okay okay okay okay guys guys guys I have been struck with a horrifyingly delicious thought
So, eow puppet Link yes? our little guy puppet Link, cool dude, you agree? despite my use of it here, I was not aware of the use of the phrase "Puppet Link" until a few moments ago and it got me thinking (or more so got me staring at it for a while then thinking but that's besides the point): what if "Puppet Link" isn't quite the right phrase, what if this is just Link. Just Link, not puppeteer-ed or coerced or anything of the sort. Just. Link.
Now, I am very much an enjoyer of EOW Hero of Legend Link, but this doesn't have to do with that, suspension of disbelief and enjoying alternate realities with the fictional characters, okay?
And yes I know there are a lot of plot holes but give me a minute,
"But Lamp," You call over my fence, "The eyes! His eye in the first trailer were black/brown/specifically not red but now they are! that must mean magic kerfuffery! And, he was fighting Gannon there too!" Yes, I will admit that this is the main hole in my idea, but... character development? at least for the second point, they might have had a pleasant picnic (ignoring the fact that this is beast Gannon/downfall timeline Gannon and therefore can't talk), and they sorted out their differences! Now, the eyes are a bit of a problem, but I don't know dude, contacts? they got smoothies who's to say they don't have contacts and Link wanted to show off his new vibe
"Okay, say I believe you, but the Spirit of the Hero!" You say, worried for my quickly depleting sanity, "Hylia wouldn't let her hero fall to the dark side!" Now, I won't claim to know everything about Zelda lore and all that jazz, but in my mind the Spirit of the Hero isn't tied to Link. It's tied to the Triforce of Courage. I know that that is a nitpick-ey distinction to make, because the Triforce of Courage is intrinsically tied to Link, but I am making it nonetheless. Also, simply having a piece the Triforce certainly doesn't stop you from being evil. Gannon has and always has had the Triforce of Power, the Triforce is simply a piece of magical essence that plants itself on a mortal being, and has nothing to do with if they are "good" or "bad". And yes, there's the argument of the Triforce of Courage wouldn't have chosen Link if he was going to be evil, but think back to that first trailer again, what was the one thing Link did? He shot arrows at the gem holding Zelda, our unequivocal hero, shattering it, and freeing her. Thus allowing the hero of this story the chance to do said hero-ing. (I am in no way shape or form saying that Link is more heroic than Zelda in eow, or that Zelda's efforts should be diminished, just that Link did technically get the ball rolling, no more than Impa does in most of the Zelda titles). With this established we can all agree that Link did need to be there for the world to be saved, and the all knowing Dorito probably knows this, too so it makes sense in world for Link to still have the Triforce.
"BUT," I hear you say, "what about Hylia? The Golden Goddess still wouldn't let her hero fall!" And I give you Zelda, the only person(people?) in known Hylian history to have the blood of the Goddess, one of which was the Goddess reborn. Zelda, who is on the path to saving Link. Who is without a doubt more of a servant of Hylia than Link ever was. And we all know the Goddess(es) play with Hylians like pieces on a chessboard, do you really think they care about how to get from point A to point B as long as it gets done? Do you really think Hylia "Hylia loves her child soldiers" the Goddess, really cares about if her knight is bad for just a little while? If it all ends up fine in the end?
"But it's a choob/toon graphic game, it can't be that dark!" Did you really just say that? (you didn't, I did, but again, suspension of disbelief) DID YOU REALLY JUST SAY THAT! (I have actually seen this, I think it might have been a joke, but it was "bla bla Link and Zelda seeing they have detailed physical manifestations: we're not getting a happy ending this time, are we") IS LINK'S AWAKENING A JOKE TO YOU?????? that one has one of the most fucked up plots, and it's remake's graphics are very clearly a huge inspiration for EOW's.
(that is a side tangent for another day, the fact that tons of the LA sprites are used makes me so so so happy, but also so scared because that game is so emotionally hitting you with an iron mallet to the face)
I swear there was another point I wanted to dispute, but I can't think of it soooooooooo
But yeah! I love puppet Link, but we've also had so much puppet already (TP and TotK Zeldas, there might be others too), and I think it would be kinda cool if it wasn't puppet Link, and he was just straight up evil :P
You've heard of "what if the bad guys were good?" get ready for "what if the good guys were bad?", a totally never done before thing.
Anyways, yeah, having playable Zelda isn't a new thing for the Zelda franchise, but I'm pretty sure having only playable Zelda is. Like, a game specifically centered around Zelda, and nobody else. So, new things aren't entirely out of the picture.
Do I really think that this is the way the game will go? No, not really, but it was fun to think about, and I hope it gave anyone who reads through this the same amount of whimsey, thank you for coming to my ted talk. goodbye!