Its Ocarina of Time, and the players been played. Ganondorf and his minions have been trailing Link, waiting for the young Hero of Time to unlock the gates to the Sacred Realm so that they can obtain the legendary Golden Power. Sealed out of time for seven long years, a boys heart in a mans body, Links cast back into the battered remains of Hyrule to wake the Sages and somehow undo the damage hes caused. Thats when were introduced to Sheik. Who is, as any self-respecting Nintendo fan should know, really Zelda in disguise. Its a twist that becomes a lot more layered and interesting when the plots considered in hindsight. The games done enough to convince you that Sheikah like Impa are still an important force in Hyrule and that Sheiks a plausible ally, but moreover, this is Nintendo playing off against their own depictions of gender. Despite being the titular character, Zeldas always been portrayed as the helpless captive given that the player last saw her fleeing her castle, theres little reason to suspect that the last seven years transformed her into a somersaulting, bomb-wielding ninja whos both faster and wiser than Link. As great as this reveal is, however, its full potential does get rather trampled upon. The minute Zeldas unmasked shes back to wringing her hands, apologising profusely before Ganondorf encases her in a large pink crystal yknow, because shes a girl. Still, it remains a powerful moment and planted seeds that should hopefully bear fruit when Zelda takes the stage in Hyrule Warriors.
