At the start of The Wind Waker, Link is informed by Rito postman, Quill, that all across the sea young girls are being taken to Forsaken Fortress, where they are never heard from again. This knowledge acts as the young Link’s call to action, inspiring him to set off in search of his recently kidnapped little sister, Aryll. She is, unfortunately, not the only girl to have been taken to Forsaken Fortress. Several other families across the Great Sea also had a young girl stolen from them. One of these girls, Maggie, has a rather interesting time during her stay at the Forsaken Fortress, leading to her receipt of a letter with some strange details inside.
When Link first arrives on Windfall Island, a poor man will go out of his way to chase Link down to beg him for help finding his daughter, Maggie, as he doesn’t have the money to pay for anyone else to rescue her. Later in the game, Maggie will return home with many expensive necklaces in tow, which her father sells to make their family rich. This results in the two of them living in the expensive home on Windfall for the rest of the game. Maggie acquires these necklaces from the Moblin she meets at the Forsaken Fortress who goes by the name ‘Moe’. This Moblin is apparently infatuated with her, and she happens to share his feelings. However, after returning from the Fortress, she sits in her home on Windfall feeling very depressed.
Eventually, Maggie will enlist Link’s aid and attempt to contact Moe. Though it struggles to find its way to her, Maggie will eventually receive a letter from Moe. This letter is covered in Hylian text and stamps reminiscent of Moblin snouts, both clearly legible on the texture for the game object. In it, Moe expresses his desire to eat Maggie because he “likes her”, though oddly enough the letter is not actually signed by him. The name, written in Hylian, on the bottom of the letter reads “Moblin.” This could be out of a desire to avoid translation inconsistencies, but players will notice the envelope itself is addressed specifically to Maggie, using her name. What’s more, this event can only occur after Valoo has rid Forsaken Fortress of its evil encampment, meaning there should be no Moblins left at the Fortress to receive her letter.
At the end of the day, this is just a funny little side quest; but it’s worth noting that Moe’s response letter is obviously very suspicious. All of these little details make for a very odd circumstance, made worse when Maggie interprets this letter as a marriage proposal and declares her intention to reunite with Moe (though she is currently being impeded by her father). The fact that the name Moe is not mentioned anywhere on the card also gives me pause, and that’s not even mentioning the fact that the letter expresses a desire to eat Maggie. It’s all likely a joke about a young girl becoming infatuated with an obviously dangerous creature (but we should recall that Moe did also help her become rich). The situation is so torn between sweet and dangerous, it’s hard to get a read on the intent. Either way, I hope Maggie eventually finds happiness, with or without Moe.
