Ever since Nintendo unveiled The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom yesterday, the community has been speculating about where this game sits in the series’ timeline, discussing trailer details and, importantly, sharing fan art.
Echoes of Wisdom will be the first mainline Zelda game that features the titular princess in a playable role. Rather than a sword like Link, Zelda will make 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 do battle for her.
But, where does the Echoes of Wisdom fall in Zelda’s expansive timeline? While there has been nothing definitive shared as yet (and, let’s be honest, there likely never will be), there are some theories out there.
Soon after the game’s trailer went live yesterday, many noted Echoes of Wisdom’s map was similar to A Link to the Past’s. A post on the Zelda reddit highlighted several repeating landmarks. Poster Ryon21 believed 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 more areas to the west as well”. They also noted that the “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 A Link to the Past’s map “will be integrated into a ‘greater 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 has speculated that there are three possibilities, with one being Echoes of Wisdom is the “origin to the Downfall Timeline”, and takes place after Ocarina of Time (where many believe the timeline split) but before A Link to the Past.
They additionally suggested Echoes of Wisdom happens 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’ve already been. The Links from [A Link to the Past] and [A Link Between Worlds] both have yellow brims on their hats, this one has a green brim,” they closed.
[EoW] Echoes of Wisdom & A Link to the Past Maps
byu/Ryon21_ inzelda
The fandom generally seems to agree that Echoes of Wisdom takes place somewhere on the ‘fallen hero’ timeline, which would have happened if Link failed to defeat Ganon in Ocarina of Time.
Another little detail worth mentioning here is that Echoes of Wisdom’s announcement trailer features both the original and more recent Zora designs, showing that the game is merging old and new with this upcoming release.
As for artwork, many are clearly delighted to finally see Zelda as the hero, and a number of creations have been shared online, ranging from the heartfelt to the more humorous.
For example, here is Zelda taking out an enemy with a chair like a WWF champ, as Link cheers from the sidelines.
Another has shared artwork of the princess weaponising the most fearsome of Zelda foes: Cuccos! I mean, if you can copy a Bokoblin, why not some angry poultry.
This one has been captioned The Legend of Link, and sees Zelda standing proudly as she says “It’s my turn”.
This next one made me chuckle. In a callback to Link’s Awakening, where Link can obtain island resident Marin as an ‘item’ of sorts, this manipulated screen from Echoes of Wisdom’s trailer shows Zelda instead holding Link aloft.
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 two series mains, but with their roles reversed.
The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom is set to release on 26th September, on Switch. For everything else announced yesterday, you can check out our Nintendo Direct roundup here.
