Echoes of Wisdom will be the newest game in the franchise, but that does not automatically make it the latest on The Legend of Zelda timeline. Many video game franchises are chronological or at least make sense with sequels and prequels. The Legend of Zelda does not make much sense at all. For decades, fans postulated about the timeline. Where did any game go? How is Link still alive after all these years? What about the princess? Is Ganondorf the same all the time?
There aren’t a lot of concrete answers from Nintendo for that, but there is a working timeline. It’s as convoluted as it can be, with branches and convergences and a complete disregard for the order of release, but it does exist. With Echoes of Wisdom coming out soon, players are going to wonder where it fits into all this.
Where Echoes of Wisdom May Fall on The Legend of Zelda Timeline
The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom is not out yet. It won’t be until the middle of September. Until then, much of this is speculative and based solely on the trailer. Many eagle-eyed fans noticed that the world in which this new game inhabits looks curiously like A Link Between Worlds. Every version of Hyrule is distinct, so fans would immediately know if they were in the Ocarina of Time world or the Breath of the Wild world.
The trailer features Hyrule Castle essentially in the dead middle of the map, which is in keeping with traditional top-down Zelda games. It’s the central point and that seems to be consistent in Echoes of Wisdom. Furthermore, locations like Death Mountain and an unnamed icy area seem to mirror Lorule, the alternate dimension from A Link Between Worlds.
Regardless, much of the trailer’s admittedly brief reveal of any part of the map looks like it fits on the Fallen Hero Timeline, which means it comes after Ocarina of Time and in the same line of games as A Link to the Past, Link’s Awakening, and the Oracle games.
Character Races Give Clues for Echoes of Wisdom’s Timeline Placement
One more clue can be gleaned from the current trailer. Several character races give important if subtle and overlooked clues as to when Echoes of Wisdom takes place. There are two different races of Zora, the Gerudo tribe, and a Deku Scrub. The Gerudo tribe doesn’t appear until Ocarina, which means it cannot come before that game.
The simple fact that the Zora are there and not the Ruto means the game cannot fall in the Adult Timeline section of The Legend of Zelda timeline. The Zora had to evolve into the Ruto, as impossible as that seems, in that timeline. The two different races of Zora have only been seen together in Oracle of Ages, which is in the Fallen Hero Timeline and limits the places where Echoes of Wisdom can fit on The Legend of Zelda timeline.
Based on all the evidence, the most plausible placement for Echoes of Wisdom is right around the time of Link’s Awakening. That game takes place right after the two Oracle games and before A Link Between Worlds. The newest Zelda game should fit in there. If nothing else, it will be right after A Link Between Worlds, perhaps becoming one of the few direct sequels in the franchise.
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