The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is rapidly approaching critical mass, causing the fandom to panic, and all Nintendo needs to do is release a quick teaser with some new footage, and the game will be whipped into a frenzy. However, fans will always come up with ideas and theories that fill the gaps in their knowledge. Here are a few of the most compelling Tears of the Kingdom fan theories and the Legend of Zelda lore that supports them.
The best Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom Theories and the Legend Around They
The Legend of Zelda timeline had been a tense mess until the Hyrule Historia was released in 2011, which clearly demonstrated how every mainline game in the series suited into a branching timeline structure, starting with Skyward Sword; however, that sourcebook was published in 2011, several years before Breath of the Wild, and Nintendo has never confirmed which of the three timelines Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom fit into.
Link's first adventure is Skyward Sword, which sets up what is called the Demise Cycle. Demise is a being of pure malice and hatred that threatened to ruin the land. Link and Zelda managed to seal him away inside the newly created Master Sword, but his last breath issued a curse on them both. His hatred will be reborn into the world to destroy them over and over.
Ganondorf, who makes his first appearance in Ocarina of Time, was primarily focused on Link overcoming Calamity Ganon, but it made little mention of his human form, which normally goes by the name Ganondorf, to differentiate the two. Many fans assume that the desiccated body featured in the Tears of the Kingdom trailers is Ganondorf, but others speculate that Demise himself might be the culprit.
The state of the Master Sword in the tears of the Kingdom is as decayed and darkened as it has never been before. This is the "Sword that Seals the Darkness" and was created specifically to contain Demise if he returns. The fact that it has been so badly damaged suggests that Demise himself will be the voice that speaks over the February 2023 trailer for Tears of the Kingdom, which sounds suspiciously like Critical Role's Matt Mercer.
The Hyrule Historia consists of three different timelines that contain all of the Legend of Zelda games: the Adult Timeline, the Child Timeline, and the Fallen Hero Timeline. Nonetheless, Nintendo has been typically brief on the timelines in which Breath of the Wild and its direct sequel take place.
The Rito are only ever mentioned in the Adult Timeline, including Wind Waker and its sequels, while Lionels are only mentioned in the Fallen Hero Timeline, such as the original The Legend of Zelda and A Link to the Past. Finally, locations such as Eldin Bridge and Castle Town are heavily featured in Twilight Princess, so what timeline does Tears of the Kingdom take place in?
The most popular theory is that Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom will take place in all three, following the events of a future game in the Zelda franchise. Others believe that Tears of the Kingdom will take place in the far future of the Fallen Hero timeline, with the similarities to other games as pure coincidence.
Twilight Princess introduced players to the Twili, a shadowy race that lives in a land called the Twilight Realm. It makes sense that some people would live near the border where light and darkness collide. Midna, the impish character who accompanyes Link, is the titular princess, but we've never heard anything from her since she ruined the Twilight Realm and Hyrule.
Fans have noted that the Twili markings on Midna's body are strikingly similar. But the object on Link's hip in the game's artwork in September looks very much like the Vessel of Light Link used in Twilight Princess.
The Twili was originally created as a weapon to collect "Tears of Light" that expelled the Twilight from an area. While these are unlikely to be the "tears" mentioned in the game's title, they do give credence to the notion that the Twili will return in some form, even if Midna does not appear directly.
All of this is speculation until the game officially launches on May 12, but there will not be a problem for fans who are attempting to guess what will happen next.