Hey, everyone!
Welcome to my first fandom filler! This turned out longer than I thought it would, but I wanted to give the analysis its due and help make sure y’all can follow my thought processes.
Twilight Princess belongs to Shigeru Miyamoto and Nintendo and unless otherwise specified, all images were screenshots from Youtube user Halberder84. Twilight Princess is just one of multiple thorough playthroughs on their channel, so if you need help with a stage or want to confirm some facts, check them out!
This post contains spoilers for multiple aspects of Twilight Princess, so proceed with caution.
Onto the show!
Twilight Princess is my favorite Zelda game.
It has been ever since it came out in 2006 and I think it always will be. Ocarina of Time, Wind Waker, and Majora’s Mask are close seconds, and I love the other games I’ve played as well, but TP will always hold a special place in my heart. It helped me through a painful split with my friends and it was actually what inspired me to write in the first place.
I loved the storyline so much that I was so confused by the big plot hole I noticed at the beginning of the game: why didn’t the Bulblins take Link along with the other children when they raided Ordon?
It was such a big moment that kicked off the whole plot of the game and it made no sense to me. The Bulblins had plenty of room on their mounts to carry him (especially King Bulblin, who was the only one on his boar), and Link is about seventeen, only a little older than Ilia, so he’s basically still a kid himself. And instead of beating him like they do Rusl when he tries to resist, the Bulblins leave him in a spring that has healing properties, therefore ensuring that he can go after them.
Then it finally hit me – maybe that was the plan.
It’s never stated directly in game, but there are a handful of clues that King Bulblin works for Zant. Both have a rather unnerving habit of showing up wherever Link is, like here:
and here:
And if that’s not enough, King Bulblin has a horn that is able to open a Twilight portal for the Shadow Beasts to use.
Not something a general mook would have on hand.
So what does that mean?
Look, Zant is a loon. I get it. And he certainly doesn’t have a clear grasp on reality even when he IS acting sane.
But he’s not completely stupid.
He took over almost all of Hyrule in a couple of days, maybe even a couple of hours. If Link hadn’t killed that Shadow Beast in Ordon Spring, every single province would have fallen under Twilight.
Pretty good for someone who’s never been to Hyrule before.
We don’t see much of his tactics, but what little we do see is actually somewhat logical. The first place he goes is to Hyrule Castle, where he shows just how outmatched Princess Zelda’s troops are so she knows that any attempt to resist will end in complete and utter slaughter.
But look at this:
and this:
Just like Zant (and unlike Midna), these creatures CAN handle pure light.
So why does Zant need King Bulblin when he has monsters of his own making that can go anywhere he wants them to go?
He’s using SCOUTS.
Taking the capital and getting an official surrender from the princess is one thing, but like I said, Zant’s never been to Hyrule before, and given that the Twilight Realm and Hyrule have been separated since Ganondorf was banished, I doubt that there is up-to-date intelligence that the Usurper could use in his conquest (especially since Ganondorf’s been gone for centuries).
For all he knows, there’s a fortress brimming with bombs in Faron Woods and he’s about to walk into a trap.
So he sends in scouts, Bulblins and Bokoblins and other monsters that he values less than his powerful Shadow Beasts to get the lay of the land.
I’ll give more evidence to this in a second (and connect it to Link), but first, let’s talk about how all the provinces were conquered.
Lanayru and Faron basically went down without a hitch. Other than the Zoras (whom Zant subdued by having the Shadow Beasts murder their queen before freezing their domain), the only major civilization in Lanayru is the Castle Town, which has already surrendered. And Faron Woods has a population of one guy:
Photo courtesy of Zelda Wiki and Nintendo Assets Library
Lanayru’s spring is in a secluded cave down by Lake Hylia, far away from the city, and Coro may live right by the entrance to Hyrule Field, but he’s got to sleep sometimes, has been known to hide in his house when he’s scared, and is ditzy enough to keep a bird’s nest in his hair all day. It’s pretty easy to see how monsters could get to those two spirits without being noticed.
But remember what happened to Kakariko?
Aside from Luda, Renado, and Barnes, the whole place has been slaughtered.
Why the difference? Well, look at the place:
Photo courtesy of Zelda Wiki and user Dany36
It’s a (formerly) densely populated village that’s far from capital (and therefore might not know about the submission), is right next to the spirit spring (meaning sneaking up on Eldin would be much harder), and has lots of places citizens could gain the high ground. And a freaking BOMB SHOP.
Not to mention the town is right next to an active volcano that is home to sumo-wrestling Gorons who could probably utterly smash the Shadow Beasts. But because of the Fused Shadow in the mines, the Gorons have their own problems with Darbus/Fyrus and have become isolated from the village.
So while they were distracted, any potential resistance was quickly and bloodily eliminated from Kakariko.
But why would Zant and his minions publicly interfere with Ordon as well, a tiny hamlet the size of a farm where half of the inhabitants are children? It’s not like they’d have plow through the village to get to the spring:
Photo courtesy of Zeldapedia and user AuronKaizer
Edited by me - sorry about the pixels. I only needed Ordona and the other images were smaller.
They could have stolen Ordona’s light without anyone noticing, so why don’t they?
The short answer is Link.
Link utterly terrified them.
Even before Zant knew he was the fabled hero of the Twili, Link still posed a serious threat. A handful of Shadow Beasts were able to wipe out an entire room (30+) of trained, armed, and armored knights. But then here comes a teenager from a ranch with no combat experience and nothing but a slingshot, a lantern, and a WOODEN SWORD and he’s able to plow through multiple types of monsters AND solve puzzles and traps in the dark tunnels of Faron Woods with barely a scratch.
Of course Zant would be terrified of this kid messing up his plans.
(Ah, if only he knew).
As for how Zant knew about Link’s exploits, that’s where the scouts come in. The chain of communication between the Bokoblins, Bulblins, Shadow Beasts, and Zant isn’t clear to me, but I think there is one. The monsters in this game are shown to be able to communicate:
Photo courtesy of Zelda Wiki and user Bwar
So it makes sense that they’re able to talk to each other. Also, Bokoblins show up in Hyrule Field and Hyrule Castle, meaning they’re not ‘indigenous’ (used in the broadest sense of the word) to Faron Woods and some could be under Zant’s employ.
Plus, even though Link killed each monster he encountered, these creatures are made of dark energy. It’s possible that they either reformed or Link didn’t kill every one that existed. Either way, I believe that the story of his forest escapade made its way to Zant and established him as a threat.
Okay, now let’s tie this all together.
I can get why Zant would be terrified of facing Link directly once he learns of the Hylian’s skills, but he can’t let this big of a threat just stand by. So instead, he sets a trap using bait he knows Link will go for because what was Link doing when he went into the woods?
Rescuing Talo.
That’s it. He didn’t try to get into the Forest Temple that was right behind the cage, nor did he go hunting around the rest of the woods to find other camps of monsters. He came, got the kid, and took him home.
AND, Link went ALONE instead of getting another adult when the children first went missing. All in all, he really showed just how protective he is over them that afternoon.
So Zant watched and waited. Waited until Link was away from the adults to send in armed, mounted monsters after the children. The fact that Link was unarmed at the time was lucky, but Zant DID use Bulblins here, so if the plan didn’t work, he wouldn’t lose any Shadow Beasts. But it worked perfectly – the Bulblins took out Ilia and Colin and left Link alone.
Why?
So when he woke up, Link would instantly go after them.
What does that matter?
Because what does Link run into right after he crosses that little bridge?
A wall of Twilight.
And a Shadow Beast pulls him through.
A SINGLE Shadow Beast, when they always come in groups of 3 or 5? Right at the entrance to the curtain, when the first group you encounter later is all the way back here?
Sorry, the map wasn’t helpful in this case! I did my best.
Grabbing and holding Link by the neck when no other Shadow Beast you encounter ever uses that attack?
Exactly.
It’s an ambush.
Link is supposed to die.
Because what happens to people when they are killed by Shadow Beasts?
Yeah.
Zant threw everything he could at Link to make sure the boy would react just the way the Twili wanted him to. He is attacked in an enclosed space with no weapons and no room to fight, his friends are injured and kidnapped right in front of him, and he himself is knocked hard enough on the head to fall unconscious for a few minutes.
And then he comes across a new dimension that he’s never seen before and gets violently pulled in by a monster nearly 3 times his size that starts to strangle him.
If the Triforce of Courage hadn’t kicked in when it did, Link not only would have died, but he would have become a soldier in Zant’s army.
Zant was THIS CLOSE to winning it all.
Photo courtesy of Youtube user Olizandri. The Triforce was clearer in his video.
This was actually the first fandom filler I ever thought of. I was in high school when I finally managed to explain it to myself, and I cannot tell you how happy I was. It was pretty awesome to put the pieces of a big confusing puzzle together, but once I finished this theory, I noticed just how much it changed my view of Twilight Princess for the better.
It added even more layers to my view of Link and Midna’s relationship (since she was there to witness his transformation) and it really deepened my appreciation for Zant as a villain. And yes, I do think this was his plan rather than Ganondorf’s. Ganondorf is very apathetic and cold towards Link at the end of the game:
He looks sooooo bored to me right here.
This is the only true consideration he gives to Link. The rest of the conversation, he talks to Midna.
and this plot fits in much more with Zant’s loony paranoia.
But now I see Zant as more than just a loon. Now I see him as a much more dangerous and effective villain and that makes the game that much more fun for me. I hope this theory makes TP more fun for you too.
Once again, huge thank you to all my photo sources, especially Halberder84 for such a thorough, high-def playthrough!
Thanks for sticking all the way to the end!
See you next time!