- Joined
- Aug 1, 2011
- Location
- Kalamazoo, MI
Thanks to some info from mafuletrekkie on youtube, I took time to rethink my timeline and decided to explain my journey in forming the timeline as I see it. Now I'm open for it to change, as I have not played all the games and know that wikis can sometimes be misleading. I'll start with what I consider to be important factors in any timeline.
References to other games:
Obviously, this is the strongest indicator of placement. Need I say more? I thought not.
The state of various artifacts:
The Triforce, Master Sword, Life Force, and Four Swords are particularly important because they are incapable of moving themselves. These objects and the state thereof is important to consider in your own timeline. The Trident from FSA doesn't count because there is little to no canon information indicating that it appears in any other game, but the fact that it turns Ganondorf into a moblin might be important.
The state of various races and individuals:
This gets a little sketchy. People have this annoying tendency to think for themselves and do unexpected things. As such, basing a theory on this should be approached carefully. There is some cases where this can be hand-waved because "it's art". For example, the real reason Gorons don't appear in LttP, LoZ, or AoL is because Nintendo hadn't thought of them yet. So this isn't always reliable.
geography:
I will not be considering geography because that falls under the artistic element of the games. After all, how do you logically explain Death Moutain going from the east-side of Hyrule to the west? Did it just get scared of the ocean, thinking it was coming after her? This fact cannot be plainer than in FS, with a ridiculous overworld map that has a lake of lava right next to a frozen desert. To quote that guy on Channel Awesome whose name no one remembers: "Earth doesn't work that way! NOT EARTH doesn't work that way!"
Now that I got that out of the way, let me take you through using that first step (references to other games) to start putting the timeline together. I will first be putting the games in various arcs, then interconnecting the arcs. Here they are...
Original arc: LoZ/AoL
The first two Zelda games, according to canon, involve the exact same Link and Impa. In LoZ, a lord of evil called "Ganon" steals the Triforce of Power and attacks Hyrule. He kidnaps Zelda to get the Triforce of Wisdom; but, true to the name of her artifact, Zelda breaks it to eight pieces and scatters them through Hyrule. They all end up at the end of various dungeons guarded by its most powerful monster (but of course). Impa escapes capture at first and is saved from monsters by Link (how he did that with just a shield is a good question, but whatever). She tells Link what happened and he goes and puts the Triforce of Wisdom back together, kills Ganon, and saves Zelda.
The sequel occurs a year or two later. As Link approaches his sixteenth birthday, a mark of three triangles appears on the back of his hand. He tells Impa about this (because she's apparently an authority on magic birthmarks) and she explains that it's the symbol of the Triforce. She says that a King of Hyrule long ago secretly found the Triforce and used it to bring about peace in Hyrule. He hid the Triforce of Courage away before he died and legend says that he only told his daughter, Zelda. When the King's heir took the throne, he was confused the he did not get the full Triforce. A wizard of the court tricked him into questioning Zelda on the matter (perhaps the wizard wanted the Triforce for himself). When Zelda wouldn't talk, the wizard put her into an irreversible sleep. Out of grief, the new King ordered that all girls born in the royal line be named "Zelda" and put the original Zelda in a shrine in hopes that someone could reverse the spell.
Link follows directions on a scroll, that only he can read (because awizard king made it that way), and faces various trials to get the Triforce of Courage. Why? Don't know. Maybe he wants the courage to ask Zelda on a date. All the while, Ganon's followers are trying to kill Link and use his blood or ashes or something dramatic to revive Ganon. In the end, Link faces the real trial of courage: Dark Link. He defeats his evil magical clone and saves Zelda. Zelda also says something about saving Hyrule, but I don't see how he did that. I'll get back to this in a bit, so let's move on...
"Gameboy" Trilogy: OoX/LA
Most everyone clumps the gameboy titles together these days, I'll get into why in a bit. LA was originally meant to be a sequel to LttP, but was later said to go anywhere the fans wanted (thanks for the retcon, Nintendo). Since the whole thing was a dream, nothing in it can be considered conflicted. It was a shared dream between Link and the Wind Fish, so the "nightmares of horrors Link faced before" is sometimes used. However, it's not clear how much Link actually contributes to the dream. The only two clear factors is that Link was sailing because he was soul searching after defeating Ganon, and he calls out Zelda's name in his sleep.
Fortunately, the Oracle games clear a few things up. Most of the important stuff in these games I'll bring up later, but a few things are important now. In these games, Ganondorf is dead and the Triforce is possessed by Hyrule. This limits where it can be placed in relation to the other games, same as LA. They can be played as sequels to each other, with no canon order; and, at the end of the linked games, Twinrova try to revive Ganondorf by using the grief and pain the villains of Ages and Season as well as Zelda's life. Why they can't use the blood or ash thing is anyone's guess, or why they don't just move on and take over Ganon's forces themselves. Link foils them and they end up being sacrificed by accident and bringing Ganon back (you just can't keep a good villain dead). Link kills Ganon again, gets a cute kiss from Zelda, and sails off into the sunset. WAIT A MINUTE! Sails off? After defeating Ganon? Sounds like a clear connection to me. I haven't gotten confirmation if this was deliberate, so if someone knows that'd be great. For now, we can move on to the next arc...
Rise of Ganondorf arc: OoT/MM--TP--LttP
This one is a little more complicated. Let's start with OoT, the "linchpin" of the timeline. This game deals with both the spit timeline (let me get back to that) and establishes Ganondorf's backstory and motivation. Ganondorf leads the Gerudo Tribe, a band of thieves, and envies the prosperity of Hyrule. He seeks to take over Hyrule by means of the Triforce. The fact that the Triforce is sealed in the Sacred Realm and Ganondorf doesn't go by "Ganon" until the vary end makes it clear that the previous to arcs have to occur after it at least.
That aside, Zelda comes up with a plan to stop Ganondorf, by having Link go around Hyrule and collect the keys to the sacred realm (because I'm sure the nine-year-old will be able to hold off the wizard-thief). Zelda's stupid plan backfires, because when Link pulls up the final key of the seal, it opens the door for Ganondorf to take the Triforce. One wonders why Rauru put Link to sleep until he could file for a driver's permit, but that's video game logic for you. Link defeats Ganondorf and Zelda sends him back in time because she feels guilty by taking his childhood from him (yeah, no guilt about causing the death of hundreds and dooming us all). I'll get back to the "Adult Timeline" and focus on the "Child Timeline".
It's assumed that Link was sent back to before he met Zelda, as Zelda is still at Hyrule Castle, when she'd left before Link opened the Door of Time. They somehow foiled Ganondorf's plans through less stupid methods and Link went off to find Navi in MM (I don't know, maybe she owed him money). Like LA, the events of MM are rather unimportant to the timeline as a whole, so I won't elaborate farther.
TP occurs some time after and refers to Ganondorf being tried for crimes against Hyrule. It is also implied that the Gerudo Tribe was wiped out almost completely in the ensuing war, as their land is in ruins and not a soul is in sight. However, Ganondorf's execution didn't give him as much in common with Jacob Marley and Michael Jackson as everyone hoped it would, because the Triforce of Power mysteriously came to him at exactly the wrong moment. He killed the Sage of Water and the remaining five sealed him in the Twilight Realm so he'd be someone else's problem. I'll get back to the whole Triforce thing when I focus on that, so on with the game. Ganondorf manipulates Zant into freeing him and tries to take over Hyrule again, but Link stops him and kills him. And this time STAY dead!
CRAP, what are you doing in LttP!? I told you to stay dead! Okay, in LttP, we find out that the Triforce was in the Sacred Realm and a thief named Ganondorf Dragmire (perhaps a different Ganondorf) took it and sent evil energy through the portal. While the Knights of Hyrule protected them, seven more sages (how many sages is this series going to have?) seal the Sacred Realm away. But these things don't last, because a wizard named "Agahnim" weakens it through some weird mumbo-jumbo; and Link has to...UN-mumbo-jumbo it. He eventually kills Ganon (when is he going to look for those horcruxes to make sure Ganon stays dead?) and gets the full Triforce. This is pretty solid placement. Almost no one disagrees with this ordering, and it's often used as part of the baseline for timelines. The other major factor is...
The Great Flood arc: OoT(Adult Timeline only)--WW/PH--ST
A key fact I glossed over in OoT was that Ganondorf's soul was unbalanced and only could get the Triforce of Power. The Triforces of Wisdom and Courage went to Zelda and Link respectively. When Link was sent back in time, the Triforce of Courage shattered and went all over Hyrule (sound familiar?). Meanwhile, the Triforce of Wisdom remained with the royal family. Ganondorf eventually escaped and was left unchallenged. As the name of this arc suggests, the goddesses of Hyrule decided to send a great flood to stop Ganondorf. The events of WW show that it didn't last. The Link of this game starts off just wanting to save his sister, but finds himself in something bigger than he could imagine. He gathers the pieces of the Triforce of Courage (Tetra gets the Triforce of Wisdom as is tradition) and faces Ganondorf. However, he and Tetra are defeated by Ganondorf and the Triforce reforms. Fortunately the King of Hyrule (sorry, don't know how he survived the flood and stuff) touches the Triforce and wishes for a future for the two young people before him. It sounds corny but is an awesome ending that is totally worth it.
PH is a direct sequel to it that is, once again, all just a dream. However, in a nice touch, there are some hints that it wasn't. Implying that Link and Tetra were taking to another world Narnia-style. Like LA and MM, it really does nothing for the timeline. ST occurs about 100 years after that, Link and Tetra founded "New Hyrule". This new land gets all mucked up and it's up to the new Link to un-muck it. Can't anyone else in Hyrule take care of anything? Anyway, I sadly have little to say about this game. There's just not much to tell, so we'll just put it on the end of the Adult Timeline and move on to the biggest pain in the timeline...
Four Swords arc: MC--FS--FSA
This arc is a pain for timeline theorists because it stands alone in many ways. The only elements that clearly are in other Zelda games are Ganondorf and the Gerudo Tribe in FSA. It and FS tell the tail of the Four Sword and Vaati, who was sealed inside and broke out. FSA had Ganondorf mixed in to boost sales and thankfully killed Vaati. Vaati wasn't compelling as a villain because all he did was kidnap chicks because he wanted women. At least Ganondorf has a goal in mind when he kidnaps someone.
MC tells the origin story of Vaati (who was demanding that? Next you'll tell me that Tingle was staring in a game of his own). Vaati was once a Minish, an ancient group of small beings of great power. They help this Link forge the Four Sword and find the Life Force (yeah, that was in the arc too) so that he can defeat Vaati. He puts Vaati away in a seal that is doomed to fail. But at least Vaati is polite enough to stay dead.
Skyward Sword
As I haven't played it, I can't say for sure. All material point to this being first in the timeline, but I don't know how it will affect placement yet. I'm going to assume that it won't until farther notice.
More in my next post.
References to other games:
Obviously, this is the strongest indicator of placement. Need I say more? I thought not.
The state of various artifacts:
The Triforce, Master Sword, Life Force, and Four Swords are particularly important because they are incapable of moving themselves. These objects and the state thereof is important to consider in your own timeline. The Trident from FSA doesn't count because there is little to no canon information indicating that it appears in any other game, but the fact that it turns Ganondorf into a moblin might be important.
The state of various races and individuals:
This gets a little sketchy. People have this annoying tendency to think for themselves and do unexpected things. As such, basing a theory on this should be approached carefully. There is some cases where this can be hand-waved because "it's art". For example, the real reason Gorons don't appear in LttP, LoZ, or AoL is because Nintendo hadn't thought of them yet. So this isn't always reliable.
I will not be considering geography because that falls under the artistic element of the games. After all, how do you logically explain Death Moutain going from the east-side of Hyrule to the west? Did it just get scared of the ocean, thinking it was coming after her? This fact cannot be plainer than in FS, with a ridiculous overworld map that has a lake of lava right next to a frozen desert. To quote that guy on Channel Awesome whose name no one remembers: "Earth doesn't work that way! NOT EARTH doesn't work that way!"
Now that I got that out of the way, let me take you through using that first step (references to other games) to start putting the timeline together. I will first be putting the games in various arcs, then interconnecting the arcs. Here they are...
Original arc: LoZ/AoL
The first two Zelda games, according to canon, involve the exact same Link and Impa. In LoZ, a lord of evil called "Ganon" steals the Triforce of Power and attacks Hyrule. He kidnaps Zelda to get the Triforce of Wisdom; but, true to the name of her artifact, Zelda breaks it to eight pieces and scatters them through Hyrule. They all end up at the end of various dungeons guarded by its most powerful monster (but of course). Impa escapes capture at first and is saved from monsters by Link (how he did that with just a shield is a good question, but whatever). She tells Link what happened and he goes and puts the Triforce of Wisdom back together, kills Ganon, and saves Zelda.
The sequel occurs a year or two later. As Link approaches his sixteenth birthday, a mark of three triangles appears on the back of his hand. He tells Impa about this (because she's apparently an authority on magic birthmarks) and she explains that it's the symbol of the Triforce. She says that a King of Hyrule long ago secretly found the Triforce and used it to bring about peace in Hyrule. He hid the Triforce of Courage away before he died and legend says that he only told his daughter, Zelda. When the King's heir took the throne, he was confused the he did not get the full Triforce. A wizard of the court tricked him into questioning Zelda on the matter (perhaps the wizard wanted the Triforce for himself). When Zelda wouldn't talk, the wizard put her into an irreversible sleep. Out of grief, the new King ordered that all girls born in the royal line be named "Zelda" and put the original Zelda in a shrine in hopes that someone could reverse the spell.
Link follows directions on a scroll, that only he can read (because a
"Gameboy" Trilogy: OoX/LA
Most everyone clumps the gameboy titles together these days, I'll get into why in a bit. LA was originally meant to be a sequel to LttP, but was later said to go anywhere the fans wanted (thanks for the retcon, Nintendo). Since the whole thing was a dream, nothing in it can be considered conflicted. It was a shared dream between Link and the Wind Fish, so the "nightmares of horrors Link faced before" is sometimes used. However, it's not clear how much Link actually contributes to the dream. The only two clear factors is that Link was sailing because he was soul searching after defeating Ganon, and he calls out Zelda's name in his sleep.
Fortunately, the Oracle games clear a few things up. Most of the important stuff in these games I'll bring up later, but a few things are important now. In these games, Ganondorf is dead and the Triforce is possessed by Hyrule. This limits where it can be placed in relation to the other games, same as LA. They can be played as sequels to each other, with no canon order; and, at the end of the linked games, Twinrova try to revive Ganondorf by using the grief and pain the villains of Ages and Season as well as Zelda's life. Why they can't use the blood or ash thing is anyone's guess, or why they don't just move on and take over Ganon's forces themselves. Link foils them and they end up being sacrificed by accident and bringing Ganon back (you just can't keep a good villain dead). Link kills Ganon again, gets a cute kiss from Zelda, and sails off into the sunset. WAIT A MINUTE! Sails off? After defeating Ganon? Sounds like a clear connection to me. I haven't gotten confirmation if this was deliberate, so if someone knows that'd be great. For now, we can move on to the next arc...
Rise of Ganondorf arc: OoT/MM--TP--LttP
This one is a little more complicated. Let's start with OoT, the "linchpin" of the timeline. This game deals with both the spit timeline (let me get back to that) and establishes Ganondorf's backstory and motivation. Ganondorf leads the Gerudo Tribe, a band of thieves, and envies the prosperity of Hyrule. He seeks to take over Hyrule by means of the Triforce. The fact that the Triforce is sealed in the Sacred Realm and Ganondorf doesn't go by "Ganon" until the vary end makes it clear that the previous to arcs have to occur after it at least.
That aside, Zelda comes up with a plan to stop Ganondorf, by having Link go around Hyrule and collect the keys to the sacred realm (because I'm sure the nine-year-old will be able to hold off the wizard-thief). Zelda's stupid plan backfires, because when Link pulls up the final key of the seal, it opens the door for Ganondorf to take the Triforce. One wonders why Rauru put Link to sleep until he could file for a driver's permit, but that's video game logic for you. Link defeats Ganondorf and Zelda sends him back in time because she feels guilty by taking his childhood from him (yeah, no guilt about causing the death of hundreds and dooming us all). I'll get back to the "Adult Timeline" and focus on the "Child Timeline".
It's assumed that Link was sent back to before he met Zelda, as Zelda is still at Hyrule Castle, when she'd left before Link opened the Door of Time. They somehow foiled Ganondorf's plans through less stupid methods and Link went off to find Navi in MM (I don't know, maybe she owed him money). Like LA, the events of MM are rather unimportant to the timeline as a whole, so I won't elaborate farther.
TP occurs some time after and refers to Ganondorf being tried for crimes against Hyrule. It is also implied that the Gerudo Tribe was wiped out almost completely in the ensuing war, as their land is in ruins and not a soul is in sight. However, Ganondorf's execution didn't give him as much in common with Jacob Marley and Michael Jackson as everyone hoped it would, because the Triforce of Power mysteriously came to him at exactly the wrong moment. He killed the Sage of Water and the remaining five sealed him in the Twilight Realm so he'd be someone else's problem. I'll get back to the whole Triforce thing when I focus on that, so on with the game. Ganondorf manipulates Zant into freeing him and tries to take over Hyrule again, but Link stops him and kills him. And this time STAY dead!
CRAP, what are you doing in LttP!? I told you to stay dead! Okay, in LttP, we find out that the Triforce was in the Sacred Realm and a thief named Ganondorf Dragmire (perhaps a different Ganondorf) took it and sent evil energy through the portal. While the Knights of Hyrule protected them, seven more sages (how many sages is this series going to have?) seal the Sacred Realm away. But these things don't last, because a wizard named "Agahnim" weakens it through some weird mumbo-jumbo; and Link has to...UN-mumbo-jumbo it. He eventually kills Ganon (when is he going to look for those horcruxes to make sure Ganon stays dead?) and gets the full Triforce. This is pretty solid placement. Almost no one disagrees with this ordering, and it's often used as part of the baseline for timelines. The other major factor is...
The Great Flood arc: OoT(Adult Timeline only)--WW/PH--ST
A key fact I glossed over in OoT was that Ganondorf's soul was unbalanced and only could get the Triforce of Power. The Triforces of Wisdom and Courage went to Zelda and Link respectively. When Link was sent back in time, the Triforce of Courage shattered and went all over Hyrule (sound familiar?). Meanwhile, the Triforce of Wisdom remained with the royal family. Ganondorf eventually escaped and was left unchallenged. As the name of this arc suggests, the goddesses of Hyrule decided to send a great flood to stop Ganondorf. The events of WW show that it didn't last. The Link of this game starts off just wanting to save his sister, but finds himself in something bigger than he could imagine. He gathers the pieces of the Triforce of Courage (Tetra gets the Triforce of Wisdom as is tradition) and faces Ganondorf. However, he and Tetra are defeated by Ganondorf and the Triforce reforms. Fortunately the King of Hyrule (sorry, don't know how he survived the flood and stuff) touches the Triforce and wishes for a future for the two young people before him. It sounds corny but is an awesome ending that is totally worth it.
PH is a direct sequel to it that is, once again, all just a dream. However, in a nice touch, there are some hints that it wasn't. Implying that Link and Tetra were taking to another world Narnia-style. Like LA and MM, it really does nothing for the timeline. ST occurs about 100 years after that, Link and Tetra founded "New Hyrule". This new land gets all mucked up and it's up to the new Link to un-muck it. Can't anyone else in Hyrule take care of anything? Anyway, I sadly have little to say about this game. There's just not much to tell, so we'll just put it on the end of the Adult Timeline and move on to the biggest pain in the timeline...
Four Swords arc: MC--FS--FSA
This arc is a pain for timeline theorists because it stands alone in many ways. The only elements that clearly are in other Zelda games are Ganondorf and the Gerudo Tribe in FSA. It and FS tell the tail of the Four Sword and Vaati, who was sealed inside and broke out. FSA had Ganondorf mixed in to boost sales and thankfully killed Vaati. Vaati wasn't compelling as a villain because all he did was kidnap chicks because he wanted women. At least Ganondorf has a goal in mind when he kidnaps someone.
MC tells the origin story of Vaati (who was demanding that? Next you'll tell me that Tingle was staring in a game of his own). Vaati was once a Minish, an ancient group of small beings of great power. They help this Link forge the Four Sword and find the Life Force (yeah, that was in the arc too) so that he can defeat Vaati. He puts Vaati away in a seal that is doomed to fail. But at least Vaati is polite enough to stay dead.
Skyward Sword
As I haven't played it, I can't say for sure. All material point to this being first in the timeline, but I don't know how it will affect placement yet. I'm going to assume that it won't until farther notice.
More in my next post.
Last edited:
