This summer I got me A Link Between Worlds. That’s the latest Zelda title for the 3ds, if you haven’t heard. Anyway, the game itself is a great update to the franchise even if most of it mostly a rehash. Classic top down action game mechanics, fixed up with modern conveniences.

Anyway I noticed something interesting on my second playthrough, and naturally that’s the thesis of this post. I thought the game was so good, I made a second playthrough almost immediately, especially since it offered an up in difficulty. In the game, you have the option of collecting 4 artifacts called Master Seals that are used specifically to upgrade your sword and you’ll find them shits in the dungeons you’re gonna pass through.

See, Link is actually the Blacksmith’s apprentice. Blacksmith(literally his name) is a pretty jolly dude, even if he is a little strict with Link at first. His wife is a sweet lady, that checks up on Link from time to time, and their son, Gully, is Link’s childhood friend. Blacksmith and his family are depicted as prominent members of the community, and Blacksmith himself is the best(actually the only) blacksmith in Hyrule. When you collect the Master Seals I mentioned earlier, he’ll reforge your sword using two of them…. Wait I said there were four Master Seals in the game…. The fuck do I do with the other ones. If you try to offer him the seals, he tells you he made the best sword he possibly could and you should look for another blacksmith for a second opinion. You see, he’s being a cheeky little fucker because he knows he’s the only one in the world…. Little does he suspect there are other worlds out there.

That’s right, just like all other Zeldas ever, there are multiple worlds/dimensions in this one too. This time this alternate reality is called Lorule. Lorule is a shithole compared to Hyrule, to say the least. It’s not just that the social infrastructure is in shambles, the earth itself is literally shattered. World is overrun by monsters, and there are no guards or heroes to keep them in check. The bleakness of the world is reflected in its human population, who wear hideous masks not only as a way to blend in with the monsters, but they actually have a cult in which the core belief seems to be that we’re all just monsters, really. When you arrive in Lorule, you’re knocked out and when you wake up you find yourself in the care of who else but… Blacksmith. This isn’t another country, it’s an alternate world, and thus many of Hyrules inhabitants have direct parallels in Lorule; and Blacksmith is no exception. This dude is a fucking asshole, and his wife is a match too. They both shower you with insults, ridicule, and let you know that it was a moment of weakness for them to have taken you in. Actually, if you talk to the wife and presumably ask her about how fucked up Gully’s parallel self must be, she tells you that not only do they not have children, but to take care of a kid is a disgusting proposition for her.

So, obviously Lorule’s Blacksmith will reforge your sword to it’s final level. He’ll make the best sword possible in this game. He won’t do it when you talk to him either. Only when you try to leave, he feels compelled to upgrade it…. almost out of spite, it seems. Like, his ego won’t let him watch you go out that door with a subpar sword that was clearly made by an “amateur.”

There are a couple of interesting themes here. The first is how we are products of our environment. Even though our natures are still ours, how those natures are channeled seems to depend in a large part on where and how we’re brought up: our identity is largely a sum of what we experience. A lot of research in social psychology supports this reality, and thematically this is reinforced a lot in A Link Between Worlds. Arguably a lot of this game reinforces and explores this concept. Another example that stuck out is the Priest in the Sanctuary. If you visit the Lorule analogue of the Sanctuary, it’s actually not there, but is instead just a cave. Inside is a character that looks like the Priest, but who’s actually called Philosopher. The implication here seeming that priests embody concepts of faith, hope, etc., while philosophers are realists and even cynics, and their circumstances cloud their outlook.

Secondly, there’s the idea of an egocentric, unflinching focus on your craft in contrast to a more level headed devotion to a trade as a means to contribute to your family and community. Hyrule’s Blacksmith is no doubt the best in the world. But he’s not as good as he could be, as evidenced by his darker, Lorulean counterpart. Lorule’s Blacksmith poured all of himself into his craft because… well where else would it go. The world is in shambles, and doesn’t really need his services; his wife is attracted to his passion, perseverance, and maybe even the safety he might provide as a weapon master. He has nothing to focus on but himself and his work, and he has all the time in the world to perfect it: there’s literally nothing better out there. In Hyrule, a lot of his time and energy is taken up by loving and caring for his wife and child, and training and nurturing his apprentice, Link himself. Link, and the world they live in, is holding Blacksmith from his own potential! But, in spite of that, Hyrule’s blacksmith is happier, better adjusted, and is more valuable to the people around him probably because he doesn’t spend all his time banging metal together.

Holy shit I wrote a lot. Lemme know what you think!

Coming up in the next post….