An Entirely New Branch
Where does Breath of the Wild fit in the Zelda timeline?
Recently, some fans got to thinking that The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild may be a re-imagining of the very first game from 1986, largely due to the mysterious language used in the game. That same script is present around the outside of the special edition of the game, and when translated to our own alphabet reads The Hyrule Fantasy backwards in a repeated loop. That was the original name for The Legend of Zelda in Japan. Making this theory seem more plausible was the planning method used for the game. The 2D sprites the team used to test ideas strongly resembled the very first adventure Link ever embarked on.
However, if you really think about it, all of the games are sort of re-imaginings of the first Zelda title. They contain the same struggle, and the same characters do appear in most of the games. The timeline placement is decided based on which side succeeded. Yet, the similarities to the world of the Wind Waker do present an interesting predicament. What if this is actually an alternate Wind Waker timeline? You sill have the adult Link, there was triumph in the past, with Ganon being sealed after the events of Ocarina of Time. Only this time, there was no great flood, at least not one that lasted as long as it did in the current Wind Waker Timeline. Instead, the Hyrule Continent was already well established, providing ample time for the Hylians to develop magnificent technology, the likes of nothing we’ve ever seen in the series.
We have computers (though they’re not called that), powerful automatons – which are ancient, meaning that they’ve had advanced tech for quite some time – and the surrounding kingdoms are allied, each offering up their unique strengths with their own technologies. This is a very different world when compared to what we’ve seen in the series before, one that can potentially be the start of something entirely new on the horizon.
This potential for an alternate history, a history where technology can be combine even more with the fantasy world than it has before, can work wonders for the series. It’s connected enough to where it doesn’t ignore what came before it, but it relinquishes the constraints set by the previous games in the franchise. This one is a very strong possibility, especially if Nintendo is of the mind to continue the series (which they undoubtedly are). We’re curious to see what form Ganon may take next, after being trounced by a Link it thought it laid to waste.
Hopefully Nintendo confirms the placement in the timeline soon, so we can piece together what may come next.
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