Summary

• Echoes of Wisdom will delve into Zonai lore, likely connecting to Tears of the Kingdom's mysteries.
• Bind in Echoes of Wisdom resembles TOTK's Ultrahand, hinting at deeper Zonai connections.
• Visual and mechanical similarities between Ultrahand and Bind suggest possible divine origins for the abilities.

The mysterious rifts consuming Hyrule naturally attract attention, they should not distract from other parts of the newest trailer.

From what has been revealed so far, it is already clear that Echoes of Wisdom will be an important addition to the Zelda franchise. It places Princess Zelda in the lead role as the hero of her own story, finally delivering a “Legend of Zelda” game in the truest sense of the phrase. In addition to this, Echoes of Wisdom will naturally introduce plenty of new lore to the franchise, pieces of which have already been introduced and teased through trailers. Intriguing, some of these details also appear to connect back to Tears of the Kingdom.

Echoes of Wisdom’s New Ability Could Be From The Zonai

Bind Appears To Be Another Version Of TOTK’s Ultrahand

A new ability revealed for Echoes of Wisdom, Bind, allows Zelda to move various objects around, even those too large for her to effect with the Echo mechanic. It is immediately clear that Bind is extremely similar to TOTK’s own Ultrahand ability; not only do both abilities essentially perform the same basic function, but are even visibly similar; both send out a stream of vivid green energy which then surrounds the target object. These similarities could imply that Tri and the Tri Rod's abilities have a connection to the Zonai, or at least share a common origin.

Despite them being at the center of TOTK’s plot, relatively little is known about the Zonai people and their history. However, their technology and abilities are more readily apparent, including the fact that they are the source of Link’s Ultrahand ability via Rauru’s arm. Now, the fact that Tri grants access Zelda to an extremely similar ability may provide evidence to a strange piece of Zonai lore, namely the belief that they are descended from gods (who also provided them with their Secret Stones). This is relayed to Zelda by Mineru in TOTK, and so is likely not intentionally misleading.

Tri and the Tri Rod both clearly invoke the Triforce, which is itself a powerful divine relic, in a way that strangely implies a connection with it. If Bind is in fact a variation of Ultrahand, then the parallel suggests that the Zonai’s supposed divine origin is true. Moreover, it may even be the case that are related to the Golden Goddesses themselves in some way. Notably, Zonai architecture does itself reference the Triforce through symbolic animal statues, so they are clearly aware of the Goddesses in a way that TOTK’s modern Hyrule apparently isn’t.

The Zonai ruins found throughout Hyrule in Breath of the Wild clearly use statues of Boars, Owls and Dragons to represent the Triforce’s aspects of Power, Wisdom and Courage respectively.

The Zonai May Have A Deep Connection To Hyrule’s Creator Goddesses

Echoes of Wisdom Abilities Could Be The Answer To TOTK Mysteries

Of course, it should be noted that Bind is not entirely the same as Ultrahand. Notable differences include an apparent inability to reorient or attach affected objects to each other, as well as Bind being able to move living monsters and not just inanimate objects. Moreover, the Zonai do not have an equivalent to the new Reverse Bond mechanic, which inverts the effects of BInd to anchor Zelda relative to another object. This shows that while Ultrahand and Bind may well have a similar source, they have clearly been developed in different directions.

Regardless of these differences, however, the visual and mechanical similarities between Bind and Ultrahand seem far too strong to not be some deeper connection between the two abilities. It could be that Ultrahand is actually a divine power in its own right, and so something that the Zonai inherited from their godly ancestors, serving as proof of their connection. Moreover, if they are closely related, it would also explain why the Zonai are shown to acknowledge the Golden Goddesses (via their signature attributes) in a Hyrule that otherwise seems to have forgotten them.

Beyond being an intriguing new gameplay mechanic, Bind has raised the possibility of Ultrahand being an ability connected to divinity, and maybe even the Golden Goddesses themselves (which would be quite fitting, considering Ultrahand’s purpose is ultimately to facilitate creation). This would serve as subtle but compelling proof of the Zonai being closely related to gods, as their own lore claims to be the case. Though it is likely they are far separated in the timeline, it is intriguing that such a clear connection to Tears of the Kingdom’s Zonai appears in The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom, perhaps providing answers a year after TOTK's release.