There has already been a lot of discussion online about the tapestry shown in the PV for Ocarina of Time Remake, so before the upcoming TGS, I would also like to share my personal thoughts.
First, let me pour a little cold water on the discussion. At the end of the PV, the Triforce symbol on Link's hand begins to glow. Some people have interpreted this as Link obtaining the complete Triforce, but if you look closely at the moment when the glow fades, it is the Triforce of Courage that disappears last. So I believe that what Link obtains within the Great Deku Tree is still the Triforce of Courage. In the very first shot of the PV, there is also something beneath the Great Deku Tree that appears to be glowing; I suspect that it may be the Triforce of Courage within the Great Deku Tree. Of course, this does not mean I am absolutely correct.
If the tapestry is simply decorative, I still think it is an interesting detail. But if it is actually recording some kind of “Hero Link,” then a question immediately comes to mind: who, in the seven-years-earlier timeline, would know what happened seven years later? Some people believe that the tapestry belongs to the royal family, but judging from the Kokiri imagery in its upper section, I lean more toward it being something belonging to the Kokiri.
Time in Ocarina of Time is not simply about Young Link becoming Adult Link. Seven years later, Link sees familiar people and places transformed, and even he himself is no longer the person he once was. After defeating Ganon, he is then sent back seven years. This is not simply a matter of “returning to the past,” because he has already experienced the full changes brought by those seven years.
So I see Link's life as being cruelly divided by time into three stages: the child he was seven years earlier, the adult Link who truly experienced the world seven years later, and the Link who returned to seven years earlier carrying all the memories of that growth. His body went back, but his growth was not erased. He had already become someone else, and therefore could never truly return to his original childhood.
This also gives Navi's departure another meaning. I tend to agree with the interpretation of Good Blood and some Zelda theorists: Navi's departure may not simply be an exit caused by her “running out of power,” but rather the price of growing up, because only Kokiri children can have fairies. She accompanied the child who still belonged to the Kokiri Forest, but after everything Link experienced seven years later, he was no longer simply that child. Even after returning to seven years earlier, he could never truly return to the past. That, to me, is the cruelest part of Ocarina of Time's treatment of time.
That is why I pay particular attention to Link on the tapestry.
The clothing on the tapestry is not completely identical to the Link who actually appears in the game footage, especially the golden hat, which is different from the familiar green cap. It could simply be an artistic interpretation, or it could be clothing from a particular stage of his journey. Some people may even wonder whether it is related to the power of the Triforce of Courage. It could also point toward exciting new equipment and gameplay possibilities, but there is not enough evidence yet.
However, what interests me more about the tapestry is another possibility:
The Link on the tapestry is both “the Link who became a historical hero” and, even more importantly, “the Link as remembered by someone.”
If that is the case, Navi becomes a very reasonable candidate.
She is one of the few characters who truly accompanied Link through the period seven years earlier, the world seven years later, and his return to childhood. She saw the confident adult hero he became, but she also witnessed him when he was still a child. Building on the earlier speculation: if this really is a tapestry rooted in Kokiri culture, perhaps the Link depicted on it is not the handsome, heroic adult Link of seven years later, but the familiar, innocent and childish face from his childhood—the child who accompanied her throughout that long journey. That would also connect naturally to the PV's transition into a shot of Link still sleeping, without his cap. If you have played the N64 and 3DS versions, you may remember who wakes Link up in this state. The answer is rather obvious.
In that case, the tapestry would not simply exist because the “deeds of a hero” were recorded. It could instead mean:
Someone remembers the Link who can never return.
So if I connect all the clues surrounding the tapestry, I naturally arrive at this thought:
The creator of the tapestry was Navi.
If that is true, then what exactly is she recording: “Hero Link,” or “the Link she remembers”?
And that naturally leads into The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask.
After Ocarina of Time, Link enters the forest that can make people lose their way and eventually reaches the world of Majora's Mask. But is Termina located somewhere beyond an exit from the Lost Woods, or did it always exist somewhere else entirely?
Could those adults who became skeletons after becoming lost in the forest have also been trying to find some kind of exit? Or did Link reach Termina because Navi, the Deku Tree's children, or some other force we do not yet understand intervened? All of these possibilities can remain open.
I do not want to draw a conclusion.
Because one of the most moving things about Ocarina of Time is precisely that it does not answer all of these questions.
It tells us that Link has grown, but never tells us how he is supposed to recover what he lost after growing up. It tells us that Navi left, but never explains exactly where she went. And Majora's Mask continues that unfinished emotional thread.
Perhaps this is why I believe the true tragedy of Ocarina of Time within The Legend of Zelda series is not Zelda's thousand-year wait in Tears of the Kingdom, nor the tragedy of Hyrule being submerged—both of those tragedies were ultimately overcome.
The saddest thing is:
The forest is still there.
I believe Navi is still there as well.
Link remembers everything.
But no matter how many times he manipulates time, he can never return to that childhood where he could live together with her.