The newest footage of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild 2 has a ton of implications for the game. The Master Sword has been damaged severely by Calamity Ganon's Malice, leaving Link without his signature weapon. A blue glow in the blade suggests hope hasn't been lost for the Master Sword just yet, and a golden orb could suggest that Link has holy power to collect. Beyond that, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild 2 has a variety of other mysteries to solve, like what's become of Zelda herself. According to some fans, though, Zelda and the golden light could be connected.
Zelda has played a lot of different parts across the franchise, but Breath of the Wild 2 may tread new ground. Some Zelda fans believe that the titular princes will gain a new spectral form that she can take on to help Link navigate Hyrule on his newest journey. While a spirit form for Zelda would be a curious move on Nintendo's part, it might be plausible, and there's certainly a lot that Breath of the Wild 2 could gain from this new power. Multiple forms for Zelda could be The Legend of Zelda's next big experiment.
Zelda's Possible Spirit Form
The golden orb in Breath of the Wild 2's newest cutscene is hard to pin down. It appears to take place on one of Breath of the Wild 2's new sky islands, meaning it may not be associated with any known location on the BotW map. It's also not entirely clear why Link decides to draw the damaged Master Sword; he doesn't plunge the sword into the golden light. Breath of the Wild is also full of magic, but this particular color scheme is chiefly associated with Zelda, who wields similar golden light at the end of the first game and in other Zelda titles. Without any clear indication of who or what else the golden orb could be connected to, Zelda seems like a reasonable conclusion.
The idea that the orb may actually be Zelda herself stems from the end of Breath of the Wild as well. During the battle with Calamity Ganon, the captured Zelda escapes Ganon's grasp in a similar golden form before reappearing in her humanoid form. If Zelda could escape Ganon with the help of a spiritual form, it stands to reason that she may be able to do something similar in Breath of the Wild 2. Over the course of the sequel, Zelda could take this form many more times.
Breath of the Wild's climax certainly makes it seem possible that the sequel will involve Zelda gaining a variety of divine powers stemming from her connection to the goddess Hylia. Zelda's struggle to unlock her inner divinity is a major subplot in Breath of the Wild represented in many of Link's collectible memories. Now that Zelda has wielded divine power against Calamity Ganon, she may have made further progress mastering the power ahead of Breath of the Wild 2. In other words, Zelda's new theoretical spirit form would be a logical progression from her character arc in the first game.
Zelda's Spirit Powers, Plausibility, and Benefits
Zelda assuming a spirit form in Breath of the Wild 2 wouldn't be all too strange because she has technically done it before. In The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks, Zelda gets ousted from her body and follows Link on his journey by possessing a suit of armor. Breath of the Wild 2's spiritual form would certainly be very different, since it would focus more on Zelda's divine abilities than an unfortunate circumstance. It would be interesting to see Nintendo revisit this take on Zelda in a more serious, intense Zelda game.
Perhaps the biggest thing standing in the way of Zelda getting a spiritual form is the game's implied Master Sword narrative. Because Breath of the Wild 2 is seemingly all about restoring the Master Sword, odds seem good that Fi will return in BotW2. She was the Master Sword's first keeper, after all, and she presumably still lives inside it after all these years. Getting a second Fi appearance would be great, but Breath of the Wild 2 might struggle to incorporate both Fi and Zelda as spirit companions. It could manage to include both if one is far less active than the other, but it would be a shame for either character to take a backseat to the other.
If Nintendo does integrate new spiritual powers into Breath of the Wild 2, though, they could be extremely useful. The game's reveal trailer, where the possible corpse of Ganondorf is pinned down by a mysterious magical arm, implies that magic and supernatural forces will be an even greater presence in Breath of the Wild 2 than they were in the first game. In that case, Zelda's growing mastery over divine abilities would be a great narrative parallel to growing hostile magic. It also opens up the door to a lot of interesting mechanics. Players might get to navigate certain sacred spaces as Zelda in her spirit form or use other divine powers to solve puzzles that Link can't interact with alone.
Breath of the Wild 2 Needs Zelda
The Zelda spirit form theory is tantalizing because it would be such a good change of pace after the last game. Breath of the Wild characterized Zelda particularly well and gave her tons of screen time, thanks to the flashbacks revealing her relationships with Link and the Champions, but she still spends most of the game as a damsel in distress. Breath of the Wild 2 needs to give her a creative role that avoids repetition and allows her to play an active part in the story, rather than waiting for Link to help her. Spirit powers that help her follow, advise, and guide Link would be a good way to enable that kind of role.
Sadly, it could be quite some time before Zelda fans get a good look at Princess Zelda's role in the game. Now that Breath of the Wild 2 has been delayed into 2023, Nintendo may prioritize more pressing Switch games like Pokemon Scarlet and Violet or Xenoblade Chronicles 3 in terms of advertising and new information. Hopefully that won't be the case, though, since Nintendo doesn't have to release a huge amount of information to improve BotW2's visibility. Even a short new Breath of the Wild 2 trailer could shed valuable light on Zelda and Link's new adventure.
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild 2 releases in spring 2023 for Nintendo Switch.
