The Legend of Zelda ~ Twilight Princess: Volume 9 {Manga Monday #9}
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 ninth 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!
Trigger Warnings: Zant is a big & nasty & awful Creep, Fantasy Violence, Minor Body Horror, Torture, Brainwashing/Mind Control, Platonic Conflicts
Chapter 46 ~ To The Twilight Realm (Part 2)
Yeah, so, uh...does Link really not comprehend that the beautiful blue woman and Midna are the same person? Maybe I'm just misreading the dialogue or maybe I'm just confused since us readers already know but he doesn't. I suppose that is always the danger in showing flashbacks, hm?
That side, holy jeez does Zant suck. I feel fairly confident in saying he's gonna get worse from here on out (epsecially with a chapter dedicated to him up next).
It's interesting to see that the guilt Midna holds about her "failure" to protect the Twilight Kingdom/Realm has stayed steady as their adventure has gone on. One could think she might cut herself some slack as she is actively doing her best to save it...but speaking from personal and witnessed experience, that feeling of guilt never really goes away, huh? It'll cloud over any memory endlessly.
Chapter 47 ~ Zant the Usurper King
"Even if everyone in the world despised and doubted me, those principles would still be worth believing in...As I tried to get back up after losing, I realized that's what belief is"
This is a beautiful quote, Link, and I appreciate you trying to sympathize with your minor villain. Something I really enjoy with this manga is that nobody, even the worst of the worst, is being bad simply because the story needed a bad guy. They all have a reason or motivation that made them this way. Now, I love a good tragic villain or even the "I'm bad 'cause it's fun" crazy types, don't get me wrong. However, what I like most is that these characters' motivations still reflect how awful they are as people!
Zant could scream all he wants about the Twilight Realm's discrimination, but then he flips right back into being power hungry and seeking genocide/world domination. Ganondorf talks about his torture and imprisonment, but he also freely speaks about how he simply wants revenge over the boy that killed him in the other timeline. Midna is ambiguous because her position is a complex one of both hating the Light World for treating her realm in such a way, but also not wanting to actively destroy the world over it. She just wants to protect her Twilight Realm, so she acts accordingly in a Lawful Neutral way. The tavern crew have their own beliefs, Link obviously is on his hero's journey, and even super minor characters like Renado still feel fleshed out in their actions. It's really, really well done. However comma,
ZANT YOU MASSIVE, IMMORAL, CORRUPT, DESPICABLE, GROTESQUE, ABSOLUTE FAILURE OF A SENTIENT LIFEFORM!! You repulse me in a way that's indescribable.
As a being of sentimentality, I am at the mercy of my emotions. My emotions enjoyed every panel of your demise with an unbecoming amount of satisfaction.
I hope that you are actually defeated and dead...though I persist in the worry that this was a trick because your body was not left for discovery.
Aside from that, I felt so bad for Midna in this chapter. Having to see the members of her court in that way is one kind of pain, but being able to recognize them and have to witness their torment in person? Holy fuck that hurts. That poor librarian...
Chapter 48 ~ Difference
THE LIBRARIAN IS OKAY!!! I'M SO HAPPY!!!
LINK'S ORIGINAL TOWN IS ALIVE AND THRIVING IN THE TWILIGHT REALM!!! I'M EVEN MORE HAPPY!!!
Darpa has a complex he needs to get over...less happy, but character growth is character growth!
I love how this chapter specifically showcases the evolution that Midna and Link have undergone through their journey. Midna has finally freed her subjects from Zant's tourment and, even in her gremlin form, she receives their loyalty and approval. She extends the offer of aid to Link's town while they are in the Twilight Realm and also gets the present that other Twilight...ians(?) were helping them! That must be a huge relief for her to realize that she was not as isolated in her neutrality as she once thought!
For Link, I fully applaud his snapping at Darpa's malarky. With everything that dude has been through, how dare someone come and try to say that he's nothing but the one who got off easy. He has the ENTIRE WORLD'S FUTURE SURVIVAL weighing on his shoulders!!! God given blessing are cool and all, but how could you not understand the responsibility that comes along with it??? He doesn't just get the sword, he also gets the expectation that if something evil happens, he'll be the one to defeat it. As Link said himself,
"This symbol has toyed with me! I didn't want this! ...I've crawled onwards shedding blood and tears fighting!"
I know Darpa doesn't know Link's side of things like we do, but I can't even imagine how much that could've hurt Link to have the people he's felt guilty for after so many years look at him as if he never cared.
Also, look at little shadow Midna. Now she's the one having to advocate for taking along partners and friends??? Hehehe.
The Questioning Queries
- Do you think Link's old friends will actually help him in battle or only hinder?
- What's your theory on what the deal between Zelda and Ganondorf ended up being?
- How do you feel about Link and Midna's growth as characters? Do you think the Twilight People are right to believe in them?
Bonus: Do you think Zant is ACTUALLY dead and defeated?
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.
That'll be the end of 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! We'll be getting into a spooky mood by listening to my most recent vinyl acquisition and Mad Tsai's newest and vampire-motif album, "CANINES".
May we always meet at Midnight!