06 - Death Mountain / The Final Battle - The Legend of Zelda (NES) Orchestral Arrangement

Get ready for a roller coaster ride. This is not just an orchestration of the final dungeon, but also the final battle against Ganon, as well as a reflection of a possible extension to the story if it was ever retold. Even if you don't read my thoughts that went into this orchestration, I'm sure you can piece together some kind of narrative if you listen to the piece without any context.

Link's journey to reclaim the Triforce and defeat Ganon has been mostly solitary. The subsequent games like to explain that the struggle between good and evil is predestined and bound to repeat throughout history. I kinda wish they would move away from that tired trope, because it minimizes Link's supposed heroism if he is simply being a chosen one. In this iteration, I like to imagine that Ganon becomes complacent, and there is no prophecy foretelling of a man in a green tunic that will come to challenge him. Perhaps during his reign he has heard reports from various underlings of a warrior roaming the lands and defeating any that get in his way, but it does not concern him much.

Then suddenly, while seated on his thrown, a soldier bursts in, shouting that the magic barrier erected around the fortress has been shattered. But that is impossible, unless...someone possesses the Triforce of Wisdom! Quickly, he has his hoard in the fortress mobilize and hunt down the fabled intruder. However, Ganon is constantly being told that his best soldiers have fallen under this man's sword. His advancement through the fortress is resolute, and soon he will enter the throne room. Now, he he begins to worry. He has been caught off guard. One scene going through my mind was in the anime One Punch Man where Saitama storms the alien ship, and roaming through the halls, killing everyone without breaking a sweat. It's hilarious.

But the music is told through Link's perspective. The opening is moody and atmospheric, but only briefly as he is quickly approached by wave upon wave of Ganon's hoard. The majority of the track is brass heavy, similar sounding to the orcs in Lord of the Rings, and their threat to overrun the land with death and decay.

When Link finally confronts Ganon, I transition into a faster paced rhythm. There are no pointless monologues from the villain before the fight. It's already clear what both sides want, and no compromise will be had. Having recently played through Final Fantasy XV (the only good thing I can say about it is it has cool battle music) and the demo for Nier: Automata (can't wait for that game), and of course after making lots of Undertale battle orchestrations, I wanted to try my hand at Zelda battle music that really gets your blood pumping, music that's so exciting you don't even care if the fight is too hard. You just want to run around and look cool doing it. I really hope that Breath of the Wild will have music like this during the dramatic large moments in the game.

Perhaps in this battle, though Link is valiant and puts up a good fight, he is handily defeated. But all hope is not loss. From the adjourning chamber, Zelda reaches out with the last ounce of her power, encouraging this young man she's never heard of to stand back up. Link hears her voice and wills every ounce of his strength to back up. He will keep fighting until death. At this moment, in a typical cliche movie moment, Link is imbued with new power. To everyone, as well as Ganon's shock, the third Triforce, the Triforce of Courage, has manifested within Link. Not because he is some chosen one, but simply because he is the one that acts on faith. Perhaps the lesson here is that any Hylian willing to stand up to evil with firm resolve would be granted strength from the Triforce of Courage. The goddesses allowed evil to persist in the lands because they wanted, looked forward, to seeing their creations display virtues that were pleasing to them. The Triforce is there only to amplify what is already in their body and heart. I feel like story-wise this would be more relatable to the player than the "prophesied hero" angle.

Here is where I bring the main theme of Zelda back in full force. I'm already sick of trying to come up with countless variations of the theme, but I liked the way this turned out. As fans will notice, I've peppered motifs from later Zelda games, to better integrate the original game in the series' lore. Also, for a heads up, as this track was already the climax of the album, the final ending track I have left to do will be simpler, without any grand embellishments.

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The Legend of Zelda Orchestral Arrangement
Arrangement and fan art by Jeremiah Sun

Originally composed by Koji Kondo

You can buy this game for 3DS from the Nintendo eShop