At one point, Nintendo’s famously silent lead Link was going to have lines of dialogue in Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom. However, the developers ultimately agreed it didn’t feel right, even though in Echoes of Wisdom, Link isn’t the main protagonist.
In an interview with Famitsu, Echoes of Wisdom directors Satoshi Terada and Tomomi Sano, along with series producer Eiji Aonuma, shared more insight into this year’s release. The developers noted that traditionally, the lead in a Legend of Zelda game has remained mute, and this typically means Link.
Please note, there are minor spoilers for Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom below.
In Echoes of Wisdom, the series’ namesake takes the lead role, and therefore this time it is Zelda who doesn’t have any lines of dialogue. This opened up the possibility that Link could finally share some words of wisdom with players, and Aonuma admitted “at first” the green-clad hero was indeed talking (translated by VGC).
Terada added he “let Link talk a little bit” when work on the Switch title began. However, it didn’t stick, and Terada noted no matter what he made Link say, at the end of the day, it “just didn’t feel right”.
“Link would never speak like that,” Aonuma furthered. “It felt really strange. Nobody knew what Link would say – that’s only natural, because he’s never spoken before.”
To get around this, the Echoes of Wisdom team instead concocted a story which explained why Link is silent, even though he is not the player character. Early in the game, Zelda can come across a journal entry written by Impa’s brother, Lueburry. Here, Lueburry explains that Link was “one of the kids” who had been “stolen away” by the strange rifts that had opened up across Hyrule, setting in motion much of the game.
According to this entry, “all of the kids taken by the rifts” had lost something, and in Link’s case, this was his ability to speak.
Echoes of Wisdom is not the only Legend of Zelda game to give a reason to Link’s silence. In Breath of the Wild, Link can read Zelda’s diary when making his way through Hyrule Castle. In her writings, the princess said she had slowly managed to get Link to open up to her, but he “feels it necessary to stay strong and to silently bear any burden”. This “has caused him to stop outwardly expressing his thoughts and feelings”, Zelda writes.
“I always believed him to be simply a gifted person who had never faced a day of hardship. How wrong I was…” the Breath of the Wild diary reads. “Everyone has struggles that go unseen by the world… I was so absorbed with my own problems, I failed to see his. I wish to talk with him more and to see what lies beneath those calm waters, to hear him speak freely and openly… And perhaps I, too, will be able to bare my soul to him and share the demons that have plagued me all these years.”
For more, earlier this year, Nintendo provided details on why Zelda was chosen as the protagonist for the Echoes of Wisdom, rather than Link.
The company has additionally narrowed down the release window for its upcoming Legend of Zelda film.
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