Editor’s Note: This post will contain minor spoilers from The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom.

There are few moments more iconic in The Legend of Zelda games than Link pulling the Master Sword and the franchise may have a new king.

Call it recency bias, but I think Tears of the Kingdom put together the best portrayal of Link pulling the Master Sword. That can be a blasphemous statement given how many iconic moments have happened with Link pulling the fabled blade so let me explain.

Tears of the Kingdom did a fantastic job at laying out its story in an emotionally impactful way. These riveting cutscenes gradually build you to the moment of actually pulling the blade.

The choice to make getting the Master Sword happen late in the game is a fantastic approach. This allows the moment Link pulls the blade to shine both visually and emotionally.

The aesthetics themselves are gorgeous and if you’ve collected all of the tears, you get the fully emotional impact of finally achieving the sword. That said, this moment stands out even if you don’t have all the memories behind it.

This all combines into a fantastic moment in pulling the sword, one that sets a new standard in how The Legend of Zelda can portray this event in the future. Heck, it may even set a new standard for cutscenes in the series.

I understand this is a highly subjective conversation and there are some truly iconic moments of Link pulling the Master Sword in the series.

Who can forget the moment in A Link to the Past, which was the first time Link pulled the sword in the franchise. Many also point to Ocarina of Time because it comes with the added weight of Link’s seven-year slumber.

Prior to Tears of the Kingdom, I thought Twilight Princess had the best cinematic portrayal of this event.

Still, The Wind Waker had my favorite portrayal prior to this one mainly because of how cool it was to return to Hyrule and see all the references to Ocarina of Time. Pulling the blade came with an added sense of anticipation of what would happen next in the sunken Hyrule.

Many can argue that Link pulling the Master Sword is the apex of each The Legend of Zelda game. I definitely agree with this sentiment and believe Nintendo knocked it out of the park with the Tears of the Kingdom portrayal.

But what do you think? Is Tears of the Kingdom’s portrayal of Link pulling the Master Sword the best? Which one is your favorite and why? Let us know in the comments below or head over to our Discord channel to join the conversation.

Featured Image: Nintendo (via Gaming Bolt)

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