part of the April 2 Nintendo Direct, it's expected to be released for the Switch 2 this winter.
The Zelda timeline is complicated enough on its own, but adding the Hyrule Warriors subseries to the mix only muddles things even further. Hyrule Warriors is notorious for focusing on underrepresented slices of the Zelda continuity - it's mostly made up of sequels and prequels that explore the reasoning behind major events in the mainline canon, or even visit alternate universes that take the timeline in a whole new direction. Thankfully, while we don't know too much about Age of Imprisonment's story just yet, it seems to have a pretty straightforward place in the Zelda canon.
Age Of Imprisonment Takes Place Within TOTK's Timeline
Well, Sort Of
In a way, Age of Imprisonment seems to be set alongside the most recent mainline Zelda game, Tears of the Kingdom - specifically, around the time of the Dragon Tear Memories flashbacks that Link can discover throughout TOTK. It only makes sense; just as Age of Calamity serves as a prequel to Breath of the Wild, its successor, Age of Calamity, is a prequel to BOTW's successor TOTK.
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The signs are clear in the trailer for Age of Imprisonment: we can clearly see the Zonai King Rauru engaging in battle alongside a shorter-haired Zelda in a white gown. We even see him and Sonia bestowing Zelda - in her more modern getup - with a Secret Stone, a scene directly out of TOTK. It seems, then, that the new Hyrule Warriors will follow Zelda's journey back in time during the events of TOTK.
How Hyrule Warriors: Age Of Imprisonment Fits On The Zelda Timeline
A Long Time Ago
The title itself is our biggest clue as to when the new Hyrule Warriors game is set. "Age of Imprisonment" likely refers to the Imprisoning War, an ancient event in the Zelda canon. In short, the Imprisoning War takes place thousands of years before the events of TOTK - shortly after the founding of Hyrule. It involves a group of sages fighting against Ganondorf, and ends in his imprisonment - that all lines up with what we see in the trailer. Therfore, the new Hyrule Warriors almost certainly takes place during the Imprisoning War, very early on the Zelda timeline.
However, when exactly the Imprisoning War took place isn't totally clear. The same event is used as the backdrop for both A Link to the Past and Tears of the Kingdom, and their exact placement on the timeline - as well as the particulars of the war itself - are notably different. So Age of Imprisonment certainly comes before A Link to the Past, but beyond that, it's impossible to say.
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The Zelda timeline is deliberately confusing; the series is conceived as a collection of legends, an oral history that changes and contradicts itself over time. It's easy to place Age of Imprisonment relative to TOTK, but beyond that, its timeline placement is very complicated, even more so at this early stage. We'll likely be able to tell more once Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment comes out, and we're able to experience its story for ourselves.
