The beginning of The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom sees you jump right into the story discovering secrets below Hyrule Castle. However, without a nice cutscene showing the events from the end of Breath of the Wild (BOTW) and the beginning of Tears of the Kingdom (TOTK), we are left wondering what the time gap is between the two games. For answers to this interestingly complicated question, you’ve come to the right place.
How much time has passed between BOTW and TOTK?
Our guess is that The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom takes place somewhere between three to five years after we defeated Calamity Ganon, which is the ending of BOTW. While it may be true (but we doubt it) that the very next story beat after defeating Calamity Ganon is Link and Zelda exploring the ruins under Hyrule Castle, the true beginning of TOTK is somewhere between three to five years. This extended period of time is due mainly because Link awakens on Great Sky Island after an unknown amount of time.
The reason we believe the time gap between TOTK and BOTW is three to five years is because of the NPCs and the landscape. The Surface of Hyrule has changed thanks to the floating islands crashing into the earth. Many NPCs you talk to either directly mention how long it’s been or hint at the fact that it’s been a while since the final events in BOTW.
If you look at the main characters, you’ll notice their changes. Purah is the best example. In BOTW, Purah was a teenager. In TOTK, she is a young adult. It’s characters like this that lead us to believe the time gap between TOTK and BOTW is somewhere between three to five years.
All of that said, there are moments in TOTK‘s story that dive into ancient history before BOTW and TOTK. Because the story arc of BOTW and TOTK are closely tied, there is a lot of lore and prophecies that allow this open-world Zelda epic to be a linear story.
