So there's been some discussion about the official timeline for the Legend of Zelda series over on the Vizzed Discord server and a few theories have been thrown about, but I would like to see what the rest of Vizzed comes up with.

Some things that have me a little confused are where Breath of the Wild supposedly fits into the timeline and why the timeline only splits after Ocarina of Time. Wouldn't you think that there would be a timeline split for at least every time Link time travels, such as in Oracle of Ages and Skyward Sword? Could they potentially split the timeline from an existing entry in the series?

Also, for those of us who haven't seen much gameplay of or played Breath of the Wild, like me, let's try to keep spoilers to an absolute minimum.

Let's get some theories thrown out there.

We know for a fact that it takes place after Ocarina of Time, as the Temple of Time makes an appearance in the game. The overall world map looks like the Zelda 1/Zelda 2 world map in a way.

Maybe this is Zelda 3

To add to this, here's what we know so far that is canon

It can't be the hero is defeated timeline (he's never sealed in hyrule castle like he is in breath of the wild, can't be a new entry in that timeline because canonically every girl birthed into the royal family is to be named zelda and they aren't pretty sure, as well as the issue of zelda 3 being in the hero defeated timeline which doesn't make sense because in zelda 3 he was sealed in the sacred realm and transformed it into the dark world)
It can't be the adult era (because prior to wind waker he wasn't sealed in hyrule castle and afterwards the land was flooded)
It can't be the child era (sent to the twilight realm, escapes, is killed. never sealed.)

Most likely scenario is a 4th timeline split at Ocarina of Time where they seal him in the castle, I guess.

Not-confirmed-canonical it takes 10,000 years after Zelda 1, which it says in the description of the zelda 1 armor

Timeline for reference

Why can't there just be no timeline and we just say that every Zelda game takes place in a parallel universe or something. That would make things so much simpler.

Baritron : But that would make Skyward Sword completely forced and meaningless.


Oh wait...

seems simple to understand.

Just gonna throw this out there: Nintendo ruined a lot of the Zelda series for me when they gave it an official timeline. Until then I'd always viewed each entry as a stand alone tale. Like, for example, how several cultures all reference major world events such as the great flood, and all keep some of the basic elements the same, but all have their own version of the tale as a whole. That's what I always took Zelda games as being: different versions of the same legend, hence the title LEGEND of Zelda, not Legends of Zelda, or Legend of Zeldas.

All of this timeline stuff requires knowledge of the entire series, and frankly there are a lot of Zelda games that's I don't like enough to play through, such as 2, Link To the Past, Majora's Mask, and any Zelda game on the Wii. I hate jumping into the middle of a timeline too.

Oh well.

I actually own Hyrule Historia and it came out around the time of Skyward Sword, but that means that A Link Between Worlds and Triforce Heroes and this game are not anywhere on the timeline that is included in the book. It confuses me, even with an explanation because it's not like The Elder Scrolls how you play as any person you want, anywhere any time. In these games there is one Link, one Zelda and One Ganon like Eirinn said.

So I originally thought it was Zelda 3 due to there not actually being a Zelda 3, but I rethought it and now I think that it takes place after OOT's Child Link ending, yet coming before Twilight Princess. 

Why? There is a Temple of Time, Lon Lon Ranch, and other locations that seem like they were after Ocarina of Time as confirmed by gameplay. So what if the Link that wakes up at the begging of the game is actually Link from Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask?

I think the entire concept of a "Zelda Timeline" doesn't exist. The games weren't created with a timeline in mind, and the only reason that we want a timeline is because fans want a sense of cohesiveness throughout each of the games. And that's fair, but keep in mind that in the end, these are standalone titles. Nintendo threw together a timeline for the Historia to please the fans, and now with Breath of the Wild, everything in that is now being called into question. Timelines are fun, but it's important to not place too much significance on them. Like I said, these games were not developed with an actual timeline in mind.

mastergame : My only two nitpicks with that video is that, in Wind Waker, it's established that the goddesses flooded the world to protect Hyrule instead of Ganondorf flooding the world, but again, just a minor nitpick. The other is that you should probably edit the post to include a warning that there are a few uncensored swear words.


Eirinn : Yeah, I always thought that each game was a stand alone title, too. Part of me thinks that a timeline and relationship between the entries in the series adds much more depth, but they shouldn't have tried to force it to be something it was never intended to be. Fortunately, at least as of yet, Adventure of Link, A Link to the Past and Majora's Mask aren't really notable or important to the timeline, unless you want to count the fact that Dark World in A Link to the Past is the result of Ganon being sealed in the Sacred Realm.

Skyward Sword is important because it's basically the beginning of the lore. I know you hate motion controls, but I thought the way they executed them in Skyward Sword was very, very well done and nearly as forced as I had assumed. They made excellent use of Wii Motion Plus. In my opinion, Skyward Sword is actually lacking more in plot and I didn't really care much for the art style, but I can't say the control scheme was a negative.


DragonSlayer22 : Those were my brother's initial thoughts, that it was after Majora's Mask but before Twilight Princess, but this raises a couple flags. One of which being the fact that it's established in Ocarina of Time that everyone in Hyrule ages normally, and... uh..

Actually, that doesn't make any sense... Link in Breath of the Wild has been asleep for 100 years, yet isn't a really old man. Nice job breaking your own canon, Nintendo...

Also, one would think that they would include areas of Termina. At least I would... I guess it's possible that they'll release a second volume of Historia.


taterii : I think Nintendo really bit off more than they can chew when they introduced the timeline. By doing so, they have added to the franchise in a way and they managed to give an otherwise lacking game like Skyward Sword meaning and even managed to sell a book, but they've made a huge mistake with the fact that they've now written themselves into a corner. Now, maybe not all, but a lot of people are expecting new sequels instead of new entries. They're expecting consistency. If they don't deliver, it'll all be seen as a gimmick. To those of us who don't already see it as that, anyway.


Also, has anyone else noticed that they left the CDi games out of the timeline entirely?

m0ssb3rg935 : That doesn't surprise me at all; I got the impression that Nintendo is pretending the CDi games never happened, which I 100% understand and support.

I always thought of these as different Links and Zeldas (with the same 'spirits') across different ages, because of the lore we learn in Skyward Sword, but I haven't felt the need to find a timeline for them beyond Skyward Sword being a prequel to Ocarina of Time. As other posters have said, it's more enjoyable to view them as stand-alone titles with a common theme.

m0ssb3rg935 : I think Link was put in some kind of statis for 100 years, and only then was waking up.


But, yeah, BotW really messes up the timeline. It contains elements of all three known timelines... Maybe it's actually linked to Hyrule Warriors, maybe?

Here's my timeline.

Off game: Original hero defeats and seals away Gannondorf. Hyrule is flooded and this sets the stage for windwaker.

Windwaker: Link is born and is sent off on a journey with the help of the pirates to rescue his sister from the Forsaken Fortress. This is the first game.

Phantom hourglass: The red boat is gone and instead a guy controlling a boat helps you rescue Tetra (Zelda) this time in a completely different great sea.

Spirit tracks: A drought dries up most of the water and Tetra rebuilds Hyrule. Instead of a boat, you now have a steam train.

Minish Cap: The land is now very bustling with lots of people. The Gorons also make their first appearance as well.

A link to the past: Follows up on Minish Cap.

Twilight Princess: More villages are introduced. The Gorons also have their own Mountain located north of Karico Village.

Ocaraina of time: Follows Twilight Princess.

Majora's Mask: Follows Ocaraina of Time

Legend of Zelda, Breath of the wild: Gannondorf escapes and destroys a majority of Hyrule, turning it into the Baron wasteland seen in Breath of the wild.

Zelda 2: The events of Zelda 2 follow up on the events of Breath of the wild.

Zelda 1: All of Hyrule is gone besides a few people.

Skyward Sword: Instead of flooding the Hyrule again, the gods decide to move the remaining people to the clouds and start anew there.

Twilight Princess has OoT!Link present as a Stalfos though, or at least something dead. It's confirmed to be one from OoT, and the Japanese translation confirms OoT!Link is not just a symbolic ancestor, but a literal one. So enough time has passed that OoT!Link had a family and died, and then more time so that TP!Link would not know he is a blood-descendant of the Hero of Time.

We know two things so far:

A. It takes place after Ocarina of Time, so it is either in the Child, Adult, or Downfall Timeline.

B. According to one of the developers, Breath of the Wild takes place at 'the most recent age', so it is the latest installment in either the Child, Adult, or Downfall Timeline (might take place after Spirit Tracks, for example). I believe it fits in all of the timelines? It is very complicated, and I don't know how to explain it with words. Might not make sense. Cause in Botw there are places called 'Saria River', 'Linebeck River', etc... Wait maybe it fits most in the Adult Timeline? It is the only timeline where the Korok race appears, and Link defeats Ganon in this timeline so...