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The Korok Forest
Link ventures to the Korok Forest to reclaim his rightful weapon, the Master Sword. He finally learns the truth about Calamity Ganon.
Tropes:
- Adaptation Deviation: Link is brought straight to the Sword Monks Shrine when he first goes to pull the Master Sword, giving him a physical and spiritual trial at the same time. The Master Sword effectively tries to kill him and wreck his soul to test his worthiness. It also grants him its full splendor right off the bat with no need to go through the Trials of the Sword.
- Adaptation Expansion: The final memory "The Master Sword" doesn't end with Zelda leaving the sword in its pedestal to recover. It instead ends with Zelda teleporting herself to Central Hyrule, where she goes full One-Woman Army, allowing the Guardians to attack her while she uses the Bow of Light to wipe them out like cannon fodder, and ending when she combats and traps Ganon in Hyrule Castle.
- Bad Powers, Good People: Groose's reincarnation was intended to be this, using darker powers for the greater good. Demise's curse had other plans.
- Connected All Along: This version of Ganon/Ganondorf goes all the way back to the Era of the Skies. Ganondorf existed in the form of Groose from Skyloft, and was chosen as a third hero to fight Demise's curse, only to become the host for Demise's curse.
- Dark Is Not Evil: As the third hero, Ganondorf was always meant to wield darker more demonic powers for the greater good.
- Deadpan Snarker: Link goes all in on this when speaking to the Hero's Shade, sarcastically remarking that he has no reason to feel incomplete since he can't remember his own friends or his daughter.
- Demonic Possession: Ganon has been a victim of this all along, having been possessed and enslaved to Demise's curse.
- Faux Affably Evil: While Demise compliments the Hero of the Skies, Demise still hates him and curses his bloodline to always be plagued by an incarnation of his hatred.
- Foreshadowing: The Hero's Shade uses female pronouns when referring to the Master Sword, hinting at Fi's presence, which was already hinted at before.
- Legacy Character: The Hero's Shade spells it out for Link that he and all the other wolves were heroes of the sword before him.
- The Lost Woods: Link has to traverse the namesake woods using torches to guide his way. And then Fi guides him the rest of the way when there are no more torches.
- Ms. Exposition: Fi drops many of the story's major reveals in this chapter, and almost all of them show the degree of Adaptation Deviation the story is going to have.
- Outliving One's Offspring: The Hero's Shade mentions that in life he lost his oldest son when he fell into a lake and drowned.
- Painting the Medium: Whenever Fi speaks, her dialogue is bold to hint at her AI-like nature, and her voice is even compared to the Sheikah Slate's voice.
- Past-Life Memories: Link gains the knowledge of combat from his various predecessors after drawing the Master Sword.
- Power Tattoo: After acquiring the Wolf Spirit through the Master Sword, Link gains his own spirit animal tattoo in its likeness.
- The Reveal: There is a reason why Calamity Ganon's Animal Motif is a boar. He is the result of Demise's curse latching onto the soul of Groose, a third unsung ancient hero who fought Demise, and was meant to wield the Boar Spirit of Power.
- Shout-Out: Fi guides Link to the sword she inhabits, much like she did for the very first Link in The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword.
- Strength Equals Worthiness: Link has to fight tooth and nail through the pain in his physical body and in his soul.
- Team Dad: The Koroks all treat Link like he's their big brother, uncle, or father, or some combination, as they all swarm him like a bunch of little kids would.
- Token Adult: Link notices that all of the heroes before him are no older than eighteen, while he himself is in his thirties.
- Turning Back Human: The Hero's Shade and all the wolves all transform into their forms as Link.
- The Unchosen One: Ganon's original incarnation is revealed to be Groose.
- Wham Episode: This chapter comes with some major reveals.
- Link learns who Demise is: a dark demonic entity that is responsible for Calamity Ganon's existence, something fought by a mortal incarnation of Hylia in ancient times.
- There is more than one spirit animal. The Boar from Din, the Owl from Nayru, and the Wolf from Farore. They are reincarnated and strengthened as time has progressed, and while Zelda and Link were always intended to carry these powers, there was a third unsung hero in Groose who was chosen as a third...only to be chosen by Demise's curse as a host, and thus Ganondorf/Ganon was created.
- Worthy Opponent: Link witnesses the Hero of the Skies fighting Demise, and upon Demise's defeat, he calls the Hero of the Skies an extraordinary paragon of his kind, beyond any man or demon he'd ever fought before.
