Unlike Breath of the Wild which fed its story to audiences through breadcrumbs scattered across a massive open world, Age of Calamity embraces narrative with constant cutscenes that rival even the most cinematic Zelda games. Age of Calamity transitions Hyrule Warriors from plain old fan service to one of the must-own games on the Nintendo Switch. Between gameplay and story, AoC redefines Breath of the Wild in the best ways imaginable.
As Age of Calamity’s story is far denser than Breath of the Wild’s, it’s easy to miss all of the finer details that make up the plot. Time travel and an active sidestepping of scenes shown in BotW means that only the most dedicated Zelda fans will catch everything in Age or Calamity’s story.
10 The Butterfly Effect Happens Immediately
The key to understanding Age of Calamity’s story is accepting that the butterfly effect happens the moment Zelda’s egg robot, Terrako, travels back in time. Just as important, there’s nothing in-game stating that Terrako traveled to right before the game’s first battle. It’s entirely possible Terrako was shot back long before the events of the game, explaining the narrative discrepancies.
Terrako’s butterfly effect is inadvertently responsible for the following events: Link not getting the Master Sword as a boy, Zelda assembling the Champions in a completely different order, Astor’s influence on the main plot, and AoC’s very first stage.
9 The Champions’ Deaths Are Shown
It’s easy to miss since these scenes are paired with the introduction of the modern Champions, but Breath of the Wild’s original Champions actually do “die” during Age of Calamity. During their fights against the Ganonblights in Chapter 5, every single Champion has their own “death” scene that should align with canon.
Revali is worn down by Windblight Ganon, about to be caught off guard; Urbosa fights Thunderblight Ganon to exhaustion, before she’s about to be cut down; Daruk is beaten rather soundly by his Fireblight, facing death head-on; and Mipha fully recognizes she won’t be taking on Waterblight Ganon, matching up with how quickly she calls for help in BotW.
8 The Heroes Were Still Going To Fail
Even though Terrako travelled back in time to help the main characters stop the Calamity, the egg arguably almost made everything worse. Had Zelda not cried into Terrako to divine the modern Champions, all the old Champions would have died and their Divine Beasts would have remained in possession of Ganon.
While it’s possible Link and Zelda could have freed the Divine Beasts themselves, they would have ultimately died trying to stop Calamity Ganon during the final chapters. Terrako leads the path towards a happier ending, but Zelda only defeats Ganon because she has the literal strength of everyone in Hyrule on her side – something she wouldn’t have without the Champions.
7 The Divine Beasts Almost Made Everything Worse
On that note, the Divine Beasts almost make things so much worse for Zelda and the gang. Even if Link and Zelda had reached the Beasts in the event of the Champions dying, there would be immediate consequences to their failure. Terrako’s presence emboldens Astor considerably, causing him to bolster Calamity Ganon’s forces & general strategy.
Chapter 5 has the Divine Beasts actually pairing up together in a single giant map, suggesting they’ll be rampaging Hyrule together. Considering how much damage a single Divine Beast can do, there was very real danger to their Calamity versions teaming up.
6 Link Awakens The Master Sword For Zelda
Link may not have the Master Sword at the start of Age of Calamity, but it leads into one of the game’s better scenes. Highlighting Link’s relationship with Zelda and their unique dynamic, Link only awakens the Master Sword in a bid to save Zelda’s life. As Astor’s Hollows close in to kill her, Link reaches out to her, proving himself worthy in the eyes of the Master Sword.
While flying in the face of canon, this is an important bit of characterization for Link. Although he may be silent, both Age of Calamity and Breath of the Wild make a point of detailing how important Zelda is to Link. The Master Sword awakening for her is a perfect representation of their bond.
5 Astor, The Fortuneteller
Astor might seem like a new character altogether, but his existence is rooted in lore found in Creating a Champion. The book details how a fortune teller came to the Hyrule Royal Family with prophecies of Calamity Ganon, even hinting that this seer actually set up Rhoam & Zelda to fail.
It’s possible that Astor’s similarities to the fortune teller is just coincidental, but the fact he has his own possessed Terrako would suggest he has some connection to the Royal Family. Even if Astor isn’t the fortune teller from Creating a Champion, he functionally fills the same role – albeit for the Yiga.
4 Rhoam Dies On The Great Plateau In-Canon
Age of Calamity really commits to the idea of a happy ending, to the point where even King Rhoam survives the events of the game. This is all done to benefit the gameplay and give players a full party, but Rhoam’s survival actually lines up with canon events quite well.
Logically, Rhoam has to have survived the initial assault on Hyrule Caste to make it to the Great Plateau. It’s only there where Rhoam dies, ultimately surrounded by the Guardians his rune counters in AoC. This would also explain why Rhoam’s ghost is bound to the Great Plateau in the same way the Champions are bound to the Divine Beasts – that’s where they died.
3 The Story Takes Place Over The Course Of Months
Taking the time to read the Battle Info for each mission not only helps to expand Age of Calamity’s story, along with Breath of the Wild’s own lore, it actually reveals the story’s actual chronology. It perhaps goes without saying, but the events of AoC take place over the course of a few months. Quite a bit of travel time is mentioned in mission passages, and the fact Link & Zelda move all over Hyrule would suggest they’ve been adventuring for quite a bit.
Zelda also has a birthday during the events of Age of Calamity, suggesting that at least a few months pass between the start and middle of the game. There’s naturally more urgency in the final chapters steaming from the Calamity, but time actively passes between story missions.
2 Zelda Suffers More Than In BotW
Age of Calamity might exist to give Breath of the Wild’s Zelda a happy ending, but she arguably suffers more in AoC than she did in the main timeline. Zelda in Breath of the Wild was overwhelmed by her own insecurities, jealousy towards Link, and emotional abuse on behalf of her father. At the same time, she does explore her passions through Link and has some modicum of independence.
This is not the case for Age of Calamity’s Zelda, who is forced to confront the fact she can’t awaken her powers in time to stop the Calamity while also dealing with harsher neglect from Rhoam on account of Terrako’s mere presence. Zelda ends up saving the day, but only after non-stop suffering.
1 Link Isn’t The Main Character
In a rare change of pace for The Legend of Zelda, Link is not Age of Calamity’s main character. He’s still incredibly important, both to Zelda’s arc and in the context of defeating Calamity Ganon, but the narrative is ultimately about Zelda. Age of Calamity sees Zelda grow from an insecure girl unable to save the world into a woman who unites all of Hyrule against Ganon in a display of authority comparable to the Goddess Hylia.
Age of Calamity is Zelda’s story first and foremost, expanding her arc from Breath of the Wild and rounding her out as a nuanced character. Where BotW highlighted Zelda’s character flaws, AoC allows her to overcome them and come out the other side a three dimensional protagonist.