Small Details You Missed In The New Breath Of The Wild Sequel Preview

"The Legend of Zelda" has always been one of Nintendo's most successful franchises, but "Breath of the Wild" was something special, even among other "Zelda" games. Many people credit the incredibly successful launch of the Switch to the lauded action-RPG, especially since "BOTW" actually sold more units than the console itself. Some have even gone as far as to proclaim it the best open-world game ever made. But once fans defeated Dark Beast Ganon and witnessed the game's ending, they instantly started clamoring for more.

Fortunately, they didn't have to wait long. A sequel was announced in 2019, although the announcement trailer didn't tell you much about what you could expect from the new installment. It took a few years, but Nintendo has finally released a new preview for the anticipated sequel. 

The video is only a little over a minute and a half long, but fans are already examining it frame-by-frame in order to discover as much as possible about Link's newest adventure. Here are some things you might have missed, as well as a few dots you may not have connected.

Those of you who've already played the first "Breath of the Wild" might remember The Malice. It's a purple and black glowing substance that can be found in various dungeons, on the four Corrupted Divine Beasts and in the area surrounding Hyrule Castle. The Malice was formed when Calamity Ganon laid waste to areas of Hyrule, corrupting the rivers and streams.

In a blink-and-you'll-miss-it moment at the start of the trailer, there is a flash of Link's arm being captured by the Malice. Pausing the video for a closer look reveals that Link's face is visibly pained and that the Malice actually appears in the shape of a hand, reaching up Link's arm. It's a really creepy visual, made only creepier by another quick shot: The second flash is of a spectral figure that appears to be Ganon. Could the villain himself be taking over Link's body?

Malice works sort of like freezing water or lava in the first "Breath of the Wild." It damages Link while he's in contact with it, but it doesn't have any lasting effects. It does seem possible that prolonged contact like that seen in the preview could corrupt Link in the same way it corrupted various enemies in the first game however.

One of the very next things you see after watching Link's arm being taken by Malice is him falling from the sky. This shot is only a few seconds long, but it reveals a lot about the changes Link has gone through. His clothes are different. His hair is longer, suggesting that some time has passed. But most notably, his arm has completely changed. It no longer looks human (or Hylian), but rather has a machine-like texture to it, with markings spreading across his shoulder and back.

You later see a close-up of this same arm, glowing a blue-green color with spirals of light spinning around it. Link then uses the arm to freeze a spike-covered ball which had been tumbling down a hill and then send it back up and into some Bokoblins without ever touching it. This seems to suggest that Link has found some way to "purify" his arm in order to gain new abilities. It may be that this arm will serve as the sequel's version of a Sheikah Slate and will be Link's in-game source of supernatural powers.

In fact, fans have a number of theories concerning those briefly-glimpsed new abilities.

When Link plows through the attacking Bokoblins with the giant spike ball, some have assumed that he used some gravity-based power. However, that's not the only guess, and paying close attention to the trailer presents an intriguing possibility.

One commenter pointed out that it could actually be a time-reversing power instead. Link seizes the spike ball with a golden touch. Then, a monochrome filter washes over the landscape and for just the briefest instant, time seems to halt. Copies of the ball, which might be instances of where the ball once appeared in time, trace back up the mountain with lines of energy connecting them in a path. The spike ball then blasts through the Bokoblins as it backtracks up the mountain.

Alternatively, fans have pointed to the "golden touch" as a hint at another piece of the series' lore. The ability could be linked to the rune powers Link used in the original "Breath of the Wild." Stasis, a power that stopped time and stored up kinetic energy, exhibited a similar golden aura. 

Hopefully fans will get to learn the true nature of this ability as the game's release draws nearer. In the meantime, there may be other hints hiding in the new preview, just waiting to be noticed.