Nintendo revealed in their last teaser trailer that the Master Sword is broken. This is Link’s iconic weapon which he’s used throughout numerous Legend of Zelda adventures, and it appears damaged and potentially unusable in the sequel to Breath of the Wild. Today I’m going to have a look at why the master sword is broken, plus have a look at what role the broken Master Sword may play in Breath of the Wild 2.

Before we get into the topic today, I would love to hear what you think about the broken master sword. How was it broken, how is Link going to fix it, and what role do you think it’s going to play in the story?

Back in March 2022 Eiji Aonuma showed up, but unfortunately, not with an in-depth gameplay trailer, it may a mere apology, saying the Sequel to Breath of the Wild was going to take a little more time, and the release date had been pushed back to Spring 2023. With that apology came a snippet of new footage, showing Link with the damaged Master Sword. The hilt appears to be in tact, but the blade looks damaged, almost like it’s been dipped in acid, and half of the blade has melted or dissolved away. This poses a huge problem for Link, given this is the iconic blade he’s used many times to defeat Ganon or Ganondorf, and it looks like he may be back.

Why is the Master Sword Important?

In Breath of the Wild most of the weapons are breakable, given we can use them for a short amount of time and then they break. The Master Sword is different. Link gets the Master Sword later on in Breath of the Wild, pulling the famous sword from the pedestal set in the ground when Link has 13 hearts or more. It’s one of the most powerful weapons in the game with a power level of 30 and infinite durability, although it does need to be recharged after 40 hits.

When Link is near enemies corrupted with Malice, for example, Guardians, Calamity Ganon or inside a Divine Beast, The Master Sword increases its damage to 60 and glows blue. It’s not essential to beating Calamity Ganon, but it certainly helps. We get a brief glimpse of the Master Sword glowing blue in the delay trailer, where we see a long-haired Link with the corrupted right arm holding the master sword towards the yellow orb, the Master Sword is glowing blue, perhaps trying to regain its power.

Why is it broken?

We’ve seen a damaged Master Sword before, but it’s never been in this state. This looks damaged, almost damaged beyond repair with much of the blade missing. We’ve faced many powerful enemies in the Legend of Zelda series, and nothing has come close to damaging the Master Sword like this.

There are a couple of clues in the trailers we’ve seen so far related to a powerful being, or perhaps beings that may be responsible for the damage to the Master Sword. Something very powerful is holding the presumed Ganondorf Corpse underground, below Hyrule Castle. An arm is holding the corpse in place, Link holds his glowing right arm while screaming out in pain, and there’s a quick flash, throwing a silhouette on the wall. An arm is reaching out to what looks to be a screaming, long-haired, large character with long fingernails on both hands.

The origins of the arm holding Ganondorf’s corpse in place aren’t yet known, plus we don’t know who this silhouette on the wall is. It could be the silhouette is a reanimated Ganondorf, given you can just about make out the shape of the nose.

In this short sequence where we see Ganondorf held down, and Link screaming while his arm is glowing, this could be the moment where both Link’s arm is modified and the Master Sword is damaged. After this sequence, we see Link’s arm modified with the new colour, the long nails and the square-like tattoo around his shoulder. It could be the arm holding down Ganondorf somehow fused with Link’s arm.

What does this mean for the story?

In regards to what this means for the story in Breath of the Wild 2, I imagine we’re going on a quest where we have to fix the Master Sword, rid it of the corruption, and perhaps use it to face down Ganondorf’s Corpse. We have seen Link travelling to the sky islands and showing the Master Sword to these yellow orbs. We could have to travel across Hyrule and find these sites where each time we visit the yellow orbs and present the Master Sword, it’s fixed a little more each time until it’s ultimately restored. We don’t yet know what the yellow orbs are, but some fans have speculated this is Princess Zelda. We’ve seen her fall to the depths of Hyrule in the trailers, so it looks like Link has not only lost his sword, but also the Princess. These yellow orbs could be Link communicating with Princess Zelda via the Master Sword.

We have seen something similar before in the Legend of Zelda series, related to treating swords with energy. In Skyward Sword, with which Breath of the Wild 2 seems to share many similarities, we obtain the Goddess Sword. The Goddess Hylia creates both the Goddess Sword and Fi, a spirit who ultimately lives inside the Master Sword. The Goddess Hylia gifts the Goddess Sword to Link to help him along in his quest as Hylia’s Chosen Hero.

After receiving the Goddess Harp from Princess Zelda, Link has to temper the Goddess Sword using three scared flames so it can hold the necessary power to open the Gate of Time at the Sealed Grounds. Each time Link tempers the sword in the sacred flames the Goddess Sword is powered up, and also altered in terms of appearance. Farore’s Flame converts it to the Goddess Longsword which increases the attack power, Nayru’s Flame converts it to the Goddess White Sword, which allows Link to dowse for loot and then Din’s Flame converts it to the Master Sword, which is four times more powerful than the original Goddess Sword. It doesn’t reach it’s true potential until it’s blessed before Zelda enters deep sleep, to keep the seal placed on Demise.

There is a precedent in The Legend of Zelda to power up swords, and given the parallels found between Breath of the Wild and Skyward Sword in design, we may once again call on the Goddess Hylia to help us out on our journey. In the original Breath of the Wild, we visited statues to give us hearts and stamina, but perhaps we’ll call on the Goddess Hylia once again to help us repair the Master Sword.

Let me know in the comments what you think about the broken Master Sword in Breath of the Wild 2.

That’s it for this look at why the Master Sword is broken, and what role it may play in the sequel. For more Legend of Zelda content like this check out Triforce Times on YouTube and subscribe today.