The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdomhas been released to an impressive amount of praise. Critics and fans alike have been excited to get back lost in the world of Hyrule all over again, andZelda: Tears of the Kingdomprovided all that and more. Not only does the surface of Hyrule feel refreshed, but there are also traversable sky islands and even an entire underground map. With an epic story pulling Link between all three elevations, players can once again take their time soaking in all thatTears of the Kingdomhas to offer.
Plenty of secrets and Easter eggs dot the landscape, with the items referencing past games fromBreath of the Wild’s DLC now worked into the game as special treasures. Combined with story events and flashbacks all over the map, there are plenty of lore and references topast lore throughoutZelda:Tears of the Kingdom. The only issue is that this has made placingTotKinto theZeldatimeline more difficult than expected. Going in, players thought that the prominent sky islands would surely connectTears of the KingdomtoSkyward Sword, but couldn’t have known how distinct each game really was.
This article contains spoilers forThe Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom.RELATED:Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom Massively Improves on a Core Idea From Skyward Sword
Skyward Sword Seemed Like An Obvious Precursor to Tears of the Kingdom
As soon as the teaser trailer forBreath of the Wild 2showed Hyrule Castle rising from the ground, the entireZeldafandom thought of the sky islands fromThe Legend of Zelda:Skyward Sword. Having been declared the earliest canonical entry,Skyward Swordfills a vital spot inZeldalore. It contextualized many key events like Hylia’s mortal reincarnation, the first assembly of the Triforce, the creation of the Master Sword, and, depending on how one interprets Demise’s final words, the start of Link and Zelda’s eternal struggle against evil.
SinceSkyward Swordshared a writer and director withBotWandTotK, fans took the ascent of Hyrule Castle as early confirmation thatTears of the Kingdomwould tie up the trilogy. Now thatTotKis out, some theories such asTears of the Kingdompartially taking place in the sky proved correct, and it could even beconsidered parallel toSkyward Swordas the final game inZelda’s known timeline. However, despite multiple references toSkyward Sword,Tears of the Kingdomdoes not lean on its predecessor’s story, and may even contradict it.
Tears of the Kingdom References Zelda Lore Without Relying On It
Just about every major plot pointSkyward Swordputs forth is paralleled inTotKin some way but ends up muddling their relationship instead of connecting them. Both titles cover the birth of the Kingdom of Hyrule, and address the cycle of Link fighting Ganondorf — thoughToTKseemingly concerns a separate Hyrulehaunted by the Demon King Ganondorf, rather than the Demon King Demise.Skyward Sword’s Hyrule was also founded by Hylians from the sky, whileTotK’s introduces the airborne Zonai to co-found Hyrule with surface-dwelling Hylians.
That’s not even getting into smaller parallels that seem coincidental like Zelda going into stasis until the present and the presence of sky islands at all. So many details like this are marginalized, such as Fi appearing to stir in the Master Sword again, that it’s difficult to say if they truly mean anything. Nearly every potential connection toSkyward Swordappears accidental or as a simple homage, which is a surprise considering how many there are. Still, that meansTears of the Kingdomstands without its franchise' helpand puts its own spin onSkyward Sword’s ideas, which only speaks to the newer game’s strength.
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdomis available now on Nintendo Switch.
MORE:How Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom Breaks the Cycle Started by Zelda: Skyward Sword
