Thanks toThe Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdomappearing to significantly reshape players' understanding of the broaderZeldacanon, there’s a case to be made for Nintendo to capitalize on the growing multiverse trend and finally form a link between universes. With a growing abundance of differentZeldagames that, despite sharing a general premise of familiar characters and story beats, were wildly different from art styles to game mechanics, Nintendo’s solution was to canonize everything through its now well-known branching timelines. But withBreath of the WildandTears of the Kingdomending these timelines, Nintendo could pull a soft reboot.
Though the variousZeldatimelines gave the series breathing room, it still left Nintendo with the challenge of deciding on which timeline each new game belonged to and where it was supposed to be set. Over time, this chronology has become more complicated and even controversial as games likeThe Legend of Zelda:Tears of the Kingdomappear to reviseSkyward Sword’slore. To avoid a future narrative dead end,Zeldahas the opportunity to embrace the current multiverse trend, so that what were once branching timelines can become altogether new universes andThe Legend of Zeldaexpands to becomeThe Legends of Zelda.
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The Legend of Zelda Benefits More From A Multiverse Than Timelines
While the speculation around where each newZeldagame belongs within the timelines has become a tradition among fans, it is beginning to show signs of diminishing returns as a narrative structure. So though an official chronology was first confirmed bytheHyrule Historiain 2011withOcarina of Timeserving asZelda’svery own nexus event, many more games have since been added to an already full series with revisions along the way. The result might paint an intricate legacy that fans already in the know can enjoy, and an overwhelming canon not only stifles Nintendo’s creativity, but it limits new players coming to the series.
But in addition to this, even when placed in order within the currentZeldatimelines, many games still differ significantly from one another. Direct sequels likeTears of the KingdomandMajora’s Maskdon’t raise any eyebrows, but games like the very firstThe Legend of Zeldawhich was released before yet is set afterthe timeline ofSkyward SwordandOcarina of Timecertainly require the suspension of disbelief considering the jumps in hardware and gameplay. So instead of trying to make each game fit into a crude chronology, placing some of these into alternate universes would arguably better suit the series and give Nintendo greater creative freedom.
The Legends of Zelda’s Meta Has Big Creative Potential
By stylizing it as a “soft reboot” for the series, Nintendo could ambitiously reviseZelda’schronology, or it could leave the current timelines as they are and useBreath of the WildandTears of the Kingdomas a new nexus. Since both games have been stated to be the end of all timelines and withTears of the Kingdomseemingly completingSkyward Sword’scycleonce and for all, for the series to continue something needs to replace them. Just asZeldahas already dabbled with alternate worlds from the Twilight Realm to Lorule, then a game followingTears of the Kingdomcould reveal universes beyond.
At the surface level, this would actually remedy a few loose threads within theZeldaseries that canonizeHyrule Warriorsand its sequels,Cadence of Hyrule, and even characters like Linkle. But beyond thisZeldagames could experiment more, such as Princess Zelda becoming a playable character while the unmentionableZeldaPhilips CD-i games can be relegated to their own universe. Better yet, sinceSuper Smash Bros.recognizes three versions of Link, a metaZeldagame could pay homage to the series and pitch these same Links against series' foes like Ganondorf, Agahnim, Vaati, and more in a war of multiversal conquest.
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdomis available now on Nintendo Switch.
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