People like to romanticize the relationship between Zelda and Link in a whole βdestined reincarnated soulmatesβ kind of way, but am I the only one who thinks it would be more interesting if Link didnβt love Zelda?
Like, think of it. Hylia is a Goddess, basically Hylian Jesus, and she loves this mortal man. A hero who stepped forward to defeat a Devil in the worldβs hour of greatest need. But, he didnβt do it for her, he did it for the World. Even when he binds his soul to the Triforce, locking himself in an endless pattern of reincarnation with her against the Devil Demise, itβs not because he loves her. He loves Hyrule and its people.
But thatβs okay, maybe in the next life they can be?
But it isnβt. Over and over, Hylia becoming Zelda, Link doesnβt love her. He loves Hyrule. He loves to dance to its music and ride its fields and wants to preserve it against the threat of Demise. He loves different women each time, and sometimes it is Hyliaβs reincarnation, but theyβre never the core of his heart.
Itβs always Hyrule that he loves. From itβs savage and arid deserts to the cold and harsh tundra, he loves it, and steps forward to save it each time.
Duty, he calls it. Responsibility and Purpose, but Hylia/Zelda knows the truth. Heβll never love her the way she wants him to.
Hyrule will always be Linkβs first and greatest love.



















