Tears of the Kingdom Appears to Take Place a Few Years After Breath of the Wild

With a new The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom trailer today, there’s plenty to dissect and speculate about. Alongside the new mechanics, we’ve now also seen a handful of familiar characters and locations that can help us make comparisons to Breath of the Wild in terms of when it takes place, and what state Hyrule is in. And it looks like, based on the latest trailer, that Tears of the Kingdom is happening at least a few years after Breath of the Wild.

Warning: Plot spoilers for Breath of the Wild follow below the trailer!

It’s already been clear from past gameplay showcases and trailers that Tears of the Kingdom features a changed Hyrule. Sky islands appear to have been ripped from the ground, giant chasms are opening up, and other landscape changes have occurred since we last played. But it’s been hard to tell thus far exactly how much of that is geography/weird Ganon magic, and how much of the changes we’ve seen are just normal passage of time. But there are a few clear clues in the latest trailer that make it obvious at least a few years have passed since Breath of the Wild, and those clues are given to us by Link’s friends from the last game.

I’m specifically talking about Sidon, Riju, and Tulin – three characters we met in Breath of the Wild who also show up in this trailer. Our glimpses of them are short, but they’re enough to indicate to us that all three characters have aged meaningfully since the last game. The most obvious of the three is Riju, who has grown significantly taller and more muscular since her last appearance, and also seems to have cut her hair.

Riju in Tears of the Kingdom

Riju in Breath of the Wild

It’s a little more subtle, but Tulin has grown too. Tulin, if you recall, is the son of Teba, Revali’s successor. In today’s trailer, it looks like Tulin is taking up his father’s mantel as a Champion and fighting alongside Link, and he’s gotten slightly taller, grown a feather ponytail, and has a somewhat more fierce expression than he did the first time we met him. In fact, his whole demeanor just seems a bit more mature than before.

Tulin in Tears of the Kingdom

Tulin in Breath of the Wild

Finally, let’s look at Prince Sidon. Sidon was already an adult when we meet him in Breath of the Wild, so he’s changed the least of the three. However, one small detail of note is that he now appears to be wearing the same crown his father, King Dorephan, was wearing in Breath of the Wild, instead of a smaller circlet. This could possibly indicate that Dorephan has passed away in Tears of the Kingdom, and Sidon is now the ruler of the Zora people.

We don’t get a lot of clear shots of Sidon in the trailer, but here’s one with him, Riju, and Tulin together. Notably, a few seconds later in the trailer, we see a club near the bottom of the screen, indicating that Yunobo is with the three in this cutscene. That’s all four new champions!

It’s actually worth pointing out that Sidon doesn’t wear that big crown in his official game artwork, which was also released today, indicating that he may ascend to the throne at some point during the story of Tears of the Kingdom. However, the official art gives an even better look at all three companions.

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom Official Champion Artwork

What does all this mean? Well, first off, it’s likely that we’re not starting Tears of the Kingdom too far off from Breath of the Wild. Tulin and Riju seem to have grown but not so much so they’re in a totally different stage of life, so it’s likely only a year or two away. But what that time span does mean is that the Hyrule we knew in Breath of the Wild has had some time to rebuild after Calamnity Ganon’s takeover, meaning there could be new towns, changes in leadership, more people, or any number of other changes that could happen in the space of a year. Meaning that Hyrule won’t just be ripped up by caves and sky islands – the passage of time will have impacted it, too.

We got tons of new Tears of the Kingdom details today thanks to a new (and final) story trailer, which we’ve broken down in great detail. Nintendo’s official site has already revealed where Tears of the Kingdom’s adventure will start, we got a look at a Zelda 1 callback boss, and we’re all currently obsessed with a guy Tears of the Kingdom fans are calling “Bucket Head.”

Rebekah Valentine is a news reporter for IGN. You can find her on Twitter @duckvalentine.