Nintendo’s post showing a broken Master Sword ignites weapon durability discussion for The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild introduced a weapon durability mechanic that divided fans of the series. Weapons wielded by Link would lose their effectiveness over time and eventually reach a point where they broke. At that moment, Link would have to switch to a new weapon and continue fighting until that weapon also broke, and so on. It’s a heated topic among fans and a recent photo from Nintendo sparked the conversation for The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom.

The photo in question shows the Master Sword, however, it looks much different than we’ve seen from previous games in the series. About halfway down the blade, the sword is cut off and corroded. It’s a curious look for The Blade of Evil’s Bane and makes us wonder how it ended up that way after the events of Breath of the Wild. But that’s when the comments started and the discourse began.

pic.twitter.com/b4OM6VR33y

— Nintendo of America (@NintendoAmerica) February 9, 2023

Within moments of the picture being shared, people brought up weapon durability and what it means for the Master Sword in Tears of the Kingdom. We should point out that the Master Sword, perhaps one of the most famous weapons in video game history, cannot actually break in Breath of the Wild, but we digress. Fans shared their opinions on the matter and the back and forth began.

Many, on the side against weapon durability, poked fun at the fact that the weapon could look like that after being used three times. While others joked about using it to cut down trees, thus destroying it in the aftermath. While highly unlikely the sword was used in this manner, for all fairness’ sake, we won’t rule it out.

Is this what the new Master Sword looks like after 3 hits? 🤔

— Cohh Carnage (@CohhCarnage) February 9, 2023

Those all for weapon durability voiced their opinions as well. They remarked that degradable weapons were completely fine in Breath of the Wild. They argued as long as players managed their inventory and had backup weapons available, it didn’t really make a difference.

Weapons durability has it's place, like it can make high powered weapons or legendary weapons like a temporary power up. But there should be a option to set up a mid line blade with insane durability/unbreakable. Something you can complete content with even if it's a bit harder.

— GrimHawkGaming (@GrimHawkGaming) February 9, 2023

Whether you’re for or against weapon durability in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, we can all agree we’re excited for the game itself. You’re going to need weapons to beat the game and chances are the Master Sword will be repaired along the journey. This isn’t even the first time we’ve seen the Master Sword like this in the sequel. It appeared for a brief moment in a trailer back when we didn’t even know the name of the game.