Summary
A fan ofThe Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdomhas designed what Link’s Secret Stone would have looked like if the hero of Hyrule had been one of the Sages.Tears of the Kingdommay have lost Game of the Year toBaldur’s Gate 3in 2023, but Nintendo’s sequel was a hit with theZeldacommunity because of its emotional narrative, unique mechanics, and the ability to build megastructures using the game’s Zonai technology.
The Nintendo Switch title saw players follow Link in search of Princess Zelda during Ganondorf’s return to the kingdom, and the game’s open-world exploration had the fandom hooked from the get-go.Tears of the Kingdomwas nearly given a different title, but the developers went in another direction to put players off the scent of spoilers. A year after its release, theZeldacommunity continues to dissect the game’s lore and discuss elements that never came to fruition.
Designed by cokoakeo and Drekaban, fan art was shared within theTears of the Kingdomsubreddit detailing what Link’s Secret Stone would have looked like. A few mockups showed a golden, tear-shaped stone debossed with blue hieroglyphs inspired by Japanese kanji. The game’s magical Zonai artifacts were a unique feature in the franchise, andTears of the Kingdomplayers want the Secret Stones to returnin other titles down the line. Additionally, the designer explained the kanji used in Link’s Secret Stone meant “metal” or, more specifically, “gold”, and they imagined the stone being carried on the back of the hero’s left hand where his Triforce of Courage used to be.
Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom Fan Designs Link’s Secret Stone
The Reddit community applauded the concept art, but mostTears of the Kingdomfans were worried Link would end up using the stone in one of his cooking recipes. If Link’s Secret Stone had appeared in the sequel, he would have joined the many Sages bestowed with the ancient relics, including Tulin, Yunobo, Sidon, Riju, Rauru, and Mineru. Fans welcomed this party during gameplay as the characters enhanced the story tenfold, but also,Tears of the Kingdom’s Sages proved multiplayer would be welcomedin future entries.
MostZeldafans wantTears of the Kingdom’s Sages to be improved uponin the franchise’s future, making use of possible party mechanics and allowing the characters to have more screen time in the narrative. There’s already speculation about whatTears of the Kingdom’s sequel will involve, and many are hopeful the antagonist Ganondorf will continue to evolve and perhaps become playable at some point.
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
WHERE TO PLAY
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is the sequel to the beloved open-world adventure, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. This installment once again sees Link and Zelda battling to protect Hyrule from falling to Ganondorf. This new adventure takes place in the same land of Hyrule as Breath of the Wild but sees something called the Upheaval, which allows link to travel to Sky Islands, as well as deep into the Depths beneath Hyrule. Players can use special abilities to fuse together weapons, and build items to help them progress through the release.
