Official Timeline

With the release of Hyrule Historia, fans saw for the first time the fully revealed official Zelda timeline!

The continuity of the Zelda series is a topic of much debate between fans, and several Timeline theories have been made. Even with the release of the official timeline, some fans are still releasing their own theories, which is something that people probably will never stop, mostly because it is a lot of fun to try to order the games your own way.

How are the games ordered?

Shown below is the order of the games based off the information in Hyrule Historia, and the official timeline. But be forewarned, there are heavy spoilers, so read at your own risk!

Official Ordering

There were plenty of theories circling the web about the "Split Timeline", which was later confirmed by Nintendo to be true. However, Nintendo added yet another branch of games to the original split timeline called the "Failed Hero" timeline.

The Beginning

The very first game on the timeline is Skyward Sword, which was made as a prequel to the entire series. Following that is The Minish Cap and its sequel Four Swords. After that comes Ocarina of Time, which has three different splits in the Timeline at the end: One for the Failed Hero timeline (which takes place if the Hero of Time is unable to defeat Ganondorf), as well as the Adult and Child timelines (Since Zelda sends Link back into his childhood, that leaves a timeline with a hero [child], and one without[adult]).

Failed Hero

Kicking off the first position on the Failed Hero timeline is A Link to the Past, followed by the Oracle series (Oracle of Ages and Oracle of Seasons) and Link's Awakening. Lastly, to finish off the Failed Hero timeline, we have The Legend of Zelda, as well as its sequel The Adventure of Link.

Child Timeline

Starting the child timeline, we have Ocarina of Time's direct sequel Majora's Mask, followed by Twilight Princess and Four Swords Adventures.

Adult Timeline

The adult timeline starts with The Wind Waker followed by its two sequels, Phantom Hourglass and Spirit Tracks.