Time of null 

Creation of the world 

Era of the goddess

The improvising war 

Skyward sword - the era of sky 

Timeline split 

1. Wish demise away timeline
2. Murder demise timeline

Wish timeline 

Tears of the kingdom's pasts

the creation of the proper kingdom

The Interloper war

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Hylian civil war 

Ocarina of time 

Timeline split 

1.1  Adult abandoned timeline 

1.2  Child timeline 

Child timeline 1.2

Majora 

Twilight princess 

Adult timeline 1.1 (what i would consider universe prime

Wind Waker 

Phantom hour glass 

Spirit tracks  

---

breath of the time 

tears of the kingdom

I feel this works best ????

i also feel the under dark may be where the water drained two the whole ecosystem down there feel aqautic to me but who know?

—-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Murder timeline 2

Minish cap

 (the picori blade is the unforged goddess sword from skyloft )

Echoes of wisdom (maybe???)

Four sword 

Four Swords adventures

(the foraging of the goddess sword into the 4 sword )

- A link to the past 

- Oracle of season and ages 

- Links adventure 

- Echoes of wisdom??? could actually be here ??

- Link between worlds

echoes of wisdom could also be after link between worlds.

THIS IS ALL THE SAME BADASSLINK

lorule is crumpling into the nulls void

link travels through nulls void to get between hyrule and lorule.

and both seem to be facing a similar issue

and they use the same map

at some point after the kingdom falls???

Link 1 and 2 

the kingdom is rebuilt???

Triforce heroes 

the reborn heros from 4 swords

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1.1 universe prime 

time of null

Creation of the world 

Era of the goddess 

The improvising war

skyward sword - Era of sky (every species might have gone up ) 

The defeat of demise 

The first colony and settlement 

At some point i truly believe that loftwings become horses and that is why they are such a love animal in zelda  

Tears of the kingdom's past

the second imprisoning war 

The proper creation of the Kingdom 

The interloper wars 

hylian civil war

Ocarina of time 

a major world disaster - the great flood

Wind Waker 

Spirit tracks 

creation of the new kingdom

Phantom hourglass

(malladus is literally mad from malace release by gonnondorf )

the ocean drains fully - into the underdark

the creation of the super tech kingdom of hyrule

the calamity

Breath of the wild 

Tears of the kingdom . and the end of the dragon cycle

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1.2 

time of null

Creation of the world 

Era of the goddess 

The improvising war

skyward sword - Era of sky (every species might have gone up ) 

The defeat of demise 

The first colony and settlement 

Tears of the kingdom's past

the second imprisoning war 

The proper creation of the Kingdom 

The interloper wars 

hylian civil war

Ocarina of time 

the hero is sent back in time takes the master sword with him?? and runs (to prevent gannondorf from gettign to the scared realm )

Majoras mask 

(which may or may not be a pocket dimension like lorule or a dream world like links awakening)

Drama with ganandorf and his imprisonment

Marriage to malon and the founding of oridon villages??? Or moving too orion villages

and at somepoint link also becomes a soldier??

Twilight princess 

And possibly

hyrule warriors

the wii U game from 2014 

(the blue eyed beast the blue caped captain an the blue champions tunic feels really similar to me ) 

the dragon cycle established by zelda could also merge these 2 timelines. (child and adult)

 If null is the void between worlds it wouldn't be impossible and the twili dark world reminds me nulls void. Or at least the “space” aground its land masses does. 

the sorceress cia makes rifts in time that bring the multiple timelines together. 

But the physically world of botw and tok must be in the world of windwaker

2

Creation of the world 

Era of the goddess 

The improvising war

Era of sky (every species might have gone up ) 

Skyward sword

The defeat of demise 

2.1

Minish cap

Four sword 

Four Swords adventures

A link to the past 

Oracle of season and ages 

Links adventure 

Link between worlds

echoes of wisdom

all the same link

Link 1 and 2 

Triforce heroes 

2.2 pick the best most sensical univers

Minish cap

Echoes of wisdom

the early days

could be the same link, i guess.

Four sword 

Four Swords adventures

A link to the past 

Oracle of season and ages 

Links adventure 

Maybe echoes of wisdom 

Link between worlds

Link 1 and 2 

Triforce heroes 

2.3/ choice 2 pick what makes sense

Minish cap

link 1 and2

echoes of wisdom??

Four sword 

Four Swords adventures

A link to the past 

Oracle of season and ages 

Links adventure 

Maybe echoes of wisdom 

Link between worlds 

Triforce heroes 

We have seen that the Gate of Time, when not used by someone who is an authority over Time itself (IE Hylia or someone else who holds the office), tends to split the timelines when it is used by mere mortal hands. Ocarina of Time caused a three way split due to the way the game ended.

In Skyward Sword however, we see a timeline split event occur and no one has seemed to notice.

Link has to assemble the music notes to a song that is key to completing his adventure, with parts of the song being held by the Dragons. However Lanayru is long dead. Thanks to the use of the TimeShift Stones, Link can speak to Lanayru in the past via a time-bubble and learn that he is deathly ill and needs the Lifefruit. However the tree seed will not grow in time and the desert is going to dry up the landscape. The player is then tasked with taking the seed to find a place to plant it and grow.

There are a few places that Link can take the seed to bury it, but all are false-flags as it is a sort of world and memory puzzle. To help players along with this quest, the devs have Groose give a hint with some choice dialogue in the Sealed Temple, a hint to tell players to go into the past to plant the seed and return to the present to harvest the fruit.

Groose remarks that the grove in the Sealed Temple is empty and would be a great place to plant a garden or a tree. So Link goes into the past and does that. If you were to speak to Groose when you return to harvest the Lifefruit, Groose will have changed dialogue. And his choice of words indicates that the Lifefruit tree has been there since he first arrived to the surface world.

And this is where the timelines are split.

As soon as Link steps into the past and makes a drastic change without Hylia's authority, the timeline is split. Now we have a timeline that Link disappears from to never return to and a timeline where we continue the game to its completion.

I propose that whenever the Gate of Time is used by mortals without the express permission of the Goddess of Time, it creates a timeline split since we are mortals meddling with divine affairs and having shattering consequences.

The evidence for this is Zelda's Amber.

When we reunite with Zelda in the far past, she blesses the Master Sword and then seals herself away in an Amber colored crystal to wait for Link in the future. But despite this happening late in the game, you can see this crystal in the beginning of the game when you first arrive in the Sealed Temple. Behind the Old Lady, the door is cracked and you can peek into the gap to find Zelda's Amber wrapped in vines.

Since Zelda only went back in time and began making changes AFTER she had prayed at two shrines to reawaken the memories and powers of Hylia, that would mean that this iteration of Zelda has the authority of the Goddess of Time. Ergo, any changes that she makes or permits to be made to the past via time-travel will NOT make a timeline split; as she would use her divine authority to override and essentially retcon history. Thus, Zelda's Amber is present in the surface since the start of the game.

This would also explain why Zelda's descendent in Ocarina of Time would still create timeline splits. She has not properly awakened the memories and powers of Hylia, so she is in a sense still a mere mortal meddling in divine affairs. Thus, even though she has access to the Gate of Time, she does not have the authority to impose Divine Intervention to prevent a timeline split.

TL;DR - Skyward Sword features a timeline split that seems to have gone unnoticed. The evidence for this is the fact that Zelda's Amber is existing all throughout the game while the Lifefruit Tree does not.

So... how long until Nintendo either makes some games for this timeline or just simply decides to apply some games to the Abandoned Timeline?

Wait according to Zelda Wiki, the blue Zoras in Zelda's Adventure are called "Sea Zolas"? This means that the CD-i games are the first to introduce the two subspecies of Zoras: Sea Zolas (Blue) & Swamp Zolas (Green).

For comparison: Zelda's Adventure came out in 1996 while Ocarina of Time came out in 1998

I was wondering with all the primordal evil that Null is and the godesses as his counter. Is this confirmed?

THEORY: Why Navi left at the end of OOT

I think I understabd why Navy left Link without saying a word at the end of OOT. For the theory to make fully sence I will divide in a couple of points:

1. Ganondorf Plan: Ganondorf objective was to acquire the triforce. For that he need the 3 spiritual stones and the Ocarina of Time. Through the game we know Ganondorf was actively working to get the stones himself as he cursed the Deku tree and closed Dodongo's cavern. We know is Link the one who actually collected the stones and opened the door of time. At that moment Ganondorf appear and reveals he had an eye on the temple of time waiting for Link to open the door of time.

So initially, he was trying to open the door of time by himself, however, later on the game he was waiting for Link to do it for him. It is never explained how Ganondorf knew that Link was sent by Zelda to collect the stones. I believe in that mistery is the answer to Navi's departure as well.

2. Premonition dreams: the opening scene of OOT show us that Link is having a nightmare where Ganondorf is pursuing Zelda. At that point of time it is imposible for Link to know who are the persons in his dreams, but he meet them soon after. So it was a dream of his near future.

The next time a premonition dream is mentioned is by Zelda. In her dream she describes "a man from the desert" that is a big threat to Hyrule and a "kid from the forest with a fairy" that will save Hyrule from the evil man. Let's note when Link first meet Zelda, she recognize him as de kid of her dream because Navi (the fairy) is accompaning him. In the same scene is when we first see Ganondorf as well and curiusly he seems to immediately recognize Link as well.

3. A predestined reunion: In Skyward Sword we learn the encounter of Link, Zelda and Ganondorf was a curse from long ago. It is clear that the destiny of those 3 is entangled. They even end up with a piece of the triforce each at the end of OOT.

If Link and Zelda both had dreams where Ganondorf appeared and those 3 are definitively connected by destiny. It is not so crazy to believe that Ganondorf actually had the same kind of premonition dream where Link and Zelda where present.

4. Ganondorf premonition dream: Here is where the theory really starts. What if Ganondorf was actively workig to get the triforce but at some point, he had a dream of a Princes and a "kid with a fairy" who would try to stop him with the triforce. So Ganondorf changed his plan and waited for the "kid with the fairy" to open the door of time. For that reason Navi was the key for Ganondorf to recognize Link as the kid sent by Zelda to open the door of time.

5. Navi's departure: At the end of OOT, Zelda sends Link back in time to the exact moment before their first meeting. Their plan is to stop Ganondorf in the past by not open the door of time and warn young Zelda of Ganondorf plan. They know Ganondorf is looking for the spiritual stones and the Ocarina of Time, so Zelda decides to give Link the Ocarina but this second time she ask him take it out of Hyrule so Ganondorf would never obtain it. All this is confirmed canon from Hyrule Historia book.

Navi understands that continuing with Link will put him in danger and the hole land of Hyrule. Ganondorf has his eye in the temple of time. There is no chance to say goodbye, if Ganondorf recognize Link as the "kid with a fairy" he would never stop chasing him in order to get the ocarina. To protect his beloved friend, Navi had to leave. So in the very last scene of the game, Link meet Zelda for the (second) first time, but there is a difference, Navi is not with him, so Ganondorf plan is never set in motion....

What do you think?

Light spoilers ahead.

When you defeat a dungeon boss, Tri and his friends restore the land with their echo power.

Does this mean that the land is restored as it was or, as I'm thinking, is the land, objects, and people in the rift stuck there forever to fade away and they just made copies in the main world to take their place?

So in BotW we read in Daruk’s diary that when Link focused time seemed to slow down, which seems to indicate bullet time and flurry rushes are actually canonical abilities that Link has. I’ve even seen it theorized that it’s actually Link’s champion ability, like Daruk’s protection.

However now in TotK when we finally face Gannondorf he also is able to flurry rush. Is it possible that somehow Link is a descendant of Gannon?

There’s another interesting detail that I heard a while back about the first time calamity Gannon appeared, the person who had “the soul of the hero” has long flowing red hair, which is not only similar to Demise but this very incarnation of Gannondorf has by far the most vibrant and long red hair out of any that we’ve seen before (although I think that all the ones from the previous games canonically are the same guy, although I’m not really an expert on the Zelda time line). It could be possible that the champion that sealed the first calamity was actually a direct descendant of Gannondorf (I don’t remember but in TotK can anyone remember if they said that there hasn’t been a male gerudo since gannondorf. Because it might be possible that the previous champion was a male gerudo trying to right the wrongs of his family’s legacy) and Link inherited the power from him.

The Korok duos give you two seeds right? But one Korok gives you two seeds, the other one doesn’t give you anything. I think the Korok that gives you two seeds has kidnapped another Korok. That Korok is in his bag.

As the title say, tears of the kingdom is the only real timeline. All the other games are told to the children of Hyrule as either religion or fairy tales.

That's why reference to all games can be found in the game, it's why TotK doesn't like up any particular timeline and "it merges back together" is lazy as best. It's why link can't use magic and never offered to be able to use magic at all, there are mediums that let people "use magic" but no real magic users. That's why the demon king exists and there is an imprisoning war. There is no triforce, just like there is no such thing as the holy Grail in our world

That's my opinion. It's

Skyward Sword features a time travel mechanic, just like in Ocarina of Time:
-Demise was killed in the "present" of Skyward sword in his Avocado form by a wish made on the triforce.
-Demise was killed in the ancient past of Skyward Sword in his demon king form by Link

One of these timelines hosts the legacy Zelda games, and the other gives us the newer games on Switch.

https://youtu.be/TwuFh5bXr2E

The child section of Ocarina of Time tells a story of a Gerudo named Ganondord who is searching for Sacred (secret?) Stones in order to gain godlike power. Need I to detail further?

Looking at the timeline from Hyrule Historia, it looks like the timeline splits three different ways, and one of them is if Link is defeated.

My question is...why? Why would there be a timeline that exists if Link is defeated? If that is true, couldn't the Era of Decline happen at any time that Link is defeated?

It's pretty confusing to me. Can anyone clarify this?

A theory about the true origin of the Forest Temple. Let me know what you think. https://youtu.be/NNT4o6i5-e8

So I've been wondering if the reason the timeline in BotW an TotK both meshes and does match the rest of the games is because most previous games are retellings and embellishments of the same story told with a different emphasis. Let's assume BotW and TotK as experienced by the a regular playthrough and the memories are the real history. From the everything esle is a story that is passed on through the royal family, to remember the heroes and important points, and to obscure the real details of the imprisoning war and nature of the triforce and secret stones. Some in particular are told by Zelda in the past to prepare for the future and to tell what she herself remembers. Zelda 1 and 2 would be very abstract versions of BotW and TotK respectively. The 2 Zeldas in Zelda 2 are the same Zelda, just at different points in her life.
OoT, as much as I love it and MM as stand alone stories, would be the official narrative of what was supposed to happen in TotK and the nature of the spiritual stones and triforce. The Sacred Stones being actual the secret stones and on par with the power of the triforce, which would actually be the 3 secret stones used by the royal family (Sonia's, Zelda's, and Rauru's) but made out to be heirlooms so no one would both to eat them.
Din, Nayru, and Farore ARE the dragons mindlessly roaming the skies BUT that is their "departed to the heavens" form after they, as normal Zonnai tamed the chaotic world. The discrepency of gender can be chopped up to LOZ playing fast and loose with gender or it being a misunderstanding because male zonai have very long hair.
Ganondorf in OoT is the same as in the flashback of TofK.
TotK Link is the prophesised Hero of Time (OoT Link) as told through the stories. The stories of course change as generations go by and easthetics change, like as if it were told through theatrical performane and pagentry.
Skyward Sword is more royal propoganda that tries to inspire a bloodline that will create Link, with the robots in the desert being zonai constructs.

All of the "Downfall timeline" happens a few generations after Zelda scales up in power.

The twili in TP are Sheika who messed around with too much zonai tech and got banished to the depths till they died out. They may also have been Lorule and then their "triforce" (more secret stones) got munched on creating the dragon skellingtons in the depths. TP's Ganodorf is Phantom Ganon or puppet Ganon with Malice that got loose (Rauru mostly hold the actual Ganondorf at bay). The Oocca may be zonai constructs with a wierd projection. They may have been going through a phase. Or they are the last but weirdly evolved zonai or other space race. They be weird.

Windwaker's flooding is the result of a calamity Ganon (some of Ganodorf's power getting out to mess with things post TP) and the 3 dragons pulling themselves together (out of their centuries long stupor) and doing something about it.
Spirit tracks is about the founding of the current TofK Hyrule before the latest Calamity. It's also about a Calamity, in this case known as Malladus.
After seeing the usefulness of technology in defeating Calamities, the Sheika then over generations develeop the Divine Beasts which get used at least once, but for whatever reason the royal family gets spooked and tries to supress Shieka tech into being lowkey technology while still siphoning off whatever energy Rauru and Wrinkledorf are putting off in their undisturbed struggle, which helps prolong periods between Calamities. This knowledge of the struggle and the enrgy it puts off would partially explain Hyrule's near purpetual monarchy and reluctance to progress technologically, knowing that the more they develop the closer the get to using too much energy and releasing Jerkydorf. Hence we see cannon in various places. They are conventional tech, but take a while to really adopt due to low usability with other just as useful magic methods are available. The mountain manor in TP may have been a develpment facility for the creation and application of anti-Calamity tools, which eventually got abandoned due to lack of royal interest as Hyrule became complacent or the major factions had internal diplomatic issues.

And Hylia? She is BotW and Draconified Zelda. Before eating a wierd glowing rock, she left plans in the past for how to make the Master Sword and other things. As a dragon, she has limited awareness of the present (at any point in her flight) but occasionally intervenes in history. Kinda like Big E in Warhammer 40K; mostly an questionably alive and insanely powerful but overwhelmed numbskull who occasionally can pull themself together to do shiny things.
Maybe they are just hungry. Throw 'em both a Snickers and they'll get better.

Anyways, all of this would allow for keeping a good chunk of Zelda games as workable and easter-eggable lore, but would easily give the developers a way to keep the slate clean for future games.

I am okay with being wrong on any of this and that there may be multiple better working theories out there.

The reason why the Ganon loop keeps happening is because of Demise's essence being in the Master sword which makes him eternal because the master sword is eternal. So if the master sword was just completely destroyed the loop will end sure Link might not be reincarnated too but if hyrule will be safe forever the Master sword must be destroyed

Majoras Masks people of Termina were Ganondorfs followers sealed into the Sacred Realm for their crimes making them the Interlopers told in Twilight Princess. The people of Termina gave Link the masks that represent they're gratitude and he bargains with them to the 4 moon children. The Moon in Majoras Mask is eeriely similar to the Bargaining statues back face kinda hinting at the depths once being Termina. Majora being a Zonai and after defeat the light in Termina fades away.

The Tower of Gods from Wind Waker parralels the Arbiters Grounds and Palace of Twilight. Zants ranged attack is the same as Gohdan and Zants Hands used to defend the light in Palace of Twilight are just like Gohdans hands. Also the Tower of the Gods being built by Zonai/Sheika

The Arbiters Grounds pillars depict a face with a third eye too which is quite interesting because people focus more on the text rather than whats on the pillar. The Palace of Twilight being the tower part of the Tower of the Gods and Zant stole Gohdan mask to over throw the Twili The Palace of Twilights interior design also parralels the Zonai/Sheika style

A random thing I like to believe is Bongo Bongos identity is Zant or Gohdan or they're all the same thing just getting a different backstory with each timeline split. Zant teleports around and acts goofy like Master Kohga too which I dont know if anyone made connections to.

https://youtube.com/shorts/nnMmmvOJYP0?si=P1nn6gxf3J3_IFAB

So I came across this short rather recently, despite it being relatively old, addressing the genealogy between Zelda and Sonia. It's a very radical take on the blood connection between Zelda and Sonia where the poster posits that their connection is not fixed to a definite pedigree of an actual blood lineage (since we've no real confirmation that Sonia and Rauru conceived a child), but rather the blood connection is ascribed to them, via, divine intervention from Hylia.

A lot of people in the comments, understandably, are pretty vocally opposed to this...but I actually support this view pretty strongly and have for a long time for multiple reasons before I came across this short. I took the time to write out a lengthy comment on this video on why I think this makes sense and wanted to share it here to spark discussion on the plausibility of this take. It's pretty long-winded, but it was unavoidable as it connects facets from multiple games regarding the interconnections between sagehood and bloodlines:

This is a late response to a 7 month old short, but I actually do support the base proposition that Zelda and Sonia sharing a blood connection does not necessarily verify that they have an " authentic genealogical" connection.

Its a pretty radical leap for sure, especially seeing as Zelda insights that the Royal Family was conceived from a union between the Hylians and the Zonai (albeit this could be distorted historical context as Zelda also mentions that scholarly knowledge about Zonai history is extremely limited), but the idea that there doesn't seem to be any confirmation that Sonia and Rauru procreated is mostly justified by the fact that the "chamberlain", who documented the Royal Family's daily affairs in the Sky Stone Tablets, lists all of the Royal Family members in two of her recorded documents which whom the members she listed comprises Sonia, Rauru, Mineru, and Zelda; no other member of the Royal Family was mentioned by the chamberlain. Naturally that begs the question as to how the lineage of the Royal Family would continue if both Sonia and Rauru died, Mineru's body perishing, and Zelda being MIA through Draconification. Believe it or not, there are developer statements coupled with in-game lore from different games that genuinely proposes the idea that people sharing the same blood are not "necessarily" apart of a bound genealogy, but rather a sort of lateral one.

For starters, the director of A Link Between Worlds (Hiromasa Shikata) makes this remark in an interview with Famitsu magazine back in 2014 on said proposal:

"SHIKATA: No the descendant of the Princess Zelda from the previous game is the Princess Zelda from this game. However, the seven sages are not connected by blood they are just people with the appropriate nature...That's the idea we wanted to transmit.

AONUMA: So, it's a family, but not necessarily one formed by people connected by blood."

Off the rip, this is an extremely controversial statement because it outright contradicts what's explicitly stated in A Link Between Worlds and A Link to the Past about the sages/maidens in those games being descendants of the sages to whom inherits their blood. But if we turn to the familial connection between the Kokiri and Koroks, for example, this statement begins to have more clarity because Miyamoto reveals in an interview with Famimaga back in 1997 that the Kokiri have no biological parents:

"Miyamoto: Link is a child of a race of elves called "Kokili. For some reason or another, there are no parents in this race, only many children of the same age. All of a sudden, they grow up until they reach a certain age, when they disappear. The next generation is born just as abruptly. So at some point, Link will disappear."

We're even told in OoT that The Great Deku Tree birthed the Kokiri:

"だって　デクの樹サマは　アタシたち　コキリ族の生みの親。　森の守り神ですもの！ That's because the great Deku Tree is the creator of us Kokiri. He's the guardian deity of the forest!"

This is even further supported in the TWW where its mentioned that the Koroks are linked to the Great Deku Tree's life force. Now the most noteworthy facet in this is the fact that TWW establishes that the Wind Sage Fado is the ancestor of Makar, and even goes on to convey that Fado and Makar share the same blood:

"I am Fado of the Kokiri tribe. I know I appear to you as a child, but the eyes can oft deceive. I am a most esteemed sage [...] You wish to return the power to your blade, don't you? In that case, look for the one who has the same instrument that I hold, and teach him the song you just played.

Once you do, I'm certain the holder of the instrument will feel the blood of the sages awaken within his veins."

Fado specifically expresses that he and his successor (Makar) share the same bloodーwith Makar even explicitly mentioning that Fado is his ancestor later in the gameーbut if its withstanding that the Kokiri have no biological parents, per Miyamoto's statements, which is affirmed by in-game dialogue from OoT that the Kokiri lineage is attributed to the Great Deku Tree (i.e. a lesser deity of the Zelda pantheon), then the entire designation of sagehood between Fado and Makar actually supports Shikata and Aonuma's statement about sagehood not necessarily tied to a strict genealogy with a literal bloodline sustained from procreation, but rather a lateral one in which the bloodline is ascribed through divine intervention, ergo "sages with the appropriate nature" as mentioned by Shikata.

Now the way how this could apply to both Zelda and Sonia genuinely falls in alignment with the set criteria. Secret Stones are what according to Tauro's translation notes are mediums for awakening people with special attributes to be deemed as sages.

"Those who...most elite among the granted...qualifications...are chosen as sages...Those...worthy...secret stones...and henceforth...sages." Clearly, the sages are the subject of this slab. Filling in the blanks, I think it's basically saying "Talented individuals become sages by taking up a secret stones."

This means that Sonia was a sage as well as Rauru, Ganondorf included as well. The game already states Zelda is the Sage of Time with the Secret Stone (and by extension light as well technically) so the premise is already there.

Many factions of sages in the series are generally seen as being elected subordinates of the gods, or at least in a manner in which they are overseers that safeguards/supervises/maintains something related to the gods. ToTK follows suit with this notion as well; Secret Stones are literally stated to be the power of the gods. Moreover there is a tentative statement in Hyrule Historia that mentions Hylians are descended from Goddess Hylia, which is generally complimented by promotional lore-material for Ocarina of Time that states that Hylians are descended from the gods:

Created by the Golden Goddesses and protected by the goddess Hylia, the world eventually became known as Hyrule. The Hylians, descendents of Hylia, lived in Hyrule and possessed magical abilities.

神々の子孫が住むと言われる地、

ハイラル。そこには多くの民族 がそれぞれの土地を守りながら 独自の文化を築いていた。

Hyrule a land inhabited by the descendants of the gods. It's myriad denizens have each forged unique, individual cultures, while safeguarding their respective domains.

神々の子孫が住むといわれる地、ハイラル。

かの地に伝説として伝わるトライフォースに 宿る力を手にせんとする魔盗賊ガノンドロフ。 それを止められるのは選ばれし者・ リンクとゼルダ姫だけだ! 少年から青年へ、そして青年から少年へ･･･

Hyrule is a land where the descendants of the gods live. The evil thief Ganondorf seeks to obtain the power that resides in the Triforce, a legendary object passed down in that land. Only the chosen ones, Link and Princess Zelda, can stop him! From a boy to a young man, and from a young man to a boy...

If this arrangement of divine progeny is fairly anything similar to how the Kokiri race aren't technically kin by having offspring or even being directly related to one another  (excluding known Kokiri siblings like the "Know it all brothers" or the female twins), but rather their kinship is ascribed to the eminence of a divine figure (ala, Hylia being the progenitor to the Hylians in the same way the Great Deku Tree is the progenitor to the Kokiri/Koroks), then this again actually supports Shikata and Aonuma's statement that sagehood is more of a lateral connection in which sages are not always connected by an actual blood lineage, but rather the blood connecting them as sages is through the nature attributed to them by a divine figure. This can genuinely apply to both Zelda and Sonia by virtue of them both being Hylians, who are superficially seen as the progeny of Hylia (to whom BoTW and ToTK shows is still proactive with affairs in Hyrule post-reincarnation) and exhibits the same properties to be seen as sages with regards to their mutual respective elemental power.

I know this was a pretty long and complex explanation, but imo, all in all I feel this makes the most sense to me with the established lore and developer statements on this topic. The game just simply does not even remotely hintーwithout having to greatly extrapolate things without working evidenceーthat Sonia and Rauru conceived a child to continue the lineage between the two before they died, and Zelda and Mineru were essentially immbolized to sustain the lineage either, so the explanation I feel works best within those indications is to propose that the blood connection between Zelda and Sonia is a lateral one that is ascribed by divine intervention, which has very strong grounds for proposing.

So just to be frank, even if the impression of Sonia and Rauru not having a child is false, in the broad scope of things this guy's video isn't 'objectively' wrong though, as in not on the basis of understanding how the bloodline can continue in the hypothetical event of it being exterminated, in which basically it can continue through divine providence if it can't be sustained through organic reproductive means, and we have strong cases/implications backed with developer statements on familial connections like this happening.

Take the prospective hero for example. Link as the hero is what ALttP mentions is genealogically tied to the Knights of Hyrule and that the prospect of the hero will be born out of that bloodline. The game conversely goes on to establish that the bloodline nearly died out at the height of the IW:

Long ago, there was a family of people who protected the Hylian royal family.They were called the Knight Family, who kept charge of the Crest of Courage, but when the Seven Sages' seal was carried out, I'm afraid most of them perished in the battle with the demons. The hero is supposed to appear out of that family.

Ganondorf by the end of OoT had a vendetta against the likes of Link, Zelda, and the sages, and swore that he "would exterminate their descendants."

The Historia proclaims that the Knights of Hyrule are descendants of a hero who governed the Crest of Courage and that, much to the same regard as ALttP, ensures that the hero will rise out of the family. We know that the Knights tried to oppose Ganondorf when he attacked Hyrule according to the King of Red Lions:

Long ago, Ganon's Tower was an impenetrable fortress that not even the daring and dauntless Knights of Hyrule could hope to assail.

Ganondorf was described by Laruto to have returned to Hyrule "in a red wrath" which essentially means he was bloodlusted in carrying out his promise he made at the end of OoT. All in all, the likelihood of him eliminating the bloodline of the Knights, akin to ALttP's IW, is high since he was bloodlusted, had a personal vendetta, and no one was able to stop him hence, the people having to rely on the gods. Yet, the hero tied to that bloodline still persists in the HoW. Even on the chance the bloodline survived for the hero to be born, Aonuma testifies that these kinds of connections of a lineage aren't really necessary to be made for Link to carry out this role:

Aonuma: I think the easiest way to explain this is that Link is always the main character in Zelda titles. With new games, naturally people are going to think does this Link relate to the Link from the last game? The thing is, when making a new Zelda game, we don't necessarily start with the storyline first, we start with the game, and we think, what's Link going to be like in this game? What kind of character is he going to be, and what kind of personality is he going to have. In that sense for us, we didn’t necessarily feel there was a need to have an infinitive connection between everything, because it was this idea that Link is the hero no matter what. He's here and he's part of the story.

Aonuma here clarifies that Link's role as the hero isn't really fixed to any predeterministic conditions like an orthodox lineage and that the role is carried out because the story simply demands it, and the story of the franchise is generally revolved around Link, Zelda, Ganon and the Triforce. There's even in-game lore in ALttP that reinforces that stance:

Do you know the prophesy of the "Great Catastrophe"? I heard it like this...'If one with an evil heart claims the Triforce, a "Hero" will unfailingly appear, and shall defeat the one who will become the origin of this "Great Catastrophe [...] yes the only ones who are supposed to be able to become the Hero are those of the knight family who protected the Hylian royal family...You carry their blood don't you?"

One of the only underlying predetermined conditions for a "guaranteed" hero in line with one of the major narrative premises of the 'Zelda story' is the Triforce being abused for evil. This, coupled with Aonuma's statement, renders the whole facet of the Knight's bloodline to ultimately be more of a formality to help facilitate the hero's upbringing, but the concept of the hero's appearance exists on the very principle of countering evil on account of the goddesses, whilst still adhering to that bloodline regardless of imposing circumstances that may threaten the bloodline. Ganondorf states as much in his cut TP dialog:

When the chosen ones appear...They are always born in this world in perfect balance. That is the destiny of the chosen. That is the fate decreed by your gods, the only path for those who bear their crests. When this world brings forth another marked as you are...know too that it shall also be visited by one of my blood.

Divine providence keeps this arrangement of bloodlines of the chosen recipients of the Triforce intact even if it were destroyed or can't be sustained through standard means. There's even the mention by Tingle of Farore blessing Outset Island in TWW and the Great Deku Tree stating that Ganondorf's revival will see to the rise of a hero that gives credence to this:

Outset Island was said to be blessed by Farore, the Goddess of Wind.

The mission that the divine had given to the king of red lions was to find a hero that could defeat Ganon, assuming that, in the worst of the cases, he would revive.

Outset Island is culturally etched in the tradition of grooming children into heroes to defeat evil, all the while being the abode for a shard of the Triforce of Courage and the "Hero's Charm" item. This gives compelling grounds for believing that the blessings Outset Island received was in the advent of the hero to defeat Ganondorf regardless if Ganondorf destroyed the Knight's bloodline or not, because the existence of a hero to defeat the evil one abusing the Triforce is preordained by divine jurisdiction, per the Great Cataclysm prophecy and Ganondorf's cut dialog in which the gods ensures that the blood in the chosen recipients is preserved.

This guy's video is only suggesting that the bloodline of the goddess is a transcendental necessity in the hypothetical event Sonia and Rauru didn't have a child, as in it can and will persist beyond physical reproduction in scenarios where the latter can't be achieved by the recipients themselves, and again the Great Deku Tree is a chief example of this; the Kokiri and Koroks have no biological parents, he is their creator, he is a guardian deity, Fado and Makar share the same blood as the prospective Wind Sages tied to the responsibility of monitoring the God's power within the Master Sword for the prospective hero. Divine providence is etched into the core of Fado and Makar's connection.

Zelda is the fated bearer of the Triforce of Wisdom and that arrangement stems from the Goddesses' edict for balance between the chosen bearers in carrying on the blood, and that balance directly correlates with the constituents of the soul of the hero, the blood of the goddess, and Demise's incarnations. Sure, saying Rauru and Sonia not having a child to carry on the lineage is pretty far-reaching but there is iron-clad lore supplemented by developer statements that establishes that bloodlines can be formed by lateral means.

The Throne room had two chairs plus Zelda needs to have a mom. The Queen is not in Hyrule Castle because she was hidden in North Castle from Aol. Nintendo suggests in the Hyrule historia that the Magician of the backstory could be an Agahnim type of villain. Maybe it is just Agahnim. Agahnim getting rid of the Queen would only aid him in becoming second in command and capturing Zelda.

The Prince is interesting. After the death of the king the Triforce picked his sister Zelda. He went crazy and this led to Zelda’s mother going to sleep. I don't think he became the king after such actions. He was probably exiled or executed for treason even if at the last moment he tried to stop Agahnim.

One thing I am assuming is that Zelda is married to his husband and has given birth to her daughter before the spell even though Zelda and his brother look like children in the illustration. Of the Zelda 2 manual but It is just the art style.

It is important that the identity of the Magician is unknown because if the king knew it was Agahnim the whole plan to trick the family would have fallen through.

It makes sense that casting a sleeping spell was part of the plot along with saving Hyrule from the natural disasters.

What do you think.

The theory had to do with the dissapearance of the Zonai race, and theorised that Mineru's construct factory and the spirit temple were connected to the idea that the zonai could pass their spirits in to constructs to preserve their species, however her experiments ultimately failed. I remember seeing it on YouTube but I can't find it again. Does anyone know what theory this is or has any other links to similar theories? Thanks

EDIT: FOUND! Link in comments

Ocarina of Time was meant to be prequel of A Link to the Past.

Thus ALtP has many aspects from both TP & WW:

• ALtP-Link is implied to be a descendant of the HoT (because of the knights of hyrule)
• In both ALtP & WW Ganondorf was sealed away by the 7 sages into the Sacred Realm

Because Ganondorf was sealed away in the same way, so more important than if Link won in OoT or not, is if there was Link a new Link who then defeated Ganondorf again before he could break free.

Og timeline

Skyward sword Link to the past Link Between worlds Link's awakening Seasons and Ages Minish cap Four Swords Four swords adventures Zelda 1 Zelda 2

In the Lttp prolong it retells the story of ocarina of time without link. Ganondorf as mentioned by the maidens became Ganon and this resulted in the imprisoning war. At the end of the albw the master sword rests forever

Ganon died in Lttp but Twinrova who is alive brought back Ganon and his trident.

Yuga may be another male guerrido as 100 years have passed after the death of Ganon This is why the light force and four swords are used post link between worlds

Another century a third male guerrido gets the Trident and becomes the new Ganon of Four swords adventures This second Ganon is the one of Zelda 1 and 2 Zelda 1 and 2 tells the story of the return of the Triforce.

Child timeline

Skyward sword Ocarina Majora's Mask Twilight Princess

When Link wished to undo the damage of Ganon at the end of alttp he the triforce granted the wish by having the spirit of the hero go back before the imprisoning war to defeat Ganon. Ganondorf is executed. Link becomes the hero's shade

Adult timeline

Ocarina Wind Waker Phantom Spirit tracks Botw Totk

Before the flood the legend of the hero of Time leads to children being dressed in green. These clothes are the classic sets for totk. It's possible that using the triforce the Hyrulians learned of the events of the child and og timeline. Over a very long time the great sea disappears leaving only salt rocks. The Zoni found a new kingdom of Hyrule. This kingdom merges with the new Hyrule from Spirit tracks. This is helped by the Koroks planting across the islands. Another Ganondorf goes to war with Hyrule before being sealed under the castle.

Just curious if there’s other individuals out there trying to form a religion based on Hylians? And the goddesses,etc.

https://imgur.com/a/OXx9nmH

Like the title says.

Lately I've be thinking about the exact sequence of events that lead up to the Imprisioning War in TOTK. I'm aligned with Monster Maze that most of what we see happen after Ganondorf is freed was actually orchistrated by Zelda, Miniru and the remaining sages. There is no reason for Ganondorf to want two of the sky Temples that contain secret stones to become more readily accessable, for example. And there is little reason to believe that Rauru had enough time in the days leading up to the war to do any preparations on the scale needed to make the Shinres (which already existed) into training sites. The Dragon Tear memories show that events unfolded very quickly and Rauru did not have any elaboriate preconceived plan.

It seems likely they were always training sites.

Granted, it is possible that Zelda changed them to be for training - after all she is the only one with the same powers as both Rauru and Sonia, and she probably could have done this if she wanted to. However on Sky Island the spirit of Rauru does not express any suprise at seeing the shrines in their current state (and he even goes inside them with Link) so I doubt they were changed at all from what he and Sonia origingally intended.

This is further supported by the fact that on the Great Sky Island Rauru only comes up with the idea of sending Link to the shrines after he discoveres he can't open the door of the Temple of Time. If they were intended for the Hero he wouldn't have needed to do this.

So who were they for? The most logical answer to me is that they were for Rauru's kids. After all, the shrines train you in a combination of both his Zonai powers and his wife's time powers. Several shrines need both to complete and the ony peoeple he would have expected to have both of these specific powers are his own offspring. (In addition the shrines can only be unlocked by a Zonai hand, but that of course does not rule out Mineru or other Zonai the way the specific powers required do.)

It may be that he intended to test his eldest child by having them find and complete all of the shrines to prove their skill prior to giving them his secret stone.

Among the many interpretations that are possible about the way BotW and TotK are connected to older Zelda games, the idea that TotK/BotW timeloop is somehow the original timeline (and none of the other game took place in this timeline) might provide some interesting results.

Indeed, when the events of AoC occurs, a timeline split is generated from inside the timeline loop. The causal ripples of that timeline split will affect both the present and the past (due to the existence of the loop, we have causal connections going from the future toward the past). As a consequence, the AoC timeline should "re-stabilise" into a "new" timeline, that is not even forced to contain the event of AoC per-se (because the past is modified due to the loop, and therefore present/future will retro-actively change aswell).

Under such setting, Rauru's era can be seen as predating Skyward Sword, indeed there is no master-sword during this era, no one seems to have knowledge of legendary Zelda princesses, Hylian have gigantic ears, Hylian have a very dark skin complexion. Also, the goddess Hylia is never clearly mentioned and only one goddess statue can be sighted in one cutscene (in the Zonai-ToT) during Rauru's era. However, it is important to note that few cutscenes in TotK contains "errors" due to some model being re-used. For instance, when Ganondorf turns into the Demon-King, we can see the Great Plateau in his BotW-state in the background (whereas such architectural style was not yet in use by Rauru's time, and was only ruined during the great Calamity).

On top of that Hylia is often associated with LIGHT and TIME, powers that are coming together by the union of Rauru and Sonia. In TotK, Sonia is described as "ハイリアの巫女", that some people interpret by claiming that she is a Priestess of Hylia rather than an Hylian priestess, that would have read "ハイリア人の巫女". However, for a Priestess of the Goddess Hylia I would have expected the following wording : "女神ハイリア人の巫女". Which makes me think that "ハイリアの巫女" is simply the contraction of "ハイリア人の巫女", while I won't claim to master Japanese, on Japanese wikipedia it appears that people acknowledge Sonia as a "ハイリア人の巫女" giving the same reading than me of TotK ingame content. Also interesting to note, the name "ハイリア" have been used in Zelda game for geographical locations like a lake. Therefore, this name alone can't provides the certitude that we are speaking of the goddess "女神ハイリア", and therefore another interpretation would be that "ハイリア" might be interpreted as a designation of the land before the rise of Hyrule Kingdom.

Therefore, based on precedent elements, I propose that Hylia is in fact Rauru's and Sonia's daughter. The very first one to carry both Light and Time powers.

In BotW, the emphasis on the quality that qualifies the princess to oppose Calamity Ganon is placed on her carrying the blood of the Goddess. Indeed, Calamity Ganon is specifically opposed by someone carrying the blood of the Goddess. Therefore, being the blood of Goddess is a mandatory condition to have the "sealing power". We also know that this power is claimed to have been transmitted from generation to generation by the princess of Hyrule (instauring a matrilineal transmission of this power) : "王家の姫が 代々受け継ぎし厄災を封印する誓っ".

With TotK, we learned that the power to oppose demons/repel evil comes from Rauru. As a male, Rauru breaks the matrilineal transmission rule regarding the sealing power. Therefore, while Rauru is claimed to have Godly ancestors (as all Zonai) : "意味遥かな過去 神の末裔は大いなる英知と共に天より地上". Hylia can't be an ancestor of Rauru as it would break the matrilineal transmission of the sealing power. If the "title" qualifying to oppose Calamity Ganon dated to that time, it would most likely refers Rauru's blood, that is at the root of the "seal" placed on the Demon King.

Sonia on her side is not describe has having divine ancestry ... and does not have the power to repel evil, therefore she is unlikely to be a descendant of Hylia. By Rauru's era, she is a mere mortal that draw importance from being Rauru's bride (the matrilineal transmission bloodline initiated by Rauru and Sonia also drive some concerns about the possibility that Sonia is in fact Gerudo-related rather than Hylian-related, explaining why males born from the Hyrulean Royal family are rather undocumented ... but let keep that for another wild theory).

As a consequence of the precedent arguments, Hylia can only be a desendant of Rauru and Sonia, possibly their direct daughter and thus, the first one of the bloodline to carry both Light and Time powers. She was likely already adult and off-kingdom when the IW occured (which might also explains why at least one Goddess statue already exists by Rauru's era ... this technological divices might have been Hylia's invention). As being the daughter of a descendant of the gods, Hylia is definitely qualified to be seen as a Goddess. In particular, in this interpretation, as the first individual to carry both the blood of Hylians and the blood of the gods, she is by construction the Goddess of the Hylians.

While in TotK Hylia didn't participated to the IW. The modified series of event unfolding from AoC breaking the timeloop might lead to a version of the IW where Zelda isn't in the past, in this version Rauru might have been defeated by Ganondorf. Therefore, in this modified timeline Hylia might have been forced to enter the fight and ultimately managed to imprison the Demon King Ganondorf. A being that would be known as "Demise" during the event of Skyward Sword. This modified sequence of event would have initiated a timeline that would contains all the older Zelda games.

A consequence of that is that Zelda's in BotW/TotK timeline would indeed carry the BLOOD of the Goddess, whereas in the SS timeline, SS-Zelda is only a reincarnation of the Goddess ... not carrying her BLOOD properly. Which would provide explanations to the differences in power and qualification of previous Zeldas compared to BotW/TotK-Zelda.

Anyway, this is just one of the many interpretations that can be formulated about the way to connect BotW/TotK to other games, and as I never saw something close to it, I decided to share it here.

#Fair warning: this post will include unmarked spoilers for all of TotK

So as I mentioned in my previous post, I believe that Calamity Ganon is a different incarnation of Demise from TotK Ganondorf. Part of the reason I believe that is because to me, it seems the Imprisoning War doesn't predate the last fight against Calamity Ganon. To that end, I'd like to present some arguments, and finish with a proposed timeline of Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom.

#Exhibit A: the Sage's Masks

You might notice that the Sages of Rauru's time wear masks that resemble the Divine Beasts. After you save each region, you get the chance to learn that it's more than a resemblance: they're called Divine Masks, and each one is named after its respective Divine Beast. Yunobo even specifically notes that the Mask is named after the Beast.

#Exhibit B: the Ancient Hero

If you get all 120 shrines, you receive an armor called the Aspect of the Ancient Hero. If you put it on, Link becomes a red-haired, green-skinned dog person: a Zonai, most likely. If you go back to the ancient tapestry showing the Sheikah fighting Calamity Ganon, you see that the hero had green skin and red hair. The obvious conclusion to draw is that the Link of that battle was, in fact, a Zonai. However, it is stated that Rauru and Mineru are the last of their kind, as an explanation for why no Zonai exist in the present day.

#Exhibit C: Comparing Technology

No matter how you slice it, Zonai technology is more advanced than Sheikah technology. The Sheikah had a prototype motorcycle, while the Zonai have modular parts that can be attached however you like and stored in capsules for later use. The Sheikah had shrines and towers that buried themselves in the ground, while the Zonai had cross-dimensional travel (yes, I think the sky islands were in a different dimension, otherwise how on Earth were they missed) that allow them to summon Shrines seemingly out of thin air. The Sheikah had to mummify themselves to carry a message forward in time and had rudimentary (albeit powerful) robots, while the Zonai had created artificial intelligence that could communicate for them. Essentially, I believe that the Zonai were more technically advanced than the Sheikah due to improving upon their technology. The reason they couldn't fight Ganondorf as well as the Sheikah fought the Calamity could be considered one of two ways: 1. Steam engines are still better than gasoline engines at carrying freight; a cannon is more destructive than a pistol; different machines for different tasks. The Zonai hadn't seen a need for castle-sized war machines. 2. Ganondorf, using Zonai magic, was more powerful than Calamity Ganon.

#Exhibit D: Necessary time frames

The Sheikah are given an exact time for how long it's been: 10,100 years prior to Link defeating Calamity Ganon. The Zonai are not given a specific time frame: the immediate assumption might be that they were so much older than the Sheikah that they'd passed on into legend. But it doesn't take that long to pass into legend: our recorded history only goes back about 5000. Time wears away at everything, and history is only preserved if we choose to preserve it. Which leads me to a theory:

The Sheikah had defeated Calamity Ganon. They were celebrating victory, so of course they wrote everything down and made monuments to their achievements.

The Zonai, on the other hand, had lost. They barely managed to delay the problem, it had cost them their ruling family (small aside theory: Sonia was part-Zonai and one of her siblings became ruler after the Imprisoning War), and their only hope was the prophecy of the princess who had come to the future that Link would be able to defeat Ganondorf with enough help. My theory is that the Zonai's obscurity was purposeful, not natural. They hid themselves away, erased as much as they could from history. They took their buildings to the sky and sealed them away, sealed the Depths and told their children to forget the grandeur of the Zonai, save for the legends that will enable their descendants to become the new Sages; even the Royal Family was only told something terrible was hidden underneath Hyrule Castle as it was constructed over the site of Ganondorf's body.

Compare, on the other hand, the simpler theory: a significantly more advanced civilization tens of thousands of years before the Sheikah left none of its technology on the surface. To me, it just beggars belief that the simple stones of the Thyphlo Ruins could lie there undisturbed for 30,000 years while not a trace of Sheikah tech other than shrines and towers survived to the current day.

So, with these exhibits, I present a theoretical timeline of the Sheikah and the Zonai:

Unknown eons ago: the Ancient kingdom of Hyrule defeated the Gerudo warlock Ganondorf Dragmire, but not before he became the monstrous demon Ganon who can only be sealed, never truly defeated.

~10,500 BC (Before Calamity): the Zonai "descend from the heavens" upon a new land, ruled by the Sheikah. Whether those heavens were space or another dimension, I don't know.

10,000 BC: The Easiest Ganon Fight Ever, as the Zonai helped the Sheikah's technology to advance to a point of defeating the Calamity with a full military of laser robots.

~8,000 BC: The Zonai's technological prowess and cultural power surpasses that of the Sheikah, replacing them as the ruling tribe. Since Calamity Ganon is not due for several thousand years, they decide to bury the ancient, irrelevant weapons of a war no longer relevant to their interests. Their shrines are now pocket dimensions, their constructs far more advanced and streamlined than the Guardians of old. They keep their records, they honor the Divine Beasts in art, but they have no need of the ancient machines.

~6,000 BC: Demise is reborn anew among the Gerudo, once again taking the name Ganondorf (because you know, that's how they do). Meanwhile, the Zonai, for unknown reasons, my pet theory being infertility as a side effect of longevity, have all but died out. The last remaining male Zonai, Rauru, decides to establish (reestablish? Again, names being the same means nothing in Zelda) a kingdom of Hyrule with his wife, Sonia, a prominent member of the Hylian tribe, bearing both the lineage of the Zonai and the ancient goddess Hylia.

~5,965 BC: Zelda comes back, Mineru and Rauru begin preparations for Link to save the day

~5,964 BC: Rauru seals Ganondorf, Mineru, Zelda, and the remaining Sages complete the work of preparing for Link's return, and the Zonai kingdom is largely sealed away. The remaining family of Sonia and Rauru, be it a weirdly unmentioned child or siblings on Sonia's (part-Zonai) side of the family taking their stead, build Hyrule Castle over the site of Ganondorf's body in a different style and instruct their children that it is forever forbidden to explore beneath the castle.

~100 BC: The kingdom of Hyrule receives a prophecy of Calamity Ganon, and the Sheikah, a tribe long dedicated to preservation and research, spring into action. Because the ancient Sheikah wanted to be remembered, they find ancient records and eventually unearth the Divine Beasts and Guardians.

0 AC to ~106 AC (After Calamity): The games happen.

So, as everyone knows, the main villain of TotK is Ganondorf. This always puzzled me, since the villain of BotW was Ganon. Which means that while Ganondorf was sealed under the castle, Ganon was terrorizing the land of Hyrule. I had the hypothesis that Ganondorf of OoT and Ganondorf of TotK were two different people for a while, but then I heard a line from Yunobo: the Vah Rudania Divine Helm is named after a Divine Beast.

Which means that the Zonai designed their Sage's masks on the Sheikah's Divine Beasts. But here's the thing: those machines were built to defeat Ganon. And not just Ganon, but in preparation for the return of Ganon, something that had happened countless times in history. Which means that Ganondorf had already been born and, depending on the timeline, died (in the ruins of the original Hyrule Castle under the Great Sea because this is the Child Timeline).

So while that Ganondorf's residual grudge (or another Ganon due to timeline convergence or just thousands of years of the same legend happening again and again) became Calamity Ganon, in the time of the Zonai dynasty of Hyrule, Demise was once again reborn as Ganondorf.

Also, another piece of evidence that's a bit more spoilery, because it's presented much later in the game:

!When you complete all 120 shrines, you get the Aspect of the Ancient Hero, which shows that the Link in the tapestry of what I like to call The Easiest Ganon Fight In History was a Zonai. However, Rauru and Mineru are mentioned as the last of their kind. Can't have a Zonai fighting Ganon with the Sheikah if they went extinct fighting the first Ganondorf.!<

Just beat ToTK recently and was thinking about this while doing so. My little personal theory, and I don't have a whole lot of evidence for it, I just enjoy this theory, is that the whole Zelda timeline loops. And I don't mean like the story keeps repeating, but time keeps flowing, I mean that TOTK takes place simultaneously before and after all the other Zelda games, and that it IS Skyward Sword. There are a lot of similar elements between the two games: The sky islands, Demise looks a lot like Ganondorf's Demon King form, the general plot of the two, etcetera. I believe that TOTK is the REAL events of what happened that started the whole timeline and legend, and that after some time parts of the story would change through several generations of story telling and after a while Skyward Sword is what people BELIEVED happened. And as for the era with Rauru and Sonia, I believe that was real too. But again, after so many generations, that legend is lost to time, and people now believe that the events of Skyward Sword/TOTK created the first Hyrule. Then, the timeline continues as usual from after that until the three timelines converge at the Rauru era. Then, 1000 years later, we get BOTW, then TOTK, then it's back to the beginning. Another little theory I have related to the first one is that the four dragons (Farosh, Naydra, Dinraal, and the Light Dragon) eventually evolve through legend into the four goddesses (Farore, Nayru, Din, Hylia) but in fact they were never gods to begin with, only dragons that people worshipped so much and for so long that they were told to be gods through legend long after they'd past. I'm sure SO MUCH of this theory can be proven to be wrong, I just thought I'd share.