Zelda II: The Adventure of Link is a pretty dark game; after all, every time the player loses their last Link vanishing into a pit or under an Iron Knuckle’s blade, they are met with the nightmarish laugh of a gloating, risen Ganon. Yet, even in those moments of defeat, players only find themselves back in the palace in front of a sleeping princess, ready to begin the journey again. In their art, titled “Sleeping Zelda (Zelda 2)”, Hyrule452 literally paints a nightmarish image that reflects the fear of the player’s failure while simultaneously hinting at renewed hope.
This view of the palace where the slumbering princess lies holds many interesting elements. Most of them creating a sense of gothic foreboding more similar to a Castlevania game than a Zelda one. Darkness surrounds the walls and the pillars, the princess lit only by candlelight. The other source of light in the piece filters through two windows, each bearing a cross. While the very old Zelda games did occasionally feature crosses as part of the iconography on their shields, the inclusion of it in this art is interesting.
One reason why this is interesting is because that old imagery is combined with the crest of the Hylian Knights on the pillars. This particular symbol was not a part of the series until A Link to the Past, the next game in the series. The juxtaposition of cross and holy knights lends itself a gothic feeling by implying an almost demonic evil looming within the palace.
Low and behold, the evil presence sits in the center of the frame, haunting the dreams of Zelda and us players. A picture of the infamous game over screen with Ganon hunched over the hero’s body, laughing as the young knight’s blood resurrects his evil form implies an almost vampiric victory. The villain feeds off of the player’s failure. Each death empowering Ganon, giving him the power to rule over Hyrule again. This painting also calls to mind the iconic Phantom Ganon fight where he darted in and out of a painting as he attacked our hero. In a more advanced version of The Adventure of Link, perhaps this could be an end of game boss experience.
For all of the doom and gloom, there is one thing that Ganon forgot that the art reminds us of. Despite the darkness and despair of Link’s death leading to Ganon’s resurrection, Link is also revived with the simple press of the start button. He is even birthed into roughly the same spot where the demonic picture sits: right in front of the princess. In this, Hyrule452 reminds us of the hope of a second try. While Ganon might reappear, laughing with evil intent at our futile attempts, he cannot stop us from rising again. The darkness can only last so long if we refuse to rise, but instead, we try once again to dispel the shadows.
