Theres a deliciously thick and juicy story idea of Ganon learning of his fate/curse, and seeking Zelda and Link in order to undo this curse, either failing or succeeding. And its really frustrating that the team hasnt used this yet, it feels like such a free home run of a story too.

Having demise instead of Ganondorf is kind of funny because while traditionally Ganon isn't at all redeemable... the idea that Demise cursed the trio and peoples' theories that Demise is the reason Ganon turns bad, makes Ganon potentially redeemable. At least for fanfic writers, lmao

I thought this was gonna be a 33-minute-long video about SS Link's overly-rendered eyebags and lips.

First off, thank you for highlighting how, for better or for worse, Skyward Sword was in many ways a deviation from the series' mold. In the years since (especially post BotW) a narrative has been spun that SS was faithful to the formula to a fault, and by extension, a showcase of why the formula needed to go. This never sat right with me as for all its strengths and flaws, SS felt like a pretty significant deviation from the Zelda formula the closer you looked.

And second, I think most every 3D game post OoT has kinda been an examination of what it means to live in the shadow of the game, and its legacy. WW was about letting go of the past to build something new, as you mentioned, but I think this runs through all the 3Dgames to a degree. TP, for example, sees a Hyrule in decline. Stagnant, and resting on legacy, its leader lacking the courage to act for a better future. And that lack of courage can be seen across the cast, some who overcome it and find their courage... And some who don't (particularly the big names of the Twili.) Then there's BotW which shows us a kingdom ruined by its expectation that the way of the past is inevitable, and shows us a Ganon who's been eroded of all personhood by the endless cycles of the ages. (Granted, TotK contradicts this, but... Well I don't have time to get into that game's issues today, lol.)

Regardless, I think this idea of being stuck in OoT's shadow and chained to its legacy is something the developers have been exploring in their games since OoT came out. This framing can even go a ways towards justifying some of SS' biggest criticisms, like its overall linearity, handholdiness, and restrictive "overworld" areas. Both in-universe and out, it reinforces the themes of a lack of agency due to having a role to play.

The bettle is genuinely my favorite item in any Zelda game ever. While it has explicit uses and evolves like other items, it also interacts with the environment in discoverable ways like scaring enemies. Also flying a litte guy around is pretty fun tbh.

The way Link is portrayed and his expressions in SS always felt uncanny to me. He looks much like the Link we know, but something is *off*. His eyebags are prominent and he constantly does what looks like a thousand-yard stare (the thumbnail is a perfect example of this). He looks tired and shell-shocked. Perhaps the devs are trying to communicate that they are tired of retelling the same story over and over again.

I love listening to the different perspectives of each Zelda fan.

Skyward sword didn't seem all that weird to me but my first Zelda game was Spirit Tracks

I hadn't really thought of Skyward Sword this way before, but you did a good job of laying out your arguement and evidence. I mostly interacted with Ocarina of Time and Skyward Sword growing up, so I didn't have the perspective to notice how strange the game really is in a wider context. Good stuff!

I thought this was gonna be a satirical video about how the game’s art style looks uncanny that makes fun of people calling the OoT remake’s art style uncanny. Great video

do you think hylia & demise were at one point in love.. that one time long before the franchise began the two gods of light and darkness were in perfect balance. could it be that hylia did something terrible to demise, and that is why she is so apologetic..?

"the goddess lowered herself to a mortal existence to keep me imprisoned. how pathetic. this bag of flesh pales in comparison to the magnificence of her previous form "

maybe the entire franchise exists on the premise of a lover's quarrel between two greater beings toying with humanity in their own petty disagreement.
perhaps demise feels a twinge of jealousy when he sees link and zelda together, like how groose is jealous of them too. and with groose being the theorised predecessor to the gerudo ..?

I love watching video essays about Skyward Sword. You raise an interesting argument,
particularly with regards to the uncanny presence of Demise as the true villain instead of Ganondorf; the story frames itself as the progenitor for all the elements that make up the beloved Zelda formula (while simultaneously making the player question these very aspects), so I find it fitting that the first villain in the canon is something more…primordial, otherworldly. For some further commentary on the game’s narrative/thematic subversion and role of the game in the Zelda franchise, I highly recommend the videos ‘Skyward Sword's Hidden Revelation’ by Hylian Dan and ‘Skyward Sword is a game about the Legend of Zelda’ by Health Potion Café.

the one note i will add is that the reason ww got so much backlash was that they had revealed a demo of a tp esque gritty zelda game a year or two before ww's release, implying that the next (console) game after majora's mask would be a darker, more adult aimed zelda game. when wind waker ended up being the next title, a lot of people were disappointed because it seemed like a backslide into more brightly colored game with more kid friendly elements in mind. it wasnt a negative reaction that came out of nowhere; the fans were basically told to expect twilight princess instead and had the rug pulled from underneath them. despite that, wind waker is still a beloved title for many, and twilight princess is considered an overlooked title.
this was an interesting analysis though! skyward sword was my first zelda game, so i never really sat down and compared the experience to other titles in the series until now. a lot of the similar but different mechanics id imagine were due to the motion controls, as most games that came out on the wii around that time had them integrated in a somewhat sloppy way. your video also made me think about how odd it was for me to watch a playthrough of twilight princess years later, because sksw borrowed a lot of elements from tp so it felt like running into an older sibling of a close friend that you havent met before. uncanny valley is a great description of it.

à braver nintendo would’ve made Twilight Princess be Zelda’s game. Show hyrule a hundred years after Ganondorf is gone, and the world has moved on and the princess doesn’t know how she fits into the narrative. she’s restless. And don’t even have a new Link. let his spirit be stuck as a stallord languishing in the lost woods. How does this Zelda contend with the auspices of her kingdom’s twilight years when the world literally lacks its manifestation of courage?

It's a very interesting interpretation you've pulled from the game, and it's particularly interesting because from what I know of the history of the games from a developer standpoint.

This was the first game produced under the leadership of Eiji Aonuma, and after the relatively lackluster reception of Twilight Princess, he was already worried that the standard Zelda Formula was growing stale. Overall, the team wanted to experiment with new mechanics and creating a larger living world, but did not wish to alienate existing fans. In addition to that, being planned as a wii game meant there was opportunity to experiment with the motion controls, which lead to the creation of unusual items that would not have made sense to create in earlier games in the franchise like the flying scarab. I think this uncanniness you're feeling is buried in that unsatisfying attempt to appease everyone with a middle ground of familiar, but superficially new.

As to the story, the whole game is intended as an origin mythos, the story elements like Fi and Demise and Hylia(also new to the series in this game) are the way they are because they are needed to establish an in universe reason for the recurring pattern of a darkness rising up, and the princess and the hero rising up against it. Demise couldn't have neem Ganon to explain why Ganon exists. And while Link's usual name is Link, he is always referred to as The Hero in Legend, and being able to change his name was showing that the Hero canonically wasn't always necessarily named Link so the player can fit themselves into the legend. However, this curse, I think, isn't focused on as much, or seen as a bad ending, because being trapped in cycles of reincarnation is already part of buddhist belief. There are even figures in the buddhist religion called bodhisattvas who are those who achieved enlightenment, but instead of escaping the cycle of rebirth, chose to stay and act as guides for those still seeking enlightenment. In a sense, heroic roles, respected for their wisdom and sacrifice. There is a melancholy and tragedy to it, but their willingness to accept their souls fate, both before and after defeating Demise, is very much portrayed as part of what makes them heroic. In a more collectivist society like Japan, shouldering those burdens and bravely facing even a cruel fate, is seen very differently than it is in the US, where our individual freedom and fighting against fate are seen as cultural virtues.

It's most fascinating to me though how much about the developers intent for the game you were able to sense from the uncanniness you interpreted in the game mechanics and story. I remember reading preview stuff snd developer interviews about skyward sword before it ever came out, and due to that I already knew and was excited to see, what they were able to change from the formula. With that context, I didn't feel it to be uncanny so much as I saw the slightly clunky compromise between the old and new.

While I probably didn't guess "remote-controlled robot beetle" as a dungeon item back in the day, the beetle does fit squarely into the Zelda tradition of mechanics that use hardware gimmicks - in this case, using the wiimote motion controls to pilot the insectoid drone. It fits comfortably with the DS Zelda games' stylus controls, and items designed to make use of those. Or Z-targeting back in Ocarina.

That's not to say that the theme of being trapped in a futile cycle and needing to break out isn't a recurring one at least as far back as Majora's Mask. On the other hand, Skyward Sword is also the continuation (and possibly culmination) of another trend of the series - Link to the Past, Ocarina, Minish Cap and Skyward Sword are each prequels to what came before, aiming to explain the origins of pieces of Zelda lore. There are echoes of that in Echoes of Wisdom too, though I'm not sure Null and Demise both fit into the same timeline, and the physical terrain of Echoes points toward a post Link Between Worlds setting, even as story events suggest something before Ocarina - before the Golden Goddesses departed, before the sacred power was called the Tri Force, before the Royal Family gained a legend that the Triforce would split when seized by one who was imbalanced, before one stone from each Goddess was used as a sign of the bearer's being favoured, and as a key to unlock sacred barriers...

This game has always made me feel like it was an exercise in how little can you add to a game and still have it feel like another game. Kinda like comparing a Soulslike to Demon/Dark Souls. Great video.

If Zelda was tagging Link along, it’s possible she was also aware of Ghirahim before the day the game starts.

Also, the two games preceding this completed ganondorfs story arc, all loose ends were tied up. He had an origin in ocarina, and an end in twilight princess and wind waker, it would have felt narratively wrong if they brought him into the origin story of the series, just like it did for many people when he showed up in totk. For me at least part of ganondorfs character as the main antagonist of the series is that despite the fact that theres a different link and zelda every time, ganon was always the same person. It makes sense that the developers would want to move on and reboot the series, because truly what do you do once your main villain is dead.

THE REDEEMABLE KING OF MORAL GREYNESS MENTIONED