Was it just a dream?

[Penguin dude 2]

After seeing everyone die at the end, I was wondering if it really was just a dream, or if the people had souls. They seemed to have thoughts, and lived their lives, and had children, or was it just an incredibly elaborate dream by the Wind Fish spanning decades(centuries?)?

[Hi no Seijin]

It's a dream.  Technically, no one died.  Metaphorically, no one died either.  I would guess that Link kept the inhabitants of Koholint in his heart.

[LadyNintendo]

People can interpret it in many different ways:

* The people never existed because they were dreams. So they also did not die at the end.
* The people did exist, because they are/were part of the Windfish's consciousness. In that sense, they still live. Their world is just put "on hold".
* The Dream World is a true seperate realm, much like Twilight Realm, Minish Realm, Dark World/Sacred Realm etc. There are different arguments for this (like the Dream World having influence on the Light World as shown in TMC. Also, Dethl appears to have a consciousness of its/his own, which might suggest the world is real.) In that sense, the door to that world is merely closed by the Windfish's and Link's awakening.

And likely a lot more options. Pick whatever you want.

[Bboy94]

I pick that the island was once real, and the windfish ate it. Its dreaming about lunch.

[Mysterious F.]

It's really just a dream. It's downright been stated in the game.

[Penguin dude 2]

I know it's a dream, I'm wondering if the inhabitants had concious at all. Marin, if you count the secret ending.

[DW]

How could something that was a figment of subconsciousness have a conscionce of it's own?

[Mysterious F.]

I think that none of them did, but it seemed Marin got 'reincarnated' by the Wind Fish.

[Bboy94]

I pick that the island was once real, and the windfish ate it. Its dreaming about lunch.

Consider... Maybe Marin was just the last bit of the dream to fade away, and that whole time Link was truly interacting with a seagull the whole time

[LadyNintendo]

How could something that was a figment of subconsciousness have a conscionce of it's own?

You should seriously watch Soultaker.

The figment has consciousness, simply because it exists out of consciousness. The conscious exists, as part of another that doesn't use it. But just because something isn't used, does it mean it does not exist?

[Hi no Seijin]

Put in simple, every day words, I don't use my textbooks, yet they exist.

[MagmarFire]

  Good call, Hi no Seijin! Good call!

Anyway, regarding Marin, parhaps she's the dream interpretation of Zelda. Of course, that would probably contradict the fact that Koholint Island is the Wind Fish's dream, not Link's.

[LadyNintendo]

Why? Why wouldn't the Windfish know one of the Zeldas (*cough* or Malons*cough*)? Considering how old the Windfish most likely is, he could easily have met some of them.

[MagmarFire]

Good point, LN.

There's also the fact that Ganon's Shadow is a Nightmare... Perhaps the Wind Fish's dream and Link's memory are intertwined? Or maybe the Wind Fish knew of Ganon's existence before LA's events? Maybe both?

[Bboy94]

I think it comes down to the former.