Echoes of Wisdom’s Timeline Placement Is Perplexing

Posted by By our-little-miss-is-home December 31, 2024 4 Views 6 Min Read
Echoes of Wisdom's Timeline Placement Is Perplexing

Summary

  • Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom sets within Fallen Hero timeline, after Tri Force Heroes but before the original game, raising questions about the Triforce.
  • The game renames the Triforce to “Prime Energy,” treating it as a new discovery in an unexpected design choice.
  • The intentional decision not to use “Triforce” was made to give the narrative more weight by creating a setting where the Triforce is largely forgotten.

After much speculation, Nintendo has finally placed The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom in the series’ timeline, officially putting it in the Fallen Hero branch of the timeline. The Fallen Hero branch is one of the alternate realities in the Zelda timeline, where Link is ultimately defeated by Ganon during the events of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, leading to the eventual decline of Hyrule. Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom is officially set after the events of Zelda: Tri Force Heroes and before the original 1986 The Legend of Zelda, and while that does clear up its setting, it simultaneously leaves other questions in its wake about the Triforce.

The Triforce is perhaps one of the most (if not the most) iconic symbols of The Legend of Zelda, managing to find its way into almost every game in the series. It is effectively the very heart and soul of The Legend of Zelda‘s world, and, in most games, the inhabitants of Hyrule know that. However, Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom‘s treatment of the Triforce leaves some questions about the game’s official placement in the Zelda timeline, as the two don’t seem to cooperate very well with one another. Fortunately, there is apparently a justifiable reason for this, though that reason could be considered a bit of a cop-out.

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Why Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom’s Timeline Placement Is Perplexing

Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom Treats the Triforce Like a New Discovery

Almost every game in the Legend of Zelda series that either features the Triforce or talks about it refers to it as the “Triforce,” but Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom calls it something else entirely. In fact, Echoes of Wisdom is now in an exclusive Zelda club, as it is only one of three games in the almost forty-year-old series that calls the Triforce by a different name. Zelda: A Link to the Past was the first game in the series to do this, referring to the Triforce as the “Golden Power” and the “Master Force.” Skyward Sword followed suit by calling the Triforce the “Ultimate Power.” Echoes of Wisdom, on the other hand, refers to the powerful object as the “Prime Energy.”

It might seem harmless to simply change the name of the Triforce, especially when its purpose has largely remained the same throughout the franchise. However, Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom doesn’t just rename the Triforce — its story treats the Triforce like it’s a brand-new discovery, and this is ultimately why it is referred to by a different name. It is this, Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom‘s treatment of the Triforce as a new discovery, that makes the game’s placement in the official Zelda timeline so perplexing.

Almost every game in the Legend of Zelda series that either features the Triforce or talks about it refers to it as the “Triforce,” but Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom calls it something else entirely.

The fact that Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom is set after the events of Tri Force Heroes and even falls within the same timeline initially doesn’t make sense. Echoes of Wisdom referring to the Triforce as the “Prime Energy” when the Zelda game right before it was quite literally named after the Triforce feels like an interesting design choice, to say the least. This is even more perplexing given the title that comes after it, the 1986 NES classic, The Legend of Zelda, as it also features the Triforce and even marks its first appearance in the series. Nevertheless, it seems the developer had a reason for this.

Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom’s Producer Confirmed the Triforce Decision Was Intentional

Apparently, Nintendo and Grezzo made an active decision not to use the word “Triforce” in Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom for a reason. In an interview with Famitsu, series producer Eiji Aonuma explained that the decision to avoid using the term “Triforce” was because the development team wanted to create a setting where the Triforce was largely forgotten, thereby allowing for a fresh storytelling approach. That might feel like a cop-out to some, but it does make sense, and it gives Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom‘s narrative even more weight.

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