There’s so many ways to interpret this, but it’s just really great sound design from Nintendo. The music tells a story and gives some insight into a silent protagonist with a simple connection to another musical track, it’s so cool. Credit to @miiyashei.bsky.social for sharing the info originally!

They lurk around every corner in Hyrule, and are one of the few things that survived over the 100 years alongside Link. In Master Mode theres even one on the great plateau! The high pitched, high tempo anxiety coded music represents that traumatic “rush” of memories compared to the original track

It’s essentially the “PTSD theme” for Link, but, in an extremely literal way. The entire fate of Hyrule rested on his shoulders, when the guardians became infected they destroyed Hyrule town the rest of the castle as Ganon took over. The Guardians were the catalyst to Hyrule’s (and Links’s) downfall

The Guardians are a memory for Link, but unlike the other memories, the Guardians are a reminder of all his failures. His inability to prevent the calamity, his failure to protect Zelda, and a constant admonition that the Guardians are what caused his 100 year stay at the shrine of resurrection