I grew up in the 80’s and Zelda 1 and II where my favorite games. The title screen to II still gives me chills. What an adventure for back then. Nothing else like those games. I love how you tied II into the decades worth of Zelda games we couldn’t even dream would exist back then.
Zelda II is the first video game I ever remember playing. So yeah I’m biased in favor for it, even though it kicked my ass so much back then. Didn’t beat it until I was 20.
Relative to BotW and whatever might be happening in upcoming TotK, it makes me wonder if the Zelda in the first game was a light manifestation of Zelda I the way Calamity Ganon and the malice looks to be a manifestation of Ganondorf underneath Hyrule. Maybe all the Zelda's that led up from Zelda I to the Zelda rescued in the original were the same. The reason? Who knows? Maybe she was preparing to merge the timelines and had to hone her power to use the triforce in this way.
Wow. I honestly thought this wasn't going anywhere, but damn, I completely forgot the Triforce pops out in BotW at the end. That right there solidifies this for me. Great theory!!! Well done video as well!
I just wanted to say that I made a slight mistake that was pointed out to me by TGL Mudora. Link didn't go around Hyrule to collect the gems like I said he did at 6:30, he was given the gems by Impa and placed them in the temples to dispel the barrier at the Great Palace. That's my bad!
A few more corrections and additions: In the instruction booklet for Zelda 2 it stated that the king actually gave his son both the Triforces of Power and Wisdom, hiding only the Triforce of Courage in order to prevent him from misusing the full power of the Triforce, and telling Zelda that the Triforce symbol will appear on the back of the hand of the next man capable of bringing Hyrule into an age of prosperity (AKA the next person who is worthy of wielding the Triforce of Courage). The wizard who cast the sleeping spell on Zelda was also the one who convinced the prince that he needed the full Triforce in order to properly rule the land in the first place. Before the tragedy happened, Zelda would essentially deflect any questions the prince had about the Triforce of Courage and its location by basically telling him that he needed to prove he was worthy before he could even attempt to possess it (however, the Triforce symbol never appeared on his hand, thus proving that he was never truly worthy of ruling Hyrule). The wizard fed the prince's anger and frustration, and convinced the prince into letting him interrogate Zelda. However, when Zelda refused to tell them where the Triforce of Courage was, the wizard tried to cast a killing curse on her and the prince interrupted the spell, thus killing the wizard and placing Zelda into an endless slumber.
This theory is far from “stupid;” It’s mind blowing. Zelda wishing for the triforce to always reside in her bloodline (or reincarnation) makes total sense based on the evidence.
It makes even more sense when you consider that Hylia relinquished her godhood and became Zelda *specifically* because only a mortal could use the Triforce. One of her later incarnations cementing that relationship of safeguarding the relic makes perfect sense.
I like this because it would feel sort of fitting if the first Link we ever journeyed with was the one who helped bring about the remerging of the timelines. Cool theory! Also makes me wonder, though I'm not sure how exactly it would have worked, but maybe the Zelda's that came after Zelda I while she slept were benign versions of whatever Calamity Ganon was in BotW while the real Ganondorf has been kept underground. Maybe the magician's spell had an unprecedented effect that allowed Zelda to learn greater powers when she slept. Or maybe not, and perhaps the Zelda Link freed at the end of OG Zelda died in sometime between before AoL and Zelda I's time of reawakening had come.
I've come up with a similar theory, where it is Link's wish that makes the timeline split possible. We don't know the wording of the wish, so wishing something like the kingdom being restored could not only bring royalty back to life, but it is vague enough to change the past, and lead to three timelines that each retain a part of the restoration. (history, culture, and innovation of Hyrule, or Link's memory, idealization, and purpose of Hyrule. There's a lot of room to speculate) In my theory, though, it is the Sheikah, who had confirmed access to time travel, who knew about the split, and manipulated events in each timeline to cause a convergence.
But we do see friendly Zora in the Downfall Timeline! I recognise that in ALBW they are River Zora, and seem to be different physically and behaviorally from the Sea Zora of OoT (which you yourself have noted in a previous comment) which is therefore consistent with your argument. However, we see friendly Sea Zora in OoA. And while they don’t have a presence in Hyrule (and instead Labrynna) they’re perfectly capable of migrating and/or settling back into Hyrule at a later point, sometime thousands upon thousands of years prior to BoTW. Labrynna is noted to be a neighbouring nation and therefore relatively close geographically to Hyrule. How the hostile River Zora came to be is unclear, but seems to be connected to the Imprisoning War. But that doesn’t mean that the River Zora replaced the Sea Zora like we see the Rito doing to the Sea Zora in WW. It seems that River and Sea Zora exist simultaneously rather than exclusively. Therefore, I don’t think using the argument of “friendly Zora” existing in BoTW is evidence of a Child Placement considering that they also exist within Downfall. Despite some other nitpicks, it’s a decent theory. Zelda 2 may be the black sheep, but it is still a fun (albeit irritating at some points) experience today!
There's also a side quest (in the base game, not like the DLC items that can be debated as noncannon) involving the Mirror of Twilight, which I'd say is another strong bit of evidence for the Child timeline being tied in
I think Zelda II deserves a remake, out of all the Zelda games. I think it could learn something from it's kin in making it a Metroidvania full heartedly, with more puzzles and fun but challenging bosses, with a lot of easy backtracking and increasing the ease of travel. It's already halfway to being a Castlevania game, it just needs to embrace its cousin and improve the gameplay.
Correction: Link already had all six gems; he got them from Impa. He had to place them into the statues in the innermost chamber of each “palace” (temple) to dispel the barrier at the Great Palace on the largest island in Hyrule.
the answer is much simpler than it seems. the timelines converge in hyrule warriors, then age of calamity happens, then breath of the wild and tears of the kingdom.
That's a stretch... but I love it. I always had the fun theory of... when Link pulls the Four Sword from the pedestal in The Four Sword Adventures it doesn't split our hero into four pieces, it pulls each hero from their respective timelines. There are four at the potential moment of the game. One from each timeline split and Links Lorule purple counterpart... and a side effect of this brought in elements of those timelines into the current world of hyrule... if you play four swords.... you will notice some "mixed" elements in there as well
Always appreciate a UA-cam creator who warns me when flashing lights are about to appear. I haven't always had epilepsy but my addiction to UA-cam definitely got stronger after my epilepsy began... Thank you for understanding and not brushing off potentially dangerous situations for people like me 💙💙💙
This is an interesting theory another theory I heard a while back from a different zeldatuber is the fact that Zelda the 1st and the downfall timeline was the oringal timeline and the visions OOT Zelda gained was the result of Zelda the first to get a better ending for the kingdom of hyrule.
I'm impressed at the quality of this theory! The only question that this leaves me with is more lore-oriented: why is she Zelda the First when there have been numerous Zeldas before her? Obviously because they didn't know the lore would get this convoluted lmao but still. Great video, looking forward to more!
This is very interesting and well thought out. But I just thought it was because its so far in the future that it's an inevitable end. The timelines merge naturally. Law of entropy. All roads lead to Calamity.
I love this theory! many discard the fallen timeline as where all the stuff is that doesn't make sense for the timeline. Functioning as a trashcan. I like the idea that the creators use it to make sense of Breath of the Wild. This is lovely theory, and I enjoyed watching you every second. It is fun! I can't wait to see more of you in the future
What if the Wind tribe/Twili's magic was nothing more than manipulating Malice which in turn changed them to become evil and try to conquer the sacred realm. And when Ganondorf was banished to the Twili realm he learned how to use it but got infused (or possessed by Demise because he was in control of a triforce) in the process. After Link stabbed him at the end of TP he basically created a hole for Malice to pour out (same spot as in the totfk trailer) so they sealed that hole with a magical hand that prevented it from leaking out, but could not seal it fully. So over time Malice would build up until it reached a critical point. So basically Ganondorf brought Demise and Malice back into Hyrule from the Twilight realm. Every pig Ganon is an iteration of a flare up. But every iteration was also less Ganondorf (which kept some form of intelligence and control) and more malice (pure power and chaos) until he was pure malice. We see Link going back in time in the trailer, so there must be an entity that allows for time travel or portals or something. It is very likely the royal family knew of this 'hand' and Ganondorf's corpse because it is likely that it was placed under their supervision. The rabbit like being from the trailer likely gathered the survivors of all timelines together in the TP timeline in the future. Bringing with them their tales of their hero's and technological knowledge to be able to defeat Calamity Ganon at its strongest 10,000 years before botw. Kinda like how Odin is building an army of the best warriors against the events of Ragnarok that he knows will come at some time. So that is how almost every race is existing in BOTW and every hero is known.
Pretty cool idea. I'm personally happy to see someone else acknowledging the history given in Zelda 2. One small nitpick: Link is taking the stones TO the palaces, not FROM them. It's placing the stones in their respective idols that unseals the Great Temple.
I know the intro is not the focus of the video, and it's mostly just spewing what every other youtuber says about the game, but some of the takes are wild. The best rated games in the series have not only literal bubbles you can die to, but an entirely separate enemy named Bubble. Zelda II is the most well made game on the NES. Those who say it's a bad game, can't be coming from an informed or honest position.
Good theory, it sounds like you put alot of effort into it, I hope you grow to be as popular as other theorists, as your video was 10/10 Here's a sub and hope to see more fun content
I really liked your video, after finishing it I was surprised with the amount of subscribers as I thought this was a big theory channel with that quality.
Well done sir. The 2nd Zelda was my first Zelda and it was NES hard. I beat it but man it took so much out of my younger me. I really like this theory a lot.
Very nice theory, it does make sense. Very nicely done video, well thought out and explained. As a video editor myself, I know how much time goes into making them. Having grown up with the Zelda series and collected and played all the games on their original consoles, the legend really has kept me entertained over the years. Watching these kind of videos about seeing stuff I have overseen while playing, didn't get or just to fill in the gaps are really great. Thanks for sharing this interesting (somehow satisfying and plausible) theory. And yes, this one is by far the least popular gameplay of the series. Dying by bubbles....
Breath of the wild hinted, that link and Zelda are the same essence, re-incarnated into every timeline and world to help stop Gannon. An endless dance to protect whatever world they are brought to.
I think it makes sense because the first two Zeldas only had one villian: Ganon. The others in the other timelines have Ganon and a secondary. This would mean as they merge we only have Ganon as he weakens over time with weaker secondaey villans (compare Vaati/Zant). In any case, I believe that over time as the knots finally tie together, there would be a merge of the three. I remember wathcing a timline theory video many years ago that had this idea before BOTW, but cannot find it since.
I agree with this theory, however I would suggest tweaking one small detail- Zelda the first’s motive: She is from an unfractured, pre OOT era so her father couldn’t have known about the fracture. Maybe she somehow sensed it upon waking up and sought to restore the world-order.
With the split after OoT, BotW is the separated time lines coming back together into one time-line. That would explain being(and etc.) are present within the same game time-line.
4:15 Actually, the timeline doesn't split there. it actually splits a lot sooner than that. I.E. Minish cap. where if you fail to reach vaati in time, it's implied that he becomes too powerful and had to be sealed away in the picori blade, which four swords and four swords adventures, Link to the past and the downfall timeline happens. And if you reach vaati and kill him, ocarina of time and that split of the child and adult timeline occurs. but I do agree that Zelda 2 could possibly link the timelines together.
a problem i always had with the Downfall timeline is that Link failing in OoT being it's own timeline felt random (why wouldn't Link failing in other games also make timeline splits), however Zelda 2 DOES have a failed ending where Ganon returns! (which could be an entire parallel universe!)
My only question is how would the king possibly knew about the timeline split? I don't think it's possible for anyone to know about it. But still great and fun theory to think about! With the lack of Zelda II content in this fandom i'm just very grateful whenever someone talks about this game.
Well, there's one big problem- no one existing WITHIN the timelines would know there WERE multiple timelines. And even with the Zelda the First's dad supposedly learning of it from the Triforce of Wisdom (and leaving out that the Triforce would have to be a multi-dimensional artifact, and why THIS guy was the first to learn this), it begs the question of why, if he wanted to merge the timelines, he wouldn't just go "huh, so there's three? Can you fix it, Mr. -Cypher- Triforce?" on the spot. The Triforce is a wish granting triple triangle; you want it, you wish it, you got it; its not something you have to wait for the next generation to figure out. Sidenote: Zelda II rocks 🤘
This is a great video, but I feel like I should point out that Skyward Sword shows that there was an Ancient Sea where the Gerudo Desert currently exists, and or was the first game in the entire timeline, thus far, send predates any splits.
One thing I realized is that the artistic style of BoTW is kind of a mix between toon link (adult timeline) and the others, it might be a hint, although is kind of a long shot.
Maybe the king split the triforce because he foresaw that the only way to merge the timelines was to do it after key events took place in each timeline, thus set up Zelda to be attacked and put to sleep so she could be there at the right time.
I am curious how he would foresee this stuff that the other kings wouldn't? And again what about what would essentially be an Apocalypse that would destroy many lives when such a merger occurred? I don't think there would be a wish powerful enough to make sure everything ended up in a nice happy space. After all, each Hyrule has been significantly different from one another. Windwaker, for instance, made it clear Hyrule is permanently flooded. I mean hell Spectacle Rock has only appeared in the downfall timeline period of Zelda and has universally been in Death Mountain until BotW. Kakariko village has never really been in the same place twice and even Lon Lon ranch just moves around.
@@ravenwolf8632 There Spectacle Rock is in Ocarina of time, it's the entrace for the Fire Dungeon. But the merging doesn't bring peace to Hyrule, also it could change things around to have everything from the three timelines.
@@fabriciodelesderrier2646 Eh I wouldn't call it spectacle rock when it was inside and also just more of an homage, but beyond that there isn't one outside of the downfall timeline.
@@ravenwolf8632 In the first game the Rocks are in Death Mountain, that makes sense with OoT. I think just because it's was the first entry in 3D things got lost visualy. OoT even has the Dueling Peaks from BOTW.
I personally think that BOTW was Nintendos way of giving everyone what we wanted on a silver platter while also wiping the slate clean. I also feel like we might be leaning towards a more Fire Emblem-esk process where we won't really have a time-line. For the most part the creators have gone on record to say that a time-line was more made by the fans of the series than it was them wanting to follow a time-line in first place. I personally like a cohesive story too but there are just so many puzzle pieces that don't fit that I don't necessarily think fans should worry about playing detective to try and squeeze everything together. I love the lore of BOTW exclusively. I have also been a diehard fan since OOT. It hurts me to say it in some ways but I think we should only wipe out the monocle when looking for lore SPECIFICALLY in one particular game when it's released. There's a SHIT TON of lore on BOTW alone that I absolutely love, I also love the time-line. I just think BOTW is Nintendos way of putting the time-line away, at least for now 💙
I heard a theory by the "Sans is Ness" guy which says that Hyrule Warriors should be cannon because it shows a character merging the timelines accidentally or something like that (and also it's the only game before BoTW where link wears blue on his base outfit)
“Sans is Ness” guy lmao. You’re talking about MatPat. While his theory is good, it has a few flaws, most notably how everything at the end of Hyrule Warriors is undone. NintendoBlackCrisis did a great video on the topic if you want to check that out. m.ua-cam.com/video/7o4hZi_Q0ck/v-deo.html
@LinkedWolf My theory...is there were do-overs... I mean, we get to the end of one of the timelines (lets say the downfall) and in an attempt to prevent some irreversible cataclysmic event Link is sent back in time (OoT). This time around Link/Zelda are able to seal Ganon away. We get to the end of this timeline but are ultimately faced with the same problem as before and need another go...a redo-over...and so OoT is played out once more. Only this time, Link/Zelda are successful. I don't think the timelines are forked/separate from one another...I believe they have yet to wrapped back around into OoT yet.
This is a good theory. This is the theory, that i myself, originally had when i played Breath of the Wild. Although, to be honest, I haven't played all the Zelda games. Still, it really is the only thing that makes sense.
Neat theory. It's unfortunate that it relies on such shaky ground, but fun nonetheless. I definitely agree with your reasoning of if the timelines were to merge via a game, it would have to be in AoL. But you haven't convinced that it did. I do enjoy seeing weird and wacky theories, even if they end up incorrect. (I'm partial to hyrule warriors/zelda monopoly merging the timelines) Keep up the good work.
This theory has a striking similarity to one I’ve held privately! I’ve been keeping it to myself for a bit, but if you’d like to hear some interesting theory fodder I’d be willing to share some of mine!
I have a critique of the Hyrule Historia timeline. As we are all well informed by now, the existence of the downfall timeline is a paradox that cannot exist concurrently with the child and adult timelines. However, there is a way to resolve this and roll the defeated timeline into the other two. The actual split is not link’s fate, but the status that Ganon is sealed in. With only the triforce of Power, Ganondorf is sealed creating the adult timeline. Stopped prematurely is the child timeline. In order to get the fallen timeline, Ganon, not Gamondorf, is sealed away with the entire triforce. Link To the past, the oracle games, and Awakening are all the same Link, and Between Worlds is 100 years later. Now, the timeline does assume that we have the connective stories already told, which may not be true. If they make a Zelda game where Ganon is sealed with the whole triforce we can suddenly readjust everything. We cannot rely on little references, like flavor text, enemy types, or location names for placing Breath of the Wild. The references are so extensive that every game has one. A more reasonable way to place BotW is the races that appear. Gorons do not appear in any of the “fallen” games in Hyrule. They appear in other worlds and lands, but not Hyrule. Zora are extinct in Wind Waker, they could not live in the Great Sea, which was canonically barren. There is, however, no reason the Rito can’t independent of the Zora. Nor are there any Kokiri to undermine the presence of Koroks. Also remember that at the end of Wind Waker, the kings wish was to wash away the old Hyrule, not to restore it. But even then, the Gerudo other than Ganondorf only have 2 canon appearances. OoT and MM. We fundamentally do not have the information to conclusively place BotW. If we could, with certainty, know that say, the Ganondorf that Urbosa mentions is the same one we know, it will have to be in the child or adult timeline. Or if the Zora Princess on the Zora tablet things are about Ruto then we could prove the same.
It’s funny to think on this.. Was Zelda series even supposed to be called “the Legend of Zelda” or just “Zelda” with “the-of” being the subtitle. Because the second Zelda game wasn’t the Legend of Zelda but the Adventure of Link. What if the next game was called “Zelda III : the Awakening of the Sages” or something of a kind, you know what I mean? Was something like that the original plan before they settled on the Legend?
I like this theory, and I think the appearances of the triforce definitely make sense. Maybe you covered this and I missed it but, my question is: how does Zelda, the king, (or anyone for that matter) know of the other timelines. And, I’d they did, why and what good would come of uniting them?
river zora are not exclusive to the child timeline... A. Ocarina of time, which encompasses all of them, and B. Oracle of ages, which is in the downfall timeline, and C. princess ruto is mentioned in phantom hourglass
I agree with many points but minor details about it 1) i dont believe that zelda herself is the one to make the wish. I dont think zelda is ABLE to make a wish. out of all the games the only one where shes even touched the triforce was link between worlds and link touched it at the same time with the same wish in his heart. Zelda has the blood of the goddess running through her and the spirit maiden stated that gods cannot make wishes on the triforce. 2) I dont believe that botw zelda had the triforce in her. the two times we've seen the triforce be complete within an individual it had a pattern. the two games being zelda 2 and skyward sword. in both games as soon as it was complete within an individual, the person got teleported to a safe location (the shrine of the sleeping zelda in zelda 2 and the goddess statue in skyward sword) and then the triforce forced itself out of the person to make the wish. I think it is too powerful to exist complete within an individual for any extended period of time. Even ganon in LTTP didnt use it in his fight. he kept it in the back room of the pyramid. and before anyone brings up wind waker, the triforce was completed outside the body in that game, not inside. I do agree that any merging would likely happen prior to zelda 1 though.
About that first point, that is actually exactly why Hylia became mortal. So while she might have the blood of the godess in her, she's no longer an actual godess
I see this is before Tears, unfortunately that game show why the Triforce can't be house in Zelda. The Triforce does not like duplication of itself hence why the Courage part randomly vanish when Young Link return with that piece. It goes out of it way to make sure only one of it self exist at one given time. I think the Triforce Symbol is more related to the Blood of the Goddess, she the protector of the Triforce she might just have very strong connection to it. Buuuut everything else is sound, in theory. No really holes just depend of your interpretation of some of the stuff, like if your dead sent of the merger being impossible. Cool vid still.
Pretty solid reasoning for the timeline unification happening at the end of the Downfall Timeline. 👍 I find this entire "theory" to be quite believable except... WHY would they think to do that, and HOW did he come up with the idea?
The franchise has always been called the Legend of Zelda, but the guy Link deserves a game the Legend of Link since he is the poor guy and man elf who did all the hard work in all the games.
I always believe that Zelda 2 it's the only timeline that make sense being the prequel of BotW, about some races, Rito can be an evolution from the Focca Enemies in the Great Palace of Zelda 2, there's been a lot of oceans in the fallen timeline and before (Skyward Sword ancient sea), Kokiris where obligated by deku tree spraud to become Koroks this can be seen in the future timeline but also can happen in the fallen timeline and only in this timeline the royal family has the full triforce at the end of the timeline. Zelda 2 it's over 10000 years before BotW
My personal timeline is Zelda 1,2,3 and Links Awakening, as it was originally intended. Then OoT came, and messed everything up as a soft reboot. And then WindWaker messed everything even more, by saying every era has a Zelda and a Link. And then all my favorite games went to be the FAILED timetime. Everything I did in my fav games was a complete failure. Thank you Nintendo.
Btw I want to preface by saying I think this is a fun theory and a great video. The whole friendly Zora thing only being in the child timeline doesn’t really make sense. The Zora exist in OoT which is where all the timeline splits occur meaning Zora exist in all Zelda games after that (whether you see them or not). Zora are a sentient species so after 10,000 years who know what kind of geopolitical things occurred. The Gerudo were once enemies of the crown too but they’re also friendly in Breath of the Wild. Now I know in the adult timeline the Zora supposedly evolved into the Rito but it’s entirely possible and more logical that the rito are an evolutionary branch and not a direct replacement. I mean it makes a lot more sense that the anthropomorphic fish people would not only survive the world turning into an ocean planet but would also thrive. Also the whole lynels only existing in the downfall timeline doesn’t make a lot of sense either because Ganon can just make whatever enemies he wants. I mean he is literally the demon king. I mean if anything I think BotW is in the adult timeline because it’s the only one where the world floods but also the timelines could have converged at the goddesses will because I don’t really see how anyone living in hyrule could know of the split.
You raise a lot of valid points! I'll try to explain my reasoning to the best of my ability. When I say that the "friendly Zora only exist in the Child Timeline", I meant that we only see them in the Child Timeline. The Zora in the Downfall Timeline are an entirely different type of Zora called "River Zora" and they're mostly hostile towards Link (with the exception of a handful in A Link Between Worlds). Meanwhile in the Adult Timeline, the Zora just defied all logic and went from fish to bird. That's canon. Maybe the Zora couldn't adapt to the water that the goddesses brought and evolved into the Rito. I don't think anyone knows what Nintendo was thinking when they said "Fish are birds now, deal with it." As for the Lynel part, they only appear in the Downfall Timeline games. While I agree with you on the fact that Ganon could just make whatever enemies he wants, it's likely that he can only do that when he has the full Triforce giving him unlimited power, which only happens in the Downfall Timeline.
@@LinkedWolf23 I think your point about the Lynels is a really strong argument. I know the whole Zora became Ritos thing is canon but it still feels off. I don’t have any in game evidence to say that maybe some Zora still exist except for that just makes more sense. Like you said Nintendo said “fish are birds now in the game where everything is water deal with it”. One reasoning I could actually see is that it’s possible Zora actually can’t live in salt water. As far as I know the only Zora we see in the ocean are the Zora in Majora’s Mask which is canon but whether or not it was a dream is highly debated. It could be that Zora only live in freshwater (which kind of makes all Zora river Zora) and child link just doesn’t know about fresh and salt water and so when he dreams the events of MM he puts the Zora in the ocean. That could explain the Zora to Rito evolution. As far as the Zora in the downfall timeline. I played MM and OoT before those games so when I encountered Zora in the downfall timeline I assumed that something political turned them into enemies of the hylians. I definitely lean more toward the unified timeline theory but I’m not sure how convinced I am that Zelda unified them. Either way this is fun to think about and discuss.
While this is certainly interesting, there are two issues with it Or rather, two big things that need to be answered for it to work How did the king even become aware of multiple timelines, and why would he try to merge them? You could make the argument that when he had the completed Triforce, he somehow saw all the timelines, which is a stretch but is possible But why merge them? What would the difference be if he just didn’t merge them? All of the timelines eventually achieved peace, so it’s not like merging them would prevent anything from happening You definitely did your research though, so I’ll give you props for that And your editing is really good, full marks there Video itself is very good, but the theory, not so much. If you can find good evidence to answer those questions though, then it might be good
Have you ever considered that Hyrule Warriors is the game that merges the timelines, but because of the various time travel shit that goes on in that game, no one remembers it?
First some guy made a theory of the DF Timeline being the ORIGINAL timeline based on Zelda 2 and now Zelda 2 again is used as the basis for the unification of all three timelines. Let's say if both are equally legit, which one would you prefer to believe?
go to the middle of the gerudo desert, and burry the triforce there no one will ever find it hopefully at the point where the wind starts pushing you back for completly real lore reasons
A FASCINATING theory, more like. I don't think it's stupid at all. There IS a problem with it, however, and that is how anyone in any of the individual timelines could know of the other timelines. Someone in the child or possibly the adult timeline could probably piece it together, but the downfall? I don't know. I'm not even completely sold on the existence of the "downfall" timeline anyway. Why is Link losing to Ganon at the end of Ocarina of Time the ONLY instance of Link's defeat that creates a separate timeline? This is something I've never understood because it then opens up the Zelda franchise to an infinite multiverse. If there IS a "downfall timeline", then something else must have happened to trigger it, something time travel-related. But if THAT is the case, and something DID happen involving time travel that created the downfall timeline, then your theory is back on the table as the king of Hyrule at that time could have worked it out from the available information- likely with the Triforce of Wisdom assisting, but that's neither here nor there. So now the question is: What kind of time-fuckery could have happened which coincided with Link's defeat at the hands of the Demon King?
Why doesn't Nintendo create something like star wars with all the legends stories. Creating stories that are forgotten or lost in time. Could be it's own thing and not solely based off saving Zelda, like the Myths of Link or something.
That was great, but if you want a real challenge you should try tackling the Downfall Timeline placement as a consequence of time travel in Majora’s Mask There’s a whole lot of surprisingly consistent lore elements that point to this, particularly in post-MM games, and also in the _previous_ titles, but mostly in post-MM content tho It’s like they realized the mistake they made in letting Link use the Ocarina of Time all willy-nilly in that game while making it key in creating timeline splits, but they didn’t want to admit that mistake (or the mistake of not actually connecting ALttP to OoT like AT ALL), so they rolled with it and made it connect over time And also lie about it, I don’t know why, but I’m guessing it’s to eventually reveal it as a plot twist in a later game set earlier in the timeline (maybe) Or it could be just to mess with us forever, it’s not out of the question with Zelda lore, there’s still mysteries surrounding OoT that have NOTHING to do with time travel OR the major plot of the game, they’re just there to be mysterious and cryptic Still it’s not likely that Link dying would spawn a whole new timeline, especially not if the requirements of the _other_ timeline split involved literally altering the timeline itself, and, I’m sorry, Link dying just wouldn’t be sufficient enough to create that split, not even under the circumstances commonly presented Majora’s Mask, on the other hand, _does_ offer the perfect circumstances to create a timeline branch, it’s actually the _perfect storm_ of circumstances, not just for a split but *THE SPLIT* itself, The Downfall Timeline I’m repeating myself, just research it, you might be pleasantly surprised with what you find Or maybe you already did and I’m wasting my time 🤷♂️
There’s a channel called Vortexxy Gaming that has a video about the Downfall Timeline that might interest you. I watch it every now and then because it’s so good (I might just go watch it right now, actually)
@@SlickTater I have the same problem with that one that I do with most and it’s a painfully obvious problem Oren is directly descended from Princess Ruto The problem? _She saved herself for Link and DIED in OoT with the rest of the sages_ She straight up never _had_ children, WW has that proof (the Earth sages are only related, _not_ descended) So if the Downfall Timeline has her children, not only does Princess Ruto need to survive she basically has to _never meet Link_ And that’s not the only issue, but it sticks out to me every time I read or watch a Zelda Timeline theory about The Split
I think the Legend of Zelda timeline is too confusing as a fan, my overall advice is to play the games based on date of release to the current games. In total there have been 26 something Legend of Zelda games since 1986 when the first one came out. Personally I think it is time they gave the honor to Link since the real legend and one of the world's greatest video game super hero's link is the real legend of the game. There needs to be a Legend of Link game in the future in his honor.
Hey, don't call your theory dumb! All of UA-cam is filled with dumb stuff, but don't sell yourself short, we're all in the same virtual boat here. It's good enough to say this is your theory, and let viewers make up our own minds. In the meantime, keep doing your thing!
I grew up in the 80’s and Zelda 1 and II where my favorite games. The title screen to II still gives me chills. What an adventure for back then. Nothing else like those games. I love how you tied II into the decades worth of Zelda games we couldn’t even dream would exist back then.
Same here!!! I still have my NES and my game cartridges!
The old times, when we just wanted to play the game and not actually make theories or as questions. Just play it!
Zelda II is the first video game I ever remember playing. So yeah I’m biased in favor for it, even though it kicked my ass so much back then. Didn’t beat it until I was 20.
Relative to BotW and whatever might be happening in upcoming TotK, it makes me wonder if the Zelda in the first game was a light manifestation of Zelda I the way Calamity Ganon and the malice looks to be a manifestation of Ganondorf underneath Hyrule. Maybe all the Zelda's that led up from Zelda I to the Zelda rescued in the original were the same. The reason? Who knows? Maybe she was preparing to merge the timelines and had to hone her power to use the triforce in this way.
Wow. I honestly thought this wasn't going anywhere, but damn, I completely forgot the Triforce pops out in BotW at the end. That right there solidifies this for me. Great theory!!! Well done video as well!
I just wanted to say that I made a slight mistake that was pointed out to me by TGL Mudora. Link didn't go around Hyrule to collect the gems like I said he did at 6:30, he was given the gems by Impa and placed them in the temples to dispel the barrier at the Great Palace. That's my bad!
It's good, bro.
All good, but they were palaces, not temples
@@allenrandell1281 in the English version, yes-in the original Japanese version, they’re called シンデン, or “temple/holy site.”
A few more corrections and additions: In the instruction booklet for Zelda 2 it stated that the king actually gave his son both the Triforces of Power and Wisdom, hiding only the Triforce of Courage in order to prevent him from misusing the full power of the Triforce, and telling Zelda that the Triforce symbol will appear on the back of the hand of the next man capable of bringing Hyrule into an age of prosperity (AKA the next person who is worthy of wielding the Triforce of Courage).
The wizard who cast the sleeping spell on Zelda was also the one who convinced the prince that he needed the full Triforce in order to properly rule the land in the first place. Before the tragedy happened, Zelda would essentially deflect any questions the prince had about the Triforce of Courage and its location by basically telling him that he needed to prove he was worthy before he could even attempt to possess it (however, the Triforce symbol never appeared on his hand, thus proving that he was never truly worthy of ruling Hyrule). The wizard fed the prince's anger and frustration, and convinced the prince into letting him interrogate Zelda. However, when Zelda refused to tell them where the Triforce of Courage was, the wizard tried to cast a killing curse on her and the prince interrupted the spell, thus killing the wizard and placing Zelda into an endless slumber.
@@allenrandell1281 They we’re changed to remove references to religion.
This theory is far from “stupid;” It’s mind blowing. Zelda wishing for the triforce to always reside in her bloodline (or reincarnation) makes total sense based on the evidence.
It makes even more sense when you consider that Hylia relinquished her godhood and became Zelda *specifically* because only a mortal could use the Triforce. One of her later incarnations cementing that relationship of safeguarding the relic makes perfect sense.
HUGE AGREE WAT DA HEK
I like this because it would feel sort of fitting if the first Link we ever journeyed with was the one who helped bring about the remerging of the timelines. Cool theory! Also makes me wonder, though I'm not sure how exactly it would have worked, but maybe the Zelda's that came after Zelda I while she slept were benign versions of whatever Calamity Ganon was in BotW while the real Ganondorf has been kept underground. Maybe the magician's spell had an unprecedented effect that allowed Zelda to learn greater powers when she slept. Or maybe not, and perhaps the Zelda Link freed at the end of OG Zelda died in sometime between before AoL and Zelda I's time of reawakening had come.
I've come up with a similar theory, where it is Link's wish that makes the timeline split possible. We don't know the wording of the wish, so wishing something like the kingdom being restored could not only bring royalty back to life, but it is vague enough to change the past, and lead to three timelines that each retain a part of the restoration. (history, culture, and innovation of Hyrule, or Link's memory, idealization, and purpose of Hyrule. There's a lot of room to speculate) In my theory, though, it is the Sheikah, who had confirmed access to time travel, who knew about the split, and manipulated events in each timeline to cause a convergence.
But we do see friendly Zora in the Downfall Timeline! I recognise that in ALBW they are River Zora, and seem to be different physically and behaviorally from the Sea Zora of OoT (which you yourself have noted in a previous comment) which is therefore consistent with your argument.
However, we see friendly Sea Zora in OoA. And while they don’t have a presence in Hyrule (and instead Labrynna) they’re perfectly capable of migrating and/or settling back into Hyrule at a later point, sometime thousands upon thousands of years prior to BoTW. Labrynna is noted to be a neighbouring nation and therefore relatively close geographically to Hyrule.
How the hostile River Zora came to be is unclear, but seems to be connected to the Imprisoning War. But that doesn’t mean that the River Zora replaced the Sea Zora like we see the Rito doing to the Sea Zora in WW. It seems that River and Sea Zora exist simultaneously rather than exclusively.
Therefore, I don’t think using the argument of “friendly Zora” existing in BoTW is evidence of a Child Placement considering that they also exist within Downfall.
Despite some other nitpicks, it’s a decent theory. Zelda 2 may be the black sheep, but it is still a fun (albeit irritating at some points) experience today!
There's also a side quest (in the base game, not like the DLC items that can be debated as noncannon) involving the Mirror of Twilight, which I'd say is another strong bit of evidence for the Child timeline being tied in
I think Zelda II deserves a remake, out of all the Zelda games. I think it could learn something from it's kin in making it a Metroidvania full heartedly, with more puzzles and fun but challenging bosses, with a lot of easy backtracking and increasing the ease of travel. It's already halfway to being a Castlevania game, it just needs to embrace its cousin and improve the gameplay.
Correction: Link already had all six gems; he got them from Impa. He had to place them into the statues in the innermost chamber of each “palace” (temple) to dispel the barrier at the Great Palace on the largest island in Hyrule.
Yeah, I realized that after I had fully edited the video and went “well shit”
the answer is much simpler than it seems. the timelines converge in hyrule warriors, then age of calamity happens, then breath of the wild and tears of the kingdom.
This went from "I'll humor him" to "he's a genius and he's right," REAL quick.
That's a stretch... but I love it. I always had the fun theory of... when Link pulls the Four Sword from the pedestal in The Four Sword Adventures it doesn't split our hero into four pieces, it pulls each hero from their respective timelines. There are four at the potential moment of the game. One from each timeline split and Links Lorule purple counterpart... and a side effect of this brought in elements of those timelines into the current world of hyrule... if you play four swords.... you will notice some "mixed" elements in there as well
The best theories are always a stretch.
@@Agueybana1978 indeed good sir
@@irkandcrew Ah but, of course.
@@Agueybana1978 Good day sir...
@@irkandcrew You too, good sir.
I liked that theory a lot, I liked that little guy who wished for a pizza, good use of a wish from the gods
Always appreciate a UA-cam creator who warns me when flashing lights are about to appear. I haven't always had epilepsy but my addiction to UA-cam definitely got stronger after my epilepsy began... Thank you for understanding and not brushing off potentially dangerous situations for people like me 💙💙💙
This is an interesting theory another theory I heard a while back from a different zeldatuber is the fact that Zelda the 1st and the downfall timeline was the oringal timeline and the visions OOT Zelda gained was the result of Zelda the first to get a better ending for the kingdom of hyrule.
I'm impressed at the quality of this theory! The only question that this leaves me with is more lore-oriented: why is she Zelda the First when there have been numerous Zeldas before her? Obviously because they didn't know the lore would get this convoluted lmao but still. Great video, looking forward to more!
I'm glad to hear you liked it! I still don't know why they haven't retconned the name "Zelda the First" (which they really should)
This is very interesting and well thought out. But I just thought it was because its so far in the future that it's an inevitable end. The timelines merge naturally. Law of entropy. All roads lead to Calamity.
Hypothetically, Hyrule Warriors (OG) could be an explanation, if you fail to win the game
Excited to see an original theory. I'm glad to see this video is doing really well for you. Keep up the good work.
This is a really well thought out theory, and I have to say I'm a big fan of it! Kudos to you for coming up with this!
Still love zelda 2. Always will. I play through it once a year
I love this theory! many discard the fallen timeline as where all the stuff is that doesn't make sense for the timeline. Functioning as a trashcan. I like the idea that the creators use it to make sense of Breath of the Wild. This is lovely theory, and I enjoyed watching you every second. It is fun! I can't wait to see more of you in the future
What if the Wind tribe/Twili's magic was nothing more than manipulating Malice which in turn changed them to become evil and try to conquer the sacred realm. And when Ganondorf was banished to the Twili realm he learned how to use it but got infused (or possessed by Demise because he was in control of a triforce) in the process. After Link stabbed him at the end of TP he basically created a hole for Malice to pour out (same spot as in the totfk trailer) so they sealed that hole with a magical hand that prevented it from leaking out, but could not seal it fully. So over time Malice would build up until it reached a critical point. So basically Ganondorf brought Demise and Malice back into Hyrule from the Twilight realm.
Every pig Ganon is an iteration of a flare up. But every iteration was also less Ganondorf (which kept some form of intelligence and control) and more malice (pure power and chaos) until he was pure malice.
We see Link going back in time in the trailer, so there must be an entity that allows for time travel or portals or something. It is very likely the royal family knew of this 'hand' and Ganondorf's corpse because it is likely that it was placed under their supervision.
The rabbit like being from the trailer likely gathered the survivors of all timelines together in the TP timeline in the future. Bringing with them their tales of their hero's and technological knowledge to be able to defeat Calamity Ganon at its strongest 10,000 years before botw. Kinda like how Odin is building an army of the best warriors against the events of Ragnarok that he knows will come at some time.
So that is how almost every race is existing in BOTW and every hero is known.
Pretty cool idea. I'm personally happy to see someone else acknowledging the history given in Zelda 2.
One small nitpick: Link is taking the stones TO the palaces, not FROM them. It's placing the stones in their respective idols that unseals the Great Temple.
I know the intro is not the focus of the video, and it's mostly just spewing what every other youtuber says about the game, but some of the takes are wild. The best rated games in the series have not only literal bubbles you can die to, but an entirely separate enemy named Bubble. Zelda II is the most well made game on the NES. Those who say it's a bad game, can't be coming from an informed or honest position.
This, actually makes a lot of sense! I wish your channel success, and cheers to theory crafting
Good theory, it sounds like you put alot of effort into it, I hope you grow to be as popular as other theorists, as your video was 10/10
Here's a sub and hope to see more fun content
wow that actually makes a lot of since with the triforce being her. i agree
I really liked your video, after finishing it I was surprised with the amount of subscribers as I thought this was a big theory channel with that quality.
Well done sir. The 2nd Zelda was my first Zelda and it was NES hard. I beat it but man it took so much out of my younger me. I really like this theory a lot.
Thanks! I'm really glad that you liked it!
IMHO your theory is pretty good! Congrats on your first Zelda theory video!
Very nice theory, it does make sense. Very nicely done video, well thought out and explained. As a video editor myself, I know how much time goes into making them. Having grown up with the Zelda series and collected and played all the games on their original consoles, the legend really has kept me entertained over the years. Watching these kind of videos about seeing stuff I have overseen while playing, didn't get or just to fill in the gaps are really great. Thanks for sharing this interesting (somehow satisfying and plausible) theory. And yes, this one is by far the least popular gameplay of the series. Dying by bubbles....
Breath of the wild hinted, that link and Zelda are the same essence, re-incarnated into every timeline and world to help stop Gannon.
An endless dance to protect whatever world they are brought to.
I think it makes sense because the first two Zeldas only had one villian: Ganon. The others in the other timelines have Ganon and a secondary. This would mean as they merge we only have Ganon as he weakens over time with weaker secondaey villans (compare Vaati/Zant). In any case, I believe that over time as the knots finally tie together, there would be a merge of the three. I remember wathcing a timline theory video many years ago that had this idea before BOTW, but cannot find it since.
I agree with this theory, however I would suggest tweaking one small detail- Zelda the first’s motive:
She is from an unfractured, pre OOT era so her father couldn’t have known about the fracture. Maybe she somehow sensed it upon waking up and sought to restore the world-order.
I like the Theory. it’s not a bad take on how the time lines merged.
With the split after OoT, BotW is the separated time lines coming back together into one time-line. That would explain being(and etc.) are present within the same game time-line.
4:15 Actually, the timeline doesn't split there. it actually splits a lot sooner than that. I.E. Minish cap. where if you fail to reach vaati in time, it's implied that he becomes too powerful and had to be sealed away in the picori blade, which four swords and four swords adventures, Link to the past and the downfall timeline happens. And if you reach vaati and kill him, ocarina of time and that split of the child and adult timeline occurs. but I do agree that Zelda 2 could possibly link the timelines together.
a problem i always had with the Downfall timeline is that Link failing in OoT being it's own timeline felt random (why wouldn't Link failing in other games also make timeline splits), however Zelda 2 DOES have a failed ending where Ganon returns! (which could be an entire parallel universe!)
My only question is how would the king possibly knew about the timeline split? I don't think it's possible for anyone to know about it. But still great and fun theory to think about! With the lack of Zelda II content in this fandom i'm just very grateful whenever someone talks about this game.
Triforce of wisdom
Well, there's one big problem- no one existing WITHIN the timelines would know there WERE multiple timelines. And even with the Zelda the First's dad supposedly learning of it from the Triforce of Wisdom (and leaving out that the Triforce would have to be a multi-dimensional artifact, and why THIS guy was the first to learn this), it begs the question of why, if he wanted to merge the timelines, he wouldn't just go "huh, so there's three? Can you fix it, Mr. -Cypher- Triforce?" on the spot. The Triforce is a wish granting triple triangle; you want it, you wish it, you got it; its not something you have to wait for the next generation to figure out.
Sidenote: Zelda II rocks 🤘
This is a great video, but I feel like I should point out that Skyward Sword shows that there was an Ancient Sea where the Gerudo Desert currently exists, and or was the first game in the entire timeline, thus far, send predates any splits.
"This is dumb. Like Link is dead in Majora's Mask dumb..." welp, you earned a new sub.
One thing I realized is that the artistic style of BoTW is kind of a mix between toon link (adult timeline) and the others, it might be a hint, although is kind of a long shot.
Maybe the king split the triforce because he foresaw that the only way to merge the timelines was to do it after key events took place in each timeline, thus set up Zelda to be attacked and put to sleep so she could be there at the right time.
I hadn't thought about that! That's actually a really good point!
I am curious how he would foresee this stuff that the other kings wouldn't? And again what about what would essentially be an Apocalypse that would destroy many lives when such a merger occurred? I don't think there would be a wish powerful enough to make sure everything ended up in a nice happy space. After all, each Hyrule has been significantly different from one another. Windwaker, for instance, made it clear Hyrule is permanently flooded. I mean hell Spectacle Rock has only appeared in the downfall timeline period of Zelda and has universally been in Death Mountain until BotW. Kakariko village has never really been in the same place twice and even Lon Lon ranch just moves around.
@@ravenwolf8632 There Spectacle Rock is in Ocarina of time, it's the entrace for the Fire Dungeon. But the merging doesn't bring peace to Hyrule, also it could change things around to have everything from the three timelines.
@@fabriciodelesderrier2646 Eh I wouldn't call it spectacle rock when it was inside and also just more of an homage, but beyond that there isn't one outside of the downfall timeline.
@@ravenwolf8632 In the first game the Rocks are in Death Mountain, that makes sense with OoT. I think just because it's was the first entry in 3D things got lost visualy. OoT even has the Dueling Peaks from BOTW.
I doubt it would be a "I know there are multiple time lines" but more of a "our world is not whole, and we need to make it whole once again"
I think this is a great theory. Well done. You gathered the pieces and put them together in a meaningful and logical way.
Oh shit, the end really wrapped it all together. Solid theory, dude.
How can we merge these timelines?
Bethesda: hold my dragonbreak.
I personally think that BOTW was Nintendos way of giving everyone what we wanted on a silver platter while also wiping the slate clean. I also feel like we might be leaning towards a more Fire Emblem-esk process where we won't really have a time-line. For the most part the creators have gone on record to say that a time-line was more made by the fans of the series than it was them wanting to follow a time-line in first place. I personally like a cohesive story too but there are just so many puzzle pieces that don't fit that I don't necessarily think fans should worry about playing detective to try and squeeze everything together. I love the lore of BOTW exclusively. I have also been a diehard fan since OOT. It hurts me to say it in some ways but I think we should only wipe out the monocle when looking for lore SPECIFICALLY in one particular game when it's released. There's a SHIT TON of lore on BOTW alone that I absolutely love, I also love the time-line. I just think BOTW is Nintendos way of putting the time-line away, at least for now 💙
This is a great theory, there are not nearly enough explorations into the reunification of the timelines ( AKA the Great Zelda Reset )
I heard a theory by the "Sans is Ness" guy which says that Hyrule Warriors should be cannon because it shows a character merging the timelines accidentally or something like that (and also it's the only game before BoTW where link wears blue on his base outfit)
“Sans is Ness” guy lmao. You’re talking about MatPat. While his theory is good, it has a few flaws, most notably how everything at the end of Hyrule Warriors is undone.
NintendoBlackCrisis did a great video on the topic if you want to check that out.
m.ua-cam.com/video/7o4hZi_Q0ck/v-deo.html
You bring pretty good points! It sure makes sense when you look at it that way!
Thanks! I’m glad to hear that you liked it!
Zelda 2 was my first zelda game and it was the most frustrating thing I ever played... and i loved it.
@LinkedWolf My theory...is there were do-overs...
I mean, we get to the end of one of the timelines (lets say the downfall) and in an attempt to prevent some irreversible cataclysmic event Link is sent back in time (OoT). This time around Link/Zelda are able to seal Ganon away. We get to the end of this timeline but are ultimately faced with the same problem as before and need another go...a redo-over...and so OoT is played out once more. Only this time, Link/Zelda are successful.
I don't think the timelines are forked/separate from one another...I believe they have yet to wrapped back around into OoT yet.
This is a good theory. This is the theory, that i myself, originally had when i played Breath of the Wild. Although, to be honest, I haven't played all the Zelda games. Still, it really is the only thing that makes sense.
Neat theory. It's unfortunate that it relies on such shaky ground, but fun nonetheless.
I definitely agree with your reasoning of if the timelines were to merge via a game, it would have to be in AoL. But you haven't convinced that it did. I do enjoy seeing weird and wacky theories, even if they end up incorrect. (I'm partial to hyrule warriors/zelda monopoly merging the timelines)
Keep up the good work.
This theory has a striking similarity to one I’ve held privately! I’ve been keeping it to myself for a bit, but if you’d like to hear some interesting theory fodder I’d be willing to share some of mine!
I have a critique of the Hyrule Historia timeline. As we are all well informed by now, the existence of the downfall timeline is a paradox that cannot exist concurrently with the child and adult timelines.
However, there is a way to resolve this and roll the defeated timeline into the other two.
The actual split is not link’s fate, but the status that Ganon is sealed in. With only the triforce of Power, Ganondorf is sealed creating the adult timeline. Stopped prematurely is the child timeline.
In order to get the fallen timeline, Ganon, not Gamondorf, is sealed away with the entire triforce. Link To the past, the oracle games, and Awakening are all the same Link, and Between Worlds is 100 years later.
Now, the timeline does assume that we have the connective stories already told, which may not be true. If they make a Zelda game where Ganon is sealed with the whole triforce we can suddenly readjust everything.
We cannot rely on little references, like flavor text, enemy types, or location names for placing Breath of the Wild. The references are so extensive that every game has one.
A more reasonable way to place BotW is the races that appear. Gorons do not appear in any of the “fallen” games in Hyrule. They appear in other worlds and lands, but not Hyrule. Zora are extinct in Wind Waker, they could not live in the Great Sea, which was canonically barren. There is, however, no reason the Rito can’t independent of the Zora. Nor are there any Kokiri to undermine the presence of Koroks. Also remember that at the end of Wind Waker, the kings wish was to wash away the old Hyrule, not to restore it. But even then, the Gerudo other than Ganondorf only have 2 canon appearances. OoT and MM. We fundamentally do not have the information to conclusively place BotW.
If we could, with certainty, know that say, the Ganondorf that Urbosa mentions is the same one we know, it will have to be in the child or adult timeline. Or if the Zora Princess on the Zora tablet things are about Ruto then we could prove the same.
It’s looking like this is the video that is going to put your channel on the map. You’ve earned my sub. Great video! Keep it up brother!
This was one of the first games I remember having on NES. It took me until my mid twenties to beat this game.
It does make sense when you stretch it. I enjoyed your theory... and perhaps, you may have just unlocked what Nintendo was going for with TOTK
1) loved the subtitle jokes! 2) great theory!
It’s funny to think on this..
Was Zelda series even supposed to be called “the Legend of Zelda” or just “Zelda” with “the-of” being the subtitle.
Because the second Zelda game wasn’t the Legend of Zelda but the Adventure of Link.
What if the next game was called
“Zelda III : the Awakening of the Sages” or something of a kind, you know what I mean?
Was something like that the original plan before they settled on the Legend?
only 5 minutes in and I'm already likeing where you are headed. Good work!
I like this theory, and I think the appearances of the triforce definitely make sense. Maybe you covered this and I missed it but, my question is: how does Zelda, the king, (or anyone for that matter) know of the other timelines. And, I’d they did, why and what good would come of uniting them?
river zora are not exclusive to the child timeline... A. Ocarina of time, which encompasses all of them, and B. Oracle of ages, which is in the downfall timeline, and C. princess ruto is mentioned in phantom hourglass
I agree with many points but minor details about it
1) i dont believe that zelda herself is the one to make the wish. I dont think zelda is ABLE to make a wish. out of all the games the only one where shes even touched the triforce was link between worlds and link touched it at the same time with the same wish in his heart. Zelda has the blood of the goddess running through her and the spirit maiden stated that gods cannot make wishes on the triforce.
2) I dont believe that botw zelda had the triforce in her. the two times we've seen the triforce be complete within an individual it had a pattern. the two games being zelda 2 and skyward sword. in both games as soon as it was complete within an individual, the person got teleported to a safe location (the shrine of the sleeping zelda in zelda 2 and the goddess statue in skyward sword) and then the triforce forced itself out of the person to make the wish. I think it is too powerful to exist complete within an individual for any extended period of time. Even ganon in LTTP didnt use it in his fight. he kept it in the back room of the pyramid. and before anyone brings up wind waker, the triforce was completed outside the body in that game, not inside.
I do agree that any merging would likely happen prior to zelda 1 though.
About that first point, that is actually exactly why Hylia became mortal. So while she might have the blood of the godess in her, she's no longer an actual godess
Honestly? Your theory makes sense! It satisfies a lot of my curiosities! 😸
I see this is before Tears, unfortunately that game show why the Triforce can't be house in Zelda. The Triforce does not like duplication of itself hence why the Courage part randomly vanish when Young Link return with that piece. It goes out of it way to make sure only one of it self exist at one given time. I think the Triforce Symbol is more related to the Blood of the Goddess, she the protector of the Triforce she might just have very strong connection to it.
Buuuut everything else is sound, in theory. No really holes just depend of your interpretation of some of the stuff, like if your dead sent of the merger being impossible. Cool vid still.
This is why I don't take the timeline completely seriously. I think it's all really up to your own personal preference.
Pretty solid reasoning for the timeline unification happening at the end of the Downfall Timeline.
👍
I find this entire "theory" to be quite believable except...
WHY would they think to do that, and HOW did he come up with the idea?
The franchise has always been called the Legend of Zelda, but the guy Link deserves a game the Legend of Link since he is the poor guy and man elf who did all the hard work in all the games.
I always believe that Zelda 2 it's the only timeline that make sense being the prequel of BotW, about some races, Rito can be an evolution from the Focca Enemies in the Great Palace of Zelda 2, there's been a lot of oceans in the fallen timeline and before (Skyward Sword ancient sea), Kokiris where obligated by deku tree spraud to become Koroks this can be seen in the future timeline but also can happen in the fallen timeline and only in this timeline the royal family has the full triforce at the end of the timeline.
Zelda 2 it's over 10000 years before BotW
Nice ending 👍 An amazing theory as well. Keep up the good work!
This is actually pretty damned impressive. Great theory vid!!
Nice video dude! Love the music selection. Keep it up
My personal timeline is Zelda 1,2,3 and Links Awakening, as it was originally intended. Then OoT came, and messed everything up as a soft reboot. And then WindWaker messed everything even more, by saying every era has a Zelda and a Link. And then all my favorite games went to be the FAILED timetime. Everything I did in my fav games was a complete failure. Thank you Nintendo.
Btw I want to preface by saying I think this is a fun theory and a great video.
The whole friendly Zora thing only being in the child timeline doesn’t really make sense. The Zora exist in OoT which is where all the timeline splits occur meaning Zora exist in all Zelda games after that (whether you see them or not). Zora are a sentient species so after 10,000 years who know what kind of geopolitical things occurred. The Gerudo were once enemies of the crown too but they’re also friendly in Breath of the Wild. Now I know in the adult timeline the Zora supposedly evolved into the Rito but it’s entirely possible and more logical that the rito are an evolutionary branch and not a direct replacement. I mean it makes a lot more sense that the anthropomorphic fish people would not only survive the world turning into an ocean planet but would also thrive.
Also the whole lynels only existing in the downfall timeline doesn’t make a lot of sense either because Ganon can just make whatever enemies he wants. I mean he is literally the demon king.
I mean if anything I think BotW is in the adult timeline because it’s the only one where the world floods but also the timelines could have converged at the goddesses will because I don’t really see how anyone living in hyrule could know of the split.
You raise a lot of valid points! I'll try to explain my reasoning to the best of my ability.
When I say that the "friendly Zora only exist in the Child Timeline", I meant that we only see them in the Child Timeline. The Zora in the Downfall Timeline are an entirely different type of Zora called "River Zora" and they're mostly hostile towards Link (with the exception of a handful in A Link Between Worlds). Meanwhile in the Adult Timeline, the Zora just defied all logic and went from fish to bird. That's canon. Maybe the Zora couldn't adapt to the water that the goddesses brought and evolved into the Rito. I don't think anyone knows what Nintendo was thinking when they said "Fish are birds now, deal with it."
As for the Lynel part, they only appear in the Downfall Timeline games. While I agree with you on the fact that Ganon could just make whatever enemies he wants, it's likely that he can only do that when he has the full Triforce giving him unlimited power, which only happens in the Downfall Timeline.
@@LinkedWolf23 I think your point about the Lynels is a really strong argument. I know the whole Zora became Ritos thing is canon but it still feels off. I don’t have any in game evidence to say that maybe some Zora still exist except for that just makes more sense. Like you said Nintendo said “fish are birds now in the game where everything is water deal with it”.
One reasoning I could actually see is that it’s possible Zora actually can’t live in salt water. As far as I know the only Zora we see in the ocean are the Zora in Majora’s Mask which is canon but whether or not it was a dream is highly debated. It could be that Zora only live in freshwater (which kind of makes all Zora river Zora) and child link just doesn’t know about fresh and salt water and so when he dreams the events of MM he puts the Zora in the ocean. That could explain the Zora to Rito evolution.
As far as the Zora in the downfall timeline. I played MM and OoT before those games so when I encountered Zora in the downfall timeline I assumed that something political turned them into enemies of the hylians.
I definitely lean more toward the unified timeline theory but I’m not sure how convinced I am that Zelda unified them. Either way this is fun to think about and discuss.
Zelda II brought downwards thrust to link's arsenal
Became a staple for smash brothers
While this is certainly interesting, there are two issues with it
Or rather, two big things that need to be answered for it to work
How did the king even become aware of multiple timelines, and why would he try to merge them?
You could make the argument that when he had the completed Triforce, he somehow saw all the timelines, which is a stretch but is possible
But why merge them? What would the difference be if he just didn’t merge them?
All of the timelines eventually achieved peace, so it’s not like merging them would prevent anything from happening
You definitely did your research though, so I’ll give you props for that
And your editing is really good, full marks there
Video itself is very good, but the theory, not so much.
If you can find good evidence to answer those questions though, then it might be good
Have you ever considered that Hyrule Warriors is the game that merges the timelines, but because of the various time travel shit that goes on in that game, no one remembers it?
First some guy made a theory of the DF Timeline being the ORIGINAL timeline based on Zelda 2 and now Zelda 2 again is used as the basis for the unification of all three timelines. Let's say if both are equally legit, which one would you prefer to believe?
go to the middle of the gerudo desert, and burry the triforce there
no one will ever find it
hopefully at the point where the wind starts pushing you back for completly real lore reasons
A FASCINATING theory, more like. I don't think it's stupid at all. There IS a problem with it, however, and that is how anyone in any of the individual timelines could know of the other timelines. Someone in the child or possibly the adult timeline could probably piece it together, but the downfall? I don't know. I'm not even completely sold on the existence of the "downfall" timeline anyway. Why is Link losing to Ganon at the end of Ocarina of Time the ONLY instance of Link's defeat that creates a separate timeline? This is something I've never understood because it then opens up the Zelda franchise to an infinite multiverse. If there IS a "downfall timeline", then something else must have happened to trigger it, something time travel-related.
But if THAT is the case, and something DID happen involving time travel that created the downfall timeline, then your theory is back on the table as the king of Hyrule at that time could have worked it out from the available information- likely with the Triforce of Wisdom assisting, but that's neither here nor there.
So now the question is: What kind of time-fuckery could have happened which coincided with Link's defeat at the hands of the Demon King?
Why doesn't Nintendo create something like star wars with all the legends stories. Creating stories that are forgotten or lost in time. Could be it's own thing and not solely based off saving Zelda, like the Myths of Link or something.
So is the Merging of the 3 timeline also transform Ganon into the Calamity?
Zora don't exclusvely appear in the Child timeline, they are also in the Downfall but they are just evil
Great video! Keep up the good work and content
intresting theory! I can completly see the things, it makes sense! Earned a subscribe you did yes!
You’ve convinced me before I even get into the video. Consider me subbed. 👍🏻
That was great, but if you want a real challenge you should try tackling the Downfall Timeline placement as a consequence of time travel in Majora’s Mask
There’s a whole lot of surprisingly consistent lore elements that point to this, particularly in post-MM games, and also in the _previous_ titles, but mostly in post-MM content tho
It’s like they realized the mistake they made in letting Link use the Ocarina of Time all willy-nilly in that game while making it key in creating timeline splits, but they didn’t want to admit that mistake (or the mistake of not actually connecting ALttP to OoT like AT ALL), so they rolled with it and made it connect over time
And also lie about it, I don’t know why, but I’m guessing it’s to eventually reveal it as a plot twist in a later game set earlier in the timeline (maybe)
Or it could be just to mess with us forever, it’s not out of the question with Zelda lore, there’s still mysteries surrounding OoT that have NOTHING to do with time travel OR the major plot of the game, they’re just there to be mysterious and cryptic
Still it’s not likely that Link dying would spawn a whole new timeline, especially not if the requirements of the _other_ timeline split involved literally altering the timeline itself, and, I’m sorry, Link dying just wouldn’t be sufficient enough to create that split, not even under the circumstances commonly presented
Majora’s Mask, on the other hand, _does_ offer the perfect circumstances to create a timeline branch, it’s actually the _perfect storm_ of circumstances, not just for a split but *THE SPLIT* itself, The Downfall Timeline
I’m repeating myself, just research it, you might be pleasantly surprised with what you find
Or maybe you already did and I’m wasting my time 🤷♂️
There’s a channel called Vortexxy Gaming that has a video about the Downfall Timeline that might interest you. I watch it every now and then because it’s so good (I might just go watch it right now, actually)
@@SlickTater I have the same problem with that one that I do with most and it’s a painfully obvious problem
Oren is directly descended from Princess Ruto
The problem?
_She saved herself for Link and DIED in OoT with the rest of the sages_
She straight up never _had_ children, WW has that proof (the Earth sages are only related, _not_ descended)
So if the Downfall Timeline has her children, not only does Princess Ruto need to survive she basically has to _never meet Link_
And that’s not the only issue, but it sticks out to me every time I read or watch a Zelda Timeline theory about The Split
It’s because I believe they are redoing the entire Zelda franchise to mould with the new generation that is coming to fruition
Crisis of the three timelines.. could be a good zelda game.
Great theory!! If I did believe the downfall timeline existed, I would definitely consider it.
I think the Legend of Zelda timeline is too confusing as a fan, my overall advice is to play the games based on date of release to the current games. In total there have been 26 something Legend of Zelda games since 1986 when the first one came out. Personally I think it is time they gave the honor to Link since the real legend and one of the world's greatest video game super hero's link is the real legend of the game. There needs to be a Legend of Link game in the future in his honor.
It’s not a dumb theory. It kinda makes sense
New sub here. Nice theory, I buy it
And when the Timelines did merge. It rewrote the entire timeline. As evidence by the story of Tears of the Kingdom
Hey, don't call your theory dumb! All of UA-cam is filled with dumb stuff, but don't sell yourself short, we're all in the same virtual boat here. It's good enough to say this is your theory, and let viewers make up our own minds.
In the meantime, keep doing your thing!