Legend of Zelda series spans over 40 years and 18 games. While all of those games have independent storylines and characters, Nintendo made it official in 2011 that all of the games are connected and a part of one main timeline. With the release of BOTW in 2017, the debate once again heated up to determine where Zelda: Breath of the Wild’s place was in the timeline.
During an interview with Famitsu, Zelda series producer Eiji Aonuma and Breath of the Wild director Hidemaro Fujibayashi confirmed Breath of the Wild belongs to the same timeline at the “very end“.
So, what’s the confusion? Zelda BOTW is the latest entry on the timeline some thousands of years after the last game, Tri-Force Heroes. Nintendo made it official in Hyrule’s Historia that timeline split into three after Ocarina of Time, with each timeline having its specific tribes, kingdoms, heroes and villains. Hidemaro Fujibayashi, director of Zelda Breath of the Wild, made it more confusing by saying “That’s up to the player’s imagination (to place Breath of the Wild on any of the three timelines), isn’t it?“
We are starting to sound more like Fujibayashi San here. So, let’s take a step back. It is time for a history lesson regarding the creation of Hyrule, the ascension of Heroes, Villains’ rise and downfall, Kingdoms falling apart and saved, travel through Time and Mirrors and discovering New Lands.
The history of Hyrule is as old as the universe itself. Three goddesses of creation made Hyrule for the sky people in Skyward Sword. Demise descended upon the sky people, but the hero Link saved the day. Fast forward to Minish Cap and the big bad Vaati is once again defeated by the chosen one, Link.
Vaati made an escape in Four Swords and kidnapped Zelda, the reincarnation of goddess Hylia. Link or technically four Links once again saved the day and the damsel in distress. Then comes the game that changed everything.
Split timelines
Ocarina of Time is the split between a single timeline and multiple ones. Ganondorf rose to power during a civil war-era Hryule and morphed into the demon Ganon. Link once again defeated Ganon with the help of time travel. So, how does the timeline go so berserk after the events in Ocarina of Time?
According to Nintendo, Link may or may not have defeated Ganon. Let us try to make sense of what we just quoted.
If Link managed to defeat Ganon in Ocarina of Time, he was sent back 7 years in the past by Zelda. Link either vanished for centuries (Adult Link timeline) or he warned the people of Hyrule about the impending doom and went on to discover new lands (Child Link Timeline). The third alternate timeline is a sad reminder of reality. Link’s defeat at the hands of the Ganon resulted in Fallen Hero Timeline. Each timeline diverges from the other to the point of no return.
In the Adult Link timeline (first timeline) with no hero of time to save them, Hyrule was drowned by its rulers to stop the imminent revival of Ganon. Link went on to discover new lands with Zelda and found a new Hyrule.
During the Child Link timeline events (second timeline), Link traveled to Termina but ultimately returns to stop Ganon who escaped from the Prison.
While in the Fallen Hero timeline (third timeline), Ganon claimed Tri-force and Hyrule for himself to be sealed away by sages. Ganon escaped multiple times just to be defeated by Link over and over again.
Zora Tribe disappeared along with Hyrule in the First timeline (Adult Link) and evolved into Rito clan. Zoras remained an active part of the rest of the timelines. Two specific enemies, Spectacle Rock and Lynels, only made an appearance in Third Timeline (Fallen Hero). They never appeared in the other two timelines (Triumphant Link). Princess Zelda referred to Link as a Champion of people during the prologue in Zelda Breath of the Wild, a title reserved for the Hero of Time in Second Timeline (Child Link).
Zelda BOTW’s place in the timeline
From the evidence present in Zelda BOTW, it is very easy to connect it to Skyward Sword (already made official by Nintendo) but extremely difficult to place it in one timeline. This was made even more confusing by Nintendo when they said and we quote from The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild – Creating a Champion book, “Hyrule’s recurring periods of prosperity and decline have made it impossible to tell which legends are historical fact and which are mere fairy tale.“
Anything at this point is a mere guess until a solid confirmation from Nintendo arrives. Link’s Awakening is just a dream of Link. The whole game. So, it is not out of the realm of possibility that during his long slumber, before the events of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Link dreamt much of it.
Refusing to accept the defeat of his ancestors, Link forged a timeline where he not only succeeded but went on to create his own Hyrule. Some of the Zora may have evolved into Rito during those thousands of years and split away.
This still left the third ambiguity unanswered. Maybe, just maybe, defeated Link went on and sired children who became Champions and defeated various incarnations of Ganon over time. But this is just a wild random theory. There can be infinite counterarguments to this theory regarding Zelda Breath of the Wild Timeline.
Nintendo merged all of the elements from three timelines to create a behemoth known as Zelda BOTW. Where Breath of the Wild succeeds in gameplay elements, it fails in winding up the loose ends and leaves more questions unanswered than it actually does. Maybe in another 20 years when someone at Nintendo actually finds a way to solve this riddle? Until then, your guess is as good as ours.
