Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom Story & Ending Explained

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is the highly-anticipated sequel to the fan-favorite Nintendo Switch title, Zelda: Breath of the Wild. If there’s one thing most people can agree on, however, it’s that the Zelda timeline and overlapping plots can be quite confusing. If you’re wondering about Tears of the Kingdom’s plotline and endgame, then we’ve got all the information you’ll need. Here’s everything you need to know about Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom’s story and ending.

***Warning: this article contains spoilers for Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom***

Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom – Initial Story & Plot, Explained

Tears of the Kingdom takes place in an unknown period of time after the conclusion of the prequel game, Breath of the Wild. The game starts with Link and Zelda investigating a secret passage beneath Hyrule Castle to try and uncover the mystery of a phenomenon rapidly spreading throughout Hyrule, known as ‘Gloom.’ As they follow the trail underground, the duo discover ruins that Zelda can identify as having ancient Zonai origin.

Inside these ruins, Link and Zelda discover a series of murals that tell the story of a war against a malicious creature known as ‘the Demon King’, as well as Zonai descending from the sky, leading Zelda to believe that the gods whom descended from the heavens to found the royal family were Zonai ancestors.

While exploring these ruins, the Master Sword senses something and glows before leading Link and Zelda to a chamber. It’s here that they find a mysterious mummy with a disembodied arm appearing to be releasing Gloom particles. As the two approach this mummy, this Gloom-ridden arm falls off, and a teardrop-shaped gemstone drops to the ground.

As Zelda picks this gemstone, the mummy reawakens, attacking them both with Gloom. Link manages to react quickly and block this attack with the Master Sword, but unfortunately, the power of the Gloom decays the blade and steals the life force of Link’s right arm, leaving it deteriorated in a black mess. This mummy then mocks the power of the Master Sword and refers to Link’s abilities not living up to the expectations of an individual known as ‘Rauru,’ who had put his faith in him.

Hyrule Castle then begins to quake and rises high into the sky, leaving behind damaged ruins surrounded with Gloom. As this occurs, Zelda falls down into the darkness, only to disappear in a strange flash of light. Link almost falls in after Zelda, but the disembodied arm manages to grab him just in the nick of time before transporting him away.

After Link reawakens, he discovers that this mysterious arm seems to have replaced his own, and a voice starts to guide him, revealing that Zelda had told him about Link. This voice also reveals that Link’s arm had to be replaced to save him from succumbing to his injuries. Link then recovers the remains of the decayed Master Sword and discovers he has awoken on an island floating in the middle of the sky. Link then skydives his way into another island, running into a Construct who gives him Zelda’s Purah Pad and redirects him to the Temple of Time.

Upon reaching the Temple of Time, Link discovers that he is unable to enter due to not having the required power. It is here that Link meets a ghostly spirit-like figure who reveals himself to be Rauru. Rauru reveals to Link that his strange new arm was once his own and that Link may be able to restore power to it by visiting and completing the Shrines across Great Sky Island to receive their Light of Blessing.

After opening the gates, Link comes across another larger, teardrop-shaped gemstone that transitions into a visual of Zelda. Zelda grants Link the ability to Recall before vanishing back into thin air. Link then follows Rauru’s advice of completing one final shrine to receive a fourth Blessing of Light and offers it to the Goddess Statue at the Temple of Time.

After completing this quest, Link finally manages to open the door, and Rauru encourages Link to visit more Shrines and help restore his lost power. He then bids Link farewell, explaining that he’s done everything in his power to help and that it will now be up to Link to save Zelda.

After reaching the Temple of Time’s highest point, Link stumbles across a strange, glowing light. As he approaches this glowing mystery, the decayed Master Sword begins to react. This causes Link to place the Sword within the light. The decayed Master Sword then seems to vanish from existence and appears in front of Zelda in an unknown location. Link then witnesses the sight of a dragon, which moves through the clouds in the sky to reveal the land of Hyrule below. Link then receives a telepathic plea from Zelda asking him to find and save Hyrule from the Demon King, which kicks off his quest.

What is the Ending of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom?

The ending of The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom sees Link finally restore the power to the Master Sword and take down the Demon King Ganondorf, stopping him from surrounding the world in darkness. After taking him down in close-range combat, the Demon King Ganondorf will try to turn the match in his favor at the last second by transforming into a dragon.

Princess Zelda will then appear as the Dragon of Light to help Link take down Ganondorf for good. This final fight shifts location into the sky, with Link gliding from one dragon to the other, controlling the Light Dragon’s movements so he can jump down onto the Demon Dragon to destroy the Eyes of Malice. After destroying all Eyes of Malice, Link destroys the secret stone located on top of the Demon Dragon, defeating him once and for all, finally eliminating the Gloom, and restoring peace to the world of Hyrule.

After this battle concludes, Zelda appears to be in a significantly weakened state due to her heavy involvement in the fight. Link then uses the power of his arm that was given to him by Rauru to heal Zelda’s Dragon of Light form. As he does this, the spirits of Rauru and Hylia appear to aid him, using their combined powers to heal Zelda and restore her to her original form. This is quite a big surprise, as up until this point, it had seemed Zelda’s choice to become an Immortal Dragon would be irreversible. Once Zelda’s form is restored, Rauru and Hylia then disappear, with everything around Link beginning to crumble.

Next, Link awakens in the middle of freefall and spots Zelda in her original form, falling unconsciously below him, very similar to how the game began. Link then accelerates his dive to grab her and manages to land safely in a small lake. Link pulls Zelda out of the water and lays her down on the grass, back in the safety of Hyrule. Zelda then awakens and expresses her gratitude to Link for expelling the Demon King.

The final cutscene shows Link and his allies at Great Sky Island’s Temple of Time to see Hyrule from above and say their goodbyes to the spirit of Mineru and swear an oath to serve Princess Zelda and protect the land of Hyrule, dedicating their lives to maintaining eternal peace, and concluding the ending of Tears of the Kingdom.

That’s everything you need to know about Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom‘s story and ending. For more help in the game, check out the rest of our content here at Twinfinite. We have a wide variety of Zelda topics covering everything you’ll need to assist you on your Tears of the Kingdom adventure, so feel free to scroll down and look through our related links below.