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The Grandfather Parablah

Hyrulian Hero

Zelda Informer Codger
Joined
Oct 6, 2016
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SoDak
Yeah, we all know the old debate. Does link remember the events of OoT in the child timeline? Here are a few thoughts.

So in Majora's Mask, Link appears to remember learning the song of Time from Zelda. It goes differently from the events of OoT though, considering Zelda's words and the fact that Epona is present. In OoT, Epona isn't available until after Link adultifies. Perhaps this indicates that in the child timeline overwrites a bit of Link's original childhood journey because in OoT, Link needs the Song of Time to open the Door of Time. Maybe his memory is faulty, maybe the developers disregarded what happened in the previous game (they often forget what happened previously), or maybe Zelda sent him back to a time after Link collected the Zora Sapphire but before he learned the song of Time so that he had to learn it from Zelda in a different way than he did in OoT. But then the grandfather paradox occurs because he couldn't have been sent back if he hadn't learnt the Song of Time in the original manner and AHAHAH, stop it! We know it's paradoxical, shh.

Anyway, whatever happened, Link was sent back to his childhood, but maybe he learned the Song of Time in a different way than we saw him learn it in OoT. Then again, it makes little sense for Zelda to teach Link the Song of Time after his return to childhood since they know they can't open the sacred realm. But then here's the thing: there's a drawing/carving of Link's fight with Ganon on his house when he's a child. If Link retained his memories, that would be the most obvious source for the drawing/carving. Link has to have retained some of his memories since he told Zelda about what would happen, but if he retained his memories then why did he remember learning the Song of Time differently in Majora's Mask? Mysteries wrapped in enigmas and such...
 
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I'm pretty sure CT Link needs to maintain his memories in order to explain the danger of Ganondorf to Child Zelda. There is undoubtedly "unseen" interactions explaining how Link got Epona from Malon; as for Zelda teaching Link the Song of Time, it is definitely weird that Link remembers the second time he learned it, but for Zelda, that was the first time she taught it to him. And then there's the question of what happened to the other Link in the Child Timeline, the one still in Kokiri Forest.
 

Spiritual Mask Salesman

CHIMer Dragonborn
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I think a few of these points are just explained by Link doing stuff off camera, like GZ mentioned too. He probably convinced Malon to let him take Epona somehow.

We know that Link was sent back before the attack on Hyrule Castle, and before he even met Zelda, so from her perspective she never taught him the Song of Time. The King dies in Ganondorf's attack on the castle, but Hyrule Historia and Hyrule Encyclopedia state that the child timeline is created by Link convincing the king that he is a time traveler.

The only can of worms this opens up is: how did Link get out of the Master Sword room at all? The Door of Time would be sealed at the point in time he was sent back to, lol, but honestly any answer would be more thought than the devs ever put in, so it isn't worth it.

I know they put him in that room for cinematography purposes, the pan up on the sword to the window with the sunlight streaks hitting through it with the bell toll audio is an epic shot. I can't blame them for breaking narrative logic to make a scene like that. Narratively it makes more sense to have Link back in his house in Kokiri after being sent back or something, but I realize it'd be hard to make an interesting scene out of that.

And then there's the question of what happened to the other Link in the Child Timeline, the one still in Kokiri Forest.

I think in this case the type of time travel where the time traveler is just merging with the version of themselves that exist in the period they have traveled back to makes more sense.
 
Joined
Oct 10, 2017
As for learning the song of time differently, I have always imagined it Link being taught a second time, and just not correcting Zelda about it.

The only can of worms this opens up is: how did Link get out of the Master Sword room at all? The Door of Time would be sealed at the point in time he was sent back to, lol, but honestly any answer would be more thought than the devs ever put in, so it isn't worth it.
The theory about portal use can help here. In game, when the door is opened, it connects to a different structure. At the end, though, the portal is not active, so Link would emerge in that alternate location.
 

Spiritual Mask Salesman

CHIMer Dragonborn
Staff member
Comm. Coordinator
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The theory about portal use can help here. In game, when the door is opened, it connects to a different structure. At the end, though, the portal is not active, so Link would emerge in that alternate location.
I'm not familar with this portal theory, I'm not sure if there is any indication that the sword chamber is actually in a different location.
 
Joined
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I'm not familar with this portal theory, I'm not sure if there is any indication that the sword chamber is actually in a different location.
The theory came about when people tried alligning the maps of Hyrule. One of the biggest problems was the statement, by the creaters, that the pedistal is always the same location. With portals, which we have seen in plenty of games, it becomes easier to align these locations. Any doorway, especially in a building, is a perfect location for such a portal.

The one aspect I would point to, in game, is the fact that Ganondorf is searching for the very location. If it was possible to simply walk around the back of the temple, and look through the window, his forces would have found it a long time before even meeting the king. I've stated before, that I think the reason he couldn't find it, was because he was looking in the wrong place.
 

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