Summary
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdomis the latest entry in the rather lengthyLegend of Zeldaseries. It continues where its predecessor,Breath of the Wild, left off, as Link and Zelda discover the Demon King Ganondorf underneath Hyrule Castle just as he broke free of what was chaining him down. After the encounter, Link is left with a strange new arm,a broken Master Sword, and a missing Princess to find and save.
Link’s new arm turns out to have belonged to King Rauru, a Zonai king who married the Hylian Sonia to establish the Kingdom of Hyrule. He and his wife are recurring characters inThe Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdomthrough the Dragon’s Tears memories. If fans think the name Rauru sounds familiar, it’s because Rauru is also a prominent character inThe Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time.
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The Use of the Name Rauru in the History of The Legend of Zelda
Tears of the Kingdomisn’t the first time that there’s been a Sage of Light named Rauru. Curiously,The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Timealso dealt with sealing away Ganondorf with the help of the Sages, with theSage of Light Rauruspecifically reaching out to Link to ask for his help. The Rauru fromOcarina of Timewas known for building the Temple of Time, which was inspired by the story of Link’s time travel adventures inSkyward Sword.
While there is also a Rauru Town inThe Adventure of Link, the two Sages seem to be purposefully connected rather than ending up as a simple coincidencein Hyrulian history. King Rauru in particular ironically wears a medallion that resemblesOoT’sRauru’s face. When King Rauru’s medallion is flipped upside down, it resembles the owl form of the other Sage of Light, known as Kaepora Gaebora. However, just what ties them together is still unclear as of right now.
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom’s Vague Place in Hyrule’s History
The use of the name “Rauru” could be easily written off as a common name in theZeldauniverse that could have started withTears of the Kingdom’s Rauru, the medallion that looks like the other Sage of Light implies otherwise. However, it’s difficult to say just how the two are connected as it hasn’t been made clear whereThe Legend of Zelda: Breath of the WildorTears of the Kingdomfall in the timeline just yet.
As King Rauru and Queen Sonia are the beginning of the Kingdom of Hyrule, it’s highly likely that the Zonai Rauru came before the more humanoid Rauru that build the Temple of Time. Although Rauru sacrificed himself to seal away Ganondorf underneath Hyrule Castle, it’s clear that his spirit has lived on beyond this heroic act as his spirit speaks to Link once he awakens with his arm attached. It could be possible that as Rauru tried to defend his kingdom, he also reincarnated into the Sage of Lightseen inThe Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time.
The Temple of Time’s ruins can befound inBreath of the Wild’s Hyrule, which leaves plenty of room for this theory. However, fans will likely need to wait until Nintendo revises the officialLegend of Zeldatimeline to know for sure. Regardless of just how both Sages of Light are connected to each other, the use of the name is a great nod to theZeldagames that came before that many fans are likely to appreciate, just like they likely do with the other continuity nods betweenBOTWandTOTK.
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdomis available now on Nintendo Switch.
