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Echoes of Wisdom's "Downfall" Within the Zelda Timeline

2.2K views · Feb 28, 2025 · Gaming

SkyLinkTheory

1.9K subscribers

Comments · 16

@SkyLinkTheory · 1 year ago · pinned
After scavenging for SO much footage to bring this video to life, I need to give credit where credit's due. I did give full credit for others' footage in the description, but wanted to give another shout out for large scale fan games and animations that I used footage from within this video, you guys should look these up! Special Thanks to: Corshmell - Majora's Mask: Rebirth [Animation] CryZENx - Ocarina of Time 4k [Fan-made Remake] scawful - The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Secrets [Fan-made Game] ARTAKE Games - Twilight Princess Fan-made Sequel NESComplex - Zelda I & II Retrospective Analyses [I pulled A LOT of footage from these projects]
@mr.gamewatch6165 · 6 months ago
I do recall once hearing Echoes of Wisdom would connect these divergent timelines. It was quite was an interesting theory honestly.
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@BR1CK_Lawliet · 1 year ago (edited)
While I appreciate the video’s insights, I think it would be fun to present a counterargument. The discussion of “Prime Energy” seems to hinge on a localization issue rather than a true renaming or erasure. In many languages, the Triforce in Echoes of Wisdom is known by one of its many aliases. Therefore, the argument that it was forgotten or renamed loses its force. Breath of the Wild suggests that Ganon sometimes takes roughly 10,000 years to return. Within the Downfall Timeline, Hyrule’s history is essentially the history of Ganon and the Triforce until the original The Legend of Zelda. Notably, two of Ganon’s three appearances before the original Zelda game occur in titles called Triforce of the Gods in Japanese. At the end of A Link Between Worlds, the royal family knows that the Triforce has repeatedly sparked wars. They also understand that the Sacred Realm is unsafe and that if the Triforce were split for safekeeping, one piece would fall into Ganon’s hands. However, thanks to the events in Lorule, Hyrule’s monarchs also know that destroying the Triforce would lead to the end of their realm. Their logical solution would be to hide it deep within the Lost Woods and to erase public knowledge of the Triforce and thus Ganon too. This is consistent with past actions of the royal family: according to Master Works (p. 393), the royal family erased all traces of the Imprisoning War from Tears of the Kingdom. Through the Memories, Link becomes the first to learn of this event that no one after the war had known about (It is stated that Zelda and Mineru erased all of the knowledge, thus placing the erasure before the Draconification of Zelda). Additionally, they concealed Ganondorf’s survival of the Execution in Twilight Princess and later covered up the Shadow Invasion. After Echoes of Wisdom, the royal family would recognized that they could harness the Triforce for good following the destruction of Null. This logically ushered in a Golden Era during which the Triforce was actively used. With its return, there was no longer any need to hide its history—and thus the existence of Ganon—from the public. Contrary to some beliefs, the Gerudo are not extinct in the original Zelda and The Adventure of Link; they are merely unseen. Evidence of Gerudo influence appears in the town of Nabooru, and they reside in regions of Hyrule that remained unexplored until and after Echoes of Wisdom. This explains their absence in the early titles without a need for them to be extinct. If Echoes of Wisdom were set after the Era of Decline, one might expect to see ruins from the original Zelda game. Yet, while remnants of A Link to the Past and A Link Between Worlds exist, those of Zelda I do not—suggesting a different chronological context. Given that this narrative takes place in old Hyrule, it also cannot belong to the Adult Timeline. Nor does it fit neatly within the Child Timeline, since in Echoes of Wisdom the Gerudo lack a male leader—a condition that only changed after the Adult events of Ocarina of Time (as noted in both Breath of the Wild and Creating a Champion). (For example, Four Swords Adventures does feature a male Gerudo leader—Ganondorf II.) Furthermore, since Ganon is portrayed as an Echo in Echoes of Wisdom, the Trident argument is moot: the debate centers on the creation of Null rather than the “real” Ganon. I  also believe that the Era of the Wilds takes place at the end of the Fallen Hero Timeline, with the memories of Tears of the Kingdom occurring between Skyward Sword and The Minish Cap. In my view, the timeline splits into only three distinct branches, and this division fits perfectly. Expanding on this further would be too extensive for a single comment. However, I can continue the discussion in a follow-up if you’re interested~
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@Cybertechwerewolf · 11 months ago
I think id be more okay with the official placement if it ended with a clear connective tissue from here to Zelda 1 anf 2's story. It seems to connect well with A Link Between Worlds and the Oracle Games, but going into the Golden Era, its way less connected, so I'd like to see another game connect these 2, or at the very least, an official comment from Nintendo that explains why and how it connects to the story of the Golden Era, since its supposed to take place just before the start of that era.
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@TheAbolishmentX2B-jx3pc · 1 year ago
Yes!  Your final comments on the potential importance of Skyward Sword's time travel are spot on.  I don't know what you're thinking for your next video, but here's my take on the three timelines: The Ancient Battle is at the start of everything.  The Demon King Demise wages war against the Goddess Hylia for the Triforce.  Hylia sends the Hylians and the Triforce into the sky.  Then we are presented with our first of two important timeline splits: The timeline in which Hylia Imprisons Demise: This timeline kicks off with all the events of Skyward Sword.  After those events comes the Banishment of the Twili, the sealing of the Sacred Realm, and the founding of the Kingdom of Hyrule (as depicted in Tears of the Kingdom). Later comes the  Imprisoning War (again as depicted in Tears of the Kingdom).  Then (and here's the controversial take) comes the Great Calamity, which of course leads into the story lines of Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom (and Age of Calamity, if you like).  Following this era comes the Hyrulean Civil War, and only then Ocarina of Time.  That's right--BotW and TotK both take place between Skyward Sword and OoT.  From Ocarina we get the standard split between the Child Timeline (MM [--> Soulcalibur II] --> Twilight Princess [--> Crossbow Training] [--> Hyrule Warirors]) and the Adult Timeline (WW --> PH --> ST). Alright, let's jump way back to before Skyward Sword, to consider.... A timeline in which the Hero of the Sky destroys Demise:  This happens before all the stuff of Skyward Sword takes place--no forging of the Master Sword, no descent of Skyloft's Goddess Temple, etc. Skyward Sword's final battle takes place in the deep past in the same empty, maybe-sacred realm in which Zelda sends Link back through time at the end of Ocarina.  Maybe there's something about time-manipulation shenanigans in this particular place that causes new timelines to be created. Regardless, this fight initiates what you could think of as the actual "Downfall" timeline.  We begin with the War of the Bound Chest, which moves into the events of Minish Cap, Four Swords, and Four Swords Adventures.  Then occurs a different Imprisoning War, the one depicted in Link to the Past.  After that, we of course run through LttP, the Oracle Games, Link's Awakening, Link Between Worlds, Tri-Force Heroes, Echoes of Wisdom, (Cadence of Hyrule, if you like,) Legend of Zelda, and Adventure of Link. And there you have it.  Every game accounted for in a much more sensible set of chronologies than what we currently have.
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@ZeldaGamer-p6j · 1 year ago
Interesting Theory
@JohnGonzalez-yl7zd · 1 year ago
The depths in botw and totk is the sacred realm cuss ganadorf being seald in there made it the dark realm
@ThisManyFish · 1 year ago
I have a theory. The Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom timeline was made by a Triforce wish. It goes like this: at the end of ONE of the three timelines, Hyrule is in an absolutely terrible state. The protagonists have no choice but to wish for a fresh start, a brand new creation. So the goddesses form the new creation the same way they did before, but the only difference is that the Triforce is no longer usable to grant wishes. As established in A Link Between Worlds, a land needs the Triforce, otherwise it decends into chaos. The goddesses bring a new Triforce into the new creation, but it takes the form of a person (one day becoming Zelda herself, who is now both the goddess Hylia AND the living embodiment of the Triforce). But because the Triforce has a different relationship with its world, the world decends into chaos anyway. This is the origin of The Depths as well as the new evil curse, the Calamity. The goddesses cover up the chaos with another land, and create the Tears of the Kingdom to become the stabilizing power of the new land just as the Triforce stabilized the old land. It's this land where the Zonai descend from the heavens and establish the new Kingdom of Hyrule. The Calamity from within the Depths chooses the new Ganondorf to take over the surface, coveting the power of the Tears the same way the old Demise/Ganon coveted the Triforce. This is when the new Imprisoning War begins.
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@Personalaccount-l7c · 1 year ago
I like that remake ldea
@ZayaMillis · 1 year ago
I would love it if they utilized more split timelines and other universes to connect the games better.
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