“In fact if success requires so much effort, then maybe failure is easier in the long run and offers different rewards.” -Halberstam, The Queer Art of Failure, pg3.
Link is a silent swordsman-protagonist whose role is to protect Princess Zelda and the people of Hyrule. This character comes from The Legend of Zelda, an ongoing video game series first introducted in the 1980’s. Since then, Link has appeared in well over 40 games spanning the entire 40 years between then and now. However, it is not unreasonable to consider this story as adjacent to actual legend or myth. At the very least, The Legend of Zelda is a core touchstone within the zeitgeist of video game culture.
Within the Legend of Zelda game space, there are always maps, guides, and waypoints nudging us toward our “true” goals. These systems teach us how to play the game. As the player, we are in control of Link’s actions. What if Link (aka the player) abandoned their goal and did something else? What if instead we chose to fail?
By refusing to fulfill the programmed mission, we fail in the eyes of the designer. Perhaps the prescribed expectations of the world were not written with our playstyle in mind. Indeed, the social structures which surround us push many ideas and identities into the margins. Failure becomes a form of resistance and a new scaffolding for meaning. Failure is the destination.