The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom brings us back to the Hyrule of Breath of the Wild. At the end of this first game, you save the kingdom from Calamity Ganon alongside Zelda. Now, you and Zelda can live in peace, right? Of course not. Shortly after beginning the game, Zelda will disappear, and you won't see her for quite some time.
Because of this, you won't be able to play as the titular character once again. This isn't new for Zelda games, but you may be wondering, where is she? Here, we are going to go over where Zelda went, as well as why you can't play as her.
This will contain spoilers for Tears of the Kingdom, but we will not be discussing the ending of the game.
How Does Zelda Disappear?
Zelda disappears at the end of the opening cutscene. When Hyrule Castle begins to crumble around you, Zelda will fall below. Although Link reaches out to grab her, it is to no avail. Zelda plummets downward and seems to vanish in a flash of bright light.
Moving forward from here, Zelda will not be with you. After awakening on some mysterious floating islands, you are left to your own devices, with the goal of entering the Temple of Time to find Zelda.
Entering The Temple Of Time
After waking up with a ghostly arm, you will ultimately need to enter the Temple of Time. This is done by activating a total of four shrines. Rauru will guide you through this section, and this is where we get the first hint about Zelda's location. Rauru will mention that Zelda has told him all about Link. How is this possible though? Rauru is a complete mystery to you, and he seems to be a ghost.
Once you make it inside the temple, you will witness a cutscene, where Link places the broken Master Sword on a platform, only for Zelda to pick it up. Zelda is obviously not there next to Link, but this leads us to wonder where (or when) she is.
A Time-Traveling Zelda
After exploring Hyrule for a bit, you may come across Impa. This short, old lady can be found at the New Serenne Stable in the North Hyrule Plain. Doing a short quest for her will lead to you viewing a nearby glyph from the sky. Looking down at it, you can head to the 'eye' of the figure to watch a memory.
This memory will provide the first clues about where Zelda is. From the scene, it seems that Zelda has traveled backward in time, all the way to the origin of Hyrule. The memory shows a conversation with Zelda, Rauru, and Sonia. Raura and Sonia are the first king and queen of Hyrule, meaning that Zelda has traveled back quite far.
Impa will ask you to visit other glyphs throughout Hyrule, each with its own memory. After watching these memories, it becomes evident that Zelda was transported to the past and sits alongside Raura and Sonia.
So, to address the question "Why isn't Zelda playable?", the answer is simple. Zelda is in the past. The game takes place in current-day Hyrule and doesn't shift between time periods. This means that you play as Link throughout the entire game. Instead, an apparition of Zelda appears, seemingly guiding you through the world as you try to learn about her disappearance.
The main quest, Regional Phenomena, tasks you will investigating the regions where the four races reside "as a next step in the search for Princess Zelda." Nearly every main quest has the purpose of learning more about Zelda's disappearance.