Nintendo’s surprise Breath of the Wild 2 announcement led to tons of speculation from fans, and one theory suggests The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess antagonist Zant could return as the sequel’s villain. Details in the Breath of the Wild sequel’s E3 2019 trailer hint that the Twili Usurper King might come back in Nintendo’s second Switch 3D Zelda game.
After the success of their first Zelda game on Switch, which has become one of the best-selling Switch games to date, Breath of the Wild’s developers had so many DLC ideas that they decided to turn them into a full-fledged game. The sequel’s first trailer revealed a much darker tone than the first, showing Link and Zelda exploring underground caverns to the tune of warped choral music. The turn from Breath of the Wild’s bright and colorful overworld to one of spooky caves and dungeons is reminiscent of the transition from Ocarina of Time to Majora’s Mask and, more pertinently, from Wind Waker to Twilight Princess.
Shortly after the trailer was released, Reddit user ReroFunk pointed out its music, especially when reversed, sounds eerily similar to the music that plays after the final fight with Zant in Twilight Princess. Since this music only ever plays at that point in that specific Zelda game, the Breath of the Wild 2 trailer’s tune is tied closely to Zant, suggesting he could return in the sequel. Pinning an entire Breath of the Wild 2 villain theory on a few twisted musical notes isn’t very compelling, however. Thankfully, there’s more than just the music that points to a connection with Zant and the Twili.
Many Breath of the Wild 2 theories center around the origins of the green, spectral hand in the trailer. It’s seen holding down what appears to be a mummified Ganondorf, as well as rescuing Link and Zelda from a potentially deadly fall. These facts suggest it’s an ally, but Link is also shown being overcome with a similar green magic, so it’s unclear what the hand’s motivations are. Fans like ReroFunk think the hand could be connected to the Twilight Realm, as Twilight Princess’ Twili people use similar green magics. While this doesn’t connect it directly to Zant - and while the hand could be some kind of Gerudo or Zonai magic, instead - the combination of green magic and Zant theme-like music at least point to some kind of Twilight Princess connection.
It might seem odd for a new Zelda game that’s not a direct sequel to have continuity with a specific previous entry in the series, but Breath of the Wild 2 is in a unique position to do so. Breath of the Wild’s timeline placement officially puts it at the end of all three Zelda timeline branches, meaning there’s plenty of room for content from older games to show up. In fact, the first Breath of the Wild already set a precedent for this. The Great Leviathan Skeletons seem to reference games from each of the three timeline branches, and there are even two specific references to Twilight Princess: At one point, Zelda mentions the “glowing embers of twilight,” and a Shrine quest has players hunting for pieces of what appears to be Twilight Princess’ Mirror of Twilight. Perhaps Link and Zelda will end up traveling to the Twilight Realm itself in Breath of the Wild 2, or maybe the Twilight Realm will somehow cross over with Hyrule and change its landscape.
Next: The Real Problem With Zelda: Breath Of The Wild’s Weapon Durability
The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess released for Wii on November 19, 2006, for GameCube on December 2, 2006, and in HD for the Wii U on March 4, 2016.
