The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom - Did the Zonai revive Ganondorf?

With the launch of The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom inching closer, fans cannot wait to dive into the latest open-air experience from Nintendo. Boasting a new rendition of Hyrule to explore, the gameplay is bound to shine as brightly it did in its 2017 predecessor. But what fans are looking forward to the most is the story. The Legend of Zelda franchise is renowned for its engaging lore, and Tears of the Kingdom seems to crank it up a notch.

From the revival of an ancient evil, to the resurgence of a lost group, fans have more questions than answers right now.

One of the most obvious ones is "Who revived Ganondorf?". The E3 2019 teaser depicts the iconic villain being resurrected. We know little to nothing about the reason behind this phenomenon. However, that hasn't stopped speculation from arising.

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Could Ganondorf's revival be the Zonai's doing in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom?

Note: The following is speculation based on current story details and hints.

As per the E3 2019 trailer, protagonist Link and Princess Zelda can be seen exploring the Hyrule Castle underground, clearly in search of something or someone. They seem to find what they are looking for: the shriveled corpse of Ganondorf is being revitalized by a ghostly green arm floating in mid-air. This brings up a few questions: Whose arm is that? Why is it reviving the ever-so-dastardly Ganondorf?

It's hard not to get further confused when players realize that it is eerily similar to the same new arm that Link has. For those unaware, Link also gets his right arm covered in the dark red aura (known as Malice) emanating from Ganondorf.

As such, the arm seems more than a replacement, as it packs a few tricks up its sleeve. Perhaps literally so, with a variety of new magical abilities at the hero’s disposal this time around in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom.

The ethereal arm has some sort of ridges leading up to the elbow. However, there seems to be another character with similar traits. As spotted on the Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom download card from Japanese retail stores, we get a debut look at the face behind the masked Zonai from official trailer 3. The aforementioned ridged arm is seen for a third time on this new Zonai individual.

As such, all three seem to be related, and perhaps, the Zonai are behind it. The consistency of the color green in this game could allude to it. It is a prominent color represented prominently throughout the game, from revival magic to various Zonai structures, like enemies and equipment. Even Link's arm is likely Zonai tech, as per the statue's depiction.

For those unaware, the Zonai was a mythical tribe wiped out before the events of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. However, it seems to play a major role here. This is seen with the existence of Zonai architecture and technology, especially robots called Constructs. Defeating them can cause them to drop an item known as Zonai Charge, which confirms the magic-wielding tribe's return.

But whether or not they are contributing directly or indirectly to Ganondorf's rise remains to be seen. While it is also unclear how they make their way to the present (or future, from their perspective), we should find out more when the game launches. The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is coming to Nintendo Switch on May 12, 2023.