The Legend of Zelda series is known for its many emotional moments, whether they be heartwarming, terrifying, or genuinely joyful. Yeta and Yeto hugging at the end of the Blizzeta boss fight in Twilight Princess always tug at my heartstrings, seeing the moon come crashing down in Majora’s Mask always gives me an overwhelming sense of dread and loss, and, as I’ve written about before, the moment where Link hangs up the Champion’s Photo genuinely made me feel the saddest I ever had for people that didn’t exist.
I wanted to recall one of the most standout moments when I genuinely cried tears of joy and probably felt the most emotional that a Legend of Zelda game had ever made me — until Tears of the Kingdom inevitably does something to break that record, that is. I’ve spoken and praised Age of Calamity before, I absolutely adore the game. I went into it without expecting to complete it 100% because I assumed it would be as tedious as the previous Hyrule Warriors. Fortunately, I found myself truly enjoying it and becoming invested in both the story and the characters. When I was forced to fight and break Terrako, I was honestly heartbroken, as I really loved the little guy.
And then I learned that I could fix him after beating the game. How could I not jump at the opportunity?
I knew that fixing him would mean pretty much doing everything that there was to do and solving everyone’s problems, but I didn’t care. I wanted my egg-shaped boy back. It took hours, and a lot of work, but I finally managed to do it. The absolute euphoria that I felt when finished the last mission and the group finally put him back together? Completely indescribable.
And then when he finally woke up and whistled “Zelda’s Lullaby” one last time, followed by returning to the map screen with that wonderful overworld theme playing? I was crying my eyes out. I was so happy, not only that he was back, but that we had finally, truly won. I know that Age of Calamity isn’t part of the main timeline, but I didn’t care. I still don’t. Just the fact that, at least in some way, we managed to stop the Calamity from happening and save our friends from a terrible fate, filled me with tremendous joy.
