Family Matters the Most New Chapter Added: 30/10/2025
Section Added: Character Analysis/Observations. - Mineru Second Part (06/12/2025)
This Master List will be pinned and hopefully it will allow visitors to be able to navigate my posts easier and that they can find my own posts amongst all the reblogs.
The Master List will be updated when I add something new and will contain mostly Breath of the Wild/ Age of Calamity/ Tears of the Kingdom related content and what ever may come later. Any posts that has more than one (1) part and has a link to the previous part will now have the link replaced to have it linked here and under the cut below.
Crazy-Gals Fanfiction. (Separate from the Inspired section, search this for separate chapter posts or click the links I shared below for the full story/current updated story.)
I is alive!! So sorry for the lack of posting anything. I promise fanfic updates will happen soon and maybe more meme like pics at some point too.
In the meantime, found this old clip. Call back to when Riju's Avatar, the first one (1) I got because I always go for the Gerudo first, was up to her usual shenanigans. I was too busy laughing to help. 🤣😂
I just came here and decided to farm for dragon parts to sell but I think I'll just go elsewhere, Naydra is clearly not over the Malice's effect. This was horrifying to witness!! 😭😱😭😱
Thank you kindly @hyruleairbnb !! Well, this is a difficult one to have but if I had to choose, honest it'd be with an Epsurr/Meowstic. They're adorable and I don't keep conversations well so a cute little Pokémon to chill with works for me!
If not possible, hmmmm, Queen Sonia from Tears of the Kingdom/Age of Imprisonment. She so sweet and I would have loved to have known her better!!
So who to tag, who to tag? 🤔🤔
@briarbramble @fandomsmj @dingoplus and anyone who sees this because I can't remember all the names!! 🤣😂 You're all up!!
I just realised while I was writing about Rauru, Yeah I decided to write about the rest of the Warriors in Age of Imprisonment because why not?, that I forgot to mention how she interacts with the other characters. Made me think more properly now too thanks to chatting with @briarbramble and @fandomsmj. (Thanks again)
Here is part one (1) of my thoughts and realisations about Mineru and below will be my expansion about her interactions with others and more about her. If I ever make more observations, this post will be edited, but it's better to play the game and see it for yourself and feel free to reblog with what you noticed about Mineru's other interactions that I may have missed. I would love to see your thoughts too!!
WARNING - I WILL BE SPOILING THE WHOLE OF OR MOST OF AGE OF IMPRISONMENT. PLEASE ONLY READ IF YOU HAD COMPLETED THE GAME OR ALREADY KNOW WHAT HAPPENS ANOTHER WAY.
THIS IS ALSO QUITE LONG SO APOLOGIES AGAIN THAT I DIDN'T INCLUDE THIS PROPERLY THR FIRST TIME.
Ok so yeah, I did already mention how well she gets along really well with her brother, Rauru. But I only brought up a camp interaction. I will write it for her P.O.V since for Rauru I will write about how he feels when interacting with her. The same for Ardi and their interaction during The Siege for Hyrule Castle about Ardi being concerned about Mineru being tired after controlling the Stormwind Ark.
I'll make it into sections, please keep in mind that she doesn't talk directly to everyone in the game, only the major Warriors and even then it might not be a lot. With that said, let's begin.
Rauru - Her little brother, The First King Hyrule after its founding. I did touch upon how proud she is about being his sister so let me explain a bit on why I love that line. She is proud of HIM, not proud of herself for most likely teaching him what he knows about everything Zonai, HIM.
Throughout the game, I noticed that there is one (1) thing she never does. It even sparked a reblog conversations with @briarbramble, who also noticed this as well. Mineru never EVER pushes his buttons on purpose nor does she argue with him. She trusts him in his role as King of Hyrule, in return he has a great amount of trust in her and her advice. She was the first one (1) who came to mind whenever Rauru is stuck on something, i.e. how to help Zelda literally minutes after meeting her. They'll debated a little but never outright argue about doing something. So long as she's careful, and not activate anything without his input, she's free to do as she pleases.
She notes how he hadn't "graced her study in a while". She's not mad about it, if anything she strikes me as actually being happy to see him after a while.
Throughout the game, they share each others worries about the war. There's some side missions where they'll help each other out and I find it really sweet. It really does make you wonder what their upbringing was like, Briar and I did talk about the possibility of Mineru being parentified all of a sudden, but who knows. I would have loved to see more about their past, even if it's in a conversation during a mission or cutscene. Though in her Bonus Conversation, we did get to find out that she knows about him skiving off of his chores by letting the Constructs do them and he laughs about it too. They also sing and dance together, able to captivate the room in doing so. They never one (1) up each other.
When Rauru, understandably, is cautious of 'Bud', she never argues that she knows what she's doing and he's holding her back. Instead, she understood and gives her reasoning as to why she can sense that Zelda is correct in trusting 'Bud'. He folds but still made sure that he's kept an eye on and @briarbramble and I agreed that she was pleased. Probably has him wrapped around her finger at times with the satisfied smile she made afterward and he does put up with her charging ahead, what more could she ask for?
In the end, it was that love for her brother that had her act as a shield from Ganondorf's attack in the end. I want to believe that it wasn't a King she saw, but the person who she cared for for years. Maybe many point in his life flashed before her eyes at that moment: from being a child, a teenager who's probably ready for adventure soon but still needed shielding from the harsh world at times, the young man who probably asked her advice about dating Sonia, to a husband. More importantly, as her brother. She could have grabbed him instead and ran away. But, that would have disappointed him more than anything. Instead, the last of her strength went to, while it will really hurt, being his final shield to ensure he had enough strength to sealing the Demon King away. She trusted, though maybe also hated, Rauru's decision to using the Sealing Spell.
Throughout the war, she was always at his side, allowing him to grieve the loss of Sonia, advising and assisting him as best as she could. Not once had she ever suggested the idea of getting revenge against Ganondorf, which would have put Rauru in an even worse situation physically but especially worse mentally. Instead she is just there, approaching him when it's important and as his sister first and foremost.
Love will know many hurts but strengthen its endurance ten-fold.
I wonder how she felt when she met Link and held his hand, knowing it was her brothers. It was so long since that last happened.
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Zelda - A mini Mineru in many ways. From the very moment they met, the topic of the Constructs, Zonai technology and Sheikah technology was immediately met with equal enthusiasm. Mineru saw Zelda's sincerity in her interests and most likely had that first conversation for a while before the topic of what could help Zelda get home was brought up. Mineru never doubted Zelda's word or intelligence, in fact it was practically encouraged for the young princess to be curious. An example being the infamous construct ride. Lenalia noted her worry about Zelda taking control of Mineru's construct in her stone tablet story in TotK, but now we got to see it in Age of Imprisonment, mostly. Zelda accidentally loses control and would have charged into a wall had Mineru not dropped what she was doing and practically launched her spirit to stop it. She most likely lost her place in the book, but seeing that Zelda reacted pretty relieved after it happened, and by Mineru carefully lowering her to the ground, this most likely ended up being a funny moment to talk about. Zelda is quite comfortable studying with Mineru, showing that while the Zonai most likely always worked alone in her research, she welcomed Zelda with open arms and never seems to have scolded her for anything, i.e. the above mentioned construct incident, probably because it happens to her on occasion too. It was soon set up for the Syn-Strike where Zelda takes control while Mineru also possesses it. And the fact that said construct warps in meant that they perfected that function of the Purah Pad together and extended it onto the Construct for combat.
Mineru also shows great trust in Zelda when it comes to being in combat and her judgement. She, and Rauru who joined them, trusted Zelda to be able to fend for herself. When they found the soon to be Forbidden Construct, after heeding Rauru's concerns, she was going to warn Zelda of the same. Instead she saw the young woman eagerly and already cautiously taking notes, well the way she smiled makes me think she saw herself in Zelda from when she was excited about something new. So instead, she just asks Rauru to put set safety measures in place instead of having Zelda stop what she's clearly enjoying doing.
We've seen them frequently traverse the Depths together and when 'Bud' finally came onto the scene, Mineru once again trusted Zelda's word about trusting him and even enquired about the Master Sword. In the same Bonus Conversation I mentioned above with Rauru, when Zelda was worried about balancing her training and researching, Mineru offered her use of the newly built training area as a means to do both. The Zonai siblings encourages Zelda to do what she feels right and to not burn herself out, much like Sonia does, and in turn Zelda grew to be strong in her own right. Both Siblings encourages her to go to the other and never forced her to say their way of getting stronger or their knowledge was greater than the other. Again, Mineru quickly outed Rauru about his skiving off of his duties to Zelda, that shows comfortability and trust to be able to open up about themselves.
The game shows many instances of the two (2) growing close, but the ending of Age of Imprisonment, after Rauru's sacrifice, we know that Zelda already made up her mind on Draconification. In TotK, Mineru was still very hurt from the Gloom when this conversation was had, so emotions were still very much raw at this point. Zelda was very concerned for Mineru, obviously. As much as it would hurt, she accepted Zelda's choice. If AoI's ending is after this scene, then we know that on good days, they are both preparing for the day where they'll die as Zelda and Mineru and become the immortal Light Dragon to heal the Master Sword and the spirit of the last Zonai who will be housed in the Purah Pad until Link finds her someday.
Those final days must have been painful, again because while Mineru was still dying from the Gloom, she would still help her distant niece till the very end. I wish we got to see their reunion as a bonus ending of either TotK or AoI, but we saw that it was heartfelt and Mineru was happy to pass on, saying that she'll be sure to say how strong Zelda had become and that Hyrule is safe with her and the new Sages to Rauru and Sonia. I just hope that she finally got to teach Zelda that dance she was known for.
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Sonia - This section is short, it's a shame we never actually see them interact. All I can guess is that they were indeed close, Sonia did marry her brother after all and more than likely trusted her deeply to be able to have a Secret Stone as well. Mineru was devastated when her sister-in-law was killed by Ganondorf, speechless and voice still shaken afterwards, but that's about it really.
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Ardi - As mentioned in Part One (1), Mineru and Ardi do get along pretty well, Ardi was the first to ask about if Mineru needed to rest after controlling the Stormwind Ark and made sure Mineru knows she can take a break - to which the latter declined but appreciated the concern nonetheless.
Mineru knew that Ardi had no part in the death of Sonia nor does she ever hold a great distrust to the Gerudo overall. In Ardi's Bonus Conversation, it was hilarious actually, Calamo accidentally sets off a spring device and Mineru immediately started by asking if she just saw what happened too! The two (2) easily spoke about what just happened, such as how easily Calamo was able to land very easily too. When Ardi brought up the idea of using the springs as a defence, Mineru loved the idea, was open to hearing it out and when asked if she would like to help out in testing the idea, she was pleased to do so and saying "I must say, it's fascinating how two people could witness the same phenomenon, yet have their gaze drawn by completely different details."
Remember, Mineru, while able to handle combat situations pretty well, is not a natural warrior like Ardi is. Zonai are born to have knowledge, will always see things analytically and logically. While the Gerudo are born to fight, will observe their environments to see what can be used to their advantage in battle and traversing different terrains. So both will always observe what's happening in front of them very differently, like Mineru said, same thing but different conclusions. So when Ardi brings up anything about anything that will give them a better advantage in battle and defence, Mineru is always happy to hear her out and join in to test it out.
Mineru held no qualms when gifting Ardi with her Envoy Mask immediately after assisting the Gerudo in battle, so much like Sonia, she knew not all the Gerudo wanted this to happen.
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Lenalia - In many side missions, Lenalia will express concerns about Mineru. Mineru definitely would have known this but we know her, once she's focuses on something, you can't pry her away from it. But it doesn't mean she doesn't appreciate the concern. Every time Mineru expresses being upset that she is short in materials, or Lenalia, and whoever is with her, surprises her with them and/or with food, she is very appreciative of Lenalia. Even if it means immediately going back to work after eating the food the chamberlain brought.
Mineru knows that Lenalia enjoys learning, even having welcomed her to join her and Zelda in learning about the Construct before the incident of Zelda losing control. Chances are, she allowed the chamberlain to join her whenever she expresses any interest in the topic of stories, mysteries and discoveries.
This is backed up when we get to read about when Mineru heard about an owl statue, owls being her favourite animal, and she even invites Lenalia to join her to see it. She expresses deep thanks for the company. Lenalia would love to learn the dance Mineru does, knowing it was passed on since ancient times, so hopefully Mineru did get to pass that on before housing her spirit in the Purah Pad or when they reunite in the afterlife.
It's safe to say that before Lenalia was assigned to Zelda, she was assigned to Mineru first.
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Calamo - Their interactions are mostly seen through text but we do get to see them talk to each other in some scenes as well. According to Calamo, Mineru usually tends to take a look at his 'Bud' pretty often. As I said with Ardi, this is her analytical and observational side showing. They get on well enough, Mineru is happy to help them out by making sure that 'bud' is in good shape and he very much appreciates that, even if it comes across as creepy to him at times, lol. At least he found her Sage powers incredible and she's happy he thinks so.
She seems quite happy when Calamo and 'bud' got their new garments and into knighthood.
They get along pretty well from what we've seen, especially when 'Bud' is around and she gets to learn more about him but is saddened that he is to be forgotten to history. I hope she got to find his tree in the future (whether you believe it to be the Ancient Tree Stump or as the Great Deku Tree.)
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Mysterious/Knight Construct A.K.A 'Bud' - "Mineru, no." Mineru, yes." A researcher's dream come true when the very thing you had to be cautious about is standing right in front of you. She was very eager getting to know this construct and to thank him for helping her further her researches, she would help with his maintenance and upgrades whenever possible. Their Sync-Strike has her summon all the devices for him to use while she helps pilot it.
In a cutscene, when speaking with some fighters, she puts her hand on it's back and smiling. The topic, while muted, was most likely about his abilities and awesome prowess in fights and if she plans to help him upgrade more.
Now, Mineru could have easily gone one-eighty (180) when she discovered about how the Zonai came to be extinct. Being a Zonai herself, it would have brought some unease knowing that's what 'Bud's' specific model was used for, knowing that dark intentions brought them to lose control and withering the Zonai's numbers. But when Zelda brought up the Master Sword and Link, even from the beginning, she sensed that Zelda's words ring true. She will help keep him maintained happily knowing this fact.
When he and Calamo had to be forgotten, it being Mineru's idea, she knows that they were heroes of her era as well. But for the sake of the future, they had to be forgotten too. Again, I hope that she got to find Calamo in Zelda's era and who knows, maybe reunite with that part of the Master Sword and Calamo again in the afterlife.
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Link - Bet this part surprised ya? It shouldn't. While their interactions are pretty brief in TotK, what we see is enough. Mineru heard all about Link from Zelda, so she knows he can be trusted to bring an end to The Demon King in the Wild Era once and for all. She greets him as 'Zelda's Chosen Protector.' She was willing to wait within the Purah Pad for so many years to assist him. At the end of the game, she was please that Zelda's trust was proven true.
What I wished happen was that she would be more included in TotK, i.e. translate the ancient stone tablets properly, or even have side quests involving her like teaching the Hateno kids about constructs or helping Lurelin Village be repaired thanks to the fuse abilities and a construct can carry stuff around easily.
Just something where after each mission, she tells Link a little more about Zelda's time in the past. Good times to have him reassured that she was treated well. After learning that Zelda became the Light Dragon, maybe she would voice what happened at some points after the talk. i.e. how they went to each sage for help and how Zelda spent some time taking in the scenes for the final time. How Mineru felt about seeing her brother again, even if it's just his arm and being able to hold his hand again for a moment.
Not much, but enough to reassure him and get them to know each other better. Maybe even comment about how she was grave-robbed by Kogha and say she's impressed that he self-taught himself Zonai and construct building.
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Conclusion
Ganondorf - This Demon took everything from her. Her home, her construct, her sense of safety, her life, but worst of all was losing her brother and sister-in-law to him and by extension, Zelda (temporarily if you could call thousands of years that.
While muted in her expression, she has still been able to visibly display her dislike for the Demon King. She was quite possibly scared too like everyone else when facing the thousands of monsters when going to siege the castle but soldiered in regardless. No matter what, she still fought against him.
In the Imprisoning War's final battle, she fought valiantly with the other Sages against Demon King Ganondorf, together as one (1). When he threw his final attack, she held out as best as she could when Rauru's shield broke, but was the only one (1) to be thrown back from it. Yet still she pushed on, brink of death and used her construct shield to push him back and waste as much of his time and strength as possible. It only bought time, he saw her fall first and looked down on her the most first before she passed out seeing his sadistic smile.
Even after waking up, revenge was far at the back of her mind. She didn't let it cloud her judgement and helped with Lenalia's Sketches and mural before succumbing to the Gloom, a curse she suffered with for who knows how long.
Countless years later, upon meeting Link, her mission was still very much clear to her. To stop the Demon King and free all of Hyrule by Link and the new Sage's side, avenging the heroes of the Imprisoning War. She once again takes up a construct to possess, the newly built Crafter Construct, and joins Link to once more face the limitless monster horde and her Corrupted Construct before joining in to face Ganondorf.
When flung back, you can see her construct shake, trying to move. Imagine what could have gone through her head when once again she is flung back, unable to move or leave the construct again and this time the New Sages are down too!
In the end, as I said, revenge was at the back of her mind, she wanted to avenge her lost loved ones, including Zelda at this point in time from Draconification, and got it.
She spent so long waiting for the fall of the Demon King, is happy to see the end of his reign and especially happy that Hyrule will thrive on stronger than before.
Mineru suffered through unbearable pain and countless sacrifices in many forms due one (1) demons heartlessness, yet she has shown her unwavering spirit and heart was stronger by protecting those who needed it the most in her era and Zelda's.
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Mineru is of the people just as much as Zelda, Rauru and Sonia. She is happy to learn many topics if it means it will benefit everyone in the Imprisoning War. She would learn how to be a blacksmith or cook so the constructs are able to do the same when she builds them. When we see everyone talking in cutscenes, rather than looking down on them we actually see her joining in and enjoying herself too.
She made many sacrifices and lost many people close to her. She trusted them as much as they trusted her and they're all gone in the Wild Era. A researcher forced to fight and was one (1) of the strongest warriors around thanks to her using her knowledge and applied that into her wisdom.
Like Sonia and Rauru, she helped shaped Zelda to be a stronger person, a stronger princess that Hyrule deserves and is sure that Zelda doesn't need them anymore, ready to say goodbye for now. She got to see the end of the war that so many people never got to see in their times alive, fitting that the Sage of Spirit would get to see just that and move into the afterlife after finally partaking in ending the Imprisoning War and winning as a means of her own revenge on Ganondorf, the man who took everything from her and Zelda.
It was a long, arduous and painful war, now she can rest happy.
If you read this, thank you for taking the time to do so. Apologies that it wasn't included in the first part and had to be sectioned but I promise the other characters would be written better!!
Have an awesome day/afternoon/evening/night, lovelies!!
Omg I just remembered, I made this sort of thing into a meme about a year ago. Hahahaha I am so glad SharpDim drew this now because I forgot about it, my day has been made. 🤣😂🤣😂
I need more of them three as well 😭 I got her bonus conversation first after beating the game and I started laughing through tears it was a surreal experience
But oh god I am SO glad I'm not the only one who immediately clocked Mineru waking up and choosing violence and Rauru just Doesn't Notice It. He's so oblivious and it's very funny
I don't know if it's that Rauru is oblivious (though that is a very likely scenario lol) or if he's just mastered the little sibling art of going "yeah and?" to derail older sibling. 😂
Mineru's bonus conversation was the very first one (1) I got straight after the final boss and credits. Yeah I kinda cried again because they were so happy at that moments before things went down. 😭😭
And now we know they are both caring and sassy siblings and the grandchild/great niece gets to watch it happen in real time. 🤣😂
Which is good because remember growing up, Zelda never really got to freely have or witness these kind of interactions after her mother died, and probably still has some kind of guilt after this but is free again after the Calamity and to be with royalty who is care free is just what she needed and probably why she settled in so easily.🥹🥹
But yeah, I live for the sibling squabbles, mainly funnier cause the youngest is the King of the land and the oldest is like "Don't care, I'm older so being king doesn't count!!"
I just wanted to share my thoughts and realisation about Mineru. However, I will be spoiling major points of Age of Imprisonment. So I ask that you please read this AFTER you've completed the game/seen all the cutscenes.
I do highly recommend the game as it is canon and really well done. Answered the questions we were wondering about. It's an eight and a half out of ten (8.5/10) for me!!
Please continue below the cut to open this fully when you've done that.
YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!!
Mineru has a sad story really if you think about it. And I know many joked or really wondered what her role was in TotK and thankfully Age of Imprisonment answers that and I'll be sharing my thoughts about her character and some of her story.
Not only is she the last of the Zonai, she was THE last Zonai for a short while after Rauru sacrificed himself to seal away Demon King Ganondorf.
The most stand out thing about her is the fact that while she can fight, she is not a natural warrior like literally everyone in the roster. Which makes sense since she is a researcher/engineer/technician/historian long before the war. She's been trying to find out why the Zonai basically came to be extinct (nearly at this point as Rauru and Mineru are the last of the Zonai) before the war started or even before Zelda joined them. However, despite it all, she adapted to the environments around her, using auto-build to create contraptions and constructs as a means of defence. She does this easily because while not naturally strong, she is still using her intelligence and knowledge to make up for it since we can see that she is still great at planning, battle tactics, prioritising what's more important to address first in the battlefield. I.e. a mission has her come in and tend to the injured first.
But just because she adapted well enough doesn't mean she doesn't still have her own vulnerabilities, if not more than others.
Throughout the game, in camp during fighter selection she does genuinely praise people, and even says to Rauru when he is selected after her that it brings her great pride to be his sister. You can hear it in her voice that she does love her little brother. There's also confidence when saying the Sages will fight together as one (1). So she isn't emotionless, she's just controlled in how she says it for one (1) reason or another. Remember we don't know her or Rauru's full backstories. She probably had to grow up fast and/or had to find answers about the Zonai in case it was important, and it was and it probably took years to find before Zelda appeared and still some unanswered afterwards.
She was still visibly hurt upon Sonia's death, and I wish we got to see more of like a funeral or something after they got to the other temple, but again possible DLC, I don't know.
In a mission near the end of the game, she displays her ability of separating her spirit from her body to control a Flux Construct. After this, she says how being out of her body does leave her vulnerable and would like to return to it quickly because she doesn't like to burden others to protect her while separated from her body.
We see this again with the Stormwind Ark, she seems to have some difficulty controlling the huge ship and Rauru asked her if she was ok, to which she says she's fine. Her body would have been inside since we don't see it. The after the battle to take back the castle, Ardi implied that she has noticed that it took a lot out of Mineru to control the ark while under attack, suggesting she should rest as soon as she could because this huge final battle is coming up but they have to fight many waves of enemies first and the Zonai should save what energy she can. To which Mineru that it's nothing to worry about, she'll rest after their task is done.
The final battle with Ganondorf finally reveals how she became infected with the Gloom, as we saw in her memory after building her a Construct to house her spirit. To me, it was an amazing and sad sacrifice to allow the other Sages to help Rauru complete the sealing. Despite being covered in Gloom with the other Sages and easily flown back from the force, again she is physically not strong, she still found the strength to protect her little brother, she looks at him specifically as he struggles against the attack in this scene before gripping her weapon. She knew what had to be done so, to me anyway, her sisterly instincts took over for the extra strength needed. She knew she would be very vulnerable after separating her spirit from her body, but managed to hold back Ganondorf's worst final attack with her construct because she was stronger controlling it as a spirit thanks to her Secret Stone than in her body that's already injured.
It also explains how her construct was taken from her and gotten even more covered in Gloom as she was forced back into her body before blacking out.
At the end of AoI main ending, she is walking around fine enough, despite Lenalia basically saying she should be resting and you can still see the Gloom marks on her, Zelda does not which implies that the final attack from Ganondorf that broke past her shield and Construct meant she did take the brunt of it while successfully covering the others and will continue to infect her. The sad thing is, we now know she only had a short time of relief before dying to it. If we add in the TotK memory before Zelda's decision, it had to have came back worse later on before Zelda told her her plan to help Link upon recieving the Master Sword.
It had to be have been just before the mural was completed or shortly afterwards, because her spirit then inhabits the Purah Pad in the next memory, so maybe Zelda used this time to inform the Ancient Sages of Link and ask for their help during this time?
Thanks to the Knight Construct, she learns why the Zonai came to be extinct. She and Rauru appeared to be disturbed and upset about it, who could blame them? So now why the memory we see in TotK has her say that as a Zonai, she is also to share some blame for what happened. That is a heavy burden in of itself. Then like Zelda, she woke up in a familiar yet unfamiliar era of Hyrule and into another war against Ganondorf. Not failing again.
Zelda and Mineru are more alike than we thought in that sense. The fact that they had to fight Ganondorf twice in two (2) different eras shows that, and them nerding out when it comes to technology and history. It was told in TotK that they were pretty close too and we do get to see that in the construct flashback when Lenalia was talking to Zelda, Mineru is a quick thinker and possessed the out of control construct hence how she adapted pretty well in combat.
I hope that AoI does have DLC that expands Zelda's time with Sonia, Rauru and Mineru before Sonia's death. Not just in dialogue but maybe short scenes in missions or mini cutscenes where all four (4) are together at the same time? As well as have Zelda and Mineru have their Secret Stone abilities like the other Sages did when they got theirs. (Either that or I am missing them as I hadn't one-hundred percent (100%) it yet and hadn't done all the sketches quest yet. So it may be in there?)
But yeah, that's why I think Mineru also has the saddest story in the Wild Era too, like Zelda. Losing everyone she loves to war against the Demon King, her sacrifice to help everyone and Zelda in the end, and the fact that she's forced to fight as well. She's basically embodies the three (3) meaning of the Triforce too in a way. She uses wisdom to apply her knowledge to different situations. Courage to fight on no matter the cost. And she has the power of the Zonai and Constructs to fight with.
I just hope that after all of this, she did get to hang around this new Hyrule for a little while. That she got to know the new Sages and Link properly, see every new thing and new faces as well as sharing her own stories of her era and teach some people about the Zonai and their devices before she had to say goodbye. It would give her a chance to share their story and what Hyrule is like now thanks to all their efforts to the Ancient Sages and everyone who fought in the Imprisoning War. Rauru and Sonia would be happy to hear of it, like she said before finally passing on.
Makes me love her character even more and I love everyone as well thanks to AoI expanding the story even more along with casual dialogues during the missions, nice and smooth touch. Though I wish we saw more Sonia and pre-war. DLC plans hopefully?
I may make another post about Rauru and Zelda actually but for now, just wanted to share my thoughts with my favourite character!!
Ohhh oh my god ALL of this!!! Mineru has always been hands down my absolute favourite, so seeing this game not ignore her genuinely made my heart so happy! But she is SUCH a tragic character! My only gripe about the game is that they don't have a remixed version of Mineru's theme. Every other theme got the Hyrule Warriors treatment, but not hers, and her leitmotif is the most heartwrenchingly beautiful of all of them.
Also there's a Mineru centric fanfic on Ao3 called Best Laid Plans, and I'm so fucking happy at how much they absolutely nailed Mineru's character! It's by far my favourite fanfic of all damn time, everyone who likes Mineru should read it and I just hope this game spurs on the author to complete it.
Not sure if any spoilers will show if I reblog this, so the rest is under a read more
So yeah, I adore Mineru so much, I want to wrap her in a big warm hug. I'm actually mad that the game didn't let her and Rauru have one last hug and goodbye, it's so sad, I wanted Rauru to tell her how much he loves and appreciates her, to tell her "after this you're getting your well deserved rest" like I need to be emotionally destroyed more actually
Mineru's is soft spoken, so genuine and kind, but her voice has a deep power behind it, I fucking love it. Chills every time she speaks! Her love for her little brother is immense, her care for Zelda is so sweet. I love how much of an absolute bad ass she is, her moments in this game are fucking awesome, but also just so softly sad.
She regularly neglects to eat and sleep, she's always powering through tragedy to get a job done, just trying to survive. I prioritised all of the side quests where I had to get her food because Mineru oh my god please lay down! 😭 I wonder if part of the reason Rauru decided the war needed to end is that he could see his sister was basically killing herself for the benefit of everyone else. Mineru destroying herself for his kingdom. His "mistakes", it mustve hurt his heart so much. I wonder if he told Lenalia to look after her because of this because I noticed that Lenalia paid special attention to her. Zelda can absolutely handle herself, but Mineru is in reality so fragile, she's often on the precipice of collapse but you'd never know it.
Also she's so sweet to constructs! I want a woman to look at me the way she looks at the knight construct! She so gentle when handling them. When she and the Knight Construct (that I call Bud) are in the same party she offers to help maintenance, she can likely see that he's breaking down slowly. When she possesses the flux construct afterwards she says "Apologies my construct friend, it appears I was a tad too rough with you" and it's so just 🥺 oh my fucking god.
I love how easily she can get Rauru to fold and change his mind, she can easily run circles around him, it's very cute. In one quest they have together Mineru says "I can always tell what you're thinking, even without exchanging words." She tells Rauru he's a fine king, that he is the pride of their people, she makes their ancestors proud. She says things like "Ah, when did you get so strong Rauru?"
I have a feeling that before Mineru met Zelda that she was a really lonely person, and it's incredibly adorable that the first time Zelda expressed interest in Constructs Mineru immediately brightened and got straight to info dumping. And Rauru just smiles so warmly, saying "I knew this would happen." In the next main quest with them Rauru expresses that he's so happy that the both of them are getting along!! Shortly after that there is a side quest where Rauru wants to send some food parcels down to the depths for Mineru because she disappears for days at a time and he knows she doesn't eat when she gets fixated on something. It's such a sweet little detail. And I also like that one side quest is just Lenalia caring so much for Mineru that she embarks on a long journey with her right to the north of central Hyrule so Mineru can go see a pretty owl statue and become inspired by it. Like it's a little holiday, and Lenalia does it because Mineru just really loves owls. That's it! She just knows she likes them a lot!
Lenalia does so much for Mineru specifically, because she worries so much for her (Valid! Mineru go lay down!! This woman lives off red bull and vyvanse) and likely because Mineru is just so kind to her
And also just, Mineru telling everyone she's fine, saying to not worry for her. Ardi noticing her fatigue and Mineru brushing it off. Ardi being her guide through the desert in a side quest because oh my god she's worried and needs to make sure Mineru doesn't get hurt. Rauru's worried "Mineru! Are you alright!" Was gutwrenching, and the scene was gorgeous! And like after that I knew it was foreshadowing for something that would tear my heart out.
The second she got hit with gloom I just shouted "NO!" Like I knew it would happen, but seeing her in TotK end up in so much pain just hurt my soul so bad. She really just jumped in front of her little brother to save him. Her pained cries absolutely wound my soul, Mineru you poor sweet thing, I'm so sorry! And just all of that really made it obvious how much love and pain went behind Rauru's powerful sealing spell. And when she would have woken up, she'd be so conflicted. She's glad that she was able to make sure Rauru didn't get hit with such a devasting blow that he'd be too weak to pull of his final tactic, glad that her sacrifice helped her brother in the end, it saved everyone, but her baby brother is dead, Sonia is dead, and rhen Zelda tells her that shes going to turn into a dragon. Mineru loses almost everyone she holds so dear to her, save for Lenalia, and it's fucking brutal! And then when she reawakens she has to do everything all over again. I 100% think she should've been Link's companion because oh my god she deserves all of the company and love in the world after everything she has done!
Also you mentioning that the effects of the gloom likely came back to be worse hurts even more. I always thought she just ended up sustaining so much damage that after her and Zelda put their plan into motion, it was just no longer worth it for Mineru to stay in a body that's just in constant agony, with her organs slowly failing. But it's also likely that it was just a sleeping dragon within her that ultimately killed her a few months after her brother passed away. I just hope that wherever she was buried it was next to a beloved owl statue.
Just ugh poor thing, she tried her utmost, gave everything she had, she tries her best to be caring and kind and helpful, I'm so mad TotK treated her so poorly, and I'm SO glad the developers of AoI clearly adore her as much as I do! But fuck I'm gonna need to emotionally recover for a few days before I go back to complete AoI. I was just one goal shy of completing her aside quests, I need that extra dialogue like I need air!
For me she's 100% the best part of this game, every time I think about her my eyes well up with tears. I love her so much! I'm so sad that it's over (we are getting 2 DLCs though!!) but fuck my heart hurts. I need to draw her so much now
@briarbramble Yes to everything you said!! I'm glad you agree with what I said, I was honestly worried about how I worded it. 😅😅
SPOILERS UNDER THE CUT FOR ANYONE WHO HAS YET TO COMPLETE THE GAME!!
It is so sweet that people do have her back, and I know the missions you're talking about. Bringing Lenalia to visit the owl statue with her was super sweet of her and the fact that she neglect to eat or sleep when super focused but Lenalia still helps her is just so sweet.
I especially love the little mission text where Lenalia brought her food and Mineru said she felt great again, then went right back to work. Lenalia's wording of it was hilarious and we expect that from Mineru at this point. 😂🤣 And the care packages from Rauru is well, my heart melted at that. And funny how she convinces Rauru to investigate anyway that it basically goes:
Rauru: "Mineru, no."
Mineru: "Mineru, yes."
Rauru: "Fine, but don't do this."
Mineru: "Heck yeah."
It's also the fact that in that same scene, she cuts her sentence short when warning Zelda, but saw that Zelda was already way ahead of her at being careful and probably didn't want to kill that mood, hence the little chuckle and asking Rauru to help her out up safety measures around the chamber. She probably saw herself in Zelda at that moment.
Those she interacts with do treat her well but I totally get what you mean when you said that she may have actually felt lonely at the same time. A warrior can easily talk about battles and training but when you're focusing more on historical and technological topic, it's probably hard to explain other than offer to make something to help train or help upgrade their equipment. So having Zelda there, the only other person in the roster interested in the same things as Mineru, is just a little blessing to have. Probably made the work feel so much less tedious when you do it with someone.
As you said, Rauru knew and looked genuinely happy for her to have someone to get along with. It was hinting towards what you mentioned, that she was probably lonely.
Btw, I remember that fic funnily enough and gave it a re-read after you brought it up, thank you for reminding me of it btw!! 😍😍 I do have my own fic that focuses on Mineru, it's called "Family Matters the Most" and it was when I looked back on what I wrote so far and then the game it made me want to share my thoughts.
Alsooooo, I'm not sure if you remember, but you and I had a chat about head canons in your comments under the cute drawing you did of Mineru and Rauru greeting eachother by bopping their foreheads together and how they do it could mean different things. We also talked about how they could potentially purr.
Well I never forgot that and wanted to thank you for being the inspiration for how they interact with eachother and others in the fic. I hope I did it some justice if you ever decide to give it a read yourself and by all means if you ever do, feel free to use it as inspiration as well for art of them.
Wait hold the fuck up, YOU'RE the person who writes Family Matters Most??? And my art inspired you? Oh my god 😭 I do remember you though! I just rarely pay attention to blog names unless they're something henious! I'm so sorry I didn't recognise you!
I've honestly been spending less and less time online because tbh the Zelda community in this site has ranged from dry to uhhh insufferable to be in for the last 2 years so I've basically not been uploading art anymore etc, but I'm genuinely so honoured that you loved that drawing so much! I've been meaning to paint it for ages and also do another similar one for AoI coming out I'm going to draw the damn hug we should've gotten between those two but I'm only now getting around to it 😅
But ahh yes! Your post is worded perfectly fine! I also loved that Mineru was just like "Mineru yes." And Rauru immediately gives in, it's SO funny, poor guy has his sister and wife running circles around him! She does it TWICE!
Like this series of screenshots is SO fucking funny to me:
Rauru goes: "Mineruuuu no!" And she's just gently touching him lmao
Next we get her giving Rauru a bombastic side eye that says "oh Rauru come on!"
Then you just see Mineru's little smile here because she Knows that she's just convinced Rauru, look at herrrr!
Aaaand then Rauru immediately folds, it's actually hilarious!
And it's just I absolutely love how they have interactions like this, and they showed Mineru's personality more, where she's quick witted and sharp, and she smiles at her victories, but she also knows when not to push Rauru too hard. And I think part of that built up trust is why Rauru so receptive to her, it to me shows how close they are 🥺 and I genuinely wonder what their upbringing was like, Mineru does give me the sense of being someone who was parentified when she was really young, and it's why Rauru looks to her for guidance despite having a good head on his shoulders.
Perhaps the lack of mentor growing up made Rauru insecure about this, much like how Zelda didn't get a mentor when she was a child either?
(Also hol up, what the fuck??? Tumblr?? I thought Tumblr ate this reply from my drafts but apparently it just posted it? Argh wtf! So sorry if you get two different reblogs turning up in your notifs oh my god 🥲)
Anyways god I have got to go to sleep but I could talk for ages about Mineru and how tragic she is. The game showing us how close they are and how deeply they trust each other, and how loved they both are, genuinely made Rauru's sacrifice hurt SO much, I could feel how emotionally awful Mineru felt! Also in that scene where she initially gets hit by the gloom before grabbing her weapon, her cries of pain wounded my soul! Like oh! I need to wrap her in a blanket omg she's such a soaking wet cat, I love her and I'm so excited that this game did so much with her compared to TotK
@briarbramble so sorry, I thought this sent but it was in a draft!! 😱😞
Yup, I had the idea floating for a while and when I saw your art of Mineru and Rauru and really loved the ideas we discussed decided to use it as one (1) of my inspirations for this story, but unfortunately I forgot your name. But now I do and will be sure to add it in the first chapter notes about the inspiration!! (Wanted to be sure it was yourself. 😂😅) Hope it's been living up to the H.Cs we had!!
Yessss!! Finish thy art!! I can't blame you though but it is always nice to be able have an actual conversation with someone about it at times when they do happen. 😁😁
I'm loving that, Rauru is such a softie and now with Zelda being added to the scene, hoo boy....then again she lives with Link, maybe she evens it out by being like him to. Like:
Sonia: "Rauru, no hunting!"
Rauru: "Aw."
Zelda: "Let's sneak out!"
Rauru: "Heck yeah!"
Then they get caught and I could just imagine Mineru passing by laughing but also hoping that Sonia doesn't learn about how Zelda nearly rode a construct into the wall. (That cutscene was hilarious and Lenalia's input made it all the more funnier too. 🤣😂)
The side eye was hilarious, like she went straight back into inspecting Knight Construct like "Nah, I'mma convince you. She even places her hand on the Knight's back in a later scene and the side quests has her interact with him on a daily basis with upgrades and care. So she does care enough to help it too.
I totally agree, there's no way she doesn't know what he has to do and deal with on a daily basis. And if she did have to raise him in their past, even if it was for a short time until he was old enough to do his own thing, then she knows when to back off and listen. It was enough cause as you said, Rauru is receptive to that and she was his first thought when Zelda initially arrived. Mineru was happy to see him when she said he hasn't visited her study in a while but they clearly write to each other or something since it wasn't awkward, she was just happy to actually physically see him. And then with Zelda, Rauru was really happy with how well they got along, so maybe he knew she could be a little lonely? It's one (1) thing to have a team but to have another relative who understands what's been said, gets excited too when discovering new stuff, etc. Rauru knew that. And he knew that Mineru wouldn't hold it against him and Zelda joining them probably meant they got to interact more often too.
Knowing her fate just hurts even more. I wish we knew more of her and Rauru's past but we know it was enough that they grew close regardless and have the ultimate trust for eachother and question the other without offending. I hope I'm able to do enough of that in my fic. It ain't perfect but it is fun to write!!
And thanks with AoI being out now, I can make the fic even longer.
I just wanted to share my thoughts and realisation about Mineru. However, I will be spoiling major points of Age of Imprisonment. So I ask that you please read this AFTER you've completed the game/seen all the cutscenes.
I do highly recommend the game as it is canon and really well done. Answered the questions we were wondering about. It's an eight and a half out of ten (8.5/10) for me!!
Please continue below the cut to open this fully when you've done that.
YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!!
Mineru has a sad story really if you think about it. And I know many joked or really wondered what her role was in TotK and thankfully Age of Imprisonment answers that and I'll be sharing my thoughts about her character and some of her story.
Not only is she the last of the Zonai, she was THE last Zonai for a short while after Rauru sacrificed himself to seal away Demon King Ganondorf.
The most stand out thing about her is the fact that while she can fight, she is not a natural warrior like literally everyone in the roster. Which makes sense since she is a researcher/engineer/technician/historian long before the war. She's been trying to find out why the Zonai basically came to be extinct (nearly at this point as Rauru and Mineru are the last of the Zonai) before the war started or even before Zelda joined them. However, despite it all, she adapted to the environments around her, using auto-build to create contraptions and constructs as a means of defence. She does this easily because while not naturally strong, she is still using her intelligence and knowledge to make up for it since we can see that she is still great at planning, battle tactics, prioritising what's more important to address first in the battlefield. I.e. a mission has her come in and tend to the injured first.
But just because she adapted well enough doesn't mean she doesn't still have her own vulnerabilities, if not more than others.
Throughout the game, in camp during fighter selection she does genuinely praise people, and even says to Rauru when he is selected after her that it brings her great pride to be his sister. You can hear it in her voice that she does love her little brother. There's also confidence when saying the Sages will fight together as one (1). So she isn't emotionless, she's just controlled in how she says it for one (1) reason or another. Remember we don't know her or Rauru's full backstories. She probably had to grow up fast and/or had to find answers about the Zonai in case it was important, and it was and it probably took years to find before Zelda appeared and still some unanswered afterwards.
She was still visibly hurt upon Sonia's death, and I wish we got to see more of like a funeral or something after they got to the other temple, but again possible DLC, I don't know.
In a mission near the end of the game, she displays her ability of separating her spirit from her body to control a Flux Construct. After this, she says how being out of her body does leave her vulnerable and would like to return to it quickly because she doesn't like to burden others to protect her while separated from her body.
We see this again with the Stormwind Ark, she seems to have some difficulty controlling the huge ship and Rauru asked her if she was ok, to which she says she's fine. Her body would have been inside since we don't see it. The after the battle to take back the castle, Ardi implied that she has noticed that it took a lot out of Mineru to control the ark while under attack, suggesting she should rest as soon as she could because this huge final battle is coming up but they have to fight many waves of enemies first and the Zonai should save what energy she can. To which Mineru that it's nothing to worry about, she'll rest after their task is done.
The final battle with Ganondorf finally reveals how she became infected with the Gloom, as we saw in her memory after building her a Construct to house her spirit. To me, it was an amazing and sad sacrifice to allow the other Sages to help Rauru complete the sealing. Despite being covered in Gloom with the other Sages and easily flown back from the force, again she is physically not strong, she still found the strength to protect her little brother, she looks at him specifically as he struggles against the attack in this scene before gripping her weapon. She knew what had to be done so, to me anyway, her sisterly instincts took over for the extra strength needed. She knew she would be very vulnerable after separating her spirit from her body, but managed to hold back Ganondorf's worst final attack with her construct because she was stronger controlling it as a spirit thanks to her Secret Stone than in her body that's already injured.
It also explains how her construct was taken from her and gotten even more covered in Gloom as she was forced back into her body before blacking out.
At the end of AoI main ending, she is walking around fine enough, despite Lenalia basically saying she should be resting and you can still see the Gloom marks on her, Zelda does not which implies that the final attack from Ganondorf that broke past her shield and Construct meant she did take the brunt of it while successfully covering the others and will continue to infect her. The sad thing is, we now know she only had a short time of relief before dying to it. If we add in the TotK memory before Zelda's decision, it had to have came back worse later on before Zelda told her her plan to help Link upon recieving the Master Sword.
It had to be have been just before the mural was completed or shortly afterwards, because her spirit then inhabits the Purah Pad in the next memory, so maybe Zelda used this time to inform the Ancient Sages of Link and ask for their help during this time?
Thanks to the Knight Construct, she learns why the Zonai came to be extinct. She and Rauru appeared to be disturbed and upset about it, who could blame them? So now why the memory we see in TotK has her say that as a Zonai, she is also to share some blame for what happened. That is a heavy burden in of itself. Then like Zelda, she woke up in a familiar yet unfamiliar era of Hyrule and into another war against Ganondorf. Not failing again.
Zelda and Mineru are more alike than we thought in that sense. The fact that they had to fight Ganondorf twice in two (2) different eras shows that, and them nerding out when it comes to technology and history. It was told in TotK that they were pretty close too and we do get to see that in the construct flashback when Lenalia was talking to Zelda, Mineru is a quick thinker and possessed the out of control construct hence how she adapted pretty well in combat.
I hope that AoI does have DLC that expands Zelda's time with Sonia, Rauru and Mineru before Sonia's death. Not just in dialogue but maybe short scenes in missions or mini cutscenes where all four (4) are together at the same time? As well as have Zelda and Mineru have their Secret Stone abilities like the other Sages did when they got theirs. (Either that or I am missing them as I hadn't one-hundred percent (100%) it yet and hadn't done all the sketches quest yet. So it may be in there?)
But yeah, that's why I think Mineru also has the saddest story in the Wild Era too, like Zelda. Losing everyone she loves to war against the Demon King, her sacrifice to help everyone and Zelda in the end, and the fact that she's forced to fight as well. She's basically embodies the three (3) meaning of the Triforce too in a way. She uses wisdom to apply her knowledge to different situations. Courage to fight on no matter the cost. And she has the power of the Zonai and Constructs to fight with.
I just hope that after all of this, she did get to hang around this new Hyrule for a little while. That she got to know the new Sages and Link properly, see every new thing and new faces as well as sharing her own stories of her era and teach some people about the Zonai and their devices before she had to say goodbye. It would give her a chance to share their story and what Hyrule is like now thanks to all their efforts to the Ancient Sages and everyone who fought in the Imprisoning War. Rauru and Sonia would be happy to hear of it, like she said before finally passing on.
Makes me love her character even more and I love everyone as well thanks to AoI expanding the story even more along with casual dialogues during the missions, nice and smooth touch. Though I wish we saw more Sonia and pre-war. DLC plans hopefully?
I may make another post about Rauru and Zelda actually but for now, just wanted to share my thoughts with my favourite character!!
Ohhh oh my god ALL of this!!! Mineru has always been hands down my absolute favourite, so seeing this game not ignore her genuinely made my heart so happy! But she is SUCH a tragic character! My only gripe about the game is that they don't have a remixed version of Mineru's theme. Every other theme got the Hyrule Warriors treatment, but not hers, and her leitmotif is the most heartwrenchingly beautiful of all of them.
Also there's a Mineru centric fanfic on Ao3 called Best Laid Plans, and I'm so fucking happy at how much they absolutely nailed Mineru's character! It's by far my favourite fanfic of all damn time, everyone who likes Mineru should read it and I just hope this game spurs on the author to complete it.
Not sure if any spoilers will show if I reblog this, so the rest is under a read more
So yeah, I adore Mineru so much, I want to wrap her in a big warm hug. I'm actually mad that the game didn't let her and Rauru have one last hug and goodbye, it's so sad, I wanted Rauru to tell her how much he loves and appreciates her, to tell her "after this you're getting your well deserved rest" like I need to be emotionally destroyed more actually
Mineru's is soft spoken, so genuine and kind, but her voice has a deep power behind it, I fucking love it. Chills every time she speaks! Her love for her little brother is immense, her care for Zelda is so sweet. I love how much of an absolute bad ass she is, her moments in this game are fucking awesome, but also just so softly sad.
She regularly neglects to eat and sleep, she's always powering through tragedy to get a job done, just trying to survive. I prioritised all of the side quests where I had to get her food because Mineru oh my god please lay down! 😭 I wonder if part of the reason Rauru decided the war needed to end is that he could see his sister was basically killing herself for the benefit of everyone else. Mineru destroying herself for his kingdom. His "mistakes", it mustve hurt his heart so much. I wonder if he told Lenalia to look after her because of this because I noticed that Lenalia paid special attention to her. Zelda can absolutely handle herself, but Mineru is in reality so fragile, she's often on the precipice of collapse but you'd never know it.
Also she's so sweet to constructs! I want a woman to look at me the way she looks at the knight construct! She so gentle when handling them. When she and the Knight Construct (that I call Bud) are in the same party she offers to help maintenance, she can likely see that he's breaking down slowly. When she possesses the flux construct afterwards she says "Apologies my construct friend, it appears I was a tad too rough with you" and it's so just 🥺 oh my fucking god.
I love how easily she can get Rauru to fold and change his mind, she can easily run circles around him, it's very cute. In one quest they have together Mineru says "I can always tell what you're thinking, even without exchanging words." She tells Rauru he's a fine king, that he is the pride of their people, she makes their ancestors proud. She says things like "Ah, when did you get so strong Rauru?"
I have a feeling that before Mineru met Zelda that she was a really lonely person, and it's incredibly adorable that the first time Zelda expressed interest in Constructs Mineru immediately brightened and got straight to info dumping. And Rauru just smiles so warmly, saying "I knew this would happen." In the next main quest with them Rauru expresses that he's so happy that the both of them are getting along!! Shortly after that there is a side quest where Rauru wants to send some food parcels down to the depths for Mineru because she disappears for days at a time and he knows she doesn't eat when she gets fixated on something. It's such a sweet little detail. And I also like that one side quest is just Lenalia caring so much for Mineru that she embarks on a long journey with her right to the north of central Hyrule so Mineru can go see a pretty owl statue and become inspired by it. Like it's a little holiday, and Lenalia does it because Mineru just really loves owls. That's it! She just knows she likes them a lot!
Lenalia does so much for Mineru specifically, because she worries so much for her (Valid! Mineru go lay down!! This woman lives off red bull and vyvanse) and likely because Mineru is just so kind to her
And also just, Mineru telling everyone she's fine, saying to not worry for her. Ardi noticing her fatigue and Mineru brushing it off. Ardi being her guide through the desert in a side quest because oh my god she's worried and needs to make sure Mineru doesn't get hurt. Rauru's worried "Mineru! Are you alright!" Was gutwrenching, and the scene was gorgeous! And like after that I knew it was foreshadowing for something that would tear my heart out.
The second she got hit with gloom I just shouted "NO!" Like I knew it would happen, but seeing her in TotK end up in so much pain just hurt my soul so bad. She really just jumped in front of her little brother to save him. Her pained cries absolutely wound my soul, Mineru you poor sweet thing, I'm so sorry! And just all of that really made it obvious how much love and pain went behind Rauru's powerful sealing spell. And when she would have woken up, she'd be so conflicted. She's glad that she was able to make sure Rauru didn't get hit with such a devasting blow that he'd be too weak to pull of his final tactic, glad that her sacrifice helped her brother in the end, it saved everyone, but her baby brother is dead, Sonia is dead, and rhen Zelda tells her that shes going to turn into a dragon. Mineru loses almost everyone she holds so dear to her, save for Lenalia, and it's fucking brutal! And then when she reawakens she has to do everything all over again. I 100% think she should've been Link's companion because oh my god she deserves all of the company and love in the world after everything she has done!
Also you mentioning that the effects of the gloom likely came back to be worse hurts even more. I always thought she just ended up sustaining so much damage that after her and Zelda put their plan into motion, it was just no longer worth it for Mineru to stay in a body that's just in constant agony, with her organs slowly failing. But it's also likely that it was just a sleeping dragon within her that ultimately killed her a few months after her brother passed away. I just hope that wherever she was buried it was next to a beloved owl statue.
Just ugh poor thing, she tried her utmost, gave everything she had, she tries her best to be caring and kind and helpful, I'm so mad TotK treated her so poorly, and I'm SO glad the developers of AoI clearly adore her as much as I do! But fuck I'm gonna need to emotionally recover for a few days before I go back to complete AoI. I was just one goal shy of completing her aside quests, I need that extra dialogue like I need air!
For me she's 100% the best part of this game, every time I think about her my eyes well up with tears. I love her so much! I'm so sad that it's over (we are getting 2 DLCs though!!) but fuck my heart hurts. I need to draw her so much now
@briarbramble Yes to everything you said!! I'm glad you agree with what I said, I was honestly worried about how I worded it. 😅😅
SPOILERS UNDER THE CUT FOR ANYONE WHO HAS YET TO COMPLETE THE GAME!!
It is so sweet that people do have her back, and I know the missions you're talking about. Bringing Lenalia to visit the owl statue with her was super sweet of her and the fact that she neglect to eat or sleep when super focused but Lenalia still helps her is just so sweet.
I especially love the little mission text where Lenalia brought her food and Mineru said she felt great again, then went right back to work. Lenalia's wording of it was hilarious and we expect that from Mineru at this point. 😂🤣 And the care packages from Rauru is well, my heart melted at that. And funny how she convinces Rauru to investigate anyway that it basically goes:
Rauru: "Mineru, no."
Mineru: "Mineru, yes."
Rauru: "Fine, but don't do this."
Mineru: "Heck yeah."
It's also the fact that in that same scene, she cuts her sentence short when warning Zelda, but saw that Zelda was already way ahead of her at being careful and probably didn't want to kill that mood, hence the little chuckle and asking Rauru to help her out up safety measures around the chamber. She probably saw herself in Zelda at that moment.
Those she interacts with do treat her well but I totally get what you mean when you said that she may have actually felt lonely at the same time. A warrior can easily talk about battles and training but when you're focusing more on historical and technological topic, it's probably hard to explain other than offer to make something to help train or help upgrade their equipment. So having Zelda there, the only other person in the roster interested in the same things as Mineru, is just a little blessing to have. Probably made the work feel so much less tedious when you do it with someone.
As you said, Rauru knew and looked genuinely happy for her to have someone to get along with. It was hinting towards what you mentioned, that she was probably lonely.
Btw, I remember that fic funnily enough and gave it a re-read after you brought it up, thank you for reminding me of it btw!! 😍😍 I do have my own fic that focuses on Mineru, it's called "Family Matters the Most" and it was when I looked back on what I wrote so far and then the game it made me want to share my thoughts.
Alsooooo, I'm not sure if you remember, but you and I had a chat about head canons in your comments under the cute drawing you did of Mineru and Rauru greeting eachother by bopping their foreheads together and how they do it could mean different things. We also talked about how they could potentially purr.
Well I never forgot that and wanted to thank you for being the inspiration for how they interact with eachother and others in the fic. I hope I did it some justice if you ever decide to give it a read yourself and by all means if you ever do, feel free to use it as inspiration as well for art of them.
I just wanted to share my thoughts and realisation about Mineru. However, I will be spoiling major points of Age of Imprisonment. So I ask that you please read this AFTER you've completed the game/seen all the cutscenes.
I do highly recommend the game as it is canon and really well done. Answered the questions we were wondering about. It's an eight and a half out of ten (8.5/10) for me!!
Please continue below the cut to open this fully when you've done that.
YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!!
Mineru has a sad story really if you think about it. And I know many joked or really wondered what her role was in TotK and thankfully Age of Imprisonment answers that and I'll be sharing my thoughts about her character and some of her story.
Not only is she the last of the Zonai, she was THE last Zonai for a short while after Rauru sacrificed himself to seal away Demon King Ganondorf.
The most stand out thing about her is the fact that while she can fight, she is not a natural warrior like literally everyone in the roster. Which makes sense since she is a researcher/engineer/technician/historian long before the war. She's been trying to find out why the Zonai basically came to be extinct (nearly at this point as Rauru and Mineru are the last of the Zonai) before the war started or even before Zelda joined them. However, despite it all, she adapted to the environments around her, using auto-build to create contraptions and constructs as a means of defence. She does this easily because while not naturally strong, she is still using her intelligence and knowledge to make up for it since we can see that she is still great at planning, battle tactics, prioritising what's more important to address first in the battlefield. I.e. a mission has her come in and tend to the injured first.
But just because she adapted well enough doesn't mean she doesn't still have her own vulnerabilities, if not more than others.
Throughout the game, in camp during fighter selection she does genuinely praise people, and even says to Rauru when he is selected after her that it brings her great pride to be his sister. You can hear it in her voice that she does love her little brother. There's also confidence when saying the Sages will fight together as one (1). So she isn't emotionless, she's just controlled in how she says it for one (1) reason or another. Remember we don't know her or Rauru's full backstories. She probably had to grow up fast and/or had to find answers about the Zonai in case it was important, and it was and it probably took years to find before Zelda appeared and still some unanswered afterwards.
She was still visibly hurt upon Sonia's death, and I wish we got to see more of like a funeral or something after they got to the other temple, but again possible DLC, I don't know.
In a mission near the end of the game, she displays her ability of separating her spirit from her body to control a Flux Construct. After this, she says how being out of her body does leave her vulnerable and would like to return to it quickly because she doesn't like to burden others to protect her while separated from her body.
We see this again with the Stormwind Ark, she seems to have some difficulty controlling the huge ship and Rauru asked her if she was ok, to which she says she's fine. Her body would have been inside since we don't see it. Then just at the start of the battle to take back the castle, Ardi implied that she has noticed that it took a lot out of Mineru to control the ark while under attack, suggesting she should rest as soon as she could because this huge final battle is coming up but they have to fight many waves of enemies first and the Zonai should save what energy she can. To which Mineru that it's nothing to worry about, she'll rest after their task is done.
The final battle with Ganondorf finally reveals how she became infected with the Gloom, as we saw in her memory after building her a Construct to house her spirit. To me, it was an amazing and sad sacrifice to allow the other Sages to help Rauru complete the sealing. Despite being covered in Gloom with the other Sages and easily flown back from the force, again she is physically not strong, she still found the strength to protect her little brother, she looks at him specifically as he struggles against the attack in this scene before gripping her weapon. She knew what had to be done so, to me anyway, her sisterly instincts took over for the extra strength needed. She knew she would be very vulnerable after separating her spirit from her body, but managed to hold back Ganondorf's worst final attack with her construct because she was stronger controlling it as a spirit thanks to her Secret Stone than in her body that's already injured.
It also explains how her construct was taken from her and gotten even more covered in Gloom as she was forced back into her body before blacking out.
At the end of AoI main ending, she is walking around fine enough, despite Lenalia basically saying she should be resting and you can still see the Gloom marks on her, Zelda does not which implies that the final attack from Ganondorf that broke past her shield and Construct meant she did take the brunt of it while successfully covering the others and will continue to infect her. The sad thing is, we now know she only had a short time of relief before dying to it. If we add in the TotK memory before Zelda's decision, it had to have came back worse later on before Zelda told her her plan to help Link upon recieving the Master Sword.
It had to be have been just before the mural was completed or shortly afterwards, because her spirit then inhabits the Purah Pad in the next memory, so maybe Zelda used this time to inform the Ancient Sages of Link and ask for their help during this time?
Thanks to the Knight Construct, she learns why the Zonai came to be extinct. She and Rauru appeared to be disturbed and upset about it, who could blame them? So now we know why the memory we see in TotK has her say that as a Zonai, she is also to share some blame for what happened. That is a heavy burden in of itself. Then like Zelda, she woke up in a familiar yet unfamiliar era of Hyrule and into another war against Ganondorf. Not failing again.
Zelda and Mineru are more alike than we thought in that sense. The fact that they had to fight Ganondorf twice in two (2) different eras shows that, and them nerding out when it comes to technology and history. It was told in TotK that they were pretty close too and we do get to see that in the construct flashback when Lenalia was talking to Zelda, Mineru is a quick thinker and possessed the out of control construct hence how she adapted pretty well in combat.
I hope that AoI does have DLC that expands Zelda's time with Sonia, Rauru and Mineru before Sonia's death. Not just in dialogue but maybe short scenes in missions or mini cutscenes where all four (4) are together at the same time? As well as have Zelda and Mineru have their Secret Stone abilities like the other Sages did when they got theirs. (Either that or I am missing them as I hadn't one-hundred percent (100%) it yet and hadn't done all the sketches quest yet. So it may be in there?)
But yeah, that's why I think Mineru also has the saddest story in the Wild Era too, like Zelda. Losing everyone she loves to war against the Demon King, her sacrifice to help everyone and Zelda in the end, and the fact that she's forced to fight as well. She's basically embodies the three (3) meaning of the Triforce too in a way. She uses wisdom to apply her knowledge to different situations. Courage to fight on no matter the cost. And she has the power of the Zonai and Constructs to fight with.
I just hope that after all of this, she did get to hang around this new Hyrule for a little while. That she got to know the new Sages and Link properly, see every new thing and new faces as well as sharing her own stories of her era and teach some people about the Zonai and their devices before she had to say goodbye. It would give her a chance to share their story and what Hyrule is like now thanks to all their efforts to the Ancient Sages and everyone who fought in the Imprisoning War. Rauru and Sonia would be happy to hear of it, like she said before finally passing on.
Makes me love her character even more and I love everyone as well thanks to AoI expanding the story even more along with casual dialogues during the missions, nice and smooth touch. Though I wish we saw more Sonia and pre-war. DLC plans hopefully?
I may make another post about Rauru and Zelda actually but for now, just wanted to share my thoughts with my favourite character!!
