With The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom focusing on the story of the Zonai, one major mystery it poses related to the Sheikah still remains.
Although The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom has expanded greatly on the history of Hyrule with the introduction of the Zonai, it also presents a new unanswered mystery connected to the Sheikah tribe. As one of the oldest peoples to call Hyrule home, the Sheikah have a long history that is often shrouded in darkness. But although TOTK may have hinted at the Sheikah’s origins, it is ironically the present which is now lacking some crucial explanation.
Tears of the Kingdom places a great deal of emphasis on the rediscovery of Zonai Devices in modern Hyrule. Link, naturally, makes prodigious use of Zonai technology, but he isn’t the only inhabitant of Hyrule to do so. For example, the Yiga have built their own Zonai-based vehicles to patrol their bases in the Depths and, as seen with Master Kohga, engineering contraptions specifically to fight Link with. However, this has been accompanied by the Zelda franchise’s Sheikah tribe taking a step back from the spotlight after being at the center of Breath of the Wild. And while not unexpected, this has led to some new oddities arising without explanation.
TOTK Does Not Explain The Absence Of Ancient Sheikah Technology
As TOTK is the sequel to BOTW, the game’s depiction of Hyrule is essentially an expanded version of the latter’s. Hyrule is bigger and more expansive in TOTK than it was in BOTW, but the surface is, for the most part, identical, with most major changes in the world relegated to the circumstances of the people and settlements found across it. However, one major exception to this is the absence of Ancient Sheikah technology; not only the weaponry developed by Robbie, but the Ancient Shrines, Sheikah Towers, and even Divine Beasts developed by the ancient Sheikah are nowhere to be found.
The question of where these many constructions have gone since BOTW is a pervasive once, and with the announcement that no DLC will be coming for TOTK it seems that it may remain unanswered. The absence of the Ancient Shrines and Sheikah Towers could be explained by them perhaps receding underground following the defeat of Calamity Ganon, their purpose of ensuring his defeat now complete. This would be particularly true of the Shrines; with the Monks having passed on their Spirit Orbs to Link, there is essentially no real point to the shrines themselves remaining aboveground.
However, the disappearance of the Divine Beasts is far less easy to explain. The four immense mechanical animals are meant to have been excavated 100 years prior to BOTW after great effort, but now have apparently been disposed of with remarkable dismissiveness. Although Link once again meets the descendants of BOTW’s four deceased Champions in TOTK, characters who were instrumental in accessing the Divine Beasts, not one brings up the ultimate fate of the giant machines. Although the Upheaval and their new troubles are understandably at the forefront of their minds, it seems strange that no one bemoans the apparent loss when enormous new monsters and Ganondorf threaten Hyrule.
In actuality, it appears that the Divine Beasts are not acknowledged at all in TOTK save for a set of four masks modeled after them, and a mention in Rito Village that the rocky outcropping above is called Vah Medoh’s Perch. This is a fitting name given the Divine Beast rests atop it in BOTW, but there is still no acknowledgment of the enormous machine no longer actually being there. Instead, with no changes in the landscape to support the idea of them being reburied, nor any allusions to such an effort when talking to NPCs, it almost seems as if the Divine Beasts have simply disappeared into thin air.
Similarly, only a single intact Guardian can be found in TOTK’s Hyrule, a long-since deactivated example found mounted on the roof of the Hateno Ancient Tech Lab alongside a few disassembled Guardian Scout heads. This makes sense, as Purah and Robbie have clearly continued to work with Ancient Sheikah technology to some degree; the Purah Pad developed here is itself essentially a successor to the Sheikah Slate. However, many of the abilities Link uses in TOTK are provided by his new arm rather than the Pad, following the theme of the Zonai instead of the Sheikah being the game’s focus.
TOTK’s Ancient Sheikah Technology May Have Been Dismantled
One possible reason for the absence of the Ancient Sheikah’s immense works in TOTK is a mass disassembly operation. The pile of Guardian Scout heads at the Hateno Lab does provide some evidence for something along these lines, although the exact extent of this is unclear. For example, Purah or Robbie may have led a dismantling of the Guardians found across Hyrule in BOTW, alongside some of the Scouts found inside the various Ancient Shrines. Alongside the broken-down models, Calamity Ganon’s defeat may have allowed for a more permanent disposal of the still-active Guardians without the effects of the Blood Moon to restore them, explaining their absence in TOTK.
This would certainly be a project that the people of Hyrule would dedicate themselves to, given the danger posed by Guardians, and the distrust that would linger even without Calamity Ganon controlling them. But on the other hand, it does nothing to explain the other absences, particularly the Divine Beasts. Given that the mecha have already been cleansed of Ganon’s influence by Link, and even contributed to his defeat in a very visible fashion with their laser cannons, it does not seem as if they would be necessarily seen as a threat like Guardians, unless fears grew among the various races that that same power may be turned on each other.
The problem with this theory is that, once again, there is no mention of it in Tears of the Kingdom. It would be just as easy to assume that the Divine Beasts were somehow moved beyond Hyrule’s borders, with just as little evidence to support the idea. It seems that, from a development perspective, the Divine Beasts were removed from Hyrule because their purpose in the narrative, defeating Calamity Ganon, has been completed. And consequently, there is no further need for their existence, nor is it necessary to explain their whereabouts when Zonai technology has taken the spotlight and the focus of the new worldbuilding with it.
Of course, one thing that does need to be acknowledged is the construction of the new Skyview Towers. More specifically, the fact that the Skyview Towers' survey system incorporates some very familiar robotic limbs. It seems highly possible that Purah has taken apart several Guardians to use for parts when building these new Towers, which explains what may have happened to several of the Guardians. On the other hand, of course, there are far more Guardians in BOTW than there are Skyview Towers in TOTK, which still leaves the question of what happened to the rest.
Ultimately, it seems it is impossible to say for sure what exactly happened to the Divine Beasts, nor the rest of the products of Ancient Sheikah technology. Furthermore, considering the news that TOTK will not receive DLC, it seems there is little chance of this question ever receiving a proper answer without supplemental material being published. While an argument can be made for at least some of the technology being recycled, disassembled, or returning underground following Calamity Ganon’s defeat, the complete lack of acknowledgment for this change in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom all but ensures that the full truth will remain a mystery.