Following the casting news for Nintendo’s upcoming Legend of Zelda film, Google has added a sweet little Easter egg.
The Easter egg appears, at least on mobile, when you search for the Link and Zelda actors. That’s Benjamin Evan Ainsworth and Bo Bragason respectively. Typing in those actors’ names into your search bar will throw up all the expected bits and pieces you would expect – their wikipedia pages, social media accounts, a selection of images and so forth – but also a little nod to their latest castings.
If you want to discover the Easter egg for yourself, please head elsewhere now to avoid it being spoiled.
Right, to the Easter egg. If you search for Zelda actress Bragason, a little note now appears at the top of the page which reads: “Well excuse me, Princess.” A little female elf emoji also shows.
This is a nod to Link’s catchphrase in the animated Legend of Zelda series, where in a change from the game’s the hero actually talks. This expression has become a bit of a meme, often used to respond to criticism (Link often said it to Zelda when she was pointing out some kind of flaw).
Meanwhile, when you search for Link actor Evan Ainsworth, you will notice that rather than a fully coherent bit of dialogue a la ‘Well excuse me, Princess’, you will instead see a message that reads: “KYAAAA! HYAAAAA!” A little male elf emoji sits next to this. This is clearly meant to represent the noises of exertion Link makes as he slashes his way through the various foes and dungeons in Hyrule (or, Termina/Koholint/etc).
Of course, Link in the game’s famously does not speak, and some titles in the series have given a reason for his muteness. In Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, for example, Link can read Zelda’s diary when making his way through Hyrule Castle. In her writings, the princess said she had slowly managed to get Link to open up to her, but he “feels it necessary to stay strong and to silently bear any burden”. This “has caused him to stop outwardly expressing his thoughts and feelings”, Zelda writes.
“I always believed him to be simply a gifted person who had never faced a day of hardship. How wrong I was…” the Breath of the Wild diary reads. “Everyone has struggles that go unseen by the world… I was so absorbed with my own problems, I failed to see his. I wish to talk with him more and to see what lies beneath those calm waters, to hear him speak freely and openly… And perhaps I, too, will be able to bare my soul to him and share the demons that have plagued me all these years.”
Meanwhile, in last year’s Echoes of Wisdom, Zelda can come across a journal entry written by Impa’s brother, Lueburry. Here, Lueburry explains that Link was “one of the kids” who had been “stolen away” by the strange rifts that had opened up across Hyrule, setting in motion much of the game. According to this entry, “all of the kids taken by the rifts” had lost something, and in Link’s case, this was his ability to speak.
It therefore makes sense that Google’s nod to Evan Ainsworth’s new role isn’t a full blown bit of dialogue. I now just wonder how the film’s writers will handle this same particular obstacle…
For more on the upcoming Zelda film, be sure to check out Christian Donlan’s feature: Does Link’s human face in the Zelda movie make anyone else feel a little… odd?
