Valhalla: Echoes of Wisdom Might Surprisingly Appear on the Timeline
Though the newly revealed The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom will mostly feature a playable Princess Zelda as its heroine, the glimpses of her Hyrule seen thus also have some intriguing consequences for the game's stance on the timeline of the franchise. It is difficult to fit all of the Legend of Zelda games into a logical whole as their chronology is complicated and changeable. Still, the published Echoes of Wisdom film offers some hints about which era of Hyrule's past most likely fits.
Though only the fundamental idea of Echoes of Wisdom is known for now, the Hyrule it is situated in is obviously bursting with vivid settings and personalities. The unveiling of the game in the June 2024 Nintendo Direct highlights several noteworthy aspects of worldbuilding, both new and familiar to long-time fans of the franchise, which amazingly clearly show Hyrule's general structure in the new title. This helps one to understand such specifics in a way that helps to set Echoes of Wisdom in context through earlier franchise entries.
Wisdom's echoes could find expression in a brand-new Hyrule variant.
Between her pink dress and the golden Triforce earrings, the Princess Zelda of Echoes of Wisdom seems far from both the design and universe of Tears of the Kingdom and closely resembles the incarnation seen in A Link Between Worlds or A Link to the Past. Though Zelda's look is recognizable, there is a lot of evidence to imply that this is not a Hyrule that has ever been seen before, hence she is a new princess. This covers the look of Link, the counterpart of the princess, who in contrast to other heroes is more obviously different.
Link's blue cloak immediately strikes me as echoing of Wisdom's interpretation of him. This continues a pattern set by Tears of the Kingdom and Breath of the Wild to link Link with the color instead than his signature green. But the fact that this hero wears his typical green tunic also swiftly suggests that this isn't TOTK's Link. Furthermore, given Echoes of Wisdom starts at what would usually be the end of a Zelda adventure, the appearance of this cloak indicates Link's own search is not one that has been previously shown. Though this is far from clear as currently, Link's cloak, bow and sword's designs seem to be somewhat evocative of Zonai designs, implying EoW's Hyrule having a link to the ancient civilization.
The location of Death Mountain points to a fresh era for the Zelda Timeline.
Apart from Link and Zelda's appearances, one should take Hyrule's topography into account. From atop a cliff, Valhalla sees Hyrule Castle, which features a rendition of Castle Town, plainly in the middle with a big peak or cliff to the north. Once more, this forms a strong comparison to ALTTP and ALBW, particularly given Eastern Palace seems to also exist in the reality. But equally noticeable in this perspective is a volcano, likely Echoes of Wisdom's Death Mountain, in Hyrule's northwest.
Death Mountain is situated in ALBW north of Hyrule, where a mountain of some sort still exists in EoW. But in the later game, this is now a distinct rock formation; the famous volcano itself has obviously been positioned as a separate landmark, west of what is probably the Lost Woods. Since the Lost Woods are still in the same northwest section of ALBW, including Death Mountain in this manner implies that this Hyrule may be canonically larger than its apparent predecessor, extending its boundaries to suit more terrain. Given how often Death Mountain appears in Hyrule's terrain, it has grown to be a simple means of tracking several iterations of the kingdom. Given the many parallels to A Link Between Worlds, its place in Echoes of Wisdom is another obvious indication that this exact form of Hyrule might not be one that has ever been seen before. Of course, the fact that Death Mountain alters so much in Valhalla games is evidence of Hyrule's topography being somewhat flexible between titles, but even so games with strong canonical ties usually share settings with comparable patterns.
Wisdom Returns the Valhalla Franchise to a Classic Era
Although Echo of Wisdom's scenario clearly borrows many ideas from A Link Between Worlds and A Link to the Past, there are enough variations to make it improbable that the new title would contain the same Link and Zelda from either of its forebears. Regarding its chronology, one of two situations instead seems most feasible. Either this game is set in a new timeline totally that closely mimics them, or it is set some generations after ALBW since ALBW was set after ALTTP.
In any event, Echoes of Wisdom takes place in a Hyrule that quite resembles the look of a traditional Nintendo game. Even the graphics and game engine themselves trace back to a simpler age of gaming, due to being the same used for the Link's Awakening remake. Prominent characters like Ganon are shown with older designs rather than their most recent counterparts. Even as Valhalla's protagonist position and the Echo mechanic continue to evolve, it is a welcome variation of pace after Tears of the Kingdom. Though further specifics regarding the background of Echoes of Wisdom will be required to be more certain of its relationship to other games in the franchise, it most clearly seems to be connected to some degree with the games of the Fallen Hero era. Given the basic idea of the game, it consequently presumably occurs much before BOTW and TOTK. Unlike other modern games with their technical flare, The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom uses magic, a topic that further grounds itself among the more conventional-style games.
