#but rauru is different i suppose

[seagullcharmer]

thinking abt totk and oot and how we, the audience, recognise rauru's name as the sage of light in oot, but in totk meet a new rauru, who was both the first king of hyrule, but also a sage of light. timeline-speaking, was the rauru of oot just coincidentally the sage of light and shared his name with the first one? or was it his fate, and his parents named him accordingly? or was he a history nerd who chose that name willingly? makes me wonder......

[puppyeared]

Wyrm on a string

[ruairy]

.

[thebleedingeffect]

REMINDER FOR FUTURE ME, write the introduction for Sky's capture and the destruction of skyloft please and thank you

[neverchecking]

TotK Link

Okay, I know not everyone has played Tears of the Kingdom, nevertheless finished (I know I haven't), but I just have brainrot that I need to spread.

And I now have the platform to do so >:)

So, of course, Spoilers under the cut!

CW: Yandere, TotK spoilers!

・❥・So, this can go two ways. One, TotK Link is Wild who was taken mid-adventure with the other Links. Or, two, this is an entirely different Link, kind of like Calamity (AoC Link-- there are some great headcanons about him -> Here! Go check them out they are so, so good.).

・❥・I like both ideas! But, let's talk about the second option.

・❥・So, imagine, the chain and Reader are coming through a portal to this new Hyrule. Or, well, they think it's new. It's oddly reminiscent of Wild's Hyrule only...bigger. There are islands in the sky, holes covered in what appears to be malice in the ground. People are more abundant, there are towers standing, glowing a welcoming red rather than the golden towers in Wild's Hyrule.

・❥・It's so different, but yet so familiar.

・❥・Now, it's evident that this Link is a little more...Feral. Look at his hair and tell me otherwise, you can't. This man had won. He had won, gotten his victory over the Calamity and was supposed to have the rest of his life to settle down. But he didn't. It was ripped away from him once more. Not only that, but he was thrown back to square one. Gloom now riddled his veins making him feel like he was newborn fawn stumbling out of the Shrine once more. So he's probably livid. Angry with Hylia and fate, and Ganon and and and-

・❥・He has no patience left to offer.

・❥・Zelda was supposed to have unlocked her sealing powers, no? And she did nothing. Actually, that's a lie. She used them to save herself. He was left dying again and she saved herself. After he destroyed the Master Sword, the only thing that made him anyone, protecting her. Destroyed his arm. Destroyed himself. And she saved herself. Rauru had to protect him. Had to save his life before Zelda did.

・❥・So, yeah, he's a little less...companionable. He had to save someone who wouldn't give two shits about him again. He thought they had improved their relationship, but he guesses not. Betrayal runs deep in his gut, igniting a fiery inferno that burns on spite.

・❥・And the worst part about it? Everyone around him is praising that damned Princess. For the bare minimum. Showing them a recipe, building a school that should've been there years ago, hell, even just having a horse got her praise out the ass.

・❥・He was tired of it.

・❥・People stay out of his way a lot more. He wears a look that promises some form of harm should someone cross him, and he's more than willing to deliver. Because now, it's not just the one land of Hyrule. Now he has to deal with the Sky Islands and the Zonai creations. Now he has to deal with the depths and all of those creatures which just bring back the gloom he dispels. And he's so over it.

・❥・Now, picture if you will, Reader falling through the portal, separated from the chain, scared and alone. Reader thinking they're in Wild's Hyrule, but his doesn't quite look like this, does it? Reader thinking that, hey, at least they're hidden and in a forest, only Oh Sweet Goddess Above-- THE TREES ARE MOVING-

・❥・Reader doesn't know what to do because THE TREES ARE COMING AFTER THEM, they were forbidden from having a weapon (Because why would they be separated ever? They were there to protect their sweet reader? why would they need to burden themselves with a weapon when the Links could fight for their honor?), and THE TREES WERE ATTACKING THEM-

・❥・But, here comes their knight in shining armor- or some sort of blue tunic. Honestly, the tunic was styling if we're being honest; the open back and split sides along the hips? (Iykyk)

・❥・The trees are taken care of easily and the blond is turning to look at reader.

・❥・Reader just knows. "...I'm gonna guess your name is Link?"

・❥・And while on the outside, all he gives is a simple nod, it's anything but simple. You, this gorgeous being that he just so happened upon, recognized him. It seemed that without Zelda parading him about like some show dog for all of Hyrule, people didn't know who he was. but you? You did? You knew who he was? And the way you were staring at him was like you knew what he had done. The sacrifices he had given. And you were thankful and appreciative. Which was all he asked for.

・❥・You then thank him (You THANKED him) for saving your life and explain that you had been separated from your group. (Group? You had a group? And they just...let you out of their sight?) He offers to help you look for them and you eagerly accept.

・❥・Now, he latches onto you pretty quickly. Your already used to all the Link-isms so he isn't much different. The silence, the constantly guarded exterior, your used to all of it. And it just convinces him further that you're perfect for him.

・❥・Eventually the rest of the chain do pop up. But this Link isn't convinced their safe, after all, Ganon could make puppets out of everyone. Whose to say their not puppets or Yiga? It's better to stay with him, can't you see that?

・❥・The chain obviously have a different opinion on the matter, Legend all but Demanding you back. Hyrule and Four try to placate this Link, while Wild, Wind and even Twilight are trying to think of way of just scooping you up and running. Sky and Warriors are trying to barter with this Link (What does he want? Fairies? Potions? Money? They could have it all should he just give you back). Time is the only one to recognize that this is still a Link. He still wants what's best for you. That doesn't mean he trusts him.

・❥・If Fierce Deity and First are int he group at this point, they too are probably either trying to manipulate explain to this Link that they are in fact your aforementioned group or are just barely holding onto the shred of sanity left thats stopping them from simply doing away with this obstacle.

・❥・But this Link, like all Links, is stubborn. Not just a regular stubborn either. He has learned the hard way that if he wants something, he's going to have to fucking cling to it to keep it. And he's not losing you. Eventually they explain the situation after a bit of your pestering and he loosens up, just the slightest, to take in their words. That doesn't mean he lets go though. Oh no, he just lets them meander closer without threatening a flame throwing at them.

・❥・He's sort of indifferent to Wild, I would think, since they're kind of the same person. He was just dealt the shittier hand.

・❥・When asked where Zelda is, he simply points up (Maybe her name is Natura? Idk, I'm uncreative). He does not elaborate. They don't ask him to.

・❥・Now, it's obvious you have just claimed this Link. He's yours. Sorry not sorry. It's just a matter of taking him with you. He's insistent on not leaving your side. The Demon King isn't actually doing anything, other than unleash monsters the people of his land are already familiar with. This is obviously a new threat and he's a Link isn't he?

・❥・In terms of names? Maybe he's the hero of the Zonai because Tears of the Kingdom doesn't really give us much to work with. Maybe they call him both Zonai and Sage. I like Sage, so I'm going with that.

・❥・The way he fights is fast and brutal, delivering hits that dissipate his enemies own mobility before delivering a fatal last hit. He's a unit of a man, probably like Twilight, if not a little smaller. (Have you seen the shit he has to lug around? Mans is built.) Same height as Wild though, just more built.

・❥・As for the type of Yandere he is? He's on you. Constantly. He is hovering over you because anything and everything can be ripped away from him in an instant, as Hylia as so helpfully shown. He is making sure nothing gets the chance to get closer to you. And he's using his new abilities to do so. Wild is probably interested in the abilities and the arm and the tech, since his Hyrule, after Sage's, is the most technologically advanced.

・❥・He's inspecting your food, checking your person every time you disappear out of his sight for a second, snarling at people who attempt to talk to you.

・❥・The group have to keep him in check like an untrained puppy.

・❥・Oh, but how he laps up the attention Reader bestows upon him. He is such a cuddle hog and he knows it, smirking smugly at the others while you hold him close because oh how his arm hurts so badly, didn't you know? Oh, how the gloom has him feeling absolutely rotten, please can he just lay with you for a while? Just until he settles back once more? Pretty please?

Anyway, those are my thoughts for now, feel free to add your own!

[ganondoodle]

(new totk rewritten)

some a bit less structured ideas/current plans

im reusing the forgotten plateau as the tutorial area for the totk rewrite .... but its INSIDE; you get put there after the start by rauru and have to rebuild the bracelet thingy around his arm bc it got destroyed/damaged in the struggle with ganondorf and the bracelet thing is what has the abilities instead of just .. him? having it somehow? but also not for some reason? bc i find that more believable and lends itself well to gaining one after the other by putting its parts back together (it also feels a bit more controlled in a way, not everyone would have been allowed to have them back in his days)

consider it like .. raurus secret basement, as his castle was also put on the forgotten plateau (but not in the spot of the citadel of time bc wtf, and by now its gone like most else he built), with it being all underground and without a map you wouldnt even know where you are (also i find it to be in character; id imagine it was still called the cradle of hyrule even without the kingdom being there- and thats where he got the idea from to name his "new" kingdom 'hyrule'- not knowing that was its name before)

(as of now the addmittedly cool moment of first jumping down from the canon totk tutorial isnt included but that can still change also i personally think its pretty cool to have to climb all the way up to the sky before getting to explore it- plus the sky is mainly for shiekah stuff since they are so .. having to do with celestial stuff and the sonau in the rewrite are from the underground- though theres little actual sonau stuff left and the shiekah were there too bc its been a long ass time after all)

its not in great shape overall and some rooms have been discovered by the ancient shiekah in the past who studied the bracelet parts they found and use that research to make the stasis and bomb runes (at least), since im bringing back the bombs and the time reversal is what the stasis rune was based on- at the end of which you have to fight a miniboss monster sent after you by gan (bc he damn well knows where rauru would flee to) get your first heart container and are let go into the world

i know its way more strict and less free but it could be a big basement and honestly i dont think trying to copy the fantastic tutorial that is the forgotten plateau in botw is the best idea bc it will almost certainly feel like a worse copy, so id just go for something that doesnt chain itself to attempting to imitate it

(the final battle will also take place on the forgotten plateu, but after the switch and rauru starting to changing hyrule to what he wants it to be its lifted up and he brings his castle back on it- which will be a dungeon on its own)

(another more random thought, i do want the aesthetic of the sonau to be more like they were in botw, the ruins you can find in it are the ones from other sonau that survived on the surface without tech past rauru doing the whole thing with ganondorf and everthing but their numbers having been rather low and dwindling over time anyway- but perhaps rauru has a bit of a different idea, in part bc he is older and still attached to their older style that didnt evolve any further and ... it might just be his personal taste to some degree xD

which ALSO makes sense bc if there were other sonau still alive even after rauru did his thing, it would be logical that the remains of their ruins were in better shape (in the rewrite theres barely anything of sonau architecture left until the switch and rauru bringing it back)- they still lived there for quite some time after all- while the ones from rauru largely fell victim to time or to people intentionally getting rid of it bc surely not everyone was loyal to him)

(also an idea for the gerudo sage, there was one loyal to rauru who did do his bidding but in the temple thing she was supposed to wait for rauru was hunted down by 'koume and kotake' -which im not sure if i want them to be gans moms or his daughters bc i also like that idea, im still working with the totk canon thing of it being a new ganondorf btw bc it just works better for this scenario im working with atm- and they took her place guarding the stone hoping that gan would first return there -perhaps its like extra difficult and rather intentionally structured to be anti rauru in way, and less like gan having overtaken it- .. plus i like the idea of you being able to return there after the switch bc you could get a bit extra lore and story for gans background bc he surely wouldnt have wanted to find them there- he might not even have known they were there bc he never managed to break into this temple so the things that stop you in it when you first do it alongside rauru were all placed there by the two and not gan)

[wild-dagon]

I’ve been thinking about the totk spirit dragon AU and I have some more thoughts about the champions.

When their spirits first come back in the past of course Link is over whelmed and there is a cute reunion but there’s a bigger roll at play.

With them Link is a walking mini battalion five warriors all of different races and all at the top of their skills. And they have to travel together. This makes Link Ganondorf number one problem. But we will get there in a second.

Once Link is at the castle and getting to know Rauru, Sonia and Mineru he starts learning about his powers.

I think the first time he summons the champions he tries to keep them with him for as long as possible and ends up passing out from exhaustion. He’s not used to using these powers. To Rauru and Sonia they are walking this strange boy and his four spirit guards to the castle and the next to boy is dropping to the ground. The spirits reach for him but dissipate as he goes down.

When he wakes in the castle he immediately looks around for the champions. Mineru and Sonia have to talk him down and explain that he has to practice his powers.

Through out his stay with them Link starts to master his new abilities able to keep the champions around for longer and longer periods. Keeping all four out is draining but keeping one out becomes a healthy exercise. The champions take turns being with Link. The don’t want to leave him alone in this new world they have all found themselves in. And while they would all prefer to be out they don’t want to make Link pass out again. If he passes out no one can watch over him.

Slowly he learns how to make the champions physical. It takes a lot of training with Mineru and Sonia. (She might not share his powers but she is to much of a mom not to be around encouraging him)

When Ganondorf launches his first attack on the kingdom Link is able to not only change his spirit powers to Rauru but also the powers of the champions which is what leads to Rauru’s light blast being so powerful.

After the first attack and Ganondorf swearing “loyalty” to the king Rauru knows he needs to talk to the leaders of the other races. He gathers the future sages and asks them to train with Link. At first this confuses the future sages. How would they train a hylian in the ways of their people? Until Link release the champion.

I think this would happen one at a time. Link would go to train with the Rito sage (I’m going to call them Medoh) and at first Medoh is super confused why the king sent this little hylian to train with him. He’s also a little offended think that the king believes anyone can achieve the Rito’s command over the wind. Until Link summons Revali. There has never been a bigger ego contest in the history of hyrule then champion Revali (who taught himself mastery of the winds) and Medoh great warrior future sage and control of the winds through birth right. Eventually they realize they have a lot to learn from each other. Revali gains better to control of the winds and Medoh learns archery techniques from Revali.

They go until Link can’t keep the connection up and Revali’s now drops from his hand as he is nothing more then a spirit now. (They have been at it from dawn to dusk Link is exhausted) He flys back down to Link and tells Medoh they will pick up another day before waving over whatever guards Rauru sent along to help Link return to where they are staying (a roost in Rito village, a stable, or the castle itself.

As the leave Medoh realizes what this was. It wasn’t just training for him and the spirit Rito. It was training to see how long Link can hold his projections. Every move Revali made every time he used his powers drained Link. They were training Link’s endurance.

With each training Link becomes stronger.

He meets with the Gordon sage (we’ll call them Rudania) at first Rudania is conserved for this little hylian and how he’s suppose to train him. Then Link arrives waves in creating and without a word summons Daruk. It is the Broiest Bros to ever Bro. Rudania and Daruk get along like a house on fire. (The might also accidentally set a house on fire) they are having a great time. Rudania learns Daruk’s shielding ability and Daruk gains some skill is creating fire. They walk everywhere instead of rolling because Daruk wants to carry Link up on his shoulder. He knows how hard the kid is working to bring them back and doesn’t want to over work his friend again.

Eventually they have to stop. Link can only take so much but it’s been hours but Daruk knows link needs to rest especially when he starts flickering in and out of existence. He wishes he had noticed Link’s exhaustion sooner.

Training with the Zora is different the Zora sage (Ruta) is a master of combat abilities when it comes to water. Far more so then Mipha or Sidon. Yet she has very little skill in healing. When link arrives Ruta assumed that this would be straight combat training, when Link arrives and summons Mipha she is stunned. They explain it’s actually Mipha that Ruta will be training with.

The two Zora’s start their combat training. Mipha is holding her own in the beginning but it is getting progressively harder to block the other zora’s aggressive strikes. Ruta is frustrated. She was told she would be trading the little prince. The people of hyrule had watched Sonia’s young ‘cousin’ arrive from no where and instantly get adopted by not just the royal couple but also the king’s sister. Ruta thought she would finally see what was so impressive about their new prince. And in away she had. He somehow had a Zora spirit tied to him. How is that possible? Why would a young Zora like Mipha tie her soul to this hylian after her passing. The whole situation is weird and Ruta wants to know what this Hylian can really do.

So on her next attack on Mipha she fakes striking from the left only to jet herself to the right. She uses the water to launch herself at Link. She knows she caught him unprepared so this should be and easy hit. She wasn’t going to kill him. Just knock him down. But Link’s sword is out faster then she can blink and blocking her strike. Well almost she nicks his arm. The guards watching over this start to rush over but Link calls them off. The attack wasn’t meant to kill him.

Mipha rushes over to join them and Ruta gets ya ask her questions about the two of them. The explain as best they can. They grew up together. Mipha lost her life to a dark creature. Link had freed her spirit and she had stayed with him ever since. Ruta still doesn’t get it until she sees Mipha healing Link’s arm. Zora healing magic is special and normally fueled by love. No matter what kind of love there is between the two Mipha cares for Link dearly.

The continue their training Mipha learning combat skills from Ruta and Ruta learning some healing tricks from Mipha. They do have to stop earlier then the others. Link wasted energy fighting Ruta so their first training was cut short.

When the ides of training with the future sages came up Urbosa was hesitant. She asked that training with the gerudos be delayed as she wished to observe them more. Rauru agrees with her. They had to be carful of who they picked to train with Urbosa. And Urbosa knows just how loyal her people are to their chief.

It isn’t until the future sage (naboris) reach’s out to King Rauru that Urbosa decides to meet with her. King Rauru invites Naboris to come and meet him at the castle. Link is with him when she arrives. The conversation is stilted at first, Naboris knows her chief is in the wrong but how does she communicate that to the king? Can the king be trusted?

After dancing around the topic for a while Urbosa finally appears. She had been listening the whole time but was waiting until the right time to step forward. She understands the tough spot Naboris is in. But they need to stand against Ganondorf. Once she makes this decision there can be no wavering.

The two Gerudo women get along well after that. Training is an even back and forth. Both women are equally skilled with weapons and lighting and just push each other to further mastery. Urbosa also help Naboris plan for what is to come next. After Ganondorf is gone someone has to lead the Gerudo people, she is helping Naboris plan for that future.

The champions and sages train together many times each time strengthening themselves while also building up Link’s power.

Link has grown a lot. He trains with Mineru, Sonia, and Rauru, as well as the training with the sages. Pretty soon he can keep on champion in a corporal form all day with out a struggle, then two. He could also summon all four in a battle but if he substantiated a serious injury then his powers would falter.

Rauru trust Link. Not only because of his skill but his willingness to help everyone around him. His compassion and service to the people is obvious. He can also tell that Link is used to protecting and guarding people. When Ganondorf arrived at the castle Rauru asked Link a favor. Rauru and Mineru were close to untouchable but Sonia and Link were not. Rauru asked Link to watch over Sonia. Partially to protect his wife but also to protect Link. If the two were ever attacked he hoped that Link, Sonia and the champions could handle what ever it was until he arrived.

Which leads us to Ganondorf’s attack on Sonia.

[iowacosediments]

I'm doing a redraw of this :3

Okay but time for me to rant, this is my totk re-write? Au? character. I plan on the story being a complete re-write of the entire story of Zelda entirely. I love the story of Zelda I just had some problems with totk and this Is how I would've wrote it.

Okay so is this? this is my old interpretation (the new design is not that different) of Rauru and Sonias mystery child WOW. He's a boy and is supposed to be a parallel to Zelda :3

[blueskittlesart]

As you approach the endgame of TotK, what is your overall opinion of the narrative compared to BotW (and by extension other 3d Zelda titles)?

wanted to save this one until i had actually finished the game to form complete thoughts and im glad i did!! because i think the endgame of totk is REALLY important to the overall cohesiveness of the story. let's get into it

i have sung botw's praises for the past 5 years specifically because the game is in my opinion perfectly cohesive. there is not a single thing in the game that feels out of place or thrown in without thought or narrative backing. i've lamented the details of the game, the way the story is told implicitly through the worldbuilding its themes are echoed in every facet of its gameplay. i sincerely believe totk hits these marks as well. its theming is more overt than botw, but it still keeps it consistent and cohesive across the board and the way the world and theming evolved from botw feels very natural. I don't think it's BETTER than botw, but it wasn't really SUPPOSED to be. totk and botw are two halves of the same story, and i think they FEEL that way. totk feels like the second half of botw, which is exactly what it is. no need to improve on perfection.

totk takes a theme that was already present in botw--healing, destruction and regrowth, and expands upon it. we are presented in totk with a hyrule around 5 or 6 years removed from what we last saw in botw, and there are noticeable changes. it is more populated. npcs we met in botw have grown into themselves. some have started families. new cities are forming. the enormous map that we knew is relatively unchanged, but the difference now is that it's so POPULATED. there are so many more PEOPLE. in almost every notable location, including ones that were COMPLETELY deserted in botw, people have now appeared. they are building or researching or travelling or whatever. we are shown a hyrule that is GROWING from the desolation we saw in botw. what once seemed broken beyond repair is slowly but surely being rebuilt, BY PEOPLE. totk's focus is undeniably on the PEOPLE of hyrule and how their work and perseverance has helped hyrule begin to heal.

this is the background framing, though, which, in a good game, ought to be echoed in its main storyline. and it IS. link and zelda in this game (and to a lesser extent the sages) are hyrule, the kingdom broken and desolate. link forced to give up his arm, zelda thrown into a thousand-year-old war which she ultimately sacrifices her sentience to. the sages dealing with corruption and destruction in their own ways after the regional phenomena caused by the upheaval. initially, all these things seem unchangeable. link's arm is so broken it must be replaced entirely. zelda will likely never return to her human form. the sages are each backed into their respective corners, unable to fix their peoples' problems alone. but none of these wounds prove to be truly unhealable. they just can't be done ALONE. link needs rauru, sonia, and the sages to get back zelda and his arm. the sages need link to save their people. this is where i think totk really shines as a continuation of botw, because the whole point of the initial calamity in botw is that link and zelda were ALONE when they faced it. the champions were ALONE in their divine beasts. they fell in botw because the world in which they were raised valued self-sufficiency above all. the champions called for help and no one came, and so they died alone. link had no one to help him when he faced the calamity, and so he was forced to flee, mortally wounded. in totk, link is NEVER alone. there is always some comforting presence, a guide, a FRIEND to assist him. rauru in the opening segment. purah and the sages later on. he is never alone in a desolate world as he was in botw, which is the whole POINT. he wins because he has an army behind him. he wins because hyrule's strength is in its people, in their stubborn perseverance, in their refusal to fall at the hands of ganondorf. rauru says himself "even if something were to happen to me, both my kingdom and the peace it brings--those will endure for generations to come." compare the sentiment of rauru, a king who relied on his sages and trusted in the strength of his people, to rhoam, a king who expected individualism and sacrifice, and it's clear why hyrule fell to destruction under rhoam but endured long after rauru's death.

tldr i think it's a good game and a good SEQUEL. i dont think it stands up perfectly on its own, but i don't think it was ever SUPPOSED to stand on its own. totk is a continuation of botw's narrative, so of course botw's narrative is integral when analyzing totk. the central theming is strong, it's echoed well in the worldbuilding and side quests, and in general all the pieces fall into place very nicely. i think it's a really good game and was well worth the wait!

[bloobluebloo]

I found myself thinking back to that interview today because it had me thinking that Nintendo just doesn't seem to have the chops to write a compelling villain. They utilized Ganondorf in TotK because he is easily identifiable as a villain; in other words, the narrative did not have to do much work to prove his villainous nature. Ganondorf is evil, anyone who sees him knows he's the big LoZ villain, so they could just write him in as a bad guy with no justification at all to his actions apart from "Ganondorf bad" and everyone would buy it. It drives me insane because it feels like Nintendo themselves does not recognize, or fails to recognize, the sort of position they wrote Ganondorf into in their stories that allows him to be compelling and an interesting villain.

Then, the whole bit about Zelda going to the founding of Hyrule to see what a kingdom and a respected king are supposed to be like just sort of...doesn't make sense to me? How is what Rauru did any different than what her father did as king? How was Rhoam viewed as any less respected as a king of his time? Rhoam was working with what he knew at the time; that Shiekah technology was what would destroy the Calamity and so he put everything on the line, himself and his daughter included, in order to see it through. He was harsh with Zelda because he saw it as her duty, as the duty of Hyrule's monarchy, to protect Hyrule even at the cost of his relationship with his daughter and at the cost of her personhood. Rauru was kinder to her and showed interest in what she said, but did he really do *that* much better than Rhoam when it came to taking her word seriously, especially when it came to her misgivings around Ganondorf? At the end, both Rauru and Rhoam failed, leaving Zelda to hold back the Calamity so that Link could take care of it and leaving Rauru to seal Ganondorf until Link could take care of it. Both Rhoam and Rauru's miscalculations led to the death of many people. And finally, having Ganondorf being an absolute evil king in contrast to Rauru, the respected king. Again, TotK leans far too much into people simply recognizing that Ganondorf is the titular villain of LoZ. However, apart from the game's narrative constantly reminding us that Rauru is the good king and Ganondorf just loves to destroy things, I find very little proof in game that tells me that Ganondorf is this absolute evil king that stands in contrast to Rauru. The Gerudo followed him when he attacked Hyrule, and they did not seem like they were coerced in any way. Rauru called him a hero to his people, indicating that he had the respect of the Gerudo. Even as Demon King, I would argue that Ganondorf did something immediately that Rauru did not; he lent his power to his servants so that they could be powerful service to him. Rauru only lent his power to the allied tribes once he needed their assistance to push Ganondorf back. You want to tell me that Ganondorf is an absolute tyrant of a king? Show me then, because what I see so far from the story I've been presented is that he seems to be respected by the people he claims to rule over, the Gerudo at first and then the demons.

One more thing, and it's this: I find it incredibly funny that we keep learning lore through interviews that has like, a drop of evidence in the game itself. Is this normal? Is this how we're supposed to consume stories? If you didn't put it in the game it's clearly not important enough to mention. I could infer lore from TotK the same way these interviews are inferring to lore. For example, some people argued, when it came to learning about the Sheikah tech just disappearing from an interview, if it would have made that big of a difference if an npc in game had said it. My answer is yes? The characters in the game should mention it? This to me shows laziness in story writing; I mean why even include a story? I'll just tell you the whole story in an interview! Should suffice.

[hollysoda]

Okay so I know that totk turned one year old a couple of days ago but I was away for the weekend and didn’t get a chance to post something about it. Now I’m home again, I think I wanna just put some thoughts down

Firstly, I still love totk. It was a really fun game and had just as much fun playing through it complete blind as I did playing botw with only a loose knowledge of the game. In fact, I enjoyed it more than botw. Maybe it was because I knew more about Zelda than what I did back in September 2022 when I first played botw, or maybe it was because I could see the improvements they made when it came to dungeons and overall exploration. For at least six months totk was my favourite zelda game. Now, a year on, it isn’t.

I think on reflection totk is a very flawed game. While it is technically genius, story-wise it’s incredibly weak, possibly the weakest in the entire franchise. Here are a few points worth mentioning:

Why bother bringing back Ganondorf if he isn’t going to have any real motive? Is there a reason why he’s fighting with Rauru and seeking his own secret stone, or is he just doing it for funsies? Part of the reason why Wind Waker Ganondorf is so good is because he has a strong and clear motive. Without any motive, totk Ganondorf just feels like an enemy rather than a main antagonist

The main thing that drives forward a story is a theme to take away from it. Breath of the Wild’s theme was exploration and lost memories, Skyward Sword’s theme was loyalty and/or devotion, but it’s hard to tell what totk’s theme is. Sacrifice could be the outstanding one, seeing as both Zelda and Rauru make crucial sacrifices for the sake of Hyrule, but where else is it seen in the story? Totk just tries too many things, and having a clear theme would just help to solidify things

For a game that was supposed to solve the mystery of who the Zonai were it sure did a poor job at doing so. I absolutely adore the Zonai and in my opinion Rauru and Mineru’s designs as some of the coolest in the entire franchise but my god. Their lore is so underdeveloped it hurts. We know the bare minimum about their civilisation and culture. We still don’t know why they died off, why they built the labyrinths (and by extension who the Lord of dragons/owls/boars are), why they have secret stones in the first place, why is the Temple of Time in the sky when it was originally on the ground and most importantly why is draconification a forbidden act. If you’re gonna imply that the three dragons introduced in botw were once people then tell us!! Totk deserved a dlc that could explain all of this and not leave us in the unknown

Saying that the Sheikah technology just “disappeared” is an absolutely awful way of saying “uh yeah we never thought about that”. That’s some god awful world-building and planning on the developers behalf. Even if they just said that after the Calamity it lost its magic and then parts of it were repurposed for new technology, like the Skyview towers, it would be so much more believable. The Divine Beasts should have at least been in the game somewhere, perhaps in the depths. The lack of Sheikah tech makes the game feel so disjointed from botw, and makes totk feel as though it’s only a sequel because it has the same characters in it

The ending of the game just doesn’t sit right with me. Why bother having Mineru beg Zelda not to swallow her secret stone if in the end she would be able to turn back into a human. I understand the developers want a happy ending but at least let there be consequences. Let Zelda’s memory be a bit hazy or give her dragon features like many artists have done and let Link permanently be an amputee

Also the Ancient Hero angers me. I’ve got no problems with him not being a hylian because honestly it makes it wayy more interesting knowing that not every hero was hylian, but just explain why. If he’s some sort of Zonai, why doesn’t he look like Rauru and Mineru? Is he some sort of hybrid or a different breed of Zonai? And why does the tapestry depict him as a hylian if he’s not? Seems like an oversight more than anything

I think I should stop there because this post is getting long but uh TL;DR totk could have been a phenomenal game if they spent more time planning out the storyline and fleshing out lore. I get it, the game was originally botw dlc, but after so many delays we at least deserved a better story.

I do still love this game though Tears of the Dragon goes HARD

[rawliverandgoronspice]

So let me get this straight. TOTK!Rauru had repeatedly requested that the Gerudo join the ‘protective embrace’ of his kingdom, to serve him. Protection from whom? The monster clans? If anything, the Gerudo seem at the peak of their power! They have some measure of control over the molduga, the fiercest of the desert’s monsters. It’s also established elsewhere that the Secret Stones merely amplify one’s existing power—that one would catapult Ganon to near-unstoppable heights speaks of his already formidable might. With him at the helm, the Gerudo were ready and willing to invade Hyrule. Until Rauru demonstrated a superweapon that quite literally vaporized any notion of a military assault—a superweapon that Rauru (and his cohort) brazenly wears. Ganon is entreating a party wearing nuclear launch codes around their necks! And those aren’t even the only Secret Stones in Rauru’s possession, later handing those out as he sees fit to the Sages. Of course, the narrative portrays Rauru as someone who would never abuse that kind of power—he’s a Good King. But that’s a terrifying Sword of Damocles.

Yep. Pretty much.

Also I'd like to point out that apparently, Rauru's "sin", and what passes off as his character arc (so far, I haven't finished the whole game yet), is that he was too confident that he'd keep Ganondorf under control as a vassal? Like, okay what were the options otherwise? What should he have done that he didn't do? Like in OoT/TP beforehand: was Rauru supposed to simply imprison the king of a foreign nation just because he didn't pass the vibe check --or worse, kill him off? And then what happens to the gerudo? I feel like we've gone down this road before, and it didn't lead anywhere pretty...

This is what I mean about the poor character writing in this game: I think Rauru is supposed to be the emotional core of the story, and he might be the only one with an "arc" so far, but his flaw/regret is... a whole bunch of nothing? Unless you think he should have commited genocide to protect his kingdom from evil, according to the game that refuses to examine his actions/power, there's nothing he should have done differently besides... not having his wife be murdered? That's not a character arc, that's just an unfortunate event you participated in unwillingly!! To make a comparaison that is worth being brought up: the king of Hyrule in BotW worked much better in that regard, because he is indeed partially responsible for the fall of his kingdom through the pressure he inflicted upon his daughter and the prideful belief that he could control a force of nature (Calamity Ganon being treated as such in that game) through technology; both of these attitudes costing him everything, condemning his daughter to a century-long fight and said technology ruling the lands through terror in his stead. As a ghost, he haunts the wreckage waiting for the hero to wake up to try and finally correct his mistakes through Link.

I think they kind of wanted to do that again in TotK, but it extremely doesn't land in my opinion because Rauru has no flaw --beyond, apparently, not being bigoted enough?

[that-vexaholic-cryptid]

I know a lot of people have said that the music for the Sky Islands in Tears of the Kingdom is nice, and I'm glad they feel that way, cuz I definitely do not

The Sky Island music to me feels deeply unnerving. It's listless and mournful, the sound of a civilization in stasis hanging above you, watching, judging, restless. It's cold, but just short of chilling. This is the theme of inpatient ghosts lingering for something. For you.

Which strikes me as fitting as this is where both Rauru and Zelda have been waiting for millenia. This place is anxious to move on.

Whereas the Depths music is frightening, jarring, and angry. It fades into the black, only to lurch at you loudly to tell you that you are not supposed to be here. This is a place where death is not lingering, but active, hunting. The music for a Frox encounter in particular is nothing short of terror.

Both themes are settings of death, but different states of it. The Depths is Hell, and the Sky Islands feel like Purgatory.

Is there a Heaven in Zelda?

[roy-dcm2]

Ruminations on the King of Owls

Suddenly, after Tears of the Kingdom the appearance of owls throughout the franchise has been re-contextualized. Rauru, the first King of Hyrule, was also called the King of Owls, so we should reconsider the Owl as a symbol for the King of Hyrule. In addition, we also know Rauru’s power as the Sage of Light was to eliminate evil. Then there’s also the fact that the ruins found in Faron (which might be older than the Zonai) also used the Owl as a symbol for Wisdom.

The first notable appearance of an Owl was the Owl from Link’s Awakening, and it was just part of the dream of the Windfish, but it did impart wisdom to the Hero and guided him a few times to help uncover the truth, so it does represent Wisdom. You could say that the Windfish itself is passing on wisdom to Link via the Owl, and if Link hadn’t defeated the Nightmare, they’d both be trapped in never-ending slumber until the end of their days.

The most famous appearance of an owl is of course, Kaepora Gaebora from Ocarina of Time. People were convinced that KG was an extension of Rauru from Ocarina of Time, but it just as likely that KG is the spirit of the first King of Hyrule himself. The ancient tablets found in Tears of the Kingdom tells us that King Rauru did have a sense of humor, which aligns well with KG’s strange behavior. (Better than OoT Rauru.) But for that to be true, we’d have to accept  that King Rauru took some time to play as an owl in OoT in the middle of waiting for the timeline to reach the events of TotK.

Alternatively, KG could be another Sage of Light / King of Hyrule (neither OoT Rauru or TotK Rauru) that chose to help guide the Hero of Time.

(Maybe its one that died during the Hyrule Civil War right before OoT. Maybe he's Link's father! Oh, wait, it's supposed to be an ANCIENT Sage, nevermind.)

KG also appears in Majora Mask where he’s clearly a different Owl than the one from OoT, and only helps out the hero a few times in his journey. In both games, he still representing wisdom.

However, I have to mention Link’s shield in Majora’s Mask. The first shield that he carries is adorned with the image of an Owl. So very strange, I never thought Link was so fond of KG, but when you think of it as a symbol of the King of Hyrule it makes sense. Link did save the Kingdom in OoT, (essentially eliminating evil)  it is likely the Zelda’s father awarded Link with that specific shield.

(Suddenly, the MM shield is a lot cooler.)

In Twilight Princess, not only were there Owl Statues hiding special runes from the City in the Sky (How that relates to the Zonai is a theory for another time), but you should also notice that the Hero’s Shade is wearing a set of armor that has an owl for a chest plate. It could mean that this former knight was a personal guard for the King of Hyrule. Or this is the official armor of the Knights of Hyrule.

Finally, I want to take a brief aside to talk about the Zonai’s third eye and the Sheikah’s “Eye of Shadow.” I had considered that maybe the Sheikah had adopted the third eye as their symbol because it was (in a way) King Rauru’s symbol, and he died protecting Hyrule. But, considering that the Sheikah likely predate the arrival of the Zonai, this is likely not the case.

It is more likely that the Sheikah eye is “the Eye of the Gods” and the fact that Zonai have three eyes is just a coincidence.

[valictini]

How I wish the dragon tears quest had concluded and impacted the rest of the game without changing too much of what nintendo gave us (FULL endgame spoilers ahead)

First of all, I got inspired by a comment under a YouTube video and I fully agree with this idea: Impa could have just told Link to not divulge what happened to Zelda while she tries to figure out if there's a way to get her back. The justification behind it would be that not only it would shoot everyone's morale, but it could also create a political disaster if we randomly announced that Hyrule had no ruler anymore.

Impa could have transmitted the message to Purah so she can make her own research. Purah could have a unique dialog where she acknowledges that even though it probably won't get Zelda back, Link should still investigate the strange happenings around Hyrule, just in case.

Impa would actually be in Kakariko Village as soon as we finish the quest!! Idk why they didn't do this in the first place!!

When visiting the different regions, we'd have the same dialog and events, except we'd get a unique dialog where each future sage remarks that Link seems unenthusiastic about their search for "Zelda". Link being sworn to secrecy, and the sages being polite, they'd probably cut it short and apologise for prying or something.

When you finish each temple, they all remark that maybe it wasn't Zelda. Cue, another unique dialog where they ask Link if it's why he seemed reserved about this mission.

When we finish the regional quests, Purah tells Link that they didn't find anything yet, and maybe they should reveal the truth to the others for their input.

So they do just that and!! They have!! An actual!! Emotional response!! When they all learn the truth!!

Like holy shit was it just me or did they move on from this very quickly? Aren't they supposed to be friends? Idk man, maybe it was because I had been waiting for this moment for hours but it felt really underwhelming.

Finally, after getting Mineru, we could have Impa and Purah announce to Link that they might have an idea: taking inspiration from Purah's experiments with age regression, they could possibly make a machine on a larger scale that would revert Zelda's age and hopefully get her back into a human. (still baffled that Purah's age experiment is just a background joke at this point, so why not make it actually relevant!!) They warn Link that it would take years to develop such technology and it could not work in the end so he shouldn't get his hopes up etc

Purah also remarks that if only they could somehow boost the time reversion power in Link's arm, it would be so much simpler. But alas, such amount of power seems impossible to acquire (wink wink)

She concludes by saying that unfortunately, all Link can do for now is fulfill Zelda's wish and kill Ganondorf once and for all.

Finally, thanks to all this foreshadowing, when we beat Ganondorf and get the cutscene where we see Rauru and Sonia boost Link's powers to revert Zelda, it wouldnt feel like such a Deus ex Machina anymore!!

(I mean, canonically they use both time and light but honestly i struggle to understand why they needed to specify that. At least in this version, they could have just said they boosted only the time power and simply kept it as a reference to the scene where Sonia and Zelda boosted Rauru's light powers to beat the moldugas)

As someone who finished the dragon tears quest line before I even started my second dungeon, I can't tell you how immersion breaking it was to have everyone chasing an obviously fake Zelda without being able to say anything.

It feels like such a huge oversight. I don't even understand how the Devs managed to give unique dialogs to every NPC depending on weather/what you wear etc and NOT think about players who'd finish this questline before the rest. So here's a simple but satisfying way that they could have done it IN MY OPINION

[ganondoodle]

you know what i just saw some more of that weird ass reward for getting all shrines in totk, and tbh im still so

what is that?? there are no dog like sentient species in this version of hyrule?? the most is the sonau themselves but they got no tails??? i dont think anything in this hyrule has a tail like that? and sonau legs are pretty normalish human too areant they? they dont even have proper claws, just veguely longer fingernails- i guess there are the statues in the underground that kinda look like it (they dont got tails either tho do they??) but like ,,, theres nothing you can learn about them right? its never mentioned or even hinted at despite there being so goddamm much of the sonau still just up and functioning- their lil "material deposits" in the depths arent even withered beyond some plants growing on them, all their 'tech' (isnt it just .. magic tho? where the mechanism actually? its usually just some stone animated by green swirlies ... but ill mention that in another post) just runs perfectly like it was made yesterday

where does that thing come from?? and its supposed to the the HERO FROM THE TAPESTRY???? huh????? and its decked out in sonau clothing head to toe with clear gerudo refs too?? that so weird bc youd feel like there would have been some mention of this, especially considering that that thing is on the tapestry and impa(was it her? or purah?) RECOGNIZES ITS THE HERO FROM THE TAPESTRY???? like, CASUALLY even?? like a well known fact ?? did i miss some big lore part somewhere that talked about that dog gerudo sonau thing?? and if its on the tapestry that means it wasnt that long ago really (i mean ... all the sonau shit is still pretty much fully intact so arguing that they came and went in the time between totks past and botws past isnt that plausible either imo ..??) o how come you never see anything from that and yet its somehow completely known for them, and you cannot tell me she saw the abstract version of the hero and then looked at that armor and went thats the same bc two colors veguely matched or what?!! also given that its fully clothed in sonau stuff .. like the arms are literally raurus bracelets .. thingies, but then the sonau where supposedly a complete and unknown mystery until it suddendly came all raining from the sky and revealing its been there and EVERYWHERE the whole time apparently? with the most we knew was some flimsyly made stereotypical barbaric armor set in faron in botw? which i guess is also fully undone by totk since it shares absolutely zero in desing to the 'actual' sonau stuff we got in totk

and if it where some sort of descendant from the mix of kids rauru and sonai kinda .. must have had (unless they did away with zeldas bloodline stuff too .. which .. why even call it zelda anymore at this point lol) then again, where did those features come from (like the tail and red hair, the strange googly eyes? is there a mix of goron in there too??) and how was it then not documented or seen anywhere else?? youd imagine the mutant kids of the first tragically dead king and queen of this hyrule would be known in some way .. that is assuming it was that, but given the weird features no other species has still is ... it just doesnt add up

(i had the awful thoguht for a second that it might supposed to mean the gerudo came from that but .. the gerudo are already there LITERALLY the 1:1 same as in the present, just like all the other species ... which is also disappointing as hell, like seriously? not even different feather colors for the rito? literally the same clothing for the gerudo as in botw but white with golden stuff instead?? some vaguely different zora features? idk ? anything? also the hero would never be gerudo, we know only evil comes from that *explodes*)

if its supposed to be a mystery then they absolutely failed in making it any interesting or intriguing but still something that feels like its part of the world, like botw was very good at giving you mysteries you wanted to talk and theorize about that still felt organic, harmonic with the world, but in totk its all either boring answers or just ... completely out of nowhere and just kinda stumps you (in a bad way)

*sighs* yet antoher ramble rant, this game could have had it all, it was right there on the plate in front of them all they needed to do is grasp at it, why wouldnt you ..

totk will never not frustrate me huh ಠ_ಠ