Zelda Theory: Almost Every Game Is Between BOTW's Two Calamities

Fans of The Legend of Zelda are likely familiar with the Sacred Realm as this spiritual space housed the Triforce for much of Hyrule’s history. The Sacred Realm was particularly important in Ocarina of Time as Link and Zelda’s quest required them to access the Sacred Realm in an attempt to stop Ganondorf from claiming the Triforce’s power. Once opened, however, the Sacred Realm was invaded by Ganondorf, who stole the Triforce and caused it to shatter into three pie

Tears of the Kingdom 's trailers contain references to the ancient Zonai tribe, whose ruins litter BOTW 's southeastern Faron region. This ancient warlike tribe is said to have mysteriously vanished, leaving the citizens of Hyrule to whisper about their strange and powerful magic, according to the Creating a Champion art book released in 2018. According to Twilight Princess , there were many years of peace after Hyrule was established thanks to the power of its Triforce. However, as word of the Triforce spread, a group of powerful sorcerers known only as the Interlopers attempted to gain control of The Legend of Zelda 's Sacred Realm . In order to stop their plot, the Goddesses had them sealed away in the Twilight Realm along with the Fused Shadow created by their ma

The title "Tears of the Kingdom" could also reference the Zonai's past and the events that led to their destruction. There's a common theme regarding dragons with the Zonai, and the logo for Tears of the Kingdom is two dragons of the same style as the Zonai statues eating the other's tail to create a symbol called an Ouroboros. Since the Ouroboros symbolizes the cycle of destruction and rebirth, it seems likely that TOTK will feature the Zonai's history, what happened to them, and possibly their ret

Part of what has made the Legend of Zelda series so enduring is its many strong characters. Link has always remained the series' star, and while he's proven to be a consistently strong protagonist, it's high time that another beloved character had the spotlight. There are plenty of other characters whose combination of interesting storyline potential and intriguing combat styles would shake things up in innovative ways. As players replay Zelda games before Tears of the Kingdom releases, they will likely even come across more strong candidates for other main characters not listed here. While these **Legend of Zelda ** characters may never get their time in the sun, their potential is a testament to the series' well-crafted charact

If players have already completed everything they wanted to in Breath of the Wild and still wish to play the game before Tears of the Kingdom comes out, a good way to make it fun is to play through using custom challenges. Speedrunning is a big one, where players use tricks like wind bombing to finish BOTW as quickly as possible. Hearty food recipes for more hearts and gathering only a few good weapons and pieces of armor before the big boss fight are also good strategies to get a good run time. Players can strive to complete as many or as few objectives as they wish in a speedrun, but generally the only goal is to vanquish Ganon quic

Another possibility is that Tears of the Kingdom refers to Hyrule itself crying out in pain. Hyrule Castle was lifted into the air due to the Malice from the withered mummy in the cave, which is shown pouring out in waves before Link and Zelda stumble across it. With this, it's not impossible that the Malice is spreading and Nintendo console evolution growing stronger, perhaps even to the point where it will corrupt the entirety of BOTW 2 's open world as well as the beings that inhabit it. In the latest TOTK trailer , Malice is shown erupting from Death Mountain, which could be another indication that it will be much more widespread and do more damage that it did in BO

Many fans likely have their own personal hopes for returning characters in Zelda: Tears of a Kingdom , but regardless of who ends up being a part of the game's narrative, it won't change the game's protagonist.