The Master Sword is the sacred blade from The Legend of Zelda, and one of the most iconic video game weapons ever created. The Blade of Evil's Bane is often wielded by Link, The Legend of Zelda's eternal hero, who uses it to combat the evil forces of Ganon. Although it's not always the strongest Zelda weapon, the Master Sword cannot be substituted because of its powerful magical abilities, which manifest in different ways across the series.
The creation of the Master Sword, and the beginning of its important journey through the eons of Hyrule, is depicted in Skyward Sword. During Link's adventure to rescue Zelda and stop the Demon King Demise, the Goddess Sword is transformed into the Master Sword. The Goddess Sword was created by Hylia, the deity appointed to watch over the Triforce and the land created by the three Golden Goddesses. Hylia's chosen hero (Link) sees the Goddess Sword through many transformations brought on by the Three Sacred Flames of the Golden Goddesses. Each of the Sacred Flames improves the Master Sword's capabilities, with the third one - Din's Sacred Flame - imbuing it with the power to repel evil. This makes Skyward Sword incredibly important as the first game in the Zelda timeline.
The power to repel evil is the most consistent magical ability of the Master Sword throughout The Legend of Zelda. In most of the games in which the Master Sword appears, it is the only weapon which can defeat Ganon, thanks to its often latent, but inherent, ability to dispel evil. The Master Sword itself is synonymous with The Legend of Zelda, and is an integral part to the series long-running conflict between good and evil, though it didn't appear until the third game.
The Master Sword's Magic In A Link To The Past
In 1991, the Master Sword made its first appearance in The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past. Link finds the Master Sword in its pedestal in the Lost Woods, and uses it to defeat the wizard Agahnim and his master, Ganon. The Master Sword's first appearance would be the inspirationbehind many tropes that the Zelda series would use repeatedly. For instance, Link must acquire the three Pendants of Virtue in order to retrieve the Master Sword from the Lost Woods in ALttP, and the sword itself can receive various upgrades, two gameplay elements that later titles would mimic.
Wielding the Master Sword in ALttP allows Link to combat the evil magic of Agahnim. Before Link acquires the blade, a magical barrier placed on the upper floors of Hyrule Castle by Agahnim is impassable, but the power of the Master Sword allows Link to pass. The Blade of Evil's Bane is also the catalyst for magical spells that Link can obtain in the game. The Bombos Medallion gives the Master Sword a fire attack, while the Ether Medallion a lightning attack.
The Master Sword's Magic In Ocarina Of Time
After its debut appearance in A Link to the Past, the Master Sword returned when the series made the leap to 3D in Ocarina of Time. The legendary blade is once again the only instrument that can defeat Ganon, and requires Link to collect three artifacts before he can pull it from the pedestal. The Master Sword is found inside Ocarina's Temple of Time, instead of being in the Lost Woods, behind the aptly-named Door of Time, which is opened by the three Spiritual Stones. It is with Ocarina of Time that the Master Sword's magic extends beyond simply being a powerful weapon against Ganon.
The Master Sword in its pedestal within the Temple of Time acts as a seal which protects the Sacred Realm and the Triforce within. When Link removes the Master Sword from its pedestal, he is locked away in the Sacred Realm for seven years until he is fit to take up the mantle of the Hero of Time. During Link's travels across Hyrule to awaken five of the Seven Sages, the Master Sword can be used as a catalyst to travel through time. Placing it in the pedestal returns Link to his childhood, while removing it again does the opposite.
The Master Sword's Magic In The Wind Waker
Link's removal of the Master Sword from its pedestal in Ocarina of Time is chronologically the first time this occurred since it was placed there after the Demon King Demise was sealed into its blade at the end of Skyward Sword. For this reason, the Master Sword is inextricably linked to the legend of the Hero of Time, which is recounted in the intro cutscene of The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker. The weapon once again reprises its role as the Blade of Evil's Bane, and is the only weapon which can defeat Ganondorf.
When Link finds the Master Sword, this time located within a sunken Hyrule Castle, it has been used to block the magical powers of Ganondorf. This spell also froze time in and around the submerged castle, and removing the blade from its pedestal brings life back to Ganondorf's minions within. Ganondorf's magic is also restored to him, with Link and the King of Red Lions learning that the Master Sword's power to repel evil is gone. Once its magic has been restored, Link can destroy a magic barrier blocking the way to Ganon's Tower, just like in A Link to the Past. Defeating Ganondorf with the Master Sword in The Wind Waker causes the king of evil to turn to stone, where he becomes the sword's de facto pedestal as Hyrule is flooded.
The Master Sword's Magic In Twilight Princess
The Master Sword in The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess is perhaps the most magical version in the series. For the first time since A Link to the Past, the Master Sword is located deep in the woods, this time called the Sacred Grove. The pedestal lies in the ruins of the Temple of Time, and Link seeks out the Blade of Evil's Bane in order to revert Zant's magic, which has permanently turned Link into a wolf. Time travel capabilities are once again imbued in the Master Sword. When Link returns to the Sacred Grove later in Twilight Princess, he uses the blade to open a path through time to when the Temple of Time was intact.
Link also uses the power of the Master Sword when he travels to the Palace of Twilight near the end of the game. The Master Sword becomes imbibed with the Sols of the Twilight Realm, which makes the sword exceptionally powerful against twilit creatures and able to dispel the fog turns Link back into a wolf. The Master Sword was created by the Goddess Hylia, and receives even more divine power from the Sols, which are essential to life in the Twilight Realm. Link's companion in Twilight Princess, Midna, tells Link that his sword has received the Sols' power, indicating that her world's guardian deities are on their side.
The Master Sword's Magic In Skyward Sword
Aside from the previously mentioned creation of the Master Sword in Skyward Sword, the blade's magic is used to set the cyclical events of the series in motion. At the end of Skyward Sword, the Master Sword is used to seal away what remains of the Demon King Demise. With his last words, Demise promises that his hatred will repeatedly manifest in opposition to "those who share the blood of the goddess and the spirt of the hero." Demise's hatred returns as the many forms of Ganon, destined to wage the eternal conflict against Zelda and Link.
The Master Sword's Magic In A Link Between Worlds
As a spiritual successor to A Link to the Past (though not one of Zelda's direct sequels), A Link Between Worlds has a Master Sword with many similarities to the original. It is once again found in the Lost Woods, and requires Link to retrieve three Pendants of Virtue before he can wield it. Just like in ALttP, a magical barrier is placed on Hyrule Castle by Yuga in ALBW. Only the Master Sword can break the seal and allow Link to continue his journey.
The Master Sword's Magic In Breath Of The Wild
In Ocarina of Time the Master Sword could only be wielded by an adult Hero of Time, but Breath of the Wild best exemplifies this issue of worthiness through game mechanics rather than story. The Blade of Evil's Bane lies in the heart of the Lost Woods, at the base of the Deku Tree in Korok Forest. In order to remove it from its pedestal, the player has to have at least 13 heart containers (or, more cleverly, a single bundle of wood), which quantifies the spirit of the hero for the sake of gameplay.
Breath of the Wild's gameplay also does a good job of showing the player what it means to have the power to repel evil. The Master Sword does a base damage of 30 (before the Trial of the Sword), but that doubles to 60 when confronting the corruption of Calamity Ganon. Whenever Link is near the black and pink goo called Malice inside a Divine Beast or out in the world, or when he's fighting a corrupted Guardian, the Master Sword glows blue and does extra damage. Although the Master Sword's magical abilities are plainly on display in BOTW, the game diverges from the previous entries in the series in that it's not the only weapon that can defeat Ganon. Any weapon can be used in the Calamity Ganon fight inside Hyrule Castle, and the subsequent battle against Dark Beast Ganon has Link firing Light Arrows to defeat him.
The Legend of Zelda long ago cemented its place in video game history as an essential and influential franchise, and iconic imagery like the Master Sword has helped secure that legacy. The Blade of Evil's Bane is of the utmost importance to the mythos which surrounds nearly every game in the series, and its inherent magic is essential to both the overarching and individual narratives of The Legend of Zelda.