Zelda: Kingdom Tears Trailer Breakdown – Theories and Speculation

[ad_1]

During the holidays we re-post a few select features from the last 12 months. A mix of talking points, interviews, opinion pieces, and more from NL staff and contributors, you’ll find the usual mix of thoughtfulness, expertise, frivolity, nostalgia, and of course, enthusiasm for all things Nintendo. happy vacation!

Subscribe to Nintendo Life on YouTube

We’ve finally spotted the title of Breath of the Wild 2 (which means we can stop calling it Breath of the Wild 2) along with a brand new trailer in the latest Nintendo Direct – it’s called Tears of the Kingdom, which has already launched a lot of theories.

You know what that means, Zelda fans — it’s time to put our speculation hats back on, and get to dissecting this trailer for every nugget of Zelda lore we can find.

We’re not going to lie here – there wasn’t a lot of work for the trailer. This is going to be tough but even so, we will persevere! There must be something sexy in those footage, right?

Also, be sure to browse through the game’s early pre-order options, and check out our guide that compiles all the information about TOTK we’ve got so far:

On This Page: Tears of the Kingdom: Trailer Breakdown Tears of the Kingdom: Trailer Breakdown Subscribe to Nintendo Life on YouTube First person image: Nintendo

It’s safe to say at this point that birds and flying are two of the Kingdom Tears themes. The first shot of the trailer is of what looks like an owl. Now, we know that owls are very important in Zelda lore – Kaepora Gaebora is the most important, and Skyward Sword’s owl-like predecessor, Gaebora, who was Zelda’s father in the times before Zelda is even a princess.

Can we tell anything about this bird from the trailer? Yes, of course. Oh yes we can. More on that later. But for now, let’s just say that whatever they are, they look pretty important — they’re wearing a lot of fancy, maybe a royal, a deity, or some other important role.

And…they seem to have sheikha marks on their faces. Honestly, who knows what that means at this point. We’re not sure Nintendo knows quite what the Sheikah is anymore… but in Breath of the Wild, the Sheikah are an ancient mystical race whose technology is buried beneath Hyrule, ready to awaken for the Chosen Hero (that’s you). So, this owl boy (if he’s a sheikha, and he doesn’t just have cute eyelashes) is from the past. I got you.

(Some people say Owl Lad is a woman. Honestly, it’s hard to tell either way.)

Moblins, Bokoblins, and Malice (Oh my God!) Photo: Nintendo

Our next image is what looks like a stone sculpture of war between your standard Zelda enemies – Bokoblins and Moblins – accompanied by a spreading swirl of Malice, the evil hot pink BOTW goo that represents Ganon’s increasing power over the area. There isn’t much to say about this, except that they all carry weapons – Bokoblin has clubs, and Moblins seem to have some sort of double machete.

Rito war? Image: Nintendo

On the other side of this war are what look like Rito’s soldiers – BOTW bird men – which isn’t surprising, given that this game seems to be centered around the sky, with plenty of bird visuals. It’s interesting to note that they all carry shields that closely resemble the Hylian Crest (albeit a much simplified one), minus the Triforce.

But wait! This crest actually has its own name – it’s the Goddess Crest crest, which first appeared in Skyward Sword, and later in the BOTW on Spirit Orbs. The Goddess Crest represents the goddess Hylia, and the Loftwings that the Skyloftians fly around. This would place the Kingdom’s Tears in the Skyward Sword era, since Hylian Crest (with the Triforce) does not appear in the timeline until Ocarina of Time (after Minish Cap and Four Swords).

And let’s not forget that Zelda was reborn as Helia. Maybe these Rito are her soldiers?

who died? Image: Nintendo

In the midst of this war picture, one Rito soldier fell. They don’t have a shield or sword, but that may be for simplicity’s sake. who are they? Were they the first to fall? Is this important? We just don’t know.

In fact, there is another person on the right, who appears to be wielding a shield (but not a sword).

Myself! Eh… traces of amber!

Around that owl of Ladd from earlier times are seven small spirals, resembling a Magatama from Ace Attorney (and Japanese history, of course)—a shape that appears frequently on jewelry and relics, and which could represent some kind of spiritual, religious, or ceremonial purpose.

Image: Nintendo

But we’ve seen it before in Zelda, too. Known as Amber Relic and Dusk Relic, these comma-shaped materials are used to upgrade Link’s equipment in Skyward Sword. The former can be found everywhere, and the latter only in the Silent Realm, an area designed to test Link, which can only be accessed by the hero.

“I’ve got an amber remnant! It’s an amber-colored piece of gemstone. No one knows why it’s that shape.” “I obtained the Dusk Relic! This item is similar in appearance to the Amber Relic, but it is very different. It can only be found in certain places.”

Images: Nintendo

It is also interesting that there are seven of these around the owl. We’ve seen the number seven in Zelda games before – most notably The Seven Sages, but also the Seven Maidens in the BOTW, heroines who were divine protectors of the Gerudo race, represented by seven colossal statues – and a secret eighth statue, too, representing a heroine who’s been “wiped from history” , although no one knows why. These maidens are also said to be descendants of the Seven Wise Men, including Princess Zelda, but this story only appears in A Link to the Past and Four Swords Adventures.

Well, the story of the seven heroines is great… but it’s probably not relevant here. Elders, on the other hand, are probably relevant. We already had the owl theme, so it wouldn’t be surprising to learn that these seven sacred relics around the owl represent the Elders, especially since Rauru AKA Kaepora Gaebora is one of the Elders in Ocarina of Time.

And maybe… those are the “tears” of the kingdom. Hmmm.

We will not yet speculate on what this means. You will have to enter … the speculation area for that (it’s on the third page).

Zelda’s Not Okay image: Nintendo

oh dear. Oh no. Zelda are all horizontal.

“But wait – how do you know this is Zelda?”

Have you ever seen any other women represented in the historical artwork of these games? No, Tetra, Hylia, Din, Farore, and Nayru don’t count. They are all the same person, more or less.

“fair enough.”

Thank you. To follow up: Oh no! Horizontal Zelda. This seems less than ideal. We don’t know why it’s horizontal, of course, but it’s probably a bad thing — you can see some threads of malice creeping under it.

Big Doors Image: Nintendo

Everyone loved the moment you get out of the cave in the BOTW and then the sun is so bright and it’s so amazing. we will! Time for another one of those moments, except for the big doors.

What is noteworthy here is the badge on the doors – are they snakes? Kinda looks like two chickens with really long necks. They might be dragons too, although the BOTW had three dragons, representing the three Triforce Gods. This circular snake returns later in the logo as well. Maybe it is important.

Color scheme image: Nintendo

Breath of the Wild was very blue and green – like the sky and grass – with touches of blue and orange to represent the Sheikah technique. But TOTK is very yellow, with hints of teal and pink (perhaps representing good and bad).

(Hey, fun fact: blue -> teal and orange -> pink are basically just two spins on the color wheel. What does that mean? Well, if we want to be really silly about this, we could say that it represents the evolution of technology or the world in some way. , or even the recurring time circle. But honestly, it’s just colors. Maybe they just wanted new colors.)

The yellow color palette makes the world feel a little weird, like it’s dying in some way – and honestly, given that these Celestial Isles seem to have been forcefully ripped out of Hyrule, we’re not surprised. Maybe all that grass died.

Link’s Yucky Hand image: Nintendo

It’s still there. Still gross. You can read more about our hand theories here.

We are now almost done! Head to page two for more details from the promotional announcement, then go to page three for the speculation area…

[ad_2]