Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom’s ending and post-credits scene, explained

A game called Tears of the Kingdom: The Legend of ZeldaThe central storyline can easily be lost when the book is meant to encourage you to wander off the path.

As with its predecessors, this sequel places Link in an expansive world that is full of Shrines and Korok Seeds. It also features armor sets, legendary weapons, dragons roaming the land, and Great Fairies. What’s more, there are basically two extra open worlds to explore this time around, and plenty of experimental hijinks to enact along the way. This means that, by the time the Demon Lord Ganondorf is finally confronted, it could be hours since you last saw a cutscene or a crucial plot point.

That’s where we come in. Once you’ve finally completed the “Find Princess Zelda” quest line (or if you don’t care about spoilers), use our explainer below to answer your burning story questions, before reloading your last save and working your way toward 100% completion.

[Ed. note: It may go without saying, but spoilers follow for the end of Tears of the Kingdom.]

Image: Nintendo EPD/Nintendo via Polygon

Is Zelda evil?

In the course of Tears Of The Kingdom’s “Regional Phenomena” quest line, Link and his Sage companions witnessed Princess Zelda acting strangely. During Link’s mission to rid the Goron population of its addiction to Marbled Rock Roast, for instance, she was seen commanding Marbled Gohma, the eventual boss of the Fire Temple. Numerous NPCs at stables also recount odd stories of the heir to Hyrule’s throne acting out of character.

Is the character named evil? No. No. Toward the end of the “Crisis at Hyrule Castle” quest line, which tasks you with chasing “Zelda” through the deteriorating halls of the iconic abode, an apparition of the Demon King Ganondorf appears and reveals that this version of the princess was merely a puppet apparition, much like the Phantom Ganon clones scattered throughout the world. Whether you’ve encountered one of these enemies or not, the ensuing boss fight involves several of them.

The question is: where’s Princess Zelda after the boss battle? Hyrule Castle has been cleansed from its Phantom Ganon invasion, but still, it remains: “Where are you, Zelda?” If you’ve completed the “The Dragon’s Tears” storyline — which requires you to find the Dragon Tear in each of the mysterious Glyphs that have sprung up across the Surface of Hyrule — or spoken to the Great Deku Tree after meeting up with Mineru, the Fifth Sage, then you’ve discovered the obvious: Zelda is a dragon. Duh!

Image: Nintendo EPD/Nintendo via Polygon

Let’s rewind. Let’s go back to the beginning. Tears Of The Kingdom, when Link and Zelda stumble upon Ganondorf’s tomb/prison cell, accidentally trigger an apocalypse, and send massive chunks of Hyrule into the sky, Zelda phases out of existence while Link plummets to the ground. Zelda actually travels back into time, to millennia prior, as we learn in Memory #4 An Unfamiliar Word. (From what I’ve seen, it’s not made explicitly clear What is the best way to learn about? The time traveler was a woman. Who are you?It was to save the girl that he sent her back in time. My assumption is that, as the Sage of Time and the descendant of Sonia, whose signature Zonai ability is Recall, Zelda’s time-manipulation abilities may have catapulted her into the past while in survival mode.)

After spending a good deal of time with Rauru and Sonia (both of whom founded Hyrule) and Mineru (the Zonai architect/engineer/genius who turned out to be the Sage of Spirit), Zelda slowly runs out of options for traveling back to her own time. Zelda becomes desperate when Ganondorf and his puppet Zelda assassinate Sonia, steal her Secret Stone and survive the counterattack of Rauru and Mineru. She confers with the dying Mineru, and despite the latter’s protests, decides to travel back to the future The hard way. It is written: She swallows the Secret Stone to transform into an immortal dragon who can fly for thousands of year and recharge the Master Sword on its forehead, before Link comes to pry it from her.

That’s badass.

Does Zelda have to stay as a Dragon?

If you’ve landed on the Light Dragon (Zelda) and retrieved the Master Sword, but have yet to kill Ganondorf and complete the “Find Princess Zelda” quest, it’s natural to wonder whether Zelda is destined to be an Immortal Dragon forever.

Luckily, she’s not! Link, with the help of the five Sages that he has recruited during his journeys, confronts Ganondorf again after retrieving the legendary sword. Link and his team defeat Ganondorf, who then “activates” his Secret Stone (formerly Sonia’s) in order to face Link in one-on-one combat and also be even hotter:

Image: Nintendo EPD/Nintendo via Polygon

Link, of course, survives this second phase of the fight, and Ganondorf decides to take a page out of the ol’ “Eat a Secret Stone and turn into an Immortal Dragon” playbook. Ganondorf now called the Demon Dragon clamps Link to his demon teeth and soars up into the air. Zelda arrives as the Light Dragon and the Demon Dragon releases Link. Shadow of the Colossus-esque fight ensues. With Link on her huge head, Zelda flies above the Demon Dragon, allowing the tiny-by-comparison Link to skydive onto the enemy’s back, slash a few weak points with the Master Sword, and then deliver the finishing blow to the Secret Stone that’s embedded in reptile Ganondorf’s head.

He explodes, Link’s Zonai arm lights up in glorious fashion, and Link and Zelda are sent to an ethereal realm, where the spirits of Rauru and Sonia lend their power to Link’s Zonai arm (in a Triforce, of sorts?) Zelda’s Hylian form is restored. Link awakens while falling back to Hyrule. He uses Zelda to his advantage. Tears Of The Kingdom’s fantasy physics by plunging into a deep lake at terminal velocity.

Image: Nintendo EPD/Nintendo via Polygon

It’s at this point that Zelda answers the question of “Why didn’t she, in her Light Dragon form, just fly down to Link while he was exploring Hyrule, and give him the Master Sword as soon as he left that first group of Sky Islands?” Apparently, Zelda’s long period as a dragon felt more like a dream, one which she barely remembers. The implication is that she wasn’t Fully She was there all the time and only felt a renewed sense of purpose when she saw Link being attacked by the Demon Dragon. Link learns that Link has many stories she can tell about her time in Hyrule before the transformation. Then the game ends. It’s sort of.

There is a scene after the credits?

Yes, there is a scene after the credits! Zelda builds on the discussion she had after she defeated Ganondorf. She invites Purah and the five other Sages, (Mineru’s spirit is present) to return to the platform she originally recovered the Master Sword which had been shot in the past. She outlines here her plan for bringing an everlasting peaceful to Hyrule. The Sages verbalize their promise to help her do so — with Link just sort of standing there in awkward silence — and the game truly ends.

The future of the Zelda series is still uncertain.