After the reveal of The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, it didn't take long for theories and rumors about the trailers to surface. Nintendo has done its best to keep the information given in trailers to a minimum, but the hidden details have been more than enough to spark rumors. While some rumors don't hold much weight, others have enough credence to possibly be included in Tears of the Kingdom when it launches.
[Warning: This article contains spoilers for Skyward Sword and Breath of the Wild.]So-called Breath of the Wild 2 until recently, Tears of the Kingdom is continuing Link's journey after the defeat of Calamity Ganon. Not much is known about Tears of the Kingdom, but it's expected to be open-world like Breath of the Wild. As for the story and villains, there are only rumors and theories about whom the newest threat to Hyrule is and why the trailer seems to feature Zonai writing.
Not every rumor or theory regarding Tears of the Kingdom is likely to be true, but there are some that line up with the scarce amount of information and images that players have seen so far. There are players who have scrutinized even the smallest details and come up with possibilities as to locations Link may visit and characters from other games who might return. However, not everything from past games, such as some BOTW enemies, should return in TOTK.
Link Returning To Skyloft In Tears Of The Kingdom
This isn't the only rumor that involves Skyward Sword, but the floating islands in Nintendo's trailers for TOTK make it likely to be true. Skyward Sword is placed at the beginning of the Zelda timeline, its events happening before those of any other Zelda title. Since BOTW, and therefore TOTK, haven't been given a place on the timeline, it's uncertain what state Skyloft would be in if it appears in the game.
One theory dives deeper into the possibilities of returning to Skyloft and what Link may find there, suggesting that it could have been used as a place of refuge for the Zonai. Between the ruins found in Breath of the Wild and the images in the trailer for Tears of the Kingdom, the Zonai and Hyrule seem to have had an unpleasant past. Since Link is shown in the trailer riding a flying device, this theory suggests that the Zonai were not wiped out, and they instead moved to the skies to inhabit Skyloft, giving Link more reasons to head to the skies in TOTK.
Tears Of The Kingdom Could Feature Fi And Demise
Continuing with the Skyward Sword connections, part of this rumor stems from Calamity Ganon being defeated at the end of BOTW and TOTK needing a villain to take his place, a position which Demise could be likely to fill. The images in stone for the TOTK trailer show a woman hovering similar to Zelda when Ghirahim is trying to summon Demise, which means that they could be depicting another point in time when Demise was summoned. He may have been sealed away in Skyward Sword, but he was sealed in Zelda's iconic Master Sword, which is broken in TOTK. Due to this, the seal may have broken as well.
The other part of the rumor comes from both the images of Link with a broken Master Sword and the mention in Breath of the Wild that Fi's spirit is dormant within it. Even if Demise doesn't make an appearance in Tears of the Kingdom, it seems likely that Fi will. She's referenced multiple times in BOTW, with her signature sound effect even playing, and she did hope to meet one of Link's future incarnations. But as one of the safeguards against Demise, it seems more likely that they would both appear in TOTK instead of only one or the other being included.
Dungeons Might Be More Traditional In Tears Of The Kingdom
Traditional Zelda dungeons in Tears of the Kingdom would address one of the criticisms of Breath of the Wild, where the puzzles being spread out and the presence of the Divine Beasts left some players missing the dungeons from previous Zelda games. Dungeons generally have Link complete them so that he obtains a reward at the end that helps him with his quest to save Hyrule, like awakening the Sages in Ocarina of Time and collecting their medallions. The image of seven tears in the TOTK trailer could imply that Link will be heading into more traditional Zelda dungeons to gather those tears.
Tears Of The Kingdom Could Center Around The Zonai
This rumor is based heavily on the hieroglyphics in the Nintendo Direct trailer. The Zonai remain a mystery throughout Breath of the Wild, but one theory connects the tribe to the Twili from Zelda: Twilight Princess. By the time players explore Hyrule in BOTW, only ruins of the Zonai are left, but the writing matches that by the stone images in the Tears of the Kingdom trailer. This rumor connects to the first one listed in that, if any of the Zonai are alive, they may have relocated to the floating islands in order to survive a possible calamity, assuming some of said islands don't come from the ground like floating Hyrule Castle in the first reveal trailer. Since information on the Zonai is limited, players have to look to the symbolism found in their ruins and the TOTK to craft this rumor.
The title "Tears of the Kingdom" could also reference the Zonai's past and the events that led to their destruction. There's a common theme regarding dragons with the Zonai, and the logo for Tears of the Kingdom is two dragons of the same style as the Zonai statues eating the other's tail to create a symbol called an Ouroboros. Since the Ouroboros symbolizes the cycle of destruction and rebirth, it seems likely that TOTK will feature the Zonai's history, what happened to them, and possibly their return.
Tears of the Kingdom's release date is still months away, but players have plenty of side quests in Breath of the Wild to spend time on until then. Nintendo's silence on TOTK and the trailers that don't reveal much information have led to players forming theories about what the next adventure in Hyrule might feature. Since the rumors rely heavily on speculation, it's possible that none of them will end up being true. However, it seems likely that there will be, at the very least, a connection to Skyward Sword in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom.
