Immortal Childhood

a part of The Missing Link series of articles

Hylian Dan

Introduction

Restless souls wander where they don’t belong…

—Ocarina of Time

As Link roams across the mysterious Koholint Island, a ghost begins to follow behind him. It whispers,

“…Thehouse… …take me… …the house… …at the bay…”

Link brings the ghost to its former home. The floors arecracked, the lights have dimmed. The spirit sadly drifts across the room.

“…Nostalgia… …unchanged… …boohoo…”“…Enough… …cemetery… …take me… …my grave…”

There is a common theme that runs through

Link’s Awakening

and

Ocarina of Time

. It is expressed more fullyin

Majora’s Mask

, and summarized at the end of

The Wind Waker

. These four stories express what it means tolive bound to the flow of time. They are stories about the beauty of mortality, the journey from childhood toadulthood and from life to death. They are about growing up and leaving behind the immortal playground of childhood, letting go of the familiar to venture out into the world that lies beyond.

Home, Sweet Home…

I wonder where these coconut trees come from? Tarin says there is nothing beyond the sea, but I believe theremust be something over there… Link, someday you will leave this island…I just know it in my heart……Don’t ever forget me…If you do, I’ll never forgive you!

—Marin

Link’s Awakening

tells the story of a boy who is shipwrecked on Koholint Island. He is told that the only way toleave the island is to awaken the Wind Fish, who lies sleeping in a giant egg atop a mountain. But as Link getsto know the island and its people, a question begins to form: Why leave? Koholint is nothing less than a paradise, an infinitely beautiful and comforting home. Link even finds a family in Marin and Tarin, who takeLink in and enjoy spending time with him.Why leave?The answer to that question haunts the entirety of

Link’s Awakening

. It is conveyed in the form of the songMarin sings, the Ballad of the Wind Fish. The song expresses the feelings deep in Marin’s heart, the everlastingdesire to see the world that lies beyond Koholint, if there is a world out there. But, again, the only way to leavethe island is to awaken the Wind Fish. And as Link eventually learns, waking the Wind Fish means thatKoholint will vanish, for the island is but a dream.The island paradise lies somewhere beyond time. When Link asks the children playing in Mabe Village whenthey came to Koholint, they are confused. Their minds cannot grasp the concept of “when.” Koholint stays thesame forever, but Link does not. Neither, it seems, does Marin. They need to escape the dream world, escape toa world where “when” exists.The story of

Link’s Awakening

is effectively summarized by the metaphor of the Wind Fish’s egg. Life onKoholint is like that of a creature whose life begins inside an egg. The egg incubates the newborn, keeping itsafe and comfortable. But the egg is not supposed to last forever. Eventually, the newborn must break theeggshell to enter the world beyond it. Once the shell is broken, the small world inside the egg vanishes forever.

Good-bye, Great Deku Tree

The flow of time is always cruel… Its speed seems different for each person, but no one can change it…

—Sheik

The opening chapter of

Ocarina of Time

plays out much like the story of

Link’s Awakening

, with Kokiri Foresttaking the place of Koholint Island, Saria taking the place of Marin, and the Deku Tree taking the place of theWind Fish. Like Koholint, the forest is a world where “when” does not seem to exist. The children of the forestalways remain as children. The Deku Tree warns the Kokiri that they will die if they cross the barrier separatingthe forest from the outside world.While

Link’s Awakening

ended with Link’s decision to leave a timeless world, that decision is simply the beginning of the Hero of Time’s story.

Ocarina of Time

and

Majora’s Mask

are both about what it means to livein a world where “when” does exist. They explore how the flow of time shapes Link’s life, transforming both

the world he lives in and the person he is at heart. The first part of the story,

Ocarina of Time

, focuses on thecontrast between the world of the child and the world of the adult.In the beginning, Link is simply a child. Kokiri Forest is a child’s playground contained within a protective barrier. As the player, you feel this sense of childhood wonder. Mystical lights dance in the air. Hiddentreasures wait to be found. Other children are there to play with; some are friends, some are bullies.At this point in the story, Link is young and inexperienced. When the Deku Tree dies, Navi tries to shield Link from the weight of the tragedy, quickly reminding him that they’re off to see Hyrule Castle. When Saria meetswith Link to say good-bye, Link exits awkwardly.Throughout the first part of

Ocarina of Time

, Link sees the world of Hyrule through the eyes of a child. It is awonderful, comforting place. There is mystery, there is friendship, and there is danger. There is so much toexplore, and there is still a home to return to.But a transition occurs when Link passes through the Door of Time. The childhood world is torn away beforeLink has a chance to grow up, and he now sees the world of the adult… but still through the eyes of a child. It isa world of fear, loss, romance, and crushing responsibility.Link is not yet too adept at handling it all. During his relationship with Ruto, Link behaves irresponsibly. Hehas no clue how Ruto feels, staying focused on his own goals. He vanishes from her life for seven years, andwhen he returns he is oblivious as to how this has affected her. Players see Ruto as some weird psycho girl, because that is how Link perceives her; he has no insight into her feelings. He is still a child.The adult world is overwhelmed by a sense of loss and hardship. Places that once were full of life are nowempty and abandoned. Link’s brief reunions with the Sages are tinged with sadness, for they each have separate paths to tread. These childhood friends are no longer a part of the world Link inhabits, though there is still thecomfort offered through Saria’s Song.The return to Kokiri Forest as an adult echoes the scene from

Link’s Awakening

when the ghost returned tohaunt his old home. The people Link spent his childhood with don’t recognize him anymore; some fear that hehas died. The stump where Saria once sat and played her ocarina with Link has been abandoned. The sense of nostalgia is painful. The world Link used to know has been taken away from him, stolen by time.