Link approaches Ikana Canyon to the east. Before I say any more, I'd like to point out the literary significance of going east. To the Japanese living on an island, to go west was to go to China, but to go east was just ocean. In the Chinese Odyssey "Journey to the West," the monk Xuanzang goes west to India to acquire the sacred texts of Buddhism in order to return east to reform the morally loose frivolity of his home. In Jewish tradition, Cain, after killing his brother Abel, fled from God's presence east of Eden. East of Eden became the title of a John Steinbeck work and the character Nick Carraway in F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby goes east to Long Island, NY where he witnesses the immorality of the Roaring Twenties.
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| Shi means death |
It sort of makes sense that going east has such a negative connotation in these cultures. The sun rises in the east and sets in the west, so if a people were to spread out, it would make sense to go west with the sun so that they would not be travelling in the dark. Ikana Canyon is a place full of darkness. It is also the fourth geographical location Link has gone to this journey. The significance of the number for is that in older Japanese, the word for four was shi. Shi sounds remarkably similar to the Japanese word for death. As such, the number four is unlucky (I'm having the wildest sense of deja vu. Did I write that before?) Ikana Canyon is also really the only place thus far in the journey that Link gets the option of turning back upon reaching it. He rides to the canyon to find a large cliff with an odd hermit sitting on top. The hermit's entire face is hidden save for one glowing red eye and his decaying bony legs swaying over the cliff's edge. This fellow is the doppelganger of someone Link met on his previous adventure. The original person's trade was the buying and selling of tormented souls known as Poes (named after the American poet and short story writer, it's no secret the creators of these games love literature just as the makers of the Mega Man series love music, and this is why Legend of Zelda has excellent stories while Mega Man has excellent music). He will not let Link through unless Link comes back with a certain mask due to the dangers of the land.
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| (From OoT) What does one do with purchased tortured souls? |
Link acquires the necessary mask by challenging the bandits who tried to plunder the ranch's wagon in a race. This mask is the Garo Ninja mask. It is sort of a double edged sword. The history of Ikana Canyon was that the kingdom of Ikana went to war with the Garo Ninjas. It ended poorly for the Kingdom and now only the Garo Ninjas wander the ruins. While wearing the mask, Link is safe from the tortured spirits of the land, but Link also attracts the attention of the Garo Ninjas. They frequently mistake him for their leader, but upon realizing their fault challenge Link to a duel in a ring of mystical fire. They aren't too difficult to beat, but they do come out of nowhere frequently and must be fought to go any farther. Upon recognizing Link's strength, they give him some information before performing self-cremation. They always say it is the way of their order to die without leaving a body. It suggests that perhaps there is a curse on the dead of this land and to burn is the only way to be sure one's spirit will not linger.
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| Now imagine it coming out of nowhere and attacking. |
We will continue upon Link's journey through the land of the dead in the
next post.
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