By no means thoughts Ganon, anybody who has ever been courageous sufficient to look will let you know that the true Darkish Beast of the Zelda franchise is its timeline. Up till Skyward Sword, many people had been joyful sufficient to kind our personal theories about how the video games slotted collectively, or simply play blissfully unaware of the intricacies of how one flowed into the subsequent. Then the Hyrule Historia got here alongside in 2011 and shook all the things up.
As a substitute of 1 cohesive timeline, this official tie-in e-book means that there are in reality three separate strands to maintain observe of after the occasions of Ocarina of Time — ‘The Hero is Defeated’ and ‘The Hero is Triumphant (Youngster and Grownup eras)’. And this does not account for any of the video games that launch after Skyward Sword, so we now have solely been capable of speculate on the place the likes of Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom slot into the combination. Merely put, it will get actually difficult, actually quick.
Luckily, we’re right here to assist attempt to make sense of all of it. We’ve pored over official Hyrule chronologies from the books, appeared for clues within the video games, and browse by means of sufficient theories to make a Zonai go zany, all within the title of attempting to work out the place Tears of the Kingdom (and Breath of the Wild) fall on the order of occasions.
We’ll do a quick recap of the ‘official’ timeline earlier than we delve into this newest era simply in order that we’re all on the identical web page. And sure, we will likely be discussing set occasions and plot factors from nearly all Zelda video games on this one (although we now have gone simple round Tears of the Kingdom for now), so do be ready for spoilers forward.
Notepads on the prepared. Let’s do some (ocarina of) time travelling…
On this web page:
The Zelda Timeline, Defined
The Zelda Timeline, Defined
The Timeline In accordance To Hyrule Historia
We’re going to be very transient with our summaries right here, so maintain on tight.
The Legend of the Goddesses and the Hero
Hyrule and the Triforce are created by three goddesses (Din, Nayru, and Farore) and are left within the management of one other goddess referred to as Hylia. Conflict shortly breaks out after an evil being referred to as Demise makes an attempt to get the Triforce however is sealed away by Hylia and her armies. Hylia lifts the Triforce and people into the sky on a large floating island referred to as Skyloft.
Hylia is reborn as a human (Zelda) who’s kidnapped by one in all Demise’s servants and pulled to the floor in an try to get the Triforce. She is saved by her buddy Hyperlink, who defeats Demise, however not earlier than the villain curses the pair, swearing that his quest for vengeance will likely be everlasting, and a model of his evil will eternally hunt these with the blood of the goddess — spooky stuff.
Years cross. The individuals of Skyloft return to the floor and title it Hyrule. There’s some nasty enterprise with a mage referred to as Vaati, who’s ultimately sealed into a robust Picori blade referred to as The 4 Sword.
After some years of peace, Hyrule descends into Civil Conflict. A child is entrusted to the Nice Deku Tree to be raised as a Kokiri, rising as much as turn out to be Hyperlink. Hyperlink meets a brand new model of Princess Zelda (there’s going to be numerous this reincarnation enterprise, to be clear) and the pair be taught that an evil Gerudo referred to as Ganondorf is trying to steal the Triforce, and Hyperlink travels forwards seven years in time in order that he can wield the legendary Grasp Sword and defeat the evil.
Video games included:
The Twilight Realm and the Legacy of the Hero (The Hero is Triumphant — little one timeline)
Having defeated Ganondorf on the finish of Ocarina of Time, Hyperlink is shipped again in time to reside out his childhood. He locations the Grasp Sword again in its pedestal, warns Zelda of Ganondorf’s plans and flees with the Ocarina in order that the Gerudo can by no means open the Seal of Time simply in case he manages to flee punishment (spoiler: he does).
Hyperlink visits a parallel world, fights a scary moon, and returns to Hyrule to reside out the remainder of his days unremembered as a hero — it is all very unhappy, and the video games do not go into all of it that a lot.
100 years cross, Ganondorf escapes his execution (who would have thought it?!) and is banished to the Twilight Realm the place he builds his energy and ultimately kidnaps Princess Zelda. A direct descendent of the Hero of Time (additionally referred to as Hyperlink) goes on a quest to avoid wasting the Princess. He kills Ganondorf, saves Hyrule, and the gateway between the 2 realms is shattered.
Ganondorf is reincarnated and frees Vaati from the 4 Sword, however Hyperlink makes mild work of them each.
Video games included:
The Hero of Winds and a New World (The Hero is Triumphant — grownup timeline)
Rewind to the tip of Ocarina of Time. Hyperlink defeats Ganondorf (who’s sealed away by the sages) and is shipped again in time, so what occurs to the timeline with out Hyperlink? Effectively, carnage.
Ganondorf escapes the seal and takes over Hyrule. With no hero there to guard them, the king of Hyrule leaves the destiny of the world to the gods who swiftly flood the lands, letting solely a choose few survive.
Years cross and Ganondorf escapes from his watery grave (yep, as soon as once more). Hyperlink gathers collectively the damaged shards of the Triforce, repowers the Grasp Sword, and descends to the underside of the ocean to place an finish to Ganondorf for good — he stabs the sword into his head, turning the Gerudo to stone (this one is critical). On the desires of the King of Hyrule, the Triforce, Ganondorf, and Hyrule itself are washed away within the hopes of a greater future.
Hyperlink and Zelda (right here referred to as Tetra) go on a quest to discover a new Hyrule. There are some shenanigans with a Ghost Ship alongside the best way, however they ultimately discover a new land (and it even has its personal railway community). A whole bunch of years later, Zelda and Hyperlink (reincarnated) free the land from evil and so they reside fortunately ever after…
Video games included:
The Decline of Hyrule and the Final Hero (The Hero is Defeated)
Again to the tip of Ocarina, however this time Hyperlink is defeated by Ganondorf. The Demon King takes the Triforce and is sealed away within the Sacred Realm by the seven Sages, corrupting it into the Darkish World. The Sages seal off the Darkish World fully.
Ganondorf’s energy grows and a hero referred to as Hyperlink (shock shock) ventures to the realm to defeat him. He’s profitable and takes management of the Triforce, wishing for peace and entrusting the logo to the royal household.
There are a selection of adventures within the ensuing years, with varied reincarnations taking the starring function. These contain fish islands, flame resurrections, and hopping between worlds. The quick model is that there is some household drama with the royals and Zelda is put into an everlasting coma.
Ganon is resurrected once more however is defeated by Hyperlink. Hyperlink regains the total Triforce, makes use of it to awaken the sleeping Zelda, and peace is restored to Hyrule.
Video games included:
When Does Tears Of The Kingdom Take Place?
Briefly, there isn’t a official reply. However we do know that Tears of the Kingdom seems a lot in a while from all the things that has come earlier than.
In line with Making a Champion, the Breath of the Wild tie-in e-book, we all know that this pair of video games come proper on the finish of a timeline. The BOTW prologue (which yow will discover full particulars of within the article under) particulars the rise of the Nice Calamity and the next Imprisoning Conflict 10,000 years previous to the occasions of the sport. It is a lengthy outdated time by Zelda requirements, so we are able to ensure that these video games happen far in the way forward for Hyrule, however which future?
Usually, there was no official phrase from Nintendo on this one, however from all the proof that we are able to collect from each BOTW and TOTK, the video games seem to reference a number of completely different timelines, suggesting that within the 10,000-year hole, the timelines converge — yay!
Look again to Breath of the Wild. We all know from the carvings round Zora’s Area that within the recreation’s previous, Princess Ruto was woke up as one of many seven Sages. This aligns with each the Grownup and Fallen Hero timelines, as Ruto undergoes no such transformation when Hyperlink returns to being a toddler.
There are additionally each Koroks and Rito on this recreation, pointing in direction of the evolutions that the Kokiri and Zora respectively underwent after the flood of Hyrule within the Grownup timeline. Then once more, there are additionally nonetheless Zora in BOTW and TOTK, so there is no affirmation there both.
All that is to say that the timelines which have beforehand held their very own narrative threads, resurrections and key historic occasions, seem to have converged within the Hyrule of Tears of the Kingdom. Making a Champion hints at this even additional, lumping each different recreation within the sequence collectively underneath the collective banner of ‘myths’.
May we be trying on the first true Zelda video games within the sequence? With all the things to have come earlier than being nothing greater than tales of a world lengthy gone — an actual legend of Zelda? Possibly.
Or, in fact, these video games may simply belong to a timeline of their very own, however we actually, actually do not wish to take into consideration that…
Effectively there you will have it, all the things that you should know concerning the Zelda timeline and the place it’s probably that Tears of the Kingdom sits in it. It is a reasonably complicated one, is not it?
When do you assume Tears of the Kingdom takes place? Have the timelines converged or is that this one thing fully new? Drop your theories within the feedback under.
Up Subsequent: Model 1.1.1
Be it rambling about video video games or superheroes, Jim wears his passions on his sleeve. Often discovered replaying a Zelda title as an alternative of working by means of his ever-growing backlog, he is a large fan of all-things fantasy and likes nothing greater than to talk about it.
