Slumber of Restoration

Spoiler warning: Plot or ending details follow.

"This is all taking me back to when the Great Calamity happened… Ganon had been dormant for 10,000 years. Perhaps his power had been building all that time. The slaughter that followed was arbitrary and merciless. The destruction complete. We lost everything… Hyrule Castle, Princess Zelda… Well, perhaps not everything was lost. A youth named Link was brought to me a hundred years ago, covered in wounds and on death´s doorstep. Link… So young, yet so courageous. He was the youngest knight to have ever been appointed to the Imperial Guard at Hyrule Castle. He was also a gifted swordsman who was selected as captain of Princess Zelda's personal guard. I thought his skills would be enough to defeat Ganon in glorious fashion… Since ancient times, the royal family of Hyrule and us Sheikah researchers have had a strong bond. Their plan is our own. We took the swordsman and the Sheikah Slate Princess Zelda left behind to the Shrine of Resurrection. Although the Slumber of Restoration had not been fully tested, we decided to put the swordsman under to save his life. It was the best we could do…""

— Purah's Diary

The Slumber of Restoration is an ancient untested healing process and form of suspended animation that appears in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. The process was used on the Hylian Champion Link after he was taken to an old Sheikah medical facility called the Shrine of Resurrection after he was injured defending himself and Princess Zelda from corrupted Guardians at Fort Hateno during the Great Calamity.

Background & History[]

"I spoke with Purah about the Shrine of Resurrection we discovered earlier. As we speculated, this particular shrine is, in fact, a medical facility with the power to heal. It also has a long-term stasis function that can be activated and maintained until healing is complete. In the war against the Calamity 10,000 years ago...were the injuries so great as to necessitate such a facility? If so, I will remain uneasy until we have made all adjustments necessary to restore it to full working order. I can only pray that even if Calamity Ganon returns, our battle will not require the Shrine of Resurrection's power..."

— Zelda's Research Notes

The Slumber of Restoration is an ancient healing process developed by the ancient Sheikah who created the Shrine of Resurrection ten thousand years before the events of Breath of the Wild. The Shrine of Resurrection was an elaborate medical facility constructed by ancient Sheikah, along with the other Shrines, the guardians and the Divine Beasts, as a means of sustaining their most formidable warriors. After Calamity Ganon was defeated by an incarnation of the Princess of Hyrule and the Hero chosen by the Master Sword with the aid of an army of Guardians and the Divine Beasts, the Sheikah were forced to bury it along with the rest of their technology after the Sheikah became pariahs in Hyrule due to fears of their technology being a threat to the Kingdom.

100 years before Breath of the Wild, Princess Zelda and a team of Sheikah researchers found the Shrine on the Great Plateau and began researching it to learn its purpose. Unlike the other Shrines, Zelda and her team were able to enter the facility and as a result became a source of immense study for her and her Sheikah allies. They discovered its purpose as a medical facility and confirmed it had been created by the Ancient Sheikah.

Zelda speculated in her research notes that such a facility was made as part of the clan's efforts to destroy Calamity Ganon during their first war against the villain ten thousand years ago, instilling a sense of dread within the young princess, who feared just how powerful Ganon truly was to necessitate the need of such a facility, though prayed that their battle with Calamity Ganon would not require its power.

Great Calamity[]

Knowing Ganon would return due to a recent prophecy, Zelda and the Sheikah repaired the Shrine of Resurrection, but did not have time to properly test the Slumber of Restoration out before Ganon returned, seized control of the guardians and the Divine Beasts, and laid waste to the kingdom of Hyrule. However as Link was severely injured battling Guardians, Zelda and her Sheikah allies were forced to use the untested process on Link to save his life. Though it was untested, Zelda and her allies where aware of the possibility that it would rob Link of his memories, thus Zelda had Purah leave her Sheikah Slate in the Slumber of Restoration chamber inside the Shrine, which would help guide Link when he finally awoke should their fears prove true. However they were unaware how long it would take for Link to heal and awaken from his suspended animation, which lasted one hundred years and left Link in a weakened and amnestic state. While Link slept in the shrine for one hundred years, his injuries healed while he bathed in a healing liquid which apparently provided him with nourishment and halted his aging, as he is shown to have not aged at all in one hundred years and despite his amnesia and weakened state is in reasonably good health when he awakens. Fearing he would likely be robbed of his memories, Zelda had permanently saved pictures of places she and Link had visited with a 13th and final photo printed and hung in a picture frame on the wall of Impa's House. However Zelda had faith Link would reclaim the Master Sword and his lost memories.

Link's Awakening[]

One hundred years after the Great Calamity, Link is awaken by the telepathic call of Princess Zelda who begs him to awaken as Calamity Ganon had slowly been building up his strength to rebuild his body by siphoning Zelda's holy power as she kept him under seal and she realizes that he must be defeated soon or she will no longer be able to contain him. Thanks to the Slumber of Restoration, Link recovers from his injuries and awakens to begin his journey to reclaim his memories, the Master Sword, free the Divine Beasts, and defeat Ganon to free Princess Zelda and restore the Kingdom of Hyrule. Though amnestic, Link instinctively follows Zelda's telepathic instructions and uses the Sheikah Slate to leave the Shrine and activate the Sheikah Tower on the Great Plateau which activate other towers and shrines across Hyrule.

The weakened state it left Link in made him so weak that he didn't have the strength to remove the Master Sword from its pedestal (despite the fact that Link had been chosen by the blade and was able to wield it one hundred years prior) in Korok Forest let alone confront Ganon which many of Link's allies warn him against attempting in his current state, though thanks to the spirit of Zelda's father King Rhoam Bosphoramus Hyrule disguised as an old woodcutter living alone on the Plateau had been secretly watching over Link and guided him after he woke up to the four shrines on the Plateau which contained Runes and trials which would aid on his quest and would prove key in helping Link grow strong enough to pull the Master Sword from its pedestal in Korok Forest as well as make him strong enough to free the Divine Beasts and ultimately defeat Ganon.

Aftermath & Legacy[]

After leaving the Plateau, Link meets the elderly Impa in Kakariko Village and she is disheartened to learn that Link has no memory of her though is patient with him and gives him time to prepare himself to hear Zelda's message to Free the Divine Beasts and explains to him Calamity Ganon and the Divine Beasts' history. She tells him to seek out Purah who helps Link restore the missing and corrupted components of his Sheikah Slate, restoring pictures that Zelda had taken one hundred years earlier which Impa and Purah discover are key to restoring Link's memories. Link also learns that he was placed in the Shrine by Purah and her subordinate Robbie, who along with Impa decided to split up in order to ensure one of them would survive long enough to aid Link after he awoke from the Slumber of Restoration. Impa, Purah, and Robbie all survive the Great Calamity and all are still alive one hundred years later to aid Link in his quest. Purah does however lament in her diary that she should have tested it butwrites it off as a learning experience. Purah also notes Link's battle injuries from a century ago have mostly healed. However if Link stands on her table she will note this annoying behavior which she attributes as a side effect of the Slumber of Restoration though it is unclear if she is being serious or sarcastic. In addition to the pictures, Link recalls a few Recovered Memories over the course of the story. Interestingly the Yiga Clan are aware of the Shrine and Link's survival though they may have received this information from their reluctant spy and informant Dorian. The general population of Hyrule however believes a myth that Link died leading an army of soldiers in defense of Fort Hateno when in reality he was protecting Zelda who finished off the remaining Guardians using her awakened sealing powers. However some rumors and legends of his survival exist though most have dismissed these in the century since the Great Calamity as most assume Link would have died of old age if still alive. Kaneli even believes Link is a descendant of the Hylian Champion due to his lack of age for Hylian over a century old though Riju, Buliara, and Yunobo do believe him. King Dorephan and most Zora who lived before the Great Calamity remember Link and recognize him with his childhood swimming buddy Rivan noting Link has aged remarkably well for a Hylian. Prince Sidon apparently was not close to Link as a child as he does not recognize Link. Sidon was a young child during the Calamity thus may have been too young to remember him.

Eventually, Link discovers the Master Sword under the protection of the Great Deku Tree in Korok Forest who reveals he is free to take the sword however he reveals that it will test Link to ensure he is strong enough to wield it. If Link tries to remove it in his weakened state it will sap all his hearts killing him, thus Link must increase his strength by obtaining Heart Containers which he can obtain by trading Spirit Orbs obtained from completing Shrine trials, exchanging Stamina Vessels for Heart Containers via Horned Statue, or freeing the Divine Beasts. Once he has at least 13 hearts (yellow extra hearts do not count to this total) he will be strong enough to claim the Master Sword. Link can obtain the Master Sword as soon as he leaves the Plateau has acquired 13 hearts and found his way through the Lost Woods to reach the Master Sword's pedestal in Korok Forest, thus can obtain it early on provided he collects enough Spirit Orbs to trade for Heart Containers.

Thus Link is able to restore his lost memories and reclaim the Master Sword which he discovers had been placed under the Great Deku Tree's protection by Zelda herself shortly before she sealed both herself and Calamity Ganon in Hyrule Castle. However the Great Deku Tree warns Link against relying too much on the Master Sword's power less he repeat the mistake he made one hundred years prior that lead him being injured in the first place, thus encouraging Link to rely on his own strength and skills.

As a result the Slumber of Restoration was key in aiding Link in undoing the damages that resulted from Champions and their allies failures during the Great Calamity, leading to Ganon's defeat and the restoration of the Kingdom of Hyrule lead by the now freed Princess Zelda who like Link had not aged as a result of the divine nature of her sealing powers, a side effect brought on by Zelda's sealing of both herself and Calamity Ganon in Hyrule Castle one hundred years prior.

Spoiler warning: Spoilers end here.