In Link’s quest to find his sister, he ends up meeting two other girls trapped in the Forsaken Fortress: Mila and Maggie. Link manages to rescue both of them and can encounter them later on Windfall Island, each offering a sidequest to complete. While Mila and her sidequest were among my absolute favorites, thanks to how it showed her character growth and ability to overcome adversity, Maggie and her quest just kind of existed.
If I am being honest, I did not like Maggie at first. Between trying desperately to avoid her sniveling father and already loving Mila’s quest so much, I honestly found Maggie underwhelming. However, I still found myself coming back to her, and it was not until years later that I figured out why she stuck with me.
Maggie, at the beginning of the game, is shown in stark contrast to the ostentatious Mila. She is dressed in rags and appears to be living in extreme poverty. She, along with Mila and Aryll, was captured by the Helmaroc King because her ears denoted Hylian blood. Fortunately for Maggie, her kidnapping would prove to be a blessing in disguise.
During her stay, she manages to collect a bunch of Skull Necklaces thanks to a Moblin named Moe, who apparently liked her. When she returns to Windfall, her father sells the necklaces and becomes filthy rich overnight, even taking over Mila’s old house.
This complete role reversal bothered me immensely when I first played The Wind Waker. I did not like how Maggie’s father became just as snobby as Mila’s father was, despite his meager background previously. Sure, I was happy that Maggie now had a comfortable life, but that just left Mila and her father in poverty.
However, I realized on a later playthrough that my dislike of Maggie was actually more aimed at her father rather than Maggie herself.
The second Maggie’s father gains wealth and luxury, he becomes incredibly greedy and cruel. He boasts endlessly about his wealth and looks down on those who he perceives are of a lowers class than him, despite being poor in the past. Even before his wealth, he complains that “having a kidnapped daughter doesn’t get you a single rupee.”
If anything, Maggie exists solely to make her father rich, which makes me feel bad for her.
Maggie is just a normal young girl. She dreams about forbidden love with “wild boys” and rebellion just like many other girls her age. Of course, her “wild boy” happens to be a Moblin, but even then I find her correspondence with Moe to be rather cute, even if there are many miscommunications between the two. It will certainly be an exciting dinner date if Maggie ever manages to leave her overprotective father.
Overall, Maggie is just a normal teenage girl stuck in a lot of odd situations. It is not her fault that her father is kind of a jerk. Who can blame her for craving that Beauty and the Beast kind of romance? And who knows, maybe she will have that happy ending with Moe, provided he does not eat her first.
