How does Tears of the Kingdom fit into the Zelda timeline?

I still can't decide if I love or hate Zelda lore.
Huge thanks to @MadLuigi for helping me dissect the timeline and listening to my unhinged lore rants. He recently uploaded a pretty cool video explaining the game's true ending for those interested:
• Tears of the Kingdom: ...
Also, you can follow me on twitter for video updates and smaller pieces of content here:
/ vlimit_11
Music used (all taken from the Legend of Zelda game series):
The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds - Overworld
A Link Between Worlds - Lorule Castle
Tears of the Kingdom - Robbie's Theme
Breath of the Wild - Maze Forest
Age of Calamity - Warriors of Hyrule
Age of Calamity - Imminent Threat
Spirit Tracks - Zelda's Spirit Lullaby
Four Swords Adventures - Tingle's Theme
Age of Calamity - The Battle of Hyrule Field
Tears of the Kingdom - Maze (Sky)
A Link Between Worlds - Ravio's Theme
Skyward Sword - Faron Woods
Twilight Princess - Kakariko Village
Any feedback will be greatly appreciated, and you can support the channel by leaving a like or comment if you enjoy!
#zelda #tearsofthekingdom

[@TheJoker138]

These two games work much better if they're just outside the timeline. They seem designed to be on their own, too many contradictions.

[@VLimit11]

Honestly, yeah, I don't think there's a better explanation than that at this point

[@TheJoker138]

@@VLimit11 If you want to be generous you could say that the other games are “legends” of past events. So Ocarina was a factionalized version of the “actual” events that got passed down through generations. So the broad strokes were right (Ganondorf, Rauru, the sages) but the details were lost through time and retelling. Skyward Sword works the same way with the Zonai. They knew that at some point the founders of their kingdom lived in the sky, but the details of it were all lost through a generations long game of telephone and Skyward Sword ended up as the legend version of it. Like how all the Mad Max movies contradict each other because they’re all someone within the world presented telling a story.

[@benjulc9271]

​@@TheJoker138 This is what I believe as well. It would clarify why are there so many references to past games in the worlds, these are the objects that inspired the legends. It would also explain why there are 3 timelines, as the legend spread all around Hyrule different versions came to be. Who knows, maybw there's one version with Morshu, perhaps the one told by those monster lovers.

[@tako_ro]

Yup. When they said that Rauru is the first king of hyrule i was like 'wow so they yeeted out skyward sword right away huh.' There's just too much contradictions, I'd rather really have this contained in its own timeline.

[@D4rkn355Inf3rno]

Can't wait for the canonical sequel to age of calamity that alters the timeline yet again lol.

[@remnock]

My personal interpretation is that "Hyrule" has beem founded and destroyed multiple times throught history, like how in spirit tracks it established that a new hyrule was founded after the old one was flooded. So the Zonai didn't found *THE* kingdom of Hyrule, they founded *A* kingdom of Hyrule.

[@drewhaynes1874]

Yet where stated as the first king of Hyrule. What tears that interpretation down is that temples from SS show up in botw

[@remnock]

@@drewhaynes1874 the ame calling him the first king of hyrule could still just mean he is the first king of THIS hyrule, that he founded. Not the first king of hyrule in the zelda timeline. And I don't see what SS ruins prove? There's ruins, armor, and references to many different zelda games, not just that one. Unless your saying that I'm saying everytime hyrule was destroyed they got up and founded it somewhere else l like in spirit tracks. I'm not, they just founded a new hyrule in the same place as the previous ones

[@TheRadtrooper230]

Honest may explains why the Lost Woods are north of the castle.

[@drewhaynes1874]

@@remnock this Hyrule is the same Hyrule that was established after skyward sword. The goddesses statue, the forest temple from skyward sword, the lost woods and the deku tree the temple of time from oot lon lon ranch and Zelda mentioning the legends of the last games confirmed this Hyrule is the same Hyrule as it's always been. Purah and Zelda ganon etc have confirmed rauru was the first king of hyrule.... The very first....

[@DumplingDoodle]

@@drewhaynes1874 purah zelda and ganon can only go off of their lifetimes. this is a moot point. rauru is the first king of THIS hyrule, and that's all they have to go off of.

[@jonesyjones5648]

I think the Zonai refounded(unknowingly) Hyrule thousands of years after the original Hyrule from each timeline had been destroyed. I wouldn’t be surprised if Din, Farore, and Nayru pulled some shenanigans in the years between to bring the timelines back together. This would basically reset everything, while still maintaining the validity of the previous games.

[@deputy_of_comments]

Finaly some on else who understands the crash point theory

[@tylerbarse2866]

@@deputy_of_comments Might not even be the golden goddesses though. Zelda has consistently been the sage of time, and even in Skyward Sword, there was a time gate. Makes me wonder if Time isn't something under the domain of Hylia. Would even give the idea of the timelines merging more credence, because we all know Her Grace has a soft spot for link.

[@duckman9327]

Exactly! If the curse is eternal then shouldn’t everyone keep on reincarnating, forever?

[@Sivanot]

@@SecondSons6887 He would absolutely be the first king of the current Hyrule.

[@HuchiaZ]

This is my assertion too. Past-totk is just post-convergence, establishing 'converged history' that is itself directly after convergence of timelines. I think the channel Thinking At Maximum Volume did the best video on it for this line of thinking. Though I have separate thoughts too to give proof to it. Ofcourse besides what the devs themselves say about convergence.

[@dumbsterdives]

I remember when BotW came out and they basically said "its been so long since the last game in each timeline that the differences have faded" and essentially did a less dismissive version of what disney did with star wars legends, and at the time that made sense. But with TotK, its become exceedingly clear that this is either a separate timeline or something like a soft reboot, considering the Zonai founding Hyrule contradicts Skyward Sword entirely and Ganondorf's plan is effectively the same as what he did in OoT. I think what the Zelda team has realized is that this far into the series, trying to maintain a strict timeline that accounts for the OoT split and every game in it is more stifling than it is helpful for creating new and interesting stories, and they're better off making self-contained worlds with consistent similarities between them, with the items from other games being like a sort of "greatest hits" compilation to look back on the rest of the series in these games that mark the end of that era of Zelda and the start of a new approach.

[@srmelancia3523]

I dont think the zonai stuff contradicts anything it could just be hyrule was wiped off the face of the earth and a new one was founded personally i like to think using the gate of time in skyward sword also created a timeline split

[@IamCanadian3333]

@@srmelancia3523 That's actually basically the Adult Timeline.

[@Kaiserker]

​@Kevin I don't remember seeing the Zonai in Spirit Tracks smh my smh

[@IamCanadian3333]

@@Kaiserker The one I was talking about was the Hyrule that was submerged under the ocean, not the new Hyrule that Spirit Tracks takes place in. Thought that was obvious, evidently not. Major SMH indeed.

[@ibechuu9695]

Facts.

[@Poisonator]

My head canon is that there was a timeline split during Skyward Sword caused by Demise being defeated in the past by Link and future by the Triforce slamming the Goddess Statue into the Imprisoned. That way, they can make as many retcons as they like because it's a brand new, unexplored timeline where events of the games we know happened in slightly different ways, hence all the references to past games

[@Signedcentaur]

My idea is that the major Zelda Timeline involves the people of Skyloft establishing hyrule, while the BotW and TotK timeline are after the events of Demise's death, cursing the calamity upon the hero and reincarnation.

[@josephharter8641]

Me too. If SS split and botw/totk are of the timeline where link defeated demise in the past then that would explain why the goddess sword wasn't transformed since future Link defeated him before it was needed.

[@Mentaclink]

@@josephharter8641 Agreed, back when Skyward Sword came out I wished that they would simply put a split there and say that the Goddess Sword became the Four Swords instead and put all the Four Swords game there. But either way if the Goddess Sword never became the Master Sword then… where does the Master Sword come from in BOTW and TOTK? especially considering Fi seems to be in there

[@VLimit11]

Love this approach. Fi's choice of words about Demise's imprisonment made it sound like a stable loop at the time, but this is such a nice way fit Skyward Sword's story elements into this new soft reboot, and it's worth noting that the director for botw/totk also did Skyward Sword

[@mikethehunter5212]

This works for me. It's also interesting that SS was re-released in between BOTW and TOTK, as if it's a key component to the stories of those two.

[@nathanstruble2177]

Gonna be straight with you, the Timeline is clearly something the Dev's want gone gone.

[@Guylock]

I agree.

[@TheJoker138]

These two games seem to want to establish lore and a timeline, but it really does feel like it’s a 100% separate timeline than anything else, that’s remixing everything from the old games. Until they say otherwise officially, that’s my stance on where these fall. Outside of established canon. It’s the New Testament of Zelda now.

[@DJ-0]

Yeah it was just a marketing gimmick for SS I dunno what everyone is on about

[@mmstick]

According to a recent interview with Aonuma, they take the timeline of each game very seriously. But they also enjoy reading theories so they purposely choose to keep it vague

[@saricubra2867]

Basically f*ck +30 years of the lore including the first Zelda game from the NES with a heavy presence of the Triforce on the plot...

[@bobbyflores1]

Couple of key things that helped me come to terms with the timeline: 1. Rather than thinking that you can place botw at the end of what timeline you want. Think of as if every timeline will eventually be BOTW. 2. In botw, Impa explains that Calamity Ganon has reincarnated multiple times. This means that botw takes place AT LEAST MORE than 10,000 years after the ends of each timeline. Could be 20,000. Could be 100,000. All we need to know is that enough time has passed to allow each timeline's world to become similar to each other to allow point 1 to happen. 3. The depths is the remanence of the Hyrules from past games. Rauru formed BOTW's Hyrule on top. This is why you find a vast majority of the old games outfits in the depths. 4. Why are all the separate timeline's content now in 1 continuity? This would be the most outlandish idea here, but I kind of viewed it as the timelines healing over that very looooong time. So much time would have passed that the old games just don't have any impact on current events anymore. There's no harm in merging continuity at that point. There was no big outlandish major event that merged the timelines. It's just that they did, over tens of thousands of years and eventually becoming the depths.

[@noahklock8931]

I remember a Game Theory about how hyrule warriors fix a lot of the inconsistencies in BOTW because it literally smashes all the timelines together, which would explain why some elements from each timeline are here and gives the developers an excuse to only use the parts of those timelines they like because maybe the other parts weren't merged into the new timeline.

[@Dd-fb2tj]

Nah

[@noahklock8931]

@@Dd-fb2tj that’s your reply, really?

[@AugsburgPilgrim]

That sounds good, but the ruins of the Temple of Time from Ocarina and Lon Lon Ranch are in BOTW and TOTK

[@WahWhoopie]

@@AugsburgPilgrim they could be different ones, don't forget that before botw the temple of time was supossed to have been built by rauru on top of the sealed temple once hyrule was founded, yet in botw they're in two entirerly different locations

[@CommanderNam]

My idea is that the "hyrule founding" in tears of the kingdom is actually a new hyrule and not the same one from the previous zelda games. Meaning the entire breath of the wild/tears of the kingdom timeline actually takes place a long time after the other games including the original calamity and the founding of the new hyrule. As for botw/totk having stuff from all 3 timelines, they already said that breath of the wild takes place at the end of the timeline (this was before totk came out) so what most likely happened is that the timelines eventually merged together somehow. Maybe that could be why a new hyrule needed to founded and that could also be why the zonai descended from the heavens. As for the goddess sword, it is given to the player by a goddess statue meaning I could see it making a copy that isn't the same as the original but rather a mimic because the original was made by hylia herself and contained fi

[@cajunking5987]

I always thought it was obvious it means THIS Hyrule. We get a different version of Hyrule in like every game.

[@butterfly_hashira4328]

This would make sense considering every time something of the past is mentioned to the characters they all seem confused or unaware.

[@acrasia5718]

Yes, that's my theory as well. That means it's part of the Adult Timeline. Remember in Spirit Tracks, Link and Zelda begin to build the foundations of "New Hyrule", and no monarchy is set yet. Instead, Anjean, a member of the Lokomo, took the leadership position until the end of the game. In the end of Spirit tracks, the Lokomo return to the land of the heavens, which is stated in the official Zelda timeline. Where did King Rauru and the Zonai come from? The land of the heavens. This explains why Rauru doesn't recognize Link, because the Knight's bloodline has long been lost. This explains the absence of the Triforce, because it has been scattered across the great sea. This explains how the depths came to be, as the depths is the land of the original Hyrule before the great flood.

[@n1nj4l1nk]

@@acrasia5718 ST is set on an entirely new landmass over the ocean from where Hyrule is so it in no way explains the depths.

[@Soosss]

Yeah people seem to be forgetting that the Hero of the Wild’s adventure takes place more then 10,000 years after any other Zelda game, plenty of time for hyrule to be destroyed and renewed again. The absence of the tri-force’s role in the plot definitely indicates some shenanigans happened that we (the audience) are currently not aware of. Nintendo isn’t perfect with canon stuff but the triforce has been a huge part of the franchise, the fact that it’s been two games with neither the heroes nor the villain mentioning it’s immense power makes you wonder what happened to it in those 10,000 years. Zelda seems to use its power but why is there no physical form? And why does no one mention this? Wouldn’t ganondorf want her power since she has the full triforce? There is some weird stuff going on

[@benji-menji]

Calling the goddess sword the white sword of the sky is really important because there is a sword in the original zelda called the white sword so that's also interesting. Looked at the Zelda dungeon page and there have been other white swords so it isn't weird that there are more of them or it has been reforged.

[@Medicalguy]

That line was broken It has been remade

[@benji-menji]

@@Medicalguy Thanks, I fixed it. :)

[@Medicalguy]

@@benji-menji Lol that was a lord of the rings joke

[@Jacobschannel18802]

I'm guessing someone reforged the sword and people held on to it believing it was the real thing, forgetting it was a recreation

[@benji-menji]

@@Jacobschannel18802 I personally think that they forget about the white sword and then make a new one under the same name. Either way, legendary weapon are used and reforged which is pretty neat.

[@doublenikkel]

My personal headcanon for these 3 games is that they take place not tens of thousands of years after the others, but maybe millions or even billions. The timescale is so vast and the cycle of reincarnation originating from Demise's curse has held for so long that tons of possible permutations have happened in every timeline. For example, even in the child timeline, the Wind Waker, or something similar, will happen eventually given enough runs at the cycle, explaining the references to all 3 timelines in these games. The characters of Tears of the Kingdom referring to the seemingly contradictory founding of Hyrule and its first monarchs may do so because at one point the Hyrule of the rest of the timeline was so completely destroyed that it had to be completely restarted in another place or a far later time. I think BOTW and TOTK are in either the adult or child timelines because of a few details in Age of Calamity. There are a few things in the time Terrako jumps to that don't line up with BOTW's backstory, the biggest being Link not yet having the Master Sword. This makes me think Terrako went not back in time but to another timeline, where things are playing out nearly but not fully identically. The fallen timeline is more pf a "what-if" scenario, but the other two coexist if the hero wins, so Terrako would be theoretically able to jump between them. The goddess sword, though, that's tough. I don't yet have an explanation for that, but any ideas for how it fits into this theory are welcome. (This all assumes Amiibo things are non-canon and just out-of-universe fan service)

[@incognitoman3656]

Assuming Ganondorf could recover from his petrification, all of the timelines could’ve taken place in the Child timeline, with the reason for the fragmented triforce being simply that it’s been a heck of a long time.

[@megamannt125]

Worth noting that in one timeline Hyrule is under the ocean and in another is more or less a wasteland where people live in caves. I don't think it's a stretch to say that after countless encounters with Ganon, Hyrule was destroyed and then re-founded by Rauru, and these relics are either easter eggs or from the previous kingdom. ALSO worth noting you find these relics in ancient Zonai ruins. Ruins that, presumably predate even Rauru himself. So the kingdom's "founding" couldn't possibly be before any of the other games. This keeps BOTW and TOTK still in their own little bubble "at the very end" but keeping them a part of the same continuity so they can shove easter eggs and references in there.

[@skateorpie]

Also people tend to forget that Spirit Tracks was an completely new kingdom created by WW Link and Zelda so the possibly of a new kingdom being made from ruin or in a new land isn’t far fetched at all because it has canonically happened before

[@daveski7]

What makes you think the Zonai Ruins, predate Rauru? The Zonai were supposed to be like gods to the hylians, and we can see that in their technology and power and they were said to have descended on to the world, they didn't evolve there. The Zonai Ruins in Faron are extremely primitive compared to what else we've seen of the Zonai. I think it makes more sense for these ruins to have been built by ancient Hylians who encountered the Zonai. Possible the ones we see in Raurus time that wear the Zonaite clothing

[@megamannt125]

@@daveski7 I'm talking about The Depths.

[@megamannt125]

@@daveski7 Also, another point. The Zonai chests that contain the relics of the past can only be opened by a Zonai. Tauro isnt able to open them. Only Link because he has Raurus arm. So either Rauru put the objects in there or another Zonai did.

[@daveski7]

@@megamannt125 Oh gotcha. Although just because modern Hylian's can't doesn't mean they couldn't in the past. Raurus arm definitely is one way. But the Hylians that lived with Ruaru at that time probably would have had a way to open doors etc otherwise everyone would be trapped inside buildings lol.

[@sjogreninertia2923]

My main issue is that the zonai were apparently always around? despite not being talked about until this game, which I think is odd considering a race descending from gods would probably be note worthy throughout history.

[@cesarsuarez7538]

And what happens with the Oooca then? In TP it is said they created Hyrule. Nothing adds up.

[@Blue-fg8vt]

I like the idea of Hyrule haven been destroyed and recreated many times, and the zonai are just one of those points in history that Hyrule was created.

[@cubebombs]

The thing is that in botw they have many references to the zonai you can go to the faron areas in botw there are a TONN of zonai building and argraculture. They also talk about the zonai in botw but they reference that they were people that lived a very long time ago and mistirosuly died off. With them founding Hyrule to is probably the fact that it just got destroyed so many times there was not much left so the zonai decended from the gods to fix the place up. But yeah

[@andimari9194]

Their excuse could be they are on the sky islands and never seen

[@andimari9194]

@@cesarsuarez7538I’ve heard theories that they’re one in the same but are just called different things

[@painfish208]

This game gave me a timeline aneurysm for one giant reason. Ganondorf. I’m a child timeline purist because Twilight Princess is directly referenced, but I do like MatPat’s take about it being a multiversal convergence a la Hyrule Warriors. The major problem is that (what seems like) shortly after the events of Skyward Sword (since Rauru announces he’s Hyrule’s first king, and many ancient murals describe certain things that would have only occurred when Skyloft was still around, as both they and Rauru refer to the sky islands like they had been around not too long before they had fallen), Ganondorf is sealed - for 10,000+ years up until now, as Calamity Ganon was purely a manifestation of his malice. This means that Ganondorf was still taking his Power Nap while somehow entering the temple of time to take the Triforce for himself, busy manipulating Zant in one timeline, trying to regain power in a flooded Hyrule in another, and busy being a pig wizard in the third until they converge. I’m sorry, is this dude just Darkseid, and calamity Ganon plus the other Ganondorfs just avatars, or what the heck is going on here?

[@TheBigbean500]

I like to think that BOTW takes place after Warriors1 and is a result of the timelines merging into one so long after the games that everything is legend. Warriors2 is the start of a separate timeline between 1 and BOTW, with the mini guardian thing in 2 being the "fortue-teller" from the diary. I also think that Rauru failed at fully seeling Gannondorf/Demon King and that he used the secret stone to create a backup plan (AKA Demise). Because of this, Zelda finds out about a certain knight that the first king of Hyrule had locked away (Manga from Hyrule Historia). This Knight then forges what we know of as the White Goddess Sword. This sword is used to seal Demise, finishing the work of Rauru and creating the Sky islands where the goddess Hylia sends the remaining Hylians to until the events of Skyward sword. I think that ToTK is an end to the story of Gannondorf and the cycle of rebirth as link has finally finished off the original Gannondorf and the secret stone is no longer.

[@techstuff9198]

The "ancient history" of BotW happens after all other games in the timelines, including TotK's founding of Hyrule.

[@Geno810]

@@TheBigbean500 I don't think HW is canon because after the game they all go back to their respective timelines and the merging of timelines was reverted

[@SeeMyDolphin]

Where is Twilight Princess directly referenced? I can only think of Zelda's speech, dlc/amiibo items, and certain location names (e.g. arbiter's grounds), but all three of those reference all three timelines, and I would personally consider those indirect references (i.e. may just be a nod and wink in the writing rather than any deeper lore). I think adult timeline is the closest to being directly referenced. A sage named "Medli" is talked about, many references to a "great flood", a sage named "Nabooru" is mentioned, and in-game historical texts talk about a sage named "Ruto" fighting alongside Zelda and the hero to defeat a great evil. Those are all adult timeline only events/characters. But even then, that's still compatible with the reboot theory as well. It could be referencing events similar to the adult timeline, rather than the adult timeline itself.

[@fnaffoxy1987]

@@SeeMyDolphin Don't forget the monument that is kinda similar looking to the Mirror of Twilight near Lurelin village in BOTW, which has you trying to find 3 chunks of it around the beach, similar to finding the 3 shards of the Mirror of Twilight in Twilight Princess.

[@Marioqt2003]

There's so many points brought up in totk that just make it seem like it's own timeline. I think the biggest being the rito being present at hyrule's creation

[@theakiwar9118]

The strange part is they made the rito canon to OoT retroactively with Twillight Princess Hd

[@redskeith4737]

personally I think that this continuity is the end result of previous time lines merging into one due to the events of the first hyrule warriors game. that's why there are all these strange out of time conflicting relics that shouldn't exist. that's why both rito and zora exist. totks past is set in a time long after the events of hyrule warriors, after hyrule was lost or destroyed and then later resettled and remade, so long ago that the name of Ganondorf, Zelda, and the master sword were forgotten legends

[@swift7842]

That’s a surprisingly great explanation

[@wutmagna7222]

I've always liked the idea of Hyrule Warriors acting as a catalyst for the timelines to converge, both because it simplifies things timeline wise greatly and because it is a good game that deserves recognition.

[@TrivatorGaming]

Sadly Nintendo says the Hyrule Warriors Definitive edition is not canon to any of the timelines. So personally I think Skyward Sword spit the timeline into having one that leads to OOT and another that leads to BOTW/AOC/TOTK

[@mrosilvR7]

it would make sense, but hyrule warriors is not cannon

[@Paradox1012]

If you imagine time as a ripple in the water i suppose.

[@matthewr6148]

The idea I've always liked most, which I'm surprised to barely see at all, is that given the amount of time that can pass in between games, and especially the 10000 year gap between BOTW and whatever game came before, certain events simply have enough time to end up just... repeating themselves. Generations of characters live, die, and get reborn into yet another Hyrule. Events from most of the games, but Ocarina of Time in particular, end up repeating over and over again, just through entirely natural means (or as natural as you can get with Demise's Curse ruling the world). I suppose any "repeat games" wouldn't play out exactly as they did in the versions of the games we play (which are probably strictly the first iteration of their events), Point is, OoT happens multiple times, with each canonical ending occurring at least once each, allowing for some kind of timeline where every game can exist to some degree. All with no "magical convergence" necessary.

[@Blue-fg8vt]

The small differences between playthroughs alone could be most of the difference between repeats of an event. Where link struggled, what link did first when given choice, how link decided to defeat a major foe...

[@Blue-fg8vt]

Also, remakes and mirror versions, or the slight changes like with wind waker

[@sean_nowell]

my theory is that they come after windwaker/phantom hourglass/spirit tracks botw explicitly says that the great plateau is the birthplace of the kingdom of hyrule, could it be the same continent from spirit tracks, but after the water receded? king rauru and queen sonia aren’t the first to establish Hyrule, but they instead REestablish the kingdom hundreds or even thousands of years after spirit tracks when the water recedes and no one knows about the former hyrule. this would also explain the lack of knowledge of the triforce, while still having it being used symbolically. it is a divine object that still chooses who receives its power, like Zelda (and presumably her ancestors too) having the sealing power, symbolized by the full triforce. yes, there's mentions of the other timelines in these two games, but this one seems the most likely fit to me

[@GameparkGames]

New Hyrule is a Continent far from the original Hyrule as it took Link and Tetra years to find it and the Great Sea also covers the entirety of Hyrule so it's unlikely for New Hyrule to exist in the middle of it

[@sean_nowell]

@@GameparkGames it does says it’s far away, yes, but the great plateau is larger than the entire map from ocarina of time, so really i think it could be a perspective thing. i could also be wrong 🤷‍♂️

[@paolozambito]

Makes somewhat sense. I don't know if New Hyrule fits there, but the fact that it happens after the water from Wind Waker receded makes sense. The Korok explicitly said that reached to rebuild the continents in Wind Waker.

[@tyeklund7221]

Is it possible that the Zonai were brought down to Hyrule by the goddesses as part of the process to heal the three timelines back into one, thus artifacts, races, and characters of the various timelines could become stitched together into this new world

[@edgarjuarez2241]

For the white sword of thw sky, I wouldn't say it's that far fetched to say it comes from another time since you get it from "the Mother statue" which is the biggest goddess, the goddess being Hylia who was the goddess of time and who has shown that time travel is not outside her scope of powers

[@nathancreekmore7589]

Even if you ignore all of the previously amiibo exclusive items, there's just so many issues that make botw and totk incompatible with the timeline entirely. I just don't understand why they would go directly from skyward sword which established the timeline as canon, into these two games which seem to disregard it entirely. Great video though :)

[@stathisconstantinou]

Ngl totk disregards each game except SS.

[@pheonixowl999]

technically, link between worlds was the last game before BOTW. But I get what you mean

[@legendoflizzie4849]

@@stathisconstantinouoo could you elaborate on that? personally i was disappointed at what i felt was a lack of consideration toward skyward sword, especially since they had re-released it right before totk

[@christiandalton335]

My personal theories are either the 3 timelines reconverged sometime prior to 10,000 years before BotW or BotW and TotK take place in the adult timeline a.k.a Wind Waker, Phantom Hourglass, and Spirit Tracks. The first one is self explanitory but the second theory goes that the Great Ocean covering old Hyrule dried up sometime after Spirit Tracks at a time when old Hyrule had faded well into legend and the people of New Hyrule returned to the old kingdom where it was found that a sect of Zora had managed to survive and by this time the Rito had evolved even further into full fledged bird people rather than the humans with bird features seen in Wind Waker and the Lokomo seen in Spirit Tracks have evolved into the Zonai and having legends of what their ancestors did to help in the founding of New Hyrule descend from the heavens to help the in the formation of another new kingdom of Hyrule. I base this theory off of the leviathan skeletons and the fact that Koroks and Rito only exist in Wind Waker, BotW, and TotK. I'm also open to the idea that BotW and TotK are in a separate fourth branch of the timeline.

[@JackedUpEntertainment]

"The timeline isn't complicated!" Miyamoto: "Links awakening takes place in the middle of Adventure of Link when Links sails to east Hyrule"

[@benjulc9271]

I believe the current canon is that this is the Link of A Link To The Past.

[@JackedUpEntertainment]

@@benjulc9271 I know I was pointing out how they really don't put as much thought into the timeline as people think they do, they've retconned it so many times

[@diegoalfaro3422]

A theory I haven’t seen yet is that TOTK could be the actual story of what happened in Hyrule, and all the previous games are ‘legends’ of Zelda, with different interpretations. Kind of like a soft reboot for the franchise. Without going into spoilers, I’ve seen a lot of parallels closely resembling to the story of other games.

[@tamed4171]

Thats what I've been saying! I mean, its literally called "the legend of zelda". Legends are literally real events or phenomia that happened but they have a great amount of mythological influence on them to the point where only some elements of them are true while others are false. Applying that same logic here, we can deduce that SOME of the things from past zelda games are true while OTHERS are false.

[@pheonixowl999]

and when the next game comes out, you'll say BOTW and TOTK are just legends as well?

[@tamed4171]

@@pheonixowl999 No, because I don't think BOTW is legend either. I think both BOTW and TOTK are real true parts of Hyrule's real history, with all past games being simply legend and myth. Of course, between these two games there SEVERAL unanswered questions, which really irriates me.

[@11sonicspeed]

So basically we play as "fake" stories in all the other games. Not a fan of that theory lol

[@tamed4171]

@@11sonicspeed It's almost as if the series is called "The LEGEND of Zelda"

[@Ulysces_Castellanos]

I want to believe that Botw and Totk takes place long into the future and all amiibo content isn't cannon.

[@Kasum_ish]

Thing is, there are chests all over the Depths that contain previous amiibo content.

[@Ulysces_Castellanos]

@@Kasum_ish yeah, only as side quest or treasure maps. Like, how is there a fierce deity costume and sword? It was supposed to be a transformation.

[@wildele9699]

I like to think that BOTW and TOTK take place long long jn the future in an ALTERNATE timeline after Skyward Sword. Long for the Master Sword to been forged and weakened and the founding of Hyrule. This Ganondorf was the only incarnation of Demise in this alternate timeline. Also since Hylia was introduced in Skyward Sword, makes sense that people are only worshiping her instead of the Golden Goddesses. However, this doesn’t line up with what Zelda said in the Link’s Champion ceremony. The amiibo items are non canon easter eggs.

[@Crabmanager]

I like the idea that it takes place thousands of years into all timeliness future, even the stuff with the zonai. Due to Denise's curse we can just say that everything is bound to repeat eventually, with hyrule being re-founded after centuries of being lost. Plus, Totk can wrap up everything by having another version of the demon king being killed, ending the curse

[@jamescovenant]

Man, your production quality is off the chart. You must have spent hours and hours in After Effects, I presume, keyframing all these custom animations. I think my favorite part is the scrolling gear screens starting at around 10:40. Beautiful!

[@VLimit11]

Thank you so much! And yeah keyframing everything always ends up taking way more time than I expect 😅

[@CZsWorld]

I see the items like the Twilight Tunic and White Goddess sword as replicas made to honor the great heroes throughout history, not the actual items preserved.

[@VLimit11]

I'm definitely a fan of that interpretation! There's still the question of how knowledge of seemingly incompatible historical events exists here, but treating them as replicas makes it a lot less of a logistical nightmare.

[@benji-menji]

Game theory spoke about the possibility of Hyrule Warriors being cannon despite being declared not cannon. Because all timelines interacted in that game, the timeshift could have made the new world we saw in the wild series.

[@ciphergaming8543]

My theory is that a super long time after each of the three main timelines, they kinda start to become the same and then hyrule gets destroyed, I think the original people that decided to stay in the sky in skyward sword then came back down as the zonai and rebuilt hyrule in it’s former image since they would’ve seen it built and destroyed many time at that point, then those thousands of years after the timeline remerged that’s when botw and totk Take place

[@MadLuigi]

Fantastic video! So much info to try to piece together where the game stands. This will likely stand as one of if not the best attempt at figuring out the timeline

[@Meichrob7]

I'd love to see your take on remaking the timeline. Essentially doing what they did in the Hyrule Historia book, and throwing the games in whatever order makes the most sense with any headcanon explanations needed to make connections between the games. It'd be interesting to see an attempt to fit in all the games, and/or an attempt to more cohesively fit the major games together, while relegating some of the other side games to separate universes for the sake of a more cohesive main timeline.

[@riahisama]

So I'm going to post my explanations of the goddess sword and other amiibo items. Amiibo items are basically replicas created by Misko, he was fascinated with old legends and decided to replicate items from both history and myths alike. From "Creating a Champion" we know that events from old timelines have faded away with time and it's hard to tell which events are historical fact and which are fairy tale, it only makes sense that replicas and fanatics like Misko exist. There's a reason why Majora's Mask and the Fierce Deity have no powers in BOTW and TOTK. Some of Misko treasures include the Fierce Deity, Tingle set and the Awakening set, the latter confirming the theory given the toy look of the set. Other sets are found in the Depths and even though we can't tell for sure if Misko made them it's safe to assume he or someone else did, from everything we know there's more proof of them being fakes than the real deal. It's also interesting to note that the Yiga clan made their own version of the thunder helm, this is not directly related to the Misko theory but it goes to show that replicas are already a thing in TOTK. This makes more sense than actually trying to explain how the Goddess Sword is canon in TOTK, yes I know the sword is given to you by the Mother Goddess statue herself but I think we need to keep in mind that not every amiibo items is the real deal in TOTK and BOTW.

[@Zinkolo]

After playing this game it really does feel like breath of wild was a reboot and they just don't belong in the same timeline as the previous series. There's tons of reinterpretations of old tropes and enemies and ideas that we see that it makes more sense to make this a brand new timeline with borrowed ideas and inspirations.

[@Zinkolo]

This is a good thing by the way. I'm not upset about that I'm just saying it feels more like a reboot

[@saricubra2867]

@@Zinkolo I'm kinda pissed off because it's worse than what Disney did to George Lucas's Star Wars.

[@dataecto6135]

maybe botw/totk hyrule is just a another "new" hyrule founded long after the one in the adult timeline. it could explain some weird early history stuff (ie the ritos existing in botw/totk ancient hyrule) by saying it takes place in a NEW hyrule, ages after the last one had fallen or whatever. its just that, unlike spirit tracks, no one really makes a mention that this is a new hyrule. i think this can work out especially with how long this version of hyrule has existed. (of course i also still think the devs just want to avoid this timeline stuff and just make a new one, so this is just more of a fun way for me to make sense of it)

[@Max-qb5ui]

The simple answer is that all of the events of these two games, including the past sections take place so far into the future that past games become mere legends. It is essentially a reboot, but an in universe one. It still fits in the timeline, but it is so far later that past games can be referenced without holding much weight in the modern stories.

[@saricubra2867]

It doesn't fit on the timelines if it's another canon entirely for being a reboot just like Breath of The Wild. There's no in universe explanation for the massive changes, almost no mention of the Triforce.

[@acrasia5718]

I've thought a lot about possible theories regarding which timeline Breath of the Wild/Tears of the Kingdom fall under and here are my full thoughts. Beware, this is going to be a really long read as I'm compiling ALL my theories I've had on this. Will try to summarize the less important theories. Fallen timeline: To me, it seems impossible that BotW/TotK fall under the fallen timeline. First of all, the events of the Imprisoning War prior to A Link to the Past are almost entirely different to the events of the Imprisoning War in TotK, and it's unlikely this same war would have repeated itself to some degree within the same timeline. Secondly, as far as we know in the Fallen Timeline, the Zora went extinct, meaning there's no possible way for the Zora and the Rito to coexist within BOTW. There's also too many references to the Adult/Child timeline that make this timeline seem like the least likely. Child Timeline: My original theory prior to TotK was that BotW falls under the Child Timeline, and the Child Timeline alone. The main reason was that I believed the Ganondorf Corpse was Twilight Princess Ganondorf, and I didn't think it was reasonable to assume the timelines have merged. Even the Rito's existence of being part of the Child Timeline can be explained by the constant freezing of Zoras Domain, which could have meant that some of the Zora fled to the snow peaks near the domain and evolved into the Rito. This is supported by the fact that the Rito currently live in snowy peaks, instead of a volcanic mountain like they did in Wind Waker. Not to mention, we do see in Twilight Princess that Prince Ralis runs away to Kakariko Village in search of his mother, so it's possible that some of the Zora fled to Kakariko Village as well, and founded a new home near the Lanayru province, which explains why Zora's Domain in BotW is in a different location. The Koroks existence can also be explained the same way they came to be in Wind Waker, which was that the Kokiri children fled the forest and turned into Koroks. Timelines merged: We know there are references to all three timelines, not just Easter Eggs, but canonically confirmed references. For instance, the existence of the Rito and Koroks from the Adult Timeline, the Mirror of Twilight and Arbiters Grounds from the child timeline, and the Lynels from the Fallen timeline (though TotK proves that they were created by Ganondorf the Demon King). However to say the timelines merged is still a hard claim to make. BotW is set so far into the future, so much so that in the game we learn that they fought against Calamity Ganon 10,000 years before BotW. Not Ganon, CALAMITY Ganon, that's how far into the future we are in. Most people believe that it's so far into the future that the differences between each timeline have faded, however I feel like that's just too lazy of an explanation. However, given the fact that the events of the Imprisoning War occurred in a different way in TotK, it's definitely possible that every major event from each timeline eventually happened in it's own way over time. For example, the Great Flood could have happened in it's own way prior to BotW. It's definitely possible, and TotK does suggest this, however I do feel it is too lazy of an explanation. Alternative Timeline: Another theory suggests that BotW and TotK actually take place in a separate timeline, and given the fact that there is an unexplained paradox in Skyward Sword, this theory isn't too far fetched aside from ONE problem. The theory suggests that because in Skyward Sword, Demise was defeated twice, once in the present after Link wished upon the Triforce to crush Demise with the Goddess Statue, and once in the past after he beat Demise in a duel, this would have created an alternative timeline. The timeline in the present where Link returns to can be the main timeline that leads into the other three, however the timeline of the past is the Timeline that lead to BotW. The problem with this is... It's impossible. When Link defeats Demise in the past, he seals his spirit within the Master Sword and brings that Master Sword, along with the curse, back to the present. This means the timeline Link defeated Demise in, no longer has Demise in it, so it's impossible for Demise to have reincarnated into Ganondorf. Now, the ultimate theory. Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom actually takes place in the Adult Timeline. Heres why: Leading into Tears of the Kingdom, I had many questions: Is Link part of the Knight's bloodline? Where is the Triforce? Which version of Ganondorf is the corpse? Will it end the Demises Curse? Initially at the end of the game, I had none of those questions answered, but rather I was left with more questions. We learn at the start of the game that prior to the events of Tears of the Kingdom, there was a great war against The Demon King and the Seven Sages, known as the Imprisoning War. At first, this sounds familiar, because the Imprisoning War did in fact happen in the Fallen Timeline, however, this war is nothing like the Imprisoning War we know. This version of the Imprisoning War has three major differences to the Imprisoning War in the Fallen Timeline: 1. The original Imprisoning War occurred after Link was defeated in Ocarina of Time, which was an already established Hyrule, however this Imprisoning War occurred during the beginning of Hyrule. 2.In the original Imprisoning War, Ganondorf, the Demon Thief became Ganondorf the Demon King after claiming the Triforce for himself, and using it to sieze the ultimate power, however, in this Imprisoning War, Ganondorf did not use the Triforce to become the Demon King. In fact the Triforce is not mentioned once in either Breath of the Wild or Tears of the Kingdom. 3.King Rauru has no recollection of who Link is, so this Imprisoning War did not take place after Link was defeated by the same Ganondorf that was sealed, which is the story of the original Imprisoning War. So how on earth is this all possible? At first I was pulling my hair out as it made no sense, but after revisiting the timeline, I think I finay found something that makes sense (until Nintendo flips the script again and makes me rethink my life choices). But, what if both Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom took place in the ADULT TIMELINE? The only explanation is that King Rauru was not the founder of Hyrule, but the founder of New Hyrule, as in Spirit Tracks. This is the only thing I can think of that makes sense. Breath of the Wild takes place so far into the future, where the stories of the previous games are merely forgotten myths. The only way this is would be possible is if some catastrophic event destroyed any piece of history linking back to the previous games, AKA, The Great Flood. King Rauru being the first King of Hyrule is only possible if the land of Hyrule was not the original Hyrule, but the land of a new Hyrule, similar to that in Spirit Tracks! We know there's no named king in Spirit Tracks, but rather Anjean, the member of the Lokomo, is the one who takes a role of leadership. Guess what happens to the Lokomo after Spirit tracks? According to the official timelines, they return to the Heavens, which is where they may have become the Zonai! Rauru of the Zonai then returns to New Hyrule and begins the Monarchy, starting the Hyrule we know in Tears of The Kingdom. This explains each of the unanswered questions I had stated in the beginning. Rauru doesn't know who Link is because there is no more Knight's bloodline! In Wind Waker, the Knight's bloodline went extinct because the Hero did not exist in that timeline. The existence of the Triforce is unknown and forgotten because after King Daphnes used the Triforce, the pieces were scattered across the Great Sea and were lost. The Triforce is never mentioned in Breath of the Wild or Tears of the Kingdom, though they still share it's symbol as it's been passed down with the Master Sword. As for the version of Ganondorf, it is a new born Gerudo Warrior, similar to that of Ocarina of Time. After Wind Waker, Ganondorf was merely killed, however Link never faced the Ganondorf the Demon King, unlike in the Fallen Timeline and the Child Timeline, so the spirit of Demise (The Demon King) was allowed to reincarnate once again. As for it ending the Demises Curse, we will never know. In the Fallen Timeline, Ganon is defeated once and for all, as is in the Child Timeline, the Demon King is also defeated by Link using the Four Sword. With the Demon King now finally being defeated in the Adult timeline, there's no telling if that's what will end the curse. Demise meeting his demise in all three timelines. Last but not least, there's another core piece of evidence that supports this and that's, the Depths. The Depths appears to be an entirely separate Hyrule underneath the current Hyrule. This would be possible if this was the original Hyrule that was flooded prior to Wind Waker. Since Breath of the Wild/Tears of the Kingdom take place so far into the future, the depths has little to nothing left that resembles the original Hyrule. The loop theory is merely just history repeating itself. Ganondorf being reborn as a Gerudo Warrior who seeks the land of Hyrule mirrors what happened in the past that was long forgotten, however this time, Ganondorf cannot win with the Triforce, so he must find another way. I know it's a long read, but for anyone interested, those are my thoughts on the placement of Tears of the Kingdom.

[@OtherMomo]

The way I see it is that every game takes place on one of three timeliness, but each game that isn't directly a sequel is one of many multiverses. That's why the sage scene at the beginning of twilight princess does not make sense in context to ocarina of time, or [spoilers for tears] and [spoilers for syward]. But story beats thread between in a way that still vaguely in a way that makes sense. The way i see it is that the splitting timeliness re-merged during the massive gap.

[@OtherMomo]

The also way I also see it is that any items that came from any amiibo in BotW is still noncannon to TotK, they just made it available for free in-game instead of locking them behind amiibos that aren't available to people anymore

[@Chillz_edits]

Something I really like about TOTK is that you can find every amiboo rewards inside of TOTK!

[@StormsparkPegasus]

The White Sword of the Sky is NOT the one that turns into the Master Sword. It's a replica of it created by the goddess statues. This is pretty much stated by the quest.

[@leoschunn996]

I'd guess that TotK is 8 years after BotW. In an IGN video where Zelda's English voice actor reacts to comments, she makes an off-handed comment implying that Zelda is 125 years old. It's possible that's not what she meant, but she sounded weirdly confident. This means about 8 years have passed, which I can absolutely believe with Hudson's child being 8, and Koko being about a teenager in Kakariko.

[@leoschunn996]

@@zainrafiq2693 Very true, but Koko doesn't look too old to me so I think 8 years is a good guess.

[@solgaleo3533]

I’d heard people mention it being around that time

[@jaxthomas3202]

I think TOTK can fit fine enough into current timeline. In fact, one of the more reputable Zelda wiki updated their timeline with events related to TOTK. I’m going to try and explain how I interpret TOTK fitting into the timeline. Zonai Rauru descends from sky during the Era of Prosperity. The Zonai were probably living in the sky like the people of Skyloft but away from them, and the Zonai probably also made those robots that were in Skyward Sword. At this point Hyrule was a area of land with several settlements existed, but it wasn’t until Sonia and Rauru that this was made onto a true kingdom. TOTK Ganondorf does his thing, gets sealed by Rauru. This is why for a fairly long amount of time following the Era of Prosperity, Ganon just doesn’t show up (i.e. The Force Era, Hero of Men, Minish Cap, Four Swords). In the first few cutscenes, it seems like TOTK Ganondorf’s body was being “reactivated” in a sense, almost like it was braindead, and that the gloom was going back into him. It looks like he’s not exactly dead, but not really alive either until the hand falls. My interpretation of this is that eventually, after centuries, the “spirit” or hatred of Demise reincarnates into OoT Ganondorf and leaves TOTK Ganondorf’s body under the castle (and will return later). Now some might say that having two Ganons at one time doesn’t make sense. But there literally has been an instance of two Ganons being around at the same time. In BOTW, Calamity Ganon was in Hyrule Castle and TOTK Ganondorf was far below it. Either they are one in the same, meaning my idea about the soul being able to leave the sealed body to do other things is valid. Or they are different, meaning their was two different Ganons around at the same time. Some also might say that the Calamity is just a mindless puppet. However, Calamity Ganon isn’t totally mindless. It is referred to as cunning by multiple characters for knowing about the Guardians and Divine Beasts, and being able to control them. I know there is a mistranslation related to Dark Beast, but regardless Calamity still chose to turn into Dark Beast, meaning that it cannot be that mindless if it is able to make that choice. And remember, every incarnation of Ganondorf is Ganon in the main Zelda universe. (This could also lend credence to the theory that two Links can be alive at once i.e. The Hero of Worlds and Gramps, who is very likely Link from ALttP.) Onto the topic of both Raurus. Twilight Princess talks about the Era of Chaos (which was before the Era of Prosperity), where the Interlopers tried to invade the Sacred Realm to get to the Triforce. To protect the Triforce, someone named Rauru built a new Temple of Time at the location of the Sealed Temple, around the pedestal holding the Master Sword - the location of the only entrance to the Sacred Realm. He placed the Triforce in the Temple of Light and sealed off the Sacred Realm. This can be explained one of two ways. First, the Rauru that sealed away the Triforce is the Zonai one who did so while coming into very limited contact with Hylians. This Zonai Rauru is different from the OoT Rauru. The second possiblity is that there was two Raurus around. The Hylian one that sealed away the Triforce and was then in OoT. And then the Zonai king. Personally, I think the second one is more plausible. Also, I don’t remember if this totally true, but I think somewhere it is said that Rauru sealed himself away in the Sacred Realm along with the Triforce? It would explain how he lived so long for a Hylian and matches more with the second possibility. Now, I’m personally of the opinion of that the three timelines at some point merge and lead to the events of 10,000 yrs before BOTW. What is my source? My source is that I made it the fuck up lol. In all seriousness, I feel like if they can get away with the downfall timeline existing without ever explaining it in a game, this is probably an equally viable scenario. Then, after Calamity Ganon is defeated in BOTW, the spirit of Demise re-enters TOTK Ganondorf’s body and the current events of TOTK happen. On the Rito, I think it’s very possible that after the Era of Prosperity, they either went extinct or went to live up in the mountains away from Hylians.

[@panduino2156]

I’m always going to be on the side of the Fallen Hero timeline, and it’s for one main reason. Every timeline has general evidence of being possible within BOTW, but BOTW is much more *thematically* in line with the Fallen Hero timeline. Not only was Breath of the Wild heavily inspired by design elements in the Fallen Hero timeline games, the idea of Ganon being this threat that comes back over and over to terrorize Hyrule is exactly what happens in the Fallen Hero timeline. While Ganon is definitively killed in the Adult and Child timelines, he always comes back in the fallen hero timeline.

[@WindMageMaster]

He reincarnates in the child timeline though. And most of the races/tribes in the downfall have vanished and Hyrule is said to hardly be a kingdom anymore with receding boarders, medieval level of tech, a naming law, and the Triforce is still prevalent. In the child timeline, the Triforce is not prevalent, the tribes are still thriving, it’s a naming tradition and not a law (which this Zelda was named via tradition) the Gerudo have become peaceful with Hylians and elect a female chief instead of males- and all of this leads precisely into the Hyrule of BotW, most especially pre Calamity. For it to be downfall, all tribes would have to be resurrected, the kingdom reformed, the Triforce gone obscure, the mandatory law revert back to tradition, and… basically have it revert back to childhood timeline Hyrule to then proceed with BotW. It would entirely defeat the purpose of it.

[@lapinakawaii5010]

My current headcanon: *Adult Timeline* Hyrule had been completely forgotten by everyone, the only thing that survived was the name "Hyrule" and the Triforce logo, although it was no longer associated with that all-powerful object. It was only the symbol of the royal family, which is why no one, not even the Zonai, knows about the Triforce. Another thing, the Rito exist in that timeline, and so do the Koroks. Why did the Zoras in The Wind Waker become Rito instead of adapting to the ocean? In reality, they did adapt. Some of the Zoras adapted to the depths, which is why in Breath of the Wild, the Zoras resemble more like sharks or manta rays, saltwater fish rather than freshwater fish.

[@MoreLoreThenThereSeems]

Hyrule warriors is my explanation for all the timelines merging back into one again.

[@heatherhuynh1630]

Wait a minute, wouldn’t the light dragon exist in botw since Zelda (spoilers) turned into a dragon and held the master sword for thousands of years? Edit: So I just realized that people COULD notice the light dragon or Zelda because when I was at death mountain in Totk I realized that Zelda flew at the top so people could’ve notice her.

[@VLimit11]

Yep! She's been in the sky the whole time (which is clarified in the true ending), just nobody knew about it

[@Soulferno]

Yes. It's a self fulfilling paradox, a common time travel trope in fiction. The basic idea is that the only reason these events can take place at all despite the contradictory nature of the time shenanigans is because the end result is that it will all be resolved, usually in a cyclical type of manner. That also basically explains why the logo for the game is an ouroboros

[@castlesteinway7741]

I personally prescribed by the theory that there has been a dragon break that has collapsed all three timelines upon each other and so it's just one continuity now

[@shinobu3617]

In my opinion, BOTW and TOTK is its own separate universe, which many of the Zelda games honestly are. The only "timeline" that actually makes sense, and was kind of planned is: Skyward Sword > Ocarina of Time > Majora's Mask > Twilight Princess -> Wind Waker > Phantom Hourglass > Spirit Tracks Most of the games were simply placed randomly in the timeline, without any actual planning, or thought, and should honestly just be counted as separate timelines. BOTW is a new, separate universe, that references all previous games. Which is fine imo. I don't need them to continue the Zelda timeline we already have. Creating a new one can be just as interesting. If anything, the only story I'd be interested in seeing from the main Zelda timeline (the timeline around Ocarina of Time) is the prequel to Skyward Sword. Seeing the fight between the actual goddess, and Demise, and the original Link would be pretty cool. (And yes, as I mentioned Skyward Sword, I know Fi is present in BOTW, and that puts question to whether it does exist in the same timeline as SS. However, Link, Zelda, Ganon, Beedle, etc can exist in any universe/timeline, so why can't Fi also have existed in the universe of BOTW?)

[@hhowdy]

King uploaded 🤤🥹

[@ZeoViolet]

I just figure that Hyrule's been re-established as "new" many times by now, so the previous events happened well enough. Certain things survive previous cycles as well. The Deku Tree probably would never tell Link or Zelda how many times he's seen it happen before. It just boggles my mind why a bunch of gods and demons and such would fight over this "sacred" square of land, when that obviously isn't the whole part of the world they are on and you can see other landmasses stretching off for miles. The Three Goddesses just love re-rolling the dice to see what happens "THIS TIME", and leave ones like Hylia to deal with it and watch her descendants of her blood (that survive and re-establish Hyrule again and again) struggle against an evil that won't let them be.

[@Zaxjz]

Actually, I believe that Rauru's time may be well before the time of Skyward sword. The Zonai technology looked super similar to the ones found in Lanayru Mining Facilities in SS (especially the power to reverse time, robots and the green-and-yellow color theme). In SS, the time when Goddess Hylia first sealed the Demise , there were no "Link"(a hero that wields the master sword), which is exactly what happened in The Imprisoning War, which there were apparently no "sword that seals the darkness" in Rauru's time.

[@SkorpleSlop]

My PERSONAL Timeline theory. Distant past: People live on land and worship Hylia. Demise arrives. Humans are pushed onto the sky. SS: You know the deal. However, at the end of the game some people decide to stay behind on skyloft. (REMEMBER THIS) [Insert literally the entire rest of timeline here] Far, FAR, future: Some sort of reincarnation of demise actually truly successfully destroys the Kingdom of Hyrule, however, just before all the races are wiped from the earth, the Zonai, who are actually the Skyloftians, who over eons evolved into Zonai (wind Waker logic goes hard) successfully defeat this incarnation and eventually reestablish the kingdom of Hyrule. THIS IS HOW THE KINGDOM OF HYRULE CAN BE FOUNDED BY THE ZONAI WITHOUT CONTRADICTING THE TIMELINE. TotK ancient past: ~TIMELINE LOOP ENDPOINT!~, Rauru, seal blah blah blah ???: [Potentially infinite numbers of calamities go here] 10,000 years before BoTW: Sheikah develop tech, calamity is successfully defeated 100 years before BoTW: We all know what happens here BoTW: Here too ToTK: ~TIMELINE LOOP STARTPOINT!~ (Does this mean there were always two Zelda’s simultaneously as well as two master swords during BoTW?) Anyways, game ends, timeline loop REMAINS UNRESOLVED Post ToTK: I don’t even know, but I’ll say that Link the faces of evil goes here because Nintendo isn’t putting it anywhere

[@aechman67]

Great video, and yeah it seems like the timeline is being scrapped. I think they realized it will only stunt further stories if they have to abide to the rules of a strict timeline. My interpretation is that BOTW is the convergence of the timeline because Tears of the Kingdom future has to happen in order for Tears of the Kingdom past to happen. Basically, if Zelda goes back in time, before the OoT split, she has to return to her era which is TOTK no matter what. She can't just come back to a whole different time. If BOTW is different in the child and fallen timeline, she'd be going back to a completely different era, that didn't result in her being sent back. Rules of time travel I guess? It makes BOTW and TOTK constants in the end of each timeline. Perhaps the seperate items from all timelines are a result of this seamless convergence, or maybe there was a grand event that converged all 3 timelines. The latter sounds more exciting.

[@rustyshackleford234]

I hope the next mainline original Zelda game also takes place in BotW and TotK’s timeline, it doesn’t even have to be like them, it could be 2D or 3D-linear.

[@aechman67]

@Polyps conglomeration Its basically confirmed that the next mainline zelda game will follow the open world formula. I don't mind it, but I hope nintendo gets the help of other studios to help create 2d mainline games

[@flygonkerel781]

the references to other games are just easter eggs. that or other timelines have somehow bled into the botw/totk one.

[@Tacotron0220]

I remember watching a game theory video on the timelines where a game that Nintendo doesn’t consider cannon is the key to solving the timeline issue with botw. Because of this video, my personal head cannon for the timeline is after the previously mentioned game, a new hurdle is founded and then the events of the botw and totk section of the time line take place as you described on the video.

[@moppermop5287]

For the godess sword appearing, I believe there's a section in Hyrule Historia (or one of the other books) that says that due to the time travel shenanigans in Skyward Sword that there's actually two godess swords: one that became the master sword and one that didn't.

[@WindMageMaster]

I don’t think the items from other games you can collect have any timeline relevancy, nor did the devs intend for them to be. We’ve had things like the Majora’s Mask item in A Link Between Worlds or Ballad of Gales obtained in Wind Waker is also in Twilight Princess, etc. It’s just that both BotW and TotK have gone all out with it for the sake of fan service. I can’t see the devs saying “Let’s put these in the game to give timeline indications”. I see them going: “Oh cool, let’s throw in the goddess sword or Ravio’s Hood! People will remember those from other games!”. That’s especially true for the Link’s Awakening tunic, referencing the graphics of the remake and not that Link’s canonical appearance we see in the animated cutscenes.

[@proclarushtaonasat]

also majoras mask(the item) was created ages ago, and was sealed away till the happy mask salesman found it. its creation predates the timeline split, so the same item should exist in all timelines. The child timeline is just the one timeline, where skullkid stole the mask and set off the events of mm. in the other timelines, ganon taking over prevents the mask from being stolen. same goes for many other artifacts, that get spotlight a game set in one timeline. the wind waker should also exist in the child and fallen timelines, but since the great sea doesnt exist in those timelines, link wouldnt get much use out of it.

[@WindMageMaster]

@@proclarushtaonasat Yeah I’m aware of the mask and its history. Other items also don’t necessarily need to be timeline exclusive either. Or my Ballad of Gales example. I was mainly pointing out this sort of thing had been done before mildly, but that BotW and TotK amped it up to a massive scale. I think, especially with the goddess sword and Link’s Awakening outfit, we can write it off as fan service and not anything to do with the actual lore.

[@Rico34]

👏🏾 You did a great job explaining this complicated timeline. It’s probably the most complex of any game series. Thanks for posting.

[@Viffido]

Amazing video as always, also, I could listen to your voice for hours.

[@tolkienblack]

At this point I feel like they’re just trolling us with the timeline

[@Gyashonav]

I have a theory where 10,000 years is an over exasperation [due to oral tradition] and instead it was only 1000 years from the last great calamity

[@johnathanholmes1297]

I say it is it indivual timeline because Ganondorf doesn't seem to have reincarnations like Link and Zelda. Think about it. Every Zelda is a descendant of Hylia because of the bloodline while every Link is reincarnated through the soul of the hero. Yet so far, Ganondorf has come back through resurrection or because he was sealed away. Not once was he reincarnated much like Link and Zelda. Add that to the fact that Zoni *founded* Hyrule kinda makes me think that we are in another alterate timeline. One before Skyward Sword. Here my idea. Hylia and the first hero (the hero before Link from Skyward Sword) easily defeated Demise and recieve the same curse as Link and Zelda in the current timeline. Afterwards, they had children who became the Zonai while other races was born/made naturally. A few thousands years later, Ganondorf was born and the events of Tear of the Kingdom past happen which cause the second hero (who is a Zonai) and princess of that time imprison Ganondorf in his corpse. A few centuries past, and Ganondorf found a way to release Ganon in order to free him. This eventually lead to Ganon being seal as well before becoming Calamity Ganon. After the events of Hyrule, a part of Calamity Ganon return to Ganondorf. After 4-5 years. Ganondorf finally broke free just as Zelda and Link check under the castle which started the Tear of the Kingdom events. As for the whole Wolf Link, Heroes Outfits, and previous weapons... I think there is a weak spot in the veil between timelines. Reason is because I found the Mirror of Twilight (Twilight Princess) which should have been broken to dust by Midna. So either the Twilight Mirror was a very ancient tool created before Skyward Sword, ir Midna really send it to an alternate timeline.

[@devinnn39]

The only thing that makes sense to me would be that some type of event occurred to converge the timelines. Like maybe after so many thousands of years of fighting each other throughout time and space and different realities starting all the way back from the original incarnation of evil (Demise), Link and Ganon engaged in a fight outside the confines of time and space that was so violent it reset the timelines basically and that’s why the timelines converge and why the physical layout of the land resembles the way things were in skyward sword. Then, when the zonai founded hyrule it was actually re-establishing the kingdom that once existed. However they didn’t even know this because any memories and knowledge of the history of the world had been lost in the convergence event. Then some of the unexplained reoccurrence of past items and locations and names can be explained simply by “history repeats itself” as it was set in motion by Demise way back when.

[@makhundred]

Do a video about how the fall of natiz germany affected the tears of the kingdom release

[@swift7842]

It made the game come out faster due to war generally slowing down everything non war related

[@marv5393]

yo wtf

[@AL-nv4gk]

@@marv5393 Zelda fans if you question any aspect of the recent games lore.

[@JohnDoe-hk4zx]

The thing that confuses me the most is the fact a Rito was part of the founding of Hyrule in the past, which on the timeline would put it before windwaker, when the Rito are introduced

[@cajunking5987]

Wouldn’t that make it… after?

[@jonahbutterfield5792]

My personal theory on this is that the game has two paths: BOTW-TOTK now are a brand new timeline which takes in some alternate reality after skyward sword. Similar events to some games happen but not in the same way. Or that Skyward sword happened and then some event lead to hyrule not able to fully form and some tribal war and event happened which prevented the Hylians from uniting until the Zoni appeared and Raru unites the Hylian tribes into one Kingdom. At this point for whatever reason the triforce and Hylia are more myth and almost forgotten, the triforce only being an important symbol without meaning or perhaps a forgotten meaning to most. The past events with time-travel zelda happen and then with Raru's death the kingdom may fall apart again or fall into a civil war which eventually leads to the creation of the Sheika who use old Zoni tech and the tech Zelda brought back and likely help the new Hyrule king in keeping the Kingdom Stable. I think it would likely be here the Triforce makes a re-appearance in importance and is possibly found, leading to the events of the Twilight Princess mentioned where the Twili tribe rebel and are sent to the twilight realm. With the old Gods re-established and remembered and Hyrule formed again the games after skyward sword all take place and then the timeline unites with BOTW. Also this has to be the first ganondorf in the timeline and a different man than the one we see before. IDk what that all means but maybe the other ganons are connected to him. See there is an issue with TOTK and the fact that Raru doesn't even think of a master sword from his timeline, a hero, or even the triforce at all. These absence feel significant. And it HAS to be after Skyward sword with where Zelda goes to because Hyrule does not exist in Skyward sword. Since it shows the first king of Hyrule and its foundation than it wouldn't work to happen before Skyward sword. Plus no Goddess sword, Hylia or Demise himself. It has to be at some point after Skyward Sword and I feel there is some reason why the Triforce just isn't seen nor a hero or the Blade in that time.

[@MysteryTheMysterious]

Bro in 15 years the timeline gonna look like a roller-coster💀

[@rakurai4953]

I honestly still think that the best answer has to be that the three timelines merge during the events of the original Hyrule Warriors with Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom happening thousands of years after that

[@Cameron-rc5ef]

That's a really interesting approach. Making Hyrule Warriors canon could actually work into that kind of..

[@BababooeyGooey]

Average continuity fans: NOOOO THIS ITEM CONTRADICTS CANNON NOOOO! Average no-restrictions enjoyers: Wow, cool items from past games. Brings back fond memories :)

[@agatonspik]

11:02 White Sword you say? Oh, now I'm know I'm getting old. I think that's supposed to be the second sword you get in Zelda 1 back in the good old 80's when I played it as a kid. Perhaps just a nice easter egg but could be fit into a unified timeline theory.

[@DazonVA]

Well, I have 2 different potential explanations for the goddess sword The first is actually just a retread of your option 1, it's a new sword. The reason they say it was said to have once been wielded by a hero in the sky isn't because it's the exact same sword but because in spirit it is the weapon wielded by them. It's like all the champions weapons, all of them talk about having been used by the champions, but it's not as if they used that specific weapon you carry. The other explanation I have is far more out there and has a lot less legs to stand on. A 4th option: it is the same sword at an earlier point in time. This is based on pre-release theories that the Zelda timeline could potentially form a loop, and that TotK may not just be at the end of the timeline, but also the beginning. I don't see much disproving this theory after release however I also don't see much proving it either. Only small little details that could instead just be fun Easter eggs, but I think it's interesting food for thought!

[@tatu9805]

I have had diarrhea every day for eight years.

[@CheeseEmperor8761]

Alright so, let's get some obvious facts out of the way. We know it's confirmed that BotW is the convergence of all three timelines since it's been thousands of years since OoT's split. Right now, that doesn't truly matter. There are 2, and ONLY 2 possibilities, of TotK's timeline placement. The first one lies just after Skyward Sword. With Skyloft now on the ground and the Hylians learning how to live on this new surface, Hylia sends down her servants, the Zonai, as guides to help establish a new kingdom and prolong this newfound prosperity after Demise's, well, demise. With this, we do have the mortal incarnation of Hylia, Zelda and the First Hero to wield the Master Sword, Link. At this point in time, no kingdom has been established. Most likely, Link and Zelda get married and have children. This child of Link and Zelda most likely is the very same Sonia we see in TotK's memories. Sonia marries Rauru and most likely consummate and conceive well before BotW's Zelda arrives. Regarding Rauru and Sonia's child, there is no tradition or law set in place for every daughter of the royal family to be named Zelda yet. The kingdom has just been established and no true threat similar to Demise has appeared until TotK's Ganondorf, the first of Demise's attempts to rule the world. With this new threat, Rauru and Sonia, just like any smart ruler of a kingdom, most likely sent their child/children to an allied kingdom in order to protect the royal lineage. After this, we know what happens to the two rulers, how the Demon King succeeds briefly in his plans, and is then swiftly sealed away with Rauru's life, leaving the kingdom in the hands of whatever prince or princess is left to return. After hearing what happens from most likely one of the four remaining sages, the new rulers of Hyrule probably end up naming their daughter, if any, after Zelda, the Sage of Time, who helped save the kingdom at such great costs. This all happens in the Era of Prosperity, just before the Force Era starting with the Minish Cap game, and the emergence of Vaati. Whether or not Vaati is a servant of Demise, I don't know. I haven't played that game yet. The second placement of TotK's memories is after the Hero is Defeated timeline after OoT. We can see just after the main defeat that there is a line before A Link to the Past: The Imprisoning War. This is what it's referred to be by each of the four sages when they fought Demon King Ganon and sealed him away with Rauru's life. How does this fit here? Well, with the Hero defeated and the mortal incarnation of Hylia at risk, the Zonai were sent down as a means to save that incarnation of Zelda, drive this incarnation of Ganondorf out, and hopefully reestablish the kingdom of Hyrule later on. Some Zonai stay with the Hylians in order to help them rebuild and recover after the assault of Ganondorf's forces since they are so adept at magic while the others go back into the Sacred Realm in order to properly prepare Hylia's next incarnation. This leaves the Sacred Realm unsealed for a time, leaving the Triforce vulnerable. At this point, Ganon is resurrected in a less perfect way and a new Hero awakens, starting A Link to the Past. There are some imperfections with this placement given that this set of games don't have the most concrete and in-depth story(they were made in 80s, what do ya want from me?). However, this one gives us a LOT more room. With these two in mind, we're not given a true time placement as to how far back Zelda traveled nor are we still given an exact placement on when Calamity Ganon first appeared. We can only assume that Calamity Ganon happened WAY AFTER the establishment of Hyrule, be it before the split or after. The only other matter to truly touch on is when the Zonai tech went out and the Sheikah tech came in. We already know that the Sheikah were down on the surface before the rest of the Hylians were, that's established, and that they had magical abilities of their own. But they are obviously separate from the Zonai. My side theory here is that Mineru was the initial guide for the start of the Shiekah's ancient technology. After the decline of the Zonai race, Mineru, with Zelda's Purah Pad she loaned her, was able to kickstart the process of advancing the kingdom's defenses at least tenfold before she was sealed away for the future Link. This lead to the construction of the Divine Beasts, the Towers, the Shrines, and the various Guardians. And it seems that the Sheikah were also attempting to reach the shy as well, given Maz Koshia's arena when you battle him. They were simply too limited to replicate that magic through technology.

[@Jacobschannel18802]

I always liked MatPat's Hyrule warriors theory, saying that even though Nintendo claims it's not canon Hyrule warriors allows for all the different timelines to mingle and displace items and people into whichever timeline that breath of the wild takes place in and allow for both the Zora and the Rito to exist simultaneously while each having their own histories

[@cellisch3753]

Thing is, Nintendo literally told us 13 years ago that future retcons can and will be made in the future. Here's what Hyrule Historia has to say: *"Weaving history* This chronicle merely collects information that is *believed to be true at this time,* and there are many obscured and unanswered secrets that still lie within the tale. As the stories and storytellers of Hyrule change, so, too does its history. Hyrule's history is a continuously woven tapestry of events. Changes that seem inconsequential, disregarded without a shrug, could evolve at some point and hatch new legends and, perhaps, change this tapestry of history itself." It's actually super simple. Nintendo just wanted the new Zonai race to be like this super important groupe, making them the founders of Hyrule itself. So they just retconned the era of prosperity and called it a day.

[@HappyGingerWolf]

I'm surprised that you didn't mention ganondorf in the past, some of the memories directly retell the events of ocarina of time related to him in a contradictory way, so there must be at least two ganondorfs, either in parallel timelines or one appearing millenia after the other

[@flygonkerel781]

short answer: it doesnt. good day

[@vegasvalentine9960]

I always interpreted Botw as the story that united the three timelines once again. No matter what divergences were made at the end of Ocarina of Time, all roads let to the events of BotW/TotK. Tears muddied things again tho, with the references to the Imprisoning War and Ganondorf. A lot of those featured items (Goddess sword, etc) is all just fan service

[@DaisyFan1]

A BotW3 that takes place before the calamity, where all the towns, villages, and cities are fully built would be really cool.

[@Saint_Rising]

I believe the fact that the Master Sword doesn’t exist in the past side of Tears of the Kingdom proves that it happens before Skyward Sword.

[@Randomthew]

Trying to make the whole zelda timeline fit together sounds like the pixar theory haha. I think its clear there is no official timeline until they include the newest two games into it where it officially belongs

[@ThoseMagicChangesAG]

I think people are overthinking this timeline thing. I think the events of skyward sword happened first, meaning that Zelda and Link stay on the surface to establish a kingdom there and some time passes where the Zonai come down and help those hylian’s progress even further. Sonia being a descendant from Skyward sword Zelda and marrying Rauru to establish the royal family. A lot of assumptions have to be made here of course. However Nothing said in Tears of the kingdom suggest this ISN’T the case.

[@Bman244]

The way I place botw and totk is that they’re convergent timelines (I think that’s the right term). Where it’s its own timeline where the other timelines bleed into/converge with it to leave their own elements on it. Hence why the throwback outfits/weapons are present, and iconic locations like the ranch,etc are also present. It also explains the different history of hyrule and gannon taking power, and the removal of the triforce. I think I worded this explanation right but incase I didn’t here is a quick summary. Botw and Totk are their own timeline/timeline split where the other timelines converge into it and leave their imprints/items/elements/story in them. Explains the different founding of hyrule,Gannon taking power,etc.

[@superjumpbros64]

I feel like Hyrule warriors for the WiiU is canon and is the end of all three timelines and at the end of the game, merges the timelines into one, leading into Breath of the Wild's main timeline. Thats how I see it.

[@dmc2008]

I don't even care about the greater timeline, I just don't get how they abandoned BOTW's continuity with TOTK. How many characters do you run into that have no memory of Link whatsoever? Yet certain characters DO remember him?? Ugh

[@RG-Zeldaplayer]

There are some major clues that give hints as to what is happening in Tears of the Kingdoms story - its what's usually referred to as a dragon split... In other words certain events in time are fixed and will always happen - but how we get there is fluid and can change and be altered - this is why BoTW can sit at the end of the three timelines... Tears of the Kingdom sits at the end of 4 timelines though... Zelda's time-travel is both a closed loop and a paradox. At the beggining of the Game Ganondorf's corpse shouldn't be there... He only ends up being imprisoned by Rauru as a result of Zelda travelling back in time - in other words Zelda's time travel is predestined and it alters history... Link is now on an adventure in a Hyrule where the events of the timeline up to and including Breath of the Wild both happened and didn't happen.

[@Flora_of_the_Moon]

I need this video to pop off I need my claymation

[@PatLund]

The thing that bothers me is that they say that Zelda went back to when Hyrule was first founded, but wasn't Hyrule founded in Skyward Sword?

[@kevinardel6728]

My favorite theory so far is that BotW and Tears are the "real" universe, and all of the other games were "legends" within the real universe. So you were playing the story in the old games (thus why things were more tight and linear), while the open-world games are the actual world things take place it. I suppose we'll see in 10 years when Nintendo tries to remake the timeline again. :P

[@BeanSpino]

thanks for keeping it mostly spoiler free and giving warnings! :D

[@darkhobo]

Its simpler than everyone is making it. Its a NEW timeline. After all other games come before. In the last (or close to the last) game in every timeline someone makes a wish on the Triforce. That wish results in a NEW unified timeline. Totk is starting over. Hence the Oroborus imagery being the main image of the game. Its really not complicated.

[@theakiwar9118]

What surprises me is that in Twillight Princess they hid murals of OoT Link visiting the Rito post OoT. According to Aonuma that change was made to coincide with BotW. They had I believe a rough idea what to do. However the now canon Amiibo content completely shits on continuity oh well

[@Barquevious_Jackson]

One more thing I wanted to add was the possibility of a "Dragon Break" in which the timelines all merged together some how. We get that word from the ending of Daggerfall, the Elder Scrolls game before Morrowind in which there were 11 endings. I don't like that theory but it works in explaining the timeline. I like the idea you pitch earlier that the games are each in their own canon. 2D Zelda, 3D Zelda, Capcom Games, and now a new "Wild" Timeline for the open world games.

[@GemGames3]

Maybe the appearance of the Zonai and Rauru as Hyrules first king were even before the events of Skyward Sword, Sonia still has the triforce symbol tattooed on her arm, so the belief in the triforce was still amongst the Hylians.

[@xzenderx]

The biggest conflict is rauru. The first founding king of hyrule. Originally a human, now a zonai who descended from the heavens. Things are going to get reallll interesting for the future of this timeline at the very least. With the potential for space or something else. But as for how it fits into the main timeline. I feel like there are clues sprawled out through both botw and totk all over the place. But cleverly placed so that they only make sense with a new entry or reveal into the franchise. Much of botw built up to totk in cool ways. Even calamity ganon gave me the impression it was just the leaked essence of a true threat from below. I had this thought well before the sequel was even announced and never let go of it, so imagine my satisfaction when ganondorf was indeed the source of calamity ganon in the exact way i had thought. So for the timeline, i suspect we're going to see.... eventually. btw. GIMMIE TRIFORCE ALREADY.

[@unirx.0123]

honestly the problem with BOTW or TOTK is that it only makes sense if the first Hyrule warriors is cannon with the strict timeline because there is the merging of all three timelines. and we see important places in BOTW like the ruins of arbiters grounds which is where the mirror linking the twilie and the hyliains together was held. i think that what TOTK and BOTW are is a convergence point of all the timelines for marketing and other purposes based off land marks and other findable objects. in the future i would like games to in the 100 year gap between the normal timeline and the convergence as i have been calling it.

[@piku5637]

The dragonbreak theory sounds like what makes most sense merging the three timelines into one on another video. I wouldn't mind if next Zelda games they don't do timey wimey stuff anymore. I'd love to see the vast myterious open world lands beyond Hyrule next to the North especially and the West, and new villains that are not Ganon., new adventures.

[@Mailynn393]

At this point I hope we get a DLC that actually reveals the final placement of Botw and Totk cause it's breaking my brain rn

[@WeAreTheReapers]

Crazy theory, but maybe the events in OoT where like a dragon break like in elder scrolls. All happen but all converge on one timeline. SS Zelda and Link could be the ancestors to Sonia and with people coming down from the Sky could of been the Zonai.

[@dudewithachannel1163]

I figured some of those amiibo items were replicas. They are considered legendary artifacts so it would make sense to "recreate them" I mean there's no way even in the child timeline Midnas helmet (with hair included) would just be in Hyrule. It was destroyed. Otherwise the goddess blade in totk would be a mission to substitute the master sword after it breaks My other guess was much like Wolf Link these are items from other worlds and times pulled to this one, the tunic of twilight suggests it was legit having wolf hairs in it. Perhaps you using your amiibos so carelessly in botw is what brought them to this world in the first place lmao

[@brenda0006]

In my mind it's either a convergence of timelines since hyrule warriors or a parallel universe. So the convergence could make sense in the fact that gannon/gannondorf has somehow done many things while also still being sealed by Rauru, and there are little hints and stuff of those previous events. But they're almost like shadows, maybe like a mandella effect. I also think the whole "10,000 years ago" thing is just a guess, I think they dont know for sure because of the weird time things that have happened, and I would guess they probably don't have carbon dating. So because of all the evidence historians have found of all these crazy historical events (from previous games), but somehow the sheikah stuff is older, they've decided that it happened 10,000 years ago, when in reality it was likely a lot more recent. What potentially is about that old, is the Zonai stuff, but maybe it too isnt even that old, and just appears to be since they have to account for so many historical events happening in such a short time. My reasoning for that is that some of the ruins seem to be based on Mayan (or similar) ruins in real life, many of which are only 3000-4000 years old. Which kinda checks out, if you have to smash 3x 3000-4000 years of history together and make sense of it (without carbon dating), it would look like 9000-12000 years woth of events. Idk, there are probably some flaws in this idea, which is why I also don't mind the parallel universe theory, but it's what makes the most sense for me at the moment.😊