The Timeline

The timeline. A heavily debated matter, to be sure. The timeline theories can be divided into three beliefs, the first of which being the ‘Straightforward Timeline Theory,’ easily proven wrong with a little thought about the ending of Ocarina of Time. That combined with Nintendo’s ‘official’ statement about the timeline being split, there isn’t much left, save lost hope, for believers of this theory. Next we have the ‘No Time Line Theory,’ which would be possible, if not for the fact that many of the games talk about separately occurring events in the series. And lastly, we have the ‘Split Timeline Theory,’ the only possible setup left. With that, I’d like to welcome you to the timeline theory developed by two of the staff here at EDN: Zeldaeinstein and myself, Deku Lord. We’ve spent many hours mulling over what definitely happened, what wasn’t possible, and of course, the uncertainties of everything in between. Eventually we pieced together a timeline with very few uncertainties, a map of which can be found at the bottom of the page to use as a reference throughout this article.

The Minish Cap: First in the line, we have the game that follows King Gustaf’s triumph with the Picori blade, which was from then on cherished by the people, and held in Hyrule castle. Little is known of this early era, however, we can determine that this is (so far) Vaati’s first appearance in the series. Now, remember how Vaati lost his cap? Some of you might be saying that because he lost his cap, he can’t be in later games. This is quite untrue, as his power had merely “withered” rather than completely left him. Quite simply, other games in which Vaati has débuted cannot come before TMC due to the opening legend.

Break #1: “Wait, what? I’ve never heard of this game!” Well, that’s because it, obviously enough, is not a game. YET. In our timeline, we have determined several places where we believe, rather, know that there will be a game to place there. Now, moving on. In Four Swords Adventures, the opening sequence speaks of two legends. The first legend speaks of the wind sorcerer Vaati, who, upon being vanquished, is imprisoned in the Four Sword and that later, a shrine was built around the blade. The shrine is the beginning area of FS and FSA, thus it was built before these games occurred, but was not built until after TMC. Also, Vaati supposedly kidnapped “many beautiful girls,” which he did not do in TMC, nor was the blade in a shrine at the time of TMC, it was in a very portable, pedestal-like chest.

Four Swords: The Four Swords Adventures sequence speaks of a second legend, one in which Link is “Zelda’s childhood friend” who uses the Four Sword to save her. Well, seeing as the legend wouldn’t reveal what was about to happen in the game, we can determine that FS, TMC, and the mysterious Break game are all before FSA.

Four Swords Adventures: You’re probably wondering “when the *Navi* does the Master Sword come in? What of the Imprisoning War?” Now, would you really need a new magical blade when the old magical blade was just fine? No. Let me say that again; a new magical blade is NOT NEEDED, yet. As described before this game comes directly after Four Swords.

Break #2: Let’s get this out of the way; The Master Sword is created during the Imprisoning War which comes after this Break. Remember what I said about not needing a second magical blade? Something in this game will get rid of the Four sword for a good long while. In FSA Ganon is sealed inside the Four Sword, yet he is attacking from the Sacred Realm in the Imprisoning War. Explanation? He escapes from the Four Sword thus breaking it into four parts to be found later in the temple, which was in the Great Pyramid in ALttP.

The Imprisoning War: I won’t go into much detail here, however, the main item is that the Master Sword was forged in the middle of the war. A quick history check reveals that the Master Sword has already existed for a good long time at the beginning of Ocarina of Time. As further proof that these events are not the same, the majority of the War was spent looking for a hero to wield the newly forged blade. More information on the War can be found here.

Break #3: This could actually be a few breaks, but we’ll classify it as one. In OoT Hyrule, nobody remembers Vaati, Ganon, the Four Sword, not even King Gustaf. Aside from this, Ganon needs to escape from the Sacred Realm somehow, and the Temple of Time must be built to house the Master Sword. He also must lose the Triforce that he had during the Imprisoning War. “Why?” Simple. Why seek something you already have?

Ocarina of Time: This is where the series gets interesting, because it is widely accepted that the series splits here. For this Article, we’ll refer to the left branch as the Child branch, and the right branch as the Adult branch. When Zelda sends Link back in time it sets the stage for the Child branch, which will continue next. The Adult branch, now isn’t it interesting that when Zelda sends Link back in time that he takes the Master Sword with him? Indeed, the Adult branch has just been left Master Sword-less. But more on that in a while. For now, let’s move on to the Child branch.

Child Branch: The Child branch is comprised of only 3 games and 1 Break. Of course, the flow of time in Termina is debatable, so there is a possible Break listed as well.

Majora’s Mask and Possible Break: This takes place in… an interesting area, to be sure. Speculated to be a different dimension altogether, Link’s adventure in Termina may have ranged from 4 days to hundreds of years. Assuming it was a mere 4 days, then there is most definitely a break, as the Temple of Time needs time to crumble around the Master Sword and be rebuilt behind a dimensional door. This will prepare for the events of Twilight Princess.

Twilight Princess: Not too many landmark events here, excepting Ganon being ‘killed’ by the Master Sword. Of course, this is Zelda, and many times do swords simply trap the villains. Ganon will return after this, be assured of that. Please take note that the Zoras are friendly here. Also, Ganon is killed here, not destroyed.

Break #4: Why a Break here? Well, bringing up the matter of the Zoras, a quick glance at the timeline shows that after a time, the Zora disappear from Hyrule, and their doppelgangers, the Zola, appear. We therefore believe that something caused the Zora to either die off or mutate. More information on this theory can be found here.

Oracle of ages: The last game in the Child branch. In our discussions we determined that the Oracle games must be the end of the branches, but more on that later. Our only foundation for which game went in which branch was the evidence that some bosses had been in previous games. More information can be found in the Oracle of Seasons section. Also, you’ll probably have noticed that the Zoras here are also friendly, explained easily by the fact that it is another land entirely.

Adult Branch: This branch is currently much larger than its Child counterpart, which means more events must happen within the same amount of time (which strengthens the need for a break after Majora’s Mask in the Child branch, but nothing in Termina is definite).

Break #5: Yes that’s right, a Break immediately after the split into the Adult branch, and why? Because, if you remember from earlier, this Branch is currently Master Sword-less. Guess who pulled the Sword? Zelda. She went back in time after Link left, took the blade and hid it in the depths of the castle. Of course, this is quite disputed, and the opposing articles on this matter can be found here and here. If the above is incorrect, then it is no doubt in the break placed here anyway, seeing as there must be a Master Sword by the time of Wind Waker. Also, if you for some reason doubt the need of a Master Sword by Wind Waker, Hyrule must also be filled with water. Even more on the Imprisoning War and Master Sword can be found here.

The Wind Waker: As stated before, Hyrule must be flooded for this game to happen, and the Master Sword must be (somehow) replaced. But what of the Zora? And of the Zola who, according to our timeline, replaced them? What of the Rito, and their similarities to the Zora and Zola? Well, that’s discussed here. As for Ganondorf, we believe that he (once again) has been sealed inside of some miscellaneous object, and this time it’s the Master Sword. Here he remains until after the draining of Hyrule. Why would the Goddesses allow it to drain? Because the threat of Ganondorf was obviously gone, of course. Oh, and the King’s wish for Hyrule to be washed away. He simply said “fill it with water, we don’t need it anymore,” and, if you object to that wish translation, take into account that he never said “oh, and make sure that you can’t have another one, or drain the current one.”

Phantom Hourglass: Not much needs to be said here; nearly no Hyrulian history is discussed. It comes after Wind Waker, ‘nuff said.

Legend of Zelda: Now, seeing as it’s quite mountainous, we believe that this is the resulting landscape from the draining of Hyrule. Even a temple in the middle of the desert is on a flipping mountain! Ganondorf has broken out (somehow) either after or during the break, whereupon he has taken over Hyrule (again). Now, that would be a pretty far stretch, but, there are Zolas here now, not Zoras. If you haven’t already, read the flying fish article that was linked to earlier. Ganon is killed here, not destroyed. Small side note: the White Sword makes a re-appearance in this game. We’re open to guesses as to why this is, and why it has no power. Nothing has been proven as of yet, but the fact remains that the Four Sword is still incomplete during this period.

Adventure of Link: Quite simply, it comes after LoZ. Not much left to say here…

Oracle of Seasons: Here is where our timeline ties back together. Now, the reason for no break being between AoL and OoS is that, quite simply, nothing needs to happen to progress in the timeline. Moving on, you link the games, Ganon is resurrected, which can happen, because at each end of the timeline, we have Ganon being killed. Now, with his resurrection, the events in both timelines become one, upon which Ganon is, once again, killed.

Joined Timeline begins.

Break #6: The final break, very simply, Ganon must be revived before A Link to the Past, because he is instructing his pawn (Agahnim) from the Sacred Realm (or the Dark World at that point). He must also be sealed inside of the sacred realm before ALttP.

A Link to the Past: Here, we have Ganon using his ‘assistant’ Agahnim to escape from the Dark World, into the Light World, eventually being repelled and destroyed by Link. No, not killed, destroyed, as in he is not just dead, he is now a pile of ash. He is so dead, that he is unresurectable, which is a pretty lasting effect. Oh, at the end of this game “the Master Sword sleeps again… FOREVER.”

Link’s Awakening: It is stated that Link sets sail to on a journey of enlightenment after he destroys Ganon. Well, in ALttP, he gets destroyed, so this must, therefore, come after ALttP. And, the manual from this game states that Link is on the way back to Hyrule from a journey of enlightenment. Also, it would be hard to fight your nightmare of Agahnim if you hadn’t met him yet. There are a great many mysteries surrounding this island, including the Nightmare, but, perhaps another time.

Written by Deku Lord

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