This week on CTJ defends Ganondorf:

In Zelda's childhood, this had been her library. So, too, had this been her castle, her home, her kingdom (or queendom, or what-have-you).

But they each had been forfeited when the Gerudo King had come blazing through, banners waving, torches burning, soldiers howling and stamping and thirsting for blood.

That all had passed with thunder and fire, and now the King sat in Zelda's library (or was it now his library?) as if it were his kingdom; the desk chair occupied was a throne, and across the room, the once-princess, fallen from grace, was his ward.

"Princess."

"Hm?"

"Come here."

Zelda did as she was bid. The Gerudo King was bowed over a thick, dusty book that reeked of age. "Do you see this?" He was pointing to a series of smudges on the mottled page. Observing more closely, the princess realized that they were words. No, not just words. Names.

"I am featured in so many of your history books," the king uttered so quietly that it was nearly a growl, "and look at the names your people have given me; The Prince of Darkness, the King of Evil, the Demon King, the Dark Beast, the Evil Incarnation of Darkness, the Thief King… how interesting."

"Interesting? Why's that?"

"They never once refer to me by my name."

"So? Our kingdoms are rivals, and they say that you and I have always been enemies in whatever form we've taken. Those names should not surprise you." She said it spitefully, and without second thought. Ganondorf raised an eyebrow.

"If that's so, then perhaps you'll be surprised by the name by which my people refer to you."

The princess froze. "And what's that?"

A chuckle. "They call you Zelda." He rose from his seat by the fire and turned to face the library, eyes skimming over the shelves. "As I said: interesting, isn't it? The way that history changes depending on who's holding the pen…" he turned to peer at her, and she cringed under the weight of his gaze. "Then again," he mused softly, "the truth never has been fit for a romantic mind."

"You're not referring to me, I hope."

"I'm referring to all of you," he answered easily. "To poets and priests and peasants alike; tell me, Princess, how many of them know the reality of Hyrule's history?" He spat the last word scathingly, and Zelda ground her teeth.

"What reality?!"

"The reality that your ancestor's petty racism was more than enough to twist a rival king into a power-hungry demon!" the Gerudo King answered. "These histories?!" He tore a bright green volume emblazoned with golden letters from the nearest shelf and flipped through the pages mockingly. "Oh— look at the beautiful drawings— at the eloquent prose!" He opened the book to face the princess, and she saw the illustration of an older, fainter princess staring back. Another Princess Zelda for another era. "Your records of the past are fairy tales, Hyrule Princess. This precious Hyrule Historia no more than a collection of bedtime stories!"

The princess' hands were in fists. "So you are denying the deeds that the books claim of you?! You are denying the— the destruction you caused?!"

"I could deny it and it wouldn't make the slightest difference," the king spat. "The truth is that your people have aways looked down on my people; have always loathed them, warred with them, and warred with me; I was there, I was subject to their racism! Look at this illustration of me— of me— and then try and convince yourself that your people treated mine with dignity!"

She was afraid even to glance at the page. When finally she dared to peek, the sight that met her eyes made her gut churn. "It's—"

"A pig," Ganondorf finished when the princess couldn't. He shut the book with a bang. "Does it pride you, Your Highness, to know that your people refer to your kingdom's tumultuous 'history' as the Legend of Zelda?"

The princess bit her lip. Bowed her head.

"And what a legend it truly has been," the king scorned. "Perhaps your people looked down on mine, but my people always treated yours with respect."

"You assailed our kingdom—"

"—Within the bounds of War," Ganondorf interrupted. "But your people acted first. With their words and their poems, their sneers and their wicked thoughts, your people assailed my kingdom within the bounds of Peace.

"So if your glossy illustrations of boy-heroes and sacred swords can pull you from reality, then chase that petty dream, Princess, I urge you. Tell yourself that the rivalry between our people was the leftover war between two mad gods if that's what will help you sleep at night...

"But know, in the deepest chambers of your heart, that there were hundreds of thousands of Gerudo in the desert who suffered at the hands of your heroes, your doctrines, your knights-in-shining-armor… even if your Hyrule Historia begs to differ."

Consider this set within the realm of some end-of-the-timeline AU. I'm pretty sure I've written drabbles on this topic about a thousand times, but I just never tire of it.