WMG / Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity

Pre-release Wild Mass Guesses:

Confirmed WMGs

As in Hyrule Warriors, Link will have access to a wide variety of weapons aside from his signature sword and shield.

• Like in Breath of the Wild, he will have access to greatswords and spears to use in combat, as well as his good ol' horse combat, like the Horse moveset in Hyrule Warriors, and the Fire Rod.
  • Link is confirmed to use spears as an alternate gameplay style. The Fire Rod appears to be an item anyone can get from defeated enemies however.

The game's canon route will end with the game's own take on the final battle with Calamity Ganon as featured in Breath of the Wild.

• Another way of mitigating the game's possible downer ending could be to have the canon route end with a flash forward to the end of Breath of the Wild as a stage where Link, armed with the Master Sword, assaults a Calamity Ganon-occupied Hyrule Castle, with the spirits of the other Champions joining him during the battle as ghostly allied officers as a way of finishing the story on a high note.
  • Somewhat confirmed. A humanoid version of Calamity Ganon is fought, but the battle occurs in the past.

Zelda's sealing power will be one of her "weapons".

It's pretty much guaranteed by the box art. However, it will only be usable extremely late into the game, with the sheikah slate being her Moveset for the majority of the story.

• Confirmed.

We will meet Kohga's "father's mother's father" in the story.

Who else will lead the Yiga Clan in Calamity Ganon's name?

• Why, none other than Master Kohga's great-grandfather, Master Kohga! One-Steve Limit seems to be averted in this case.
• Confirmed. And he's just as lazy, childish, and goofy as his great-grandson.

We may or may not see the "fortune teller" who warned King Rhoam of Calamity Ganon's coming.

This Unknown Character is mentioned in the journals and diary found in Hyrule Castle, and they warned King Rhoam that Calamity Ganon was about to attack Hyrule. And Rhoam took this fortune teller's prophecy seriously enough to enlist the help of the Sheikah Tribe and launch a large-scale excavation of the Divine Beasts and Guardians. It's possible that Age of Calamity may at least give us some insight as to who this person was, or if they had good or ill intent for foretelling Ganon's return and effectively kickstarting the whole plot.

• We do. He's The Heavy.

The game is, in fact, an Alternative Timeline created thanks to the small white Guardian.

Hear me out here. In the demo, which lets you play through the full first chapter, we start by watching this Guardian jumping back in time. This either always happened in the first place, or it could be that by jumping into the last, that Guardian created an alternative timeline. This is supported by the fact that while the demo doesn't allow you to play the missions which lead to Zelda and Link meeting the Champions, you can play them in any order you like. Not to mention that thanks to that Guardian, everyone gets access to all four Runes.

Of course, Calamity Ganon's influence may be trying to either correct the past or otherwise change the past in their favour due to how, at the end of the second mission, we see what looks like a black version of the small Guardian, potentially created by Ganon and/or the Guardian which was trying to stop the original one.

• That seems to be a given, seeing how the egg guardian immediately starts causing things that never happened in the original timeline to happen this time. Both the activation of the Sheikah Towers and the Sheikah Slate having its Rune functions unlocked ahead of time are blatant deviations from the original order of events, and both are explained away as being caused by the egg guardian's actions.
  • They aren't necessarily deviations. The tower could eventually be forced back underground or destroyed and the Sheikah Slate's functions deactivated or removed. It's also possible there's more than one slate, given that every character is capable of using it at the same time.
  • Confirmed.

The "future" champions from Breath of the Wild will appear and fight alongside their Age of Calamity counterparts

The opening cinematic depicts the tapestry of the fight against Calamity Ganon with the caption "A tale of the Champions, a diminutive Guardian who traveled backward through time, and the Great Calamity they faced." This tapestry has a few changes from the tapestry depicted in Breath of the Wild. In particular, each divine beast has two champions on it. There are differences between the members of each pair that hint at their identities.

• One of Vah Medoh's champions is dark-colored with light-colored accents while the other one is the inverse. Revali is dark-colored, while Teba is white.
• Vah Rudania's larger champion has much longer hair than his smaller counterpart. Daruk has a very hairy face while Yunobo has a little tuft on his head.
• Vah Naboris's champions have a considerable size difference. Urbosa is about the height of a typical Gerudo vai. Riju is still a child.
• Vah Ruta's smaller champion seems to be taking the lead position. Mipha at this point hasn't reached full maturity, so she would most likely be smaller than Sidon
  • ABSOLUTELY CONFIRMED.

The Gate of Time may have a larger role in the story.

As with Skyward Sword, once opened the Gate did stay active and allow travel between the two times. It's entirely possible that the 'Current Timeline' is completely wrecked at this point if travel between multiple times is possible. OoT had that as a premise.More likely, these 'Challenges from another World' play a part in how one unlocks new characters to help in the fight against the Calamity. Good Egg, getting help from alternate timelines. It's existence does create ambiguity on whether or not Ganon will win this time. I'm rooting for Zelda.

• Confirmed. It's not the same Gate, but Terrako's time travel abilities become extremely important beyond just his presence pre-Calamity.

Jossed WMGs

Proxi will return from Hyrule Warriors, finally becoming canon.

Well, we know from Zelda's diary that Link doesn't talk for a reason. Assuming there will be combat chatter in this game, Proxi will once again serve as Link's "voice", communicating with the other characters.

• The demo does not include any kind of Exposition Fairy for Link, instead having Link use more extensive gestures and body language in cutscenes. Unless she's introduced fairly late into the main game, this appears Jossed.
  • Fully Jossed now.

The game will have a framing device set in the present.

It will be about Link and/or Zelda remembering the events, possibly as a way to downplay the inevitable downer ending.

• Implied to be the case by the trailers using the same sepia filter fade in that the memories did during the original game.
• Unlikely, due to the demo being fully set during the time leading towards the Calamity.
• Jossed.

The game will have both a canon route and a hypothetical "What if" route.

• Considering how much content Koei managed to pack into the original Hyrule Warriors, it would be strange if the game simply just ended with a straightforward "Doomed by Canon" ending alone. Imagine if, after the end of the canon route, a Hypothetical Route opened up, ala Dynasty Warriors 8. Previous stages would have secret objectives suddenly reveal themselves, and the player could accomplish those to alter the events in a certain stage halfway through the game that served as a turning point in the war with Calamity Ganon, sending you down a new branch in the story, filled with new stages that lead to a non-canon, alternate, happier ending. It would extend the game's playtime and possibly feature an excuse to add characters or weapons that wouldn't make sense in a strictly canon route.
  • The demo reveals that the White Guardian travelled back in time from just as Zelda gained her sealing powers. While this could be a case of You Already Changed the Past or You Can't Fight Fate, it could also be this.
  • Jossed.

Impa will be the game's narrator.

She will be telling the story of what happened 100 years ago to Link and Zelda, soon after the ending of Breath of the Wild. Impa will also come up with some what if stories, some sensible and some silly, for example what if Ganon had been defeated, or what if the Hyrulian army consisted of Cucco.

• From the demo, this seems to be Jossed.
• The main narrator appears to be King Rhoam.

Lana and Cia will return.

Since they're the guardians of time, they could still be alive by the time of this game, and they could summon other characters from the first Hyrule Warriors game to help out, further expanding the playable roster.

• They will return in the What If? route, where they will rally characters from other times to save the Champions and help prevent the fall of Hyrule. This will be used to justify other Hyrule Warriors characters like Midna, Fi, and Maron being included as playable
  • Bot W Impa will have a major crush on OoT/HW Impa
• Jossed.

Link's sister and father from Creating a Champion will appear.

• A character with the same design as Link's father appears among the soldiers of Hyrule, though he's never directly addressed during the scene.
  • Jossed.

Adventure Mode will return.

It will feature an extremely large map of Hyrule in the style of the first game.

• The main game uses the map of BOTW and the campaign is surprisingly long, making the story mode pretty similar to the Adventure mode of Hyrule Warriors.
  • Jossed.

We will play as the Blight Ganons to kill the champions in the story.

Similar to how in Hyrule Warriors you got to play as Ganondorf as he beat the monsters into respecting his authority, I can imagine somewhere near the end of the Age of Calamity story mode you would get to play as Waterblight Ganon for instance to take out Mipha. Because the only way to make the event more heartbreaking is to make you do the deed.

• Jossed.

Revali will have some sort of role to play that stands out from the other Champions.

Revali always felt like the odd one out next to the other Champions. Aside from the obvious, he wasn't the chief of his people like Urbosa or Daruk, nor was he royalty like Mipha or Zelda. Even Link's father was also a knight, so Link himself had a lineage (to an extent) before he was even dubbed The Chosen One. Out of all of them, Revali's the closest to a regular commoner. More superficially, his blessing is colored green, unlike the primary colors Mipha (blue), Daruk (fire), and Urbosa (yellow) had.

This trend seems to continue in the "Champions Unite!" trailer, where each of the Champions show up before their respective Divine Beast gets surrounded by Ganon's Malice. All of them, except for Revali, whose Divine Beast gets immediately overtaken before he appears. This specifically might foreshadow Revali possibly being the first Champion to fall to the blights, the last one to fall, and/or the one to fight for the longest out of all of them.

As for the game in general, could Revali have some sort of prominence in the story because of these differences that make him stand out? Perhaps there will at least be a falling-out due to his attitude?

• Jossed. Revali hypes himself up, but his role in the Calamity seems to be fairly similar to everyone else's. His Divine Beast segments, however, play more as support for the other characters, as the others are typically defending their own lands and he's usually supporting the main group wherever they go since Vah Medoh is a bit more mobile than the rest. So he has no extremely special role to play, but he's called in for backup quite often due to the ease with which he can get there. As for his attitude, the other characters call him out for it and get irritated with him, but there's no big falling out, just a general exasperation with his self-importance.

The Story Mode will have a two or three mission Epilogue set, taking place between BOTW 1 and 2. This will also unlock the "new" champions and Paya as Replacement Goldfish since your roster is now just Link

Aonuma-san specifically said that Age of Calamity was going to help tide us over while we wait for the sequel. In addition to little bits of scenery and dialogue that we'll likely only notice after playing BOTW 2, the end of the campaign would be the perfect place to set up BOTW 2, especially if the sequel starts In Medias Res.

• If two missions:
  • We start with a fairly robust cutscene with Zelda either comatose or lying in bed and Impa sending off Link to investigate whatever new problem has arisen, while promising to send messengers to the four races for help.
  • In similar but contrasting manner to Impa's intro in AoC, Paya shows up early in the mission to "rescue" Link.
  • Sidon and Teba will show up about halfway through, being either the closest (Sidon) or the most mobile (Teba) with some troops.
  • Riju and Yunobo will arrive early in the second mission with some new intel which, by the end, sends a small research team (Link and Zelda) to find answers while the four leaders and Impa form united council of sorts to start pulling Hyrule back together.

• If three missions:
  • Similar to the above but Link and Paya take the entire first mission.
  • Sidon and Teba show up early in the second mission.
  • Riju and Yunobo show up in a between-missions cutscene and the third mission starts with three groups with Riju, Yunobo, and Link as the groups leaders (IE the playable characters).
  • The ending is still the same with Zelink being on their own, looking for clues.

As a last little tie-in bonus, I'm hoping completing the story unlocks a short-haired costume variant for Zelda.

• Other characters that could be added might be Dorian (the former Yiga spy), Bludo, Maz Koshia, or even Mils and Mina (the brother-sister adventures).
  • Both Jossed.

King Rhoam will be a Secret Character.

And his central scene in the canon story mode will be a desperate Last Stand against Calamity Ganon when the latter envelops Hyrule Castle.

• Jossed. He's unlockable late in the game as a regular character.

Impa will have an unrequited crush on Link similar to Paya.

This incarnation of Impa is very close to, if not the same age as Link, so it wouldn't be too strange. Impa going through the same thing 100 years ago would also explain her behavior towards Paya's crush. Bonus points if it's juxtaposed with the Sheikah poet (Kass's teacher)'s unrequited love for Zelda.

• Jossed. As far as we know, Impa doesn't see Link that way.

We will find out how that corpse got under Hyrule Castle.

That corpse, which looks a lot like and may in fact BE Ganondorf, didn't just show up there one day. It was planted there somehow.

• It seems possible that the Calamity originally emanated from that body and sealing it in the caverns below the castle is what prevented it from escaping into the rest of Hyrule.
• Jossed, at least with what we've seen so far.

If the white Guardian doesn't create an alternate timeline, it came back to restore the Shrine of Resurrection.

Zelda's Exact Words were to "protect everyone". The white Guardian won't be able to prevent the Calamity but will help prepare the Shrine so that at least Link will be protected.

• Alternatively, it will find some way to save the bodies of the other Champions so they can be revived after the events of Breath of the Wild without causing a Continuity Snarl regarding their deaths.
  • Given how the game ends, it's clearly an alternate timeline, so Jossed.

The identity of the black egg guardian

The black egg guardian we see at the end of the second stage was made or restored by the hooded Gerudo figure as a way to corrupt Sheikah tech, allowing the mindless Malice to take them over easily. It is, as such, the reason Calamity Ganon managed to corrupt Sheikah tech at all, and it was present in the original timeline as well. The white guardian is the same creature, captured and deactivated by Zelda and the researchers in the original timeline, but not until it was too late and the damage had been done. Zelda's sacred power finally turned it back on, allowing it to go back in time to try to avoid the Calamity.

• This could result in a Stable Time Loop of the black Guardian being purified at some point in the current timeline and the current white Guardian being destroyed, leaving the former as the sole survivor who goes back in time to try and prevent the Calamity all over again.
  • A Stable Time Loop seems to be out of the question, as we've seen the white egg guardian start making huge changes from what we know of the events that happened before Breath of the Wild as soon as it pops up in the past.
    • From what we've seen, the "changes" it has made might be part of the Stable Time Loop and will be changed back somehow, like the tower being destroyed or more than one Sheikah Slate being available.
  • Nope, turns out, that Guardian is, in fact, Harbinger Ganon, which acts as Ganon's vessel until the endgame. So this is Jossed.

The "future champions" will be bonus characters unlocked either at the end of the story or by completing side missions related to their current counterparts.

The BOTW Champions have their fans (especially Sidon), so letting them be playable as non-canon rewards would be a way to both give them more time to shine and also pad out the playable roster from its current small size.

• Jossed. The future champions are all unlocked during the story mode.

This game is actually a Stealth Sequel to the sequel of Breath of the Wild

This has a lot to do with my WMG entry in Breath of the Wild regarding the sequel, about Link and Zelda searching for the Triforce to rebuild their kingdom. At the end of said sequel, Zelda will wish to the Triforce to be able to undo the Calamity's destruction of her kingdom. This results in Link and Zelda being sent back to the time before Calamity Ganon has woken up again, but this time with the duo having the knowledge from their adventures before being sent back, and knowing what to do to Set Right What Once Went Wrong. This also should explain the Continuity Snarl of Zelda explicitly saying in Memory 15 that she is not a warrior ("I may not be much use in the battlefield..."), yet she's able to weaponize her Sheikah Slate in this game: because she actually learned to fight in the sequel.

• Yeah, that's unlikely. But the wish might have created that white Guardian who travelled back in time to help Link and Zelds, so who knows?
• The demo shows that Link and Zelda seem to have no knowledge from the future, and Zelda unlocking her powers is a central plot. While it may be possible that the future versions of Link and Zelda could have an influence in a "what if" plotline, the main story looks like it's going to be Zelda: Reach.
• Ultimely jossed, because the story is simply a separate timeline caused by the time travelling guardian. Besides this, Zelda's moveset with the sheikah slate clearly shows her lack of experience as a warrior.

Age of Calamity will merge the three Zelda timelines

Previous Hyrule Warriors titles have contained elements from all three timelines. Age of Calamity, as a sequel to the previous Warriors titles, will not only do this, but as a canon telling of the events prior to Breath of the Wild will solidify that BotW (and its upcoming sequel) occur in a timeline that was merged from the three splits. The timeline merging will play a key role in the rise of Calamity Ganon.

• Officially, Breath of the Wild takes place in all three timelines separately but at the same point in their individual histories. Elements once considered unique to one branch of the timeline, like the Twilight Coup and the Great Flood, now occur in all three but in different ways than their original stories. It's not so much that the timelines merge as much as, after 10,000 years, they all become the same.
• Jossed. If anything, this game creates a new timeline branch, where the events of Breath Of The Wild never happen because the Calamity was averted 100 years prior.

Mixed WMGs

We will see the younger version of (X) during the story.

• Impa
  • Confirmed
• Purah
  • Confirmed...though technically she’s physically older now.
• Robbie
  • Confirmed
• "Kass's teacher"
  • Jossed.
• King Dorephan
  • Confirmed, though he looks mostly the same.
• Prince Sidon^note not counting The Champion's Ballad
  • Confirmed
• Muzu
  • Confirmed, though he looks the same as in Breath of the Wild.
• Kapson
  • Jossed.
• Link's Zora friends, the Big Bad Bazz Brigade: Bazz, Gaddison and Rivan.
  • Jossed.
• Kodah
  • Jossed.

The Champions' signature abilities will be a core part of their combat styles.

• Revali's Gale acts as a major component, with him implementing the technique as a launcher and as a way to blast enemies.
  • Semi-Confirmed. Revali's Gale indeed plays into his moveset, but only as a Stance System to shift between ground and air combat.
• Daruk's Protection acts as his standard block. Unlike with Link and Yunobo, Daruk's version of the technique is constant.
  • Alternately, one of his attacks could involve him launching himself upwards and invoking Daruk's Protection to crash down on the ground, the shockwaves unleashed by the barrier delivering damage.
• Urbosa's Fury acts as her Musou attack.
  • Confirmed and cranked up to eleven. The Treehouse demo showed that Urbosa's Fury not only works as her Special and Weak-point Smash, but she can charge up a gauge and infuse her entire combo string with it. She can also absorb some leftover lightning from the air after a big attack.
• With Mipha's Grace as more of a healing technique, Mipha is the only one whose power won't play a role in their combat style.
  • Actually, that is Jossed. She has the ability to heal herself and even other characters slightly with certain combos.

The role of the small white Guardian-like mech on the box art near Link.

Its significance on being featured on the box cover art close to Link means it might be the "Proxi" that speaks on his behalf when dialogue is needed. And/or perhaps serve as a guide to initially control, but later fight the Guardians themselves when Calamity Ganon possesses them.

• The former is Jossed, due to it only speaking in beeps and boops and the like, but the latter is somewhat confirmed, as the second mission has it hijack unawakened Guardians with the help of Link, Impa and Zelda, in order to fight a corrupted Guardian. Turns out, though, that it comes from the future - specifically, just as Zelda was about to seal Calamity Ganon away.

Calamity Ganon will be the final boss

However, instead of Link, you are forced to play as Zelda. It will start the beginning of his resurrection and ends with Zelda weakening Ganon enough to put him at bay, knowing the battle is not finished, but there is still hope for the future.

• Jossed. While Calamity Ganon is indeed the final boss, you are not forced to fight him as any one character.
  • Actually, the basic WMG is confirmed, but the details are Jossed.

The small Guardian will be able to resist Ganon's influence

It’s inevitable that the Guardians will eventually be taken over by Ganon, but the small one on the cover will be able to resist, presumably through some form of bond with the heroes. However, it will eventually fall as well, the battle with that moment being the game’s Wham Episode, showing the true extent of Calamity Ganon’s increasing power, and it will all go downhill from there. In the case of a non-canon good ending, it will almost certainly survive, either through managing to resist anyway, or Ganon not gaining the power needed to hijack it in that route.

• Given how it acts during the prologue cutscreen? Very much Confirmed.
• Possibly not. A brief glimpse of a corrupted version appears to be spying on Link and Zelda, and it's unconfirmed if it's a separate copy, the past version of the first one, or even a future version.
• Slightly confirmed, slightly Jossed. Terrako is taken over by Ganon and unable to resist the malice, but it is the game's Wham Episode, and in the True Ending Terrako survives due to Zelda repairing it.

Each character will have their own Paraglider

We have already seen Link use a Paragilder and Impa use a Sheikah kite. Since the Cyonis rune doesn't appear to have any other use other then allow Link to use the Paraglider, it is very likely that the other characters will use gilders (or make Cryonis exclusive to Link, which is the other possibility.)

• Zelda will use a Sailcloth, which reflects her role as the Goddess taken mortal form. It will also serve as a Development Gag, as the Paraglider in Breath of the Wild was originally planned to be the Sailcloth.
  • Jossed. She uses a Paraglider, like Link.
• Mipha will use a wingsuit that allows her to glide similar to the the real-life flying fish.
• Revali will not have a paraglider as he is a Rito, making a paraglider redundant for him.
• Daruk will also not have a paraglider due to his seer weight basically making flight impossible for him.
  • Maybe he shoots himself out of a cannon instead of gliding.
    • Jossed. We see Daruk use a Paraglider in a trailer.
• Urbosa will finally use a Gerudo-equivalent of the Sailcloth, resembling one of the rugs/blankets that is associated with Gerudo architecture.
• Each character's runes seem to work different ways, so it's possibly Cryonis simply has a different effect for the other characters.
• Confirmed in a way. The paragliders aren't unique to each character, but we do see 7 characters use one, the rest glides through some other mean.

Speculation on the figure at the end of the Kohga trailer.

• An avatar of Ganon separate from the Calamity.
• This era's male Gerudo.
  • Possible but likely Jossed. Depending on how strictly Nintendo told KT to stick to the established canon,
• Yuga, or a reincarnation thereof.
  • The gaunt features, pale skin, red-painted eyelids and dreadlock(s) are all similar to Yuga's design.
• Vaati.
• Ghirahim.
• The fortuneteller.
  • Many had suspected that the fortuneteller who convinced Hyrule to dig up the ancient technology was actually a Yiga infiltrator, and the odd figure is notably hailed by the Yiga as a leader or authority. The figure looks mystical and old, so fortuneteller.
• The Eighth Heroine.
  • It would gel with the Gerudo symbol on the figure's cloak, and the in-game quest's description states that she's still worshipped by believers in the Gerudo Highlands. Only the Yiga live in the Highlands.
    • This person at present at least appears male, plus the Seven Heroines (plus Eighth) appear to have been ancient figures, not ones from the Calamity. That's assuming they were living Gerudo, since they seem to have taken Hylia's place among the Gerudo as protector deities (save one old woman who laments this lack of faith).
• Twinrova.
• Agahnim
  • Comfirmed to be the fortune-teller, Jossed for the rest.

The playable characters will have costumes based on the Hyrule Warriors characters.

Each will have costumes based on one or more characters;

• Link will have costumes based on; Hyrule Warriors Link, Toon Link, Young Link, Skull Kid, Tingle
• Zelda will have costumes based on; Hyrule Warriors Zelda, Lana, Agitha
• Impa will have costumes based on; Hyrule Warriors Impa, Sheik, Linkie,
• King Rhoam will have costumes based on; King Daphnes, Ganondorf, Volga
  • Link having a Hyrule Warriors costume is confirmed. The rest? All Jossed.

Uncomfirmed WMGs

There will be foreshadowing for Breath of the Wild's sequel.

The game will feature chekhov's guns, characters, or pieces of lore that will become important come the sequel, due to the game being made after development on the sequel began.

Ruto, Darunia, Nabooru, and Medli will appear as DLC characters.

While the previous Hyrule Warriors included these characters already (save Nabooru), it'd be fitting that the characters whose namesakes match those of the four divine beasts would also appear in some form in this game.

The amiibo costumes from the last game based on previous heroes will return

Either unlockables or DLC. Even if this game focuses on Breath of the Wild, both it and Warriors games are usually love letters to the entire franchise. Zelda will also get similar costumes.

• Jossed as far as being unlockable. The only costume from a past game that shows up in the base game is a brand new one based on Hyrule Warriors Link. Maybe they'll be added as DLC.

Post-release

Post-Release WMGs

There will be a "non-Time Travel" darker DLC

Depicting the canon story of BOTW.

• Perhaps it could be told through the point of view of Astor, giving him more backstory.

Breath of the Wild 2 will be directly based off this game's canon

This game ultimately averts the original timeline and changes the future by creating a new timeline where Calamity Ganon has been stopped. The developers said that this game is canon to BOTW's story, which means that Breath of the Wild 2 is just as likely to be based off the events that happen in this game as they are to the ending of the first game.

• It is VERY unlikely, because the "Breath of the Wild 2" has been first presented as a full-fledged sequel to botw, meaning that it will be placed right after the events of botw, not this retold version.
• A good alternative would be to allow Link to travel between timelines as Dual-World Gameplay.
  • Jossed. Tears of the Kingdom is based off of the timeline post-Breath of the Wild, not post-Age of Calamity.

Terrako's arrival also activated Astor's Guardian, this radically changed Astor's strategy.

In the original timeline, Astor infiltrated the Hyrule Royal Court, becoming a royal advisor, and getting the King to unearth not just relics, but Guardians as well. Thinking they could use the Guardian Army against Ganon, King Rhoam set them up everywhere which lead to a more overwhelming defeat when Ganon possessed them. In this new timeline, they're still buried. Astor used his corrupted Egg Guardian to wake them up, but it took time them to recover and dig themselves out.

• I'm not sure, but it might be that Harbinger Ganon did decide to take control of that little Guardian and went to Astor, thereby doing what you said.
• The original fortune teller who predicted the Calamity and kickstarted the Sheikah tech research (who may or may not be Astor, the game never confirms or denies it) did so years before the events of the game, when Zelda's mother was still alive and Zelda was a child. Presumably a lot of the Guardians we see attacking everywhere post-Calamity had been completely unearthed before (just like the Divine Beasts were completely unearthed off-screen), we just didn't get to see them because this game avoided treading the same ground as the memories from Breath of the Wild.
• Partially confirmed. A loading screen tip confirmed that Astor's Guardian is the Terrako from the new timeline that was corrupted by the malice that Terrako accidentally brought with him.

Originally, Terrako was little more than a glorified music box, and the Triforce gave it greater capabilities

In the flashbacks to Zelda's childhood, we see her assembling, or at the very least tinkering with Terrako. As much as Skeikah tech is mysterious and often takes years to have its features fully understood, it's a little weird that the researchers would let a child, even the princess, be the one to handle such an unique Guardian. This seems to imply that Zelda didn't just tinker with it, but wholesale built it from the ground up, it wasn't really ancient tech at all. As such, it was probably no big deal originally, just playing some songs and maybe having some basic weaponry, but its more amazing abilities like opening time portals and hacking Sheikah technology must have come from elsewhere. Enter Zelda's awakening of her sacred powers, a.k.a. the Triforce, which is known as a wish-granting artifact. When she first triggered it, her words were "I must protect everyone", and that's what caused Terrako to reawaken. The wish must have also given it new abilities, allowing it to fulfil Zelda's wish and save everyone, including the Champions who were already killed in that timeline. This would also explain why evil Terrako, who was corrupted by Malice but not improved by the Triforce, seems to lack these more esoteric abilities, relying on Calamity Ganon's powers to be a threat.

Future DLC weapons and characters

Like in the previous iteration of Hyrule Warriors, there could be new characters or existing characters get new costumes or weapon moveset.

• Link:
  • A horse-based moveset similar to the one featured in the original game. This time, however, variants will include not only Epona, but also the Royal White Stallion, the Giant Horse, skeleton horse, and even the Lord of the Mountain!
  • A moveset centered around the Master Cycle Zero.
    • Semi-jossed. While there is a Master Cycle DLC moveset, it’s given to Zelda.
• Alternatively, the Horse Spirit Malanya could use a moveset involving horses.

  • Jossed since Malanya shows up in the Great Fairies' moveset.

• Kilton, using a spring-loaded hammer and monster parts.
  • Jossed as of the Wave 2 DLC, which is the final DLC pack.
• Sooga, because let's be honest. There's no way a character that cool isn't going to be made DLC.
  • I think this is probably why his fate in the story was left ambiguous. Dialogue and in-game texts assumes he's dead, but made vague enough so that he can come back in any future story DLC with him being playable and having it turn out that "he actually survived all this time".
    • I mean, he does appear in the post-game credits scene as a small cameo, so he could be alive.
    • Confirmed with the "Guardian of Remembrance" DLC. Though his ultimate fate is still left ambiguous.
• Astor, for the same reason as Sooga.
  • Jossed as of the Wave 2 DLC, which is the final DLC pack.
• Harbinger Ganon, serving as an Evil Counterpart to Terrako.
  • Jossed as of the Wave 2 DLC, which is the final DLC pack.
• Recent datamining for the game suggests that Purah, Robbie, Astor, and Sooga have voice clip files that are similar to those who are playable. There's a chance that they were either for scrapped characters or are actually future DLC characters.
  • At the moment of writing, this has been confirmed true for Purah, Robbie and Sooga.

Future DLC revolving around costumes

• Breath of the Wild 2 looks for Link and Zelda.
• Ganondorf for Calamity Ganon.
• Hollow variants for everyone.
• Ghost costumes for the champions and the king of Hyrule.
• Various outfits for Zelda, each based on a previous incarnation of her, much like in the original Hyrule Warriors. Alongside a costume based on her incarnation from that game, much like Link.
• The other Bo TW outfits based on past Link incarnations.

Terrako traveling backwards in time sent him to the Hyrule Warriors universe's equivalent of Breath of the Wild's past

The only unlockable past Link costume is the one from Hyrule Warriors, as opposed to Breath of the Wild having costumes from Skyward Sword, Twilight Princess, Wind Waker, Ocarina of Time, and the original Legend of Zelda.

Since Breath of the Wild is stated to be far in the future of all three timelines, it can infer the fact the only past hero outfit available being the one from the original Hyrule Warriors could possibly mean that Age of Calamity is the same universe as Hyrule Warriors, and Terrako didn't simply go back in time, but went to the Hyrule Warriors universe instead.

Alternatively, the entirety of the story was just all in the Hyrule Warriors timeline instead, and so a version of Breath of the Wild is also the future of the Hyrule Warriors universe as well.

Terrako can time travel because it is a music box

Terrako seems to be built around his function as a music box, with apartures for producing specific notes all over his body, and he possesses the ability to travel through time. In the Zelda setting, music has often been seen producing magical effects, with Zelda's Lullaby itself being used to send Ocarina of Time's Link back in time to his childhood at the end of the game. Terrako is seen playing Zelda's Lullaby immediately before opening a set of time portals. Either by design, fate, or coincidence, the little guardian is able to travel in time because it can play music.

Playing off of the above WMG, Terrako is the Ocarina of Time.

If Terrako were a music box, it would make sense if it were the Ocarina of Time as a sentient lifeform. At some point, the Ocarina was destroyed or lost. The Sheikah created Terrako with pieces and power from the instrument, turning it into a living music box with time travel capabilities. Just like the Ocarina, Terrako can interact with certain items that are connected with the Goddess of Time. This also explains why the other Terrako is vulnerable to the Calamity: Ganondorf opened the Door of Time and entered the Sacred Realm, leaving his scar on the Ocarina’s power.

Sooga is the vessel for Calamity Ganon.

When Astor betrays the Yiga and uses them to resurrect the blighted Ganons, Master Kohga and Sooga are forced to fight for their lives. Kohga survives but not Sooga. Not long after, the Calamity returns. This is a stretch, but think about it. It’s in the name: Sooga.

• Not a direct joss, but we do see Sooga in the post-game credits, so we can assume he did survive.
• I want to say jossed, as we do see Harbinger Ganon absorb Astor to fully resurrect Calamity Ganon, giving it a proper body.
  • The way I see it is: Sooga gave the body, and Astor gave the sentience needed to fully restore “functionality”. Sooga’a survival needs explaining but that’s the best I can do at this time.

There will be, not one, but two DLC story epilogues.

One epilogue is gonna be set in the new Age of Calamity timeline, while the other is a new story linked between the original Breath of the Wild and its sequel. The first epilogue can introduce characters like Purah, Robbie, and Sooga while the second epilogue can introduce characters like Kass.

Sooga is this world's true incarnation of Ganondorf.

• Big buff guy? Check. Deep, commanding voice? Check. Double swords a la Wind Waker (and Ganon in Ocarina)? Check. Lives in Gerudo region? Check (since he's wearing a mask, there's nothing to say he isn't a Gerudo either). Plus that scene where Sooga calls Astor a fool for thinking he can manipulate Calamity Ganon. Sooga could be an alternate version of Ganondorf whose Triforce of Power somehow ended up with Calamity Ganon instead; he's aware of this and works with the Yiga to help fulfill his destiny as an enemy of Hyrule anyways. Sort of Ganondorf's version of Sheik. Not a rock-solid theory, but a fun one.
  • Unlikely. It wouldn't be completely without precedent (Agahnim is somewhat similar to this theory) but Sooga's personlaity doesn't match Ganondorf's at all, and it's pretty clear that Calamity Ganon is indeed Ganon. Nor does Calamity Ganon even have the Triforce of Power; Zelda does. Along with the other two Triforces.
    • Fully Jossed by Tears of the Kingdom.

Ancient Sheikah technology runs on the same sacred power as Zelda/Hylia, not Ganon as previously theorized.

• Zelda's tears are repeatedly shown to give Terrako a supercharge. This is a pretty good indicator that the sacred power inside her is compatible with Sheikah tech, and is probably even its main power source. This would negate the theory that popped up following the Breath of the Wild 2 trailer that the technology might be powered by Ganon's corpse.
  • Might be the same "force" that powers Force Gems and the Skyward Strike from other games?
  • One of the secret characters, Monk Maz Koshia, is described as a "Conduit of the Goddess," and he's one of the last remaining ancient Sheikah. And since he's in charge of giving you the Master Cycle Zero in BoTW, he's probably the most likely to know how their technology as a whole actually works.

A potential DLC epilogue

Terrako (the one that got possessed by Ganon) is depressed because Zelda pretty much abandoned him,]] so he searches for a new family and travels to the Hyrule of 10,000 years ago, meeting the Link, Zelda, and Champions of the time.

• Possibly Jossed? Since the second Terrako was transformed into Harbinger Ganon and used to help Calamity Ganon to reincarnate, it's more than likely that the little Guardian was all but destroyed, leaving only Calamity Ganon.

The future champions are taken from the point in time after Breath of the Wild 2

By the end of Breath of the Wild, while we've assisted them in the story, we don't actually see the future champions showing any combat capabilities, or at least not to the extent to fit in a Warriors game. Plus, plucking them from the time during BotW 2 itself would mean they have to either adjust the story, or come up with an excuse as to why they won't bring up the events of Age of Calamity. Thus, the only logical point in time where the future champions could've received combat training, and be plucked from the timeline without interfering with the story, is after BotW 2.

• Teba is explicitly stated to be trained as a warrior and Sidon is on record having fought and slain a giant octorok, indicating that he probably has combat training too. Riju lets Patricia and her guards do most of the heavy lifting in combat while she contributes to the fight with lightning from the Thunder Helm. As for Yunobo, he states in the DLC that he was inspired to become stronger and braver by Link, so it's not unreasonable to think that he may have started training not long after Vah Rudania was freed in the original timeline.
• Jossed. They are taken from before Tears - especially Tulin.

The future champions are taken from the point in time after Breath of the Wild 2

For a future DLC campaign, we’ll rejoin the four champions from the future as they return to their own future and have to deal with a brand new threat. The roster throughout the campaign will initially be limited to Sidon, Yunobo, Riju, and Teba, but new playable heroes will quickly join in on the fight.

• Paya (Shy Sweet Sheikah): Since Impa is currently out of commission a century later, it’s up to Paya to take up her grandmother’s mantle. She’d likely fight like a more clumsy version of Impa, making up for her lack of skill with pure pent up energy.
• Kass (Well-Traveled Minstrel): The Rito bard who’s songs can be heard across Hyrule. Equipped with his bandoneon, he’d entrance his enemies with a soothing song before blasting them away with forbidden notes.
• Magda (The Flowerblight): A Hylian who takes great pride in her pristine flower garden surrounding the Hila Rao Shrine, and will smite anyone who threatens to soil it. Since the new threat to Hyrule may intrude on her garden, she decides to take matters into her own hands. She’d fight with a variety of garden tools as she trashes and tramples the monsters who incited the “flower’s rage”.
• Future Link (Breath of the Wild): The Link who slumbered for a century after being mortally wounded in the Calamity. He’s now hardened by the wilds and empowered with the abilities of his fallen comrades. He pilots his own Divine Beast now, The Master Cycle.
  • Like above, Jossed.

Rhoam was a member of the Royal Guard before he married Zelda's mother

Both this game and Breath of the Wild explicitly state that Zelda inherited the sealing power from her mother. This strongly implies that Zelda's mother was Queen by birth, and her father married into the throne. Being part of the Royal Guard would explain Rhoam's skill with a royal claymore, his main weapon; furthermore, the weapon bio for the royal claymore in BoTW states that those weapons were issued to the Royal Family's immediate guard detail. This also adds a bit of Fridge Brilliance—Zelda's mother likely fell in love with Rhoam in much the same way Zelda eventually fell in love with Link in the original timeline: both developed a Bodyguard Crush.

Sooga is the Master Kohga we met in the original game.

Being a Sheikah, it's not necessarily impossible that this game's Kohga and the one in Breath of the Wild are the same person, but that sort of begs the question of why Sooga isn't around at that point. It's mentioned in BotW that "Master Kohga" is a title passed from one generation to another, and of the Yiga we see, Sooga would be the most logical choice for an heir when the current Kohga dies or retires.

• This also carries the implication that Sooga would go on to behave a lot like his old master, perhaps as a result of age or out of a sort of reverence.

The entire game is a story present day Link is writing to cope with his grief.

Work with me here. We know that after all the shit Link went through both in the past and present, he must be wracked with guilt and grief. His homeland destroyed. Everyone he had ever known and loved either died in the Calamity or of old age. He looks around and he’s reminded of his failure — how all this happened because both he and Zelda couldn’t awaken her powers and stop the Calamity in time. We also know that in the Japanese version of the game, he’s quite verbose and contemplative in his journal — the entries taking on a first person narrative rather than second-person. I think we can also safely assume that Link is well aware of the legends of an ancient hero who could travel through time to slay the evil of his era.

With that in mind, it’s wholly possible the game is simply a story Link is writing in an effort to cope with his grief. It would explain how Zelda suddenly has a small guardian that can travel through time, how the present day champions have seemingly no problem with going back in time and interacting with their ancestors. How right when the Calamity started, everything just…went right for the heroes. They’re suddenly winning in the face of obvious defeat. Link is taking what he knows from legends and the Champions both past and present and crafting an alternate scenario where they won and everyone got to live. This is how he chooses to cope with his loss. By creating an alternate world in which the Calamity was stopped.

"Breath of The Wild" 2 will feature some references to this game.

It can feature some light reference, like the elemental variants of Moblins, Lynels, Hinoxes and Guardians returning; but it could include some stronger tie as well, like the 4 descendents all making some remark about their time travel.They could even include Astor and Sooga in the plot, thus filling the gaps on what they were doing in the original timeline.

• So far, so Jossed - there's no hints towards Age of Calamity in Tears.

There will be a sequel dealing with the Upheaval in this game's timeline

Likely titled Hyrule Warriors: Age of Upheaval, it will feature Link and Zelda investigating the Gloom in this timeline, leading to Ganondorf's awakening and an Upheaval that affects their timeline. It will feature the same Warriors plus those of the past: Rauru, Sonia, Mineru, and possibly the Sages as Moveset Clones, and will feature a way for them to use Zonai devices and Fusing in combat.

There will be a sequel dealing with the Imprisoning War

In Tears of the Kingdom the Imprisoning War is only briefly glimpsed, leaving plenty of room to explore the conflict between the Demon King's horde of monsters and the Sages. Rauru, Zelda, the Sage of Wind, the Sage of Water, the Sage of Fire, the Sage of Lightning, Mineru, Ganondorf, Kotake and Koume, and other unseen characters — like a representative of the Sheikah — could all be playable characters; with a unique Zonai construct subbing in for Terrako as the cute mascot robot.

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