Hyrule Warriors Is this canon or not?

[Bowsette Plus-Ultra]

It doesn't really change anything because it is an alternate timeline. They advertised it like it was going to be a prequel to BotW but it really isn't. Other games fit together, but Age of Calamity is the one that can be tossed out or added in and it actually makes no difference.

I mean, all the Zelda games take place in alternate timelines that don't affect each other. Age of Calamity at the very least is a drastic shift within its own timeline. Other Zelda games usually end with the status quo restored and no events ever directly referenced again. The games are disconnected enough and the timeline dubious enough that removing the events of one affects virtually nothing about the story in other entries.

Age of Calamity has no such soft ending that can be easily rewritten into status quo mode.

 

[Spiritual Mask Salesman]

I mean, all the Zelda games take place in alternate timelines that don't affect each other. Age of Calamity at the very least is a drastic shift within its own timeline. Other Zelda games usually end with the status quo restored and no events ever directly referenced again. The games are disconnected enough and the timeline dubious enough that removing the events of one affects virtually nothing about the story in other entries.
Age of Calamity has no such soft ending that can be easily retconned.

Except that it takes away all the stakes of Breath of the Wild, lol. It's literally just a game that softens the blow of the Calamity, the Champions don't die, Zelda doesn't get trapped, and Link doesn't get injured and lose his memories. All of the most tragic elements we don't even get to see. I get that you are saying it's those changes and the fact it is an alternate timeline that makes it different, but honestly I don't think it really matters at all because they likely won't follow up on this.

 

[Bowsette Plus-Ultra]

Except that it takes away all the stakes of Breath of the Wild, lol. It's literally just a game that softens the blow of the Calamity, the Champions don't die, Zelda doesn't get trapped, and Link doesn't get injured and lose his memories. All of the most tragic elements we don't even get to see. I get that you are saying it's those changes and the fact it is an alternate timeline that makes it different, but honestly I don't think it really matters at all because they likely won't follow up on this.

Breath of the Wild has no stakes in the series. It takes place in one of three timelines, two of which are completely unaffected by it. Heck, even as much as I enjoy Breath of the Wild and the changes it brought, it still feels the need to reset everything into status quo mode at the end. Age of Calamity's story makes it harder to reconcile with the rest of the canon due to its hard stop of an ending, but it's hardly the only alternate timeline.

 

[Spiritual Mask Salesman]

Breath of the Wild has no stakes in the series. It takes place in one of three timelines, two of which are completely unaffected by it. Heck, even as much as I enjoy Breath of the Wild and the changes it brought, it still feels the need to reset everything into status quo mode at the end. Age of Calamity's story makes it harder to reconcile with the rest of the canon due to its hard stop of an ending, but it's hardly the only alternate timeline.

My point is I don't think it will matter ultimately. Realistically they likely won't make a game set after Age of Calamity. If they do we already know Calamity Ganon is disconnected from Ganondorf, based off BotW 2's trailers, so defeating Calamity Ganon or any offshoot of him won't even matter because it doesn't address the root of the problem, meaning they can always just bring Ganon back in some way. Plus if I remember right in Age of Calamity they were fighting an escaped portion of the Calamity that followed Terrako through the time portal in the game's intro, right? Did they even deal with Calamity Ganon from their own timeline, or just the Calamity fragment that came through the portal?

 

[Bowsette Plus-Ultra]

My point is I don't think it will matter ultimately. Realistically they likely won't make a game set after Age of Calamity. If they do we already know Calamity Ganon is disconnected from Ganondorf, based off BotW 2's trailers, so defeating Calamity Ganon or any offshoot of him won't even matter because it doesn't address the root of the problem, meaning they can always just bring Ganon back in some way. Plus if I remember right in Age of Calamity they were fighting an escaped portion of the Calamity that followed Terrako through the time portal in the game's intro, right? Did they even deal with Calamity Ganon from their own timeline, or just the Calamity fragment that came through the portal?

I agree that they definitely won't produce a followup to Age of Calamity. Unfortunately, my more cynical reasoning is that it's just the sort of followup Nintendo is either unable or unwilling to write. The formula is king, after all. And yeh, there is the issue of their timeline's Ganon not showing up, but given the series I suspect retcons or just ignoring it in DLC will fix the issue.

 

[Skull_Kid]

Making it canon benefits absolutely nothing and just messes the timelines even more.

 

[Bowsette Plus-Ultra]

Making it canon benefits absolutely nothing and just messes the timelines even more.

I mean, does it really do more damage to the timeline than the havoc wreaked by stuff like the "downfall timeline", a previously nonexistent branch of the timeline that Nintendo made up one day to try and backpedal into continuity?

 

[Mikey the Moblin]

I mean, does it really do more damage to the timeline than the havoc wreaked by stuff like the "downfall timeline", a previously nonexistent branch of the timeline that Nintendo made up one day to try and backpedal into continuity?

Lies

 

[Bowsette Plus-Ultra]

Lies

Look inside yourself. You know it to be true.

 

[Mikey the Moblin]

I'll never join you!

 

[Skull_Kid]

Just because there is already a lot of damage done to the timeline, doesn't mean we need to damage it further

 

[Bowsette Plus-Ultra]

Just because there is already a lot of damage done to the timeline, doesn't mean we need to damage it further

If the timeline really mattered to anyone at Nintendo, we wouldn't have to debate it.

 

[Skull_Kid]

If the timeline really mattered to anyone at Nintendo, we wouldn't have to debate it.

That is a totally bs assumption tho

 

[Bowsette Plus-Ultra]

That is a totally bs assumption tho

Is it? Virtually every other non-Nintendo game with a long continuity has a clear timeline that doesn't require a bunch of guesswork. Zelda is just Zelda. If they cared about the timeline, we wouldn't have to theorize about what it is.

 

[Skull_Kid]

Is it? Virtually every other non-Nintendo game with a long continuity has a clear timeline that doesn't require a bunch of guesswork. Zelda is just Zelda. If they cared about the timeline, we wouldn't have to theorize about what it is.

If they didn't care there wouldn't be a timeline to start with