Breaking News: Dan Owsen on the Timeline

Many a Zelda theorist and fan will simply look at the title of this post and run and hide in fear. However justified or not that is, if you weren’t aware, Dan Owsen is back with Nintendo as a translator, and was present at America’s recent Ocarina of Time 3D trial event.

Mases, the webmaster over at Zelda Dungeon, was lucky enough to be there, and got to have a chat with Dan Owsen on the timeline for an exclusive interview. This is what Mr. Owsen had to say:

Mases Hagopian: I’m not sure if you’re aware of this, but you’re sort of a celebrity in the Zelda Community. Interviews you did 10-15 years ago are still quoted to try to prove the validity of various timeline theories.

Dan Owsen: You know, at one point we had drafted a timeline and wanted to make it available online. We showed it to the guys in Japan and they basically told us that it would be best if we didn’t post it. They do have a timeline that has continuity between the games but they wanted to keep it open for how each player views the chronology of the series. There are a lot of connections between the games, but they do have a timeline that has continuity. It’s up to the player to place all the pieces together.

Mases Hagopian: So there seems to be a disconnect between you guys (Nintendo of America) and the developers in Japan.

Dan Owsen: I wouldn’t call it a disconnect. Just that the developers feel that posting a full narrative would take away from the players’ imagination. Part of what makes the series so special is the legend that spans across the series and they wanted to preserve that in the players’ vision. It’s also why they have never given Link a voice. The story is told as if the player is Link. Giving him a voice would eliminate that attachment.

Some interesting stuff there, and while Dan Owsen is more infamous than famous in the Zelda community, this quote adheres to what my beliefs are on the timeline. That there is the potential to connect the games, to connect the legends together, but a key part of the series is allowing the players to piece together the mystery themselves. As much as I’d love an official timeline document, I really do respect Nintendo of Japan’s decision here. It makes me wonder though, if the series was to ever come to an end, would we one day see the official timeline.

Source: Zelda Dungeon