Just How Often Does Link Get The Girl: Part Two

In part two of this series counting just how often Link gets the girl at the end of each Zelda game, I’ll pick up the editorial right where the first part left off with Wind Waker. This article will include every other Zelda game in order of release after Wind Waker. The exception will be Hyrule Warriors because it isn’t canon (feel free to rage about that in the comments below).

I’ll go ahead and address something I saw in the comments quite a bit in the other article. Many wondered why I didn’t mention Ruto, Saria, and Malon in my Ocarina of Time coverage. The reason, like I announced at the start of my other article, is that I am only looking at what I perceive to be end results. In my opinion, I believe the only one Link would have ended up with at the end of Ocarina of Time is Zelda (in the adult timeline). Still, it’s all moot. In my previous article, I concluded that he doesn’t end up with anyone at the end of the game. Why? Because I believe he dies sometime after Majora’s Mask without returning to Hyrule. He continues to wander through the Lost Woods without a fairy and thus becomes a stalfos.

Even though he refers to the Twilight Princess Link as his son, I don’t believe it’s a blood son. I think he is simply taking the reincarnated hero under his wing and thus becomes a father figure. That’s just my two cents, which is why this is called an editorial, no?

As with the last article, SPOILER ALERT.

Four Swords Adventures

Four Swords Adventures is a sequel to Four Swords and wraps up a story arc that technically starts with Minish Cap. The games all feature an evil wizard named Vaati as the antagonist, though the real baddie in this title is Ganondorf (even though Ganondorf was killed at the end of Twilight Princess, a new one was born several hundred years later).

This game, like Four Swords, features an already-developed relationship between Link and Zelda. While we don’t get exact terms on the relationship, they obviously know each other. The princess doesn’t have to introduce herself, she simply summons Link when she senses trouble at the shrine of the Four Sword. This leads me to believe that they’ve known each other for quite some time (maybe childhood friends), and like the princess and hero in Four Swords, she truly does trust Link with just about anything.

Whether he’s already proven himself as a hero or Zelda, with all her wisdom, just recognizes him as the next reincarnation of the hero is unknown. That said, I believe that there is something there between them, even if it isn’t romantic at the start of the game.

At the end of the game after Link has saved Zelda and the other maidens, citizens of Hyrule turn up at the castle to celebrate Link as the hero. Zelda overlooks from a balcony and then leaves as the game fades to black. While they aren’t shown together in the last cutscene, it’s the one I have pictured to the right that I think gives their relationship away.

Shortly before this, the maidens and Zelda used their powers to seal the Four Sword (Yeah, good luck. We’ve seen that seal break twice now). Then, the maidens all turn into fairies and float away, almost as if to say, “Let’s give these two a moment alone.” That subtle moment between the two of them is all I need.

The Minish Cap

This title starts off the whole Vaati arc and acts as a prequel to both Four Swords and Four Swords Adventures. Like the other games in the Four Swords trilogy, Link and Zelda know each other at the start of the game (she comes to get him for the carnival).

Zelda clearly has a history of sneaking out of the castle to go be with Link, which shows the two enjoy spending time together. When Zelda is turned to stone not long after the start of the title, Link springs into action to save the day (hero style).

Link ends up saving the princess as he always does, and at the end, I’m gonna go ahead and give Link and Zelda a shot together. This is based on the on the fact that they know each other already, and I believe the two end up together at the end of the other Four Swords titles.

Twilight Princess

Uh oh. Here it is. Twilight Princess. Set your jimmies to “rustleproof” and get ready for a bumpy ride. This game, and perhaps Link’s Awakening, are why in the first part I said, “Keep in the mind, the girl doesn’t always have to be Zelda, either.”

Love or hate Midna, she is it for me. She’s the perfect companion, in that, she does less hand-holding than Navi and Tatl, has more personality than Fi and ties into the story extremely well. Not only that, she serves as a romantic companion for our hero in this title.

Link and Midna don’t start out all cozy with each other. On the contrary, they start out using each other. Link uses Midna to free himself and slowly work his way back toward rescuing the children of his village. Midna uses Link to collect the Fused Shadows.

Then, things change after Zant nearly kills Midna shortly after the third Fused Shadow is collected. Link, now trapped in his beast form, takes a wounded Midna back to Queen Zelda (There, I said it. She’s the only monarch in this story, and that makes her a queen). Zelda then sacrifices her energy to save Midna, and she vanishes from sight. Then, I think their real bond begins right after Link gets the Master Sword and returns to his Hylian form.

For the first time, fans see the two realize that they are true partners. They’ve helped each other, and Link could have dumped her ass at that point if he was a cruel man. He had all his villagers rescued. He could have said, “Screw this. I’m going back home.” Instead, he agrees to go with her, because he’s falling for her. The two set out on an entirely new adventure, and Link is all in it to help the Twilight Princess reclaim her home world by defeating Zant.

The two go to Hell and back together, and I think their adventure only serves to further solidify their bond.

Fans can make all the arguments they want in this game for Link and Ilia or even Link and Zelda, but I don’t think the hero is in love with either girl, certainly not by the end of the game. Link may have started out head over heels for Ilia, but that changes more and more as he quests with Midna. I think he comes to see her as a childhood friend and nothing more. The bond with Zelda isn’t romantic, either, in my opinion. Link isn’t necessarily working to save the country on her behalf. He’s working to save Hyrule and the Twilight Realm because his loved ones reside in each. Zelda just happens to be the queen over Hyrule in this game. Link only met her three times (and two of those times he was in wolf form).

Sure, they fought together in the end thanks to a common enemy, but I don’t Link was doing any favors specifically for the queen.

Sadly, for all the arguing about which girl Link ends up with in Twilight Princess, it’s all moot. He doesn’t end up with any of them.

Link’s love for Midna really makes the final cutscene where she shatters the mirror all the more heartbreaking. Her last words to him are “Link…I…see you later.” She can barely keep it together as she utters her parting sentence to her love.

After that, he never really gets over her. Zelda goes back to being queen because she has a country to rebuild, and she isn’t exactly a shoulder Link wants to cry on. Ilia may still love the hero, but he’s too heartbroken over the loss of the one he loves to even try to develop any relationship with her. And in the end, we don’t know what becomes of Link. He simply rides off on Epona (plot twist: he leaves Hyrule and stumbles upon a new land filled with technology, in which, Zelda WiiU takes place).

Phantom Hourglass

Phantom Hourglass serves as a sequel to Wind Waker. Link and Tetra take off together at the end, and Phantom Hourglass picks up not long after that. Days? Weeks? Months? Who knows, but I don’t think it’s too long afterwords.

I won’t spend too much time on this title because it’s another Tetra/Link relationship. I established in my last article I believe they end up together in the end, and this game is no exception. Tetra gets into trouble. Links saves her. The two end up together once again in the end and continue on in their search for a new land.

Spirit Tracks

Concluding the Wind Waker arc, Spirit Tracks takes place 100 years after Phantom Hourglass. The Princess Zelda in Spirit Tracks is the great-great grandchild of Tetra, according to the Hyrule Historia.

Zelda is Link’s companion for the game, and I think this will eventually seal the deal for them ending up together at the conclusion of the title. I think the princess has a sort of crush on Link at the start of the game (who knows, maybe it’s his spiffy conductor uniform).

The two travel together, risking their lives to save the new Hyrule, and in the end, they’re successful. Although I think Zelda wears the pants in this particular relationship, I think the two hook up at the end. There’s the scene pictured to the right of them holding hands. Hand-holding doesn’t always mean a romantic relationship, but given what those two went through, I’d say they wind up together in the end.

Skyward Sword

As much as I harp on Skyward Sword (see previous editorial “What Is The Perfect Number Of Dungeons In A Zelda Game“), I really do love the art, music, story, and most importantly the characters of the title. I’d watch a cutscene, be really moved by it, then I’d get back to the gameplay and the mechanics and grind my teeth until I got another cutscene. Damn I hate the gameplay of Skyward Sword, but that’s not the focus of this article (and I’ll get enough butthurt hate in the comments for my Skyward Sword griping anyway).

Link and Zelda’s relationship in this game is just too great on so many levels. They’re childhood friends. They’re the hero and the goddess. They’re even eventual lovers (in my opinion).

I’m convinced that if they had never left Skyloft, they’d have still fallen in love with each other and lived a peaceful life together. The feelings are there between the two of them in the beginning (even if she does push him toward his death when he probably expecting a kiss). Zelda is a playful schoolgirl with a crush at the start of the game, and by the end, she’s a fully matured reincarnation of a goddess with her memories intact.

When Link starts chasing Zelda at the start of the game, he’s not chasing the goddess, he’s chasing his love. Zelda, though she knows she has a duty to fulfill as the goddess reincarnated, still wants to wait to be reunited with Link. She likely tries to wait after each ceremony, but Impa drags her onward.

Look in this scene below:

This is where Impa finally recognizes Link as the hero, and Zelda struggles to get past Impa as they enter the gate to relay one important message to her love: “I’ll see you again! This isn’t goodbye, Link!”

Link continues his adventure, saves the world (as usual), and eventually Zelda decides to remain on the surface world. That’s when she asks Link what he’ll do. I believe he decides to stay with her and finally start that peaceful life together that the two of them had probably been dreaming about for years. In no other Zelda game, perhaps with the exception of Wind Waker, do I believe that there is any stronger evidence that Link gets the girl in the end. The last scene is both of their loftwings flying back up into the sky… without their riders.

A Link Between Worlds

As I wrap up this list with A Link Between Worlds, I have to say, I don’t see Link getting the girl in this game. It’s just too up in the air for me to call in favor of it happening. Zelda doesn’t know Link at the start, which is why she welcomes him to the castle as a “stranger,” and they also don’t spend much time together throughout the game (on account of Zelda being a portrait).

Sure, they work together at the end to wish for Lorule‘s Triforce to return, but to me, I don’t see much between the two in the way of chemistry. There really isn’t any concluding scene with an interaction between Link and Zelda that leads me to believe they end up together. The last thing we see is Link putting the Master Sword back in the pedestal. There is no kiss. There is no holding of hands. There’s just Link putting the sword back.

Not every Zelda game needs romance. I’m not some sucker for it that believe it has to be there in every single title, or the game automatically sucks. That said, when it is there, it’s important to me that it be acknowledged. As a lover of stories, the thing I most look to in any narrative is the characters within the tale. I love looking at their goals, but more important to me is the relationship characters share with each other in a story. And Link and Zelda, Link and Midna, or Link and Marin make no difference to me. I’m fascinated by how they interact with each other in the games, romance or not.

Do you share my opinions on which games that Link gets the girl in? Share below in the comments!