The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom debuted on Nintendo Switch a little over a week ago and while many fans of the franchise are enjoying this new adventure in Hyrule, others are already tying up various loose ends and theorizing about what his story brings to the franchise.
If you are a follower of the legendary saga of Nintendo you will know that there is an official timeline that connects all the games in the series. Where would it be located? Tears of the Kingdom? Let’s discuss it.
The official timeline of The Legend of Zelda
each game of Zelda It’s unique. There are some elements that are repeated and some coincidences, but in reality there are few occasions in which in the series we have seen a connection as direct as the one that exists between Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom.
Despite the above, Nintendo made it official in 2011 in the book Hyrule History –which was published within the framework of the 25th anniversary of the franchise– a timeline that connected all the games of the franchise published so far.
We are not going to do a very detailed summary of this timeline, but you must remember that The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword is placed right at the beginning, followed by The Minish Cap and Four Swords –with Vaati’s story arc– leading to the events we saw in Ocarina of Time.
After Ocarina of Time is where things get interesting. Depending on what could happen at the end of the legendary Nintendo 64 game, the timeline branches into three:
- The fall of Hyrule and the last hero: If Link was defeated by Ganondorf at the end of Ocarina of Timethe timeline that covers most of the classic games was created: A Link to The Past, Oracle of Seasons / Oracle of Ages, Link’s Awakening, Legend of Zeldaand Adventure of Link.
- The dark world and the descendants of the Hero: If Link was victorious but was sent back in time to his childhood, then the events of Majora’s Maskfollowed by twilight princess and Four Swords.
- The hero of the wind and the new world: If Link was victorious and remained as an adult, then the events related to the games in which we see Toon Link began: The Wind Waker, Phantom Hourglass and Spirit Track.
This is the official Zelda timeline, as it appears in Hyrule Historia.
where does it come in Tears of the Kingdom in the timeline of the saga?
Although there is no official information, everything seems to indicate that the new games Zelda that start with Breath of the Wild They are at the end of this timeline.. They are many years later, long enough for everything from the past to be just a vague memory in this new Hyrule, something that falls into the realm of myths.
That is clear, but in which of the three ramifications are Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom? That is a difficult question to answer and there is no completely conclusive information about it.
There is an important clue right at the beginning of Tears of the Kingdomwhen the murals that tell of the kingdom’s history are discovered under Hyrule Castle. The war that is being talked about and the dominance of the Demon King suggests that we could be in line with the fall of Hyrule and the last Hero.although there are many other tracks that make references to other timelines.
One of the cinematics Breath of the Wild makes a slight reference to the Dusk era of twilight princess that would remind us of the dark world line, but there are also many references to the hero of the wind line, like the presence of salts whose description speaks of the moment in which the sea covered Hyrule. There are also races like the Orni (Rite) and the Kologs be present in these recent games.
We could conclude, then, that we are possibly facing a convergence of the three ramifications of the timeline and these new games located at the end of it. Tears of the Kingdom happens shortly after Breath of the Wildhence it would be the last game in the timeline and, possibly, the base where other stories will be built in the future that continue to extend the legacy of the franchise.