Daily Debate: How Do You Feel About Age of Calamity Being Set in an Alternate Timeline?

I remember seeing the first Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity announcement in the September 2020 Nintendo Direct. Pairing the Hyrule Warriors formula with the war leading up to the Great Calamity seemed like a match made in heaven. I was excited to experience the events that caused the ruin of Hyrule, as seen in Breath of the Wild. Witnessing the personal interactions between Breath of the Wild‘s Champions and their synergy in combat was an intriguing prospect that could only elevate their moments in Breath of the Wild. Most of all, I wanted to develop an emotional attachment to the Champions and then experience the heartbreak of watching them all die. That kind of emotional gut punch was exactly what a game like Age of Calamity needed to elevate it above the previous Hyrule Warriors.

Every piece of advertising leading up to Age of Calamity‘s release seemed to affirm these hopes. Sure, “that little Guardian-looking dude” was weird, but there were little to no hints at what his role would really be. On the day of its release, Game Informer published an interview in which Zelda series director Eiji Aonuma said, “If you play Breath of the Wild after playing Age of Calamity, I think the emotions you feel towards Link right from the very first scene will be different than before. I recommend that players who already cleared Breath of the Wild and players who haven’t experienced it yet try playing through Breath of the Wild again after Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity.”

I don’t know how anyone could read a comment like that and not believe that the events of this game would canonically precede Breath of the Wild.

Well, as it turns out, none of that really happened. Terrako, that “little Guardian-looking dude”, is actually a time-traveling robot who, having witnessed the Calamity, goes back in time to prevent it. His presence causes a butterfly effect that leads to the Champions conquering Calamity Ganon. This means that in the world of Age of Calamity, Breath of the Wild never happens. So, despite what advertising may tell us, this game was not a prequel to Breath of the Wild.

While Age of Calamity certainly treated us to personal interactions between the Champions, giving us a greater understanding of who they are, the events of this game never occurred in the Breath of the Wild‘s timeline. The second Terrako went through the time portal, the events of that universe were altered. Although many of the events of Age of Calamity may correspond to events in the main timeline, the player has no way of knowing how Terrako’s influence altered them. As such, Age of Calamity is just a hollow shell of what could have been.

So, tell us what you think. How do you feel about Age of Calamity being set in an alternate timeline? How would you have like to seen the story of Age of Calamity play out? Should Nintendo use Age of Calamity as a timeline splitting event à la Ocarina of Time? Let us know in the comments!

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