Predicting Echoes of Wisdom's Place on the Zelda Timeline

Highlights

Echoes of Wisdom’s map and races may hint at its timeline placement, possibly between the Oracle games and A Link Between Worlds.
The game’s map and landmarks resemble those in the Fallen Hero timeline, with Lorule as a potential connection.
The presence of both Zora races and the Gerudo Tribe’s early appearance suggests Echoes of Wisdom won’t take place before Ocarina of Time.

The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom still has many unconfirmed details, like story elements and gameplay features, but one question might already have some clues. Finding out where The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom will sit on the series’ timeline might be as simple as piecing together a puzzle.

The series timeline for the Legend of Zelda games can be difficult to understand, but that doesn’t stop fans from speculating about where each game fits. Starting with Skyward Sword, the timeline is pretty straightforward until Ocarina of Time, where the ending causes a three-way branch into different possible futures. One branch explores what happens if Link loses the final battle, while the other two timelines follow Link and Zelda as they part ways after defeating Ganondorf. With so many games and plotlines to consider, putting Echoes of Wisdom into its proper place is difficult at this point, but the game’s reveal trailer does offer a few clues.

Zelda as Echoes of Wisdom’s Protagonist Could Justify the Return of a Forgotten Character

Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom breaks the series’ tradition with Zelda as the protagonist, which could mean that another character is in for a cameo.

Examining Which Zelda Timeline Fits Best for Echoes of Wisdom

There are two major clues that fans have picked up on in the Echoes of Wisdom reveal and gameplay trailers that might hint at a timeline placement. First, some fans have noticed that Echoes of Wisdom’s map seems to line up with maps from past games in the series. This offers a starting point for looking into which version of Hyrule players will be exploring. Second, the different races featured in the game play an important role in distinguishing which parts of the timeline don’t fit. Since some races only show up in certain parts of the timeline, it’s easy to rule out certain eras.

Hyrule’s Map Tells Its Own Story

Though the overworld map for Echoes of Wisdom hasn’t yet been shown, some pieces of the trailer hint at major landmark locations. Most noticeably, when Zelda reaches safety after fleeing the rift, she stops to look at Hyrule castle, which looks like it will sit at the center of the map. This lines up with most of the top-down Zelda games, marking the first of many connections between Echoes of Wisdom and games like Link’s Awakening.

In the same shot, players have also noticed Death Mountain appearing north or northeast of the castle, and an icy terrain sitting to the northwest. These locations loosely correspond to similar landmarks in many games in the Fallen Hero timeline. Interestingly, the icy mountain region, as well as a walled desert location seen in the trailer, prominently feature in the map of Lorule, the dark mirror universe of Hyrule from A Link Between Worlds.

What Hyrule’s Races Suggest About the Timeline

Three of Hyrule’s major races are represented in the trailer for Echoes of Wisdom. In quick glimpses, players have spotted a Deku Scrub and a member of the Gerudo tribe, as well as a prominent scene of the two races of Zora interacting for the first time. From this, players have ruled out two major spots on the timeline. The earliest appearance of the mysterious Gerudo Tribe is in Ocarina of Time, suggesting that this game won’t take place before then. The presence of the Zora, as well as the absence of the Rito, also rules out the Adult Link timeline, as in that timeline, the Zora are forced to evolve into the Rito for survival.

Perhaps the most telling moment of the trailer is when Zelda can be seen mediating an argument between the river Zora and the sea Zora. Both versions of the race have many appearances throughout the series, but this seems to be the first time the two Zora races have been spotted together. The only other game to feature both versions of the Zora is Oracle of Ages, which doesn’t take place in Hyrule. Despite this, their dual inclusion gives an excellent starting point for a more detailed placement.

Based on the map comparisons and included races, the general placement of Echoes of Wisdom looks to be somewhere in the Fallen Hero timeline. More specifically, the inclusion of both Zora races suggests that the game should fall after Oracle of Ages. Considering the surprising similarity to Lorule, it might be possible that the mirror kingdom could play a role in Echoes of Wisdom as well. This means that the closest timeline range that can be reached places Echoes of Wisdom somewhere between the Oracles games and A Link Between Worlds, or possibly just after.