Daily Debate: Is The Wind Waker’s Ending Tarnished by the Creation of a New Hyrule in Spirit Tracks?
Posted on August 28 2023 by Nick Miller
At The Wind Waker’s climax, Link, Zelda, and Ganondorf gather atop Ganon’s Tower for a final confrontation that will determine the fate of Hyrule and the Great Sea. Having the upper hand, Ganondorf summons the Triforce which will grant the wish of one who touches it. As Ganondorf stretches forth his hand, he is cut off by King Daphnes Nohansen Hyrule, the King of Hyrule, with his hand on the Triforce, shouting, “Gods of the Triforce! Hear that which I desire! Hope! I desire hope for these children! Give them a future! Wash away this ancient land of Hyrule! Let a ray of hope shine on the future of this world!!! And let our destinies finally be fulfilled… Ganondorf! May you drown with Hyrule!!!”
In a moment, the Great Sea begins pouring in upon the land of Hyrule, walls of water surrounding the arena for a final confrontation. The battle concludes as Link plunges the Master Sword into Ganondorf’s head. As the waters continue to rise, King Daphnes laments the fate of Hyrule and compels the children, Link and Zelda, to create a future for themselves.
Zelda implores him, “We have a ship! We can find it. We WILL find it! The land that will be the next Hyrule!”
King Daphnes responds, “Ah, but child… that land will not be Hyrule. It will be YOUR land!”
The gushing water engulfs three. As Link and Zelda rise to the surface, Link reaches out to the king in vain. King Daphnes stays behind with his submerged kingdom, now destined to remain in the ocean’s depths for eternity. Just as the walls of water closed in on the trio, Hyrule Historia describes, “The curtain thus fell on the cyclical history of the sacred realm of Hyrule and the struggle for the Triforce.” The Wind Waker closes as Link and Zelda, now Tetra, sail off towards the horizon in search of a new land. It marks a bittersweet ending with a tone of optimism for the future of heroes and the Zelda franchise.
An argument can be made, however, that Spirit Tracks all but ignores The Wind Waker’s ending and ultimately tarnishes the future that game promised. In between the events of Phantom Hourglass, The Wind Waker’s direct sequel, and Spirit Tracks, Link and Tetra discovered a new continent. They called it New Hyrule and seemingly repeated many of the things that condemned old Hyrule to its destructive fate. King Daphnes explicitly told them that this land “will not be Hyrule” and that the children should pursue a new future for themselves. Why then would they call the land New Hyrule, have a princess named Zelda, a hero of fate named Link. It’s like everything that King Daphnes tried to impart upon them has been forgotten.
Do you think this was an oversight by the developers? Maybe it’s a commentary that given enough time, history will always repeat itself despite our best efforts not to? Maybe I’m just overthinking it and these elements were included in Spirit Tracks because it’s a Zelda game and the developers wanted to add familiar staples of the franchise to the game. Do you think Spirit Tracks has tarnished The Wind Waker’s ending? Let us know what you think in the comments!
Nick is a writer for Zelda Dungeon and a longtime fan of the Zelda franchise. In his free time, he enjoys fishing, archery, skateboarding, and some good ol’ fashioned family time. He’s an advocate for physical media and an avid video game collector. His favorite Zelda game is Ocarina of Time, though Breath of the Wild and the Link’s Awakening remake are close contenders. His other favorite video games series include Kingdom Hearts, Fallout, and Ratchet & Clank.
