When a new Zelda game is released, one of the first things fans wonder is where it takes place in the timeline. After all, the chronology of the series is a huge deal to the theorists and lore fans among us, and helps draw up connections between different entries in the series.
So. when Echoes of Wisdom was released this year, people wondered about that game too. Because while it had a lot of similarities to A Link to the Past in terms of world design…
There were still enough differences that it could go either way.
But now, we have an answer. Why? Because the official Japanese site for the Legend of Zelda series has now added Echoes of Wisdom to the timeline.
With it being placed exactly where you’d expect it to be. After Tri-Force Heroes, and before Zelda 1 and 2. Here’s a picture of the timeline for evidence:
Echoes of Wisdom on the official site’s timeline
As well as a link to the official timeline in question.
Yeah. it’s about what everyone thought. Another sequel to A Link to the Past set in a (far future) version of the same world.
Yet despite the obvious timeline placement, the situation still raises a few interesting questions about the game.
Most notably, what the hell happened to Null in the other timelines?
Because as anyone who’s beaten the game knows, the threat in Echoes of Wisdom isn’t another version of Ganon, or another villain that showed up out of the blue for a single game. No, it’s the greatest threat the Zelda universe has ever seen. A villain so evil and so powerful that the entirety of the universe was created to seal them away.
And the storyline has you trying to stop this threat before it can use the power of the void to destroy reality. It’s a pretty big event for the franchise, and one which sees Hyrule in more danger than ever before.
So. what the heck happened to this thing in the other timelines? Does Null still exist in the child and adult timelines? Does it still exist in the world of Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom?
Or did Link and Zelda somehow use the Triforce to retroactively erase it from existence?
Because if it’s the former, that adds a bunch of horrifying implications to the other games. It implies that the Great Sea, New Hyrule, Termina and every other version of Hyrule outside of the Downfall timeline is in grave danger. It implies that another version of Echoes of Wisdom will probably take place in every timeline in existence.
Ah well, it’s a good storyline for the next Hyrule Warriors game at least. And potentially a good reveal for the next main series game, if Nintendo gets bored of using Ganon as the main antagonist.
Still, what are your thoughts on the timeline placement? Does Echoes of Wisdom happen at the time you expected, in the timeline you expected it to be in? And how does the possible presence of the game’s final boss in other Zelda titles affect the canon?
Leave your thoughts in the comments below, or on our Discord server today!
Source:
The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom Added to Official Timeline (Nintendo Life)