Don't get me wrong. Tears of the Kingdom is a fantastic game. I'm still having so much fun with it. It delivered on so many fronts. It has my favorite final boss in the series. And the new mechanics really do make BotW feel like a tech demo.

But.

My Big Complaint is: TotK should not have been a sequel to BotW.

(spoilers below the cut!)

I understand why they did it, and think it was inevitable. Getting to reuse the assets and maps saved so much time. And BotW was such a huge success that they couldn't not give it a sequel.

But seriously, what the heck?

TotK's storytelling basically ignored or erased everything that happened in BotW. What happened to the Sheikah tech that was literally everywhere? The Divine Beasts that had been plaguing the four regions for a century? Zelda's incorporeal battle with evil incarnate for 100 years and the inevitable trauma she and Link must have after everything that's happened to them? Nah we don't talk about that. Half the NPCs don't even know who Link is despite having plenty of canonical interactions.

And I'm like, ok, I get it, sure. We are so 100% into this new plot we don't have time to explain away the old stuff and I'll just have to deal with it. All right, sure! BotW had very cool and well crafted lore, I'm sure TotK will too! I can't wait for this airtight new story!

Except 🤨

Who are the Zonai actually? Why did they come to Hyrule and from where? Why do we only meet two of them? If Rauru and Sonia are the first of the Royal Family, is she part of the goddess' bloodline (a direct descendant of SS Zelda)? Did she die childless? If they had a child, was it distinctly half Zonai? SO MANY GANONDORF QUESTIONS I DON'T EVEN KNOW WHERE TO START??!?! What's the deal with the secret stones anyway? Who made them? Why do they cause draconification? Is that what happened to Dinraal, Farosh, and Naydra? The Sheikah Shrines were trials left behind by devoted monks who underwent self mummification to train the Hero, but what's the deal with the Zonai ones again? And if they're supposed to be for Link too, when did Rauru have time to build them? And like the Depths?! Make zero sense??!

I could go on and on. As much fun as this game is and as cinematic as a lot of it was, the whole thing is riddled with holes and would've been SO MUCH BETTER if they just made it its own pocket universe like they did with Termina. Trying to have it make sense in the world BotW already established is impossible, and honestly just sort of like. Disrespectfully shoves BotW's dead body off a cliff and hopes no one finds the remains.

So, yeah! Great game! Beefy cutscenes! Fantastic ending! Awesome mechanics! But really really disappointing BotW erasure.

(I also feel like it suffered from trying to follow the same open world formula? Lots of people found the Tears in the wrong order and felt like they spoiled the story for themselves. And the way you were going around doing "search for Zelda" sidequests when you knew where she was but couldn't tell anyone seemed like an oversight. And I wouldn't have minded some more traditional dungeons, like what the Fire and Lightning temples had going on, but just, like. More.)

Is it funny that when I stumbled across Mineru's dungeon (by accident, mind you) I thought she might pass on her role as sage to Link?

It's sort of silly, but while I was doing the construct factory, i noted that Link usually travels to each of these temples with the sage of this Era, and the old sage gifts the new sage their secret stone. I thought since Mineru was the old sage that she'd need someone new to pass her stone onto, and since Link was completing the dungeon alone, she would give it to him.

She didn't, of course, the point of the dungeon was making her a new body so that she could continue to serve as the sage in this Era but goddess can you imagine if she made Link a sage. Can you imagine

okay I’ve been inspired, time to list all my versions of botw/totk/aoc link lets go

Wild (He/They): Nonbinary, LU Wild adjacent, generally who I write whenever I write for LU, kind of his own thing bc I feel as though I tend to stray when it comes to lu characterization to fit my own wants. Has the most trouble with memories and their past, has the least control over his emotions. Things like sorrow and anger hit really hard for them and they have more trouble regulating it. Still silly and GNC though, just not as confident about their gender presentation yet.  

Sage (They/She): Genderfluid, HSFR botw/totk Link, really leaning into the whole death/rebirth/reincarnation thing with this one, accidentally picks up a spooky vibe because they have a skeleton horse and a big comfort cloak and is extremely good at making potions. This whole vibe what I’m leaning into for Another Second Chance, even though in that one the botw Link is still called Wild lol. 

Guardian (He/Him): Too anxious to think about gender rn but is a aroace queen. HSFR AoC Link, half sheikah and it is important to his story. His life is kinda dictated by his dedication to the throne by being descended from a long line of royal knights and sheikah who have vowed to serve the blood of the goddess. Also he’s betrothed to his Zelda and on his way to becoming King/Prince Consort.  

Aryll (She/Her): Cis woman (but with complicated gender feelings as she was discouraged from being feminine for a long time and has trouble feeling valued while enjoying typically feminine things, you know the vibe) My Fem!Wild/ Link AU, is the most likely to commit regicide. Had an easier time recovering memories during botw bc of her large amount of shared moments with Zelda. 

Linkle (She/Her): Trans woman Link au, has a bit of an egg cracking moment when she was getting into gerudo town, don’t have much for this one, it might be where I put all my Link being close to the Gerudo hcs. Like, after sealing the calamity, she and Zelda go to live in Gerudo Town instead of Hateno and they’re real close buddies with Riju and Linkle goes to the nearby great fairy to get her gender magically transed. idk i love the gerudo and think they deserve better. (also her name could be changed i kinda made this one on a whim...) 

Spirit Sage (They/Them): Fem leaning enby, totk role swap au where Link gets sent back with the spirit stone instead of Zelda, they lost their arm but the stone lets them summon a ghost version that they have to learn how to control (a feature also seen with HSFR Sage), trained under Mineru and tries to assasinate Ganondorf a few times. 

Time Sage (They/He): Masc leaning enby, pre-calamity was a trans man but then their gender got pickled for a century and their ideas on gender changed a little. They lose their arm but don’t get a replacement. The secret stone they had with them amplifies their time manipulation abilities (bullet time/ sitting by the fire, that kind of thing) They have to learn to fight just as will with their left side and not wield any sort of shield. The story is closer to the canon version than the Sage of Spirit version of the au. 

Gladiator (He/Him): trans man, ssbu Link, pulled from his quest pretty soon after botw. Older brother/babysitter to Young Link (MM) and Toon Link (WW), Eyes have been opened to the multiverse and he’s kinda just vibing with being kind of immortal and meeting the strangest people. ssb lore is wacky so he’s at least allies with all of the other characters, including ganondorf at in the end. Has the least amount of fashion sense and cooking ability but at least he has little brothers and is buds with Kirby. 

Robin's position in her TOTK verse of the Zelda AU depends on the partner. If allowed to, she can act as that generation's hero rather than Link, to be the protagonist and interact in ways different from Link himself.

However the default is that Robin is still from the same period as Link and Zelda, sent forward in time thanks to the intervention of the sun goddess. She had returned briefly to her home in the Great Hyrule Forest amongst the Koroks, eventually discovering there that she was to be the Sage of (Sunlit) Forest.

Her in game ability is to allow Link to command solidified light as claws for a very brief, very powerful attack that can slice everything around him and apply burning to Malice/Gloom. Her avatar appears as her wolf form, and can be like a replacement for Wolf Link in BOTW where she can lead Link to shrines, hunt enemies and game, and alert him to treasure.

Her Sacred Stone (I refuse to say Secret Stone bc it's silly sounding) is placed on her hand.