Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom - Story Explained (Part 1/3)

thank you [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] breath of the wild was a game about loneliness an amnesiac hero uncovering the truth of his Kingdom's collapse learning to survive and overcome the Hostile Wilderness left after the great Calamity its direct sequel tears of the kingdom is instead a game about Connections about bringing hyrule's Next Generation together to fight against an ancient yet familiar evil both games are set in the Kingdom of Hyrule a vast land steeped in history and Legend [Music] the story of this Kingdom stretches back thousands upon thousands of years though many details from its histories have been eroded or distorted by the passage of time or even lost entirely breath of the wild explains that hyrule's history is inextricably linked with the story of the Calamity Ganon a primal evil that has appeared time and time again an ancient legend tells of a war ten thousand years ago where an emergence of the Calamity had been repelled by a hero a princess and the power of the sheikah tribe this nightmare returned a century before breath of the wild a terrible apocalyptic event that resulted in the death of the king and the destruction of most of the Kingdom the Calamity was eventually defeated by link a Hylian Knight after recovering for a hundred years in the shrine of Resurrection very little is known about the Calamity ancient texts suggest that it was once a Gerudo man but now is more akin to a force of nature it does not communicate it can't be bargained with and it wants nothing but the destruction of the Kingdom every time it appears it appears from the same place directly underneath Hyrule Castle itself [Music] after destroying the Calamity Zelda spent the next few years rebuilding Hyrule accompanied Always by her chosen Knight link she moves into the house link bought in hetano village where she oversees the construction of a school to educate hyrule's Next Generation to do this she employs Bolson the old head Carpenter who has since passed the torch to Hudson our beloved president of what is now called Hudson construction with Hudson's help Hyrule began the Monumental task of restoring what they had lost to the Calamity the president not only worked to expand Tarrytown in akola he also built a new fortification over the sacred grounds just south of the castle Lookout Landing which quickly became a thriving community at the center of the country his company set up resource caches all over the land he was at the center of a civilization just beginning to piece itself back together Ganon itself is once again Fading Into myth children are born and grow up believing the Calamity to be little more than a fairy tale and to be fair to the children almost every single relic of the ancient chica was hidden or destroyed after the calamity's defeat the Divine beasts Guardian shells and shrines all removed from the land it's possible that some of the old technology was processed for parts used in the construction of Skyview Towers these were designed by the sheikah scientist Pura and built by none other than Hudson construction intended to survey their surroundings and provide accurate map data hura and the other sheikah scientist Robbie had been in the Royal Family's service ever since before the great Calamity responsible for all manner of research into ancient technology and after Calamity Ganon Was Defeated they put their minds to Elder's restoration project eventually constructing the Pura pad this device is entirely different to the sheikah Slate used by Link in breath of the Wilds which was over ten thousand years old by that point this one is much newer a tool designed to help Zelda with her work a prototype had been built by Robbie then the device was refined and improved by both scientists including the addition of the camera rune Pura wonders if there will be a time when everyone in Hyrule carries their very own purapad we knew from pura's Diary in breath of the wild that she already possessed her own chica slate even back then and used it to install and experiment with an anti-aging Rune like Robbie Pura is well over a century old but prior to the events of breath of the wild performed an experiments that resulted in her reverting to the appearance of a small child at some point after that game she became Fed Up of being treated as a kid and of needing jet packs to reach high places so adjusted her device accelerating her development until she resembled a 20 year old woman Zelda wasn't only interested in technology but archeology and history she created the zonai survey team a task force to discover and analyze ancient documents and ruins she appoints Toro a particularly keen and knowledgeable Hylian as the leader of this team and the group begins their Research into hyrule's mysterious history ruins from the ancient Zone eye can be found all across Hyrule even during breath of the wild but very little was known about them other than the fact that they were a powerful race of magic wielders who vanished suddenly long ago they predate even the ancient Chica the clan whose advanced technology had helped to seal the Calamity Ganon ten thousand years ago but the truth behind them had been lost to time this time of peace and hope wouldn't last however an Insidious substance known as Gloom began afflicting the people of Hyrule causing them to fall ill after coming into contact with it Gloom doesn't just physically harm people like Calamity ganon's malice it Withers them small exposure to it can be cured with direct sunlight but more severe contact will permanently wound or kill outright eventually the secret their case was discovered leading into the Forgotten foundations of Hyrule Castle from which the Gloom appeared to be seeping into the kingdom Zelda of course volunteered herself for the Expedition she explains that the royal family have always been aware of these underground Chambers when she was a child she asked her father King Rome about them but was told that seeing them for themselves or even discussing their existence at all was forbidden King Rome had warned her that no one must ever Venture beneath the castle not even one of us a warning that had apparently been passed down through the Royal line for as long as anyone could remember the princess was not alone of course before venturing underground she traveled to the korok forest alongside link her chosen Knight and sworn protector a hero worthy of wielding the legendary Master Sword capable of of repelling evil during the Great Calamity the master sword was terribly damaged to restore it Zelda had left it in the care of the Deku Tree where it rested for a hundred years while link recovered in the shrine of resurrection and Zelda used Her Sacred powers to keep the Calamity Ganon imprisoned within Hyrule Castle the Deku Tree explains that the master sword could not only heal itself but grow ever stronger if it is bathed in sacred power the stronger the power and the longer the sword is exposed to it the greater its power becomes the Deku Tree believes that the sword's true power May in fact be Limitless this is presumably how the master sword was healed over the course of the century before breath of the wild it was bathed in the sacred energy of the Deku Tree and the korok forest enough to restore it to its former strength the master sword was wielded by link during his Showdown with the Calamity Ganon used as it had been countless times before to banish the darkness that threatened Hyrule and restore peace to the realm afterwards it seems that link once again laid the blade to rest in the korok forest where it slept until he had need of it once more now with a shadow once again looming over Hyrule link draws his sword once more and travels into the Forgotten foundations of the castle to protect his princess and uncover the source of the mysterious Gloom pair descent traveling deeper and deeper into the bowels of the castle they walk down broken staircases and through caves littered with cracked Stone where the walls glow within Eerie light ominously the blade of the master sword lights up a sign that the pair are approaching an unseen evil eventually Lincoln Zelda encounter ruins different to the Hylian stonework closer to the surface they're decorated with ancient symbols identifying them as the work of the zonai according to Zelda the zonai were a civilization from the distant past who lived in the time of earliest Legend they possessed god-like powers and had a prosperous civilization of floating islands in the sky Link and Zelda discover statues depicting what they believe to be zonai individuals strange alien figures with long ears the pair continued their descent until they reach a large chamber where they're attacked by Keys weak monsters that are quickly obliterated by the master sword this isn't just any ordinary room though its walls are decorated with elaborate murals depicting events from hyrule's distant past in particular a terrible conflict that became known as the imprisoning war in total there are seven murals in this chamber though the last three are obscured behind Rocky debris the first depicts a zonai descending from the sky welcomed by hylians on the surface below the zonai brings with them seven artifacts secret Stones which can amplify the powers of whoever wields them the second mural shows a zonai forming a bond with a Hylian woman according to Zelda her ancestors the first of hyrule's Royal fam family were born from a union with Gods who had descended from the heavens these murals imply that these gods were the zonai and that together with hylians they had founded the kingdom of Hyrule Princess Zelda then is a distant descendant of the zonai the next two murals immortalize a tragedy first an ominous figure stealing a secret Stone from the woman from the previous image and next the same dark figure commanding his servants in a fierce battle a red wave of his power spreading across the land and the blood moon glowing in the sky above these four murals show hyrule's earliest history and the outbreak of the imprisoning war the three hidden murals show the war's end which we'll come back to later but it's important to remember that these obscured murals exist right at the beginning of the game hyrule's ancient history is quite literally set in stone Link and Zelda continue on from the mural room through a dark Corridor until they emerge in the imprisoning chamber and come face to face with the secrets that their kingdom was built on at electrified figure is bent backwards in the center of the chamber apparently Frozen in place at his chest he is held by a glowing arm which Trails off into a spiral of blue-green energy this is the body of Ganondorf the same figure depicted on the murals stealing a sacred stone and leading his Army against the kingdom of Hyrule the imprisoning war is named for his imprisonment he has been trapped here deep below the surface since time immemorial as the pair approached this haunting Discovery the hand-holding ganondorf's body twitches then Falls limp a stone whose teardrop shape matches that of the secret stones of the zonai falls from the back of the hand onto the cold ground Zelda Taps the stone then picks it up before it begins to Glow with a bright light but before she can begin to study it the unmistakable sound of a heartbeat Echoes through the chamber horrified the princess can only watch as the body begins to Twitch and convulse cracking with the first movement after countless eons of imprisonment it almost writes itself then drops back its head hanging upside down before it snaps towards the hair and its eyes light up burning with an insatiable Timeless hatred great tendrils of concentrated Gloom explode from ganondorf's chest flooding the chamber and lunging directly at the princess but link meets it with the master sword jumping in front of Zelda and parrying back the evil but this foe is beyond anything they've encountered before the Gloom rushes forward once again crawling down the master sword's blade and onto links are severely wounding him it's worth reminding that this link is already an accomplished hero here he is at the peak of his power after being trained and augmented by the trials of the ancient chica during breath of the wild during this opening segment he has three full stamina wheels and a total of 30 hearts but not for long the Gloom shatters Link's strength reducing his Hearts back down to three the same amounts he had when he awoke from the shrine of Resurrection his body weak and his mind wiped not only this the Gloom Burns right through Link's Champions tunic and horrifically wounds his right arm leaving it scarred and glowing with dark energy even the holy Master sort a weapon designed by the goddess hylia specifically to oppose evil is not immune to it and the blade is stained with Gloom a final tendril rushes towards the pair and Link once again tries to Parry it oh foreign but this time it's too much the master sword breaks half of the blade splinters into tiny sacred shards one piece however flies towards Ganondorf narrowly missing his neck and running across his cheek it cuts into ancient flesh and his blood begins to boil but no more the blade of Evil's Bane is broken leaving only a single scratch on the Demon King for the first time in Millennia Beyond counting Ganondorf speaks was that the sword that seals with Darkness that shatter so easily against my power cannot save you from me somehow Ganondorf knows both Link and Zelda by name he claims that someone named raru had placed his faith in link and mocks him for his weakness he arches back and releases a final wave of glue this time upwards towards the Cave's ceiling it pushes an ancient stone block and the cave begins to collapse around them and on the surface Hyrule Castle itself begins to rise into the air finally free from his imprisonment Ganondorf allows himself to fall into the endless Blackness below exhausted link drops to one knee and before Zelda can come to his Aid the floor beneath her gives way Zelda drops into the same dark pit where Ganondorf had vanished and Link without a second thought for his injury leaps after her but he misses Zelda Falls helpless until a golden light envelops her and she disappears this is where the princess and the hero are separated and the story of Tears of the Kingdom splits in two link is caught mid-air by the hand that had previously held Ganondorf and pulled upwards into the light where he eventually awakens on the great Sky Island Zelda however wakes up dazed and confused on what appears to be the surface of Hyrule though it isn't the Hyrule she knows instead Zelda finds that she has somehow been transported into hyrule's distant past to a time not long after the kingdoms found him here age is removed from her own time she uncovers the mysteries of the ancient Zona and becomes the central part of this game's cyclical narrative by setting up the events that will eventually occur for link who remains in the present day [Music] Zelda is woken by two strange individuals a couple who claim to be king raru and queen Sonia the first rulers of the kingdom of Hyrule Zelda is of course hyrule's princess the daughter of King Rome boss varamus Hyrule which can mean only one thing she has been transported to a time so far back in the past it has become Legend king raru and queen Sonia are the figures depicted on this mural theirs was the union that the kingdom of Hyrule was built upon this means that Sonia is a hyrulean woman and raru is a zonai it's worth noting that it doesn't seem that this figure on the mural is roru specifically we're told later on that he is one of only remaining zonai and it was his ancestors who had descended to the surface bringing seven secret stones with them long long ago so even though Zelda has been transported to the distant past it's still a long time after the Golden Age of the zonai even this far back their civilization is ancient and shrouded in mystery the only Zone I left are raru and his older sister minaru they're tall animal people with incredibly long ears it was said that hylians had long pointed ears so that they could hear the voices of the Gods both of the zonai are magical in different ways mineru can separate her spirit from her body but raru has the power of light at sacred force that can repel and destroy evil they both have a third eye on their foreheads representing their Enlightenment that opens when they wield their magic powers Sonia's appearance closely resembles zeldas in fact she claims that she can sense a blood connection between Zelda and herself and King roru she can also sense that Zelda possesses not only the power to control time like Sonia herself but also raru's power of light this means that Zelda is the distant descendant of this couple the very first members of the hyrulean royal family we'd never see any of the couple's children in game but the very fact that Zelda is descended from them and what happens to them later on in the story means that their children must already exist somewhere and would go on to continue this bloodline Through the Ages all the way up until the birth of this Princess Zelda Zelda explains to the king and queen that in her time something terrible is happening but that she does not know how she got here or how to get back to the Future Sonia advises her not to panic to come back with them to the castle where they can come up with a plan raru suggests that minaru the only other remaining zonai may be able to help at this point in history the great Plateau appears to have been the center of the kingdom of Hyrule in breath of the wild the old man describes this place as the birthplace of the kingdom of Hyrule and it seems that this is true for the Kingdom founded by raru and Sonia a different Temple of Time One built by the zonai is found in its place on the plateau and it seems that this era's Hyrule Castle is found nearby too breath of the Wild's Hyrule Castle does not yet exist raru and Sonia's Castle is built here on the great plateau in this time period Hyrule appears largely Uncharted and Untamed aside from the great Plateau the main island of civilization this Hyrule is even wilder than the one we know Central Hyrule is a forest rather than a field Death Mountain features a smoke ring much like its appearance in Ocarina of Time and the dueling Peaks are that this point still one mountain according to Legend the Peaks were created when a dragon split one mountain into two a legend that seems to be true raru's Hyrule is defended by shrines of light mystical stones that glow with spirals of green energy in the early days of the Kingdom Hyrule was plagued by monsters which assaulted and terrorized its people in response raru and Sonia built shrines to imprison this evil each of them Works somehow as holy seals to keep Hyrule safe in this time period shrines of light are found in different places to the ones link will eventually encounter thousands of years in the future like the ones that defend the great Plateau but another purpose of the shrines of light is to illuminate the terrifying Darkness below Hyrule the depths far below the surface lies a dark World a warped reflection of the world above it completely without light that is except for the light Roots tree-like structures that are found directly below shrines on the surface the name of each light root is just the name of the shrine above it in reverse and they're activated by zonai Magic it's likely that raru and Sonia created the light Roots specifically to illuminate the depths during this time a Chamberlain was appointed to record accounts of the lives of the king and queen to preserve their stories for Discovery in the future these give insight into the history and personality of the royal couple we learned that Sonia was once a priestess born on the surface she is exceptionally intelligent more so than even King raru who values her wisdom and insight on matters both large and small the king himself was jovial with an easy laugh he often set aside his Royal duties in favor of hunting only returning to his responsibilities when sought out and scolded by Sonia after her sudden appearance in This Time Zelda is welcomed into king raru's castle and given new clothes by Queen Sonia but she is still focused on finding a way to return to her own time and so raru accompanies her to meet his older sister minaru like Zelda minaru is a keen researcher her study is filled with books and she's said to become so engrossed in them that she forgets to eat minaru has a particular fascination with zonai constructs they're described as vessels for the spirit when the body fails so with her ability to separate her spirit from her body she hopes that she can extend her life she would eventually show Zelda her greatest work a giant Mecca raru's Spirit later claims to have overseen the creation of the constructs from Rangers and culinary constructs all the way to soldiers they're all powered by the same strands of green energy perhaps they too are vessels for Spirits in some way the creation and maintenance of this technology required a lot of energy which was mined in the depths huge Minds were found in all corners of the world deep underneath every town their constructs mine for zonite a luminous mineral that can be processed into charges we're only told that zonite contains a mysterious energy but considering that it's mostly found in the depths a realm of the Dead this energy could be connected to Spirits similar to luminous Stones said to contain the souls of the Dead [Music] miniru shows a particular interest in Zelda's poorer part she notes that it is definitely not of her era and asks to borrow it for a while to attempt to restore its teleportation function and to research the device further she hands the device to a nearby Steward construct who shelves it away mineral like Sonia and raru possesses her own secret Stone hers amplifies her power of spirit raru's Stone amplifies his light powers and Sonia's her control of time a secret Stone can detect and react to an individual's innate powers and will change its appearance and color to match once a stone is in somebody's possession it becomes engraved with a symbol that represents its power these symbols are based on real world kanji only stylized and each featuring an Eye Design raru's stone is engraved with the symbol for light minerals has the symbol for spirit and Sonia the symbol for time but Zelda also possesses a stone engraved with the symbol for time minaru explains that just like Sonia said Zelda possesses the power to control both light and time but the zonai notes that the secret Stone She carries appears to amplify her time power specifically so it appears that a secret Stone will only strengthen one particular aspect of an individual's Powers even when that individual holds mult different abilities Zelda came into possession of this Stone when it fell from the hand imprisoning Ganondorf but first this Stone was white in color but one Zelda touched it it reacted to the powers within her and became a yellow time Stone this miniru explains is how Zelda ended up in the distant past in the first place secret Stones don't create new abilities or grant their wielder's new magic they simply amplify the powers that are already found within someone when she fell into the crevice deep below Hyrule Castle it was her own innate power to control time that transported her to the Past only Amplified by the possession of a secret Stone this means that there isn't an easy way to return to the present day if Zelda doesn't know how she was able to manipulate time in the first place she won't be able to reverse it except for one Sinister possibility minaru also explains that there are stories about a forbidden act called draconification that's to swallow a secret stone is to become an immortal Dragon one blessed with eternal life but that to become an immortal dragon is to lose oneself this would provide a way for Zelda to return to her own time but it would mean sacrificing everything losing what makes her her instead raru decides that Zelda should spend some time with Sonia who also has the ability to control time and a Time secret stone that matches Zelda's together raru hopes they will be able to study and to understand Zelda's Powers more and perhaps find a way to send her home [Music] raru's young kingdom was strong but not without its own troubles in the deserts to the Southwest a dark storm was gathering Hyrule was watched by envious eyes the Gerudo are a race of tall powerful warriors as tough and as dangerous as the desert they call home the Gerudo are notable for being almost entirely female only one male is born every Century a man destined to become their King in the time of King rarun the Gerudo leader was called Ganondorf a man of great power and great ambition Ganondorf was known to be a warrior of unmatched strength a master of all weapons who could move his hulking Mass with impossible speed but he was also an incredible sorcerer and was able to control darkness in the form of Gloom from the desert Ganondorf watched the Kingdom and plotted its downfall Hyrule would bow before him this land would be his to shape as he saw fit at first Ganondorf kept his true ambition secret but he was known to be dangerous he repeatedly ignored invitations from King raru to swear fealty the Gerudo King's first move against Hyrule occurred during the time Princess Zelda was sent back to an initial assault to test the Kingdom's military strength Ganondorf and a small force of Gerudo Warriors loyal to him stand at a high vantage point and unleash the raw power of the desert against Hyrule one Gerudo woman plays an ornate flute and the eerie music calls forth a swarm of molduga giant monsters who swim in the desert sand each of them is a powerful threat in its own right but this many together is unprecedented guards stationed on the Great plateau's Walls spot the oncoming horde and sound the alarm before long King raru himself appears with Queen Sonia and Zelda just behind though this is an era without an incarnation of Link this Hyrule is anything but defenseless without a word raru brings his hands together in front of his face his secret Stone which amplifies his innate power to use light to dispel evil starts to Glow behind him Sonia raises her right arm and beckons for Zelda to do the same The pair's Identical secret Stones start to Glow as they add their power to rarus notably Zelda's power glows with a much larger brighter light than Sonia's perhaps indicating that even without training she possesses a much greater power raru keeps his eyes on the approaching Halt and focuses the energy between his hands suddenly the third eye on his forehead opens and his power explodes outwards foreign subsides the remains of ganondorf's first Invasion lies dying in the sand disappointed by this outcome the Gerudo King realizes that brute force will not be enough raru augmented by his secret stone is too powerful his ability to repel evil is too great a defense but the king of Hyrule had literally shown his hand even from a great distance Ganondorf spots the secret Stone shining on raru's wrist these zonai artifacts are the key to Hyrule strength but could also be used against the kingdom if Ganondorf could not break Hyrule by force he would Instead try deception to lul raru in his kingdom into a false peace sometime after the molduga assault Ganondorf accompanied by his retinue of Gerudo Warriors traveled to Hyrule Castle to swear Fielding in the throne room they are received by king raru queen Sonia and Zelda the two Gerudo women directly behind Ganondorf stand out for wearing gold masks these two are presumably among his highest ranking servants they also flanked him during the molduga attack on their left shoulders are sashes with Hylian lettering which translates to kume and kotake identifying this pair as the witches seen during Ocarina of Time and the Oracle games in Ocarina of Time these witches who eventually combine to form twin Rover are said to be the 400 year old surrogate mothers of Ganondorf they look considerably younger here so they might not have raised this Ganondorf but it's clear that their still important to him their names can also be found marked on the Gloom set of weapons used by Ganondorf himself Ganondorf and his Gerudo Kneel Before the Throne pledging his service to rauru in return for acceptance into his kingdom the king accepts commending Ganondorf on his status and welcoming him into his realm but even as rauru speaks ganondorf's Focus was instead on the secret Stones ancient talismans of unimaginable power hanging from the necks of Zelda and Sonia and from raru's wrist for his first action as an official part of the kingdom of Hyrule Ganondorf chooses to honor the king with thinly veiled insults and threats in his own throne room mockingly he Muses the when raru's ancestors first descended on these lands long ago they must have seemed to be Gods he points out how by taking a hyrulean woman as his wife and now ruling this land as its King raru has risen above his admirable lineage the Gerudo King values power and power alone and the kingdom of Hyrule protects the weak and defends the innocent in the time before the Kingdom's founding the world had been a place of chaos a brutal land where only the strongest thrived a time that Ganondorf believed had more Vigor and fighting Spirits Ganondorf rejects the idea that one of the Godlike zonai should dare to control this land he despises the peace that raru and Sonia have insured but the zonai are gone their time is over and they no longer Grace the world with their presence except for raru and minaru raru defends himself he claims that even if something happens to him his kingdom will endure for generations to come this could be another indication that raru and Sonia do indeed have children who will inherit the throne and uphold raori's peace even after his death one king dismisses the other and Ganondorf climbs to his feet and turns to leave signaling his retinue to do the same Zelda who had watched The Exchange from rauru's side is concerned about trusting Ganondorf she believes that his heart holds dark Ambitions and notes that even his name gives her paws the name Ganondorf should probably do more than just give her pause considering she had previously kept a dark being named Ganon imprisoned for a century but nevertheless raru explains that he is well aware of the Gerudo King's evil nature he claims that he wants to keep Ganondorf close where he can keep an eye on him and assures the princess that she need not worry this entire throne room scene is incredibly reminiscent of a scene from Ocarina of Time where link first finds Zelda in her Courtyard peering in through one of the Castle's windows in both games Ganondorf travels to the castle to swear fealty to the King on his knees though secretly plans to overthrow him in both games Zelda warns the king about ganondorf's intentions and the King ignores her a decision that would lead to tragedy the Chamberlain's stone tablets describe an unsettling development in this time period there are Whispers of a strange lady who walks around the castle at night a woman who appears identical to Princess Zelda in all ways but one her eyes are lifeless and dead when asked Zelda herself remembers nothing of these walks something or someone stalks raru's castle in the black of night wearing Zelda's face like a mask sometime later Zelda sits under a gazebo with raru and Sonia attended to by constructs and protected by a handful of Royal Guards the princess reaches out her hands and accidentally knocks a bowl off the table it falls towards the stone floor then stops and retraces its path back onto the table this this is a display of Sonia's time Power strengthened by her secret Stone the queen explains that it's like drawing out an object's memory coaxing it back towards a certain Moment In Time Zelda is as of yet unable to properly control the time Powers she inherited through Sonia's bloodline and so she remains trapped in this time period the three discuss Zelda's predicament she wants desperately to return home but also to lend her support to this time where a conflict with the Gerudo King seems all but certain but Sonia is exceptionally perceptive and knows that there is another reason Zelda needs to return home link at the mere mention of his name Zelda smiles and describes the hero to raru he is a royal Knight one originally appointed to be her protector he is dedicated and refuses to back down from any challenge he is very strong and his heart is good and true Zelda's feelings towards link were a central part of her character in breath of the wild eventually it was her love for him that awakened her ceiling powers and prevented the total collapse of her kingdom and even now while trapped in a different age Zelda has complete faith in her night one night Princess Zelda requests a private audience with Queen Sonia in the quiet Courtyard outside the castle the pair meets no guards no raru just Sonia and Zelda except it's not Zelda at all it's the mysterious doppelganger who wastes no time in drawing a Gerudo knife and hurling it towards the queen but the blade stops dead inches from the back of Sonia's head Frozen in Time Sonia turns and faces the doppelganger she always knew the true purpose of this meeting and the true identity of this mysterious clone this is not Zelda it is a puppet of Ganondorf an illusion summoned with his dark magic from behind a stone pillar the real Zelda steps out her right hand outstretched engulfed in a golden light she he had been the one to freeze the dagger in time her training with Sonia has allowed her to refine and better control her abilities with a click of her fingers Zelda sends the blade spinning back towards the Phantom where it drops harmlessly at its feet with a haunting laugh the doppelganger vanishes into dark magic [Music] but Ganondorf was one step ahead the Gerudo King emerges from the shadows and hits Sonia in the back with such force that it kills her almost instantly before her body even hits the floor Ganondorf reaches out and rips the secret Stone from her neck Zelda weeps over Sonia's lifeless body but Ganondorf simply laughs a wild vicious laugh that Echoes across the plateau a sick smile on his face Ganondorf turns and walks away Sonia's secret Stone glows gold in his hand still marked with the time symbol that reflects the Queen's inner power but it was her Stone no longer Ganondorf holds the stone in front of him and it changes to reflect his own magic the stone grows in size before a new symbol is engraved on its surface a symbol that represents Darkness again secret Stones do not grant their wielder's new powers only amplify whatever Powers they already have Ganondorf was of course an exceptionally powerful magic user with the ability to control and manipulate dark evil forces now that it is changed to reflect these abilities ganondorf's secret Stone boosts his power significantly Zelda can only watch in Terror as the skies turn a burning red and Ganondorf is engulfed in an aura of Gloom his secret Stone glows and he screams and Ganondorf the Gerudo King is gone The Demon King stands before Zelda a colossal blood moon eclipsing the sky behind him but he wasn't finished yet he raises his hand and a beam of dark energy launches upwards striking the clouds and exploding into smaller missiles of Gloom which rain down on raru's Kingdom each of them congealing into a beast under ganondorf's control raru steps out into the courtyards too late he sees Zelda holding Sonia's body and cries out as he Mourns his dead wife Ganondorf mocks him claiming that he took the Godlike power of the secret stones for granted and that his Queen was merely the first victim of raru's arrogance spits that raru tried to control him and that he will die knowing that he failed this is ganondorf's jealousy and pride showing he hated the power that raru held over him power that he covet it Furious raru runs towards the Demon King but is stopped by Zelda who knows that despite the king of light's sacred Powers fighting against Ganondorf would mean certain death The Demon King raises his hand and sends forth a torrent of Gloom towards raru who uses his power to Shield both himself and Zelda without delay the princess picks up her purapad and uses it to teleport herself and raru as well as Sonia's body to safety thanks to miniru's work on enabling the transportation feature in this time they had escaped for now but there was no time for Relief Queen Sonia was dead and Ganon wolf possessed the power of a God the Menace was Unleashed with a secret Stone amplifying his powers there is nothing left that can stand in the Demon King's Way under the bleeding moon Legions of monsters are born into the world given a single instruction to sweep over Hyrule to eliminate this Kingdom and its allies the conflict that would become known as the imprisoning war had the gun with the Demon King unleashed the hylians weren't the only ones in danger just like during the present day raru's Hyrule is also home to the winged Rito The Aquatic Zora and the mighty gorons of Death Mountain all of whom were threatened by Ganondorf and his armies even the Gerudo ganondorf's own people were not safe those that refused to join him were destroyed and before long the last free Village in the Gerudo desert fell under his control in the Forgotten Temple in the northwest of the Kingdom raru calls for a summit to discuss the war against the demon king the leaders of the Gerudo Goron Zora and Rito tribes gather along with King raru his sister minaru and Zelda herself raru unlocks the door at the back of the temple where he Reveals His secret weapons four additional Zone I see Court stones Zelda minaru and raru himself of course already possess Stones so these four are bestowed upon the leaders of the tribes but first each stone is gigantic its surface are plain and unmarked white color but once in the possession of new Wilders the stones change to represent their powers just like zeldas and ganondorfs had done the stones transformed to reflect the power of water for the Zora wind for the Rito fire for the Goron and lightning for the Gerudo boosting each Leader's abilities to new heights we're never told the names of these four sages nor do we learn anything about their history however they each wear a mask shaped like an animal an elephant for the Zora a bird for the rito a salamander for the Goron and a camel for the Gerudo these match the designs of the four Divine beasts the colossal War engines built by the sheikah to defend Hyrule against the Calamity that occurred ten thousand years before breath of the wild raru's Hyrule and these four sages predate the Divine beasts so it seems likely that the sheikah chose designs to honor these ancient sages who would fought alongside the king in the earliest recorded conflict with the Demon King now each possessing a secret Stone the group of six individuals swear to serve raru the seventh and are each granted the title of sage this group the seven sages represents the most powerful individuals in Hyrule at the time save for the Demon King himself if there was any force that could stop him this was it on the evening before the sages planned to confront the Demon King Zelda and raru speak in private the princess reveals the truth of the events that led to her ending up in the past she had found a man underground now that she has seen Ganondorf transformed by the power of the secret Stone she realizes the man underground was Ganondorf who had lived on Through the Ages all the way up until the present day she believes that the battle tomorrow will not end in Victory she has already seen its outcome and she knows that they will fail to stop the Demon King raru admits that Zelda may be right but that it is his duty as king to try and protect his people he blames himself for ganondorf's Ascension like he had told Zelda in the throne room he had known of the Gerudo King's evil nature for a long time but failed to stop him raru says that should they fail tomorrow then their last line of defense will be link Zelda's Knight who carries the Legendary Blade of Evil's Bane and meet Ganondorf in the far future he believes that the future Zelda knows was one where she had never appeared in the past and that there is a reason that Zelda was sent back to this time the following day the alliance tracked Ganondorf down to the depths in the north of central Hyrule and in an underground chamber they face The Demon King they outnumber Ganondorf seven to one seven secret Stones against ganondorf's own all reason suggests that they should be victorious but ganondorf's Power was beyond anything they could have imagined The Demon King breaks each and every Sage his glue just like it had done in Zelda's time decays their weapons in their hands and burns their bodies with dark magic Zelda's fears had come true despite their power raru's Alliance had failed to stop Ganondorf raru seeing no other option commits himself to one final act for his kingdom he closes his eyes takes a deep breath and begins to focus his power seeing this the sages launch another attack they hurl their weapons towards the demon king who Dodges and parries each of them with ease Zelda weak and injured uses his powers to recall the weapons back towards Ganondorf but he'd seen this power before Through The Eyes of his Phantom Zelda he turns back towards raru ready to end the fight but raru isn't there the king of light uses the same trick Ganondorf had used to kill Sonia Zelda's recall attack was a distraction allowing him to move behind the king unseen time seems to slow as raru closes the distance his right arm glowing with his power of Light strengthened by his secret stone with sacred Force he strikes The Demon King in the center of his chest forming the seal that would bind him for Millennia Ganondorf knows exactly what raru has done and what it will mean he laughs saying that thousands of years will pass in the blink of an eye the seal only delays the Demon King's inevitable return but raru answers with hope because of Zelda he knows that when the seal breaks a swordsman who wields them Master Sword will face him Ganondorf spits his final words in this time he says Link's name and that he looks forward to their meeting raru and Ganondorf freeze in place the light Fades from their eyes and the Maelstrom of sacred energy erupting from the king of light slows into a glacial coil it seems that raru's seal on Ganondorf Works in a similar way to the shrines of light structures built by Sonia and himself to seal away monsters that had threatened his kingdom the Foundation of this seal is raru's power of light a direct counter to ganondorf's own dark magic the imprisoning war is over the king of darkness is sealed and the king of light with him the pair would remain here petrified for thousands upon thousands of years in what became known as the imprisoning chamber to ensure that the king's magic held the hylians constructed a new Castle directly on top of this sacred site this was built to be the new seat of the royal family raru's descendants but more importantly it was a fortress designed to protect the seal from disturbance the castle became the literal heart of the Kingdom not only located in the very center of Hyrule but critical to its survival raru's strength contained The Demon King's Powers but not entirely as strong as this seal was Ganondorf was Stronger his hatred seeped out from his chest in thick red fob deep below Hyrule surface the sheer force of his rage boiled like the heart of a volcano for Millennia until it erupted into Calamity Ghana emerging from directly below the castle this monstrosity Was Defeated however by a princess of Hyrule and a warrior wielding the soul of a hero but not forever raru seal imprisoned Ganondorf himself but he had unknowingly trapped Hyrule into a terrible cycle every ten thousand years the Demon King's hatred would manifest as a Calamity claw its way out from below Hyrule castle and try to burn the kingdom to the ground the Calamity was formed from malice which differed from Gloom Gloom appears to be the direct dark magic of Ganondorf himself while malice instead seems to be a physical manifestation of his Unstoppable rage this happened time and time again right up to the ancient Calamity ten thousand years before breath of the wild the foe defeated with the help of the Divine beasts interestingly This calamity appears to have been repelled not by a Hylian link but a hero from a different race entirely the ancient Heroes aspect granted to link for completing all of raru's shrines of light transforms link into the ancient hero the warrior shown on imper's tapestry this hero wears zonite armor which would have been incredibly ancient in this time but he doesn't seem to be a Zona his ears are much smaller and his skin is more green than the Zone eyes gray he also has red hair and a tail neither of which are present on raru or minaru whatever the truth about this ancient hero is his victory was immortalized in Legend setting the stage for the most recent emergence of Ganon this ancient Calamity caused a split in the sheikah tribe when their technology was banished by a fearful King most fled into the arms of their goddess hylia but others grew to hate the kingdom that had punished them the ancestors of those who would form the yiga clan Ten Thousand Years Later the Calamity struck again Gannon used chica Tech to build temporary bodies like the blights when it's fought in Hyrule Castle it bursts from a cocoon where it had been desperately trying to form a new body and was forced to fight Link in an incomplete State given that ganondorf's actual body was sealed deep underneath the castle the calamities that emerged on the surface seemed to be desperate subconscious attempts to create a new one outside of the seal appearing again and again throughout history until the most recent one managed to weaken raru's hold it seems that the great Calamity was the most destructive of all calamities Ganon occupied Hyrule castle for a hundred years and the ancient structure fell into ruin though the Beast was eventually destroyed by Lincoln Zelda the damage to the castle was severe enough to disturb the seal it was built upon raru's Hold On The Demon King weakened ever so slightly but this was enough for Ganondorf to begin building his power once again so even though the princess and the hero had ended the Calamity their Kingdom wasn't yet free Gloom began seeping from deep below the castle poisoning those who came close this in turn caused Lincoln Zelda to investigate and the pair entered the Forbidden tunnels that lead to the imprisoning chamber eventually stumbling onto hyrule's oldest Secrets after so many thousands of years Ganondorf has withered his ancient skin pulled tight over sinewy muscle and dry bone but raru has fared worse All That Remains of the king of light is his ceiling hand complete with his secret Stone hanging from his wrist as soon as Link and Zelda enter the imprisoning chamber roru's hand lets Ganondorf go it's as if he had been desperately holding on with the very last of his strength and let go once he sensed the rival of Zelda and The Swordsman she had promised would defeat the demon king the secret stone that Zelda picked up was raru's light Stone only when she touches it it changes to reflect her power of time this substantially boosts an ability she doesn't even know she has at this point to the level where when she falls she's able to subconsciously walk to the distant past when the seal breaks Ganondorf sends Gloom upwards pushing an ornate Zone eye pillar this in turn lifts Hyrule Castle opening a great Chasm and once again seizing the Kingdom's Capital as a trophy again this Castle was built in this place to protect this seal and now it's been forcibly moved like a cork from a bottle of incredibly angry champagne but Zelda's journey in the distant past hadn't ended with raru's sacrifice of course though this was the event that would eventually set the entire Plot In Motion Zelda remained stuck in this time after this with Sonia dead and raru sealed even before The Showdown with Ganondorf she understood the truth of her situation by traveling back through time she had entered a Time Loop in the distant past she helped create the very situation that led to her traveling back in the first place but why there must be a reason some purpose for her to fulfill in the distant past Zelda stands in the Temple of Time on the great Plateau alone she thinks of raru's sacrifice of his promise that link would meet Ganondorf in the future but she knows how this future will play out even after so many years of imprisonment The Demon King will still be too strong his Gloom will break the master sword and critically injure link for a brief moment Zelda despairs and admits to herself that she doubts that link will be strong enough to defeat him suddenly Zelda's secret Stone glows something calls to her and she steps outside of the Temple's back door out onto the long Southern pathway at the end she discovers a glowing golden ore her Stone shines again as her time Powers surge and the decayed Master Sword appears before her what remains of the blade of Evil's Bane after the attack in the far future the sword pulses with a blue light as fee speaks to the princess fee is known as the voice within the sword the spirits created by the goddess hylia in a distant age fee is in essence the consciousness of the master sword designed to serve the hero who wields it after demise's defeat at the end of Skyward Sword she had lame dormant but could still communicate powers like Zelda during breath of the wild at the end of that game when Zelda's long struggled to save her kingdom had ended she claimed that she was no longer able to hear the voice within the sword a sign that Her Sacred Powers were fading and that she was no longer bound to the path that Destiny had chosen for her now that her kingdom needs her strength once again her powers return and she's able to hear the voice fee assures her that in the future link survives the Demon King's attack and claims that the master sword has traveled back through time to reach Zelda and recover its strength finally she understands her purpose to heal the blade with her power of light to become the weapon with which link will defeat the darkness King raru was sealed below the ground but the other sages had survived the battle one by one Zelda travels to each of them and warns them of the future she tells the Rito Zora Goron and Gerudo sages about link and how in the distant future he will face The Demon King when the seal breaks she knows that he will not be able to defeat Ganondorf by himself and so asks each Sage for their support that their descendants would awaken as a new generation of sages to fight alongside her Knights each Sage not only promised Zelda this but also to leave their secret stones in the safety of their temples where they could eventually be recovered by their distant descendants Zelda also visits minaru the sage of spirit who was terribly injured from the confrontation with the demon king and explains how the decayed Master Sword arrived from the future she remembers how when she discovered ganondorf's body even the tiniest sliver of the blade of Evil's Bane had been able to cut the Demon King's flesh and boil his blood if the sword had been stronger it would have been a weapon that could oppose him a sword to seal his Darkness Zelda tells minaru what the Deku Tree had said that the master sword can absorb sacred power to not only heal itself like it had done for a century before breath of the wild but grow indefinitely stronger because Zelda not only possessed time Powers but also the same sacred light powers that raru had wielded she could pour this light into the blade minaru estimates that it takes centuries for the blade to become strong enough there would be no way for Zelda to provide the blade with her sacred power for long enough except for the Forbidden act draconification mineru objects If Zelda goes through with this she will never be able to return to her original Self she would lose everything that makes her her her her body mind and soul would be lost but Zelda understands this she knows just how terrible this sacrifice will be but that this is her purpose this is why she was sent back how she can turn the tides in Link's favor she must restore the Master Sword to its original strength and Beyond and deliver it into the hands of her chosen Knight miniru sees Zelda's determination and concedes she says that as a zonai she shares the blame for these events after all it was a zonai secret stone that had Amplified ganondorf's powers to such terrifying Heights she too commits herself to saving the future and puts her faith in link as the sage of spirits she also controlled one of hyrule's temples the spirit Temple found in the depths below the farron region the spirits Temple was found only a short distance from the construct Factory where she had experimented with building vessels for her spirit but her secret Stone was housed in the safety of the temple itself together with miniru and the other sages Zelda lays the foundations for another plan to help link in the future the raising of the sky islands Chamberlain's tablets mentioned that they were a first-hand witness to the lifting of the Temple of Time which under Zelda's instruction and the power of the sages was raised Skyward so that its and the surrounding area could become a sanctuary for link to recover in after the attack the area directly north of the Temple of Time originally known as The Garden of time was raised with it the Chamberlain's tablets were also lifted into the sky so that link could eventually uncover the history of this ancient royal family with the plans for the future decided Zelda and minaroo say their final goodbyes and reach the point of no return the princess returns to the platform at the back of the Temple of Time which is still on the great Plateau this shouldn't be the case the Chamberlain's tablets describe Zelda as working with miniru to raise the temple and the Garden of time yet it is still found on the surface during Zelda and mineroos farewell it could instead be the case that the temple and surrounding land was raised by the sages sometime after this point under Zelda's instruction but the timeline of these events is slightly unclear regardless Zelda stands on the platform holding her poorer pad minnuru has already separated her spirit from her body and instead chooses to house herself within the device itself where she can remain until the distant future to assist in the final battle the purapad is given to a steward construct for safe keeping with instructions to deliver it into Link's hands Zelda however could not separate Spirit from flesh she had only one way to reach the future and provide assistance to her Hero by sacrificing her very self looking down at the shattered Master Sword Zelda promises once more to restore it to transform it into the weapon that will defeat the demon king she tears her secret Stone from her neck and braces herself she may be trapped in another time but she was still her hyrule's princess like raru had said it was her duty to give everything to protect it she swallows the stone and the sky darkens what she had just done was wrong and act so terrible that the Zone I had forbidden it she would never die she would endure forever as a being Beyond her understanding all to protect her kingdom her people and her link for a second nothing happens until a golden light explodes from her chest racked with an agonizing pain she reaches out with shaking hands and grabs the master sword and clutches it close to her chest she is terrified she has brought an overwhelming power upon herself a power that would strip her of everything in her final moments she again calls out to link gigantic sphere of light rushes outwards completely swallowing the princess the same light that had appeared when she had used Her Sacred light Powers against the Calamity the four remaining sages can only watch from near the castle as Zelda is consumed and a dragon emerges from the light as it winds its way up into the sky the light dragon roars a terrible heartbreaking cry Zelda's golden hair has transformed into the dragon's Mane and the master sword itself is fastened onto her forehead though Zelda's eyes have been Twisted by the power of the secret Stone they show that some part of the princess's Consciousness lives on as the dragon ascends it weeps and its great tears rain down across the kingdom it twists through the clouds then vanishes Zelda is gone and only the light dragon Remains The Light Dragon roamed above the clouds for thousands and thousands of years all the while raru and Ganondorf remain sealed below the castle it lived as Hyrule Rose and fell and rose again as calamities emerged and were repelled time after time at many points throughout hyrule's history this would mean that there were two zeldas alive at the same time whatever princess of Hyrule was born on the surface and the light dragon hidden far above the clouds this Dragon existed even during the Great Calamity when a younger version of itself the princess who would become the dragon fought to defend Hyrule against ganon's malice for ages Beyond counts the master sword was bathed in the light dragon's sacred power the scars of the Demon King's wounds were healed restoring the blade first to its original strength then beyond Zelda's sacrifice meant that the blade would absorb enough power that Ganondorf could never break it again this also means that for much of hyrule's History Two Master swords existed we don't know anything about the whereabouts of the blade during the distant past but at some point between this time and the present day it must have appeared in order for it to be used by the hero during the ancient Calamity and for it to be enshrined in the korok forest before breath of the wild and all the while the same sword just at a different point in its timeline was stuck in the head of the lights Dragon far above at some points during these many ages a new Temple of Time was constructed on the great Plateau one closely resembling that found in Ocarina of Time while the original remained above the clouds forgotten Zelda's draconification brings the other dragons into question dinraal Nedra and farash are the Servants of the Springs described as ancient spirits who took the form of dragons minaru stresses that the consumption of a secret Stone to cause draconification is strictly forbidden a legend passed down by her people so there is precedent for ancient zonai having swallowed secret stones and become Eternal dragons a terrible sacrifice dinraal Nedra and farash in particular seem to have been worshiped by the zonai represented by the Ember frostbite and charged robes said to have been used in ancient rituals their faces are notably different to the Light Dragons with much longer ears and hair like rarus they were ancient sonai long before rauru's time who made the forbidden sacrifice with the full story of the imprisoning war complete we can return to the murals found just below Hyrule Castle these were obviously built sometime after the war ended to immortalize hyrule's history and to act as a warning for what lurked in the next chamber again Link and Zelda eventually encounter murals showing the zonai's original descent to the surface raru and Sonia founding Hyrule Ganondorf killing Sonia and taking her secret Stone and the Demon King leading his armies against Hyrule but there were three more murals hidden under piles of stone this can eventually be cleared by Link at the very end of the game revealing the story's conclusion first a mural depicting roru and the six sages complete with their secret Stones facing off against the demon king notably Princess Zelda herself is depicted here even even though these murals existed long before Zelda ever traveled to the past the next murals continue her story we see Zelda at the Temple of Time receiving the broken master sword from link through a portal to the Future and finally we see her sacrifice the light dragon climbs into the heavens with the master sword buried in its head Zelda's story is a Time Loop she had always traveled back to the past to set these events up she was always involved with ganondorf's imprisonment even before she claimed raru's secret Stone this is the reason that Ganondorf already knows link and Zelda's names even at the beginning of the game before we see her time travel it's already happened the past is already written the ink is dry like the great Calamity that brought Zelda's Hyrule to its knees the imprisoning war was a tragedy the young Kingdom had lost its beloved king and queen and Zelda sacrificed herself to an eternal Solitude in the sky everything rested on the shoulders of a warrior in the distant future foreign [Music] [Applause] [Music] foreign

Channel: Zeltik

Views: 549,172

Keywords: Zelda

Id: hZytp1sIZAw

Length: 81min 24sec (4884 seconds)

Published: Sat Jun 24 2023