The Wind Waker is possibly the greatest game ever made: I will fight everyone who disagrees with me. The music alone makes this game worthy of making this the game of the year every time. The art style? Come on. Revolutionary. The characters? Any game that provides us with the first appearance of the greatness that is Beedle deserves any and all praise it gets.
The thing that has always stuck with me is the story. It’s a Zelda game so the main ingredients are there: You’ve got Link being woken up at the beginning and his life suddenly changing in some giant cataclysmic way. You’ve got Ganondorf trying to muck up Hyrule. Then, of course, there’s Zelda in a hidden form guiding our hero through his trials. The biggest inclusion to break the formula is the boat: The King of Red Lions.
The King of Red Lions eventually reveals himself to be Daphnes Nohansen Hyrule — the first time we see the King of Hyrule in any form, by the by. He forms a strong bond with Link and Zelda in the latter half of the game. This connection, this love, is the center of today’s piece, “Reunited” by YAMsgardenART from DeviantArt.
“Reunited” is a very simple but powerful work of art. It’s a white background with King Daphnes, Tetra, and Link embracing. We also see a single gust of wind in the back, looping, bonding them in the way that it brought them together. The artists coloring choices in this piece are top notch. There is a lot of light coming from behind them, creating soft shadows. The artstyle is very reminiscent of Wind Waker‘s cel-shading while also being noticeably different from the source material.
I’ve always viewed these three as a family– I mean, in a way, Tetra and Daphnes ARE family, but it’s distant. You have Daphnes, the caring father who pushes Link to be strong and Tetra to come into her own. Link, the son-in-law who is a part of the family. Tetra (Zelda), the daughter who takes on the burden of the father. They are separated by time and waters, ending an earthly love too soon in order to save the future. The ending of Wind Waker is just very sad, y’all.
YAMsgardenART also believes that, saying in the description of the piece, “I remember crying at the end.” They created this shortly after the release of the Wind Waker announcement for Hyrule Warriors Legends for the 3DS. “Now, 13 years later,” the artist continues, “their [sic] all reunited in Hyrule Warriors Legends. My eyes are sweating again…”
Looking at this piece, you can see the love that these characters feel for each other. Link has his face buried in Daphnes’ shoulder, Tetra is nuzzling in close, and Daphnes is serene, finally able to be at peace with his newfound family. I can imagine the scene right before this happened: Link and Tetra see him for the first time in years. They run to hug him. No one is tearful. It’s just a serene joy at being together again.
I’m a father of two girls, ages four and one. My one-year-old is just learning to talk, little more than monosyllables repeated. When I pick them up from daycare after eight hours of being apart, this artwork is how I feel. How they feel. This grand moment for the Hyrule’s is replicated on a smaller scale for the Freking-Smiths every day.
And, man, it feels good.
Big thank you to YAMsgardenART for letting me write about this piece. You can check out more of their work at their DeviantArt, Tumblr, or Youtube channel.
