Nintendo Reveals Huge Zelda Timeline Update!

[@commonwealthrealm]

Will the original Old Zelda timeline be saved by future top down games from Grezzo or will the Open Air Zelda team finally take the importance of a connected storyline to heart by the end of the decade?

[@hichaelhyers]

Or maybe they are of the opinion that it is not important and view the games as unique legends?

[@Punchable-Face]

I hope not. Because as fun as Zelda alor is, your essentially boxing yourself in for creative growth.. it'll get redundant. By the way, I still believe the Switch 2 will be released in 2026..

[@grawman67]

Which makes sense. I just enjoy the lore being connected and I know a lot of others do so it stinks from that perspective. But it does limit the team​@@hichaelhyers

[@Miguel-jq6ol]

I hope so I like the idea of it following on from a link to the pasts hyrule, especially with both it and link between worlds its like a trilogy of games in that same kingdom. Tbh there was a small part of me that wanted them to put it before breath of the wild and after the og calamity, its not a perfect placement but idk 10000 year gaps sound grand and epic but with it all being a reset timeline (in essence I like the convergence theory) I want some actual history there to fill the space.

[@LainK1978]

Or are you going to stop pretending that Breath of the Wild enters of the Kingdom are not already in the timeline. You just don't like where they are.

[@Ardod]

Not only a confirmation that EoW is in the downfall timeline, but also a confirmation that Null is alive in the child and adult timelines.

[@calvinbrinenestoris2357]

He could also theoretically still be alive in the downfall timeline. The Triforce uses the power of the Golden Goddesses to grant its wishes, and the Goddesses themselves were unable to fully destroy Null, they had to imprison him inside of a planet. So it's entirely possible, maybe even likely, that Link and Zelda's wish on the Triforce wasn't able to destroy Null entirely.

[@rmsgrey]

It's also confirmation that the Royal Family in Ocarina got their legends wrong, that sometime after Link Between Worlds the Master Sword and the three Pendants were lost and forgotten, along with the name "Triforce" (but not its power and connection with the Golden Goddesses), and that the Still World is not the Sacred Realm, nor Twilight Realm, nor Depths, nor Termina, nor Lorule, but is yet another different warped reflection of Hyrule. We can also deduce that Null didn't actually start opening rifts for a very, very long time after being imprisoned - a civilisation of sentient robots emerged in the Lanayru region, working with timeshift stones, died after being attacked by Bokoblins, and the region, including the Lanayru Sea, was swallowed by desert, so, at the least, centuries passed. Then after the events of Skyward Sword, a significant period of time passed before Ocarina, in which time all the business with the Picori happened, and at some point the Royal Family learned that the Triforce would split when touched by someone unbalanced. Then another long period passes before the maidens descended from the ancient sages (and which of the maidens are descended from Ruto, from Darunia, and particularly from the ageless child Saria?) are captured by Agahnim for Ganon in LttP. Another century or two passes before LBW. And in all that time, no-one ever finds a Might Crystal, nor are there any signs of rifts nor of Tri and their friends. Then Null starts actually opening rifts. So what were they doing for the thousands of years before that?

[@DemonicAdj]

​@rmsgrey Eating Tris. Or at least, taking a very long time taking chunks out of the land (maybe why it changes so much between games?) Before hatching the plan to hijack the power of the Tris to make Null's own Echoes. Rifts might be happening all the time, but Tri says they never used to get that big. So the repairs were just so fast that nobody noticed.

[@rmsgrey]

@@DemonicAdj But when a rift is repaired, it leaves Might Crystals behind, so they should have been littering the landscape if rifts had been appearing.

[@DemonicAdj]

@@rmsgrey maybe they're proportional to the size of the rift? They'd still appear, but it would be small, weird rocks. Funny gravel. I wonder if they got used for other things, or if they were just regarded as a curiosity? It was Lueberry that figured out that they were really useful against dark echo creatures, but those weren't a factor until the rifts were getting noticeable.

[@shinyy187]

A game that takes place during the war before ocarina of time would be cool. Or after spirit tracks. There’s a lot they could do with that

[@King_Shuni]

The war in tears of the kingdom past is from ocarina of time when Link met Zelda for the first time as a kid and Ganondorf is consulting with the king. Sonia being Zelda’s from oot mother and rauru is already dead. by time Link pull the sword and turned into an adult he meets him first

[@rmsgrey]

@@King_Shuni Ah yes, I remember all the Secret Stones being handed out in Ocarina... No, wait, that didn't happen. Ah, so ten-year-old Link in Ocarina is around a hundred years old and that game's Ganondorf is the replacement for the Ganondorf sealed under the TotK Hyrule Castle... No, that doesn't work for several reasons. Perhaps you could explain your theory more clearly?

[@mrgreatbigmoose]

One game idea, you play as Link's Father in a OOT prequel. Another game idea, you become the Hero's Shade.

[@mmstick]

@@King_Shuni The war in Tears of the Kingdom's past is not related to the war in Ocarina of Time / Link to the Past. Zelda's director clarified that in an interview.

[@isaac_aren]

I would kill for a sequel to Spirit Tracks that still had trains. Yes I know the tracks are all gone by the end but I can dream

[@linkzelda9734]

Since Anouma accepted the criticism of Totk narrative, I'm confident that upcoming open air zelda games will follow the original timeline more closely.

[@SalvableRuin]

So, now there are 2 timelines, one with TOTK's story and one with the original story?

[@pedrofrezza5314]

botw and totk were never outside the timeline. There were plenty of references and hints to make fans theorize about it.

[@realgamer3948]

@@pedrofrezza5314 Just because they're references from past games doesn't make them connected. The wild games treat the OG timeline as myths rather than actual events that occurred in the past.

[@pedrofrezza5314]

@@realgamer3948 and thats how they should be. hints and references are the best method to make us speculate while keeping storylines connected

[@LainK1978]

The only people thinking that causes problems with the original timeline are those who have not been paying attention to the lore in either of the two games.

[@AngelPerez-tu1nk]

Considering how vague BotW/ToTk's placement on the timeline was, I imagined Nintendo would just keep making the placement of new games equally vague. It would free them a lot, we have to admit.

[@LainK1978]

Nintendo was never vague about the placement of either BotW or TotK. They were very clear about their placement. They are at the very end of all timelines to the point where there could be tens of thousands of years between them and the rest of the timeline. When and how the timelines merge into one again is the only vague thing.

[@mkjjoe]

@@LainK1978 Yeah so it's vague, I don't think anyone questioned it was in the future. Extra confusion stems from TOTK repeating "first king" and "Hyrule foundation", Fujibayashi merely acknowledging the re-founding theory as a possibility but not confirming, and Master Works expanding on lore as early as the world's genesis with the Goddesses, Hylia and secret stones (not including EOW lore) but omitting other games and the Triforce (though we know it's represented several times in game).

[@Gigi4u]

​@@mkjjoe I hope the trifoce returns in the next 3d zelda game. It's absence in TOTK was strange especially with all the trifoce imagery in the two games. We did finally get Ganondorf and dungeons after years long hiatus so I hope we see elements like the trifoce return next. I don't want the next game to just be open world OOT, it of course should be a very different and distinct game but it should have elements from older titles integrated in itself. It should be similar to how dungeons and Proper dungeon bosses came back in TOTK after being absent in BOTW.

[@mkjjoe]

@@Gigi4u Proper dungeons didn't really come back but I get what you mean, I hope they adapt more fleshed out aspects of older games into the modern open world. EOW was a nice in-between with a better structure.

[@lux0rd01]

​@@mkjjoefor both totk and botw I personally look at it more as its own timeline like a multiverse rather than part of the existing timeline

[@AidanBurnett-y8g]

All I really want is for Zelda’s one and two to be remade so that they are actually playable

[@stripeback2024]

Inb4 "we already have that, it's the open world games". (Real talk, I'd love to see the first two games reimagined.)

[@AidanBurnett-y8g]

@ its crazy how links awakening has 2 remakes and the first game has 0

[@hist150project5]

The problem is those games are so primitive that in order for a remake to do well they would have to be reimagined to the point that it's basically a new game.

[@stripeback2024]

@@hist150project5 Some things would have to be reworked, but not everything. The premise of each game (reassembling the Triforce of Wisdom to fight Ganon in Zelda 1 and the long trial to obtain the Triforce of Courage in Zelda 2) wouldn't need to change at all for instance.

[@DemonKingNemo]

​@@AidanBurnett-y8g Links Awakening wasn't remade twice

[@nworder4life]

With all the obvious connections to ALTTP Hyrule, this was an easy 1 for Nintendo to place. The fact that we even got a placement for a brand new game, is very heartening that Aounuma actually cares about making future games with a timeline in mind. Maybe now we can actually get some consistent storytelling.

[@tynettedyer8605]

I wish they would make a zelda game that goes through multiple timelines. Imagine going to tp time then ocarina's, botw, skyward swords...

[@JasonMiller-rp8cp]

Not exactly what your looking for but how about Hyrule Warriors?

[@DemonicAdj]

The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Ages.

[@calvinbrinenestoris2357]

@@tynettedyer8605 This would be AWESOME, although since Ocarina and Skyward Sword are pre-split and BOTW is post-split, those most likely wouldn't be included. In reality, you'd likely be traveling between Twilight Princess Hyrule, Wind Waker Hyrule, and A Link To the Past/NESZelda's Hyrule.

[@JakeRider-gl8fo]

God, I'm so glad Nintendo doesn't listen to fans. You all have the worst ideas

[@calvinbrinenestoris2357]

@@JakeRider-gl8fo World hopping? I feel like that would be a good next step for open-air Zelda.

[@insanemakaioshin]

I want a game about merging the 3 timelines set before the TotK past segments and another game as a sequel to Skyward Sword, focusing on the building of Hyrule and defeating the Interloper army led by Majora, with the Picori blade.

[@calvinbrinenestoris2357]

If only... Just keep in mind that these stories would need to presented in a way so that they work on their own plot-wise, even if they do use lore from other games. That way, newer players won't be left in the dark.

[@stdesy]

Yeah, a game explaining the merge would really help. Not to mention make me so damn happy

[@Rose-yx6jq]

I say that Hyrule Warriors should be canon.

[@calvinbrinenestoris2357]

@@Rose-yx6jq Didn't everyone go home after the events of that game?

[@Rose-yx6jq]

@calvinbrinenestoris2357 yes but there was a Game Theory episode that explained to very thoroughly that the events of the game very concisely would provide plenty of evidence of why and how all of the timelines converge through the events of the story.

[@enforcerridley158]

To be honest, this timeline placement is obvious. But this is another check against people claiming there is no Zelda Timeline, but they'll continue to cope.

[@rmsgrey]

I've never come across anyone claiming that there is no document published by Nintendo that's labeled as the Zelda Timeline. What I have seen plenty of is people pointing out that the official Zelda timeline is nonsense.

[@abuttnugget6753]

@@rmsgrey Never heard of ZFG eh?

[@DillonMaynard]

​@@rmsgreyThere have always been tons of people who still claim that the timeline isn't technically real and that it only exists to appease the fans

[@theaverageguy3295]

​@DillonMaynard my personal opinion on the timeline is i don't think they're actually timeliness but rather each game is a legend being told. Some games being direct sequels of others could be someone adding to a story someone else has said. Like campfire stories

[@DillonMaynard]

@@theaverageguy3295 That one's cool. It's more of a metatextual interpretation, and pretty much what BOTW proposes.

[@kish45]

Now if only the next Zelda update is Wind Waker and Twilight Princess coming to the Switch.

[@robertw31968]

I would be so happy

[@av_8596]

And hopefully a way for us to play the 3ds games as well.

[@ScottClark50]

"Respecting that they are connected" is a wild thing to say about BOTW/TOTK

[@yasmeens.h9846]

When I saw the EoW's timeline placement I immediately thought we are approaching the golden era mentioned in Zelda 2. I would really like to see a game where the entire scheme surrounding the hidden Triforce is expanded upon. What kind of terrible thing happened that would lead the King or Queen of Hyrule to hide part of the Triforce? Something worthy of a full game. An adventure, where Hyrule is saved from a catastrophe and the decision to split the Triforce is made.

[@sodajesus8128]

See where I would place BotW and TotK, isn't in the timeline, there's a big reason for this. Cause Skyward Sword also has a Dragon Break, cause the Hero of the Skies destroyed the Imprisoned, and then went back in time and sealed Demise within the Master Sword. That created an alternate timeline where Skyward Sword in that timeline never happened, the Triforce is still hidden, Link and Zelda either they weren't needed and waited to be seen after the Skyloftian's either went to the ground or Hylia knew it had been time to put the island's from the sky to the ground. Cause the Triforce is never seen without it being a symbol that the Royal family has and the design's of their outfits. The only time you actually see the Triforce is when Zelda calls upon her sealing power to lock away Calamity Ganon and when she blasts the Calamity before it vanishes completely, it could also be seen that the Triforce had also been in Zelda the entire time cause Link and Ganondorf in TotK never get the piece's of the Triforce as they usual have. Zelda had the full set and made a wish secretly to protect the one's she love, it's how she kept Calamity Ganon sealed away with her age and appearance changing. Think about it, those in Skyloft due to Demise being gone within that timeline could of been turned to Zonai to help those below, and Hylian's soon came to be as when you look into the past they seem a bit more primal but reasonable as they are looking to survive. The Secret Stone's can't really be the Triforce as in each game when there is a chunk of the Triforce found it wasn't called a stone nor did it had different colors unlike the Secret Stone's, it may of been their way to keep the Triforce out as it is still hidden away in that temple no where to be seen again. There's no mention of it in the history or their books as usual of the Golden Treasure to grant any wish, why isn't there? Because the Hero of the Skies who went into the past to seal Demise that past created an alternate timeline to never mention the Triforce once again. It's only shown twice in BotW and never shown in TotK, so I have a strong theory and idea that Ganondorf in TotK isn't the same Ganondorf from the other timelines cause they knew of the Triforce however if they were all "connected" then wouldn't TotK's Ganondorf know of it and not of these Secret Stone's? Like wouldn't someone go after the thing that can give wishes rather than giving power and if Ganondorf controlled the Triforce he'd be the ruler no matter what, cause have it back in BotW where his minion's the monster's be looking through it since they can spread all over, and even have the Guardian's look for it. So TotK's Ganondorf isn't the same as the one's we see in other timeline's, Zelda has the Triforce which she believes is her sealing power having woken up then went dormant after keeping the Calamity away for a hundred years, and Link having the Master sword and in BotW it's the only time Fi communicates to Zelda as it may of been the time she has been woken up after the Hero of the Sky placed her in the stone. It kind of makes sense, cause think about the one who first sealed the Calamity away. The golden blonde priestess born with the Blood of the Goddess and then the Red headed Hero with the Master Sword who sealed away the Calamity 10,000 years before that. As we know Link and Zelda in any timeline remain the same, blonde to dirty blonde hair, blue eyes, and a Hylian a tad different looks yes but, it's only in BotW and TotK that Link wasn't in the same form when fighting and sealing the Calamity then with red hair and being a hybrid Zonai, and with it being shown that the Priestess has the Triforce but no one knows what it is and assumes it is just how their sealing magic looks.

[@firionkaiser8291]

Its supposed to be a closed loop. (Its not perfect but it is a closed loop).

[@reifuTD]

What might be fun, if they remake/retell Zelda 2 but as either an expansive top down or a 3D open air game. Also I'd recon the connection between Zelda 1 and Zelda 2 or combine the games stories where you play Zelda 1, you finish it and find your self in the expanded world of Zelda 2. But yeah there a a lot they could do with a Zelda 1/2 retelling.

[@NitwitsWorld]

A remake bundle pack for both games would be a genius move on their part 😅

[@devonm042690]

You can't retcon the connection between Zelda 1 and Zelda 2, Zelda 2 is a direct sequel to Zelda 1. A major part of the story of Zelda 2 is that Link still has the Triforce of Wisdom that he reforged throughout the first game and the Triforce of Power that he got from Ganon's ashes at the end of the first game. That whole quest is him proving himself worthy of claiming the Triforce of Courage Heck, the map of Zelda 1 even recognizably exists in Zelda 2, albeit not in the same state.

[@ShadowWalker-ng1it]

well pleasantly surprised I would have wagered that even with all the connections Nitendo would still just shove echos of wisdom somewhere in the botw/totk distant past rather than between 2 older games

[@THEREALmethebat]

For those of you who have botw/totk as their first Zelda gaming experience are more likely to not care about the timeline because those games and lore are connected to liking Zelda for them. As of now they don't fit on the timeline so it isn't as important. For those of us whose initial experience with the Zelda franchise is a game that does fall into the timeline with lore from other games, we are going to hold a little more importance to the timeline and the lore. It's all a matter of perspective.

[@chooongusbug724]

I've been playing Zelda since the series first started...It's the zoomer fan base that cares about the timeline while us old heads don't, don't flip the narrative because you played your Dad's copy of Twilight Princess lol

[@THEREALmethebat]

@@chooongusbug724 I have also played since the first game and I care about the lore of the game very much. I’ve just spent more time with it. Why do you think genZers care about the lore more than us who have grown up with it?

[@GreakyGeek]

@@chooongusbug724their comment still makes sense in your case though. you started zelda when the timeline wasn't an aspect of the story and franchise. people who started playing a few years later were thrown into a world where each story is connected, and that impacted how they interacted with the franchise. now we've come full circle, where botw and totk first timers are starting with a story that isnt connected to anything so they have no interest in the timeline.

[@chooongusbug724]

@GreakyGeek the whole point is the timeline was BS, Miyamoto never cared about it and when Aonuma did try and focus on it, Zelda hit the worst era it's ever been in (GC/Wii era). Nintendo only made the timeline in HH to sell books to a small group of Zelda fans and y'all are absolutely the vocal minority when it comes to caring about it OP's point is irrelevant when they says they always cared about it, even when the first Zelda was allegedly their first game...How can you care about something that didn't exist? Homie is a zoomer who probably started with Twilight Princess or Skyward Sword because I can promise you, people my age who still play Zelda think the timeline is dumb and misses the point of Zelda in the first place

[@hist150project5]

@@chooongusbug724 The worst era of Zelda? Wind Waker and Twilight Princess are two of the best games in the series.

[@four-en-tee]

The Legend of Zelda timeline really is a "choose your own adventure" from Nintendo's standpoint.

[@robingrooms7534]

THIS IS A GOOD DAY FRIENDS! Echoes of Wisdom deserves to go down in series history for giving so many of us hope for the longevity of Zelda going forward. Of course there's no telling how meticulous or careful the open air titles will be for greater Zelda, but after 10 years this is the first time I'm feeling like the Zelda team might not want to leave the good that came before in the dust. EoW isn't a perfect game but the effort to maintain balance with old and new still feels nothing short of miraculous. I know for a fact I will be able to appreciate the Wild era more if I know it wasn't a death knell for 2D Zelda, Zelda worldbuilding, and Zelda dungeons.

[@Jonathan-em8ld]

What makes it easy if you consider this as a multiverse system due to specific outcomes in events. I still consider totk as a reset/new time-line of convergence.

[@DemonicAdj]

I like the convergence idea. It explains all the salt, and Hyrule's "founding" can be the cancelling out of the Flood and New Hyrule's founding.

[@stripeback2024]

@@DemonicAdj That means my favorite game isn't canon. I don't like that...

[@DemonicAdj]

@@stripeback2024 It might still be there, just unsettled. So maybe still covered in rails. The refounding seems like the way to reconcile "it was flooded, and it wasn't", and have a founding and still have a Hyrule in the same spot. Oh yeah, we've got islets named for people in Phantom Hourglass. So it sorta happened?

[@francoperalta5986]

Its not like Echoes of Wisdom's placement wasn't obvious. They're using AlttP hyrule for the 3rd time, and its been expanded and built upon. Think thats the first cue that A Link Between Worlds preceded it.

[@firionkaiser8291]

4th time if you count ancient stone tablets

[@Axecon1]

The Zelda team works on concepts & gameplay first, then will take story and lore into consideration afterwards. The timeline has always been an afterthought. If a game connects to the known timeline easily, then that works out great, as in the case of Zelda Echoes of Wisdom. If not, then it simply doesn't (Zelda BOTW/TOTK).

[@agamernamedjoe]

Honestly the placement of Echoes of Wisdom being after Link between worlds makes the most sense to me

[@n1nj4l1nk]

It makes no sense at all being after ALBW. Go look at the desert section that's in ALttP, EoW and ALBW.

[@SalvableRuin]

A Link Between Worlds*

[@DemonicAdj]

​@n1nj4l1nk Ganon, though. Nobody in EoW knows who the heck that is. He's just "that blue creature". And the implications of the Still World causing things to fade suggests that Ganon may no longer be with us. (And he doesn't have the Triforce of Power, the whole thing was at the end of EoW)

[@malic_zarith]

I hope that Nintendo eventually puts botw and totk at the end of all 3 timelines where we always thought it was. I just assume Ganondorf was reborn and Hyrule was refounded long after all 3.

[@ZoniferConundrum]

I thought it was confirmed a long time ago that the timelines became one once again and BOTW/TOTK take place after all the games.

[@malic_zarith]

@ZoniferConundrum There was a recent timeline that just randomly placed botw and totk on the side as if they were totally unconnected. That's what I'm referring to. One has to use some creativity to connect the lore of totk to the older games. We basically have a new Ganon and a new Hyrule in totk. Of course, the game references characters like Ruto and has tons of callbacks to the old games. It's really hard to say it's not connected.

[@leegregory7893]

I always felt it fit the most after either triforce heroes or after link between worlds based on the landmarks, references to a link to the past and a link between worlds dungeons. Also you see links house that was being built in a link to the past and completed in a link between worlds and it's still there in echos untouched. Helps explain the start of the legend of zelda on nes also since she is in a coma for spoiler reasons shown in this game. I wonder if this link is the same link as a link between worlds and triforce hero making it a trio game of the same link or is this link basically a prequel to the nes games for obvious reasons while also being another trio of the same link. Im happy the timeline is still around as its so important. Imagine if they remake both of the nes games after this for the switch 2 and fully give it the awakening/echos treatment. Basically revamping them to a different style. Especially the adventures of link which needs it bad. Maybe combine the first 2 games into one bigger game where once you beat the first game and technically start the second game hyrule opens up more. Expand on the lore and such.

[@eraticfx]

I would love one that goes thru all of them... a peak of everyone of them. Its time Zelda got their Multiverse On lol

[@novustalks7525]

Aoc/botw/totk are the reunification timeline

[@tails230]

I would like to see what caused Hyrule at the beginning lore of TOTK/BOTW into the state it became before The Zonai came to bring a new Hyrule. I always imagined something big happened, that turned the legends of old into forgotten myths. Perhaps some kind of great cataclysm.

[@rilstrup83]

Yes

[@mrgreatbigmoose]

I want to see a sequel to Echoes: you play as the Zelda that has to break up the TriForce of Wisdom into 8 pieces and seal them in 8 Dungeons. You will begin with all your heart pieces and have to give them up for a Hero who will one day follow. It's basically a prequel to Zelda #1.

[@firionkaiser8291]

So basically right before you start playing as Link in Zelda 1 and by that extent after the Tragedy of Princess Zelda I which happened before Zelda 1.

[@TheHyruleArchives]

Definitely called that Echoes of Wisdom timeline placement :)

[@Chezmeralda]

I wish that the wild/tears era games gets worked in tbh. Honestly, it could work. They put so much space between the beginning of that history and where the last of the mainline games ends that it could still be done. If you think about the beginning of skyward sword, there's implications of a successful era with hylia before her battle with demise, seen in the sections with all the time stones and the little robots. The beginning of the wilds era feels a lot like that, because there's the era of the zonai before new Hyrule's founding with Rauru and Sonia, and then the era of the sheikah thousands of years before the start of botw. I don't think they would be thinking about how to connect those games right now, but i really hope they do, especially with echoes implying that the people of Hyrule don't know that the symbol of the goddesses as the Triforce, and the lack of mentioning it in the wilds era. It's still present obviously, because zelda has it, but she doesn't even know what it's called, she refers to it as a sealing power, sonia called it a sacred power. They should definitely build more on the Triforce fading into history. It might even be a great way to explain how the 3 branches merge, causing the erasure of that history. Idk i just really want those games to fit lol I love all of the zelda games so much so i really don't want them to be disconnected from each other

[@simonhughes2902]

My favorite part of this is the news of more top down games, pretty much everyone was saying they should just do alternating releases to give have lots of Zelda but you never have to feel like it's the same thing again and again

[@hikaru9624]

Ain't no arguing against this since it comes from tne horse's mouth. I'm looking forward to the future of the zelda lore and timelines!

[@gabrieldiaz2058]

There should be a Zelda game where Zelda is the protagonist in the Child Link timeline (taking place right after the events of Twilight Princess) and a Zelda game where Zelda is the protagonist in the Adult Link timeline (taking place after the events of Spirit Tracks). There should also be a direct sequel to Tears of the Kingdom where Link and Zelda get married, then one day later, Zelda gets dragged to the depths by Ganondorf’s Soul who also throws Link into the sky while corrupting him with gloom and reducing him to 3 max hearts and 1 full max stamina wheel, Link then being saved from death by a Light Dragon and being taken to the Room of Recovery on an island directly above Hyrule Castle.

[@LSSTyranus]

would be amazing to see a Zelda game in the future where all timelines converge...

[@sammylane21]

I wish game-wise the story would match what happens in the game because I don't get how Gannon wins if Link beats him in the end of a game? Like in A Link To The Past, in this timeline Gannon wins how?

[@bushwickerman]

the cadence between your videos never changes huh? ahah no hate. im sure theres people who love the consistency. good content!

[@themattster]

Hearing that they'll be making more open world TLOZ games makes me seriously wonder how they're going to top TOTK

[@foghammer9767]

I'm waiting on Ganondorf to get the Bowser treatment. One of these numerous ancient evils (Null, Malice, Demise, whatever...) comes along, and is actually more of a threat than Zelda and Link can handle, which makes it by default more than Ganon can handle. So he teams up with them. I imagine it would be less tongue-in-cheek than the Mario games does it, though. Maybe the new evil does something that messes with the reincarnation cycle, so Zelda is the one that is born evil and Link and Ganondorf have to team up to reset the cycle, leading to a heart-wrenching sacrifice by Ganondorf, who (with the power of the triforce, in the end) sees all of the evil his predecessors have done in the end, and gives himself up to retake his place in the reincarnation cycle so that Zelda doesn't have to suffer in that way. Not that I've given it any thought.

[@Koipo-z2x]

This changes EVERYTHING!!!!!!!!

[@RestlessWandererOriginal]

We need an open air world filled with dungeons and ruins of dungeons which can be accessed by time travel for example, and we need more hints at older Zelda titles with recognizable ruins for example why wasn't there a mansion ruin in the Hebra region in botw and totk as a connection to tp? Missed opportunity Botw and totk had too many random ruins which all looked the same and had no meaning whatsoever

[@danield1262]

A game set in all 3 timelines would be cool and crazy! You could hop between them and they would have different styles(top-down, realistic and cel shade toon style). It should end with the merging of the 3 timelines into the 1 that leads into botw

[@lukejones7164]

A Zelda game that takes place during the Interloper War would be awesome

[@LainK1978]

Stop pretending that Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom are not in the timeline. They are.

[@acid1225]

If they are in the timeline, where in the timeline do they fall?

[@Ahouro]

​@@acid1225The end.

[@acid1225]

@@Ahouro how are those games being at the end of the timeline fit in with contradicting backstory of Ganondorf and how Hyrule was formed?

[@Ahouro]

@acid1225 Totk Ganondorf is a reincarnation that was born after Oot Ganondorf die and Rauru's hyrule is a refounding.

[@acid1225]

@ Source: trust me bro.

[@KoRncRaft]

I've always taken the LOZ stories being oral retellings of stories. Not a set deffenitive timeline. Just telling a story relating it to the world around the teller.

[@goodnightmyprince6734]

Same; these Zelda fans take the lore to seriously and ruin the fun for everyone it's not how they like the game

[@abdieljove2011]

Good for you. You’re wrong. You’ve been wrong since Zelda 2 was a direct sequel to Zelda 1 and ALttP was officially advertised as a prequel. There has always been a timeline. Literally always. Go back and find old interviews. You’ll also see Miyamoto calling OoT a prequel to ALttP etc. It’s perfectly fine to NOT care about the timeline. Most of the games are written as stand alone. Only with references. And the plot is secundary to Nintendo, only an extra thing they add to drive their gameplay ideas along. But the "there’s no timeline, they’re just retelling!" things has always been fanon nonesense.

[@foghammer9767]

@@abdieljove2011 Some games are direct sequels, yes, but just comparing the maps in Zelda 1 and 2 makes it clear that continuity was the last thing they cared about. They are only connected because Nintendo says so. Even Tears of the Kingdom seems to forget the vast majority of what happened in Breath of the Wild in the span of only a few years.

[@Americandreamofcreditdebt]

their building to a link between dimensions (timelines). Minish Cap remake but when u go mini it's top down and big mode is open world

[@MaximeLafreniere433]

The placement of everything about EOW was easy to figure out, but we needed Nintendo to officialise it anyway. I must say, I didn't even consider EOW would lead to the Golden Era. I knew it was after TH, but I never imagined that the Golden Era would come right after it. Now we just have to wait for the Wild Games to have the same treatment from Nintendo. The only reason we haven't gotten an answer yet is because of TOTK. BOTW alone is easy to place, but TOTK's past complicates everything and is too tied to BOTW for them to not be placed together. (Maybe even the spin-offs will get a place, AOC at the very least should while the other main ones wouldn't be too hard).

[@rexellate]

I wish we would get that Sheik game that focused on what Zelda / Sheik went through during the 7 years of Link's absence during Ocarina of Time.

[@rilstrup83]

Yes

[@rockowlgamer631]

I wonder if they will make a game between Echoes of Wisdom and Original Zelda game, since the river Zora become enemies in the original game. I just hope we get another game where Zelda is the companion for Link and they explore Hyrule together kind of like how Bioshock Infinite did it, leaning into a Co-op game for once OR just port Spirit Tracks and update its control layout so we could play it on the next console.

[@rockmanlamar]

We need a third Hero of Time game, preferably an open world like BOTW/TOTK, but without the breakable weapons, more like the weapon system on OOT/MM.

[@hyper_lynx]

The Rupee theory is alright but honestly convergence always makes me a little itchy. At this point, I think a good a approach is to have the older game timeline and structure be real in the context of each older game but fictional from the context of TotK -> BotW. Making the past games fiction in the Era of Wilds games would allow for all the weird inclusions and exclusions to make sense. Skyward Sword becomes holy text for the Hylian religion. OoT becomes a retelling of the Imprisoning War, but with a new divine artifact since the Secret Stones were, well, secret. That doesn't mean the classic timeline is useless, though. If we switch into the context of those stories, we find a more mythical Hyrule with lots of real threats, real events, and real time shenanigans.

[@mimiquoi7380]

I am glad that the timeline is not "dead". Even If this timeline is far from perfect I am kinda attached to it

[@JanusHoW]

Considering EoW's place in the timeline, I now believe that the Ganon we get in the original NES game is an entirely different individual from the one that was in A Link to the Past, Oracles and A Link Between Worlds. From what I understand, Demise's curse is that an incarnation of him will always arise to ruin Hyrule, which means Ganon CAN reincarnate if no one resurrects him first. He may not have the memories of his previous incarnation, but he will always have that drive to conquer.

[@stripeback2024]

IIRC the curse in the Japanese script is moreso a promise that Link and Zelda's bloodlines will have to contend with the Demon Tribe eternally, which makes me think Ganon is more of a successor than a true rebirth.

[@JanusHoW]

@@stripeback2024 Fair enough, but what does that have to do with LoZ/AoL's Ganon being different from the Ganon in the rest of the Downfall timeline or not? Perhaps "Ganon" became a title for the Demon Tribe's chosen ruler and incarnation of Demise's hatred over the years, and the one who has that title always manifests as a boar demon in some form.

[@kukikukito]

I preferred the times where hyrule historia wasn't another attempt for cashgrab and fans did their own timeline theories, since the devs weren't grabbed by the balls to fit everything into a coherent slot on each of those

[@polleonardtaliesinhywel6986]

I would love to see a Zelda game that has a trinity of world-ending villains based on the Nihon San Dai Aku Yokai (Three Most Evil Yokai of Japan) and shows the point of reconvergence or recreation by the Goddesses at or towards the end of the game. Maybe have a Hero, a Priestess/Princess, and a Sage surviving from each of the three timelines as playable characters, working together (possibly across parallel timelines) to fight back would make for an interesting epic, I would think.

[@stripeback2024]

The Skull Kid is already a more sympathetic Shuten-doji when you think about it.

[@foghammer9767]

This could be really interesting! Especially if they are reimagined as some kind of foil-version of the triforce trio. (It's a shame that the three aspects of the triforce don't lend themselves to threatening opposites [impotence, foolishness, and cowardice don't make for strong villains].)

[@thelegendofthem6120]

I would like another mature themed Zelda game like Majoras Mask. I wouldn't mind a sequel or a part 3 which would be the war after Ocarina of Time and before Twilight Princess.

[@Bad616]

Idc what anyone says I love the Zelda timeline and I hope future games are connected to it

[@REEFDVR]

Leave whats done alone. A new Zelda is needed.

[@DillonMaynard]

I'm hoping we get an open air game in the child timeline soon. It's been too long.

[@PJDAltamirus0425]

Well, so... the reason timeline and plot wise why ganon is so different in EOW and ALITP compared is LOZ is because ganon has basically died in EOW and basically escaped disintegration or been revived by the triforce wish? I got the feeling in EOW that ganon is EOW is dead, this the first open a null portal with the trident and the next ganon we fight is a echo.

[@MrJJLand]

The only question left is: Is the Encyclopedia's worst damage to the timeline (everyone's favorite asterisk) officially dead again to fix the problems it produced?

[@KBroly]

I still think they made a split off of SS's ending for BotW/TotK, solely based on TotK. But I, and many people, aren't happy with how TotK handles the story/timeline.

[@infebris]

why not? you want everything to be the same all the time? why cant people just accept that its a different game. if you want the same just play other zelda games

[@syferz]

I don't think the convergence theory is needed, putting botw and totk in the downfall timeline solves their placement just fine, the other two timelines are just over, Ganondorf is defeated in both of those and never comes back in a later game. Ganon does in four swords adventure, but that was clearly a sequel to the downfall timeline's four swords, and just sort of overlooked on the timeline IMO.

[@zachtwilightwindwaker596]

I had a feeling it took place after A Link Between Worlds.

[@bass-brigade]

Barely anyone if EOW knows Link, and no one outside of Hyrule knows Princess Zelda.

[@darkdragonmedeus705]

Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom being separate is probably just a temporary place holder; Nintendo likes to tease the fanbase and pretty much watch over what fan theories they come up with before essentially confirming things or decide what to do based on feedback. But maybe, we'll eventually have a game that explains how the three timelines got merged into one, and what eventually leads up to the events taking place 10,000 years before Breath of the Wild and King Rauru of the Zonai race being the foundation of a new Hyrule.

[@infebris]

since totk's logo is an orobouros, it would make sense to out it at the end AND beginning of the timeline, as like a time loop type scenario. all the timelines merge into botw after hundreds of thousands of years, and the events of and after TOTK lead to the return hylia and her making of the great sky islands

[@Dragoon_Kenji27]

I want a Remake of Twilight Princess, I know they hate that game apparently, but if they were to do so or even Majora's mask Like FF 7 then they would get Hella cash and a ton of people would buy it for sure. It's a win win

[@av_8596]

I'm still waiting for Nintendo to give us a way to play the 3DS games again!

[@ryderdeston8107]

Interesting this looks really good

[@handgun559]

Im just surprised they havemt started a new Timeline by now. Anouma started his timeline by accidentally retconning the first directors timeline, then he started abandoning the timeline for BotK. So i really assumed they were gonna create a new timeline lol. It seemed like a natural next step. Granted, if they have ideas for the ild timeline, go for it, but the timeline definitely is restrictive, in a way. So, abandoning all thise ideas for a new timeline would work. They just need to rip off the bandaid.

[@JohnLoutsenhizer]

I don't care about any of the timeline nonsense. I'll play almost any LoZ that realeases (I say almost because I don't care about Cadence and Warriors since they simply aren't my style of game) and have a blast with them. That's what I'm here for. It doesn't matter to me in the slightest where they fall relative to each other time-wise.

[@SarafYT]

I've been having more and more issues with official timeline placements. ALTTP has issues if you try to connect the events of its backstory to OOT, there's not enough evidence to put TMC early in the timeline (seriously, the hat is the weakest piece of evidence and is completely invalidated by SS and ST), and now we have a game set before BOTW that has no male Gerudo in recorded history (which contradicts Gerudo biology as it was layed out in OOT, FSA, and TOTK). It honestly makes more sense for EOW to take place after TAOL since the Ganon from TLOZ was clearly not an echo. Only way I can see this working is if TLOZ Ganon wasn't a Gerudo, and that's a huge can of worms.

[@warllockmasterasd9142]

Looking at the timelines. it feels like the Kingdom is destroyed every few centuries.

[@lindenstromberg6859]

I love the open world 3D Zelda games. I love the top down Zelda games (especially the classic era ones) But I don't love the dungeon crawler 3D Zelda games from Ocarina of Time to Skyward Sword. While the other Zelda games do indeed have temples, they're almost completely about challenges and generally don't take very long, while the OoT to SS 3D Zelda games are more about wandering the dungeon and finding the key/switch - and the dungeons are much much longer than the temples of the top down Zelda games, or the shrines of modern Zelda; although, not longer because there's more to do, as most of the time the only thing you're doing is wandering around/backtracking... as though trying to find your lost car keys in a maze-like dungeon that you got tired of a long time ago. It's not the same feeling of wonder and exploration that you get from playing top down Zelda and modern 3D Zelda. In short, I love the adventure Zelda games; but I don't like the dungeon crawler Zeldas.

[@MrShockzine]

I assumed it would take place around the same time as lttp or lbw but in a different timeline.

[@haileeraestout5567]

I'm Hoping We See BOTH Zelda 1 And 2 Get Remake

[@infebris]

i'd love to see them make zelda 2 actually fun to play in modern times, typically strictly side scroller platformers aren't super interesting imo

[@Andrew-zv4fm]

This is really confusing. Maybe you can have an in-depth video of the timeline as of now.

[@countryclub1113]

I really wanted to like TOTK more. Zelda's design looks beautiful in this game and Link looks cool too and you can do some great things in the game, but the storyline with Rauru, who's a Zonai, as the first king of Hyrule, and the first queen is Sonia, a Hylian and they're married? That's pretty weird and stretching the Zelda lore for me, and the narrative overall is a bit confusing. I couldn't get into it. Their connection to Zelda is never fully explained either. I think that should have been more clear and not vague. To me, TOTK is a Zelda game that doesn't completely feel like a Zelda game. Don't get me wrong, it's a good game, and it IS a Zelda game, but it's just not completely feeling like Zelda to me.

[@alidashti2633]

Played this game and I had a great time with one of the best games of 2024 .

[@coryhafer7285]

Are most top down Zelda games in downfall timeline? Seems appropriate to me if so. Because that is sort of like you the player, are a divine force which is influencing the hero to help correct the world/timeline. Where as in the open world games you are the hero. As if you are in the present and the future is at risk by your actions. In downfall, the results of failure, the hero needs divine help.

[@icedlemongamer]

personally i really do not care about the timeline as long as the games are good, and i wish echos was not just an "echo" of a link to the past in map elements etc from another review i just saw, and the open air zeldas being linked by theory is cooler to me than a stale placement like echoes'

[@skywrd_]

the downfall of the kingdom was bc of all those beds

[@DemonicAdj]

The Era of the Sandman soon followed

[@rockmanlamar]

I always viewed BOTW as events that just happen to take place in all 3 timelines.

[@IRanOutOfPhrases]

The timeline has always been a joke. I dont get the fanbase's insistence that its really a thing. Until a game comes out that ACTUALLY does something with the alleged timeline, these games have nothing to do with one another. They're just retellings of the same legend.

[@markindustriez]

Where is this updated timeline? I went to the official Nintendo Zelda website and it doesn’t have EoW BotW TotK in the timeline at all. PS I’m looking at the website from my phone so maybe some stuff isn’t showing as the timeline page is a very linear page

[@gregtom3272]

all i ask is for a simple and better explination on how the down fall time line came to be, while it is obvious that this time line may not be the original, but i'm fine with either way, some thing along the lines of Zelda sending Link when he was nearly dying after he was defeated, to before the events of OOT, probably causing a memory loss to Link from sending while nearly dead, thus making the adult time line or even some instability in the time stream that caused a second time line to exist when when Zelda sent link to the child one, as a result of his previous back and forth, ( AKA, getting the eyes of truth, and later the gloves from the spirit temple) would make for a MASSIVE AMOUNT OF DIFFERENCE that could put this debate to rest, while i'm on board with the first option since it's easier to understand. i'm tired of how much disrespect does the connection between OOT and ALLTP get, when i say multiple times that OOT was made to be a prequel to ALLTP, and beside, people do not seem to understand THAT THERE WAS NO TIME LINE SPLIT IN THE FIRST PLACE, IT'S DIFFERENT REALITIES BEING CREATED FROM MEDDLING WITH TIME TRAVEL, nor does hyrule historia claim how the down fall time line created, but "when" it was made, other than that, that's all i have to say, sorry for this long rambling, and great video by the way.

[@QuasarEE]

If you carefully examine Link's actions in OoT you find he does in fact create 3 timelines. There are the two everybody knows about, and then there's a third that Link keeps returning to from the future that stems from the child timeline, but during the period of time between when Link pulled the Master Sword and Ganondorf attacks Hyrule castle again with intent and means to destroy it (having returned from the Sacred Realm with the Triforce of Power). Link alters that period of time by, among other things, clearing out the Bottom of the Well and the child-side Spirit Temple, removing their artifacts back to the adult timeline. This is *not* the same reality that he returns to at the end that forms the actual child timeline, because in that case Zelda sends him back in time to just before he pulls the Master Sword. In my head canon at least, this is the direct opening for the Downfall timeline.

[@gregtom3272]

@QuasarEE but you have to remember, that Naboru who is a gerudo character in Ocarina Of Time still remember him in adult time line even after link clear that child portion of spirit temple, so i don't think that count

[@kbknowno5679]

These videos are fun to watch and think about ! I love Zelda games ! They are fun to play, lots to do in any game, and fights don't drive me nuts ! So, in real life, I do Not care about time line. Make them fun with lots to do, and I will not complain if they step on each others toes ! ❤❤❤😊😊😊❤❤❤

[@Milkyway-Galaxy11]

Zelda on switch doesn’t have an original hurdle Breath of the wild is a wiiu game ported to switch Years of the kingdom is a sequel set in the same rule Echoes of wisdom is more fleshed out ATTP and ALBW hurtle

[@Scharfster]

Just realized that botw/totk has no trifoce but has the master sword, eow has the triforce but no master sword. maybe next zelda game will have both? or NEITHER ._.

[@greenlight2323]

Botw and Totk being in the Timeline or Not doesnt Change anything about the Game being crazy fun and extremely good developed and polished. I actually dont Care. And i think only a fraction of people really care about it.

[@mobes8876]

Amen

[@hist150project5]

TotK is the least fun game in the series

[@greenlight2323]

@@hist150project5 pfff. ASK my 8 year old son. He is still playing it. I Just started my 4th playthrough this Weekend. I think big streamers and real Games Like dunkey and moistcritikal are better sources to see If a Game is fun and good or Not.

[@The_Ostrich]

The Zelda timeline is broken beyond fixing and its a waste of time trying to make sense of any of it by this point cause it literally makes no sense. Right after Nintendo gave the impression they are actually trying to add some consistency starting with Skyward Sword and then BotW, they release Tears of the Kingdom which retcons anything that ever happened in the last 40 years of the franchise, so its clear Nintendo doesn't care about a "bigger picture" and we really shouldn't bother with it anymore either. Each Zelda game has its own contained story unrelated to any other Zelda game, unless its a direct sequel.

[@grawman67]

I think TOTK makes sense if we look at it as either far in the future and that kingdom isn't the one we are founded in Skyward Sword or as a new timeline

[@Punchable-Face]

Yep, unless it's a direct sequel.. but honestly, I'd like to have a new game every time. Because we'll it's a New game..lol 😂

[@hikaru9624]

Its not that confusing. I find its straight forward.

[@markisbr]

I think that at this point it is clear that BotW and therefore TotK are just a reboot of the saga, completely outside the chronology. It makes sense as not only the story but the whole gameplay has nothing to do with the rest of the franchise.

[@SALTYTOAD000]

​​@@grawman67 No it doesn't make sense anyway you look at it cause it establishes that Ganondorf was sealed by the Zonai from the very beginning when Hyrule was inhabitted and stayed that way till Tears of the Kingdom (which takes place at the very end of the timeline according to Nintendo and ingame information) which means any game that ever featured Ganondorf or Ganon before that simply couldn't have happened. Tears of the Kingdom doesn't even make sense in the context of the Breath of the Wild, cause it never explains how Calamity Ganon was even possible when Ganondorf was supposedly sealed this whole time and we all know that Ganondorf is just the human form of Ganon.

[@Mathew-vlogs]

Where can we see the updated timeline? Is it a website? A video? An announcement?

[@King_Luigi]

It's called Zelda Portal, an official site. (Damn youtube keeps hiding my message, gotta keep rewording/reposting this. )

[@Mathew-vlogs]

@ thanks for the info, I appreciate it. 👍

[@sa3270]

This is no big surprise for me.

[@MattPryze]

This vid was hard to watch, 99% rambling, im left sitll barely knowing what changed.

[@infebris]

exactly lol why not just say what changed outright instead of essentially hinting

[@DemonKingNemo]

Good they can offically update my book lol

[@marie-camilleschaap2708]

Hah! I knew EoW takes place in the fallen hero timeline after ALttP

[@7F0X7]

Zelda is now a laughing stock to be honest. The devs who actually made echoes openly said they weren't creating lore, they were just making the safest possible game storywise that was at least congruent with the established series tropes.

[@triforceofcourage100]

I would guess that the securing of the triforce in echoes is what begins the expansion. We see that the world of hyrule in echoes is rather unconnected with each culture existing largely on its own. The rulers of hyrule sought to unite the kingdom like it had been in days past which will lead to expansion but eventually overreach which is why the relation with other cultures will sour and most other races will either abandon hyrule or turn completely hostile leading to hyrule in Zelda one and two. Sidenote hoping the next big Zelda game is one that just confirms convergence because the so far in the future that nobody knows explanation has always felt like a cop out to me so non-committal. Convergence is really the only satisfying explanation because nobody wants any game to be just a non-canon legend.

[@kathygriffin306]

I just love the Zelda games I don’t follow the time line but it is interesting I just want to play the game I am hoping for a update to ooc and between worlds

[@Link_ye_Hyrule]

Just had a Roval ad pop up sooooo sexualized wtf dog is wrong with KZbin ads I tried to report the ad & it literally wouldn’t let me report it !

[@sylvanstrength7520]

Konrad, my friend. You’ve just spoiled a major plot point of Echoes of Wisdom for me. I can’t play until Christmas. Please don’t forget spoiler warnings.