A theory on Age of Calamity SPOILERS FOR THOSE WHO HAVEN’T PLAYED OR HAVE NOT GOTTEN FAR SO DON’T READ IF NOT FAR INTO GAME
I know Hyrule Warriors isn’t cannon and takes place in a separate timeline where they win but I think I know how to make it work in the timeline despite Nintendo not placing it on the timeline. So if anyone hasn’t noticed but the Blight Gannons look very different from BOTW such as slightly armored more and more armed. Which would make sense how the Blight Gannons defeated the champions despite being easy in breath of the wild except for Ravali mainly because of Rito vision during night. They were stronger but why would they be weaker in Breath of the wild? My theory is that parts of Age of Calamity are cannon in telling the story. Specifically the cutscene of Link facing the Blight Gannons alone, in the true timeline of breath of the wild he was probably injured while fighting the Blight Gannons but in result he left them in a weakened state where the Blights retreated to the divine beasts to recover. Within the 100 years of Link’s recovery the Blights had not recovered to their full potential explaining the difference in design.
Call me crazy all you want but something a lot of Zelda fans who are interested in the timeline can agree on is that Hyrule Warriors makes the timeline make sense with BOTW and TOTK are in their own separate section.