The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword HD is available now, with many stepping into Link's shoes (again) but for his very first adventure. The Zelda Timeline overall is quite confusing, but Skyward Sword's role is clear: this is where it all begins.

Essentially, Skyward Sword, The Minish Cap, Four Swords, and Ocarina of Time are the first four chronological games of the franchise. Ocarina of Time then leads to a three-way split, with the Child Timeline, Adult Timeline, and Fallen Hero Timelines emerging from there. Of course, this begs the natural question about Breath of the Wild, its sequel, and where they fit on the timeline. Interestingly enough, while this is mere speculation, the answer may be in both a franchise book and Skyward Sword itself. Those who have never played Skyward Sword should be aware there are MAJOR SPOILERS ahead.

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The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword - The Start of It All

link on loftwing flying in sky with skyward sword logo

Skyward Sword stands apart from many other entries in the franchise because it serves as an origin story. It establishes a lot of the formula that players see games that follow it (chronologically speaking). It reveals why Link is constantly reincarnated in new forms, why Zelda and Link are close in some way during every reincarnation, and why Ganon too appears quite frequently. Overall, the events of Skyward Sword basically establish Zelda and Link's first encounter with Demise the Demon King, who curses them with his dying breath—that his "incarnation of hatred" will always follow those who share "the Blood of the Goddess" and "Spirit of the Hero."

And so, in turn, most games focus on these events while also often tying in the TriForce, corresponding Power with Ganon, Wisdom with Zelda, and Courage with Link. In most instances, Link is the hero, but in some ways, Breath of the Wild breaks from this tradition established by Skyward Sword. Ultimately, the best way to explain this is how Breath of the Wild wraps up/comes at the end of the timeline.

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild 2 - Time to Finish It

Link sky falling zelda breath of the wild 2
Link falling zelda breath of the wild 2

According to The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild — Creating a Champion, a book released as part of The Legend of Zelda's 30th anniversary, everything that happened before Breath of the Wild is now myth. In other words, the timelines are just that: myths. With this in mind, it stands to reason that the all the stories exist as some forgotten event pasted now via word of mouth, as typically happens when myths are established even in the real world, but all are important of course. This puts Breath of the Wild, seemingly, at the end of the entire timeline and well at the end of it at that. If everything is myth, and the backstory of Breath of the Wild goes back 10,000 years, that's a lot time and distance.

In turn, this begs an even bigger question: why was there no incarnation of the hero, of the Goddess, and of Demise's Hatred in 10,000 years? Many believe the Breath of the Wild mural of this time period depicts Ganondorf as the hero, sealing away Calamity Ganon for some reason and somehow. That is, until Calamity Ganon returned 100 years prior to Breath of the Wild, and those events, Link's slumber, and all that lead up to the events of the 2017 game. According to Nintendo of Japan, Ganon would never quit reincarnating as his existence will always have the purpose of destroying the Hero and the Princess.

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However, while Ganon and Ganondorf are often treated as one and the same, there is a slight difference: Ganondorf is the Gerudo in which bears the reincarnation of hatred time and again, while Ganon is typically his more hatred-consumed Bestial forms. Ganondorf can be the smart and the intellect behind the Power, while Ganon is just an incarnation of overwhelming power deigned to chase Link and Zelda throughout all reincarnations. Bearing this in mind, how the myths have changed, and how Demise's Curse from Skyward Sword is involved, then it's possible that Breath of the Wild 2 will end the timeline of reincarnation, as well as come at the end of the overall timeline.

The Legend of Zelda: Demise's Hatred, the Blood of the Goddess, and The Spirit of the Hero

Zelda Breath Of The Wild 2 Demise

If Ganon is the Hero shown in the Mural, which is a pretty big if, that means his intellectual side and his bestial side were split. That doesn't really account for where Link was, but Zelda could have been involved in this as there was an incarnation of the Hero and the Princess involved. In other words, the Bestial Hatred and Ganondorf himself split, with Ganondorf using his power to seal it away. Ganondorf may be ready for hi reincarnations to end, but not Ganon itself. Then, Zelda's reincarnation once again holds it back after 10,000 years pass, leading to the events of Breath of the Wild.

Having the incarnation of Hatred sealed away explains the lack of reincarnations (or games inbetween this time, so to speak), and that changes the resurrection fans have seen in the Breath of the Wild 2 trailer as well. Regardless of their identity, fans know Breath of the Wild 2 has some green magic overtake Link's arm, with many suspicious of why Nintendo was seemingly hiding his face as well. Speculatively speaking, it's possible the Spirit of the Hero incarnation that somehow took the form of Ganondorf was sealed away too, with that binding to Link in Breath of the Wild 2. In Link, there could be two heroic spirits that are bent on defeating Demise's Hatred—which, curse potentially or mostly broken, is returning in a new form since Hyrule Castle launches into the sky.

Speculation aside, it stands to reason that Skyward Sword's HD release is no coincidence, and that the content thereof is important for players to know before Breath of the Wild 2 releases. With the curse more prominent in everyone's mind, as well as myth-ification of past games a la the Champion book, it makes sense that Breath of the Wild 2 is about ending what Skyward Sword started.

The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword HD is available now for Switch.

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