Detail Diatribe: Tears of the Kingdom's Lonely Sky

Lets be honest, if Link had a secret stone, he probably would've tried eating it even if he didn't know what it was. This Link cononically eats rock sirloin, the secret stone would probably look like an after-dinner mint to him

I love how Tears gives us enough to have more questions about Zonai culture. You meet Rauru the wise philosopher-king and Mineru the erudite scholar. You see these zen, geometric designs in their ruins, all the ancient tech, and it feels like they were these classic ancient aliens/perfect gods And then you remember the glide suit skydive islands were COMING OF AGE RITUALS and suddenly you remember also the barbarian set described them as warlike and brutal, and the raw, elemental and physical nature of the elemental dragon sets, which are also zonai in origin. And rauru has *very sharp teeth*. You begin to wonder where the Enlightened kings begin and the elemental, adrenaline junky dragon warriors end

I like that it can be gathered that a person’s last thought becomes their instinct as a dragon. Ganondorf’s being “Kill him.” And Zelda’s being “Protect them all.”

35:27 The idea that Zelda moved in, redecorated, and now shares a bed with Link are the only reasons I dont mind losing my weapon mounts

it is amazing to me that "You friend zoned our princess and then got her killed. And ONE of those has to be a deal breaker!" is so very accurate. None of the Zora are angry that both happened. if they are angry at Link they are either angry he wasn't interested in Mipha OR upset that she died. Never 'And'.

Oh my god, the idea that Link wouldn't tell anyone about draconification because he KNOWS the sages would go for it makes so much sense! Also, something I've got to say about the Ganondorf fight. I absolutely LOVE it when a game gives you some really cool ability or skillset, and then you rock up on the final boss and they're like "By the way, I can do that too." You have this moment where you're simultaneously going "Oh my god, that's so cool!" and "Haha, I'm in danger!" because you KNOW they're better at it than you are!

46:17 "Link can only get up there with a paraglider" Me who didn't talk to Purah with a glide suit, a hot air balloon, and a dream: Observe.

I would periodically visit Zeldragon and leave a Silent Princess on her snoot during my playthrough and my heart broke every time.

Red: Figures out first big twist early. Blue: Stumbles past first big twist to figure out the second one early due to Get Smart. Perfection. chef's kiss

It’s such a truly beautiful thing that during the start of the game, you are completely alone. Nobody around you. Just mindless defense automata, and this weird ghost goat dude. Then by the end you’re pulling up to ganon in your pimped out wooden flying tactical weaponized hyrulian Ferrari with a korok crucified to the front and four legendary guardians behind you and a flying dragon

"These games reward overthinking, and by reward, I mean make you very sad" is the quote of all time for both BotW and TotK. And it's so true.

"Zelda worm on a string edition" Was not a phrase I expected to hear today....but now I want a worm on a string modeled after the light dragon

The fact that gravity is optional for the Zonai just made it even more clear to me that they are, in fact, space aliens. A part of me optimistically hopes that instead of dying out or being sealed away, most of the Zonai simply went back to their homeworld. Maybe the entire reason the Zonai came to Hyrule was to mine zonaite, and when the mines were depleted, they had no reason to stay. Perhaps the astral observatories and planetarium things were created so the Zonai could map their route home.

I think it says a lot about Zelda that, on the way to investigate the source of the leaking evil, she takes time to geek out over the architecture and murals. She's a total nerd, and nothing, not even non-diegetic ominous music, is going to distract her from that.

“The choir is singing backwards” is a pretty good clue that you are not going to enjoy what you’re about to find

I feel like Blue's comments about Zelda's instinct being to try to protect Link at around the 1 hour mark could make for an entire Detail Diatribe of its own. This incarnation of Link and Zelda are all about that in a deeper way than every other pair in the series. Zelda awakens her godly powers in BotW just because Link is in grave danger, when every other method fails, and in TotK she manages to somehow keep a speck of her individuality just to help him. Likewise, Link is unflinching in his own desire to protect Zelda, from the overexhertion that led him to basically work himself to death in BotW (to the point he even worked the Master Sword into a broken state we had never seen up until that point in the series), to the moment in the TotK intro when he doesn't hesitate even for a second from dropping his sacred weapon and jump after the falling princess even if there's nothing he could actually do if he managed to grab her hand, which itself serves as a setup for when he does it again at the end of the game. This Link and Zelda are all about Even in Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity, Link seems to be failing to pull the Master Sword from the pedestal until Zelda is directly threatened. This version of Link and Zelda are all about summoning impossible heroic resolve from their desire to help each other, literally making each other stronger by their very existence.

"A Lonely Sky" could be the title of an autobiography written by an introverted crane

Random thing about the dragons- since BoTW established that no one except Link and children could see dragons, I wonder what the average Hylian was seeing in the final fight? Imagine just chilling at Lookout Landing and seeing the castle randomly explode and Link falling through the sky and slashing at something in the air while standing on nothing

1:02:09 I really like the idea that mineru explained that you’d lose yourself if you became a dragon, yet Zelda somehow keeps a semblance of herself through all this, solely because she had Fi lodged in her head to remind her who she was through the whole process.

One of the coolest moments I had while playing was during a particular questline in Gerudo Town. Down in the shelter (after you help Riju kick the Gibdo Queen's ass) you can find a gerudo archeologist who offers a sidequest to find some ancient gerudo carvings located on the walls of the shelter. After finding those and presenting pictures of them to her, she'll geek out about how the carvings are about the legendary seven heroines (who were also mentioned in BotW), describing poetically what they did and why they did it. In the shelter, there is also a room with a miniature recreation of the circle of the massive statues depicting the seven heroines which you can find out in the desert next to the southern mountain range. Each miniature statue also has their arms held out as if holding something, accompanied by a unique symbol. By completing various sidequests in Gerudo Town and Kara Kara Bazaar, you are rewarded with weird spheres, that just so happens to have the same symbols adorned on them. Once you've placed the spheres in the hands of each respective heroine a hidden door opens up, revealing one massive sphere that you then transport to the gerudo ruins north of town (where Riju was training during the sandstorm) and plop in a hole in the ground, opening up a hidden complex of ruins, at the end of which you're greated with an equipment cache (every single piece of gerudo weaponry is there, waiting for someone to wield them) and a message from the seven heroines. During this questline, the archeologist has talked about the possibility of there being an eighth heroine, largely unknown to the rest of the gerudo community. Through this ancient message, the heroines reveal that the eight heroine was in fact a voe (man), a voe who united the seven and saved the gerudo from an apocalyptic threat. However, because he was a guy, he wasn't allowed into the town (courtesy of the whole "Ganon being reincarnated as a gerudo voe"-thingy Gerudo Town is strictly no-guys allowed, except Link of course), which made the heroines feel real bad, asking themselves what kind of way that was to thank the person who saved their entire way of life. The reason this is so cool is because, as mentioned before, in the Gerudo Desert, there are seven massive statues depicting the seven heroines standing in a circle just west of the mountain range. On the northeastern edge of the Gerudo Mountains however, there is a lone, eight statue facing the rest of Hyrule, still very much in the same style as the seven, but far away, completely alone and on the other side of the mountains. All these statues appeared in BotW, and back then, no one knew a damn thing about them or why one was missing. This eight hero is also implied (or at the very least I read it as such) to be a previous incarnation of Link, possibly the same one who fought the First Calamity 10,000 years ago. While I was doing this questline, the game only ever gave bits and pieces of lore, the one who had to put them together was me, which was so fucking cool. This game is an absolute masterpiece and easily my game of the year. (Sidenote: I fucking adore the archeology-vibes you get when exploring ruins, especially dungeons. Never knew I needed a high-fantasy Indiana Jones-game but I got one anyway)