#return of calamity ganon

[wukongjr]

Rauru placed his faith in you….

and that was all you could do?

[three-bunnies-in-a-trenchcoat]

Hate it when people say aoc when they mean pre-calamity. Like sir no they are the same yes but they are also very different! Even before Terrako's intervention things were different!

[soniclozdplove]

Another mini theory I have

Remember how the original events of BOTW pre-calamity were kicked off by an unnamed prophet telling the King of Hyrule that the Calamity sealed 10,000 years ago would be released? Well, guess who just so happens to be present 10,000 years ago and went around telling all the Sages an enemy that they'd just fought a war against to seal away would be released in 10,000 years only to be fought back by a swordsman named Link. Zelda. I don't think we ever really were told it was Rhoam who was told the prophecy and 10,000 years is a long time for a prophecy given by word of mouth to be distorted into a completely different form...

[amiharana]

OKAY I FINALLY GOT TO WATCH THE TOTK TRAILER HERE ARE SOME OF MY THOUGHTS

the more stuff that comes out about totk, the more interested and emotionally invested i become in the lore. where did these floating islands come from? who were the zonai and why are they back? do they have some sort of connection to ganon or hylia, or other races in hyrule (e.g. the sheikah)? how does the presence and existence of the zonai connect back with the rest of the zelda timeline?

like since there's at least? 10,000 years since the previous links and zeldas to botw/totk link and zelda, did the zonai exist in that 10,000 time period or way before and they were just never seen in previous games (for narrative purposes?)

do you think the presence of the zonai will give us some insight to the hero and princess of 10,000 years prior when the divine beasts were first used against ganon + all the ancient sheikah technology was still used? do you think the zonai had some sort of hand in helping shape that tech?

i know that during the development of botw, some of the things that inspired some of link's "abilities" were from hobbies of people on the zelda development team, e.g. the master cycle zero exists in the dlc because eiji aonuma is a motorcyclist in his free time. do you think someone on the team skydives for fun and that's why they added link falling through the sky and shit lol

they NEVER explained the paraglider in botw. you know me as your local revalink brainrot provider and what i think about the existence of the paraglider if you've been following me long enough. since the paraglider gets a little design update in totk (and unfortunately kind of loses revali's symbol in it

what the HELL are these glowing spires coming out of the ground everywhere. will they function the same as sheikah towers. what the fuck happened to the sheikah towers bc i'm either blind or they're gone. do shrines still exist in this game

hateno village (and other settlements) seems to have gotten updated! what new things do you guys think will be added in villages that weren't there before? also idk if it's just me but why do the three trees on mount lanayru look closer to the village??? i don't remember them being that close idk lol

DO YOU THINK WE'LL GET NEW NPCS IN THE SETTLEMENTS <33

THERE ARE LITTLE CAMPS IN CASTLE TOWN RUINS IM GOING TO CRYYYY they have the hylian crest on them so they have to be related to the royal family (in a business way) somehow? are these the construction folk who are going to rebuild castle town? do you guys think we'll get to see castle town completely rebuilt by the end of totk? DO YOU THINK WE'LL GET TO REBUILD EVERY RUINED SETTLEMENT TARREY TOWN STYLE??????? <3333

i know some people hated the fact that the botw map was reused and imo it's Nawt that serious girl calm down lmao. in fact i think reusing the map is an excellent challenge for the zelda team; how can you rework this familiar world into a fresh one the players can enjoy and explore again? with all the literal changes in the geographical markers of botw and the addition of new little thingie ma bobbies all throughout the map, i'm excited to see how the zelda team has approached this sort of challenge by reusing botw assets

THE THYPHLO RUINS AREN'T DARK ANYMOREEEE tbh i never finished that shrine quest LMFAOKDJFHJKD the not being able to see part always stressed me out and the fact that you had to fight a hinox in the dark 😭😭😭 IM SAWRYYY IM THE MOST ANXIOUS PLAYER EVER but i can't wait to explore it in the light????? i think someone mentioned how it also had zonai architecture; i'm just so invested in how the presence of the zonai shaped the now-world of botw/totk hyrule

so i wasn't able to see it in the trailers because i'm sooo blind, but did you guys ever see the divine beasts at all in the clips? i mean i wouldn't want to do a divine beast dungeon again LOL, but where do you guys think they are? are they just chilling in their respective regions? did they bury the beasts again? do you think we'd be able to actually go inside and explore the beasts for funsies now that they're not corrupted/in position lasered onto the castle?

WHAT IS OUT IN THE GERUDO DESERT. INSERT CARDI B MEME WHAT WAS THAT????? IS IT A SECRET DIVINE BEAST. FUCK. WHAT IS IT

the zonai have got to have some connection to time i know we could probably figure that out from the totk gameplay video from a couple weeks ago BUT STILL. let's have a twilight princess ancient hero comeback and just have old man ocarina bones sit in, or maybe multiple previous links spiderman no way home-style or whatever that movie was called. i didn't watch it sorry KDJHFJDK

ZELDA FALLING IN AND LINK JUMPING IN AFTER HER WITH HIS MALICE CORRUPTED ARM 😭💔 WHEN WILL MY BABIES BE FREE FROM THEIR FATES

THERE ARE FLYING PIRATE SHIPS TEEHEE. COME ON TREASURE PLANETTTTTT link but he's jim hawkins asf

water bubbles as transport like come on vesicles. come on transport cells. ANYWAYS THE LASERS link is a spy girl fr come on kim possible

WHO IS THAT. i can't take pictures i'm watching the trailer and pausing and unpausing on my switch while typing this on my laptop IS THAT A NEW HYRULEAN RACE. do you think it's like a fe3h ashen wolves moment where they've just been living underneath the ground because they were banished by hylia and no one knew lol

THE SANCTUM WAS RESTORED KSJDHFKJSDHFJKSDHF HOW DID THEY FIX IT SO FASTTTT what if link actually went back in time. the room is all sparkly so i'm like. did u fix it with magic or likeeeeee WHAT IS IT ASF

WHERE THE FUCK IS ZELDA. what do you guys MEAN you rely on link and the master sword. WHO ARE YOU PEOPLE??????? IS THAT THE ZONAI KING OR SOMETHING.

historically the hylians have believed in this like. pantheon of gods comprised of the golden goddesses + hylia, and i've always been under the assumption that other races just coexisted their faiths e.g. zora mainly believing in jabu-jabu, ww!rito believing in valoo, etc. what if there was like a pantheon of zonai gods but it's like greek vs roman style. what if hylia had a zonaian (?) counterpart. idk i'm spitballing out of my ass rn but i think it would be cool

re:WHO IS THAT. bulletpoint: WHAT IF THAT'S HYLIA'S ZONAIAN COUNTERPART. LOL

seeing all these flat little creatures floating in the sky makes me miss vah medoh and revali

WAS THAT TULIN. GO BACK HOME TO YOUR MOTHER?????????? WHERE IS TEBA.

link pulling people in wagon it's giving skyrim "oh you're finally awake" PAUSE WHAT ARE THOSE GREEN THINGS ON THE WHEEL. IS THAT ZONAI TECH/MAGIC

how the HELL did they build those shits on top of the talus. the bokos were really like It's Free Real Estate

link making himself a fully functioning tank rn. my brother in christ that is a vertical stone block with a cannon fused to its edge on wheels. i love it.

i kinda wanna know what happened to the elemental arrows. like in botw they tell you that rubies innately have the power of fire, but how does that differ from a regular fire arrow? does it do more damage?

HOLD ON TULIN WAS ABOUT TO GET EATEN BY THAT ICE MONSTER THING GO HOME??

what the FUCK is zelda cradling in her hands. is that a seed or life or something. it looks like an embryo lol. divine beast embryo

WAIT IS THAT HYLIA???? WHOAAAA

riju 🥺🥺🥺 the champion descendants 🥺🥺 doofus with a bucket on his head... SIDON WAIT HE HAS THE CROWN ON HIS HEAD

"link! you must find me!" WHERE ARE YOU GIRLLLL

i didn't realize there was a word limit. i just kept typing. ok those are my thoughts so far IM SO EXCITED

[shaevilux]

People knock on Rhoam for being a bad dad cuz he's distant and stern to little Zelda and say how Rauru is the goat (heh) for taking her in like his own daughter. Like Zelda had her real parental connection with Sonia and Rauru. But frankly that's a little reductive.

Rauru literally descended from the heavens, married a priest, started a kingdom. Man didn't really know much strife yet. There's no looming threat of calamity or prophecy yet. Things are peaceful. Things are fine. Things are great. Zelda dropped in during this time, talking about a doom that's going to happen tens of thousands of years in the future.

This sad, lost princess.

Of course any reasonable person would take her in and calm her and tell her she is fine and listen and support her.

Rhoam not being able to be this kind of figure for Zelda is tragic. Just read this poor man's journal entries:

"It has been a year and three months since her mother passed. Perhaps she is held back by heartache too deep to heal. If the Ganon prophecy wasn't looming over our heads, I would tell her to take her time... To wait until she is ready. But our situation is dire and leaves no room for weakness—even on behalf of my beloved daughter. My heart breaks for Zelda, but I must act as a king, not a father. I must order her to train relentlessly at the fountain." Pg 4.

"In truth, I understand Zelda's feelings. Painfully so. She lost her mother, her teacher, before she could learn from her. Ten pointless years of self-training, without so much as a book or note to help her find her way... Those in the castle talk behind her back. And I, her only family, scold her for her shortcomings. No wonder she wishes to hide away in her beloved relic research. I'd love nothing more than to console her... But I must stay strong. She MUST fulfill her duty, just as we all must. Even if she comes to despise me." Pg 6.

"I have been told my Zelda went to the Spring of Wisdom... This will likely be her last chance. If she is unable to awaken her power at Lanayru, all hope is truly lost. If she comes back without success, then I shall speak kindly with her. Scolding is pointless now. I forced 10 years of training on her... and after all that, it seems her power will stubbornly awaken some other way. Perhaps I should encourage her to keep researching her beloved relics. They may just lead her to answers I can't provide. For now, I sit anxiously, more a father than a king in this moment. I sit and await my daughter's return." Pg 7. (He fucking dies and never gives Zelda this bit of closure uuuugggghhhhhhh Zelda I'm so sorry Rhoam I'm so sorry)

It sucks because most people remember the cutscenes (duh it's more immersive and important) and in the cutscenes of the first game Rhoam was mostly shown as being stern and mean to babygirl Zelda, who is closed fists explaining herself to him at the verge of tears. And in contrast everyone in the first royal family of hyrule in the second game treated her with such kindness and we can see how happy she was being there with them.

Rhoam was shackled by duty. By prophecy. By the looming calamity. And from the day he named his daughter 'Zelda' he shackled her as well.

And what does Zelda do with these shackles? She accepts them. She tolerates them. Because she loves her father and her kingdom and knows there's a power dormant in her that can stop the calamity that she must do her best to unlock. She does this dutifully. She does all the training, she does everything that is required.

But it still doesn't unlock. So she tries other ways. She isn't just going after the 'relics' because she's scholarly and nerdy and wants to learn about them. She does it because she's pragmatic. She knows her sacred sealing power isn't present in her. She knows she might not be able to control it or even unlock it in time.

So she tries this alternative approach. The Divine Beasts, the guardians. Ancient tech that was used to prevent the calamity of their time. And she awakened the tech. And her father chose the champions for each divine beast. And they were all prepared. And it's all thanks to Zelda.

And then... Fucking tragedy again. Ganon probably learned his lesson from the last time he was thwarted and immediately went for the tech, corrupting it and turning it against the new users. Against Zelda.

It's never really stated how fast it all turned to shit when the tech betrayed them (or maybe I don't remember) but every account points to it being almost overnight. The champions died. Rhoam died. And suddenly, suddenly Zelda unlocks her sealing magic.

I always always hate the literary trope of using tragedy to unlock a great power that could've actually stopped the tragedy from happening in the first place.

And it's no different in BOTW. I hate that Zelda had to go through all this to unlock her powers.

And then what happens next?

She's stuck in limbo (in an almost mocking parallel to Rauru in the next game with his imprisoning arm) holding Ganon back. For a hundred years.

This young woman had gone through so much only to be trapped with a calamity seeking to destroy Hyrule for a century.

Does she know her father died in the war? Does she know the champions died in battle? Would she know Link would survive in the Shrine of Resurrection? Would she know how long it would all take? The century she would have to wait?

I think she didn't. I think it all happened too fast. I think ultimately, she decided a stalemate with ganon was an agreeable outcome. I think in her mind she probably thought she failed Hyrule. When the divine beasts turned she must have been distraught. Distraught might not even cover it tbh. But at least... At least when the kingdom was brought to it's knees by the corrupted tech and was waiting for the final blow, she had the ability to ensure the final blow never came.

And oh boy I have a looot more to talk about regarding Tears of the Kingdom. But I do want to have a couple of more playthroughs of it to really formulate what I want to say.

[redundantz]

Ancient Loz AU Story

10,000 years before the events of BOTW the Princess of Hyrule and the Hero who wields the sword that seals the Darkness first fought off the Calamity. With the help of the Sheikah, Guardians, Champions and the Divine Beasts. However, the hero and her best friend; the Prince of the Gerudo, were now missing. The only one to return from the fight was the Princess… Bloodied and bruised. She emerged from the castle alone. No longer the energetic, and free spirited person she used to be. Now, she is filled with a sole dedication to her Kingdom. But cold, and filled with deep sorrow. She orders the Sheikah to create shrines to train the next hero.They prepare the towers, store the Guardians under the castle till they are needed. Research started on the slate where it can be used for building infrastructure and even battle. Anything to help prepare for another Calamity.

The Gerudo Prince wasn't seen again and the heroes identity was forgotten But, the Royal blood of Hylia lives on….

Link is from a traveling caravan. His family has blood from the ancient Zonai tribe. He travels with a decent size troupe along with his sister, father and grandmother.

He meets Zelda during a festival where he was entering an archery contest in castletown. Zelda, who was disguised as Sheik, was also entering. She beat him at the contest(barely), but was extremely bothered by how good he was.

The festival goes on for about 3 days and at the end there is the sword ceremony where all the people coming of age(18) can attempt to pull the sword. She was presiding over it and witnessed him pull the sword and his whole life change. Not long after they meet officially and Link is appointed as her Knight; She introduces him to Ganondorf, her best friend from childhood.

And the chaos and comrade-ere ensues~

Over 3 years they travel, train, fall in love and wait for the day when the evil is supposed to show itself. With no sign of the great evil, they start to relax a bit. But that is when it strikes. Ganon travelling by himself at this time. Explores a cave in the Gerudo desert and encounters something ominous. Whispers in the dark speak to him and his fears and wants and his distaste for the King of Hyrule…. The voice is familiar, much too familiar, and before he can fight back it consumes him. When he awakes he is alone. He isn't instantly ‘evil’ but over time it twists his thoughts and actions. His closest friends and mother grow concerned. He becomes harsher and radical. Cruel. During a secret meeting with the King, Ganon assassinates him. Zelda happens upon Ganon covered in blood. She thinks he's hurt and is concerned by his behavior the past year. He snaps. He tells her every dark thing he has been thinking, and that he killed her father. In shock, and devastated, she can’t move as Ganon is about to strike her. But Link manages to get to her in time because the master sword was glowing, something he has never seen before but an instinct so old took over him. He races to escape with her. Ganon takes over the castle. But only as a steward because the King and the Princess are nowhere to be found. No one is the wiser to his malevolent plots. Yet. He knows she has to act fast since Zelda and Link escaped.

Zelda and Link make it all the way to Kakariko Village and Impa and they are all Informed that the Calamity is upon them. No one can believe it is their Ganondorf who is doing this but it is undeniable. They grieve, but they must act fast. With the help of the Sheikah they gather the guardians, monks and send word to the Races and Champions to prepare for battle. Zelda listens as Link hums an old Zonai Lullaby his mother used to sing to him. And it makes her remember something she read about. A story about there being an ancient Zonai device below the castle that would help defeat the Demon King.

Impa knows the tunnels She can help them sneak in. So they prepare to infiltrate the castle.

Under the castle they find the Zonai Artifacts that were left behind for sealing the great evil.

Ganon's followers saw them enter however and informed him. Knowing this is his chance he stops all pretenses and releases his power. Unleashing a mob of monsters and a cloud of malace into the castle and across Hyrule. But the Champions and Shekah are prepared to meet them.

Looking around for any clue. Trying to think of anything they read or that Link heard from his family that could be used to turn on the sealing jewelry. They don’t know how to activate it, but Ganon is going to be upon them soon as they had to fight through hordes of monsters beforehand.

Out of the dark behind them he emerges.

Zelda and Link manage to avoid the surprise attack. They both go on the defensive. They fight and try to reason with him. They can’t believe this is their friend, their lover. The fight is tough, because they all know each other's moves after training together for years along with the emotional turmoil. Zelda tells Link he needs to figure out how to activate the artifact if they are to succeed. She will hold him off. But by this point they are both exhausted.

Ganon manages to cut Link, spraying blood over the floor and the statue. Link falls to the floor and Ganon towers over him ready to strike him down, but Zelda blasts him away. Ganon turns his attention to her. Annoyed with her meddling and manages to land a blow on her also. Cutting the tip of her right ear off.

The statue lights up from the blood. The blood of a zonai. That  was another part of the Lullaby from Links family Zelda realizes. The Jewelry glows and expands before flying off the wrists of the statue to Link. He is surrounded by a green glowing light that blasts Ganon and Zelda back. The bands constrict around his arms and legs disintegrating the clothing underneath. He screams. Zelda watches on in horror as Link transforms before her. His skin is turning black and his bones and skin stretch until he is 6 ft tall. What did she get him into? This was supposed to help them what was happening… She is living in a nightmare. What else will she have to give up. She cries as she looks at him, feeling his pain and fear. His hair band she had given him falls from his hair. Rolling across the floor towards her. “..Zelda….” He says 

She picks up the hair band and goes to him! But he is not really responding. He is restrained and struggling within himself. His head is filled with the spirits of the Zonai he knows what he must do…he knows this is the last time he will see Zelda and Ganon. To seal the Demon King he must sacrifice himself. He says the last part of the Lullaby to Zelda and she knows. This is it. She kisses him. Though a bit strange now that he's so tall and his lips are cold. Ganon is getting up across the cavern from them, laughing. He mocks them and their weak attempts at thwarting him. One last clash. Zelda manages to get his weapon from him and Link plunges his arm into Ganons chest activating the sealing power. Glowing green. They both freeze in place and all is quiet. Entombed under the castle. The malice and monsters disappear. Zelda cautiously goes up to them. She doesn't touch them lest she break the spell somehow. The only thing she does is grab the hair bangle that fell to the floor in the final fight. It was the one from Ganon’s hair. And she left for the surface.

Alone.

Thanks for Reading! <3

[kholnt]

just beat botw for the first time (you bet im planning to 100% it) but it spawned an au idea syk how in-game theres no post game and the "defeat ganon" quest just undoes itself? LU au but wild has been stuck in a loop of defeating the calamity, saving zelda and being returned back into the castle from before he confronted the calamity over and over again its not like he can do anything else, he's already done everything. even all of the koroks are accounted for. (the chain is the first new thing hes seen in a very long time)

[blueskittlesart]

if dark link was in totk how do u think he'd be handled ?

badly

sigh ok hold on ill be serious. i don't really think a dark link in totk would ever be necessary because totk is already doing everything that dark link did in oot, just via different methods. environmental things like the silent princess memorials and the spirits of dead soldiers offering up weapons in the depths give us a sense of the guilt link must feel over his past actions, as well as the fact that the inciting incident of the game is a similarly-framed failure in the face of an enemy which takes zelda and causes widespread destruction to hyrule. i've said it before, but link literally carries proof of that mistake and the guilt from it with him for the entire game in the form of rauru's arm--a reminder that his OWN arm wasn't good enough to prevent all this.

I think there are a few fights which cumulatively have similar narrative weight for totk link to the oot dark link fight, one of them being the gloom hands/phantom ganon (and yes, there is at least one required instance of this fight in order to get the true ending of the game, it's in korok forest.) the gloom hands are imo representative specifically of link's fear of failure and his guilt over his past failures. there's a reason they manifest initially as hands, and when they chase him they perform that reaching motion that's so reminiscent of him reaching for zelda and ultimately failing to catch her. they also cause a "midday blood moon" effect when link approaches them, which is strikingly similar to the way the sky changes when you approach calamity ganon in botw--his first major failure. once you fight and defeat the gloom hands, they reveal their true form--phantom ganon. if the hands themselves are symbolic of link's guilt and percieved failure, phatom ganon is the truth behind it--it was never link's fault in the first place. ganon is the cause of the destruction. link is blaming himself for something that he is not at fault for, and only after he faces his own guilt and fear head-on will the actual truth (phantom ganon) be revealed.

the other fight that i think sort of occupies the same narrative space as dark link in oot is the puppet zelda/phantom ganon fight in the castle sanctum. similarly, this fight deals with illusion and memory, and is explicitly ganon manipulating link using his trauma and guilt. There's a reason ganon leads link up into the sanctum, a place which obviously holds a crazy amount of significance for him. there's a reason puppet zelda turns the ruined room pristine again, and there's a reason she specifically mentions "memories" multiple times as she does it. ganon is attempting to break link down by poking at what he knows are sore spots--link's guilt over the way that hyrule was destroyed during his hundred-year absence, the fact that he doesn't remember much of his life pre-calamity (if you watch his face during that cutscene when she says 'memories'... agh. anyways.) his guilt over specifically what happened to zelda. All of this comes together so that ganon can force a vulnerable and unprepared link into a difficult battle in the hopes of taking him out. When link defeats phantom ganon, the sanctum returns to its ruined state, and puppet zelda disappears completely from hyrule. she's not even in the blood moon cutscenes anymore. Metaphorically, this is link coming to terms with the fact that she's really gone, and that he has to keep going anyway.

[zedson]

Characters from my favorite video game franchise that shouldn't be comparable, but somehow are.

Link from "The legend of Zelda Breath of the Wild/Tears of the Kingdom" & Shadow the hedgehog from "Sonic the Hedgehog"

-Both were asleep in stasis for a long time: Link during a century, Shadow during half a century.

-Both had amnesia & completely lost their memories, having no idea who they were.

-Both (somewhat) failed to accomplish their purpose: one to heal Maria, the other to protect the land & people of Hyrule from Calamity Ganon resulting in thousands of deaths.

-Both have fought THE DEVIL!

-Both hides their true feelings/emotions.

-Both were assigned to heal and/or protect someone which they care deeply about. And in both cases, they lost them (except Zelda returns to her true form at the very end of totk)

-Both lost family members and/or friends close to them.

-both have trauma/ptsd.

-Both have died, or had their life standing on a thread.

-Both can sometimes be a little sassy.

-Both have fought robots & war machines.

-And finally. Both characters ride a motorcycle:

Another thing I would have added is that: Both have fought aliens. But in Link's case, that was only in early story concept & very early gameplay footage (timeframe of 3:07 & 3:27 mins) of Zelda Breath of the Wild. So, I don't think it counts. Although, a previous incarnation of Link has fought aliens (in Majora's Mask).

[powdermelonkeg]

You know, in retrospect, the Yiga being incredible with technology makes perfect sense.

The whole reason for the Yiga/Sheikah split was the first Calamity. After Ganon was defeated, the at-present king of Hyrule gave the Sheikah an ultimatum—bury and swear off their technology and return to traditional ways of life, or be exiled. And the ones who refused to comply became the Yiga clan.

So of COURSE when they found Zonai technology they imprinted on it like baby birds. They were exiled for being technologically proficient, they would have latched onto that legacy as the most important part of their identity purely out of (justified) spite.

[onefey]

in the aftermath of the first conflict with calamity ganon, the royal family made an order of the sheikah;

"seal away every guardian, every divine beast, every trace of advancement. return to living simple, peaceful lives."

it was the princess who, even with the power of the full triforce, feared the inevitable return of ganon.

she did not wish for history to repeat.

a prediction comic for tears of the kingdom. the story of what really happened 10,000 years ago - it's not quite as simple as the tapestries make it out to be.

see you in may!

(note: this comic was drafted and partway done before the artbook leak. for the sake of keeping things spoiler-free, i did not change anything after the leak. so don't worry about any of that.)

[weepingtalecowboy]

Fanfic prompt: the blood moon rises but unfortunately shadow and the chain miss each other by a day

So he gets left behind in Wild's Hyrule gets in a fight with a hinox

And the Yiga hear of a massive explosion in a forest and immediately go there in case the hero is there

But instead they find a toddler who has absolutely no trouble with massacring the hinox population (because the blood moon brings back monsters stronger and that would apply to shadow)

The Yiga soldier decides that he will be smart that one time and retreats to tell his master about the situation

And kohga gets interested because another hero has appeared

From nowhere and he is all by himself with the other heroes missing

Then he decides to make a grand entrance

But then regrets it because that darkness coming off the kid

Is a sort of darkness he has only experienced once before

The day he encountered the calamity In all its glory

With the calamity gone nothing should have such powers anymore

Whoever that child was he was the closest thing to the calamity in decades (blood moon aside)

So the entire Yiga clan immediately starts warshipping shadow and invite him to their humble hideout

And shadow decides that they are definitely evil but also if Vio managed to play the role of a villain then he could do it even better

And makes it his mission to be the best overlord they could have ever had and give those weirdos a redemption arc

But quickly sidetrackes when he finds out that he is at full power

The Yiga see their new lord pull out a bomb and bomb an entire crater in the desert

When he shapeshiftes into a perfect replica of kohga and crawls up a wall with shadow power

They quickly learn that he very well could be the next calamity

They then at some point awkwardly ask him where he got such power

When he told them that he is ganon's secret love child

They don’t even doubt it and change their suits to purple

The races of Hyrule main while are in genuine fear because the Gerudo heard a massive explosion in the Yiga's hideout

The Yiga stopped eating bananas and began Making evil root beer (?)

And the hinox population has moved to the desert

And they are wearing purple

So obviously the world is ending

When the chain appears back they hear that the calamity returned from the dead and is causing massive destruction but most importantly the chain sees the entire world think that the world is ending

Just because the Yiga stopped eating bananas

And arm themselves for the apocalypse and the potential end of the world

Because what did dink do to make the Yiga willing to drop their addiction

When it turns out to be shadow four was ready to hit him for the stunt

[pocketseizure]

Zelda’s Secret Well is located in Hateno Village behind Link’s house. Zelda used the small room at the bottom of the well as a quiet study where she could be alone with her thoughts. This is where she left her personal diary, from which we can learn about her life after Link freed her from Calamity Ganon.

It’s unclear how much time has passed since the events of Breath of the Wild. One of the clearest indications, however, is Hudson and Rhondson’s daughter Matisson, who is old enough to travel to Gerudo Town. Perhaps it makes sense to speculate that, while seven years passed in the real world between the release of Breath of the Wild and the release of Tears of the Kingdom, seven years passed in Hyrule as well.  

The diary in Zelda’s Secret Well suggests that, during this time, Zelda lived together with Link in Hateno while establishing a school for the village children. Zelda seems to have attached great significance to her work in Hateno, and her students’ crayon drawings adorn the walls of her underground study. Despite the success of the school, the stacks of books and papers covering the desk and bookcase in the well suggest that Zelda wasn’t quite ready to settle down. The mention of Zelda’s frequent travels in her diary also suggest that she saw Hateno Village as more of a base of operations than a permanent home.

In an interview, Hidemaro Fujibayashi said that Tears of the Kingdom is about Zelda “going through growth, experiencing things, and ultimately figuring out what kind of a person she’s going to be.” It may be inevitable that Zelda will eventually return to Hyrule Castle, especially since her diary reveals that she still thinks of Link as a bodyguard. Nevertheless, the solemnity of Zelda’s journey along the path to becoming a queen is undercut by the “treasure” you find next to her desk: Link’s champion-blue hairband from a hundred years ago, a memento that Zelda always kept close.

[muchmossymess]

A Revali Fanfic Recommendation

I urge you all to put your life on hold for a moment and go read this brilliant fanfiction:

A hundred years after the fall of Hyrule to Calamity Ganon, and the hero Link has finally sealed the darkness and freed the Divine Beasts of their curse - and with it, their pilots are finally free. But not just as spirits. Awake once again, the four Champions of old have a second chance at life and must re-adjust to this future world with their decendants. Well - all except for one Champion, who doesn't have a decentant. Or even anyone left alive that knew him. Teba is happy to take in his revived ancient idol as one of his own, but sharing a living space with a hundred year old Champion with an ego the size of his divine beast and who might have some issues he's not willing to share can be a lot sometimes and they don't always see eye to eye. Revali thinks he should return to leading the new generation of Rito warriors. Teba thinks this actual child should never have been leading warriors or fighting a war in the first place. Tulin is just excited to have the infamous Rito Champion in his house.

Beautifully written and lovingly crafted, this baby can fit so much trauma and whump into the most gut-wrenching and heat-breakingly found family story you may ever read. 130,000 words, 36 chapters (and still regularly updating!), and a CRIMINALLY low number of kudos. If that doesn't sway you, here is some gushing under the cut <3

You think you've read a champions revival fic before? This will have you saying "how the FUCK have I not seen this before" and completely change the way you view everything (mild exaggeration. m i l d). We have all of your favourite revali tropes: being a dick and getting owned, being a dick and being right, getting own and never showing those feelings to the light of day, getting killed, getting unkilled and loved, showing emotions but being super weird and revali about it, bonding with tulin!!, bonding with teba and the rest of rito village, bonding with the champions, having panic attacks and trauma, vah medoh being the best ever, being a terrifying force of nature, being an idiot kid, and so much more!

Do you like grumpy dad teba? Do you like revali swallowing his pride? Do you like revali immediately spitting his pride back up and being a bitchy bird? Do you like mipha and revali as gossip buddies? Do you like the complete and utter fool revali makes of himself everytime he so much as hears the name link? Do you like people seeing right through his facade and calling him out on it?

AND NOT TO MENTION THE WORLD BUILDING??? this fic is so in depth of the political climates, racism, lore, changes in culture during times of war, colonisation, biology of the races and just fucking everything?? It adds so much life to the world of hyrule I am genuinely shocked at how much this person clearly loves these games (botw/totk/aoc) and they are able to incorporate all of this amazing information in a way that flows so naturally and just hhrnngngg I am fucking insane about it. THE SCIENCE, oh my god how did I forget all the wonderous thoughts surrounding the divine beasts and the sheikah tech, oh god and how they write the magic system? Guys I swear it's so good.

Characterisation is on point, everyone feels so full of life and that they are reacting exactly how you would expect them too, and they just seem so real, like they are right beside you as you're reading. The author does an IMMACULATE job of drawing you in and making you feel a part of the story, all the while being just beautifully written?

Don't get me started on the attention to rito culture. I have never seen someone pour so much love into something before, genuinely on of the greatest things I've seen. I've always had a fascination over how the races of hyrule view each other, similarities and differences, how their cultures and histories intertwine, and conflicts that may arise. But oh. my. god. My jaw was on the floor every time, it's so rich and beautiful but not without the horrors (and oh god, they are Horrors tm) and again it's just so real!!!

Be warned, however, that there is gore and viscera and terror and hurt and war crimes and death (duh), but for each terrible thing to happen it is repaid tenfold in love and kindness somewhere down the line. (Unless you are into hurt no comfort, then sorry buddy!) It is a beautiful narrative and the exploration of trauma and self is mind boggling and just go read it!!! 😭 😭 😭 I just love this fic so much, it has instantly sky-rocketed to one of my top 3 favourite fics I've ever read, and I'm so grateful to have found it and now be along for the ride that if I could bring that to one more person then by god I will fucking do it

[comixandco]

The four Sages were called back into the past by Terrako and they remember it happening

Tulin got to meet his hero, Revali, and decided to be just like him, adopting his idol’s brash personality and drive. He practises Revali’s Gale and eventually comes up with his own way to show off his mastery of wind, and when trouble hits his home he rushes to fix it on his own to prove how strong he has become and because, like Revali, he can’t stand idly by while he knows there’s still things he can do.

For Yunobo, when he goes back and meets his ancestor Daruk, he is a very timid and reactive Goron. He needs a push from others to come up with ideas and carry plans through, and when bad things happen to him his first instinct is to use his fire magic as a shield, to wait until the threat has passed by or somebody else has come to save him. But when he is sent back in time to Divine Beast vah Rudania, for the first time he has to be the one doing the saving. Daruk encourages Yunobo and is proud of him from the moment they meet, and it’s this support that gives Yunobo the confidence to help fight against Calamity Ganon, and to start YunoboCo when he gets home.

For Sidon, meeting his family from 100 years ago is bittersweet. He is proud that he was able to protect his sister, and it’s a comfort to know there is a version of him who will grow up alongside Mipha because of his bravery and fighting prowess. But as much joy as he got from seeing her, hugging her, and hearing her voice again, it just reminds him of how unfair her death was, of just how young she was when she died and how he is now older even though he’s the younger sibling. And at the end of the war, when he’s returned to their original time, he has to readjust to her absence all over again, and in light of that is it really a shock he’d have her statue moved further away from his home? And it also explains why he’s so desperate to protect Yona from the sludge.

Riju in AoC still a new ruler to her people, despite her accomplishments in BotW, she still feels guilty over the temporary loss of the Thunder Helm and isn’t sure if she can lead the Gerudo. She has a lot of confidence but is quick to falter when things go wrong. Urbosa treats Riju as a capable fighter despite her young age, and teaches her that she should never give up, to keep trying even when her resolve falters. There is always something you can do, even when it’s just stalling for time until help can arrive. Urbosa guides her in mastering the Thunderhelm, and possibly begins teaching her to summon lightning herself after Kohga attempts to steal it, and at the end of their time together Urbosa tells Riju she’s certain she’ll lead the Gerudo well. Riju treasured her time being mentored by Urbosa so much that she considers what Urbosa would do during the Upheaval in her diary in TotK.

I think the entire reason Tulin was added to the DLC was because the TotK team had already decided that Tulin was going to be the Sage of Wind, and that since the other sages were going to meet their Champions Tulin had to as well.

At some point in the years between Botw and TotK Teba, Tulin, Sidon, Yunobo, Riju and Patricia were summoned back in time by Terrako to aid the Champions during the Calamity, and even though those events took place in a parallel timeline and had no bearing on the world they returned to, the Sages’ personalities at the beginning of TotK are because of their experiences during the Calamity and the bonds they made with the Champions.

[ganondoodle]

still thinking about how even just the decision to basically act like the shiekah tech never existed is just ... so baffling to me

bc again you could have done all the sonau tech does with shiekah instead, and they were perfect to be explored more in a sequel, why wouldnt you grasp that potential, the literal building blocks for more??

if you are that tired of shiekah tech .. dont make it a fuckign sequel to the game prominently featuring it???? totk doesnt take place generations after botw in which things could have changed drastically, its just a few years afterwards??

you want to reuse the map and get rid of shiekah tech? ok fine take LINK into the past then and the focus is for you to find a way to return; do some neat twist where its revealed that link was the one who sealed gan bc he couldnt defeat him without zelda or something if you dare (they wouldnt)

want less work than that and still reuse the map and get rid of shiekah tech AND reuse characters? ok then make it some alternate universe thingy like majoras mask in which everythign is the same but also isnt, its weird and creepy how characters you thoguht you knew suddendly dont act like themselves, shiekah tech doesnt exist, malice is now miasma, etc, it would give reason to why you feel so much like something about this world is familiar yet also very wrong

as far as im aware every "sequel" we have had so far were either generations apart from the first one, some alternate universe or a different location altogether- in all of which its plausible that things are different, things seem weirdly familiar but also wrong, or that another continent just works different from hyrule

but totk does none of that, its supposedly just a few years after the first game, same world same character, but its BUILT like some strange jumbled mess of stuff from botw and new stuff out of nowhere that just .. doesnt fit, but feeling a strange sense of otherness, a déja vu of something you know but it acts off, like an imposter, thats NOT intentional and it shows, its a mess of botw stuff, from stuff that people missed from the old games and entirely new stuff; i dont doubt it CAN work but the way it turned out is like a mix of 3 different puzzles forced together and being told 'see it fits!' even tho you can clearly see the pieces dont look right in these places

again it feels like a sequel that desperately wants you to forget the first game happened, that anythign from it mattered at all

and that isnt really ... the sense of a sequel? why insist on it being one when it only creates problems? is it marketing?? just like it was marketing to call age of calamity a telling of what happened before botw but then it wasnt that at all and that is still the sole reason why i dislike it? bc i was lied to? totk is like 10000 times worse than that, its a main title and doesnt even have the excuse of yeah its basically an excuse to play all your fav characters in fun ways and the game beign well aware that being its main appeal; what is totk appeal? a toybox with botw aestethic and none of the flavor?

(on a sidenote; the sonau tech doesnt even .. matter? in botw at least calamity ganon was made of shiekah tech parts and him overtaking other tech is a big point, the sonau tech doesnt serve anything but .. idk minerus useless mech? gan doesnt even aknowledge it, he doesnt care, all it is is toys for the player, not link, but the player. the monsters mining the tech materials? what for? gan doesnt give a damn and they dont work for the yiga either??)

i said it before but it gives me the feeling that the way botw invited you to theorize, to look beneath the surface, the way it intrigued you and laid the groundwork for so many interesting things without denying anything.. was accidental? or perhaps put in the game without the directors noticing? i cant stop thinking about them saying sth like "after botw zelda wondered if the kingdom of hyrule needed to keep existing the way it had been before the calamity, but then totk happens" bc it just feels like they realized too late that botw naturally led into questioning the status quo and they scrambled to fit it back into a flat and boring road we have seen so many times before (or even worse really) with totk

zeldas character naturally leads into her questioning and reexamine their history and set of rules? we gotta teach her a lesson of why she is importante god given monarchy girl that has to keep it bc what if evil brown man shows up again for no reason

maybe im grasping at straws here but looking at it this way the sonau .. make more "sense"; the shiekah were a group that was under the rule of the royal family, and misstreated before (oh no look soemthing interesting) so they dont lend themselves well to be used for teaching zelda that lesson- the sonau however are tailored really to be just that; they are a supposedly godly race from the literal sky that founded this version of hyrule, that had tech even more advanced and better than the shiekah, she gets put in the past to meet the perfect god king of goodness personally, also his very fridgy wifey that zelda later replaces in a way, shes put there and treated like family and then gets to see just how evil that evil big man from the desert is, sonia is falcon-punched to death solely so zelda can feel obligated to take over her role, have her new, better 'family' hurt by gan; similarly so raurus sacrifice, look what a noble and good king he is, he payed the ultimate price to lock that evil man away, now zelda you cannot let their sacrifice go to waste, rebuild that divinely good kingdom like it was!!

and even though they go so much out of their way to put the cart back onto the rails of black and white-good and evil in an even flatter way than the old games, it still doesnt feel right, at least to me, it still feels like zelda shouldnt have gone along with all of that, it feels like even her character from botw was walked back entirely, except for the intro, it made her feel like a stranger to me-

because this is a sequel, i know this zelda, she wouldnt act like that after all that shes been through, this feels ... off

and it all just insulting to anyone who cared about botw more than surface level, or the zelda lore in general, i dont even care much about the timeline, but theres alot of lore and themes beyond it that felt ignored, especially so given that .. its a damn sequel, non AU, not generations apart, directly part 2-

but its not.

it even feels very "corporate", put zelda in a dress again, people liked that, put crazy abilities in the game to flashbang people with how insane it is even if its not the best for the gameplay or the story, put a new asthetic into it out of nowhere bc its 'new' and act like its been there the whole time, put gan in there bc people miss him and find him sexy even if his role is just as flat as that of an evil cloud monster-

*sigh*

you know, i saw a post that said aoc was like a bad fanfic (affectionate) and totk was like a bad fanfic (derogatory) and tbh thats like one of the best comparisons/summaries i have seen ..