While Breath of the Wild set the foundation for Tears of the Kingdom, Tears of the Kingdom vastly surpassed it. From story to lore, worldbuilding, etc., Tears of the Kingdom, like Skyward Sword before it, truly was The Legend of Zelda. It name-dropped crucial events in the Zelda timeline, but those events were different than the original incarnations, such as the Imprisoning War in Ocarina of Time. In fact, Tears of the Kingdom introduced so many new aspects to the Zelda lore and barely referenced Breath of the Wild, which was a good thing. It didn’t need to. Fi was present, although briefly, which infers that Skyward Sword is still canon. But the rest of Zelda, save maybe Breath of the Wild? These games don’t seem to be canon anymore, and this may just be a good thing for the series long-term.
Many hidden keys point to the fact that Tears of the Kingdom breaks off from the main timeline(s). The main point is that this Ganondorf appears to be the very first incarnation of Ganondorf, Demise’s hatred. If you explore below Hyrule Castle, you will discover that the castle was in fact built to keep Ganondorf sealed. Ultimately, with the destruction of the castle during the Calamity, the seal weakened. Ganondorf was able to resurrect himself after failing in Breath of the Wild to reincarnate in physical form. Unfortunately, some of these connections between BOTW and TOTK are easily missable, but they do exist. It used to seem as if Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom were simply set thousands upon thousands of years in the future. This doesn’t seem to be the case. The timeline established in the Zelda Encylopedia (updated version from Hyrule Historia) makes it feel as though there are no connections between the new games and the previous ones, save Skyward Sword, which is why it may have been given the high-definition treatment over The Wind Waker and Twilight Princess.
Zelda travels to the ancient past, where she meets her progenitors, Sonya and Rauru (Light Sage!?), the first King of Hyrule. The Zonai are a completely new species introduced properly in Tears of the Kingdom. This may even retcon Skyward Sword. Zelda was sent to a point where Hyrule was just being founded. The Zonai are also from the Sky, which makes it odd that they were nowhere to be seen in Skyward Sword. Regardless, if Zelda was sent to a point where Hyrule was first being founded, and the first incarnation of Ganondorf existed in this time, it overwrites a lot of the other Zelda games. Ocarina of Time, for example, which is one of the most beloved games of all time. There would be two Ganondorfs existing at once, which doesn’t make any sense (sealed or not.) The following games make no mention of the Zonai or the initial Imprisoning War. They refer to the Imprisoning War in the A Link to the Past manual, which was a fight over the Sacred Realm. In fact, the Triforce itself has no place in Tears of the Kingdom. It is inferred that Zelda has the power of the entire Triforce in Breath of the Wild, but this is never confirmed.
There is another fact that contradicts Tears of the Kingdom being in the main timeline. If Zelda was roaming as a Dragon for over 50,000 years, perhaps millions of years (the first Calamity was 50,000 years ago well after the founding of Hyrule), that causes some discrepancies in the unified timeline we currently have from the Zelda Encyclopedia. Ganondorf was sealed that entire time, and was extremely powerful, even without the power of the Triforce. He even resembled Demise in his Demon King form, which was probably on purpose. The Zelda timeline has always been tedious, but, Tears of the Kingdom destroys the current timeline and acts as a reboot of Link and Zelda’s story.
That is why this is the perfect time to reboot the Zelda franchise. They could remake Ocarina of Time to fit in with the current timeline following Tears of the Kingdom. There’s also the fact that in this iteration of the timeline, unlike in The Wind Waker, the Rito did not evolve from the Zora; that idea has been utterly scrapped and for good reason. Both tribes are interesting in their own right and to get rid of the Zora would be a horrible idea and give Hyrule less diversity and depth. Also, the Sheikah are all but extinct in Ocarina of Time and Twilight Princess, yet somehow they are thriving in Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom. This makes no sense. Miyamoto has been known to not care much for the timeline, and that’s okay. It’s Aonuma, allegedly, who wanted to piece things together.
The future of The Legend of Zelda is full of possibilities. The first move they should make is to do a brand-new 2D Zelda game or a remake of A Link to the Past. Or at least use A Link to the Past as a template. Link’s Awakening for the Nintendo Switch sold almost 6.5 million units yet it wasn’t one of the more popular Zelda games; it was a remake of a GameBoy game. Imagine what a brand-new 2D Zelda game could do for the franchise, following the story and success of Tears of the Kingdom. It has the potential to be a smash hit. Now is the time for Nintendo to shed the past and look toward the future. There is a reason neither Wind Waker HD nor Twilight Princess HD have been released on the Switch. Nintendo is cooking. Zelda has become their top franchise. This presents the perfect opportunity for the company to reboot the series, and even make the stories a little bit dark, while still maintaining that Zelda charm. They could always go back and remake old games, but they need to look ahead and reboot the series. And that future is post-Tears of the Kingdom, with all its continuity included.