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Zelda timeline theories, for your inner geek!


Xbob42
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Well, the

posted by Predmid in the Twilight Princess thread got me thinking, what do you think the whole timeline is, and why?

The 12 minute long featurette basically gave their idea of how the Minish Cap came first, what followed and why. Some theories since Twilight Princess on there may have been proven or disproven due to various facts about the game. And hopefully we'll have even more insight once the Phantom Hourglass comes out.

What do I believe? I'm not sure exactly, and I have yet to completely beat Link's Adventure (I'm sorry, but it never felt like Zelda to me and remains the only Nintendo Zelda I have never beaten. It's so hard to play through it when it bores you so.) but what I do believe is that the original Legend of Zelda probably doesn't fit too well anywhere in the timeline, at least from a technical standpoint. This is of course because the game came out long before anyone knew it would be a long franchise and Nintendo had probably simply planned a fun little adventure game, never suspecting it would swell into the monstrous series it is today.

That leads me to the conclusion of that, and of the lack of any REAL story behind the original, it is not really designed for the timeline.

Oh, and personally, I like to think Link's Awakening happened after Majora's Mask, but not before the original as the video implies. It seems to me that this Link is the one that never returns and is mentioned in the beginning of the Wind Waker, the Hero of Time, and that Wind Waker is not part of the "split theory," which I don't think too much of myself.

Well, let's hear some wacky theories!

P.S. If Kirby sucked up Link, Ganondorf and Zelda at the same time, would the Tri-Force grant him a wish?

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OK, I'm just going to completely re-write this post so that people will get off my case about how wrong I am and get back to the subject at hand...

I've never played Minish Cap or the Four Swords so I can't guess where it lies in the storyline, but here is a rough guess at some sort of order:


Minish Cap
||
Four Swords Games?
||
Ocarina of Time ==> Wind Waker
Majora's Mask Phantom Hourglass
||
Twilight Princess
||
A Link to the Past
Link's Awakening
||
The Legend of Zelda
The Adventure of Link
(Philips CD-i games and the TV series might fit in here)
Oracle of Ages/Seasons

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There are also subtle hints in the Hylian/Hyrulian letters and text used in each game. In OoT, the text (found on the signs and some buildings) is angular, like something that would be chisled into stone, whereas the writing in WW is more like script, written in ink on paper. This would stand to put OoT pre-WindWaker. What sort of writing is in the other games?

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I don't like most of their timeline. When timelining Zelda, we have to assume as little as possible. I mean, some things need to be assumed a little tiny bit, but they make massive leaps of faith there. Here's what I think.

The Minish Cap is most likely first in the timeline. Aonuma said in a Game Informer interview that Four Swords on the GBA was first, and The Minish Cap predates this.

Ocarina of Time introduces Ganon and a new Link, so therefore predates all games except The Minish Cap and possibly Four Swords GBA.

Child Link's ending leads into Majora's Mask. I, for one, don't like assuming that Zelda and Link ratted Ganondorf out. That is a big leap of faith.

Adult Link's ending can go anywhere. We know that it connects to Wind Waker (new Link), and that Twilight Princess (with another new Link) is between the two of them. Wind Waker leads into the new DS game, The Phantom Hourglass.

Four Swords Adventures needs to be some time before A Link to the Past, as his trident is obtained here. A Link to the Past also has a new Link.

Link's Awakening, as stated in it's manual and in the Satellaview game, The Stone Tablets of Antiquity, comes right after A Link to the Past, with the same Link.

The Legend of Zelda and Zelda II: Adventure of Link are consecutive with the same Link as well, according to their manuals.

What we have are small groups of games. The problem is where to place them.

Here's what we know:

Timeline Group A: OoT, MM

Timeline Group B: WW, TPH (Phantom Hourglass)

Timeline Group C: FSA, ALttP, LA

Timeline Group D: LoZ, AoL

So as far as timeline are concerned, this is all we know for sure:

Timeline I:

The Minish Cap

(lots of time, possibly more games)

Ocarina of Time

Majora's Mask

(lots of time, possibly more games)

Timeline II:

Timeline I:

The Minish Cap

(lots of time, possibly more games)

Ocarina of Time

(lots of time, possibly more games)

Twilight Princess

(lots of time, possibly more games)

Wind Waker

Phantom Hourglass

(lots of time, possibly more games)

Other than those "These games definitely connect" groups up there, this is all we know.

We have a few corners constructed, but Uncle Eiji and Grandpa Shiggy won't give us the last few pieces we need to fill in the middle and completely connect our cute jigsaw puzzle.

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Ok, so I'm probably the least knowledgeable about Zelda here (I've played OoT up to the Sprit Temple, played like 5 mins of ALttP and Awakening each, only one finished was WW)

Anyway.. I thought Majora's Mask was "Zelda Gaiden" in Japan or something.. and to my knowledge, a gaiden is a side-story... confirm/deny?

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Just beat TP, and all I can say is wow. Anyway, I just a thought about the Link in "A Link to the Past" being the last Link, who also is definately the same Link in Link's Awakening afterwards and I guess Zelda 1 and 2 as people have said (I've only played parts of the 1st 2 Zeldas). I just thought of how at the end of "A Link to the Past", it says, "and the Master Sword sleeps again, FOREVER". Now unless the 1st 2 Zeldas do infact come after "A Link to the Past" and "Link's Awakening", AND have the Master Sword in them, it would make sense that this is the last Link. They probably didn't even mean it like that, because I doubt they knew what was in store for future games.

This has probably already been gone into before, but I thought I'd mention it.

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Don't forget Four Swords Adventures. It's pretty much a straight sequel to Four Swords GBA. However, it also includes Ganon and shows how he got his trident, and it shows the destruction of Vaati. We can pretty much assume that it lies between OoT and LttP from this, but takes place after Minish Cap, placing Minish Cap as the first.

The Oracle games end with Link sailing off to new lands after going through the linked games(Adding Ganon as a final boss), which could connect to the start of LA.

Zelda 1 and 2 are actually rather difficult to place in the timeline. They appear to have a 'new' Link as the main character, but Ganon's back while LttP claims he was totally destroyed. Then there's the case of the full Triforce coming under Ganon's power, while he only has the Power part in Z1. Also, OoT shows Ganon vanishing with only his Triforce part, while the others remain with Link and Zelda.

The other games are rather obviously connected though. LttP's GBA release actually has a changed plot to point out the differences that OoT brought.

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Maybe all the Links are from parallel universes and will one day combine their might like in those episodes of Spider Man? All seriousness though, that Game Trailers one was thought through pretty well. I wonder if Nintendo actually has a timeline handy or if they're just making it up as they go along and telling us little lies just to keep us guessing. Kudos to them either way cuz they're keeping it under wraps pretty damn well.

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I admit, I used to not give a second thought to the idea that each game (excepting obvious same-system follow-ups) were, in any way, Linked to each other. But after watching GameTrailers' split timeline theory, I might as well be sold out on it. Not that I'm the kind that believes the first thing he hears - but GT's arguments were so cogent and provided so much evidence for each, that I, in my limited (beat every known Zelda game at least once) experience, could not conceive of an argument to top it.

That said, I find the split timeline theory captivating, and look forward to seeing if future Zelda innovations (which ever way Nintendo decides to take the franchise) will make or break that theory.

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I concur with the "let it go." Basically, the only way a single, definite way to connect all the games could exist is through some major retconning, and Nintendo is far from likely to do that any time soon.

Ever since Ocarina of Time was made, Miyamoto has had a master document with the entire zelda timeline planned out with areas that could have more then 1 game in between them to cover unplanned developments. So there is a over-arching storyline.

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Ever since Ocarina of Time was made, Miyamoto has had a master document with the entire zelda timeline planned out with areas that could have more then 1 game in between them to cover unplanned developments. So there is a over-arching storyline.

Even this seems like a stretch. I always thought that since it's a legend, different people have been retelling the story with their own twists on it. Like an oral tradition kind of thing.

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Well, considering that Miyamoto's official line is that he has had an overarching story planned from before the first NES game was released...

LINK 1

Minish Cap

Four Swords GBA

Four Swords Adventures

LINK 2

Ocarina of Time -----> Majora's Mask (MM is a sidestory)

LINK 3

A Link to the Past

LINK 4

Twilight Princess

LINK 5

Legend of Zelda

Adventures of Link

Link's Awakening

Oracle of Ages/Seasons

(great flood)

LINK 6

Wind Waker

Phantom Hourglass

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Even this seems like a stretch. I always thought that since it's a legend, different people have been retelling the story with their own twists on it. Like an oral tradition kind of thing.

I suppose that's another take on it. But even then the "Legend telling" still has a ultimate purpose.

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I've been seeing theories of LttP being before TP, and it being after.

Before TP makes sense because well...spoilers involving the mirror, you already know if you've beaten it. But if it is after, where does the LttP mirror come into play? I mean, I guess the goddesses could have made another for some reason, plus the LttP one is able to be carried.

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