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(Image: Nintendo)

Breath of the Wild 2 was a surprise announcement at the end of this year’s E3 Nintendo Direct and Zelda fans couldn’t be happier. The trailer was dark, atmospheric and packed full of great moments.

It’s now been a while since E3 though, and that means that fans have had plenty of time to deep-dive into everything the trailer reveals, and speculate over everything that’s happening in it.

The trailer may only be around a minute long, but YouTuber LootPots recently posted a 47-minute-long YouTube video carefully analysing every frame. And he’s managed to find some fascinating details that hint at the lore and history surrounding the origins of the BOTW sequel.

You can watch the full video below, but below we’ve picked out a few highlights as well as offering our own thoughts on what’s going on.

Twenty seconds into the BOTW2 trailer someone is seen scanning a cave wall and observing the ornate paintings on it. One of these paintings depicts a man on top of a horse riding into battle with four warriors beside him.

The main rider looks like Ganondorf, but LootPots speculates that the other riders are Zonai warriors, a barbarian tribe mentioned in the description of the Barbarian Armor in the original BOTW game.

The Barbarian armour description reads as follows: ‘Armour once favoured by an ancient warlike tribe from the Faron region.’ Apparently, the Zonai are a lost barbarian tribe who mysteriously disappeared, although their ancient civilisation’s ruins can be seen throughout Faron in BOTW.

LootPots suggests that the Zonai tribe may have once fought alongside Ganondorf, and he presents compelling evidence to support this. He certainly has us convinced, but we also think (and this is pure speculation) that Ganondorf may raise an army of undead Zonai warriors once he inevitably escapes his confines. Watch out Link and Zelda!

(Image: Nintendo of America)

A haunting musical score can be heard playing throughout the trailer. While this may seem like little more than an eerie soundtrack to set the mood of the game, the audio actually hides something very interesting.

When the audio is isolated and then reversed, a hidden message becomes apparent. Within the score, a small voice calling ‘help us’ can be heard. Others have also noticed this and picked up on the strange message leading to the obvious question, who exactly is asking for help?

Our theory – and again this is pure speculation – is that the ancient forces trapping Ganondorf below ground (demonstrated by the white hand pressing down on Ganondorf’s corpse) are now struggling to contain him.

They call out for help, presumably to Link and Zelda, and answering that call may well be the reason our heroes are investigating the strange temple/catacombs in the first place.

The body in the trailer appears to be a wounded, part desiccated Ganondorf, with Malice either pouring in or out of a chest wound. LootPots points out that the wound on the chest is in the same place as where Twilight Princess Ganondorf was stabbed.

Additionally, the white hand seems to be pressing on Ganondorf via this wound, perhaps because it is his weak spot. Our take on all this? We think this will be a new undead version of Ganondorf, with a big part of the game focused on stopping him before he can fully restore himself.

It may perhaps seem a little dark for Zelda, but then Majora’s Mask was a pretty dark Zelda game. Plus, the trailer plays out like a horror movie so surely it’s not completely out of the question!

For more detail, check out LootPots’ excellent 47-minute YouTube further up.