When is The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom set? Timeline explained

Zelda fans are always looking to follow The Legend of Zelda timeline, and with Tears of the Kingdom just around the corner, here’s what you need to know about when TOTK takes place.

With so many different games released throughout the years, The Legend of Zelda timeline is notoriously known for its confusing structure. With different eras diverging out into different timelines, it might be difficult to keep track of when The Legend of Zelda games take place.

Tears of the Kingdom is gearing up for its release on May 12, 2023, and fans are particularly excited to explore Hyrule, the mysterious islands above, and use Link’s new abilities. But amid all the excitement, fans are wondering when the new title is set.

In this guide, we will give you a breakdown of The Legend of Zelda lore and timeline, before analyzing when Tears of the Kingdom takes place.

• The Legend of Zelda timeline explained
• Is Tears of the Kingdom a prequel?
• When does The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom take place?

The Legend of Zelda timeline explained

Thanks to the publication of the official Zelda-themed book called Hyrule Historia, we have access to some of the franchise’s history and timelines.

When attempting to analyze The Legend of Zelda timeline, there are several key moments that players will want to keep in mind. The first of these moments arrives at the very start of the timeline with Skyward Sword.

Skyward Sword acts as the point of creation for the series by introducing the Goddess Hylia. The timeline continues following the establishment of the Hyrule Kingdom.

The next major event arrives with Ocarina of Time, where the timeline branches out into three definitive sections: the hero is defeated, the hero is successful (child), and the hero is successful (adult).

From that major moment in Ocarina of Time, the timeline branches out into three sectors that feature their own set of games within the Zelda franchise.

The Zelda timeline remains up for debate as more titles shake up the Zelda universe as we know it. Nonetheless, the image above reveals the widely accepted order of events.

Despite the constant fan obsession with the Zelda timeline, Nintendo prefers to deliver each Zelda game as an exclusive story with its very own version of events and characters unrelated to previous titles.

Is Tears of the Kingdom a prequel?

No, The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is the sequel to Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild released in 2017.

When does The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom take place?

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is the upcoming mainline game of the franchise and it is a sequel to 2017’s Breath of the Wild.

You may have noticed that both Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom are absent from the previous image that showcases the accepted Zelda timeline. This is due to the fact that there isn’t enough evidence to place the two titles in one of the three branches.

Instead, Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom act as their own separate entity within the Zelda timeline. Nintendo previously revealed that Breath of the Wild takes place several hundred years after all of the previous games.

When asked which of the three timelines feature Breath of the Wild, series producer Eiji Aonuma said: “Well of course it’s at the very end.”

Instead of attaching it to a single branch, it seems Nintendo preferred to place it directly at the end, possibly of all three branches.

Since Tears of the Kingdom is deemed a sequel to Breath of the Wild, it’s safe to expect that it’s also right at the end of the timeline as we know it.

There’s no precise indication of how much time has passed between the events of Breath of the Wild and the start of Tears of the Kingdom. It could very well be weeks, months, or years.

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