There are hundreds of fan theories swirling around Tears of the Kingdom, and I am lapping them all up. From the sublime to the ridiculous, I can’t get enough. Zelda’s been zapped to the past? I see it. Midna’s returning? Sure, why not. You heard the Spirit Tracks theme in the latest trailer? Hit me. From Twili to Zonai, there’s a lot going on and we know fractions of the story, but that hasn’t stopped us from speculating.
One thing we know for sure is that Tears of the Kingdom is filled with callbacks to past Zelda titles. Maybe they’re just references or easter eggs, but where’s the fun in leaving it there? The three-headed behemoth known as a Gleeok is back – old school Zelda fans will remember that boss – and there’s even a theory that the plot appears to mirror that of Paper Mario, which has a level where our plumber is shrunk down to a miniscule size. That of course means that the Picori will return. I wouldn’t be mad, especially if Vaati returns with them, but I would be mighty surprised.
However, the majority of references appear to be to Skyward Sword. It’s the 16th Zelda game released but the first chronologically. I’m not going to explain the timeline, or where it splits into three, or where Breath of the Wild may or may not fit in, here, but look it up if you don’t know already. It makes for great reading.
The most obvious reference to Skyward Sword is the islands floating above Hyrule. This is where we’ll start the game, our new Great Plateau to teach us all the changes from Breath of the Wild, before we run Link off the edge and plummet to Hyrule Fortnite-style. They look like the floating islands in Skyward Sword, but so what? That was years ago. Or was it…?
Yeah, it probably was actually, but stick with me. Another wild theory that has been percolating Zelda communities for years is that Groose (remember that bully-turned-ally from Skyward Sword?) was the progenitor of the Gerudo. He’s got the red hair and golden eyes that typify the people, could have been hit with Demise’s curse the same way Link and Zelda were, which would explain Ganondorf’s reincarnation as a Gerudo, and heads off in the direction of the desert at the end of the game. I’m simplifying, but people think the pyramid rising from the desert in the latest Tears of the Kingdom trailer could be a part of the Lanayru Mining Facility from Skyward Sword.
That one’s a bit crackpot, but it’d be fun if it turned out to be true. However, there’s something more serious bubbling under all these floating islands, and it revolves around the being who cast the curse that created generations of war – Demise.
I believe the being in the screenshot above is Demise, the demon from Skyward Sword who created Ganon and cursed Link and Zelda to be forever reincarnated to fight the embodiment of his hatred. At the end of the game, Demise is sealed away within the Master Sword, and Impa says he is slowly decaying there. So how has he returned?
If you look closely at the latest Tears of the Kingdom trailer, it appears that the Master Sword is destroyed, at least in part, by Malice, along with most of Link’s fighting arm. Could this have freed Demise? I think that might just be the case.
I’ve got more evidence, in the eponymous tears. The tear we see Zelda hold looks exactly like the Tears of Light from Spirit Tracks, however I think they’ll blend a few classic Zelda tropes into one. Firstly, the design aspect of the Tears of Light. Secondly, they will replace the Seven Sages of yore. We’ll need to collect them from across Hyrule in order to seal away the great evil – in this case, Demise. And, finally, they will act in a way akin to Skyward Sword’s Sacred Flames, wherein they power up, or in this case repair, the Master Sword to the point that it can defeat Demise and save Hyrule. This isn’t far from the power that Spirit Tracks’ Tears of Light give you, either, with the exception that they allow Link to stun Phantoms, too.
The final piece to the puzzle is this curious woman with a tear necklace. While I originally thought she might be Din, and still wonder if she’s a Zonai, it would be fitting for my theory if she was Hylia, as many have speculated. While that was actually my least favourite theory, it makes sense for her to walk among her people once more if Demise has returned. After all, she’s the one responsible for sealing him away in the first place, so perhaps we need her help again.
I could go into more wild theories (okay, quickly: some people think Ganondorf will turn good thanks to a colour-changing forehead gem, the Zonai will definitely have a large part to play in the story, and I still think time travel is a reasonable expectation), but this article is already running long. Ultimately, I think the goal of Tears of the Kingdom will be to destroy Demise forever, with Ganondorf’s help or not, and therefore break the curse he afflicted on our heroes back in Skyward Sword. No more hatred reincarnated as Ganon. No more Links reborn time and time again. Will the line of Zeldas end too? I don’t know if Breath of the Wild was the timelines converging, but I believe Tears of the Kingdom is the ending to all of them, connected or not. There will be Zelda games after this, but not as we know them. And I can’t wait.