Tarrey Town — Hope and Love in the Wilderness

Breath of the Wild has one of the most beautiful and distinct worlds in the Zelda franchise. Brimming with animal and plant life, it’s easy to forget the immense tragedy and danger that have left the Hylians scattered like “fallen leaves on a forgotten pool” (Ganondorf from The Wind Waker). Mammoth Guardians, ferocious Lynels, and pesky Bokoblins all stalk the landscape looking for prey. It’s a dangerous world, one that is in desperate need of hope and love. And if you are looking for hope and love in Breath of the Wild, you need to take a journey to Tarrey Town, the focus of one of The Legend of Zelda‘s most heartwarming side quests. At Tarrey Town, Link (and the player) will be reminded that even in a world rife with danger, hope and love persist.

Hard Work Deserves to Be Rewarded

One of the reasons that Tarrey Town is such a rewarding side quest relates to its length. The side quest has multiple parts, each requiring different skills from the player. The first part has the player purchase their own house in Hateno Village from Bolson Construction with 3,000 rupees and 30 bundles of wood. For many Zelda players, owning a customizable house is a novel concept as Nintendo has rarely given players a place to display their hard-earned treasures. Having a customization space for Link feels exciting, as it satisfies many players’ thirst for stylish decorating, while also giving Link a place among the people of Hyrule. Link has now built a home within the Hateno community, closer connecting him to the good people of Hateno.

Part Two of the quest takes that concept of community and expands it. Link is now tasked with finding people of different races to work / participate in the Bolson Construction crew’s next project: a town in the beautiful Akkala Highlands. Link must journey across the massive world, looking for individuals with names that end in “son”. The silly but fun twist makes the quest enjoyable, as you scour your memory and the different towns looking for the “sons” from across the vast world of Hyrule. It’s a quest that takes Link from Gerudo Desert, to the far-flung Riot Village, to the fiery Death Mountain. Each time the player finds the respective “son”, there is a sense of accomplishment as Link moves the town (and quest) forward.

While this may be what many players affectionately (and sometimes scornfully) call a fetch quest, Tarrey Town has an excellent twist to it. Rather than simply being about collecting one hundred pieces of wood, sixty gratitude crystals, or bottles of spring water, the quest is first and foremost about living, breathing people. Link’s ultimate goal is to bring people together. Link must unite a diverse group of people from across Hyrule and help transform them into a community. It’s a special type of hope rarely explored in Zelda games. Link is helping take one person’s dream and turn it into a reality that dozens of people get to share in and benefit from. The ultimate reward for Tarrey Town isn’t the shops that are in the town, but rather the creation of the town itself, a place where people come together to live in happiness and peace.

Big Things Have Small Beginnings

Tarrey Town also has a unique visual and musical progression to match the growth of its flourishing community. Tarrey Town starts as an empty patch of land deep in the Akkala Highlands. Many players may go through the entire game without raising a single building, leaving Tarrey Town a blank, unpainted canvas. This is an important part of the quest: it’s optional. Tarrey Town doesn’t have to exist, but the effort and work that many players choose to put into the quest help it give the player satisfaction as the town develops.

Each step of Link’s journey makes Tarrey Town more complete. The buildings created by Bolson Construction are bright and beautiful, built into a circle around the town center. While Tarrey Town starts as an empty patch of land deep in the wilderness, new building start to appear as each “son” joins. After recruiting Greyson and Pelison, the Goron miners and the town’s first newcomers, a small pair of buildings will pop up in the sparse area. However, by the time the Fyson the Rito and Kapson the Zora arrive, the town is bustling with life, filled with homey and colorful houses. Shops soon pop up in the town center, waiting for Link to spend his hard-earned rupees. In a game series that is often criticized for being relatively static, Tarrey Town is a great example of how dynamic side quests can enrich the Legend of Zelda series. It’s a wonder to see the world grow around you, and to be personally responsible for that growth.

The progression is not just in the visual growth of the town, but also in the music of the town. Each time a new member joins the town, a new musical instrument is added to the town’s musical theme. Brass and percussion kick in when the Goron brothers join. Middle Eastern guitar is integrated for the Gerudo Rhondson. A clarinet springs to life for the Rito Fyson. Lastly, an acoustic guitar joins the family courtesy of the Zora priest Kapson. Praise should be showered on Manaka Kataoka, Yasuaki Iwata, and Hajime Wakai, the masterminds behind the soundtrack, for creating an incredible powerful musical progression. This progression further reinforces that Tarrey Town is changing, growing more rich and nuanced as members join the community.

Joy and Hope in the Wild

Link and the player have seen the town grow, both musically and physically. But how to truly emphasize the themes of Tarrey Town? A wedding, of course!

Students of classical literature will remember that comedy and tragedy have specific narrative arcs. In a Shakespearean tragedy, characters often begin the narrative at a relatively high point and then things fall apart from there. In a Shakespearean comedy, things start at a low point for the characters and end with the characters in much happier and healthier positions. Traditionally, many of these comedies ended with marriage where many of the important characters gather together in joy.

Taking a cue from these comedic traditions, Tarrey Town’s whirlwind journey ends with a marriage. In the final event of the side quest, townspeople Rhondson and Hudson are married in the town center. The music played during the ceremony is fittingly infused with a beautiful organ, a sound that is reminiscent of many real world weddings.  It’s a beautiful, symbolic end to the side quest that Link has labored through.

Tarrey Town is a story of hope. In a world that is blighted by danger and darkness, a group of people come together to create a home, to get married, and to live joyful lives. So often, the NPC’s in video games are reduced to soulless, uninteresting existences, so it is a special feat to see the world and characters grow around you in such a beautiful way.

Link may never get to share in their quiet lives as fully as he might hope, but Tarrey Town is a beautiful example of how the spirit of hope and love lives on in the wilds of Hyrule. As I raced toward my battle with Ganon, I thought of the people in that quiet village, finding joy in even the darkest of places.

Sean Gadus is an Associate Editor at Zelda Dungeon. He loves playing video games, reading books, watching movies and geeking out about all things Nintendo, Star Wars, Batman, and Harry Potter. His first Zelda game was Ocarina of Time.