SPOILERS
Read more: Tears of the Kingdom Diary 1An unknown amount of time has passed since the defeat of the Calamity in the events depicted in Breath of The Wild.
Link and Zelda are exploring deep beneath Hyrule Castle, investigating a strange “Gloom” that has been emanating from below the ground, and making people sick.
As they descend deeper, Zelda informs Link that these caverns are forbidden, for generations her family has not been down here. Much of what was known about them has long since been forgotten. But clues remain, tantalizing murals depict an ancient race of beings called the Zonai.
Discovering a mural depicting a great war, Zelda recounts a Demon King. Descending deeper still, they come across the apparent remains of this Demon King, dessicated and unmoving, a strange, glowing arm seeming to pin its body to the ground.
Something happens to disturb the arm, and it shifts slightly, then falls away. A moment of dread passes, and the sound of a single heartbeat reverberates off of the chamber’s walls. The Demon King awakens. A dark stream of gloom emanates from its body, striking Link’s Master Sword, shattering it! The gloom strikes Link, injuring him gravely, and infecting his arm. The Demon King recognizes the pair, seeming to disregard them since the fabled Sword that Seals the Darkness was so easily shattered by his power.
Then the floor of the cave gives way, and Zelda tumbles into the darkness. Without a thought, Link dives after her in an attempt to protect her, but she falls further than he can grasp. Something catches LInk from behind, holding him back — it’s the strange, glowing arm that had been pinning the Demon King.
Fade to black.
Link wakes up, alone, in a darkened chamber underground. A voice, disembodied, speaks to Link. Still more indeterminate time has passed. Link learns that he was gravely injured, his right arm lost to the Gloom that infected it, now replaced by… is that the glowing arm from before? The remains of his broken Master Sword nearby, Link retrieves it.
Link explores this catacomb, eventually emerging into the light of the sun. High in the sky, on an island floating high above the world, what I’m going to call Skylands for now. He dives off, far below into a lake in another skyland.
How did he get here? Who are the Zonai? What happened to Zelda? And what happened to the Demon King?