Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom timeline placement and lore additions
The Legend of Zelda series is well-known for its rather convoluted timeline, and by extension, there’s a lot of interest in lore. Every time a new game in the series is released, fans get to work right away in trying to determine where on the timeline it may fall. For Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom, this was an incredibly difficult task – the co-existence of Rito and Zora, for instance, makes it tough to find a specific placement for these two games. Previously, Nintendo shared an official timeline showing Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom are completely separate. Echoes of Wisdom is now the newest game in the series, and there’s official confirmation that it’s part of the downfall timeline.
Today, we’re discussing the lore Echoes of Wisdom adds to the series, plus where it might be located on the timeline. Do keep in mind that we’ll be discussing heavy spoilers, so keep that in mind before moving forward.
Before Echoes of Wisdom released, we incorrectly assumed that the game would probably take place after Link’s Awakening, given that the two titles use the same art style. That said, it appears that Link and Zelda in Echoes of Wisdom hadn’t met before the start of the game – which means this isn’t necessarily true. Despite this, the game is part of the Downfall timeline, which is the theoretical timeline that happens when Link is defeated by Ganondorf in Ocarina of Time. From there, the seven sages seal Ganondorf and the Triforce away in the Sacred Realm, which leads to his transforming of the Sacred Realm into the Dark World we see in A Link to the Past. Echoes of Wisdom has a lot in common with A Link to the Past, including things like River Zoras, a similar incarnation of Ganon, and the people of Hyrule don’t seem to remember the Triforce (calling it the Prime Energy instead).
In a rare move for the Zelda series, Echoes of Wisdom does not feature Ganondorf as the primary antagonist. Instead, it’s Null, an entity who existed long before Ganondorf – long before anything else, actually. According to lore drops in Echoes of Wisdom itself, Null originally existed in a void all its own. Any time another creature would appear within this void, Null would consume it – its very nature is to consume all life other than itself. Eventually, the three goddesses created the realm of Hyrule itself to seal Null away and prevent it from consuming any more life. This worked, but only to an extent – as shown in Echoes of Wisdom, Null’s influence seeps through to Hyrule via rifts, and this causes monsters and bosses to come into existence. It’s entirely possible that all iterations of Ganon and Ganondorf (and by extent, Demise) were technically created by Null, but that’s unconfirmed at the moment.
Since Null was able to influence Hyrule through rifts, the goddesses created the Tris. Tri is Zelda’s companion, but it’s only one of thousands of Tris that exist solely to patch up rifts created by Null. Interestingly enough, the powers that Tri bestows upon Zelda – creating Echoes – mirror what Null is able to do through its rifts. And during the events of the game, Null traps many of the Tris, which you’re tasked with freeing. Once you free all the Tris from a given rift, they’re able to patch up the rift and return Hyrule to normal. Since Tris were presumably created thousands of years ago, this would mean that Tris exist in every Zelda timeline – we just don’t happen to see them in any other game.
Around halfway into the game, Zelda is tasked with clearing three rifts scattered around Hyrule. In exchange, she receives sanctions from the three goddesses, Farore, Din, and Nayru. These sanctions opened up the way to the Prime Energy (the Triforce). And as it turns out, Null opened these rifts on purpose so that Zelda would obtain the sanctions and reveal the location of the Prime Energy, which Null wants. Ultimately, Null is able to create an Echo of Zelda and find the Prime Energy – but because its heart only wanted power, it was only granted the Triforce of Power rather than all three pieces. In the end, Zelda and Link, armed with the missing two Triforce pieces, are able to rip the Triforce of Power from Null’s body and destroy it completely.
Echoes of Wisdom adds a ton of lore to the Zelda series, because it implies that both Null and Tris exist in every other game. Furthermore, it means that Null would technically still be alive in every other timeline. We don’t think we’ll be seeing Null appear as the final boss in a new game any time soon, but it’s an interesting tidbit to consider nonetheless. In a way, Echoes of Wisdom kind of fixes a lot of the story complaints from Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom. Those games don’t focus much on the Triforce – Zelda gets it, but doesn’t really acknowledge it under its true name and the Triforce is barely mentioned (if at all) in Tears of the Kingdom. They also don’t mention Hyrule’s goddesses, which is odd given that Zelda time travels back to an era that should theoretically know more about them. Echoes of Wisdom doesn’t have some huge, perfect story, but it’s a very good one by recent Zelda standards. For having a cute art style, this game’s story is surprisingly serious!
What do you think of Echoes of Wisdom’s lore contributions and its final boss? Feel free to let us know in the comments down below. In the meantime, you can check out more about the game at the official website.
