Following Zelda: Breath of the Wild, many were surprised to discover Link was gravely wounded again, which caused him to fall into another deep sleep. Because of this, fans are curious about how long he was asleep, especially following the 100-year slumber from the first title. Luckily, we can make a pretty good estimation of how long Link was asleep.
Due to how the other characters reference the time he and Zelda have been missing, we can make a fair estimation. Be warned of minor spoilers for the beginning of TOTK.
Was Link asleep for a long time in Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom?
When Link finished the Great Sky Island, he is able to glide down to Hyrule and reunite with Purah and the team at Lookout Landing.
Based on how everyone is shocked to see Link, we can assume he has been gone for long enough to have been a search party sent. This could mean it’s been anywhere from a couple of days to a week since Link and Zelda went beneath the castle.
This is just speculation based on the information at the beginning of the story, but we know Link wasn’t gone for too long due to all the Hylians looking roughly the same age. They don’t live as long as other races, so Link would’ve noticed if they had aged significantly, like when he met Impa from BOTW again for the first time.
It also doesn’t make sense to me why Purah would continue to have a search party months to a year after Link and Zelda went missing. When Link returns to the surface, Hyrule is still just learning how to deal with the Upheaval, which also gives evidence he would only have been gone long enough for Lookout Point to be established.
What seems most likely is when the prologue happens, Link’s arm and chest are cursed with the Gloom and it nearly kills him. Rauru’s spirit attaches his old arm to Link and is able to save his life, only Link has to sleep off the damage for a little while like you would with a severe injury. He spends the entire title journeying across Hyrule to get that life force back and purify himself in time for Tears of the Kingdom’s final battle.
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That being said, the case could be made that he was asleep for longer based on certain construction like the Skyview Towers, but it seems unlikely.
There are many efforts to rebuild Hyrule after the Calamity and it’s likely these were built in the years between BOTW and TOTK.
