Daily Debate: What Do You Think About the Official Changes to the Zelda Timeline?

Posted on August 12 2018 by Judy Calder

Back in 2011, Nintendo released the Hyrule Historia, detailing the events of Hyrule’s rise and decline through an official timeline. After the events of Ocarina of Time, the timeline split into three separate courses of history; a move which left Zelda fans with plenty of room to speculate and debate over whether the timeline really made sense. Also whether the split into three branches was more necessary than a split into two branches.

More recently, Nintendo has released changes to the official timeline, as demonstrated on the official History section on their Japanese Zelda website. Nintendo have actually moved the positioning of Link’s Awakening, which already had an official place on the timeline, so that it now takes place before the Oracle games. This is followed up by adding A Link Between Worlds and Tri Force Heroes to the chronology. Finally, Breath of the Wild has also been allocated its placement, and it seemingly concludes the three-way split in the timelines.

For me, moving the position of Link’s Awakening in the timeline is slightly disappointing. I feel as though the only reason that the position of an existing Zelda title should move in the timeline is to make room for newly released games. However, I do think that the placement of A Link Between Worlds, Tri Force Heroes and Breath of the Wild in the timeline can be accepted. After all, the Hyrule Historia does state:

This chronicle merely collects information that is believed to be true at this time, and there are many obscured and unanswered secrets that still lie within the tale. As the stories and storytellers of Hyrule change, so, too, does its history. Hyrule’s history is a continuously woven tapestry of events. Changes that seem inconsequential, disregarded without even a shrug, could evolve at some point to hatch new legends and, perhaps, change this tapestry of history itself.

What do you think of the changes to existing games in the timeline? Has Nintendo made the right choice with the placement of A Link Between Worlds, Tri Force Heroes and Breath of the Wild? Let us know in the comments below!