@DarkCronos: I see. I cover this in my response to Khuutra. I think you may well be correct.
@Khuutra: I don't see anything I really disagree with in that exegesis. It is another way of putting what I wrote, though the the question of family ties was not something I had considered.
I think your take on Ganondorf is perhaps a little too lenient; Ganondorf is not a true altruist, by my reading. I have no doubt he does care for his people and believes that what he is doing is for the best of all, but he places the blame of his/their/the world's fate squarely at the goddesses feet, and the motive for his actions was always greed; he coveted the land of the Hylians, their 'wind' (blessing). When it comes down to it, it is HE that should rule Hyrule, and if he can't have his way, then no one may.
Indeed, the King and Link are the destructive forces of this game. I was struck by this the first time I finished the game. To be honest, part of me did not want to go through with it. That is what it takes to 'end the legend', though, and I feel it was worth it.
Yes, I can see the familial theme, now. The Deku Tree's seeds, Medli and Komali's story, even Tetra's mother. It's one of the things I did not cover, though I do not believe it is exclusive of my own ideas.
As to your question regarding my thesis:
In a way, yes. What I really mean by that is simply that he plays his role as the King of Evil. The concepts of free will and personal agency clearly exist within the Zelda mythos. Evil can win, and that is what the 'test of the gods' is all about. When the people failed to stop Ganondorf, their land was taken from them. Ganondorf's own struggle is partially with himself, partially with the goddesses; his goal is to change the fate they had bestowed upon the world. Nothing was stopping him from making that wish, but the King's rejection of the god-given land of yore is a metaphor for man's ability to create his own future; the antithesis of the opening, where the people surrendered their fate to the gods.
