The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom has brought players back to Hyrule for yet another grand adventure. As one of the most anticipated titles in the franchise’s nearly forty-year run, it certainly had many expectations to live up to. Thankfully, for both Legend of Zelda fans and the developers, the game, the game continues to attract high praise.
One of Tears of the Kingdom’s many highest selling points lies in the complex and emotional narrative woven throughout the gameplay. Much like its predecessor, the story is drip-fed to players through cutscenes unlocked at various points in the quest. Of all these story moments, a few stand out as the best.
This article contains spoilers for The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
6 The Rise Of The Demon King
The opening scene of any game is a crucial hook that often acts as the decider of how much players will dedicate themselves to it. For Tears of the Kingdom, the opening scene meets this brief and more. The blend of interactive play and slow, cinematic cutscenes draws players into the eerie moment so well.
The echoing heartbeat, the ghostly choral chant, and what sounds like a clock tower chiming rhythmically sets an ominously engaging mood. As Link and Zelda descend ever lower, the music evolves and morphs into something that speaks of an ancient and terrible power.
When the corpse of the Demon King is revealed, it snaps to life in a horrifyingly swift movement so unlike the scenes leading up to it. The Master Sword, which players have come to depend on through generations of games, shatters like glass. Zelda is lost to the gloom below, and Link’s arm is swallowed by evil. All these elements intertwine to make this story moment so enthralling.
5 Zelda Meets Her Makers
Depending on what order and how quickly players progress through the quests, the mystery of Zelda’s whereabouts will prevail. Though she calls for Link to find her and grants him the Recall ability as though in a trance somewhere close, there is very little evidence of where she has gone in these early stages of the game.
In finding the Dragon’s Tears, however, it is revealed to Link and the players that Zelda was transported centuries into the past to Hyrule’s earliest days. Here, she meets Sonia and Rauru who introduce themselves as the first King and Queen of Hyrule. Though it’s clear that Zelda is safe, the prospect of her being stranded so far in the past is daunting.
But, as players see her settle into this time, they also witness a familial relationship blossom between the three royals. This marks a large difference from other Zelda games, as the princess is rarely seen with two parental figures. Perhaps the sweetest story moment in th game is when Zelda tells Rauru and Sonia about Link, and they both speak of how much they wish to meet him.
4 Link Gets Some Sage Advice
Part of the main quest is the investigation of strange phenomena in four regions of the map. This quest takes Link back into the realms of the Rito, the Goron, the Zora, and the Gerudo peoples. What’s more, it also sees the return of elemental temples, a Zelda staple not seen in the previous game.
The classic Zelda dungeons' return also sees the sages' return. Tulin, Yunobo, Sidon, and Riju, all reprise their roles, but this time as descendants of the powerful elemental sages from Hyrule’s earliest days. In defeating each temple's monsters, Link and each descendant receive a vision from the first sages through the passing on of their Secret Stone.
Not only do these visions grant Link a unique elemental power, but they tell the story of Ganondorf’s rise as the Demon King. These visions also show Zelda as the Sage of Time, gathering support from all the sages to fight back. Seeing this support mirrored between the past and the present, tells a compelling story of loyalty in the face of evil.
3 The Master Sword Reborn
Once players have cured the Great Deku Tree of the Gloom that is infecting it, they are shown a scene of the last time the two characters spoke. It is here that the audience learns how the Master Sword can be healed with the help of a sacred power source. In one of the greatest story moments of hope, the Great Deku Tree tells Link that he can still sense its presence.
Early in the game, players found themselves separated from the Master Sword by several centuries. After picking up the decayed sword in the Great Sky Islands, it was sent through a light portal to reach Zelda in the past. Since that moment players have been forced to undertake the game’s quests without Link’s most trusted tool.
In one of the most cathartic moments in the game, players must pull the sword from the forehead of the Light Dragon. When they do, they will finally have their hands on the Master Sword which has become stronger in the Light Dragon’s healing presence.
2 Zelda Is The Light Dragon
Perhaps one of the most gut-wrenching realizations of the whole game is when players discover that Zelda has been in the present the entire time. Only, she’s not in the form that many players might expect. Trapped in the past with the decayed Master Sword, Zelda hatches a plan to restore it and deliver it to Link in the future. Only, this plan involves the ultimate sacrifice.
In several cutscenes and memories, the fifth sage, Mineru, reveals how consuming a Secret Stone will transform its consumer into an immortal dragon. However, this act is forbidden by the Zonai as it involves severing all connection with one’s mind. Those who undergo this process will find themselves powerful and immortal but at the steep price of losing their consciousness.
In a cutscene, players are shown the exact moment that Zelda consumes her Secret Stone and transforms into the Light Dragon. Her final words before this transformation into her draconified self is a call to Link to “protect them all”. The tears welling in her eyes are the source of the Dragon’s Tears memories, painting this entire quest line in a new, tragic light.
1 Demon King Defeated
Of course, every narrative thread that runs through the story of Tears of the Kingdom leads into the final confrontation of Ganondorf, the Demon King. This confrontation takes Link back to where the game began, in the depths underneath Hyrule castle. Armed with the newly healed Master Sword, and with the five sages at his side, Link descends into the darkness below.
After fighting off the Demon King’s army and leaving the sages to deal will the monsters from the temples, Link alone faces the revived Demon King. In classic Zelda fashion, this boss fight takes place in multiple stages. First players defeat Ganondorf in his Gerudo form, then they must him in his leveled-up Demon King form.
In a last-ditch effort, Ganondorf consumes his Secret Stone and transforms into the Demon Dragon. The scene is a twisted parallel of Zelda’s sacrifice and transforms Ganondorf into one of the largest bosses Link has ever had to face. With the help of Zelda as the Light Dragon, however, Link is finally able to defeat this terror of Hyrule.
The destruction of any final boss is usually a high-octane moment, but Tears of the Kingdom adds to the energy with the moment coming under a Blood Moon. When the Demon King disappears, it is in a nuclear-level explosion with Link watching on safely from atop the Light Dragon’s head. The story concludes in a crescendo of emotions, as players see Zelda return to herself and realize that her kingdom is now free.
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is available now on Nintendo Switch.