#wis lullaby

This panel from the recent chapter really drew my eye to it. This is our first glimpse at Elegy and Requiem —- and we can see how their designs differ from Lullaby herself despite stemming from the same person. They are also pictured with the red/blue/green triad that is a staple in the Zelda series, power/wisdom/courage. Zelda is always going to be associated with Wisdom, so how do these fall into play with these three?

Starting off: Elegy.

In her timeline, Link never grew into an adult and as soon as he drew the Master Sword that was the moment that Ganondorf effectively won. Elegy was a child when Link was killed and assumingly never had the chance to become Sheik.

As an adult, she keeps a close design to her child iteration, with the wimple and the similar dress. Her hair is long because she never had to cut it. This keeping on child theme could also be a form of mourning, remembering Link as one of her closest friends in childhood. Not pictured is the scar and gray hair that Ganondorf left her with in chapter one of TR.

She’s pictured in pink (red), symbolizing Power. This can be attributed to her effectively being the original, the first, who started the time splits. But she’s also the one who had to fight for decades before Ganon was sealed. She, no matter how broken, set into motion the wheels of the Golden Age of Hyrule. Most notably, her descendants also have great identity in their royal power: Fable the charismatic Diplomat, Echo the powerful Mage, Dawn the blossoming Queen.

Next is transgender legend Requiem, pictured in blue.

I’m not going to spent much time delving into her design, since it’s all there in OoT. This Zelda became Sheik during the seven years Link slumbered in the Temple of Time, spying on Ganondorf. She seems to have kept her hair short and the design motifs from Sheik.

Her representation in blue, Wisdom, could be in part attributed to the seven years she spent as Sheik, different than the way Lullaby uses Sheik. She had to use cunning and her wits to survive while by Ganondorf’s side as a double spy. She also notably kicks off the trend of having to hide in plain sight; as seen in Wind Waker, neither Tetra or her mother went by Zelda despite that (presumably) being their legacy name in order to hide from Ganondorf. Her wisdom also lent her to know that Link’s duty as Hero was not finished, which is why she sent her Ocarina alongside in him to the new branch.

(This might be getting into conspiracy territory, but the following panel with Tetra thinking of Requiem has a blue background. Coincidence? I. THINK. NOT. >:) )

Finally, Lullaby, my love.

Lullaby design draws from both Sheik and her Princess Zelda incarnations. She can change her hair color and her eyes are red from the magic, but keeps her hair long and auburn most of the time. She also wears the Hyrule crest on her paldrons. She’s a spy, but she also openly lives as Queen Zelda. She started training earlier than both of lives before her, allowing her to blend the two identities better.