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blackautmedia · 6 months

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Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker, Quill, and Rito Allyship - the Power of Knowledge

I wanna talk about one of the best guys to come out of Wind Waker: Quill. More people need to give this man his respect so he's getting a long post nobody asked for but we're getting anyway.

I appreciate how the game portrays his range of knowledge and his ability to keep a pulse on several different isolated communities as a powerful tool at his disposal. The Rito are some of your biggest allies.

This is a particularly useful skill when you consider the information gap that would cause word to travel slowly if not for the Rito's mail delivery and them directly hearing things themselves.

It's his persuasive skills and knowledge that keep your adventure from grinding to a halt several times throughout the game.

The Rito aren't just out delivering letters, they're constantly keeping up with what's going on around the different islands, listening to people's issues and Quill's abilities are at the center of what makes not just Link but the Rito so successful in their goals.

From the start of the game, he's the one who clues you in that the kidnappings aren't isolated events and several other areas have been targeted as well. He also is the one to persuade the pirates into helping you out where otherwise your journey would have just ended. He's also the one to tell you that the girls are being taken to the Forsaken Fortress.

But the other thing is that throughout the game Quill doesn't just exist to help you. At this point, it's nothing particularly special and he's the kind of "guide" character who exists in video games to tell the player where to go and what to do.

But his portrayal takes an interesting direction the more you see him.

When you get to Dragon Roost, one of the first things he asks about is you and your sister, but he then introduces you to his Chieftain to see if they can help you out. However, he also recognizes the ways that you can help him and he branches out less as that video game guide and more showcasing one of his best skills.

Chieftain, what do you think of consulting Link with regards to your son, Prince Komali? As you can see, Link is a gallant young lad! I feel certain that Prince Komali would open his heart to him and speak freely of his fears and worries. - Quill

Quill sees Link as someone who has a lot of common ground with Komali, who is currently mourning the death of his grandmother. I don't think it's a coincidence the game intentionally makes Komali even look like a Rito version of Link and draws the obvious comparison with their grandmothers, something Link can pretty strongly identify with in how he had to leave his own grandmother behind.

Quill wasn't just there to push your journey along, he also saw a young boy with the right traits to potentially solve a problem in his own community.

He already saw Link and his family and noticed his relationship with his grandmother.

The other Rito haven't had success in reaching out to Komali, but he's found someone around his age with a similar relationship who Komali may be able to better identify with in his grief.

But that's Quill's big strength--he's very knowledgeable, logical, persuasive and a negotiator, he has a pulse on everything going on in several communities, and has a very community oriented way of looking at things that gives him the ability to keep things in the back of his mind and identify people who may be a good match to solve other problems.

What say you? Will you share some of your courage with my son? Will you meet my son?

I thank you! We shall do our best to solve our problem as quickly as possible, so that we may better help you with yours. - Chieftain

He makes the connection that the Chieftain doesn't immediately think of because he has a prior encounter with Link and can apply that knowledge to give aid his Chieftain's son. He also sees a child in need and currently is out looking for his sister and happily shares information and resources with you.

Wind Waker really goes out of its way to showcase the strengths of connecting with others and keeping knowledge at the forefront, something that's especially relevant and easy to overlook in a world where everyone is separated with few means of communication in a vast ocean. The closest thing to phones or internet is the gossip stone, but this isn't available to everyone.

None of the Rito even expect you to deal with Valoo. Quill in particular tells you to leave that to them while you help Komali out. Medli even asks for your help but isn't counting on you to deal with Valoo, asking you to take care of Komali in her place if she doesn't survive.

When you complete the first temple, we see Medli speaking with the other Rito, likely informing them she's figured out what's going on with Valoo so they can devise a solution, but they weren't expecting Link to go deal with it.

Zelda games I think are capable of effective storytelling when it recognizes Link as...an actual person and in this case a child. Wind Waker and Majora's Mask were both excellent at using the child aspect.

A father and a lot of the older Rito and even Medli still have a bit of a relationship gap with Komali either due to age or the dynamic of their roles in their community, but Link has quite a few similarities to him, something Quill picks out.

When you go to find Jabun, even the King of Red Lions has no leads on what to do. It's Quill who gives you more guidance per Valoo's instruction.

Obviously this is the game's way of guiding the player but I think something that's interesting is how the game portrays knowledge and community as an extremely powerful tool Quill wields not just to help you, but those of his community.

There's a surprising amount of thought not just into him as a character but how the story recognizes the way that gathering information and keeping a pulse on communities would be so valuable with the inherent separation the game also includes.

He and Komali also then rescue you when you're in over your heads trying to fight Ganon and failing. They also took the time to confirm that Link's sister escaped safely and can focus on the task at hand.

Considering that Quill is the one who knew what you were planning, he likely thought to consult Valoo for help knowing you were close to confronting Ganon and has been keeping track of what you've been doing. He enlisted Valoo's help by using his biggest strenght--using knowledge and resources to identify the right people to bring in to solve the many problems he hears in passing.

It's not lost on me that the Rito are Native coded, which I feel also is a strong factor in how it factors how the game portrays them as a community, but I'll leave that discussion to Native folks.

The game still is at the end of the day a power fantasy and the series as a whole is built on white saviorism. I'd love to see some people with connection to that heritage give their thoughts on how the Rito are portrayed.

I wish Wind Waker had been given a proper development cycle because it clearly feels rushed in its second half with its first half going so strong!

#legend of zelda #legend of zelda wind waker #rito #dragon roost island #valoo #quill #tetra

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