New Changes Made to the Official Zelda Timeline, Breath of the Wild’s Placement Confirmed
Posted on August 05 2018 by Sean Gadus
The Legend of Zelda‘s timeline is a famously complex creation. First officially established in The Hyrule Historia, the timeline has helped players understand how the different Zelda games fit together chronologically. But with A Link Between Worlds, Tri Force Heroes, and Breath of the Wild having been released since Historia‘s publication, fans have tirelessly speculated about the latest Zelda titles’ placements in the timeline.
As detailed in a recent video by GameXplain, Nintendo recently made changes to the Zelda timeline on the official History section of the Japanese Zelda website. Link’s Awakening now takes place before the Oracle games in the Downfall Timeline, with A Link Between Worlds and Tri Force Heroes following directly after the Oracle titles in this branch of the timeline. Link’s Awakening was previously placed after the Oracle games.
But this is only the tip of the iceberg, as Breath of the Wild now has its own placement in the official timeline. On the updated History page, Breath of the Wild is listed as the final entry in all three variants/branches of the timeline, meaning that the game exists at the end of the Child Timeline, the Adult Timeline, and the Downfall Timeline. This does seem like a curious choice, but in a recent interview with Famitsu, Breath of the Wild‘s Hidemaro Fujibayashi asserts that, despite the game taking place at the end of the series, it is ultimately up to the player to decide which timeline Breath of the Wild exists in.
Please check out the video for more details. What do you think of these changes made by Nintendo? Let us know in the comments below!
Source: Nintendo (via GameXplain), Famitsu (via Siliconera)

Sean Gadus is a Senior Editor at Zelda Dungeon. His first Zelda game was Ocarina of Time, and he loves all of the 3D Zelda games from 1998-2011. Tears of the Kingdom has reminded him why he loves Zelda so much. He wants to help build a kinder, more compassionate world. You can check out his other written work at The-Artifice.com.