Hyrule Town Square

[Sabrblade]

I'll start with this:

Oh, for the timelines you put together as a whole, they fit together better than the official one. I'm generally okay with some light retcons, but your timeline manages to avoid needing to do that.

All credit goes to Lorulean Historian and Instrutilus. This timeline is their baby. I'm just sharing it.


And now for the BOTW stuff, which in my defense, I did preface that section with "At this point, it's probably not even worth giving it a decisive placement since the game's sequel, Tears of the Kingdom (TOTK), is just on the horizon, and could hold any number of surprises."

So, in my case, its placement is the least definitive. While I did repeat some of the same reasons that the creators of this timeline gave for their putting it on the Child Timeline, I also threw in some of my own like the Zonai boar statue surrounded by six pillars evoking the banishment of Ganondorf in TP. In response to all that you've said, I'll point out which of the reasons I gave were mine and which were those of the timeline's creators'.

Every single time that someone acts like a building in BotW is the original building from an earlier game, I'm mystified. The idea that any building that isn't Sheikah super-tech is even ten thousand years old completely shatters my suspension of disbelief.

Honestly, given that Hyrule was apparently destroyed at some point between Calamity Ganon being sealed and emerging, New Hyrule makes as much sense as old Hyrule. Or even raising Old Hyrule from the ocean floor. Heck, given the construction of the shrines, I wouldn't be surprised if the entire surface of Hyrule was artificial.

Something happened to wipe out Hyrule's technologically advanced civilization. You can speculate as to what, but all the surviving super tech was literally buried.

My bringing up the Temple of Time and the Great Hylia Bridge are me just repeating what LH and Instru have said. Though, the bridge is also a lot bigger and longer in BOTW than it was in TP, so if it is the same bridge, it's definitely been expanded over the years.

I distinctly avoided mentioning the Ranch Ruins since even I don't believe them to be the same place as Lon Lon Ranch. No matter what timeline branch (in this new arrangement, I mean), Lon Lon Ranch is just gone. In TP, there is zero sign of it anywhere. So in order for the Ranch Ruins to exist in BOTW, a replica of Lon Lon Ranch using the same blueprints would've had to have been built at some point either post-TP on the Child Timeline or post-ST on the Adult Timeline.

Although, I am curious as to your thoughts about the Great Plateau being specifically designed to resemble a ruined version of OOT's Castle Town, if you don't believe it to be same place.

Also, lionels only appear in the retro game timeline. Character references may transcend timelines, but they don't.

While true, the lack of Lynels in OOT, MM, and TP doesn't strike me as anything that would preclude them from eventually coming into existence afterward. Or if they already existed, maybe they just lived outside if Hyrule and migrated into the kingdom's borders later. After all, on the 2D timeline (in either the official setup or this new one), Lynels also don't appear in games prior to ALTTP, so there was also a time on that timeline where they weren't around yet either. A lot can happen in 10,000+ years.

I also find the insistence that the Gerudo Heroines are specifically the Sages from OoT unconvincing. And kinda disappointing. To explain, three different sets of sages have appeared in the games, and it's basically inevitable that new sets would be found as needed. So, unconvincing that they have to have been the set from Ocarina, and disappointing that people skip the possibilities of an unknown set of sages, whether they were all gerudo or not.

This one, I admit, was all me. I forgot to mention that the heroines referencing the Seven Sages could have also referred to a different group of seven sages from after those of OOT, as I just got all caught up in presenting references to the OOT Seven Sages (especially when I found out that the heroines' Japanese name was actually a gender-neutral term). So that one's on me. I do agree that, in the end, the identity of the Sages that the heroines are referencing is ultimately ambiguous, other than there were specifically Seven of them (putting aside the Eighth Heroine statue since that's a whole other conversation of other theories).

Personally, with an unknown amount of time between the sealing of the Calamity and any previous game, I tend to assume some world-shaking events have been going on. I find most of these Breath of the Wild timeline theories too uneventful to be plausible. It's not like Hyrule tends to be static between games.

Personally, as far as timelines go, I'll be disappointed and vaguely surprised if Breath of the Wild isn't taking place in a fifth or even sixth timeline outside of the three known. Possibly using time viewing to take notes on other timelines.

We'll have to wait and see what, if anything, TOTK says on the matter.

Though, that last point you mention does bring to mind the Gate of Souls from Hyrule Warriors.

 

[Sjogre]

Although, I am curious as to your thoughts about the Great Plateau being specifically designed to resemble a ruined version of OOT's Castle Town, if you don't believe it to be same place.

I'm split between it being an in-story replica of the historical location, or an odd cosmic coincidence.

Honestly, coincidence is probably the most coherent explanation; I'm not sure why anyone would try to recreate the layout of ancient castle town with any degree of fidelity, and having the layout remain static enough to remain recognizable requires it to be basically completely untouched until a few centuries previous.

Hmmn. New Theory: A few centuries before Breath someone pulled a copy of old Castle Town through time and space. The Great Plateau rises above the surrounding terrain because they took quite a lot of the ground below Castle Town with them.

I mentioned the lionels mostly as a joke, but frankly, their presence or absence is about as solid as the rest of the proof used.

 

[Sabrblade]

I'm split between it being an in-story replica of the historical location, or an odd cosmic coincidence.

Honestly, coincidence is probably the most coherent explanation; I'm not sure why anyone would try to recreate the layout of ancient castle town with any degree of fidelity, and having the layout remain static enough to remain recognizable requires it to be basically completely untouched until a few centuries previous.

Hmmn. New Theory: A few centuries before Breath someone pulled a copy of old Castle Town through time and space. The Great Plateau rises above the surrounding terrain because they took quite a lot of the ground below Castle Town with them.

I mentioned the lionels mostly as a joke, but frankly, their presence or absence is about as solid as the rest of the proof used.

There is also King Rhoam's mentioning it to have been the birthplace of Hyrule.

Though, there was an old theory someone on YouTube had in which the entire Great Plateau had been lifted off the ground from its original location and moved to its current one. By whom and for what reason? Who knows. Maybe the goddesses moved it or something. After all, the whole thing does seem kind of out of place with its current surroundings.

Although, there is also the fact that the Temple of Time, while still in a ruined state, looks to be in a far better condition than it looked back in TP. So going by LH and Instru's timeline proposal, the temple had to have been at least somewhat (if not at all completely) rebuilt/restored in the time between TP and BOTW.

Interestingly enough, the Temple of the Sacred Sword in Hyrule Warriors bears a striking resemblance to the Temple of Time, and is surrounded by ruins of a town. So if, theoretically, one wanted to include that game in this timeline, one could use it to say that the Temple of Time from TP was eventually rebuilt into the Temple of the Sacred Sword in HW, with an attempt also made to restore the surrounding town area, but for whatever reason that last part didn't pan out (maybe the town builders were on a budget and either only had enough to complete just the temple and part of the town, or their funds were suddenly cut off before they could finish the town; either way, the town didn't get fully rebuilt). Eons then go by, the greater surrounding area becomes the Great Plateau, and either time itself or some calamity (or both) reduce the restored temple and the partially-restored town to their current ruined state by the time of BOTW.

But of course, this is just all speculation. And my main goal of all of this was to show how one could reorganize all the pre-BOTW games to have them make better sense.

 

[Caldwin]

I was kinda snoring through the Direct. Then this happened.

 

[Rhinox]

Hmm. Looks alright, but I gotta be honest, I'm way more excited for the gameboy games hitting switch.

 

[Caldwin]

I've already played Links Awakening several times over. Minish Cap might be interesting to play again. But I already have it in a couple different ways too. So I'm going to have to see what other games are made available before I commit to keeping the Expansion Pack is up for renewal.

 

[Sabrblade]

Does Ganondorf's English voice sound familiar to anyone else? It reminds me of either Neil Kaplan or Patrick Seitz.


(Personally, my ideal choice for Ganondorf English voice has always been Clancy Brown, but oh well.)

 

[Caldwin]

Len Carlson will always be my Ganon (played him in Super Mario Brothers Super Show). Although, Kurgan playing Ganon does have merit.

*takes Triforce of Wisdom from Zelda and puts a sword to her neck*

THERE CAN BE ONLY ONE!

 

[Caldwin]

Hmm, I guess I haven't said it here. I decided to go with just the game. The collectors edition looked nice, but at $130, I just couldn't do it. I also managed to pre-order the amiibo.

But yeah, being a Zelda game, I knew I was going to get it no matter what and that I was going to want it physically. So I preordered it. Plus this way I can pay it off a little bit at a time over the next couple months before it's released.

 

[Sabrblade]

The long-awaited gameplay Direct for Tears of the Kingdom:

 

[Caldwin]

There's a lot in there that I like (going through ceilings to get to the top of places, using items for arrow and shield mods, weapon crafting). But to be honest, it looks like craft vehicles will probably only be a thrill because it's new. After you've done it a few times it looks like it could get a bit tedious.

 

[Exatron]

I actually managed to get a collector's edition pre-order in last night!

...but it was at Walmart, so I have 0 confidence it will actually be fulfilled.

 

[Daith]

Final pre release trailer for Tears goes live tomorrow!

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1646151322134036488

 

[Sabrblade]

And here it is!

 

[Ungnome]

After the direct and the new trailer, this is looking like it might end up being my favorite Zelda yet. I'm a bit of a sucker for open world games that let me build junk, after all.

 

[tec]

preordered and paid in full my copy its been along time since I done that

 

[Caldwin]

preordered and paid in full my copy its been along time since I done that

Same. Although I do understand the reasoning of waiting for the reviews and never buy day one, Zelda is one series that I know I'm always going to buy, reviews be damned. Plus using Game Stops reserves as a layaway is just too handy.

But honestly, when it comes to Zelda, I don't need trailers to psych me up. I just need them to know the release date... and to ease withdrawal symptoms.

 

[Rhinox]

Thinking I may upgrade my day 1 Switch to the OLED model Zelda edition. . .

 

[Daith]

Just got in the final volume of the Twilight Princess Manga and man I love the artwork across this series. It’s odd considering that I believe all the Zelda Manga other than the stuff way back in Nintendo Power was done by the same author and artist duo, but each manga tries to hit the games art style so well, it’s amazing that it’s the same duo every time.

That said the length they did Twilight Princess was comparable to all the previous Zelda Manga they did previously combined. Where the previous manga got one or two volumes to tell the story, Twilight Princess took eleven to finish. But they put their all into it. The artwork is gorgeous and gives most of the major storylines of the game it’s due, while also giving Link some serious backstory missing in the games.

I highly recommend it. It has some awesome moments not found in the game, but are believably could fit in with the world.

 

[Rhinox]

So, I managed to snag one of those Zelda OLED switches!

I just want to applaud Nintendo for this release. This console was so easy to get ahold of. No scalping, no bullshit. I was able to, days after launch, to walk into a store and walk out. How refreshing is that?!

Oh, btw, in person it's frikken gorgeous.