#like.... how does everyone respond now that calamity ganons been sealed away

[leafmutual]

breath of the wild 2: electric boogaloo where we get to play as link AND zelda as they go around fixing hyrule and tying up the loose ends that didn’t really get tied during the first game. nintendo hire me

[c-aureus]

How I think Hyrule would respond to Zelda's return, after the end of BotW.

Wall of text incoming.

TL;DR: I think they'd be very cruel.

Please remember that these are all only my interpretations and opinions, and should be treated as such.

A while ago, I made a post saying that I do not believe that Zelda or Link should be in any way 'happy' after the end of BotW. Imo, they've both lost too much for that, and I worry that the sequel will not give this grief or loss the focus it deserves.

Now, I plan to expand on that, by explaining my interpretation for how i believe Hyrule would respond to her after her return, which would only further compound their misery.

Now, I'd like to preface this by saying that I actually like BotW Zelda as a character a lot, and that I'm very sympathetic to her.

However... well.

The consequences of her failure are simply too big to ignore imo.

Firstly, as a general overview: Zelda was the ONLY person capable of stopping Ganon. Without her Divine sealing power, there was simply no way for Hyrule to survive Ganon's assault, no matter the preparations, or skill of the warriors. The best example of this is the Champions and Divine Beasts. They were all the best of the absolute best, and yet none of them were able to survive Ganon's assault, simply because they were not Divinely favoured to succeed, the way that Link and Zelda were. Even despite their incredible skill, prowess and dedication. There are other examples too, notably the fall of Hyrule's military outposts, and the annihilation of central Hyrule's civilisation and infrastructure.

To put it simply, with Zelda's power, they won. Without it, all of the preparations were for naught, and everyone would die. Zelda herself even says as much in a cutscene in AoC.

(Also, as a side note, in all of those levels in AoC where you relieve the Akkala Fortress, Great Plateau, and Hateno fort, remember that in BotW, they all fell, and the soldiers would have been slaughtered.)

So, in light of that...

The fact that Zelda only unlocked her power after it was already too late means that I don't believe that the shattered remnants of Hyrule's civilisation would be kind or sympathetic to her.

Link and Zelda were literally born by divine influence to protect Hyrule from Ganon. And, well...

Again, my point comes down to the fact that Zelda only unlocked her power after it was too late for the Champions, Link, and thousands of other Hyruleans who had either already been killed, or who would later die in the aftermath.

Now, again, I'm HIGHLY sympathetic to Zelda here. Indeed, she had lived her entire life with this Sword of Damocles hanging over her.

However. The sword fell.

And, crucially, Zelda avoided it, whilst it went on to kill literally thousands of others. They all died for Zelda's failure, whilst she herself survived.

Furthermore, those 'lucky' ones who did survive had to live in BotW Hyrule, which, if I'm being honest, is an absolute wasteland. So, so much was lost in the Calamity, the land was overrun by monsters, and even the tiny remaining pockets of civilisation suffer. I could go on for hours about how infrastructure, agriculture and trade were all annihilated, but I'll try to refrain for brevity's sake.

The long and short of it is that Hyrule is fucked.

I think my worry about this comes from BotW's post credit scene where Zelda tells Link that she thinks that if everyone works together, they can rebuild, and make Hyrule better than it was before.

And, this line really annoyed me. Because, quite simply, Hyrule has simply lost too much to rebuild. Infrastructure, agriculture, trade, population... Hyrule would be reeling for generations after Link and Zelda's death. To expect any kind of quick recovery is just... foolish beyond words.

(Another side note: I'm extremely grateful to AoC showing just how developed Hyrule is pre-Calamity. It helps give scale and scope to the devastation in BotW even more.)

So, Zelda's naive optimism here annoyed me. However, far more than that, there is another issue that this overlooks:

Namely, I cannot fathom why anyone in Hyrule would want to follow her, or would accept her as their sovereign.

Now, this is going to get extremely cruel to Zelda, and that saddens me, because I like her. This is just what I think the realistic response would be to her, given the circumstances, because people are cruel and like easy targets of blame. There are many examples of this kind of blaming behaviour in history, if anyone wants to look, lol. So apologies in advance:

BotW tells us through the memories that Zelda's reputation is AWFUL Pre-Calamity. Rhoam says that the people call her 'Heir to a Kingdom of Nothing' etc.

Now, perhaps poor parenting aside, this gives more context. Do you really believe that the 'lucky' few survivors of Central Hyrule would be kind, given that Zelda fulfilled their terrible expectations in the WORST possible manner?

No. I believe that that generation, which already disliked her, would spend the rest of their lives cursing her failure, and the death and destruction that came as a consequence. And, they would pass that down to their children and grandchildren.

This comes to another point: Zelda is (for the most part) out of living memory. The only thing Hyrule knows of her is her failure to prevent the land from being devastated. Furthermore, the 4 tribes of Hyrule might even have a decent cause to blame her for the deaths of the Champions.

(Cause and effect are tricky, but well... people are irrational. Maybe if Zelda had unlocked her power straight away, the Champions still would have died. However, perhaps they could have held on long enough for Link and Zelda to force Ganon to recall his Blights to protect himself, as he does in BotW if you attack him without liberating the Divine Beasts. Who is to say? The point is, people get hung up on these kind of 'what ifs', as I am doing right now, lol.)

I'd like to make a special mention of the Zora here, who not only have Zelda (and all of her failures and inadequacies) in living memory, but are also xenophobic towards Hylians.

We see how they blame Link in BotW, after all. I think that they would feel similarly to Zelda, who is 'technically' more deserving of blame.

From a Zora-centric perspective, Zelda may as well have stolen Mipha from them, to make her take the fall for Zelda's failures. She literally set Mipha up to die, she sacrificed Mipha on the altar of her own survival, etc.

To elaborate: Princess Zelda personally requested Mipha, the beloved Crown Princess of the Zora, to become Champion. Despite Dorephan's hesitance, he allows it. Then, Zelda fails her, and Mipha dies in the Calamity that Zelda failed to prevent, but also that Zelda manages to survive.

Like... as harsh, cruel, and unfair as this is to poor Zelda... do you think that the Domain, which is STILL mourning Mipha a century later, would just... wave that away?

Now... how much Zelda is truly to blame for the Calamity is another matter, one that I will explore in a post hopefully shorter than this one. Suffice to say, I have many opinions, and some of the conclusions are perhaps unkind to her, which only further justifies my interpretations of Hyrule's blame, and Zelda's guilt and grief.

The point is that... Hyrule would see an easy target to dump their grief on. And I I don't believe they would just let it go.

Furthermore, Zelda has no political influence anymore. She can't force anyone to listen to her, or obey her commands, since all of that was destroyed in the Calamity. Moreover, with Zelda's reputation being that of colossal failure, I doubt that anyone in Hyrule would wish to submit to her, to give her the chance to fuck everything up again.

God. I feel really horrible typing all of this out, lol. And yet, I genuinely believe that this would be the reaction to her. So, if in the sequel, everything is being rebuilt and everyone is totally happy with Zelda, well...

I'm gonna be very upset. Because, in my opinion, if all of Hyrule just forgave Zelda's failures, and ignored their disastrous consequences, that would be extremely unrealistic.

As much as this headcanon hurts, and would hurt me to see, I'd be very vindicated by it, lol.

If anyone has any opinions, feel free to let me know.

Just please keep everything civil lol. This is only a random person on the internet's opinion.

[skyumoon]

Malice Palace

Whump made at 4 a.m.

-0-0-0

They landed in wild's hyrule again, this time. Right next to the colosseum ruins, It wasn't long before they noticed the white Lynel roaring and charging straight for them.

"MOVE" Screamed legend

Everyone barreled to the side, everyone except for wild. The links watched in horror as wild played on the ground waiting for the lynel to rampage.

"WILD" Screamed hyrule

The lynel swung low, barely missing wild, he looked down and sound downward. Wild took out his royal guards sword, now adjusted by zelda to be exactly like the master sword, just not able to seal away the darkness. He swung up and sliced the lynels neck. Blood dripped as the lynel roared, wild rolled away and mounted the lynel as he switched to a savage lynel sword and struck down on the head, and jumped off to pull out a savage lynel bow with five fire arrows locked on. Releasing it, we continued this cycle until the lynel had vanished into purple and black smoke. Leaving with only a scratch, he collected the minerals, jewels, and weapons.

"Why did you do That?!" Screeched twilight as he shook wild

"They were controlled by calamity ganon, but now that he's gone. They're free to leave, but they resign their place until a traveler appears. And they won't stop until they kill them."

"THAT WAS SO COOL!"  Wind called

Four and wind stares in awe, they quickly ran toward wild to check out his fresh weapons. But they didn't notice the goop called malice itching in front. Wild snaps his head for the two in joy but that joy quickly turned to horror

"WATCH OUT!" Wild Yelled

To late, wind and four fell in. The malice stung their skin being burned as their insides were being torn. Suffocating as they closed their eyes

The links were about to rush in but wild stopped them

He reaches his hand into the malice and feels around, until he finally feels a solid thing, he grabs it with both arms so deep in that his face is close to the malice, yanks him up.

"GET HIM TO THE LAKE"

They grab wind and start rushing him to the lake, wild feels around, feeling nothing he does the stupidest thing ever. He goes in deeper, so deep that his entire upper body is in the malice. He feels four and starts to drag himself out with four clutched close.

Ever wonder how the links survive the craziest stuff? With hylia's blessing they are immune to being turned into something by curse. Like how time was able to make to the kokiri village without turning into a Deku scrub or skull kid. And how Wild was able to walk on malice with sinking and being taken over. But the other links aren't immune to something out of their hyrule, if any other link except for time got stuck in the lost woods they would become a stalfos or Deku scrub. 

Wild breathes out heavily, malice was suffocating, like concrete. He walks to the lake and jumps in, feeling the malice evaporate. He walked out to see wind and four still unconscious but no malice on them.

"Wild, what In the name of hylia was that?!" Legend practically yelled at him

Sky sent a quick glare to legend

"Malice, it can corrupt anything-"

"EVEN US?" Hyrule screeched

"Well yes-"

"Then why were able to stick in it with our a problem?" Warriors questioned

"It doesn't affect me, I guess while I was in the shrine of resurrection I was soaked in some anti malice liquid"

"Okay, but how do we save them?"

"POTIONS!" 

"That won't do anything, my horse once got corrupted in malice and I gave it some potions, it didn't do anything but buy time"

"Can you help the-" twilight was cut off

"Well yes but no, I can save one"

"Why only 1?"

"My secret, we're running out of time"

"Give both of them a potion."

The rest panicked as they rummaged through their bags for potions.  Wild on the other hand was chanting a few words. And on the spot a god Barrier was surrounding him and the 2 unconscious links

Forgive me, but i kind need help

Little guy, you don't need to do the ol' traveler chant

Well yes, daruk is right. But by now mipha would have said hi

Indeed she has been

Sorry, it just. The scent of malice is overwhelming

That would be my two problems. Who do I save?.

BANG BANG

Little guy, the big man keeps hitting my barrier

Uh- quickly who do I save

The younger one, he still has a life to live. If they're the same age then it is up to you.

I agree with urbosa for once, youths have much to see. 

I guess I'll-

BANG BANG

Alright wind, don't die on me right now

Wild held a hand over wind chest a faint blue glowed with certainty that he would be healed. The light was so blinding not even wild couldn't keep his eyes open. The barrier broke as time smashed it open wild was thrown back as it was now his will that was connected daruk's protection. so it technically isn't daruk's protection.

"What happened?" Wind asked

"You and four were corrupted" responded twilight

"GET AWAY FROM FOUR" screamed wild from the middle of lake

"The other links were confused, until a smoke of black and magenta shrouded everything insight. Wild watched in horror as he knew the outcome. He can only save one person, but that link could easily be corrupted again. And doing it too many times could kill him.

"GUYS!"

-0-0-

The links coughed and inhaled the smoke only to cough it out, the cycle continued as more malice started to form in their bodies. Until they passed out, wild swan back to the shore to check up on them.

GODDESSES DAMMIT NO

Foreign let out a demonic laugh as he ran away to joyfully murder. But four got ahold of his body and headed to the nearest sheikah village that could help him. Being kakariko, he glided to kakariko.

See, malice doesn't just corrupt you into an evil being. It enhances your bare strength but numbs your intelligence. Ever wonder why bokoblins aren't as smart as lynels? Not only are they created different but bokoblins are actually capable of dodging. But oh boy malice

[botwriter]

Rewritten, Chapter 8: Father and Daughter

Read this on Fanfiction.net  ➜

“Let me ask you once more - when will you stop treating this as some childish game?”

Link grimaced, keeping his eyes focused on the ground, though there was a fire in them that he knew he could not let the King see.

“I’m doing everything I can. I’ll have you know, I just recently returned from the Spring of Courage where I offered every ounce of my prayers to the Goddess-”

“And now you are here, wasting your time!” the King snapped, “you need to be dedicating every moment you have to your training. You must be single-minded in unlocking the power that will seal Calamity Ganon away!”

-

♪

Days later, Link had been invited to walk with Zelda through the castle; to see the Guardians and the Sheikah that were working on controlling them. It was one of the first times he had gotten the opportunity to spend time with her within Hyrule Castle, so he jumped at it, and met her early in the morning near her chambers. Two guards were there, as usual - including Julian. But he remained silent now, and Link didn’t feel any sort of resentful look coming from behind his helmet.

He didn’t wait long before Zelda left through the doors, wearing a dress, one Link hadn’t seen her in since the Knighting ceremony. It evoked a new emotion in him now than it did before; she was a fantastic explorer, but made a beautiful Princess, as well.

“Let’s be off,” Zelda said happily, grabbing Link’s hand and heading up the stairs. He was taken aback at her suddenness, but went along anyways, as she toured him through the hallways.

“I guess… you’ve never seen much of this part of the castle, have you?” she said suddenly, finally letting go of his hand once they were past the boundaries of the Royal Quarters.

“No,” he replied, voice shaking a little from the sensation of her hand in his. “It’s… huge.”

“Yes… a bit much,” she laughed, shaking her head as they made their way towards one of the towers. “But it does allow me a good amount of space, including my own study. Despite Father’s annoyance at my being such a scholar, he allowed me that much.” Her voice fell a little, and Link wasn’t sure whether to console her or not. As much as he was loyal to her, her father was his King, and anything other than complete obedience was blasphemy for a knight.

“No matter. I don’t think we’ll run into him. Oh- here we are-” she ran a few steps ahead of him, out into the sunlight shining down on an outdoor passage. Leaning over the edge, the two of them could see a Guardian down below, lit-up, and walking with its long spider-like legs between a few members of the Sheikah tribe.

“I think Robbie is down there… he’s young, but our head Guardian researcher,” Zelda said with a smile. Link nodded, recognizing the slightly eccentric hair of one of the Sheikah men. He had a personality to match, but had always gotten along well with Link, whenever the two of them ran into each other.

“Incredible… we’re at a point now where we can actually control them. At the current rate, we’ll soon know all we need to know about the Guardians and the Divine Beasts! And, should Ganon ever show itself again, we’ll be more than positioned to defend ourselves,” she added excitably, turning to look at Link. He nodded in response, but a new presence distracted him.

“What are you doing out here, Zelda?”

The two of them turned to look at the source - King Rhoam was walking towards them, two guards trailing behind him. Link immediately lowered himself to one knee, dipping his head in respect, and hoped he wasn’t considered out of place for being somewhere so… confidential. At least he was with her. Zelda stepped a little in front of him, and he could see her arm drop to her side, but the girl made a fist in resolve as she explained herself.

“I was assessing the results of the experiments with the Guardians. These pieces of ancient technology could be quite useful against the-”

“I know that,” the King interrupted her, sounding impatient. “They are essential to Hyrule’s future, and our research demands that we keep a close eye on them. However, as the Princess, you currently have a crucial and unfulfilled responsibility to your kingdom.”

Zelda let out a frustrated and saddened breath, that only Link could hear, but he could tell the lecture she was going through now was only one of many. He hated having to sit quietly and listen to her being scolded. It was likely embarrassing for her.

“Let me ask you once more - when will you stop treating this as some childish game?”

Link grimaced, keeping his eyes focused on the ground, though there was a fire in them that he knew he could not let the King see.

“I’m doing everything I can. I’ll have you know, I just recently returned from the Spring of Courage where I offered every ounce of my prayers to the Goddess-”

“And now you are here, wasting your time!” the King snapped, “you need to be dedicating every moment you have to your training. You must be single-minded in unlocking the power that will seal Calamity Ganon away!”

“I already am!” Zelda replied, but her voice was weak compared to the booming anger of her father���s. “Don’t you see, there’s- there’s nothing more I can do! My hope… my hope is that you will allow me to contribute here, in any way that I can, so-”

“No more excuses, Zelda! Stop running away from your duty. As the King, I forbid you to have anything to do with these machines from this moment on… and command you to focus on your training.” Rhoam was clearly done; he had had enough of her speaking back to him, and turned away to look at the Guardian down below.

“Do you know how the gossip mongers refer to you? They are out there at this moment whispering amongst themselves… that you are the heir to a throne of nothing. Nothing but failure.”

Link struggled to stay silent. He wanted to tell Rhoam for himself how hard his daughter was working, how much she cared for Hyrule, how dedicated she was; but he had no choice but to stay silent, embarrassed that he was present to listen to their dispute. King Rhoam, generally known to be a hearty and jovial man, was clearly dreadfully worried about Calamity Ganon returning, and as far as Link saw it, was taking it out on his daughter.

“It is woven into your destiny that you prove them wrong. Do you understand?”

He turned now, to look at her one last time, and Zelda dipped her head slowly.

“Yes. I understand.”

Without another word, he turned and walked away, and Link remained motionless until he was sure the King was out of sight. When he looked up, Zelda had begun to walk away, back towards the Castle.

♪

“Zel- Princess,” Link stammered, quickly getting to his feet and following her. He couldn’t be alone up here, not as just a Knight; the guards would take far too much pleasure in kicking him out.

“I’m sorry, Link, that you were there to hear that,” she said, her voice cracking as she walked hurriedly through the halls. He could tell she was breaking down, and didn’t want him to see, but when they came to an empty hallway he reached forward for her hand and held her back. She stopped, but kept her gaze on the ground, and didn’t look back at him. He could feel her trembling.

“How can he be so blind? I’m - I’m working so hard, I’m constantly - constantly trying to make sense of this world, and how to save the Kingdom from Calamity Ganon-” her voice broke on Ganon’s name, and Link held her hand tighter. She turned, pushing her face into his chest and breaking down into sobs. Tentatively, he put his other hand on her shoulder, and dipped his face into her hair. His heart was breaking for her.

“I mean - I can travel to the Spring of Power, but I know nothing will happen. Nothing ever happens! Hylia must look at me with disdain, though I pray to her day and night, for her to still hold this back from me. It’s all I need to fulfill my purpose,” she cried, squeezing his hand and beginning to soak through his shirt with tears.

“Goddesses. I’m sorry, Link,” she said quickly, pulling back from him and looking up at him with incredibly sad green eyes. “It’s no use crying. But it’s so hard when… father speaks to me like that, and… usually I just suffer through it alone.”

Link looked back at her, trying not to think about all the times Zelda had been alone, from six years old and onwards, after her mother had passed; alone and knowing that she had a duty to fulfill but not knowing how to do so, not having family or friends to console her, having to be strong - like he did. But even with the sword on his back, he knew now she had gone through worse.

“You don’t have to apologise,” he told her, his voice quiet. “That’s what I’m here for.”

“You say that, but that’s not...  this isn’t part of your duties to me,” Zelda argued, looking at him in a sad confusion. “Why? You should just leave, you don’t need to comfort me. I’m fine on my own!”

“You wanted me to open up to you,” Link replied, a little stung at her suggesting he should leave, “and I- I care too much about you than to leave you alone, right now.”

Link was hoping he wouldn’t regret those words. That it wouldn’t be considered out of place, or unprofessional, or make things worse for Zelda. He looked at her steadily, knowing he couldn’t take back what he’d said. He could do nothing but own up to it. It wasn’t as far as a confession, at least, and he saw Zelda’s expression soften.

“I can’t help feeling like I don’t deserve this sort of… dedication,” she responded, sighing and looking at her feet. Link had already started shaking his head before she finished.

“That’s not true,” he argued, emotions playing with his heart strings. “Besides how - how I feel - you’re important to everyone here,” he stammered, and Zelda looked up quickly at his words, but Link changed the subject.

“I’ll go with you, to the Spring of Power, and the Spring of Wisdom. We can leave for a couple days. For- your birthday,” Link finished. He had spoken urgently at first, but slowed now, knowing the Princess was to turn seventeen in a couple days. Zelda’s expression was hard to read; sadness, curiosity, a glimmer of hope behind her eyes, and finally she spoke.

“You... remembered my birthday?”

“I was there, last year,” Link said resignedly, looking embarrassed, “as one of the knights in your salute. I remembered the date. It was the first time I had really… seen you.”

“Ah,” she realised quietly, the faintest smile growing on her lips, “my sixteenth. Alright. Will you come with me, to help prepare? Your shirt should dry out, anyways.”

Link looked surprised. “Right now?”

“Yes,” Zelda said, turning from him and heading down the hall, so Link followed. “I need to get out of here. There’s no use pouting in my study. We may as well head straight out - if only just to show my father that I am trying.”

He followed her all the way until the doors to her quarters, where two guards were positioned. As she walked past, their spears dropped into a large X, barring Link’s entrance.

“I’ll be here,” he called after her, but when Zelda turned around and saw the spears dropped, she made an exasperated sound.

“Let him in, please,” she said decidedly, and the guards reluctantly lifted their spears to let Link pass. The doors shut behind him. He would have been fine just waiting for her, and felt nervous and awkward entering her room, although there was nothing particularly special or embarrassing about it. She had some cut wildflowers in glass vases throughout the room, windows that looked out onto a wonderful view of Hyrule field, and a desk full of paper and journals that she quickly shut closed as soon as she entered.

“I’m just going to grab a couple changes of clothes,” she muttered to herself, fishing through her drawers as Link stood at the window, admiring the view.

“Here,” she said suddenly, and he turned to catch a tunic that she’d thrown at him. “I always have spare knight tunics here, as the laundry service mixes up their deliveries from time to time. You can change into something… drier that way,” she added, embarrassed, and Link looked down to see the wet stain she’d left on his chest. Not really thinking about it, he pulled off his tunic immediately.

“Also, I was thinking - oh!” Zelda had turned to look at him, not expecting him to be shirtless, and ducked her eyes under her hand. Link looked at her in surprise until he realised what he’d done, and quickly pulled the other shirt on.

“Sorry!” he blurted out, hurriedly grabbing his belt and fastening it around the front. He had to stop feeling so comfortable around her - he was still on duty, after all.

“You just surprised me, is all,” Zelda replied, her cheeks flush with colour. “I’m - going to change quickly, and then we’ll head out. We should reach Akkala by nightfall,” she calculated briefly, then disappeared into the next room. Link sat on the trunk at the edge of her bed, waiting patiently. When she finally came out in her explorer’s gear, and her hair tied back, she had a new look on her face - she was ready.

“Let’s go.”