Age of Imprisonment Thoughts

[mrsluigivargas]

I finally finished watching the Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisoment cutscene movie the other day! It was a very mid story.

Tbh, Calamo and Knight Construct carried. Their ending got me so emotional, even though I knew it was coming :( (And I don't care what the YT comments said; Calamo DID become the Deku Tree. Obviously!) I really liked their dynamic; it was very yapper & listener + "I'll follow you into hell but I really wish you'd stop going there". Very endearing! It was a sharp contrast to how the Royals(tm) treated Kight Construct, that's for sure. That kept pissing me off. They kept talking at or around or about it, as if it wasn't a person but just a weapon they could point at things or somewhere to project their distrust and wariness at. Maybe I've been reading too much Murderbot, but it really stuck out to me like a sore thumb. But also there's a scene where there's a little party, and the soldiers are socializing with it in the background and they all look fine and welcoming. But the Royals... *shakes my head sadly* Zelda I think had the one main scene where she interacts with it, and I think it was fine? They were all mainly focused on what the Knight Construct was at all in that scene, to be fair, though. And it wasn't like the construct could tell them, because it was nonverbal. Which is probably why they all just kinda projected on in the whole time (except for Calamo~). But I'm pretty sure she talked to it like a proper person then, at least.

The other thing about this game is that because it had to stick to canon, the usual HW craziness had to be restrained. As such, when it did decide it was finally time to go crazy at the very end - especially with...Mineru, which was kinda unexpected - it came off as a bit cringe. Which might be my opinion, but I kinda wish this was as silly as it could have been.

ALSO! Why tf was Rauru the main character. It was supposed to be Zelda, but she dropped off in relevance halfway through in favor of Mr. Tortured King with a Fridged Wife and it was so sad. (almost as sad as the fact they fridged that dude's wife). And I'm sure everyone's personalities were probably explored more in the sidequests' flavor text and the mid-battle commentary dialogue and such, it wasn't enough for me to shift the Sages into fully realized characters, at least most of them? Raphica was cool for his relationship to Calamo, Lago was just Brash Lady, I don't remember what Agraston's deal is...Ardi was a gem, though. Love her. More games should have female Gerudo chief characters. Still holding out for a Zelda game where Ganondorf's just A Guy, even just for a little while.

Oh and also shoutout to Lenalia. She's built like a fucking box and I really appreciate that. Her face might be goofy but she is the token not-skinny person (aside from the Gorons) so she is Best Girl (alongside Ardi, obvs)

Comments

Age of Imprisonment

[brightknightie]

The decision to focus so very much on Rauru surprised me, too. I expected a more even-handed distribution among the characters, if not a true leading role for Zelda (that would have been lovely and appropriate, but I didn't expect it). Rauru's story would perhaps have been better told with ghost!Rauru being Link's TotK companion and divulging it slowly throughout, but... I feel that TotK still shows the seams of having begun as a DLC pack at certain levels, and the role of AoI filling in blanks really illustrates where those seams and cracks were all along.

If I may, I think I feel a little differently about the Knight Construct than you do, perhaps? I haven't watched the whole game through, but I have watched some hours of gameplay with some of the side quests and dialogue boxes... I am intrigued at a lore level by questions of what/who the Knight Construct is (and his opposite number, equally) -- to oversimplify, it's a take on the Pinocchio trope, to some degree, and also a brush with real-world AI concerns by way of the Zonai culture's self-destruction through this technology. So I'm interested in pondering: at what level is the Knight Construct a fully sentient being, at what level is he a projection of Fi's memories of Link, and if he moves from just a memory of the hero's spirit to a fully-formed soul of his own, how and when does that happen, and what does that mean for the hero's spirit through all the ages? Anyway, those are the kinds of ponderings that amuse me, and that I hope will inspire thoughtful fanfic authors as time goes on. :-)