What really happened at the Bottom of the Well?

Interestingly enough "Bottom of the Well" internally (as what the game calls it) is basically called "Shadow Temple - Child" More or less. (HAKAdan for Shadow Temple and HAKAdanCH for the Bottom of the Well).

My thought is that the two were connected at one time but their connection may have been lost due to the passage of time. In any case I like the theory that Bongo-Bongo was a "Protective Diety" in the same style of the Giants in MM (his singing does sound remarkably similar to the Giants in MM) who originally protected the Shadow Temple and the lands around Kakariko but eventually his resting place was filled with dark tools of insidious use just as a place to try and hide what the Hylians were capable of and this in turn corrupted the diety and he took a form more appropriate to his new surroundings

My theory:

Apparently, the well is where a house used to be by a man who "saw the truth". What if the man was the future Bongo Bongo, who had the Lens of Truth and an obsession with death and ghosts and such?

Many of the torture devices in the Well can also be seen in the Shadow Temple. It's possible that the man who saw the truth frequently visited the Shadow Temple and, inspired by its closeness with death, decided to copy it and make his OWN torture chamber in the basement of his house. The ghostly hands and creatures in the Well could be the remains of his victims still haunting their place of death.

When it was discovered what the man was doing, authorities may have had him executed via guillotine (which explains the lack of head and the severed hands of Bongo Bongo) and had him sealed within his own basement. They then covered up his crimes by making a well in place of his house and covered the entrance to his dungeon.

However, since the man had a a lot of knowledge of "the truth", he was able to empower himself as a ghost and eventually broke free from his well.

That doesn't explain however why he is So gigantic. I think the idea that Bongo Bongo is an executed criminal doesn't work when looked at in that manner, not to mention that Drum of his is in the most bottom part of the Shadow Temple as if it had been there for an incredibly long time.

I think its pretty clear as well that the authorities did not seal the Shadow Temple. The Shiekah likely did hence the large slab with their symbol on it and it can only be opened by magic (in the original it seems like it should have been the Fire Medallion which opened the way in the final it's the Fire Arrows or Din's Fire).

As the civil war is referred to a couple times in OoT, I believe it simply as a faction of Hylian's controlling the area who used the ST and well as prison/torture/execution sites as they fought over the triforce and Hylian land. After the war I believe both ST/well were sealed off by the Royal Family hence the well being filled with water and ST being closed and a Sheikah symbol accompanying it to clue how to open it (as it is a temple and not just a prison as the well was)

Where Bongo Bongo fits into being sealed in the well between the CT and AT eludes me. I understand he was used to corrupt the ST by Ganon as all the other bosses did, but when did Impa seal him in the well within that 7 year period.

Sorry for grammar and any vagueness, typing on mobile

"Here is gathered Hyrule's bloody history of greed and hatred." I think this means that either:

1. The Hyrulean royalty secretly tortures and executes people in the Shadow Temple.
2. Enemies of the Hyrulean royalty and their weapons are thrown into the Shadow Temple.

It's clear from all the undead enemies that both the Shadow Temple and the Bottom of the Well are full of jyaki (magical hatred).

Definitely some gruesome stuff going on, although I just find it hard to believe that it was the Sheikah or Royal Family doing it.

I mean, realistically, monarchs and their protectors did do that type of stuff, but I find those actions too dark given how the RF and Sheikah are normally represented.

HOWEVER, if it were the Royal Family and Sheikah doing it, then I propose that they weren't "torturing", but "containing".

The guillotines and traps are meant to keep stuff inside and prevent it from escaping, not to torture it.

What exactly do I think they are containing? Monsters, and all the evil you see down there. Perhaps even a passage to the "underworld".

Regarding Bongo Bongo, didn't Sheik said that Impa sealed the spirit in the well before its strength grew too strong and escaped? It seems to me that Bongo Bongo was a more recent thing than what others theorize.

I once had this theory that the well was used where they dumped bodies when the temple itself couldn't contain anymore. The entrance of the well is probably the most gruesome bit in the well, and it has a skeleton and even a ReDead in MQ. Nowadays, I'm not so sure about that.

I've always assumed the Well and Shadow Temple to date back to the war for the Triforce that raged on before the Royal Family unified the land.

Baseless speculation time:

Given that both the Well and Shadow Temple are located in Kakariko, one theory I had was that the "Man who could see the truth" (who may or not be Bongo Bongo) was in fact the leader of the Sheikah order at the time, who had taken to using torture, inhumane imprisonment, and other actions condemned by the Royal Family, without the King's knowledge, so as to help Hyrule end the war and unite the land. It would explain the Sheikahs' nicknames as the "shadows of the Hylians"--they took it upon themselves to commit those acts that the Kingdom refused to resort to because of moral or ethical reasons, because they believed it was the only means of attaining peace. In essence, they were the ultimate black ops force, acting with zero knowledge or consent of the throne

It could also explain why there are no more Sheikah: Impa, disgusted at what had become of her tribe, turned away from them and confessed everything to the King, who then ordered the destruction of the Sheikah order in punishment for the atrocities they committed, and Impa herself fought her former master and sealed his spirit away inside the Well. If we go with this theory, then that would mean that all those ReDead, Gibdos, Stalfos, and other undead enemies in both dungeons are the undead incarnations of the fallen Sheikah, whose corpses are driven by hatred for the Royal Family for what they perceive as betrayal by the King after everything they had done for him in the war.

But the King was also worried that the other races would find out what their royal protectors had done and feared that the discovery would undo the peace they had worked to achieve. So to ensure that the truth was buried (heh, funny how the Lens of Truth was sealed away in the Well), he spread the false legend that the Sheikah died valiantly defending the kingdom during the unification war--hence, the memorial headstone in the Kakariko graveyard--and since they still had Impa, they rewarded her loyalty by making her the Princess's handmaiden, which also served the dual purpose of maintaining the image of the Sheikah as the loyal servants of the Royal Family.

Another reason why there are no more Sheikah in OoT could be that they were punished by sending them to Twilight realm, turning them into twili.

About the Dead Hand, I always thought it was a human-eater who ate those unlucky prisoners who got lost trying to escape from torturing in the pre-OoT war. The Dead hand's rooms seem to be a cave made into soil of skeletons, as the floors and walls are full of skeletons, maybe belonging to those Dead Hand already ate?
You can see the Dead Hand has red scars all across its skin. They could very well be made by its previous victims who were trying to defend theirselves.

i think that one way of finding everything out is by looking at the man in the windmill. it was his music that made the water flow up and down. maybe he has a personal connection with the hyrule caurd/shiekah, whoever the heck opened the can of worms labeled " lets make a torture chamber a the bottom of the well"

The Song of Storms only had power seemingly when played from a magical musical instrument. Therefore the Windmill Man wasn't really doing anything with his playing, it is the Song of Storms which drains the Well because of how fast it makes the sails go, thus drawing more water from the Well than it normally would, and this made it dry the Well.

I still feel as if the Bottom of the Well is a section of the Shadow Temple that had lost the way to its larger hub (the Actual Shadow Temple) through time. Mainly because the internal files list the Bottom of the Well as "Shadow Temple Child".

Ok, let's gather some facts:
There was a man in Kakariko Village who could "see the truth", he lived where the well is now, as Shikashi states: "A long time ago... There was a man in this very village who had an eye they said could see the truth! Now usually, you have to train your mind's eye most strenuously to actually see the truth... But this fella, no, they say he had a different way of doing things... His house stood where the well is now..."
Of this we can think 2 things: that his house was above the well or directly into the well, if it was directly at the bottom of the well. well... this "well" was just a cover up for something and never actually worked as a well... if it was hidden from the rest of the village, them maybe our "man that could see the truth" was a bad man who killed, tortured and mutilated?

We have Bongo-Bongo, a gargatuan invisible and evil spirit, "Dark Phantom Beast" who had been sealed at the bottom of the well by Impa long time ago and revived after Ganondorf assumes Hyrule, as Navi states "Boss of the Shadow Temple, revived from the well."
This boss is kinda... strange, right? Hands separeted from the rest of the body that could have been cut like a punishment when he was alive, as in medieval times the hands of thiefs were cut off, maybe just one chapter of the "Hyrule's bloody history of greed and hatred", maybe stealing the Lens of Truth? From the "man that could see the truth" or (and I prefer that theory) he is in fact the man that could see the truth, who steals from the Lens from the Sheikah tribe, as you can notice the ressemblance of the Lens and the Sheikah symbol. Stealed from the Sheikahs, tortured by them, died, return from the hatred he felt and sealed by Impa, remaining at the bottom of the well waiting to get out and make his revenge... yeah, kinda makes sense.

And something that always anoyed me: The tear drop at the Sheikah symbol... why would have a tear, if there wasn't anything to cry about? Maybe a reflection of the " Hyrule's bloody history of greed and hatred.", maybe too much death and suffering... maybe some betrayal? ... I know it's not canon, but the OoT manga states a betrayal from the Royal family, as Sheik itself tells Link: "Before this symbol, it was nothing but an eye. Since a long time ago, the Sheikah tribe were used as "Shadows" to protect the Hyrule Royal Family. However, there was one instance of betrayal from the Royal Family. At that time, our tears were added as a single line to this seal."

Well, facts, theories and some divagations...

Considering that the bottom of the well is apparently infested with undead, who as abominations animated by fell magics are often in various states of decomposition, it's doubtful the well was ever actually used as such, since contaminating the water supply with corpses is a good way to kill the community. So the idea that it was a cover has merit.

Quote from Calime

The tear was already there during the events of Skyward Sword. It is supposed to symbolize the sorrow for being left on the surface or the passing away of Hylia.

It's supposed to? Don't remember Impa saying anything like that... and can't see much logic in this "sorrow" either.

Quote from Calime

It is supposed to symbolize the sorrow for being left on the surface or the passing away of Hylia.

I'm with Rilufi. I don't ever recall such a thing ever being stated or implied.

Hurray, someone went ahead and added a theory to the Wiki without a proper citation to it. I probably ought to log back into ZeldaWiki one of these days...

But yeah, I think someone just added that as a fan hypothesis. It's not canon.

YES PLEASE ZELDA WIKI NEEDS YOU

Anyways my theory is that it's a part of the Shadow Temple that the man who lived in the house that once stood where the well stands digged into, where he stole / created the Lens of Truth.

I've only barely skimmed the comments, but here's my take:

as a previous commenter suggested, the well was once ground where a house stood. Inside the house lived a man who could see "the truth". This leads me to believe that the man could see invisible or ghostly apparitions, or as the locals would have phrased it, "he's lost his bloody marbles!"... let's be honest, if someone said they could see ghosts and things that weren't what they'd appear to be, you'd probably think they've gone a bit loopy too.

Anyway, back on track... the man was to be condemned by Hylian authority (the King). So he was taken to the Shadow Temple, then a serving place for the Sheikah, which we all know are servants to the royal family and have been since generations upon generations, to do the Hylian prison work. That is to say, they would hang, torture and imprison those who are deemed a threat to subjects of the royal family (civilians).
The man who was outraged by this, in his torture and hanging became extremely frustrated that his peers and fellow townsfolk would call him crazy. With that outrage, he found a new power and suddenly grew superhuman strength. He killed the guards of the prison/torture chambers and anyone else that would stand in his way to freedom. Without hesitation, the Sheikah sealed the door to the chambers with the only means of re-opening it being the power of a Goddess.

The Sheikah and Hylians, also scared of what power he had left in his house, demolished the house and with force sealed up the remaining energy of the man's house in the well, that energy then took a physical form of the lens of truth, and all of his anger became the dead hands. The man died in what is now the Shadow Temple, and his spirit fed on the souls of the condemned, where the guards of the temple were forever cursed with the duty to protect the temple in the form of stalfos, gibdos, re-dead and other undead creatures.

so that's my take on things, not a lot of it is to be taken seriously, as the only canonical thing I mentioned is that there was once a house where the well now is.

deep peace

Whoa I haven't seen you post in forever; you posted in my very first theory on this site.

Anyways, someyhing to keep in mind is that a Shadow escaped from the bottom of the well and Impa chased it into the Shadow Temple. That shadow could've been the man.

Anyways does it seem weird to anyone else that the well is only sealed in the future?