Much of the talk about Echoes of Wisdom pre-release was how it could be related to A Link To The Past or Link’s Awakening, but now the game has been out for a little while we can discuss the timeline placement with a little more certainty. The game is full of great lore, so today I’m going to look at where Echoes of Wisdom places of the Zelda timeline.

If you enjoy this video or find it useful then subscribe for more Zelda content plus turn on notifications to never miss an update. I’m going to be discussing the whole game including the ending, so this is your major spoiler warning for Echoes of Wisdom. Before we get into things, let me know in the comments where you think Echoes of Wisdom is in the timeline… I’d love to get your thoughts.

Without futher delay lets dive into the theories for Echoes of Wisdom timeline placement.

Earliest Legend

There is some evidence in the game that this could be the earliest game in the Zelda series, earlier than Skyward Sword and perhaps be the actual ‘Legend of Zelda’ described in the Skyward Sword prologue.

One of the main reasons behind this theory is the lack of Master Sword. Link’s sword in Echoes of Wisdom is referred to as The Sword of Might, suggesting that the events of Skyward Sword haven’t happened yet. In fact, the events of Echoes of Wisdom could be the events told in the Legend at the start of Skyward Sword. The prologue begins with the legend

“One dark, fateful day, the earth cracked wide and malevolent forces rushed forth from the fissure. They mounted a brutal assault upon the surface people, driving the land into deep despair… They burnt forests to ash, choked the lands sweet springs, and murdered without hesitation.”

The earth cracking and bringing forward malevolent forces certainly rings true to the Echoes of Wisdom story. In the Skyward Sword Prologue it describes how the rifts were looking for the Trifroce, or the ultimate power. The Triforce is never referenced as “The Triforce” in Echoes of Wisdom, simply the Prime Energy that Tri must protect and Null wants for themselves. Null attempting to steal the Triforce and then it shattering into the 3 pieces is referenced in other Zelda games, but something we have not seen before.

Echoes of Wisdom appears to take it’s story more seriously compared to Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom. These latest Wild-era games are pretty confusing when it comes to the overall timeline, so much so that they sit outside the timeline on their own little branch. Echoes of Wisdom on the other hands deals with deep traditions of the Zelda series like The Triforce and the Golden Godesses. Plus we have the existance of Null who’s existance appears to go back even futher than that of Demise.

Ask the Developer insights

Eiji Aonuma did discuss the story and lore before Echoes of Wisdom was released in the Ask the Developer series.

“Because series has been running for a long time, players are interested in its history and lore. So, when we’ve adopted a game plot that was not in line with the other games in the series because we prioritized the gameplay, we’ve been told by our fans that it didn’t make sense. We realized that even if the developers didn’t intend to make nonsensical changes, players could interpret otherwise.” said Eiji Aonuma, September 2024.

Given what’s happened since 2017 with the lore and the discussions related to the Zelda timeline, we sometimes wonder if it matters to Nintendo. Nintendo are focused on gameplay first, story later. Tears of the Kingdom had some pretty major plotholes and was widely criticised for the story, but Echoes of Wisdom does show Nintendo are interested in the wider lore.

Nintendo have hinted they are splitting the timelines (again) by having Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom on their own little branch. Echoes of Wisdom appears much more connected to the original timeline and provides hope to fans that Nintendo may take this more seriously in the future.

The future of the Zelda timeline

It looks like Nintendo are treating the 3D and top-down Zelda games separately. Nintendo could continue with the 3D open-world style games built on the foundations of Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom, but the new top-down Zeldas could remain within the tradition of the original timeline.

Going back to the Ask the Developer series released before Echoes of Wisdom, Aonuma says “I’ve always wanted to establish a 2D top-down Legend of Zelda series that’s separate from the 3D entries like The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild”. This could mean top-down Zelda games continue on their own path, or provide context for the new open-world 3D games. Nintendo could then build out the new timeline with the Wild era games as the foundations, and top-down Zeldas stay true to the original Hyrule Historia timeline.

If this is indeed the case then it’s not clear what the future of Zelda lore is. The Wild-era games could be the soft reboot fans have theorised for a while, with the top-down games staying true to the original timeline. Starting a brand new timeline with the Wild era games does seem like a mad idea, rather than fitting them into the wider context, but this is Nintendo and they do things their own way.

As for Echoes of Wisdom and where it sits within the timeline, it could be an even earlier entry than Skyward Sword, and THE original “Legend of Zelda”. Zelda’s lore and history certainly came through in the overarching story of Echoes of Wisdom with the godesses and the Prime Energy, plus the shattering of the Triforce, playing out events in-game which we have only heard of in other games. Given the fragmented story we’ve had over the last 7 years it was a treat to play through Echoes of Wisdom, and hopefully Nintendo will continue to create brand new top-down Zelda adventures. As for the future of the timeline, that is unclear, but we always have fun discussing it.

Talking of discussing it, let me know where you think in the comments.