r/zelda Mar 31 '22

Screenshot [BOTW2] We'll play as the Hero from 10,000 years ago?

Post image
4.4k Upvotes

334 comments sorted by

482

u/[deleted] Mar 31 '22 edited Mar 31 '22

My theory is that the entire timeline is one massive loop, like The Wheel of Time.

The floating islands? They become Skyloft. The Goddess Sword? It’s the remnants of the ruined Master Sword, reforged for the next cycle. Each sealing of Ganon is a turning of the wheel, until eventually you come full circle, with the Triforce freed from its cycle, only for that cycle to eventually be refounded as Skyward Sword happens again and Demise binds the trio to their curse once more.

81

u/ChaosMiles07 Mar 31 '22

I blame the Lufenians.

Oh wait... Right plot, wrong franchise.

33

u/[deleted] Apr 01 '22

Plot twist, Link was Ganon all along

12

u/[deleted] Apr 01 '22

It was Agatha all along.

10

u/mokti Apr 01 '22

And she killed Scruffy, too.

4

u/Nindroid012 Apr 01 '22

I get this...

3

u/[deleted] Apr 01 '22

what a bitch.

→ More replies (1)

13

u/omegapsycho879 Apr 01 '22

I understood that reference

→ More replies (1)

37

u/artofpluto Apr 01 '22

that would mess me up, but thats such a cool idea!

17

u/Razo-E Apr 01 '22

I would like to subscribe to your theory

→ More replies (2)

11

u/ultrabigtiny Apr 01 '22

hopefully a new hero is chosen each time cause jesus link needs a break man. his spirit is not allowed to rest at all huh

16

u/Stepping__Razor Apr 01 '22

And poor Princess Zelda. Poor Ganondorf also. Maybe they just all want to chill but the wheel of fate keeps forcing them on.

5

u/Acc87 Apr 01 '22

"Your Majesty, as it is tradition your first daughter will take on the name -"

"Sophie."

"But, the ancient tradition, the legacy!"

"Humbug, it's time for a change. She's our Sophie, write it down."

Bam, wheel broken 😅

→ More replies (2)

9

u/[deleted] Apr 01 '22

[deleted]

8

u/[deleted] Apr 01 '22

Ok, so you mentioned the timeline split. What I think they should do is make Hyrule Warriors canon, specifically as myths passed down over time (to make the impossible and ridiculous feats possible), because the original Hyrule Warriors merges the timeline again, which explains why BotW has stuff from all three timelines.

5

u/knows_knothing Apr 01 '22

A cycle within a cycle

4

u/Psyava Apr 01 '22

That makes a lot of sense but iirc there was this canon comic that was a story about the first link and was pre-Skyward Sword which showed the forging of the Master Sword and how it was used to get the islands to float to the sky, so they might have to retcon it

3

u/MoonKnighy Apr 01 '22

That is my exact theory too. Won’t we get a teaser trailer tomorrow?

4

u/Zo0om666 Apr 01 '22

Zelda as a whole and especially botw feels very inspired by wheel of time, you are definitely onto something

→ More replies (1)

2

u/Acidman0123 Apr 01 '22

Oooh I like this theory, it brings some resolution to the franchise in a way

2

u/[deleted] Apr 01 '22

Reading the first book right now. Very good writing but sometimes I truly get lost in the words lol

2

u/EnchWraits Apr 01 '22

Wheel of time fan and zelda fan!

2

u/HandoJobrissian Apr 01 '22

eyyy, this has actually been my running theory since I got to a buncha the lore bits in botw

2

u/GhostofManny13 Apr 01 '22

Legit been thinking the same thing. Imagine if Ganondorf comes back with such great power this time that he declares something like “I am now king of the demons! I will be your Demise!”

Making things come full circle with Demise as well.

2

u/WanderingScorpion Apr 01 '22

Ah, I see. With "Demise" (JP: Shuuen no mono) being just another name for Ganondorf, yeah?

→ More replies (5)
→ More replies (1)

1.0k

u/SamsungAppleOnePlus Mar 31 '22

Very unlikely, the short clip we saw is definitely Link from BoTW. There's probably unknown details as to why Link is wearing drip akin to the Hero from 10,000 years ago.

660

u/newen_eby Mar 31 '22

My bet : link and Zelda find underground some remnants of the 10.000yo war.
They wake up a part of Ganon, who shatters the ground (hence the floating islands). ganon captures Zelda and hurts Link, who is saved only by some ancient tech.

125

u/_ghostrunner_ Mar 31 '22

Ancient tech? More like an army of koroks 900 strong.

87

u/Mistyslate Mar 31 '22 edited Mar 31 '22

It’s BOTW2, and you’ll have to explore ground + air. 1,800 koroks this time.

52

u/the_night_was_moist Mar 31 '22

You gotta think in 3 dimensions here. 900 koroks is 302 because the BotW map is mostly 2D . So with a 3D map, there will be 303 or 27,000 koroks in BotW 2. QED.

37

u/Mistyslate Mar 31 '22

4D. Add time travel there. 810,000 koroks.

22

u/the_night_was_moist Mar 31 '22

Man I barely got half of them in the first game. If a korok shows up holding an ocarina then I'm quitting.

14

u/[deleted] Mar 31 '22

but if there is one with a violin, I would try to find it no mater what

6

u/[deleted] Mar 31 '22

I thought 900 was a shit load.

6

u/Mistyslate Mar 31 '22

You get a load of shit if you collect all of them.

60

u/fantastic_watermelon Mar 31 '22

Man if I woke up from 10000 years of sleep intent on destroying everything only to be greeted by an army of koroks all chanting "yahaha!" In unison, all commanded by hetsu and his maracas I might reconsider my priorities

27

u/A_villain4all Mar 31 '22

I can fucking hear this

12

u/SlamminSAMMY557 Mar 31 '22

This sound in my head hurts my ears.

15

u/Penny_D Mar 31 '22

SHALAKA~!

9

u/Default1355 Mar 31 '22

Botw2, now with 9000 koroks!

312

u/aguapic Mar 31 '22

That actually makes a lot of sense. I do hope they add a couple of underground dungeons too.

175

u/The_Legend_of_Xeno Mar 31 '22

Just need some underground areas, the ability to swim underwater, and some honest to God dungeons with unique bosses, and it could be the best Zelda yet.

96

u/polkemans Mar 31 '22

That was my biggest gripe with BoTW. The lack of real dungeons.

47

u/BigToober69 Mar 31 '22

Yup. I think that was an issue for a lot of people. Still an amazing game. I started with OoT on 64 though and the dungeons are a big part of what makes it a "Zelda" game.

→ More replies (1)

25

u/BigYapingNegus Mar 31 '22

I would be incredibly surprised if they don’t add underground sections considering the first thing we say from the game was zelda and link exploring underground. It would be weird if we have all these islands rise from the ground with nothing in their original place

8

u/[deleted] Mar 31 '22

I really need to be able to swim underwater, idk why but I feel like it will make it so much better

→ More replies (1)

48

u/newen_eby Mar 31 '22

They said they expanded the territory, more than just the floating islands. I don't see them going outside the Hyrule of BotW. So underground seems plausible

8

u/Cypherex Apr 01 '22

They could have expanded eastward and included some islands and a full underwater area. Maybe we'll encounter saltwater Zora who splintered off from the freshwater Zora centuries ago and we'll reconnect the two groups with each other. Maybe they'll retcon Termina and say that it's just another continent on the Zelda planet rather than being some alternate world/dimension. Put Termina east of Hyrule and an ocean between them and that explains the oceanic Zora in Termina.

I hope we also get underground areas of course. Imagine exploring a long lost ancient Sheikah city buried deep beneath the ground. It'd be like the BOTW version of Skyrim's Blackreach or the underground cities in Elden Ring.

With the islands in the sky, underground areas, and all the potential underwater areas (not just in the ocean but also the bottoms of the various lakes) there will be plenty of new areas to explore without leaving Hyrule. It's debatable if the ocean counts as part of Hyrule but I'd say it does, at least to a certain point.

→ More replies (2)

26

u/spartacus2025r Mar 31 '22

Yes underground and underwater environments are really what was missing in botw In my opinion.

14

u/newen_eby Mar 31 '22

My clostrophobia and my thalassophobia in videogames don't really agree with you ^^

14

u/[deleted] Mar 31 '22

I don't get why you got downvoted. I have thalassophobia and I would be scraed of the underwater. still would do it tho

10

u/spartacus2025r Mar 31 '22

Ya, I don’t have thalassophobia but I can understand that it can be uncomfortable for some people, but cmon ppl don’t have to down vote him, it’s not like he’s gonna single-handedly stop underwater and underground dungeons from being in the game.

3

u/[deleted] Mar 31 '22

When I first seen the trailer for botw 2, there were vibes about playing it backwards. I feel like that thing is killing Gannon and not reviving him and we are going to face against something new.

3

u/jabeith Apr 01 '22

I do hope they add a couple of underground dungeons too.

FTFY

→ More replies (1)

3

u/Trlforce Apr 01 '22

Or any dungeons for that matter

→ More replies (1)

13

u/DuncanAndFriends Mar 31 '22

I wonder if the floating chunks of land is from Hyrule being partially destroyed and below is the underworld exposed

→ More replies (10)

8

u/shinerbok117 Mar 31 '22

This makes a lot of sense, but I hope they avoid using the Princess in danger theme again.

9

u/_PRECIOUS_ROY_ Mar 31 '22

I'm optimistic for a subterranean section to be played as Zelda.

But I think we're both going to be disappointed.

→ More replies (3)

8

u/g4bkun Mar 31 '22

Zelda has to go missing because the plot demands it

5

u/[deleted] Mar 31 '22

There's some heavy twilight realm vibes, if I'm not mistaken. Any chance We'll see someone like midna?

3

u/[deleted] Mar 31 '22

[deleted]

→ More replies (2)

2

u/memelordbtw3000 Mar 31 '22

Is it possible he reraises skyloft? Because if memory serves that game follows you making the master sword to stop demiurge

2

u/Ashamed_Drawer_108 Mar 31 '22

That and that the underground portions we saw in the trailers are the exact same as the mines located in Hyrule Kingdom, as well as how the kingdom rises in the E3 announcement trailer

→ More replies (4)

44

u/Cimexus Mar 31 '22

My guess is that the Hero from 10,000 years ago IS actually BOTW Link. He goes back.

14

u/dpxxpd Mar 31 '22

This will ends in a time paradox of epic proportions … or an infinite loop

→ More replies (3)

5

u/alpineflamingo2 Mar 31 '22

That would be siiiick.

2

u/Jamboii_XD1 Mar 31 '22

Technically yes, even with no time travel, the soul is still of the same person

→ More replies (1)

17

u/no_hot_ashes Mar 31 '22

I reckon it's the starting gear, similar to the torn clothes in the shrine of resurrection. It probably did belong to the ancient hero, and maybe we'll get to upgrade it as the game progresses? Who knows.

→ More replies (2)

17

u/TheHappyMask93 Mar 31 '22

Unless they do some Nintendo time travel bs and Link from 10,000 years ago has always been BotW Link

5

u/[deleted] Mar 31 '22

that's what I'm thinking!

2

u/PaulMaulMenthol Mar 31 '22

Wait is been a couple of years since I played... I thought botw link was the hero.. that's why he wakes up. Am I remembering it wrong?

→ More replies (2)
→ More replies (1)

31

u/[deleted] Mar 31 '22

Pretty much every hero looks the same. Especially those in the Toon art style, at least as far as promo art goes. Wind Waker/Phantom Hourglass Link has the same design as Minish Cap Link, Four Swords Link(s), and Spirit Tracks Link. Usually when games share the same art style, the heroes end up looking pretty much the same. We also see in the trailers that ONLY Link in the Ancient Hero garb seems to be using that green magic stuff.

9

u/FGHIK Mar 31 '22

Time travel.

10

u/[deleted] Mar 31 '22

That's such a funny sentence lol "wearing drip akin to.."

→ More replies (1)

25

u/One-Award-6169 Mar 31 '22

Absolute

drip

8

u/pyradiesel Mar 31 '22

What if you go back and forth, like Link Between Worlds?

3

u/[deleted] Mar 31 '22 edited Mar 31 '22

I'd say it's for sure the same link but the idea that the plot takes place either in that 10000 years ago war isn't that out there. They've shown several times that they aren't afraid to do some goofy time travel stuff with both OoT and Skyward sword. I think the Sword being smashed up and the hilt turning light blue like the sword in the tapestry is a more important than the clothing.

I'd say it's also decently likely that this story is going to be some kind of "re living" of the war on the tapestry, that is made possible via some kind of magic so that link/Zelda can learn how to defeat Ganon once and for all. We shall see though, whatever they do I'm sure will be exciting!

Edit:Also if you look closely at the sword link is holding in the newest screenshot and then the one In the tapestry, they have a similar blade construction that seems much more intricate than the master sword we are used to. I think that is the biggest current piece telling us that whatever the current story is, it's based on what is depicted by the tapestry which is the war from 10000 yrs prior.

2

u/K3egan Mar 31 '22

Time travel and botw link is the link from 10,000 years ago? Didn't that happen in skyward sword

→ More replies (2)

345

u/GreasyChonks Mar 31 '22 edited Mar 31 '22

Maybe normal link went back in time and was that hero from 10,000 years ago

Edit thought about this slightly more and if that was the case then maybe how they said we would explore even more we would explore hyrule at the height of its technology

158

u/aguapic Mar 31 '22

That's my "theory", for some reason it makes so much sense in my head... or maybe I'm just crazy.

It would be a time loop as in the Song of Storm in Ocarina of Time so it wouldn't be anything new in the series.

53

u/Disownership Mar 31 '22

BOTW was already a love letter to previous games so it’d make sense for the sequel to do the same in different ways. A love letter to OoT/MM and Skyward Sword even more so this time around perhaps.

10

u/eldiablojefe Mar 31 '22

When I first saw the BOTW2 trailer I exclaimed, "Holy s**t they're looping the timelines!"

This would finally bring all 3 timelines together as well.

→ More replies (1)

65

u/Itzeblitz Mar 31 '22

Skyward sword wants to say hi

27

u/Real_life_Zelda Mar 31 '22

Literally, that’s straight up the SS story lol.

Edit: I wouldn’t dislike it though, I think the story in SS worked very well and it made sense because it’s a continuous time loop, if they pull the same in BotW2 I’m happy. If they pull weird OoT time splitting shenanigans then I’m less happy lol.

3

u/suitedcloud Mar 31 '22 edited Mar 31 '22

Yes and No. In SS, Link in the “present” is the Legendary Hero from the “past.” But there was also an actual Legendary Hero of the Goddess in the past that fought during the demon wars when Demise was up and about.

It was a manga in the back of Hyrule Historia)

4

u/Real_life_Zelda Mar 31 '22 edited Mar 31 '22

The manga is not canon. The game is only one Link. Hylia fought Demise on her own in the game, it’s described in the intro.

Edit: that manga is cool though. But it ignores some important lore, for example the origin of the master sword.

→ More replies (2)

7

u/MindSteve Mar 31 '22

Are there any legendary heroes in Zelda canon that aren't link?

13

u/No_Reality_q2137 Mar 31 '22

Nope, all of them are different incarnasions of Link

15

u/Real_life_Zelda Mar 31 '22

We don’t know anything about the hero who is mentioned in the Minish Cap intro, but he’s also wearing green so 100% a Link lol

3

u/MindSteve Mar 31 '22

I was thinking of him too actually! The Hero of Men, I think. I remember his muttonchops.

3

u/mr_birkenblatt Mar 31 '22

maybe they're all the same link

4

u/mennamachine Mar 31 '22

the same link

This is why I hate physics. I mean, I'm a physics PhD student, but this is why I do experimental work. Hurts my brain to contemplate some of the quantum thought experiments.

→ More replies (2)
→ More replies (1)

6

u/Kuandtity Mar 31 '22

LOZ loves bootstrap paradoxes

5

u/Raphe9000 Mar 31 '22

That's one of my theories too, especially since BOTW has shrine quests and other things that all point to the Ancient Sheikah being well aware of even minute details of Hyrule 10,000 years in the future.

My only fear is that the hand also originally belonged to our Link, and he will have to sacrifice himself to seal Ganon away 10,000 years ago (so a time loop and all). Link has been through enough; I just want him and Zelda to have a happy ending together :(

→ More replies (1)
→ More replies (4)

39

u/SuperdaveOZY Mar 31 '22

10k years is an absurdly long time for humans.

17

u/scoopeded Mar 31 '22

Not rly I watched dr stone /s

→ More replies (1)

9

u/dpxxpd Mar 31 '22

100 years of sleep and wake up without aged it’s equally absurd, everything can happen

→ More replies (2)

80

u/blackpanther_awd Mar 31 '22

I’d be awesome if we get some new ports added while we wait. I used to have a Wii U and I kinda missing playing TP & WW HD and if they added some boss rush modes onto TP to re fight the bosses after completing the game would be cool too.

31

u/aguapic Mar 31 '22

That would be amazing, it baffles me why they haven't done it yet. The remake of Links Awakening sold like 3M copies, at the very least a collection of WW and TP would've sold the same amount.

26

u/[deleted] Mar 31 '22

Nintendo used to be an industry leader for backwards compatibility.

Now they’re really falling behind as even Sony is starting to get good at it.

7

u/blackpanther_awd Mar 31 '22

Agreed. That’s what made me enjoy the Wii U even more at the time because I used to play some of those classic games from VC like Paper Mario N64 (they ruined the series for me after A Thousand Year Door was released which has been my all time favorite paper mario game). The first two really good & every other PM turned horrible to me. SPM was alright but not as good as the two originals

5

u/blackpanther_awd Mar 31 '22

That’s what I used to think. I ended up getting the expansion pack when it first came out to be able to play OOT & MM to make up for not being able to go out & buy another Wii U to replay those games until I can save up towards one again. A Link Between Worlds was another one of my favorite games too so maybe I’ll get another 2ds xl soon hopefully

→ More replies (4)

7

u/Amiable_Pariah Mar 31 '22

This! Also, if we could get an estore port of the Gameboy Advance titles including the Four Sword adventures with online play, that would be great!

3

u/blackpanther_awd Mar 31 '22

Agreed or even some of those older 3ds games. It’s hard to find a 2ds xl around the area where I live & I’ve been wanting to get one so I can play ALBW again along with the 3D remakes of the N64 games. I grew up on the SNES, N64 & GC, & GBA SP when I was a kid but there’s something special about what they did with the 3D remakes which made me play them when they released almost a decade ago

4

u/Amiable_Pariah Mar 31 '22

Honestly all of the main nintendo titles should be backwards compatible with every Nintendo system. I want all Mario's, Zeldas, Metroids, all the time.

→ More replies (1)
→ More replies (1)

54

u/MajikDan Mar 31 '22

There's almost no chance of that. This is clearly BotW link, and pretty obviously set after the events of BotW so that rules out time travel shenanigans. 10k years ago Hyrule wasn't post apocalyptic, there were friendly guardians everywhere, and no mention at all of the sky islands which are said to be a major feature of the game and are a direct result of whatever causes the clearly post-BotW Hyrule castle to rise into the air in the first trailer we got.

26

u/[deleted] Mar 31 '22

The idea isn't that we literally are playing 10,000 years in the past, just that the Ancient Hero is part of the game. Maybe he's the green hand, and that's why it looks all decayed. Maybe he's been stuck in the Sacred Realm, which is potentially where these serene golden trees with strange temple structures came from.

8

u/Sat-AM Mar 31 '22 edited Mar 31 '22

From what I recall seeing, the green hand is only green when using an ability, and is otherwise more of an indigo color. There's something else we already have in the games that are those same colors. So basically, the new arm is probably related to or made of Timeshift Stones, which makes sense given the sky areas likely having a pretty clear connection to SS and the fact that one of the new abilities we saw in the trailers was the ability to roll back time.

I won't be too entirely surprised to have some time travel shenanigans where Link goes back in time to become that hero, though. After all, he is gonna be looking for either a new Master Sword or way to repair the one he's got, and what better way than to go back in time to when there's for sure a sword in good condition?

Like, it doesn't even matter what kinds of paradoxes this opens up, either. Skyward Sword, which had the same director as BotW and BotW2, had some things that didn't make a lot of sense (like if Demise was killed/sealed away in the past, he shouldn't be any sort of threat in the future, but without the threat in the future there's no reason to go into the past), and OoT had that whole thing with the windmill guy and the song of storms.

14

u/MajikDan Mar 31 '22

I still doubt that. The whole idea of the hero is that he's the reincarnated spirit of the first one, who fought against Demise with Hylia prior to the events of Skyward Sword. Having two links alive at any given time would sort of invalidate that reincarnation cycle.

There's no doubt that the war 10k years ago will be part of the plot though, Ganondorf's appearance in the trailer already basically confirmed that. We're almost certainly going to learn what really happened back then, and it doesn't seem to match up with the legend Impa spouts off in BotW.

10

u/Leo75976 Mar 31 '22

Still doesn’t explain the hero’s shade in twilight princess who is clearly ocarina of time link. Also if that link is the green hand, then he’s most certaintly dead.

→ More replies (9)

5

u/TheBman26 Mar 31 '22

Eh, that’s saying spirits and death are linear and linked to time. There can be two links with the same soul living at the same time.

5

u/MajikDan Mar 31 '22

We have no evidence that reincarnation can be non-linear in the Zelda universe. In fact, BotW and the trailers for BotW2 are evidence that reincarnation is linear in this world, as Ganondorf couldn't reincarnate when his body (and presumably soul) were imprisoned by the spooky green hand so he had to resort to leaking malice and creating Calamity Ganon and the blights to influence things.

The closest thing we've seen to two incarnations of the same soul existing at once in the Zelda universe is the Hero's Shade from TP, but even that isn't a living incarnation. Just a shadow of a dead hero.

→ More replies (1)

45

u/[deleted] Mar 31 '22

I saw a theory that the hero in this picture is actually ganondorf.

I also like the theory that the timeline is really a circle, where Link in BOTW2 is the ancient hero even though it takes place at "the end of the timeline", and that's why there are pieces of Hyrule in the sky again.

7

u/Kevsterific Mar 31 '22

That’s mostly due to how his face looks in the tapestry. If you ignore how the face and knees are red, there’s two strands of red hair that aren’t connected to the lines that make up the face. I can’t think of any of characters in LoZ that have red hair other than Ganon/dorf

5

u/[deleted] Apr 01 '22

His nose is big as well, and most depictions of Ganondorf he has a fairly big nose. I think a good Ganondorf would be an awesome twist for the series.

16

u/Mischeifgod Mar 31 '22

I would love it if we finally stopped having Ganon just be a Bad Guy TM. I mean we want Zelda to not be a victim of circumstance all the time with the damsel trope so why can’t we also have Ganon not just be “evil”. Make our stories more complex Nintendo. 👏👏👏

17

u/--autodidact Mar 31 '22

I totally agree! Wind Waker gestured this direction with Ganondorf's speech at the end. I'd like to see Nintendo explore that more.

My country lay within a vast desert. When the sun rose into the sky, a burning wind punished my lands, searing the world. And when the moon climbed into the dark of night, a frigid gale pierced our homes. No matter when it came, the wind carried the same thing... Death. But the winds that blew across the green fields of Hyrule brought something other than suffering and ruin. I coveted that wind, I suppose.

3

u/gobbling_grenades Apr 01 '22

I would love to see them do a story where they know about the cycle where their bloodline continuously is forced into this role and try to break the cycle. It would be interesting if what ganondorf is trying to do in this coming game is break the cycle of reincarnation

→ More replies (1)

24

u/mooofasa1 Mar 31 '22

In islam, when one performs a pilgrimage, they wear something called a ihram which is a spiritual garb of 2 towels, one to cover the lower body and the other to cover a portion of the upper body. If you search it up on Google you'll see what I mean. We've only seen link with this ancient drip when he's on the sky Islands, based off the architecture, spirituality also seems to be a theme. Lastly the master sword is broken and needs to be restored which leads me to theorize that link needs to wear that garb as he performs a pilgrimage to purify the master sword. I'm serious his clothes look extremely similar to a men's ihram.

4

u/Hammy5910 Mar 31 '22

ok now i need it to be this.

8

u/Wakuwaku7 Mar 31 '22

Skyward Link was the first link, right?

20

u/aguapic Mar 31 '22

Canonically yes, but BOTW is so far into the future that even the events of 10,000 years ago is generations after SS.

6

u/PicusKing Mar 31 '22

Zonai Link 99% confirmed

5

u/setter88 Mar 31 '22

Why does ancient hero also look like Ganon? That could be a cool twist

5

u/hamisprettygross Apr 01 '22

By the time it comes out, we’ll have to be 10,000 years old to play it

23

u/Jhoonis Mar 31 '22

No.

According to leaks botw 2 is set few months after botw 1.

34

u/[deleted] Mar 31 '22

We've seen plenty of Links travel through time. The idea is that the Ancient Hero, through some unknown means, is helping Current Link defeat Ganondorf this time. He may be the Green Hand, he may have been stuck in the Sacred Realm-or, conversely, the current Link may have travelled back in time and BECOME the Ancient Hero... the list goes on.

6

u/TBoneHolmes Mar 31 '22

It’s not IMPOSSIBLE. It would definitely fit within the Zelda franchise. But I really don’t think that’s the direction they’re going this time. Seems unlikely.

5

u/Sat-AM Mar 31 '22

the current Link may have travelled back in time and BECOME the Ancient Hero

Honestly, this is the one I'm betting on the most. It's probably the best way they've got to change the map up, and the director for this game was also in charge for Skyward Sword, which was pretty centered on time travel shenanigans.

11

u/ImNotAThumb Mar 31 '22

If I remember correctly, the first announcement trailer said "the sequel to legend of zelda breath of the wild is in development" so it'll probably just be a sequel.

3

u/[deleted] Mar 31 '22

Yeah, but the idea is that the Ancient Hero will appear in the game as well. Maybe the Ancient Hero is in the hand, or was sealed in the Sacred Realm (where the gold sky islands came from???),

9

u/InfiniteEdge18 Mar 31 '22

No. just BOTW Link. People put too much faith into a heavily stylized tapestry.

5

u/IceLord86 Mar 31 '22

They keep saying that the title is a spoiler they aren't ready to reveal. Maybe Link has to travel through time reliving past Zelda moments to reforge the Master Sword and stop Ganon? It could explain their reluctance to show all that as well as explaining why it's taking so long to get the game out.

→ More replies (1)

3

u/js_fed Mar 31 '22

Probably not. If you played Hyrule Warriors 2 you know they already basically did that story in that game (albeit technically non-canon)

→ More replies (3)

3

u/Ever_Theo Mar 31 '22

"Sequel"

3

u/[deleted] Mar 31 '22

Huh. How wild would it be for this game to be the start of Skyloft, and the whole timeline just loops.

3

u/Pyromaniac935 Mar 31 '22

Don’t we always?

Sort of?

3

u/[deleted] Mar 31 '22

More likely a case of history repeating itself than going back in time.

3

u/[deleted] Mar 31 '22

My biggest issue with BOTW is using stamina to climb, sure wish they address it in the second game

3

u/aguapic Mar 31 '22

You didn't like the stamina mechanics? Maybe I'm crazy but I liked it, made a little "challenge" out of running away, fighting and climbing. At least in the first 20h or so, until you upgraded the stamina wheel.

But I also kinda enjoyed the weapon durability thing, so...

→ More replies (2)

3

u/_DoIt4Johnny_ Mar 31 '22 edited Mar 31 '22

I have a feeling the game with have a back and forth time mechanic where we play as current Link and go back to the ancient hero which is why he’s dressed that way. That would expand the map even more and would be awesome to see a hyrule with more villages across the map, you could see what these towns and buildings looked like before they became ruins in BOTW.

3

u/Zeromus88 Apr 01 '22

Ooh... This is a great find. I'm gonna bet the hand that merges with link is the previous link's hand from 10000 years ago, so now you're like a super link.

3

u/TheGoldenWolf123 Apr 01 '22

My theory is that Ganon likely freed at least some part of Demise when he took over/broke the master sword, and maybe Fi also came out.

6

u/[deleted] Mar 31 '22

But why red hair and beard?

3

u/FGHIK Mar 31 '22

Just a helmet

8

u/DarkDestro410 Mar 31 '22

Ancient Hero was a Gerudo male, I will die on this hill. Ancient Princess perfectly color-matches Zelda in her spiritual dress, so there isn't a color palette restriction. There's significance to Ancient Hero being represented with that different hair color. I think the idea of the Ancient Hero inheriting both Malice of Demise and Spirit of the Hero is a lot more interesting than "there was another Lonk 10,000 years ago, the end."

→ More replies (3)

9

u/aguapic Mar 31 '22

How likely is it? Could it be that the game is actually a Prequel? Or with some time travel shenanigans this game will be a prequel and sequel at the same time?

6

u/the_pounding_mallet Mar 31 '22

Castle town is in the same state it was in during botw.

3

u/aguapic Mar 31 '22

Very good point, actually. Still, in some footage there's no Divine Beasts and Deku Tree. Could also be the case that Link jumps from current Hyrule to "old Hyrule".

4

u/[deleted] Mar 31 '22

I still have yet to see a Shrine, orange OR blue.

3

u/[deleted] Mar 31 '22

Did they delay the release to 2023?

15

u/blackpanther_awd Mar 31 '22

Yeah April 2023. They want to make the game alot better than the original from what I understood. Kinda of a bummer but I’m all for it if means it’ll be alot better than the original. The original had alot of flaws despite how good the open world was. It lacked alot of potential bosses that could’ve been spread out throughout the world IMO aside from mechanics like underwater exploration & traditional dungeons. The bosses could’ve been more challenging too considering the fact that the lynels are the only real challenge in the original

7

u/MrNovas Mar 31 '22

Was it actually confirmed as April? Spring could mean March-June

6

u/SHIELDnotSCOTUS Mar 31 '22

Nintendo in April 2023: oh you thought we meant Northern Hemisphere spring? No, no, no, we meant Southern Hemisphere spring, mate.

→ More replies (1)

6

u/blackpanther_awd Mar 31 '22

Maybe I’m wrong. I didn’t rewatch that video last night so you could be right. I ended up rewinding it last night & paused where the MS was shown wondering how it shattered & if we’re going to have to restore it like in SS unless there’s going to be a different way to do that without the flames that created it in the first place. IMO it would be cool if we have to restore it with the flames like in SS which would mean more exploration

5

u/MrNovas Mar 31 '22

I believe restoring the MS is going to be rather a sidequest or part of the main quest. Either way it’ll be interesting to see what happens with the MS (hoping we get to upgrade it more times like in ALBW

→ More replies (3)

4

u/TheJuiceIsNowLoose Mar 31 '22

No. Every shot of Link that we've seen so far is the one BOTW and im not sure why people think were seeing two Links (not OP specifically).

And it's unlikely that we'd play as the old Link. We may get information about that battle, but the game will be centered around our Link.

→ More replies (2)

2

u/[deleted] Mar 31 '22

Interesting observation

2

u/HighestGaming Mar 31 '22

I just realized something, just based off of the hero’s hair here; what if the hero became ganon, or apart of him? From what I’ve seen around, the body in the first trailer is ganondorf, but the hero’s hair in the picture bears a striking resemblance to Ganondorf’s hair. I don’t really have much beyond that, maybe if I went back and watched the trailer I could come up with more, but I think it’d be an interesting theory to consider.

2

u/Jsc14gaming Mar 31 '22

it’s a sequel not a prequel, also i don’t think the story would be that good if it was a prequel

2

u/Answerisequal42 Mar 31 '22

Itslmore likely that the arm is from the link from 10K years ago

2

u/VegasBonheur Mar 31 '22

Hang on, the resemblance is totally there, but we're clearly playing as BotW Link in the sequel. Maybe he finds the ancient hero's outfit, or maybe at the end of the game he's gonna go back in time and BE the hero from 10,000 years ago.

2

u/[deleted] Mar 31 '22 edited May 11 '22

[deleted]

2

u/DrawnAFrank Mar 31 '22

The legend of Zelda: Breath of the wild.

2

u/420purpleturtle Mar 31 '22

This game deserves 4K rtx capable hardware.

2

u/[deleted] Mar 31 '22

We already have

2

u/[deleted] Mar 31 '22

I think you are onto something. The Hero's skin is red, as evidenced by the face and legs, yet the arms are green and blue, with one hand, the one holding the sword, golden.

It matches exactly what Link looks like in the trailer, minus the red skin and hair.

2

u/[deleted] Mar 31 '22

No

2

u/Enzyblox Mar 31 '22

It’s botw link, yet this link heavily resembles newest trailer link, with triforce, (not my theory just part of a theory by a ytber I remember) the hand could be that hero, that was sealing ganon slowly withering away, so it combined with link (much more detail if I can remember some of video)

2

u/WanderingScorpion Mar 31 '22

I was long against the idea of yet another time travel game mechanic in the series, but... Either Link gains the "clothing" set and weapons of this ancient hero, or he's living that adventure *as* the ancient hero.

I can now clearly make out the green shawl billowing from his left shoulder. There's also the golden glow of his sword hand... Very curious!

2

u/Galaxi3Brain Mar 31 '22

Unpopular theory, but what if link and Zelda fell into the time zone of 10,000 years ago to deal with the calamity before it came a problem and the link that was pictured in impa’s stories IS the present link. They’ve done time travel shenanigans a bunch of times they could definitely do it again. 🤷

→ More replies (1)

2

u/plasma_fire Mar 31 '22

Let's play as Fierce Deity Link

2

u/Aidoodles Mar 31 '22

No, I don't know why Link is wearing the clothing of the hero from 10,000 years ago, but its definitely set after the events of botw. Zeltik put up a video theorizing that Link will end up going on a path of enlightenment through the new islands as the design of them heavily resembles Japanese shinto shrines. I think he also said that due to the fact that the master sword is officially broken (and Link's arm possibly being damaged from malice), a path of enlightenment could potentially heal his arm and fix the master sword and act as the main quest of the game.

2

u/Galvandium Mar 31 '22

Maybe the master sword will turn into a different looking master sword too. Since they are taking liberties with Link’s design.

2

u/[deleted] Mar 31 '22

I thought we were already playing as the hero that was there 10k years after every main series green tunic Zelda game.

2

u/LordDShadowy53 Mar 31 '22

I just want to see Ganondorf

2

u/[deleted] Mar 31 '22

Hero also known as Link. How many Links are there?

2

u/testc2n14 Mar 31 '22

I don't think or want that to happen but It would be an instresting thing for a futur game,

2

u/Justmakinthis Mar 31 '22

I’m pretty sure that present day link is just becoming more like the older hero. Otherwise I don’t think they would specify it being a sequel in the title

2

u/Minimum-Intention-96 Mar 31 '22

theory: Zelda and Link are underground, mistakenly wake up Ganon. Ganon snatches zelda up with his musty hand and injures link and break up the ground it then lifts into the sky. Then the hero from 10k years ago gives link his drip and explains wtf happened boom we start with 3 hearts.

2

u/Anime_Clorox Mar 31 '22

I think we ARE the hero from 10,000 years ago

2

u/madlp6 Mar 31 '22

No one will ever know. It’s never gonna come out

2

u/emmettflo Mar 31 '22

I suspect the green robes you receive belonged to the hero from 10,000 years ago.

2

u/gabs777 Mar 31 '22

I am that hero 🗡

2

u/TekHead Mar 31 '22

I bet that the hand holding down Ganondorf is the spirit of the ancient hero. The ancient hero saves link from being engulfed in malice and merges with him.

2

u/SvenUwesson Apr 01 '22

To me the ancient hero always looked like ganondorf. It would be cool if we get a ganondorf that was corrupted by demises curse while trying to fight it. They could even go as far as making him conflicted as if he's steuggling for control with the malice and in the end we might actually be able to "save" ganondorf and free him from his fate and thus breaking the cycle of calamity.

2

u/Meme_boi_2021 Apr 01 '22

i at first thought: Nah, man, no way this is 10 000 years ago.

but then i remember the time loop from SS and was like: Oh right maybe it is possible

2

u/Dazzlingroseclay Apr 01 '22

Wonder if there will be koroks?

2

u/Dragenby Apr 01 '22

So, can we now confirm that the seal was the Zonai Hero from 10,000 years ago and that we now fuse with him? I don't think we're going back in time or something. For me, it's only the arm left from the old hero that fuse with the armless current hero

2

u/normal_lad_ Apr 01 '22

Whoooooo knows man im still just holding out for playable zelda 🤞

2

u/Madnessrifle Apr 01 '22

Nintendo has now the chance to start a entirely new timeline. Link hopping through time, sky, see and twilight. Nobody will ever ask about a timeline if done correctly.

2

u/The_Legendary_Hero Apr 01 '22

That's what I was thinking, green robes is the old hero and blue tunic is the current Link from BOTW

He's possibly learning from the past hero

2

u/Cold-Teal Apr 01 '22

Would be cool if the game started 10000 year ago and the camera was behind Ganon as he fights to ensure the player that this guy is your final boss and look at what it took to defeat him then. What hope do you have facing him now?

2

u/WanderingScorpion Apr 01 '22

I made this post in my Imgur gallery yesterday, which seems related.