Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamityhas a shocking story for fans ofBreath of the Wild,and there areMASSIVE SPOILERS AHEAD.InBreath of the Wild, Link wake 100 years after a massive disaster befell Hyrule. With little except the Sheikah Slate and Link’s can-do spirit, players have to explore the world as it is, half in rubble and Hyrule Castle unreachable as it is covered in Malice.
While touted as a prequel to the 2017 hit game,Age of Calamitywasn’t actually part of the same timeline asBreath of the Wild. And the updated timeline is so altered from theBreath of the Wildone that it will havehuge implications for the overarchingZeldatimelinesas well as the Champion’s roles inBotW2.InAge of Calamity, a small, egg-shaped Guardian built by Zelda travels back in time, altering the timeline so completely that it changes the outcome of the firstbattle against Calamity Ganon.
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In this timeline, thelittle unlockable Guardian named Terrakoalso casts its time-traveling magic a second time, bringing the descendants into the past in order to save the Champions' lives. While the Champions are all long dead inBreath of the Wild, theAge of CalamityChampions survive, meet the four descendants, and defeat Ganon. There is no 100-year gap, no sleeping Link with amnesia, and no gridlocked Zelda and Calamity Ganon in the Hyrule Castle. Therefore, the Divine Beasts are still good guys, and the Champions' spirits don’t get locked into their Divine Beasts.
Implications for Breath of the Wild 2
Many fans insist thatAge of Calamityreads like aBreath of the Wildfanfiction rather than the prequel that was promised. Whether it does or not, theAge of Calamity’sbig twist endingwill have massive implications forBotW2’s handling of the Champions going forward. There are several questions that will now need to be addressed in the sequel, and the most important of these is in relation to which timelineBotW2takes place.
There are two possibilities for the continuation of thealready confusing Zelda timelinesinBreath of the Wild 2:the game will take place after the 100 year events ofBreath of the Wildand will feature four descendants who remember the events ofAge of Calamity,orBreath of the Wild 2will take place in the alternate timeline.
The Alternate Timeline
The alternate timeline would make for an interesting game;Age of Calamityhas already defeated Calamity Ganon, and Link and Zelda now have the free time to venture around Hyrule. They both have unlocked their powers as the Sealers of Darkness, and Zelda’s father is alive to rule so they have the ability to travel without leaving Hyrule leaderless. And in traveling, the two would come across the weirdGanondorf mummy in that creepy cave in theBotW2teaser trailer.
Since the average lifespan of a Hylian is about 100-150 years, and Link and Zelda both look as they do inAge of CalamityandBreath of the Wild, this game would not be able to take place 100 years later. There would just be too many physical changes for a Hylian that old; fans would have seen signs of it in the trailer andLink wouldn’t be the one of his strongest Zelda incarnations. However, it could take place immediately after theAge of Calamitymaking it a sequel to theHyrule Warriorsgame and notBreath of the Wild.
If that’s true, it means that not only would the Champions and their Divine Beasts be part of the current world, but those Divine Beasts would still be uncorrupted by Malice. This would mean that the Divine Beasts along with their Champions could be part of the battles with whoever the villain or villains ofBotW2could be. This could mean playable Champions in certain chapters or special storylines. It would be interesting to play a Zelda game where the player can not onlyplay co-op as Link and Zelda, but the other characters as well.
Ultimately, however, this seems unlikely. It’s more probable that, despite being a prequel of sorts, the events here are deemed non-canon.
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The Current Timeline
IfBreath of the Wild 2is truly a sequel toBreath of the Wild, it can still make some interesting allusions to the alternate timeline ofAge of Calamity.Since the four descendants traveled back in time to fix the timeline, they would, in theory, return to the originalBreath of the Wild100-year timeline with the memories of saving their Champions intact. This means that, while theAge of Calamitytimeline wouldn’t be mentioned much, it could be hinted at through the four descendants and their story of the other world.
This would mean that the new Champions, the descendants, would have been the ones to travel back in time. These new Champions would have had to learn to pilot the Divine Beast as part of saving the old Champions inAge of Calamity, which means that they would be the new chosen to help in the battle against evil with the ancient Divine Beasts. This could once again mean that the new Champions would be integral to the plot ofBotW2or even possibly playable characters.
But Why Not Both?
There is a third possibility for the setting of the next Zelda chapter; there are some rumors thatBreath of the Wild 2might be all about time traveling, or more specifically timeline traveling, moving through the different games and finally reuniting them. The games have already been split into several different possible outcomes for Link; however, one of themany unsolved mysteries ofBreath of the Wildis that it has references to all three timelines.
For example, there are the DLC costumes like the Mask of Majora and Tingle’s outfit, the Aribiter’s Grounds in the desert which is a ruined replica of the dungeon inTwilight Princess, names of places identical to those inLink’s Awakening,hints that Zant fromTwilight Princessmay return, and many more. The references touch every single one of the timelines, meaning that perhaps,Breath of the Wild 2could be the one to bridge them all together. This means that the game would have to take place in both the 100-year future ofBreath of the Wild, and the alternate future fromAge of Calamity. This would mean that the Champions are both alive and dead, making for an interesting clash between the two worlds. And maybe even Links and Zeldas from other worlds as well.
This would make for an interesting twist. As Link and Zelda, the Champions and their descendants, players would be able to travel through all of the previous stories, possibly cementingBreath of Wild 2right in the center of all three diverging timelines.
