The Legend of Zelda (Valiant Comics)/Issue 4

 Issue #4 was originally released in May 1990.

Thief in the Night
Thief in the Night begins at the East Gate of Hyrule's North Palace, where Link is seen losing a friendly fight with his old friend, Bagu. Princess Zelda is worried when she sees what's happening, but Link quickly introduces her to Bagu. He tells her that Bagu is the strongest man in Hyrule, and has come from Moruge Forest to visit. Bagu talks about how glad he is to finally meet Link's "girlfriend". Zelda seems upset to hear that Link lied to him about their relationship, but Link quickly ushers Bagu off, telling him that there's food.

That evening, Link and Bagu are having a loud conversation about their past adventures in the castle, and the noise upsets Princess Zelda. The conversation turns to the subject of Zelda, where Link tells Bagu that he'd do anything for her. Link asks Bagu about his pet frogs, Langhorne and Calaveras, and Bagu says that he decided to leave them at home. Bagu then tells Link that he needs to be more romantic with the princess, and presumably gives him some pointers. Link then dresses up in a costume, and starts playing a guitar outside of Zelda's window. Zelda hears the awful noise, and says that the animal should be out of it's misery. When Princess Zelda sees Link, she inquires as to what he's doing, and he responds telling her that he's serenading her. However, a large crash comes from Link's room where the Triforce of Wisdom is being kept. When the two go to investigate, they find that the door was forced open. Zelda remarks that it must have been someone as strong as Bagu, and decides to separate the Triforce into three pieces until they find the thief.

Link is upset when Zelda accuses Bagu of the attempted theft, so he decides to follow Bagu and see what he's doing, and hopefully, clear his name. However, Bagu proceeds to walk past the Triforce room door. Link admits that he had followed Bagu, and apologized to him. Bagu accepts the apology, and comes up with a plan to catch the real thief. His idea is to take the Triforce, and put it in his room where no one will look for it, and that Link can wait in the empty room for the thief to come. Bagu then notices that the Triforce is smaller, and Link tells him why. Later on, Princess Zelda walks into the trap room, and Link jumps out and attacks her, but she quickly bests and subdues him. Link asks what she's doing there, and she tells him she was just checking on the Triforce. Link explains the plan as they go to check on Bagu. However, when they arrive, they find that he's missing, and has taken the Triforce.

Zelda is highly upset by this development, and Link proceeds to jump out of the tower window, telling her that he'll return the Triforce. In his anger, Link grabs the Handy Glove, and proceeds to hunt down Bagu. He spots Bagu coming back towards the castle, and charges him before the two engage in combat. Bagu says he's sorry, but he has beat Link good. Link then uses his glove, and is able to heave Bagu into the air, and throw him down. Bagu confesses that he gave the Triforce fragment to Ganon because he's holding Bagu's pet frogs for ransom. When Link inquires as to why he did not take it before, Bagu tells him that he knew he was being followed, and that Link isn't sneaky.

After Bagu further explains the situation about his pet frogs, he and Link eventually agree that Bagu must be the one to retrieve them, as Ganon would be expecting him. Link doesn't like the idea, as he can no longer trust Bagu. Bagu says he'll go back with Link, and plead guilty. He says that he'll probably get life in prison or worse. Link doesn't want that to happen, so he agrees to entrust Bagu with the Handy glove. Bagu then rides off to face Ganon, leaving Link waiting. Nightfall comes, and Link realizes that he was tricked again. As he walks back to the castle, he says that he'll never trust anyone again. However, once he arrives, he finds Bagu and Zelda back at the castle enjoying themselves. His two frogs and the Triforce are also there with them, indicating Bagu's success. Bagu asks a surprised Link what took him so long.

Queen of Hearts
The story begins as a woman is being captured by a Wizzrobe and two Dairas in the Death Mountain region. Link and Zelda come out of hiding and defeat the foes, freeing the woman, who turns out to be Queen Seline, the monarch of Calatia. Link introduces her to Zelda, and although Seline is delighted to see her, she does not remember Seline since the princess was too young. While the group begins to gallop towards North Palace, Link asks why Seline did not just use her magic spells to defend herself, to which the queen replies that her powers disappeared and her search for them led her to Hyrule.

At the palace, Zelda suggests that she introduce Seline to King Harkinian, but the queen says it won't be necessary since they already know each other. The king is delighted to see her and comments that even though it has been sixteen years since they last saw each other, she has not changed. The next day, while Harkinian and Seline are having a meal together, Zelda reminds her father that he promised to accompany her to choose a dress for her birthday's royal ball; however, Harkinian asks if it can wait, for he is spending the day with Seline. Seline requests that Zelda accompany them, but the princess declines. As Zelda is jealously watching from above how her father and Seline are playing, one of the watchmen informs the king that an army of Ganon's minions are approaching, much to Seline's dismay, for she thought they would not catch up to her so quickly. Seline quickly disappears from the scene, and Link and Zelda rush to make sure that the Triforce of Wisdom is safe.

When Link and Zelda arrive to the Triforce chamber, they realize it has been stolen. . Link uses his magic compass to track it down, which leads them to Seline and causes Zelda to confront her about it, saying that she tricked them into trusting her. Seline claims that she is not stealing the Triforce and that she merely came to Hyrule to seek its wisdom. She elaborates that Ganon has sealed her magic powers in a magic container, and that the Triforce said that Zelda must accompany her into retriever her powers, for otherwise, Seline will fail. Despite her pleas, Zelda refuses to go with her. The queen continues to insist since now that Ganon is planning to use her to take over Calatia, he will surely use her kingdom to take over Hyrule as well. Just then, Link offers his assistance, and although Seline tells him that without Zelda's help they will fail due to the Triforce's prediction, the young hero insists and begins to get on his horse. Zelda tries to stop Link from going and threatens him that if he goes, she will shoot them both, but still the young hero departs with the queen. As the duo gallop away, Zelda fires an arrow from her bow at Link's hat, but misses on purpose. While Link rids the palace's bridge of enemies with his sword to allow Queen Seline to pass, King Harkinian asks Zelda where Seline has gone off to, to which Zelda replies that she is gone and took the traitorous Link with her. The king then reminds her that Link loves her more than anything, as so does Seline. Meanwhile, Link and Seline are fighting off a horde of Ganon's minions in a cave near the North Palace, trying to break open the magic container being guarded by a Wizzrobe so that Seline's powers will return. Link is then heavily injured and faints, and before the Wizzrobe can do anything, Zelda appears and shoots an arrow at the magic container, restoring Seline's powers and allowing her to easily defeat the horde of enemies. Back at the palace, Seline says her goodbyes to King Harkinian, but before she departs, she asks Zelda what made her trust her and go to the cave. The young princess apologizes for her behavior, saying that everything Seline did was out of love and Zelda was just being jealous of her. Seline returns Zelda's hug and reminds her to stay strong so that she will be the queen of Hyrule someday. The story ends with Seline riding away as Zelda asks her father if she will ever be a great queen like her.

It's Good to be the King (Original release)
The story begins as Link rides away on Catherine from a horde of hungry and fatigued Moblins, Goriyas, Stalfos and Dairas being lead by General Ironknuckle. Link then tosses Enemy Bait, causing the horde of monsters to fight for it and allow him to safely escape.

Upon returning to North Palace, Link informs Zelda and Captain Krin that Ganon's forces have surrounded the palace and that there will not be any reinforcements. Link then asks Zelda for a kiss, to which he is met with rejection due to the impending siege. Spryte then arrives to inform Link that Impa is requesting to see him immediately. Upon arrival, Link sees that Impa is weak and bedridden, with Spryte informing him that Impa's state was induced by her using all of her strength to cast a protection spell around the palace. The weakened Impa then tells Link that, according to the Triforce of Wisdom, he will be the king of Hyrule the next day. After telling Link to fulfill his destiny, she then falls into a potentially permanent magic sleep.

Meanwhile, General Ironknuckle and Wizzrobe discuss their plans of attack in a tent outside the palace, where Wizzrobe reveals that he has a secret spell that is almost ready. He then senses that the protection spell cast by Impa has weakened, thus rendering the palace open to attack.

Link informs Zelda of what Impa had relayed to him, which Zelda scoffs at due to him lacking the mannerisms of a proper king. In response, Link restates what Impa had told him and he would need to overthrow King Harkinian the next day in order to become king and save Hyrule, shocking the princess.

The next morning, Link arrives at King Harkinian's residence and is greeted by Captain Krin. Upon being asked by Link as to why he and his men are not making any attempt to stop Link from overthrowing the king,. Captain Krin replies by saying he does not need to be defended against him before letting him inside. When Link enters, Zelda confronts and accuses him of wanting to commit treason, additionally warning him to stay away from the king. Link forgoes her warning and states that he wants to talk to him, leading to Zelda brandishing a sword and swinging it at Link. Link then stops her assault by pressing clasping both of his hands together at the blade, stating that he has no choice because of what was said by the Triforce of Wisdom, to which Zelda accuses him of lying. King Harkinian then demands his daughter, Miff and Spryte to leave the room in order for him to speak to Link privately.

Moments later, King Harkinian gives Link his crown out of trust, also revealing that he had always wanted to be an adventurer over being king, but could not relinquish his role due to the people of Hyrule depending on him. Outside the king's residence, the palace guards celebrate the newly-crowned Link and await his orders.

Meanwhile, in Impa's chamber, Zelda is unsure as to what she should do about the situation, to which Impa replies by stating that she must protect the palace. At the same time, Link orders the troop to charge at the horde of monsters. Wizzrobe then reveals to General Ironknuckle that he has finished his spell whilst noticing that Link is now wearing the crown. The horde promptly attacks with energy blasts, which Link endures due to having equipped the Red Ring, but the guards are injured by the assault. Wizzrobe then casts his spell on Link, which he reveals was made specifically to target the king of Hyrule. While Link is unable to dodge the spell and is hit by it, Zelda manages to reinstate the spell of protection around the palace, giving him enough time to safely escape back inside the palace grounds and making the horde of monsters give up their attack due to their hunger combined with their food supply running out.

The recovered Impa reunites with the group and reveals that the Triforce of Wisdom had wanted Link to become king because only he had the strength to withstand Wizzrobe's spell, to which Zelda replies by hugging and thanking the hero for saving her father's life. King Harkinian offers to teach Link how to be king, but Link politely rejects his offer and offers his crown back, but not before attempting to order Zelda to kiss him, causing her to storm off. King Harkinian retorts by saying that another thing kings must learn is that some things are not subject to royal command.

Bonus 1
The first bonus was titled Impa's Info. In it, Impa attempts to explain to Link the importance of looking at past heroes and their mistakes, but Link disregards her as he daydreams about battling monsters.

Bonus 2
The second bonus was titled The Adventurer Link. It was composed of a few panels detailing Link's past. It explains how he left home and acquired his arsenal of weapons, and also mentions his great amount of courage.

Trivia
The original 1990 release of Issue 4 featured "To The First Power" and "It's Good to be the King", which were swapped to the second edition of Issue 2 and replaced by "Queen of Hearts" respectively. "It's Good to be the King" was not given a rerelease for unknown reasons.