The Queen referred to is none other than Queen Ambi from the Oracle of Ages game. She is a lone monarch of the land of Labrynna, a land where Link is sent by the Triforce to yet again combat Ganon’s minions. As far as political leaders go in the Zelda series, she is just like the rest of her compatriots: helpless, uninformed, and easy to manipulate. She sits in her castle, and lets Veran, in Nayru’s body, have her way with the world. She even goes so far as to condone Veran’s actions, demanding an endless day so that her tower will be complete. While providing an item and part of the plot, Ambi could be considered just another waste of pixels.

The only other queen even alluded to is Tetra’s mother in the Windwaker. We know that Tetra is of the line of the Princesses of Hyrule, so therefore her ancestors at some point were of the royal family. Whether or not her mother was specifically a queen can be debated. With Hyrule pretty much destroyed, what was there to rule? A bunch of separated islands? In this case, her mention does very little for anything, only to explain where Tetra got the Triforce and her instructions regarding it.

In some of the games, a nursemaid, Impa, fills the missing queen’s role of maternal support for Zelda. She cares for Zelda during her childhood and keeps her from harm, like a daycare bodyguard. Impa’s devotion to the Princess is absolute, and, while in OOT she was a bit cold and professional, she truly cares for Zelda and is able to offer her the support she needs. In the Oracle Series, Impa not only puts on weight (a LOT of weight), but she acts as a messenger for Zelda, traveling to protect the Oracles from the shadows of darkness gathering around them. When Zelda herself arrives, Impas first reaction is to get Zelda to safety, as any mother’s would be.

All in all, Hyrule is left bereft of queenly leadership. The most likely reason is that the Zeldas in the series become the missing queens after their rescues, after the story of the game is done and the credits have rolled. Their part of the saga has ended and their story is no longer important. Their only roll is to provide the descendants who will fight off (or be kidnapped by) Ganondorf the next time he arises. Kind of sad, but true.

Another possibility is that culture differences have caused this gap in leadership. The majority of the stories we know are of European descent, while the Legend of Zelda is a Japanese series. (Um…duh?) The Japanese have never been big on female leadership, and the role of Impa as nursemaid seems to fit well within the limited amount of feudal Japanese culture I have absorbed over the years. A maid or bodyguard/teacher of sorts usually watches over the children of the current royal leadership. The wives of the rulers usually do things that keep them out of the way of their husbands work, whether it be waging war or playing a game with his friends.

While a queen of Hyrule would mix things up, it seems that she would be redundant before she even did anything. The Kings of Hyrule can already handle all the things necessary of royalty, like sitting on a throne and asking people to save the kingdom. However, I still think that the series needs a queen. Even if she didn’t do anything but back up the king in his sitting and begging, it would be enough. She would bring a slightly different perspective to the situation, and would have different interests than the king. For example, she would probably care more about her daughter than the kingdom, while the kings first concern is his domain and his subjects.

Will there ever be a queen in the Zelda series? Who knows. Like so many other parts of the series, we’ll just have to wait and see.

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- Hyrulean Hero is a fan of The Hylia..