u/Exotic_Guarantee_238

I know this isn't a new theory by a long shot, but here's my two cents:

If you rotate BOTW/TOTK map 180°, the locations from OOT fit almost perfectly inside The Great Plateau.

I've been searching for a map that matches the two, but I never quite found what I was looking for. So I finally decided to make one of my own.

I'm not claiming this is definitive. I'm posting it exactly because I want people to poke holes in it and see whether the correspondences hold up. It's pretty convincing to me, but I'm certainly biased by now.

The strongest case for:

• The Deku Tree location (where the >!Gloom Hands appear in TOTK!<). The shape of the area and the tunnel leading to it fit perfectly with OOT.
• "Hopper's Pond" in the Great Plateau is literally the pond from Kokiri Forest where you learn to "hop" in OOT (Kokiri Forest being the tutorial area for OOT). It even has fallen trunks that resemble the structure of the columns and pillars from OOT.
• The exit/entrance stairs to The Great Plateau fit perfectly with where the broken bridge from OOT was, connecting Hyrule Field to the desert.
• The place where Lake Hylia once sit may have drained over the years, but it is still heavily flooded.
• The obvious layout of the Market, Hyrule Castle and the Temple of Time ruins.

The case against (and possible answers):

• Where's Gerudo Valley and Desert Colossus?

Answer: Maybe everything outside the Great Plateau was deserted. Literally, a desert. As centuries passed, wind displaced the sand, revealing a vast fertile land beneath. The Great Plateau wasn't covered in sand due to its natural elevation. Similar to how Wind Waker takes place in a >!flooded Hyrule!< with just a few islands >!that were once mountain tops!<.

• Where's the volcano?

Answer: Volcanic activity probably ceased entirely across millenia, and thus Death Mountain became... well... a mountain. Without all the lava, it became a cold peak.

• Where are the Lost Woods?

Answer: Lost. Pun intended. Maybe the government shut it down after that freaking skull kid and the scary mask business.

• The entrance to Zora River doesn't reach Hyrule Field and Zora River looks too wide!

Answer: Yep. The terrain probably shifted, the river altered its course... Either that or local authorities closed off access due to stuck-up Hylians throwing glass bottles with bugs into the water.

• Where's Kakariko Village?

Answer: Gone, no trace left behind. Maybe it became too cold without the proximity to a volcano. They were great builders, so maybe they found a way to "relocate" the buildings elsewhere. Or they just demolished the whole thing, but did it cleanly and thoroughly.

• What are those empty spaces behind the Temple of Time, Lost Woods and the Deku Tree?

Answer: Maybe the original Hyrule Castle was north of the Temple of Time, but since >!Ganondorf tore it apart to create his own tower of doom, people decided to rebuild the castle to the west.!< The space behind the Deku Tree/Lost Woods is probably just some filler.

• Why is it upside down?

Answer: It may just be the way cartography worked in those times. Or maybe the planet shifted magnetic poles, so north now points down in ancient maps. Or perhaps NIntendo wanted to make it not-so-obvious.

So, what do you think? Am I completely bonkers, or does this actually make a lot of sense?

PS: I would LOVE for the OOT remake to be directly placed onto the Great Plateau. Imagine the Light Dragon flying above Hyrule during it. Awesome.

PS2: For the record, I'm perfectly fine with every game being a retcon, that these are all just "legends" told differently. However, I'd still love to think that the 3D games are somehow Linked.