Oracle of Seasons

“Hya ha ha! I have found you, Din, Oracle of Seasons! You hid yourself well, but you cannot escape Onox, General of Darkness!”

— Onox

Oracle of Seasons
Developer	Capcom
Publisher	Nintendo
Genre	Action, Adventure
Platform	Game Boy Color
Release dates	February 27, 2001 May 14, 2001
Chronological Order
Previous	"Majora's Mask"
Next	"Oracle of Ages"
Map

The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons is the seventh installment in the The Legend of Zelda series, released in 2001 for the Game Boy Color. It is preceded by Majora's Mask and succeeded by Oracle of Ages. The Hero of Legend is the main protagonist and General Onox is the main antagonist. Holodrum's monsters are the villainous faction.

It is the seventh game in the series, and the second in the Downfall Timeline, set very soon after the events of A Link to the Past. It follows the same Link, called to the Triforce again to be sent on another mission, this time in the foreign kingdom of Holodrum. This game can be linked with Oracle of Ages to fight the true final boss, which is Ganon, resurrected by the Twinrova sisters.

Chronologically this game takes place between A Link to the Past and Link's Awakening.

Synopsis

After saving Labrynna and Nayru from the evil Veran, Link is sent on another quest to another region known as Holodrum. Here he is tasked with defeating the evil Onox and saving the Goddess Din. He uses the Staff of Seasons to change his environment and collect the Essences of Nature, which he uses to defeat Onox for good, saving the realm. Link soon discovers that these two events were connected because the evil witches known as Twinrova were using the essences of Onox and Veran to ressurect the evil Ganon. Ganon's resurrection goes awry, and he is brought back as a mindless primal beast. Link uses the Master Sword to defeat him and save all three realms. He returns home to Hyrule by boat.

Summary

Oracle of Seasons opens up the same as Oracle of Ages, with Link riding a horse. Spying a castle on the horizon, he goes inside and is sent by the Triforce to help a land being ravaged by the ruthless General Onox. Link is teleported to the land of Holodrum and after a bit of exploring discovers a traveling troupe. After hanging around and dancing with the troupe's main attraction, Din, the sky becomes dark and General Onox strikes. In the ensuing chaos, Din revealed to be the Oracle of Seasons, gets kidnapped, taken to Onox's mountain fortress, and imprisoned inside of a crystal. As a result, the Temple of Seasons falls into the earth and the seasons of the land begin to become erratic.

Link embarks on a quest to save Din and restore order. The young hero learns from the Maku Tree that in order to penetrate to the center of Onox's fortress, he needs to collect eight Essences of Nature.

While in the process of visiting the dungeons, Link spies a shady character moving in the weeds. He sneaks by her and the girl disappears. After some exploration, he uncovers a strange-looking portal. Stepping on it, he is teleported to the lava-hot underground land of Subrosia. Looking to his left, he sees the missing Temple of Seasons. Taking the Rod of Seasons that he borrowed from the Temple itself, he learns seasons from the temple that become useful in his quest to retrieve the eight Essences of Nature.

After finishing the last of the dungeons and destroying Onox and his evil dragon alter-ego, Din is released and the seasons become regular once again. However, the adventure is far from over. The Flame of Destruction is already lit by the destruction Onox caused. Observing Link from afar, a mysterious pair laughs, saying the true evil had yet to arrive...

The adventure carries on in a Linked Game of Oracle of Ages (or a linked game of Seasons if Ages played first).

Characters

Hero Legend

Din

Princess Zelda

General Onox

Bosses

Image	Enemy	Description	Dungeon
	Aquamentus	In Oracle of Seasons, Aquamentus is the Boss of the first Dungeon, Gnarled Root Dungeon, a Dungeon that resembles Level-1 from The Legend of Zelda. In addition to its attacks from The Legend of Zelda, Aquamentus now has the ability to charge across the room. After dashing and slamming into the wall, the Aquamentus flies back to the right side of the room. Before emitting beams, its horn will glow. Upon the dragon's defeat, Link receives a Heart Container and the first Essence of Nature, Fertile Soil.	Gnarled Root Dungeon
	Dodongo	In Oracle of Seasons, Dodongo appears as the Boss of Snake's Remains. Link must equip the Power Bracelet to pick up and throw Dodongo into Floor Spikes after Bombing it.	Snake's Remains
	Mothula	In Oracle of Seasons, Mothula guards the Bright Sun in the Poison Moth's Lair. It fights by circling around the room and spitting fire at Link. It also releases Moths from time to time to defend itself. After a short period of time, it settles on one of the two platforms in the middle of the room, leaving itself open for attack. The Roc's Feather can be used to jump across the two platforms and dodge attacks. If Link falls through the gap in the floor, any damage Mothula sustained is undone and Link must restart the battle.	Poison Moth's Lair
	Gohma	Gohma also makes an appearance inside the Dancing Dragon Dungeon in Oracle of Seasons. However, this time around, the beast has an extra appendage, a deadly claw. If Link runs in front of her, she will charge and grab him, then throw him to the ground causing damage. The claw can be removed by slashing with the sword. Additionally, the Roc's Feather can be used to jump over the claw. Once the claw is destroyed, the Slingshot can be fired at its open eye, while avoiding the larvae it summons. Defeating Gohma yields the fourth Essence of Nature, the Soothing Rain.	Dancing Dragon Dungeon
	Digdogger	In Oracle of Seasons, Digdogger appears as the Boss of the Unicorn's Cave. Using the Magnetic Gloves at north polarity, Link can cause the spiked ball that lays in the boss area to smash into Digdogger. After a few smashes from the spiked ball, the Digdogger will split into Mini Digdoggers. Link must then hit each of them with the spiked ball or his Sword to defeat them.	Unicorn's Cave
	Manhandala	In Oracle of Seasons, Manhandla is the boss of the Ancient Ruins, the sixth dungeon. Manhandla starts out by spitting four fireballs at Link. The flowers can only be damaged by the Magical Boomerang when they are open. When Manhandla loses all four flowers, it runs around the room very fast. Link has to continually hit Manhandla with the Magical Boomerang to expose its core. At that point, Link has a small amount of time to use his Sword to destroy Manhandla's core and defeat it. Link receives a Heart Container and the Blowing Wind, the sixth Essence of Nature, for destroying Manhandla.	Ancient Ruins
	Gleeok	Gleeok is a two-headed version fought in the Explorer's Crypt in Oracle of Seasons. It is defeated in a different fashion from its former counterpart. Getting rid of the beast's heads is still Link's main objective; however, there is one more step before defeating it. Link must quickly slash away the heads, which must be done quickly because the severed heads will reattach themselves to the body if given time. Once both heads are severed, they will be permanently destroyed, reducing Gleeok to a skeleton. However, Gleeok's skeletal remains will continue to fight Link by jumping and causing a massive earthquake in the arena. In addition, Gleeok's body will wildly charge at Link. Using the Roc's Cape is the only way to avoid serious damage from the beast. When the beast is grounded, Link should attack with his Sword. He must continue this process until Gleeok is defeated. It will then give up the Seed of Life, the seventh Essence of Nature.	Explorer's Crypt
	Medusa Head	Medusa Head stands in the center of the room and attacks by throwing spheres that can temporarily turn Link into stone, and if Link gets petrified it will attack him further. It is also capable of firing a laser beam from its eyes.	Sword & Shield Maze
	Onox	By capturing Din, the Oracle of Seasons, and encasing her in a crystal, Onox is able to submerge the Temple of Seasons into Subrosia and throw the flow of the seasons into chaos, resulting in the damage of the land and the weakening of the Maku Tree. To counter these events, Link sets out on a quest to obtain the Essences of Nature, which allow him to enter Onox's Castle on the Northern Peak to face him and revert his deeds.	Onox's Castle
	Twinrova	In Oracle of Ages and Oracle of Seasons, Kotake and Koume send Veran and General Onox to cause chaos and light two of the three flames needed to resurrect Ganon; the Flame of Sorrow and the Flame of Destruction. They appear as a disguised old lady to dissuade Link from his quest, revealing themselves when he reaches the final dungeon. In a Linked Game to either Seasons or Ages, they show up to taunt Link and his allies in Labrynna before leaving or rub the Flame of Destruction being lit in his face after he completes Unicorn's Cave. Once the flames are lit, the two kidnap Princess Zelda to light the final flame, the Flame of Despair, by sacrificing her. In a Linked Game, Link fights the sisters both individually and as Twinrova. After Link defeats Twinrova, she chooses to become the vessel for the ritual herself instead of Zelda, so that Ganon can return. Unfortunately for the pair, their sacrifice is in vain as it only allows a mindless, raging Ganon to come forth.	Room of Rites
	Ganon	In the linked ending of Oracle of Seasons and Oracle of Ages, it is revealed that the events of the two games were started by Twinrova in an attempt to resurrect Ganon via the Dark Rites. The ritual required that three flames were lit: the Flame of Destruction, the Flame of Sorrow, and the Flame of Despair. The Flame of Destruction is lit when General Onox throws the seasons of Holodrum into chaos, while the Flame of Sorrow is lit when Veran caused great misfortune to the people of Labrynna by using the powers of Nayru the oracle. With two flames lit, the Twinrova sisters capture Princess Zelda, causing the despair of the people to light the third flame, the Flame of Despair. Twinrova intended to sacrifice Zelda for Ganon's rebirth, but Link managed to slay them before the ritual finished, and thus the Twinrova sisters were forced to sacrifice themselves to awaken Ganon. Because of this, the ritual was incomplete and Ganon became a mindless beast, although he did demonstrate limited thought just as he was defeated by Link.

Title Screen

The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages

Box Arts

Japanese

USA

Trivia

• In both the chapter book and the Oracle of Seasons manga by Akira Himekawa adaptations of Oracle of Seasons and Oracle of Ages games, Oracle of Seasons is the first game in the sequence. This is also true for the timeline as presented in Hyrule Historia.
• After entering Poison Moth's Lair, revisiting the floodgate keeper and speaking to him twice causes him to start spouting some of Impa's dialogue from the prologue.
• The two games were developed by the Flagship studio within Capcom, with some of Nintendo's staff such as Shigeru Miyamoto in supervisory roles. Notably, Hidemaro Fujibayashi, a planner for the duology, would go on to leave Capcom and take increasingly important roles in the Zelda series at Nintendo, eventually becoming the director of the 3D games starting with Skyward Sword.
• Their original Japanese subtitles translate to Fruit of the Mysterious Tree: Chapter of Earth (for Seasons) / Space-Time (for Ages).
• These games were first stated to be a midquel between A Link to the Past and Link's Awakening with the same Link. This has since been modified to be an indirect sequel to both with a new Link.
• The development of these two games is a rather interesting and complex one. There were going to be three games, collectively called "The Triforce Series", and would link to each other to form a complete narrative. The "Power" chapter would have gameplay focused on changing seasons using the Rod of Seasons, the "Wisdom" chapter would focus on puzzles involving color and a Magic Paintbrush item, and the "Courage" chapter would focus on time with the day changing between morning, noon, afternoon, and night. However, it was soon agreed that linking three games together in one continuous narrative, but allowing the games to be played in any order, would be too complex (indeed, you would be able to play through such a combination six different ways). Thus plans were changed to just two games, with story and gameplay recycled into the games that became Oracle of Seasons and Oracle of Ages. As The Artifact entry on the main page explains, elements of the original trilogy intent remain in the final product when one knows them to recognize them.
• In addition to the above plan, the trilogy was meant to be preceded by a remake of the original NES The Legend of Zelda for the Game Boy Color, with both the remake and the "Trilogy" project being the result of a Capcom producer outright threatening Miyamoto that if his team wasn't given the chance to make a Zelda game, Capcom would just make their own Serial Numbers Filed Off version.
• Hyrule Historia reveals concept artwork for Ganondorf◊, who only appears as a mindless Ganon, meaning he was considered but cut for unknown reasons.
• Concept art of Onox shows him holding a huge two-headed axe with a flail attached to the handle.
• Oracle of Seasons was originally intended to be a Game Boy Color remake of the very first The Legend of Zelda, but ideas for this were scrapped early on. This is why almost all of the same bosses return from the original game.
  • The Gnarled Root Dungeon's outside is directly based on Level 1: The Eagle's design.

Continuity

• Hyrule Historia marks this game as a sequel to A Link to the Past, and for the most part, the games themselves suggest the same thing. However, implication suggests that the Lv. 2 sword (Noble Sword) and Lv. 3 sword (Master Sword) are one and the same, in different stages of power. It is also heavily implied of both that this is the very same Master Sword seen in many other Zelda games. So... how did it get from Hyrule to Holodrum?
  • Of special note, it's found sitting in a pedestal in Holodrum, in a place called the Lost Woods. Geographically speaking, if it was the same place as in AlttP, then Link would have been in Holodrum all along.
  • The Lost Woods have always had strange teleporting abilities.
  • I see it in one of two ways. Either A: The Master Sword in Oracles Isn't canon. or B: The Holodrum Master Sword is not the same Sword of Evil's Bane. After all the design slightly differs on the crossguard despite the Master Sword's design being concrete at that point.
  • According to the Hyrule Encyclopedia, the Master Sword as it appears in the Oracle Games is apparently just an upgrade to the Noble Sword, which gives it power that's comparable to that of the true Master Sword of Hyrule, but isn't meant to be the exact same blade.
  • Skyward Sword establishes that the Master Sword is sapient and can possibly move about on its own, but this still begs the question of which order of sword upgrades between the two games is canon. Namely, if the broken sword the old Zora gives to you is canonically the last upgrade, that detracts from the notion that it is the same Master Sword, since it's unlikely Fi would be able or willing to snap herself in half for no reason.
• After the release of Link's Awakening on the Nintendo Switch, the official Zelda timeline was amended that switched that game and this one's placement in the timeline. They also allege that the Link of this game is not the Hero of Legend but a new hero, known as the "Hero of the Essences." This does not align with the original timeline order and canon, so it is being disregarded for this wiki.
  • It doesn't make sense when you consider that the whole reason Link goes on a boat back to Hyrule in Link's Awakening is because he is returning home from Labrynna after defeating Ganon. The new timeline would allege that Link just up and left for no reason, we have no idea where he went, then came home and got shipwrecked. It doesn't make sense.