If time travel is present in Tears of the Kingdom in some form, it carries a few implications. The first is that its version of Hyrule would be very different from BOTW . That much was already known, but if Link is getting sent back to the past, and especially if it’s as far back as the first rise of Calamity Ganon, then it could be practically unrecognizable, and have an all-new cast of characters either unrelated to those in BOTW or with only distant relations. It could also mean that players will see Ganon’s intitial rise first-hand, in addition to other events such as the construction of the Guardians and Divine Beasts, which BOTW ‘s sequel could use in unexpected ways if
BOTW ’s developers have stated that the game takes place at the end of the Zelda timeline. While this leaves its exact placement ambiguous, Link’s lost memories suggest that he and the other characters are familiar with the timeline’s legends of old. Zelda distinctly references the Heroes of Sky, Time, and Twilight, and she and her fellow Champions are well aware that Link is the very same Hero reincarnated in their era. As such, it seems that the Triforce’s keepers in BOTW have some understanding of their place in the broader scale of this universe’s destiny, which places a lot of pressure on Zelda to succeed in unlocking her power before Ganon’s ret
In BOTW , Princess Zelda Tears Of The Kingdom Update makes a similar pilgrimage to Hyrule’s three sacred springs with the same intention of awakening the divine power of her ancestors. Instead of accessing her power, however, she finds herself cursing Hylia and questioning why her lifetime of devotion has gone unacknowledged. In the end, however, Zelda’s power finally awakens as she saves Link’s life, allowing her to keep the Calamity at bay until Hylia’s Chosen Hero could reawaken from his restorative slumber a century la
Yet another possibility for Tears of the Kingdom is that Hyrule will be destroyed outright instead of corrupted. The Malice that’s unleashed at the beginning of the game may cause another event on the scale of the Great Calamity, leaving the land and its people in ruins rather than turned into monsters. Though the landscape seems to be relatively intact in the various trailers, the Malice may only target civilized areas like Zora’s Domain and leave wild ones full of monsters alone. BOTW 2 ‘s transformed skies also may offer a twist on this; it’s possible that Malice will completely cover the surface in a toxic flood, forcing players to flee to the safety of the floating islands. TOTK ‘s free open-world format makes this unlikely, however, except perhaps as a temporary occurrence like BOTW ‘s Blood Mo
These connections may seem arbitrary to analyze, but Tears of the Kingdom’s title may follow a similar pattern if its story does focus on Zelda. Zelda’s Triforce of Wisdom associates her with Nayru’s element of water, which would draw a parallel between “tears” and “breath” in the games’ two titles. As the last surviving member of the royal family, Zelda can be considered the representative of her kingdom, so it makes sense to assume that ” Tears of the Kingdom ” may refer to her tragic story. However, while piecing these parallels together may not feel like much of a spoiler on the surface, the implications that lie deeper within Zelda’s timeline reveal a major potential plot line in BOTW’s upcoming seq
Depending on how deeply time travel is intertwined with Tears of the Kingdom ‘s story, it’s also possible that Link will be traveling back and forth through time. There could be two concurrent stories with their own plot threads in Zelda BOTW 2 , one that takes place in the past and another in the present. Being transported as each story progresses and needing to complete quests to go back and forth doesn’t seem likely given the open-world format focused on player freedom, and neither does a sudden shift halfway through akin to Ocarina of Time , but it’s possible that players will be able to travel between the past and present at will instead. However, two separate maps – each one a fair bit larger than BOTW ‘s Hyrule due to the floating islands – feels like far too much to be within reason, and small self-contained areas of the past or present akin to BOTW ‘s Shrines don’t seem likely either based on what’s been shown so far. There are certainly other ways this concept could be utilized in BOTW ‘s sequel without ruining its story or gameplay, however, and they may become more apparent as additional information becomes availa
The new Tears of the Kingdom trailer came with other things besides hints of time travel; a mechanical mount that Link will fly through the air, a mysterious glowing mural on a mountaintop, and smaller details like strange capsules on his belt and footage of him climbing roots. All of it is far from confirmation of time travel, but it does pose interesting questions. The idea of traveling back to Hyrule 10,000 years ago is an exciting one, and could make Breath of the Wild ‘s sequel even more fun than it already appeared to be. If the theory is true, then hopefully the time travel aspects are implemented well and don’t overly complicate the story so that BOTW 2 ‘s gameplay and improved exploration aspects can shine just like they did in the original Breath of the Wi