#loz timeline theories

[cindydartist]

Why I think BotW fits as a sequel to TAoL

My lovely siblings let me rant Legend of Zelda timeline stuff to them and I figured, might as well post it here. Note: this is my own headcanon, NOT what I think Nintendo or anyone else HAS to follow. I know and recognize that neither BotW nor TotK are part of the official Zelda Timeline.

--

Currently, if I had to pick a spot for it [BotW] in the Canon timeline, I'd put it after The Adventure of Link (second released game) with LU nicknamed 'Hyrule' Link. Two main reasons for that:

1) Ganondorf the Man and Ganon the Beast

The Fallen timeline in which TAoL takes place is the only timeline where pig Ganon is the predominant form of Ganondorf. (Despite all the separate incarnations of Link and Zelda, Ganondorf… is kinda just one guy through all of it who refuses to die properly.)

This is due to him gaining the Triforce of Power AND KEEPING IT by killing the Hero of Time (hence why that timeline branch is referred to as the Fallen Hero or Downfall timeline). Ganondorf's beast form is always shown in the games as an overrun of power and a sacrifice/discarding of the 'human' in him. In the other two timelines, he is beaten in that form effectively immediately after transforming, therefore has no time to lose himself. He continues to keep his gerudo form in further sequels/successors. Not so in the Fallen timeline.

By the time we get to A Link to the Past, Ganondorf has been beast Ganon up to/after the imprisoning war, a last-ditch effort by a bunch of sages after the Hero of Time’s death. Some details are unique to Hyrule Historia book, but the sealing war is a key part of history for ALttP (and its sequels) due to the plot-related presence of those sages’ descendants.

Again, Ganon only shows up in beast form in this game and going forward. A secondary factor may be where he was sealed to: Ganondorf keeping the Triforce of Power for a hot minute also keeps the Sacred Realm (where the Triforce previously resided in OoT) transformed into the Dark World (also predominately featured in ALttP)

ALttP’s Link, LU nickname Legend, later has Oracle of Seasons and Oracle of Ages. The goal of hidden antagonists Koume and Kotake is to resurrect Ganon. (This isn't exactly spoiler territory for either gameplay, but heads up I guess?) It succeeds -- partially. The Ganon brought back is mindless - only a force of destruction. Sound familiar??

Importantly, this all adds up to a potential Decomposition of Ganondorf the Man.

While Ganon does regain some strategic thinking in The Legend of Zelda I (Hyrule's first adventure), he remains in pig/beast form. And is killed again. Okay, technically it doesn't state killing, so it could be sealing away. Except. One of the most known things about Zelda II: The Adventure of Link is if you die enough times to get a game over, it states Ganon comes back, implied to be through spilling Link's/Hyrule's blood. Quote from the game’s English instruction manual “The key to Ganon’s return was the blood of Link – the valiant lad who overthrew the King of Evil. Ganon would be revived by sacrificing Link and sprinkling his blood on the ashes of Ganon.”

Revive? Blood ritual?? Ashes??? Sounds awfully like a resurrection ritual ta me.

Thus, with further decomposition of self through death and revival, especially if one counts how many times Hyrule’s predecessor Legend defeated Ganon as killing him, it makes perfect sense to me that a logical conclusion would be BotW Calamity Ganon. (Granted, I have not finished TotK’s history plot yet, so there may be arguments/evidence I am unaware of with how he got that way. Like his existence as Gerudo Ganondorf, but from my current info, that is in the far past, potentially after Skyward Sword. Sue me, I have a working theory the Zonai are evolved Remlits)

On to my SECOND reason:

2) My Own Personal Gratification ✨

The world of Zelda I and Zelda II is frankly post-apocalyptic. Ironically more so than ALttP which is the closest to the ACTUAL apocalyptic events that happened.

Perhaps it is important to note that ALttP explicitly confirms the idea that a previous unnamed hero failed to stop Ganondorf. And that years back IRL there was genuine reason to speculate that that previous hero was Hyrule. Now think about the blood ritual.

With the release of the official timeline, that theory is now only fanon. But the potential is still there. Currently there is no canonical sequel to Hyrule’s story. Legend’s adventures give evidence readable as foreshadowing that this is a timeline where the land itself has clearly degraded. The zora are ruthless enemies that will attack on sight. Natural water is acidic and damages. There are monsters who can take the form of hylians so no-one ever knows quite who is safe to trust.

Link’s/Hyrule’s story is beautiful because he is effectively hope that refuses to give up on a land falling apart. A synergy between selfless bravery and survival. One who sees hardiness in the weakened kingdom’s people and inspires them to try a little harder, be a little kinder, trust a little more.

For all we know, as long as there is a monster or member of the Cult of Ganon, he might be running forever. Will have to carry that risk for the rest of his life. For the sake of Hyrule’s people and future, how he lives as a hero is not enough; he must control how he dies.

 Is it strange to wish that the bountiful green land of BoTW is what his kingdom will eventually be? That, even if not in his lifetime, the Kingdom of Hyrule will continue on and find its feet again?

That’s how I see BotW. Even if Ganon manages to destroy Hyrule, it will always live on through its people. You can never take what was never takeable in the first place.

--

tldr; Pigman signifies Dementia and I want Hyrule!Link to have a happy freaking ending, okay?

[amanitacurses]

[breannasfluff]

Echoes of Wisdom: Timeline Placement

First, we need to remember that the Zelda timeline was updated in 2017 in the Hyrule Encyclopedia. With that update, the Links that are the "same" in each game were updated. The Hyrule Hystoria timeline many are familiar with is from 2011.

Here we can see: ALTTP/LA = 1 Link OoS/OoA = 1 Link ALBW/TFH = 1 Link

Maps: Close to each other but not exact. Very close to EoW and I've seen quite a few posts of similarities floating around so I'll move on. ALBW has a statue in the field or rocks while ALTTP doesn't, for example. OoA/OoS maps not relevant.

Ganon's similarities across the existing games to EoW are pretty easy to see. He's got elements of all of them.

Next up is Zelda:

ALTTP and ALBW designs are very similar to each other, but not exact. Oracles Zelda also has some similarities, but stands out a bit more.

Now look at all these similarities! At first you'd assume she's the same Zelda as ALTTP or ALBW, but that pesky purple girdle? girl-loincloth? Anyway, that's on OoA/S Zelda. Once again, her starting outfit is a mix of all three games.

Where does that leave us? With a high chance that Echoes of Wisdom is a new Link and Zelda, sitting somewhere before or after Oracle of Seasons/Ages.

[powdermelonkeg]

Theory that solves(?) "founding of Hyrule" timeline inconsistencies:

Origin of Hyrule no. 1: Skyward Sword. Zelda, Link, and the Skylians settle the surface world at the game's conclusion. Notably, their dress looks nothing like the Zonai era.

Origin of Hyrule no. 2: Tears of the Kingdom. Rauru and Sonia are the king and queen who founded Hyrule. Notably, Zonai mechanisms and architecture greatly resemble the pre-Skyward-Sword-era Lanayru mining tech and symbolism, though Skyward Sword's art direction is more cartoony than TotK, so that has to be taken into account.

That's where it gets cyclical. If TotK's forgotten era came first, then:

Zonai influence should be ALL OVER Skyloft

The Gerudo should not exist, because they're (implied to be) descended from Groose, a Skylian; at the very least, there should have been a whole Gerudo culture in the Sky

Where did the Secret Stones go?

We should have seen Zeldra flying around in the sky, let alone Dinraal, Farosh, and Naydra

But if Skyward Sword came before all things Zonai, then:

The Lanayru Mining Facility (assuming it to be Zonai in origin) should not exist

Hyrule should have already been founded by Rauru's time

Of the two, Skyward Sword being first on the wild surface makes more sense. But if that's the case, there are even more questions:

Where did the Secret Stones come from? Are we to believe that Hylia gave them to the Zonai, since the Golden Trio have already left the Triforce and departed?

What about the Zonai themselves? They supposedly descended from the heavens. Were they just up so high that the Skylians couldn't find them? Did Hylia cleave the ground twice? Did they spontaneously appear up there like mice in grain bins?

Why is there a whole Temple of Time with bells that Rauru, one of two of the LAST of his species, woke up and went to sleep to? In fact, why is there an entire kingdom's worth of structures already built before the Sky Reckoning?

My solution:

The Zonai did exist pre-Skyward Sword, and did descend down from the sky ages ago. They built the Lanayru Mining Facility, utilizing the power of Timeshift Stones in their work. This is not Rauru and Mineru's era.

The Zonai are among the people that stay behind to fight Demise alongside Hylia, while the Skylians were sent up to Skyloft. The people of the Surface are entrusted with the Secret Stones as weapons against Demise, with the caveat that they keep them hidden. That's why they're called Secret Stones despite being well-known to Ganondorf in TotK, it was PARAMOUNT that Demise not know he could get any stronger.

The war ends. Just about every civilization is obliterated by it. The Zonai retreat as far from Demise's seal as they can to lick their wounds. They take the sages' Secret Stones with them, so as to not be caught unawares and lose them to Demise when he eventually reemerges.

Skyward Sword.

The evil is defeated, the Skylians come down to the Surface. That's the signal that it's safe to return now. Shortly after the Skylians officially start to settle, the Zonai, who know how things work, help them build a proper civilization.

Time passes. The Surface is officially a bunch of scattered clans with varying degrees of territory. People are content, though nothing is particularly efficient. The Skylians take on Zonai fashion and building styles as generations pass. The Zonai themselves dwindle.

Rauru, married to the leader of the Hylians, looks to unite the scattered clans under one banner in the name of prosperity and shared resources, idolizing the pre-Skyward era where the gods walked the land. He and Sonia officially name the place Hyrule, and any clan that signs treaty with them is considered within its borders. Mineru, meanwhile, has made her first construct models based on the Lanayru Mine Robots of old, which add to the appeal of joining Hyrule as its subkingdom territories.

Tears of the Kingdom, Zelda's first 12 memories.

Between the Master Sword going back in time and Zeldra's ascent, Zelda and Mineru get to work with as many constructs as possible to protect the Sky Isles they plan to send upwards. They need a TON of Zonaite, and recycling is a priority, leading to the gachapon machines.

Zelda knows enough about her kingdom that she knows where the land is particularly rich is where the people of her time settled, and Zonaite is shown to enrich soil greatly. This is why all the old Zonaite mines are underneath the towns in modern Hyrule, despite changing geography through other eras, and Tarrey Town's new-ness.

Zelda ascends.

The secretive Sheikah clan, having seen the Blood Moon's rise when the Demon King took power, realize that Demise isn't, in fact, all gone. They decide this means that their job serving Hylia isn't truly done, and return to help the fledgling kingdom as best they can. They bring the knowledge of the Master Sword of Skyward Sword days with them.

Ganondorf first shakes the seal he's under without form, leading to the first Calamity and the initial rise of Calamity Ganon. This is 10k years before BotW. This is also the first documented use of the Master Sword to seal the Demon King away, recorded in the tapestry.

The Sheikah are forced to abandon their technology. The Yiga/Sheikah split happens.

Literally all the rest of Hyrulean History happens after this.

Breath of the Wild.

Tears of the Kingdom.

[ixtaek]

This is one of the few games that COULD predate Skyward Sword, as the Master Sword isn’t an element at all. However, my theory is it’s between Four Swords and OoT.

They didn’t use the term “Triforce” in Minish Cap or FS, so them still calling it the wrong thing makes sense, with the added idea that they would start calling it a Triforce in honor of Tri, setting up the usage in OoT. Given the design of OoT Zora being more like simplified Sea Zora, but living in freshwater, implies the two Zora villages intermarried and produced hybrid offspring that could survive fresh water, cleaning up that plot point in time for Ruto and her dad to happen. OoT/MM also prominently features Deku Scrubs, which are reduced or non-existent in many other timelines and 100% gone in the BotW timeline (replaced by garden-variety Octoroks) (yes that was a pun). Rock Roast existed in this time, or at least did in Termina, so could have also existed in OoT.

Ganon and The Gerudo being friendly to Hyrule is the hardest one to explain. However, if you look at Moblins in this game, the larger they get the more they resemble Ganon. Lvl. 3 Sword Moblin (whom I affectionately referred to as ‘Big Guy’ when I summoned him) is close in color and only a little smaller. So theoretically, Ganon could be an extra-large, extra-Demise-blessed, demon Moblin. He has Null’s memories when he faces Link at the beginning and says “Oh it’s you again”—Link had been in the Rifts before and had been thwarting them left and right, so it’s reasonable Ganon/Null would know him. As for the Gerudo, a few generations could pass, and a severe drought and the rise of Koume and Kotake as leaders to steer the Gerudo into thievery to survive is still possible. Ganon possesses the Gerudo prince to form Ganondorf and starts looking for the Triforce, and the rest is history.

We have a decently established kingdom (not post TotK), and no massive ocean or trains (not post WW/ST). I’ve seen some valid ones saying it could be post ALttP based on buildings/ruins/the map, but seems weird they’d briefly stop using the term “Triforce” in that era given it’s called the Triforce again in ALbW/LoZ 1/AoL. It could also be after TP/FSA, since those games also don’t use the word Triforce, but there’s no Deku Tree in those timelines iirc.

There’s no real clear answer, and I’m sure Nintendo won’t give us one since their policy now seems to be “lol what timeline”, but this is the closest I can get. Lemme know your theories!

[thatonecrazysidekick]

So, I wrote this a few nights ago, and this is basically how it came into being:

Brain: I see you've gone to bed early so you'll be well rested tomorrow, that's cute! Anyways, what if the Triforce was cold?

Me: ...what?

Brain: what if the Triforce was cold instead of warm? Glowing golden stuff is usually seen as warm, right? But what if is wasn't?

Me: that's cool, but I'm trying to sleep rn

Brain: well that's too bad, because I'm already thinking about it in great detail!! Better start typing away, because it's either that or try to ignore it, be unable to fall asleep until 1am anyway AND forget all but the vaguest details of it by morning! :D

And that is the story of how I went to bed at 10pm and still stayed awake until 12:30am typing out ALTTP Link (or pre-LU Legend) making his wish on the Triforce, with a sprinkle of a timeline split theory, in my phone notes. Please enjoy my creation.

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Link’s lungs were burning, every breath feeling like it was dragging hot knives down the inside of his throat. His limbs trembled in exhaustion, and the Master Sword in his hands suddenly felt too heavy to hold. He let it slip from his grasp, watching it fall to the floor. It clanged loudly against the cracked stone, and the sound seemed to echo around the suddenly empty-feeling chamber.

Link had won. Ganon was gone.

Link had thought maybe he would feel a thrill of victory or something similar, like heroes always did in stories—not always, not the one who had fought the darkness before him and failed and died—but he just felt…tired. And maybe a little relieved, but mostly he was so, so tired. He wanted to curl up in a ball on the floor and never move again, but he remained standing.

His ragged gasps for breath were beginning to even out, the ache in his lungs fading. Link took a deep breath, holding it deliberately for a few seconds before letting it out, slowly. He glanced down at his hands. They were strangely steady, considering how the rest of him was shaking like a leaf in an autumn breeze.

A flash of light caught his eye—the Master Sword, still laying a few steps to his left. Its blade was glowing gold. No, that wasn’t right. It was only shining in one spot, more like a reflection of something else, but what…?

He lifted his head, and there it was: a bright, glowing golden triangle, hovering at about his head level in the center of the room.

The Triforce.

Link’s eyes widened, and he took a few hesitant steps towards it before stopping. He was sure that it hadn’t been there a moment before. He studied it carefully, looking for any sign of danger.

Nothing. Just a sparkling triangle of triangles.

“A wish for the bearer.”

A voice seemed to echo inside Link’s head, and he jumped. It didn’t seem to come from the glowing triangle before him, but from someone or something much older.

He glanced quickly around the room. He was alone, save for the vines creeping along the walls and the sword laying a few paces away, still where he had dropped it.

A wish for the bearer.

A wish? Could he wish for anything? The voice hadn’t said if there were limits, so he might as well try.

Link tried to think about what he wanted most, but his mind began to wander of its own accord. It strayed to the people whom Agahnim had harmed in his mad quest for power; the seven maidens, sacrificed for his twisted cause, the king, who had disappeared completely, the soldiers who had killed and been killed—who he’d killed— at the wizard’s beck and call.

It strayed to a too-large sword pressed into his shaking hands, and the dying breaths of the only father figure he had ever known.

It strayed to a weathered and moss-covered stone in a tangled and ancient wood, and a child who had fallen and taken the world with him.

A wish for the bearer.

Link looked up at the Triforce, gleaming with divine radiance in front of him.

It was not good. It was not evil. It was the purest form of power, and it was waiting for him to choose how to wield it.

He took a deep breath and reached out a hand.

He was half expecting his fingers to pass through it, like it really was made of light; brilliant but insubstantial. Instead, the golden surface was smooth and surprisingly cool, like a polished shield left under the shade of a tree in high summer. He curled his fingers around the edge of its lower right facet and closed his eyes. He knew what his wish was.

All those people who had been controlled and killed by Agahnim and Ganon, just for their blood or their status or for daring to resist; they hadn't deserved to have their lives cut short. They should be able to live.

Family. Maidens. Royalty. Soldiers. A lonely tale of a failed hero, recounted by all with pity and resentment.

The Triforce pulsed beneath his fingertips, its glow flaring bright enough that it seemed to cut right through his eyelids and burn into his retinas. The cool material grew colder, his fingers going numb as the triangle turned to ice against his skin.

He didn’t dare let go.

The light grew until it illuminated everything, embraced everything, became everything. It settled over Link like a second skin, one made of hoarfrost and crystal, and his breath turned to snow in his lungs.

He wasn’t sure he’d be able to let go now, even if he wanted to.

Link felt as though his blood was freezing in his veins, sending ice rushing towards his heart and spreading out through his limbs. His eyes were still screwed shut, he was sure they were, but the world around him was pure white and glittering with colors he had never seen before and certainly couldn’t describe. He was everywhere and nowhere and somewhere that didn’t exist but was definitely solid beneath the worn leather soles of his boots.

He tightened his grip with fingers that he couldn’t see or feel but knew were there, still wrapped tightly around the Triforce. It seemed to be the only truly real thing that was left anymore, beating a steady rhythm in his chest to replace the heart that it had petrified, golden power pouring through his veins instead of blood. It grounded him, froze him, blinded him. It unmade time and space themselves before reweaving them into a newer and more complex pattern of kaleidoscope textures and colors and shapes.

The Triforce hummed, a sound that he couldn’t hear but felt reverberating through his very soul, thawing him from the inside out until his heart was pumping blood and his lungs were filling with air and his skin was warm again.

Link opened his eyes.

The room was the same as when he had closed them, with creeping vines clinging to the pockmarked walls and shattered stones littered across the equally ruined floor, the Master Sword still nestled atop the debris. The Triforce remained hovering in front of him, its blinding glow having faded back into a soft shine. It felt cool to the touch once more, no longer so cold it burned his flesh to the bone.

His eyes flicked towards his hand, still wrapped around the corner of the Triforce with a white-knuckled grip. It was unmarred, save for the streaks of dirt and blood left over from his battle with Ganon.

Nothing around him seemed to have changed, and yet…

A wish for the bearer.

Something very important had happened just then, something far greater than what he had thought he was wishing for, but Link couldn’t put a finger on what it could be.

He placed his other hand on the Triforce too, wondering if he would be able to move it around and examine it. He might be able to find out how the supposed wishes worked if he could take a closer look at the source. As soon as both his hands were laid on the Triforce, it flared brighter—though nowhere near as brightly as it had before—and began to melt.

He jerked back, watching in wide-eyed fascination as sharp edges blurred and ran together, becoming a floating cloud of liquid light that slithered its way down the fingers of his left hand. It pooled on the back of his hand, sinking itself into his skin and tracing out lines to form an image of itself there: three smaller triangles, placed corner to corner to form the larger one. The symbol shimmered like gold leaf against the smudged and dirty parchment of his skin for a few seconds before fading completely.

Link continued to stare at his hand long after the mark vanished, turning it slowly this way and that to see if the Triforce would reappear, if any glimmer of gold would show itself through his skin.

Nothing. It was almost as if there was never anything there at all, save for the unnatural coolness that had settled into his bones alongside the Triforce.

A wish for the bearer.

Link finally let his hand fall to his side, moving to scoop up the Master Sword. His body ached in protest at every movement, but he pushed through it as he straightened up and returned the sword to its sheath before heading towards the exit. He needed to get back home, needed to see if anything had changed. He needed to see if Uncle was back.

A second chance.

Time to go see if his wish had come true.

[otternalremnant]

I took another crack at the Zelda Timeline before EoW came out. Not sure where to put that yet.

[butthatsjustmyfilthyopinion]

Could BotW’s Hyrule be an unflooded Wind Waker?

Oh boy, buckle up because I have a whole conspiracy theory.

So this whole thing started as I was browsing the Nintendo Gallery in Wind Waker and came across this on Ganondorf’s figurine:

I was like: huh. That looks awful similar to Zonai Constructs. These were the closest I found but looking at it once you’re used to Zonai technology, you see the resemblance pretty clearly.

I know I’m not the first to notice the resemblance to Gohdan either, boss in the Tower of the Gods (we’ll come back to that) because this convenient picture exists.

But so what, right? It can’t be Wind Waker’s Hyrule anyway because it’s not the end of the timeline, right? WRONG. It may be the first in the adult timeline but it’s also the last in that timeline to take place in Hyrule. Phantom Hourglass takes place in the World of the Ocean King, Oshus’s dream if I remember correctly but most importantly, not Hyrule, and Spirit Tracks takes place in New Hyrule, one that Tetra and Link founded later. It is not the same land.

Ganondorf ends up dying at the end of Wind Waker with the Master Sword stabbed through his head (cough cough, we’ll come back to this too). The Triforce is used by King Daphnes, the exact words as follows:

“Gods of the Triforce! Hear that which I desire! Hope! I desire hope for these children! Give them a future! Wash away this ancient land of Hyrule! Let a ray of hope shine on the future of the world!!! And let our destinies finally be fulfilled…”

Granted this is the English translation and I don’t know Japanese, so if anyone is able to translate this scene from the original Japanese that would fly in the face of what I’m talking about please make it known.

King Daphnes wished for Hyrule to be washed away, specifically his Hyrule that he’d been clinging so desperately to. If this is indeed the same land we see from the Zonai in TotK, then the old kingdom would’ve been gone long enough to not be recognizable. He also mentions a ray of hope for the world. This is obviously referring to Tetra, Link and eventually New Hyrule but I wouldn’t put it passed the Goddesses to revive the land now that the danger is passed. And that’s another thing!

The whole reason the world flooded in the first place was because of Ganon, now that he’s died, there’s no reason for it to stay flooded. I seem to recall there being a comment somewhere in the game that went something to the effect of “there’s no fish in these waters to catch because it’s magic god water” I don’t remember where it was but do correct me if I’m wrong.

Geography was another big thing. Zelda geography has never been exactly consistent, I always assumed it was because such large chunks of time were going by that tectonic plates had shifted everything now and then. However, Wind Waker and the BotW maps are surprisingly aligned.

Death Mountain and Dragon Roost are easy examples, the Forest Haven is in a similar location to Mount Lanayru and is in proximity to the ice island. The Forsaken Fortress is aligned with Hebra Peak, Outset Island is shaped roughly like Spectacle Rock in the Gerudo Highlands, the Gerudo Highlands in general, and interestingly enough, Satori Mountain is very close to the Great Fish Isles. Plus there’s a lot of other miscellaneous peaks in BotW.

Something else very interesting, the final boss arena lines up rather well with being either near the castle, or perhaps the Great Plateau. A friend I was playing with when I first discovered this pointed out how proportionately small the people are, and normally you don’t notice that, it’s a very stylized game. But maybe, perhaps the reason the world feels so big was because the Hyruleans evolved to simply take up less space on the islands?

Something else interesting is Luralin Village. We’ve never really seen a fishing village before besides in Wind Waker with Outset.

To finish off the miscellaneous details I’ve noticed, the sword pose. It’s suspiciously similar to the one Rauru has Ganon in in Tears of the Kingdom. Here’s the two side by side.

Now onto my heaviest hitters, the salt thing and the races.

As most people who’ve spent anytime debating BotW’s place in the timeline is aware, the rock salt description mentions it came from an ancient sea. This could be the Lanayru Sand Sea all the way back in Skyward Sword, in which case, why isn’t it localized to the desert area it was in? Or it’s from the Great Sea. Not much, but it’s very much suspicious.

The other big one is the Rito’s presence along with the Zora. Besides the games in question, the Rito only ever appear in the Wind Waker. We know based on the Zora iconography as well as Laruto, a Zora, being Medli’s ancestor as well as that special magic water comment from earlier I believe. So how can the Zora exist alongside them if they came from them? Answer: the Fish Map Men. They fill out your map as you travel through the islands, and on top of that, there’s a lot of Gyorgs swimming around. What is Sidon molded after again? A hammerhead shark. It’s likely a new species of Zora evolved from the sentient Fishmen, this time with more variety. The Zora monuments mentioning Ruto? Left over and well preserved under the waves, maybe like how Hyrule Castle was.

Tito weren’t the only unique race in Wind Waker, Koroks were as well. As I’m sure we’re all well aware, they are present in both BotW and TotK. They’re descended from the Kokiri, and there’s not a shred of evidence to suggest that the Kokiri ever came back. It’s likely they just stayed Koroks and since Kokiri don’t age and stay kids forever, and that trait likely carried over to the Koroks if they’re behavior is anything to go by, they just keep multiplying…

And finally, the Zonai themselves. All this started because I noticed Ganondorf was wearing what appeared to be Zonai accessories. Gohdan is said to be a trial placed by the Gods themselves. The Zonai descended from the heavens to settle Hyrule, it’s not illogical to assume that the Tower of the Gods was built at the behest of the Gods, by the Zonai. Perhaps one of Rauru’s ancestors. The Zonai also have extremely long ears, and it’s said in Ocarina of Time that Hylians have long ears so that they may hear the whispers of the gods. Wouldn’t those closer have longer ears then?

One last little thing I couldn’t seem to fit anywhere, isn’t it weird how Rauru’s name is one we recognize and yet Sonya isn’t? The Oocca canonically speak a different language than Hylians, perhaps the Zonai originally did as well and simply adopted Hyrulean names to better fit in. Rauru was arguably the most important sage. He could have chosen in to appear more humble while still showing his importance. Alternatively he didn’t want to disrespect the dead king by taking his name and/or it would seem arrogant.

[twin-chains]

Chronological LOZ timeline because Nintendo are cowards

The blue titles indicate non-canon games

I’ll post the explanations to make it make sense later, maybe make a whole slideshow if I feel like it. I have big plans for explaining away Skyward Sword so stay tuned…

[ghostyv]

Here’s my 3am thought. Ok so y’all know how Demise cursed Link and Zelda(and basically himself) to be reincarnated and how it’s always the Gerudo male, some random half asleep kid with Courage named Link, and a princess named Zelda…..how would zelda be reincarnated if, idk, someday the bloodline fell off? Zelda has always been within the Hyrule royal family, that hasn’t changed since SWS. What would happen if the Hyrule family bloodline ended? Would the cycle be broken? I’m like mega curious to hear what y’all have to say. And if there’s an official answer please tell me. Anyway night ✌️

[fountango]

i started playing zelda echoes of wisdom the other day, and since im pretty sure theres no confirmed timeline placement for it yet, heres my thoughts

Its obviously in the fallen hero timeline, as it uses the engine of links awakening and also has a similar layout to a link to the past + a link between worlds, but i personally believe it to take place before a link to the past, making it the first known events since ocarina of time for the fallen hero timeline.

The reason i believe this is largely due to just one detail, the area that Link lived in in both ink to the past and link between worlds, while it has the same hill, same pathway, has no house. Not even a hint of any building ever occupying the space. Sure it could just be that it had been so long that nothing remained, but i highly doubt that considering places such as Lon Lon Ranch are still locations in breath of the wild. You’d think that a home that had been lived in by two legendary heroes , technically three if you count ravio, would have something to memorialise how not only hyrule, but entirely different kingdoms and places (koholint, hytopia, etc), were saved

And sure, its just one detail, but that was only the reason i thought of this to begin with, and I’ve noticed other things in favour of this theory.

One of which being Lord Jabu Jabu making an appearance, if i remember correctly, Jabu Jabu wasnt anywhere to be seen in previous games from the timeline, and it’s reasonable enough to believe he would live long enough to make an appearance in at least one story after ocarina of time.

And another point, is that in Link Between Worlds’ Hyrule Castle, there were paintings depicting the hero prophecy, being actively mentioned and used in the main story of the game, but they arent in Echoes of Wisdom.

Some of these could be a little trivial, as it’s reasonable for such a long lasting franchise like Zelda to have changes in the map and such, but one of the more solid points I’ve noticed is the Lost Woods.

The main characteristics of the Lost Woods is that its a foggy, dark forest with many twists and turns, with a sort of magical protection that brings the player back to the start if they stray from the path.

While this area is in echoes of wisdom, it’s name is the Eternal Forest. Its in the same location as the Lost Woods from games like Link Between Worlds, and yet its different, with a different entrance, and different layout. There are no massive hollow logs for you to go through like in Between Worlds, meaning there hadnt yet been trees to fall down.

There are probably more points for this theory, but this post is getting long haha

[candy8448]

Timeline placement theories

Not gonna provide images cuz im not bothered

I have a few threories so ill order them 1-however many in order of which i like most-least

1. After the hero of legend or the hero of legend again (so after alttp, oos, ooa & la)

I think the downfall timeline is more likely. We have Ganon after he shed his humanity, which only happens in the downfall timeline, Zelda's dress looks similar to ALTTP zelda's blue dress, there are the hostile zora style zora, the la remake style (though that could just be for speed of making). However link doesn't have the yellow stripe that all of the downfall links have. We do also have two randomly seperate games between the hero of legend and hero of hyrule so what's one more? We can even hc it to be albw link and zelda is we really want. Also we have what seems to be an old impa. The only timeline of the slip timelines where we see impa being OLD is the downfall timeline (at least that i know of) but that is probably unrelated completely

2. Before botw (before the great calamity 10,000 years ago)

Now this could probably clash with my tears of the kingdom placement headcanon, or work with it. But we see both types of zora from the downfall and child timelines, and who knows? Maybe those rifts are what is reconnecting the timeline (why maybe the two zora types are confronting(?) Eachother) dont have much else to say about this but its a neat little placement. Also maybe the reconnected timeline is a way to show the new direction the zelda games are foing, at least maybe what they are thinking in nintendo hq or something. Also the sword and bow and cape that link had look kinda like the zonai tech. As much as i dont like the zonai and want this to be completely seperate from the botw/totk/aoc-verse, maybe they took inspiration. Especially with the ultra-build aspect of the echoes and similar ui

3. After oot, before alttp

Less plausible. I dont exactly remember the alttp lore but it feels like, and i love the fact that tge hero o legend arrived because of the fact that the hero of time died and he has to fix things. Hoever that could be what's going on. So i just like the idea of it being in the downfall timeline so much

4. Before oot

Less likely, but hyrule does seem to look a lot more thhriving and big. However, ganon only shows up for the first time and as a human in oot, and the hostile zora wouldn't have evolved that way yet since everything is peaceful and not corrupted. We also have a deku scrub, but idk what that means, also forgot what game they are from

5. (Worst) child or adult timeline

Child is slightly more plausible, but i really dont want it to be there. We do have the oot/tp style zora but it judt doesnt work as well.

Adult timeline i HOPE they dont touch it ever again. Not becausd i do t like it but because they made it so well that shoving another game in there would ruin it. The flow from ww to ph to st works so well and was clearly really thought out. Also hyrule is kinda flooded, and we have the gerudo desert so it can't be new hyrule, and it cant be before ww because the whole lore of that is there WAS NO hero to save hyrule so it wouldn't make sense. This is the worst option ever to place it.

In conclusion: theory number 2 is probably most plausible imo, but i would like it to be theory number 1 most

I was just thinking, imagine if nintendo decided to make a 4th timeline in the timeline split XD

Anyways

Goobye

[mango-unit]

post number three will be kind of a two-for-one zelda theory post. theory one is the placement of minish cap on the timeline. theory two is the connection between the lanayru desert, the wind tribe, and the gerudo.

look at these maps

(relative to hyrule castle) forest with lost woods magic to the northwest. village to the west. big lake to the southeast. river leading from castle moat to big lake. desert to the southwest.

(relative to hyrule castle) forest with lost woods magic to the west. graveyard to the west. big lake to the southeast. river leading from castle moat to big lake. new river leading south, and southwest, into a forest. the further south you go in said forest the more dehydrted the grass looks.

(relative to central lake/moat) forest with lost woods magic to the southwest. graveyard to the west. small lake to the southeast. no river leading from central lake to small lake. river leading south.

i should probably get to the point now.

i believe that minish cap takes place between alttp and tloz. the lost woods began moving progressively further south into kakariko, so hyrule town was built in order to prevent people from being lost. the village was repurposed as the graveyard. by the time of tloz, the lost woods have moved fully south, and the graveyard is just a regular non-lost graveyard.

as for the rivers. the hylians dug a channel from the moat to the desert in an attempt to terraform it and add forests. this was largely successful; this is why the lost woods were able to move into the area, but it isnt fully complete, which is why the grass further south (around the wind tribe ruins) looks almost dead. there is more full desert off-screen; this is where the gerudo live, so i doubt the hylians would encroach on that land.

by the time of tloz, the southbound river takes over, and the river leading to lake hylia dries up. as a result lake hylia shrinks. then ganon shows up and destroys hyrule castle, turning the moat into a massive lake with fractured islands in the center.

i theorize that the reason the hero of men needed the picori blade is because somehow the master sword went missing or was destroyed. (i have a real crackpot theory on how that happened, roping in botw and totk, but thats a whole other beast to tackle. for now we can just chalk it up to it getting so lost in the woods it could never be recovered.) the picori blade was forged into the four sword, which was used to seal vaati and later ganon.

as for why link doesnt use the four sword in tloz… hes, like, 10 in that game. its very likely that he just didnt think of it. he just did exactly as impa asked of him: collect the pieces of the triforce of wisdom, and use its combined power to defeat ganon, permanently this time. no more half measures by sealing him away.

going back to the topic of the wind tribe. i mentioned them before in my first post, but i left things a little… unfinished, so ill present my whole theory on the wind tribe.

i believe the wind tribe are the hylians who lived in the lanayru province before skyward sword. first lets look at the technology:

the lanayru province has a clear red and blue theming, and most of their technology consists of levitating machines. as does mazaal, the levitating machine built by the wind tribe to protect their home.

this carries over to the wind tribe members themselves, who wear only red and blue.

and speaking of the actual people:

every member of the wind tribe have red hair. every member of the gerudo have red hair. since the lanayru desert in skyward sword has a bug called the gerudo dragonfly, its a given that the lanayru desert becomes the home of the gerudo.

the lanayru desert is also where link finds the gust bellows, which grants him control over wind.

now to fit all the pieces together.

in ancient times, the hylians in the lanayru province rapidly progressed sometime after the discovery of the timeshift stones. they also gained a powerful mastery over the wind itself, reflected in their technology and in their magic. their advancements came at a cost, though; the once lush region became a harsh desert. in order to escape the deadly environment they created, the lanayru hylians used their mastery over the wind to escape into the skies. while many went into the skies, becoming the wind tribe, many decided to stay on the surface, receding further into the desert and becoming the gerudo. eventually, during the time of minish cap, the reforestation efforts of the lanayru desert reach the wind ruins - potentially some of the same ruins that the link of skyward sword explores, albeit much more decayed.

so yeah theres my two for one theory post

[kholnt]

uh oh lost!! this is why you dont devote exceedingly long periods of your life researching the heroes of old and trying to put them in a timeline!!

[somasoa]

This is my interpretation of the Legend of Zelda timeline. My interpretation relies on the belief that all officially Nintendo of Japan produced or published video game media fits some way into a universal canon, even if that canon occurs across different universes. For example, as mentioned by Aonuma in an interview regarding Hyrule Warriors, he considers it as being in a separate dimension from the main continuity, hence why it has its own timeline separate from the main continuity on my graph.

The core of the timeline is founded on the Extended Child Timeline, a timeline that, while it had gone unnamed for many years, was a very common interpretation spanning back several years in the Zelda community, even before the release of Hyrule Historia. Going from the mainline games, I've branched off into the spin-offs, and incorporated them into my timeline in a way that - in my opinion - serves to not only add to the size of the world, but build upon it in positive ways that the main series alone could not accomplish.

[ordon-shield]

The Revised Zelda Timeline

The Creation of Hyrule

• The Golden Goddesses leave Hyrule with the Triforce, protected by Hylia

Civilisation Arises

• Civilisation rises on the Surface, with humans, Gorons, Parella, Mogma, and the original Rito

• Advanced technology such as the Lanayru robots are developed

Emergence of Demise

• The Demon King Demise emerges from deep below, and starts a war to seize the Triforce

• Hylia creates the Goddess Sword

• Time of the First Hero

• Hylians are sent to the Sky by Hylia to protect them

• The Rito build flying cities to keep them safe in the Sky, while the Gorons retreat to Gordonia

Sealing of Demise

• Hylia seals Demise, but sacrifices her physical form in the process

Demise Remains Sealed

• Demise remains sealed for many years

• The Rito evolve into the Oocca due to limited resources in their Sky cities

• Hylia chooses to reincarnate as a mortal

Events of Skyward Sword Occur

• Zelda, the reincarnation of Hylia travels to the past, but the timeline is uninterrupted as Hylia had planned for it

• Ghirahim travels back in time, against her plan, creating a timeline split

• Link returns to his timeline carrying the curse of Demise

Founding of the Kingdom of Hyrule

• The Kingdom of Hyrule is founded by a descendant of Hylia’s reincarnation, carrying her blood

Events of Ocarina of Time Occur

• Time is split once more into two distinct branches, by the Ocarina and Song of Time

• These events take place at the same time as the Dragon Tears

Adult Timeline

• The Zora adapt to the inhospitable ocean by becoming bird-people, naming themselves after the ancient legends of the Rito

Child Timeline

• The Ocarina of Time is used in Termina, creating a third split

Downfall Timeline

• The Imprisoning War occurs, with Ganondorf being sealed by the sages in the absence of a hero

Demise Defeated in Battle

• Ghirahim returns to the past and creates a split in the timeline by freeing Demise

• Demise is defeated in battle by Link, who then returns to his own timeline

• The Master Sword remains behind but splits herself between timelines, now existing in both

Arrival of the Zonai

• The Zonai arrive in Hyrule from the heavens, in search of Zonaite

• If Demise had remained sealed, they would have considered Hyrule too dangerous

• Hylians and the Rito return to the Surface

• The Zonai take inspiration from the ancient technology of Hyrule to create the Constructs and other advancements

Founding of the Kingdom of Hyrule

• The Zonai Disappearance Event occurs, leaving only a few remaining in Hyrule

• Rauru works with Sonia to seal away monsters, and together they found the Kingdom

Events of the Dragon Tears Occur

• Takes place at the same time as Ocarina of Time

• The Imprisoning War occurs, with Ganondorf being sealed by the sages in the absence of a hero

Rise of Calamity Ganon

• Ganondorf’s attempts to escape create Calamity Ganon who returns again and again

• The Master Sword is wielded by heroes who travel through time and twilight, along with the Ancient Hero

Events of Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom Occur