I’ve been dabbling in the early Zeldas once more, probably because of the release of Echoes of Wisdom; I’ve been thinking about the developers using what little tools they had to convey the complex ideas and stories that they were trying to tell. This brings me to Zelda II: The Adventure of Link. A flat, 2-D side-scroller that has far more depth than it ought to.
The Adventure of Link has a deeper level of melancholy than the first game, and it leans into familiar fantasy tropes in new and exciting ways. The Princess isn’t just an ideal, nor is she a lone figure. She has a past, a family, and a place in a world disrupted by evil. She is anchored to the world in a deeper way, specifically due to her father.
We glean bits of the lore throughout the game, but one thing is clear— the King is dead.
The King’s Tomb is a location that Link visits in the game. This is the first time a King’s Tomb appears in the Zelda games, adding a bit more gravitas to the mission of saving the Princess. After all, if her father perished then the princess might too.
It’s not a grim nor foreboding place. The grass is green, and the sky is blue, though the old dark masonry is somber. There are some ambiguous adornments, perhaps seahorses and gargoyles or something similar. It is grand compared to other graves throughout the game, but not grand enough to befit a King. But, then again, the land has been without a leader in the absence of the King and Princess.
Of course, the Tomb has its secrets. To the south it hides a secret passage to the Island Palace. Maybe there is even more to it than meets the eye, but we have yet to discover it.
In the Japanese version, the King’s Tomb looks a little different.
The setting is darker, grim, and looks grubby and abandoned. The Tomb has less adornments, and the gravestone a different stone to the rest. It feels more oppressive and depressing. There is less hope here, less sweet melancholy and more danger. The tone is so different with such a few changes; I wonder why the designers felt the need to change this setting for different audiences.
The death of the King continues to take place throughout the series, sometimes with him leaving more guidance for Link and Zelda. But this was the first clear nod to him and giving the Princess a more tragic past. Another small frame, another layer added to our mythos.
