#pretty much everything loz but im too lazy to tag it all

[prankprincess123]

I think maybe this combination of powers, so early in Hyrule's history, is part of why over the generations the understanding of how the Princess' powers work gets so clouded. Because it is Hylia, it is the soul of a goddess in the Princess that gives Zelda her powers. But it is also the ancestral magic from both Sonia & Rauru in the Royal line that gives all it's princesses powers. And then there's the third aspect not touched on here (as it plays minimal if any role in BotW/TotK) of Nayru's part of the triforce being bestowed on the Royal family, and bringing with it both divine wisdom and some of Nayru's powers.

We have the powers of not just one but two goddesses, and ancestral magic (from multiple sources) and holy incarnations, and divine blessings, and matrilineal royal inheritance, and religious traditions that spring up. Not to mention the frequent deaths of Hyrule's queens before they can teach their daughters, and the generations like Tetra who just never learned what was going on at all.

And the other races have their stories, but only the Gorons and Sheikah have been around since the beginning, and they've had their own worries and struggles shape the stories they pass on. And the Sheikah have always had a devotion to Hylia and the line of Zeldas specifically that has made them the best resource for this kind of information, but they've been exiled and nearly wiped out so many times that their stories are also lost and jumbled. And the forest spirits probably know something, but so few people can see them, and even Link barely talks to them in this life. And Fi's been there for almost everything regarding Link and Zelda, well except for some of the lifetimes when the Four Sword was used instead, but she's not talking to anyone right now.

And can we really blame Zelda for just being absolutely confused as heck regarding how her powers work?

Her powers come from so many sources at once, and the line of storytelling - both oral and written - has been broken by deaths and apocalypses so many times, and the new story doesn't match anything of what it was two generations ago, and does BotW/TotK Zelda even know about the triforce's existence?

Zelda is quite rightfully lost. Because if her power is a gift from Hylia and/or Nayru, and she comes from a line of priestess-princesses, it tracks that praying to the goddesses should help, and she must just not be praying hard enough. But if it's a magical inheritance based on a matrilineal royal birthright and divine right to rule, then she should just have the abilities without needing to do anything, and something must be wrong with her that she doesn't. And none of the theories based on what she knows account for anything involving reincarnation or the triforce or magic inherited from male ancestors at all.

And honestly, if she were allowed to pick up a sword of any type (a knight's sword like SS, or a rapier like in TP & HW, or a cutlass like Tetra) or take magic-ninja lessons from Impa in this life, or wield a bow like she has used her powers with in so many lifetimes, or just experiment with robots and frogs like she wants to, Zelda probably would have figured out at least part of her powers way sooner. After all, Age of Calamity only happens because Zelda subconsciously imbued some of her time magic in a little robot she built as a child.

And hopefully, at some point during their near eternity alone in the sky, Fi was able to clear everything up for Zelda, because this girl deserves at least some clarity...

so, it’s confirmed that Zelda’s “Time” powers came from Sonia, and her “Light” powers from Rauru, but we know from other games that only the women of the royal family can use the “sealing” power inherited from SkSw Zelda. do you think this means that throughout history, the “Light” powers associated w the sealing are actually separate from the sealing ability? I just remember being really lost after that cutscene, cause even if Rauru somehow was a descendant of Hylia, he wouldn’t be able to use those powers, and the sealing of whatever evil is causing trouble always has a fancy light show with it lmao

So, this is a very complicated question with a very complicated theory to answer it.

We know that Sonia's primary, and, in terms of usablity, only power is Recall.

However, I do believe she's Hylia's descendant, not Rauru, despite Rauru being the one with the light/sealing power. Evidence on that here.

Being Hylia's descendant would make Sonia's birthright be a whole host of other powers, possibly latent, but more probably something that Sonia's never actually been in the right situation to use. Let's take a look at what Skyward Sword Zelda can do.

She can seal the Demon King-

-but only at the expense of her own life force being rendered inert while she does.

She can bless the Master Sword-

-but it's already as strong as it can get.

She has strong connections to time...

...but we knew that already.

Of these three powers, only one would be relevant to Sonia's skill set. The Master Sword can hardly be doubly-blessed, and the Demon King has yet to show his face.

More importantly, however, Skyward Zel's sealing power works MUCH differently to Wild Zel's.

Wild Zel's sealing is instantaneous, fueled by emotion, with seemingly no draining effect on her person.

When fully unleashed, her seal is as total as it is inescapable. It doesn't require her to put herself to sleep until Link can deal the final blow with the Master Sword. The closest thing to Skyward Zel's seal that Wild Zel did was in keeping the Calamity at bay for 100 years while Link slept. During which, it's heavily implied that she was conscious, given that she spoke to Link the instant he woke.

With Rauru, his sealing ability seems much more similar to our princess's, with only some key differences visually.

His right hand gathers light around it, and needs to be extended to fully function.

When the seal first activates, it forms a spherical shape, which is inescapable, albeit on a much smaller scale than Zelda's.

It's a little hard to see, due to the magnitude of Zelda's power, but it IS a sphere.

And although this act does cost Rauru his life, it usually doesn't. He's done this before, multiple times, as stated in Messages from an Ancient Era tablet A Pilgrimage of Light:

"The kyng was late y-come this aven, so maked the quene to sharen tales of hir lond, of shirines al grene yglouen. "Of erli daies sinnes Hyrules funding have diverse monstres hir reaume biseged ond assaylled. "Uncesinge in striffe, thei broughte to despeir folkes lyfen. Kyng ond quen ysete thamselue to bringen scurge to ende. "With might of light ond pouere, driven abak ybeen, ond the roial couple made thes shirines to selen him awei. "Thes holi selen ben yclept Shirines of Light. "Gret kyng, grete quen, y thank ye. Ye foughte whan y wer maiden-child, that y kude pes toknouen."

The translation, to the best of my efforts:

"The king was late to come this evening, so made the queen to share tales of her land, of shrines all green glowing. "Of early days since Hyrule's founding have diverse monsters her realm besieged and assailed. "Unceasing in strife, they brought to despair folks' lives. King and queen set themselves to bringing scourge to end. "With might of light and power, driven aback they been, and the royal couple made these shrines to seal him away. "These holy seals been called Shrines of Light. "Great king, great queen, I thank you. You fought when you were maiden-child, that I could peace to know."

Sonia and Rauru went around making the Shrines of Light that we find in present day and receive blessing from:

So, with the exception of the Demon King, who was so powerful that he could resurrect thousands of years later, Rauru's seal behaved like Zelda's—instant, fueled by emotion, inescapable, projected by the right hand, with no immediate toll on the user.

But what does this mean for Zelda's sealing ability? Despite behaving similarly, it doesn't look similar at all.

Let's look back at what happens when Sonia and Rauru combine their powers.

Rauru brings his hands together in a triangle shape, possibly invoking the same Triforce motif Zelda gives when she unleashes her power. The Secret Stone, which magnifies his light abilities, glows in a similar shade to Zelda's seal.

Sonia extends her right hand as her own tear glows. Despite it only amplifying her time power, her hand shows the same color Rauru's light gives off—as well as being in a spherical form.

Rauru draws in her power (and Zelda's, whose is a combination of both already and therefore adds no new properties) and forms a bright yellow light with a sphere around it.

It's better seen from this angle, where we can also see what looks like an inverted Triforce in the middle.

They're nowhere near the level of focus Zelda's Triforce has, but the triangles are definitely there.

And then it becomes a catastrophic force of power, able to wipe out an entire swarm of Molduga in a single hit.

Zelda's lineage's sealing ability is a culmination of all of this. It's Sonia and Rauru's powers combined, taking Hylia's seal, the Goddess's full power-

-and attaching that strength to something instantaneous and geared specifically to lock away darkness-

-by combining the power of time with the power of light.

Hylia's sealing power isn't Rauru's, but Zelda's is Hylia's AND Rauru's combined.

As a side note, this is also why I think, despite Rauru contributing his power, the magic remains only matrilineal. Hylia's descendants—meaning in this case, Sonia—are the only ones that carry her abilities. Rauru's power attached itself to Sonia's to create Zelda's, but Sonia's abilities—with or without Rauru's boost to them—can only be accessed by her daughters and granddaughters.

Strong enough to rival any magic in the world in sheer might, this later became known as the Light Force.

TLDR: Hylia's seal = Slow, nonlethal, exhausting toll, powerful, golden lightshow Rauru's seal = Fast, potentially lethal, concentrated, opposes Ganon, spherical lightshow Zelda's seal = Fast, concentrated, opposes Ganon, spherical (from Rauru), nonlethal, powerful, golden (from Hylia); a hybridization of both seals, the best of both worlds