Okay so while I'm 99.999999% sure that BoTW and ToTK take place on their own timeline (I've even figured out where the divergence must have occurred for the events in those games to take place as they did and wrote a spoileriffic post all about it), there is at least one other option. Maybe two.
Spoilers and 1300+ words of lore and theory nonsense under the cut.
There are some things I've noticed that, when put together, form a very interesting possibility. It's not nearly as solid as the concept of this being an entirely different timeline altogether, and separately these things don't mean much of anything. Viewed together, though, they do seem to point in a fairly distinct direction.
Key points:
The Depths are full of massive ancient fossilized tree roots
Hyrule as a whole is heavily populated with the remains of absolutely enormous fossilized tree stumps
The Koroks exist, but the Kokiri don't
The Rito exist, as do the Zora
These Zora can live in freshwater or saltwater without suffering negative effects
Ganondorf refers to Sonia as being Hyrulean, not Hylian, in spite of Hyrule as a kingdom being founded by her and Rauru
Triforce imagery already exists back in that time period, to the point that Sonia has it tattooed on her body
This...may actually be the far-flung future of the WindWaker timeline.
Points 1, 2 and 3:
In WindWaker, the Deku Tree created the Koroks out of the Kokiri so that they would survive in some capacity after the Goddesses flooded the world. They traverse the world dropping seeds in the hopes that the trees born from those seeds will take root deep enough to join together and recreate land.
The Depths are full of ancient fossilized trees. Hyrule is covered in their remains. The Koroks travel the world for reasons unknown. The Lost Woods contain both a Lake Saria and a Mido Swamp, which we can say are just shout-outs to previous titles—except that Urbosa mentions Nabooru by name in BoTW, meaning that she existed. And if she existed, in the capacity that we know her from Ocarina of Time, then Saria existed. And yet the Koroks exist, and the Kokiri don't.
Points 4 and 5:
In WindWaker, the Rito used to be the Zora. They were magically evolved over time because they couldn't survive the flood, there was something wrong with the water. In Ocarina of Time, Zoras appear to be strictly freshwater entities; there are oceanic Zora in Majora's Mask, but that's either so far back on the timeline that Hylia and Demise haven't landed yet, or it's an alternate timeline altogether. In BoTW and ToTK, the Zora are very clear that they can survive in basically any water. They've tested this. They know they'll be fine no matter what.
Rito and Zoras in BoTW and ToTK have very, very similar body shapes, with long torsos and long arms and short legs, very limited sexual dimorphism, and expression of features similar to multiple different real-world animals that live in their respective environments. Teba is a harpy eagle, Kass is a sapphire macaw, Revali is a Steller's jay, Penn is a pelican; Mipha seems to be a false killer whale, Sidon is a hammerhead shark, King Dorephan is a blue whale, Yona is a devil ray.
Unlike the Rito in WindWaker, these Rito are literally just birds. They don't have to go earn their wings, they grow flight feathers at certain levels of maturity just like normal birds. Unlike the Zora in previous titles, who seemed to age at a rate on-pace with Hylians, the Zora age similarly to some some rare deep sea animals—coelacanths, for instance, reach physical maturity around 40-60 years old. (Reminder that coelacanths were also assumed to be wiped out, leaving behind only differently-evolved relatives.)
If we assume that the Koroks' mission was successful, then the Zora could very well have come back into being intentionally, the same way that they became the Rito in the first place. Some remained as Rito, while others chose to branch off and recreate what they used to be, using magic and careful breeding to make sure that they wouldn't die if the water turned against them again. Likewise, the Rito changed alongside them to become more suited to the changing environment, until they reached a point where they don't even remember that they came from the same place. (EDIT: Lending further credence to this possibility, the Stormwind Ark literally looks like two seahorses swimming side by side. Not birds. Nothing airborne. Seahorses.)
Points 6 and 7:
The existence of the Triforce as a holy symbol and the use of "Hyrulean" to describe someone of Hylian descent indicates that Rauru and Sonia didn't create Hyrule as a place, but organized it as a nation. The land of Hyrule already existed, it just wasn't under anyone's rule. Rauru and Sonia, with the power that they possessed, were able to organize the land on which they lived to create a kingdom—it was already called Hyrule, they just took control.
This makes absolutely no sense whatsoever in any context that I can think of outside the WindWaker timeline, where the destined bearers of the Triforce and the Hylian royal family haven't existed for ages. One of three points in the timeline where Ganondorf was killed, not just sealed away. (The other two being Twilight Princess and ToTK.) Until this point, Ganondorf is always the same Ganondorf. He's the same person as he was in Ocarina of Time—the Triforce of Power made him immortal, that's why all anyone could ever do was seal him up. The Master Sword is the sword that seals the darkness, not the sword that destroys the darkness.
There's a really interesting bit in the Twilight Princess manga that, while I know it's noncanon for the games, lends a lot of credence to the idea that Ganondorf in ToTK is the first time that Ganondorf has been properly and truly reincarnated.
Trigger warning for mention of suicide, and spoiler warning for the Twilight Princess manga.
Toward the end of the manga, during the final battle, Link is losing. Link is going to lose. He comes to the realization that he can't kill Ganondorf not because Ganondorf is stronger than him, but because he's just one part of a whole—and Link and Zelda make up the rest of it. Link realizes that he doesn't have the right to kill Ganondorf, because they need each other to exist. He was chosen by Din for a reason, like Link was chosen by Farore and Zelda was chosen by Nayru, and even if nobody knows why Din allowed that to happen that doesn't make it the right of one Goddess' champion to kill another. Ganondorf refuses to accept this, and kills himself so that he can finally be swept into the reincarnation cycle along with Link and Zelda, rather that just living forever and meeting new versions of them again and again. He demands the opportunity to reset and do what he wants without the fetters of his previous attempts weighing on him, with a promise to return someday and take what he deserves.
Ganondorf dies at the end of WindWaker, and it's very possible that he wouldn't be reborn again until the time period where Hyrule would be revived. Ganondorf is the destined bearer of the Triforce of Power—and Rauru is the Sage of Light, but he very clearly serves as a stand-in for the Triforce of Courage, while Sonia presumably stood in for Wisdom until Zelda arrived. At that point, given that Zelda is the destined bearer chosen by Nayru in order to bolster her ability to interface with Hylia (or to house her outright), any protection that position could have granted Sonia was lost, and Ganondorf was able to kill her where he couldn't have killed Zelda.
Do I think this is the case? Almost certainly not. Do I think it's possible? Absolutely.
The other possibility is that Ganondorf in WindWaker succeeded in his wish to reset the timeline and undo everything and the Goddesses took advantage of the wish and rolled it back so far that they removed the Triforce from the timeline altogether in the hopes that Ganondorf would never come into being at all. This new timeline would thereby be the result of that, but there's not much to indicate that beyond the fact that the Imprisoning War is literally the events of Ocarina of Time without the Triforce or Link, down to Zelda watching him kneel in front of the King of Hyrule and ask for allegiance, then telling that king that Ganondorf is obviously evil. I swear it's almost word for word. Zelda. Don't be racist.
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here we go :) part one of three, updates to be released weekly!
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sam says 4 (game master cinematic universe, part 3)
Ruby was at her mum's for a family dinner she couldn't miss on pain of death, apparently, and the Doctor was many things, but a family dinner kind of guy wasn't one of them—particularly when Carla had already slapped him once in the short time he'd known her. He thought he'd broken his streak of bad luck with mums, but… well, seemingly not. So he was companionless for a few hours, and while he could wait for her to get back, maybe catch up on his reading—what was the point of waiting when you had a time machine?
He ran his hands over the TARDIS console, marvelling at her clean lines and metallic flourishes, the way that even now she felt brand new but familiar, and paused. He’d just pop off for a quick adventure, nothing too dangerous, but—where to go?
He could scan for a distress call nearby, and pitch in to help. He could drop in on Donna and Shaun and Rose, beautiful Rose, and see how they were all doing. Or he could just hit the randomiser button, and jump in feet first wherever he ended up.
He remembered a conversation from a long time ago, when he wore a different face, and his gorgeous TARDIS wore a face too, for the first and only time.
“You didn't always take me where I wanted to go.”
“No, but I always took you where you needed to go.”
He grinned. Who could resist an offer like that? He pressed the button and whooped as the time rotor spun into action, ready to see where the universe would take him.
---
Apparently, he was needed pretty close to where he already was. Earth, 2024. Huh. Same planet, same time—within a few months of where he’d left Ruby, even. The main thing that had changed was the location: he was now in the good old US of A. California, to be more specific, and Los Angeles to be more specific still. And to really narrow it down, the Doctor discovered as he poked his head out of the TARDIS doors, he was in… a broom closet. Not bad, as a parking spot—a bit squeezy, but out of the way. And as he poked his head out of that door, he could finally see he was in the backstage corridors of a studio of some kind. Film or TV, if he was to hazard a guess, it was a different vibe from Abbey Road.
With a shrug, he decided to go exploring.
It couldn’t have been more than a minute before a young woman wearing the full-black outfit, headset, and permanently stressed expression of a production assistant came running up to him.
“Are you the fill-in Sam organised?” she asked breathlessly, and honestly, seeing the look on her face, the Doctor didn’t have the heart(s) to tell her no. And really, what was the Doctor, if not a professional fill-in? This, this was why he had a randomiser button on the control panel, because whatever he was about to get himself into was going to be fun.
“Sure!”
“Oh, thank god,” sighed the production assistant, relief dawning across her face. “When Ally tested positive this morning, I thought we were sunk for the record, because we called around and we couldn’t get a hold of anyone. But then Sam said he could get someone in, and, you know, here you are, and just in time, so—ah, yeah, if you could follow me this way?”
Smiling all the way, the Doctor followed his guide through to hair and makeup, looking around as they went. The studio seemed to belong to a company called Dropout, according to the branding scattered around, and things seemed, at least on the surface, to be… well. Fine. He couldn't tell why he'd been brought here yet, which meant that when he found the reason, it was going to be particularly tangled. He couldn't wait!
And then he looked back at his guide, still engulfed in a miasma of anxiety, and realised he'd been too busy looking for clues to notice the person right in front of him.
“Hey, it's cool, you've found me,” he started with a gentle smile. “You can relax. Hi, I'm the Doctor. What's your name?”
“Oh!” she said, startled. “The Doctor, yeah, of course. Um, hi, I'm Kaylin. Look, sorry, it's just that I've been so busy this morning, I'm so distracted… Shit, and I would've completely forgotten to get your details too. There's paperwork to fill in, but you can do that later. Um, just for now, though, can I get your pronouns?”
The Doctor thought for a moment. “He/him, for now.”
Kaylin nodded, making a note on her phone. “Okay, cool! And do you have any socials?”
“Not me, babes,” he replied. “I'm hardly sitting down long enough to be able to update, you know?”
“On a day like this, I know exactly what you mean,” she said. “That's okay, Lou didn't have socials either for the longest time. Right, so if you go through there, the team will get you sorted, and once you're done, someone will take you up to the greenroom. All good?”
“All great,” the Doctor replied. Kaylin flashed him a quick, relieved smile, then hurried off.
Hair and makeup was a fairly quick process, the sound mixer fitted him with a microphone, and before too long, Kaylin was back to take him upstairs.
“This is the greenroom,” she said, pushing the door open. “The rest of the cast for the episode are already here—they’re great guys, and they’ve both been on the show a lot, so they’ll be able to help if you’ve got questions. And if you need anything else, just come find me or any of the other PAs, okay?”
The Doctor nodded, beamed at Kaylin, and walked in.
---
The greenroom was small but comfortable, and its occupants, two men around the same age as the Doctor appeared, looked up as he entered.
“Oh, you’re new,” the taller of the pair said, clearly giving him the once-over.
The other sighed with a mixture of fondness and exasperation, just as clearly used to his friend’s antics.
“Hey, I’m Brennan,” he said, levering himself up to standing from his perch on a chair arm, and holding out a hand. “That’s Grant.”
The Doctor took it warmly. “The Doctor. Just passing through, and happy to help.”
Grant’s eyebrows quirked. “Doctor… something?” he prompted.
“Or is it just ‘the Doctor’?” Brennan asked.
“Just ‘the Doctor’,” the Time Lord confirmed cheerfully. “You’ll get used to it, everyone does.”
Grant didn’t look convinced, but—
“Copy that,” Brennan shrugged, and settled back on the arm of the chair, returning his gaze to the door.
Grant, in turn, looked at the Doctor and rolled his eyes in a clear expression of ‘no, I don’t know why he’s like this, either’.
“Okay,” the Doctor said after a moment of watching the watching. “I wasn’t going to ask, but now I think I have to. What’s up with the door?”
Brennan huffed a laugh. “Well, the last time there was one of those up—” he pointed to the Out of Order sign stuck to the bathroom door, “—we got locked in here for the game.”
“He’s paranoid,” Grant interjected.
“Well, yeah, maybe,” Brennan retorted. “Or just cautious. Because Sam’s been acting weird lately, and we’re coming up to the last few records of the season, so he’s probably planning something way out of the box for the finale. And the original cast was you, me and Beardsley, so…”
He shrugged one shoulder meaningfully, and Grant nodded, conceding both the point and the potential for chaos.
“So if Sam comes in to give us the briefing, rather than waiting til we’re on set,” Brennan continued, “or there’s anything else weird going on, I’m gonna know about it right from the beginning.”
He turned to the Doctor. “The only reason I'm not quizzing you is because I know for a fact Beardsley was genuinely scheduled for this, so you can't be a plant by the production team. No offence.”
“None taken,” the Doctor smiled. “That sort of thing happen often, does it?”
Grant and Brennan exchanged a look.
“More than you'd think,” Grant answered with a grimace.
“Alright,” the Doctor said slowly, then brightened. “So what is it we're actually doing?”
Grant gave him a disbelieving glance. “You don't know—?”
“Very last minute fill-in,” the Doctor said breezily. “But don't worry, I'm a quick study.”
“Well, you're not that much worse off than the rest of us,” Brennan said encouragingly. “You know about Game Changer, obviously, if you know Sam, and we only find out the rules of the game once we get on set. Hopefully,” he added, with a dark look back at the Out of Order sign.
The Doctor nodded. No, he didn't know Sam, and he didn't know Game Changer, but he could work out the situation from context clues. This was a game show. And with the Toymaker banished, and Satellite Five not coming into existence for another 198000 years, give or take, he found himself smiling. Maybe third time would be the charm.
“Mmm, hopefully they aren't going to throw you in the deep end,” Grant said. “Because Brennan might seem lovely now, but as soon as we get out there, he's a whore for points. He'll stab you in the back and won't even blink.”
Brennan barked with laughter. “Yeah, and you wouldn't?”
“Excuse you, I'm always a goddamn delight,” Grant replied, the very picture of injured dignity.
“Oh, absolutely!” agreed a new voice. The Doctor turned to the now-open door to see a bearded man in a pinstriped suit smiling broadly. “That's why we keep inviting you back!”
Grant bowed sarcastically. “Why, thank you, Sam. Good to know I'm appreciated by someone here.”
“Always,” Sam replied, gently but firmly ending that particular path of the conversation. He scanned the room, and his eyes lit up when they landed on the Doctor.
“Ah, you must be the Doctor!” he said with obvious delight, walking over with his hand outstretched. “I'm Sam—thanks for filling in for us, you've made sure we're going to have a good show. Seriously, it's a pleasure to have you here.”
“Aw, cheers!” the Doctor smiled, shaking the offered hand. “Glad I could help out, I'm really looking forward to this!”
“Well, great!” Sam exclaimed, then took a step back, regarding all three players in turn. “Now, folks, I'm just letting you know that we're just about ready to start the record, so if you can start heading down, that'd be great.”
Grant and Brennan nodded—Brennan, the Doctor noticed, with relief.
“See you down there,” Sam said, smiling. “Have a great show, and—”
His eyes caught on the Doctor's for a second, twinkling.
“Good luck.”
---
Backstage, the Doctor, Brennan and Grant were marshalled into podium order and given a final briefing from the crew. And then, with a thumbs-up from Kaylin, that was it.
Showtime.
“Get ready for a Game Changer!” came Sam's voice from onstage. “Tonight’s guests: he can shoot off a monologue with laser accuracy; it’s Brennan Lee Mulligan!”
Brennan, his back to the camera as the curtains opened, spun on his heel and, with a stone-cold expression, pointed finger guns straight down the barrel, before letting the facade crack open. “Hi!” he exclaimed, and walked over to the leftmost podium.
“It’s his first appearance, but he’s already on fire; it’s the Doctor!”
The Doctor leant against the archway to the stage and flashed a broad smile towards the camera, then in a few skipping steps, had bounded over to the next free podium. What the hell, why not make an entrance?
“And even in the toughest of mazes, you’ll always be able to find him; it’s Grant O’Brien!”
Grant dipped his lanky frame into an approximation of a curtsey, spreading his arms wide, then sauntered over to the closest podium with a grin.
“And your host, me!” Sam announced, a ring of manic white showing around his irises as he beamed down the barrel of the camera. “I’ve been here the whole time!”
“This,” he continued, pushing his microphone shut and stowing it in his jacket pocket, “is Game Changer, the only game show where the game changes every show. I am your host, Sam Reich!”
As he said his name, he looked at his hands, front and back, as if he was pleasantly surprised to be himself, then gestured towards the three podiums.
“I am joined today by these three lovely contestants! Now, you understand how the game works.”
“Of course not,” Grant started. “You know we don't.”
“We can't, Sam, that's the whole point of the theatre you've set up here,” Brennan said over him.
“Not yet,” was all the Doctor said, anticipation starting to drum a tattoo of excitement against the inside of his ribcage.
“That’s right!” Sam said brightly, shooting finger guns at the camera. “Our players have no idea what game it is they’re about to play. The only way to learn is by playing. The only way to win is by learning, and the only way to begin is by beginning! So without further ado, let’s begin by giving each of our players fifty points.”
The Doctor, biding his time, watched the reactions of his fellow contestants. Grant looked at the front of his podium, checking the point total, and nodding approvingly when he saw that yes, it was sitting at a round fifty. Brennan, on the other hand, was starting to frown.
“Players, Sam says: touch your nose,” Sam began, and Brennan sighed the sigh of someone who wasn’t happy to be proved right.
“Oh, no,” he groaned. “Oh, you son of a bitch. Wasn’t one this season enough?”
He touched his nose anyway, as did the others, and Sam smiled encouragingly. “Sam says: touch your ear.”
When they all did, Sam nodded. “Touch your other ear.”
Everybody held still, fingers on the ears they had originally touched.
Sam beamed. “Easy, players, right?”
“You say that now,” Brennan said darkly. “Which makes it worse, because all you're doing is setting us up for failure.”
Sam gasped, pretending offence. “Would I do that?”
“Yes,” Brennan and Grant replied in unison, which drew a grin from the Doctor and set Sam off chuckling.
“And I'm not having it,” Brennan continued, leaning his elbows against his podium and pointing at Sam with the hand not touching his ear. “You better watch yourself, because I know how this game works, and you're not going to get one over on me.”
“Strong words, Brennan!” Sam said, clearly delighted by this response. “Okay, then, let's start making things a bit more interesting!”
The game continued as per Sam Says usual, some rounds done as a group and some individual. Points were won, sure, but lost slightly more frequently, and even the Doctor found he was having to concentrate to avoid getting caught in the host's traps.
It was fun. Genuinely, it was like playing a game with friends, and the Doctor felt himself leaning into it. There wasn't any sign of danger—maybe there wasn't a mystery to solve at all, and the TARDIS just decided he needed a total break.
Well, probably not. But the way things were going, he was able to let himself hope.
“Alright, players,” Sam said a good few rounds in, just as pleasantly as he would start any other question, and the screen behind him dinged as a new prompt popped up. “Survive the death beam.”
For a second, everything was frozen perfectly still.
And then came the crash, the explosive noise of heavy machinery moving relentlessly through a drywall set.
The Doctor was already moving. “Everyone down!”
“Duck!” Brennan yelled at the same time.
The two of them hit the ground within milliseconds of each other, but Grant was still paralysed in the face of the giant, science-fiction type laser cannon that had just ploughed through the wall.
It whined ominously, screaming its way to fever pitch. And then a sharp pain in Grant’s ankle made him stagger, pitching forwards onto the carpet behind the podiums as the Doctor rolled away to avoid getting pinned.
“Sorry, babes,” the Doctor whispered. “But it was either kick you to get you down, or—”
A hideous metallic screech ripped through the air, and all three of them could feel the crackle of ozone as a beam of energy swept across what had, moments ago, been neck height.
“…Or that,” the Doctor finished with a grimace.
“Jesus fucking Christ,” Grant breathed, suddenly very conscious of every inch of his 6’9 frame. “Thanks.”
“Well done, players!” Sam exclaimed delightedly from above them. “But… sorry, I didn’t say ‘Sam says’, so that’s a point off for everyone.”
“What the fuck!” Brennan snapped.
“Are you actually insane?” Grant demanded at the same time, his voice overlapping with Brennan’s.
In response, Sam just wheezed with laughter. “You can come back to your podiums,” he said, cheerfully ignoring them.
Nobody moved.
“Very good!” he acknowledged, and even without seeing his face, the grin was obvious in his voice. “Okay, Sam says: come back to your podiums.”
Although the words were innocuous, and his tone was just as light and breezy as usual, there was nevertheless an edge hiding just underneath the surface. And while the death beam loomed large in the minds of all three players, it was impossible to consider disobedience as an option.
Slowly, they stood, returning to their places. Now they had the time to look at it properly, the death beam was even more sinister, and Brennan and Grant both kept flicking nervous glances its way, ready to move if it looked like it was charging up again.
The Doctor, however, was focused purely on the man standing in front of them. Unbothered, Sam met his gaze like a challenge, a mischievous smile playing about his lips.
“Oh, you’ll love this one,” he said, and the screen changed. “Sam says, starting with Grant: say my name.”
Grant frowned in confusion, but answered quickly nonetheless. “Sam Reich?”
The man himself shrugged tolerantly, moving on. “Brennan?”
Brennan just stared at him coolly. “Do you take me for a fool?”
“Well caught, Brennan!” Sam said happily. “Sam says: say my name.”
“Sam,” Brennan replied, suspicion clear in his voice. “Samuel Dalton Reich.”
He nodded, still with a hint of indifference. “And lastly, Doctor.” His smile broadened. “Sam says: say my name.”
It was easy. Too easy. And as the Doctor looked into the eyes of the man calling himself Sam Reich, he felt his hearts stutter in recognition, because something had changed. He wasn’t hiding himself anymore, and while the face was different yet again, the Doctor would know the shape of that soul anywhere. It was impossible. It was inevitable.
“You can’t be,” he breathed.
Sam smirked, leaning in across his podium. “Oh, but Doctor… I’ve been here the whole time,” he stage-whispered with a wink.
“He said you lost,” the Doctor said, shaking his head, looking wrong-footed for the first time that Brennan and Grant could recall. “You lost, and he trapped you.”
The other two watched, uncomprehending, but Sam just smiled, drumming his fingers against the podium with an audible beat, fast but distinct. Four taps, four taps, four taps. “I’m waiting.”
The Doctor took a slow, deep breath. Set his jaw.
“Master.”
---
missed an installment of the game master cinematic universe?
original idea by @ace-whovian-neuroscientist: x
art by @northernfireart
concept: x
scissor sisters sketch: x
sam and his doppelganger: x
writing by me (!)
part one (escape the greenroom): x
part two (deja vu): x
part three (sam says 4): you are here!
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