Was he? Even Zagato was unsure what sort of effect the battle he had fought had on him to say nothing of discovering himself powerless, without even the will to stand. He couldn't give Link a proper answer but perhaps a small explanation would suffice.

"I was in a battle before I arrived here."

Where ever here was. All he knew at the moment was, "There was a strange voice which pulled me away from my death."

Or right before his death, anyway he highly doubted he would have survived that final attack if it hadn't been for that voice.