Zelda: BOTW's Darkest Feature Might Actually Be Its Most Optimistic

Although one feature in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild seems to offer a dark outlook on the state of Hyrule, it actually gives the kingdom a strong ray of hope. Breath of the Wild is a beautiful game, and its emphasis on simply exploring all the world has to offer gives people plenty of time to understand it in detail. As such, while much of Hyrule’s situation in the game seems grim, it is always possible to find the positive side as well.

Breath of the Wild established several new Legend of Zelda traditions, as well as introducing similarly influential new gameplay features like the Adventure Log. In addition, both BOTW and TOTK feature dark details in their lore and story; while this is far from unusual for the franchise, the games’ open-world designs allow for much greater depth and subtlety in presenting these aspects of Hyrule. However, as dark as BOTW can be at times, there is always an underlying current of hope evident in its story.

Calamity Ganon’s Blood Moons Could Have Ended Hyrule

Monsters Are Effectively Immortal With The Blood Moon

The Blood Moon is a perfect feature for maintaining the game world in BOTW (as well as in TOTK). Its most obvious effect is that it revives monsters, meaning that the player will always have enemies to fight. However,Zelda’s Blood Moon has other benefits as well; for example, it also resets the materials available in the world, ensuring Link never runs out of supplies. But from a lore perspective, the Blood Moon also means that BOTW’s Hyrule has endured a century of endless monster incursions, no matter how many were killed by survivors of the Calamity.

According to Blood Moon researcher Hino, the Blood Moon has long since become a part of regular life in Hyrule, making it practically mundane despite the potential devastation it could cause.

Even though Calamity Ganon was sealed by Zelda, his army was left free to roam Hyrule. As such, it is clear that Hyrule’s inhabitants have faced countless threats from monsters over the years. While playing BOTW, it is not uncommon for Link to come across NPCs being attacked in the course of their travels, and so it is easy to imagine many similar incidents taking place over the previous century. Although no in-game NPCs are killed in these attacks, people in the past were likely not so lucky.

Hyrule’s People Proved Their Strength While Link Slept

They Survived In The Face Of An Endless Army Of Monsters

Hateno Village in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.

Despite this, however, it is an undeniable fact that not all hope is lost in Hyrule. The loss of the Champions, as well as Link and Zelda, was simply not enough for Ganon’s monsters to destroy the Kingdom. Even if BOTW’s Hyrule is effectively post-apocalyptic, none of its races have succumbed; instead, they continue to survive. Although Link’s awakening is the trigger to finally putting an end to the threat of Calamity Ganon, alongside Zelda’s weakening power, it is clear that Hyrule’s people have been able to maintain a stalemate regardless of the pair’s absence.

The century that Link spends in the Shrine of Resurrection offers plenty of opportunity for the monsters made functionally immortal by the Blood Moon to finish the work that Calamity Ganon started. Even leaderless, the fact that they are nevertheless unsuccessful in doing so is a testament to the resilience of Hyrule’s inhabitants. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild may focus on the story of Link saving Hyrule once again, but it also shows that, even without its hero, the kingdom is far from helpless.