In 2019, Nintendo revealed the first teaser trailer forThe Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. During thatE3 2019 trailer, it was just called a sequel toThe Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. Various trailers to follow have given fans a better idea of what to expect from the upcoming installment, teasing a powerful foe and a fractured world. What isn’t clear, however, is how big of a role Zelda herself will play, or if her father’s legacy will affect the world as it did in the previous game.
In this iteration of Hyrule, King Rhoam was the last leader of Zelda’s kingdom. Revealed piecemeal throughLink’s memories inThe Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, King Rhoam attempted to form an alliance between various factions within the game’s world in order to combat Calamity Ganon. This effort ultimately fails, resulting in the death of the protagonists' friends and allies, Hyrule being destroyed, and Link and Zelda disappearing for a century. With both Link and Zelda back in action forThe Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, the game offers a great opportunity to spotlight King Rhoam’s legacy and expand on what was already addressed inBreath of the Wild.
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King Rhoam’s Role in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
InBreath of the Wild, Link awakens a hundred years after Calamity Ganon won and destroyed Hyrule. His complete victory was only put on hold because Zelda was able to seal him away. The only major encounter Link has with King Rhoam is duringBreath of the Wild’s tutorial, but flashback sequences give players a better idea of Rhoam’s personality and relationship with Zelda.
In many ways, Zelda is the main character ofThe Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. She is the one with a fully developed character arc that stems from issues with her father and not being able to access the power that will seal Calamity Ganon. Memories paint a picture ofKing Rhoambeing a somewhat cold and domineering figure who can’t help but remind Zelda of her failures. Furthermore, he shows a degree of contempt for Zelda’s more scientific interests that distract from her greater mythological role. By the time the game ends, Zelda seems to have spent all of her awoken power, and no longer ties her own sense of self-worth to it.
This is the first area that could be explored inThe Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. A father’s legacy is often how their children view them after they are gone. While focusing too much of Zelda’s story on this subplot may be ill-advised with other ongoing events, being able to answer the question of what she thinks of her father and how he treated her with the benefit of hindsight could be great character-building.
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King Rhoam’s Political Legacy in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
Politics inLegend of Zeldagames have never been particularly well explored, andBreath of the Wildwas no exception. Various villages and settlements outside of Hyrule Castle, at one point, swore allegiance to its king, but in the other areas the factions' allegiances are vaguer and have to be interpreted from cutscenes. The inhabitants ofGerudo Desert inBreath of the Wildowe some allegiance to the King of Hyrule. The Gerudo’s leader Riju refers to Zelda as “our princess” though it’s not clear how much autonomy they have over their own affairs. Likewise, it’s not entirely clear how independent the Rito or Gorgon are in the world, with the Zora being the only faction with its own established monarchy. If anything there is a degree of animosity toward Hyrule for its failure to take down Calamity Ganon.
This disdain isn’t a huge issue, but it can be felt all the same. In particular, theZora inThe Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wildare still upset about the death of Princess Mipha, as several of her direct relatives and friends are still alive during the events of the main game. ShouldTears of the Kingdomput a focus on the various factions and governments, it would introduce a great opportunity to shine a light on how Rhoam’s relationship with them affects Zelda’s relationships moving forward.
It’s clear that these factions and settlements operate fairly well without Hyrule as a central power. There are dangers around every corner, but for the most part life seems to have gone on without a monarch. If Zelda was to take her place as the new ruler of Hyrule, there is no telling how willing these factions will be to kneel to her. An entire century has passed, and it could be that these factions no longer see the value of the Kingdom of Hyrule. King Rhoam’s obsession with battlingCalamity Ganon beforeBreath of the Wildmay have left more of an impact on the population that hasn’t been addressed. If so, it would make an interesting avenue for the game to explore as Zelda tries to consolidate her power against a new threat.
Normally, games in theZeldafranchise have veered away from in-depth, elaborate politics in favor of more fun, traditional fantasy narratives. Thelatest trailer forThe Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdomindicates another disaster will befall the world and likely take all the main characters' attention. However, such an exploration could provide depth to Zelda’s character and make the world feel more alive. Hopefully, Nintendo will be able to include something like this and show what makes the land of Hyrule tick.
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdomis set to release onMay 12, 2023, exclusively for Switch.
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