one thing that’s struck me about the new link is how… cold and clinical his life feels?
link wakes up in the shrine of resurrection.
think about that.
he has no existence outside of his mission. he wakes up, fully grown, and is completely bare and alone. he’s given a little tablet to help him out, and essentially told from his “rebirth” that he’s the light who must save the world.
what’s being implied is that link doesn’t have a childhood in this one.
we don’t know how much memory he has of any previous life, but he wakes up to a hyrule in decay and ruin.
there are monsters everywhere, and the castle in the distance is clearly portrayed as dark and evil, which is usually a big hint that something’s very wrong in a zelda game. the monks in the shrines also imply that ganon is in control.
he’s basically woken up to a life where he has no friends, no companions, no life, darkness rules and he’s alone to stop it.
in the later zelda console games, such as wind waker, twilight princess and skyward sword, there’s always been personal stakes for link – his sister has been kidnapped, or his friends, or the zelda he grew up with.
in this one, he must go out in the world and save it, but not for any personal reasons – it’s because he’s been told that’s the only reason for his existence.
now, these monks in the shrines… they seem like a bit of a parallel.
like link, they have some sort of connection with the sheikah, and the goddess hylia. they spend their time alone, in darkness, until they’re needed to fulfill their sole duty. they wait patiently, endlessly, to fulfill that duty.
once their duty is fulfilled, they just… disappear.
it makes me a little worried, like… what’s gonna happen to this link, once his mission is done?
