The Headache of Zelda: Making sense of the timeline

Here's why I placed each Link as I did:

#1:

Miyamoto-sama himself has said that Ocarina of Time is first, and we all know Majora's Mask is the sequel to Ocarina of Time. Some people have argued that a time split occured during Ocarina of Time, splitting the timeline in two. For simplicity's sake, I'm arguing that the timeline did not split, and it is (more or less) a continous timeline.

#2:

Twilight Princess occurs 100 years after Ocarina of Time.

#3.

A Link to the Past occurs 25-50 years after Twilight Princess, with the events of Ocarina of Time being known as the Imprisoning War that that game refers to. After A Link to the Past ends (according to the Link's Awakening story), Link sets off on more adventure away from Hyrule. While we don't know just how many adventures he went on, we can safely assume the Oracle games were two of those adventures, since in the endings for both games, the boat he's riding looks like the one he's riding on during Link's Awakening's opening. We can also assume that Link's Awakening occured en route back to Hyrule.

The original game occurs when Link finally gets back to Hyrule, with Adventure of Link occuring several years later.

#4:

Hyrule floods, and 50 years after Adventure of Link, Wind Waker happens, with Phantom Hourglas occuring not long after.

#5:

I'm not quite sure where the Four Swords games fall in the official story, but I included The Minish Cap with them because that seems to me to be the introduction of the Four Sword and being able to copy yourself, which played a big role in the Four Swords games.

There you are.
 
There are gonna be spoilers in this post, so don't read if you haven't beaten TP... XD

Triffy, I know this is a bit late, but (correct me if I'm wrong) aren't the boat in LA and the boat in the Oracle games different? LA's confirmed to be a direct sequel to ALttP, so I think that the whole boat thing is a coincidence and has no connection.

Also...I know you hate the idea, Triffy, but you've gotta consider that a split timeline is a possibility. I mean, if you consider MM to be part of one single timeline, then OoT technically never took place and the Hero of Time never truly existed. Think about it - at the end of OoT, Link gets sent back to before all the events that happened in OoT actually happened. Ganondorf never took power, the Master Sword was never pulled out, the Sages were never awakened, and the spiritual stones were never collected. Three months later, Link leaves to go find Navi in MM.

BUT...if the adult Link timeline continues, we have Ganon being sealed away in the Sacred Realm, which he breaks free of before Twilight Princess. The Sages were awakened before TP - we know this because they tried to execute Ganondorf and failed miserably. Ganon returns to power and uses Zant as his puppet, yadda yadda, until Link defeats him.

Anyway...just a theory. Not saying I agree with it or not, because frankly, the timeline confuses the crap out of me. XD

Just one more thought...ever think that LoZ could take place right after TWW/PH? Think about it...Hyrule's a pretty barren, desolate land. It could be that way because the flood waters have just receded and people haven't migrated back from North Hyrule (where AoL takes place) yet. Just something I thought I'd throw out there, although the only problem is that I think Ganon is technically dead for good after LoZ, since AoL has them trying to revive him. Of course, he's been revived before, so...
 
Esupio said:
you can claim to be PC's number one zelda fan.

XD
Click to expand...

I was asking for the truckload of original merch as proof :P And I doubt he has it.


EmeraldSky said:
Miyamoto-sama himself has said that Ocarina of Time is first, and we all know Majora's Mask is the sequel to Ocarina of Time. Some people have argued that a time split occured during Ocarina of Time, splitting the timeline in two. For simplicity's sake, I'm arguing that the timeline did not split, and it is (more or less) a continous timeline.
Click to expand...

You're absolutely right anyway Emerald about the time split in Ocarina (if you're referring to the pulling out of the Master Sword and Link being sealed away until he was old enough to be the Hero of Time). I think it mentions somewhere or I've read somewhere that he had to be 16 at least to be the Hero of Time which would mean about a 10ish year gap which means it would be reasonable to place them both together in Link #1 but the Adult Link would have been after Majora's Mask but that doesn't matter anyway.
 
The time split is a hotly debated point in timeline debates...Some argue it did happen, and others say it didn't happen, although if a time split actually occured, it would explain a few plot holes.
 
EmeraldSky said:
The time split is a hotly debated point in timeline debates...Some argue it did happen, and others say it didn't happen, although if a time split actually occured, it would explain a few plot holes.
Click to expand...

I reckon it did but nyeh, my opinion I guess. You think so?
 
While the time-split theory does provide some explanations concerning age...I argue that despite the explanations, it makes the timeline more convuluted that it is, so I believe that every game contributes one long continuous timeline.
 
Aonuma actually mentioned one time that the fact that there are two "endings" to Ocarina is very important to the time. It's not fair to simply dismiss the theory without any other reasoning than "It makes the timeline more complicated."
 
What I don't get is where each game would go if there are in fact, two timelines that were made as a result of a time split.

I'm not dismissing it outright; while the theory has some strength, I don't understand where each game would go and still have the whole story make sense
 
Some people think that the second timeline ends right after MM. Although I think the intro to TWW mentions something about how Link left and went to a distant land seeking a friend or something. I'd have to look at it again.

I was reading a big thread on GameFAQs about the timeline a week or two ago. Guess I'll have to hunt it up. XD
 
Wow, i just finished WindWaker, and starting to think about this whole TimeLine thing. Me too, i think the timeline finishes on TWW, making Phantom Hourglass a What-If story. But Twilight Princess, it's new, and in the originals (The Snes/Nes and the N64 games) it doesn't mention about WolfLink, so i think it's another What-If.

Sorry if i'm wrong, im still new to this. And sorry if i'm late.
 
In March I'm going to start the fourth version of my timeline. ... the third one kind of happened. But after numeruous restarts and revisions I'm just going to bypass it. In the meantime...

Aonuma said:
In terms of the storyline, we've decided that this takes place 100 years after the events in The Ocarina of Time. We think that as you play through the game, you'll notice that in the beginning the storyline explains some of the events in The Ocarina of Time. You'll also find hints of things from The Ocarina of Time that exist in The Wind Waker.

There's also a more complicated explanation. If you think back to the end of The Ocarina of Time, there were two endings to that game in different time periods. First Link defeated Ganon as an adult, and then he actually went back to being a child. You could say that The Wind Waker takes place 100 years after the ending in which Link was an adult.
Click to expand...
 
Problem is, TP didn't really patch up any big holes or clear anything up about the timeline. If anything, it just created more holes.

And I've officially lost all respect for Aonuma. "The Ocarina of Time". Pfft...
 
I don't know if that was his error, or the translator's error. Same with "this takes place 100 years after". In-game text confirms that TWW takes place hundreds of years after OoT, not 100 years.

I don't know if TP created more holes. It certainly didn't fill any, or at least it hasn't yet. I'm going to analyze everything once exams and portfolios are out of the way. Something may be there, no matter how small. I think TP widened any holes that may have existed.
 
I'm sticking by my revised five Link timeline for now.
 
TRIFORCE89 said:
I don't know if that was his error, or the translator's error. Same with "this takes place 100 years after". In-game text confirms that TWW takes place hundreds of years after OoT, not 100 years.
Click to expand...
Yeah, I think that was confirmed to be a translation error. It's supposed to be hundreds of years.

TRIFORCE89 said:
I don't know if TP created more holes. It certainly didn't fill any, or at least it hasn't yet. I'm going to analyze everything once exams and portfolios are out of the way. Something may be there, no matter how small. I think TP widened any holes that may have existed.
Click to expand...
I've gotta agree with you on that. TP screwed things up even worse than they already were. XD
Let me know if you need some help with that. I'd be willing to do some poking around TP too. XD
 
The only point where I feel that a time split would make sense is Ocarina of Time--when Link pulled the Master Sword, a small time split was created, allowing Ganondorf to come to power. The Adult Link part allowed Link to repair the time rift and set history right, which he did.

Otherwise, the timeline just flows like one continuous timeline, IMO.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top