For many who don’t know, Ganondorf primarily split the history of Hyrule because of a time paradox. The Hyperlink of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time sealed Ganondorf sooner or later, resulting in The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker and its sequels. But Hyperlink, as a baby, additionally foiled Ganondorf’s plans prior to now, creating the timeline the place The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Masks and Twilight Princess exist. And since quantum physics states each chance that may occur will occur, one timeline entails Hyperlink dying, thus letting Ganondorf win and lead into the occasions of The Legend of Zelda: A Hyperlink to the Previous.
Due to the multiverse idea, every timeline is technically canon. Whereas their respective Ganons and Ganondorfs all sprouted from the identical King of Thieves, they ended up changing into completely different individuals (form of). So which one did Tears of the Kingdom’s Ganondorf spawn from? Surprisingly, most indicators level to “not one of the above.”
As with Breath of the Wild, elements of Tears of the Kingdom’s story unfold by means of reminiscences. In one among them, Ganondorf pledges his loyalty to the king of Hyrule. This scene mirrors Ganondorf’s actions in Ocarina of Time, besides he isn’t bowing earlier than a Hylian king; Ganondorf is bowing earlier than King Rauru, the primary king of Hyrule. That’s the identical Rauru that offers Hyperlink his proper arm firstly of Tears of the Kingdom. A later reminiscence reveals that Rauru sacrificed his life to seal Ganondorf beneath Hyrule Fort, which is the place gamers discover him at first of the sport. Apparently, Ganondorf rotted away there for a superb 10,000 years.
Given this info, we would must throw out every thing we thought we knew in regards to the timeline placement of Tears of the Kingdom (and Breath of the Wild). For the reason that recreation states Ganondorf was current for the founding of Hyrule, that should place Tears of the Kingdom someplace between The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword and Ocarina of Time, proper? Properly, no. Koroks and Rito are current in Tears of the Kingdom, and in line with The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker lore, the Kokiri and Zora advanced into these races in response to the Nice Flood. And you may clearly see Rito within the flashbacks that happen 10,000 years in the past. So what provides? Had been the Koroks and Rito truly alive however in hiding throughout earlier Zelda video games? In all probability not, however I’ve two theories.
One potential rationalization is that Tears of the Kingdom truly takes place within the far future. Stunning, I do know, on condition that Nintendo beforehand confirmed as a lot, however I’m speaking a few far, far future so faraway from prior entries that the world underwent a reset and the Hylians/Zonai based a second Kingdom of Hyrule that mirrors the Hyrules of previous entries however capabilities in a different way. Whether or not or not the Ganondorf in Tears of the Kingdom is one from a earlier Zelda recreation or an precise reincarnation doesn’t actually matter. Nonetheless, that idea nonetheless has just a few holes in it, akin to how the Rito and Zora exist facet by facet on this world. That’s the place my second idea comes into play.
Given all of the contradictions between earlier Zelda video games and Tears of the Kingdom, we are able to most likely conclude that the sport, and by extension Breath of the Wild, isn’t linked to the remainder of the Zelda canon in any respect. Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom almost certainly happen in their very own separate, fourth timeline. Loads of similarities hyperlink the disparate histories (akin to Bokoblins, Gorons, the Triforce, and Hyrule itself) however an entire disconnect resolves most, if not all, inconsistencies. This contains why Rito and Zora can exist on the similar time, how Ganondorf witnessed the founding of Hyrule, and no matter is happening with the Gerudo’s new Amazonian anatomy.
