When developers are asked about the river drainages in The Legends of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, they are likely to furnish an oversimplified answer, “Most of the rivers in Hyrule ultimately drain into Lake Hylia.”. But in actuality, the water is simply draining out of the map.
A YouTuber Any Austin, in a video, took the initiative of mapping the freshwater of Hyrule and his investigation revealed that none of the Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom’s rivers flow into the ocean. Instead, the majority of the rivers shed into an unnamed pond: Interestingly, there is no linkage, subterranean or terranean, between rivers and the sea.
Then, where do Hyrule’s Rivers Go?
Answering the question, Austin went on to learn that the lengthy map of Tears of the Kingdom has several unanswered and bizarre inquiries. For instance, the rivers all across seem to be interconnected via subsurface cave streams, not visible from the surface. This finding suggests that the game’s world differs from its predecessor, Breath of the Wild, which didn’t feature such cave networks, hinting at the possibility of caves formed by water erosion.
Proceeding further, Austin realized that these rivers have a single source and they split multiple times and rejoin. His exploration led to the realization that these freshwater streams do meet an unexpected end at Lake Hylia.
Although the gigantic whirlpool might convey the ultimate end of rivers, Austin concluded that the water is simply draining out of the map.
Source: Any Austin YouTube Video via GamesRadar
