Skyward Sword: Wing Ceremony

Now that Link’s got his Loftwing back, he’s ready to report to the ceremony for the race. Before he goes, Zelda talks about hearing a voice a moment ago, and noting that this isn’t the first time it’s happened, and it’s happening more often. She then turns to questioning what’s below the clouds – some say it’s an empty land, some say there’s nothing at all, but she thinks there’s something down there and wants to see it for herself. I didn’t think so at the time, but writing this I can’t help but think of Marin looking out at the ocean and wondering about the bigger world.

Link and Zelda jump off the nearby dock onto their Loftwings, and Zelda suggests Link do some basic maneuvers as a tutorial on how to fly to make sure the bird’s not hurt. The controls are simple and mostly intuitive, and after a short time flying and testing everything out, Zelda says everything looks fine, so the two answer the ringing bells and report to the ceremony. Zelda heads off to tell her father they can start, and Groose comes up after she’s gone. He complains that because Link had to go rescue his Loftwing, all his warm-ups were wasted, and he’s stiff now. Maybe if he hadn’t been the reason Link had to rescue his Loftwing, or maybe even if he weren’t saying the Loftwing’s disappearance was Link’s fault, I might still feel a little bad for him, but as it is… yeah, no.

Groose then switches gears to jealousy over Link and Zelda’s relationship, which his lackeys note has been going on for a while. But he’s still confident he’s going to win and that’ll give him a chance to win her heart (and a sailcloth she made that’s apparently a prize for the winner). He gets lost in thinking about that and doesn’t notice that Zelda’s come back until his lackeys point it out to him, too late to stop Zelda from overhearing more than she wanted to. He stammers off that he’s happy Link found his Loftwing and wishes Link a fair race before making a quick retreat. Zelda’s sure Groose doesn’t actually plan on a fair race, but knows Link can beat him anyway, and my Wiimote slipped when I was picking a response here to “Us? Alone?” earning Link his own scolding to take things more seriously.

Instructor Horwell calls the racers – Link, Groose, and Groose’s lackeys – together to explain the rules: A statuette will be attached to a yellow Loftwing, and the first one to catch it and take the statuette wins. Horwell outlines the stakes of the race: the winner graduates to the next class and receives a gift from Zelda – and because it’s the 25th anniversary of the Knight Academy, the gift will be given atop the Statue of the Goddess. He also says he expects a clean race, and Gaepora speaks up to single Groose out here. The race starts, and – if Link can actually lose, it’d take doing worse at it than I did, which I’m pretty sure is impossible. The first time Link gets close to grabbing the statue, Groose charges, knocking Link out of the way, and one of his lackeys starts throwing eggs at Link. No such save occurs the second time, and Link claims the statuette and victory.

As Link flies back with the statuette, Zelda shouts out to him and jumps off the sky island, and Link catches her. He flies over to the Statue of the Goddess, where Zelda takes the statuette and presents it to the goddess as an offering, playing a song on her harp as she does so. She then takes the role of the goddess and bestows her blessings upon Link, giving him the sailcloth. Link promptly presents it to the goddess his own way (i.e., Item Get!), which Zelda chides him for, telling him to take the ceremony seriously. The stories say that the original version of the sailcloth was given by the goddess to her chosen champion, and Zelda’s happy she got to give the replica to Link. Now it’s time for the end of the ceremony, and Zelda steps up to Link… and tells him to jump off into the courtyard below, giving him a push to get going. Fortunately, the sailcloth’s not just a trophy, it’s a parachute, so Link uses it to land safely. (The sailcloth smells nice, too. Yes, the game actually notes that.) And… look, game, if I wanted to play Pilotwings, I’d play Pilotwings.

With the formalities of the ceremony over, Zelda invites Link to go flying around together. (Link still has the sword – probably excusable that he kept it before the ceremony, but if he’s got time to go flying with his friend, he’s got time to take it back to the Sparring Hall.) Zelda talks about how wonderful the day was, and starts to bring something else up, but the moment is killed by a black tornado in front of them. Zelda is thrown from her Loftwing, and when Link tries to dive after her, he’s thrown himself.

Next: Strange women distributing swords: Maybe not a great basis for a government, but it works for choosing a hero.