All story events leading up to The Legend of Zelda Tears of the Kingdom

With the release of The Legend of Zelda Tears of the Kingdom, fans are treated to a massive open-world experience with an equally grand scope. With a brand new narrative featuring the secrets of the Zonai and the resurrection of a familiar evil, there is much to dissect through its narrative. However, it is a successor to 2017's The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. As such, it is crucial to understand the events that lead up to the latest entry.

For those who never got to experience The Legend of Zelda Breath of the Wild, this is a good time to catch up. Here is a rundown of everything that happened.

---

The Legend of Zelda Breath of the Wild's events lead up to Tears of the Kingdom

The story begins about 10,000 years before the events of The Legend of Zelda Breath of the Wild. A threat known as Calamity Ganon aims to wreak havoc across the kingdom of Hyrule. As such, the ancient Sheikah tribe devised a plan to stop it. Constructing advanced mechs known as the Divine Beasts, these massive weapons were used to seal away the malicious force successfully.

While this newfound peace lasted several millennia, the first cracks appeared 100 years before Breath of the Wild. The seal on the beast was prophesized to be broken. In preparation for the horrors to come, the King of Hyrule established a group known as the Champions to defend the kingdom using the Divine Beasts should the situation become worse. This team included Princess Zelda and the chosen hero, Link helming the assault on Calamity Ganon.

But there were also four unique individuals, each belonging to the Zora, Shiekah, Goron, and Rito tribes, respectively. The prophecy turned out to be true, with Calamity Ganon becoming free of its shackles. It took control over the mechanized armies of both the Divine Beasts and Guardians by corrupting them. Worse, Princess Zelda could not harness her powers in time to successfully lock Calamity Ganon away.

This resulted in massive casualties for the kingdom. Somehow, Zelda finally managed to trap Calamity Ganon within Hyrule Castle while anchoring herself to it as a seal. At the same time, a fatally wounded Link was taken to the Shrine of Resurrection to be put away in stasis for a hundred years. Waking up to realize he has amnesia, the hero steps out to find answers and take this post-apocalyptic Hyrule back to its glory days.

With the fate of the world resting on Link's shoulders, he consults with a mysterious old man who guides him. He turns out to be the spirit of the King of Hyrule, who, alongside the four Champions, was an unfortunate victim of the mishap 100 years ago. A new goal has risen: To restore the corrupted Divine Beasts with the help of the Champion's descendants. This eventually leads to a showdown against Calamity Ganon, who still has one more trick up its sleeve.

In a bid to bring true terror to the kingdom, Calamity Ganon transforms into a large monster called Dark Beast Ganon. With the help of Zelda's magic and a brand new weapon called the Bow of Light, the duo finally manages to seal away the violent beast. Of course, as the trailers for The Legend of Zelda Tears of the Kingdom would suggest, that is by no means the end of it as Ganon has been revived as his human form called Ganondorf.

Zelda disappears after the ruins collapse during Ganondorf's revival in The Legend of Zelda Tears of the Kingdom. As such, Link must now explore the Sky Islands while finding the missing Zelda once again to stop evil once more.