Since Nintendo unveiled The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom yesterday, the community has been speculating about where the game sits in the series’ timeline, discussing trailer details and, importantly, sharing fan art.
Echoes of Wisdom will be the first major Zelda game to feature the titular princess in a playable role. Rather than a sword like Link, Zelda makes her way through Hyrule with a new item known as the Tri Rod, which allows her to copy and paste items she finds in the world. She can also pick up and throw rocks at enemies and copy enemies to fight for her.
But where does Echoes of Wisdom fit into Zelda’s expansive timeline? While nothing definitive has been shared yet (and let’s be honest, it probably never will be), there are some theories.
Soon after the game’s trailer was released yesterday, many noted that the Echoes of Wisdom map was similar to A Link to the Past. A Zelda reddit post highlighted a few recurring landmarks. Poster Ryon21 believed that this new map could be “an expansion of the original A Link to the Past Hyrule with the addition of a new volcano northwest of Hyrule Castle and other areas to the west as well.” They also noted that “river courses and roads… are almost the same as in [A Link to the Past]”.
User FelipeKits also pointed out the similarities between the two games’ maps in a separate reddit post. There are also some differences between the two maps, leading one user to speculate that the Link to the Past map “will be integrated into the ‘great Hyrule’ map” in Echoes of Wisdom. So does this mean the game takes place before or after A Link to the Past?
One fan known as ZeldaExpert74 speculated that there are three possibilities, with Echoes of Wisdom being “the beginning of the Fall Timeline” and taking place after Ocarina of Time (where many believe the timeline splits) but before A Link to the Past.
They further suggested that Echoes of Wisdom takes place between Link’s Awakening and A Link Between Worlds, or after A Link Between Worlds and Tri Force Heroes. “I don’t think this link is any link we already were. Links we were from.” [A Link to the Past] and [A Link Between Worlds] both have yellow brims on their hats, this one green,” they concluded.
[EoW] Echoes of Wisdom & A Link to the Past Maps
byu/Ryon21_ inzelda
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The fandom seems to generally agree that Echoes of Wisdom takes place somewhere in the “fallen hero” timeline, which would have happened if Link had failed to defeat Ganon in Ocarina of Time.
Another small detail worth noting here is that the Echoes of Wisdom announcement trailer features both the original and newer Zora designs, showing that the game is blending old and new with this upcoming release.
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As for the artwork, many are clearly delighted to finally see Zelda as a heroine, and a number of creations have been shared online, ranging from the heartfelt to the more humorous.
For example, here’s Zelda taking out an enemy with a chair like the WWF Champion while Link cheers from the sidelines.
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Another shared artwork of a princess using the most feared of Zelda’s enemies: Cuccos! I mean, if you can copy a Bokoblin, why not some angry fowl.
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This one is titled The Legend of Link and sees Zelda standing proudly saying “It’s my turn”.
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This next one made me laugh. In a callback to Link’s Awakening, where Link can acquire the Marin Islander as an “item” of sorts, this rigged screen from the Echoes of Wisdom trailer shows Zelda holding Link up instead.
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Last but not least, for this selection of some of the best Echoes of Wisdom creations, we have a moment from Tears of the Kingdom recreated with the main two series, but with the roles reversed.
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The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom is set to release on September 26 on Switch. For everything else that was announced yesterday, you can check out our Nintendo Direct recap here.