As an English teacher, June is always an exciting time for me. It means the end of the school year and laying down all the stresses that come with it, getting to rest and recuperate from the burdens of the year, making summer plans with my family, and it’s waiting with bated breath to see…
Link has wielded some amazing powers throughout the course of the Zelda series. From his frequent favorite blade the Master Sword to the armory of weapons he reclaims from enemy hands in Breath of the Wild to bending the very fabric of time, the hero of Hyrule often finds himself with might that far exceeds…
Forget Link, Zelda, or (gasp) even Kass — the real star of Breath of the Wild is the wild. I don’t know if any game I’ve ever played has made me feel so authentically as if I’m just free to explore nature. In fact, I would even go so far as to say that if…
In most Disney movies, the hero has a moment where everything seems lost and they nearly give up hope. This is usually followed by a rousing musical theme where they realize that they can still come back from this moment of grief. They discover that they can use their greatest gifts and talents to overcome…
One of the beautiful things about Breath of the Wild is that everyone plays it differently. Some players only care about the story objectives while others seek out every Ancient Shrine and Korok. I was a bit of a completionist. During the months after Breath of the Wild’s release, I played obsessively to complete every…
Everyone’s playthrough of Breath of the Wild is unique. Some may take Link to Vah Rudania first while others go to aid the Zora and Vah Ruta. Some players may spend hours finding every shrine and Korok seed while others make a beeline for Hyrule Castle and the waiting Calamity. No matter what decisions the…
Beyond playing the games and reading the manga, one way that my daughter and I share the Zelda fandom is through watching theorists on YouTube. At least once a week, we’ll cuddle up together and watch and discuss any new hypotheses put forth by channels such as Zeltik, NintendoBlackCrisis, and Hyrule Gamer. One afternoon when…
When you see a track titled “Symphony of Wisdom,” you probably expect to just hear a remixed version of “Zelda’s Lullaby.” While that iconic track is featured in “Symphony of Wisdom,” Sam Dillard surprises the listener by tying together multiple, seemingly disparate themes from throughout the Zelda series, not all of which are tied into…
One of our earliest looks at The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild came from the E3 2014 trailer. After a brief moment of peace, the trailer bursts into a nonstop rush of movement as a Guardian pursues the hero, spraying laser fire wildly in an attempt to destroy him. Despite the speed of…
The song “Oath to Order” is only really used once in Majora’s Mask, but this single moment is worthy of great reflection. It is played by Link near the game’s end when he summons the Four Giants from the north, south, east, and west to hold back the rapidly encroaching moon. It’s a song of…
Ever since his first appearance, Ganon has been terrifying. From his original appearance where he attacked you while invisible to the nightmare fuel of his sinister laughter in The Adventure of Link’s game over screen, the porcine perpetrator is constantly there to haunt the gamer’s waking hours. Even the sight of the spectral Dark Beast…
As a character, Zelda often falls victim to the common struggles of the princesses many of us were told about when we were younger. She’s kidnapped, locked away, told to stay away from danger, and assigned unwanted knights to protect her. Surely, she would love some time alone to research or have fun somewhere she…
The small screen and portable nature of the 3DS made my discovery of the Maiamais in A Link Between Worlds a pretty solitary experience. Despite the fact that they’ve shared many parts of my Zelda fandom with me, I never thought to tell my wife and daughter about the Maiamais. They were a small, nearly…
By the end of Breath of the Wild, it can feel like Link is pretty much invincible depending on how many shrines he’s completed. The hitch in your breath that Bokoblins and Moblins inspire when you only had a few hearts is now gone, as is the downright terror that the Guardian Stalkers inspire when…
There are phrases that no one else on the planet uses that become a common saying in your own family. You repeat them back and forth, from husband to wife and from father to daughter, like a password inviting you into a secret club. One such saying in my family is “Wakey cakey, time for…
