The timeline of The Legend of Zelda has for some been a huge battle, many people had different ideas about what game followed which and if some games were even considered cannon. Gametrailers.com has recently released a new video that details the official zelda timeline, I've watched it and I must say its a very interesting video that goes into great detail on the history of the Zelda franchise. For those that just want a quick summarisation, there is not one, not two, but three different Timelines in the Zelda franchise. The three timelines come out of Ocarina of Time.

http://www.gametrailers.com/full-episodes/en597n/timeline-the-legend-of-zelda

Its a really good video and one of GT's best, I recommend it completely.

Whatever, we all know WindWaker is the one that matters.

Really, though I may watch that, I enjoy people putting way to much thought into the Zelda timeline. Not like Nintendo has any grand plan for it.

I never really had an issue with the timeline. As a kid, I always took each iteration as some abstract reimagining of the lore.

Given each story, it seems pretty unecessary to try and tie them together. Skyward Sword gave a reasonable enough explanation, but even that felt like pandering to fans (a little, it was still really well executed and quite a nice idea).

I mean, if you look at each Hyrule, or whatever they're called in the different versions, I don't see the issue with them being someone else's vision of the story each time.

Hyrule flooding during time-period X followed by Wind Waker is one of the few that makes any sense, and adds another layer to the myth.

Beyond that is reaching.

this looks fantastic. A few minutes in, I'm gonna pause it, make myself a screwdriver with some cheap vodka, settle in and enjoy. THx duder!

I like to think that each Zelda universe is contained within the Triforce itself, and each time Link regains the Triforce he wishes into being the next Zelda universe which has actually existed within the Triforce since the beginning.

Wasn't this announced last year when they released the Hyrule Historia book in Japan (just after Skyward Sword came out)? I've definitely know that for all of this time. I especially remember quite a big "that's stupid?!" backlash that Nintendo got for it - and the number of people who said to go look at what Eiji Aonuma had said in the book in his personal statement to fans:

Chapter 2, “The Full History of Hyrule,” arranges the series in chronological order so it’s easier to understand, but from the very beginning, Zelda games have been developed with the top priority of focusing on the game mechanics rather than the story. For example, in Ocarina of Time, the first instalment of the series I was involved in, the main theme was how to create a game with pleasant controls in a 3D world. Or in the DS game, Phantom Hourglass, the focus was having comfortable stylus controls. Finally, in the most recent game, Skyward Sword, we focused on an easy way to swing the sword using the Wii motion plus.

I got that translation from this website (who personally translated the entire book when it came out - turns out now an English version will be released next year anyway) under the section " Pg. 238 & 239 – Eiji Aonuma on Completing the Edition".

Thanks for the tip on the video though, it might be a good way of explaining it to those who hadn't already known.

@Hizang said:

@Dixavd It was, I even posted a topic on it, although all that was was a page with a timeline on it. This is a full 40 minute video going into vast amounts of detail.

I assume you mean what you had previously linked months ago as the book goes into quite a bit of detail on it. But thanks for the tip (I quickly checked it and read it as being 8 minutes and 9 seconds rather than 38 minutes). I'll check it out sometimes. :)

--Edit-- You're right, the production quality is great (I like how they are going game-by-game rather than exactly chronologically from the start like the book does - it keeps it interesting even for me).

38 minutes? aintnobodygotimeforthat.jpg

I wish I could download it, this seems like it would be super interesting to watch on the bus ride home. Will probably watch later tonight, thanks for the link! (tee hee hee)

Did they use this version that came out like a year ago?
 

Now we just need to work on a Fire Emblem timeline. I'll start: the Magvel universe comes first!

@ajamafalous said:

This three-pronged official timeline (when compared to the two-pronged unofficial ones that have existed for like a decade) never made sense to me because a 'The Hero is Defeated' state doesn't exist in Ocarina of Time. It's not like the game has multiple endings where you can either win or lose, so it just seems bizarre to make a bunch of games in an 'alternate universe' timeline.

Nowhere does it say you were playing the possibility of him losing. I always took the exact start of Ocarina of Time (where link sees a vision of Ganondorf) as something (the triforce/zelda/alternate link) sending himself a message so he isn't killed and anything after that moment had actually failed to pass in an original timeline. Also, there is no mention of how the Master Sword in Ocarina of Time actually works in sending Link through time. I always took it as the moment he took the blade then the timelines were split once (And then split again at the end with zelda's decision). The arguement that it is impossible for there to be three timelines is insane if you are willing to get passed the idea that there can be more than one at all (or even the madness that is that there is any connection at all). I fail to see how someone can have the will to jump passed their disbelief but then think that the possibility of failure in OoT is where it all falls apart.

@ajamafalous: I'm not Zelda Scholar, but I believe the "Hero Defeated" is the default timeline. The idea that Link is killed as a child, instead of being flung through time by intervention of the Hylian gods via Master Sword.

They released the timeline a while ago. It made no sense and was stupid. They should have just kept it a mystery, instead they look like they have no idea what they're doing. Zelda games barely have a story anyway, I don't know why people are so curious about how they interconnect, I mean you're a green dude you gotta save the princess from the Ganon dude. That's... kinda it.

Anyway picking a timeline is easy because all the good Zelda games went under the "Hero Defeated" premise.

Next up, Mario timeline!

The timeline is a year old, but that video is fucking awesome. Thanks for sharing!

What's your favorite timeline? Not as in which timeline has the best games, but which results do you like the best. I personally like the Adult Link timeline. The whole thing about how the people waited and prayed for the Hero but he never came, and the Great Flood, and how it basically killed everybody and created this new land... so epic.

@xyzygy said:

The timeline is a year old, but that video is fucking awesome. Thanks for sharing!

What's your favorite timeline? Not as in which timeline has the best games, but which results do you like the best. I personally like the Adult Link timeline. The whole thing about how the people waited and prayed for the Hero but he never came, and the Great Flood, and how it basically killed everybody and created this new land... so epic.

Well Wind Waker is my favourite Zelda game so I would follow that timeline.

@allworkandlowpay said:

@ajamafalous: I'm not Zelda Scholar, but I believe the "Hero Defeated" is the default timeline. The idea that Link is killed as a child, instead of being flung through time by intervention of the Hylian gods via Master Sword.

Eh, I go with the Sacred Realm Protected timeline. After OoT ends, it makes the most sense to follow Link back to his timeline and see the direct rewards/results of his adventures and knowledge. You see a direct impact of your actions from OoT in the following games.

The Ganon Sealed timeline still feels a bit like an alternate timeline. Link went to the future and saw a horrible "potential Hyrule" if Ganon succeeded, and managed to free this potential timeline while causing paradoxes of his own. So everything that follows is just a result of time travel craziness, and I see it as a branching "spin-off" timeline.

The Defeated Link timeline is basically an excuse to fit all those older games in their own timeline since they don't gel well with the newer games.

Basically I see it like this. In the ending of BttF, we go back to Marty's 1985 and see him enjoy the fruits of his adventure in his original (although altered) timeline. In BttF2, Marty goes into an alternate future where Biff wins (not unlike OoT). He then makes some changes there and manages to get back home. BttF3 doesn't follow what happens in that alternate future after Marty leaves, it deals with the further adventures of Marty in his own timeline.

You follow the hero, not the location. Link went home, we went with him. MAJORA'S MASK IS THE BEST AND MOST CANONEST! YES!!!!