#I JUST WATCHED THE FINAL TOTK TRAILER

[re-thatrandomdude]

REHYDRATED GANONDORF IS REAL WE WERE RIGHT

[marmastry]

what did you think of the new totk trailer!!

It was too overwhelming after all the underwhelming promos lol

[goldensunset]

Happy one month until tears of the kingdom 🎉

WAUGH YOU’RE RIGHT

[noxtivagus]

OCTOPATH TRAVELER 2 AAAAA i haven't played the demo nor have i. idk watched most of the trailers 😭😭 but i just watched one short clip on twt n. oh my god

[blueskittlesart]

So my first LoZ game was TOTK. I got it as a gift and I just recently obtained BOTW. After watching the Echoes of Wisdom trailer, I have a few questions and figured considering the document u could prolly answer.

Are the Rito a staple of the game? They don't appear to be in EoW.

Are Sidon, Riju, Yunobo, and Tulin/Teba similar staples? Do their tribes appear without them, the characters changing?

What are Deku? Are they korok alternatives?

Finally, where do u think the game would fall on the timeline?

Thank you so much.

omg yaaay i havent talked at length about zelda lore/theories in a while lets go

Rito are a relatively new addition to the franchise. the only games which feature them are wind waker (2002) and its sequels, and botw (2016) and its sequels. the canonical explanation for why the rito just showed up is that they evolved in the thousands of years between wind waker and the game that came before it on the timeline. Based on the general vibe of eow i've seen in the trailers, it looks like it probably comes before wind waker on the timeline or exists in a different timeline entirely. so i think the rito probably haven't evolved yet. because the rito haven't been around since the very beginning like other races in the games, the devs seem to have more freedom to pick and choose whether they want them around, so i wouldn't exactly call them a staple race in the way that zora and gorons are.

While the RACES of hyrule are staples of the franchise, the specific champions we see in botw/totk are not. those characters don't reincarnate the way link, zelda, and ganon do, so they only exist within that one specific link's time. So while we'll definitely zee zora and gorons in eow, we almost definitely aren't going to see any familiar characters.

Deku are a race of forest spirit-adjacent. things. their first appearance was in oot iirc. the great deku tree, as you may remember from botw/totk, is a very old, very powerful forest spirit who rules over the forest. in oot, deku scrubs were usually hostiles you had to either fight or negotiate with, and in mm, link could become a deku scrub via a kind of terrifying mechanic we don't have to get into here. based on the eow trailer, in this version of hyrule the deku scrubs are korok/kokiri substitutes. the race that lives in the forest is one of the most inconsistent pieces of overarching zelda lore, so yeah tldr you can just assume theyre basically koroks.

the timeline question is. well. before the most recent trailer I was almost completely convinced that it was going to be on the alttp timeline, somewhere after link's awakening. but that was based solely on the vibes and the bare glimpses of the hyrule map we got in the first trailer. now that we've gotten a much more extensive look at the map and the races of hyrule, I think it's a little more likely that the game takes place sometime before oot. the map looks similar enough to minish cap while featuring races and regions that made their debut in oot, so I think that it makes sense for the game to fall somewhere in between the two, and I think that a lot of the choices they made sort of lend themselves to the game being a transition between minish cap/4 swords and oot. the crack theory is that it takes place AFTER botw/totk, purely because of how visually similar bind looks to ultrahand and the appearance of certain races being super similar to botw/totk, but i think the pre-oot theory is MUCH more likely.

[ganondoodle]

so with echoes of wisdom .. i havent watched any of the trailers beyond the very first one and the thumbnails/screenshots and what others have said about it-

but with the world inside the rift being called "Welt des Nichts" aka "world of nothing/void" in german ('still' in english, for some reason) and demises title in french being "avatar of nothing" ... yeah my anxiety is shooting through the roof again

(hopefully you can be a little more forgiving for me being anxious/weird about it bc demise is my blorbo)

i had similar worries with totk, that werent proven true thankfully, but the darn book is making it all worse again with all those weird lore things the game doesnt even so much as hint at AND potential retcons- im in for a really rough time huh, not just stress in real life (more in tags.. its alot) but now about my specific hyperfixation from two things even (AND artblock still..)

weird as it may sound, i dont want demise to get more lore, partly bc i dont believe theyd do anything with him that i would like (given their track record) but much more importantly- the fact that he has this little lore about him is precisely one of the reasons why i fell in love with him, i tend to like characters that are neglected by the narrative, and his story being both so flat and already done meant i can be very creative with what i come up with for him without necessarily contradicting anything in canon (which is ... or was a big point of how i wrote destiny's story and lore, working with canon in a way that reframes it all without straight up ignoring it ... but i suppose i urgently need to let go of that and accept i spend alot of time working things that will go to waste :( ) AND not having to worry that there will be more stuff with him that would massively change not only what im writing but also potentially how i feel about him since the game he was briefly in was the oldest chronologically and ended with his death- i didnt expect them to mess with anything that far back and thought theyd just go forward and leave the timeline behind and wouldnt mess with it again, given how botw seemed to be a sort of 'fresh start' that seemingly regarded the past as the past that needs to rest and that the timeline was finally no longer a discussion if everythings unified through botw and one thing going forward

but i suppose i was very wrong with that .__.

right now the only thing that motivates me still is the left over determination and spite to work on my zelda comic, since i have never gotten this far and really want to get something done for once, but i cant lie that im feeling like i should pause all work on it too to wait and see waht the book and the new game will do .. either to determine if i still have the will to keep working on it after those things are out (my love for tloz has been taking alot of hits lately ..) or if i have to change stuff (mostly bc of my lore problem trying to not ignore it ..)

[athena-theunicorn]

Okay, I don't usually make super long posts but I had to explain these out in detail and have people tell me I'm not crazy.

TL;DR: Why Tears of the Kingdom could be the end of the timeline (not necessarily a circle end, either), and why our theories saying Zelda was Hylia during the trailer era were right.

First order of buisness, I don't watch many theory videos. I haven't seen anyone talk about this here or on reddit, so I assume it's not a very well known thought, but I could be wrong. I could also just be spouting bullshit. The only three games I've completed have been SS, BotW, and TotK.

How is totk the end of the timeline?

Excellent question. Thus begins my tedtalk.

So, we know that Ganondorf was a Gerudo King, yes. He was esentially sealed away by Rauru because at the time they didn't have a working master sword to kill him with. Ganondorf lay in stasis in the depths of the first castle for probably many millennia. Zelda is able to tell them all of this because she's seen it all happen before, right in front of her eyes. So she is able to prepare them for war accordingly.

But since Ganondorf in this time was only sealed, it means he never died. And we don't know all exactly what Rauru's power is capable of. We don't know if, for example, bits of Ganondorf's power was able to escape and create figureheads to aid in the destruction of men named Link and Princesses named Zelda.

You heard that right. I think that Ganondorf was the first Evil Incarnate to grace the Kingdom of Hyrule. He was somehow able to reach bits of his magic and create weaker versions of himself to hopefully end or at the very least terrorize the future generations of the Kingdom he wanted so desperately. He created Demise to warn the generations of the terror he would cause. It was never a curse, but more like a promise.

It explains the (somewhat silly) health bar during the final battle. It explains why when he was disturbed for the first time in eons his was brittle, dehydrated, and weak to the Sword. Using his magic to make lesser versions of himself drained him, leaving him with a mummy. But when he finally awakened he was able to revive himself while Link was running around Hyrule looking for his Zelda.

But now that Ganondorf is vanquished once and for all with the Master Sword, I believe he is no longer able to send bits of himself out to terrorize people, thus ending the timeline for good.

Whooh. Okay.

Why is TotK Zelda actually Hylia?

This point is only slightly connected, so bare with me.

So, in Skyward Sword we know that it is explained that Hylia sent Hyrule to the sky to ward off a great evil and such. And in the Dragon Tear scenes on totk there are no sky islands, thus letting us believe this is before the islands were sent to the sky, if this is truly the first generation in a land called Hyrule.

In the final dragon tear scene ( I know, I'm sorry to bring it up, it still makes me cry too), Zelda - or the Light Dragon - is seen flying through the cloud barrier.

We aren't shown this part, but I think that hen Zelda flew above the cloud barrier, parts of the land broke off and went with her, ascending to the skys like how Skyward Sword described. Execpt Skyward Sword said that Hylia was the one to make Skyloft. But whos to say they're not one in the same?

Do you need more evidence? Well sure.

The other three known dragons (Farosh, Naydra, and Dinnral) are named after the three golden goddesses, the ones that left Hyrule in Hylia's care. Now, we don't know how these dragons came to be, if they were always there, if they're the goddesses spirits, or if they actually ate secret stones themselves. But you know who doesn't have a dragon? Hylia. And the Light Dragon has no name other than that. Because Hylia was the one to eat the secret stone, and Zelda didn't know she was Hylia herself.

Additionally, this explains why Zelda had such a hard time in Breath of the Wild reaching her powers. Because she was praying to nobody, and when she finally looked into herself for the answers she was able to finally reach that power. Hylia had nothing to do with it, and praying to her was all a lost cause anyway.

Dear god my brain hurts. But this was fun low key.

[zelda-photography]

TOTK Trailer 3 Analysis

Alright, let's do this. There was a whole lot in this trailer, and just so you know i'm not going to be dissecting every second or everything that made me go 'oh cool!' Like, the rocket is way cool but I won't be providing a picture. Anyway, without further ado, here we go!

I really liked seeing the little robot guys doing stuff on the island, especially this little one fending off a chuchu :D I think it adds a lot to the understanding of the role of these robots

Not sure what's up with all the mushroom stuff but I love it! I like seeing that the villages are going to be changed :D

Yay, settlements! People trying to move into this area! A shame that the castle is gone now. I also really like the birds on the old fountains.

Big round rock is very interesting. It reminds me of the speed boost things in skyward sword, so that's my theory on what this one does.

Big thing rising from the Gerudo desert. It's probably going to end up just being Ganondorf's castle, but I really hope it's Arbiter's Grounds because that place horrifies and fascinates me.

Presumably a back shot of Ganondorf, and I gotta say I love his hair all glowing and crazy like that. He seems to be watching something explode, but I'm not sure what? Baby theory with the only proof of 'idk it'd make a modicum of sense', maybe it's the great plateau he's destroying?

Putting these two together since they seem to go together - ways to get below ground? Very interesting. Not psyched about having to wear the lame lava armor again, though. (and when I say go together, I realize this is probably an underground cavern in the Eldin area and not in Lanayru)

Flying ship flying ship let's go!!! Looks way cool and makes me wonder who is manning it. Robots? Monsters? The Zonai???

Floating balls of water are cool, but more than anything make me wonder if there will be a better swimming mechanic, maybe even diving?

Mostly took this picture because I like the red bird outfit Link is wearing. Presumably it'll slow his fall more than other clothes, but I also like the reference to the crimson loftwing.

Finally, the being we've been seeing on the wall carvings and ruins. What's her deal? Is this what all Zonai look like? She looks rad that's for sure. I've heard some people say she looks like a lizard, but personally I think she looks more like the three dragons.

At first, this is kind of a boring shot, until I remembered that Hyrule castle probably was very much destroyed in the final battle of BotW. Was it repaired? By the little magic sparkles around, I'd guess either Zelda is repairing it with magic, or this is some kind of memory.

Finally, the girl. Strange dais she's standing in front of, I'm so worried for her.

The Baby! Teba really said 'I'm too old for this shit' and is having his baby fill in for him! Rip Teba you were, well, a normal guy opposed to all the other champions. Here's to your cool kiddo.

I think I said this in my analysis of the last trailer, that I thought Link's vehicles would be able to transport Hylians, and I feel soooo vindicated right now! Yes, helping the citizens! I love it!

This is ridiculous and I love it. Just us with our dumb machine against a bunch of monsters. Reminds me of that woodcutting machine from beauty and the beast, I think because of the little arm making kind of chopping motions

BIG FUCKING MONSTER ATTACKING THE LITTLE BABY! I'M SO EXCITED FOR BOSS BATTLES NOW!

No idea what the little magatama is still other than 'probably what they mean when they say tears'

I have mixed opinions on ganondorf's design, but overall I think I like it :) He's green still, which is a little weird, but I guess he is technically a zombie, and damn did he rehydrate well.

Putting these two together to make a point (may also make it it's own post too) that I think Zelda isn't just wearing the above woman's outfit, I think the above woman is Zelda, the one from 1000 years ago. (I'll also mention now that what if the male voice talking to Zelda is some version of Ganondorf?)

At one point I was going to make a video about TotK theories, and one involved getting to fight with civilians. It was more of an escort idea in there, but hey, still looks exciting! I love all these people who are stepping up to the plate and aren't just going to let another calamity hit them!

Riju haircut! Sidon is King! Kind of weird that we say three of the four races, really hoping the gorons are doing okay. I'm really excited to see how the powers and strengths of the allies have evolved. From the footage, you already get the idea that Riju has started to use Urbosa's lightning powers.

Gleeok! We've all seen him coming, but hey, he's officially here! That's pretty rad!

Hard to see, but we're getting more of the wall mural thing, this time featuring ganondorf. I hope this thing will be, like, a physical thing in game so we can look at the whole thing.

And finally Zelda. My bets are that she's a) going to be found sleeping on that thing, very similar to Zelda 2's ending or that b) she's going to end up being sacrificed on it :(

[eerna]

I'm sorry I know it's been more than three hours but I'm still deep in my feels about totk and literally crying at the fact that Link, deeply hurt Link dropped the Master Sword and jumped into the void to try to catch and save Zelda, I'm so unwell about this, excuse me...

After everything these children have been throught, the fact that their friends and families died, the kingdom came to ruin, Link died and woke up an hundred years later, had to fix a past he doesn't remember and fight for a better future while trying to piece back his own memories and identity, meanwhile Zelda was imprisoned and had to fought against a monster all alone for so long while grieving but still trying to be hopeful that Link might wake up someday without any certainty... And the fact that they were already both suffering because of their destiny even before the tragedy hit, and thinking that at the end of botw they thought they could finally be free and heal, finally gain back their lifes and get to experience the freedom they never had like the teenagers they are...

But no ganondorf is still here and everything they went throught, the time and peoples they have lost, the suffering, sacrifices, and destruction were all for nothing ! And just that fact alone is enough to break my heart but it doesn't end there, Link gets deeply hurt, adding more scars to the ones he already has especially the ones that killed him an hundred years ago (according to Robbie they are visible), but he stands up to ganondorf like he stood in front of the guardians in the blatchery plain, because Link will fight till his last breath especially to protect Zelda, but Zelda falls and he literally drops his most precious weapon in hope to join and save her, and then zelda begs to save him? (the "lend him your power" thing) because Zelda would do everything to save him like she did in these fields an hundred years ago... These children would do anything for each other and the worst is that they will probably get separated again, and who knows what will happen to Zelda...

Also seeing hyrule which got the time to heal and thrive in the last hundred years, dear beloved hyrule in which Link spent so long adventuring in, in such a state of ruins and despair hurts.

Botw felt like hope, freshness and somehow innocence, a slow, almost kind and sweet rebirth after tragedy, the turning of a new page while still honoring the past, almost like moving on and healing while the scars are still there but slowly fading, not hiding them but rebuilding and growing around those scars... But now totk seems more like despair, and the inevitably of tragedy, of this endless cycle of suffering the three protagonists are stuck in, that they can do anything, fight throught countless lifetimes like the hero and princess before them, they can't escape fate, it will still catch them up and this curse won't break nor end, and even Zelda is not so sure that they will be able to stop ganondorf this time.... idk we still don't know much about the story but it's some things I've felt watching all these trailers even thought the adventures in the sky and all the past elements, with the ancients tunics etc seems more joyful...

Anyway I spiraled a lot as you can see, it's so long and I didn't make much sense like my broken English but I needed to talk about this, I'm so sorry haha... But my point is that Link and Zelda are literally two children all alone at the center of all these tragedies, burdened by their fates and the responsibility of saving hyrule and everyone, but they got each others and would do anything for one another and if they don't at least hug or hold hands in totk I would be sad.

Same anon as that long ask from before, I just realised but Link might have jump after her also because he didn't want her to be alone, he didn't want to be alone, he didn't want to be separated again, that at least this time they stay together whatever danger awaits them... this is giving big percabeth fall into the tartarus vibes and I'm still crying about zelink....

Don't worry, I understood you perfectly and agree with everything. I AM SO SAD!!! The first game is all about how even after apocalypse there is beauty, there is a second chance, Zelda is constantly telling you she believes in you and so is the world itself,,,, so seeing Hyrule all dark and empty and littered with unknown objects and hearing Zelda saying she doesn't think there's much chance this time FLOORED me. I mean yay, a sequel, but also MY EMOTIONS HURT. They were supposed to be safe!!!! She was supposed to feel good about her lack of power because for the first time it didn't matter if she had it!!!! HE WAS SUPPOSED TO WALK IN STEP WITH HER INSTEAD OF SEVERAL STEPS BACK BECAUSE THEY WERE NO LONGER THE PRINCESS AND HER KNIGHT!!!!!! He jumped after her.....................

[sunbedo]

It was so weird when i was watching you/tu/bers and also tumblr react to the final totk trailer and either like. forgetting who tulin was and just calling him a random rito (mostly the yt/br). or remembering him and being like "oh thats Teba's son! WAIT WHERES TEBA IS HE OKAY SHOW ME TEBA" and like. im worried for him too but i think, like yunobo, hes probably trying to fight back against the monsters and natural(?) disasters near their settlements (malice over death mountain and big tornado over hebra). Like I think during gameplay we'll probably travel to goron city/rito village and help plan where goron/rito fighters will be stationed fighting to keep the monsters at bay. and join them with the whole 'fight battles with all these people!' mechanic. but in summary i think both yunobo and teba are fine (obviously, as shown by the glimpse of the boulder breaker in that one clip). can we please acknowledge how cool tulin looks and how he's grown up instead of pushing him to the side in favor of teba!!!

[a-treatise-on-velociraptors]

I have one(1) big complaint about TotK (although I'm enjoying the hell out of it otherwise, absolute game of the year 10/10), some spoilers under the cut

The flashbacks/memories in this game are too good. The story of what happened in this Hyrule's past is so interesting (and imho feels so much more like a traditional Zelda game than the part of the story that takes place in the present) that I really fuckin wish we were actually playing through it instead of just watching it as cut scenes. The scene in which Ganondorf actually gets the stone and ascends to his demon king form(?) in particular feels like it would hit so much more if it were a mid-game twist in the same vein as the Midna's Lament sequence in TP.

So many of the best final trailer bits that I thought would be tied to actual sequences in the proper game, that looked like they would be rad as hell, were just...cut scenes. That you find. And watch like a fun little movie. It feels like there's an extra layer of 'show don't tell' in video games that Nintendo kind of missed here--you can show things all you want in cut scenes and scripted sequences, but it'll still come across as expositional if you don't have the interactive component.

Overall the fact that the memories in TotK feel so engaging and so much like a more familiar Zelda story just makes me feel like Link is a passive observer to a game I wish I could be playing, no matter how otherwise near-perfect the game I'm actually playing is.

I'm holding out the smallest fucking shred of hope that Nintendo will give us a Zelda-centric DLC. Let us play in the past, Nintendo, that'll solve this entire problem for me, it doesn't even have to be a long sequence just let me actually interact with the emotional beats of the story please

[impostorsshow]

Okay so you’re my Legend of Zelda person

How are you feeling about the Echoes of Wisdom announcement? Surprised? Excited? Eh? Did you like what you saw of the game? The art style? The Echo mechanic?

(Personally, I’m really looking forward to the game, and it’s looking like the twink will finally have to be saved this time.)

I haven't seen much of the trailer and don't know what the echo mechanic is, I only get game info through my partner that stays up until 3-4 am their time to watch the Nintendo directs and I prefer to find out about zelda games far after the community has discussed it or play it blind myself with trusty non spoiler guide site zeldadungeon.com, but I love that we're getting another game in the chibi links awakening style!! It's my favorite, and my old comfort object that I lost was an amiibo figure of links awakening link, so I really hope they make a figure of Zelda I can buy - my family pirated every amiibo for Zelda that was released up to botw and they're about the size of the first index of my thumb but having a full figure of a Zelda character would be nice again.

I am also really surprised about it, and having Zelda as a playable character is amazing again. I only know of 4 Zelda games that have had the goddess reincarnation herself be the protagonist, 3 of the games were most likely released in the OG Zelda/adventure of link titles era or around the oracle games based on the cartridge? Art I saw idk it might also be related to the PC quest games that came out around the same time which for reference is the uh. "eXCUSSEEE ME PRINCESS" one I think that's the thing it's well known for that is a whole different convo with a different blog i know nothing of the older titles except the basics. Anyway anyway I own the 4th game I know about that no one else mentions because it's technically not canon and is worse off than Hyrule warriors is but it's called cadence of Hyrule I think just search up "Crypt of the Necromancer Zelda" you'll find it and I did play through most characters campaign including Zelda's in that one, and think it's definitely worth mentioning due to how different Zeldas gameplay is to links. Uh anyway based on that game alone I have very high hopes for the gameplay of Zelda, as well as the thinks the higher ups at Nintendo said about sticking with botw/totks direction and play style.

Lastly I'll be honest with you im sleep deprived as shit cause emergency irl shit happened last night and I havent been sleeping well in general so I forgot my big thing i wanted to talk about in this segment but uh. Salvaged bits are yada yada Zelda mechanics parallels to other games more characterization more well written fanfics that aren't JUST skyward sword and botw for her etc etc based on how they handled princess peach showtimes characterization [which like. Honest to God really hard character to write in 2024 due to her roots being damsel in distress 101 and people tending to mostly correctly point at any pinky extra feminine girl and shout misogynistic] I really don't think Nintendo can fuck this up, and I am fully confident they won't fuck it up :].

ALSO CAPE CAPE ZELDA CAPE SHE HAS A CAPE ITS A CAPE ZELDAS CAPE ITS SO CUTE GOOD CHARACTER DESIGN SHE HAS A CAPE ITS SO CUTE OH MY GOD CAPE CAPE CAPE SHE HAS A CAPE

Oh yeah actually I did like the little bit of the trailer I did see that link shot her free at the last second, showing he is still in character and they didn't shoehorn in an idea to have a female protagonist like other series would do, but that every side of the triforce is equally powerful. I expect this game to be like if links awakenings dungeon puzzles were used on the overworld, and based on another Tumblr post I saw there might be some diplomatic puzzles. Or at least dual sided quest lines

Uh is there anything else I was gonna say. Oh I'm definitely going to be live posting about when I play the game since my birthday [shoutout to sans undertale] is in September so im definitely planning to ask for it or get it myself, even though I know it comes out past my birthday

[maryse127]

I had kinda shut myself off from Final Fantasy XVI because I thought I wasn't gonna have a PS5 for a While and it just sucks to look at a game and get enthusiastic knowing you wont be able to play it for at least months after it releases. But considering Recent Events I decided to watch the PAX East gameplay and Holy Shit I need this game right fucking now. May be betraying my Nintendo roots and Zelda friends here but I am honestly more excited about ff16 than Tears of the Kingdom at this point. When I unexpectedly got the PS5 early I wasn't even that excited because all I can really do with it rn is play PS4 games and I suddenly had to put up with the stress of setting up a new (HUGE) console in my tiny room with shit internet. But after watching that ff16 stuff I am so happy with it now. Anyway tomorrow we get the final TOTK trailer and 20 mins of FFXVI gameplay so I am eating good tomorrow

[amiharana]

OKAY I FINALLY GOT TO WATCH THE TOTK TRAILER HERE ARE SOME OF MY THOUGHTS

the more stuff that comes out about totk, the more interested and emotionally invested i become in the lore. where did these floating islands come from? who were the zonai and why are they back? do they have some sort of connection to ganon or hylia, or other races in hyrule (e.g. the sheikah)? how does the presence and existence of the zonai connect back with the rest of the zelda timeline?

like since there's at least? 10,000 years since the previous links and zeldas to botw/totk link and zelda, did the zonai exist in that 10,000 time period or way before and they were just never seen in previous games (for narrative purposes?)

do you think the presence of the zonai will give us some insight to the hero and princess of 10,000 years prior when the divine beasts were first used against ganon + all the ancient sheikah technology was still used? do you think the zonai had some sort of hand in helping shape that tech?

i know that during the development of botw, some of the things that inspired some of link's "abilities" were from hobbies of people on the zelda development team, e.g. the master cycle zero exists in the dlc because eiji aonuma is a motorcyclist in his free time. do you think someone on the team skydives for fun and that's why they added link falling through the sky and shit lol

they NEVER explained the paraglider in botw. you know me as your local revalink brainrot provider and what i think about the existence of the paraglider if you've been following me long enough. since the paraglider gets a little design update in totk (and unfortunately kind of loses revali's symbol in it

what the HELL are these glowing spires coming out of the ground everywhere. will they function the same as sheikah towers. what the fuck happened to the sheikah towers bc i'm either blind or they're gone. do shrines still exist in this game

hateno village (and other settlements) seems to have gotten updated! what new things do you guys think will be added in villages that weren't there before? also idk if it's just me but why do the three trees on mount lanayru look closer to the village??? i don't remember them being that close idk lol

DO YOU THINK WE'LL GET NEW NPCS IN THE SETTLEMENTS <33

THERE ARE LITTLE CAMPS IN CASTLE TOWN RUINS IM GOING TO CRYYYY they have the hylian crest on them so they have to be related to the royal family (in a business way) somehow? are these the construction folk who are going to rebuild castle town? do you guys think we'll get to see castle town completely rebuilt by the end of totk? DO YOU THINK WE'LL GET TO REBUILD EVERY RUINED SETTLEMENT TARREY TOWN STYLE??????? <3333

i know some people hated the fact that the botw map was reused and imo it's Nawt that serious girl calm down lmao. in fact i think reusing the map is an excellent challenge for the zelda team; how can you rework this familiar world into a fresh one the players can enjoy and explore again? with all the literal changes in the geographical markers of botw and the addition of new little thingie ma bobbies all throughout the map, i'm excited to see how the zelda team has approached this sort of challenge by reusing botw assets

THE THYPHLO RUINS AREN'T DARK ANYMOREEEE tbh i never finished that shrine quest LMFAOKDJFHJKD the not being able to see part always stressed me out and the fact that you had to fight a hinox in the dark 😭😭😭 IM SAWRYYY IM THE MOST ANXIOUS PLAYER EVER but i can't wait to explore it in the light????? i think someone mentioned how it also had zonai architecture; i'm just so invested in how the presence of the zonai shaped the now-world of botw/totk hyrule

so i wasn't able to see it in the trailers because i'm sooo blind, but did you guys ever see the divine beasts at all in the clips? i mean i wouldn't want to do a divine beast dungeon again LOL, but where do you guys think they are? are they just chilling in their respective regions? did they bury the beasts again? do you think we'd be able to actually go inside and explore the beasts for funsies now that they're not corrupted/in position lasered onto the castle?

WHAT IS OUT IN THE GERUDO DESERT. INSERT CARDI B MEME WHAT WAS THAT????? IS IT A SECRET DIVINE BEAST. FUCK. WHAT IS IT

the zonai have got to have some connection to time i know we could probably figure that out from the totk gameplay video from a couple weeks ago BUT STILL. let's have a twilight princess ancient hero comeback and just have old man ocarina bones sit in, or maybe multiple previous links spiderman no way home-style or whatever that movie was called. i didn't watch it sorry KDJHFJDK

ZELDA FALLING IN AND LINK JUMPING IN AFTER HER WITH HIS MALICE CORRUPTED ARM 😭💔 WHEN WILL MY BABIES BE FREE FROM THEIR FATES

THERE ARE FLYING PIRATE SHIPS TEEHEE. COME ON TREASURE PLANETTTTTT link but he's jim hawkins asf

water bubbles as transport like come on vesicles. come on transport cells. ANYWAYS THE LASERS link is a spy girl fr come on kim possible

WHO IS THAT. i can't take pictures i'm watching the trailer and pausing and unpausing on my switch while typing this on my laptop IS THAT A NEW HYRULEAN RACE. do you think it's like a fe3h ashen wolves moment where they've just been living underneath the ground because they were banished by hylia and no one knew lol

THE SANCTUM WAS RESTORED KSJDHFKJSDHFJKSDHF HOW DID THEY FIX IT SO FASTTTT what if link actually went back in time. the room is all sparkly so i'm like. did u fix it with magic or likeeeeee WHAT IS IT ASF

WHERE THE FUCK IS ZELDA. what do you guys MEAN you rely on link and the master sword. WHO ARE YOU PEOPLE??????? IS THAT THE ZONAI KING OR SOMETHING.

historically the hylians have believed in this like. pantheon of gods comprised of the golden goddesses + hylia, and i've always been under the assumption that other races just coexisted their faiths e.g. zora mainly believing in jabu-jabu, ww!rito believing in valoo, etc. what if there was like a pantheon of zonai gods but it's like greek vs roman style. what if hylia had a zonaian (?) counterpart. idk i'm spitballing out of my ass rn but i think it would be cool

re:WHO IS THAT. bulletpoint: WHAT IF THAT'S HYLIA'S ZONAIAN COUNTERPART. LOL

seeing all these flat little creatures floating in the sky makes me miss vah medoh and revali

WAS THAT TULIN. GO BACK HOME TO YOUR MOTHER?????????? WHERE IS TEBA.

link pulling people in wagon it's giving skyrim "oh you're finally awake" PAUSE WHAT ARE THOSE GREEN THINGS ON THE WHEEL. IS THAT ZONAI TECH/MAGIC

how the HELL did they build those shits on top of the talus. the bokos were really like It's Free Real Estate

link making himself a fully functioning tank rn. my brother in christ that is a vertical stone block with a cannon fused to its edge on wheels. i love it.

i kinda wanna know what happened to the elemental arrows. like in botw they tell you that rubies innately have the power of fire, but how does that differ from a regular fire arrow? does it do more damage?

HOLD ON TULIN WAS ABOUT TO GET EATEN BY THAT ICE MONSTER THING GO HOME??

what the FUCK is zelda cradling in her hands. is that a seed or life or something. it looks like an embryo lol. divine beast embryo

WAIT IS THAT HYLIA???? WHOAAAA

riju 🥺🥺🥺 the champion descendants 🥺🥺 doofus with a bucket on his head... SIDON WAIT HE HAS THE CROWN ON HIS HEAD

"link! you must find me!" WHERE ARE YOU GIRLLLL

i didn't realize there was a word limit. i just kept typing. ok those are my thoughts so far IM SO EXCITED

[russeliarat]

The ACTUAL TotK AU  I Have

I’ve passed all of my mock exams, so instead of me finishing coursework, have my TotK ‘AU’(?) thing. Basic pitch stuff. It’s long so I hope you like reading. (Btw I’ve been working on this for 4 months, any edits or additions are presented like this. It slowly starts to read a little more cinematically the further you read because more cohesive ideas started forming later on. I originally started writing in December 2022)

So just like in the trailers, Link and Zelda come across Ganondorf’s dirty corpse, which awakens from seemingly god knows what. Ganondorf breaks free of the hand-seal, breaks the ground under Zelda, and murks Link’s arm and the Master Sword. The recoil from his impromptu amputation sends Link also careening into Zelda’s death pit. Ganondorf’s being all menacing and shit, but the hand comes round and becomes Link’s new arm to stop him dying of blood loss/shock/to cauterize the wound.

Basically, the hand sent Link and Zelda back like 10,000 years or so, where Hyrule’s normal except for the giant floating sky islands everyone’s oddly cool about. In the first few days that Link and Zelda aren’t able to participate, Ganondorf has already gotten to work influencing Hyrule, bringing monsters back in a far more plentiful variety, manipulating his way into the castle and making tensions run high in all regions, and throwing Hyrule into general disarray. With knowledge of the Yiga Clan, Ganondorf manages to convince their leader of him being able to bring the downfall of the Hyrulean Royal Family and their Sheikah servants, and get them to follow his plan, which includes hunting down and killing any man who bares a sword on his back and is capable of a good fight. He also tells them to keep what’s left of the now scrapped Divine Beasts close to their territory and until careful watch, knowing that their reuse could lead to his defeat.

Link first wakes up in this temple which is essentially the Zonai temple for Hylia, who is the Zonai Goddess of Wisdom (yeah everything everyone knows ab Hyrule gets all sorts of fucked up and will send theorists into a mental breakdown). Her high priestess Hylia named ‘the Aama’ greets Link since he was apparently passed out in the forest for no reason, and they hit it off well and become friendly. She does note the glowy arm Link has is real powerful Zonai magic and even their resident amputee high priest hasn’t got that ability yet so Link has to be some kind of special, like blessed by the gods special but the gods are being weird and cryptic as usual. While the Aama deliberates about their next moves with Hylia, she sends Link to Iulii Village (the Zonai settlement)  to mingle with townsfolk, promising to give him some proper clothes so he doesn’t die from head exhaustion since they live in the rainforest. He meets the Vamai and Zoclu, the God of Courage (Ekoza) and Power’s (Kikias) high priests while they’re running a celebration for something. Basically it’s for exposition about the Zonai and stuff.

Eventually, Link comes back to the temple and talks to the Aama, who tells him to visit Hylia inside the temple, who lives behind a curtain deep within her chambers. They basically reveal that Zelda was found with Link, but she was all kinds of fucked up and can’t remember anything but healed somewhat quickly thanks to residual Zonai magic that kinda just attached to her when they fell together. Hylia tells them about whatever’s going on with Ganondorf and that by getting seven stones from across Hyrule from each race, she can repair the Master Sword, jog Zelda’s memory, and hopefully murk Ganondorf (because again, Zonai magic is powerful asf). Before they leave, the Aama gives Link his toga and tells him that the Zonai gods possess the final stone and that they won’t go easy in their trials.

Off they go to collect the six other stones from each remaining race, which can be done in any order, but Zelda gets her memories back in chunks and so her personality slightly changes every time she views one (but there’s other memories scattered around Hyrule that don’t affect her as much as the main ones). She would also play like the Wolf Link amiibo as a support fighter, but she literally sprints after Link and copies his moves and stuff which would be cool. Kickass Zelda.

The different stone quests go as such;

They head into Castle Town and tell an old woman and her grandson about how they need to see the Hylian monarchs to obtain a ‘certain item’. The woman tells them that there is no chance they’ll even be considered in Zonai clothing and is taken into her tailoring shop, where a regal outfit is tailored and fitted for both Link and Zelda before the end of the day, when she walks off to arrange plans to get the two into the castle. When asked why the woman wishes to help them, her grandson (who is her male assistant) tells them how she once worked in the castle as the royal seamstress, but due to her Sheikah heritage, was punished harshly for a simple mistake and was forced to leave the castle and become a freelancer. The woman comes back after a short pause and tells them that she’s arranged for an old friend of hers named Impa - Princess Afian’s bodyguard and personal caretaker - to escort them around the castle and gain access to the royals. They request the help of the Hylian monarchs who brush them off, but the duo soon learn have a daughter (who isn’t a Zelda, but is alleged to be conceived between the King and a Great(?) Fairy so ooo worldbuilding) thanks to Impa, who becomes important because Afian asks Link and Zelda to help her find stuff to rebuild her ‘latest invention’ when they get some alone time, of which Impa supports them doing. The princess is a lot like Zelda, seeing as they both have tinkering and science running through their heads 24/7. They agree and it turns out, the fixed build was actually the origins of the Master Cycle Zero since it was supposedly an abandoned prototype for a fifth Divine Beast that the Sheikah were forced to abandon. Afian gives the two the spiritual stone she apparently found the treasury, which is weird because it’s very clear the Hylians and Zonai are on two very different sides of history. Impa scolds the princess, but allows them to keep the stone on the one condition that not a single word is uttered about the Master Cycle and Impa forces the princess to get rid of the project now that it’s finished in order to not upset her parents. The princess chooses to give this to Link and Zelda.

Link and Zelda can also come across the ancient Zora, this specific species being called the Riverbed Zora, who live in Zora’s Domain and are kind of a mix-up between OOT and BotW Zora, compared to the two other Zora called the Lake Zora and Ocean Zora. For context to this quest, Lake and Riverbed Zora are the most important. Essentially, they come upon a magician who is in the process of being accused of performing ‘dark magic’ (Zonai magic) and is awaiting a kind of trial to see whether this is true or not. There have been rumours going around that this girl will be banished if found guilty and likely to live with other Zora due to the Riverbed Zora’s alliance and political agreements with the Hylian monarchy, who despise the Zonai due to a long-standing generational dispute about the differences in their religions. This magician girl asks Link and Zelda to help prove her innocence and direct them to talk with the Lake Zora to recreate the kind of magic she had been alleged to be practising. The Lake Zora are affiliated with the Zonai and share customs, but also share a semi-allyship with the Ocean Zora, who act as a neutral party in Lurelin Village, and the two are additionally tasked to gather materials only in Lurelin for the Lake Zora to help them with the craft. So they go do that and can get various results based on what’s made/performed, but ultimately she is declared not guilty with the right choices and she gives the duo one of the seven Zonai stones in private, revealing that she really does practise Zonai magic but asks them to keep it a secret.

At some point, they’ll also come across a Gerudo woman who is attempting to leave Gerudo Town and causing a ruckus, only to be denied due to how dangerous it is to be alone with how aggressive the Yiga Clan are within the desert. As it turns out, this woman is attempting to get her daughter back, who had been kidnapped by a Yiga clansman after disguising themself as a woman joining a festival. In the aftermath of the incident, normally no guard would let anyone in or out of the town, but it turns out that the Zonai had sent a message letting the current chief know that the two would be arriving to earn one of the spiritual stones. The only man in Gerudo Town, the Gerudo King, Usimo, has his attention brought to this ruckus and defuses the situation, bringing Link and Zelda to his throne room to discuss, telling them that getting anyone back from the Yiga is essentially a death wish and to leave it for him to solve politically since there may be many other children and adults taken hostage. Zelda refuses and proposes the most insane idea of infiltrating the Yiga and taking the child back from under their noses. The king relents after a long back-and-forth where Zelda attempts to prove their worth, though modifies it to make it safer and that only Link can go to lessen any potential - and inevitable - suspicions, but that should she get a signal, would blow the hideout up when Link were ready to leave as a kind of safe escape plan. The plan goes through, with preparations made such as a tailor making a custom suit etc, and Link gains a friends from within the ranks despite being considered an outsider who guides him through Yiga life. Eventually, Link is able to go up against other Yiga in a gauntlet of sorts and fights the Yiga leader, and though he loses, is accepted to actually learn Yiga magic from an ancient tome that passed down the more complex spells due to the achievement of a trainee working his way up to almost beating them. A little while later, Link gives the signal for Zelda, who ignites the place from inside the walls using metal, lightning, and the thunder helm. The two escape with both the child and the tome full of spells as an added bonus. As a thanks, Usimo gives the duo the spiritual stone for proving their worth and considers them Gerudo heroes. This stone was given as an act of allyship between the Gerudo and the Zonai.

The next quest to be discovered is of a group of Gorons who created a home deep within the hottest regions of the desert who escaped Death Mountain, surviving on spicy elixirs and rocks from the cliffside. They can either be found in this home or within Gerudo Town scouting for help once the Gerudo’s quest is fulfilled. At this moment when the quest hasn’t been completed, Death Mountain isn’t being an active volcano like usual. In fact, there’s a noticeable drop in temperature when approaching and a singular Goron standing guard will turn any travellers away because everything has frozen over. A Goron that has taken over a leadership role (though is very distinctly not the chief of the Gorons), Gigi, tells Link that something from within Death Mountain must have fed on all of the surface magma since none of it has been able to actually reach the volcano to keep it active and warm, thus thrusting a large portion of the Goron population into an impromptu hibernation period. Those who managed to escape found themselves housed within the desert to keep warm. Link and Zelda convince this leader to give them some kind of physical proof to be able to pass into Death Mountain, and the two discover that the spiritual stone was taken from the Gorons by this monster and disappeared into the complex cave systems to feed on the lava. These cave systems were actually closed off by the escaped Gorons who came back with elixirs to seal away the monster to prevent any more harm until it could be fixed, and so Link and Zelda have to go through this kind of dungeon-crawling, crudely-built bomb puzzle maze to get to the inner belly of Death Mountain, where they find the beast feeding on the lava, and kill it. Turns out that in the wrong hands for too long, powerful Zonai magic can turn regular people into distorted monsters and that’s what happened with this monster. They were a regular person visiting Death Mountain with very strong kleptomaniac tendencies, stole the spiritual stone, and was morphed into the beast. They all escape out of the mountain and find that with the fresh magma, the Gorons have begun to return to normal. If the chief, Tatemba, sees that Zelda already possesses other stones, he gives away theirs with some questions asked, though gets a second opinion from Gigi otherwise.

Atop a large sky island housing an erected rock with a wooden settlement, Link and Zelda find the Rito to request for their spiritual stone. However, the Rito’s chief were absent at that moment on undisclosed business and so the two were directed to talk to the second-in-command, who is a bit of a cocky ass. His name is Skirth. They attempt to negotiate a way to gain the spiritual stone, but with a combination of pride in himself and the Rito and of no knowledge that the Zonai leaders wanted the two to earn the stone, Skirth fervently refused. Fortunately for them, a little group of Rito children had grown to root for the Hylians and became disappointed. Skirth has quite the soft spot for children, especially his daughter, and relented, except he kind of didn’t because he gave the two an assumedly impossible task given Link and Zelda’s lack of wings: entertain and follow the Rito children around the sky islands, accomplishing what’s basically a bunch of side quests for them until sundown. He has no idea they have their own paragliders. So the two go ahead and do that and it’s specifically shown that his daughter called Bo, a girl wanting to become a Rito warrior which is forbidden for girls and women, took quite the attachment to Link and Zelda. This eventually manifests when no one notices Bo goes missing and they all eventually go to Skirth to get the stone they earned (and cheer the two on), when the chief comes back in a hurry. It’s revealed that a large monster had been blocking off a certain snowy section of Hyrule with a giant snowstorm too deadly to venture into and the chief was away with a bunch of warriors to figure out how to kill it, only for them all to be adjourned and come back to find the plans, weapons, and arrows gone, and a certain little girl missing. Link and Zelda immediately go to kill the monster and find Bo barely holding it together with damaged wings and 0 bow-shooting experience in the middle of nowhere in a snowstorm. They manage to kill the monster and ask Bo what the hell happened, to which she answers that she got upset that she couldn’t become a Rito warrior but was so inspired by the two that she gained the confidence to fight off the monster. Zelda manages to tell her that it was far too dangerous but compromises that she can train to be a ‘land warrior’ instead of a Rito warrior and defend Rito Village from the land instead of the skies. Bo is happy with this and asks the two to train her, to which her father (who came along to fetch his daughter) responded to not push their luck and that she’s too injured to train for anything at all. He then goes on to give Link and Zelda the stone, saying they more than earned his respect for saving his child... and also to keep his initial promise.

High above in the sky islands, the Deku Tree resides with his forest children, the Koroks, within the Korok Forest. This is one of the few quests that are asked to partake in directly from the Zonai and must have completed like 3 other quests to do because of memory shit for Zelda’s character development. Asked by a few Zonai women who worry over their children playing rough with the little forest spirits in the future as their children won’t believe of their existence and refuse to be taught about them, they ask Link and Zelda to take some kind of picture after inspecting Link’s Sheikah Slate. They agree but mischief ensues because they’re the Koroks. They end up having to find and chase around Koroks of different types to take pictures of until they find a small, lone Korok with a very unique wisteria leaf seemed to have gone missing. The two soon find the Korok in a large, hollowed out tree within almost a kind of mystical grove back on the surface. It turned out that the Korok had found this tree while exploring and saw a little gravestone engraved with an ancient fae language that this Korok has been researching for a very long time. All he managed to figure out was the grave was dedicated to a Hylian boy who left his forest home eons ago. Not only that, but within the tree, behind the little living space the Korok had set up on a whim, he had a large rock cover a hole in the wall the tree had half-grown from. Upon entering, the Korok explains that they must leave or the two will ruin his research, though calms down and openly shares it once discovering that Link and Zelda where sent by the other Koroks to find him, furthered by the realisation of the incredibly strong magic stones hanging at Zelda’s hip and Link’s similarly powerful arm. He tells them about the rock and how it hides a mural he cannot understand due to a lack of cultural knowledge of Hylians - hence his research on the grave - and asks the two if they can help him with any context if he escorts them to the mural. They agree. Behind the tight squeeze, the rock hides is a large, open cave, blocked off on all sides. The walls are lined with small torches that had become unlit in the ages since the cave was last visited. On the other end of the cave was a metal mural with carvings of the previous princesses of Hyrule and their time’s respective heroes. Zelda remembers this from an old book she read a long time ago and can already feel a memory tickling at the corners of her vision, though none fully emerge (I haven’t edited this in a while so I forgot to mention that the stones can become vessels for one’s memories and emotions which is why Zelda holds these stones so dear to her heart - though they don’t give her any memories, she gains them exactly the same way Link did). The Korok offers for them to come back any time they like and that he’d love to share any more research with them. That’s when a previous Korok who had asked Link to find the other one came into the tree upon hearing his voice and scolds the missing Korok for his long parting, though sobs through his shouting. This is when we learn of the Koroks’ names; Brondu, the missing Korok, and Esri, his brother. Esri requests for his brother return, if only for a gathering that had been talked about all through the quest, and they ask that Link and Zelda join for thanks of finding and indirectly leading Esri to Brondu. Gathering back with the rest of the Koroks, they play music and dance til the sun sets. Esri gets the idea for Link to take a picture of everyone performing together. Brondu bashfully presents a stone to Zelda as form of a thank you gift, having no idea it was an offering made by the Zonai and merely thinking of it as a shiny, smooth rock. After the Koroks let the two travellers go, they travel back to the Zonai to show them all the pictures of the Koroks for mothers to warn their children of roughhousing and angering the forest spirits. It turns out that a child had found a nearby Korok and the children flock to play with him. A mother scoffs but thanks the two for their efforts.

As these little quests progress, tensions rise higher and higher behind the scenes as it turns out that Ganondorf’s influence has been able to get into the heads of the Hylian King and Queen. Ganondorf manages to make Princess Afian tell him of Link and Zelda and where they are, and not knowing any better, tells him of their acceptance into the Zonai tribe. He gets the monarchs to order the destruction of the Zonai after the quests, though Afian and Impa make their attempts to warn them of the incoming attacks. At this point, Link and Zelda have already been summoned to the Zonai temple, so that the Aama and Hylia could direct them on their next move. There’s a scuffle between some Zonai warriors and Impa and Afian, with the Zonai thinking they’ve come to attack them, but Afian runs to Link and Zelda, showing their affiliation and the Zoclu (who is nearby) and the Aama order them to halt their attacks. Afian blabs that they’re gonna die if they don’t hurry, and it concerns the two priests enough to usher them to Kikias’ temple where they may discuss this with the god. Once the Aama has rushed to get the Vamai, (through some kind of item I haven’t decided on) they are able to communicate the events with all three gods, who reside within the next temple Link and Zelda would progress to. Impa and Afian fully explain the details of the impending civil war and Zelda has a reaction to Afian’s description of the man who asked her about them, inciting a memory about Ganondorf. With Zelda’s recollection, they were able to come to the conclusion that they would defend against the Hylian alliances and work on their next moves while Link and Zelda attempt the fend off Ganondorf. 

They send the two off to the Sun’s Doors, a large sacred temple where the immortal and mortal can supposedly collide, yet has forbidden mortals from entering as it could change their humanity forever and usually only gods enter. The Sun’s Doors is also where Hylia, Ekoza, and Kikias resided as they were told of the rising tensions from Hylian alliances and the Zonai alliances from their high priests and worshippers increasing as the story progressed. The Sun’s Doors is this giant temple in the sky, higher than any other sky island which seemingly stretches into the clouds. The three gods congratulate Link and Zelda for getting this far and request for them to go through a kind of ultimate trial to gain the last spiritual stone, that would recharge the power to it’s maximum once all are gathered. They theorise that with all seven stones, the two would be able to rid Ganondorf’s influence of Hyrule and hopefully resolve the impending war before it’s too late. Zelda asks why they don’t just reveal themselves to be rid of the conflict caused by the different religions and Ekoza asks what she would think would happen if they were to destroy one of the connecting ties of Hylian life across the country and if it would even be right to do as such. They eventually go on to progress through trials within the temple, all a combination of the different skills the two were tasked with utilising throughout their journey to force their way to where the last stone is held. However, none knew of the fact that Ganondorf had attached a small piece of his Malice magic to Princess Afian before she ran to the Zonai, hoping to influence her too, yet he seemed to strike gold when she fled to the Zonai and attached a small piece of his magic to Zelda, managing to escape to the Sun’s Door with them. It was Ganondorf’s final chance to achieve that last push for ultimate power over Hyrule and it’s surrounding countries.

Ganondorf’s Malice was able to take form from within the Sun’s Door upon gaining an easy access to the seventh stone, jumping from Zelda’s back and becoming a disgustingly sublime beast, representing how his hatred was reunited with his soul and his overwhelming desire to finally be done with this cursed cycle of reincarnation. The beast takes the title of The Rot, a more literal name for its meaning. The Rot takes claim of the seventh stone and Link and Zelda has to furiously fight for ownership of the stone, but it’s all for nought as Ganondorf’s magic has one again become far too powerful for the hero and princess, and the holy gods must come to their rescue to banish the beast from their realm. Despite this, none could gain back the seventh stone, and just as quickly as their arrived, the two must leave to capture the stone back before Ganondorf is able to use it for his own desires. Coming back to Iulii Village and seeing the Zonai ready for war was a sight to behold. The Zoclu offers the two a place to fight beside the warriors, assuming the seventh stone had been retrieved, but when hearing of The Rot, hastily abandons his position to take them to Hylia’s Temple, where the Aama hastily writes letters to their allies requesting assistance. They all knew what was happening, and they knew it was likely going to be a losing fight, but this little village and the temples and homes and lives within are all the Zonai have, and they have to fight to protect it. They even go as far as requesting the help of the neutral Ocean Zora. The scrolls are hastily shoved into Link and Zelda’s hands and the Vamai begs them to play messenger because as much as they’d like to send carrier birds, the Hylian allies would shoot them down. Not even the Rito would be left unscathed without checks by Hylians, a war was about to commence. The Vamai just begs the two to humour them and stop chasing after that soon almighty evil to send their only chance of survival. When they accept, they do it under the guise of the night they returned to, hidden by shadows. The three high priests see them off, thanking them for their help, but telling Link and Zelda to not get absorbed into the war and to focus on Ganondorf once their messages have been relayed. The Vamai chases after the two, who ride on horseback, and beg them to return back safe. The priest knows their race will be left irreversibly damaged, if not completely destroyed, and wants at least someone to come back and remember their names and their faces. They regretfully admit that they have to be cowardly and hide their people but is told the strongest form of courage is to admit when you’re not as brave as you once thought. Zelda tells the Vamai to hide the Zonai innocents among their allies and to only disguise as Hylians when push comes to shove. The Vamai cries their possibly final farewell.

The letters are delivered. The Gerudo are very far away yet they relay a promise of effort to do whatever they can to assist a race of people and the two their indebted to. Link and Zelda ask the Great Deku Tree if the little forest spirits could do anything to help the struggling Zonai, and though their physical prowess is far too weak, their magic is strong and will attempt to aid in guiding the falling people. The Rito feel the need to refuse, seeing as they themselves are a very small, newly established race and the chief must see fit to protect his own people. The Ocean Zora say similar, that they cannot offer their combat, but offers their caves for hiding. The Lake Zora stand proudly for the people they share their culture with. And although they had the most powerful Sheikah in the Hylian army on their side, the Hylian monarchy would have her and the little princess executed if they found out about their involvement with the Zonai. 

On the way, strange behaviour began to exhibit in Zelda; she would slowly get more angry at the lack of help from the supposed Zonai allies even if the reason seemed sound enough to Link, she would clutch at her string of spiritual stones as if it pained her to let them go, she’d go for long stretches of silence between her sentences as if she were spacing out. It came to a head when suddenly, Zelda slumped off her horse onto the ground, where the equine ran far as if sensing danger. Even Link’s horse starts to kick and nicker. When he went to check on Zelda, there seemed to be a distant, confused look to her eyes, as if glazed over. Zelda threw Link away from her, more powerful than before, clutching the string of stones close, letting out a pained scream as she looked to change form. She now seemed bird-like, sporting feathers instead of hair, covering her whole torso and arms, and the bones in her feet crunching as they morphed to talons. And as quickly as it happened, Zelda ran. Link seemed to chasse her all over Hyrule, attracting the attention of soldier beginning their first marches to battle. And every time, he’d manage to stop her from climbing walls or running away with scary agility, he’d be forced in his hand to slice away at the things that made her monstrous, hoping it was like Ganon and the Divine Beasts, that Zelda would be fine if all that remained was the parts that were her humanity. But it didn’t. All that sliced off was a sticky ooze of green-blue blood and the tearing of skin and feathers. She ran to the Korok Forest, the natural protector of the Zonai and Hyrule as she became weak and unable to fight back. The Great Deku Tree urged his children to hide from the fight that ensued and something in Zelda just clicked, triggering a memory. Leaving a weak spot open and fully in battle mode, Link thrust the Master Sword into Zelda’s abdomen and she crumpled against him, holding onto his shoulders weakly. It hurt her, yes, but at least she gained back her senses for a few moments and she was free of whatever those stones and those temples and that magic made her. Even though he attempted to lay her to the floor and apply pressure to the wound after realising his mistake, Zelda knew better, instead handing him over the string of six stones, asking him to make it alright for her and them, and asking why it was always them that took such a fall. What did they do to deserve something so cruel? Link mourned heavily, but had to push it down to make it alright once seeing the Koroks and hearing their promise to take care of his friend.

He left for Ganondorf, hidden within a castle rife with conflict. He dressed as if a Castle Town member, and acted the part, saying his thanks to the old woman of the tailor’s shop and asking her to keep his clothes safe. She refuses as they’re a part of him now, made specially by her and her grandson. She asks why he’s in such a hurry, they need to hide within the shop, but he brushes her and her grandson’s worries off, saying he’ll be fine, and rushing back out to the castle. With a bit of stealth and brute force, Link manages to make his way into the castle. Walking in makes him nauseous from the stench of Malice burned into his mind, but a single thread of powerful magic leads Link to where he needs to be. Within the great hall of the castle, Ganondorf puppeteers the King and Queen from their thrones, throwing wave after wave of guard at Link, themselves going to fight the hero when their numbers are exhausted. But Ganondorf gets bored when Link merely knocks them out and shows off his shiny green new toy. Ganondorf, in a display of power, raises the castle from the ground and suspends it high into the sky, far higher than any island bar the Sun’s Doors. He toys with Link about this is the culmination of thousands of reincarnations, of thousands of struggles with Hyruleans - with the gods - to do right by his people. He asks Link why he doesn’t let Ganondorf have his victory and let Hyrule’s suffering end, there’s even one of Hyrule’s worst civil wars unfolding right outside the castle walls. He concludes it must be a sense of duty, or perhaps morals, or maybe even cowardice towards his own inevitable death?

They clash, fighting for the stone that could remake or rebreak Hyrule. When Ganondorf gets a little too hurt for his liking, he resummons The Rot and forces Link to fight it again. But Link is fuelled by the deaths of his loved ones and the idea that he’ll near see the people he first woke up to meet all the way back in his original time. Link finds power from mourning, Ganondorf takes power from suffering, but they both take power from loss. That’s perhaps why Link is able to wrestle the stone from Ganondorf, they are equal in their pain and so equal in their power. It’s just destiny that Link happens to win. With Ganondorf on his knees, bleeding from his wounds and magic exhausted from the most strenuous battle of the cycle, Link reunites the seventh stone with the ones on Zelda’s string. He punches Ganondorf in his rage, once for the first Calamity he now fought and all the people who have and will die, twice for the second Calamity that was struck upon Hyrule and the people of his original time who suffered for 10 years, and a third time for the unnecessary death of Zelda, his new family, and the Link he used to be. Ganondorf smiles. Link tackles him off the cliff they fought upon, whispering his only words his reincarnations have ever spoke in front of Ganondorf - a promise that, no matter what, Link will keep him in his own personal hell forever. Ganondorf laughs manically as they fall, even though the odd green glow the surrounds Link’s new hand, powered by the seven stones, clawing at Ganondorf of its own accord as they both seemingly fall and fall and fall.

An unknown amount of time later, Ganondorf’s corpse lays motionless within a cave that seemed to have naturally formed itself around him. He’s sealed away by a glowing green hand that swirls around the cave structure, the tail ends of its magic etching sorrowful cravings of Zonai into the walls and tunnels. A quiet stepping can be heard and a faint torch glow illuminates the cave walls. Two familiar faces appear curious and approach, but something menacing tickles at the back at someone’s mind.

[phoenixcatch7]

Aaaaaa totk is so so close I'm vibrating up the ✨walls✨

I literally didn't manage to watch the final trailer/gameplay because I saw the tents in hyrule castle square and got so excited I had to quit the video, which I NEVER do.

It's so CLOSE and I'm getting a physical copy (wasn't allowed a preorder boo) but I'm not sure when it'll come which just adds to the tension!

I can't WAIT I am so SO close to getting totk in my hands I am going to scream when I load up the title screen I just know it XD.

And the fanfics?? I'm on tenterhooks waiting to see what we got right, all our little post canon fics and our ten years later and our soft epilogues, my love and our political fics, and our totk projections, what gets to be made canon and how deep we go down the line - I don't even know how big of a time skip it's been and NOBODY TELL ME.

But I've never been part of a community AS the source is still growing, especially not one I've written and read so many fics for, imagined so much for. I saw those tents and my little fanfic heart exploded because how many times have I seen them in writing?? And now they're IN CANON?? IN THE GAME?? Gosh, it's like our fics and art have all become true and real, it's canon, it's a 3d world we'll be able to run around in and climb and talk to the people about.

Zelda!!!! I don't know what happened to her still (AGAIN DO NOT TELL) and I know her powers have greatly weakened so I hope we get to see her sciencing her little heart out. Maybe not with the guardians they're probably a sore point but she might get into idk history or architecture or wassit called the study of plants with her silent princesses. Ooh maybe she side hustles as a priestess or smth.

I can't WAIT to see tarrey town, and all the capitals flourishing now the divine beasts and malice is gone. I hope we get a champions statue - of either generation, really. Oh the RANCH I hope so dearly the ranch is being repaired and has cows and horses in it again I'd cry if that happened.

The plateau is probably going up I can't remember the details of the trailers but Hylia PLEASE have some new dialogue I can't have the same 'now go and bring peace to hyrule' MA'AM I DID THAT AND NOW THERE'S ANOTHER PROBLEM.

Fi? Fi? Fi? Fi? Fi? Fi???? Anything we get of Fi will be brilliant. And hestu. And honestly I wouldn't be surprised if beedle had macyvered something like the ss flying shop to get around. And oh, the DRAGONS I so hope we can ride them somehow even if it's just in their tailwind. They're going to be BEAUTIFUL.

And the linked universe fics are going to be INSANE whoever writes a wild reveal/chain explores new hyrule, complete with archaeological commentary, I will kiss you on the mouth. Fr the lu fics are probably going to be one of my favourite parts of the release, we were already going feral with our ideas and stories when totk wasn't even a whisper in the wind, and then the first trailer I saw fics with an entirely underground hyrule and then the flying island trailer we went BESERK and when the game comes out?? I'm checking back in a week and I bet there's already a 50k fic waiting. I know I'm going to be scribbling furiously.

I'm going to have to clear out my switch gallery, won't I? Aaaaargh.