#newobsessioneveryweek

But as we see in his past, that hasn't always been the case. He had dragged, if not forced Spirits (the engineer) into fighting in the War of Eras with him. And as we saw in this latest chapter, he even went as far as to gaslight the engineer into thinking his perception of events, and by extension his own senses, were wrong. That was by itself a horrendous thing to do.

But the past is told from Warriors's perspective, which means that we know why he did the things he did. He was only seventeen when he was given his position as captain, which is not a high rank (though he unofficially does the work of a general). He's the bastard child of a single mother disowned from her merchant-class family, which means he does not have any social clout. He only has his title of Hero, but that hurts him more often than not-- as Midna said, he was Hyrule's Scapegoat. Whenever something goes wrong, everyone blamed Link for not being a good enough hero.

As the reader, we understand why Warriors felt like he had to have Spirits help him. It's easy to emphasize with him. Your mileage with that empathy will vary, but for me it does little to excuse the things he did (and will do, not to spoil future chapters).

Simply put: he used to be a bad person.

We know he's improved since then as the very memory of what he did not only tortures him, but also provides motivation for him to protect the Chain. After all, he knows now how bad things can turn out. He's trying so hard to save the Chain because he knows what will happen if he doesn't.

When they're out traveling across time and multiple Hyrules, it's easy for Warriors to be the best version of himself. But now that he's back in the same environment that encouraged him to be the worst version of himself, he has to keep himself in check.

In my head, present day Warriors is a hero. He's trying to do what's right despite how easy it would be for him to repeat the past.

But in the past? He's the villain. A highly sympathetic one, but the villain nonetheless. If I had to call anyone the protagonist in the memories segments, it's Spirits. He's the one who does his best to help others. If this story was written from his point of view, that would be a little more obvious. (I'm also taking into consideration events that hasn't appeared in the story yet).