Daily Debate: Do You Want the Zelda Timelines to Remain Split or Merge Together?
Posted on December 06 2017 by Michaela El-Ters
With all of the theories revolving around Breath of the Wild and its unclear placement in the timeline, I wanted to step back and think about the timeline as a whole. As it stands, Hyrule Historia has confirmed that the timeline is split into three separate ages. This on its own raises questions and problems for me, but seeing as how the book is canon, I won’t argue there. However, there are some interesting theories that have popped up lately that suggest the three timelines could merge at some point in time because Breath of the Wild, based on specific references to other games, could be placed in each of the separate timelines.
While this would be interesting, and would admittedly make Nintendo’s life a lot easier by giving them the ability to create games without having to consider the timeline very carefully, I still love the idea of a split timeline. The fact that Ocarina of Time shaped the narrative and lore of the series so dramatically is really cool to think about, and playing the games with the knowledge of that fact makes each adventure more meaningful. I remember noticing how powerful the timeline element was to the story of The Wind Waker, when the world from Ocarina of Time was seen ruined by Ganon and subsequently flooded by the gods. It really created a tragic moment of knowing that the world was saved in Ocarina of Time when I played it, but in a later installment, that world I loved exploring was gone by the start of another story. It was a really poignant moment that reinforced the connection between all Zelda games, and it’s because of this emotional connection to the overarching narrative that, overall, I’d prefer to see the timelines remain separated.
What does everyone think about the timeline? Do you want to see it stay separate or merge together? Let us know in the comments!
Michaela El-Ters is an Original Content Editor at Zelda Dungeon. For more of her Zelda talk, check out her blog.
Michaela El-Ters is a Senior Editor for Zelda Dungeon. She is also an Senior Writer for Boss Rush Network, and writes blogs and streams games on Objection Network. Her favorite Zelda game changes with the seasons, but the series as a whole is near and dear to her heart.
