It must be frustrating to be Link and Zelda. Time after time, no matter how much they try, evil always threatens Hyrule, and our heroes must rise to meet it. While that never-ending cycle of Demise’s curse is great for providing fans with a logical reason for why we can have countless new Zelda games, it must be murder on the motivation of the series’ protagonists.
To be able to wake up and do what’s right despite the fact that everything will just reset and ask you to do it all again is both Sisyphean labor and a struggle worthy of the virtues of power, wisdom, and courage.
Obsessive-compulsive disorder (or OCD) is often characterized comically in television and film by characters who have to wash their hands repeatedly or touch a specific object in any room they enter. Their brain tells them that they are in mortal danger if they don’t fulfill their compulsion to do those things, and rather than explain that and inspire sympathy in their audience, Hollywood often plays it off for laughs.
Like many things, OCD cannot be so easily categorized. While some people do struggle with a near-constant compulsion to do things that their rational brain knows are of no real consequence but their emotions tell them are vital, others’ struggle with OCD is more internal. They struggle with a near-constant stream of negative thoughts more insidious than any bully. These thoughts run like a stream throughout their minds, surging and quieting at times but always tearing through their self-confidence and feelings of worth. This is the type of obsessive-compulsive disorder I struggle with.
At the end of Skyward Sword, the villainous Demise turns a triumphant moment into one of despair when he curses Link and Zelda with his final breath: “An incarnation of my hatred shall ever follow your kind, dooming them to wander a blood-soaked sea of darkness for all time!” Link’s moment of triumph has been stained with Demise’s curse just as Demise’s evil essence is contained in the beautifully forged Master Sword.
Demise’s curse gutted me when I first beat Skyward Sword. It felt too real, too similar to the oppressive negative thoughts that haunted me constantly. Despite years of therapy and countless attempts at implementing various strategies to manage and work through these obsessive thoughts, they still ravaged me at times. As Demise cursed Link, this dark shadow in my mind, my own Dark Link, told me that I was cursed too. It whispered about how I’d never be free of it. I would always be plagued by these thoughts. I was a bad person. As bad as Demise’s curse was, I was a worse curse upon those around me.
While I knew all of those thoughts were nonsensical lies, I was so afraid that they could be true that I withdrew into myself. I knew I shouldn’t. I’d practiced confronting the obsessive thoughts and disregarding them in therapy. I knew I shouldn’t dwell on them, but I did, and for the next week or two, I combatted them. They would berate me, and I would confront them and try to puzzle out in my brain how they weren’t true, and seconds later, they would return and the self-destructive cycle would begin again.
Living with my OCD felt very much like how I imagine Link and Zelda could have felt. They could live each day in fear, preparing for Demise’s curse to crash upon them. They could despair over the lingering threat that hung over their heads and never enjoy the beautiful life that they’d been blessed with. That was not their way, though.
Link would not cower in fear, and Zelda would be smart enough to see through the darkness to the truth of what the Zelda series is about: No matter how many times darkness rises, you must always have the courage to rise to face it, the wisdom to choose the right path forward, and the power to keep going when all seems lost.
When I look back at Skyward Sword today, I no longer find myself haunted by Demise’s final words. They’re just words. Just as Link had the courage to face danger after danger and keep going, I did too.
I continued to implement those strategies I had been taught. My obsessive thoughts knocked me down at times, but I got back up. I shared my struggles with those around me and leaned on them when times were tough because everyone needs a Zelda, Impa, or Groose to get them through. The curse of my OCD still resurrects like a demon lord to haunt me at times. It will never be completely gone, but rather than feeling like a curse that dooms me, Link and Zelda have taught me that it’s just one more time when I have to rise.
