Tag: Timeline

A couple of years ago, Nintendo came out with their book Hyrule Historia which included Nintendo’s official Zelda timeline. There has always been controversy, but I have been trying to see how each game’s events and characters lead into the next game in the timeline. While looking through the timeline, I saw that Ocarina of Time led to Majora’s Mask which led to Twilight Princess. I had always thought in my head that Ocarina of Time could have just led…

When the Hyrule Historia was released in December 2011, it seemed to bring with it a sense of finality for the multitude of Zelda fans who had forever wondered how the games all pieced together. It was as though each little slice of Hylian heaven, from the original Famicom/NES Legend of Zelda to the Wii’s combat-enhanced Skyward Sword, were coming together like pieces of the Triforce for everyone to behold. At last, they had their wish – to make sense of all the Links in the twenty-five year chain.

Here was a way to understand when and how Princess Zelda returned, and Ganon in his many guises; the Triforce, the Goddesses, the Sages. And how, amongst all that, there was a place for the dark days in Termina, the distant dreams of Koholint Island, and the seasonal discordance in Holodrum.

Along with the extensive timeline, there were pages upon pages of artwork from over the years, and a section of the Skyward Sword manga at the end to give the game roots. For a lot of people, this was the answer to all their brooding questions: referenced in interviews with series director Eiji Aonuma, and at the source of theorising articles about what next for The Legend of Zelda. Now, everything has its place, from traitorous wizard Agahnim to traveling sail-salesman Zunari. From Aches to Zols. From Acorns of Defence to Zora Eggs.

The only problem is… I don’t believe it. Here’s what I think.

There are three games that most fans of the series tend to leave in the past. Those are the CD-i games. The CD-i games were a three game series created for the Phillips CD-i after a partnership between Phillips and Nintendo. From this, three Zelda games were created for the CD-i. The games were called Link: The Faces of Evil, Zelda: The Wand of Gamelon and Zelda’s Adventure. The games were released highly negative reviews, and many years later, were heavily parodied on YouTube. I…

IGN has been doing a series on the Zelda timeline which evaluates every game in the official timeline from Hyrule Historia. The discussions are accompanied by some gameplay, and include not just information about the game with regards to the timeline, but also contain interesting facts about the games’ development. The most recent video was on Four Swords, so hit the jump to watch!

Link has been around for a very long time and the timeline that was put out can be a little confusing at times, so the people at BuzzFeed has created an animated walkthrough of the timeline with Navi as your guide to make it easier to understand. She takes you through a very detailed journey of every Zelda game and places it in the timeline for you to see. Hit the jump to see!

So, apparently A Link Between Worlds contains some controversial things that sort of screw with the currently known order of the timeline. While this may be fun to debate about, Nintendo has put down the hammer yet again on just where exactly, and a bit on why, it belongs in the timeline. See the image above, tweeted by Nintendo of America earlier today. There is little doubt where the game belongs; the question now is why such clarification needed to be made? What about

A Link Between Worlds is bringing it into question?

The idea for this article dawned on me while I was in the middle of a conversation on Skype with a close friend of mine. It started as a normal conversation about how I had just beaten Majora’s Mask, when I realized something a little off topic. Majora’s Mask appeared in a trailer for A Link Between Worlds. It seemed a little funny to me, as this game takes place on a different timeline than Majora’s Mask, so I asked Doyle, my…

“You’ve met with a terrible fate, haven’t you?”

I first heard these words thirteen years ago when the strange sequel to Ocarina of Time found its way into my living room on Christmas Day. I unwrapped it, along with the Expansion Pak required to play it, and played it that same day. Nine-year-old me wasn’t sure what to expect, but it certainly wasn’t what was awaiting me on my television screen. I thought we’d get another adventure like Ocarina of Time, but instead the game begins with Link getting bested by the Skull Kid, losing his beloved horse, and transforming into this odd creature that can’t wield a sword. On top of this, he becomes trapped in Clock Town and enlisted by the Happy Mask Salesman to track down a stolen mask within three days. It was all so different, and a lot to take in upon first experiencing the game. I have to be honest; when I first picked up Majora’s Mask, I wasn’t so into it.

That quickly changed, however. My best friend and I shared the game and played through it together. Back before there was a strong online community for games like this, we had to figure out many of the secrets on our own. We spent hours exploring the land of Termina, acquiring every mask and succeeding at every side quest. We spent those cold months of 2001 fighting our way through swamps and mountains and oceans and canyons. We reunited Kafei and Anju, healed Pamela’s father so they could be a family once again, and saved a young girl and her cows from being abducted by aliens. At the end of it all, after becoming acquainted with all of these people and becoming an important part of all of their lives, we were able to summon the Four Giants and defeat Majora. The evil spirit was finally defeated and the moon was returned to the sky. We saved Termina…

Or did we? Read more after the jump!

A Link Between Worlds‘ timeline placement has always been a tad iffy. We’ve known that it takes place decades after A Link to the Past, but did it go further beyond and past the original Zelda? In an interview with Spike, this was just the question asked, and Eiji was more than happy to reveal its precise location.

Spike: Where does the game fall in the Zelda timeline? And I have Hyrule Historia for reference if you need it.

Mr. Aonuma: Right about here. (Pointing to the Decline of Hyrule and the Last Hero branch, right between the Golden Era and Era of Decline, after Links Awakening and before The Legend of Zelda).

It seems like a given as many had already figured out that the Link from

A Link to the Past continued his journey into the Oracle duo and later on in Link’s Awakening. This leaves room for Ganon to return in A Link Between Worlds, as he is later featured in the original The Legend of Zelda for the NES. Let’s just hope this doesn’t result in another “hi-jacked ending,” like with Twilight Princess and Skyward Sword.