Work Text:
Perhaps Ganondorf was always evil. Perhaps Demise’s spirit had corrupted him beyond any hope. Perhaps he had always been cruel, ruthless, a monster.
Or perhaps not.
Those of the Gerudo who could remember his childhood said things like “he was a sweet kid”, and “he wanted to help”. One in particular noted that, as he grew up, he had become more bitter about the way the world worked. How was it fair that all in Hyrule should share in prosperity apart from them ? No one trusted a Gerudo. Ganondorf was going to fix that.
He made it worse. Turns out that people will trust a group even less when the greatest evil the kingdom had ever known had stemmed from it. Of course, everyone ignored the fact that circumstances had helped fuel his anger in the first place. It’s always easier to blame the oppressed when your actions force them to react. Many people dislike taking it for themselves. And blame was one of the few things Hyrule never took from the Gerudo.
Still, there remains the question of what would have happened had Ganondorf not held Demise’s hatred. Perhaps the Gerudo would have succeeded in achieving fairness. Perhaps they would no longer be looked down on. Perhaps their lives would have improved.
Or perhaps not. It’s no help to the present or future thinking of “what ifs”, after all.