Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom - Story Explained (Part 1/3)

A recap of the story and lore of The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. In Part 1, we follow Zelda into the distant past, where she meets King Rauru and Queen Sonia, and becomes entangled in the terrifying Imprisoning War.

NOTE: This video contains spoilers for Tears of the Kingdom.

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#Zelda #legendofzelda #tearsofthekingdom

0:00 Intro
3:34 Life after the Calamity
7:54 Beneath Hyrule Castle
20:40 Arrival in the Past
32:35 Ganondorf and the Gerudo
43:56 The Demon King
49:43 The Imprisoning War
56:48 The Seal
1:03:46 Zelda's Purpose
1:12:02 The Light Dragon

[johncunanan]

A grim fact about Wild Zelda is that she at this point has had and witnessed 3 mothers/mother figure dying all before she is queen or is a mother herself. Her birth mother died at age 6, Urbosa who is arguably her adoptive/surrogate mother died during the calamity and Queen Sonia assassinated by Ganondorf infront of her. Sis needs extra extra therapy.

[rossjones]

Fun Fact: because of Zelda’s time shenanigans, the Purah Pad we use is actually _older_ than the Sheikah Slate was. Could the Sheikah Slate have been based on the Purah Pad, in a kind of Bootstrap Paradox situation?

[AubriGryphon]

I imagine Naydra, Dinraal, and Farosh preparing to swallow their secret stones assuming they would become the wise eternal guardians of the springs, only to lose themselves and fly off to wherever, not even responding to the friends they left behind. And that's why draconification is forbidden.

[pinkcupcake]

I love that even though Zelda isn't physically with you for TOTK, her influence and presence is *everywhere* in Hyrule. She's been extremely busy over the last five years, and her fierce devotion to her kingdom and people has never been more obvious.

When we do see her, she seems so happy and at peace until Big G rears his ugly head. She's processed her grief and is able to be Zelda instead of performing as the Princess of Hyrule. It makes the sacrifices she makes so deeply painful and effective instead of feeling like a story beat.

[IanFraser]

I only just noticed that Ganondorf was unarmed when he killed Sonia. He’s so ridiculously jacked that, without any power augmentation, he can kill a person with a single punch.

[Saben.C-Spoon]

A small thing, but I think it's a really cool detail and really sweet how Sonia and Raaru are basically the parents Zelda always wanted and needed. Sonia acts motherly towards Zelda. She comforts her when she needs it, isn't afraid to and take inititaves on her behalf, provides an ear and her own thoughts, and is emotionally responsive to her. Raaru is lighthearted and lax, he works WITH her and is patient with her rather than demanding and restrictive and listens to what she has to say so that he can better understand and help her. How they care for Zelda as a whole is something she didnt get from her real parents. Her mother died when she was very young, so Sonia being so loving towards her really seems to effect Zelda, especially since Sonia means to teach Zelda the nature of her powers, which, her mother intended to do but died before she could. Raaru, on the other hand, completely contrasts Rhoam. Raaru is easygoing and friendly, and let Zelda have agency in trying to figure out the nature of her power. Whereas Rhoam was strict, emotionally unresponsive and harsh. Though we know why Rhoam was this way and wanted nothing more than to love his daughter fully, this was not the childhood Zelda experienced. So Raaru is essentially what she wanted her father to be. I think its a pretty nice follow up to something that happened to her from BotW.

[goli]

I would never have expected anyone calling TotK Ganondorf "incredibly angry champagne"

[Dingleburry]

One detail i love about Rauru's hunting trips is that he couldn't help but get away from his duties for a while, and sonia loved him for it while also playfully scolding him. It's framed as a really healthy and fun dynamic, and i love that for them

[mattcy]

I cannot get over how well they nailed the emotion in Zelda's face. Their animators outdid themselves

[matthewmuir]

If you think about it, there's a really cool reason why Ganondorf in this game looks so much more like Demise than previous Ganondorfs did; in this game, he becomes the Demon King through the Zonai secret stones, which are stated to be power _amplifiers;_ they take a person's innate powers and abilities and amplifies them. In Ganondorf's case, those innate abilities would be the ones he has as an incarnation of Demise's hatred.

[ashleydease]

Something I noticed about Ganondorf’s secret stone is that it’s on his forehead where Rauru’s third eye is. It’s Ganondorf’s attempt to bring as powerful as Rauru. A twisted version of him.

[yunlien]

Two Zelda existing at the same time also happened in Skyward Sword. The first time you go to the Sealed Temple, if you look inside the small gap of the door behind Impa you can see the amber colored crystal where Zelda is sleeping for many centuries

[Shea.Coco]

I just love how you casually mention Koume and Kotake showing up and literally no one else noticed. That was like the best Easter egg I’ve seen in this game so far…I hope Twinrova shows up in the dlc somehow! On a separate note I just realized that if the sages predate the divine beasts, which were made as tributes to them; maybe the sages share the same names as the divine beasts! Medoh, Ruta, Naboris, and Rudania…maybe?

[StormyTalks]

Zelda's sacrifice was something so very important and heartbreaking.

Also, when the light dragon roars, you can hear human Zelda's scream beneath the main sound right toward the end.

[jordanthomas]

I find it heartwarming that zelda basically gets a do over of her childhood with the time she spent with Rauru, Sonia and Mineru. They're loving parental figures, helping her learn how use time powers and treat her thoughts and feelings with respect. Them dying to ganondorf makes it sting even more with zelda for loosing people she cares about again.

[GeneralUile]

I really loved how much of the lore isn't just about wall carvings or murals, but ancient texts. There was an ancient version of their own language, and as someone who's really into that and enjoys working with translation, it's just wonderful to see how language can help us (re)discover history.

[MikelPokeGamer]

the amount of trauma and sacrifice this zelda has had to deal with is mindblowing

[phalamy]

I like to imagine the Ancient Hero is just an early decendant of the Rauru and Zonia, while the Zonai blood was still much more present in them.
Since there haven't been any zonai present in a long long time, the royal bloodline simply became more and hylian over time, resulting in the current time, where they have no Zonai features anymore at all.
Though that far back, i'd imagine it was much more visible that they were part Zonai.
After all he looks very much like a middle ground between a Hylian and a Zonai

[karnotik]

I really have to hand it to Nintendo for crafting such a beautiful, subtle romance between Zelda and Link in these two games.

Its not some surfacey, sloppy drivel - it is real and deep- these two have a true respect and admiration for each other.

[greycat]

So Calamity Ganon rises every 10, 000 years, and the last "Legend" involving the Guardians happened the most recent 10, 000 years ago, then theoretically the whole event with Ganondorf could've happened even up to 100, 000 years ago, or even older. Wild to think about.