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The Realest Zelda Timeline


Maf
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As much as I love the Zelda series I’ve never really cared much about the timeline. I was sort of interested when they put out the Hyrule Historia and the official timeline. I think like most people, though, I looked at it and thought well that’s cute. 
 

I have head canon’d my own explanation for the timeline and I think you will find it quite eloquent. Or totally not care. That’s up to you what can I do. 
 

Basically it’s very simple. The reason why every game is both significantly similar and different is because each game someone is retelling the story of the legend of Zelda. It’s a legend passed down through time and with all things sometimes bits get exaggerated, forgotten, added in, confused, made up, etc.
 

So sometimes Link is a kid who lived with his Uncle. His uncle died on his way to save Zelda and Lonk got a sword from him. Sometimes Lank was on his way to save Zelda by himself and found a guy who wasn’t his uncle dying in a cave that gave Lang his sword instead. Sometimes Liam stumbled in to a cave and there was no guy he just found a sword in a chest which was protected by some unexplained non-stop rolling boulder that did not give a fuck about physics at all. 
 

The bad guy in the story is a guy called Ganon. Or Ganondorf. And he is a pig man. Well, he is a guy that turns in to a pig man. He could always do that. Except sometimes he couldn’t. He came from the desert and was a thief. But he is also a king from a mysterious dark world who wields ultimate evil power. Except he didn’t always he had to get the Triforce to obtain ultimate evil power. Also his objective is to get the Triforce. Apart from the times when he already has it. Or a third of it. It really depends. 
 

Dave’s quest was arduous and he had to travel not just to many different places, but also dimensions! When he went to the Dark World he turned in to a rabbit! No, hang on, he travelled to the Twilight Realm and turned in to a wolf! No, hang on, he traveled to the future and turned into a teenager and got an earring from somewhere! Yes, earring! A very dark future! The thing that granted him this power was a special instrument - an Ocarina that controlled time. No, wait, I mean it was a harp that controlled time! Or a talking hat. The talking hat didn’t have to do with the time thing but it was very important. It had a fairy in it. 
 

So on and so on.

 

Maybe it’s the bias but I really think this would of been a much better way to explain the timeline. It is kind of lazy, I guess. It works really, really well, though. Basically it’s the same story and everyone gets it a bit wrong. Yet there are key fundamentals. It happened in a place called Hyrule, there was an evil wizard, there was a kid who mostly wore green, he needed the Master Sword and special arrows to beat the wizard and save the princess. Minutiae aside, this is the Legend of Zelda. Let me tell you all about it....
 

I got the idea from the start of Wind Waker. Starts from 1:07

 

 

I really not sure why Nintendo didn’t extrapolate this idea. It’s all I did. You can validly argue it’s lazy, and if they had put in the Hyrule Historia “It’s all made up, get over it” people would probably not be happy. However for me it makes too much sense and the games happen to lend them selves to this unreliable narrator explanation. I find this idea very satisfying and fitting for the series, anyway. 
 

At first he had a bow and arrow. Then the kid had bombs. No the kid had bomb arrows! He put the bomb on the end of the arrow! Ling was crazy, yo. 

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I think if you’re going to put that much effort into something you can create yourself a thread.

 

If you’re just going to make snide comments then you’ll have people wonder why they bothered and won’t in the future.

 

Nice one @Maf As crazy of a read that was I appreciated it. I’ve never really been interested in the timeline. Thought the gametrailers explanation of it was fun at the time(line) but I generally go into each one as tho it’s the first (a few notable exceptions!)

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OK, actual answer time then.

 

I find it weird that you call your own theory lazy. Twice. 

 

I don't think it's particularly lazy, it's basically a riff on the Arthurian legend. There are loads of different versions of that depending on time and country.

 

Personally I prefer the official timeline, whichever one we're on now. I think it changes every 3 weeks to make someone else happy.

 

There's nothing wrong with the "bunch of lads sharing a tale in a tavern" framing, but I find the official story more exciting; from Link and Demise's first battle, the curse on links bloodline, the three souls linked together for eternity in a never ending conflict. It's poetic.

 

It's like Hawkman, Hawkgirl, and Hath-Set in a way.

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I like the actual story, too, I just think it only works if only picking specific games. Essentially something like Skyward Sword, Ocarina of Time, Zelda 1, Breath of the Wild, Wind Waker. 
 

Or something, I’m not sure. There’s probably inconsistencies just in those 5 games in that order so for me I like having my cake and eating it. They all happened and they all didn’t happen at the same time. 
 

The Arthurian legend thing lends itself to Zelda as well because Zelda has so many fairy tale elements. Wizards, wise men and pulling swords from stones, etc. 

 

If you can explain Hawkman and Hawkgirl good on you! I’ve looked at the history of those characters multiple times and always come away from them going...what ?

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Before the timeline was made this was also pretty much my theory as well.  Sometimes conversations at school would go into what order the Zelda games were in and I had this kind of answer too.  Everyone else was sore there was a timeline. 

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57 minutes ago, Maf said:

If you can explain Hawkman and Hawkgirl good on you! I’ve looked at the history of those characters multiple times and always come away from them going...what ?

I think the official definition of 'convoluted' would cite those two.

There kind of was a timeline that fit pretty much every game (prior to Breath of the Wild). Beginning with Skyward Sword and ending with Zelda 2. I think Hyrule Historia did more harm than good though. The Fail state, being the one needless thing they added. 

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I think the dumbest thing Nintendo did was say Hyrule Warriors isn't canon. 

 

A game where all the timelines converged could have been a nice excuse to get rid of the 3 timeline split and make things more coherent in the long run.

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I really like the idea of a group of lads arguing about it in the pub.

 

"A rabbit? Fuck off, he was the hero - he was obviously gonna be a wolf!"

 

It kinda makes me think of the Prince of Persia style "no no no, that didn't happen", and Call of Juarez: Gunslinger, which incorporated changes into the story. It would literally rewind a set-piece, say "wait, maybe this is what actually happened" and give you a new weapon to rinse the level with. 

 

TBH I don't care whether there's a timeline. I don't see why it couldn't be a bunch of different fables and Link is just a placeholder character. He's the literal Link between all the stories.

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That's why Nintendo shouldn't have bothered to make a set in stone timeline. It is called the Legend of Zelda. Legends passed down through word of mouth often contradict or overlap each other.

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On one hand it's laudable when any fictional work generates a passionate fanbase, but on the other it's laughable when people intensly argue about made up sh*t (especially if that made up stuff is continuing to evolve).

 

I can barely remember the start of the story at the end of a single game, never mind its place within a wider encompassing series.

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8 hours ago, OCH said:

That's why Nintendo shouldn't have bothered to make a set in stone timeline. It is called the Legend of Zelda. Legends passed down through word of mouth often contradict or overlap each other.

 

I think I may kinda disagree.  Just because Nintendo threw their hat in the ring in terms of setting out the timeline, it doesn't mean we still can't have our own theories.  Especially with a series as vague as Zelda. 

 

I still like the theory Maf put in the OP better, and the Hyrule Hystoria isn't established in the text of the games.  So the "official timeline" is just another opinion to me. 

 

Maybe Nintendo felt the need to do this for all those unimaginative Star Wars nerds our there that need definitive lore to enjoy stories.  But the rest of us can ignore it. 

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4 minutes ago, HandsomeDead said:

Just because Nintendo threw their hat in the ring in terms of setting out the timeline, it doesn't mean we still can't have our own theories.

It does invalidate them though. When nothing official was stated, fan interpretation was everything. Maf or Regemond's ideas above could very well have as much merit as yours or mine. But now those self-same unimaginative types will hold up the Historia as absolute truth. Because Nintendo said so... 

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