GEMINI VERSION
I had to write this before I forgot it. This was inspired by a meme my friend sent me, though there are countless other memes and videos that I have seen previously that I am sure contributed to this.
I am not a Zelda theorist, but I do enjoy watching them on YouTube.
Here is my theory/realization:
Seriously, is it Link? Is it Zelda? What about Ganondorf? Does the Great Deku Tree win? I mean, I bet he can live a really, really long time. Ah, maybe it is Revali. After all, he *did* get up to that divine beast on his own.
NO
The real winner is none other than the entity which makes the pots that NPCs buy and place in their homes.
No matter who wins, Link or Gannon, NPCs will presumably continue their lives, assuming they survive, and they will still have a need for pots.
HOWEVER, that is not the main reasoning; it only contributes to it.
Eventually, the next version of Link will come along, enter the NPC's home without permission, break the pots, and steal whatever was inside. The NPC will presumably, at some point, go and get more pots to replace that contributed to the hero's quest. This means that they will PURCHASE new pots. Each NPC may be subject to this for multiple times during the same game, and any NPC that owns pots is subjected to this. Therefore, this shadow pot factory has a guaranteed customer base across MULTIPLE GAMES. While it may be true that the individuals involved in this operation may die between games, the operation may still live on. Perhaps it is a family-run thing; this could be their specialty.
We could go even further and say that this family uses both Link and Ganon as puppets. They create problems, which may result in pots being broken due to these problems, and then they will create a hero, who will then, in addition to solving the problem, break some merchandise. In the meantime, the NPCs are left helpless; the only thing they can do is replace their pots.
Think of all the rupees that this family has made over time! They probably *own* Hyrule; the royal family might just be renting the castle from this family.
While I may not be able to give the name of the family involved, I do have a bit of a lead...
I heard from an owl that cartographers also enjoy pottery.