‘Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom’s’ Gimmick Pink-Taxes Princess Zelda

Despite being the titular character in one of the most iconic Nintendo franchises of all time, Princess Zelda had yet to star as a playable protagonist in a mainline Zelda game. Zelda’s 38 year-long streak on the sidelines is set to end on September 26 with the release of The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom. 

Finally, finally, Zelda gets to be front and center after a wait that feels as long as the 100 years Zelda spent keeping Calamity Ganon at bay in BOTW. And yet, despite how monumental the occasion is, Zelda still gets the short end of the stick (literally). Instead of a game where she takes things into her own literal hands (that canonically contain god-like magic), she gets stuck with a gimmick that has her relying on a magic rod powered by a magical creature, ‘Tri,’ instead of her own individual abilities. Echoes of Wisdom had the opportunity to display the full power of the legendary princess.

Instead, it pink-taxes Zelda by forcing her to rely on external magic to save the day. It’s a huge disservice to Zelda and a slap in the face to her legacy and the fanbase. 

The gimmick isn’t the problem

By itself, Echoes of Wisdom’s gimmick—the ability to summon items to help traverse Hyrule and recruit monsters to fight your battles—isn’t a problem. In fact, it’s actually an interesting idea with potential for amusing and creative gameplay.

But no matter how innovative and different this gimmick is, this specific game was the wrong time to introduce it. If it was introduced in a title starring Link, there’d be no issue. It’d be no different than previously introduced gimmicks like the Sheikah Slate powers from BOTW. It’s that they introduced the gimmick in the first main title where Zelda, a female character, is the playable protagonist. It’s giving, Zelda is “just a girl,” but not in a good way.

Zelda getting this gimmick instead of a (full time) traditional sword or bow, or a fighting style unique to her personal abilities like her magic, diminishes her strength and heroism. It’s like Echoes of Wisdom wants to remind players that Zelda isn’t Link. That she isn’t capable or strong like he is—that Zelda is “just” a princess. She couldn’t possibly embody physical strength because that’s not ladylike or her job as the “girl character” of the series. Which is an utterly ridiculous notion that keeps her firmly placed in Link’s shadow. 

Plus, the gimmick totally ignores the fact that she too is a member of the Triforce, representing wisdom. She should get to display her wisdom-based strength in her own game by wielding her own magic and power. Not by relying on a magic fairy-powered wand to fight for her so she isn’t directly involved in combat.

Echoes of Wisdom ignores Zelda’s canonically powerful magic

It’s not like Zelda doesn’t have the power, physically or magically, to save Hyrule, because she absolutely does. 

In Breath of the Wild, Zelda spends 100 years using her magic to keep Calamity Ganon imprisoned. Plus she assists Link in the final battle against Dark Beast Ganon. And that was all after using her magic to destroy an entire field of guardians to save Link and herself. In Tears of the Kingdom, she’s able to manipulate time and even takes part in the original fight against Ganondorf. Ocarina of Time shows off Zelda’s prowess in both magic and melee, while Twilight Princess reveals the extent of her healing magic when she essentially revives Midna. 

And that’s all without mentioning Zelda’s biggest boon—she actually has god-tier powers. Skyward Sword reveals that Zelda is the mortal reincarnation of the Goddess Hylia. And throughout other games, Zelda’s either related to the Goddess or she shares Hylia’s powers. You’re telling me she is related to, or is literally, the Goddess Hylia, and she needs a magic stick to fight? There’s no way. 

Zelda has a massive, stacked array of powers, and is more than capable of saving Hyrule by herself. If anything, it makes more sense for Link to have this gimmick because he isn’t magical. Either way, Zelda has no need for Tri or a magic wand. By giving her these instead of allowing her to use her crazy powerful magic (or at least a version of it), Zelda is dumbed down to some regular player character. When she is exactly the opposite. 

How they should have handled Echoes of Wisdom’s combat

After everything that Zelda’s endured in the past 38 years, throughout the multiple timelines, she deserves to kick some butt. And she doesn’t need a fairy-powered wand to do so. 

They could have done a multi-weapon approach, giving her a mix of weapons and magic (from her own hands). This would still give players options in combat. Now, Nintendo did announce that Echoes of Wisdom will have a “sword fighter form” where Zelda wields a sword for a limited time. But this new form solves nothing because it’s just a temporary power up—it’s a lazy afterthought to quell complaints. 

If Nintendo was really intent on highlighting Zelda’s strength instead of making her a carbon copy of Link, that would’ve been a great path to take. Don’t give her a sword because that’s Link’s thing. Instead, have her use her own magic as the primary weapon so she can go around blasting enemies with her goddess-powered, evil-destroying light magic. They could also have given her alternative weapons, like daggers or even melee combat skills like the Sheikah. Or the bow of light which she has wielded or been associated with in multiple games.

The point is, Nintendo had plenty of options to show off Zelda and her strength, and they chose not to. They ignored her personal magic, instead replacing it with a magic stick that has nothing to do with Zelda’s individual power. The fact that they refused to give Zelda power of her own in this game starring her speaks volumes, shouting to the world that she isn’t capable of saving the world on her own. Whether intentional or not, it’s saying Zelda is a girl—an innocent princess—and needs a softer gameplay style that doesn’t make her seem aggressive.

A legendary missed opportunity

Zelda getting her own mainline title cannot be underplayed. It’s a huge step forward for her character. She can finally step out of the role of side character/hero’s motivation and into a starring role of her own. Plus, Echoes of Wisdom demonstrates the potential that the franchise has to explore new stories within the LoZ universe. 

However, this title is not what the series’ fans or Zelda herself deserve. And it’s not how Nintendo should have approached the very first game with Zelda as the playable protagonist. There was so much potential for Nintendo to show off what Zelda can do. They could’ve explored her role in the Triforce and as a hero by way of her own personal magic and strength. It could’ve been the perfect role-reversal with Zelda finally getting to take matters into her own hands to save Hyrule and rescue Link.
It was the perfect chance to show how powerful she is while also demonstrating that she is Link’s teammate, not his sidekick.

But they sabotaged this opportunity like Ganon sabotages the peace of Hyrule. The gimmick is poorly-timed and ends up sexist in the hands of the princess. The introduction of the gimmick implies that Zelda isn’t enough and can’t save Hyrule without totally relying on some external power. It’s an embarrassingly awful and hurtful (not to mention inaccurate) implication in a game that’s supposed to be revolutionary for Princess Zelda. It’s truly a fumble for the ages. She deserves so much better and so do the fans.