You’ve probably heard of the "Timeline." You know, the convoluted, headache-inducing web of The Legend of Zelda history that Nintendo finally tried to codify in Hyrule Historia. But for a specific subset of the fandom, the real mystery isn't where Breath of the Wild fits or how many Links it takes to screw in a lightbulb. It’s a manga. Specifically, a short, gritty, and surprisingly dark story found at the end of that very encyclopedia. The Beginning of Everything novel—or manga, if we’re being technical about the medium—serves as the definitive prequel to Skyward Sword. It’s weird. It’s tragic. And honestly, it changes how you look at the entire franchise.
Most people skip the back of art books. They glance at the sketches, admire the concept art of a Link with a guitar, and close the cover. But if you did that with Hyrule Historia, you missed the foundational myth of the entire series. Akira Himekawa, the legendary duo behind most Zelda manga adaptations, didn't just draw a generic fantasy story here. They penned a narrative that explains why Hylia gave up her divinity and why a kid in a green tunic is destined to fight a pig-demon for the rest of eternity.
Why the Skyward Sword Prequel Matters More Than You Think
It starts with a prison. Not a dungeon with boomerangs and compasses, but a cold, literal cage. The "Beginning of Everything" story introduces us to a Link who isn't a cheerful knight-in-training. He’s a veteran. He’s tired. This Link lived on the surface world long before Skyloft was even a thought in a goddess's head. He was a hero who failed, or rather, a hero who was sacrificed by a world that didn't know how else to survive.
Think about the stakes for a second. In most Zelda games, the world is already established. There’s a kingdom, a castle, and some shops. Here, there is only the "Ancient Battle." This is the era of the war against Demise, the literal source of all malice. The manga shows us a surface world that is being systematically erased. It’s bleak. It’s basically the Zelda version of a post-apocalyptic wasteland, except the apocalypse is currently happening in real-time.
Himekawa’s art style shifts for this story. It's scratchier. More shadowed. It feels older. When you see the original Master Sword—not the shiny blade we know, but a raw, powerful weapon—it hits differently. This isn't just "The Beginning of Everything" because it’s first on a timeline. It’s the beginning because it establishes the emotional debt the gods owe to humanity.
The Relationship Between Hylia and the First Hero
If you’ve played Skyward Sword, you know Zelda is the reincarnation of the Goddess Hylia. It's a neat plot twist. But the manga adds a layer of "kinda messed up" to the whole thing. In this prequel, Hylia isn't just a distant deity; she’s a leader who is desperately in love with her champion. And she’s the one who has to send him to his death.
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It’s heavy stuff.
There’s a specific scene where the First Hero stands before Hylia. He knows he isn't coming back. He isn't doing this for glory or because a Great Tree told him to. He’s doing it because he wants her to live. This is the moment the "Cycle" actually begins. It’s not a curse from Demise—not yet. It’s a choice made by two people who couldn't stay together in one lifetime.
Key Takeaways from the Manga’s Narrative:
- The Red Loftwing: Ever wonder why Link’s bird in Skyward Sword is so special? The manga reveals it was the First Hero’s companion, a creature that waited centuries to reunite with its master’s soul.
- The Master Sword’s Origin: It wasn't always the "Blade of Evil’s Bane." It was a weapon forged in the fires of a dying world, tempered by the Hero's sacrifice.
- Hylia’s Guilt: The reason Hylia sheds her divinity to become mortal isn't just a tactical move to use the Triforce. It’s a penance. She wants to be with the human she sent to the slaughter.
The Controversy of Canon
Is it "real"? That’s the question that keeps Zelda theorists up at night. Nintendo is notoriously slippery with what counts as official lore and what is just "fluff." Since the "Beginning of Everything" manga is included in an official, Nintendo-sanctioned book, most fans treat it as "C-Tier Canon." This means it’s true until a game explicitly says it isn't.
But honestly, does it matter? The impact this story had on the community was massive. It filled a void that the games often leave open. Zelda games are great at "showing," but they aren't always great at "explaining" the why behind the mythology. This novelized manga gives us the why. It turns the silent protagonist into a man with a history, a tragedy, and a very specific motivation.
Compare this to other Zelda media. The 1980s cartoon gave us "Well excuse me, Princess!" The Valiant comics gave us a Link who was a bit of a hothead. But the Himekawa prequel gave us a myth. It feels like something you’d find carved into a temple wall in the Lanayru Desert.
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Decoding the Visual Language of the Beginning
You have to look at the details in the panels. The way the Master Sword is depicted before it gains its final form is crucial. It looks heavy. It looks like it belongs to a world that is falling apart. The visual parallels between the First Hero and the Link we play as in Skyward Sword are intentional, but the First Hero is drawn with harder lines. He’s older. He’s seen things.
And then there’s Demise. In the game, Demise is a hulking, flaming presence. In the manga, he is an elemental force of nature. He represents the inevitable end of all things. The "Beginning of Everything" title is ironic in that sense; it’s a story about the end of the old world so that the new one (Skyloft) can begin. It’s a reset button pressed with a bloody thumbprint.
How to Read it Today
Finding a physical copy of Hyrule Historia is easy enough—it’s a bestseller for a reason. But if you're looking for the manga specifically, make sure you're getting the full version. Some digital previews cut off before the "Special Manga" section at the end. It’s only about 32 pages long, but those 32 pages hold more lore density than some 40-hour RPGs.
If you’re a lore junkie, you need to read it alongside the Skyward Sword intro. Watch the opening cinematic of the game where they talk about the "old stories" and then read the manga. The pieces fit together like a jigsaw puzzle you didn't know was missing a corner.
The Legacy of the First Hero
We see echoes of this story in Tears of the Kingdom. The idea of an ancient past that informs a desperate future is a recurring theme in Zelda, but it all traces back to this specific interpretation of the mythos. The "Beginning of Everything" novel/manga basically invented the "Ancient Hero" trope that Nintendo has been leaning into for the last decade.
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It's sort of funny. A 30-page promotional comic ended up defining the emotional stakes for the biggest games in the franchise. It turned a simple "save the princess" loop into a multi-generational saga of reincarnation, loss, and the stubborn refusal of the human spirit to stay down.
Steps for the Ultimate Zelda Lore Experience:
- Read the Manga First: Don't start the game until you've read the Himekawa prequel. It changes the tone of the opening hours on Skyloft from "whimsical school days" to "harrowing survival of a species."
- Pay Attention to the Colors: Notice how the manga uses black and white to emphasize the bleakness of the surface, then compare that to the oversaturated, painterly colors of Skyward Sword.
- Analyze the Dialogue: Look at Hylia’s final words to the Hero. They mirror the themes of memory and "waiting" that define Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom.
- Compare the Swords: Track the visual evolution of the Goddess Sword into the Master Sword. The manga provides the "Step Zero" for this transformation.
The real value of this story isn't just in the "facts" it provides about the timeline. It’s in the soul it gives to a series that could easily just be about collecting hearts and hitting pots. It tells us that before there was a kingdom, there was a man. Before there was a legend, there was a sacrifice. And before there was everything, there was a choice to keep fighting even when the world was literally falling into the abyss.
If you want to actually understand the weight of the Master Sword, you have to look at where it started. You have to look at the blood on the blade before it was polished for the pedestal. That’s what "The Beginning of Everything" offers. It’s not just a prequel; it’s the heartbeat of the entire Zelda mythos. Go find a copy of Hyrule Historia, flip to the very back, and see for yourself why this "short story" is still the most discussed piece of non-game media in the Zelda fandom. It’s a quick read, but it stays with you for every game you play afterward. Once you see the First Hero, you see him in every Link that follows.
The cycle isn't just a plot point. It's a tragedy we get to play through over and over again. And it all started there, in the ruins of a world we never got to see, under the shadow of a goddess who loved a mortal too much to let him go. That’s the real "Beginning of Everything." Now, go back and watch the Skyward Sword intro again. I bet it feels different this time.