A common theme in pop culture and literature is the challenge of facing one’s inner demons or fears. Often accomplished while in a vision, dream, cave, or forest, the hero must confront those things that haunt them and hold them back from achieving their full potential. In the Legend of Zelda series, no location more perfectly captures this timeless struggle than the illusionary lake in Ocarina of Time’s Water Temple. There, the Hero of Time is forced to confront and conquer his own dark reflection: Dark Link. In their piece titled “Conquer Yourself,” Morphona invites the viewer to stare deep into the lake and reflect on the struggle Link shares with us all.
The dominant figure in the art is the tree in the center. Upon examination, the viewer notices that it’s a blackened, dead tree devoid of leaves. It gives the ominous plant an otherworldly feeling and makes us question what its appearance really means. Additionally, its branches are also extremely angular and pointy. They look like swords ready to slice through the clouds overhead, causing the chilling rain to fall. It gives a two-fold warning to the hero: He is about to engage in a battle both physical and mental as he is forced to cross blades with the darkness within.
Moving on from the tree, we can see a stormy sky above. Historically, storms often symbolize an internal conflict. While it’s never explicitly stated in the game, it’s easy to see the adult Link being filled with a raging storm of conflicting feelings. He just awoke in the Temple of Time after having lost seven years of his life, losing any innocence he had left in a snap. Not only that, the realm he awoke in was a twisted hellscape of Gannondorf’s dark design; a design that Link himself gave the devilish dictator the tools to create when the Hyrulian youth gathered the Spiritual Stones and opened the Sacred Realm without realizing that that was all part of Ganondorf’s machinations. All this creates a swirling tempest of anger and guilt within the hero that this magical room has manifested above the lake.
After looking at the stormy sky, it’s natural to look at its opposite: the crystalline lake. The lake reflects the majority of the light in the piece and stands in sharp contrast to the deep navies, grays, and blacks of the hurricane above. It also features the reflection of the tree’s trunk and the spectral reflection of Dark Link. What it barely reflects is the storm itself. In nature, lakes often will copy the look of the sky, creating an effect similar to a mirror being held up to a beautiful skyscape. Interestingly, the stormy sky is only minimally reflected in the lake. If the squall represents the tempestuous inner conflict of the Hero of Time, perhaps the mostly clear lake represents the goal that awaits on the other side of the battle with Dark Link. The lake’s surface is calm, peaceful and reflects a great light. It shows a Link who has confronted the darkness inside him and has come out of the fight the victor. He has acknowledged the shadows within, wrestled with them, and accepted that, while he can feel all of the emotions contained in the storm, they will not overwhelm him nor keep him from saving Hyrule.
At times, we all feel swept up in a tempest of our own negative thoughts and emotions. During those moments, it can bring us comfort to remember that the stories of our heroes confronting their dark selves and overcoming is really the tale of humanity doing the same. Just as Link can meet his dark reflection and reconcile it, we can do so, too. This piece by Morphona gives us the chance to meditate on Link’s struggle to conquer himself and use its story to lead us to conquer ourselves.
