Will Zelda: Breath of the Wild 2 have time travel? Nintendo drops huge hint in E3 trailer

Nintendo fans believe that The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild 2 may feature time travel in both its story and gameplay. The mind-bending new E3 2021 trailer showcases several interesting sequences that could hint at Link’s next adventure featuring epic sci-fi elements. 

After years of anticipation, players finally got their first major look at the long-awaited sequel to Breath of the Wild at E3 2021. While the game still has no release date (a 2022 window was teased instead), Nintendo debuted a jam-packed trailer that will have fans combing over every second for months to come.

The epic video not only gave us a glimpse of what Hyrule looks like post-Calamity Ganon’s defeat, but it also showed off several of Link’s new abilities and they are absolutely wild, to say the least. Here is why many believe BOTW 2 will feature time travel mechanics.

Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild 2 trailer sparks time travel theories

From the moment that Breath of the Wild 2 was first teased in 2019, there has been speculation that time could play a heavy role in the upcoming sequel. The creepy reversed music in the first teaser video alone sounded like something out of a David Lynch project.

However, the latest trailer that was shown at Nintendo’s E3 Direct on June 15 blew the doors wide open with fan theories about BOTW 2 featuring a time-bending story. The nearly two-minute long video shows various eye-popping moments such as a water drop in reverse which then cuts to Link teleporting through the floor.

While it was initially unclear in the 2019 video, we now know that Link’s arm has become transformed by an armband that seems to be surrounded by flowing green energy. Most interesting of all is the trailer’s constant cutting between the Sky world and the grounds of Hyrule, which both feature two different models of Link.

The weird imagery and dual nature of the trailer has led many fans to speculate that the game will feature heavy time-travel mechanics and story elements.

“Idk wtf is up w botw 2 but i get time travel vibes from literally everything in the trailer so thats pretty interesting,” one fan wrote. “Watching the BOTW 2 tease again, there’s some definite time travel trickery going on between Champion Link and Hair Down Link,” another fan posted on social media.

Popular Nintendo content creator TAHK0 pointed out that when the trailer is played backwards, you can hear music from the series. “I originally thought when you played the BotW 2 trailer backwards you could hear the original Breath of the Wild theme, but after some digging & help it might actually be the track “The Events of 100 Years Ago” which is WAY MORE INTERESTING and INCLUDES the BotW theme!!!!” he said.

This wouldn’t be the first time the series has flirted with time mechanics. In Skyward Sword, players could use time-shift stones to change locations into the past. Breath of the Wild 2’s obvious nod to the 2011 title only further fuels the speculation that the sequel will feature the sci-fi components.

Perhaps the wildest fan theory is the idea of there being two Links. It’s not so far-fetched when you consider two versions of the protagonist was shown off in the trailer, and yet throughout the video, the Hero of Time’s face was never shown once. Only time will tell.