Summary
Due to the cyclical nature ofThe Legend of Zelda’s narrative, with a complex set of branching storylines, many areas ofThe Legend of Zelda’s overarching plot are seemingly left behind after only one or two entries. As such, many fans are left to pick up the pieces of the renowned fantasy action RPG series' story and build up a cohesive throughline while waiting for Nintendo to flesh out the bones in future installments.
Fromthe branching pathsofThe Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time’s narrative to tales that go to the root of the conflict between the series' most ancient beings,The Legend of Zelda’s near 40-year-old legacy and splintering timeline has formed a whole host of narrative pockets that could do with being expanded upon in new entries.
AlthoughTheLegend of Zeldafranchise is renowned for telling some of video games' most enduring stories, arguably none of the series' conflicts have had their tales explored as much as The Great Flooding of Hyrule. First explored in 2002’sThe Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker,and its direct sequelsPhantom HourglassandSpirit Tracks, The Great Flood resulted in the forming of the Great Sea and the kingdom of Hyrule becoming submerged by the waves.
However, between the events of 2007’s Nintendo DS titlePhantom Hourglassand its 2009 sequelSpirit Tracks, the founding of New Hyrule occurs after a land protected by the Spirits of Good is discovered. Although such a creative decision was most likely made to switch upSpirit Tracks' gameplay from the sailing focus ofThe Wind WakerandPhantom Hourglass, it remains a relatively unexplained - yet hugely important - piece ofThe Legend of Zelda’s lore that has gone on underexplained for years.
Despite its place as a late-lifespan Game Boy Advance title and a handheld-only installment inTheLegend of Zeldafranchise,The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Capremains one of the console’s best experiences and a solid installment in the storied franchise. In"capturing the atmosphere and feeling of a classic Zelda game",The Minish Capprepares players for the prequel toThe Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventuresby telling the tale of the miniature Picori people and how they saved Hyrule by bestowing the legendary Picori Blade to the “Hero of Men.”
This tale is unique not only in its inclusion of the rarely spoken of Picori people who originatedThe Minish Capbut also in its place withinTheLegend of Zeldatimeline. Telling the first tale since the formation of the kingdom of Hyrule, the Hero of Men and their defense of this new realm is but a stopgap on the way to tellingThe Minish Cap’s connected story but it remains a plot point that has not been explored in the 20 years since the game’s release.
Even though the preamble text ofThe Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Pastonly touches on the events of the Imprisoning War in a concise effort to get layers into the action of"one of Link’s most memorable adventures", its place within Hyrule’s history is deserving of much more explanation. Detailing how the game’s Seven Sages were commissioned to seal the kingdom’s connection to the Dark Realm, among the bloodshed and battle of the Imprisoning War, this introductory cutscene is effectively all that fans of the franchise have been able to utilize in their understanding of this period.
However, with the 2023 release ofThe Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, the term Imprisoning War was once again used to describe the conflict between Ganondorf and the newly introduced Zonai race that predicates the conflict of bothBreath of the WildandTears of the Kingdom. Yet, with the soft-reboot nature of Nintendo’s Switch-eraThe Legend of Zeldatitles, it is seemingly a coincidence that the name “Imprisoning War” is used once more.
Considering thatThe Legend of Zeldatitles revolve around a central antagonist who incites death and destruction on the land of Hyrule for their self-gain, the events of the Interloper War are seemingly quite benign. Detailed inThe Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, and taking place sometime afterSkyward Sword, the Interloper War is waged over the Triforce once again - yet this time, the people of Hyrule are to blame as they scour the land in hopes of finding access to the Sacred Realm where it is located.
Yet, the Interlopers - a tribe particularly competent at dark magic - attempted to use their abilities to gain control over the Sacred Realm and were swiftly banished to the Twilight Realm for their deeds. Consideringthe very human desires and destruction of the conflict, and the early stage in whichThe Legend of Zelda’s world was at upon the Interloper War’s incitement, along with the fact that it is effectively only mentioned inTwilight Princess, the Interloper War is a conflict that could use with some severe detailing in future titles.
With the launch ofThe Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, the Nintendo Switch and Wii U became home to arguably one of themost celebrated yet narratively diverging titlesin the acclaimed fantasy action-RPG franchise’s history. Framing its tale around the reemergence of Link after his defeat, and detailing the cyclical nature of narratives inTheLegend of Zeldafranchise,Breath of the Wildcentered its conflict within the bounds of two Great Calamities.
While the Second Great Calamity - where Ganon takes control over the Hylian army’s Guardian forces and claims victory in the kingdom - is the frame forBreath of the Wild’s plot, the original Great Calamity is detailed by Impa to the player in the game’s opening hours. Taking place 10,000 years before the events of the 2017 title, and presented with an air of myth, the original Great Calamity shows the overwhelming power of the Guardians and not only presents a time in which Ganon was successfully defeated but also where the cycles of death and rebirth inTheLegend of Zeldaseries were actively taken into account.
6The Era Where Link Becomes “The Hero’s Shade”
A Depressing Ending For One Of Nintendo’s Greatest Heroes
Branching fromThe Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time’s narrative, where Link defeats Ganondorf and is sent back to his childhood days, the “Child Era” of theZeldatimeline contains within it a host of some of the more macabre tales in the franchise. In this instance, the events of the Interloper War occur, and the Link ofThe Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princessinteracts with a skeletal figure known as the “The Hero’s Shade” who in turn reveals themselves to be the Hero of Time from Nintendo’s acclaimed 1999 N64 title.
While players are taught seven special sword techniques by the Hero’s Shade, the centuries-old hero’s journey betweenOcarina of TimeandTwilight Princessis yet to be detailed further than a few shy details. Especially consideringOcarina of Time’s place within the annals of video game history and Young Link’s inclusion in crossover titles such asSuper Smash Bros. Melee, the fact that sucha defining protagonist of the seriesremains shrouded in mystery is particularly peculiar.
7The Era Where Demise & Hylia Fight For Triforce
The Conflict That Incited The Zelda Series' Cyclical Narrative
Detailed in the first moments of 2011’sThe Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, and presenting one of the earliest moments of the fantasy action RPG’s timeline, the ancient battle between Demise and the goddess Hylia is a uniquely unexplained event in theZeldauniverse.
While the bygone battles of this era were detailed in a watercolor cutscene ofSkyward Sword’s opening, the cyclical nature ofThe Legend of Zelda’s conflict ensured that it remained ambiguous. Considering its place as one of the first conflicts in Nintendo’s renowned franchise, and Demise’s position as the progenitor from which much of the series' antagonism stems, the fact that it has remained obscured and unexplored is equally mysterious.
8The Era Of Conflict between Null & The Three Goddesses
A Contemporary Yet Existential Look At The Zelda Universe’s First Moments
Considering the relative recency of 2024’sThe Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom, the fact that it has posited questions to its audience that reverberate to the very beginnings of theZeldauniverse’s creation is truly commendable. Continuing the use of developer Grezzo’s"charming hand-crafted art style"that originally saw use in 2019’sThe Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakeningand revealing its overarching antagonist to be Null - an existentially ancient threat to theZeldafranchise -Echoes of Wisdomarguably expanded the narrative more than many others of the series' more “realistic” titles.
PredatingThe Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword’s Demise - the, up till then, most ancient threat to Hyrule - and acting as a hostile force to theZeldaseries' Golden Goddesses, Null’s mere existence spawns many more questions than its brief encounter has been able to answer. As such, despite its contemporary unveiling, the Genesis-esque era from which Null originates is ripe for narrative expansion and extrapolation.
