I have heard that Breath of the Wild's celestial patterns indicate that the game is taking place in a different hemisphere than OoT, TWW, and TP. I've never paid much attention to a detail like this, but I've seen it brought up to support theories that BotW takes place in an era long after Spirit Tracks, where the waters that once flooded Hyrule receded.
Yeah, that's geography theorizing to the max lol
child is a strong contender due to that stupid line they threw in about twilight during the champion ceremony
Apparently with other languages, the full speech references ALttP and WW as well so I guess it was just a wink at the fans?
It's the references to the Ocarina of Time sages that rule out the Child Timeline because they were never awoken as Sages on it. Adult seems like a stretch to place BotW in, and that's why Downfall fits the best because:
- Long history of threats from Ganon
- Zora still exist
- Rito could have evolved either from a schism within the Zora and we do see a portion of civilized Zora and the River Zora who have gone wild. The Fokka are also Rito-like beings from Adventure of Link that could have civilized.
- OoT Sages were awakened and referenced in the Towns from Adventure of Link
I've heard about MM's intro referencing something about the Hero of Time being remembered as evidence of the story passing on in the CT, but iirc, the English version also says Link 'faded out of legend' or something. If the Japanese version says otherwise, I guess it could work.
In TP, some Kakariko and Hyrule Castle gravestones have the first part of the WW intro story about the Hero of Time, but I saw this more as a reused asset rather than something to be taken as hard truth unless we are to believe that between OoT and TP, the written language went from OoT Hylian to TMC/FS/WW(backstory intro)/PH/ST Hylian to TP Hylian. (TMC and FS sharing this language is another reason I like the Four Swords game being after ST).
All of this is negated of course by HH saying that the Hero's Shade regretted
not being remembered as a hero, even though TP only had him regret not passing down his skills.
The Goron statues in BotW's Goron City are directly attached to a statue of Daruk, so I saw it as heavier truth (like the WW stained glass OoT awakened sages).
Dev interviews tell us that AoL's town names are supposed to reference the sages, but Mido and Kasuto being present and Impa being absent make me think it's more like respected leaders/general historical figures (Darunia, Mido, Nabooru, Ruto are all tribe leaders, Saria was well respected in the tribe, Impa being a Sheikah wouldn't have been remembered).
I agree that Downfall still has the most going for it on the official timeline, though. To add onto the downfall placement:
ALBW and BotW also share the same written Hylian, an altered SS Hylian, possibly implying a resurgence in old Hylian tradition at ALBW. There's a theory that the Trophy from AoL ('goddess statue' in Japanese) is a Hylia Statue, indicating belief in her again after a long time. AoL had the Zelda naming rule after the prince put his sister to sleep with the wizard, so I can see the 'rule' being more tradition instead of law afterwards. In BotW, King Rhoam's journal references this tradition. The Tunic of the Wild also matches most with TLoZ/AoL Link's clothes, if that counts (unlike Amiibo items, which are extraneous means).
But I'm certainly not set in stone for downfall, especially since BotW2 hasn't dropped yet.
