Zelda and Philosophy: Fate and Free Will

What is it that controls our respective destinies? Do we have a choice in where life takes us, or is every chapter of our lives mapped out, fated to follow one singular path despite our feelings of our own freedom? Questions like this have plagued the philosophical world for centuries, and The Legend of Zelda is a franchise where the debate is prevalent. Do the people of Hyrule and its many parallel countries have a say in their futures, or did the goddesses devise a plan for the world that would undoubtedly play out the way they had designed? Hit the jump to see how this philosophical conundrum plays out in a myriad of ways in the different games!

With full respect to the official Zelda Timeline, the most important games in the series in terms of their weight in this discussion are Skyward Sword and Ocarina of Time, as well as how the timeline splits into A Link to the Past, Majora’s Mask, and The Wind Waker. Not only do the immediate sequels of Ocarina of Time play important roles in the debate, as they are the diverging points of the timeline, but also the concluding titles of each respective timeline, as the end of anything is just as important as its beginning. Before the events that transpired in Ocarina of Time, however, the timeline followed a singular chronology in one universe, beginning with Skyward Sword.

As the first entry in the series chronologically, Skyward Sword is responsible for setting the principles that the Zelda Universe follows within the games. This game was the first time I took notice of fate and predestination potentially playing important roles within the plot of any Zelda game. It can be seen very early on when Link takes some of his first steps on the surface. Whenever he enters the Sealed Temple and meets Impa, she tells him something very fascinating, something that suggests that Skyward Sword and the events that it contains were all meant to happen at one point or another.

“I have sat here for many years waiting for you to arrive. All so that I could fulfill my purpose as your guide… Your arrival here was predestined many, many years ago. The spirit maiden you seek arrived here shortly before you, descending to this land in a shower of light. There’s no doubting it. The gears of fate have begun to turn.“

Even before Link sees the first dungeon of the game, he is told that his coming to the surface was fated to occur all along. However, what may be overlooked is that these are the first words that Impa says to Link in the entire game, and she recognizes him by his face, as if she had met him before. While our hero obviously does not know it until the very end of his adventure, the two had met during several occasions, both in Link’s present and in the distant past, but Impa was thousands of years younger, thus including memories of Link in her past. Due to Impa’s familiarity with Link, we are only to assume that these meetings between the two had already happened within Impa’s own past, and were simply fated to occur again, and according to Zelda’s laws of time travel, apparently makes total and perfect sense.

Impa plays a key role in this debate, but throughout the game, there are more than a handful of instances that suggest that the events in Skyward Sword were all merely a prophecy that was meant to come to fruition at one point or another. While the end of the game is a bit of an enigma as it delves deeper plot-wise into time travel, and may indeed cause a paradox, there are two separate but equal parts of the game that suggest that no matter if Link succeeds or fails, all events will unfold, as they should.

About two-thirds through Skyward Sword, after the three flames of the goddesses have tempered Link’s Goddess Sword, he will be able to enter the world of the past. Here, he meets Zelda, whom Link just wants to take back home to their cozy perch in Skyloft. She informs Link that she was destined to come to the surface in order to maintain Demise’s imprisonment at the Sealed Grounds.

“After a long and fierce battle, the goddess Hylia succeeded in sealing away Demise. However, soon after the demon king was imprisoned, it was clear the seal would not hold against his fearsome power… In order to put an end to the demon king, Hylia devised two separate plans and set them both into motion. First, she created Fi. She made the spirit that resides inside your sword to serve a single purpose: to assist her chosen hero on his mission. Her second plan… was to abandon her divine form and transfer her soul to the body of a mortal.“

After Zelda reveals this to Link, she seals herself away in a crystal to sleep for thousands of years so that Demise will not break free. When Link returns to the present, he can look through the jarred-open Door of Time and see Zelda still suspended in the crystal seal, as he has not yet assembled the Song of the Hero and obtained the Triforce. However, very early on in the game, after speaking with Impa for the first time, Link can look through the very same door and see a crystalized Zelda before any of these events even occur in game. This strongly implies that Skyward Sword was merely a piece of history, and that no matter how much the characters believe they are free to create their own paths, they clearly live in a deterministic world, where the path of the Zelda Universe’s record was, is, and always will be linear.

In a world whose destiny is seemingly deterministic, like the one in Skyward Sword, any time travel to the past that occurred that could have possibly altered the present was simply part of the history anyway. Matt Pat of the Game Theorists, a popular YouTube channel that, as you guessed, theorizes about video games, made a video concerning time travel in the Chrono Trigger series, where he discusses the grandfather paradox. A grandfather paradox works out like this: If I were to go to the past and kill my grandfather before he and my grandmother gave birth to my father, it would cause me to never be born and to cease to exist. However, if I were to cease to exist, then I could not have possibly gone to the past to kill my grandfather, meaning that he lives. But if he lives, then I will surely exist, which keeps us running in a circle of existential doubt. Matt Pat then goes on to say how physicists Igor Novikov and Kip Thorne, who both suggested that any time travel must be self-consistent, presented a solution to the paradox. In self-consistent time travel, Link would be able to travel to the past, defeat Demise, but then in the present still have to destroy the Imprisoned by trapping it beneath the Isle of the Goddess. In a grandfather paradoxical version of Skyward Sword, Link’s defeating Demise at the end of the game in the past would undo all that he had done in the present, but if he had not done what he did do in the present, the opportunity to defeat Demise would not exist. Because Skyward Sword is self-consistent, it simply adds more support to the claim that the Zelda Universe is deterministic. However, several hundreds of years later, the events of Ocarina of Time would bring this deterministic view of the world into question.

Ocarina of Time is undoubtedly one of the most important aspects of the series in regards to its chronology. With the release of Hyrule Historia, Nintendo saw it fitting to reveal the oft-debated timeline, which, to the surprise of very few, split following the conclusion of Ocarina of Time. However, what I’m sure no one anticipated, the split did not only follow the endings of both Adult and Child Links, but also revealed a third path, the so-believable-that-no-one-could-possibly-argue-that-it-does-not-make-sense Downfall Timeline. For those of you that do not know, the Downfall Timeline is one of the alternative timelines created that chronicles the history of Hyrule after Link failed to defeat Ganon in Ocarina of Time, which I am certain did not actually happen. However, this editorial is not meant to argue the validity of said timeline, but instead explain what these splits signify in the debate between fate and free will.

Dr. Robert Kane, a philosophy professor at the University of Texas, discusses how the free will problem can be represented by a garden of forking paths in his book, A Contemporary Introduction to Free Will. For this garden to exist at all, Dr. Kane suggests that we must have free will and be able to see “alternative possibilities…[that] lie before us.” Essentially, any time we are met with a decision or any event that can unpredictably result in two or more ways, at least two possible futures can result from that one point. At the end of Ocarina of Time, when Zelda chooses to send Link back to the past so that he can live the life that was taken from him, or if he does, indeed, die at any point in his adventure, an alternate universe is created, either leading to A Link to the Past, Majora’s Mask, or The Wind Waker. These three splits in the timeline offer a literal representation of the diverging paths of the garden within the Zelda Universe. As a matter of fact, Matt Pat made another video in October of 2012 that explains how Zelda’s timeline works, or rather does not work, in regards to the quantum mechanical theory, the many-worlds interpretation. The many-worlds interpretation states that all possible realities exist in their own independent universes that branch off from each singular point. With respect to the Zelda Universe, the singular point is not Link’s return to the past, but rather the one that Nintendo created where if Link survives the adventure, two coexisting worlds are created, but if he dies, a different reality occurs.

Aside from Link’s possible death in Ocarina of Time, two entirely possible timelines exist alongside one another, except with the Child Timeline being seven years the minor of the Adult Timeline. At the end of Ocarina of Time, Zelda uses the titular wind instrument to send Link seven years into the past before Link could sleep for almost a decade and allow Hyrule to fall into ruin. This act leaves Zelda in her own time, the “true” time, actually, as it had simply followed the normal flow of time from the beginning, save completely obliterating an entire body from the face of the earth and sending it back in time, which is impossible in its own right, as it breaks the first law of thermodynamics, but I digress. This “true” timeline became known as the Adult Timeline, and the one where Link was sent to the past became known as the Child Timeline. In the Adult Timeline, Ganondorf is sealed away by the power of the seven sages after Link defeats him, only to break free and wreak havoc amongst the people of Hyrule once more. The prologue of The Wind Waker dictates the story of Ocarina of Time, and explains how his vanishing set this timeline’s events into motion.

“Long ago, there existed a kingdom where a golden power lay hidden. It was a prosperous land blessed with green forests, tall mountains, and peace. But one day a man of great evil found the golden power and took it for himself… But then, when all hope had died, and the hour of doom seemed at hand… a young boy clothed in green appeared as if from nowhere. Wielding the blade of evil’s bane, he sealed the dark one away and gave the land light. This boy, who traveled through time to save the land, was known as the Hero of Time… But then… a day came when a fell wind began to blow across the kingdom. The great evil that all thought had been forever sealed away by the hero… once again crept forth from the depths of the earth, eager to resume its dark designs. The people believed that the Hero of Time would again come to save them… But the hero did not appear.“

Before the adventure even starts, The Wind Waker explains that Link simply disappeared from the world, and that Ganondorf was free to take over once again, causing the goddesses to flood the land. In an alternate world, on the other hand, when Link is once again a child, he goes to Zelda to warn her of Ganondorf’s plans before they have the opportunity to unfold, then goes on his quest in Majora’s Mask. Zelda presumably tells the king of what Link told her, prevents Ganondorf from entering the Sacred Realm, and allows that Hyrule may prosper in a universe where it is doomed in another. In the case of Ocarina of Time, a grandfather paradox does not occur, and the universe remains stable as Link’s travel to the past creates an entirely different universe where a new future unfolds. But shouldn’t a grandfather paradox have occurred if Ganondorf could never realize his plans?

The self-consistency patch to the grandfather paradox only applies if the universe remains linear. In the times of Skyward Sword, it would appear as if the universe is, in fact, linear, as self-consistency prevents a paradox and allows all events of the game to transpire, thus suggesting, as stated before, the Zelda Universe is deterministic. However, because the time travel in Ocarina of Time allowed for another universe to exist, this in turn means that the Zelda Universe is not linear, and is subject to diverging into separate forking paths. Since the garden of forking paths is a model for a universe governed by free will, wouldn’t that mean the Zelda Universe is not deterministic, and can be instead shaped by the choices of its people? Yes, it does! The essence of free will is that any possible future can be created from any singular point, and that we are entitled to the futures that we cause to unfold. So, that means that the universe is both deterministic and subject to free will, two completely contradicting ideas, right? Don’t worry; my head is starting to hurt, too.

When I was a senior in high school, I wrote a paper that covered this very subject, but on a different topic. We had just read Oedipus Rex by the Ancient Greek play writer, Sophocles. It tells the story of a boy named Oedipus who had been prophesized by the oracles to the current king of Thebes, King Laius, that his son would one day murder him and wed the queen, Jocasta. Fearing such a tragedy, Laius tied the baby’s feet together and pinned them, and ordered Jocasta to kill their child, hoping that it would derail the fate that the oracles had placed upon them. Jocasta instead leaves the baby on a mountain to die in the wild, but a shepherd rescues him and names him Oedipus, literally meaning “swollen feet.” Oedipus is taken back to the kingdom of Corinth, where the king, Polybus, raises the child as his own. When Oedipus grows older, he hears a rumor that he is not the biological son of the king and queen of Corinth, which the two claim that Oedipus is, indeed, their true son. Looking for answers, the boy consults the oracles, which tell him the prophecy that he will kill his father and wed his mother. Out of fear of destiny, he flees Corinth, and during his journey elsewhere, he meets a group of men who quarrel about whose chariot has the right of way on the path. Unbeknownst to either party, Oedipus and King Laius have just met, and as they fight over who may traverse the path first, Oedipus kills the king, his father, unknowingly fulfilling the first part of the prophecy. He then arrives to his true kingdom, Thebes, where a sphinx guards the gates with a riddle. The man who correctly answers the riddle will be granted the hand of the newly widowed queen, Jocasta. Oedipus, naturally, answers the riddle correctly, and is now to be wed to his biological mother. As the story progresses, Oedipus finds out that Jocasta is his true mother, and then blinds himself in an attempt to unsee the horrors that have befallen him. All along, while everyone made every attempt possible to escape from the shackles of fate, their destinies were all fulfilled despite their efforts. While I was supposed to pick a side, either fate or free will, the story of Oedipus actually changed my viewpoint mid-paper.

I had initially started my paper on the stance that our futures can be altered by our choices, or that we have freedom. However, the more I thought about Sophacles’ tale, I began to ponder the possibility of there being an alliance, per se, between the two. I cited several works, mostly video games including Zelda and Fable, as well as creating my own scenario where a man’s choosing to either eat cereal or not before work determines whether or not he becomes a multi-millionaire or suffers from a suicide-inducing divorce. In the end, I came to the conclusion that I was a compatibilist, also known as a soft determinist, meaning that I believe that fate and free will work together in determining our futures. While I do not believe my personal opinions affect how I judge the Zelda series concerning this debate, I believe that the only conclusion is that the Zelda Universe exists in a compatibilist domain. Although it may seem like different parts of the official timeline are subject to different views, in actuality, the adventures all seem be different paths to the same conclusion. At the end of each timeline, the result is the apparent total eradication of the evil of that world. In The Adventure of Link in the Downfall Timeline, Link successfully prohibits the resurrection of Ganon, thus allowing Hyrule to enter a time of prosperity. The same goes for Four Swords Adventures in the Child Timeline, as Link defeats Vaati and Ganon, he destroys all evil in the kingdom of Hyrule for the foreseeable future. Finally, the Adult Timeline sees Link defeating Malladus in Spirit Tracks, which permits the peaceful and uncorrupt progression of New Hyrule. In a compatibilist world, different paths draw the same conclusion, which is what we see occurs in this very franchise. The three separate timelines that tell vastly different stories all lead to an era of peace in their own ways, as Link, Zelda, and all others fulfill their roles in bringing about a brighter new day. In our lives, our respective purposes may be determined by fate, but our paths are up to us. Like a mentor of mine once said, “It’s not about the end result, but rather the journey.”

What are your thoughts about fate and free will in the Zelda Universe? Do you think the two can work together, or must they be separate? Let us know in the comments below!