Breath of the Wild: Where Does it Fit in the Legend?

The Legend of Zelda truly is an epic tale spanning literally hundreds of thousands of in-game years, spread over eighteen main series games. That’s a LOT of lore and backstory! But any true Zelda fan will know two things: first, the games don’t come out in chronological order; and second, not every Link and Zelda are the same person. Skyward Sword explains this perfectly when the final boss, Demise, places a curse on Zelda’s bloodline and ‘the Spirit of the Hero’, basically meaning that every time there’s a Princess Zelda and a reincarnation of Link, there will be a reincarnation of Demise there to ruin their day. Which usually means Ganon/Ganondorf. If you play the games in order of release, for the most part, you’ll be jumping around the timeline like Marty McFly and very little will make sense. There’ll be references to other games that you’ll recognise but overall you’ll probably end up confused.

For instance, how is Ganondorf banished to the Twilight Realm in Twilight Princess when Link brutally impales him through the face, turns him to stone and drops an ocean on him in Wind Waker? Well if you don’t know by now, the Zelda timeline is split into three branches. You’ve got Ocarina of Time to thank for that! Now if you didn’t know this already, where have you been for the last five or six years!? This was made official when the Hyrule Historia was released, which might as well be the ‘Gospel of Zelda’ up until Skyward Sword. Within its pages is a full explanation of the Zelda timeline, game-by-game, and how Ocarina creates the three-way split.

Things start simple enough with Skyward Sword being the very first game chronologically. Minish Cap comes next followed by Four Swords and then Ocarina of Time. At the very end of Ocarina, Zelda sends Link back in time seven years to reclaim his lost youth. This creates a split in the timeline: a branch where time carries on from that point known as the “Adult Timeline,” and the branch were Link carries on as a child in the past, warns Zelda and the King of Ganondorf’s plan and the whole thing is stopped before it begins. This is known as the “Child Timeline.”

The Adult Timeline leads on to Wind Waker, Phantom Hourglass and Spirit Tracks which are all clearly outlined as sequels to each other within the games themselves.  The Child Timeline moves on to Majora’s Mask which, again, is clearly referenced as a direct sequel to Ocarina, and then Twilight Princess and Four Swords Adventures. The third branch is created if Link dies and fails to stop Ganondorf during the events of Ocarina. This is called the “Downfall Timeline,” as it sees the decline of Hyrule into ruin as Ganon’s evil spreads. This includes games like A Link to the Past, the Oracle games and Link’s Awakening, ending with the original Legend of Zelda and Zelda II.

Since this timeline was released, three new Zelda games have come out: A Link Between Worlds, Triforce Heroes and, of course, Breath of the Wild. A Link Between Worlds and Triforce Heroes are confirmed to fit quite nicely into the Downfall Timeline, with Worlds as a sequel to A Link to the Past set one hundred years later and Heroes taking place sometime after that, but before The Legend of Zelda.

So the question on everyone’s mind should now be “Where oh where does Breath of the Wild fit?” Surely, since Hyrule is in ruins, it’d fit rather nicely into the Downfall Timeline right? You’d be right in thinking this makes sense, but I’m afraid it’s the wrong answer. Breath of the Wild’s story repeats many times that Calamity Ganon first appeared 10,000 years previous to the game’s events. Now we don’t know for certain how long the timelines span, but that seems a huge gap with nothing happening to fit it into the Downfall Timeline. The reason Zelda I and II are the last games in this branch is because Ganon is finally defeated once and for all, never to return, or so we’re lead to believe. But wait, it’s Calamity GANON, not “Calamity GanonDORF,” and Ganon is main villain of this timeline. True, so it is entirely plausible that it could take place 10,000 years plus after Zelda II, but I don’t think that’s the case.

What about the Adult Timeline? The Rito and Koroks are in Breath of the Wild and they were introduced in Wind Waker so surely that makes sense? Also there’s “Linebeck Island” and he’s not in the other timelines. Plus you can find rock salt from breaking boulders that is stated to be from the “Ancient Sea.” Well yes, once again that makes perfect sense but once more I disagree!

Hyrule is flooded and forgotten, that’s the whole point of Wind Waker and Phantom Hourglass. Then in Spirit Tracks, New Hyrule is founded. I suppose this Hyrule could be New Hyrule but with the ruins of Lon Lon Ranch, the Temple of Time and possibly even Castle Town from Ocarina, I don’t think this is likely. As for Linebeck Island, there are loads of references to past characters in the form of locations so I think it’s more of an Easter Egg than anything. Now yes this could be the original Hyrule and all the water has simply disappeared but I find this hard to believe.

So that just leaves the Child Timeline... this is where I believe Breath of the Wild belongs. The main reason for this is to do with one of the memories you unlock. Within this cutscene we see Zelda swearing in Link as the “Chosen Hero” who wields the Master Sword. As part of the ceremony Zelda is reciting a ritual which says: “Whether skyward bound, adrift in time, or steeped in the glowing embers of twilight, the sacred blade is forever bound to the soul of the Hero.” For me, that one sentence is all the convincing I need.

“Skyward bound” and “adrift in time” are obviously references to Skyward Sword and Ocarina, and “steeped in the glowing embers of twilight,” can only be a reference to Twilight Princess. If this was one of the other two timelines then the ritual could say something like “plunged to the bottom of the ocean” or “bridging the gap between worlds.” This must mean the events of Twilight Princess happened in the same timeline as Breath of the Wild, otherwise why would it be a key part of the Master Sword ritual?

This one scene alone makes me believe Breath of the Wild best fits into the Child Timeline, probably about 11,000 years plus after Twilight Princess. We know Link kills the Ocarina Ganondorf in Twilight Princess, which creates a new Ganondorf as Demise’s reincarnation in Four Swords Adventures. That Ganondorf transforms into the typical form of Ganon that we know and love (a giant blue boar with a badass cape) and is ultimately sealed away in the Four Sword. 

Calamity Ganon could very well be the same Ganon that breaks free about 1000 years later. The Princess and Hero of that time team up with the Divine Beasts, Champions and Guardians to defeat and seal Calamity Ganon once more, this time under Hyrule Castle itself. Then, 10,000 years later the flashback events of Breath of the Wild occur. Ganon wins and Link is put in the Shrine of Resurrection for 100 years to recover from his fatal wounds, waking up at the start of Breath of the Wild.

There’s a lot of assumptions here but this seems to make the most sense, all thanks to that one line referencing Twilight Princess. There’s easily arguments to fit Breath of the Wild into the other two timelines, but having it at the end of the Child Timeline just feels right. However, until Nintendo confirms things once and for all, all we can do is speculate…