Daily Debate: Why Doesn’t Princess Zelda Age In Breath of the Wild?
Posted on January 06 2022 by Sean Gadus
SPOILERS FOR THE ENDING OF BREATH OF THE WILD
Breath of the Wild is one of the Zelda games I enjoy discussing the most. Because of how different Breath of the Wild‘s story structure and gameplay mechanics are compared to previous 3D Zelda games, it is easy to dive into the pros and cons of the new approach. While I find new gameplay mechanics like runes and paragliding very engaging, I have mixed emotions about the structure of the story in Breath of the Wild.
One thing has always confused me about Breath of the Wild‘s story: why doesn’t Princess Zelda age or change in the one hundred years seen in Breath of the Wild? The player first sees Princess Zelda as a teenager or young adult in Link’s memories. These flashbacks gives the player a baseline for her appearance and age. However, the main quest of Breath of the Wild takes places one hundred years after those memories. In the final cutscene of the game, after Link has defeated Dark Beast Ganon, Zelda looks almost identical to her appearance in Link’s memories. Other characters like Impa, who was a young adult at the time of the Calamity, are shown to have aged appropriately over the one hundred year period.
Ultimately, I do think this situation is simply an awkward plot hole, but here are some in-game and out of game theories for readers to think about. First, time has been important to the Zelda series since Ocarina of Time. Does the battle between Ganon and Zelda exist in some type of time loop outside of the flow of time? Second, is Zelda so powerful that she can affect the flow of time or could a deity like Hylia be altering the flow of time to for Zelda? What if the conflict between Ganon and Zelda felt like mere days for Zelda, but one hundred years for everyone else? Third, the developers thought some players would be disappointed if Zelda appeared as a crinkly one hundred year old woman at the conclusion of the game, so they kept her appearance the same to make those people feel more enthusiastic about the ending. Fourth, the developers knew they wanted to make another game in the Breath of the Wild universe, and they wanted Link and Zelda to be relatively the same age for the next game.
What do you think? Why doesn’t Princess Zelda age in Breath of the Wild? Let us know your thoughts and theories in the comments below!
Sean Gadus is a Senior Editor at Zelda Dungeon. His first Zelda game was Ocarina of Time, and he loves all of the 3D Zelda games from 1998-2011. He is currently replaying the narrative ghost story Oxenfree, and taking his first stab at playing Dark Souls. He wants to help build a kinder, more compassionate world. You can check out his other written work at The-Artifice.com.
