@hwrdjacob Wow! I think you explain the downfall timeline connections better than anyone else. You're kind of like Zeltik in a way.
So basically you're suggesting that NES era Link rebooted the timeline, and that's why there was never a proper continuation after TAoL? Also, where's the evidence to prove that NES Link made this wish? Why not ALttP Link or ALBW. Or heck, SS Link? After, those three Links are the only ones we see actually wishing over the Triforce. Now that I think about it, I think SS Link may have a been the one who made the wish to create the BotW timeline.
We admittedly have very little concrete evidence on how much raw power a Triforce bearer has after they make their seemingly one wish, but here's the thing- All of the Links' wishes
are accounted for, EXCEPT AoL Link. SS Link we know for a fact used his wish to destroy Demise in the present era, a wish circumvented by Ghirahim. ALttP Link we see wished for Ganon's influence to be undone and, presumably, for Hyrule to be safe from Ganon'a influence (thus explaining why Twinrova doesn't just invade Hyrule; it's likely an untouchable until they kill Link and undo his wish. This is assuming Gramps is NOT the Link from ALttP, or alternatively that his splitting the Triforce voided the protection his wish afforded). ALBW Link and Zelda wished for the restoration of Lorule.
But while in hindsight it's blatantly obvious Link makes a wish in AoL, the game gives ZERO concrete evidence as to what he wished specifically (due to like a 2 minute ending isolated indoors). If Aonuma is going to pull "A Triforce did it", the only Link he could logically use to do this is AoL Link,
specifically because we have no idea what he wished for, thus it would be possible for the writers to interpret his wish as causing the BotW landscape
In short, I'm saying BotW IS the proper continuation of AoL, hence why I used "soft" reboot
That could explain the numerous Sheikah and Hylia references. Why Link is right handed again. Why Link isn't bound by some tradition to wear the same clothes all every time. Why some of the shields in the game are reminiscent to the three different wooden shields in SS.
Again, post AoL is actually the best place to put Hylia references combined with a rotted Master Sword, due to the Goddess Statue appearing in AoL, combined with blatant worship of Hylia in both ALttP and ALBW.
This item is specifically called "The Goddess Statue" in the FDS version, its English name is merely a case of censorship. Its quite clear this is retroactively intended to be a statue of Hylia, due to the SS Goddess Statue sharing the same pose, thus meaning it's perfectly reasonable for AoL to have Hylia worship actively (not to mention Koroks are referenced in ALBW, making the connection to the classic arc stronger)
And to explain the other references, maybe the BotW timeline was affected by the other two Link's wishes as well. Maybe the Sheikah eye in the recent trailer symbolizes the Sheikah of the past's awareness Links in other timelines and futures wishing for a world where Hyrule maintains it's glory for a long lasting set of millenniums. So maybe Sheikah are the ones answered all the prayers and wishes throughout all of time and space and used the power from those prayers and wishes to create the Breath of the Wild timeline.
That would be interesting. The Sheikah creating this new timeline could explain why suddenly they are the saviors of the people now. And this new Link is first ever Hero step up and serve in the honor as their successor. Similar to how FSA Link and ALttP Link both served as the successors of the Knights of Hyrule.
I don't see very much difference between the Shiekah Pre BotW and the Shiekah now. They've literally all been in underground caves for god knows how long which serves zero purpose except to handwave their absence from the rest of the series. The Shiekah just so happen to be re-emerging out of hiding for some reason, which likely has to do with Ganon's new power and possibly him discovering the guardians and hijacking them. As far as the Shiekah themselves and even their shrines (which by the way might be a retroactive explanation for the dungeons in the NES games, after all Impa is the one who sends Link to them and knows of them as underground temples of a sort!) are concerned, it's business as usual, their tech MIGHT be a different story
At this point, this could be only thing to convince to get the game if this true. Cause right now, I've been feeling some doubt towards this game lately.
Overall, I think this is the only way "convergence" like timeline deal can work. If this converged new "Omni Timeline" becomes a thing, that could give Nintendo some freedom to "explore" new ideas without having to keep going backwards in the timeline so much all the time. They can actually progress a timeline forward for once.
Going after Zelda 2 isn't going forward? =P
I highly doubt it's convergence for the sheer fact the only true WW reference we have is Koroks which are handwavable easily. I do think they're most likely going with ALttP taking place after FSA given the evidence, but at the end of the day I feel like even if they don't it's going after Zelda 2. What I'm saying is not that the history will be erased by AoL (although it's equally possible) and create another timeline, but that they'll have essentially a fresh new Hyrule to work with in some ways with BotW. At the same time they've been drawing special attention to how the landscape matches the NES games so I could be entirely wrong, but the possibility of being able to do something that would fix many moans from the writers makes AoL a very viable option compared to anywhere else on the timeline from a writing standpoint (in addition to the literally dozens of lore standpoints)
I'd have to respectfully disagree with you here. Especially since it is commonly known that symbols of Hylia are usually shaped like birds, not crosses. And there aren't any crosses in ST. I don't know where got that from.
As for HW, the crosses could just be on there on the shields for the same reason they're there in TLoZ and TAoL and/or just as reference to the two shields's games of origin.
I want you to pay very close attention to the symbol in the center of the "Cross" and the design of the Magical Sword's Hilt.
Now, Zelda history lesson. In ST we are introduced to the Gods of Light (for the purposes of this I REFUSE to use the English, censored title of "Spirits of Good" for one reason; Hylia is specifically STATED to be of the Gods of Light in spirit track's Japanese version, by Byrne at the end of the game, and calling Hylia a "spirit" rather than "god" will get needlessly confusing, so for the purposes of this explanation I am going to use Gods of Light to avoid confusion), who protect the land of New Hyrule and possibly even date back to Old Hyrule due to Hylia being among them. They have very specific symbolism associated with them;
Now I want you to notice something about the Lokomo Sword's Hilt; it has an IDENTICAL shape to the Magical Sword, complete with a golden triangle facing downwards and an equal number of notches on the cross guard!
The shape on the shield also adds a downward facing triangle; at this point it is not far removed from the Symbol of the Gods of Light at all, combined with the Magical Sword
But it seems very illogical that they'd connect the NES games to random deities in the other timeline, which while existent in this timeline don't seem to be actively worshiped in any game except ST
With one, very notable, exception; Hylia herself. Due to her being one of the Gods of Light, it's important to realize while loftwings and Triforces are her go to symbolism,
symbolism she shares with the other Gods of Light is equally valid due to her status, just not as common. Ultimately, this means the crosses if they are indeed intended to be retconned into this symbol have the most likely meaning of connecting them to Hylia, through her status as a God of Light. I didn't want to or think I'd have to explain this in detail, so I just gave a tldr version and put the end result (it's viable symbolism for Hylia).
This is aside from the fact that TP's wooden shield started a trend continued in HW where if you were to translate the shield into 8 Bit, it would come out looking like the NES shield, due to having a bird in the vague shape of a cross. 8 Bit would lack the detail to show it's a bird and would just come out in a t shape in an 8 Bit format.
Also want to point out that in addition to Din, Nayru, and Farore, ALttP's Japanese manual ALSO introduced Hylia, by name, and said the Hylians were her chosen people, it also strongly implied Hylians worshipped her and that she also created the Master Sword by ordering several Hylians (the six sages, as implied in both TP, SS, and BotW), so OP's assertion SS introduced Hylia to the lore isn't entirely correct. This also explains why so many connections to Hylia are peppered into the series compared to the other Gods of Light.
V refer to my signature for timeline prediction
I know, it probably doesn't seem as likely, but it doesn't have to fit perfectly. Not everything in the current timeline does.
