Nintendo could be about to do the unthinkable and kill off Princess Zelda. But what does that means for Tears of the Kingdom, and the Zelda series in general? Today I am going to have a look at the prospect of Nintendo killing our beloved Princess, have a quick look back at Zelda’s role in Breath of the Wild, and what this could mean for the upcoming Legend of Zelda Tears of the Kingdom.
Before we get into it today, let me know what you think. Do you think Zelda is going to be dead in Tears of the Kingdom, and where do you think Nintendo could take the series if she doesn’t make it? Also, we are very close to hitting 1000 subscribers on YouTube, which is a major milestone. If you could help get us over the line, by subscribing and sharing this video with a Zelda fan, I would really appreciate it.
The Legend of Zelda Tears of the Kingdom is set to be a darker entry in the Zelda series. Much like Majora’s Mask was a dark and twisted version of Ocarina of Time, we could be about to embark on a dark journey in the next mainline Zelda game. Nintendo has been telling us a story through the trailers released so far, and in the first trailer we see Princess Zelda lose her footing, an arm reaches out and catches another arm, then in the second trailer, we see it… Princess Zelda falls backwards into the darkness.
Nintendo has been keeping its cards very close to its chest when it comes to major plot points for The Legend of Zelda Tears of the Kingdom. In the trailers we have seen Zelda in danger, then falling and in the mural, we have seen a female character depicted laying down, raised into the sky… and this certainly looks like it could be Princess Zelda. Even the name suggests something dark, ‘Tears of the Kingdom’… why is the whole Kingdom crying? It could be because Princess Zelda is gone, and this time maybe it’s for good.
To have a look at where we’re going in Tears of the Kingdom, first, it’s useful to have a look at where we have come from, and that’s Breath of the Wild. While Zelda played a great role in the narrative of Breath of the Wild, she wasn’t in the present, she appeared before us in the form of hidden memories, of when others were telling us about her or our grave situation with Calamity Ganon.
When we did see Princess Zelda, we saw a young woman coming to terms with who she was and trying to manifest this great power within her, and much of the time she was left frustrated at not being able to summon this great power, even though it did appear when she needed it most. You could argue that Princess Zelda was the focus of Breath of the Wild, with Link playing a supporting role. Yes, we followed Link throughout his adventures across Hyrule, but in narrative terms is was a story of a young woman realising her destiny and unleashing her great power to seal away Calamity Ganon.
At the end of Breath of the Wild, Link and Zelda ride off into the sunset after a job well done. Hyrule can now start to recover, or so we thought. Zelda has found her inner strength and it appears that Hyrule is safe, and the story of the champions, Calamity Ganon, Link and Princess Zelda appears to have concluded. Princess Zelda has found it to herself to call upon the power of the Triforce, once again bringing balance to Hyrule. We left Breath of the Wild with a satisfying ending… but that was until the first trailer for Tears of the Kingdom, where we join Link and Zelda on a journey after the events of Breath of the Wild.
Next, let’s have a look at some of the clues as to why Princess Zelda could be able to die. It is entirely possible that Princess Zelda could live, she could be kidnapped by Ganon, or some variation of Ganon, and slip back into her standard role in the Legend of Zelda series. I hope this isn’t the case, given Breath of the Wild gave her so much character development. She was well voice acted, her struggle was a great story and a triumphant one at that partnering with Link at the end of the game. In Breath of the Wild, Zelda saved Link (more than once)… They worked as a team, rather than Link saving Zelda as we’ve seen many times over.
Nintendo has been hinting at the dark nature of Tears of the Kingdom through trailers released so far. Link and Zelda travel together, Zelda with a new battle-ready haircut, and they come across a corpse under Hyrule Castle that appears to be Ganondorf-like. This isn’t confirmed yet, but it appears to be highly likely, given the jewel in his head, and the need for an antagonist in Tears of the Kingdom. The ground shakes, Malice pours from the corpse and Zelda falls down a cavern into the darkness. Since this moment we haven’t seen Princess Zelda in the trailers. Either she’s injured, lost to another world or dimension, or she’s dead. We have seen a female figure depicted in the trailer, at first laying down, and looking like she’s being raised into the sky. We have also seen her standing once again, hand in hand with a mysterious partner, although Nintendo carefully kept the partner’s identity from us. Looking at what we have seen so far, Link and Zelda are on an adventure, finding this corpse, then Princess Zelda falls down a hole… it’s not looking good for the Princess. Since we saw her fall, we have seen two trailers from Nintendo, and she’s nowhere to be seen.
Killing Princess Zelda is a bold move and one that Nintendo isn’t going to take lightly. If the trailers are anything to go by, Nintendo could have laid out a roadmap for the game here, with the first trailer showing Link and Zelda on their adventure, followed by Princess Zelda’s accident into the abyss. Given we see in the most recent trailer this figure at first laying down and horizontal, then in the next shot standing once again, it could be that the Princess is resurrected at some point throughout the game due to our actions. It looks like we have the ability to roll back time in certain circumstances, perhaps we can roll back time to before Princess Zelda dies?
The death of Princess Zelda serves a couple of purposes. First of all, it sets the tone for this blockbuster sequel, saying this is darker, this serious and you’d better pay attention. Killing Princess Zelda could also be a way of ending the current cycle of life, death and rebirth from Demise’s curse. Major characters have been killed before, including Breath of the Wild’s own Champions. Although they are not on the same scale as Princess Zelda, it would send shockwaves throughout the Zelda Community. Personally, I would like to see Nintendo take some risks. Nintendo has been dropping clues in their trailers, and the clues so far point to something grave happening with Zelda.
Whatever happens with Princess Zelda, we’re in for a great time with The Legend of Zelda Tears of the Kingdom. It’s currently scheduled for 12th May 2023, and hopefully between now and then we’ll get more information from Nintendo related to the story, mechanics and gameplay. Nintendo has been teasing us for years now with Tears of the Kingdom, and we’re now only a few short months away. I can’t wait.
Let me know in the comments what you think about the fate of Princess Zelda. Do you think she’s going to live or die, and what do you think that means for the story in Tears of the Kingdom?
That’s it for this look at is Princess Zelda Dead in The Legend of Zelda Tears of the Kingdom. For more Legend of Zelda content like this check out Triforce Times on YouTube and subscribe today.
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