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The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom whisks players back to Hyrule for another incredible adventure following Link as he attempts to save it once again. This version of the iconic kingdom is ripped straight from Zelda: Breath of the Wild, albeit with a few new additions. Since The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is a direct sequel, the story and world heavily build upon what came before. However, there seems to be one glaring omission, and that is the absence of the Divine Beasts.

The Divine Beasts played a pivotal role in Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity, but Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom almost treats them as if they never existed. They have been pushed off to the side in favor of a new plotline surrounding the Sages and Zonai, and that seems like a strange choice. Something so important should persist between entries, but these powerful machines seem to have been left on the cutting room floor.

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Breath of the Wild's Divine Beasts Have Vanished

The Divine Beasts are the main focus of much of Zelda: Breath of the Wild's story. These four titanic mechanical animals were built by the ancient Sheikah to seal Calamity Ganon away 10,000 years before the events of the game. The Beasts were then buried underground because the king of Hyrule feared their impressive power, and their story faded into legend.

100 years before the events of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, the royal family of Hyrule unearthed the Divine Beasts because they feared that Calamity Ganon would return. After years of excavation, these beasts were recovered, but Hyrule would quickly lose control of them when Calamity Ganon sent the four Blight Ganons to infest the Beasts. After Zelda successfully contained Ganon at Hyrule Castle, these four beasts fell dormant until Ganon began to stir once more.

Zelda: Breath of the Wild saw Link awaken after Calamity Ganon had broken free once more. The four Divine Beasts were also reawakened, and they began to cause chaos across Hyrule. It was up to Link to seek these four Beasts out and free them from the Blight Ganons. Doing so would help the people of Hyrule, and allow these Beasts to lend their power for the final fight against Calamity Ganon.

The Divine Beasts helped Link destroy Calamity Ganon at the end of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, but have seemingly vanished by the time the events of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom rolls around. Few NPCs reference these Beasts, they do not exist anywhere on the map, and the Sheikah seem to have taken a backseat to the Zonai. These powerful beings are nowhere to be found, and it feels like they have once again faded into legend.

A common theory right now is that Zelda had the four Divine Beasts decommissioned between Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. These Beasts had helped fight Calamity Ganon, but they had also become corrupted by him. This corruption had caused mass chaos across Hyrule and dismantling them could prevent that from ever happening again. While this has not been confirmed, it feels like the likeliest explanation.

It seems strange that Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom would make so little reference the Divine Beasts. Even an offhand comment by an NPC about their whereabouts would suffice because they played such a key role in Zelda: Breath of the Wild. They should not be brushed off to the side, but it currently feels like that is exactly what happened. Hopefully, Nintendo sheds some light on their fate in the future, but for now players are just left to wonder.

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is available now on Switch.

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