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[Admiral Woofington]

Isn't the windwaker timeline that no hero appeared? Not that a hero lost.

 

[Lord_Byron28]

Curious if BotW is post-AoL, does that mean there could be two Zeldas? In AoL, you save a Zelda that had been asleep under a curse for a long time in a hidden tower. However, years prior the same Link saved the modern day Princess Zelda. Perhaps the Zelda we see in the flashbacks sealed herself in Hyrule Castle with Ganon. Meanwhile there is also a present day Zelda.

 

[SolVanderlyn]

Isn't the windwaker timeline that no hero appeared? Not that a hero lost.

Yeah.

One thing about the Downfall timeline that's always intrigued me is LttP Link's Uncle.

This guy has the hero's blood in him and is related to another person (brother/sister) who also did. The only Link family member to not look like Link. I've always kind of wanted him to show up in another game lol.

He won't be in this one though.

 

[RagnarokX]

I think this is certainly plausible in broad terms, but a few things I'm not convinced of:

First, I don't get the whole Skyloft thing you have going on. From what we've seen of the Great Plateau it is the entirety of old Hyrule Caste/Town. Great big walls encircle nearly the entire plateau and look quite ancient and match up to a degree with those walls seen in OoT. There is even is a giant gate and stone road leading up to the entrance that you can see explored here. It would simply just make more sense to say that after Ganon is sealed away in OoT they founded a new Castle and Town elsewhere because he destroyed the old one. I also think that the old Hyrule was used as a kind of holy site. The state of the Temple of Time and fact that there was an "Eastern Abbey" on the former location of Hyrule Castle makes me think it wasn't just abandoned ruins ever since OoT.

Second, I'm not sure the Sheikah and their tech are recent or not. From your translation of the map the Divine Four Beast and Guardians and statements by Zelda kind of sound like they are foreign/ancient entities that Princess Zelda called upon to save Hyrule, but it backfired. The fact that the Sheikah Towers and Shrines were buried underground and massive rocks makes me think they are very very old. So I'm not sure it's clear whether some Sheikah tech is new and building off far more ancient tech, or if all of it is ancient, or if all of it is recent. I would consider the first two more likely than the third.

Going off of that, some of the images we see of Zelda makes me think part of those flashbacks will be our journey with her across Hyrule in order to active those Guardians and their masters. Thus why she is in possession of the Sheikah Slate in those scenes and not Link. That would mean scenes with her in the Champion like clothes take place prior to those scenes we see of her in the White Dress.

With then those White Dress scenes taking place after Ganon returns and takes over the Guardians and she seeks to reawaken her connection to Hylia and then Link gets injured, but more importantly the Master Sword gets damaged. I think that fact is the more important one. I'm not convinced Link is injured or dead and needs 100 years to revive, but more so that the Master Sword is greatly damaged and it needs 100 years in the Lost Forest under the care of the Great Deku Tree in order to be repaired. Thus Link is required to sleep for that time so a hero will be around once the Master Sword is ready once again.

Regarding Skyloft:

Here's a comparison of BotW's map to OoT's. They are very similar in their general layout:

The layout of Zora's River is even the same, with a few notable exceptions.
-The area where the river used to pass by Hyrule Castle is now a huge lake about the size of the Great Plateau.
-The Great Plateau has blocked off the flow of Zora's River into Lake Hylia.
-The short south fork of Zora's River at the entrance to Zora's Domain now flows all the way south and feeds Lake Hylia instead.

Here's a closer look at the Great Plateau on the map:

There is a road that heads towards the gate of the Great Plateau but it does not connect.

The walls are definitely not the Castle Town walls. They are more like the lip of a bowl. They only extend up a little bit on the Plateau side but dive hundreds of feet below the Plateau's ground. They cut the land of OoT in a weird way:

The walls of the Great Plateau are very similar to Sky Keep. The walls, of course, could have been constructed after the plateau was moved. The gate would allow the Royal Family to still be able to access the Temple of Time while providing added security.

Likely the reason they moved it was because Ganon was sealed in the Sacred Realm following the Hero of Time's defeat. The Temple of Time being the main portal to the Sacred Realm, the Royal Family wanted to move Ganon's prison further away from the capital and put it some place that would be difficult to reach by anyone else. The flooded path leading to the gate from the Plateau side looks like it actually consisted of multiple gates that have been ruined.

Moving the Temple of Time and OoT Castle Town explains why it's rotated the wrong way and the plateau blocks off the original course of Zora's River, preventing it from feeding Lake Hylia from the west.

 

[Skittzo0413]

^

That... makes way too much sense. So basically your theory is sometime after OoT, the sages/Zelda/gods decided to move that portion of Skyloft -which had been the land beneath the Temple of Time for centuries- out of reach of those who would want to unseal Ganon?

It could be interesting if this is included in the background of this game, like something which happened 100 years prior. I doubt it, since the Plateau is referred to as a very old, sacred location, but it might be possible.

In the end it's likely just a nice Easter Egg for those (like you) who have noticed the similarities in the layout to OoT's Hyrule Castle Town.

 

[spekkeh]

Okay time to bow out because it seems like people are starting to crack it .

 

[TheKingOfSheep]

What I would like to know is if the following theory has merit. Or if I can be discounted based on what is already known about the game. I’ve have played lots of Zelda, but I’m just not too familiar with the lore. I’m aware of the timeline, but I don’t put much stock in it though. Because I believe, in order not to alienate those gamers/consumers unfamiliar with Zeldalore, that Nintendo develops Zelda games as standalone, self-contained experiences – at least the big home-console titles. Obviously, I’m Ignoring ‘subtle’ references in the games. LttP, OoT, WW, TP, SS don’t explicitly continue a story line (notice I left MM out, as it IS obviously a continuation of the adventures of Child Link from OoT ). The games in and of themselves have beginnings (that aren’t a continuation of another title), middles and endings. I know, all of those titles begin with some sort of myth that explains why the world in the game is the way it is, or why you need to start a quest, and yes, even hints at events that could be related to other games.

Back to BotW. In the latest trailer the Deku Tree says, Link doesn’t remember him, then goes on to tell Link what happened a hundred years ago.
Is it possible that Link, in this game, uses Sheikah tech to go back a hundred years into the past to change the future/present? That instead of him failing in OoT (that fallen hero scenario), we actually see him fail in this game a hundred years earlier? And that now he has to undo things in the past to ‘rebuild’ the future/present?
In the trailer we see a town burn and overrun – which is very dramatic for a Nintendo game, right? I mean we can assume some people in town might(‘ve) die(d). Is it too farfetched to think Link will be able to undo the causes of that disaster?
I would really like to know what the experts think about this, whether this theory has merit? Whether there is any proof to support the possibility of a time-travel gameplay mechanic in this game. As I can’t imagine that this event that took place a hundred years ago, is a reference to another game, or that the event will only be addressed in a non-interactive flashback video. I think/hope the event will be part of the gameplay.

 

[E-phonk]

I believe, in order not to alienate those gamers/consumers unfamiliar with Zeldalore, that Nintendo develops Zelda games as standalone, self-contained experiences – at least the big home-console titles. Obviously, I’m Ignoring ‘subtle’ references in the games. LttP, OoT, WW, TP, SS don’t explicitly continue a story line (notice I left MM out, as it IS obviously a continuation of the adventures of Child Link from OoT ).

While some zelda fans might go a bit too crazy about the timeline sometimes (myself included) - there ARE some very important ways some of them are linked (heh), especially the newer games.

SS is clearly the first game, for example - it tells the origin of Ganon, the reason why Link/Zelda/Ganon keep getting involved in the same adventure and the creation of the Master Sword.

 

[Durock]

New comment from Aunoma about the game's placement....

"Jeuxvideo.com: Skyward Sword, the latest installment in the series, was at the very beginning of the chronology of Hyrule's story. Where do you find this episode?

EA: I can not yet answer this question because I want players to discover some elements of the game on their own, but you have some clues when you see that in the game there is the voice of a young person Woman who tells you that the world you are in has suffered many battles against Ganon. You can imagine roughly what period it is."

IMO, that further validates the game taking place further down in the Downfall Timeline, which I still believe will be after AoL.

 

[Enduin]

Regarding Skyloft:

Here's a comparison of BotW's map to OoT's. They are very similar in their general layout:

The layout of Zora's River is even the same, with a few notable exceptions.
-The area where the river used to pass by Hyrule Castle is now a huge lake about the size of the Great Plateau.
-The Great Plateau has blocked off the flow of Zora's River into Lake Hylia.
-The short south fork of Zora's River at the entrance to Zora's Domain now flows all the way south and feeds Lake Hylia instead.

Here's a closer look at the Great Plateau on the map:

There is a road that heads towards the gate of the Great Plateau but it does not connect.

The walls are definitely not the Castle Town walls. They are more like the lip of a bowl. They only extend up a little bit on the Plateau side but dive hundreds of feet below the Plateau's ground. They cut the land of OoT in a weird way:

The walls of the Great Plateau are very similar to Sky Keep. The walls, of course, could have been constructed after the plateau was moved. The gate would allow the Royal Family to still be able to access the Temple of Time while providing added security.

Likely the reason they moved it was because Ganon was sealed in the Sacred Realm following the Hero of Time's defeat. The Temple of Time being the main portal to the Sacred Realm, the Royal Family wanted to move Ganon's prison further away from the capital and put it some place that would be difficult to reach by anyone else. The flooded path leading to the gate from the Plateau side looks like it actually consisted of multiple gates that have been ruined.

Moving the Temple of Time and OoT Castle Town explains why it's rotated the wrong way and the plateau blocks off the original course of Zora's River, preventing it from feeding Lake Hylia from the west.

It's certainly an interesting theory but also one I think is way too complicated for no meaningful reason. You're creating a solution to a problem that isn't likely real.

The walls around the Great Plateau are more than likely just the walls around Castle Town:

Which look to wrap around the whole thing or much of it, just like the Great Plateau's walls wrap around much of it. Their design is not at all particularly similar to that of Skyloft's either.

The biggest issue is that matching up the geography is an unreliable prospect as the series' geography has been anything but stable throughout, so the need to match things up kind of falls apart. Death Mountain has shifted placement numerous times, as has the Lost woods, Kakariko Village and so on. Just look at TP who for no reason dramatically shifted things around, including the Temple of Time, Hyrule Castle/Town, when of all the timelines it had zero reason to do so. Not to mention also swapping the locations of Death Mountain and Zora's Domain.

Current analysis by the likes of EngineeringHyrule figures that hte Great Deku Tree is just north of Hyrule Castle. Which potentially throws off the whole Lost Woods location, once again, as I doubt the Great Deku Tree will be somewhere other than the Lost Woods.

The current map lines up more with TP than OoT with the placement of the ToT, Hyrule Castle, Snow Peak, Lake Hylia and all that, except once again Zora's Domain and Death Mountain have swapped places one again, and the Lost Woods as mentioned before is likely on the North side of the map and not the South East.

 

[Skittzo0413]

It's certainly an interesting theory but also one I think is way too complicated for no meaningful reason. You're creating a solution to a problem that isn't likely real.

The walls around the Great Plateau are more than likely just the walls around Castle Town:

Which look to wrap around the whole thing or much of it, just like the Great Plateau's walls wrap around much of it. Their design is not at all particularly similar to that of Skyloft's either.

The biggest issue is that matching up the geography is an unreliable prospect as the series' geography has bee anything but stable throughout, so the need to match things up kind of falls apart. Death Mountain has shifted placement numerous times, as has the Lost woods, Kakariko Village and so on. Just look at TP who for no reason dramatically shifted things around, including the Temple of Time, Hyrule Castle/Town, when of all the timelines it had zero reason to do so. Not to mention also swapping the locations of Death Mountain and Zora's Domain.

Current analysis by the likes of EngineeringHyrule figures that hte Great Deku Tree is just north of Hyrule Castle. Which potentially throws off the whole Lost Woods location, once again, as I doubt the Great Deku Tree will be somewhere other than the Lost Woods.

The current map lines up more with TP than OoT with the placement of the ToT, Hyrule Castle, Snow Peak, Lake Hylia and all that, except once again Zora's Domain and Death Mountain have swapped places one again, and the Lost Woods as mentioned before is likely on the North side of the map and not the South East.

One thing which very strongly hints at the geography of the Great Plateau (at least) being an intentional throwback is how it's described by the Old Man as "the birthplace of the kingdom of Hyrule". OoT's castle town (alone) wouldn't make sense in that context, whereas Skyloft (or a portion thereof) would make a lot more sense.

 

[Enduin]

One thing which very strongly hints at the geography of the Great Plateau (at least) being an intentional throwback is how it's described by the Old Man as "the birthplace of the kingdom of Hyrule". OoT's castle town (alone) wouldn't make sense in that context, whereas Skyloft (or a portion thereof) would make a lot more sense.

I think it perfectly makes sense in that context without the need for Skyloft. The geography in the series has never been consistent so why start now. He says it's "the birthplace of the Kingdom of Hyrule," which makes sense as it clearly is meant to be OoT's Hyrule Castle Town ruins. It can still be that without requiring the entirety of the world to conform to the geography of that game.

The series is called The Legend of Zelda for a reason. They even make reference in the games of that fact. The main details remain the same, but a lot of it is subject to change and alteration as legends are want to do as they are passed down and developed over time.

 

[Durock]

I think it perfectly makes sense in that context without the need for Skyloft. The geography in the series has never been consistent so why start now. He says it's "the birthplace of the Kingdom of Hyrule," which makes sense as it clearly is meant to be OoT's Hyrule Castle Town ruins. It can still be that without requiring the entirety of the world to conform to the geography of that game.

The series is called The Legend of Zelda for a reason. They even make reference in the games of that fact. The main details remain the same, but a lot of it is subject to change and alteration as legends are want to do as they are passed down and developed over time.

I'm in agreement with Skittz here. The Old Man is speaking in a literal sense. The Great Plateau would be the birth place of Hyrule as that's where it all began.

I get where you're coming from with the 'legends' stuff, but it doesn't apply literally to the Zelda franchise. If it did, all of the game's wouldn't be connected to form a set of overarching stories with the various timelines. It would be more like Final Fantasy where each game has its own tale to tell but isn't connected to the others.

 

[Enduin]

I'm in agreement with Skittz here. The Old Man is speaking in a literal sense. The Great Plateau would be the birth place of Hyrule as that's where it all began.

I get where you're coming from with the 'legends' stuff, but it doesn't apply literally to the Zelda franchise. If it did, all of the game's wouldn't be connected to form a set of overarching stories with the various timelines. It would be more like Final Fantasy where each game has its own tale to tell but isn't connected to the others.

I'm speaking literally too. The Great Plateau is OoT's Hyrule Castle and Town and the original site of the kingdom of Hyrule where the Goddess Statue and Sky Keep descended to earth as the foundation of the Temple of Time. That's pretty self evident. What I'm saying is the notion that the surrounding geography has to match with the rest of OoT precisely is rather pointless given the series history of playing loose with the exact location and relation between various landmarks. And thus the idea that there needs to be some complex explanation as to why this original castle town is not in the "proper" location is unnecessary. It simply is where it is along with everything else. That's where the legends stuff comes in. A point that Nintendo has brought up themselves as to why they don't maintain a strict and specific layout to the world.

 

[Skittzo0413]

I'm speaking literally too. The Great Plateau is OoT's Hyrule Castle and Town and the original site of the kingdom of Hyrule where the Goddess Statue and Sky Keep descended to earth as the foundation of the Temple of Time. That's pretty self evident. What I'm saying is the notion that the surrounding geography has to match with the rest of OoT precisely is rather pointless given the series history of playing loose with the exact location and relation between various landmarks. And thus the idea that there needs to be some complex explanation as to why this original castle town is not in the "proper" location is unnecessary. It simply is where it is along with everything else. That's where the legends stuff comes in. A point that Nintendo has brought up themselves as to why they don't maintain a strict and specific layout to the world.

Oh, I see what your issue is now, I wasn't quite understanding before. I will definitely agree that geography shouldn't really need to match up like RagnarokX was saying, however- I think most of his reasoning was based on the giant walls surrounding/supporting the plateau. Zelda games have always had geography which makes sense in the context of the game its in, and I don't think these enormous walls -which not only surround the plateau but also seem to extend down from the plateau far longer than a normal wall would- would make sense as simply the remnants of the walls around Hyrule Caslte town from OoT.

Think about it- you have a road with flags leading to the wall and a place called "Outpost Ruins", but no possible way to get up to the plateau from that road. In fact, right above that road you seemingly have the ruins of a gate, which should match up well with the road. So this clearly seems to suggest that, somehow, this entire area was "lifted" at the very least (though not necessarily moved), to reach its current position. Maybe this will be explained 100 years before the events of this game?

 

[Enduin]

Oh, I see what your issue is now, I wasn't quite understanding before. I will definitely agree that geography shouldn't really need to match up like RagnarokX was saying, however- I think most of his reasoning was based on the giant walls surrounding/supporting the plateau. Zelda games have always had geography which makes sense in the context of the game its in, and I don't think these enormous walls -which not only surround the plateau but also seem to extend down from the plateau far longer than a normal wall would- would make sense as simply the remnants of the walls around Hyrule Caslte town from OoT.

Think about it- you have a road with flags leading to the wall and a place called "Outpost Ruins", but no possible way to get up to the plateau from that road. In fact, right above that road you seemingly have the ruins of a gate, which should match up well with the road. So this clearly seems to suggest that, somehow, this entire area was "lifted" at the very least (though not necessarily moved), to reach its current position. Maybe this will be explained 100 years before the events of this game?

If you look at the various footage we have it's pretty evident that the gate is level with the ground below the plateau, not raised up. There is a reason that on the plateau side the whole section is filled with water, the entrance way slopes down a lot.

It's rather clear that the actual gateway is level with the ground below and not raised up.

Once again the fact that the plateau is a plateau when it was not in past games is just again how it happens to be in this game. They needed to isolate the region the player started in, but they didn't want to actually stick the player behind walls trapping them in.

I again don't think that this Great Plateau was always isolated. It's only recently isolated in the last 100 years. The fact that the map annotations label the old ruins of Hyrule Castle as the "Eastern Abbey" and the fact that they have a very prominent road leading straight to the entrance make me believe that this old Hyrule was still in use in a probably more ceremonial fashion. They no longer used it as the main capitol, but instead as a kind of religious site due to the Temple of Time. But then the calamity Ganon arrived and along with at some point the Guardians.

 

[Skittzo0413]

If you look at the various footage we have it's pretty evident that the gate is level with the ground below the plateau, not raised up. There is a reason that on the plateau side the whole section is filled with water, the entrance way slopes down a lot.

It's rather clear that the actual gateway is level with the ground below and not raised up.

Once again the fact that the plateau is a plateau when it was not in past games is just again how it happens to be in this game. They needed to isolate the region the player started in, but they didn't want to actually stick the player behind walls trapping them in.

I again don't think that this Great Plateau was always isolated. It's only recently isolated in the last 100 years. The fact that the map annotations label the old ruins of Hyrule Castle as the "Eastern Abbey" and the fact that they have a very prominent road leading straight to the entrance make me believe that this old Hyrule was still in use in a probably more ceremonial fashion. They no longer used it as the main capitol, but instead as a kind of religious site due to the Temple of Time. But then the calamity Ganon arrived and along with at some point the Guardians.

Interesting, I had thought the underwater gate was far higher up on the plateau wall, but that shot of the outside of the plateau does suggest it being at the base. The Switch version had that fog removed, so I wonder if you can get a clearer shot of where the base actually begins in some of that footage.

 

[13ruce]

Interview with Aonuma - De-confirms WW timeline, talk about DLC, development time, etc.

https://www.reddit.com/r/zelda/comments/5qcmo4/interview_with_aonuma_deconfirms_ww_timeline_talk/

This seems to confirm that Wind Waker timeline (adult) is excluded so there are a few possible choices left. (Fallen Hero, Before OoT, Child Timeline) my guess is Fallen Hero.

Aonuma says he put the Deku Seeds and Koroks in because he thinks it fits perfectly with the art style wich i honestly agree with. They can change forms depending on danger and more so it's not that strange to see them in another timeline.

 

[Nosgotham]

I've said from day one it's a sequel to The Adventures of Link and I still believe it.

 

[RagnarokX]

If you look at the various footage we have it's pretty evident that the gate is level with the ground below the plateau, not raised up. There is a reason that on the plateau side the whole section is filled with water, the entrance way slopes down a lot.

It's rather clear that the actual gateway is level with the ground below and not raised up.

Once again the fact that the plateau is a plateau when it was not in past games is just again how it happens to be in this game. They needed to isolate the region the player started in, but they didn't want to actually stick the player behind walls trapping them in.

I again don't think that this Great Plateau was always isolated. It's only recently isolated in the last 100 years. The fact that the map annotations label the old ruins of Hyrule Castle as the "Eastern Abbey" and the fact that they have a very prominent road leading straight to the entrance make me believe that this old Hyrule was still in use in a probably more ceremonial fashion. They no longer used it as the main capitol, but instead as a kind of religious site due to the Temple of Time. But then the calamity Ganon arrived and along with at some point the Guardians.

It's helpful to read posts before disagreeing with them.

You can see the road you are talking about on the map. It does not connect to the gate.

I also never said that the gate doesn't connect to the ground. I said they installed the gate so that they could still hold ceremonies at the Temple of Time and check on Ganon's prison.

Ever since OoT they've tried to be a bit more consistent with geography in the main titles. The Forest is always in the southeast, the lake in the southwest, the desert to the west, and the volcano to the northeast. They even did this in Wind Waker. And in Skyward Sword they took the time to do this:

Why would they put in the Temple of Time along with Hyrule Castle Town and Hyrule Castle from OoT, put them all in the same relationship to each other they had in OoT, and then put them facing the wrong direction relative to everything else from OoT and located nowhere near where they were in OoT? The walls around the plateau really don't make sense as the city walls. They encompass a huge chunk of land that has nothing to do with the castle or city and cut the land in a really weird way that doesn't seem all that planned. The gate of this wall is not where the gate was in OoT, but everything else from OoT is where it was.

 

[iFirez]

Why would they put in the Temple of Time along with Hyrule Castle Town and Hyrule Castle from OoT, put them all in the same relationship to each other they had in OoT, and then put them facing the wrong direction relative to everything else from OoT and located nowhere near where they were in OoT? The walls around the plateau really don't make sense as the city walls. They encompass a huge chunk of land that has nothing to do with the castle or city and cut the land in a really weird way that doesn't seem all that planned. The gate of this wall is not where the gate was in OoT, but everything else from OoT is where it was.

I'm totally on board with the idea with the Plateau being a chunk of land raised and moved or something like that anyway. It seems to be a huge throwback to OoT but a lot of its geographical placement and such doesn't match up... maybe a part of the story will be explaining it... or maybe its just strange artistic license.

 

[Fourth Storm]

I think that with the recent comments of Aonuma, the only explanation is that this is set some time after AoL and with a new Link. The events told of in the flashbacks and Special Edition tapestry would have been Ganon's sudden appearance after lying dormant for a good 100 years or more after AoL. Any sense of Ganondorf's humanity is gone and it talks of him creeping up time and again, so anything else just wouldn't fit those key details.

As for the geography, I do believe that we are supposed to take The Great Plateau as the Sealed Grounds. I wouldn't necessitate the moving of Hyrule Castle, though. Geography is something Aonuma would chalk up as details varying between various retellings or just something to ponder. I don't think they have a good explanation for the ToT to have moved from OoT, but they seem to have placed it down where it is now in SS, TP, and maybe even ALTTP if we just speculate directions are meaningless on these flawed ancient maps and the Sacred Grove is where the ToT once stood.

We could also speculate that The Great Plauteau is somewhere in that clouded mountainous border to the south around Lake Hylia if we are looking at the official OoT map. That would be a clever way to explain its absence in all other games in the Downfall Timeline: just off the map! Honestly, with Hyrule Castle Town being in the state it was midway through OoT, a more isolated locale would make sense for the story. OoT was so limited by the hardware, its sense of place is something that can't be taken too literally anyway.

 

[Octavianus]

I just want this to take place after Zelda 2

It's time Nintendo.

 

[WadeitOut]

OT but do any of you hardcore Zelda fans remember the old legendofzelda.com back before Nintendo got it? I was a mod on the forum and IRC chat and kt was such a cool community.

 

[brad-t]

I just want this to take place after Zelda 2

It's time Nintendo.

I totally expect this. It would have to take place at the end of some timeline, and Ganon has seemingly transformed from an evil being to an almost malevolent force of nature with no remaining humanity. It seems like the logical endpoint for Ganon as an antagonist, especially in a game that is all about the natural world.

 

[Fourth Storm]

I keep going back and forth. There is still a very strong possibility this is between OoT and ALTTP. Maybe this takes place after the Imprisoning War and prior to ALTTP even. That would give at least a couple of different appearances of Ganon before the current Calamity version in order to make sense of the Old Woman's words.

A key clue here might be the destruction of Hyrule Castle Town. It's never seen again from ALTTP on and in the trailer we clearly see it in the shadow of the TP-styled Hyrule Castle (an artistic liberty or remodel most likely as this could still take place a few centuries after OoT).

Edit: Some more striking evidence for this placement from the HH. Under the DT right after the Imprisoning war section it reads: "Until the era of the Hero of Time, the kingdom of Hyrule was mostly inhabited by the Hylian people, whose existence was linked to their goddess, Hylia...However, the kingdom fell into ruin during the Imprisoning War, and the Hylians weakened with the ages, until their existence was naught but a thing of the past..Hyrule, once called the Kingdom of the Gods, became nothing more than an ancient legend."

The next section begins with ALTTP...

Seems to fit pretty well in this period looking at the state of Hyrule but also key similarities to OoT and a few details helping transition to the state of Hyrule in ALTTP and even LoZ. This also explains the state of the Deku tree sprout if we give it a few hundred years after Oot.

 

[Enduin]

It's helpful to read posts before disagreeing with them.

You can see the road you are talking about on the map. It does not connect to the gate.

I also never said that the gate doesn't connect to the ground. I said they installed the gate so that they could still hold ceremonies at the Temple of Time and check on Ganon's prison.

Ever since OoT they've tried to be a bit more consistent with geography in the main titles. The Forest is always in the southeast, the lake in the southwest, the desert to the west, and the volcano to the northeast. They even did this in Wind Waker. And in Skyward Sword they took the time to do this:

Why would they put in the Temple of Time along with Hyrule Castle Town and Hyrule Castle from OoT, put them all in the same relationship to each other they had in OoT, and then put them facing the wrong direction relative to everything else from OoT and located nowhere near where they were in OoT? The walls around the plateau really don't make sense as the city walls. They encompass a huge chunk of land that has nothing to do with the castle or city and cut the land in a really weird way that doesn't seem all that planned. The gate of this wall is not where the gate was in OoT, but everything else from OoT is where it was.

Right back at you. I was responding to Skittzo0413's post, you know that's quoted in my post, about the gate and road that he thought was raised, not you. Which by the way the road does lead directly to the gate, you can see the stone road hooking in and hugging the walls to the gate here at 17:16-17. Heck just look at your own map and realize it forks out into three directions from the point of the gate. West and South East along the wall, the SE roadway quickly veering due East leading to the footage with the flags and two outposts, and a NE road leading straight out of the direction of the gate, which is abundantly clear in the screenshot I posted.

As I said before the fact that the Great Plateau's relationship to other landmarks and orientation is off compared to OoT doesn't really matter. It's happened many times in the past with this series, it's hardly evidence of anything. They've always played around with geography as I pointed out with several examples from recent games in the actual post of mine that was quoting yours. Shifting geography and changing placement of landmarks is pretty much par for the course. Especially if this is a sequel to Zelda 2, and not OoT, which increasingly looks to be the case. As that game's map was dramatically different from everything else in the series, so no surprise they'd have to take serious liberties to make it more in line with the rest of the series since then.

 

[MAX PAYMENT]

It's pretty obvious that zelda games were never made with timelines in mind.

 

[eXistor]

I base this on nothing, but my gut-feeling says it's post AoL. Honestly, I think it would be the most interesting too, instead of the constant shoehorning of previous titles.

 

[Fourth Storm]

It's pretty obvious that zelda games were never made with timelines in mind.

Not really true since at least OoT, since that was originally imagined as describing the events prior to ALTTP. Even ALTTP was heavily implied to be a prequel to the original two games, which were clearly related. I just don't know if Aonuma clearly had thought out the placement of Twilight Princess and Wind Waker in relation to the NES and SNES games or each other before the Hyrule Historia at least. Except for the fact that they were both clearly sequels to OoT.

 

[MAX PAYMENT]

Not really true since at least OoT, since that was originally imagined as describing the events prior to ALTTP. Even ALTTP was heavily implied to be a prequel to the original two games, which were clearly related. I just don't know if Aonuma clearly had thought out the placement of Twilight Princess and Wind Waker in relation to the NES and SNES games or each other before the Hyrule Historia at least. Except for the fact that they were both clearly sequels to OoT.

I think these games are called the "legend" of zelda for a reason. Like the wind wake opening, I assume all these games are stories of something that happened ages ago and have been embellished over time.

I'm sure there are games that have been decided to have taken way before or after others, but a secific time line seems absurd.

Especially when a lot of the games feel like a different version, or story of the same "legend."

 

[Fourth Storm]

I think these games are called the "legend" of zelda for a reason. Like the wind wake opening, I assume all these games are stories of something that happened ages ago and have been embellished over time.

I'm sure there are games that have been decided to have taken way before or after others, but a secific time line seems absurd.

Especially when a lot of the games feel like a different version, or story of the same "legend."

With 3 branches, I can't argue for a lack of absurdity, but I do think they are keeping it in mind more than ever, especially with the publishing of the HH and imagining of SS as an origin tale for the entire series.

 

[Enduin]

I think these games are called the "legend" of zelda for a reason. Like the wind wake opening, I assume all these games are stories of something that happened ages ago and have been embellished over time.

I'm sure there are games that have been decided to have taken way before or after others, but a secific time line seems absurd.

Especially when a lot of the games feel like a different version, or story of the same "legend."

There's a big difference between not having any kind of timeline and not having a deep overarching narrative thrust that spans your timeline.

They've definitely created a timeline with the series from the start, it's just never really mattered in most cases within the games themselves. Even when there are clear connections like in the case of the WW. The fact that the events of OoT happened and the timeline split created these different outcomes is totally unimportant to understanding and enjoying the events in the WW. If you do know that extra stuff it might add a bit to the overall experience but it's really not that important.

And yeah a large reason why the timeline is largely unimportant in most cases is because they do want to basically retell the same story. It's a very odd and unique series for this and many other reasons.

 

[bachikarn]

Since the game is kind of remake of the original LoZ, I wouldn't be opposed it being a reboot and the start of a new timeline.

 

[WadeitOut]

Since the game is kind of remake of the original LoZ, I wouldn't be opposed it being a reboot and the start of a new timeline.

Hasn't this basically been ruled out?

 

[ChimpBottle]

Sometimes I feel like before Hyrule Historia, Nintendo never really had a real timeline. They just kept making games without paying much attention to the overall lore, and the fans who really wanted everything to go together used a bit of mental gymnastics (3 timeline split) to craft literally the only timeline that would make sense and then Nintendo looked at it for a second and went "...Yeah! Yeah, that's right..."

 

[WadeitOut]

Sometimes I feel like before Hyrule Historia, Nintendo never really had a real timeline. They just kept making games without paying much attention to the overall lore, and the fans who really wanted everything to go together used a bit of mental gymnastics (3 timeline split) to craft literally the only timeline that would make sense and then Nintendo looked at it for a second and went "...Yeah! Yeah, that's right..."

I thought it was common knowledge that the timeline was completely fan driven before then.

 

[CrazyHorse]

It's so obviously the merging of the timeline.

 

[ChimpBottle]

I thought it was common knowledge that the timeline was completely fan driven before then.

Ahh, maybe it is. I guess I'm just looking at it wrong. I just have always thought it was a bit strange that people would try to use things like the location of the Temple of Time as an indication of how this game fit in with the others when, knowing Nintendo's world-building philosophy, they probably just put the Temple of Time in a place they thought it would look nice in, with no regard for past games.

But if it's really just fun fan-driven lore, there's no problem with that at all. I just misunderstood.

 

[Octavianus]

I just noticed that this is the first time we might get a Ganon who resembles this in a 3d zelda

The trailer makes him look pretty piggish.

I always hated his beast form in OOT

 

[Mihael Mello Keehl]

Sometimes I feel like before Hyrule Historia, Nintendo never really had a real timeline. They just kept making games without paying much attention to the overall lore, and the fans who really wanted everything to go together used a bit of mental gymnastics (3 timeline split) to craft literally the only timeline that would make sense and then Nintendo looked at it for a second and went "...Yeah! Yeah, that's right..."

I still think this and continue to not care much about any timeline business. I know breath of the wild will be the first to acknowledge it specifically though.

 

[SolVanderlyn]

I think these games are called the "legend" of zelda for a reason. Like the wind wake opening, I assume all these games are stories of something that happened ages ago and have been embellished over time.

I'm sure there are games that have been decided to have taken way before or after others, but a secific time line seems absurd.

Especially when a lot of the games feel like a different version, or story of the same "legend."

I thought it was common knowledge that the timeline was completely fan driven before then.

I still think this and continue to not care much about any timeline business. I know breath of the wild will be the first to acknowledge it specifically though.

Heavily disagree

 

[120v]

in terms of "canon" anything before OoT is kind of an afterthought. the games were so old they just tossed it in the back to explain it all away

i really doubt it'd be any time after LttP unless they really want to shake the etch-a-sketch. and considering all the apparent ties to "modern" zelda it doesn't look like something they're doing

 

[iFirez]

I just noticed that this is the first time we might get a Ganon who resembles this in a 3d zelda

The trailer makes him look pretty piggish.

I always hated his beast form in OOT

It's a good point, I always thought if we got a Beast transformation in Wind Waker that it'd look like that but we never did and the closest we got was puppet Ganon.

So far in the 3D games we've had:

With A Link Between Worlds even having an appearance of the classic Ganon design before the merge with Yuga but that game was still top down/isometric in nature so I'm looking forward to what shapes and forms Ganon will take at the end of this game.

 

[Fourth Storm]

The shadow version we've seen so far looks closest to TP pig Ganon unless you take that one angle as a humanoid. I would like to see something closer to the classic LoZ/ALTTP designs. I do like that even OoT Ganon has a fittingly piggish gut at least.

 

[Ashodin]

Yeah.

One thing about the Downfall timeline that's always intrigued me is LttP Link's Uncle.



This guy has the hero's blood in him and is related to another person (brother/sister) who also did. The only Link family member to not look like Link. I've always kind of wanted him to show up in another game lol.

He won't be in this one though.

fantasy mario.

 

[WadeitOut]

Heavily disagree

Wait why are you disagreeing with me? Was there an official LoZ timeline from Nintendo before that?

 

[SolVanderlyn]

From the fan art thread, anyone see this about Calamity Ganon? Interesting interpretation.

Wait why are you disagreeing with me? Was there an official LoZ timeline from Nintendo before that?

Not in an official form, but the series had established timelines far before Hyrule Historia came out. Aonuma and Miyamoto menton them in several interviews. The only one that came out of nowhere is the Downfall timeline.

 

[iFirez]

From the fan art thread, anyone see this about Calamity Ganon? Interesting interpretation.

Huh... I've never looked at Calamity Ganon that way, it looks like a giant cloud of corruption in the shape of pig with a gaping maw to me.

 

[Cerium]

From the fan art thread, anyone see this about Calamity Ganon? Interesting interpretation.

I don't know how people are possibly missing that it's a pig's head like Ganon always has. You can even see the yellow glow of the eye.