The Tragedy of Ganondorf: the Burden of the King

by WearinOTheGreen

The story we know of as the Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time was actually a much simplified version of the actual events surrounding the time. I try to unpack what actually happened, starting with the fact that Ganondorf was not the evil character we know him to be. There is no villain in this version of the story, only events, reactions, and historical trajectories.

24. The Council of Sages

By the time Link, Princess Zelda, and Impa came back the next day, they couldn't find any sign of the Gerudo guards or Ganondorf. They searched throughout the ruined castle to no avail. When they came back to the other members of the Council, a vote was taken. Everyone but Princess Zelda voted to move forward with the Council as-is. Zelda argued that they owed it to the Gerudo King to keep searching for him. The others argued that the time had come for them to reveal themselves as the Council of Sages and start doing the work transparently and out in the open. It couldn't wait any longer - the crowds proved that.

After returning to the safety of Kakariko Village and the protection the remaining Sheikah could offer, they began the work in earnest. They created the draft of the first constitution of the Council of Sages as a group, then brought this to the various leaders each Sage represented. The work was tough and rewarding. A few of them gave some thought to the memory of the Gerudo King, especially when they returned to the Gerudo Valley with Nabooru to discuss the constitution with the Matriarchs. Slowly, the land of Hyrule coalesced under the rule of the Council of Sages. The efforts at egalitarianism paid off in stronger relationships between each of the races in Hyrule. The improvement was barely perceptible at first, as exponential growth in its initial stages appears sub-linear. But, grow their efforts did, and the efforts continued to pay dividends that were redivided among the Sages to then distribute among the people in order to prevent the accumulation of wealth and power in too few hands, as was the custom of the Royal Family.

Unfortunately, as the years passed the Royal Family took note from afar. As stability began to set in, they started sending their masons to rebuild the castle. Their engineers created public works projects with what little wealth the Royal Family had retained in their flight from Hyrule. They appeared as a legitimate support for the Council of Sages, and helped manifest the lofty goals of development each Sage had for each for their respective people. As the castle itself took shape again, the Royal Family invited the Council of Sages to work out of the main antechamber. Initially Princess Zelda was opposed, and held out to stay amongst the people.

Over time, the founders of the Council of Sages retired and passed on the torch to new members. The Council took on a more emblematic role as many sought to garner the support of the Royal Family that had reestablished at least a modicum of its former power and political scheming. It appeared that the Royal Family, despite Princess Zelda's wishes, would reestablish its old regime soon. All that was left were the stories, true and otherwise, documenting the period of calamity interrupting the long reigns of uneasy peace presided over by the Royal Family.