The Enigmatic Journey of Princess Zelda: Unraveling the True Depth of Tears of the Kingdom
Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom adds a captivating twist to Princess Zelda's character, but falls prey to a recurring storyline Dive into her intriguing role as the Light Dragon but be prepared for a sense of familiarity
WARNING: MASSIVE SPOILERS for The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom ahead. Proceed at your own risk.
Highlights
Zelda in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom takes on a more active role; however, she still follows the same pattern as other princesses in the franchise. In this game, Zelda transforms into the Light Dragon in order to safeguard the Master Sword. Nonetheless, she remains absent from the storyline until the ultimate confrontation with the final boss.
Fans were eager for Zelda to have a more active presence in the game, participating in every aspect of the story rather than just a few important moments. Prior to its release, fans had hoped that Nintendo would take a different approach with Princess Zelda in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. In the world of video games, Zelda is often portrayed as a classic damsel in distress, despite occasionally confronting Ganon head-on as seen in Breath of the Wild. Fortunately, The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom allows Zelda to take on a somewhat more active role, although she is not playable as many fans had desired. However, TotK's portrayal of Zelda still follows the pattern of other Princess Zeldas in the franchise, providing Link with a crucial advantage before disappearing from the storyline.
Zelda's Time as the Light Dragon is Interesting but Familiar
In the Breath of the Wild version, Princess Zelda has faced numerous challenges, and the journey in Tears of the Kingdom is equally intense. Once again, she witnesses the tragic deaths of her beloved allies as a menacing force threatens the land of Hyrule. Determined to find a permanent solution, she discovers a way to rectify the problem within her own timeline, albeit at a great personal cost. While her specific choice is distinct, it shares similarities with the experiences of many other princesses.
Link discovers that the enigmatic new dragon is none other than Princess Zelda, who transformed into a dragon using her Secret Stone. Her objective was to attain immortality and bathe the Master Sword in divine light, thereby restoring and reinforcing it in preparation for her imminent encounter with Ganondorf. Along her journey, she forges new alliances in the ancient land of Hyrule, hones her skills in time manipulation, and directly confronts Ganondorf herself. The culmination of these events is a thrilling and visually stunning climax, where Zelda takes on a pivotal role in the final boss battle of Tears of the Kingdom. This cinematic revelation adds an extra layer of intrigue to the already captivating story of the Light Dragon.
However, in a broader sense, the Light Dragon narrative is repetitive. In many Zelda games, Princess Zelda spends a significant portion of the story separated from Link in various ways, accomplishes a crucial task before exiting the narrative, leaving Link to resolve the remaining conflicts, and eventually reappears either during or after the final boss battle. This pattern can be observed in Twilight Princess, where Zelda's appearances are limited to healing Midna and participating in the final boss battle. Similarly, in Skyward Sword, Link's primary objective is to catch up with Zelda; once he succeeds, she blesses the Master Sword and remains unconscious for the remainder of the game in order to hold Demise back. In Breath of the Wild, Zelda only appears in brief flashbacks until she successfully imprisons Ganon and mostly remains absent from the story until the final boss battle.
Tears of the Kingdom follows the same formula with Zelda in a similar position. At the beginning of the game, Link loses track of Zelda and only catches rare glimpses of her until she performs a pivotal action—transforming into the Light Dragon to safeguard the Master Sword. Afterward, she is absent from the storyline until the final boss encounter. While Ganondorf's false Zelda puppet does introduce some variation, the deception is evident from the start, failing to truly complicate the princess' role. Despite introducing new and occasionally surprising details, TotK aligns with the longstanding tradition of assigning Zelda a significant task while offering minimal involvement in other aspects of the story.
Fans were not only interested in having a playable Zelda for the sake of adding gameplay variety; they also wanted to see her take on different narrative responsibilities. While Zelda's cutscenes in TotK were visually stunning and her transformation was a welcomed change, it would have been even more exciting if she had stayed by Link's side throughout the entire story and actively participated in every significant moment, rather than just having a few pivotal moments and occasional appearances. Now that Tears of the Kingdom is released, it is hoped that Nintendo will give Princess Zelda a more dynamic role in the next game.
You can now play The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom on the Nintendo Switch.
