The Legend of Zelda - Twilight Princess: Volume 4 {Manga Monday #4}
Hello, Internet, and good mornight to you all!
My name is Taffryne, shoppekeeper of Midnight on Memory Lane, and it is my absolute delight to welcome you to this week's gathering of Manga Monday!
'Tis a pleasure, 'tis a pleasure indeed.
As the title of this post says, we're going to be talking about the fourth volume of Akira Himekawa's manga series, The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess.
I humbly present my thoughts for your enjoyment and consideration. Accordingly, please mind that there will be spoilers ahead!
Page Bound Link: click here!
Disclaimer: I apologize if there are any crucial cultural notes or nuances that I misunderstand or fail to recognize. I, unfortunately, must trust the accuracy of the translated text to accurately represent the story and characters.
Trigger Warnings: Minor Character Death, Fantasy Violence, Attempts at Flirting, Amnesia, Death of a Parent, Attempted Kidnapping
Chapter 27 ~ The Goron Tribe
Recollection
- Luda (Renado's daughter) gives link the Shaman's Bow and guides him to the mines and Goron Tribe
- Darb the Goron is dead :C
- The Gorons blame the villagers for mining where they shouldn't have any angering the God of the Mountain
- Link sumo wrestles Elder Don Goron to convince them to trust humans again and wins with Midna's help
- The Elder Gorons ask Link to defeat the demon they've trapped in the mountain who killed Darb and his father, the Chief
- Luda can see Midna potentially
- Link defeats the demon and frees Darb and Darbus (they're not dead!!!) alongside obtaining another piece of the Shadow Crystal
- Link heals and relaxes in the Goron's hot springs after the battle
Mr. Darb, goron-sir, we've not known you much at all...but I'm glad you're not dead goro! I'm also glad that the Gorons will give the humans another chance; I just hope the humans don't mess it up again because of their tendency for greed. Time will tell, I suppose.
As for Luda, she's quite an intriguing little girl. She's the Shaman's daughter and keeps insisting on putting herself in dangerous situations, but she also can apparently see into the Twilight Realm. I'm curious to see how her powers will grow or if she'll feature more as the story continues. Surely, they wouldn't just toss her to the side, right?
Chapter 28 ~ The Final Twilight
Recollection
- Flashback to pre-Zant's War when Midna was dealing with the prisoners that were being banished to the Twilight Realm; Zant threatened to fight if Midna wouldn't, but she lightly attacked him to get him back in line
- Midna gaslights Link into thinking he didn't see her true form
- Ilia has escaped, but unfortunately has a wicked case of amnesia
- Introduction of Telma, the tavern owner, and Shad, the magical historian
- Ilia now goes by the name "Liza" and works at Telma's Tavern
- Link and Midna save and take custody of a Zora child trying to get to Castle Town (later revealed to be Zora Prince Ralis) and drop him off at Telma's Tavern
- Shad definitely has the hots for Ilia/Liza
- Ilia/Liza's cat urges Wolf-Link to bring Human-Link back to Ilia
- Link and Midna make their way for Zora Village and Lake Hylia (now dried up and monster infested)
- The Zora village people are frozen in the lake (oh no...)
- Rutela, the leader of the Zorua (she's also now dead because her frozen body shattered), tells of the attack on the village 3 days prior and begs Link to save her son in return for the Blessing of Water (underwater ability)
- Midna summons a giant volanic rock from Death Mountain to break apart the ice to free the Zora and restore the lake
- After the shadow bug is defeated and the lake is purified of twilight, Light Spirit Lanayru tells Link that the remaining Shadow Crystal is within a temple underneath the water (hence his need of Zora abilities)
- Ilia doesn't recognize Human-Link when he goes back to the Tavern
Jeez, this chapter was jam-packed but boy was it worth it!
Ilia, dear, what the hell happened to you? Where's your memory gone? How did you escape? Why are you not a spirit in the Twilight Realm or a monster???
Shad, buddy, maybe don't make moves on the recent amnesiac? Telma...I have mixed feelings about you using the same amnesiac for free labour...
Rest-in-Peace to the Zora Queen Rutela; being frozen alive and then having your body shatter sounds like an absolutely horrific way to die. I don't know of your reputation as a ruler, but you care for your son and that makes me feel worse about it. I'm glad you can still watch over him in spirit form.
Ilia not remembering Link is absolutely gonna mess with his mindset again, isn't it?
Chapter 29 - Memory Tracks
Recollection
- Ilia/Liza absolutely does not remember Link, but Telma tells him to not rush her remembrance and let it happen on its own
- Telma and Ilia/Liza and Link and Midna set off back to Kakariko Village to get Renado so he can examine Prince Ralis' condition
- After Link tells Telma about Ilia's true identity, Telma reveals that she heard about Link's Desert Town disappearing
- Link nearly passes out from defending their wagon from monsters all night
- Right when Link is about to take a nap, more monsters attack causing Ilia/Liza to take the reins of the wagon while Link fends them off
- Link's attempts to remind Ilia/Liza of her wagoneering days in Ordon Village fail spectaculary
- The monsters set the wagon on fire and knock it over in attempts to get to Ilia/Liza, but Telma beats them with buckets
- The mention of "the boss" in battle alongside Link saving her traumatized Ilia back into remembering who she is
- Renado and Luda find their wagon and bring Prince Ralis back to health using water from Lake Hylia (turns out their light spirit told them to go find Link and save the prince)
- Ilia and Telma head back to Castle Town to await for Link's return from the Lake while Link, Midna, Luda, Ralis, and Renado go back to Kakariko Village
- Telma tells link of her secret resistance club in the tavern basement that'll help him when he wants to save Princess Zelda
Another super jam-packed chapter, my goodness!
I'm happy that everyone has made it out alive, with their full memory, and in good spirits! I am not quite so happy seeing as this is volume FOUR out of ELEVEN. There's still so much time for things to go horribly wrong...
Link, buddy, please take a nap when you can. You might have the blessing of the Zora and all, but that doesn't mean you're completely drowning-risk-free. At least, I don't think it does. I could be wrong on that.
He didn't tell Prince Ralis about his mother's death, so that's worrying to me. I know he's a child and a grieving child might not be the most helpful guide, yet, I just feel so bad for the kid. Any form of a loved one's death is gut-wrenching.
We're reaching the end of this volume and heading for the underwater temple. I have an inkling that this temple is probably not going to be wrapped up with a bow in a single chapter, right?
Chapter 30 ~ Lakebed Temple
- Link and Prince Ralis enter King Zora's Grave wherein Prince Ralis learns of his mother's death and reunites with her spirit
- Link receives the Zora Armor forged by the late King Zora which grants him underwater movement and breathing
- Prince Ralis leads link to the entrance of Zora Temple
- Prince Ralis resolves that he must go alongside Link and fight to redeem himself as the Ruler of the Zora, but Link tells him that he must survive and return to his people as the sole surviving ruler
- Link gets attacked by the Shadow Boss in the temple which looks like a leech-thing with tentacles (DISGUISTING)
- Queen Rutela aids Link in defeating the monster and Midna collects the final Shadow Crystal (curiously the same shape as her headpiece)
- Midna tells Link that this is the end and she has no use for him anymore, then proceeds to teleport him DIRECTLY INFRONT OF WHERE ZANT IS APPARENTLY???
Okay, I admit, I was not expecting that to take a single chapter to resolve. Fair, though, fair enough.
I'm glad Prince Ralis can also now reunite with his people and work on rebuilding the Zora Village. The Zora Armour is also a really pretty design!
Midna trying not to be all sentimental and whatnot at her and Link parting ways is adorable. C'mon Midna, there's no shame in recognizing that you've enjoyed your time with someone. One, quick, teeny weeny, thing, WHAT THE HELL IS ZANT DOING JUST STANDING THERE??? I'M SORRY??? Midna, don't you hate this guy? Don't we all hate this guy??? Oh god what's about to happen in volume five...THIS IS WHY I SAID THINGS COULD GET SO MUCH WORSE!!!
Volume Reflection
I think this is a really solid progression of the story and feels like a good ending for an arc. We've gathered up all the missing people, made connections with the main locations, and finished the collect 'em all quest of the Shadow Crystal Pieces. It closes off certain plot elements while still keeping their relevance and introduces new questions (the Shadow Crystal's shape, what happened to Ilia post-boss death and pre-Tavern, etc). I imagine from hereon the story will both up the ante in terms of danger while also building off the connections between the characters and locations. I don't think all of the introductions are quite finished, but I presume it'll feel less linear and more tangled.
I do kind of wish that the two giant chapters were maybe a bit more chopped up? It's such a minor, miniscule thing but I think there could've been some breathing room or micro-chapters in there (like Renado meeting up with their Caravan or separating out the Tavern chapters). I wonder if the rest of the volumes moving forward will start to have these more beefy chapters or if it'll just bounce around according to how the mangaka felt.
The final author's note about going to fan events was sweet. Fan interactions and signing tables are one of my favourite parts of conventions, so I'm really happy they enjoyed their experiences!
Thanks for Reading!
I hope you've been able to read (or play) and enjoy the story for yourself! If you haven't, that's okay too! My thoughts are here to keep you updated and entertained in the meantime.
This caps off this week's gathering for Manga Monday, so off into the nighttime we go in preparation for tomorrow!
I hope you'll come back for tomorrow's Taffy Tuesday! I'll be discussing the changes that are coming to Tokusatsu Thursday in light of *Kamen Rider MY-TH airing on September 6th. I'll also be giving a teaser for the first Taffy Tuesday - Midnight Series post!
May we meet again at Midnight!