Nintendo releases Official Zelda Timeline

[Jontendo]

^

Next people will ask why the "Game & Watch" Zelda isn't in there, not to mention the Game watch.
Gotta draw the line somewhere.

[MrPopo]

The CDi games aren't on the timeline?

This chart is massive fail for putting the Oracle games in the lowest tier of real Zelda games.

[jfrost]

I don't get why they made a timeline for the Hero of Time failing and not a timeline for a possible failure in every other game.

[Flake]

I don't get why they made a timeline for the Hero of Time failing and not a timeline for a possible failure in every other game.

Because they haven't made a game that is the result of the Hero of Time failing yet?

[jfrost]

I don't get why they made a timeline for the Hero of Time failing and not a timeline for a possible failure in every other game.

Because they haven't made a game that is the result of the Hero of Time failing yet?

I don't understand what you're saying.

What I understand of the timeline is that Hero of Time is Ocarina's Link. And the ending of Ocarina is pretty straightforward, Link is successful. They provided for the possibility of us failing at the end of Ocarina, but that doesn't really happen in the game, so, I don't know, why do that?

Perhaps you can explain a little better what they meant to do there, I'm lost.

[Flake]

There are games where Link failed in Ocarina of Time.

No games have been made where the plot is a result of a different Link failing.

Ergo, a timeline is represented where Link failed in Ocarina of Time because games exist with that plot line.

If a game was ever made with Link's failure a canonical possibility, that game would have its own leg on the timeline.

[jfrost]

Meh, it still doesn't seem all too convincing when there's no gameplay possibility of that happening.

[KDub]

That has been my problem with the timeline and the only problem. Why did he fail, where was this alluded to in game? I know they have technically made games where the Hero of Time vanished; but when was he defeated and why? It just seems like an easy out to make things fit in a third universe.

Everything else is cool though

[Flake]

Meh, it still doesn't seem all too convincing when there's no gameplay possibility of that happening.

Well there is a precedent. It doesn't have its own branch on the timeline since it is chronologically the most 'recent' but if you fail in Zelda II, you clearly see Ganon is revived.

A big part of Ocarina's plot, if I recall correctly, was that Ganon was attacking far too soon for the Hero to be ready to fight him. Of all the games, Ocarina and it's post-apocalyptic, parallel time lines plot seems to be a natural splinter point to me.

Personally, I think it's an elegant solution and it explains the utter lack of a Master Sword in many of the games.

[BoringSupreez]

I'm glad they released this, even though I couldn't care less about Zelda's timeline. It means there is a definitive answer to give when fanboys start bickering about which game's events came first/or are even canon.