For all of the ways that the Zelda series is a hopeful adventure game for all ages, it can also get really dark. Any discussion of this inevitably sees the usual suspects filed in: The arising feeling of dread throughout Majora’s Mask’s Clock Town, the torturous imagery and nightmare fuel of Ocarina of Time’s Shadow Temple, and the post-apocalyptic wanderings of Breath of the Wild. Often left out of this discussion is Zelda II: The Adventure of Link which contains its own litany of spine-tingling moments. Exploring a town only to find yourself beset by invisible enemies, squinting to see the tiniest movements of enemies creeping towards you in the dark, and Ganon’s chilling laugh in the game’s infamous game over screen all help create a pervasive sense of inevitable failure and death that is only exasperated by the incredible difficulty. Even this list of dark details leaves out one that is only found in the instruction booklet: the life and sleeping death of Princess Zelda. It’s a tale of greed, betrayal, and sadness that artist PakaruMar captures in their haunting art titled “The Forgotten Princess.”
From the very first moment in which the player steps into the role of Link in this game, they are met with the slumbering Princess Zelda. Cursed because she refused to tell her royal brother where the Triforce of Courage was hidden and left to sleep eternally in a temple with little to no memory that she even existed, this princess has indeed met with a terrible fate.
Looking at PakaruMar’s art, one of the first figures to pay attention to is the coffin-like pedestal that the princess is laying on. The slumbering royal lays on a flat surface covered by a clear cover very reminiscent of other princesses like Snow White and Aurora who also found themselves afflicted by magically induced naps. The fact that there are flowers both on top of the case and surrounding the pedestal ties this place even more to death. The princess has been asleep long enough that her story has become no more than a forgotten legend. She may as well be dead and flowers are placed by the few who do recall the princess’s sacrifice just as those who have lost a loved one often pay their own respects with some beautiful blooms for the deceased.
The lighting adds to the sense of sadness and death because, despite the resting place being open to the air, the sunlight in the art never reaches the casket. It sits shrouded in darkness, forgotten by all but Impa who likely places the flowers. What little light approaches it only serves to cast shadows from the pillars of the building which stretch toward the symbolic prison bars reminding us of the brave royal’s incarceration in slumber.
In contrast to the gloom of the casket, the environment outside the temple is very beautiful and bright. The princess’s casket has a view of the lands and lakes of her kingdom, the kingdom that she safeguarded against the wicked manipulations of an evil magician and her power-hungry brother all those years ago. She paid the price for her brother’s greed and foolhardiness, and even in sleeping death, she still keeps watch over her land.
A final aspect of this art that also serves to provide a message of hope is the emblem of the Triforce of Courage found at the foot of the sleeping princess’s resting place. It doesn’t appear here in the game, but its inclusion by PakaruMar links this Zelda to courage. Despite her brother’s insistence, she was the member of the monarchy who stood bravely against her own blood to do what she knew was right. Her brother had not yet shown the balance of wisdom and courage required to hold the Triforce, so she kept her father’s words revealing the relic of courage’s location a secret despite the cost of the rift between her and her sibling that eventually led to her eternal rest. Princess Zelda from The Adventure of Link is often overlooked possibly due to the game’s own status as the odd one out in the series and its difficulty that borders on masochism. Despite that, PakaruMar’s art reminds us of the tragedy of what befell her and celebrates her courage that saved her kingdom just as many princesses bearing her name have done after her.
