I Solved the Map of EVERY Zelda Game! [Legend of Zelda Theory]

You know how every Zelda game has a different map? Ever wonder how they are all connected? Because I sure did, and now I've finally figured it out!
I figured, them ALL out!
Every. Single. One. (that takes place in Hyrule anyway)
Watch out Zelda theorists, here comes the biggest revelation about the series since the timeline!

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0:00 Intro
1:38 Rules
8:19 Breath of the Wild
9:47 Skyward Sword
11:54 Ocarina of Time
15:22 Twilight Princess
17:54 Zelda 2: The Adventure of Link
19:00 The Legend of Zelda (NES)
20:21 Link to the Past/Link Between Worlds
22:34 Four Swords (GBA)
24:37 Minish Cap
25:27 Four Swords Adventures
31:36 Wind Waker
32:49 Conclusion

#Zelda #LinktothePast #OcarinaofTime #TwilightPrincess #SkywardSword #BreathoftheWild #TearsoftheKingdom

[TheBrads]

I'm not sure if anyone else mentioned it, but the four sword sanctuary in Four Swords adventures was located in the ice area, it wasn't under Hyrule castle. It's revealed in the 2nd to last world

[zennyblades]

One thing I wanted to point out, the lost woods jumping around is completely realistic, as real forests do in fact move around alot as old trees die and new ones grow, especially when humans get involved, forests can change faster than mountains and lakes do, this would also explain the remains of massive trees that you can find laying around, as there can be more than one deku tree planted at a time as established in wind water, but they probably don't all grow into great deku trees.

[SeriousSucculence]

One of the things ive noticed is that alot of the maps that dont seem to fit, kinda fit when you mirror it or flip it upside down
Meaning that the map could've been charted with a limited mindset or with no understanding of a compass
Four Swords map is definitely artistic interpretation with only the landmarks as the most important bits ("As long as you see those, you wont get lost! Who cares about the journey!" - Tingle, probably)

[ValseInstrumentalist]

My favorite thing is that all of the mountains and barriers of Hyrule from Ocarina diminished, places like Gerudo Desert and Zora's domain and Lake Hylia completely shifted to new areas, Hyrule Castle underwent several makeovers... yet the little toolshed and fence from Lon Lon Ranch stuck around through all this immense geologic change.

[Caleb_Bravo]

The Skyward Sword part makes sense, but the only problem is that the Forgotten Temple in BotW is very clearly based on the Sealed Temple in Skyward Sword. It's got the giant goddess statue and Groose's Tree in there too.

[mikerice]

I just now, as I was watching the video came up with an idea for why the Lost Woods might move, and it honestly seems more plausible to me than a great deal of other explanations given. The Lost Woods almost always have a Great Deku Tree, but it's not the same tree from game to game. In Ocarina, you use a seed from the Great Deku Tree in the future to plant a new one after the old one got Gohma'd. Anyone could plant a new Great Deku Tree anywhere and I feel like the Lost Woods would grow around the tree since the two are inseparably linked

[Sabanata]

Before Ocarina of Time, the Master Sword was used to seal the way to the Sacred Realm/ Triforce. That's why it wasn't an option in Minish Cap and Minish Cap's backstory.

[coryfreake]

One thing that you shouldn't forget, you can rotate the maps to make things line up easier.

[SuperflyMiceguy]

The Zelda II revelation was honestly the most surprising thing about this to me. That's cool that the map can spread even further beyond the borders of Hyrule from the previous game. I'd love to see a Zelda game where you can travel between different Kingdoms.

[ShmooZeroOmega]

I was gonna say: Other than the placement of Kakariko village, A Link to the Past’s map is really close to BotW’s. Though fun fact: in the Japanese version of ALttP, the Light World Death Mountain was called “Mt. Hebra”, so figure that one out

[josiaharaki]

One thing to keep in mind is that botw's map made deliberate decisions to change the map (pretty late in development at that) because they thought it would be better for gameplay. There is a longstanding theory about the great plateau and the Lost woods changing places, but we know for a fact they decided to swap the The lost woods and Kakariko.

Thus, originally, the lost woods would be far more southeast, like in most games, while kakariko would have been at the base of death mountain, like in most games not in the downfall timeline.

[vindrmasuta]

I've always chocked up the weird scaling and slightly different placements to the second word in the title of every game. It's a legend. We're playing through stories that have probably been told via word of mouth for eons. That's why we have different art styles too.

[protol]

That was some of the most fun I’ve have with a gaming theory video in a long time! A really like the balance you struck between serious analysis and speculation, and just saying “Fuck it, we’re working with 30 years of history and Nintendo’s only cared about it for maybe 10 of those years.” You were honest about occasionally stretching the facts to come to a conclusion, and still came out of it with a fairly believable interpretation of what happened and how it works!

[JDQuote]

Not sure if someone else has stated this before, but the swamp region in Minish Cap is named "Tabanta" in basically all versions but English afaik. I know you said you wouldnt count names as set in stone but the geographical placement of it and Mt. Gongol is really close to the Tabantha and Hebra region in BOTW, so that's something I always keep in mind when trying to pin where MC's map is.

In any case, great video. Hope you continue doing things like this.

[cameron-yozp]

There's also a theory for Breath of the Wild that somehow the Great Plateau and Lost Woods switched places somehow (which makes more sense after Tears of the Kingdom came out, ) but that being said, if entire bodies of land, water and mountains can all just swap places periodically in such a radical manner, then the maps between Zelda games no longer have to line up right because the geography can just violently shift whenever it needs to.

[bugslayerprime]

My theory about Zora's domain being in the north in Twilight Princess is that they moved to another location after some prior invasion. Kakariko has a river on the south end of town, which lines up ok with OoT, and they have the zora graveyard there as well, which I think indicates the zora previously had more of a presence in southern Hyrule than they did during TP.

[nelord]

Absolutely phenomenal video, it feels like you've done what no one else could with this one. Inaccurate cartography, real life ecological shifts and the the canonical different regions like Lesser Hyrule make combining the maps appear obvious in hindsight. You did a great job.

Some extra thoughts

1. Though it doesn't satisfy the part of our brain that makes connections, the disappearance or movement of massive landmarks like bridges buildings and rivers could simply be explained by magic/technology. Mount Hebra has a massive chunk blown out from what was likely a single laser blast. And whats more elusive than a Lost Wood you can't get out of? A Lost Wood you can't even find.

2. Real life empires shifted territory and changed definition all the time. Just look at the complex history of the Roman Empire. What Minish Cap link conceptualized as Hyrules borders would be completely different from another link.

3. The New Hyrule founded in Spirit tracks might be Northern Hyrule from Adventure of Link.

[colinobriant]

My headcanon is that the Lost Woods itself is lost and so it just kinda... moves around?

Fits with its reality breaking mechanics imo.

Idk I just think it's funny.

[MrBragonite]

Wow, the editing of this is ON POINT! All the footage matched so well!

3:58 "The next point could ruffle some feathers" starts a clip of Revali where his expressions seamlessly match the sentences in the script.
0:40 "[Mapping] feels like an impossible task" shows a clip of Zelda losing hope at the Spring of Power.
3:32 "Landmarks set in stone" is added by a clip of the unearthing of Vah Rudania.
9:26 "Circling around to the Great Plateau ... use as a springboard to the rest of the series" circles the camera around Link looking over the Great Plateau, which is a springboard into the rest of the game.

It's all so detailed! I was sold before you even started your theory. Good humour, good timing and a solid theory on top. Seems like the algorithm picked you up on this one. Hope it gives you some well deserved recognition! I'll definitely check out some of your other videos, for one.

[himignicest]

its hard not to understate how well done this video is??? NEVER IMAGINED THERE WOULD BE A SINGLE HUMAN TO BE ABLE TO HAVE BEEN SUCH A ZELDA FAN AND FANATIC TO HAVE MADE a video this detailed, deep, and well made??? you have my respect.