ZELDA-LINK-MALON: A Look at the Triangle, An essay about the Z-L-M love triangle.

I just had this mental image of Link getting the living tar beaten out of him by a guy who's Zelda's husband.

Poor Link.

Well, think about it. No man in his right mind would be okay with another man being as close to his wife as Link is to Zelda..especially with Link's romantic inclinations her way.

And the King is the ultimate authority figure..Link would unintentionally undermine him, with his popularity and position as the kingdom's hero.

It would be far simpler for Link to just marry Zelda and save them the trouble.

Agreed.

As most of you probably know, I do have a few things to say as to why I am an ardent Malinker. And it's not because I think it has more canon evidence than Zelink, because quite honestly, I'm not a slave to canon. I don't care if Malink is canon or not. And that is one of the many elements that makes Malink so appealing to me. If it were to be named canon, the ship wouldn't be the same. People would flock to it for that soul reason alone and wouldn't even try to see the possibilities behind it. They would ship it because *only* because it's canon. Not because they necessarily like the pairing. So I would probably be turned off to the pairing if it ever became canon. My things is: ship a pairing because you like the characters and the thought of them being together, not because you feel you have to.

But anyway, on to what else I want to say on this. Another reason Malink is so appealing to me is because I enjoy the thought of Link having a happy ending. I want Link to finally be able to settle down with a life a little less hectic than what he grew up knowing. I think he deserves that after all the crap he had to go through as the Chosen Hero. And then if he needed to, he could pick up his sword and shield and defend Hyrule. And then he can go back home to Malon, because he knows even through all that uncertainty that he has to fight through, she will be there waiting for him to come back. And that's stabilizing and helps keep him grounded so he won't go completely crazy.

To me, he is freer with Malon, for the simple fact that he doesn't have the weight of the world on his shoulders with her. He is free to live his life there without having to worry about ruling an entire country with millions of people depending on him. He saved them all once, not to mention their Termanian counterparts. And the thought of him going home to Malon is just....it just feels right. After having to go through everything that we put him through, it just makes sense to me that he would want to go back to a simpler less complicated existence.

Link and Zelda deserve their happy endings, I have no arguments whatsoever there. But who's to say it has to be together? I like to think they would seek out their happy endings in different places. Zelda has a duty to Hyrule, a duty that Link doesn't necessarily share. He is the Kingdom's hero, not it's ruler. He doesn't have to make those decisions. Especially considering that no one but Link it seems remembers what happened in the old time line anyway. (I distinctly remember Zelda saying in Majora's Mask that it felt like she had known Link a lifetime, pretty much implying that she doesn't remember, except what time they spent together in the present time line). But don't get me wrong, I'm not saying Link's opinions wouldn't be valid, since he helped put Ganondorf out of commission in the child time line as well. But I just think he would want a simpler life outside of having to save the kingdom AND rule it too. But that's just me.

And I think I've rambled enough.

Good for you. I personally don't ship ZeLink because I feel it's canon ( though I do in some cases ) it's the same reason as you: because I like the thought of them being together and I really can't see another girl making Link as satisfied, or there being anyone else for Zelda. It's the emotions they evoked in this player.

But for this player...a great amount of the negative emotion in terms of sadness I got from the game was the result of them being forced to be apart: they seemed to take joy in each other's presence. Link and Zelda both "felt" devastated in the beginning of MM when he left.( IMO obviously ) In light of that, I see a truly happy ending for both of them being the result of being together. When they reunited at the end of OoT...I never would have felt so satisfied otherwise..it felt right.

Something that needs to be pointed out? Zelda is also the kingdom's Hero. They shared the burden, and Link had a hand in affecting change...the same as Zelda. They shared the responsibility. How fair is it if he runs off to do his own thing and leaves her holding the bag? He was chosen for a special purpose, just like her. In my mind, he has equal responsibility for the future and people of Hyrule. I can see alot of it depends on what you believe is Link's responsibility...does it end after the adventure? The life of the Hero to me means giving up stability and a life for one ( himself ) in order to live for many. I don't think he was meant for freedom.

Thus ends my rambling. You know..it seems to me that a person's opinion on Link's future also depends on which love interest you empathize with more too...Malon or Zelda. All I can see is Zelda's unhappiness if Link chose another...she'd feel abandoned.

I personaly love the idea of ZeLink, not just because there's tons of proof, but because it feels right. The hero and the princess. Just like a fairy tale. if he was with Malon, he would need to be away a lot when he goes to help people and protect hyrule. Even if malon is understanding of it, wouldn't Link feel just a bit guilty? He would spend so much time away and not enough time with Malon. I just think that Link and Zelda are meant to be together bcause they understand each other and obiously care for each other. It just feels right.

I'm going out of my Malon shipper character for the moment and say that there is enough subtle hints in both OOT and MM that may indicate that BOTH Zelda and Malon like Link. But there is nothing there that indicates Link feeling anything special for any one of them other than a possible platonic friendship and thats it. Its easy to believe that Link might be attracted to a Malon with the Cremia hug and its also easy to believe that Link might be attracted to Zelda simply since she is depicted to be attractive and that the she is the main heroine of the game series that is named after her. But since the OOT Link Child timeline ends at MM there is no real evidence whatsoever to know for sure who Link ends up with.

So whether he ends up being Zeldas lapdog or Malons knight in shining armor who knows. But I like to believe that Link would choose Zelda or Malon based on true love rather than us (Zelda and Malon shippers)believing in ridiculous things like social status, vague quotes & prologues, horses, triforces, magical armors, non cannonical mangas/cartoons, ocarinas and songs as irrelevant and unrelated proof that Link will end up marrying whoever.

But I like to bring up a point that may hint on the possible destinies of the hero and the princess. I refer to the MM scene that Link WILLINGLY left Zelda even after she expressed her feelings that she did not want him to leave. I'm not saying it supports or denies a LinkxMalon, despite him showing up with Epona loyally by his side as if to symbolically say "Too bad Zelda, Malon is my good friend too". Now I'm not saying Epona represents Malon, but its a good indication that Link has a relevant and meaninful friendship with Malon instead of an exclusive friendship with Zelda only.

IMO the MM scene to me spoke volumes that symbolically the hero and princess are not destined to be together always and forever. Perhaps its prophetic that Link has another destiny??Hmm I wonder with who?? As for why he remembered Zelda and not Malon, it had a lot more to do with remembering the SONG OF TIME than any unfounded notion that he is going to marry Zelda one day.

But as I pointed out before, since MM ends the Child Timeline its vague on who Link ultimately ends up with.