So as we all know, botw isn’t super clear on which timeline it takes place in. I’ve been thinking on this for a while now and I think I can say for sure:

The Legend of Zelda Breath of the Wild is in the Downfall timeline.

I’ll explain my reasonings under a cut, since obviously there will be spoilers for it and other zelda games

Now, we’ve all seen the discourse about this game. The twilight line from zelda, the existence of koroks and rito, the divine beasts being named after OoT’s sages (and also Medli). Basically there’s a lot of evidence for it to be in any timeline. But one thing perfectly cements it in Downfall. And that can be seen in this image here

This is Link’s Tunic of the Wild, obtained after clearing all 120 shrines and the official Hero Tunic of this Link, the one that truly represents his spirit. Now why is this proof? I’ll tell you.

Shorts.

The Gods themselves bestow upon this Link a pair of shorts as his ultimate gear for combating the forces of evil.

How does a pair of shorts prove anything? Well have a look at these pictures:

These are the Links from A Link to the Past and the very first Zelda game. The both of these Links defeated Ganon. And looking at these two heroes what do we see? a lack of pants.

Against Ganon a pair of full pants will do nothing but hold a hero back.

“but hold on waithwat, plenty of other Links beat Ganon fine on their own and their strong legs weren’t exposed to the elements!” you may cry.

Yes, it is true, heroes such as these two handsome boys

have hidden their legs from the world while striking down the vile beast that is Ganon. However there is one small difference between the Ganon these two faced off against and the Ganon of the downfall timeline. And that is this little thing here.

The Triforce, The Golden Power of the Gods. The branching point that created the Downfall timeline was Ganon defeating Link (who might I add was wearing trousers of some sort) and obtaining these triangles for his own evil deeds. While of course his defeat at the hands of (the barelegged) lttp Link removed the Triforce itself from his possession, having such an immense power has to have made him more powerful than ever, even after losing it.

“hang on a moment though, miss waithwat.tumblr.com, what about these courageous boys here?

these fine young men covered their muscular legs with fabric and also took down the mighty Downfall Ganon!” you cry once more, shivering in utter confusion

That can be explained simply as well. In the Oracle games Ganon’s revival was incomplete, due to Twinrova failing to sacrifice Princess Zelda, thus leaving Ganon a mindless beast, and thus likely unable to utilize his full residual Triforce power.

Meanwhile in A Link Between Worlds, Ganon was possessed by Yuga, whose incredibly camp and Lorulian presence very likely weakened the strength Ganon obtained from the Hyrulian Triforce.

Thus neither of these links had to face the full strength of Downfall Ganon whilst wearing pants, which they surely would have soiled against his incredible power.

Now of course, there is plenty of evidence within Breath of the Wild itself.

The Barbarian armor set? A set of armor worn by barbarians, which boost Link’s strength simply being worn?

no pants. (though wearing the leg armor but not the torso armor will reveal a pair of short shorts that make link’s ass look great)



The outfit Link wore 100 years before the game? The outfit in which the Champions failed to stop Calamity Ganon and Link very nearly perished in?

pants.

Speedrunners of the game are quite skilled at fighting Ganon. you know what wastes a lot of time? putting on pants. Most speedruns, including the current(as of this typing) world record any% of 47:59 by sva, will entirely skip obtaining the worn trousers within the Shrine of Resurrection.



Now of course, anyone can beat the game wearing anything they want, that’s part of the open-air aspect. However I’m sure that canonically, Link being the brave hero he is solved each and every problem he encountered in Hyrule, overturned every rock collecting poop from little wooden children, and of course completed all 120 of the Shrines in Hyrule. And holding the shorts in his hand, he has to have felt the immense power within them and knew. Knew that he must wear these shorts against Calamity Ganon. That without them even his strength would not be enough, and there’d be no trip to the shrine of ressurection this time.

The ending cutscene does show Link back in his Champion outfit, yes, but with Calamity Ganon sealed away, so too could the Shorts of the Wild that allowed him to take the beast down.

The Gods would not give Link such powerful garments if he did not need them to defeat this monstrosity. Thus I can say with certainty, Calamity Ganon has held the Triforce, and thus

The Legend of Zelda Breath of the Wild takes place in the Downfall Timeline.

Thank you for your time.

