Breath of the Wild 2 Could Start a Brand New Legend of Zelda Timeline

Breath of the Wild 2 Could Start a Brand New Legend of Zelda Timeline

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The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is an odd addition to the timeline established by the Hyrule Historia, so how will its sequel cope?

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Breath of the Wild 2 Could Start a Brand New Legend of Zelda Timeline

Nintendo’s tentpole franchise The Legend of Zelda has built upon its gameplay and lore since the original title was released on the NES in 1986. Many of the series’ games have the same thematic elements which have become a universal “mythology,” and Nintendo attempted to explain how each game fits into a timeline in 2011 through the Hyrule Historia — a collector’s book published by Dark Horse Comics. However, releasing an “official timeline” at a set point in an ongoing series means all future releases must fit in somehow, and the next game to face that enigmatic task is Breath of the Wild 2.

The original Breath of the Wild, released to launch the Nintendo Switch in 2017, was an odd addition to the Zelda timeline that already branched into three alternate universes. As far its placement of the timeline, Eiji Aonuma said the game is “at the very end” of the entire timeline.

Breath of the Wild’s Director Hidemaro Fujibayashi went on to say the team is not averse to altering the timeline to fit in games, but slapping The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild onto every branch at once is messy from a theoretical physics perspective. Yet this conceit is reflected in the interactive timeline visible on Nintendo Japan’s website, so to understand how Breath of the Wild 2 might go forward players need to have a grasp what the branches stipulate.

The Original Timelines of Zelda

Breath of the Wild 2 Could Start a Brand New Legend of Zelda Timeline

All things begin with 2011’s Skyward Sword. It’s the origin story: a tale that explains how Link’s green tunic is a remnant of his status as a Knight of the floating city Skyloft, how the insignia on the Hylian Shield bears a red bird because the original Link rode a red Loftwing, and more. Skyward Sword’s Link and Zelda help repopulate the Earth below the clouds, which leads to societies seen in 2004’s The Minish Cap and 2003’s Four Swords, a companion piece to the Game Boy Advance port of Link to the Past. Those games share a villain, the “Wind Mage” Vaati, who sought power after becoming fascinated with the evil in the hearts of men.

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After that the timeline splits three ways during the 1998 golden boy Ocarina of Time, which is still popular for speedrunners. If Link fails to defeat Ganon, the demon king is fought by the incarnation in 1991’s A Link to the Past, who becomes the dreaming protagonist of 1993’s Link’s Awakening. Further down the line comes the NES games: The Legend of Zelda and 1987’s The Adventure of Link.

If Ocarina of Time Link defeats Ganon he can choose to stay as a child, after which he becomes lost in 2000’s Majora’s Mask, and then turns into the Hero’s Shade that teaches the Link in 2006’s Twilight Princess. If Ocarina of Time Link chooses to stay as an adult the unprotected world is flooded by the time of 2002’s Wind Waker and its two sequels, 2007’s Phantom Hourglass and 2009’s Spirit Tracks.

Breath of the Wild 2’s Role in the Timelines

Breath of the Wild 2 Could Start a Brand New Legend of Zelda Timeline

Breath of the Wild is apparently so far into the future that it becomes a converging point for all three timelines. Despite this being incredibly strange, it does work from a game design mentality.

The Legend of Zelda has a history of referencing previous titles going back to Ocarina of Time’s Sages sharing their names with the towns from The Adventure of Link. The massive, nonlinear open world of Breath of the Wild that will be reused in Breath of the Wild 2 takes things a step further by referencing games across all branches of the timeline: Tal Tal Peak named after the mountain range from Link’s Awakening; Ralis Pond named after the Zora Prince from Twilight Princess; and Mount Daphnes named after the King from Wind Waker all exist together.

Before the game released it was believed Breath of the Wild could be treated as a reboot of the franchise, even a direct reimagining of the original NES game. It’s still worth thinking that way when pondering what Breath of the Wild 2 will contribute to the timeline as a sequel. Despite Aonuma’s insistence to the contrary, if Breath of the Wild is a reboot then its sequel can potentially begin to co-opt elements of previous Zelda titles and create a new ongoing timeline befitting the transformative, recycling Internet meme culture that pervades the era of its inception.

What Breath of the Wild 2’s Timeline would look like

Even though Breath of the Wild 2 was announced at E3 2019, not much has been said about the game’s plot. The teaser trailer, in which a mummified creature believed to be Ganondorf is resurrected deep beneath Hyrule, suggests it will have an outwardly darker tone than the original akin to Majora’s Mask. In terms of recycling older ideas into fresh plot lines, “resurrecting the king of evil” is a tried-and-true part of the series. Link to the Past saw Ganon resurrect through a surrogate Agahnim; and The Adventure of Link’s game over screen constantly reminds players of the threatening “return of Ganon.”

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However, few Zelda games have explored the source of this recurring evil’s power beyond him being a reborn form of the Demon King Demise from Skyward Sword. One fan theory based on the E3 trailer has suggested Zant from Twilight Princess may return in Breath of the Wild 2, and it would be a fun twist if the Twili were re-introduced into Hyrule’s cast through a role reversal making him the source of Ganon’s powers.

Then there are possible returning villains who would make thematic sense in continuing the Breath of the Wild timeline. One of the first game’s key narratives revolved around Zelda anxiously not being able to tap into her divine powers. So what if the villain reviving Ganondorf was a twisted, immensely powerful mirror of Zelda? Someone like Lorule’s Hilda who used Ganon to try and claim Hyrule’s triforce in 2013’s A Link Between Worlds.

From that jumping off point the possibilities of recycled plot points creating fresh stories seem endless. Breath of the Wild’s Calamity Ganon was a world-ending phenomena, so what if a resurrected Ganondorf has the same drive and looks to flood Hyrule by breaking apart the Rutala Dam that once held the Divine Beast Vah Ruta? Or in a somewhat less realistic twist, what if he tries to bring the moon crashing down on Hyrule rather than Termina?

Over three years since its release, one of the biggest complaints about the critically-acclaimed Breath of the Wild is how its story is weaker than a typical Zelda game. The nonlinearity of the world allowing players to access any story beat at any time, as well as less-than-stellar voice acting, left many long-time fans wanting more. Even if Breath of the Wild 2 decides not to remix its predecessor’s ideas, whatever it brings to the timeline needs to graft a fascinating, memorable story onto Breath of the Wild’s foundation.

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild 2 is in development for the Nintendo Switch.

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