The Legend of Zelda - Twilight Princess: Volume 6 {Manga Monday #6}
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 sixth 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!
AniList 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: 1 Chapter = 1/3 of Volume, 1 Chapter = 2/3 of Volume, Fantasy Violence, Ganondorf, Slightly Graphic Bodily Harm/Mutilation, Corruption of the Hero, Self vs Self Fighting, Impalement, Mind Trickery
Chapter 35 ~ Snowpeak Ruins
Recollection
- Ganondorf's backstory on being an evil demon thief with the Tri-Force power who got banished to the Twilight Realm by the King of Hyrule (Tri-Force is True-Neutral in picking it's people, for better or for worse)
- Zant's magic is probably fuelded/tainted by Ganon's magic
- Link and Midna must go find the three shards of the Shadow Mirror (one in "a mountain of deep snow", "an ancient forest", and "the sky")
- Link is trying to understand why he feels a gnawing need to defeat Ganondorf in his soul
- Link and Mdina head to Snowpeak Mountain to find the first shard
- Link and Midna meet Yeto, a yeti, and his ill-fallen partner, Yeta, who apparently have the mirror shard in their home
- Their home is apparently an outskirts armoury/stronghold of Hyrule Castle
- Ashei shows up because apparently^3, this used to be her childhood home when her father was a Knight of Hyrule
- Yeta turns into a monster because of the Shadow Mirror's curse, so Link and Ashei have to fight her in order to break the curse and obtain the shard
- Ashei gives link a piece of pelt armour to protect him from the cold during the fight
- They successfully defeat Yeta, free her, and collect the shard
- Midna yells at Link for almost touching the shard and corrupting himself, then proposes that they split up to collect the shards so she won't feel guilty if Link hurts himself
- Link says he's confident and powerful enough to handle the journey together
Awww, you do care, Midna! You care soooo much, hehe.
Yeto, Yeta, you two are so adorable and wholesome. I hope your recovery goes well and that you continue to live your happy little yeti lives!
I truly do have to wonder...what exactly were the Hyrulian's thinking when they banished everyone to the Twilight Realm? Did they just think it was some magic trash can to dump all the undesirables??? Guys, if you keep sending all the poweful-but-bad people to the same place, where they can all connect and conspire together...what do you expect to happen??? A Bag Guys Anonymous meeting???
Specifically speaking on the Tri-Force's neutrality here...I'm torn. In an ideal world, only the "good" people would get the power, the status, the whatever...but this isn't an ideal world. Further, what would be the definition of "good"? Someone could easily argue that a tyrant is a "good" ruler depending on what you measure. As much as I would love to have utopian hopes, I understand why it doesn't work that way.
True Neutrality is the only "fair" option, ya know? Good/Bad are too subjective for something of this scale, so making anyone and everyone possible is the only "balance" the Tri-Force could really achieve. For every best, there's a worst, and everything in between. Doesn't escape the concern of what happens when 2/3 or 3/3 Tri-Force powers go to bad people, but...
Ya know...what would happen if Link became corrupted by the Shadow Mirror? Who (if anybody) could actually step up to stop him? Would Midna have no other choice but to destroy the mirror shards completely?
Chapter 36 ~ Darkening of Madness
Recollection
- Midna's giving Link the silent treatment because he's becoming arrogant and prideful (likely due to dark influences) but can't see it for himself
- Link and Ashei race off to defend Castle Town from an attack
- Link and Ashei get attacked by enemies on the way to Castle Town as Link falls further and further into a power and blood-hungry fervor
- Link meets Demonic/Shadow Link and they begin to fight each other while matching every move 1-1
- The Master Sword is being weird and unresponsive during the fight
- Just when Link thinks he defeated Shadow Link...it's revealed that Link plunged his sword through himself and is turning corrupted
- Link panics but then snaps out of the scene entirely to find that it was a dark trick played by Zant
- The Master Sword has started to reject Link and become unwieldable as Zant laughs on and attacks him
- The Golden Wolf snaps into the dark space where Link and Zant are fighting to save a now unconscious Link
- The Golden Wolf bites off Zant's mask, throws Link onto his back, and carries the Master Sword in his jaws
It's cute that Ilia is making Link a horse calling charm and all, but uh...jeez that was a bit dark, no?
If a Link that talks wasn't weird enough, a Link that talks like he's Ganondorf 2.0 is even worse. Just...eugeugeugheu. I know you're under a dark influence and all, but how do you not hear yourself? You've been Yerkes-Dodson'd HARD. You went from no confidence and some ability, to good confidence and max ability, to over-confidence and lesser ability.
You are the Tri-Force of Courage, Link. Not the Tri-Force of Pride. I really hope this whole debacle gives you a well needed slap across the face!
I honestly can't believe Midna had to go from one side of the "I have to leave for his own good" spectrum (for protection) to the complete opposite side of the spectrum (for punishment). Definitely don't blame her though!
T/N: Rememeber kids, in real-life, "silent treatment" is not the answer to fixing your problems with other people. Leaving relationships that become unhealthy, however, is a viable option.
ALSO WOLFIE!!! WELCOME BACK WOLFIE!!! YOU'RE STILL ALIVE!!! I'M SO HAPPY YOU'RE STILL ALIVE AND BEING THE GORGEOUS, POWERFUL WOLFIE THAT YOU ARE!!!
Thanks for Reading!
I hope you've been able to read (or play) 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 finally be launching my Guestbooks and email (both to send and receive) for us to communicate with!
May we meet again at Midnight!