Summary
The upcomingThe Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdommay shed new light on lingering mysteries fromTears of the Kingdom, considering newly revealed information about the game. As further details aboutEchoes of Wisdomemerge and its release date approaches, intriguing hints of how the game may connect to the larger franchise have also come to light. While themysterious rifts consuming Hyrulenaturally attract attention, they should not distract from other parts of the newest trailer.
From what has been revealed so far, it is already clear thatEchoes of Wisdomwill be animportantaddition to theZeldafranchise. It places Princess Zelda in the lead role as the hero of her own story, finally delivering a “Legend of Zelda” game in the truest sense of the phrase. In addition to this,Echoes of Wisdomwill naturally introduce plenty of new lore to the franchise, pieces of which have already been introduced and teased through trailers. Intriguing, some of these details also appear to connect back toTears of the Kingdom.
The Legend Of Zelda Series Finally Delivers On A 40-Year Promise
Although Echoes of Wisdom makes some dramatic changes to the Legend of Zelda formula, this is actually the logical conclusion of a series trend.
Echoes of Wisdom’s New Ability Could Be From The Zonai
Bind Appears To Be Another Version Of TOTK’s Ultrahand
Anew ability revealed forEchoes of Wisdom, Bind, allows Zelda to move various objects around, even those too large for her to effect with the Echo mechanic. It is immediately clear thatBind is extremely similar toTOTK’s own Ultrahand ability; not only do both abilities essentially perform the same basic function, but are even visibly similar; both send out a stream of vivid green energy which then surrounds the target object.These similarities could imply that Tri and the Tri Rod’s abilities have a connection to the Zonai, or at least share a common origin.
Despite them being at the center ofTOTK’s plot, relatively little is known about the Zonai people and their history. However, their technology and abilities are more readily apparent, including the fact that they are the source of Link’s Ultrahand ability via Rauru’s arm. Now,the fact that Tri grants access Zelda to an extremely similar ability may provide evidence to a strange piece of Zonai lore, namely the belief that they are descended from gods(who also provided them with their Secret Stones). This is relayed to Zelda by Mineru inTOTK, and so is likely not intentionally misleading.
Tri and the Tri Rod both clearly invoke the Triforce, which is itself a powerful divine relic, in a way that strangely implies a connection with it. If Bind is in fact a variation of Ultrahand, thenthe parallel suggests that the Zonai’s supposed divine origin is true. Moreover,it may even be the case that are related to the Golden Goddesses themselvesin some way. Notably, Zonai architecture does itself reference the Triforce through symbolic animal statues, so they are clearly aware of the Goddesses in a way thatTOTK’s modern Hyrule apparently isn’t.
The Zonai ruins found throughout Hyrule inBreath of the Wildclearly use statues of Boars, Owls and Dragons to represent the Triforce’s aspects of Power, Wisdom and Courage respectively.
The Zonai May Have A Deep Connection To Hyrule’s Creator Goddesses
Echoes of Wisdom Abilities Could Be The Answer To TOTK Mysteries
Of course, it should be noted thatBind is not entirely the same as Ultrahand. Notable differences include an apparent inability to reorient or attach affected objects to each other, as well as Bind being able to move living monsters and not just inanimate objects. Moreover, the Zonai do not have an equivalent to the new Reverse Bond mechanic, which inverts the effects of BInd to anchor Zelda relative to another object. This shows that while Ultrahand and Bind may well have a similar source,they have clearly been developed in different directions.
Regardless of these differences, however,the visual and mechanical similarities between Bind and Ultrahand seem far too strong to not be some deeper connectionbetween the two abilities.It could be that Ultrahand is actually a divine power in its own right, and so something that the Zonai inherited from their godly ancestors, serving as proof of their connection. Moreover,if they are closely related, it would also explain why the Zonai are shown to acknowledge the Golden Goddesses(via their signature attributes) in a Hyrule that otherwise seems to have forgotten them.
Zelda: Echoes Of Wisdom May Be Including A Major BOTW & TOTK Omission
The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom could be about to expand greatly on a major lore point which was omitted from both BOTW and TOTK.
Beyond being an intriguing new gameplay mechanic, Bind has raised the possibility of Ultrahand being an ability connected to divinity, and maybe even the Golden Goddesses themselves (which would be quite fitting, considering Ultrahand’s purpose is ultimately to facilitate creation). This would serve as subtle but compelling proof of the Zonai being closely related to gods, as their own lore claims to be the case. Though it is likely they are far separated in the timeline, it is intriguing that such a clear connection toTears of the Kingdom’s Zonai appears inThe Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom, perhaps providing answers a year afterTOTK’s release.
