#zeldaxlink

I finished breath of the wild! I have so many zelink/general game feelings and no one to share them with so I have to write them out here!

SPOILERS AHEAD

First off… I LOVE Zelda’s character! In the documentary they talked about how complex she was to develop and boy howdy– it shows! Like the Silent Princess, she flourishes in the wild doing her nerdy science thing and exploring, but in the castle she’s stiff and formal and so uncomfortable in her skin, like how she stumbles over Link’s swearing-in ceremony. I especially love getting to read her thoughts in her journal and field notes. I’ve always loved Zelda in these games but this is the first time I feel like I really truly know her. 

Urbosa says Zelda trains so intensely that she’s even passed out in the freezing cold water of the springs. The king’s journal talks about Zelda studying since she was 7 and it really makes me understand how deep her feelings go in all the memories. She’s felt inadequate for a decade and that has to sting. That’s also different from the other Zeldas in the series who always seem so steadfast and naturally gifted– this Zelda doesn’t know what the heck is going on and I love her for it.

There’s one traveler I ran into who talks about how much she admires Zelda– in my headcanon Link gets very excited to save Zelda, just so he can tell her how much her people respect her.

I LOVE the sidequests involving the legacy of the princess as well. Like the white stallion quest where you tame a descendant of Zelda’s horse and get her saddle and bridle as a reward. Its as if Link misses her so much he has to get everything that once belonged to her so he can feel close to her again– or better yet, be able to replace everything she lost in the calamity. 

But the best sidequest was the one with Kass where you get to hear the story of the court poet who was in love with Zelda (I’m a sucker for a good love triangle provided it doesn’t screw up my OTP) and how Zelda’s love for Link is ultimately what awakened her powers and saved Hyrule. I go to listen to Kass sing that song about her love every evening when I play the game.

I also really love the scene where Zelda puts the Master Sword in the deku tree’s care and asks the tree to pass on a message (which I think we all can guess based on the Kass scene) and he tells her it’d sound better in her voice. I especially love the line the tree says to Link “Her smile is like the sun” and how at the end of the game (if you get all the memories) Zelda gives Link one big beautiful sincere smile. Like, GAH. Nintendo. You are killing me with emotions.

I just wish Link had a little more in the way of reactions in the game. I get they want him to be a blank slate for the player (hence why Link/Mipha people and Link/Zelda people can both be satisfied and mad at the same time– cause they all project what they want to see) but in Zelda’s diary she talks about getting him to open up and bond with her over their struggles… So him interacting with her IS canon– I’d just have liked to see a little more of that for myself. Oh but when the earthquake happened in the memory when Ganon returns he DID reach out and steady Zelda! That little detail gave me the feels.

Overall this game is my favorite thing ever– it reminds me of when I was little and would beat Ganondorf in OoT over and over again so I could see Zelda and watch her and Link interact. I just want to keep playing this game and talk to ALL the NPCs and find out everything in the code about Zelda and Link and then write a million fan fictions and draw a million pictures about it.

I posted about a quest that leads to an npc telling Link that Zelda is in love with him in BotW so here’s the deets for those wondering…. spoilers ahead! 

You have to complete all the shrine quests plus the one regular side-quest offered by Kass the musical birdie. After you also finish the “rehearsal at the warbler’s nest” shrine quest Kass should be back in the Rito Village with his family. 

If you talk to him (I talked to him at night but it might work at daytime too) he tells you about his teacher who was a sheikah poet for the royal court. The poet fell in love with the beautiful princess but she (and I quote) “only had eyes for her appointed knight”. The poet became jealous, but then the calamity happened. As the poet escaped to Kakariko Village he witnessed the knight sacrifice himself to save the princess and saw how her love for the knight awoke her powers. Knowing that she sent the hero to the resurrection shrine and finally understanding the depth of her love for him, the poet spends the rest of his life gathering songs to pass on to the hero to help him in his quest to save the princess. 

Then after all that, Kass reveals he knew Link was the knight the whole time and says he someday wants to meet the princess, to behold her beauty and write her a song. 

And THAT is how zelink (at least on Zelda’s end) was revealed in BotW! That storyline is just begging someone to write a full-fledged fanfic about it.