Tears of the Kingdom - The Pinnacle of Zelda? (SPOILER DISCUSSION)

[@NintendoHero]

The final shot of Link diving through the sky reaching for Zelda with the sunrise in the background as the main theme plays is legit my new favorite videogame moment of all time. Incredible stuff

[@ivanzoneBR24]

It would be better if there was a time limit to grab Zelda hand. If not you get a game over.

[@danielocheita7576]

Seems like the devs liked Weathering with You lol

[@shigerumiyamoto9612]

@@ivanzoneBR24 That would just out right suck, since it would mean to redo the whole boss fight over again

[@TaliesinMyrddin]

@@danielocheita7576 I just watched that last night

[@ivanzoneBR24]

@@shigerumiyamoto9612 That would be epic like the ending of a Metroid game though.

[@whmchrish]

I think even if we've not seen the actual Triforce in this set of games, I very much "felt" its presence and symbolism in that Deus-Ex-Machina moment at the end. Sonias wisdom and Raurus power being channeled through Links courage as their hands met - breaking the spell over the dragon and willing a happy ending into reality - was pretty much perfect to me. With or without Golden Triangles.

[@bulkypigeon]

That was my theory, the way they put their hands together was very reminiscent of how the triforce was used.

[@michaelmd8771]

The best sidequest for me was the Goddess statue on the Great Plateau. It’s masterful how each of the four locations are where the original shrines were in botw. Each of these locations also involves you obtaining the eye using similar tactics to the abilities you got in those botw shrines. You blow up rocks where the remote bomb shrine was or recall where the stasis shrine was or pulling it out of the water where the magnesis shrine was. It’s so subtle but it feels so good

[@LoomDoom]

I agree. That quest was really great! Also going underground each time and using a different method to get to the mine was awesome.

[@tylerwagner1978]

One of my favorite side quests as well! I really liked the labrinths too. Just figuring them out was fun.

[@hoffmankspengineering2034]

I find it funny and almost troll that the plot revolved around a weapon breaking

[@benexler]

😂

[@Jeff-tt7wj]

Lmao. “Let’s break the one unbreakable weapon from the previous game and see how they like it”. Kinda brilliant.

[@DesignDoc]

I enjoyed the story a lot but since a lot of it hinges on the mystery of Zelda's disappearance, I can see some people solving it WAY too early by just getting stuff like the Master Sword memory too early or just going for the Master Sword asap, taking a lot of the wind out of that sail. It also makes a lot of side quests like the newspaper quest which revolves around people trying to find out what happened to Zelda kinda weird since at some point Link knows what's actually going on and just doesn't tell anyone for no real reason other than maaaaybe to keep people from panicking. My biggest complaint about the story though is the "Imprisoning War" cutscene that plays at the end of every dungeon. It being practically the same for all 4 main dungeons is really weird and just hurts the story. I know you can do them in any order but there HAD to have been a much better writing solution for that than what they went with. Maybe give more perspective to each of the 4 races and what Ganondorf put them through as the Demon King. Just something other than what's basically the same cutscene with more or less the same dialogue repeated 4 times.

[@benexler]

Agreed on all counts. That said, I found the master sword early and didn’t make the full connection with the cutscene. I just knew Zelda did something to heal the sword. It wasn’t until I sought out all the dragons tears that it clicked. And then the main story sealed it.

[@shigerumiyamoto9612]

My absolute favorite part of this game was the thrill of excitement when accidentally discovering construct factory (fifth sage's dungeon) on my own. I was just visiting some random sky islands in Faron area and wanted to see the deal with the one covered in thunder clouds. The whole island gave an omnious vibe in terms of the fog and the music. I didn't really understand what was going on until as I felt confused to why the shrine here was a blessing type and not a regular one, but once I opened the big door and saw Mineru's mask I knew I had discovered something quite big, and that without any guides or help from anyone. As I went down the elevator to the real place I was without over exagerating on cloud nine. I loved the dungeons in the game a lot, but I never felt I manage to discover these big areas on my own, but this place I totally did, and the whole music and vibe told me that I didn't belong here. It was magical al right. I do know now that you were to find this place eventually, but the fact that you CAN find this on your own and deal with it whenever you are able to open the door is quite astounishing. Needless to say, I absolutely love this game and it surpasses botw in almost every single way imaginable even though I sometimes miss some elements. Absolutely my GOTY

[@popskar]

It’s crazy you’re able to just get the 5th sage at ANY time. It’s amazing.

[@corywashington9580]

I had no idea you could do that. I saw that sky island and was afraid of the thunderclouds. Nice job getting there so early.

[@jackwitty9776]

Had the same experience. Found the Left Arm Depot but couldn't enter. Hours later I visited the Thunderhead cloud and yeah, Ive had Mineru's Construct for every Coliseum

[@Mojo1356]

I did that myself actually. I had exactly enough hearts to open the door after beating Hyrule Castle and ended up not needing to do that line of story quests.

[@geminisfl]

I had the same experience. Found it by chance after doing the other four. Didn't even expected to have a fifth one!

[@FluffyMustache]

For me, I had JUST gotten the master sword glyph that heavily implied Zelda became a dragon. Once I finished the memory, I still couldn’t quite believe. But I got a chilling feeling down my spine and immediately looked above me when I finished the memory. There it was, the light dragon. The emotions and absolute CHILLS I got from that moment will never be replicated and it blew my mind

[@aletcetera9883]

My fight with Ganondorf was a photo-finish. When he whipped out that health bar I was down to four hearts and no gloom healing items. He whittled me down to one heart and was rearing up to hit again when I got him.

[@StiffAftermath]

The final battle = the Oroborus in the title logo. I was wondering what the logo had to do with the game. Awesome!

[@kreachernintendo667]

30:12 i very disagree with this. While he may not have appeared as himself, he did create this Zelda puppet that lured Link and his sages to fearsome foes and problems within the dungeons and of course in the castle, keeping an eye on Link in that way. And phantom ganon itself could be regarded as a form of himself challenging Link as well since he was still quite vurneable in his state, noted by Riju.

[@coyy9106]

Man, I think you should do an update vid. It’s so jarring coming back to this, I can almost taste the hype through the video 😅 Would be interesting to see if views have changed much, now we’re nearly 1 year from release.

[@snmcfadden]

I love the fact that you can just stumble upon the master sword, it's stuff like this that make the game world feel so alive. Being able to finish quests before being given them is so fun.

[@Mojo1356]

It’s also kind of funny sometimes to.

[@benjaminstewart2233]

I feel that we got more of ganandolf though out the game when you learn that he use a phantom Zelda though out hyrule.

[@nahumgardner]

The construct that gives you the Purah Pad at the beginning is incredibly dusty. I immediately thought of the scene at the end of Back to the Future 2 where Joe Flaherty gives Marty the envelope from the Doc trapped in the past and just waited for confirmation that Zelda was in the past.

[@macroberts6380]

A couple things: This isn't the war from 10,000 years ago in BotW. That was against the Calamity and involved the Sheikah It's even farther back! I'm actually cool with how Zelda got transformed back in the end, because the game reiterates over and over again that she has BOTH Rauru's power over Light and Sonia's power over Time. And that's ultimately how they are both able to save her. I felt they set that up plenty. Also, I'm so, so convinced this is a full reboot. It just does the game a disservice to try and mesh it with the rest of the timeline. Great discussion! I feel like we will be talking about this game for years and years.

[@supernorgfortioladofus3597]

I think it's just as simple as Nintendo said when BOTW came out. These games take place so far into the future that they can happen in all 3 timelines. It's sort of an eventuality. At one point on another ganon is killed Hyrule is destroyed Hyrule is reborn And then our two games stories come

[@macroberts6380]

@@supernorgfortioladofus3597 Nintendo never said that

[@supernorgfortioladofus3597]

@@macroberts6380 I worded it very poorly, my apologies. Aonuma specifically said said it takes place at the end of the timeline and the specific one is up to the players imagination. BOTW takes a nod to all timelines and again it's probably done with purpose. The easiest thing to work with for the Zelda team is to use one timeline again. So by placing it so far into the future that's how they solve that problem. Creating a champion also said all prior stories have become myths as they happened so long ago, adding fuel to the fire for this line of thought It solves a narrative obstacle for the Zelda team and gives everyone a better chance to grasp the events going on

[@Awnos]

The old timeline is mythology in the world of Botw. Saying the timeline converges is nonsensical and too messy. A reboot makes more sense.

[@thefirefridge5187]

I think it can work with the timeline, but under the idea that it's so far into the future that the original timeline is eons ago. This kinda makes sense too, as it would explain why Zonai tech is so advanced. The only thing you kinda need to work out is that Rauru is the first king of the new Hyrule. And technically the Hyrule that was established then is sort of reestablishing it after Hyrule fell long ago

[@mateo6482]

“Obviously there will be DLC” - this didn’t age well 😬

[@MattTOB618]

1:00:45 The strongest weapon I've gotten is the Lightscale Trident fused with one of Marbled Gohma's Legs (which you can get from the rematch in the Depths). It's 60 damage ordinarily, but since it's a Zora weapon, when it gets wet, it SKYROCKETS up to 120!

[@cashordeals3672]

I beat the game say like at 10 or 11 last night and OMG that was easily my favorite Ganondorf boss fight ever whenever the next big zelda game happens I hope the boss fight with Ganondorf if he is in the next game is as awesome as this one and his design 🔥 easily my second favorite Ganondorf design

[@ghostin3274]

Took me 20 tries that was insanely hard 😭😭😭

[@cashordeals3672]

@@ghostin3274 20 dang bro?! It took me 4 or 5 at most armor did you have on

[@occamsaturn]

​@@cashordeals3672 took me like 10 tries between the army and the boss itself had 12 hearts and phantom ganon head and legs, soldier's armor on the chest the flurry rush dodging was what got me, forced me to unlearn bad habits reaaal quick

[@cashordeals3672]

@@occamsaturn 😅😬😭

[@ghostin3274]

@@cashordeals3672 dodging his attacks was really hard especially in the latter phases

[@ivanzoneBR24]

The most absolute sin of this game is not telling the player wtf happened between Botw and this game. The Sheikah Shrines, Guardians, Divine Beasts are nowhere to be seen, some important characters are missing. The game tries to be a direct sequel but fails in giving context to why so many things changed as far as I am aware. This isn't a problem in Super Mario Galaxy 2, another direct sequel, because all the events of Super Mario Galaxy 1 were reset due to the Black Hole in the ending, so it makes sense why everything happened again.

[@kameryngreer3098]

It’s supposed to be assumed that the sheikah machines were all rearchived like the heroes who used them before had done. But it definitely could have done better with a little line confirming that

[@shigerumiyamoto9612]

@@kameryngreer3098 I thought they were dismanteled and used for the new stuff. I do agree thought that it could have been clearified much better

[@supernorgfortioladofus3597]

I think the timeline placement has already been stated. Nintendo said it takes place at the end of the timeline but so far into the future. Totk is also originally planned as DLC which means that Ganondorf being sealed under hyrule castle was probably thought about when creating BOTW. Another thing to remember is that Ganondorf as we've seen him is from Ocarina of time. It's also important to remember, this Ganondorf has actually been outright killed now in all 3 timelines. In the downfall timeline he was killed and brought back and then killed again. Twilight Princess we see Zant snap his neck after Link plunges the sword into his chest. Wlnd waker was the most brutal variant where we plunged the sword right into his brain lol. So Ganondorf has outright been killed now, not defeated. He died. Now another thing to remember. Ganondorf can be brought back as a different being and not himself. It happened in 4 swords adventure. It was Ganon but a completely new ganon, not linked to the other games. So he can be reborn. Now that all these things are said, let's put them together. The timeline is complicated and hard to work with for nintendo. It's so convoluted and we all know it was thought up in 2011. So going forward and to make things easier, nintendo makes it easier for them to reunite the timeline. Which they did, just not in the way people thought. They said BOTW took far so long into the future that it happened in all 3 timelines. In other words, it's an eventuality. And perhaps many things in Hyrules history is an eventuality. In wind waker, Hyrule is destroyed. Maybe Hyrules destruction is an eventuality in all timelines Hyrule then got repopulated and the kingdom of Hyrule is reborn. One with their own history and own timeline. However the histories of the past has gone down in legend's and myths. Hence why Zelda can reference every timelines in BOTW. Creating a champion also calls the events of the 3 timelines the era of myths. To summarise. Hyrule is destroyed Hyrule is reborn The story of TOTK AND BOTW takes place The events of Calamity ganon on it's own is more than 10 thousand years old. People mistake the calamity ganon of 10 thousand years ago as the first Calamity. It's quite clearly not, the sheikah built the divine beasts and techs in response to the calamity. Meaning it must have happened once before that again. And who knows how many times it has happend. You might genuinely be looking at a hundred thousand year gap between our current timeline placement and a game like twilight Princess Maybe even more

[@Awnos]

Nintendo has never said this and it is entirely incorrect. In Creating a champion they lump all the games pre botw into a timeline called the era of myth. Botw was a soft reboot, this Ganondorf is the "real" man while the one from oot is a mythological interpretation of this story.

[@supernorgfortioladofus3597]

@@Awnos I miss remembered a bit and have edited now. Aonuma said it takes place at the end of the timeline and it was up to the player's to decide which specific timeline. Creating a champion establishing the era of myth doesn't have to mean they're all literal myths and not real. I think it just adds fuel to the fire that these new games are so far into the future that the events of the prior games doesn't matter, except for skyward Sword due to the curse of Demise. Regardless the entire point of it all is as you say, a soft reboot of the series. This way Ninentdo can work with one timeline starting from BOTW and onwards

[@jonathanwilson7949]

This is such a fun thing to listen to while doing work or other random stuff. Thank you for all your hard work :)

[@TheLeftistLife]

I actually cried when Zelda turned into the dragon 😂😂😂 It really did hit hard and it was a great piece of storytelling. The build up to that money was intense and it really touched me.

[@lpnp9477]

I agree, that moment was emotionally dense. I'm just disappointed the ending was such a cookie cutter fairytale ending. They built up so much potential for a poignant emotional payoff and just took the safest, most predictable path possible.

[@mookiestewart3776]

@@lpnp9477 i think thats because they are setting it up for another sequel. No way they dont make this a trilogy.

[@LoomDoom]

@@mookiestewart3776 disagree. This ending tied everything up really nicely. I don’t see how they would use the same map again without it feeling stale. I think TotK did everything you could with this world.

[@masteroflag]

I feel like the “you can’t come back from a dragon” bit is meant for people who play the story as intended, do most of the side quests and fill the map before going for ganondorf since at least for me I’ve known Zelda was the dragon 25 hours in due to wanting to do all the memories first and got the master sword before the 4th sage. So I had 50 hours or play just thinking there wasn’t a way back and dealing and then to finally get that when defeating the demon king…perfect

[@Archivist42]

Good to hear I wasn’t the only one who struggled with Ganondolf, I went to fight him with just 4 hearts left after fighting my way to him and was just getting obliterated. I came back with a banquet of gloom restoring food though and managed to Tank my way through it.

[@fotografick]

I used a rocket fused to a shield to get above him and shot him in the head repeatedly. I think that is one of the most OP items.

[@occamsaturn]

My favorite aspect of this game was the party building. Every time you beat a dungeon, you get another friend. Their powers were useful (if clunky to use) but they were always there to support you in battle, and you could even power them up. It made it feel like a journey to unify Hyrule in a way that BotW kinda fell short with - the Divine Beasts firing at Ganon in the end was very cinematic and cool, but feels very isolated. That whole game feels very isolated compared to TotK. But here you actually unite all of the peoples of Hyrule under one party. And you end up with this big gang of six that can go toe-to-toe with mobs of enemies or gang up on some poor bokoblin. I would have liked to see the actual sages join us, rather than their avatars, but... that moment when they show up at the castle, and then at the end to fight the army... that was hype as fuck. One of my favorite moments in Zelda. I would have really liked to see them be playable in a co-op mode though

[@Mitzi_DelverVRC]

They set off a freakin' *nuke* in Hyrule with that final boss ending! I don't mean it metaphorically or rhetorically or poetically or theoretically or any other fancy way. A nuke. Straight. Up.

[@Mojo1356]

Nice Puss in Boots reference. Great movie. Anyways, yeah.

[@yaboirairai]

That makes no sense?

[@Mojo1356]

@@yaboirairai it’s a reference dude.

[@sparksshepherd3313]

My theory is that the original Zelda timeline ended in a Convergence, which started the universe anew, leading to events repeating in a slightly different way. Botw/Totk is a restart to the timeline, beginning from the end and combination of the previous 3 timelines. It explains the traits of having things from the 3 timelines all in Botw, AND the new Ganondorf

[@bulkypigeon]

I accidentally found ganondorf when I was supposed to be going up to hyrule castle (I thought I had to ascend into the castle) missing mineru entirely and fighting seized construct without any context. I felt like it was lackluster, but of course when seeing her in the credits I went back and did it the right way.

[@brazilianorange]

In my mind the Imprisoning War in TOTK takes place after all previous games in the zelda series (except BOTW of course)

[@LoomDoom]

Ya totally. The previous timelines happened and then at some point converged. This convergence likely destroyed Hyrule which is why Sonia and Rauru decided to establish another Hyrule kingdom based on the one of the past. Also it’s clear that Sonia carries the Hylia bloodline.

[@exzisd]

Please do an update for 10 months later or at least one year later.

[@exzisd]

I'll be back to watch this when I finish the game. I want to listen very much but the story stuff I really want to experience for myself. It might be a few weeks..or months as I have time to play through but I will be back.

[@exzisd]

Im back

[@fotografick]

I love games that enable creativity and building, and this game creates such memorable opportunities to problem solve with building. Dragon Quest Builders is also incredible, teaching you the systems by creating context for creativity. The koroks looking for their friend, and the shrine quests where you move the stone or helping Addison with his signs are all great examples of this.

[@TheBradleyBliss]

it's funny he said his strategy was to get up close with Ganondorf. What worked for me was to stay far away and keep shooting him with arrows

[@RagingAbout]

I loved hearing Fi from skyward sword at the very end

[@hollowayraulie1422]

I’m shocked no one felt strongly about the wind temple that was my favorite! The earth temple was a close second though

[@timg2727]

My biggest issue with the story in this game (MAJOR continuity issues with the rest of the series aside) is how the memory of Ganondorf pledging fealty to Rauru immediately follows the memory of his attempted Molduga assault. It makes absolutely no sense that Rauru would accept his pledge at that point, and the "keep your enemies closer" line from Rauru doesn't ring true for me at all. Even Zelda speaking up at the end wasn't nearly forceful enough ("something about his name just doesn't seem right" - what, you mean the GANON part? The evil force that you defeated just a few years ago? You think MAYBE there's a connection there somehow??) I dunno man, it doesn't work for me. It could have been done so much better than it was.

[@IntrovertMaxxing]

Agreed. Nintendo cheesed the story

[@shigerumiyamoto9612]

hmmm we don't know the time distance between those cutscenes, and I think they made it clear that Rauru wanted to have Ganondorf under control in order to control the peace of the kingdom. Like he even states he is well aware of his nature, but having him under his umbrella would ensure nothing would treaten the peace, which was a reasonable decision, even though of course he was fooled.

[@timg2727]

@@shigerumiyamoto9612 there should've been another cutscenes connecting those two scenes together. It doesn't ring true for me at all the way they presented it in the game.

[@bulkypigeon]

⁠@@timg2727 i agree, those cutscenes would be totally fine if there was one more bridging them.

[@LooseAsADEUCE]

Did Rauru know that was Ganondorf tho? They were a good distance away and I feel like we hear someone ask what caused the Molduga swarm in the cutscene

[@awakenedcrowl]

This Zelda climax legitimately felt like what I made up BOTW's climax to be in my unrealistic expectations. I always saw that shadowy malice Ganon fly around Hyrule castle from afar, and imagined fighting that thing while zooming around the castle in the air. And when I played TotK's finale, I really just thought about how this finally is THE ONE realization of those crazy ideas I thought would never come true in a game.

[@waynek.8049]

This soundtrack deserves to be solidified in a museum. Colgera, Demon Dragon and the Lookout Landing themes are all memorable.

[@mikeheiser77]

Now that I think about it, Link's replacement arm is older than Zelda's Light Dragon. Maybe the arm was all they needed, so maybe the trade off makes some sense(big maybe).

[@SuperUltra_]

My issue with TOTK is that it essentially replaces BOTW. It improves so much on BOTW but there’s so many shared similarities that I wouldn’t go back to BOTW. Unlike Oot and MM. They share assets but are COMPLETELY different.

[@ciregoku]

"Please hit the demon king in the face for me"-Purrah that got me good XD also for anyone struggling with GETTING to the ending once you reach the chasem where Ganondorf is place a Travel Medalian seriously it saves you SO much hassle after that marathon of a dungeon @__@

[@Quackenson]

I feel like the story of TOTK shines less in the main quests/memories, and more in the side quests. They’re of lesser consequence but they’re all brilliantly written and many put a stupid grin on my face.

[@xy394]

So like Majora's Mask?

[@shigerumiyamoto9612]

I don't disagree, but I think the story was very good this time. And these side quests made the story, and the world building, even better.

[@Quackenson]

@@shigerumiyamoto9612 don’t get me wrong, i loved the main story too. I just think with a super open game like this, the condensed little side stories are inevitably going to feel much more fulfilling than a larger story that has to be built to be experienced in any order. (Also trying to figure out where the memories fit into the timeline hurts my head lol)

[@shigerumiyamoto9612]

@@Quackenson oh definetly. But I also loved how some of these quests even tied into the overall story like the Lucky Clover quests

[@Mojo1356]

@@xy394on a lesser scale imo. Majora still has the superior world, but this is an improvement from Botw nevertheless.

[@Dutchdennis7]

My favorite side quest/side adventure is in the Gerudo basement town. In BOTW there was this mysterious eigth heroine that noone really talked about. And this quest finally reveals so much about this mystery while also adding more questions on top of it all!

[@Debloko666]

I finished the main story yesterday, and now I can finally watch this video!

[@mookiestewart3776]

To answer your ganondorf question, the Japanese have several different words for spirit/soul/spiritual energy that can all be translated similar to each other but have slightly different characteristics. The word they use in Japanese Zelda is a type of soul from buddhist beliefs that can exist in two different places at the same time. Think of two torches , one is lit the other is not. You then use the flame from the first to light the second, the two torches now carry the same flame even if they are separated after , they are “the same”. There is also the “second founding” theory, that so much time has passed since the older games that hyrule had to be founded for a second time , so the past events you learn of in totk are still tens of thousands of years after the old 3 timelines

[@FarekWad]

Are you guys able to make a re-upload of the conversation with the music turned down a bit? It's hard to hear certain parts... Maybe an upload with both conversations together in one?

[@cyprusmiraque]

A small thing I didn't understand was why the Demon Dragon had the Secret Stone on its forehead, when Zelda and the other dragons certainly didn't.

[@raphnoble808]

The secret stone wasn’t out the entire battle - it only appeared on its head after taking enough damage

[@cyprusmiraque]

@@raphnoble808 o shit for real??

[@KeroKaminaX]

i still cannot believe they ACTUALLY put in a ridable mech as a mechanic, holy shit

[@Spatu10]

Given that BotW’s official timeline placement is “at the far end of whichever timeline you want”, I don’t expect there to ever be a real answer to the timeline weirdness in TotK, but my theory is that the beginning of Hyrule we see is still after anything we’ve ever seen before. Ganondorf is there, the BotW-style Zora and Rito are there, it feels like the cycle has already been going on for a while. Hyrule falls and rises from the ashes all the time so it’d hardly be unprecedented.

[@Nel_Annette]

Same here. As soon as Rauru said he was the first king of Hyrule, I said "you're the first king of THIS Hyrule." I think every other game besides these newest two still took place before even that. Otherwise it just raises way too many questions.

[@Julio3324]

Dang I reaaaaally wanna watch this but I still haven't seen the ending. I've reached the final area and boss and I was clearly not prepared so I'm currently gearing up! Will save this for when I beat it!

[@Channel-Red]

The side quest of building your own house near Tarrey Town was great

[@abombernation3254]

You can actually cage ganondorf with this one specific material that he can’t break 😂

[@awakenedcrowl]

40:18 DOn't wanna self-praise, but honestly, as soon as the Ganondorf battle began, that though came right to me. And when you defeated Phase 2 (Demon King phase) and that cutscene started playing, I was instantly like "Ok, he's gonna eat his stone!" and when he did it, I just excitedly yelled "I KNEW IT!!". Didn't spoil my experience tho.

[@VincentGuillotine]

10:17 "There has never been a different Ganondorf" no, FSA has a different 'dorf too. he is never seen, but he does shape the story and transform

[@legomaster2538]

My main criticism about the final boss was how the Sages were handled during the fight with Ganondorf and the Demon Dragon. Before TotK released, I was hoping that Link’s friends would directly fight Ganondorf alongside him, and when the ancient sages task the new sages to fight the Demon King, you can imagine how hyped I was to have this prediction come true. While I was grateful for the time I had with Link and the Sages fighting Ganondorf 6 on 1, I *was* disappointed when they got knocked out halfway through the only phase where they fight him directly. I would have preferred having the Sages continue to fight Ganondorf in the next part of his Demon King phase even if the phantoms are dealt with. If they’re defeated, just have Ganondorf restore his health. Even with the Sages, the third portion of the fight would still have been challenging. Alternatively, have him summon Hollows from Age of Calamity that take the form of the four sages (Tulin, Yunobo, Sidon, and Riju) and a dehydrated Phantom Ganon to keep the fives sages occupied, since it would be hard to take them out when Ganondorf starts attacking more aggressively. Adding insult to injury is the fact that the Sages were left in the Depths during the Demon Dragon fight. As amazing as the ending was with Ganondorf’s death, Zelda turning back into a hylian, and finally catching her was, the Sages being stuck in the Depths during all that was too distracting and sadly soured the ending for me. The developers could have handled that so much better by showing a cutscene of the Sages escaping the chasm, cheering Link on during the fight with the Demon Dragon, congratulating him as the Demon Dragon nears his end, and then (if you’ve awakened all five of them) rejoin with Link as he and Zelda gaze upon Hyrule Castle.

[@denycast]

I don't know how.... but I got a cutscene after the credits, that showes them alive😅

[@legomaster2538]

@@denycastThat’s because you completed all main quests ;)

[@Zerolink30]

1:04:49 2 things i felt disappointment from the Sky Islands. 1- Why were the Forest Ostrich, who only appeared in the Sky, not called Loftwings. They literally looked like Flightless Loftwings. 2- Why wasn't Skyloft 1 off the Sky Islands? I wasn't expecting the island to have the same name but it would have been nice to recognize it by its structure and the fact that it would have been floating by different design from the Zonai Sky Islands.

[@lukeshoo]

This game is incredible in the same way I felt when I played Subnautica, in that it felt like a masterpiece when I started, and kept raising the ante with each new surprise until the end. Tears of the Kingdom and Subnautica are my two favorite games of all time.

[@grantkibbis8338]

I'd love DLC that just adds a dozen or more past Zelda bosses into the world. Imagine coming accross Stallord in the Gerudo dessert, Argorok in the Sky Islands, Morpheus in the wetlands, koloktos in the faron woods or Volvagia in death mountain.

[@GetterRay]

Hard disagree that there was nothing "heavy" in BotW's story, its a really heavy character drama but the game asks you to piece all the clues together so it goes over people's heads. The fact that they didn't outright say "Zelda has never experienced love from her parents and thus can't unlock her powers until she learns to love Link at the end" but makes you piece that together from the memories and diaries is why the storytelling in that game is so good. Tears is better though, its more of BotW but better, and maybe a bit more clearer because you can get the story without having to read hidden diary entries. The story in Tears is really fantastic, but its way better if you understand all the character building that BotW did with both Link and Zelda.

[@spaceball_two5998]

Did you notice Zelda's dropped torch when you reach the depths of Hyrule Castle?

[@Zerolink30]

48:14 i honestly think that part was a bit weak, Link was able to be a conduit bc of the arm but it felt weird they did it that way. To me, it would've made more sense if the Triforce, which Zelda had, was part of the reason she turned back. While keeping Link with Rauru's arm, the operation had been done and there should not have been a way back for him.

[@jamiecal11]

Jon saying every single shrine was fantastic....Good god these men were drunk off hype juice.

[@jacobpro_]

A few too many “Rauru’s Blessing” shrines.

[@coyy9106]

Yup 💀💀

[@ben8446]

Just want to add that I’m 30hrs in and haven’t done a Single main quest. Thats insane to me. Trying to avoid fast travel and learning the mechanics feels like both a game and an apprenticeship. P.S love you guys ❤

[@cyprusmiraque]

I did that Spring quest and fused it with a Light dragon horn shard, and REALLY hoped it would do something

[@Kswitchem]

Its so funny you brought up navigating the Subway in NYC because I went to NYC for the launch of Tears and played through that dungeon. My thoughts were "why can I figure out the subway system but not these minecart rails?". 😅

[@brucecurtis6910]

Great discussion, gentlemen! You’ve got a new subscriber here :)

[@AllenAllanAlan]

I really hope they give us more in a DLC on why all the Sheikah tech is missing and why some NPCs don't seem to know Link while most do. When that Purah Pad came out at the beginning, I was already thinking, "O'oh."

[@Zerolink30]

42:51 If you actually miss Dragon Zelda, she rushes down and whips you up with her tail and then forces you to land on her head. I thought it was amazing

[@morningstaranalytics3754]

Ascend works because of the animation of Link swimming through a void It acts as a loading buffer to reduce lag

[@nickcampbell6387]

For DLC I would like to see Ganondorf expanded on, like his relationship to the gerudo, what they did when he gained power, how he treated them, how he became their king, or maybe some expansion on the sheika tech, what happened to it, where is it? Find some new armor or weapons sets shieka related, and a master sword trial is essential, wielding an all powerful master sword.

[@pencilcheck]

late to this vid but I want to say that the ending feels so xenoblade 3 ish as well, i wonder if we will see or explore more of the "spirit realm" that zonai mentioned in future titles.

[@Nuvendil]

Link has the Spirit of the Hero in him, right? And we do see that the hero from 10,000 years prior was, in fact, a Zonai or at least part Zonai based on the Ancient Hero's Aspect. So Link being a conduit for Sonia and Rauru's power could tieninto that. Also, there's Rauru's arm probably has a lot to do with that. Some theorize that they actually use the power of the Triforce. The Triforce is still present in BotW and TotK but it's never mentioned by *name* so there's a mystery element there.

[@SchoolofRockNRoll]

i have just rolled credits. i completed much of the side stuff before even going to ganondorf, so im not gonna go back to finish the side stuff i havent done (which are very little since my percentage is 98.59% which was a wild surprise to me). i cant believe the saga of the wild is over. i played botw for the first time in 2020 and it got me through the pandemic and totk got me through a personally mentally tough last few months. i did not grow up with the zelda series and only started my first playthrough of a zelda game in 2019. while im generally not a fan of the "knights and dragon" fantasy genre that zelda takes inspiration from, im so glad that i got to witness this cycle of zelda cementing it as my favorite series. hyrule is safe once more

[@MarioFanferlife]

I really just want to get this all out there, as this game has really gotten my mind going. I want to put this out there, as I feel there aren't as many here with the same feelings: I did not love Breath of the Wild. But, man, Tears of the Kingdom is now one of my all time favorites. And I made sure to do all 152 shrines, all memories, complete all 3 maps, get max heart/stamina containers, max battery life, all Robbie upgrades, all Bargainer Statues, most armor sets, do as many sidequests as I could, gotten all great fairies, and had done every main quest until the end. And, there were a lot of very specific little things that made this so. Now don't get me wrong. There was a lot I loved about the first experience of playing Breath of the Wild. It's a game that truly set itself apart as an open world game from what we knew them to be at the time. And I have vivid memories of the first 50 hours of playing it. But, it really did feel like it was missing a lot. And maybe also it was kind of a weird time for me as a gamer and Nintendo fan. I actually wasn't excited for the Switch at first and kinda pessimistic. The Wii U gen really wore on me, and the Wii U version was how I first played the game. After a certain point, I really just got tired of the Wii U as whole, but that was very specifically that time. So, I was definitely more critical after a certain point of playing any Wii U game. I think I was also having a lot of issues personally (still kinda going through them, but it's been better). It took Super Mario Odyssey's prerelease trailers and such to actually get me excited for the system. All that being said, fast forward to now. I have been thoroughly convinced the Switch is probably the best system since the SNES from Nintendo. It isn't 100% perfect, but I can't deny how powerful its library has become. And, I think this game is another indication of how Nintendo took the missteps and difficulties of the previous era, and transformed them into something truly special. This gets proven more and more each time we see a major release. They really got back on their A game this gen. I'm sure many already have heard a lot of the criticisms for Breath of the Wild thousands of times already, so really I can say that most of them I certainly agreed with except for the weapon durability. I still maintain it wasn't so much the weapon durability that was the issue as much as the combination of lack of ways to earn/maintain weapons, and the fact that there would be long bouts of exploration in sidequests that just lead to another weapon that you would just break on next use. Really taking away the accomplishment of finding treasure in admittedly cool areas and some difficult challenges. Didn't necessarily take away how fun it was to explore the world and do tasks, but definitely deflated it undeniably in my eyes. At least there were permanent armor sets to find. I thought many sidequests were rather hollow and uninteresting, and the main quests were a mixed bag. The story especially felt really unmotivating, and with only interesting mystery being what kind of characters Zelda and the champions were in the past. Like, because the beginning of the game sets the precedent that storming Hyrule Castle and defeating Ganon was all that mattered, it made a lot of what was inbetween very not fleshed out. Some aspects of the society were cool like the major tribes, but nothing that made me feel like I was working towards meaningful pieces of the story besides some lore. Even the shrines were sort of a mixed bag to me. Some really invoked the great puzzle/dungeon design we come to expect from these games, while a handful of others either weren't that engaging or were downright frustrating with the gyro controls. Not to say that these aspects of the game didn't have their good moments. But, the experience as a whole really felt like the world was where all the effort went, and the smaller things to make it feel whole and complete were only somewhat realized. You can really tell, especially now, that this game was very experimental. A pretty successful experiment overall though. Don't let my feelings and criticism take away from how great BotW actually was for the franchise and even open world game philosophy. For me, all of these things I think were thoroughly improved in Tears of the Kingdom. Hell, this game actually exceeded my expectations on how much they could expand/improve upon Breath of the Wild. All the way down to the moments of the story, the converging mysteries, the cinematic/thematic symmetry, and just how incredibly rewarding, both in experience and tangibly, doing almost everything there is to do in this world truly is. While also maintaining the aspects of the first game that made it great. Adding some truly deep and incredible new mechanics in both your own capabilities and even the parts of the world. The sidequests this time were not only mostly fun and varied, but also some of the most endearing and memorable in the series now, while also making sure rewards for them were more variedly useful. Altogether made a truly winning formula that makes me feel so damn good. It truly feels like a culmination of everything the franchise has ever been, and also what it never was before. Even the endgame this time was so impressive and fun for such an open game. Some of the best moments in the game, even. The damn soundtrack not only has some of the great tracks from the first game, but also so much dynamic new music and incredible tracks to highlight major moments of the adventure, whether in misadventures or in the main quest. I could already see discourse of those who didn't like Breath of Wild also not really being swayed by this game. While I actually just was so surprised by how in love I became with this game as opposed to the first. I wasn't even really excited for this game, I just knew I was going to play it, and I was looking forward to it. Until I played it. Tears of the Kingdom blew me away, personally. I still can't believe this game even functions as well as it does on the Switch hardware, for the many magical things, from a development standpoint, it accomplishes. This is a game of a lifetime. One that I will treasure and revisit for years to come.

[@themothreborn]

welp, guess i gotta do my shrines

[@jumponeverything]

I finished the game yesterday and thought the demon king ganondorf fight was one of the best fights I've ever seen but I was a bit underwhelmed by the demon dragon, the setpiece is amazing and the scene with Zelda afterwards was fantastic but the fight itself was a bit underwhelming like you just dive and attack over and over, very similar to dark beast ganon

[@occamsaturn]

I would've liked a bit more challenge for sure with the dragon

[@shigerumiyamoto9612]

I saw someone else say this, but that fight wasn't necesarily made to be a hard challange, but rather a cinematic fight to make an en epic ending to the story while still letting you feel there is stakes, just like Dark Beast Ganon (only done so much better). It's totally clear that the Ganondorf part is supposed to be the real challange, and depending on what supplies he have, he totally is.

[@jumponeverything]

@@shigerumiyamoto9612 honestly I liked dark beast Ganon more lol. I don't think the difficulty was the problem but more I felt really unengaged against the dragon. Like at least with dark beast I need to aim and keep riding my horse which is fun to ride but with the dragon I just land, hit the thing, get thrown off, repeat

[@denycast]

Don't get me wrong. I love this game... I put 200h in and enjoyed most of it. And I loved that the end was like the beginning with Link catching Zelda. But some parts really annoyed me. That Link is a silent and so passive made me realize I am playing a game. Instead of being the Link to the Gameworld forme, it threw me out of it. The moment when you See Zelda becoming a Dragon.... I wanted him do have any reaction. Or give her a hug at the end. But he just stands there... So emotionless. And after figuringout I that I still had soooooo many Quest that revolved around Zelda being Missing. It was not very motivating after that point. And haveing a wrong way to experience the story even though the game tells you that you can go anywhere.... felt not great. Oh and I am frustrated about how many materials it takes to get the amour upgrades. That part is not fun😅

[@bulkypigeon]

The problem with the story for me was the fact it could be approached from so many orders; it led to characters repeating themselves a lot, which got annoying. The worst offender was definitely Mineru, where the game KNOWS you’ve done the other four, but still repeats the imprisoning war story before showing the badass cutscene of rauru sealing ganondorf. It also changes the payoffs if you get the memories in different orders, idk, I hope they add a slightly more linear story in an equally open area in later games.

[@longtong9039]

I actually stumbled on mineru purely by chance after my second main temple, the whole sequence felt like “i shouldn’t be here yet” but you can legit just fly into the island despite being shrouded in lightning and make your way to the temple on dragonhead island, one of the cooler moments as i had no idea whatsoever that something like it would be there

[@LooseAsADEUCE]

The game actually doesn't know you did the other four before Mineru because you have people like me who found her third. I watched a let's play where they actually found the construct factory second.

[@Zerolink30]

14:15 i still think they could make the Temples/Dungeons better, for one restrict you like they do with Shrines. I did my best not to use Zonai devices just so i could get that early 3D Zelda dungeon feel and it did make it a lot better. But I've seen how others have done and then see their disappointed looks on their faces and though my thought is "well, you ruined it for yourself" i also understand it is hard to ignore a convenience that is given to you in a game.

[@lukeshoo]

I think that the zonai were under the assumption that there was no way to undo the dragon metamorphosis, but link's creative actions through the game made them realize there were other possibilities.

[@jamesjagger1216]

I would suggest that the depths are entirely padding, with the exception of about 2% of it. If only they had made the depths much much smaller and made the sky islands all on par with the very first one you are introduced to.

[@menosproblemos6993]

Yay! It's YOU guys again = D (2nd video I see of ya ^^)

[@Cyannas]

I’m kinda surprised the restoration of Zelda occurred the way it did. About halfway through the Regional Phenomena quest (I prioritized unlocking towers and geoglyphs first) I thought Link might cast a massive Recall on the dragon and possibly exhaust his ability in the process…maybe giving up his arm completely. Especially since time around the object still moves forward while the object moves backwards in time. And when Rauru and Sonia showed up I instantly thought I was right. They’re here to support him to pull it off. But visual and audio cues for Recall didn’t happen and no one seemed to consider the possibility. So now it’s relegated to headcanon.

[@lpnp9477]

That would have been much better. I would have preferred Zelda being sacrificed either dying or living forever as a dragon, but link sacrificing his arm using recall to bring Zelda back would also be cool, but no. Zelda is fine, arm is fine, just like the ending of a Shrek movie.

[@C_Arson]

In the cutscene after the credits, Mineru theorizes that Sonia's time powers when combined with Rauru's light powers brought Zelda back.Since Sonia's time power seems to be identical to Link's recall ability based on how she teaches them to Zelda (and also how Zelda uses it in some memory cutscene), it's not really headcanon to say that Recall helped to revive Zelda; it just didn't come exclusively from Link.

[@noobstoise1024]

I'm kind of hoping we get one more sequel to BotW and TotK with a red color scheme to make this a trilogy that kind of brings everything together. This game is amazing, but I feel like the ending was pretty open ended and it doesn't feel like the story is finished

[@corywashington9580]

It would be cool with an older zelda and link trying to fully restore hyrule

[@thefirefridge5187]

I know it doesn't exactly count since it's a spinoff, but the box art for Age of Calamity uses a red color palate. If you include Age of Calamity then that kind of works as a trilogy.

[@raphnoble808]

@@thefirefridge5187I think you’re right. What better way to showcase power than with a warriors game?

[@Flowerz__]

I love the floating mechanic of the water temple but I think getting to the temple was more fun/difficult than the temple itself. If Nintendo gave us like 1 or 2 big sprawling old school style temples this game would have just been that much more amazing. They can have an “item” without it being a traditional style item. For example they could have a dungeon built around using the boomerang or something and just do tht. Doesn’t need to be a new power..

[@briandelaet6354]

I think the hole timeline of this game takes place in an area of the timeline that separated from the other time lines

[@Zerolink30]

I got a lot of enjoyment from building my home and the work off art Kilton is building.

[@3lH4ck3rC0mf0r7]

I honestly wanted Ganon's fight to be much harder, and absolutely require the Master Sword to beat. Like, make it so that if you as much as equipped any other weapon, bow or a shield with < 40 defense points the dense evil aura in the arena just consumed and shattered them to pieces before you could do anything with them (not to mention have Ganon instantly destroy all non-Master Sword weapons and all weak shields on contact, deflect arrows of any type off him, and more aggressively counter the flurry rush). Master Sword only, and either dodges or perfect parries if you want your shield to last through the fight. Then people would really have to stock up on good meals and clothes and really polish up their swordmanship to stand a chance. I took him down on my first try, and it was kinda underwhelming after that damn lynel had wiped the floor with me right before. It even gave me ludo-narrative disonnance with how sick every cutscene with Ganondorf is and how little we get to see him in the present :'( A part of me wondered if I got there too quickly, and if I messed around in the overworld some more, he'd actually awaken and start actively driving the world of Hyrule to ruin. That would've been sick if it could happen.

[@shigerumiyamoto9612]

Not sure what you could have done to make it harder. He can dodge your attacks in slow mo, he is fast, he has much HP, and attacks that removes hearts. I think its as close to a challange you can get considering this isn't a soulsbourne game

[@3lH4ck3rC0mf0r7]

@@shigerumiyamoto9612 Just with the changes I described I would've been more satisfied. I very quickly realized I had over-prepared and the fight was beatable with much less resources than I had, which made a lot of my prepwork completely pointless. Not to mention with everyone saying "the Demon King will return" I actually expected him to actually show up on the surface fully recovered at some point and start, I dunno, covering extensive amounts of surface land in gloom and stronger monsters. Like, make it actually seem like he's actively trying to conquer Hyrule and not just waiting for you below the castle. And I wouldn't have minded a more Soulsborne-like level of difficulty for this incarnation of Ganondorf.

[@LooseAsADEUCE]

Doing that defeats the purpose of "you can do whatever, including the final boss" though. Yes, it's harder if you don't have all the story done but what you're describing makes it nigh impossible and forces linearity.

[@3lH4ck3rC0mf0r7]

@@LooseAsADEUCE The game already just gives you the master sword regardless of your stamina level if you didn't already have it before fighting the Demon Dragon. So, if they fully lifted the Master Sword stamina requirement, and made getting the Master Sword be "just get to the white dragon", you could possibly find a way to it right after completing the early game. And then close off the way to the final boss so that getting the Master Sword is required, but can still be done as early as you reach the open world.

[@3lH4ck3rC0mf0r7]

I'm not the biggest fan of Rockstar Games out there, but I will give them credit for one mechanic from their older games that I wish had been included into TOTK. I don't think it has a proper name, so I'm calling it "Chaos Mode". In GTA Vice City, GTA San Andreas and Bully, when you complete a specific mission or satisfy a set of requirements close to the endgame, the city breaks out into a riot. The randomly spawning NPCs in the open world that usually just walk around and chill start carrying weapons and doing nothing but picking out fights among themselves and the player. Personally, I would've liked that, after defeating Phantom Ganon on Hyrule Castle, the sky turned blood red for the rest of the game, and until the player defeated Ganondorf. Thousands of extra enemy placements were added throughout the map, enemies respawned minutes after being killed instead of respawning all at once every Blood Moon, and there wasn't a single NPC on the map that wasn't fighting at least one monster. Suddenly, bosses that were previously exclusive to the dungeons and the Depths could be seen in the main overworld. And after completing the Last Sage questline, Ganondorf himself showed up at random to attack a city and you had to fast travel there to repel Ganondorf's attacking army before the city was destroyed.

[@gunpeiyaboi5280]

the whole dragon foreshadowing went over my head, when Mineru said that line about becoming an immortal dragon i just assumed that was a strange localization choice for a Japanese phrase. and maybe i'm a bad person for this, but i wish she had stayed a dragon. i kinda feel like Zelda turning back into a hylian and not remembering being a dragon undercut her sacrifice. and then maybe the third one could have been about turning her back to hylian

[@Awnos]

As far as the timeline placement goes, Nintendo has outright stated in Creating a champion that the previous timeline is considered myth in this world. I always thought Botw was a soft reboot and TotK confirms it.

[@waffleboi7487]

I really want to finish totk soon, I’ll certainly go back to this video though! I’m sure it’s a great discussion

[@goldmemberpb]

I actually just beat the final boss last night. My brain thought it was a good idea to attempt the final boss after only 2 dungeons and handful of memories. I did have 90+ hours into the game. So, i was not without any context. I was so glad the game adds a checkpoint after the big boss rush because gloom damage in the final boss is awful. I was so sure it would kick me back out to before the mook rush. I also got the Master Sword with just the perfect timing. I got the memory where you see Zelda comtemplating to get the Master Sword back to Link. Then, after a while, decide to go to the forest to talk to the Deku Tree. Seeing that I have to track down the Light dragon, it all clicked. I thought you needed 13 hearts again but nope. Thank god I prioritized my Stamina first.

[@By-the_Way]

I finally cleared this game and boy, was it simply great!

[@Gamer1288]

I still think that the reason that turning into a Dragon seems to wipe a person's memories is because they get extremely high. Look at Zelda's Eyes in that final cutscene as she is about to transform and ask yourself if that doesn't look like she is going on an acid trip.

[@Debloko666]

It's very funny how you guys had problem with Ganondorf when using a sword, because that is very easy to me. You keep a certain distance from him to make him dash to you, and then you parry the sword swing with your shield.

[@exzisd]

I wish GVG was just podcasts like this discussion (Cartwright has the voice of Zeus) and the documentary style videos. I enjoyed a lot of the Zelda content you guys have done over the last few months from your collections and memories to the podcast discussions of TotK. I have been saving the Oracle of Ages and Oracle of Seasons videos but I'm watching them tonight. Also I said I would come back and I did mainly because I watched so many other Zelda videos about TotK and too many of them use too much video. I found the main thing that bothers me about spoilers is actually seeing them. I don't mind if I hear about some stuff that happens in the game but actually seeing it is the part that can diminish my experience; a lot of the costume sets have been visual spoilers that I've seen while searching for tips and cool vehicle builds. Anyways GVG is heading in a positive direction and I hope you guys keep making content like this. I noticed the video and audio quality have greatly improved over the last year and it seems like the channel has started to become more cohesive and content quality is also improved in my opinion. Alright later.

[@leopoldleoleo]

just finished it. holy shit what a journey.

[@quag311]

Two SPOILERS about Zelda as a character: 1. When it is revealed the location of the Master Sword is inside the dragonified version of Zelda, my son and I both unlocked it at the same time in the story after viewing all the memories. It was a RACE to see who could get to the white dragon in time: I was on the OG Switch and he was playing on the Switch lite. I was able to reach her first and waited so that we could both watch the Master Sword cutscene together. 2. After you defeat Ganondorf and you watch Zelda return to normal. She said “I’m home!” I was expecting her to do a backflip in Yiga pose shouting “GLORY FOR KOHGA!”

[@fluxk7506]

So, the master Sword is only 30 power, the same as BOTW. This would be fine if not for the fact that the gloom toll swords are 41 and even the fierce deity sword is 31. It's good, but I had many weapons stronger. I do think against Gannon it is doing like 120, it glows the same way it did in BOTW, and in that game the glow doubles it's power.

[@awakenedcrowl]

46:49 While I myself also felt like it shouldn't have happened (despite hoping for it), I think Zelda's re-vival can actually somewhat be explained. Because... think about it. What has Zelda learned to use all this time? From who? Recall! We know that the Recall ability of Zelda, after having relatively little time learning it from Sonia, was strong enough to get the Master Sword more than ten thousand years into the past. We can only assume that Sonia, who had fully grasped it long before, had even better control over it. On top of it, they make it a big point that Zelda had not only the power over time, LIKE SONIA, but also the power of light, LIKE RAURU. And guess what two figures COMBINE their powers to amplify each other, and RECALL Zelda to what she was about TEN THOUSAND years ago. If we know assume that Zelda also contributes to that power as a Dragon with Ten Thousand years of experience, it'd be even less of a stretch to think that they might have that power. Or then again, we might argue that as ghosts, they don't have that power. Since Rauru quite literally said so, when we saw him as a ghost for the first time. Another possibility however would be, that their ghosts made Zelda RECALL, both figuratively and literally. As a Dragon, she forgets who she was. She forgets about her two powers. But for that small moment, Rauru and Sonia used what little power they had left. Not to directly do the job, but RAURU to recall her of her LIGHT, and SONIA to recall her of her TIME, and maybe we can even argue that Link's presence helped her gain clear thoughts as well. Possibly allowing her to shortly remember how to use those powers, even in Dragon form, and RECALL herself to her original form. Something the other Dragons (assuming they were human before) couldn't do, because they never had such strong bonds or powers within them. Thus creating the Legend that there is no known way to escape the dragon form. The yellow light, that has always been used to symbolize them using Recall made it pretty clear to me that that was somewhat the point they were trying to get across.