Tear Jerker / The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom

Moments pages are Spoilers Off.

"Mother used to say that people who spend lots of time in the rain are trying to hide something.
What are you trying to hide? Your footsteps? Or maybe... your tears?"

— Koko

It's called Tears of the Kingdom for a very good reason.

Unmarked spoilers below.

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Trailers

• The final trailer gives some character focus on Zelda, and she just seems... tired. It takes her a moment to respond to the mysterious figure speaking to her, and all she musters is quietly uttering Link's name. Given the fact that after everything she went through things just got worse, she may be approaching the Despair Event Horizon.
  • And Link likely isn't doing much better. In the span of only a few minutes he loses the Master Sword, has his arm maimed by Ganondorf, and fails to rescue Zelda from falling to Hylia-knows-where...and unlike last time, he doesn't get the benefit of losing all his memories of what happened. One can only imagine what's going through his head when he's going through the Great Sky Islands...

Main Story

• The Master Sword getting destroyed in the prologue. Fi's been through a lot since Skyward Sword, such as getting much of her power drained prior to The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past which allowed Link to have the Master Sword tempered and upgraded by a Great Fairy into more powerful levels, and then getting buried in Ganondorf's forehead and left there in The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker. This may just be the worst she's been put through. Thankfully, she gets better, but still...
• While little is seen of Rauru and Sonia's relationship, just how much he loved her is made evident when she is murdered. It is the first time in the game that he is seen genuinely angry, or rather enraged almost beyond reason. His third eye opens, he bares his fangs, even his ears tremble as the heartache turns him outright feral. Indeed he is so grief stricken that he almost does a likely suicidal charge on Ganondorf, held back only by Zelda's plea that he should stay near Sonia. It is the sort of rage that in turn evokes immense sadness in the viewer considering the cause.
  Rauru: (heartbroken, after finding Sonia's wounded body) Sonia!
  Ganondorf: You are too late, Rauru. You took the godlike power you had in your hands for granted. Do you now see the potential you squandered? As for her... She is merely the first victim of your arrogance. You tried to control me, Rauru, and you will die knowing that you failed!
  Rauru: (enraged beyond all reason) GANONDORF!!!
  Zelda: KING RAURU! Queen Sonia needs you!
• While Zelda does get a second chance of sorts in regards to her life with King Rauru, Queen Sonia and Mineru for a little while, it ultimately ends tragically with the deaths of all three due to Ganondorf's machinations. Zelda's distraught voice when Queen Sonia is killed only hurts even more when you realize that Sonia had basically become Zelda's substitute mother figure. She had wanted so badly to avert catastrophe with Ganondorf... only to fail because of Ganondorf's cunning.
  • In "A King's Duty'' memory, Zelda consults Rauru about how she came to this era after finding a mummy underground and she makes the connection that the Demon King and the mummy are one and the same, meaning that they will be fated to lose the battle. Zelda is near tears as she tells this to Rauru.
    Zelda: King Rauru... Before you face the Demon King tomorrow, there is something I must tell you. I came... I came to this era after finding a man underground.
    Rauru: Hm. Go on.
    Zelda: When I witnessed what the secret stone did to Ganondorf... At that moment, I knew for sure. What we found underground - that was him! He's still alive... Still powerful... He continues to live on... all the way until my time! In tomorrow's battle... We won't be able to defeat him. No matter how strong we think we are, he'll survive! (sees Rauru's secret stone, and closes her eyes in grief) And you... And you will...
    Rauru: (places a comforting hand on her shoulder) Maybe so... But it is my duty to try. It was my hubris that set us on this path. I must atone for my error in judgment. And above all else... I remain the king of Hyrule. As with any leader, it is my duty to safeguard and protect my people. Even if I must risk my life.
    Zelda: Rauru...
    Rauru: And if it proves impossible for us to defeat Ganondorf... we rely on your knight, and that legendary sword he carries. Our last line of defense... will be Link.
• While accessing the Dragon's Tears, we see at one point Mineru warning Zelda that the technique they discussed will make the princess "lose her sense of self". After Rauru's sacrifice to keep Ganondorf at bay, Zelda insists on going through with this; this time with the dying Mineru backing her up. The final Tear shows said technique: Zelda ends up swallowing her Secret Stone and turning into the Light Dragon in order to infuse the Master Sword with enough sacred power for it not only to recover from being destroyed by Ganondorf's Gloom but also to empower it to unprecedented levels, a process that takes more than 10,000 years and comes at the cost of Zelda losing her mind completely past basic instincts. It also turns into a literal tear jerker when, as what is implied to be her last conscious act before losing her mind completely, Zelda in dragon form cries, and these tears become the Dragon Tears that Link uses to access her past memories.
  • Note what she does soon after she swallows the Stone - as the power surges through her, she's trembling, shaking, desperately trying to control her body before she loses her mind. Her last act before she transforms? Grabbing the destroyed Master Sword and holding it to her chest, and begging Link to "protect them all" before her eyes change shape to match her dragon form. She was very clearly terrified of what's coming, not to mention she was likely in extreme pain, but did it anyway if it meant there was any chance of stopping Ganondorf.
  • In the ending, Zelda's confusion at being Hylian again shows something else. She had no hope of turning back.
  • Right before the Light Dragon sheds its tears, its usual bellow is accompanied what sounds like human wailing, almost as though it's the last parts of Zelda's humanity crying out in anguish before she "dies" for good. Even if she had to do it for The Needs of the Many, Zelda is still devastated about losing herself both mentally and physically forever.
  • After Link witnesses the final memory, a small field of Silent Princess flowers blossom around where the Light Dragon's tear landed. The same flowers that the Light Dragon's human form once cherished as her favorite.
  • The music that plays when you are near the Light Dragon doesn't help. It's similar to the theme shared by the other dragons, but this one is slower, much more somber and contains incomplete references to Zelda's Lullaby, as if she's trying and failing to remember something from her past life.
  • Another detail after the final memory is Link's subtle reaction. On closer inspection you can notice Link's breathing becoming heavier and his eyes quivering a bit while looking around as if he's holding back tears. It's clear that he's devastated over what happened to Zelda.
• If you've finished the game with all of Zelda's memories unlocked, you're treated to a post-credits scene where Mineru shows everyone the view of Hyrule from the Zonai Temple of Time. It’s at this point that she reveals to everyone that with the threat of Ganondorf finally gone, that it is time for her to pass on and rejoin her family. Everyone present watches somberly as Mineru's spirit fades away completely as the music closes out on a scant few sad piano notes, as the camera cuts to the crumbled remains of her construct, without her spirit, reduced to nothing but a lifeless pile of parts. The very last Zonai has passed on from the realm of the living. Now, unless it's revealed more Zonai exist still, Mineru and Rauru's entire species are all extinct, with only their technology and architecture showing they existed.

Other

• A few years have passed since Calamity Ganon was slain... and Hyrule is still a wrecked mess. Ruins still fill the landscape, hardly altered from Breath of the Wild. Even with how much the people of Hyrule have recovered from the devastation and are doing their best to rebuild, it's still sobering to see that the damage Ganon has done is extensive enough that it's still there by the time Link reawakens thanks to Rauru.
  • Also of note is the Forgotten Temple, where the giant statue of Hylia is revealed to have been toppled over, looking like yet another decayed remnant of a once glorious Hyrule. It takes offering claws from the three dragons to three different prayer statues elsewhere to finally bring her back to normal.
• In Castle Town, you can find a gravestone-like memorial with a Silent Princess on it. Said grave is for the fallen heroes of the Calamity, no doubt referring to King Rhoam and the Champions. These memorials can also be found in other locations such as near Helmhead Bridge.
  • The simple fact that Rhoam and the original Champions are barely mentioned in this game. While their legacy endures through their successors, and both Mipha and Daruk still have their statues (with Mipha even having her own dedicated court), Hyrule is truly moving on from them and their memory. Revali especially, whose one instance of genuine sincerity in the first game had him wonder if his people even remembered him, isn't mentioned a single time outside of the Great Eagle Bow's description.
  • The soldier's ghosts in the Depths who wait atop cairns and hold out pristine weapons for Link. They're silent and sad figures, and large cairns with three ghosts can be found under Zelda's monuments on the Surface, heavily implying they're the souls of the many soldiers who died in the Calamity, now offering their former weapons to Link so he can do better at the task they failed.
• In this title, you can recover the updated version of Link's unique tunic, here called the Champion's Leathers, which Zelda in her diary mentions having ordered special for Link, but Purah elaborating further and saying Zelda actually made it for him. When you realize Zelda's fate in sacrificing herself to become the Light Dragon, all but a form of death leaving a husk behind to aimlessly roam for eternity, it's heartwrenching enough that this is a final gift she never got to give him... But then, you recover the four Great Fairies. The only way to upgrade the Champion's Leathers is with Light Dragon materials.^note In short, as if it wasn't hard enough just going to her to reclaim the Master Sword you have to go see what's become of Zelda again and again, just to nock your bow at her and fire for shards of her being.
  • To hit even harder, Zelda is the only dragon who will never do anything to harm Link, but still creates the helpful updraft around herself like the others do. This is taken a step further in applying her materials to weapons: their sole effect, of any piece, on any weapon, is to heal you. Even with her mind long and entirely gone, Zelda remains gentle, with the one remaining instinct to protect others.
  • If it's any consolation at all, she, like the other dragons, doesn't react to being struck, plus she states in the ending of the game that she was basically sleeping all that time. It's still sad to experience, though.
• In Breath of the Wild, Dorian was a former member of the Yiga clan who reformed and returned to the Sheikah; in retaliation, the Yiga killed his wife, whose grave he visited every day. Now, thanks to the Ring Ruins falling on Kakariko Village and 'Princess Zelda' ordering a specific section of them cordoned off, he can't even do that much. You can find him wandering around the village, muttering apologies to his wife and barely being able to see his daughters due to his guard duties eating up his spare time.
• Wabbin, a side quest character from Breath of the Wild, returns, as does his wife Perda, and its revealed they have had a daughter, Aaqlet, who now lives in Gerudo Town in accordance with their law. You find this out from Wabbin, who spends the entire game in the Gerudo jail for the crime of trying to see his wife and daughter. There are no means given for Link to do anything about it, and Wabbin remarks he's simply happy if his wife and daughter are happy despite having been unable to say a word to them since he was put in there.
• Koltin, Kilton's brother, gives you various rewards for bringing him Bubbul Gems, as he wishes to consume them so he can become a Satori. When you bring all of them to him, he thanks you one last time... and transforms into a Blupee, before hopping away and disappearing. When you tell Kilton about this, he's in disbelief that Koltin actually transformed and is understandably saddened, only remarking that he's glad his brother's happy, before telling him to make use of the cloth Koltin had given him, saying that it's "what he would have wanted". The whole thing plays out as if Koltin had just died, and he basically did, since eating Bubbul Gems to transform into a Satori is synonymous with the process of Draconification, which is established as a Death of Personality.
• You might be tempted to go to previous important locations from last time like the Great Plateau, such as visiting the Shrine of Resurrection or paying your respects to Rhoam at his old cabin. However, you'll then discover that the former has been completely gutted of all Sheikah technology down to the cave walls, and the worst part is that both locations as well as the Akkala Tech Lab have been turned into Yiga bases. Even worse when you recall that in Breath of the Wild, the Yiga knew exactly about Link in the Shrine of Resurrection and possibly about the Old Man's cabin, so it's likely a case of Kick the Dog as well.
• While the Goron's addiction to the Marble Rock Roast is primarily Played for Laughs, there are some moments that show how damaging their addiction is for the Goron's society as a whole. In particular, one Goron kid laments that his older brother has practically become unrecognizable because of his insistence on eating the Marble Rock Roast, and the children who worship Yunobo are frightened and upset that their idol has become an abrasive tyrant who cares little for his people in lieu of harvesting more of the product that has degraded the Goron race.
  • Some of the non-Goron visitors of Goron City express disappointment and/or worry for what's going on in the area. Some of the Hylians note how upsetting it is to see the normally-friendly Gorons become hostile and aggressive for reasons beyond their understanding, while the Gerudo explicitly warn you to stay away from the city for your own safety. Even some of the non-addicted Gorons (particularly the children and elders) can see how much the Marble Rock Roast has destroyed Goron society, and apologize to Link about what has happened to their way of life.
  • Fighting the masked Yunobo can be somewhat upsetting as well. Seeing a Cowardly Lion who previously helped defeat Vah Rudania only a few years prior angrily attempt to kill Link in a blind rage is quite a shock. Furthermore, seeing how abusive and uncaring he is towards his fellow Gorons (especially the kids who worship him) is nothing short of unnerving.
• The complete destruction of Lurelin Village, the seaside town that likely brought comfort and joy for many Breath of the Wild players can be truly devastating, especially with the monsters occupying the place. Though it's possible for Link to defeat the monster pirates and repair the village, it's still sad to see the former locals of Lurelin lament on how their humble beach town was destroyed by monsters, and how little hope they have that the damage can be undone.