maybe something else will happen. The possibilities are endless when you think about all the parallels, but, unfortunately (or maybe fortunately?), the possibility of Siv sacrificing himself seems pretty likely.

There might be more evidence that I’ve missed— feel free to mention it if you know of something! A lot of credit goes to everybody on the HKU Discord for bouncing around ideas for this theory! I’m not the only one with this theory, I just wrote everything I had in my own personal notes into an essay for fun.