I certainly remember those times-- and at once, I both miss that era and am relieved to see it gone.
I don't want to go the "Zelda theory's dead" route, because it isn't-- if anything, the insight HH gave us into te lore inspired me to delve into far more frutiful theorizing. That said, the theorizing community was definitely more vibrant back in the day, and the timeline served as a gateway for many fans, new and old, to hold meaningful conversation and appreciate Zelda's rich (albeit convoluted) universe.
And yes, I did have my own theory; it was pretty similar to the official chronology, barring , of course, the third split (which nobody really saw coming). As for the main differences, I had ALttP Link's games (ALttP, OoX, and LA) in between OoT and tWW on the Adult Timeline, as opposed to the more popular placement of following FSA; I had FS and FSA as a direct pair (similar to OoT and MM), and so I generally saw them as following TP, though I was never really sure; and I always struggled with placing LoZ and AoL anywhere, primarily because they were so distinctively medieval, contrasting the progressive societal trend from OoT to TP-- although I'd never taken into account the Era of Decline.
I don't want to go the "Zelda theory's dead" route, because it isn't-- if anything, the insight HH gave us into te lore inspired me to delve into far more frutiful theorizing. That said, the theorizing community was definitely more vibrant back in the day, and the timeline served as a gateway for many fans, new and old, to hold meaningful conversation and appreciate Zelda's rich (albeit convoluted) universe.
And yes, I did have my own theory; it was pretty similar to the official chronology, barring , of course, the third split (which nobody really saw coming). As for the main differences, I had ALttP Link's games (ALttP, OoX, and LA) in between OoT and tWW on the Adult Timeline, as opposed to the more popular placement of following FSA; I had FS and FSA as a direct pair (similar to OoT and MM), and so I generally saw them as following TP, though I was never really sure; and I always struggled with placing LoZ and AoL anywhere, primarily because they were so distinctively medieval, contrasting the progressive societal trend from OoT to TP-- although I'd never taken into account the Era of Decline.