The official Legend of Zelda timeline is something of a topic of head-scratching debate for many fans as the series isn’t always the most straightforward and linear. For example, one detail in The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker connects the game to The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask in a surprising way.
Pointed out by Nintendo fact Twitter account @Reggie_800, the writing on Phantom Ganon’s sword in The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker connects the blade to Majora’s Mask’s Zubora and Gabora. When translated out from ancient Hylian to English, the glyphs found on the center of the sword read “Zubora Gabora.”
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Fans of Majora’s Mask should recognize the two names as those of the two blacksmiths located in the Mountain Village area of Snowhead mountain. The two are able to upgrade Link’s sword to the powerful, but breakable Razor Sword and then once again to the Gilded Sword if given the proper resources.
Zubora and Gabora only appear in Majora’s Mask and aren’t mentioned anywhere else in the series other than on Phantom Ganon’s sword. The writing seems to suggest that Ganon had the smithies make the weapon during a trip to Termina.
Unfortunately, that theory doesn’t seem to hold a lot of weight when consulting the official Zelda timeline. Wind Waker and Majora’s Mask take place in two separate timelines, so it doesn’t seem likely that Ganon would be able to commission a weapon from Zubora and Gabora as, in the Wind Waker timeline, he’d be too busy flooding all of Hyrule and ruling what remains. As it’s unclear where Termina is in relation to Hyrule, it’s possible that it was unaffected by the flooding and that Ganon managed to track down Zubora and Gabora, but there’s no official confirmation of anything like that occurring.
While speculating about how Ganon received a blade from Zubora and Gabora is all well and good, it’s also completely possible that the developers of Wind Waker put the Hylian glyphs on Phantom Ganon’s sword simply as a nod to Majora’s Mask. Wind Waker, released in 2002, was the next 3D Zelda game following Majora’s Mask in 2000.
Wind Waker isn’t the only Zelda game that has fans speculating over the timeline, however, as earlier this summer, Nintendo showed another brief look at the highly anticipated and still-untitled Breath of the Wild sequel. As it’s a direct followup to the original Breath of the Wild, many fans theorize that it will follow the first game as the most recent part of the overall Zelda story, but there has been plenty of debate amongst the game’s community.
The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker is available on GameCube, with an HD version out on the Wii U.
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