The newest footage ofThe Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild 2has a ton of implications for the game. The Master Sword has been damaged severely by Calamity Ganon’s Malice, leaving Link without his signature weapon. A blue glow in the blade suggests hope hasn’t been lost for the Master Sword just yet, and a golden orb could suggest that Link has holy power to collect. Beyond that,The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild 2has a variety of other mysteries to solve, like what’s become of Zelda herself. According to some fans, though, Zelda and the golden light could be connected.
Zelda has played a lot of different parts across the franchise, butBreath of the Wild 2may tread new ground. SomeZeldafans believe that the titular princes will gain a new spectral form that she can take on to help Link navigate Hyrule on his newest journey. While a spirit form for Zelda would be a curious move on Nintendo’s part, it might be plausible, and there’s certainly a lot thatBreath of the Wild 2could gain from this new power. Multiple forms for Zelda could beThe Legend of Zelda’s next big experiment.
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Zelda’s Possible Spirit Form
The golden orb inBreath of the Wild 2’s newest cutscene is hard to pin down. It appears to take place on one ofBreath of the Wild 2’s new sky islands, meaning it may not be associated with any known location on theBotWmap. It’s also not entirely clear why Link decides todraw the damaged Master Sword; he doesn’t plunge the sword into the golden light.Breath of the Wildis also full of magic, but this particular color scheme is chiefly associated with Zelda, who wields similar golden light at the end of the first game and in otherZeldatitles. Without any clear indication of who or what else the golden orb could be connected to, Zelda seems like a reasonable conclusion.
The idea that the orb may actually be Zelda herself stems from the end ofBreath of the Wildas well. Duringthe battle with Calamity Ganon, the captured Zelda escapes Ganon’s grasp in a similar golden form before reappearing in her humanoid form. If Zelda could escape Ganon with the help of a spiritual form, it stands to reason that she may be able to do something similar inBreath of the Wild 2.Over the course of the sequel, Zelda could take this form many more times.
Breath of the Wild’s climax certainly makes it seem possible that the sequel will involve Zelda gaining a variety of divine powers stemming fromher connection to the goddess Hylia. Zelda’s struggle to unlock her inner divinity is a major subplot inBreath of the Wildrepresented in many of Link’s collectible memories. Now that Zelda has wielded divine power against Calamity Ganon, she may have made further progress mastering the power ahead ofBreath of the Wild 2.In other words, Zelda’s new theoretical spirit form would be a logical progression from her character arc in the first game.
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Zelda’s Spirit Powers, Plausibility, and Benefits
Zelda assuming a spirit form inBreath of the Wild 2wouldn’t be all too strange because she has technically done it before. InThe Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks,Zelda gets ousted from her body and follows Link on his journey by possessing a suit of armor.Breath of the Wild 2’s spiritual form would certainly be very different, since it would focus more on Zelda’s divine abilities than an unfortunate circumstance. It would be interesting to see Nintendo revisit this take on Zelda in a more serious, intenseZeldagame.
Perhaps the biggest thing standing in the way of Zelda getting a spiritual form is the game’s implied Master Sword narrative. BecauseBreath of the Wild 2is seemingly all about restoring the Master Sword, odds seem good thatFi will return inBotW2.She was the Master Sword’s first keeper, after all, and she presumably still lives inside it after all these years. Getting a second Fi appearance would be great, butBreath of the Wild 2might struggle to incorporate both Fi and Zelda as spirit companions. It could manage to include both if one is far less active than the other, but it would be a shame for either character to take a backseat to the other.
If Nintendo does integrate new spiritual powers intoBreath of the Wild 2,though, they could be extremely useful. The game’s reveal trailer, wherethe possible corpse of Ganondorfis pinned down by a mysterious magical arm, implies that magic and supernatural forces will be an even greater presence inBreath of the Wild 2than they were in the first game. In that case, Zelda’s growing mastery over divine abilities would be a great narrative parallel to growing hostile magic. It also opens up the door to a lot of interesting mechanics. Players might get to navigate certain sacred spaces as Zelda in her spirit form or use other divine powers to solve puzzles that Link can’t interact with alone.
Breath of the Wild 2 Needs Zelda
The Zelda spirit form theory is tantalizing because it would be such a good change of pace after the last game.Breath of the Wildcharacterized Zelda particularly welland gave her tons of screen time, thanks to the flashbacks revealing her relationships with Link and the Champions, but she still spends most of the game as a damsel in distress.Breath of the Wild 2needs to give her a creative role that avoids repetition and allows her to play an active part in the story, rather than waiting for Link to help her. Spirit powers that help her follow, advise, and guide Link would be a good way to enable that kind of role.
Sadly, it could be quite some time beforeZeldafans get a good look at Princess Zelda’s role in the game. Now thatBreath of the Wild 2has been delayed into 2023, Nintendo may prioritizemore pressing Switch games likePokemon ScarletandVioletorXenoblade Chronicles 3in terms of advertising and new information. Hopefully that won’t be the case, though, since Nintendo doesn’t have to release a huge amount of information to improveBotW2’s visibility. Even a short newBreath of the Wild 2trailer could shed valuable light on Zelda and Link’s new adventure.
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild 2releases in spring 2023 for Nintendo Switch.
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