#draconification

Draconification is permanent.

This is an indisputable fact.

And while I have seen people criticizing the way Zelda changed back, the fact is she swallowed the stone knowing that she never would.

“I’ll be forever changed…”

Her cry for Link to find her was not for her sake. She wasn’t depending on him to find the key to changing her back. Nay, the only reason she desperately prayed for him to find her was so that he could get the Master Sword, which—ignoring game mechanics that would allow you to beat Ganondorf with literally any weapon with the right damage/durability ratio—canonically is the only thing that can hurt him.

When Zelda changed back, it was almost entirely thanks to Sonia. That’s right!

…Let’s take a second to recall this scene in which Rauru decimated the horde of Molduga.

We see Sonia extend her hand and then gesture for Zelda to do the same.

Here they’re extending their own power to amplify Rauru’s counterattack, even beyond the already-massive boost the Secret Stone provides.

In the final scene when Link finds himself hovering over the sleeping Light Dragon amongst a dream-like atmosphere, it’s really quite telling that Sonia is the first to rest her hand over Link’s, then followed by Rauru.

This time Rauru is fulfilling the role of amplifying Sonia’s power over time. Not just that, but adding it on top of the time manipulation that Zelda gave to Link at the beginning of the game.

That’s what’s happening here. This is immensely powerful, triple amplified time magic!

The change from dragon to Hylian wasn’t a transformation in the same sense that it was when Zelda changed from Hylian to dragon. I know that’s a confusing sentence, but consider the basis of Sonia’s time magic is recalling things as they once were.

Zelda didn’t retain dragon features because, through the power of time reversal, she was never a dragon to begin with.

This is the also the reason the Secret Stone reappeared on her necklace.

This is ALSO the reason Link’s arm reverted to its natural state before he was affected by the gloom.

And before y’all come at me with “well, why didn’t Rauru do that in the first place instead of giving his arm to Link?” Simple; Sonia wasn’t there. Even spirits aren’t omnipotent… in Hyrule. (Probably.)

The point is, this was essentially a lucky break for Zelda and Link, because if Sonia (and therefore Zelda, by inheritance) didn’t have time magic, there would have been no way to undo the Draconification. It would have been every bit as permanent as Hyrule legends and history says it is, and Zelda would be gone forever.

In fact, it’s likely it was a shot in the dark even on Sonia and Rauru’s part, considering there was no prior knowledge of reversing time on a dragon, let alone a person. It was a glorious blend of the convenience of Sonia’s time magic, and luck that it worked out the way they (“they” being all characters involved) wanted.

So I have a theory about draconification. When Mineru explains the act, she says that the stories explain it’s forbidden because “To become an immortal dragon is to lose oneself.” 

However, I don’t think this is true. At least, not fully. 

My theory is that when a person draconifies themself, they give up any hope of future cognizance and become ruled by impulse, but whatever pushed them to commit the act becomes the biggest impulse or drive for their dragon form. For example, yes, Zelda draconified herself to save Hyrule from Ganondorf, but her biggest drive was to do it for Link. 

In fact, her last words were to Link directly. 

Now, notice how she serenely flies around the edges of Hyrule, protecting it in a passive way, but whenever Link’s involved, she becomes more ‘aware’. She seems to recognize him when he pulls the Master Sword and stops fighting him, gives him a ride to the Temple of Time which is not on her flight path, and never attacks him when he approaches like Dinraal, Naydra, and Farosh do. But my biggest piece of evidence for my theory is the final battle with Draconified Ganondorf AKA The Demon Dragon. Link was in his teeth, which would’ve killed him because the Demon Dragon gives Link Gloom illness just by Link walking on it, and Zelda came roaring and charging through the sky towards Link. Also, once Ganondorf dropped Link, she ignored Ganondorf growling and snapping at her to save Link from falling. She may not know his name, but she knows he’s important to her. 

I honestly think that because we only have three (likely) examples of Draconification before Zelda, that the subject was not very well understood. If Dinraal, Naydra, and Farosh draconified themselves as I believe they did (given their visual similarities to Rauru and Mineru), it could be that because they wouldn’t respond to their names or react to people trying to rouse them to a form of cognizance that it was believed a person was lost forever. But Zelda explains it as if she was sleeping, which makes me think of Fi’s Farewell from Skyward Sword. 

Fi is trapped in a forever sleep. She even says she feels her consciousness fading away.

Even so, no one except Link can ever wield the Master Sword and she can communicate with people, however, it’s not in the same form she used to when Skyward Sword Link was traveling with her. It’s faint and cannot be heard by everyone, just some people like when she talks to Zelda when Link needed to be saved in BotW and to tell Zelda that Link was OK in Tears of the Kingdom.