Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom director says the Sheikah tech disappeared from the sequel after its “role had been fulfilled”

One of the biggest mysteries in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom has been (sort of) solved, as director Hidemaro Fujibayashi has offered an explanation as to why there’s no Sheikah technology in the Nintendo Switch title, despite the prevalence of it in its predecessor, Breath of the Wild. 

In Breath of the Wild, the world of Hyrule is full of Sheikah tech, said to have been created thousands of years before the events of the game. From the towers in every region, the terrifying Guardians, enormous Divine Beasts, and Link’s fancy iPad, the Sheikah Slate, there’s an abundance. Meanwhile, despite Tears of the Kingdom taking place only a few years after the events of its predecessor, all of this stuff is missing, with no in-game reasoning offered as to why. 

In a new interview with The Telegraph, Fujibayashi has acknowledged this enigma: “They disappeared after the Calamity was defeated (sealed),” Fujibayashi said, referring to the ending of Breath of the Wild. “All of the people of Hyrule also witnessed this, but there is no one who knows the mechanism or reason why they disappeared, and it is considered a mystery. It is believed that since the Calamity disappeared, they also disappeared as their role had been fulfilled.”

He continued, noting that Hyrule is no stranger to “mysterious events and strange phenomena”. Therefore, he suggests, it makes sense that there’s “no one who has tried to explore the matter further” in the game. You’d still think that Link might want to know where all of his Sheikah Slate selfies went, though. 

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom and Breath of the Wild are considered to be two of the best Nintendo Switch games. If you’re looking for even more games to play on the platform, you can keep up with what’s around the corner with our roundup of upcoming Nintendo Switch games.