The nextZeldagame has been announced, and it might be the final entry in the subseries thatBreath of the Wildbegan. DubbedHyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment, this new addition to theHyrule Warriorsline serves as an interquel of sorts toTears of the Kingdom. Whereas the previousHyrule Warriors,Age of Calamity, fleshed out and grew from the onset of Calamity Ganon one hundred years beforeBreath of the Wild,Age of Imprisonmentinstead follows Princess Zelda back toTears of the Kingdom’s ancient past, promising to expand on the events foundational to this Hyrule iteration’s history.
Although this does mean thatAge of Imprisonmenthas a similar time-travel framing device to its predecessor, unlikeAge of Calamity,Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonmentis canon. What this will mean for the game’s content and story remains to be seen, but it does indicate thatAge of Imprisonmentis going to adapt the memory scenes inTears of the Kingdommore directly thanAge of Calamitydid withBreath of the Wild. With a likely endpoint at around the same place thatTotK’s Dragon Tears concluded,Age of Imprisonmentcould adapt that moment’s twist as the perfect final sequence.
Princess Zelda’s Transformation Must Be Represented In Age of Imprisonment
Once players collect all the Dragon Tears inTears of the Kingdom, they are treated to one last scene where Princess Zelda receives the broken Master Sword from the opening. She consumes her Secret Stone, transforming her into the immortal but mindless Light Dragon, and spends the next untold millennia repairing theMaster Swordwith her radiant energies. Even for those who have figured out the twist, it’s one ofTotK’s most poignant and visually striking scenes, andHyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonmenthas the chance to make it even better.
How The Light Dragon Could Play In Age of Imprisonment
In a similar manner to the Divine Beasts inAge of Calamity,Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonmentcan make the Light Dragon playable in an endgame setpiece. As something like a combination of Vah Medoh and the final battle against theDemon Dragon inTears of the Kingdom, players can soar over a massive battlefield as the Light Dragon, raining down beams of light on Ganondorf’s forces. If nothing else, it would add a great cathartic climax to the game, on top of showing off more of what the open-worldZelda’s elemental dragons can do.
Age of Imprisonment Will Need To Stretch Canon A Little To Include Light Dragon Action
Tears of the Kingdom Left Just Enough Room For Age of Imprisonment’s Light Dragon
Since the Light Dragon is a good fit forAge of Imprisonment’s endgame, the only thing remaining is deciding on its context. Some postgame levels giving the Light Dragon’s gameplay a bit more screentime would be sensible, but its actual canon appearance inAge of Imprisonmentis a bit trickier.By the time Zelda transforms inTotK, the Imprisoning War is over, and Hyrule is implied to be at peace. The Light Dragon could feature in an epilogue of sorts where it arrives to defeat a lingering monster army before it overruns a village, though there is a more ambitious option.
Age of Imprisonment can also end with a spruced-up version ofTears of the Kingdom’s Demon Dragon boss fight. It would be very interesting to experienceTotK’s epic airborne finalefrom the Light Dragon’s view, perhaps involving some dogfighting against the Demon Dragon while needing to break away at some point and catch Link. There’s also room for the Light Dragon to engage Ganondorf’s army mustering on Hyrule’s surface before or during this sequence. However it’s handled,Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonmentcan’t pass up the chance to get Zelda’s dragon form in on the action.
