Let’s talk about the ending of Tears of the Kingdom

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It’s been three weeks since the release of The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, an absolutely massive follow-up to Breath of the Wild. Though using the same land of Hyrule, I think it’s safe to say at this point that Tears massively expands on its foundation.

Despite its breadth, though, it seems like folks are starting to see the credits roll. I’ve noticed a few spoilers dancing around out in the wild, though some of the wilder secrets have had a good lid kept by the player base. This is one of, or possibly the most, story-driven take I’ve seen on Zelda. It’s not just the cutscenes, but the dialogue. The world. The way NPCs follow up on stories from the previous game, and carry them forward into the new one.

Back around Pokemon Scarlet and Violet, I wrote a little bit about the ending sequence of that game. It gave me a space to work through some of my thoughts about the surprisingly impressive end of that game, and what it said about the entire experience as a whole. And it also gave players who had also rolled credits a place to chat about their experience too.

So I figured, why not do the same for Tears of the Kingdom? After the spoiler warning, the gloves will be off. Let’s dive into the finale of Tears of the Kingdom, whether or not it works, and how it puts a bow on the whole Tears experience.

Tears of the Kingdom opening on the exact sequence from the original E3 2019 reveal was already a treat, and within a few minutes, it felt like Nintendo was confirming and locking in exactly what this game would be about. Yes, the Zonai are involved. Ganondorf is the Demon King. Zelda disappears, in a burst of light. And a mysterious voice, Rauru, is guiding us through an Emiya arm.

After tackling various regional