The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom – What We Know So Far
New Release Date & Trailer That Got Us Talking
After a nice Nintendo Direct livestream on September 13, the world got its hands on a brand‑new trailer for the much‑anticipated sequel to Breath of the Wild. The title? The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. And, spoiler alert, it’s heading straight into our hands on May 12, 2023.
Link’s next adventure is already out in the wild, and the video (you can watch it on YouTube) basically gives us a sneak peek – but a lot of the details remain shrouded in mystery. So, let’s unpack what we do know.
Setting the Stage: Remember Breath of the Wild?
For those who might have missed it, Breath of the Wild is the open‑world, action‑adventure you’ve all fallen in love with. It follows Link, a knight of Hyrule, as he battles the villainous Calamity Ganon to save Zelda and the rest of the kingdom. The game launched in 2017 and set a new bar for what a Zelda title can be.
What’s in the Teaser? Time‑Travel Hints & Ancient Secrets
While the full plot of Tears of the Kingdom is still a spoiler, the trailer dropped a few tantalizing clues that have fans buzzing.
- The Ouroboros Symbol – A serpent biting its own tail appears in the game’s logo and throughout the trailer. In myth, that shape means cycles of life, death, and rebirth and the passage of time.
- Ancient Architecture – You’ve seen the ruins in BoW before – those mysterious Zonai structures. The new game’s visuals hint they might hold more secrets, perhaps even time‑based magic.
- Link’s New Power – In one cutscene we see Link reverse time, altering how a falling rock behaves. That’s a sign the sequel could involve travels across different eras.
Plot Speculation: The Title Matters
Nintendo’s Bill Trinen once joked that the subtitle for this sequel matters “a lot” and might drop hints as it’s revealed. He’s hinting (pun intended) that a play on words could keep fans guessing.
“You’ll just have to stay tuned because, obviously, Zelda names are kinda important,” said Trinen during a 2021 IGN interview. “Those subtitles… they start to give little bits of hints about what’s going to happen.”
Daruk and His Ancestor – The ‘Accidental Leak’
Italian voice actor Pietro Ubaldi, famous for voicing Link’s friend Daruk, accidentally spilled that he’ll also voice Daruk’s ancestor in the new game. The catch? We don’t know how far back in time that ancestor lives. That could either confirm time‑travel or simply be a new character that lives in the spirit realm.
Why Time? The Legacy of Zelda’s Past
Time has always been a recurring theme in Zelda: think Ocarina of Time, Majora’s Mask, The Wind Waker, or even Skyward Sword. It’s not surprising that a sequel to BoW would add a new twist to this classic element.
Fans already know that time travel is a hallmark of the series, and when it comes to “what will it be like,” it’s probably a blend of fresh gameplay mechanics and the classic Zelda storytelling.
Key Takeaways
- Release date May 12, 2023.
- New gameplay featuring time‑reversal and possibly time‑travel.
- Ancient Zonai ruins and the Ouroboros symbol suggest a deeper lore.
- Voice actor hints at an ancestor character – could mean time‑related storylines.
- Title “Tears of the Kingdom” might hold cryptic clues for fans.
So grab your lanterns (or a time‑clock), because Tears of the Kingdom looks poised to take the Zelda experience into an even deeper, more mystically tangled past. Stay tuned – you don’t want to miss the sequel that’s already making waves.
