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Legend of Zelda BOMBSHELL!

Started by x14113, December 25, 2011, 07:37:45 pm

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x14113

After keeping it under wraps for years, it looks like Nintendo seems to have finally come clean on one of if not the biggest source of debate in the Legend of Zelda mythos.

For those familiar with the debate and know exactly where this is going, go ahead and scroll down to the rainbow speak below.  Otherwise, keep reading.

For almost the duration of the series, nothing has generated as much discussion within the Zelda fandom as the timeline--that is, the supposed chronological order of the many games within the series.  Even in the first 15 years of existence, the only consensus is that some games were sequels to others (ie. Majora's Mask as a sequel to Ocarina of Time), but the biggest debate revolved around central character Link--was it just one guy running around in all those games, or were we seeing several guys that coincidentally had the same name and wardrobe, with the series covering different centuries, or even milennia?

Series creater Shigeru Miyamoto eventually confirmed that the series used multiple Links, but at the same time, new questions arose as new games were added, most notably about the timeline itself.

2003 witnessed the release of The Wind Waker, and its very setting threw everything for a loop--while most games were land-based, with many depictions of a land-locked Hyrule, WW was set in an ocean, with islands scattered about the area.

Also during this point in time, the Four Swords trilogy was in progress.  The first two of these were multiplayer games incorporating elements of both cooperation and competition in advancing the plot, while the third played more like a standard Zelda game.  Two things in these games really muddied the timeline debate, however:

1) These were still land-based settings, contrasting with the sea-based WW;
2) A different main villain (Vaati, as opposed to Ganon[dorf])!

In trying to reconcile these apparently contradicting entries, a theory arose concerning a split in the timeline that occurred in OoT, which resulted from differences between the "adult timeline" (where Ganon is defeated by Link), and the "child timeline" (where Ganon isn't directly engaged).  Said split would then meld together in time for the earlier games, which (seemingly) took place later in the timeline.

Later realeases seemed to support this, with the two DS Zelda games directly following WW.  The implied counterpart to WW, however, turned out to be Twilight Princess, which left the FS games in a bit of a spot. Regardless, a split in the timeline has recently been officially confirmed.

Now, as part of celebrating the series' 25th anniversary, Nintendo has just realeased Hyrule Historia, a book that contains many articles previously witheld from the public, including concept art, character name origins, and, by all appearances, the official timeline.

Because the book is only available in Japan (at least at the moment), translators who imported had to interpret the info into English, but what was revealed in the official timeline caught even the most studied timeline analysts off guard:

There are three branches in the timeline!



The above is a translation of the official document, but it reveals plenty.  The third branch, which includes first three games in the series as well as the first three portable games, would only commence if the Link in OoT fails to defeat Ganon.

The below shows the original source.



So, what say you?

birdman16

That's crazy three splits in in the timeline! WOW!

x14113

What makes it astounding for me is that, looking back through the games in question, it makes total sense!

--The history that sets up LttP mentions events later described in OoT, but it mainly mentions a royal guard defending the sages while forming their seal.  Turns out, in this case, they would be necessary after the fall of the Hero of Time.

--The games found in the branch in question mostly have the smallest presence of modern technology found therein, whereas it is highly noticeable elsewhere.  The lone exception to this is a literal dream world created by a being that probably would've been around where such things were more prevalent.

--Hyrule seems to be in great decline late in this branch, just in time for the first two games to show up.  It is important to note that while the monarchy holds a claim to the Triforce by this point, you see crosses on many things, including Link's shield.

How the FS games are placed here will still be questioned, though.

wildcat_x-mgr

Interesting, but I don't like the idea of releasing the timeline. Most Zelda fans, including me, actually enjoy debating and finding that we can't figure it out. The magic lies in the mystery, and when you kill the mystery you kill the magic.

Fox 16 Arkansas Fox 24 Arkansas