I’ve noticed a recurring theme in The Legend of Zelda that I’m not sure anyone else has picked up on. The fantasy genre and the dichotomy around the world of heroics and sword-and-sorcery and fairy tales and the like often use this trope, but for Zelda, it’s a little unusual. You can’t save everyone. More to the point, you aren’t allowed to save everyone. The game won’t let you. It’s teaching you a harsh lesson that not everyone gets a happy ending. As the games became more complex, it became easier to bake this story point into each plot, be it either a sidequest or a main twist. It might…