The Legend of Zelda Timeline Revealed (spoilers I guess)

User 40136

Banned deucer.
Not strictly related to SS, but seeing as how I'm the OP of the thread I can do w/e the hell I want!

With the recent book "Hyrule Historia", Nintendo has released the official timeline! Here it is!

Hyrule-Historia-3.jpg


For a more clearer look:

Zelda-Timeline1-e1324670138295.jpg




Yeah, so it seems even Nintendo couldn't find a way to fit the old games into the timeline, so they just threw them into a "what if" sort of scenario where OoT Link dies to Ganondorf........

DISCUSS AWAY
 
Ok there are a few issues I have with this timeline. I realize that Nintendo doesn’t exactly have this vast plan of the Zelda series and that some games are just loosely connected so those loosely fitting games are mostly grouped together and that is wonderful. But I’ve always hated the idea of a split timeline since there is very little in the games to support it and it just seems an excuse to keep going back to OoT as inspiration. The Hero of Time is defeated timeline is pure crap.

Here are the things missing:

1.The Spirit Tracks map is clearly mirroring the LoZ and AoL game series, so those two ought to be related.

2. Four Swords Adventure is a direct sequel to the FS game so the two games should not be so far apart, as stated in the FSA intro. Also FSA with Ganon getting his trident and the LttP type geography makes it quite obvious that this is a LttP prequel as well, (which also helps to explain why the Four Sword is in the dark world in the LttP GBA game).

3. Why would Ganon need to be revived in LttP if the Hero of Time is defeated in OoT and presumably Ganon gets the full triforce?

Honestly split timelines are a joke. However I’m glad I got the LttP ->Oracle -> LA part right. I know the timeline I posted isn’t perfect by any stretch, some games could by rearranged. I wouldn’t mind seeing a few more Zelda games that stich events together in a clever way Like Spirit Tracks or FSA. It doesn’t have to be overt but it will certainly feed the fandom.



My timeline post said:
That said I have my own theory and here is my basic outline and I’ll explain it all in spoilers.

Skyward Sword -> Minish Cap -> Ocarina of Time -> Majora’s Mask -> Twilight Princess -> Four Swords -> Four Swords Adventure -> Link to the Past -> Oracle Series -> Link’s Awakening -> Wind Waker -> Phantom Hourglass -> Legend of Zelda -> Adventure of Link ->Spirit tracks

Notes: For the most part I ignore graphic style and geography and stick to plot (although some geography comes into play)

SS is first because it makes sense and Demise essentially did a “Hijacked by Ganon” on the entire series. This game is before “Hyrule” as we know it.

I would say the legend at the start of Minish Cap could be SS or some event shortly after with a descendant of SS Link, perhaps some of the people who held on to the ancient knowledge of Skyloft became the Wind Tribe? Also with Vaati and all it makes sense this is before the Four Sword games.

Ocarina needs to be before the four swords because it appears that Gannondorf is already in the FS games, and he doesn’t have his trident in OoT (which he gets in FSA). Also I believe in the single timeline just because Link meets Princess Zelda at the end it’s probably just to cause a stable time loop so he tells her what she needs to do and where she needs to be. MM is then an obvious sequel.

TP could be the same Ganondorf as OoT or a different one, but I’ll assume this is a new version since Sage continuity seems messed up. Plus Ganondorf still doesn’t have the old trident so it should be before FS/FSA.

The FS series is next because the two games are clear sequels to one another with the FSA intro. This would then be the first time of the Dark world, which was the sacred realm from Ganondorf in OoT. Then we finally see the Trident which Ganondorf got in the pyramids at the Desert of Doubt.

Lttp is next because the geography is obviously similar to FSA, (it’s too intentional really). The imprisoning war from this game has been said to be the plot of OoT.

The oracle games follow afterwards because they take place at a time of a unified Triforce, and a dead Ganon, which is the ending of Lttp. The problem here is that Zelda doesn’t recognize Link, which I believe is just a side effect of Link’s wish on the triforce, that the events of that journey and his Uncle’s death didn’t happen, thus Zelda never “met” him.

At the end of the linked Oracle games Link goes off on a boat similar to the LA one, and the LA game was intended to be a sequel to Lttp, the final nightmare boss has Agahnim too.

With WW is was clearly intended to be near the end. I put LoZ and AoL in between PH and ST because the ST map closely resembles that of the LoZ map so it’s feasible they take place in the 100 year gap between the two DS games.
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Split timelines aren't a joke....adult timeline and child timelines makes sense. Its this what If thing that's stupid
 
Eh, it made more sense when they told us to treat each game unto itself and not part of any direct timelines besides the obvious sequels (like OoT to MM). I mean, if you try making it into a timeline as they did, shit looks weird.
 
Shinryu said:
Eh, it made more sense when they told us to treat each game unto itself and not part of any direct timelines besides the obvious sequels (like OoT to MM). I mean, if you try making it into a timeline as they did, shit looks weird.
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They have always said they had a timeline that they hadn't released. They may try and say this wasn't from them or whatever but really it looks like they couldn't figure out where to stick the pre-OoT games and just stuck them into the "what if" timeline which the existence of makes no sense. But hey, I really couldn't be assed to care this much about the timeline.
 
let the cry of a million fanboys roar through the internet with imperishable strength
 
A failure timeline? I was good with everything up until then. Link doesn't die in Ocarina of Time, Nintendo, you damn fools. Stop pulling shit out of your ass.

I did, however, think it would be cool if the company made a game that takes place just before the flood of Hyrule before Wind Waker, where Link shows up, engages in questing and attempts to defeat the final boss when, just before all is saved, Link fails and his failure is forgotten, referenced only as the "Hero of Time who never arrived" in Wind Waker. Kinda dark, but hey, it'd still be cool.

Also, it may be interesting for Nintendo to remake the original Legend of Zelda and combine it with its sequel, adding an entirely different gameplay and set of mechanics and a much more detailed story. The game could just keep the order of the dungeons and its bosses or something, essentially revamping everything. I'm not talking about an update like FireRed Version, I'm thinking of a full-on reinterpretation. It would really flesh out more details about the full timeline of the series, generate a more compelling overarching plot for the franchise, and would allow the developers to revisit the series with new mechanics.
 
Yeah I've been waiting for a game about the Great Flood where the hero fails ever since the intro to The Wind Waker. Was hoping Twilight Princess would be it when I saw early trailers :(
 
Firestorm, you and I should write a plot for a game in the interim of Ocarina of Time and Wind Waker and submit it to Miyamoto and then ??? profit but not really

Question for discussion - now where do the Sheikah and Interlopers fit into this timeline, and do the two have any relation?
 
I know a lot of the old games just don't fit because they don't even really have a story, but tossing LttP off to the side in the stupid "what if" timeline really makes 0 sense as it fits fine into the child timeline (and the oracle games fit in the normal timelines as well). Oh well, outside that shit, everything seems to be the way everyone expected it.

Also, not a huge fan of what they did with the adult timeline. I mean if they're fine taking what should be the darker timeline and turning it into a series of cartoony wind waker-esque ds sequels that i have no intention of ever playing i guess that's alright. I just think it's spoiled potential really.
 
JabbaTheGriffin said:
I know a lot of the old games just don't fit because they don't even really have a story, but tossing LttP off to the side in the stupid "what if" timeline really makes 0 sense as it fits fine into the child timeline
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The part where the sages don't seal Ganon? Which is a major plotpoint in LttP and eventually the sages get towns named after them. Makes perfect sense. People used to stuff all this into the adult timeline with the first game taking place after Wind Waker but the logic on that was pretty dodgy.

Honestly the Link dies timeline is a really cool concept and both my friend and I agreed that we'd like to see a spinoff game that takes place during the Sealing War, but they're gonna make the next game in the
Sky Era no doubt about it.
 
Well, it is a timeline MADE by the people who MADE the Zelda series, so it is official. I like it. I'm sort of surprised Majora's Mask is a prequel to Twilight Princess in a way from that picture scan. That's pretty cool though.

Though one thing in my mind is how the green hat really got its legend. From being Ezlo's gift or the academy uniform from Skyward Sword?
 
vonFiedler said:
The part where the sages don't seal Ganon? Which is a major plotpoint in LttP and eventually the sages get towns named after them. Makes perfect sense. People used to stuff all this into the adult timeline with the first game taking place after Wind Waker but the logic on that was pretty dodgy.
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Whoops I think I meant adult timeline. I mean it's not exactly perfect but if you retcon some of the things that were a little off you're looking at LttP being late in the timeline and the intro scene could be said to describe the events of OoT. It makes more sense than saying OH BUT WHAT IF GANON WON

I'd say the way lttp references the past it definitely makes less sense to throw it off in some fake timeline than to just fit it into the adult timeline.
 
What is "Hyrule Adventure" that's grouped with 4 Swords?

Layell said:
3. Why would Ganon need to be revived in LttP if the Hero of Time is defeated in OoT and presumably Ganon gets the full triforce?
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According to the timeline the period before LttP was the "Sealing War," so it can be assumed that Ganon was somehow put away beforehand (perhaps another Hero emerged). Also wasn't it mentioned in-game that Ganon (or the great evil or whatever he was referenced as) was believed to be gone? Been awhile since I've played LttP so I my memory might be failing me.
 
sharma27 said:
Split timelines aren't a joke....adult timeline and child timelines makes sense. Its this what If thing that's stupid
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The split timeline was made “official” by Eiji Aanuma, who in regards to OoT was the assistant director but mostly in charge of dungeon design and monster layout. I’m not sure he has the final word on this sort of thing with OoT. The reason I do call the split timeline theory a joke is because it can work as a single timeline and the split allows for all the console games to be directly related to OoT. Because let’s face it Nintendo knows it has the handheld market down (or had depending on the iphone and such), people will have those. By saying their next console Zelda game is a sequel/prequel to OoT they are really asking their old fanboys to buy a Wii/GC if they haven’t already.

The what if is stupid yes but not much more than splitting a timeline just to not have to deal with so many games in a linear path. They did it twice why not three times? This of course could lead to many different timelines now that this door is open. Didn’t turn back time that one cycle in MM? NEW TIMELINE!

Danmire said:
Well, it is a timeline MADE by the people who MADE the Zelda series, so it is official. I like it. I'm sort of surprised Majora's Mask is a prequel to Twilight Princess in a way from that picture scan. That's pretty cool though.

Though one thing in my mind is how the green hat really got its legend. From being Ezlo's gift or the academy uniform from Skyward Sword?
Click to expand...

Your second point is one of those little flaws with the series, but it could just be that SS Link had been long forgotten or that the artist who created the stained glass of the ancient hero from MC didn’t include the cap for artistic licence.

Just because this timeline appears in a Nintendo publication does not mean it would be legitimate, Miyamoto has clearly shown no regard for any clear overall timeline. For all we know this was just drafted by some intern with the basic notes on each game. As I already said most games have established ties with one or maybe two games, but never with the whole series, which is why fitting them together takes a bit more guesswork and more effort than the game designers seem to care for.

A few other things that bug me with this “official” timeline:

-Why does Vaati only get resurrected in the child timeline, does the Four Sword seal just not get weaker in the other games?
-In the Tower of the Gods in WW there is the “Tingle Legend”, which remarks that Tingle made maps for the ancient hero, which only happens in MM. But in that timeline that never happened, unless Nintendo later makes a game to fill the spot (MC Tingle just fuses kinestones).

Here are some pictures to prove some stuff, (as much as I hate using the chaos georgraphy of the Zelda series)

Lttp map vs FSA Map

The Spirit Tracks map versus the LoZ and the AoL maps (This is a bit of a stretch but I think it’s possible.)

Veedrock said:
What is "Hyrule Adventure" that's grouped with 4 Swords?
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Oh well THAT is the CD-I game duh!
 
i don't understand the division between child era and adult era, and the i never heard about hirule's adventures with 4 swords.
EDIT: also the MC map and the LttP map are very similar, so why going on with the timeline trought the MC map and then to the map of OoT that is also another region and then when link was defeated use another MC map with LttP? it doesn't make much sense IMO
 
I believe it was Anouma that explained that the child era is the timeline that exists where Zelda sent Link back as a child to the point where they first met in OoT so he could stop Ganondorf before he attacked and then live out his childhood. The adult era is the timeline where Link didn't go back in time, but lived his life out as an adult after defeating Ganon in OoT.
 
mattj said:
I knew OoA/S led to Link's Awakening before it was cool.

I mean seriously. If you watch the ending to OoA/S (around 6:25) and the intro to LA...

Honestly, after playing through almost all of them this timeline makes as much sense as a bunch of games that were hardly intended to be strung together possibly could.
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I've played through the Oracle games both ways about 3 times each, and the problem I've heard some people say is that Zelda does not recognize this Link, which can easily explained by "The triforce did it".

Also Braseg there really isn't much in common between the MC map and the Lttp one. Sure there are some commonly adhered to principals in location placement but unless 90% of the map is the same the games probably aren't meant to be related.

For games that would be awesome in the timeline aside from an obvious WW prequel, I'd love to see a Four Swords sequel. One where perhaps the Four Sword is fused with the Master Sword, since at the end of FSA Ganon is sealed in the former. Or a game that refutes a split timeline or combines those two timelines and gets rid of this what if timeline. Tying together a very loose plot wouldn't kill Nintendo and I dearly hope that they don't feel that they must stick to this timeline now that they published it because surely they must recognize that people will accept the split timeline but the what if is a slap in the face.
 
after that link defeated ganon, zelda sent link back in time of 7 years, and then link lived as a child without the problem of ganondorf. the point that the timeline says about the defeat of link is maybe when link was sent to the past and ganon was relegated in the underworld, so without link he could be revived and get the triforce while link was in the past, if I understand correctly this can make sense
 
The threeway split isn't a what if really. If you consider when Link pulls the master sword out for the first time as a split and when he returns the sword as another separate split you would then have three timelines.

The timeline forks with child Link gaining the master sword creating one timeline without Link. That kind of counts as being defeated maybe.

The second side of that split gets split once more into two creating a timeline as young Link with memories of the future and a timeline with adult Link.

Maybe?!
 
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