It will be my first time playing this video game franchise

So you can help me out with the timeline

Skyward Sword is my favorite.

@@craigauclair4026 ok nice what one would I like on Nintendo Switch

What about both the Hyrule Warriors games?

I’d have to disagree with that twilight princess is the only Zelda game that has been on 3 home consoles in a row. It’s the best selling game in the series second only to botw and one of the games I never hear people stop talking about. It’s literally one of the most critically acclaimed games in the series

@@linkheroofspiritsakatrains4812 that’s an interesting point.

I don't think an underrated Zelda game exists

@@arcadiolopez6419 who knows, maybe you’re right.

@@arcadiolopez6419 all 3 four swords games, both ds games,

good theory.

That would make sense. All the other games where the triforce is split or broken happen in timelines AFTER OoT. And I like your theory of each timeline represents one piece of it, too.

Plus that would really tie the overall theme of the series together. And that can also easily explain why there were only 2 Triforces in the OG Zelda game (power and wisdom.) With Link being killed, I'm sure the triforce of courage would have been destroyed or completely lost.

True. Age of Calamity was building up to be a tragedy, but due to some wibbly-wobbly, timey-wimey stuff, the events end completely differently, resulting in yet another split timeline. However, only BotW's timeline is being followed at this time

If they didn't want a clear timeline they wouldn't have made sure to let us know Zelda 2 was several seasons later or A Link to the past was set in the past of the first game. They sure as heck wouldn't have bothered to inform us that Ocarina Of Time split the timelines, because as soon as Wind Waker came out, they informed us it continued from OOT. when Twilight Princess came out, they told us it takes place at the same time as the WW in another timeline. Long before Hyrule Historia came out.

​@@nworder4life I can imagine it's not on the top of priorities and probably the last thing they think about, providing its not a direct sequel like Tears or the Kingdom or Majoras Mask, the majority of their games you could drop into any time without any consequence

That is partly true a lot of the timeline is very well thought out but others well not so much

@MrMusty They keep hit potato-ing it. Miyamotto was lost, then Aounuma tried , and he gave it to Fujibayashi who has made the origin of the franchise and 2 other games. They think about it enough where they know they need something, but I think it is important to Fujibayashi.

This is untrue. They actually had a clear timeline(with unclear, but NON contradictory third party outliers) until Wind Waker ruined everything by retconning ALTTP.

Ocarina of time was always planned on being a split, you can clearly see Nintendo wanted the adult timeline to be the more kid friendly cell shaded games and the child timeline to be the darker games. They lost the plot on where the older games would fit so they made that what if Link lost timeline.

@@nworder4life ah yes the child timeline with the darker games such as four swords adventures

@@linkheroofspiritsakatrains4812 Majoras mask, twilight princess are the very clearly darker games. Uhh 4 swords adventurers had shadow Links, that's pretty scary. Grab you right out of the mirror!

@@nworder4life you make a point and the fallen timeline fits as well at least in style it’s all the 2d top down style and ganon is always the same mindless beast. My original point was more story based wind waker phantom hourglass and spirit tracks is a trilogy that tells one story across 3 games

There has been a fan theory that at some point after the last game in each branching timeline (Zelda II, Four Sword Adventures, Spirit Tracks) and long before the events of Breath of the Wild there could have been a point where the three timelines merged back into one or at the very least became aware of one another. If the events of Hyrule Warriors/Hyrule Warriors Legends were put into the official timeline that would explain why there is evidence of all three time lines in Breath of the Wild. Age of Calamity doesn't really take place before Breath of the Wild per say. Age of Calamity is yet another alternate/branching timeline (it branches off of Breath of the Wild's backstory due to time travel shenanigans). The events of Age of Calamity essentially erases/replaces the events of Breath of Wild in the timeline its now travelling down, though Breath of the Wild still technically also happens in the original timeline from which Age of Calamity branched off of. Its basically Child timeline/Adult timeline version 2.0. The CD-i Zelda trilogy will never be placed on an official Zelda timeline. Nintendo had zero say in their creation and they only exist due to the legal pickle Nintendo found themselves in following the SNES CD add-on debacle. The cartoon also will never be placed as its an entirely different entertainment media. If you must place the cartoon in your own head canon though just know that its basically a loose interpretation and expansion upon the NES Zelda and Zelda II stories.

None of them are canon, hence why they’re not featured in the timeline

Because it canonically is.

@eddie142 ive read 0 evidence of this. That's why im confused why people, like yourself, can just declare it canon.

@African Warlord So you never read Hyrule Historia? The book who's Majora's Mask section is literally titled "turmoil in parallel world".

@African Warlord "Termina: A strange Parallel world where the inhabitants looks identical to the people of Hyrule" - Hyrule Historia, Nintendo's main lorebook.

@eddie142 its translated by dark horse comics. Wouldnt take it for face value. The japanese version, by nintendo, says that when link goes through the forest "it leads to a different world called termina". This isn't referring to a different planet, but a different land.

Spin-off’s are never canon

Wrong, both the games themselves and Nintendo said that BoTW and TOTK take place over 10,000 years after every previous game. BoTW even has monuments in its overworld of buildings from past games. They are not reboots.

@@lukejones7164 Ok.

Termina does not cease to exist. There is no evidence for that. We can't even confirm with certainty that the Mask REEAAAALLY even created it.

Brilliant, inciteful, useful

@@PebblesOTB it is lol

Maybe but some parts make sense and we’re thought out from the beginning