This is a sub-page of Development:The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past.

Plot Progression

Part 1#

Accessing the Sanctuary#

Link obtains the Letter from an NPC.

The Letter item is still present in the final game. There is an individual message file with a message pertaining to obtaining it.

He then delivers the Letter to the Loyal Sage at the Sanctuary.

zel_enmy2s.asm, an earlier version of a file called zel_enmy2.asm, has a section named "OYAGI MOVE", which contains the code for the entity used by Link's Uncle, the Loyal Sage, and the Sanctuary Mantle. In this commented-out segment, the Loyal Sage checks whether Link possesses the "TEGAMI" (Letter). If he does, then a flag is flipped to indicate that the secret passage door has been opened, and the item is removed from Link's inventory.

LDA <KEYA1
AND #040H
BEQ SPF0M01
LDA GETITM0
CMP #020
BNE SPF0M01     ;? TEGAMI GET
LDA >ITEMR20    ;Y
CMP #001H
BNE SPF0M01     ;? TEGAMI GET
;           ;Y
LDA #LOW  MS_0030
LDY #HIGH MS_0030
JSL >ENMSG2L
BCC SPF0M01
;
JSL >DASCLR1
;
INC ENSTAT,X
;
LDA >MODTBL1    ;DOOR OPEN FLG(SAVE)
ORA #002H
STA >MODTBL1
;
LDA #000H       ;TEGAMI OFF
STA >ITEMR20
PHX
JSL >ITEM0ST    ;ITEM PRINT SET
PLX

Obtaining the Sword & Shield#

The Loyal Sage gives Link the sword and shield.

In another commented-out segment of zel_enmy2s.asm, the "SINPU" (reverend, localized as "Loyal Sage") gives Link the "KEN & TATE" (sword and shield).

SNPF0M4     EQU $
        LDY #000H       ;PL. KEN & TATE
        JSL >ATMSIT
;
        LDA #060H       ;PL. DEMO END TIME SET
        STA ENTIM0,X
;
        LDA #001H
;       STA >MODTBL0
        STA >MODTBL3
;
;       PHX
;       JSL >DTSAVE     ;DATA SAVE
;       PLX
;
        INC ENSTAT,X
        RTS

Accessing Hyrule Castle#

Either the Loyal Sage opens the secret passage from the Sanctuary to Hyrule Castle by pushing a button on the decorative mantle, or Link pulls a lever to do so.

Early graphical assets found in a file called osr-kyokai-1.CGX.BAK in the workstation backup of Arimoto feature a design of the Sanctuary mantle that has a Triforce-shaped button that could be pushed in.

In an early message, the Loyal Sage gives Link the following instructions on how to open the passage.¹

If you pull this lever, the door will open. Push Down on the D-Pad while holding the A button and go on in!

Rescuing Princess Zelda#

Link leads Zelda from Hyrule Castle to the safety of the Sanctuary. They either retrace their steps back to the Sanctuary via the secret passage, or they emerge from beneath a grave at the Graveyard.

See the design document related to this here.

The design document suggests that Link would emerge from beneath a grave at the Sanctuary graveyard. The artist backup files also contain files pertaining to the Sanctuary that feature a grave with an angel design that isn't seen in the final game. It's possible that this idea was later repurposed as the tomb in the Graveyard that hides a secret stairway leading to a chamber with a chest containing the Magic Cape.

Zelda remains with the Loyal Sage at the Sanctuary. The Sage instructs Link to seek out the town mayor to learn more about the Master Sword.

Hrm. In order to defeat the priest, I imagine you'll need the Master Sword, an evil-banishing blade handed down from antiquity. Pay a visit to the mayor. I'll mark it on your map. One thing, however - the castle will be hunting you as a fugitive, so I'll keep Zelda here with me to provide her safe harbour. Keep at it!

Part 2#

Visiting the Mayor#

The mayor directs Link to speak with his wife.²

	The M-Master Sword?! That said, if anyone were to see me, the town mayor, with a fugitive like you...
	Please get inside and ask my old lady... Quick, before anyone sees you! Come on now, hurry!

{| class="wikitable" style="margin: auto; text-align: left; border-width: 5px; border-style: solid; border-color: #d6b16b; font-family: monospace; background-color: #0a0d70; color: white;" | | I've marked the location of the [?]
monsters on your map. Please forgive me,
for I know nothing more... |}

The mayor's wife tells Link to find Old Man Ecolo at the Temple.³

	Yes, yes, how may I be of assistance, young swordsman... ...? Hoh, the Master Sword, you say!
	No doubt that blade is still slumbering quietly in the depths of the forest even now...
	However, that's not to say that the sword can be wielded by just anyone. It seems the blade chooses its master.
	The Great Armos, guardian deity of the temple, the water spirit, Boss Tazora, and Lanmola, king of the desert.
	It is said that only the one who defeats these three monsters will be able to obtain the sword...
	...I'm afraid that I know nothing more. You should pay a visit to Old Man Ecolo, who resides at the temple.
	I imagine that he would know more... In any case, take care of yourself, young swordsman.

The Man at the Temple#

Link arrives at the Temple and speaks with the man who resides there. Old Man Ecolo directs him to obtain the three crests that will allow him to wield the Master Sword.⁴

	Hmph! A child like you who's still wet behind the ears would never be able to wield the evil-banishing blade.
	Everyone has known since the depths of antiquity that only a person who managed to obtain the Shard of the Armos, the
	Scale of Lanmola, and the of would be able to lay claim to that sword!

Defeating the Three Bosses#

Link defeats the three dungeon bosses and collects crests or items from each.

zel_bms1.asm contains a section of code called "takara down move init" (Treasure Down Move Initialization) that defines special item drops.

;*      takara down move init.      (TKDINT)      *
;*      0 ---> sunder                     *
;*      1 ---> grove (bulue)                  *
;*      2 ---> asihire                    *
;*      3 ---> jisho                      *
;*      4 ---> hart utsuwa                *
;*      5 ---> bomber                     *
;*      6 ---> poligon                    *
TKDUNT      EQU $
        HEX 010,037,039,038,026,00F,020

However, as can be seem from the table below, the data in the header is at odds with the numeric data in TKDUNT (Treasure Down Unit).

This indicates that the numeric data was changed, while the developers failed to update the header accordingly.

zel_enmy2s.asm contains a label called BSITEM (Boss Item) that is linked to the data in TKDUNT above.

;;NMF005        EQU $
[...]
        LDA #01H
        JSL >BSITEM

ZB0010      EQU $
[...]
;;      LDA #02H
;;      JSL >BSITEM

RMFAIL      EQU $
        LDA #03H
        JSL >BSITEM

It indicates that the Armos Knights (internal name: NOMOS) would have dropped the Power Glove, the removed Zora boss (internal name: ZORAB) would have dropped the Flippers, and the Lanmola (internal name: RANMORA) would have dropped the Book of Mudora.

Obtaining the Master Sword#

Having proven his worth, the hero heads to the forest to retrieve the Master Sword.

	What's this?! You're telling me that the child standing in front of me has obtained all three crests?!
	If that's true, then go to the woods. The sword will choose you, I am certain of it.

The ATARS section of zel_enemy2s.asm, which pertains to the Master Sword, contains the following code for checking if it's okay to obtain ("tottemo ii ?") the blade.

;---------------------------------------;tottemo ii ?------------
        LDA ENSTAT,X
        JSL >JSRSUB
        WORD    ATARSM0
        WORD    ATARSM1
        WORD    ATARSM2
        WORD    ATARSM3
;----------------------------------------
ATARSM0     EQU $
        JSL >CRENPL2L
        BCC ATRM010
;
        LDA <KEYA2L     ;? DO BOTTON
        AND #080H
        BEQ ATRM010
;
        LDA >ITEMR23    ; ashi hire 
        BEQ ATRM010
        LDA >ITEMR21    ; grouve blue
        BEQ ATRM010
        LDA >ITEMR22    ; vible 
        BEQ ATRM010
        JSR HIKA1ST
        INC ENSTAT,X
        LDA #0D8H
        STA ENTIM0,X

It checks whether the player has obtained ITEMR23, the "ashi hire" (Foot Fin, AKA the Zora's Flippers); ITEMR21, the "grouve blue" (Blue Glove, AKA the Power Glove); and ITEMR22, the "vible" (Bible, AKA the Book of Mudora) before permitting them to pull the sword from the pedestal.

In later versions of this file, the Master Sword instead checks for ITEMR53, the "PENDANT" (Pendants of Courage, Power, and Wisdom).

Part 3#

Maiden Dungeons#

Link rescues the eight maidens trapped within the eight dungeons.

Early Zelda dialogue has the princess telling Link about eight sages (localized as "wise men") and maidens, rather than the six (plus Zelda for seven) of the final game.⁵

	Help me...
	Please help me... I'm being held captive in the dungeon beneath the castle...
	My name is Zelda... Seven maidens have been sacrificed, and I'm the only one left... ... ...
	The priest is trying to open the sealed monsters' path once more. ... ...
	I'm in the dungeon under the castle... Help me... ...

{| class="wikitable" style="margin: auto; text-align: left; border-width: 5px; border-style: solid; border-color: #d6b16b; font-family: monospace; background-color: #0a0d70; color: white;" | rowspan="3" | | Reverend, I was being held captive
in the castle, but [Link] was kind
enough to come to my rescue... ... |- | Listen, [Link]. I want to protect this
kingdom. If the 8 sages' seals are
dispelled, evil power will rush in. |- | Before that happens, you must defeat
the priest! I'm certain that if
anyone can do it, it's you. |}

The code for the Maiden entity, POLIW (Polygon Woman), shows that Ganon's Tower uses the same message ID as the Palace of Darkness.

PLWM4MD     EQU $
        WORD    MS_04C1     ;HOKORA
        WORD    MS_04C0     ;SINDEN
        WORD    MS_04C5     ;NUMA
        WORD    MS_04C2     ;MORI
        WORD    MS_04C4     ;BWAKO
        WORD    MS_04C0     ;YAMA NO TOU
        WORD    MS_04C3     ;MACHI
        WORD    MS_04C6     ;KAME( 7 koaru )
        WORD    MS_04CA     ;KAME( 7 nai )

The fact that Ganon's Tower is mentioned at all in the Maiden code suggests that it was once possible to rescue one there. This concept that the Dark World's mountain tower may once have been planned as an eighth maiden dungeon adds context and a potential reason why, in the final game, the developers had Ganon "escape" his tower to the Pyramid of Power after the second Agahnim battle -- and why the Triforce is stored in the Pyramid of Power rather than Ganon's Tower. In retrospect, this can explain these two peculiarities about the final game's scenario. Also, needless to say, if the tower was a maiden dungeon, then the maidens would need to grant access to Ganon's lair elsewhere rather than the tower.

Unlocking the Great Portal#

Break the seals on the eight Magic Tiles found with the Magic Tile map.

The Magic Tile Map and its implications are an interesting design document revelation of an event that may have been moved away from early on. While it is mentioned in the design document, it doesn't seem to be mentioned in zel_msge.asm data. The design document suggests after rescuing Zelda, Link would receive the Magic Tile Map and that once the seals of the eight Magic Tiles were broken, perhaps the gate to the final Magic Tile would open. Whether finding these Magic Tiles were linked at this point early in development to finding abducted Maidens is an open question. It's worth noting the final game keeps the same number of Magic Tiles to the Dark World: eight normal ones and a large, unseen ninth Magic Tile at Hyrule Castle's gate after Agahnim teleports Link to the Dark World.

The Maidens that Link rescues open the final portal/Great Magic Tile? Link takes the final portal to an unknown destination.

This is the most tenuous of the points brought up in the early plot progression, with more interpretation required than the others, so it must be taken with a grain of salt. It is by no means certain the Maidens were part of this plan with the Great Magic Tile - just the vague line specified in the design document about Link going through a great portal. If the Maidens were already part of this plan at some point, it must be established through other development evidence. Based on the Great Magic Tile line, non-final graphical evidence in the workspaces, and also events within The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures, it's possible to elucidate a potential but uncertain link between the Maidens and this brief sentence in the design document.

First, as to why Four Swords Adventures is relevant at all: we have seen that Nintendo tends to reuse ideas they cut from previous games. For instance, the taiboku trees bear a striking resemblance to the Deku Tree in the later Ocarina of Time, and cut dungeons in The Wind Waker were confirmed to have been used in later games. One element in Four Swords Adventures, a game linked closely with A Link to the Past due to asset reuse and design, bears resemblance to an unfinished graphical mockup drawing in the developer workspace of eight circles in a pattern surrounding the center of a room:

Po.scr.bak [07-04-1991] with a.col, po1.cgx.bak [8-18-1991], and po.cgx.bak [07-04-1991]

This room is closely linked to the Maidens due to the polygonal crystal present for use in the upper-left corner, the development source repeatedly referencing a "Polygon platform" in files such as 日本_Ver3\asm\z00_data0.asm, and linking the Maidens with this by having code internally refer to each as "POLIW" ("polygon woman").⁶

In Four Swords Adventures the Shrine Maidens keep the gate to the Four Sword Sanctuary sealed, but when they do open a portal to it in the story of that game, they are gathered in a room around a central point with circular motifs as they open the portal, reminiscent of the previous discarded room's motifs from A Link to the Past development data.

The Shrine Maidens opening the portal to the Four Sword Sanctuary in Four Swords Adventures

If the Maidens were needed to open the Great Magic Tile into a final "great" or "giant" portal, these disparate bits, and the concept that the Maidens would open a portal to a key location being reused in a later game would be the remaining evidence of it. Whether this is enough evidence to suggest the Maidens were still involved in the relatively early Great Magic Tile scenario mentioned in the early scenario design document is left up to the reader.

On the other hand, perhaps the greatest evidence against the Maidens being part of the scenario at this stage is simply the age of the design document. It contains many concepts like learning the "pray" action that did not make it into the final game in that form, gaining a rosary item, and Zelda giving Link the Triforce early on. The document seems rather early due to all these aspects not present in the final game, and thus it is plausible it could be before the Maiden aspect of the storyline was conceived of as well given Maidens are not mentioned directly in the document.

References

Source Code Files#

Artist Workspace Files#

xxx

Design Documents#

The design document below was published in The Legend of Zelda Encyclopedia. The English version of the document contains several mistranslations that make it difficult to get a handle on the content without looking at the Japanese source text.

Japanese Version with Translation#

Castle#

Church#

English Version with Translation Inaccuracies for Reference#

References#