Even though most installations in The Legend of Zelda are stand-alone stories that let new fans jump in anywhere they want, the franchise is chock-full of lore. That was made eminently clear when Nintendo published the Hyrule Historia, the official compendium summarizing and drawing connecting lines through all of The Legend of Zelda's central lore. There's all kinds of examples of Zelda lore branching and spreading out between the games, like the various incarnations of Ganon and Ganondorf, how the Triforce gets used through different generations of Hyrule, and so on. It also officially established the chronological order in which all the Zelda games take place, and at the head of them all is The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword.
Skyward Sword is an interesting installation in the franchise. It innovated the Zelda franchise's gameplay in a lot of ways, with an increased focus on motion controls, a new stamina meter, much more flexible equipment than usual, and so on. Fan reactions to Skyward Sword's new ideas were mixed, but its additional contributions to The Legend of Zelda's lore are undeniable. The name gives away one of the most important ones. Skyward Sword's plot centrally involves the creation of Link's signature weapon: The Master Sword. Any fan who hasn't played the game before can discover the Master Sword's origin story once Skyward Sword HD releases on Switch. Warning: The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword spoilers ahead!
Link's Unique Relationship with the Master Sword
The majority of Zelda games arm Link in a similar way. At the start of the game, he'll obtain a simple, normal sword of some kind that'll serve Link well for the first couple hours or the first few dungeons of the game until he obtains the Master Sword. Even in Breath of the Wild, Link focuses on using a wide arsenal of different weapons collected from around Hyrule and can only collect the Master Sword much later in the game. Once he gets it, The Master Sword often makes Link much stronger in one way or another, like with the Master Sword's signature blade beams, which tweaks the player's capabilities in combat up until the end of the game.
Skyward Sword starts off pretty similarly to this standard way of arming Link. At the start of the game, Link borrows a training sword to go on a brief adventure to save his Loftwing from danger, but then he sets the training sword aside about as quickly as he obtained it. That's because, only a short ways into Skyward Sword's opening act, Link meets a mysterious being called Fi who leads him to a secret chamber containing a short sword called the Goddess Sword. It's given to Link in a ceremonious, destiny-heavy way that the Master Sword is usually treated, which hints heavily at the Goddess Sword's own destiny. By the end of Skyward Sword, fans won't just replace the Goddess Sword with the Master Sword, but they'll forge and strengthen the Goddess Sword until it becomes the Master Sword.
Skyward Sword and the Master Sword's Creation
One big clue that the Goddess Sword is actually just the Master Sword in its infancy is its ability to produce blade beams. From very early in Skyward Sword, the player needs to raise the Goddess Sword toward the sky and charge it with magic to shoot blade beams at various objects to interact with them. The game doesn't put an emphasis on the Goddess Sword's role for a long time, though. Link goes through Skyward Sword's first few dungeons with just the Goddess Sword, and only during the next act of the game does it begin to transform.
Link discovers that the only way he can save Zelda is by forging the Goddess Sword in three magical fires left behind by three of Hyrule's gods, who fans might find familiar: Farore, Nayru, and Din. The large greater portion of Skyward Sword involves tracking down these flames on the surface world and applying their magical power to the sword. By doing this, the Goddess Sword transforms into the Goddess Longsword, then the Goddess White Sword, and then finally the Master Sword. With each forging, the sword deals more damage and gains more range, visibly growing over time into the longsword that Link is famous for.
However, Zelda fans might notice that the Master Sword doesn't appear to become the sword they're used to after its third forging. It's duller in color and not quite as large. The final transformation comes near the end of the game when Link and Zelda reunite. Channeling the power of the goddess Hylia, Zelda blesses the Master Sword, which transforms it into the True Master Sword -- the long-bladed weapon with the bright blue crossguard that fans are familiar with. Thus, fans have fully created the sword that every following incarnation of Link will eventually discover and wield.
The Legend of Zelda's Incredible Origins
The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword's importance in the franchise's lore can't be understated. It establishes the conflict between the goddess Hylia and Hyrule's demons that kicks off the cycle of hero reincarnation that motivates every following game's plot. It also establishes the creation of the Triforce and sees its first union by Link in order to protect Hyrule. Perhaps most importantly of all, though, it sees the creation of the Link's signature weapon: the holy Master Sword that he constantly uses to defeat and cast down evils like Ganon.
Skyward Sword's port to Switch comes at a very important time. Breath of the Wild 2 is on the horizon, and that game has to decide how to treat this important relic. The sword was much less central in Breath of the Wild than it is in most games, which is ironic considering how historically crucial the Master Sword usually is. Dark times are clearly ahead in Breath of the Wild 2, so this time Link might learn that the Master Sword is absolutely necessary in preventing Ganondorf's rumored return to power. With that possibility in mind, it's great that Zelda fans are getting the chance to relive the Master Sword's creation. In order to appreciate the power and importance of the sword in the present, it's valuable to look at what made it powerful in the past.
The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword HD releases for Nintendo Switch on July 16, 2021.