I always appreciated the darker elements of Twilight Princess. The story took on a more mature direction, and at several points showed the true extent of what could happen if I failed. The raid on Ordon Village, Kakariko’s invasion, the Zoras being frozen and their queen being publicly executed — these are just a taste of what could befall the world.
By this point, I’d scored a fair number of victories. I rescued Kakariko, beat Lord Bulblin, saved the Zoras, and got my hands on all the Fused Shadows. I was feeling pretty good about myself; I figured that I was ready for whatever the game could throw at me. Zant had been mentioned a few times, but I thought I was all set to take him out. And then he appeared.
Within a few seconds, the man swatted the Light Spirit Lanaryu away, returned Lake Hylia to Twilight, imprisoned Link in his wolf form, and took the Fused Shadows, pretty much undoing all of my hard work in one fell swoop. Just when I thought things couldn’t get worse, he nearly killed Midna. Suddenly, I start to panic.
“Midna’s Desperate Hour” begins playing, and I felt like I was racing against the clock to get Midna to Zelda. I couldn’t believe what had happened: I got knocked down several pegs and now I was moments away from losing someone I had grown very close to throughout the game. At first, I didn’t really care much for Midna; upon first meeting her, it just seemed like she was in this to get things done. However, as the story continued, I found myself becoming more fond of her, and seeing her at death’s door like that — I just couldn’t believe it.
Everyone in Castle Town was either yelling or running away from me while I went through the streets. Honestly, I was appalled: no one stopped to see what was wrong or even seemed to care about the literal dying girl on my back. At that point, I started to see Midna’s perspective on her distaste for the world of light. Even Telma, someone I felt I could rely on, threw us out on our appearance alone.
Despite the setbacks, I powered my way through to Zelda. I was actually relieved to be back in the very catacombs where I was first imprisoned: if I could get to Zelda from here once before, I knew I could do it again, even without Midna being able to help me.
When we finally got to Zelda, Midna started talking about how she truly believed in me and entrusted Zelda to tell me about the Mirror of Twilight. I knew from experience that Midna was a secretive individual and not one to give praise lightly. For her to say all of this and then entrust me with something so significant, I was at a loss for words. She was dying, and all she could think about was how to help me.
From Zelda’s noble sacrifice, Midna was restored to her old self, and our task to go after the Master Sword and find the Mirror of Twilight began. But even when all seemed to be fitting back into place, I couldn’t get those moments out of my head. The incredible music, the atmosphere, the feeling of dread and defeat, it all just weighed on me so much.
I caught a brief glimpse at what would truly happen if I failed, and it only made my resolve to finish the adventure even stronger.
