Nintendo shifts around the Legend of Zelda timeline, discusses the changes in a new interview

The official timeline for the Legend of Zelda series has been updated, and there's been a few changes to how things line up. The changes have been detailed below.

- The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is at the very end of the timelines, but not connected to any of them
- Breath of the Wild is separated, but still at the very end
- in the Fallen Hero timeline, Link’s Awakening now takes place before the Oracle games

Wondering why these changes were made? Famitsu talked to series producer Eiji Aonuma, and Breath of the Wild director Hidemaro Fujibayashi to find out.

Eiji Aonuma, series producer: “Well of course Zelda: Breath of the Wild is at the very end. But, I get what you’re asking, it’s which timeline is it the end of?”

Hidemaro Fujibayashi, director: “That’s… up to the player’s imagination, isn’t it?”

Aonuma: “Hyrule’s history changes with time. When we think of the next game and what we want to do with it, we might think, “Oh, this’ll fit well”, and place it neatly into the timeline, but sometimes we think, “Oh crap”, and have to change the placement. Actually, the decided history has been tweaked many times.” (laughs)

Fujibayashi: “Lately within the company, a term called ‘New Translation’ has cropped up. (laughs) Strictly speaking, we don’t change it, but rather new information and truths come to light.”

Famitsu: I see, so the way to interpret the lore of Breath of the Wild is still up for academic debate. (laughs)

Fujibayashi: “That’s why you should pay attention to future studies as well! Please look forward to it.” (laughs)