A COMPLETE Analysis of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom! (Breath of the Wild Sequel) 

Thanks for your patience guys! A couple things I wanna address: 1. I bring up the argument for the figure being Ganondorf and not Zelda for the sake of counterargument but I still think it's Zelda because of the pointy ears. TotK Ganon has round ears. 2. I might go in depth on the changes to Hyrule's landscape in a separate video if people are interested. I kept it brief here because the analysis was already getting very lengthy and I don't want to use up all my video ideas on this one video Update: nevermind Zeltik beat me to it ROFL 3. I remembered the third thing! Japanese translations confirm that the title is referring to tears in the context of crying, so there you go :)

I like the theory that the original Hero was a Zonai tribesman, and their tribe are the magic wielders who were eventually banished to the Twilight Realm (hence the visual connection in their aesthetics), and the game will take us back and forth between the age of the original Hero and post-BotW Link

I was genuinely in shock while watching this trailer, almost doesnt feel real

Remember that the Zonai use animals to represent the triforce, and wisdom is represented by an owl. I think that the deity figure is dressed in an ornate, tribal owl costume. So it makes sense that they would be teaming up with Zelda from the past.

I think we're collecting Hylia's Tears. I almost wonder if this is the game where we see The Goddess Hylia in her original battle against the Demon King, the moment she chose to reincarnate as Zelda, and then finally the moment when Our Zelda has to give the power back to Hylia so she can destroy the Demon King once and for all and end the endless cycle of birth and destruction of Hyrule.

Thank you NBC and Post Production William for this great analysis!!

The spiraling green whirlwind seen on land does remind me of Minish Cap, specifically the whirlwinds that allowed Link, using his hat as a parachute, to get to the upper lands on the clouds Since Link DOES have a paraglider, it might be one of the ways Link can go back up to the floating islands

One thing I haven't seen anyone mention is that the platform that the figure from the beginning is standing on in the mural looks a lot like the giant glider link lands on at the end of the trailer. If that's the case, it hints at the size of the figure since, compared to link, the glider is much larger than it looks in comparison to the mysterious figure.

I’m glad someone else is pointing out the Twilight Princess similarity’s, what I realized is that the glowing orb in the last trailer reminds me of the spirits in Twilight Princess, who needs TEARS of light. Now this game is called TEARS of the kingdom! Another thing I realized is that the title has a circle of greenish light, which is very similar to the Sol circle from Twilight Princess. I have a feeling there will be some Twili or at least some references to it. A possible theory I have is that the sky islands means a return to Skyward Sword. The tears of light, while existing in Twilight Princess, also exist in Skyward Sword. The references to Skyward sword in the beginning is good proof, and with everyone mentioning the Traveling back in Time AND the sky islands design feels like Twilight Princess and Skyward Sword are important to this game.

That Dragon tail idea is crazy! It would be so cool if it's true, especially the whole entering their world part :D

Okay here's my thought: The teardrops in the mural are oriented tip-down, as if they are falling upward. This is the kingdom of Hyrule, weeping. I believe visiting these sites may have Link reliving events from the past to recognize and honor whatever happened, and maybe all of the dungeons are in these flashbacks of whatever made the kingdom weep since the distant past. I also noticed that there are instances of eyes with triangle lashes like the shiekah eye, but I don't see a teardrop attached to those. Maybe they come from an era before that evolution in the symbol. Maybe the Shiekah added the teardrop to the symbol after Hylia took mortal form? Iunno. And I'm nearly convinced that the glowy patterns on the ground are depictions of a humanoid in the same style as the mural

This trailer makes me so excited. Breath of the Wild is an amazing game, and it looks like they are taking that exploration and new lore to the next level...literally with the sky, but also the underground. The promotion art looks like Hyrule below has changed, with Malice on Death Mountain, a sandstorm in the Rito village, and what might be flooding of Hyrule field. I cannot wait to return to this world next summer!

This is something I pointed out to my friends that seemed pertinent: The "tears" around the possible Hero figure look like Japanese Magatama, AKA physical personifications of human vitality. It may be that the tears are in fact crystalized life energy or spirit magic, which if you ask me, is very at home with the Twili. It'd be a pretty strong connection all things considered.

I think the 2 figured holding hands are indeed Zelda and Hylia. The head of the celestial looking being resembles an owl or bird to me. Which would go with the idea that the owl statues represent zelda/hylia and the triforce of wisdom.

I'm just glad Zelda tubers finally have something new to tear into.

with so many passions intersecting in the series unfolding to such depth, I want to express how well-spoken you are. Your use of "could be" is good, but when you speak so eloquently a gentleness for interjection, it makes you a great leader for the community too.

I don't want this speculation to end. The best part of Zelda are the theories. Keep them coming!

What I am hoping to see in Tears of the Kingdom is the return of the Successors of Hyrule’s Champions(Sidon, Yunobo, Teba and Riju). Instead being sidelined, they should be fighting along side Link as each have build confidence & strength to defend Hyrule from the very threat each shared. Maybe on a side quest perhaps since Death Mountain is infested with Ganondorf’s malice. Also, the sequel of Breath of the Wild needs to confirm whether if they remember their victories from the Age of Calamity timeline since each are pulled to this reality to save this version of the Champions, Link and Zelda. Just like Ocarina of Time, changing the past can create two or three diverted timelines. It is complicated but time travel has always been a part of the Legend of Zelda lore. You should cover this for the next video.

I’m so glad to see your analysis. I love the other RU-vidrs but your depth and passion are so awesome.

I also love how every Zelda tuber sees different stuff it's so cool to watch like 30 analysis videos and they aren't all exactly the same. Everyone's eyes go somewhere or see something from a certain game

Now seeing more reactions and analysis coming out today, I'm more convinced. "Tears of the Kingdom" definitely alludes to tragedy, we know the whole trilogy is about tragedy, so no surprise there. "Tear" could allude to a tear in time, a look back, a way back, and we will solve the ancient mystery. "Tear" could also mean a rift/war in the "Kingdom," which could mean Hyrule, or...what I think...is the old tribe we're examining. Call them Zonai, or Twili, I think they're connected but we'll see how. I think the imagery we're seeing is slightly different. The underground imagery resembles the Twili artistry we've seen, so I'm reminded of the stories of the interlopers, BUT the imagery we see in the sky is *slightly* different. We see more imagery of the dragon, or a symbol of the hero/power of the gods. Something tells me the tribe split. Some followed Ganon, retreated underground, and THEY possibly sealed Ganon to fight another day. They are loyal to the Demon King. The others stayed on the side of Hyrule/Hylia/sacred realm and now we can access their resources/power they prepared for the final battle with Ganon. Thus, the related but differing artwork. The Twili-style is much more intricate. They come from the same tribe, but when the groups split, so did their culture. Not enough time elapsed to see a larger difference.

I'm really excited for The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. I can't wait to play it in May 2023. Breath of the Wild was a great game and I hope Tears of the Kingdom can capture that same epicness.

I dont think I've seen anyone else mention it but the big glowing carving link seems to be gliding to looks a lot to me like the depiction of what we assume is ancient zelda throughout the trailer. The other one is harder to tell but the top part kinda reminds me of a horses head? Perhaps these are portals to the past? Or maybe "memories" of the original hero leaking forward in time, so when link arrives at the glowing carvings (to learn how to defeat the malice?) he experiences the memories, which would be our gameplay in the past without having to physically send link to the past. The horse could be when the first hero meets epona (which would explain why epona keeps showing up) and the princess one could perhaps be the "final mission" where link experiences the memories of the binding of the demon king and learns how to defeat the curse. Also, slightly unrelated, but I kinda hope this is the end of the reincarnation cycle in zelda games. I would love to see zelda and link going through adventures together that arent tied to the reincarnation, or maybe entirely new heros.

As much as I want the figure to be Hylia, I dont think it is :( I believe the figure at the beginning is the last heroin of the 8th heroins of Gerudo lore. The statues of them is seen in the Gerudo desert in BOTW. Each of the heroins are said to have their own special ability (knowledge, endurance, skill, spirit, flight, motion, gentleness, TIME). Since Ganon seems to be frozen in time in TOTK I think the hand is from the heroin that wields the power of time manipulation and ultimately passes this to Link when the heroin breaks the seal on Ganon to save link. The gameplay is probably collecting all of the other 7 heroins “tears” or abilities to seal Ganon away again. Zelda is seen most likely joining with the heroin of time (past or present) using her sealing power with them to seal him away. But who knows, I could be wrong.

8:30 If you look closely, the shield design represents a Sheikah eye with 7 branches, which would mean... 7 tears?

Something that surprises me that you didnt mention, the glowing carvings on the land are of "people" with the more noticeable one being really similar to the carvings of the princess, albeit, upside down due to the angle of the shot

6:08 The door lights up once it’s fully open!!!! It’s on the inside of the dragon motif and almost looks like it includes the heads, but that’s hard to tell for sure!!!!!

Btw for anyone still confused, in the japanese version of the title, it does say tears as in teardrop instead of tear like you tear paper

I would LOVE to see the Twili again. I'm keeping my expectations in check as we wait for the game to come out because I know expectations can ruin the experience of a perfectly good (or even excellent) game.

I'll be watching this after work today. Excited to start watching Zelda videos again!

Yooo the NBC trailer analysis, not even watched yet but I know I’ll keep coming back time and time again for my own theories and speculation, thanks for always being so quick with this stuff NBC! So hyped for the game

10:38 the bat like creature is similar to the Twilight birds from Twilight Princess, so there’s a possibility.

The vials hanging on the hip must have a significant purpose in the gameplay. For example, in the BOTW, the Sheikah slate hung on the hip was used a lot in gameplay and cutscenes. There’s no way the devs and designers would put it on Link’s hip and showcase it in box art if it’s just a story collectible (tears or scrolls). Those would belong on the HUD or in the menu.

When I played Dark Souls and finally understood the theme around it (Curse and Rebirth) I cant help but think that Zelda’s theme of (Curse and Rebirth) fits perfectly parallel to that of DS. Both tell the story of countless of kingdoms lost to time yet bound by the same undying curse. Eventually in DS that curse is broken. Maybe here in BOTW2 we will see that same personified curse and maybe we will see either a reset or a break from that curse. I dont know. But its really exiting which direction Nintendo is taking.

I havent checked out any breath of the wild content in a while because i was sad that we hadnt had any word of the sequel coming out. i couldnt help but click on this video though. Always love your BOTW content!

I figure there are two main factions in this game: the Zonai and the Sages. Zonai Tribe (blue-green energy, twili-looking tech) they will: -Grant Link his special abilities -Guide him throughout the land, sky, dungeons and awaken the Sages -Help Link restore/upgrade the Master Sword Sages (which I think there are 7 as usual) will: -Grant Link “Tears” which will allow him access to new areas and perhaps lead him to the theorized “ancient hero” -Give Link the requirements to finally annihilate Ganondorf Quick edit: the end of the Master Sword in the logo is a dragon. Perhaps the dragons themselves mend the sword, but in their own way

I've watched a couple of these now and I just want to say, the green markings on the ground are depictions of people! Just rotate them, I think they're meant to be the Goddesses

I can see the theme of the game going into two major directions. So far I think we will be dealing with the endless circle of death and rebirth that started in Skyward Sword. Now I can either see us bringing that to a close by ending demise's curse or the game could be telling us that trying to stop this cycle by not letting ganondorf die and imprisoning him for all of time is a foolish idea that only leads to the accumulation of ever denser and greater amounts of malice that periodically erupt. Personally I much prefer option 2. Option 1 lacks weight because it's not like you can ever really get rid of "evil" in our world either. So it kind of runs counter to some intuitive "truths". Option 2 though is effectively an empowering one. While you might lack the power to stop "evil" from existing you also have the power (and in some sense duty) to confront it (and beat it) whenever it shows its head. This gives you a sense of agency in a fundamentally flawed world. And that imo rings more true to our own lived experiences. Or maybe I'm grasping at straws.

In another analysis video I saw, it was pointed out that the glowy patterns on the right image at 12:03 when rotated has a very similar appearance as what is assumed to be Zelda in the murals we see in the trailer.

"41 seconds in, and we finally get to see Link opening up a massive door" ah yes, the long awaited things fans wanted to see, Link opening up a massive door

If you look at the glowing pattern things on the ground upside down, one of them looks like a figure of Princess Zelda. Similar to the one at the beginning.

Great vid! I’m hoping you could look closer at the bird glider. It has a similar color scheme and building material as the golem creature in the second trailer. I never thought that thing was an enemy, he looks like more of a helpful NPC in the same vein as Hestu. My theory I’d love to see if there’s more to is that the golem will connect us with a few useful gadgets throughout the game like the bird glider. There might be something for digging, for better climbing, maybe going underwater(?!), but I really don’t think the bird glider is the only item we’ll see like that. And I think they all are going to be connected by the golem.

The canisters could also be some kind of consumable. Perhaps they're what allows you to shoot up through an island. Perhaps the empty slots are room for more canisters, so you can use them more often before refuelling.

2:34 the symbol on the soldier's shields looks like it could be a representation of the entity/person surrounded by the 7 "tears"

I hope TotK brings tons of theories etc from you!!!!

I think the mysterious figure is the ancient sage that became the lord of the mountain because A. The blupee similarities you brought up B. the long hair C. The obvious themes of spirits in this game and D. The relation shown between the mysterious figure and the sages I believe that we will need to gather sages to restore the master sword(possibly king rhoam, the lord of the mountain and the 4 champions to make 6 sages (all of them spirits due to the connection between spirits and the green energy)). To do this I think we will need to free the 4 villages plus the great plateau from malice (supported by the eruption of malice at death mountain)

The dragon design on the giant doors Link opens also have 7 fins on their back!

The figure on the mural has eyes that are very similar to those of majora's mask. Which is either a very coincidental design choice or could be something extremely interesting. Considering majora's mask is the least referenced main line Zelda game, I'd like to see it get some love this time around and there are also some interesting connections between the zonai and majora that could be fun to explore.

Great analysis! I believe Zelda and the deity figure (assuming it’s Link) are forming a circle with their hands to represent their intertwining with Demise’s eternal curse

I'm really happy to be having a ton of new videos on theories and analysis! This makes like half of the enjoyment of what this magnificent game are all about! Thank you for your hard work!!!!

I want to point out that despite all the zonai references, there seems to be also a strong Sheikah suggestion in mix with it. What if Zonai were the ancient sheikah tribe? What if the Sheikah tribe were a faction within the zonai that split off? What if they were both working together and then split off? Either way, I’m excited to see what the overworld is like. I hope it’s as in-depth and detailed as the first, even if it’s larger.

I think there's another clue in this trailer about the green hand from the 2021 teaser. That hand was bigger than Link/Zelda's, with long nails. We see the hand of the princess and the supposed hero or goddess in 13:40, and the ladder is clearly bigger So I believe the green hand that holds Ganondorf is from the character with long ''ears''

the legend of Zelda is one of my favorite video game series, super hyped to play the sequel!

Not sure how to bring this into a larger analysis, but the coloration of this green Zonai magic stuff ties into the color association of the Triforce/Godesses. Red being Din and Malice, Blue being Nayru and Sheikah tech, Green being Farore and Zonai magic. The theory of the original Hero being a Zonai also lands nicely within this, since the Zonai use the dragon motif - the dragon being associated with Courage, the Hero's piece of the Triforce. Further, the Zonai's ruins being elevated into the sky would also likely attach it to Wind, Farore's element. I also think it's a cool touch that the swirly Zonai text is wispy like wind, the Sheikah tech is transferred to the Sheikah Slate via a water-like droplet, and the Malice now burns out of the top of Death Mountain.

The glowing symbols on the ground looks like a person if you flip it upside down (in the clip where Link is on the glider). Could it be depicting one of the sages and their location?

15:33 I think you’re right about there being a hint in the blade, I noticed another interesting detail that you didn’t get a chance to mention though. Not only does the restored part of the blade look similar to the twili technology, but if you look at it closely and turn your head, to me it strikingly resembles a dragon. It has ridges, what looks like it could be an open mouth, and even a dot for an eye. This compiled with the dragon we saw in the background footage of this trailer, the multiple references to the ouroboros symbol AND even the fire-breathing dragon shield from the E3 2021 teaser has me thinking that the dragons are going to play a big role in the story and plot. Loved the video and I’m so excited for this game!

Just want to say this, haven’t seen anyone put this into their analysis yet, when Link jumps off, he DIVES. Game mechanics first has you dive , then changes you to free fall. Hopefully this has us swimming underwater!

"Tears of the Kingdom" could mean multiple thing at the same time. All of which could be used for the story narative. They did say that the sequel will be have dark atmosphere, what if they meant a somber tone? We see Zelda falls into the unknown in some trailer. The Tears could be the Kingdom having lost its Light, Zelda. Not lost as in "she's dead" but as in no one knows where she is and if she's even still alive. So their Light being stolen from there at the same time as Dark power arises could definitely be source of Tears for the whole Kingdom. Other things that Tears mean in Zelda is gathering some kind of divine power. In Twilight Princess we had to find Tears of Light to free Sacred Spirit and in Skyward Sword we had the Tears of multiple Goddesses to find. But what those also have in common? They are both found in an alternate version of Hyrule. In Twilight Princess it's the Twilight affected area and in Skyward Sword it was (not sure if it was said explicitly) in the Sacred Realm that look VERY closely to their "normal" Hyrule counterpart. What if we get another Hyrule Variant in Tears of the Kingdom? Another meaning for Tears, or more appropriately "tear" for this next idea, could be a gateway. "A tear through space and time". What if "Tears of the Kingdom" means that Hyrule will be plagued with bunch of fissure linking it to another world? A perverted world? In the trailers we've seen that Malice has been leaking in Hyrule. What if Ganondorf has been opening doorway to an alternate world? The gate themselves being called "Tears of Malice" because on the other side of those gate you have a hellish version of Hyrule in which Malice is everywhere. It would give us another round of exploration for all of Hyrule because we'd now have this tainted version to explore. That or through those Malice gate we do not go to tainted version of Hyrule, bot to the Abyss itself, where Malice creature came from. It would be perfect to introduce organically more scary monster without having to deal with "why weren't they in BotW?" because they don't just appear out of thin air, they actually pass through these portal to access the realm of Hyrule. And if done like this those Malice Gate could work like the Oblivion Gate from Elders Scroll 4. And to close them you need to adventure inside and steal its power source, a Tear of Malice, that could be the "New Goddess Orb" of this game. You need to gather them and bring them back to the Sky to cleanse them in order to gain in power. And that cleanse divine energy could be used to either repair the Master Sword (but I hope the Master Sword will "die" and we find the Four Sword and bless it with the three Divine Fire to make a new "home" for Fi) OR heal Link's arm. Maybe that is how he gets new power in this game instead of receiving everything from the start ahah. That is some of my hope for the next game. Link having to venture through Malice plagued land in Hyrule counterparts to find Zelda back in order to restore Lights in Hyrule.

SO GLAD you noticed all the Twili shapes and designs. It was my biggest observation. That and the fact that that weird creature/person/entity in the carving is also giving me serious Majora’s Mask vibes …which all fits nicely with the theory that the ancient tribe that made that mask and the ancestors of the Twili and the Zonai are all one and the same group.

Funny, just noticed how that little teardrop in reverse forms the shape of a crown as it expands/contracts…ah love these details

The "Tears" in the title does refer to tears as in 'eye tears' and not as in 'torn' since the Japanese katakana read "ティアーズ" (Tears💧) But it doesn't mean we can't interpret it the other way, i think both meaning make sense, the kingdom is crying for its endless cycle of rebirth and destruction that'll eventually torn them apart

Nice new intro! My wife (who barely knows anything about Zelda at all): "This reminds me of those Twilight people from that one game"

The first thing that popped in my head after this trailer was what if the Zonai are derived from the Twili. As you mentioned, iconography and symbols are very reminiscent of TP for sure. Just look at the Master Sword in the logo. It screams Twili

Love that all of my favorite youtubers are posting!

So hyped for this game!

WOOOOOOAH something I just remembered! Remember the first gameplay trailer for BotW at the game awards in 2014? There was this swirling light thing in a valley in the distance. It looks like the swirl on the ground in TotK!

Thank you for all the attention to detail. Just wanted to say in that shot with death mountain, I paused it an notice a huge land mass in the right corner in the sky. Bigger than most we have seen so far

After seeing the 2021 trailer and this one, now its just so perfect that the dragons disappear into the sky. Intentionally or unintentionally, Nintendo hinted at their sequel even before anyone know what it was about! The lost woods rising from the sky would make total sense as well because the deku tree is missing in the 2021 trailer

I’m glad to see someone else acknowledge the tears like crying vs tears like ripping option. I’m guessing that it can be cleared up by translating from another language, but I have yet to see anyone clarify. Most everyone does seem to have jumped to crying tears first though

I'm so glad that you brought up Skyward Sword. While it's not exactly one to one, the weird figure that everyones trying to identify immediately reminded me of the guardians of the Spirit Realm in that game, and not only the name but the design of those seven swirly things really reminded me of the tears you had to collect during those trials. I'm willing to bet that the plot of this game is going to revolve around Link obtaining those seven tears for... some purpose. Also I don't think we can discount that the title has a double meaning. Maybe it's both a signifier of how the gameplay works as well as a nod to the kingdom having something to cry about.

About the ouroboros: it's actually a double ouroboros here. it still has the same connotations of eternal cycles, death and rebirth, etc, but it has added context such as the balance of opposing forces. Specifically, it is sometimes interpreted as the coexistence of two opposing forces in a cyclical nature. This just further fits it symbolically to the overreaching plot of zelda, but what I'm interested by is that the double ouroboros has alchemical symbolism, and represents volatility. The closest depiction I could find was an alchemical diagram encircled by a double ouroboros, with the diagram within representing a unity between Man and the Divine, which, again, can match up with the overall story of Zelda, but personally I believe may hint at zelda, link, or the zonai (either in the past or present) working directly with some divine being. The unity bit is more speculative, though, because the trailer only shows the ouroboros on its own, but still something interesting.

The Japanese title of the game is mentioned to specifically mean "tears" as in "crying", so it's not tearing apart or tears in time or anything like that as people are theorizing.

I haven’t done the deepest reaserch on this new trailer but as far as I’ve seen nobody has said anything about how the master sword being broken would release all of Demise’s power that gets sealed inside it at the end of skyward sword. That might have some significant influence on how Ganondorf got redirected after the seal broke and how it almost seems like the malice is controlling his corpse not the other way around

Amazing job! So many things I never noticed. Though, since I have an appreciation for the flora and fauna of BotW, I did notice the little bat/drake creature

Was waiting for someone to do this

It’s interesting how the 2 tears above their heads in the logo shot are in opposing directions. Maybe also a twinning reference. And the one above the unknown beings head is the one in the opposite direction to how the 7 are in the first shot with the being.

Can’t stop watching all these theories videos. Thanks man. 👍🏻

Loved the intro! And can’t wait for more content from everyone !

Skyward sword was remastered the year before this game was originally set for. Ganondorf looks really close to demise. A depiction of a character floating on their back similar to how zelda was at the end of SS. And the obvious one, we're in the sky. I'd say keep an eye out for skyward sword connections, as this game seems to have a lot of them. Perhaps all the architecture in the sky is coming from a tribe that sprang up from people who decided to stay in skyloft after the events of skyward sword

Your suggestion that the particles look like the lost woods and so (since it is missing from the ground) the Deku tree may have been lifted up in the way the castle was and is now a floating Island has me on the EDGE of my seat

NBC I was getting majoras mask vibes of the statue at the beginning. Great analysis and always looks forward to more content from you. You one of the best👍🏿

I mentioned this on Zeltik and Arlo's videos, Monolith Soft's influence on the Zelda team is becoming quite apparent. The two dragons devouring each other's tails may be representative of Ouroboros, a theme strongly present in Xenoblade Chronicles 3.

The item on Link's hip, is also the same color as the Luminous Stones. Which were on display in the earlier trailers. Wonder if the stones will be a way to charge those vials.

1:42. You mention the coloring of the mural reminding you of the Gerudo. The text in the mural is also similar to Gerudo. Perhaps this is speaking to the ancient past of the Gerudo people.

It's great to see your trailer announcement so soon! Thanks for uploading!

Your Zelda analysis and theories are top tier, superb quality. 🌬💦⛩️🐉

Theory (pieced together by me and others over at Famiboards): As you progress through the game, you will need to rebuild the Sky Island. You will have the ability to raise chunks of Hyrule back into the sky. By doing so reverses time on said chunks which would explain why they look different once they are actually in the sky. The more chunks you raise, the more they will eventually start to connect together. In some of the shots, you see roads and pathways on the island chunks that do not connect to anything but upon rebuilding the entire sky kingdom, these will all form one large sky kingdom. Could be Skyloft, could be the original Zonai kingdom. Maybe the two are actually one of the same. As you send chunks back into the sky, there will be craters on the surface world that likely can be explored revealing secrets and underground stuff to explore. The Tears of the Kingdom is exactly that. Each island chunk is a tear that has fallen from the great kingdom that once was. Also represents tears in a kingdom as it was ripped apart. Your job is to restore the original kingdom. This will play a major role in defeating the evil and what not. Don't know how the entire story will work out but I feel confident that the core gameplay loop is restoring a long lost sky kingdom likely tied to the Zonai race that was done dirty by Ganondorf. As you send each chunk back in time which propells the pieces back into the sky, the former kingdom slowly becomes restored. It's been clear since the first trailer that time mechanics play a huge role and that island pieces can be raises as you saw Hyrule castle lift from the ground leaving behind a crater. Now we have enough evidence and information to piece together the restoration of the sky island and original Zonai race that inhabited said land.

I think those collectors are not for collecting tears... I think they're for collecting something like "magic". I remembered the video where you talked about the spirit energy, making things work and being malice the opposite of that, so, that things could be little bottles containing this energy to make Link's right hand shoot some powerful attacks, you know, like fuel. And speaking of his right hand, I think he was going to lose it because of malice, but that "spirit hand" took the place of the loosen limb to help our hero link.

I feel like the ouroboros simply references the endless cycle that zelda has, ganon, link, fight, repeat. I also love how they 'engineered' the logo to cover that person on the left just enough to hide it, as if something were behind the logo itself. The zonai text and green glow on everything reminds me of the twilight realm, clearly magic of some sort is being used, and the arm's design is not guardian-like, but more twili-like... however, with link seemingly 'losing' his arm to this magic, we also see the master sword broken, but we never see the green energy try and harm, only help. I believe we'll be collecting the tears to open shrines/dungeons, and over the course of the game we'll collect more and more to open the larger dungeons, almost similar to how you needed to get specific items to open dungeons in ocarina of time and skyward sword, etc etc. (also would be a good time to bring the hookshot back for the sky islands you can't jump/fly between). I also think that due to how high you are, you don't have the ability to fly, at least at the beginning, so even if you emerge from the large door, your only choice is down... and already having a weapon means that you either collect your 'items' at the start, or the opening of the doors is more like a sort of end of an area... meaning we could see some huge island dungeons, which i'll be happy to have more than the 4 tiny dungeons we got last time....

The first character I thought of when I saw the wall carving of the creature was Kaepora Gaebora. The two ear-like protrusions look like the eyebrows of KG, as well as the round eyes and what looks like a beak. It obviously has human features like arms and hands, but in Skyward Sword they had the head master Gaepora who shared many similarities with the owl, as well as Rauru, one of the seven sages and Kaepora Gaebora's true form.

Didn't notice that the "ancient" Link is weilding an axe in this trailer, the fact that it's a stone one is rather interesting since that definitely suggests it is more ancient 🤔

I am hopeful that this game will explore Ganon maybe in a redeemable way. What if he tried to stop the cycle by binding his body forever to avoid reincarnation, but the malice is balance so it seeps out of his decaying corpse. I think something that subverts expectations like that would be lit

Nice! I was waiting for your video! Can't wait for this game :)

ive said it in other places, but the shape of the little swirls in the mural do remind me of the amber shards of skyward sword, so if one really tried, you could also add that to the evidence supporting figure being hylia

Really don't understand why so many analysis youtubers are fixated on the reversal mechanic being the access to the sky. They already showed us what the access to the sky would be in previous trailers. I'm sure the reversal mechanic is just a single option to get back up, which would likely be used in puzzle situations. Nintendo is just trying to communicate that there is the ability to seamlessly transition between the overworld and the skyworld, you aren't restricted to accessing the sky via the upward teleportation tear ability we saw Link use in the 2nd trailer, and you can if you want just drop out of the sky back into the overworld..

I think there's more than one face on the mystery being. I see what looks like a stylized "bunny hood" mask (like Ocarina of Time/Majora's Mask) on top of another face.

The edge of the sword in the logo makes me get twilight princess vibes. Same as the music in the very first trailer. I wonder if there is a connection to the twilight realm underground? Perhaps a twilight mirror there or something. Idk.

Someone else pointed this out , but I think it holds some credence, the swirling point of green energy is close to a stable (with is actually visible) I think this will be the new quick travel points , just like in the botw you traveled using sheika tech energy, in totk you will fast travel using "green swirl energy" (perhaps if you will "tear energy") PS. I really hope the stables are active bec. horses were one of my favorite parts of botw

It would be crazy if the sequel is somehow connected to the twilight technology and makes proper use of it.

For at least one of glowy lines on the ground, if you flip it over you can see the stone carving version of the princess or whoever it is, but the twili connection is very interesting