Zelda: Breath of the Wild - The Story Before Tears of the Kingdom (Lore Recap)

A breakdown of the story of Breath of the Wild. How did Hyrule fall? What happened during the Great Calamity? Here is a full recap of the story that comes before Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom.

NOTE: This video contains NO spoilers for Tears of the Kingdom. It does not include any leaked information.

A huge thank you to @MonsterMaze for the 3D maps of Hyrule used during the Great Calamity portion of this video. Be sure to check his channel out for some high quality Zelda content.

This video is heavily based on information from Creating a Champion: a book containing development details and story explanations for Breath of the Wild.

or Instagram: @zeltikinsta

► Music in this video:
Nintendo

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#Zelda #breathofthewild #tearsofthekingdom

0:00 Ancient Legend
4:17 Intro
6:15 100 Years Ago
11:37 The Prophecy
22:41 The Great Calamity
36:19 Link's Awakening
43:14 Freeing the Divine Beasts
50:36 The Final Battle
57:47 Ending

[Zeltik]

Hope you enjoy this look back at the story of Breath of the Wild! Please note that this video does NOT contain any spoilers for Tears of the Kingdom!

[PointCrow]

No one does Zelda lore better than Zeltik. I've been waiting for a recap like this ever since they announced Tears!

[pastel]

I like how Nintendo makes a 6 minute recap and Zeltik blows them out of the water with a 1-long one lol

[jinjoo]

Sometimes you forget how brutal the history of hyrule is because of how beautiful and calming the landscapes are

[peachesaupear]

"Courage need not be remembered... For it is never forgotten"

Hearing that line always gives me goosebumps

[CZsWorld]

Nintendo should get Zeltik to narrate when they do official recaps in the future!

[loooooooooby]

Sometimes, I think people forget how beautiful the story is in BotW.
But at the same time, I get it. The bulk of the story technically takes place in the past, and it gets buried under hundreds of hours of cooking, shrines, Korok seeds, and general tomfoolery.

[templarw]

"As they have done since time began, the hero and the darkness begin their duel." Chills, man. Well done. Love the storytelling, here.

[darknimbus_]

43:00 that gives me a theory. What if, because her power was waning and she couldn't hold any longer, she woke link up early?
This would explain a few details like why he was so weak compared to the past, unable to draw the sword etc. It would also explain how he still has scars (needed to prove link's identity in Zora's domain i think? It was one of the divine beast quests anyway) even though the shrine of resurection is supposed to be a "perfect" revival.
Possibly could be why he has no memories and had to literally be woken up by zelda, it wasn't finished and hadn't fixed everything yet

[stanleybowers]

Can you do this with every Zelda game? This is the best telling of Botw’s story that I have ever heard.

[unstableturtleduck]

Can we take a moment to appreciate how fantastically written Zeltic's whole script was? I felt like I was listening to an audiobook and didnt even need the visuals (tho they were still appreciated)

Plus full captioning for an hour long video, along with all the work put into researching and editing and all, I have nothing but respect for this man

[yezimxr]

I love the moving map showing how people travelled and retreated back in the calamity day! Great details elaborating that very day! It never felt like a real tragedy until you see the real scale of what actually happened and how much it costed lives of hyrule’s citizens because of Ganon.

[otysb]

Ok…..that True Crime style break down of zelda and the champions’ movements during the calamity at 22:58 is the coolest thing I’ve ever seen Zeltik do! With 3 more days until TOTK, this video is a must watch ❤️

[ja]

Zeltik, straight up, this video is the first time I actually FELT the impact of the story of BOTW, which I have always struggled to connect to because of how it was integrated into the game. Thanks for making it come to life for me!

[maple_the_wolf]

I never really thought about the prophecy that King Rhoam was warned of. "The power to oppose it lies underground." Perhaps the answer was never about unearthing the Guardians and Divine Beasts. Perhaps the answer was always about seeking Calamity Ganon's true body under the castle? 🤔

[ChaseLightining]

You missed the part where Link immediately after waking, flung himself to the castle and crushed Ganon in his underwear.

[jordanrichards]

No matter how many times I watch or play this game, the line "do you remember me?" Never fails to give me chills

[TheMaskedNate]

Honestly I do think Zelda's love for link did eventually awaken her power, but not because just love. But because it was the first time she showed actual courage. She had the power and wisdom, but this time it was the time she showed courage. Since her healing power has the triforce symbol it would only be natural for this to be the case imo.

[HyruleGamer]

This is exactly what we need to go into Tears of The Kingdom, phenomenal work as always!

[pokaay]

I never played botw, but I always admired how cool it looked and believed people’s praises of it. now I’m getting totk, and in less than a day’s time it will be available to play for me. this recap did wonders for hyping me up and clueing me in on the story of botw, I felt excitement and tension and almost teared up in multiple different parts. it’s a really cool story and Im kind of sad to have missed out on the many years that the fans have enjoyed the game for, but I’m now really looking forward to my start, and uncovering the story as it moves forward in the sequel.