Ballad of Gales

Description

When Link plays the Ballad of Gales on his Wind Waker Baton, he is taken by the mighty winds of a cyclone to one of nine warp spots. They are conveniently placed next to the largest islands for quick transport to areas of importance:

• Mother & Child Isles (B2) (To get a great upgrade)
• Windfall Island (D2) (It’s the Clock Town of WW)
• Dragon Roost Island (F2) (Fun place with great atmosphere)
• Tingle Island (B3) (Quick transport to Tingle's map deciphering powers)
• Greatfish Isle (B4) (A lot of things are placed around that area)
• Tower of the Gods (E4) (Transport to Hyrule, and many things around that area)
• Southern Fairy Island (D6) (Convenience spot)
• Forest Haven (F6) (Figurines, anyone?)
• Outset Island (B7) (Come visit your hometown).

How to get the Song

Link gained this song and the ability to conduct the cyclones from none other than one of the wind gods, Cyclos. Link was able to tame his wild spirit and prove his skill by whittling away at the frog-like creature from afar, with his trusty bow and arrow aimed dead center into Cyclos' whirling windy shield. Cyclos taught Link this 4/4-time melody: Down, Right, Left, Up.

Notes

Speculation

Many think that this simple song has its roots in every warp song of OoT. It is a possibility that the ending of every OoT Warp Song is played at the same time in the ending of Ballad of Gales, the Minuet of Forest being the most obvious. Some even say that it was played in the intro song of OoT, but this was proven wrong, because of one note being off by a half step. Is the Ballad of Gales simply a song that ultimately replaces the warp songs of OoT, along with the Song of Soaring? Is there some deeper connection here, or is this simply a clever trick played by composer Koji Kondo? Many will never know. Many will never care. But for now let's just be thankful for this song that cuts sailing time in half.

Relevant Quotes

Fishman tells you this near Shark Island:

Tell me, small fry, have you ever been caught in 
one of those cyclones? The wind deity, Cyclos, 
uses those cyclones to fly across the sea 
instantaneously, or so I've heard. Could be just a 
rumor. Boy, if you had that power, you wouldn't 
have to spend so much time sailing back and forth 
across the sea all the time. Wouldn't that be 
nice, fry? But let me tell you, there's no way 
he'll give up his power easily! You can't get near 
the guy, so you'll have to figure out how to shoot 
him from a distance. Don't you have a weapon that 
can pierce things from a distance? You know, 
fffwip? FFFWIP, I tell you! You get my point, fry?!

Cyclos tells you this after you defeat him:

That's a heck of an arm you've got there! And what 
an eye! No one's ever been able to spot me in 
there before now! You obviously have mastery of 
the air. And now that we've established that 
you're quite the Wind Waker... Let's see if you 
can handle this! (He teaches you the Ballad of 
Gales.) Waaaaa-hoooooooooooooo! In the hands of a 
Wind Waker like you, my adorable little cyclones 
will be as happy as can be! If you need to move 
like the wind over the ocean deeps, just call on 
my cyclones! Well, I guess I'll head for home now! 
See you on down the road!

Translation Notes

Acknowledgements

Entry submitted by Justin Le. Translations provided by Iron Knuckle.

See also

• Cyclos
• Wind Waker
• Minuet of Forest