Spoiler The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom Spoiler Thread

[PixelKnight]

I really want something like this for Zelda. It’d be so cool!

I got the set up answered immediately due to bad luck with the glyphs (which made it worse for me), would have been neat if you could have resolved the dragon issue in the middle of the journey or if the game had a post game of some sort, but neither panned out.

I was the same- I wandered off the beaten track and ended up finding the one big dragon story beat a few hours into a 90 hour game. Player freedom is great, but when you’ve only got a handful of (very powerful) beats, it would have been better to at least lock the later ones behind exploration rather than ‘if the player finds out the big twist straight away, that’s fine!’. Just felt like the main story was really thin and all the most interesting bits happened to other characters long ago. Still, ‘it’s all about the player journey’ and all that. But I still think it was a bit too thin and too loose even if I enjoyed the story and its final battles and resolution a lot.

 

[PixelKnight]

I would have liked the melancholic tone of that ending, but at the same time was a sucker for the super cheesy catch-her-before-she-falls sequence, soooo

Paired with the ‘diving into any depth of water saves you from any height’, which I thought was a fun callback to the tutorial! I was expecting link to save them both somehow with the glider and Ultrahand somehow. Still I agree, it was a lovely touch to end on ‘save Princess Zelda’ and a really memorable series moment, rather than ‘brutally kill Ganon’.

 

[PixelKnight]

This is what we're getting in the third Hero of the Wild entry.

Plus seafaring.

Yes please!

Edit- sorry for 3 posts in a row

 

[BozPaggs]

Bumpy bump, because after my most recent playthrough, I really feel inclined to ask an open question.

How would you all have felt if Zelda didn’t turn back from her dragon form? Like, having an ending where Link and the sages watches her fly into the sky, after helping Link save the world.

I love the dive too much, yeah it's cheesy as hell but damn if it ain't cathartic. I'm a little burnt out on bittersweet Zelda endings anyway, still sore about Midna 17 years later.

 

[bbymetroid]

Bumpy bump, because after my most recent playthrough, I really feel inclined to ask an open question.

How would you all have felt if Zelda didn’t turn back from her dragon form? Like, having an ending where Link and the sages watches her fly into the sky, after helping Link save the world.

Hmm I wouldn't have liked it.
It would have made her sacrifice more real and meaningful, but it would feel like a big middle finger to a beloved character that was sidelined yet again. Sacrifice yourself for 100 years and lose almost everyone you know > live 5 years in a different time and barely start rebuilding a kingdom > sacrifice yourself again forever - feels really cruel. I have no problem with tragic endings (I loved another recent game that did this), but I'm happy she got to live in the present in the end.

I think most issues come from the premise of Zelda being thrown in the past and sealing herself again.

 

[bbymetroid]

What I would love is something like Ys X or Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin. Two equal protagonists that you are constantly switching between, as they have different skills. Have Links sword (that upgrades to the master sword) and shield be better for duelling enemies, have Zelda’s bow (that upgrades to light arrows) be better for ranged combat. Have some upbeat banter and some genuine romance growing over time rather than the games always defining the lonely arduousness of the hero. As we’ve seen that in a dozen Zelda games and what’s also pretty lonely and arduous is imprisonment. Whereas the repartee in Spirit Tracks offered a fun lighthearted take on Zelda that isn’t saintly, self-sacrificing Princess, that lets her do stuff and hit stuff and be the butt of the odd joke because heaven forbid she get to do something fun with her mates that isn’t Epic Self Sacrifice.

They have the mechanics for the companions right there! It was so baffling to me that we didn't get a moment of Zelda joining you as a companion (I get it, she's a dragon, but still).

Just add extra depth and interactivity and maybe allow us to switch characters and it's perfect. Instead of the chaos of 5 characters you have 2.

 

[MisterSpo]

Bumpy bump, because after my most recent playthrough, I really feel inclined to ask an open question.

How would you all have felt if Zelda didn’t turn back from her dragon form? Like, having an ending where Link and the sages watches her fly into the sky, after helping Link save the world.

I'd have probably preferred it to the ending we got, because I feel open-world Zelda doesn't hit the bittersweet highs of other Zelda games; which becomes something of a series staple from Link's Awakening onwards.

I absolutely adore all the playable parts of the end-game, including the skydive, though; what I wanted was for post-credits scene to show Zelda turning her back on Hyrule. Not necessarily in a big angry huff, but out of grief and fatigue and recognition that she's already given everything to this kingdom twice over, and now it's time to let people rebuild without her (and we know, from Tears of the Kingdom, that Hyrule can do that). Plus, that'd set up a third adventure with this Link and Zelda away from Hyrule, which I'd love.

 

[MisterSpo]

What I would love is something like Ys X or Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin. Two equal protagonists that you are constantly switching between, as they have different skills. Have Links sword (that upgrades to the master sword) and shield be better for duelling enemies, have Zelda’s bow (that upgrades to light arrows) be better for ranged combat. Have some upbeat banter and some genuine romance growing over time rather than the games always defining the lonely arduousness of the hero. As we’ve seen that in a dozen Zelda games and what’s also pretty lonely and arduous is imprisonment. Whereas the repartee in Spirit Tracks offered a fun lighthearted take on Zelda that isn’t saintly, self-sacrificing Princess, that lets her do stuff and hit stuff and be the butt of the odd joke because heaven forbid she get to do something fun with her mates that isn’t Epic Self Sacrifice.

100% this is something I'd love. Nintendo have played around with playable supporting characters and AI-controlled companions since Wind Waker so I really think they just go the whole hog and embrace that connection between Link and Zelda.

 

[bbymetroid]

I'd have probably preferred it to the ending we got, because I feel open-world Zelda doesn't hit the bittersweet highs of other Zelda games; which becomes something of a series staple from Link's Awakening onwards.

I think BotW was super bittersweet. The entire game is spent seeing the world Link knew destroyed, and the people he cared about are dead and/or trapped. Just being 100 years in the future with no going back is very melancholic.

The ending was uplifting but still bittersweet for that reason. Zelda and Link are together but their whole life is gone and this is a new one, 100 years later. Only like 5 people she knows are still alive in this era.

 

[Dardan Sandiego]

To actually answer the question: As much as I dislike Nintendo shelving Zelda for most of the game I’m also a sucker for call-backs like the dive at the end. Hell, I don’t even mind her turning into a dragon specifically. I just wish it was a bit neater in terms of dramaturgy and that we actually got to spend time in the past to give everything more weight. Getting to play the parts in the past would have made it easier to swallow (no pun intended) her sacrifice.

The other reason why I prefer the ending we got is that it keeps the door open for more stories with this Link and Zelda. Hopefully with a more active role for the latter.

 

[Deleted member 540]

I think BotW was super bittersweet. The entire game is spent seeing the world Link knew destroyed, and the people he cared about are dead and/or trapped. Just being 100 years in the future with no going back is very melancholic.

The ending was uplifting but still bittersweet for that reason. Zelda and Link are together but their whole life is gone and this is a new one, 100 years later. Only like 5 people she knows are still alive in this era.

The post-staff roll cutscene is a very melancholic. Link and Zelda have together saved the day, but still they must survey the ruins of Castle Town with no means to undo what was lost. Meanwhile, the champions and King look over them before passing on leaving them to just look up at the empty castle, alone.

 

[Irene]

I would have liked the melancholic tone of that ending, but at the same time was a sucker for the super cheesy catch-her-before-she-falls sequence, soooo

I love the dive too much, yeah it's cheesy as hell but damn if it ain't cathartic. I'm a little burnt out on bittersweet Zelda endings anyway, still sore about Midna 17 years later.

Oh, totally agree. It was an unbelievably powerful moment, and the first time I finished the game, I thought about it for weeks afterwards.

I just can't help but be bothered by the fact that I can't really feel like the plot justifies it as a narrative device. The things that happen are the hand lighting up and the ghosts of Sonia and Rauru showing up, and that's it. It feels strangely contrived. I've sort of tried to come up with my own theories. Like, the stone Link touched in the beginning of the game that gave him the Recall ability is sort of also giving him the ability to call back Zelda. Or that Rauru's arm simply is all-powerful and can undo a draconification, somehow.

In the end, I've kind of stripped it down to "the power of love", going off of "when I felt something, like a warm, loving embrace, I woke up", kind of how Zelda awakened her sealing powers in BotW, but a tad more far-fetched.

 

[BozPaggs]

Oh, totally agree. It was an unbelievably powerful moment, and the first time I finished the game, I thought about it for weeks afterwards.

I just can't help but be bothered by the fact that I can't really feel like the plot justifies it as a narrative device. The things that happen are the hand lighting up and the ghosts of Sonia and Rauru showing up, and that's it. It feels strangely contrived. I've sort of tried to come up with my own theories. Like, the stone Link touched in the beginning of the game that gave him the Recall ability is sort of also giving him the ability to call back Zelda. Or that Rauru's arm simply is all-powerful and can undo a draconification, somehow.

In the end, I've kind of stripped it down to "the power of love", going off of "when I felt something, like a warm, loving embrace, I woke up", kind of how Zelda awakened her sealing powers in BotW, but a tad more far-fetched.

I think it really was just cue song

 

[meatbag]

I just can't help but be bothered by the fact that I can't really feel like the plot justifies it as a narrative device

It’s a completely unjustified deus ex machina. It’s a shoehorned happy ending for Zelda. And I like it anyway lol

 

[komlesopp]

My headcanon is that they used the residual power of the exploding secret stone in the atmosphere to turn her back.

It's supposedly impossible to turn back, but it's also unprecedented that a secret stone gets destroyed like that. Almost makes sense.

 

[JorgenRaft]

It struck me as funny (not necessarily in a good of bad way) that they could turn into these dragons just by eating the secret stones. Just seemed amusingly easy. Like, would it work if they shoved it down any hole in their body?

You'd think they'd have to, like, wait until midnight when all the planets align while they're sitting in an ancient shrine and wearing ancestral garb. But nah just gulp that shit like a Tylenol whenever you feel like.

But yeah it would have been cool to have a post game or something where we could turn her back by doing a more lengthy mission. Her turning back with ??? magic felt cheap after they kept hammering in how permanent the change would be.

 

[Mekanos]

Bumpy bump, because after my most recent playthrough, I really feel inclined to ask an open question.

How would you all have felt if Zelda didn’t turn back from her dragon form? Like, having an ending where Link and the sages watches her fly into the sky, after helping Link save the world.

It would be a bold choice that depending on the execution, I could really like, but it would definitely be controversial in the fandom and bring up questions about how these games deal with Zelda’s agency as a character. I’m a sucker for a bittersweet ending though.

 

[carbvan]

Bumpy bump, because after my most recent playthrough, I really feel inclined to ask an open question.

How would you all have felt if Zelda didn’t turn back from her dragon form? Like, having an ending where Link and the sages watches her fly into the sky, after helping Link save the world.

Maybe I would like the story then.The entire game I was hoping for the story to go against my expectations and do something daring, but the it was all predictable. The game really tried to make it seem like what happened was some sort of tragedy, and I know a lot of people who think Zelda turning into a dragon was this horrible ordeal, but she just went to sleep for a long time basically - she says so herself in the post credits scene. There wasn't really a sacrifice, she lost nothing in the end and doesn't even remember being a dragon at all. It was a free ticket to the present that was a blink of an eye to her which also solved the biggest conflict in the game, that being the destruction of the master sword, for free. There were absolutely 0 stakes involved at the end of it all and it just made the already lacking story, to me, feel even more worthless. I'm a sucker for a happy ending, but this was one of the few instances where I hoped for something more melancholic as an ending.

 

[Ab]

Maybe I would like the story then.The entire game I was hoping for the story to go against my expectations and do something daring, but the it was all predictable. The game really tried to make it seem like what happened was some sort of tragedy, and I know a lot of people who think Zelda turning into a dragon was this horrible ordeal, but she just went to sleep for a long time basically - she says so herself in the post credits scene. There wasn't really a sacrifice, she lost nothing in the end and doesn't even remember being a dragon at all. It was a free ticket to the present that was a blink of an eye to her which also solved the biggest conflict in the game, that being the destruction of the master sword, for free. There were absolutely 0 stakes involved at the end of it all and it just made the already lacking story, to me, feel even more worthless. I'm a sucker for a happy ending, but this was one of the few instances where I hoped for something more melancholic as an ending.

I mean Zelda didn't know she would come back so to her she sacrifices herself. It just show how much Zelda would do for her people. But yeah it's less impactful what happens but it still does a good job if showing her character.

 

[Irene]

Just saw an AndresRestart video suggesting that what brought Zelda back from her transformation was a sort of super-Recall.

It's a cool concept on paper but requires a lot of stretch to consider. There's something in the idea, I think - I've always been mystified as to what it really meant when Link first entered the Temple of Time, met ghost Zelda, and got the Recall ability. It's clearly more than just an arm power, as it allows him to recall back the Master Sword, as well as interact with the geoglyphs, so it has some kind of story significance.

I think it would've been more neat if they made it more explicit and have an 8th secret stone waiting in the temple for Link to get, and that would be what empowers the Recall ability, and thus, the ability to super-Recall Zelda back.

 

[ziggyrivers]

Twilight Princess gave us a "divine prank" with Ganondorf getting the Triforce of Power in the nick of time. An unexplained return of Zelda could just be attributed to Rauru and his wife having enough power to reverse her transformation

 

[Concernt]

Secret stones are an awful plot device but an excellent low calorie girl dinner.

 

[ziggyrivers]

Secret stones are an awful plot device but an excellent low calorie girl dinner.

They’re the useful version of the medallions

 

[Thorakai]

In an alternate timeline the game ends with Link eating a secret stone of his own and spending the rest of his days as a dragon with Zelda too

 

[Linkstrikesback]

Secret stones are an awful plot device but an excellent low calorie girl dinner.

Low calorie???? She literally put on thousands of times her weight after eating a single bite!

 

[kvetcha]

Chiming in six months late to say that the narrative worked for me! Yeah, it’s a bit thin on the ground, but the big moments hit. I am amazed by the wild things Nintendo has managed to wring out of the Switch hardware.

 

[MeowMix]

Paired with the ‘diving into any depth of water saves you from any height’, which I thought was a fun callback to the tutorial! I was expecting link to save them both somehow with the glider and Ultrahand somehow. Still I agree, it was a lovely touch to end on ‘save Princess Zelda’ and a really memorable series moment, rather than ‘brutally kill Ganon’.

This being the spoiler thread... I'm wondering: what happens if the player ignores the prompt? Is there any way for Link and Zelda to fall to their deaths?!

 

[Abyss Master]

This being the spoiler thread... I'm wondering: what happens if the player ignores the prompt? Is there any way for Link and Zelda to fall to their deaths?!

No, there comes a point where Link and Zelda will kinda just stop descending any further, and the music just loops.

 

[MeowMix]

No, there comes a point where Link and Zelda will kinda just stop descending any further, and the music just loops.

Meh. No wonder some see Nintendo as gamers' equivalent to Disney in the film world

They could have come up with something hilarious...

 

[Abyss Master]

8-bit Music Theory has a great video about the music used in the game's finale, as it happens.

 

[HockeyBird]

I wonder if Link lays awake at night realizing that the Zelda he found at the end of the game isn't technically the exact same Zelda he has known this whole time

 

[Djehuty]

My opinion is known,



I like raurus design though

 

[pinetree]

I wonder if Link lays awake at night realizing that the Zelda he found at the end of the game isn't technically the exact same Zelda he has known this whole time

In what way? It's just Zelda

 

[ziggyrivers]

In what way? It's just Zelda

I was thinking about his post as well. It's Zelda from the present time, sent to the past, living on it, and then turning into what she turned for... 10,000 years was it? And then turning back.

 

[Old Sorta Fan]

Besides the game implying there is a certain character who says this explicitly.

Which character said that Calamity Ganon and Ganondorf are separate entities? I missed that interaction.

I always interpreted Calamity Ganon as the final form of the time of distant past OOT/Wind Waker/TP/ALTTP/LoZ Ganondorf/Ganon after so many reincarnations. Hyrule refounding/King Rauru Ganondorf is some other guy who is exceptionally evil and stole the sacred stone but is otherwise unrelated except maybe as a tens of thousands of years distant descendant.

One of the many clues is the fact that the Calamity spews Malice while Ganondorf plies in Gloom. The Calamity also doesn’t know about the depths. Gloom and Malice do different things as Malice is an extension of the Calamity’s consciousness able to spawn eyes and floating monster skulls and take over Sheikah magitech. It also doesn’t directly spawn monsters. The monsters feed off it but the Calamity seemed to only indirectly be related to monsters as the ones in Breath of the Wild are from Demise’s Curse.

Gloom destroys hearts rather than causing direct instant injury. Different stuff by a different villain.

 

[ziggyrivers]

Which character said that Calamity Ganon and Ganondorf are separate entities? I missed that interaction.

I always interpreted Calamity Ganon as the final form of the time of distant past OOT/Wind Waker/TP/ALTTP/LoZ Ganondorf/Ganon after so many reincarnations. Hyrule refounding/King Rauru Ganondorf is some other guy who is exceptionally evil and stole the sacred stone but is otherwise unrelated except maybe as a tens of thousands of years distant descendant.

One of the many clues is the fact that the Calamity spews Malice while Ganondorf plies in Gloom. The Calamity also doesn’t know about the depths. Gloom and Malice do different things as Malice is an extension of the Calamity’s consciousness able to spawn eyes and floating monster skulls and take over Sheikah magitech. It also doesn’t directly spawn monsters. The monsters feed off it but the Calamity seemed to only indirectly be related to monsters as the ones in Breath of the Wild are from Demise’s Curse.

Gloom destroys hearts rather than causing direct instant injury. Different stuff by a different villain.

I think they’re referring to Impa

 

[HockeyBird]

In what way? It's just Zelda

I was thinking about his post as well. It's Zelda from the present time, sent to the past, living on it, and then turning into what she turned for... 10,000 years was it? And then turning back.

At the start of TOTK, there are two Zeldas existing in Hyrule. There's the one from BOTW and then there's the one that has been up in the sky as the Light Dragon for thousands of years. The Zelda from BOTW gets sent back in time while the Light Dragon descends into Hyrule. The Zelda was see at the end of TOTK was the Light Dragon. So yes, technically they are the same Zelda since the Light Dragon Zelda is BOTW Zelda, depending on how you look at it, they are not the exact same Zelda since both existed at the exact same time.

 

[Mekanos]

It's very funny to think during BOTW a second dragonified Zelda was just chilling in the sky while all of that was going on.

 

[ziggyrivers]

At the start of TOTK, there are two Zeldas existing in Hyrule. There's the one from BOTW and then there's the one that has been up in the sky as the Light Dragon for thousands of years. The Zelda from BOTW gets sent back in time while the Light Dragon descends into Hyrule. The Zelda was see at the end of TOTK was the Light Dragon. So yes, technically they are the same Zelda since the Light Dragon Zelda is BOTW Zelda, depending on how you look at it, they are not the exact same Zelda since both existed at the exact same time.

I agree. At the end, BOTW Zelda got to the point in time which turned her into her present form: the Light Dragon. And then returned back to normal.

It's very funny to think during BOTW a second dragonified Zelda was just chilling in the sky while all of that was going on.

We could theorize that she was so far up in the sky that she didn't notice xD

 

[pinetree]

At the start of TOTK, there are two Zeldas existing in Hyrule. There's the one from BOTW and then there's the one that has been up in the sky as the Light Dragon for thousands of years. The Zelda from BOTW gets sent back in time while the Light Dragon descends into Hyrule. The Zelda was see at the end of TOTK was the Light Dragon. So yes, technically they are the same Zelda since the Light Dragon Zelda is BOTW Zelda, depending on how you look at it, they are not the exact same Zelda since both existed at the exact same time.

I mean, yeah, there were "two Zeldas" present at the same time but I don't follow your logic that they're not the same one when... they are? One is just older, there's no technicality here.

 

[ziggyrivers]

I mean, yeah, there were "two Zeldas" present at the same time but I don't follow your logic that they're not the same one when... they are? One is just older, there's no technicality here.

I think they still say it's the same Zelda

And I just realized it isn't the first time two Zeldas have existed at the same time, or in this case, two Hylias:

• Skyward Sword Zelda existing in the current timeline while the other one is asleep in the timeline
• Zelda goes to sleep, and then wakes up years later

 

[Suswave]

I wonder if Link lays awake at night realizing that the Zelda he found at the end of the game isn't technically the exact same Zelda he has known this whole time

she is though?

 

[Suswave]

if you take a piece of string and lay it out in a straight line, then set a fixed point and pull it back ten feet, set another fixed point back there, then walk it back past the first fixed point…

it’s the same string, and the string experiences linearity

 

[Lord Azrael]

Oh I already posted this in the general discussion ST, but I didn't realize this thread was still active. Gotta spread the love

 

[Dardan Sandiego]

Oh I already posted this in the general discussion ST, but I didn't realize this thread was still active. Gotta spread the love

they just didn't care about the lore at all, it seems

 

[DenkeyKong]

Spoiler: heavy spoiler stuff here

Dazzlefruit instakills any skeleton type enemies! Figured it out by accident, but it's such a godsend now, not having to chase their stupid heads anymore. This game is so cool with all these kinds of interactions.