When the ethereal Sages attempted to execute the former Gerudo King of Thieves, the Triforce of Power activated within him for reasons unknown (possibly because the Triforce may be split amongst its predestined holders across all time if it is ever split apart), and he broke free of his bonds. After seemingly killing one of the Sages and threatening the others with the same fate, the remaining Sages activated the nearby Mirror of Twilight, sending Ganondorf away into the prison world of the Twilight Realm. There, he would influence the wicked Twili known as Zant a century after his banishment to the realm, encouraging Zant to use what power he would be granted by Ganondorf to seize control of the Twilight Realm and then invade Hyrule. Though Zant invades Hyrule and Ganondorf’s spirit is released from the Twilight Realm, Link arises to once again answer the call for the salvation of the kingdom from evil. Both Zant and Ganondorf are seemingly killed, restoring peace to both Hyrule and the Twilight Realm. The true ruler of the Twili, Princess Midna, shatters the Mirror of Twilight as she is using it to return home in order to prevent similar tragedies from befalling either world, closing off the only known road between the two worlds.

Next we have Spirit Tracks, the latest game that came out in 2009 in what is supposedly the “Adult Timeline” established at Ocarina of Time’s ending. In this story, we learn that Tetra (Princess Zelda), her pirates, and Link all eventually discovered a new land in which to re-establish the kingdom of Hyrule, which they were searching for when we last saw them at the end of Phantom Hourglass in 2007. This game takes place roughly a century following the events of Phantom Hourglass and the re-founding of Hyrule by Tetra and Link. In the back-story of the game, we learn that the land that would become the successor Hyrule was once terrorized by a powerful enemy, the Demon King Malladus. The Spirits of Good, who presided over the land and acted as mankind’s guardians, waged a protracted war with Malladus for control of the land, causing much death and destruction before the Spirits exhausted their powers to trap Malladus’ essence deep underground and seal his prison with the titular Spirit Tracks that would span across the land and the great Tower of Spirits that stands at the center of the kingdom. In the present, the kingdom’s shady Chancellor, Cole, secretly seeks to release Malladus and return him to power. To do this, Cole causes the Spirit Tracks to vanish by means of tainting the four temples that provide the energy that runs through the tracks to the Tower of Spirits and keeps Malladus’ shackles intact. Eventually the Chancellor’s plan is revealed to the new Link and Princess Zelda, Tetra’s descendant. Cole reveals his devilish nature and abducts the Princess’ body, separating her spirit from it in order to use it as a vessel for Malladus’ essence. Ultimately, the duo perseveres and succeeds in destroying both Cole and Malladus to restore peace to the kingdom by the conclusion of the story.

This leaves one to ponder a simple yet pivotal question: where does the series go from here? With the series’ greatest villain, Ganondorf, supposedly dead in both timelines (turned to stone and drowned beneath the sea in The Wind Waker and run through with the Master Sword in Twilight Princess) and the setting of Hyrule once again present for both timelines, it remains to be seen what direction the series creators will take it now. However, we now know one concrete fact that will have implications for both timelines for the first time since Ocarina of Time (previously the only game confirmed to have a place in both timelines) with the announcement of the heavily anticipated Skyward Sword, the first game made exclusively for the Nintendo Wii (Twilight Princess having originally been a Gamecube project ported to the Wii), and its confirmed placement in the timeline, which has been confirmed to take place an unspecified amount of time before Ocarina of Time.

The game supposedly reveals the origins of the Master Sword, originally known as the titular Skyward Sword, and is confirmed to include Link and Princess Zelda (these incarnations of the characters preceding those seen in Ocarina of Time and thus making them some of the earliest confirmed incarnations of these characters chronologically). When asked if Ganondorf would make a return, the game creators refused comment, neither confirming nor denying that Ganondorf could have a role in the game. However, as Ganondorf was an established middle-aged being at the time of Ocarina of Time and this game is confirmed to take place an unspecified amount of time before the events of that game, the answer to this question remains in limbo for the time being.  A key to determining the answer to this question could come in the form of an idea of exactly how many years Skyward Sword precedes Ocarina of Time. If this amount is small, such as a few decades, it is conceivable that Ganondorf could at the very least make an appearance as a younger version of himself. However, if this game follows precedent (as many of its predecessors have done) and takes place decades or even centuries before Ocarina of Time, this would seem to decrease the chances that Ganondorf could be involved in the game as this would be before his time.

Given this information, I think many would agree that the driving force for the story of any game is the game’s villain and the quality of that villain. Ganondorf has proven to be an immensely popular villain, exemplified by his constant reappearance throughout the series in both his humanoid form (Ganondorf) and his demonic alterego, Ganon. However, given the uncertain status of Ganondorf’s involvement, this leaves one to wonder: if the King of Evil is not included in this story, just who will be worthy enough to take his role as the primary antagonist of the story (especially given that this is a major console game)? To be sure, there have been some surprisingly impressive villains that have filled in for Ganondorf at certain points in the main console games since the release of Ocarina of Time, such as Majora, Vaati, and Zant. However, at the end of the day, Ganondorf has overshadowed most all other villains seen in the series and was even the true force behind two of the villains previously listed in two games, Four Swords Adventures and Twilight Princess. If the King of Evil is revealed to be in this game, it will likely be in a plot twist (a la Twilight Princess) or in a cameo, given the game’s placement in the timeline. If on the other hand however he is not the true villain, fans are left with little clue as to who will fill that vacuum.

Considering that this game tells the origins of the Master Sword (which during Ocarina of Time was said to have been enshrined in the Temple of Time for quite some time by that point), I personally think this game may well take place long before Ganondorf’s birth, thus making any chance of an appearance on his part fairly slim.  Though not impossible to imagine given how the designers were able to fit him into the story of Twilight Princess and make it work, I just feel that this game will be set before Ganondorf’s time and thus make an appearance by him more difficult to fit in. I’m at a loss for who could be a compelling villain for this story to be perfectly honest, and considering that the villain of this story will drive the tale of the Master Sword’s origins, he or she would certainly go down in history amongst the other major console villains such as those previously listed. Who do you think could be a fitting replacement for Ganondorf? Are there any villains we have seen before that could fit in with the game’s placement in the timeline, such as Twinrova (400 and 398 years old purportedly during the events of Ocarina of Time)? Is there a chance Ganondorf could indeed still remain the true force behind this game’s events? What do some of you think?

Now that we have discussed Skyward Sword a bit, let us turn our attention back to the two timelines discussed previously. Do you feel that Ganondorf truly died in Twilight Princess, or that his spirit was sealed away somehow by the Master Sword? Now that Malladus is destroyed, what new threats could face the new Hyrule featured in Spirit Tracks? Is it conceivable that Ganondorf could somehow be reincarnated or resurrected to once again menace this new Hyrule as he has been and done in the past? Do you think that the handheld games will stick with the continuation of the “Adult Timeline” as has been done in the last few games? Will the main console games now be relegated to the “Child Timeline” or prior to both since the original Hyrule still exists in that timeline? I’d like to hear some of the fans’ input on what they feel will be the future of the Zelda series and see if some share similar or different ideas of what is to come from what I currently believe.

I’ll be the first one in line to cry out my opinions, and immediately dart for the pitchfork. (An interesting thought, actually, is that taking a pitchfork to one of the said “developers” would develop less bloody violence than what they often put in the games. How’s that for realism?) Personally, I go quite the other way; I think that the more restraint they show when attempting to appease the Halo/Mortal Combat crowd, the better the games will turn out.

Often times, I think that game developers hear the message board crowds shouting “We want more realism in our games!”, and end up gathering the idea that “realism” equals a violent M-rated game. This is a sad misunderstanding. What is meant by the majority of gamers is that they want to have logical concepts in games. Yes, blood is a part of said realism, but a very small one, and even then, only when applied to the normal and appropriate circumstances. It’s like saying that eyes are created for reading. Although that’s true, it’s only a small part of their intended functions, and thus it should be treated as that.

What I’m getting at is that death is one of those realistic realisms that gamers want. They don’t want a simple gore-fest. They don’t want a “You failed. Would you like to continue?” message on their screens. They want to feel the adrenaline rushing through them as they see their health is low, and know that they don’t want to ever see what the effects of their “death” will be.

In the next article, we’ll take a look at what those effects could be, as well as some examples. If you have any ideas as to how death could be made more realistic and emotional (in a serious way), please leave a comment, or write to us at zeldainmypocket@hotmail.com. Why would you want to do this? Because it just so happens that part four will be connected with a Q&A session, and the questions will be non-existent if nothing comes in, right?