Never mind Ganon, anyone who’s ever been brave enough to look will tell you THAT’S RIGHT The Dark Beast of the Zelda franchise is its timeline. Up until Sword in the sky, many of us are happy enough to form our own theories about how games work together, or just play happily, ignoring the intricacies of how the game works. in the next game. Afterward History of Hyrule came out in 2011 and rocked everything.
Rather than a cohesive timeline, this official link book suggests that there are in fact three distinct sequences to follow after the events of Ocarina of time — ‘Defeated Hero’ and ‘Victory Hero (Age of Children and Adults)’. And this doesn’t take into account any released games Later Skyward Sword, so we can only speculate whether things like Breath of the Wild And tears of the kingdom slot into the mix. Simply put, it is Actually complex, Actually fast.
Luckily, we’re here to help try to understand it all. We’ve pored over official Hyrule chronologies from the books, searched for clues in the games, and read through enough theory to drive Zonai crazy, all in an attempt to figure out where Tears of the Kingdom (and Breath of the Wild) fall into the order of events.
We’ll briefly recap the ‘official’ timeline before diving into this latest generation so we’re all in agreement. And yes, we will discuss the set events and plot points from most all The Zelda games in this section (although we’ve easily veered around Tears of the Kingdom for now), so be prepared for spoilers ahead.
The handbook is ready. Let’s do some (ocarina) time travel…
Zelda Timeline, Explained
Timeline according to Hyrule Historia
We’ll be very brief with our summaries here, so hold on tight.
Legend of Goddesses and Heroes
Hyrule and the Triforce were created by three goddesses (Din, Nayru and Farore) and placed under the control of another goddess named Hylia. War quickly breaks out after a villain known as Demise tries to take the Triforce but is sealed away by Hylia and her army. Hylia lifts the Triforce and humans into the sky on a giant floating island called Skyloft.
Hylia is reincarnated as a human (Zelda) who was kidnapped by one of Demise’s servants and dragged to the surface in an attempt to retrieve the Triforce. She was saved by her friend Link, who defeated Demise, but not before the villain cursed the pair, vowing that his quest for vengeance would be eternal, and a demonic version of him forever. forever hunting those who carry the blood of the goddess – the ghost.
Many years passed. The people of Skyloft returned to the surface and named it Hyrule. Having some nasty business with a mage named Vaati, who was eventually sealed into a powerful Picori sword known as the Four Swords.
Afterward some year of peace, Hyrule fell into the Civil War. A baby assigned to the Great Deku Tree to be raised as a Kokiri, growing up to become Link. Link encounters a new version of Princess Zelda (there’s obviously going to be a lot of this reincarnation work) and the two learn that an evil Gerudo named Ganondorf is trying to steal the Triforce, and Link travels through time. seven years period. that he can use the legendary Master Sword and defeat the devil.
The game includes:
Twilight Kingdom and Hero’s Legacy (Victory Hero — child timeline)
After defeating Ganondorf at the end of the Ocarina of Time, Link is sent back in time to relive his childhood. He placed the Master Sword back on its pedestal, warned Zelda of Ganondorf’s plan, and fled with Ocarina so that Gerudo could never open the Time Seal. just in case he manages to escape punishment (spoiler: he does).
Link visits a parallel world, battles a terrifying moon, and returns to Hyrule to live out the rest of the days he’s not remembered as a hero — all very sad and games don’t go into that.
One hundred years on, Ganondorf escapes his execution (who would have thought?!) and is exiled to the Twilight Realm, where he builds his power and eventually kidnaps Princess Zelda. The direct descendant of the Hero of Time (aka Link) goes on a quest to save the Princess. He kills Ganondorf, saves Hyrule, and the gate between the two kingdoms is broken.
Ganondorf is reincarnated and frees Vaati from the Four Swords, but Link despises both.
The game includes:
The Hero of Winds and a New World (The Hero of Victory — adult timeline)
Rewind to the end of Ocarina of Time. Link defeats Ganondorf (who was sealed by the sages) and is sent back in time, so what happens to the timeline without Link? Good, massacre.
Ganondorf breaks free of the seal and takes over Hyrule. With no heroes there to protect them, the king of Hyrule left the fate of the world to the gods, who quickly overran the lands, leaving only a select few to survive.
Years pass and Ganondorf escapes from his watery grave (yes, again). Link gathers the shards of the Triforce together, restores the Master Sword’s strength, and travels to the bottom of the ocean to finish off Ganondorf for good – he stabs the sword in the head, turning Gerudo to stone (this is serious) ). Following the wishes of the King of Hyrule, the Triforce, Ganondorf and Hyrule himself were swept away in hopes of a better future.
Link and Zelda (here called Tetra) go on a quest to find a new Hyrule. There’s some mischief with the Ghost Train along the way, but they’ve finally found a new land (and it even has its own rail network). Hundreds of years later, Zelda and Link (reincarnated) free the land from evil and they live happily ever after…
The game includes:
The Decline of Hyrule and the Last Hero (The Defeatable Hero)
Back to the end of Ocarina, but this time Link is defeated by Ganondorf. The Demon King took over the Triforce and was sealed by the seven Sages in the Sacred Realm, turning it into the Dark World. The Sages completely sealed off the Shadow World.
Ganondorf’s power grows and a hero named Link (surprise surprise) ventures to the kingdom to defeat him. He succeeds and takes control of the Triforce, wishing for peace and handing over the emblem to the royal family.
There are several adventures in the following years, with various reincarnations taking on the lead roles. They involve fish islands, resurrecting flames, and jumping between worlds. The short version is that there is some family drama with the royal family and Zelda in a permanent coma.
Ganon is revived again but is defeated by Link. Link retrieves the entire Triforce, using it to awaken sleeping Zelda and restore peace to Hyrule.
