Last week, Nintendo showed off 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:ten minuteඣs of Tears of the Kingdom gameplay, and fans with keen hearing have spotted a line that might give us an insight into the origins of those floating islands. Producer Eiji Aonuma mentioned that "You won't see many of those yellow trees on the surface", hinting that the sky-bound archipelago may not have originated from Hyrule.
One theory suggests that they're from the Sacred Realm, or the Golden Land. It first appeared in 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Link to the Past as the home of the Triforce, where it's only accessible through the Temple of Time as it's cut off from Hyrule, held in a separate plane of existence.
Those yellow trees Aonuma mentioned may be part of the Golden Land, possibly bleeding into Hyrule as it scatters across the sky. A Link to the Past's artwork shows the Sacred Realm as a collection of floating islands, so it certainly lines up. The clashing of two dimensions may then be a key part of Link's journey in TotK.
Others have less lore-focused theories like it being nothing more than a new biome only present on the sky islands. Some believe the trees could even be an 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Elden Ring-style signifier for a special item, like how we find 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Golden Seeds by golden trees. These ideas can coexist with the Sacred Realm theory, however, so we don't have to rule it out just yet.
Aside from the sacred realm and rational game mechanic theories, others speculate that these yellow trees are long-extinct and once existed on the surface. This could mean that the sky islands are from the past, and Zelda has historically toyed with time, so this isn't the most out-there suggestion. It could also be that these islands rose to the sky a long time ago and have drifted back to Hyrule, as another commenter suggests.
Whatever the case, there's more than meets the eye when it comes to something as simple as the trees, and by highlighting them, Aonuma has left us with even more burning questions that won't be answered until May 12.