A relatively small detail from previous The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom trailers has become much more prominent in the latest reveal, with fans once again asking: what’s wrong with Link’s dead arm?
For starters, we have to go back to the first Tears of the Kingdom trailer from E3 2019, when it was still simply known as the “Breath of the Wild sequel”. This is the trailer that showed Link and Zelda exploring a creepy cave where a hand that glowed with green energy held a mummified corpse in place. In brief flashes, we saw the energy enter Link’s own hand, as a seeming disaster caused the cave to collapse and the corpse to be released from its seal.
In the second trailer, it became clear that this energy will remain in Link’s arm for most of the game, and will be the source of abilities you previously activated through the Sheikah Slate in Breath of the Wild. . We also saw that Link’s arm was covered in Rune Keys.
While there wasn’t much development on the arm saga in the trailer that revealed the Tears of the Kingdom title, the addendum is very prominent in this week’s new Nintendo Direct trailer. . In close-up, the fingers are seen to be long and bony, with long fingernails, which does not match Link’s arm. We also see a brief clip returning to the cave diving segment from the original trailer, with Link holding his arm as he appears to have been nearly reduced to ashes. In another shot, he is holding what looks like a corrupted Master Sword with his injured arm.
So to put it all together with a bit of speculation, it seems clear that the cave diving with the mummy part of the first trailer is the game’s prologue. Something bad happens to Link’s arm when the mummy breaks free , but the intervention of light energy saves him. This energy then inhabits Link to enable fun in-game powers like the ones we had in Breath of the Wild.
The question I’m wondering is if this is actually Link’s arm for the rest of the game. Since this close-up of the hand doesn’t match Link’s anatomy, I’m wondering if a different arm was grafted, perhaps the one holding the mummy in place, physically or magically. I could definitely see a world where a Navi or Fi-style companion joins Link’s journey by literally becoming his right-hand man, and personally, I’d love to see the return of one of Metal Gear Solid’s craziest gadgets. in a new tab).
The new trailer contains many other teases, such as the the return of the reds – And maybe even a bit of Matt Mercer?