Summary
TheLegend of Zeldafranchise has been around for over thirty years, and in that time Nintendo has releaseda lotof entries. Technically, most of these stories have a shared storyline, but trying to make sense of it can be migraine-inducing. Officially, the franchise’s overarching story is split into three different timelines with somegreat non-canonLegend of Zeldagamesthrown in for good measure. However, that makes things sound deceivingly simple.
Within those three timelines, multiple instances of time travel, alternate worlds, retcons, and contradictions make everything super confusing. Add in the fact that at least two games don’t seem to fit at all, and fans are left with a situation where even Nintendo doesn’t 100% seem to know what’s going on. While one could fill a book with confusing things aboutThe Legend of Zelda’s timeline (a book calledHyrule Historia), we’ve attempted to explain some of the most confusing elements here.
1Non-Linear Releases
The First Game Is Almost The Last
Perhaps the biggest obstacle to newcomers trying to understandThe Legend of Zelda’s timeline is its weird release order. Fans are used to franchises releasing their games in chronological order, perhaps with the occasional prequel thrown in. With theLegend of Zelda, it feels more like the developers have a dartboard covered with the franchise’s different eras and timelines. Wherever the dart lands, that’s where the next game is set.
This isn’t an exaggeration. The first game in the series, the originalThe Legend of Zelda, is set much later in the chronology than most of the other games.Skyward Sword, which was released in 2011, on the other hand, is meant to be the first game in the series. Everything else is prequels, sequels, and interquels. Or out of canon? It’s pretty hard to keep track ofLink’s greatest achievementswhen players have no idea when they happened, or in what order.
2Why Are There Three Timelines?
The Ocarina Of Time Is To Blame
Anyone familiar withThe Legend of Zelda’s story will know the franchise is split into three(ish) timelines. These are all based on three possible endings inOcarina of Time:
Of these, the Downfall timeline is the most confusing. There are otherdarkLegend of Zeldaendings, so why does only this one get its own timeline? The developers have never explained why only Link’s defeat inOcarina of Time, and not other entries, causes a timeline split.
Ocarina of Timeisn’t even the only entry to feature time travel.Skyward Sword,Oracle of Ages,Majora’s Mask, andTears of the Kingdomall feature time travel as a plot device. However, in those games, time travel doesn’t lead to branches in the timeline. It’s probably best not to think about it too much and just treat the Downfall timeline as a Marvel-style what-if scenario.
3Ganondorf Transforms Into Ganon All The Time
Ganondorf Or Ganon? Make Your Mind Up
While otherLegend of Zeldavillains have come and gone, Ganondorf has been a constant thorn in Link’s side. He’s always cropping up in his different forms, something that causes no end of confusion if fans stop and think about it. The general rule is that Ganondorf transforms into Ganon in each game after giving up his humanity to get his grubby hands on the Triforce. The problem is that it keeps happening.
Explaining every reincarnation of Ganondorfisn’t easy, especially in the adult Link timeline. In this timeline, the villain is sealed away in the Sacred Realm as Ganon but then pops up again inWind Wakeras Ganondorf. What caused him to return to his old form is never explained. On the flip side, inTwilight PrincessGanondorf is killed before he can transform, yet crops up later in the timeline as Ganon inFour Sword Adventures. How he came back in his transformed state is skipped over. This lack of consistency makes it hard to keep track of Ganondorf’s different incarnations and the rules surrounding when he becomes Ganon. That’s not great considering he’s one of the most important aspects of the franchise’s lore.
4What Timeline Are Breath Of The Wild And Tears Of The Kingdom In?
Nintendo Won’t Tell Us
The confusion aroundThe Legend of Zelda’s timelines has only been made worse by how tight-lipped its creators tend to be. They’ve repeatedly refused to tell fans which timeline bothBreath of the WildandTears of the Kingdomtake place in, only giving the vaguest of hints in interviews. The Wild Era they’re both set in is clearly at the end of one of the timelines, but which one is a mystery.
Some fans even think they’re set after some kind of convergence that united all three main timelines. That would explain why both games contain references and nods to every game in the franchise, including those from distant timelines.Tears of the Kingdomis particularly confusing. As a direct sequel toBreath of the Wild, it’s one ofthe bestLegend of Zeldasequel gamesbut its ending suggests that the franchise’s timeline is cyclical, as it seems to loop right back to the beginning. Until the creators give fans some more concrete answers, trying to make sense of these two games is almost impossible.
5Retcons Make Matters Worse
Don’t Move Entries Around On The Official Timeline
Not everyLegend of Zeldafan cares about the chronology of the franchise, but those who do have two reliable sources they can go to: theHyrule Historiaand theZelda Encyclopedia. Among other things, the originalHyrule Historiatimeline explained where the three Game Boy and Game Boy ColorZeldagames fit into the wider timelines. TheOracle of Ages & Seasonsgames as well asLink’s Awakeningwere all set in the period afterA Link to the Pastin the Downfall timeline. The idea was that after saving Hyrule in that game, Link had gone off adventuring and getting himself into all sorts of trouble.
In this original version of the timeline,Links' Awakeningwas a direct sequel to the Oracle titles. Then Nintendo went and retconned it by havingLink’s Awakeningact as a prequel to the Oracle games in theZelda Encyclopedia. It’s a relatively small change that certainly didn’t stop them from being some ofthe best Nintendo games on the Game Boy Color, but it did add confusion to an already mixed-up timeline. No one is quite sure why the change was made, but many believe the retcon was made to explain why Zelda doesn’t recognize Link in the Oracle games. Or maybe Nintendo just doesn’t take the timeline as seriously as some fans.
6Four Swords Adventures Confuses The Child Timeline
All It Takes Is One Throwaway Line
The Legend of Zelda: Four Sword Adventuresis an unpopular entry among fans for plenty of reasons.Lots ofZeldagames have weird gimmicks, butFour Swords Adventures’multiplayer-focused split mechanic has to be one of the least well-received. Another reason is the damage the game does to one of the timelines. Its backstory makes it clear thatFour Swords Adventuresis a sequel to two earlier Child timeline games,Four SwordsandMinish Cap,and is placed toward the end of the timeline. So far, so good.
But then the game’s intro drops the line, “For a time, the people of Hyrule believed that their land was safe,” which implies Hyrule had seen a period of extended peace between the originalFour SwordsandFours Swords Adventures. That’s a headscratcher because, canonically, Ganondorf raised his ugly head multiple times during this period. For example,Twilight Princesstakes place beforeFour Swords Adventuresand was a particularly unpleasant time for the people of Hyrule. Either Hyrulians have shockingly short memories orFour Swords Adventuresdoesn’t belong at the end of the Child timeline.
7There Are Multiple Imprisoning Wars
Different Events With The Same Name
Before the events ofA Link to the Past, there was a major upheaval called the Imprisoning War. It was a time during which Ganon rose, but Link wasn’t around to save the day, meaning the Seven Sages had to get involved. They did so by teaming up and imprisoning Ganon in the Dark World. Fans then expectedOcarina of Time, which was a prequel, to tell the story of what happened in the run-up to the Imprisoning War and why Link wasn’t around to stop it.
Instead,Ocarina of Timeconfused things by introducing the whole split timeline situation. Technically, the Downfall timeline now represents the run-up to the Imprisoning War, but it’s all a bit convoluted. But, not convoluted enough, apparently, because a second Imprisoning War was introduced inTears of the Kingdom. This is a separate Imprisoning War, however, that imprisons Ganon beneath Hyrule Castle instead of the Dark World. Giving two pivotal events the same name is a great way to confuse fans. In a similar vein, Hyrule is depicted as being founded both at the end ofSkyward SwordandTears of the Kingdom. The second one might be a “refounding,” but no one seems sure, and it’s still confusing.
