*This interview has been streamed and published! Watch it anytime on the With a Terrible Fate YouTube channel.*
Are you fascinated by fanfiction’s ability to recontextualize your favorite video game stories? Does the discussion around video game adaptations interest you? Have you been starving for intellectually engaging content about the Legend of Zelda series while you wait for Tears of the Kingdom to finally release?
If you answered yes to any of these questions, you need to join With a Terrible Fate as we interview Sean McGarry, creator of The Legend of Zelda: Hero’s Purpose—an ongoing fan animation series! See below for the full interview logistics as well as a preview of the topics to be discussed.
On Fanfiction and The Legend of Zelda
When: Thursday, April 20, 2023, 7:00 PM – 8:00 PM ET
Where: The With a Terrible Fate Twitch Channel
Analysts: Caymus Ducharme & Aaron Suduiko
Hero’s Purpose aims to bridge the gap between Majora’s Mask and Twilight Princess, completing the story of the Hero of Time. It follows Link as he returns to Hyrule after saving Termina, only to find the kingdom facing a renewed threat of destruction from Ganondorf.
The Hero’s Purpose logo. Source: MajorLink.
Since October 2020, Sean has regularly released new episodes on his YouTube channel “MajorLink,” with Episode Five dropping this past February. He has made fan animations of the Zelda series for over six years, and Hero’s Purpose is shaping up to be his magnum opus.
I have followed the series since its initial release, but after watching the most recent episode, I realized Sean is crafting something truly special. His story offers an enlightening perspective on the entire Zelda franchise, and his characterizations of Link, Zelda, and Ganondorf challenge us to reevaluate our understanding of its narrative. As such, exploring his view of the franchise will provide longtime fans with a fresh lens through which to analyze the story of the games.
Here are some topics we plan to cover in the interview:
- The value of fanfiction and its relationship to video game stories
- The Zelda timeline/canon and its impact on fanfiction
- The dynamic between Link, Zelda, and Ganondorf
- The curse of Demise and the player’s role in it
- The nuances of video game adaptation
If you want a primer on some of these topics, check out The Hero of Time Project on With a Terrible Fate! Not only does it offer a different take on the story Hero’s Purpose is telling, but it also explores the relationship between fanfiction and video game narratives in detail.
Link from Episode Two of Hero’s Purpose. Source: MajorLink.
While the primary players in this interview will be Sean, Aaron, and myself, Twitch enables us to incorporate the audience as well. The interview will be streamed live, which means audience members can voice their own ideas or questions via the chat. We want to hear your thoughts, so come ready to engage in the discussion!
I must express my immense thanks to Sean for agreeing to this interview. If you are a Zelda fan and haven’t watched Hero’s Purpose, you owe it to yourself to do so. We’ll see you all in the chat next Thursday; let’s have a great conversation about fanfiction and The Legend of Zelda!
