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The Legend of Zeldagames have always been packed with history in unconventional ways. Rather than having long and storied legacies, each setting is instead made with much of its past assumed, set dressing for the legend currently in play.Breath of the WildandTears of the Kingdomboth extend that long-standing tradition.
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That said, it’s still pretty fun to actually imagine why these things came to be, even if there’s no strict answer in existence. For example - Zonai architecture in Tears of the Kingdom is dramatically different from those seen throughout Breath of the Wild. Why is that? Let’s find out.
The Difference Between Zonai Ruins In The Sky And The Surface
One of the biggest changes to Tears of the Kingdom is its literal scale, letting Link soar the skies above and navigate the depths below. Alongside some intense time manipulation, this wasachieved through the use of Zonai technology, literally lifting the very land they lived on up into the sky to protect it.
The architecture seen here, and in much of the Zonai technology, is bright white, carved in sharp angles and built upwards, expanding outwards as it increases in height. In many ways,it was made to resemble the Zonai themselvesand their elongated ears and tall, slender figures. This design philosophy is true of every Zonai structure you see in the Sky Islands.
This is in harsh contrast to the sparse ruins on the surface, which remain almost entirely identical to how they were in Breath of the Wild.These ruins are much heavier on dragons in their design, featuring thick stone statues with solemn yet exaggerated structures. There are undeniable similarities, such as the tall pillars and the use of their natural environment. They are undeniably Zonai, butfeel like they are from an altogether different era.
So why, exactly, are the ruins on the surface so drastically different to those in the sky?
Who Built The Zonai Ruins On The Surface?
A core premise of Tears of the Kingdom’s story is that with Zelda’s travel to the past, as revealed through many of the floating manuscripts,many of the lands belonging to the Zonai were raised to the sky to preserve them, to keep them safe from evil and the ravages of history. So why was the same not done for all other Zonai ruins as they existed in Breath of the Wild?
Before the Zonai were expanded on in Tears of the Kingdom, Breath of the Wild spoke of them only briefly. Located primarily in Faron,the ruins were said to have belonged to an ancient people of Hyrule who revered dragons. And indeed, the ruins are well-worn, covered in moss and broken statues. Yet, with Tears of the Kingdom, we learn thatthe Zonai were seen as gods by many Hyruleansin a period before Rauru and Mineru descended to the surface and founded the nation of Hyrule.
This then implies thatthese ruins may have been built by native Hyruleans in reverence to the Zonai. The draconic emphasis would make more sense, too, since Zonai can transform into Immortal Dragons withthe use of Secret Stones. The armour of these people, the Barbarian set, can be found it features many designs akin to certain Zonai sets, again showing a logical step forward from their own designs to that of the Zonai when they finally descended to the surface.
This, then, gives a plausible reason for why these presumably older ruins were not raised to the surface - they didn’t represent the Zonai at all, at least in how Rauru and Mineru wanted them to be remembered. Instead,only those lands built in tandem with Hyruleans were raised, a testament to their shared history rather than one in which they were revered as gods.
The Ruins At Tobio’s Hollow
As with all great plans, not everything can go perfectly.The Ring Ruins at Kakariko village are a testament to that. Rather than remaining in the sky, they fell onto the surface, and were then a prime source of interest for the common people of Hyrule, allowing Ganondorf to influence the people’s perception of them. Yet still important to note isthey retain the same design and preservation as all other Zonai ruins in the sky. They simply fell, that is all.
This brings us to the Ruins at Tobio’s Hollow. Here, there is a pedestal and a giant statue above a small, square building. Like the rest of the ruins on the surface,this is designed in the style of all other Zonai ruins there. However, when coming here as part of the story with Mineru’s Mask, the pedestal cracks, old sediment chipping away to reveal a lustrous white stone surface underneath, reminiscent of the Zonai Ruins of the sky.
Of note, this ruin leads to the depths, an otherwise mysterious location with limited history.Why was this one location left on the surface?The Depths themselves are much older than the Zonai’s presence on the surface, used in tandem with the people of Hyrule to build the kingdom. Because of the aged nature of the ruins, it could implythis was an older location built by previous denizens of Faron and was repurposed by the Rauru and Mineru.This would explain both the curious use of dual eras of design and why it wasn’t raised to the surface.
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