Little Bird

I made a voyage to visit Hyrule. After speaking with the king, I saw Zelda for the first time in a year. In truth, it was my concern for her that brought me there. The king allowed me to keep her company as she went to the spring for her training. There, Zelda prayed and prayed in the spring's icy waters until the sun set. I told her many times to stop, but she wouldn't listen. I eventually had to drag her out of the water. Zelda gazed at me for the longest time with heartbreaking vulnerability. Eventually, in a tiny voice, she told me of the pressure and panic she feels at not being able to fulfill her sacred duty. She whispered over and over, "Why can I not do as the royal daughters of the past have done? What is wrong with me?" All I could do was hold her close and listen... I pray that it is enough.

~Urbosa's Diary (Champion's Ballad)

Ok this picture encapsulates a lot of things for me, so I'll try to unpack them in a logical way. //DEEP breath

First of all, just hands down Breath of the Wild has secured its place as my favorite Zelda game, for both its story and its gameplay. Usually I say it's hard to pick a favorite since I love a lot of them equally for their own reasons, but nah. Not anymore. I recently went back and re-watched all of the Memory sequences in order (a thing I realized I hadn't done since collecting them during my first play through) and...
Hoo boy...
This story is unbearably tragic. And it's 50x worse when you see it play out chronologically.

The reason I wanted to illustrate this scene in particular is because it highlights one of my absolute favorite relationships/character dynamics in the game: Urbosa and Zelda. Aside from the fact that Urbosa is a kickass warrior and leader in her own right who can call down BOLTS OF LIGHTNING at will, she's also got a really strong maternal connection with Zelda. She is the BEST MOM, and my heart just breaks at the thought of how hard it must be for Urbosa to see Zelda struggling to unlock her Power, and being unable to help her the way that Zelda's mother— Urbosa's own dearly departed friend— would have been able to help.

Hnnnn. It hurts me, but it's the kind of hurt that comes from good storytelling and personal investment. You made me care about these fictional people, Nintendo. Hot damn, you made me care a lot. _{//gently weeps}

On Twitter!
On Tumblr!

Art © Hayley Lazo
Characters © Nintendo