IGN preview: Spirit Tracks story revealed! (Spoilers)

---

- Zelda does indeed die early in the game.
- Zelda posses the Phantom, which is how you have control of it.
- The land is indeed called Hyrule. It's the new land they sailed off to find at the end of Phantom Hourglass. They hit the land, set up camp, and declared this land be called Hyrule.
- The game takes place 100 years after Phantom Hourglass.
- In those years, there was a Demon King that ruled the land and an epic war ensued. The spirits were unable to kill the king, but they were able to subdue him and bury him deep underground.
- The Demon King is locked down with chains and shackles that extend to the four corners of Hyrule.
- The chains and shackles, over time, became the railroad tracks that the community decided to use for transportation.
- You start off as Link, an apprentice rail road engineer who is on his way to Hyrule castle for a graduation ceremony where the honor of Royal Engineer is to be bestowed upon you by Princess Zelda.
- You help Zelda sneak out of Hyrule Castle to figure out what is going on behind the vanishing of the Spirit Tracks. Possibly related to suspicions about Chancellor Cole.
- Zelda gives you the legendary green garbs, but not because it's the hero's clothes. All the guards apparently wear this green garb, so you are given it to blend in with the guards as you help Zelda escape.
- First mission is stealth based, and you have to move both Link and Zelda. Zelda is controlled the same way as the Phantom to start with.
- Once out of the castle, Link's trainer and Master Engineer, Alfonzo, helps them escape by taking a train away from the Castle.
- Along the way, the tracks vanish and they crash. Chancellor Cole appears and knocks out all three of the characters, taking Zelda's body off with him. Zelda's spirit escapes her body before being taken off.
- When Link wakes he is in Hyrule Castle and Zelda's spirit floats in. After a moment or two, Zelda herself realizes she has died, and no one but Link can see her.
- After recovering your sword, Zelda begins to lead you to the Spirit Tower in hopes she can be brought back to life.
- Cole wanted Zelda's body to use as a vessel to bring the Demon King back.
- The only way to bring the Demon King back is to ascend the Spirit Tower, which has been broken apart into segments, and secure the Stone Maps.
- The sage of the tower is using all her strength to hold the tower's base down, which gives you enough opportunity to ascend the first portion of the tower.
- You'll first need to track down the Tears of Light, which will power up your sword in such a way that will, with a well placed smack to its backside, deactivate the Phantom and let Zelda sneak in and control it from within.