Summary

  • Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom are placed outside existing Zelda timelines.
  • This was reaffirmed by a new timeline image shared by Nintendo at Nintendo Live 2024.
  • Fans speculate Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom may eventually fit into the Hero is Defeated timeline.

The latest iteration of the Legend of Zelda series timeline has placed Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom in spots completely separate from all the other games in the series. The Legend of Zelda franchise has a long and complicated history, especially when it comes to its timeline. While there had been direct sequels and references between otherwise unrelated Zelda games, the series went without an official timeline for decades. That changed in 2011 with the release of Hyrule Historia.

Hyrule Historia revealed the official Zelda series timeline, confirming Skyward Sword as the first chronological entry in the series, followed by Minish Cap, Four Swords, and Ocarina of Time. Ocarina of Time then splits the Zelda universe into three different timelines. Link being defeated creates a timeline that starts with A Link to the Past and is followed by Link's Awakening, the Oracle duology, A Link Between Worlds, Triforce Heroes, the original Legend of Zelda, and Zelda 2. If Link is successful in Ocarina of Time, the timelines are split into the Child Era and the Adult Era. The Child Era includes Majora's Mask, Twilight Princess, and Four Swords Adventures, while the Adult Era consists of The Wind Waker, Phantom Hourglass, and Spirit Tracks.

Breath of the Wild has been completely disconnected from the Zelda timeline since launch, and now an updated graphic has reiterated that Tears of the Kingdom shares the same fate. Both games are listed separately from the three established Zelda timelines. Nintendo brought the Zelda timeline to the Nintendo Live 2024 event in Australia, which was attended by Vooks, who in turn shared it on social media. As pointed out by Nintendo Life, the image mimics the timeline that is currently available to see on Nintendo's website. However, one difference is that this new timeline doesn't feature a connecting line between Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom, though the one on the Nintendo website does.

Image Shows Where Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom Sit on the Zelda Timeline

zelda timeline updated

Tears of the Kingdom is a direct sequel to Breath of the Wild, and so the lack of a connecting line isn't something fans shouldn't read into too much. However, the fact that Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom are seemingly not a part of the three Zelda franchise timelines may be surprising to some fans.

Now, that's not to say that Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom will remain this way forever. Nintendo is never going to let the timeline get in the way of what it wants to do with the Zelda series from a story standpoint, but it's possible that the games could be slotted in at some point down the line. A common theory is that Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom will eventually be put after Zelda 2, which would put them in the Hero is Defeated timeline.

In the meantime, fans may be wondering where the upcoming Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom fits on the timeline. Many seem to agree that it is likely in the Hero is Defeated timeline as well, somewhere around Link's Awakening and A Link to the Past. Echoes of Wisdom shares the same art style as the Link's Awakening Switch remake, and so some have used that to claim that Echoes of Wisdom is a direct sequel, but that doesn't actually seem to be the case. Fans may have a better idea of where exactly Echoes of Wisdom fits once they play it for themselves, though there's also the chance that Nintendo updates the timeline again to include it.