The Legend of Zelda timeline is one that is both confusing and utterly fascinating. The recently updated timeline has revealed where Breath Of The Wild and Tears Of The Kingdom fall in relation to the rest of the games, revealing that they are completely separate from any of the prior mainline titles. Despite this, however, it should be noted that some of the events from Tears of The Kingdom have been seen before in previous games with some slight differences, but ended up having disastrous outcomes.

The character Rauru, known as the King of Hyrule in Tears Of The Kingdom, played a vital role in the fight against Ganon in both the most recent game, and prior entries in the Zelda franchise. During the events of a previous game, he had sealed Ganondorf away during the Imprisoning War. Although his intentions were good, much like in TOTK, they would unknowingly bring about a dark age for the kingdom and its citizens.

The Branching Zelda Timelines, Explained

A Brief Explanation Of Events

The entire Zelda timeline begins with Skyward Sword, and the defeat of the evil entity known as Demise at the hands of Link and Zelda. From there, as the Hylians descended to the surface and founded the kingdom of Hyrule, Demise's spirit would eventually reincarnate into a Gerudo man known as Ganondorf in Ocarina Of Time. Thanks to both a seven-year time skip and Link's time-traveling ocarina, three different splits in the timeline occurred, with each branch being a direct result of whether Link was successful in defeating the evil villain.

The Hero Is Defeated branch occurs when Link fails to stop Ganondorf from obtaining the Triforce, leading to numerous battles, deaths, and reincarnations across numerous games, including A Link To The Past, the Oracle duology, and even the original The Legend of Zelda. The Hero Is Triumphant - Child Era branch occurs after Ocarina Of Time's true ending, where Link relives his childhood after defeating Ganon, resulting in the adventures that occur in Majora's Mask, Twilight Princess, and Four Swords Adventures. Finally, The Hero Is Triumphant - Adult Era is the timeline that adult Link left behind, resulting in The Wind Waker, Phantom Hourglass, and Spirit Tracks.

Who Rauru Is In The Other Zelda Timelines

Rauru Was No King In Previous Games

In Tears Of The Kingdom, Rauru is shown to be the founder and first king of Hyrule, ruling alongside his Hylian wife Queen Sonia. He is depicted as a Zonai, who are of an ancient tribal race said to be descended from the gods.

In Ocarina Of Time, however, Rauru is no king nor Zonai. Instead, he is depicted as an old Hylian, and is a member of the Seven Sages, who help Link during his quest to rescue Zelda and stop Ganondorf. He is the one who built the Temple of Time in order to protect the Triforce from those who want to steal it, ensuring that the seal will not be broken unless all three Spiritual Stones are found to unlock the Door of Time.

Rauru's Plan Succeeded, But Had Consequences

Sealing Ganon Away Worked For A Time

In the Hero Is Defeated timeline, Ganondorf manages to get his hands on the Triforce after defeating Link and invading the Sacred Realm. Using the Triforce's ability to grant wishes, he declared that he sought to rule the world, which caused him to transform into Dark Beast Ganon and corrupt the Sacred Realm, transforming it into the Dark World: an evil, twisted reflection of Hyrule. Years later, many people from Hyrule entered the Dark World upon hearing rumors of the Triforce's wish-granting abilities, which led them to become transformed into monsters that became part of Ganon's army.

The battle that followed between Hyrule and Ganon's evil army became known as this timeline's Imprisoning War. With the help of Zelda and the other five Sages, Rauru successfully managed to trap Ganon in the Dark World, ensuring that the entrance was sealed to prevent any more monsters from coming through the portal. Although the war was over, many lives were lost during the battle, and the remaining citizens of Hyrule were left impoverished and with an immense distrust of their leaders.

The Return Of Ganon And The Dark World

Rauru's Seal Couldn't Hold Ganon Forever

Unfortunately, the Sages' seal could not hold Ganon forever, as he still manages to find a way to wreak havoc in Hyrule in A Link To The Past. By taking the form of an evil wizard called Agahnim, he manages to not only deceive the people of Hyrule, but also usurp their king and capture the Maidens (including this era's Zelda), who descended from the Seven Sages. He threatens to break the seal between Hyrule and the Dark World in order to conquer Hyrule once again, hoping to fulfill his wish from eons ago.

Fortunately, despite the dire circumstances, all hope is not entirely lost for the citizens of Hyrule. This game's version of Link must rise up, traversing through both Hyrule and the Dark World in an attempt to save Zelda and stop Ganon from destroying Hyrule once more.

Ganon was already shown to be a terrifying force of evil in both Breath of the Wild and TOTK, but the official The Legend of Zelda timeline has proved how disastrous a victorious Ganon can be. Although Rauru's plan to seal Ganon away was a noble one, it left Hyrule in a state of immense poverty and political unrest, and ultimately doomed the kingdom to suffer another reign of terror in the years to come. Fortunately, as long as there is a hero around to take up the mantle, then there will always be a force of good to combat Ganon's evil.