After Link materializes back in Lanayru’s spring, he turns around and almost walks straight into Zant, who is taller than I thought. Zant banishes Lanayru, bringing the twilight back, and causing Link to turn back into a wolf. As Midna appears, he turns his magic on her, holding her still while he takes the Fused Shadows from her. He asks why she doesn’t respect him, and Midna accuses him of abusing their people’s power. Zant says it’s not their old power – his comes from his “god.” At this point, Link jumps at Zant and gets tossed back, and a crystal gets lodged in his head. Zant then tries to turn Midna against Link and the world of light, but she’s not having it. So Zant brings Lanayru back, exposing Midna to its light. Lanayru teleports Link and Midna away. I have to say, this Zant is a lot… more restrained, I guess?... than the one I know.
Despite the return of light, Link’s still a wolf. Worse, being brought into the light leaves Midna severely weakened and barely hanging on. Lanayru encourages Link to find Zelda, who can help. Link heads to Hyrule Castle Town, and remembering that Telma said there was a secret passage to the castle through her bar, tries to go there. Since it’s not Twilight, however, the people can see him and someone throws him out. (How much hardship could Link avoid by telling some people – people who know he’s not a bad guy, like Renado or Telma or his friends from home – he’s a werewolf but totally in control in wolf form, and that they can identify him by the manacle that’s somehow still stuck to his leg, so they know not to be scared of him?) As he leaves to find another way, Telma’s cat Louise stops him. She recognizes him from before, and shows him how to get into the rafters of the bar before leaving to distract the humans so they don’t notice a wolf running around overhead.
As Link makes his way through the bar, he can listen in on the people below. Telma’s made her way home with the help of a Goron. Her friends in the back have heard what Link did getting her and Ilia to Kakariko; they know it’s the same guy who came to the bar while Telma was away and regret their treatment of him. After leaving the bar, Link finds himself in a house that was locked up tight. Its inhabitant, Jovani, is turned to gold, with his pet cat also aurified and sitting atop his head. There’s a Poe here, and Jovani is the one who’s interested in Poe souls – they’re pieces of his soul that he sold for… well, I’m going to take a guess and say he wanted gold, and the wish granter was the type who, if Jovani had wished his girlfriend was hot like you, would have set the poor girl on fire. Anyway, Jovani thinks with 20 of the souls, he’ll be free. To let Link out, he opens a treasure chest, revealing a passage to the sewers.
Link quickly finds his way through the sewers to familiar territory. Things are different now – the enemies are regular enemies, not twilight versions of them, and Midna can’t help with jumps because she’s got to focus on not dying. The pair make it over the rooftops to the tower where Zelda’s imprioned, and up to her room. As it turns out, Midna doesn’t want Zelda to help her, but Link. His cure is beyond her, but she says that the evil power that has transformed Link can be driven out with the Master Sword. Then Midna asks Zelda to tell Link where the Mirror of Twilight is. That question seems to clarify something for Zelda, who realizes who Midna is. She blames herself – or maybe the Hyrulean people as a whole – for Midna’s state, and begins healing her. Midna realizes what this will mean for Zelda, and tries to get Link to stop her, but it’s too late. Midna is healed… and Zelda disappears.
Being Zelda is not an easy thing. Pretty much all of her incarnations have been kidnapped/captured/imprisoned, with the exceptions being the ones that spent most of their games under a sleeping curse or turned into a statue. There’ve been a few that the villains have intended to use as a human sacrifice, but Link’s always managed to stop that, except the time said sacrifice wasn’t fatal (A Link to the Past). Zeldas have had family die, been forced into hiding… but up till now they’ve never died. Since she’s not a Jedi and disappeared rather than crumbling, I’m guessing there’s going to be some way of bringing her back – but it’s still a shock for her to get this dead.
(Also, she’s barely been in this game, but somehow the model seen briefly in the scene where Zant stormed the castle has become her iconic look.)
Midna regrets Zelda’s choice, but isn’t going to let her sacrifice go to waste. She’s going to stick with Link and go to Faron Woods to help him. As they teleport out, the castle’s encased in a prism of twilight.
Next: I bought it! I am smart! I bought it at Malo Mart!
