The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom will be released soon, and its trickle of marketing is finally beginning to speed up. There's a lot that Nintendo may not want to reveal too early about this sequel to Breath of the Wild, but there also needs to be enough apparent differences to make sure that fans can tell the two games apart. A dominant part of the discussion regarding The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom pertains to what changes have occurred between BotW and the newer title, with discussions such as traditional dungeons, weapon durability, and the story structure being frequent talking points. Another common topic is what's going on with Princess Zelda.
When players last saw her, she had begun to adventure through Hyrule alongside Link. Tears of the Kingdom seems to open with the pair exploring an underground ruin that culminates in a Malice-ridden corpse. Whatever or whoever this corpse is, possibly Ganondorf, wakes up and apparently casts Zelda into a dark pit. Many have theorized that Link is promptly transported into the sky for his tutorial, leaving Zelda deep below the surface. What happens next is unclear, with a contingent of players hopeful that Zelda won't just be a distressed damsel again, becoming playable instead. However, looking back at past Zelda titles offers a third option.
Twilight Princess' Puppet Zelda Is A Twist Worth Revisiting
In The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, Princess Zelda remained out of the way for most of the plot. Partway through the game, Wolf Link takes a dying Midna back to Princess Zelda to be healed, and the resulting power expenditure leaves Zelda weak and vulnerable. By the time players see her again in the endgame, Zelda has been totally dominated by Ganondorf's will, becoming Puppet Zelda and serving as an interesting take on the classic Phantom Ganon boss fight. This is only the first part of Twilight Princess' finale, and Zelda quickly returns to assisting Link. However, this moment still stands out as a novel twist in Link, Zelda, and Ganondorf's dynamic, and bringing it back could be compelling.
With the overwhelming power that the Ganondorf figure is shown to wield in Tears of the Kingdom, Link's Master Sword shatters and Zelda begins to have doubts about defeating him. This overwhelming form of Malice could theoretically be enough to overpower Zelda's own abilities as the reincarnation of Hylia, and then corrupt her like so many Sheikah artifacts were in Breath of the Wild. Such a twist may not fulfill fan demands, but it would be an unexpected way to both keep Zelda in the story as an active antagonist and call back to an interesting moment.
A Parallel Princess Hilda Figure Could Grace Tears of the Kingdom
With that said, corruption is not the only way to go about twisting Zelda's role in Tears of the Kingdom. The ancient Zonai images seen in some of the game's trailers suggest that there may be other Zelda-like figures in the ancient past or even the present. Whether they show up in this game's take on flashbacks or in ruins high in the sky, characters that run parallel to Princess Zelda could play prominent roles.
This might work similarly to Princess Hilda in The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds. Hilda is not an evil character, but she is willing to endanger Hyrule for the sake of Lorule. It would be a surprising twist to see Zelda's Zonai equivalent turn out like this, perhaps out of a strong desire to seal Ganondorf's Malice away once more without considering the fate of Link, Zelda, and future generations of Hylians. Whatever the case, there are multiple ways to keep Zelda relevant in Tears of the Kingdom, and the game could be better if Nintendo picks one and sticks with it.
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom will be released on May 12, 2023, for the Nintendo Switch.
