Daily Debate: Where Did the Divine Beasts Go in Tears of the Kingdom?
Posted on June 25 2023 by Michaela El-Ters
Spoiler Warning: This article and the comments section may contain spoilers for The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom.
As far as sequels go, Tears of the Kingdom does a great job of bringing back familiar characters and gameplay mechanics from Breath of the Wild while expanding the story and worldbuilding. I’ve been enjoying revisiting familiar locales in Hyrule to see how they’ve been changed by the Upheaval. But I’ve found the absence of the Divine Beasts to be especially glaring as I’ve progressed through the game.
In Breath of the Wild, the Divine Beasts were vital to the story and gameplay. Behemoth feats of technology and engineering, the Divine Beasts were piloted by chosen Champions to combat evil, and they’re included in the legend about a similar conflict 10,000 years prior to Breath of the Wild. Then, 100 years after Calamity Ganon takes over Hyrule, the Divine Beasts are wreaking havoc in each region. A big part of the game’s story involved recruiting the next generation of Champions to reclaim them and ultimately defeat Calamity Ganon. Then in the secret ending, Zelda mentions in passing that one of the Divine Beasts had stopped working. There’s no further explanation as to why, but it was an interesting idea that could have been explored further in the sequel.
But in Tears of the Kingdom, the Divine Beasts, their role in ending the Calamity, or even what happened to them if they all stopped working, aren’t mentioned once. Outside of a couple of visual references through the Sages and the amiibo headpieces (if you have them), the Divine Beasts are entirely absent, which I find to be very strange. Where did they go? They aren’t exactly small pieces of machinery. Were they decommissioned and taken apart, or were they deployed to roam outside of Hyrule? Did they fall into the Depths? Wouldn’t people be talking about the missing Divine Beasts if that were the case, though? Given how important they were in the first game, it’s odd to me that they haven’t been referenced once in Tears of the Kingdom, and I can’t help but be curious about where they ended up.
But that’s just me, what do you think? Do you wonder where the Divine Beasts went in Tears of the Kingdom? Does their absence bother you, or are you fine with it? Let us know in the comments!
Michaela El-Ters is a Senior Editor for Zelda Dungeon. She is also an Senior Writer for Boss Rush Network, and writes blogs and streams games on Objection Network. Her favorite Zelda game changes with the seasons, but the series as a whole is near and dear to her heart.
