Despite having been present and very relevant since the very beginning of the series, magic in Hyrule has never really been formally defined, especially when compared to other similar fantasy media. Although Hyrule has it’s fair share of magic items and characters who call themselves mages, details are hardly explored. Some items like Din’s Fire are easier to understand, and characters like Princess Zelda make it where their power is derived from, but what of the villian of Four Sword, Vaati, and his wind magic? Not to mention enemy characters such as the Wizzrobes who seem to have some kind of instictual talent for elemental magic. Well, it just so happens a strange young girl who lives in the Eastern Hyrule of Four Swords Adventures may be able to open a small window to the world of Hyrule’s magic for us.
The Village of the Blue Maiden, a quaint little village in Eastern Hyrule, suffered from a strange chain of disappearances among the children of the village. Thankfully, the heroes of the Four Sword were able to help out and, along the way, ran into a mage named Iris. A novice magician who seems to have somewhat of a reputation as a brat among the people in the village or, at the very least, her teacher.
Turns out Iris had gone missing alongside the other village children and, just like them, found herself in the Dark World. It seems she teleported to the Dark World of her own free will and in her overconfidence, ended up stuck there because she forgot her magic book in the Light World and could not remember the spell to return home. In fact, in her attempt to remember the spell, she only managed to summon a house from the Light World. Iris, along with the rest of the children who were in the Dark World, were all freed thanks to the efforts of the heroes of the Four Sword. Iris did, however, recieve a stern talking to about losing her book.
Iris does reveal some information about the mages of Hyrule, such as using a book to cast spells, the existence of mage apprentinceships, and, most interestingly, the rule that she “isn’t supposed to be nice.” When looking at other magic users in Hyrule, other than Princess Zelda herself, it’s a pretty consistent theme that magic users in Hyrule are considered villians of some sort. Agahnim, Vaati, Yuga, Wizzrobes, even Astor from Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity. Thanks to Iris, we can see learning the art of the villian may just be a part of a mage’s training, and could be why so many magic users in Hyrule turn to evil.
Although I’d love to consider this “villiany training” as a canon fact about Hyrule’s magic world, it is worth mentioning Iris is a character that is met in Four Swords Adventures which is a game that features Vaati, a notorious magician, as the main antagonist. Because of this, it follows that the mages of Hyrule would take his side during this era. Iris’ teacher actually even seems to trust the heroes of the Four Sword based purely on the fact that they released Vaati. Unfortunately, we’re going to have to wait a little longer to learn more about the enigmatic world of magic in Hyrule but, at the very least, we can thank the clumsy mage Iris for giving us a peek.
