Theory: Zelda: Twilight Princess is a direct sequel to Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask

[schizophrenix]

Listen. There is no timeline. The two Heroes of Time from the pictures have different hairstyles, and eyes, but that doesn't really matter. My point is, trying to create a timeline where one doesn't exist, at least according to the developers, is like saying that any Mario games are part of a timeline.

 

[ZeroMachine]

It's even been announced that there is no time-line for the TLoZ series. Except for direct sequels like Majora's Mask and Phantom Hourglass, it's a separate Link each time. There is no timeline... although fans, including myself, tend do disagree.

Well, since you disagree and think there is a timeline, what do you think of my theory?

Listen. There is no timeline. The two Heroes of Time from the pictures have different hairstyles, and eyes, but that doesn't really matter. My point is, trying to create a timeline where one doesn't exist, at least according to the developers, is like saying that any Mario games are part of a timeline.

I just think about these things for fun. I like figuring out what happened when with fictional universes, regardless of whether it's strange or bullshit or what have you. It's a hobby.

 

[Fraught]

Well, it's all you said it is. A theory.

 

[Danpascooch]

Wow you took this WAYYYY too far

Yeah, I bet Nintendo said "Hmm, the game obviously needs to be easy because secretly this is the same link as before"

Hell, Nintendo SAID that it wasn't a time-line, what the hell more do you need than that? They are the storytellers, if they say that's how the story is, that's how it is

Stop rationalizing it with increasingly complex and ridiculously far-fetched "secret evidence"

There's no conspiracy, they are different, Nintendo just thought that the old link looked better, so they used his model

 

[ZeroMachine]

Wow you took this WAYYYY too far

Yeah, I bet Nintendo said "Hmm, the game obviously needs to be easy because secretly this is the same link as before"

Hell, Nintendo SAID that it wasn't a time-line, what the hell more do you need than that? They are the storytellers, if they say that's how the story is, that's how it is

Stop rationalizing it with increasingly complex and ridiculously far-fetched "secret evidence"

There's no conspiracy, they are different, Nintendo just thought that the old link looked better, so they used his model

I'll explain it again, I do this sort of thing for fun. As a hobby. I'm not saying my word is law, I just like putting things together in a way that makes sense to me so I can look at it and say "wow, this could be a huge epic story".

I realize that that's not what Nintendo was thinking and, frankly, I don't give a damn what Nintendo was thinking. I haven't exactly had much respect for them lately.

EDIT: And I think that this is the sort of thing Miyamoto would have wanted. A work of art that other people added to. It encourages complex thought and speculation about certain things that happen throughout the games. The entire series is supposed to be taken the way the player wants it to be in order to make it as fun for them as possible. And I like it this way.

So I guess what I'm trying to say is that no theory will be the same, everyone will have different one, and everyone should just enjoy theirs, for it is neither right nor wrong.

 

[Pendragon9]

I think I have a more plausible theory.

Spoiler

It's all just a repeating dream that the running man is having. Only he keeps forgetting stuff about the story and so he imagines new stuff. That's why the Zelda games are so different. And that's also why he can beat you every single time in OOT. He's having a good dream

I hope that cleared things up. Of course your theory is nice too.

 

[ZeroMachine]

I think I have a more plausible theory.

Spoiler

It's all just a repeating dream that the running man is having. Only he keeps forgetting stuff about the story and so he imagines new stuff. That's why the Zelda games are so different. And that's also why he can beat you every single time in OOT. He's having a good dream

I hope that cleared things up. Of course your theory is nice too.

I'll admit, that is funny

But that must mean Majora's Mask is his worst nightmare. Play the inverted Song of Time and he crawls like a snail!

 

[Guitarmasterx7]

I'm bored so I'm going to touch on these. First of all, there's no timeline, and I called that a million times, so i wasn't expecting this to make any sense, but this isn't even a well fabricated theory.

Spoiler: But ZeroMachine, Majoras Mask only really took three days, and TP Link looks only about seven years older than OOT/MM Link. What happened to Hyrule? Why is it so different, and why is the Temple of Time in ruins?

Think about it. During Majora's Mask, Link was fucking with the space time continuum. A lot. Who's to say this didn't cause some sort of flux in the path between worlds? Maybe three days passed in Termina while over a millenia passed in Hyrule. Upon returning to Hyrule, Link realized this, and so he decided to settle down in a new home, away from Hyrule (little did he know, he was right up the path from what used to be Hyrule Castle Town and the Temple of Time!)

Termina and Hyrule are on the same plane of existence, probably not too far away either geographically being as link rode from hyrule to termina on a fucking horse. So I'm assuming any alteration of time applied to both places, and he didn't really ALTER time, he just went back in time and repeated the same 3 days differently. And obviously, assuming there is a coherent timeline, the two games take place in much different time zones, so the "Zelda" is an almost identical ancestor of the original. Why can't link be one as well?

Spoiler: But ZeroMachine, what about the theory that the Heros Shade is the Hero of Time?

I've always thought this was bullshit, even before I came up with this whole insane idea. When did the Hero of Time wear that armor? Use that shield, that sword? And what the fuck would be up with him talking? Bullshit! Me? I believe that this is his father. Rember why Link was brought to the Kokiri Forest? A mother trying to hide her son from a war. Who's to say heroism doesn't run in his family? Maybe Link's father was a hero in whatever war took place before OOT. Maybe his death, though heroic, is what pushed his mother to hide Link. Plus, it could explain why both of them are left handed! It's genetics!

when you say "When did use that shield, that sword?" You mean the GUILDED SWORD and the MIRROR SHIELD from MAJORA'S MASK, the very game you're claiming TP is a DIRECT SEQUEL TO? Dude, seriously? So it's sooooo absurd that link eventually dawns a set of armor, but it's well within the realms of reason that he hides all his gear from himself and never thinks to retrieve it when he starts another adventure due to stupidity or some form of amnesia, hyrule and termina are on two different planes of existence where time flows differently, and link loses all of his magic abruptly because the great fairies die?

 

[The_Echo]

I thought Miyamoto confirmed that Zelda had no distinct timeline?

 

[Thaius]

The type that consider timeline theories even though Nintendo said that one doesn't exist.

Actually, Nintendo said that no connection exists. At all. They basically said that all the games were simply different retellings, different versions if you will, of the same legend. Which is crap, really: I mean, a lot of mythologies have a flood story, but they're all similar on base levels. No legend differs to the extent that Ocarina of Time and Wind Waker do: it just doesn't happen.

But anyway, if you're accepting Nintendo's uninspired, crap answer, then any theories like this aren't viable. But I do wish that wasn't the case...

 

[Souplex]

Nintendo issued a statement saying there is no timeline other than Minish Cap (The best game in the series, play it now!) being first and Phantom Hourglass being last.

 

[ZeroMachine]

I'm bored so I'm going to touch on these. First of all, there's no timeline, and I called that a million times, so i wasn't expecting this to make any sense, but this isn't even a well fabricated theory.

Spoiler: But ZeroMachine, Majoras Mask only really took three days, and TP Link looks only about seven years older than OOT/MM Link. What happened to Hyrule? Why is it so different, and why is the Temple of Time in ruins?

Think about it. During Majora's Mask, Link was fucking with the space time continuum. A lot. Who's to say this didn't cause some sort of flux in the path between worlds? Maybe three days passed in Termina while over a millenia passed in Hyrule. Upon returning to Hyrule, Link realized this, and so he decided to settle down in a new home, away from Hyrule (little did he know, he was right up the path from what used to be Hyrule Castle Town and the Temple of Time!)

Termina and Hyrule are on the same plane of existence, probably not too far away either geographically being as link rode from hyrule to termina on a fucking horse. So I'm assuming any alteration of time applied to both places, and he didn't really ALTER time, he just went back in time and repeated the same 3 days differently. And obviously, assuming there is a coherent timeline, the two games take place in much different time zones, so the "Zelda" is an almost identical ancestor of the original. Why can't link be one as well?

Spoiler: But ZeroMachine, what about the theory that the Heros Shade is the Hero of Time?

I've always thought this was bullshit, even before I came up with this whole insane idea. When did the Hero of Time wear that armor? Use that shield, that sword? And what the fuck would be up with him talking? Bullshit! Me? I believe that this is his father. Rember why Link was brought to the Kokiri Forest? A mother trying to hide her son from a war. Who's to say heroism doesn't run in his family? Maybe Link's father was a hero in whatever war took place before OOT. Maybe his death, though heroic, is what pushed his mother to hide Link. Plus, it could explain why both of them are left handed! It's genetics!

when you say "When did use that shield, that sword?" You mean the GUILDED SWORD and the MIRROR SHIELD from MAJORA'S MASK, the very game you're claiming TP is a DIRECT SEQUEL TO? Dude, seriously? So it's sooooo absurd that link eventually dawns a set of armor, but it's well within the realms of reason that he hides all his gear from himself and never thinks to retrieve it when he starts another adventure due to stupidity or some form of amnesia, hyrule and termina are on two different planes of existence where time flows differently, and link loses all of his magic abruptly because the great fairies die?

Hyrule and Termina are not on the same plane of existence. I can't remember the source, but I remember reading somewhere that one of the creators of Zelda stated where Termina came from. It went something like this:

"Termina is a parallel world to Hyrule. During the creation of Hyrule, some of the magical energies fell through the dimensional walls, creating worlds such as Termina, who bare a resemblance to Hyrule, but are fundamentally different".

Besides, if it was as simple as "walking over there", why was his entrance to Termina so freaky? And why do so many people look exactly like those in Hyrule?

And as for the idea of those being the Guilded Sword and Mirror Shield, I say again, bullshit. Those looked nothing, and I repeat, nothing like the older weapons, other than both shields being round.

Compare:

Spoiler: Swords

Spoiler: Shields

I know the picture of the Shade's shield is hard to make out, but it's fairly obvious to anyone who's seen it in the game that creepy face on MM's Mirror Shield is missing from it.

I will never agree with those two pieces of "evidence". Even taking into account the art style change, they're just too different.

I thought Miyamoto confirmed that Zelda had no distinct timeline?

Nah, some random representative of Nintendo did. Miyamoto has neither confirmed nor denied.

 

[ZeroMachine]

Nintendo issued a statement saying there is no timeline other than Minish Cap (The best game in the series, play it now!) being first and Phantom Hourglass being last.

They never really said that Minish Cap took place first (though I agree, it is an awesome game!)

I have to agree with you. I believe that after Link went back in time after Ocarina of Time, the events of Majora's Mask took place, followed by the events in Twilight Princess.

Also, I don't care what Nintendo says. I still believe in the Split Timeline theory (because it's totally awesome and makes so much goddamn sense).

Awesome, finally, someone agrees

 

[MrSnugglesworth]

Eh. I don't really care about any of the LoZ's besides WindWaker.


Wind Waker made me actually care about Link. In fact, I really want to replay the game now.

 

[CloakedOne]

I think you may have something there. That's the fun with interpretations, so many possibilities! Enjoy your theory, I think it fills things in nicely.

 

[Woem]

I thought Miyamoto confirmed that Zelda had no distinct timeline?

Nah, some random representative of Nintendo did. Miyamoto has neither confirmed nor denied.

I agree on this one. Shigeru Miyamoto himself said that it's Link growing up between two games, at E3 2009 (first question in the video below).

 

[Divineirony]

The cdi games are abominations and anyone that can make any semblance of sense out of them in a timeline is one devoted fan

 

[ZeroMachine]

The cdi games are abominations and anyone that can make any semblance of sense out of them in a timeline is one devoted fan

Nah. The most hardcore Zelda fans hate those. People who put the CDi games into any Zelda timeline other than the "Universal Timeline of Suck" is a blasphemer XD