On this page: The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom — Trailer #2 Breakdown
1. Ganondorf's voice 2. The towers 3. The blood moon is back 4. More enemies 5. Is that a ReDead? 6. Little green lights 7. More past locations 8. Malice, malice everywhere! 9. Link's got... a cannon? 10. Planes, trains, and automobiles 11. Building and crafting? 12. Epona is back! 13. Link's arm is now a Sheikah Slate? 14. The Sheikah Slate looks different, though? 15. Lines on the ground 16. Grinding, Sonic-style 17. Who's that girl? 18. Those voices at the end 19. "Please, lend him your power" The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom — Trailer #2 Breakdown
Ganondorf's voice
Image: Nintendo "Rise... rise, my servants".
There's no way that voice is anyone but Ganondorf's, whose rather scary figure has popped up a few times in the game's trailers. He's definitely not shy in this one here, but this is the first time we've ever heard him speak.
His voice definitely has some menace to it, but it's going to take a little bit of getting used to, for what our money is worth. However, fans think they've identified who the person is behind Ganondorf's gravelly tones — none other than Matthew Mercer, Dungeon Master of Critical Role and the voice of Cassidy from Overwatch .
The towers
Image: Nintendo Sheikah towers? Maybe. Maybe not. It's a little hard to tell here. But they stood out to us for a number of reasons. Namely, the lights. What's going on there? Is someone searching for something up the towers, or are they to help Link find them while Hyrule is plunged into darkness.
That reason alone is enough for us to think that these may well not be Sheikah towers — where's the typical glowing markings, after all? But whether they'll act in a similar capacity, we have no idea. We've seen Link climb towers before in other trailers, so we're fairly sure these too will act as a safe haven for the hero of Hyrule.
The blood moon is back
Image: Nintendo Of course it is. Would it be a Breath of the Wild follow-up without the blood moon?
It's a pretty prominent part of the first half of the trailer too, and we're sure it'll be back to its old tricks. But it looks like it may well be connected to the malice, so we have a feeling this won't just be a sort of side mechanic here.
More enemies
Lots of new enemies were introduced to us in this new trailer — including some pretty terrifying malice-infected ones. More about those in a bit.
First, more flying enemies! These large flying creatures look like a cross between a frog and a bat, and it seems like they're going to be a pretty common enemy around the Death Mountain area. We also see some swooping around in the darkness near the start of the trailer. We should probably get used to fighting those, then.
Next is the huge stone creature that see Link backflipping and countering later in the trailer. This could just be a new variant of Talus, but it also looks like an upgraded version of Eox , a boss in the final dungeon of Phantom Hourglass. If so, that's one heck of a glow up.
Image: Nintendo Speaking of monsters with a glow up — and this one might be a stretch — but come on now, that has to be a Gleeok that we're looking at on the bridge there, right? Gleeok originally appeared in the first Legend of Zelda on the NES, and was last seen in (you guessed it) Phantom Hourglass. Well well well... If this is gearing us up for another bridge boss battle à la Twilight Princess ' King Bulblin then we're 100% here for it.
Let's go back to some of those familiar Breath of the Wild foes for a second, though. Series favourites like Moblins, Bokoblins, and the Hinox all make appearances here, but wait — notice the new horns, helmets, and hair-dos on them? They look particularly weapon-y if you ask us. Almost as if there is going to be some tool crafting on the cards here... we'll snap those crowns up, thank you very much.
Those big Bokoblin, too? They look like they're commanding the smaller groups, and they're very definitely new.
One last thing to note here — that new flying enemy is carrying a Bokoblin all the way up the mountain. So it looks like different enemies will work together to get around or even ambush Link. Well, that could spell trouble for us!
Is that a ReDead?
Image: Nintendo "No, that's a Lizalfos!" We hear you say. Hold up a minute, though! Look to the right — if you can bear to, because you might get a little bit of a fright.
Here, let's give you a helping hand...
Image: Nintendo Terrified? Have all of those nightmares from playing Ocarina of Time come back to haunt you? We're pretty sure that's a ReDead there, a zombie-like creature that's been a reoccurring enemy of Link's over the years.
This one has a lot more visible skeletal features, but it's in line with the various looks and redesigns the creature has had over the years — the mask, for example, looks similar to that toothy grin that Wind Waker's ReDeads have, and the mask also seems to take inspiration from Tri Force Heroes , of all places.
We just hope they're not keen on hugs this time around.
Little green lights
Image: Nintendo We've seen these green, spiral lights in previous trailers, but only one "bigger" one. So, what does that mean?
Well, we don't know for sure but it seems that the mean green has attached itself onto the Hateno Village Shrine here. If there was ever an excuse to revisit BOTW's 120 base Shrines, this would be it! Hey, at least they will be easier to spot this way.
Does that mean shrines are returning? Again, we can't say, but we reckon these lights act as a guide for Link again — a waymarker to help him locate either a place or an entrance.
More past locations
We know this is kinda-sorta the same Hyrule as Breath of the Wild, and many famous Zelda landmarks make their return, like the Gerudo Desert and Death Mountain. But there are a few Breath of the Wild-specific locations we spotted in this new trailer.
We've already mentioned Hateno Village above, and on the left side of that shot, you can see the Hateno Ancient Tech Lab where Purah and Robbie resided in the previous game.
Image: Nintendo Another spot is right near the start of the trailer when those flying enemies are circling the skies — the Military Training Camp, or at least what's left of it. The towers and structures have collapsed and the wood looks withered underneath the thundery skies. Whatever happened, it doesn't look good.
The Thunder Plateau is also back in Tears of the Kingdom, and it doesn't look too different from a distance. The mushroom-type rocks still tower over the plains. We see Link gliding over the area, when we notice that it looks a bit more worn down than it did last time we visited.
Malice, malice everywhere!
Someone should keep that malice in check, because it's everywhere .
It looks like the malice comes from the blood moon itself. When Ganondorf raises Hyrule Castle and calls upon his minions for help, we see malice shoot down from the moon. And as it hits the ground, enemies spawn from the dark-coloured... stuff.
Image: Nintendo In another shot, we can see the malice infecting the monsters, plus it's also spreading across the ground, making for some dangerous places to explore.
Death Mountain doesn't escape this fate too either, it seems. Doesn't the lava spewing from Death Mountain look a little not-at-all-fluid to you? Has Ganondorf's clutches made it inside the mountain itself? We won't lie, that's kinda cool. But we're also a little bit scared. Anything is on the table, here.
Please excuse our annotations here — we promise that looks like malice. — Image: Nintendo Link's got... a cannon?
The Master Sword is all rusty and gnarly and broken, is it? No sweat. How about a big cannon?
Ancient technology is par the course in BOTW, and the cannon — which Link wields by slamming it into the ground and firing an explosive at a Talus — is probably something along those lines.
Image: Nintendo Whatever it is, it looks very cool. We're sure people will do completely normal things with it, like try and propel Link across the skies.
Planes, trains, and automobiles
Okay, so we're not talking about the first two — the second you'll need to play a different Zelda game to control. But one of the biggest standouts in the newest trailer is that Link got a driving license. No longer is he restricted to just motorcycling in Hyrule.
In the new trailer, Link is seen piloting three different vehicles — something that looks like a car, a small flying vehicle, and some kind of glider:
All three of them look like they're built with Zonai-style materials, and the car even has those snake heads on them (wink wink, there's that ouroboros imagery again).
We don't get a great look at the small hot-air balloon — though it's certainly better and much sturdier than those makeshift Octo Balloon rafts we built in BOTW. But the car and the glider are covered in glowing green runes and markings.
Building and crafting?
We're going on a few hunches here (it wouldn't be a speculation post without, after all), but not only can Link drive, but it also looks like he's become a mechanic in Tears of the Kingdom. And by that, we mean, Tears of the Kingdom is secretly Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts . [Ed. faints]
There are two things in particular that look like they're shared between exploration, weapons, and the vehicles. First is the wheel that Link pulls out of the lake at the Great Plateau — the same lake that Link tests out his magnesis skills. The wheel looks exactly the same as the wheel on the car that Link is driving.
Now, whether we have to build it ourselves or whether it's just a missing piece, we don't know. But Rare (along with the rest of the gaming world, to be fair) has certainly seemed to notice something .
On a smaller note, the gliding vehicle and the cannon seem to have some symbols in common. On the base of the cannon, and on one of the glider's propellers, the exact same orange-y-coloured symbol is located on a flat circular piece. Can weapons be broken down to make parts for the glider? Or can you also craft weapons?
Link is just becoming a handyman, isn't he?
Epona is back!
Image: Nintendo We think, anyway. That definitely looks like Epona galloping proudly across Hyrule. Link's trusty steed was only available via an amiibo in Breath of the Wild, so we hope she's actually present in Tears of the Kingdom without trying to grab a little figurine.
She appears more than a few times throughout. Alongside the prominence of vehicles and travel in this game, it seems like Epona/horses will be a staple in Tears of the Kingdom.
Link's arm is now a Sheikah Slate?
Image: Nintendo Well... sort of.
Link's brand new arm is certainly a lot , but in the trailer, he's shown using it as if it were a Sheikah Slate. Namely, he uses Magnesis a number of times, either to solve a puzzle or pull something out of the water.
The Sheikah Slate looks different, though?
Okay, not strictly in the trailer, but we got some new artwork for Tears of the Kingdom after the trailer yesterday. And we couldn't help but notice something about Zelda.
No, not her new hairstyle — we've known about that for ages. But, more specifically, Zelda has the Sheikah Slate in her hands in her artwork. We've seen her holding it before in the trailers, but this new art gives us a good look at the back of it. And, if you compare it with the Sheikah Slate in BOTW, you'll spot that they don't have the same design.
What does this mean? It could just be an upgraded Slate. Or it could be a brand-new one. Or it might even be Purah's own Slate that she mentions in BOTW, passed on to Zelda. Will it come with new powers? And why doesn't Link have it? Hmmmmmm.
Lines on the ground
We caught some of these Zonai-shaped drawings in the ground on the last trailer, but we get a much better look here. They're giving off a very Nazca line vibe if you ask us, almost as if the ground people are begging the sky gods for something. Water? We wouldn't be the first to theorise that this is a Wind Waker prequel.
Image: Nintendo There's actually a number of these dotted around in this trailer, but the clearest one is seen in broad daylight as Link runs along the edge of a cliff. The others can be seen glowing at night from a distance. These, like many things, look like they could be related to the Zonai, and are probably there to help Link.
Grinding, Sonic-style
Link thinks he's cool now. Not only can you Shield Surf again, but you can also just straight-up use grind rails now. This isn't Rail Canyon, Link — this is an apocalyptic world.
Again, it goes back to traversal. There are so many more options in Tears of the Kingdom, and many of them seem to be inspired by players' creativity in BOTW.
Image: Nintendo Focusing on that moment in particular, what's that in the background? Is that a boulder made of malice? If there is going to be some more cave exploration in this entry, this sure would be a fun way to get inside the mountains.
Who's that girl?
Is it Zelda? Maybe. Is it a Zonai? Maybe. Is it Hylia? Again, maybe .
We have no idea. Despite seeing a feminine figure dressed in white robes, we can't see any hair, and we don't hear them talk. They just reach out towards Link, who grabs her hand with his grungy-looking one.
Her appearance, however, reminded us of a particular passage in Zelda's diary in BOTW. It doesn't give us any answers, but it certainly seems to fit here.
“I had a dream last night... In a place consumed by darkness, a lone woman gazed at me, haloed by blinding light. I sensed she was.….not of this world. I don’t know if she was a fairy or a goddess, but she was beautiful.”
Those voices at the end
Image: Nintendo Comparison has been made with Twilight Princess ever since TOTK was first revealed — the darker tone, the shadows, the prominence of night, etc. But as the title appears towards the end of the trailer, we have one pretty big, clear callback to the GameCube and Wii entry.
As the title fades in, some strange whispers can be heard pretty clearly — and they sound just like the whispers from TP. People have tried listening to the voices in reverse, but this time, they sound exactly the same.
It's all sounding very Twilight Princess-y, isn't it? Leading us nicely onto...
"Please, lend him your power"
Image: Nintendo Link? Your funny arm? It's looking particularly non-magical here, no? Almost as if the magical being covered in those bright green markings has not got to you yet. Is Zelda begging none other than Twilight Princess' Midna for help here? It's no certainty, but that arm has got to look a lot more Midna-y at some point...
There are plenty of alternative possibilities, of course. Zelda could be asking for help from the woman in the trailer, which would make her a deity of some kind. Or she could be asking something in the Slate she has? There's got to be a reason Link can use Magnesis with just his arm.
Phew! That's enough tin foil hat-donning for now. We're sure there's plenty more to dig into, and that others will find much, much more as the weeks go on.
In the meantime, we'll put this one to bed and eagerly await the next trailer, and any more hints as to what TOTK is up to. Let us know any details or theories we missed in the comments below!
