What To Do About The Champions in Breath of the Wild 2?

The Champions of Breath of the Wild were and are some of the most iconic characters from that game, if not the Zelda series as a whole. They had wonderful stories that played out in the snapshots of Link’s recovered memories, but they always felt unfulfilled. There were parts of their stories that were missed, and would have gone a long way in creating a better experience for all. Then there’s the New Champions, the ones who Link met along the way and took control of the Divine Beasts to aid in the final showdown with Calamity Ganon. For the most part, they were average characters with some interesting quirks, but overall not incredibly deep either.

For the sequel though, how are these characters going to be used? Can the Old Champions (Mipha, Daruk, Urbosa, and Revali) make a return at all, or are their stories closed? Are we going to see the New Champions (Sidon, Yanobo, Riju, and Teba) return? And if yes, what roles will they play? What about the great examples of Sheikah technology that they were charged with operating, the Divine Beasts?

I trust that Nintendo will give us answers to all those questions, while creating plenty of new ones. However, as somebody who loves the lore of Zelda, I couldn’t help but spill my thoughts on these out on paper after hearing talk on all of this recently.

The Old Champions

The way that Link recovered his memories was interesting, and provided a fun experience each time we found a new one. But for all those cool moments, I can’t help but feel like there were dozens more that Link possibly had. So perhaps some additional memories could come back to him, having had more time to recover from his hundred-year nap.

Mipha, in particular, is one of the Old Champions whose story is begging for more exposure. While I am personally tired of the implied Zora-Link romances, I get it. It’s Arwen and Aragorn. Elf and Human. And Breath of the Wild was the first time in a long time that I actually liked a Zora enough that I was okay with the relationship she had with Link. Mipha was a great character. Arguably, her story was the most fleshed out of all the Champions, but even it felt hallow and that it was missing something.

This is where some of these ideas converge. One memory that I think would have gone a long way in emotional impact, would have been seeing their last stand. There’s a great hint at how they all met their demise, or at least when, if you listen for the Morse code signal of S.O.S. in the music at each Divine Beast. It’s a really haunting set of notes when you recognize them, but how much more impactful would that have been to see? And of course, we don’t need to see them dying, but charging in against the Blights or praying for salvation at the last minute, would have been amazing.

There’s a way that this could happen, but I’ll get to that in a little bit.

The New Champions

Assuming some time has passed between the original and sequel, this new band of Champions will have likely earned some notoriety among their races, and maybe even Hyrule as a whole. I imagine them all in positions to lead their people, or at least having earned tremendous respect and honor from them. With the title of Champion, and guardianship of their Divine Beasts, these four should stand as powerful allies with Link and Zelda.

So, what role can they play? Well, exactly that! Allies in battle against the evils invading Hyrule. Each of them proved useful in their own way during Link’s quest to reclaim the Divine Beasts, be it a living surfboard or Goron cannonball. While I don’t want them to recreate this function exactly, I absolutely want them right alongside Link when facing down the legions of Ganondorf’s army or even the Divine Beasts (stay tuned for that). Imagine Teba soaring into the battlefield with a flock (I guess?) of Rito behind him as Yanobo thunders ahead on the ground.

I can’t help but picture a Minas Tirith scale battle with each of the races of Hyrule being led by their Champion.

The Divine Beasts

From the very last scene of Breath of the Wild, we know there’s issues with Vah Rutah. It could simply be a maintenance issue caused by some shady Scapelli brothers, but what if it’s more sinister than that. Perhaps even, with the lack of a Blight thanks to Link defeating it, some other sort of spirit from beyond.

What I’d like to see happen with these gargantuan magic-powered machines, is for Link and the gang to have to destroy them for good. Since this could dangerously be just a retread of the fights from the first game, it would require some redesigning the battle to lead to a destruction of the machines, not simply to pacify them. Link, Zelda, and the Champion of each Beast are forced to not only deactivate the Beast, but utterly destroy them.

Since there’s no Blights though, who or what would be controlling these things? For that answer, look no further than the Champions themselves. Corrupted, possessed, and forced into dark servitude by the Dark Lord himself, the spirits of the Old Guardians serve as bosses in each Beast. Shadow Urbosa, wielding dark lightning and a violently fast blade. Shadow Daruk, brandishing a claymore black as night and furious beyond compare. Shadow Mipha, seductive and bewitching but more dangerous than the rest. Shadow Revali… Well, he’s just a bigger jerk than before.

This brings us back to my memory idea. What if the conclusion of the battle reveals a part of their memories to us, perhaps an encounter with Ganondorf in the Dark World that should have been a Sacred Realm or possibly even their final moments from the Great Calamity.

Bring It Forward

So, what does this look like when it’s all put together? Oddly enough, somewhat similar to the plot of the Four Swords Adventures with the four Knights of Hyrule that were transformed into Stalords. One by one, Link defeats them and purifies their souls, allowing them at last to rest in peace. We get another chance to see what their final moments were like, while also completing their story arcs from the first game. Potentially, it’d allow for more growth with their successors, who now no longer live in their shadows. And it could bring out some of the strongest moments from the first game. But there’s one other thing it allows…

So, let’s say all that happens. Then we get that big showdown against Mummy-dorf. Link and Zelda are victorious, and Hyrule appears to finally be at peace. Then, that bright shining light that latched onto Link’s arm in the trailer, leaves him. But instead of it being bright and pure, it’s shadowy and corrupted from doing battle with these spirits of the Dark World and Ganondorf. It slowly rises up and creates a dark copy of our hero. Dark Link arrives and takes center stage for Breath of the Wild 3.

If the story that began in Breath of the Wild 2 plays out in a way that allows for it, and is as successful as the first entry in the arc, I see no reason why they shouldn’t make it a full blown trilogy with Link facing down his dark doppelgänger for the fate of Hyrule.

So, what do you think? Will we see the Old Champions return? What roles will the New Champions bear? Do we get to destroy the Divine Beasts? And that last theory of mine… Do we get a Breath of the Wild 3 featuring Dark Link as the final boss for the first time since Zelda 2?

 

David Wayne Nystrom is a Staff Writer for Zelda Dungeon. His top three Zelda games are Ocarina of Time, The Wind Waker, and Link’s Awakening. He likes playing games like Smash and RPGs like Final Fantasy.

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