Does Tears of the Kingdom break Zelda lore, or bring it all together?
Since Breath of the Wild, Zelda fans have struggled to find a place for it in the timeline. And while playing Tears of the Kingdom, at first the new backstory for Hyrule threw me for a loop bc it contradicted everything that we thought we knew, with Rauru and Sonia being the founders and first king and queen of Hyrule. But with various clues and hints between both games, i feel Tears of the Kingdom actually confirms not only how far along in the timeline the games are, but also which timeline. Let me explain. Please read the entire theory before commenting if you'd like.
To begin with, i believe now more then ever, that BotW and TotK take place in the child timeline. I will now provide evidence before i get into the history and lore for the new games. For this post i will be using evidence taken from the english version of the game.
We hear Skyward Sword, Ocarina of Time, and Twilight Princess get referenced in a memory cutscene, which in my opinon is a firm placement. But how do all the other things like the salt from a great flood and Koroks fit in, as well as enemies and many references to the fallne hero timeline? Simple.
We can eliminate the fallen hero timeline, as this is simply an alternate universe in which Link fails. Every reference to this timeline, such as Lynels and locations, are not exclusive to that timeline. Just because we only see and hear about these things in this alt universe, doesnt mean they dont exist in the other timelines. Whats sort of what an alt universe is after all. We can also rule out the Adult timeline as well, as Hyrule is destroyed in that timeline, and the only thing really linking it there is the sea salt and Koroks. And i have an explanation for that as well.
Now we need to address why TotK has lore that seems to contradict Skyward Swords explanation of the founding of Hyrule, and the inclusion of the Zonai. The reason is very simple. These games take place so insanely far into the future, that the Hyrule we know from the established timeline has been long gone, destroyed by a great disaster, and this version of Hyrule is brand new, with a new founder and new history. I know that may sound crazy, and my explanation may seem all over the place. But if youve made it this far, then please continue on to what i believe is the new history of Hyrule.
Here is the timeline as i see it with the inclusion of BotW and TotK.
The events of Skyward Sword take place and Link and Zelda found Hyrule and establish the kingdom.
The time know as the Era of Myth takes place, which includes all games from SS all the way through to the end of the Child Timeline, and this marks the end of the Era of Myth in this timeline.
After the events of the final game, an unknown period of time passes, and events and important things that happen in the alt universe of the fallen hero timeline can take place, since the things that exist in that universe can also exist in the other timelines, explaining the presence of fallen timeline enemies.
At some point, the building that would later be known as the Forgotten Temple is built, and stories of all the heroes and crazy events are stored in this building, as stated in Creating a Champion.
A Great flood occurs, destorying the Hyrule we know from all previously exisiting games. This explains the presence of Koroks, Sea Salt being scattered through the land, and Leviathan bones being in strange places like the mountains and being inland (I know some of them resemble deities that can fly but the ID of these has never been confirmed so they could just be large sea creatures.)
Before the flood wiped out all life, a few Hylians and Races escaped to the high mountains just like in Wind Waker.
The waters recede and Hyrule as been completely changed geologically, and the Forgotten Temple is buried under the earth.
Hylians descend the mountains and repopulate Hyrule.
The race known as the Zonai descend from the skys and are seen as god like beings (as stated in TotK). They bless the land with their architecture, culture and technology and live in harmony with Hylians.
The Zonai start to mine and dig for resources and to learn about Hyryles past that has been burried beneath the sea and earth for what could be centuries, explaining all the zonai architecture in the Depths.
After unknown time, relations turn sour, and a war breaks out between the Zonai and Hylians, explained by the amount of spirits, corpses, and poes in the Depths surrounding Zonai buildings.
The war possibly was caused by many Zonai who had a god complex and tried to subjugate Hylians, as they had been revered as gods for so long they believed it.
Rauru steps in and helps the Hylians defeat his own kind (Ganondorf says there use to be many Zonai, and Rauru looks uncomfortable during that comment, perhaps because he is the reason only a few survive, those who sided with him and the Hylians).
To end the conflict and bring peace, Rauru, and Zonai, marries a Hylian woman, and the two became the first official King and Queen of this knew Hyrule, to embrace ancient Hylian customs and appease the Hylian victors. (This is something that happens in real life all the time).
From here, things occue as we see them in the game. Zelda appears from the future, and Rauru has no idea who she or Link or the Master sword are, so the Forgotten Temple hasnt been unearthed yet.
This version of Ganondorf falsely swears loyalty to Rauru after attempting to strike at the end of this brutal war when the Zonai are weakest, but is still defeated and falsey swears loyalty to Rauru.
Ganondorf takes the Secret Stone and murders Sonia, and this version of the Imprisoning War takes place.
Rauru gives his life to seal Ganondorf, and the war ends.
Unknown time passes and the Kingdom of Hyrule flourishes. The Sheikah take inspiration from the Zonai tech and base their own off of it, explaining the similarities.
The Forgotten Temple is unearthed, allowing modern Hylians to know the stories from the Era of Myth and learn that the Ganondorf they defeated is not the first one, and the cycle will repeat. It also gives them knowledge of the Master Sword and what it does and the history of their land.
The Sheikah use their tech to build divine beats, and base their design off of the masks worn by the warriors who helped Rauru in the Imprisoning War.
Calamity Ganon appears, and the Sheikah use the divine beasts and their guardians to assist the princess of this time and the hero to defeat Ganon.
The hero in the prophecy is one of the last remaning Zonai lines, (As the hero from 10,000 years ago is the Zonai link transforms into with his "Ancient Heroes Aspect" armor set).
Calamity Ganon is sealed and 10,000 years of peace ensues. We then go into the events of BotW and TotK as we see them play out.
If you've made it this far, thank you. I know this might seem like a made a few jumps in logic, but i can see much of this being plausiable, even if its not provable. I hope referencing the games to explain why i chose this series of events helps. Even still, there are gaps and things i cannot explain. particularly how the time paradox of Zelda being there to shape history back then, but also the Master Sword traveling through time with Zelda as a dragon but still also being there for the events of BotW.
This was just one nerds attempt to make sense of the confusing lore, and while there may be flaws, i hope you at least enjoyed the read. Please let me know what you agree with or disagree with, and if you have a better explanation, please let me know. Id love to hear it :)
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