These two games work much better if they're just outside the timeline. They seem designed to be on their own, too many contradictions.

My personal interpretation is that "Hyrule" has beem founded and destroyed multiple times throught history, like how in spirit tracks it established that a new hyrule was founded after the old one was flooded. So the Zonai didn't found *THE* kingdom of Hyrule, they founded *A* kingdom of Hyrule.

I think the Zonai refounded(unknowingly) Hyrule thousands of years after the original Hyrule from each timeline had been destroyed. I wouldn’t be surprised if Din, Farore, and Nayru pulled some shenanigans in the years between to bring the timelines back together. This would basically reset everything, while still maintaining the validity of the previous games.

I remember when BotW came out and they basically said "its been so long since the last game in each timeline that the differences have faded" and essentially did a less dismissive version of what disney did with star wars legends, and at the time that made sense. But with TotK, its become exceedingly clear that this is either a separate timeline or something like a soft reboot, considering the Zonai founding Hyrule contradicts Skyward Sword entirely and Ganondorf's plan is effectively the same as what he did in OoT. I think what the Zelda team has realized is that this far into the series, trying to maintain a strict timeline that accounts for the OoT split and every game in it is more stifling than it is helpful for creating new and interesting stories, and they're better off making self-contained worlds with consistent similarities between them, with the items from other games being like a sort of "greatest hits" compilation to look back on the rest of the series in these games that mark the end of that era of Zelda and the start of a new approach.

My head canon is that there was a timeline split during Skyward Sword caused by Demise being defeated in the past by Link and future by the Triforce slamming the Goddess Statue into the Imprisoned. That way, they can make as many retcons as they like because it's a brand new, unexplored timeline where events of the games we know happened in slightly different ways, hence all the references to past games

Gonna be straight with you, the Timeline is clearly something the Dev's want gone gone.

Couple of key things that helped me come to terms with the timeline: 1. Rather than thinking that you can place botw at the end of what timeline you want. Think of as if every timeline will eventually be BOTW. 2. In botw, Impa explains that Calamity Ganon has reincarnated multiple times. This means that botw takes place AT LEAST MORE than 10,000 years after the ends of each timeline. Could be 20,000. Could be 100,000. All we need to know is that enough time has passed to allow each timeline's world to become similar to each other to allow point 1 to happen. 3. The depths is the remanence of the Hyrules from past games. Rauru formed BOTW's Hyrule on top. This is why you find a vast majority of the old games outfits in the depths. 4. Why are all the separate timeline's content now in 1 continuity? This would be the most outlandish idea here, but I kind of viewed it as the timelines healing over that very looooong time. So much time would have passed that the old games just don't have any impact on current events anymore. There's no harm in merging continuity at that point. There was no big outlandish major event that merged the timelines. It's just that they did, over tens of thousands of years and eventually becoming the depths.

My idea is that the "hyrule founding" in tears of the kingdom is actually a new hyrule and not the same one from the previous zelda games. Meaning the entire breath of the wild/tears of the kingdom timeline actually takes place a long time after the other games including the original calamity and the founding of the new hyrule. As for botw/totk having stuff from all 3 timelines, they already said that breath of the wild takes place at the end of the timeline (this was before totk came out) so what most likely happened is that the timelines eventually merged together somehow. Maybe that could be why a new hyrule needed to founded and that could also be why the zonai descended from the heavens. As for the goddess sword, it is given to the player by a goddess statue meaning I could see it making a copy that isn't the same as the original but rather a mimic because the original was made by hylia herself and contained fi

My main issue is that the zonai were apparently always around? despite not being talked about until this game, which I think is odd considering a race descending from gods would probably be note worthy throughout history.

Calling the goddess sword the white sword of the sky is really important because there is a sword in the original zelda called the white sword so that's also interesting. Looked at the Zelda dungeon page and there have been other white swords so it isn't weird that there are more of them or it has been reforged.

There's so many points brought up in totk that just make it seem like it's own timeline. I think the biggest being the rito being present at hyrule's creation

Worth noting that in one timeline Hyrule is under the ocean and in another is more or less a wasteland where people live in caves. I don't think it's a stretch to say that after countless encounters with Ganon, Hyrule was destroyed and then re-founded by Rauru, and these relics are either easter eggs or from the previous kingdom. ALSO worth noting you find these relics in ancient Zonai ruins. Ruins that, presumably predate even Rauru himself. So the kingdom's "founding" couldn't possibly be before any of the other games. This keeps BOTW and TOTK still in their own little bubble "at the very end" but keeping them a part of the same continuity so they can shove easter eggs and references in there.

My personal headcanon for these 3 games is that they take place not tens of thousands of years after the others, but maybe millions or even billions. The timescale is so vast and the cycle of reincarnation originating from Demise's curse has held for so long that tons of possible permutations have happened in every timeline. For example, even in the child timeline, the Wind Waker, or something similar, will happen eventually given enough runs at the cycle, explaining the references to all 3 timelines in these games. The characters of Tears of the Kingdom referring to the seemingly contradictory founding of Hyrule and its first monarchs may do so because at one point the Hyrule of the rest of the timeline was so completely destroyed that it had to be completely restarted in another place or a far later time. I think BOTW and TOTK are in either the adult or child timelines because of a few details in Age of Calamity. There are a few things in the time Terrako jumps to that don't line up with BOTW's backstory, the biggest being Link not yet having the Master Sword. This makes me think Terrako went not back in time but to another timeline, where things are playing out nearly but not fully identically. The fallen timeline is more pf a "what-if" scenario, but the other two coexist if the hero wins, so Terrako would be theoretically able to jump between them. The goddess sword, though, that's tough. I don't yet have an explanation for that, but any ideas for how it fits into this theory are welcome. (This all assumes Amiibo things are non-canon and just out-of-universe fan service)

This game gave me a timeline aneurysm for one giant reason. Ganondorf. I’m a child timeline purist because Twilight Princess is directly referenced, but I do like MatPat’s take about it being a multiversal convergence a la Hyrule Warriors. The major problem is that (what seems like) shortly after the events of Skyward Sword (since Rauru announces he’s Hyrule’s first king, and many ancient murals describe certain things that would have only occurred when Skyloft was still around, as both they and Rauru refer to the sky islands like they had been around not too long before they had fallen), Ganondorf is sealed - for 10,000+ years up until now, as Calamity Ganon was purely a manifestation of his malice. This means that Ganondorf was still taking his Power Nap while somehow entering the temple of time to take the Triforce for himself, busy manipulating Zant in one timeline, trying to regain power in a flooded Hyrule in another, and busy being a pig wizard in the third until they converge. I’m sorry, is this dude just Darkseid, and calamity Ganon plus the other Ganondorfs just avatars, or what the heck is going on here?

personally I think that this continuity is the end result of previous time lines merging into one due to the events of the first hyrule warriors game. that's why there are all these strange out of time conflicting relics that shouldn't exist. that's why both rito and zora exist. totks past is set in a time long after the events of hyrule warriors, after hyrule was lost or destroyed and then later resettled and remade, so long ago that the name of Ganondorf, Zelda, and the master sword were forgotten legends

The idea I've always liked most, which I'm surprised to barely see at all, is that given the amount of time that can pass in between games, and especially the 10000 year gap between BOTW and whatever game came before, certain events simply have enough time to end up just... repeating themselves. Generations of characters live, die, and get reborn into yet another Hyrule. Events from most of the games, but Ocarina of Time in particular, end up repeating over and over again, just through entirely natural means (or as natural as you can get with Demise's Curse ruling the world). I suppose any "repeat games" wouldn't play out exactly as they did in the versions of the games we play (which are probably strictly the first iteration of their events), Point is, OoT happens multiple times, with each canonical ending occurring at least once each, allowing for some kind of timeline where every game can exist to some degree. All with no "magical convergence" necessary.

my theory is that they come after windwaker/phantom hourglass/spirit tracks botw explicitly says that the great plateau is the birthplace of the kingdom of hyrule, could it be the same continent from spirit tracks, but after the water receded? king rauru and queen sonia aren’t the first to establish Hyrule, but they instead REestablish the kingdom hundreds or even thousands of years after spirit tracks when the water recedes and no one knows about the former hyrule. this would also explain the lack of knowledge of the triforce, while still having it being used symbolically. it is a divine object that still chooses who receives its power, like Zelda (and presumably her ancestors too) having the sealing power, symbolized by the full triforce. yes, there's mentions of the other timelines in these two games, but this one seems the most likely fit to me

Is it possible that the Zonai were brought down to Hyrule by the goddesses as part of the process to heal the three timelines back into one, thus artifacts, races, and characters of the various timelines could become stitched together into this new world

"The timeline isn't complicated!" Miyamoto: "Links awakening takes place in the middle of Adventure of Link when Links sails to east Hyrule"

I want to believe that Botw and Totk takes place long into the future and all amiibo content isn't cannon.

For the white sword of thw sky, I wouldn't say it's that far fetched to say it comes from another time since you get it from "the Mother statue" which is the biggest goddess, the goddess being Hylia who was the goddess of time and who has shown that time travel is not outside her scope of powers

Game theory spoke about the possibility of Hyrule Warriors being cannon despite being declared not cannon. Because all timelines interacted in that game, the timeshift could have made the new world we saw in the wild series.

I see the items like the Twilight Tunic and White Goddess sword as replicas made to honor the great heroes throughout history, not the actual items preserved.

I like the idea that it takes place thousands of years into all timeliness future, even the stuff with the zonai. Due to Denise's curse we can just say that everything is bound to repeat eventually, with hyrule being re-founded after centuries of being lost. Plus, Totk can wrap up everything by having another version of the demon king being killed, ending the curse

Even if you ignore all of the previously amiibo exclusive items, there's just so many issues that make botw and totk incompatible with the timeline entirely. I just don't understand why they would go directly from skyward sword which established the timeline as canon, into these two games which seem to disregard it entirely. Great video though :)

My personal theories are either the 3 timelines reconverged sometime prior to 10,000 years before BotW or BotW and TotK take place in the adult timeline a.k.a Wind Waker, Phantom Hourglass, and Spirit Tracks. The first one is self explanitory but the second theory goes that the Great Ocean covering old Hyrule dried up sometime after Spirit Tracks at a time when old Hyrule had faded well into legend and the people of New Hyrule returned to the old kingdom where it was found that a sect of Zora had managed to survive and by this time the Rito had evolved even further into full fledged bird people rather than the humans with bird features seen in Wind Waker and the Lokomo seen in Spirit Tracks have evolved into the Zonai and having legends of what their ancestors did to help in the founding of New Hyrule descend from the heavens to help the in the formation of another new kingdom of Hyrule. I base this theory off of the leviathan skeletons and the fact that Koroks and Rito only exist in Wind Waker, BotW, and TotK. I'm also open to the idea that BotW and TotK are in a separate fourth branch of the timeline.

My theory is that a super long time after each of the three main timelines, they kinda start to become the same and then hyrule gets destroyed, I think the original people that decided to stay in the sky in skyward sword then came back down as the zonai and rebuilt hyrule in it’s former image since they would’ve seen it built and destroyed many time at that point, then those thousands of years after the timeline remerged that’s when botw and totk Take place

I'd guess that TotK is 8 years after BotW. In an IGN video where Zelda's English voice actor reacts to comments, she makes an off-handed comment implying that Zelda is 125 years old. It's possible that's not what she meant, but she sounded weirdly confident. This means about 8 years have passed, which I can absolutely believe with Hudson's child being 8, and Koko being about a teenager in Kakariko.

A theory I haven’t seen yet is that TOTK could be the actual story of what happened in Hyrule, and all the previous games are ‘legends’ of Zelda, with different interpretations. Kind of like a soft reboot for the franchise. Without going into spoilers, I’ve seen a lot of parallels closely resembling to the story of other games.

Something I really like about TOTK is that you can find every amiboo rewards inside of TOTK!

Hyrule warriors is my explanation for all the timelines merging back into one again.

Most people hate MatPat's "Hyrule Warrior's Timeline theory"... but the more time passes the more plausible it sounds. It's unlikely that the Zelda team it paying close attention to the timeline anymore. (By the way, AWSOME job with the graphics in this. It made everything super easy to follow)

The way I see it is that every game takes place on one of three timeliness, but each game that isn't directly a sequel is one of many multiverses. That's why the sage scene at the beginning of twilight princess does not make sense in context to ocarina of time, or [spoilers for tears] and [spoilers for syward]. But story beats thread between in a way that still vaguely in a way that makes sense. The way i see it is that the splitting timeliness re-merged during the massive gap.

Man, your production quality is off the chart. You must have spent hours and hours in After Effects, I presume, keyframing all these custom animations. I think my favorite part is the scrolling gear screens starting at around 10:40. Beautiful!

Actually, I believe that Rauru's time may be well before the time of Skyward sword. The Zonai technology looked super similar to the ones found in Lanayru Mining Facilities in SS (especially the power to reverse time, robots and the green-and-yellow color theme). In SS, the time when Goddess Hylia first sealed the Demise , there were no "Link"(a hero that wields the master sword), which is exactly what happened in The Imprisoning War, which there were apparently no "sword that seals the darkness" in Rauru's time.

maybe botw/totk hyrule is just a another "new" hyrule founded long after the one in the adult timeline. it could explain some weird early history stuff (ie the ritos existing in botw/totk ancient hyrule) by saying it takes place in a NEW hyrule, ages after the last one had fallen or whatever. its just that, unlike spirit tracks, no one really makes a mention that this is a new hyrule. i think this can work out especially with how long this version of hyrule has existed. (of course i also still think the devs just want to avoid this timeline stuff and just make a new one, so this is just more of a fun way for me to make sense of it)

After playing this game it really does feel like breath of wild was a reboot and they just don't belong in the same timeline as the previous series. There's tons of reinterpretations of old tropes and enemies and ideas that we see that it makes more sense to make this a brand new timeline with borrowed ideas and inspirations.

Fantastic video! So much info to try to piece together where the game stands. This will likely stand as one of if not the best attempt at figuring out the timeline

11:02 White Sword you say? Oh, now I'm know I'm getting old. I think that's supposed to be the second sword you get in Zelda 1 back in the good old 80's when I played it as a kid. Perhaps just a nice easter egg but could be fit into a unified timeline theory.

The simple answer is that all of the events of these two games, including the past sections take place so far into the future that past games become mere legends. It is essentially a reboot, but an in universe one. It still fits in the timeline, but it is so far later that past games can be referenced without holding much weight in the modern stories.

I think TOTK can fit fine enough into current timeline. In fact, one of the more reputable Zelda wiki updated their timeline with events related to TOTK. I’m going to try and explain how I interpret TOTK fitting into the timeline. Zonai Rauru descends from sky during the Era of Prosperity. The Zonai were probably living in the sky like the people of Skyloft but away from them, and the Zonai probably also made those robots that were in Skyward Sword. At this point Hyrule was a area of land with several settlements existed, but it wasn’t until Sonia and Rauru that this was made onto a true kingdom. TOTK Ganondorf does his thing, gets sealed by Rauru. This is why for a fairly long amount of time following the Era of Prosperity, Ganon just doesn’t show up (i.e. The Force Era, Hero of Men, Minish Cap, Four Swords). In the first few cutscenes, it seems like TOTK Ganondorf’s body was being “reactivated” in a sense, almost like it was braindead, and that the gloom was going back into him. It looks like he’s not exactly dead, but not really alive either until the hand falls. My interpretation of this is that eventually, after centuries, the “spirit” or hatred of Demise reincarnates into OoT Ganondorf and leaves TOTK Ganondorf’s body under the castle (and will return later). Now some might say that having two Ganons at one time doesn’t make sense. But there literally has been an instance of two Ganons being around at the same time. In BOTW, Calamity Ganon was in Hyrule Castle and TOTK Ganondorf was far below it. Either they are one in the same, meaning my idea about the soul being able to leave the sealed body to do other things is valid. Or they are different, meaning their was two different Ganons around at the same time. Some also might say that the Calamity is just a mindless puppet. However, Calamity Ganon isn’t totally mindless. It is referred to as cunning by multiple characters for knowing about the Guardians and Divine Beasts, and being able to control them. I know there is a mistranslation related to Dark Beast, but regardless Calamity still chose to turn into Dark Beast, meaning that it cannot be that mindless if it is able to make that choice. And remember, every incarnation of Ganondorf is Ganon in the main Zelda universe. (This could also lend credence to the theory that two Links can be alive at once i.e. The Hero of Worlds and Gramps, who is very likely Link from ALttP.) Onto the topic of both Raurus. Twilight Princess talks about the Era of Chaos (which was before the Era of Prosperity), where the Interlopers tried to invade the Sacred Realm to get to the Triforce. To protect the Triforce, someone named Rauru built a new Temple of Time at the location of the Sealed Temple, around the pedestal holding the Master Sword - the location of the only entrance to the Sacred Realm. He placed the Triforce in the Temple of Light and sealed off the Sacred Realm. This can be explained one of two ways. First, the Rauru that sealed away the Triforce is the Zonai one who did so while coming into very limited contact with Hylians. This Zonai Rauru is different from the OoT Rauru. The second possiblity is that there was two Raurus around. The Hylian one that sealed away the Triforce and was then in OoT. And then the Zonai king. Personally, I think the second one is more plausible. Also, I don’t remember if this totally true, but I think somewhere it is said that Rauru sealed himself away in the Sacred Realm along with the Triforce? It would explain how he lived so long for a Hylian and matches more with the second possibility. Now, I’m personally of the opinion of that the three timelines at some point merge and lead to the events of 10,000 yrs before BOTW. What is my source? My source is that I made it the fuck up lol. In all seriousness, I feel like if they can get away with the downfall timeline existing without ever explaining it in a game, this is probably an equally viable scenario. Then, after Calamity Ganon is defeated in BOTW, the spirit of Demise re-enters TOTK Ganondorf’s body and the current events of TOTK happen. On the Rito, I think it’s very possible that after the Era of Prosperity, they either went extinct or went to live up in the mountains away from Hylians.

King uploaded 🤤🥹

I'd love to see your take on remaking the timeline. Essentially doing what they did in the Hyrule Historia book, and throwing the games in whatever order makes the most sense with any headcanon explanations needed to make connections between the games. It'd be interesting to see an attempt to fit in all the games, and/or an attempt to more cohesively fit the major games together, while relegating some of the other side games to separate universes for the sake of a more cohesive main timeline.

I personally prescribed by the theory that there has been a dragon break that has collapsed all three timelines upon each other and so it's just one continuity now

I’m always going to be on the side of the Fallen Hero timeline, and it’s for one main reason. Every timeline has general evidence of being possible within BOTW, but BOTW is much more *thematically* in line with the Fallen Hero timeline. Not only was Breath of the Wild heavily inspired by design elements in the Fallen Hero timeline games, the idea of Ganon being this threat that comes back over and over to terrorize Hyrule is exactly what happens in the Fallen Hero timeline. While Ganon is definitively killed in the Adult and Child timelines, he always comes back in the fallen hero timeline.

the references to other games are just easter eggs. that or other timelines have somehow bled into the botw/totk one.

Bro in 15 years the timeline gonna look like a roller-coster💀

I have a theory where 10,000 years is an over exasperation [due to oral tradition] and instead it was only 1000 years from the last great calamity

I just figure that Hyrule's been re-established as "new" many times by now, so the previous events happened well enough. Certain things survive previous cycles as well. The Deku Tree probably would never tell Link or Zelda how many times he's seen it happen before. It just boggles my mind why a bunch of gods and demons and such would fight over this "sacred" square of land, when that obviously isn't the whole part of the world they are on and you can see other landmasses stretching off for miles. The Three Goddesses just love re-rolling the dice to see what happens "THIS TIME", and leave ones like Hylia to deal with it and watch her descendants of her blood (that survive and re-establish Hyrule again and again) struggle against an evil that won't let them be.

My current headcanon: *Adult Timeline* Hyrule had been completely forgotten by everyone, the only thing that survived was the name "Hyrule" and the Triforce logo, although it was no longer associated with that all-powerful object. It was only the symbol of the royal family, which is why no one, not even the Zonai, knows about the Triforce. Another thing, the Rito exist in that timeline, and so do the Koroks. Why did the Zoras in The Wind Waker become Rito instead of adapting to the ocean? In reality, they did adapt. Some of the Zoras adapted to the depths, which is why in Breath of the Wild, the Zoras resemble more like sharks or manta rays, saltwater fish rather than freshwater fish.

Amazing video as always, also, I could listen to your voice for hours.

Do a video about how the fall of natiz germany affected the tears of the kingdom release

I don’t think the items from other games you can collect have any timeline relevancy, nor did the devs intend for them to be. We’ve had things like the Majora’s Mask item in A Link Between Worlds or Ballad of Gales obtained in Wind Waker is also in Twilight Princess, etc. It’s just that both BotW and TotK have gone all out with it for the sake of fan service. I can’t see the devs saying “Let’s put these in the game to give timeline indications”. I see them going: “Oh cool, let’s throw in the goddess sword or Ravio’s Hood! People will remember those from other games!”. That’s especially true for the Link’s Awakening tunic, referencing the graphics of the remake and not that Link’s canonical appearance we see in the animated cutscenes.

I remember watching a game theory video on the timelines where a game that Nintendo doesn’t consider cannon is the key to solving the timeline issue with botw. Because of this video, my personal head cannon for the timeline is after the previously mentioned game, a new hurdle is founded and then the events of the botw and totk section of the time line take place as you described on the video.

What surprises me is that in Twillight Princess they hid murals of OoT Link visiting the Rito post OoT. According to Aonuma that change was made to coincide with BotW. They had I believe a rough idea what to do. However the now canon Amiibo content completely shits on continuity oh well

Average continuity fans: NOOOO THIS ITEM CONTRADICTS CANNON NOOOO! Average no-restrictions enjoyers: Wow, cool items from past games. Brings back fond memories :)

I've thought a lot about possible theories regarding which timeline Breath of the Wild/Tears of the Kingdom fall under and here are my full thoughts. Beware, this is going to be a really long read as I'm compiling ALL my theories I've had on this. Will try to summarize the less important theories. Fallen timeline: To me, it seems impossible that BotW/TotK fall under the fallen timeline. First of all, the events of the Imprisoning War prior to A Link to the Past are almost entirely different to the events of the Imprisoning War in TotK, and it's unlikely this same war would have repeated itself to some degree within the same timeline. Secondly, as far as we know in the Fallen Timeline, the Zora went extinct, meaning there's no possible way for the Zora and the Rito to coexist within BOTW. There's also too many references to the Adult/Child timeline that make this timeline seem like the least likely. Child Timeline: My original theory prior to TotK was that BotW falls under the Child Timeline, and the Child Timeline alone. The main reason was that I believed the Ganondorf Corpse was Twilight Princess Ganondorf, and I didn't think it was reasonable to assume the timelines have merged. Even the Rito's existence of being part of the Child Timeline can be explained by the constant freezing of Zoras Domain, which could have meant that some of the Zora fled to the snow peaks near the domain and evolved into the Rito. This is supported by the fact that the Rito currently live in snowy peaks, instead of a volcanic mountain like they did in Wind Waker. Not to mention, we do see in Twilight Princess that Prince Ralis runs away to Kakariko Village in search of his mother, so it's possible that some of the Zora fled to Kakariko Village as well, and founded a new home near the Lanayru province, which explains why Zora's Domain in BotW is in a different location. The Koroks existence can also be explained the same way they came to be in Wind Waker, which was that the Kokiri children fled the forest and turned into Koroks. Timelines merged: We know there are references to all three timelines, not just Easter Eggs, but canonically confirmed references. For instance, the existence of the Rito and Koroks from the Adult Timeline, the Mirror of Twilight and Arbiters Grounds from the child timeline, and the Lynels from the Fallen timeline (though TotK proves that they were created by Ganondorf the Demon King). However to say the timelines merged is still a hard claim to make. BotW is set so far into the future, so much so that in the game we learn that they fought against Calamity Ganon 10,000 years before BotW. Not Ganon, CALAMITY Ganon, that's how far into the future we are in. Most people believe that it's so far into the future that the differences between each timeline have faded, however I feel like that's just too lazy of an explanation. However, given the fact that the events of the Imprisoning War occurred in a different way in TotK, it's definitely possible that every major event from each timeline eventually happened in it's own way over time. For example, the Great Flood could have happened in it's own way prior to BotW. It's definitely possible, and TotK does suggest this, however I do feel it is too lazy of an explanation. Alternative Timeline: Another theory suggests that BotW and TotK actually take place in a separate timeline, and given the fact that there is an unexplained paradox in Skyward Sword, this theory isn't too far fetched aside from ONE problem. The theory suggests that because in Skyward Sword, Demise was defeated twice, once in the present after Link wished upon the Triforce to crush Demise with the Goddess Statue, and once in the past after he beat Demise in a duel, this would have created an alternative timeline. The timeline in the present where Link returns to can be the main timeline that leads into the other three, however the timeline of the past is the Timeline that lead to BotW. The problem with this is... It's impossible. When Link defeats Demise in the past, he seals his spirit within the Master Sword and brings that Master Sword, along with the curse, back to the present. This means the timeline Link defeated Demise in, no longer has Demise in it, so it's impossible for Demise to have reincarnated into Ganondorf. Now, the ultimate theory. Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom actually takes place in the Adult Timeline. Heres why: Leading into Tears of the Kingdom, I had many questions: Is Link part of the Knight's bloodline? Where is the Triforce? Which version of Ganondorf is the corpse? Will it end the Demises Curse? Initially at the end of the game, I had none of those questions answered, but rather I was left with more questions. We learn at the start of the game that prior to the events of Tears of the Kingdom, there was a great war against The Demon King and the Seven Sages, known as the Imprisoning War. At first, this sounds familiar, because the Imprisoning War did in fact happen in the Fallen Timeline, however, this war is nothing like the Imprisoning War we know. This version of the Imprisoning War has three major differences to the Imprisoning War in the Fallen Timeline: 1. The original Imprisoning War occurred after Link was defeated in Ocarina of Time, which was an already established Hyrule, however this Imprisoning War occurred during the beginning of Hyrule. 2.In the original Imprisoning War, Ganondorf, the Demon Thief became Ganondorf the Demon King after claiming the Triforce for himself, and using it to sieze the ultimate power, however, in this Imprisoning War, Ganondorf did not use the Triforce to become the Demon King. In fact the Triforce is not mentioned once in either Breath of the Wild or Tears of the Kingdom. 3.King Rauru has no recollection of who Link is, so this Imprisoning War did not take place after Link was defeated by the same Ganondorf that was sealed, which is the story of the original Imprisoning War. So how on earth is this all possible? At first I was pulling my hair out as it made no sense, but after revisiting the timeline, I think I finay found something that makes sense (until Nintendo flips the script again and makes me rethink my life choices). But, what if both Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom took place in the ADULT TIMELINE? The only explanation is that King Rauru was not the founder of Hyrule, but the founder of New Hyrule, as in Spirit Tracks. This is the only thing I can think of that makes sense. Breath of the Wild takes place so far into the future, where the stories of the previous games are merely forgotten myths. The only way this is would be possible is if some catastrophic event destroyed any piece of history linking back to the previous games, AKA, The Great Flood. King Rauru being the first King of Hyrule is only possible if the land of Hyrule was not the original Hyrule, but the land of a new Hyrule, similar to that in Spirit Tracks! We know there's no named king in Spirit Tracks, but rather Anjean, the member of the Lokomo, is the one who takes a role of leadership. Guess what happens to the Lokomo after Spirit tracks? According to the official timelines, they return to the Heavens, which is where they may have become the Zonai! Rauru of the Zonai then returns to New Hyrule and begins the Monarchy, starting the Hyrule we know in Tears of The Kingdom. This explains each of the unanswered questions I had stated in the beginning. Rauru doesn't know who Link is because there is no more Knight's bloodline! In Wind Waker, the Knight's bloodline went extinct because the Hero did not exist in that timeline. The existence of the Triforce is unknown and forgotten because after King Daphnes used the Triforce, the pieces were scattered across the Great Sea and were lost. The Triforce is never mentioned in Breath of the Wild or Tears of the Kingdom, though they still share it's symbol as it's been passed down with the Master Sword. As for the version of Ganondorf, it is a new born Gerudo Warrior, similar to that of Ocarina of Time. After Wind Waker, Ganondorf was merely killed, however Link never faced the Ganondorf the Demon King, unlike in the Fallen Timeline and the Child Timeline, so the spirit of Demise (The Demon King) was allowed to reincarnate once again. As for it ending the Demises Curse, we will never know. In the Fallen Timeline, Ganon is defeated once and for all, as is in the Child Timeline, the Demon King is also defeated by Link using the Four Sword. With the Demon King now finally being defeated in the Adult timeline, there's no telling if that's what will end the curse. Demise meeting his demise in all three timelines. Last but not least, there's another core piece of evidence that supports this and that's, the Depths. The Depths appears to be an entirely separate Hyrule underneath the current Hyrule. This would be possible if this was the original Hyrule that was flooded prior to Wind Waker. Since Breath of the Wild/Tears of the Kingdom take place so far into the future, the depths has little to nothing left that resembles the original Hyrule. The loop theory is merely just history repeating itself. Ganondorf being reborn as a Gerudo Warrior who seeks the land of Hyrule mirrors what happened in the past that was long forgotten, however this time, Ganondorf cannot win with the Triforce, so he must find another way. I know it's a long read, but for anyone interested, those are my thoughts on the placement of Tears of the Kingdom.

My idea is that after the last game of the fallen hero timeline, Hyrule eventually crumbles. This leads to it being refounded by Rauru.

Great video, and yeah it seems like the timeline is being scrapped. I think they realized it will only stunt further stories if they have to abide to the rules of a strict timeline. My interpretation is that BOTW is the convergence of the timeline because Tears of the Kingdom future has to happen in order for Tears of the Kingdom past to happen. Basically, if Zelda goes back in time, before the OoT split, she has to return to her era which is TOTK no matter what. She can't just come back to a whole different time. If BOTW is different in the child and fallen timeline, she'd be going back to a completely different era, that didn't result in her being sent back. Rules of time travel I guess? It makes BOTW and TOTK constants in the end of each timeline. Perhaps the seperate items from all timelines are a result of this seamless convergence, or maybe there was a grand event that converged all 3 timelines. The latter sounds more exciting.

At this point I feel like they’re just trolling us with the timeline

I need this video to pop off I need my claymation

One more thing I wanted to add was the possibility of a "Dragon Break" in which the timelines all merged together some how. We get that word from the ending of Daggerfall, the Elder Scrolls game before Morrowind in which there were 11 endings. I don't like that theory but it works in explaining the timeline. I like the idea you pitch earlier that the games are each in their own canon. 2D Zelda, 3D Zelda, Capcom Games, and now a new "Wild" Timeline for the open world games.

The thing that confuses me the most is the fact a Rito was part of the founding of Hyrule in the past, which on the timeline would put it before windwaker, when the Rito are introduced

I'm surprised that you didn't mention ganondorf in the past, some of the memories directly retell the events of ocarina of time related to him in a contradictory way, so there must be at least two ganondorfs, either in parallel timelines or one appearing millenia after the other

👏🏾 You did a great job explaining this complicated timeline. It’s probably the most complex of any game series. Thanks for posting.

ive seen many people say that the founding of hyrule in TOTK is after skyward sword, which makes no sense because the calamity would have existed from skyward sword to BOTW

I honestly still think that the best answer has to be that the three timelines merge during the events of the original Hyrule Warriors with Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom happening thousands of years after that

I have had diarrhea every day for eight years.

what also makes it complicated is that items like the majoras mask and ravios hood could theoretically appear in all timelines instead of the specific game of majoras mask etc. as termina just hasnt been visited by a link yet, but the mask still exists. same with lorule but tbh i cant tell if either termina is even a real realm. or if lorule is just the sacred realm or something

Maybe the appearance of the Zonai and Rauru as Hyrules first king were even before the events of Skyward Sword, Sonia still has the triforce symbol tattooed on her arm, so the belief in the triforce was still amongst the Hylians.

short answer: it doesnt. good day

My personal theory on this is that the game has two paths: BOTW-TOTK now are a brand new timeline which takes in some alternate reality after skyward sword. Similar events to some games happen but not in the same way. Or that Skyward sword happened and then some event lead to hyrule not able to fully form and some tribal war and event happened which prevented the Hylians from uniting until the Zoni appeared and Raru unites the Hylian tribes into one Kingdom. At this point for whatever reason the triforce and Hylia are more myth and almost forgotten, the triforce only being an important symbol without meaning or perhaps a forgotten meaning to most. The past events with time-travel zelda happen and then with Raru's death the kingdom may fall apart again or fall into a civil war which eventually leads to the creation of the Sheika who use old Zoni tech and the tech Zelda brought back and likely help the new Hyrule king in keeping the Kingdom Stable. I think it would likely be here the Triforce makes a re-appearance in importance and is possibly found, leading to the events of the Twilight Princess mentioned where the Twili tribe rebel and are sent to the twilight realm. With the old Gods re-established and remembered and Hyrule formed again the games after skyward sword all take place and then the timeline unites with BOTW. Also this has to be the first ganondorf in the timeline and a different man than the one we see before. IDk what that all means but maybe the other ganons are connected to him. See there is an issue with TOTK and the fact that Raru doesn't even think of a master sword from his timeline, a hero, or even the triforce at all. These absence feel significant. And it HAS to be after Skyward sword with where Zelda goes to because Hyrule does not exist in Skyward sword. Since it shows the first king of Hyrule and its foundation than it wouldn't work to happen before Skyward sword. Plus no Goddess sword, Hylia or Demise himself. It has to be at some point after Skyward Sword and I feel there is some reason why the Triforce just isn't seen nor a hero or the Blade in that time.

the best theory i have heard is that the three timelimes are a dragonbreak that is closed by zelda when she travels back in time at the beginning of Totk. All the timelines have been combined into one where contradicting things occur

In cannon when does link actually wear his green tunic. We see it exists which means he’s worn it before or has it but has yet to wear it. But what do you think? When does he wear it

thanks for keeping it mostly spoiler free and giving warnings! :D

Mattison is 6. They said at that age, Vai have to grow up in Gerudo Town away from Voe in her questline. I did it yesterday so it's fresh on my mind.

So I'm going to post my explanations of the goddess sword and other amiibo items. Amiibo items are basically replicas created by Misko, he was fascinated with old legends and decided to replicate items from both history and myths alike. From "Creating a Champion" we know that events from old timelines have faded away with time and it's hard to tell which events are historical fact and which are fairy tale, it only makes sense that replicas and fanatics like Misko exist. There's a reason why Majora's Mask and the Fierce Deity have no powers in BOTW and TOTK. Some of Misko treasures include the Fierce Deity, Tingle set and the Awakening set, the latter confirming the theory given the toy look of the set. Other sets are found in the Depths and even though we can't tell for sure if Misko made them it's safe to assume he or someone else did, from everything we know there's more proof of them being fakes than the real deal. It's also interesting to note that the Yiga clan made their own version of the thunder helm, this is not directly related to the Misko theory but it goes to show that replicas are already a thing in TOTK. This makes more sense than actually trying to explain how the Goddess Sword is canon in TOTK, yes I know the sword is given to you by the Mother Goddess statue herself but I think we need to keep in mind that not every amiibo items is the real deal in TOTK and BOTW.

My personal head canon involves a Game theory video from a few years ago. In that video the theory is the first Hyrule Warriors fused the three main timelines together creating a new “soft reboot” timeline where BOTW is the sequel to all of them which is why there are Easter eggs to incompatible Zelda games throughout Hyrule. The events of the previous games aren’t forgotten but, so much changed after this event that Hyrule’s history before it is only vaguely known in-universe.

Well, I have 2 different potential explanations for the goddess sword The first is actually just a retread of your option 1, it's a new sword. The reason they say it was said to have once been wielded by a hero in the sky isn't because it's the exact same sword but because in spirit it is the weapon wielded by them. It's like all the champions weapons, all of them talk about having been used by the champions, but it's not as if they used that specific weapon you carry. The other explanation I have is far more out there and has a lot less legs to stand on. A 4th option: it is the same sword at an earlier point in time. This is based on pre-release theories that the Zelda timeline could potentially form a loop, and that TotK may not just be at the end of the timeline, but also the beginning. I don't see much disproving this theory after release however I also don't see much proving it either. Only small little details that could instead just be fun Easter eggs, but I think it's interesting food for thought!

my head canon is that all these things happened when an offscreen merge of all three timelines and games individually took place so a shirt ripped in one game that was fixed in another you could still find the ripped one this is how I would explain the white sword of the sky When the timelines merged the had to remake the kingdom because the world would definitely be in chaos also the depths could be the old games mixed up because there are so many versions of hyrule and totk hyrule is the remade hyrule that rose above the others I have no idea how the gods/goddess’s would work

honestly the problem with BOTW or TOTK is that it only makes sense if the first Hyrule warriors is cannon with the strict timeline because there is the merging of all three timelines. and we see important places in BOTW like the ruins of arbiters grounds which is where the mirror linking the twilie and the hyliains together was held. i think that what TOTK and BOTW are is a convergence point of all the timelines for marketing and other purposes based off land marks and other findable objects. in the future i would like games to in the 100 year gap between the normal timeline and the convergence as i have been calling it.

The way I place botw and totk is that they’re convergent timelines (I think that’s the right term). Where it’s its own timeline where the other timelines bleed into/converge with it to leave their own elements on it. Hence why the throwback outfits/weapons are present, and iconic locations like the ranch,etc are also present. It also explains the different history of hyrule and gannon taking power, and the removal of the triforce. I think I worded this explanation right but incase I didn’t here is a quick summary. Botw and Totk are their own timeline/timeline split where the other timelines converge into it and leave their imprints/items/elements/story in them. Explains the different founding of hyrule,Gannon taking power,etc.

In my mind it's either a convergence of timelines since hyrule warriors or a parallel universe. So the convergence could make sense in the fact that gannon/gannondorf has somehow done many things while also still being sealed by Rauru, and there are little hints and stuff of those previous events. But they're almost like shadows, maybe like a mandella effect. I also think the whole "10,000 years ago" thing is just a guess, I think they dont know for sure because of the weird time things that have happened, and I would guess they probably don't have carbon dating. So because of all the evidence historians have found of all these crazy historical events (from previous games), but somehow the sheikah stuff is older, they've decided that it happened 10,000 years ago, when in reality it was likely a lot more recent. What potentially is about that old, is the Zonai stuff, but maybe it too isnt even that old, and just appears to be since they have to account for so many historical events happening in such a short time. My reasoning for that is that some of the ruins seem to be based on Mayan (or similar) ruins in real life, many of which are only 3000-4000 years old. Which kinda checks out, if you have to smash 3x 3000-4000 years of history together and make sense of it (without carbon dating), it would look like 9000-12000 years woth of events. Idk, there are probably some flaws in this idea, which is why I also don't mind the parallel universe theory, but it's what makes the most sense for me at the moment.😊

when i first got the goddess sword, i immediately assumed that nintendo are just fucking around and having fun because they knew we were all gonna lose our minds over it lol

9:26 another big problem is that Herr is described the FOUNDING of the kingdom of hyrule. It's very much implied that this is the beginning of that kingdom and its first king... so how could old Hyrule of the other games have existed before the past shown in totk?

Korok jumpscare at the end! My lord! Brilliant video! And I agree... time-line placement is wacked now...

A crisis on infinite earths style convergence occurred

Crazy theory, but maybe the events in OoT where like a dragon break like in elder scrolls. All happen but all converge on one timeline. SS Zelda and Link could be the ancestors to Sonia and with people coming down from the Sky could of been the Zonai.

The only thing that makes sense to me would be that some type of event occurred to converge the timelines. Like maybe after so many thousands of years of fighting each other throughout time and space and different realities starting all the way back from the original incarnation of evil (Demise), Link and Ganon engaged in a fight outside the confines of time and space that was so violent it reset the timelines basically and that’s why the timelines converge and why the physical layout of the land resembles the way things were in skyward sword. Then, when the zonai founded hyrule it was actually re-establishing the kingdom that once existed. However they didn’t even know this because any memories and knowledge of the history of the world had been lost in the convergence event. Then some of the unexplained reoccurrence of past items and locations and names can be explained simply by “history repeats itself” as it was set in motion by Demise way back when.

my interpretation is that because so much time has passed that history just eventually converged on another nexus while the pasts may have been different , the timeline eventually came to a point where it can branch off again if it ever did so , going back to when hyrule was founded does add in another paradox but thats yet to be addressed. its essentially a reboot

Hey I have an amazing idea! Since OOT has Zelda as a sage and breaks the timeline into three, TOTK should bring the timeline back together because Zelda is a sage in that one as well. Also I think the start of TOTK would come at the start and the end of TOTK would come after BOTW. 😊

The White Sword of the Sky is NOT the one that turns into the Master Sword. It's a replica of it created by the goddess statues. This is pretty much stated by the quest.

I always thought that with botw, we had all this information alluding to all of the timelines because the memories (and some items) sort of “leaked through” to all the other timelines. Botw then takes place so much later that all of these references have just been around, and many are from things people think of as myths or legends. Some games have shown link even being transported to what seems to be a parallel world, such as oracle of ages/seasons, and other titles like a link between worlds, twilight Princess, and alttp, also show works that can be interpreted as parallel universes. With these gaps always occurring within the universes, it would make sense that some things spill over from one universe to another. Given enough time, any of those universes would have some part of themselves in the other universes, which could explain how this is all in botw or totk.

I figured some of those amiibo items were replicas. They are considered legendary artifacts so it would make sense to "recreate them" I mean there's no way even in the child timeline Midnas helmet (with hair included) would just be in Hyrule. It was destroyed. Otherwise the goddess blade in totk would be a mission to substitute the master sword after it breaks My other guess was much like Wolf Link these are items from other worlds and times pulled to this one, the tunic of twilight suggests it was legit having wolf hairs in it. Perhaps you using your amiibos so carelessly in botw is what brought them to this world in the first place lmao

In my opinion, BOTW and TOTK is its own separate universe, which many of the Zelda games honestly are. The only "timeline" that actually makes sense, and was kind of planned is: Skyward Sword > Ocarina of Time > Majora's Mask > Twilight Princess -> Wind Waker > Phantom Hourglass > Spirit Tracks Most of the games were simply placed randomly in the timeline, without any actual planning, or thought, and should honestly just be counted as separate timelines. BOTW is a new, separate universe, that references all previous games. Which is fine imo. I don't need them to continue the Zelda timeline we already have. Creating a new one can be just as interesting. If anything, the only story I'd be interested in seeing from the main Zelda timeline (the timeline around Ocarina of Time) is the prequel to Skyward Sword. Seeing the fight between the actual goddess, and Demise, and the original Link would be pretty cool. (And yes, as I mentioned Skyward Sword, I know Fi is present in BOTW, and that puts question to whether it does exist in the same timeline as SS. However, Link, Zelda, Ganon, Beedle, etc can exist in any universe/timeline, so why can't Fi also have existed in the universe of BOTW?)

I feel like Botw was definitely made with the intent of being connected to Skyward Sword, with the reincarnating Demise/Ganon, but now with Totk it feels like they’re changing their minds and separating Botw and Totk from the rest of the timeline as they kind of retold the story of Skyward sword in Totk and changed Hyrule’s early history. As for the other game references I think they’re either just non-canon Easter eggs, or the events of other games are just legends in the new timeline that are only partially factual

The best ending to a video I’ve seen in a long time 🤣

idk why it couldn't just be that all the three timelines combine then over time the zoni or whatever invade, old hyrule hisotry is forgotten, then founding takes place, and past of totk which leads to botw then totk 4 yearsish after botw if that makes sense,

On the sword of the sky: my personal headcanon is that this is mearly the prototype for what would be the Goddess sword, and the legend got mixed up with it due to time passing. Sorta like how everyone say the sword in the stone was Excalibur, but in the original story Arthur gets Excalibur from the lady of the lake, while the sword from the stone was a totally different sword.

My theory is that the timelines just merged at some point, I don’t know how or care but it’s really the only probable solution.