It’s official:The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wildisn’t part of the formerly created timeline by Nintendo. Of course, this means thatTears of the Kingdomisn’t on the timeline either, being a direct sequel toBOTW. Considering that neither game includes a lot of mentions of the events of other games in the series to help find their place on the timeline, these games being separated from that timeline makes the most sense compared to other possibilities, such as being at the start or end of the timeline.
The main theory previously for whenBreath of the Wildtook place was that it’s so far into the future that the events of other games have become legends. While this wasn’t a bad theory, it isn’t as fitting as givingBOTWandTOTKa separate space on the timelinewhere they can be freed from the universe created by previous games. It’s not a secret that the official timeline is messy and convoluted, especially with three branching timelines based around the events inOcarina of Time, so it’s good to have a bit of a fresh start for newer games.
Separating BOTW & TOTK From The Old Timeline Is The Best Choice
It’s Likely A Relief For The Development Team
It’s possible that the games prior toBOTWweren’t necessarily created with the idea in mind that they would be connectedon the same timeline, but after enough demands from players, Nintendo eventually released the official timeline prior toBOTW. Now, there’s a new timeline that’s official, and it placesBOTW- andTOTKby extension - on their own, separate timeline. This is the best choice that could’ve been made for those games, not just for clarity, but because this is the opportunity to start from a clean slate for the development team.
This Potential Zelda: TOTK Plothole Could Be Explained By Link In BOTW
Tears of the Kingdom has one noticeable plothole as a direct sequel to Breath of the Wild, but there are a few easy ways to explain it.
Trying to design games with the entire timeline in mind and how the current project would fit among the rest of the games probably wouldn’t be easy.Starting over with a new timeline takes away that potential burden, even if it wasn’t part of the creative process to begin with, and it keeps players from continuously speculating about how they can piece the whole series together.
However, it also rules out somefan theories that had convincing logicabout how to piece this timeline puzzle together. Although, talented theory crafters will likely not be deterred and continue searching for the smallest details in the series.
The Creative Freedom Of Moving To A New Zelda Timeline
The Benefits Of Two Zelda Timelines
Of course, this new timeline, byremoving the burden of using a singular convoluted timeline, opens more possibilities for creative freedom. The team can choose to keep working with the clean slate provided byBOTWandTOTK, or they can return to the previous timeline and build on it with more games.
However, since the games are reportedly supposed to continue the style ofBOTWrather than return to what’s considered to be the classicZeldastyle, it would make sense to stick with a new timeline in honor of that shift. Either way, it’s hard to argue against having moreZeldagames released.
Zelda: Why You Can’t Repair Weapons In Breath of the Wild
Breath of the Wild’s weapon durability causes weapons to break after a certain amount of swings, and Nintendo doesn’t allow players to repair them.
Thiscould also make returning to older games for a remake easier, especially when the current trend of remaking games in a way that changes the original content instead of just polishing it, bringing it up to modern standards of gameplay. If there were remakes made that needed to consider additions to that timeline that were made after the game’s original release, or even just add references to those games, it would become a bigger task.
In the end, it seems better from every angle to create a new timeline instead of holding onto the previous one, and it opens up the most possibilities for the future of the series.
Since the games are reportedly supposed to continue the style ofBOTWrather than return to what’s considered to be the classicZeldastyle, it would make sense to stick with a new timeline in honor of that shift.
Thetimeline for the entireZeldaserieshas always been a topic filled with speculation, especially before the official timeline was released. It was even moreso afterBOTWwas released.
While it’s fun to build theories about the games and how they might be connected, it might be better to create a precedent for new games to be on the new timeline, or even given their own separate space where they aren’t related to past titles. A series doesn’t need to have every game in it connected to each other. Now, there’s the potential to go anywhere afterThe Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.
