Since the first Hyrule Warriors released back in 2014, these spin-offs have existed outside the official Legend of Zelda timeline. The first two games may have featured familiar characters, but they took place in alternate universes. But right from the beginning, Nintendo made it clear that Age of Imprisonment would be different. Unlike the previous Hyrule Warriors games, Age of Imprisonment is a confirmed canon entry in the official Legend of Zelda universe. And that means fans will want to know just how this game fits into the complicated story of Hyrule.
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Age of Imprisonment may not be a typical Legend of Zelda game when it comes to gameplay. But it does offer official prequel content, telling the full story of the Imprisoning War. And that means that, where the other Hyrule Warriors games are set in a world apart, this one actually fleshes out the overarching story of Hyrule. But how, exactly, does Age of Imprisonment fit into the timeline? The Legend of Zelda timeline is notoriously complicated and somewhat up for debate, but here’s what we do know for sure.
Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment Is a Spin-Off, But Also a Prequel
As a Hyrule Warriors game, Age of Imprisonment is still considered a spin-off from the main series. However, as Nintendo’s info page for the game confirms, this entry tells “the untold story of the Imprisoning War,” letting players “experience the complete, true story of Demon King Ganondorf’s invasion.” This battle for the soul of Hyrule was briefly touched upon via flashbacks during Tears of the Kingdom. But this game tells the full story, including Zelda’s role in the events.
The game takes place almost entirely in ancient Hyrule. After a brief beginning cutscene showing Zelda getting flung into the past, we experience the events of the Imprisoning War in real time. That means that Age of Imprisonment is set thousands of years before the events of both Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom, just after the kingdom of Hyrule was first founded. Or, first founded by Rauru in the Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom timeline, anyway.
It is important to note that The Imprisoning War also refers to an event mentioned in The Legend of Zelda: Link to the Past. There’s a lot of fan confusion and debate about whether this is or is not the same Imprisoning War that comes up in Tears of the Kingdom. But given how the newer Switch games largely seem to reset the series and play fast and lose with older lore, the story we get in Age of Imprisonment is best seen as the Imprisoning War from the newer Legend of Zelda entries.
Age of Imprisonment Rewrites History for Hyrule Warriors Fans Alone
Many of the main story beats in Age of Imprisonment were touched upon in Tears of the Kingdom. We know about the Demon King and Rauru’s war to stop him. We also know that Zelda was present somehow via time travel, but Link was not. And yet, the game doesn’t just flesh out the story of the Imprisoning War. It rewrites it, but in a clever way only for those who play the new installment.
Age of Imprisonment gives us two playable characters who don’t appear in Tears of the Kingdom. We have the traveling Korok, Calamo, and the Mysterious Construct, who becomes a sort of pseudo-Link character. Their role adds new layers to the story to keep things interesting, but Nintendo does actually address how and why they don’t come up in any Tears of the Kingdom references to the Imprisoning War.
In this way, though it exists in the same timeline and tells a prequel story, Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment also branches out on its own just a bit. This adds a new bit of lore that’s just for Hyrule Warriors players, as those who only play the main series games may never know of these two characters.
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