As has been documented multiple times in the past, I’m a sucker for Zelink. Link and Zelda in The Legend of Zelda series — in Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom most of all — are each destined to be together. Not only in the ways their fates are intertwined by centuries of history, but how they are presented as growing closer to one another over the course of each story feels so geared towards romance that I find it difficult to ignore.
Hyrule Warriors: Age Of Imprisonment Being Canon Is A Very Big Deal
Unlike Age of Calamity, this new Hyrule Warriors ties directly into the events of Tears of the Kingdom.
But Nintendo, likely eager not to mess with its family-friendly image or avoid making romance canon, would rather sit on the fence instead of giving fans the relationship that has been staring them in the face for almost a decade now. In the past, I’ve spoken to Zelda voice actor Patricia Summersett, and even she was in agreement when it came to Link and Zelda’s bond being more than a simple friendship.
Given this current era has begun to reach its natural end, I naively believed I could finally move on, but now Age of Imprisonment demands I return for one more Zelink rant. So, please prepare yourselves…
Are Link And Zelda A Romantic Couple?
The two Hylians have never been in a committed romantic relationship when it comes to the Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom canon, but there are several signs that suggest they might be more than friends. Link begins as a knight who Zelda has severe doubts about — she even resents being forced to have a silent follower watch her every move in fear she might disobey her father or put herself in danger. But over time, as seen in BOTW’s various flashbacks, the two grow closer out of necessity as Zelda needs someone to rely on after the gravity of the task before her becomes apparent.
After the champions are assembled and Calamity Ganon threatens to destroy Hyrule, Link and Zelda have been through hell together. There is a quiet yet unmistakable bond of trust that can never be broken, and I refuse to see Zelda crying in Link’s arms in the middle of a thunderstorm after everything has been lost as anything but romantic. Upon realising their only option is to imprison Calamity Ganon within Hyrule Castle, Zelda places Link’s corpse into an eternal slumber until the time is right. A century passes, and the warrior she trusts to save the world, no matter what, emerges with little memory of the bond he and Zelda share.
These tragic circumstances behind their relationship are partially why I find it so romantic. They are willing to stick together no matter how bad things get. Even when hundreds of years and a world-ending threat separates them, you can still tell how much they truly mean to each other. Tears of the Kingdom takes things a step further. Not only are the duo briefly reunited in the present day, we are able to see them interact in relatively normal scenarios before everything goes wrong again.
After Zelda is thrust back in time, her sole focus is to reunite with Link and save Hyrule, even if it means turning herself into a dragon that sheds literal tears to the surface below to make it possible. Is this not the most romantic thing that you’ve ever heard?!
Does Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment Address Zelda And Link’s Relationship?
Considering that Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment’s narrative is canon, how it presents Princess Zelda feeds into the overall picture we have of her across Breath, Tears, and Koei Tecmo’s new musou title. Her mission — much like before — is to help Rauru defeat Ganondorf before finding a way back home. She makes new friends, meets new allies, and takes a long journey across Hyrule in search of answers.
And, of course, she mentions Link a bunch. She even finds a surrogate version of her faithful knight in the form of the Knight Construct. This humanoid Zonai is brought to life by a shard of the master sword that fell through time with Zelda, essentially acting as a means for Link to protect Zelda several millennia before they were even born. See, it’s the most romantic thing ever!
Before this game even came out, Zelink shippers like myself were desperate to discover the droplets of shipping goodness that awaited within. Unfortunately, Nintendo’s localisation has yucked our yums by having Zelda describe Link as a “friend” within one of the game’s myriad diary entries. Except, according to verieas on Twitter, this term seemingly isn’t present in the original Japanese, with Link instead simply being referred to as “familiar knight.”
Some argue that Zelda is denying a deeper connection out of shyness, or we are simply reading way too much into a tiny part of the game for additional information. Either way, I can understand the fear that localisation might be taking away the intended meaning in order to suit a particular narrative. Zelda, I’m sorry, but you aren’t fooling anyone.
Once she figures out that the Knight Construct is a loose representation of Link, Zelda can be seen in multiple cutscenes eager to get close to the Zonai and spend time with it, with a later moment even having Rauru and Mineru literally push our heroine into doing so. These instances are fleeting, but they speak to how close Link and Zelda have become, given she wants to grow closer to a robot that loosely resembles her androgynous elf twink boyfriend. In my eyes, they will always be more than just friends in this version of Nintendo’s universe, even if the canon narrative is never willing to admit it.
But that’s part of the joy for players like me, who love nothing more than to read between the lines and create new stories on our own terms. The canon — whether it aligns directly with our desires or not — remains a compelling foundation to build upon. Link and Zelda’s yearning for one another is never explicitly stated as being romantic by Nintendo, but it’s this decision not to say something that makes the possibility so tantalising. That unspoken bond means more to me than anything canon ever could, and as this era of Zelda reaches its end, I won’t be letting it go anytime soon.
