JuicieJ
SHOW ME YA MOVES!
Ok, before you freak out and go all, like, "Oh, great, another timeline theory", or, "What the...? JuicieJ's posting a thread in the Theory section??", this isn't a timeline theory, but rather explaining how the split in the "timeline" works. Why am I doing this? Well, partially because I'm bored, but I also understand that there are some people out there that either don't understand it properly or don't understand it at all. I'm going to break down what happened to cause the split and briefly go into the games that go along with it. (Yeah, that's some canon stuff, but I'm not delving into the entire "timeline", nor am I delving into Zelda theory. Just facts. As usual.) So, here we go.
Ok, we all know that in no way was a split in the canon thought of from the start. I mean, who would have predicted that? Not even Miyamoto. However, two separate times were indeed created when Ocarina of Time was released. When Zelda sent Link back to his own time, a split was created to where a separate time branched off of the time Zelda remained in. All the events in Ocarina of Time right up until that point took place on a singular timeline, which is why the time paradox of the Song of Storms exists. If Link were to place the Master Sword back in its pedestal, time would just reverse rather than an actual event of time-travel occuring. However, Zelda knew what was going to happen when she sent Link back. She said "However, by doing this the door between times will be closed." She knew that she was creating a split when she sent Link back. But why would she do that? Because it was the wisest thing to do. Why is that? Read on, and I think you'll understand.
Now, some people are under the misconception that Link went through actual time travel at the end of Ocarina of Time, which is what created a split. However, this is not the case. If Zelda had sent Link back through actual time-travel, he would have landed as an adult, and that would have defeated the purpose of Link "regaining his lost childhood". Plus, this would have caused two Links to be walking around, one of which would have had no knowledge to not collect the Spiritual Stones to prevent Ganondorf from getting the Triforce. And that would have prevented the other purpose of Zelda sending him back, which would be to stop Ganondorf from touching the Triforce, just in a different way. See, he went back farther than he would have by just placing the Master Sword back in the Pedestal of Time on his own. He went back to before he'd even met Zelda. And intentionally so, as if he hadn't, Ganondorf would have already attacked Hyrule Castle. This leaves Link still going through a reversing of time as the only option of how he went back to his childhood. (Plus, an actual event of time-travel wouldn't have created a split, anyway. It just would have sent Link back in time.)
Going further into detail, I actually used to think that Nintendo would never continue on the time Link left behind, as he, well, left it behind, and the times could not be reached in any way possible. But then The Wind Waker came out, which was an obvious sequel to the time Link left behind. I remember being fascinated how Nintendo was able to make it work by having Link not have any connection to the Hero of Time. (Genious.) It was clear at this point that there was a split timeline, as Majora's Mask took place on what came to be known as the Child Timeline, whereas WW took place on what became known as the Adult Timeline. However, I later learned that Ocarina of Time was originally made as the Seal War mentioned in A Link to the Past's backstory. Since that was the case, I realized ALttP originally was to take place on the AT, as the Seal War was in the events that took place in the time Link left behind. But! Nintendo later realized that OoT couldn't be accurately used to depict the Seal War, and for numerous reasons, but mainly for two major contradictions. Link in ALttP was a descendant of one of the Knights of Hyrule that fought in the Seal War. Well, of course Link in OoT would have been that Knight. But since Link left that time behind, that ancestor could no longer have a descendant on the AT. The other main problem was that the Triforce was still split at the end of OoT, whereas it was whole in ALttP. The Dark World was created from Ganondorf's wish upon touching the Triforce in ALttP's backstory. However, he didn't get a wish granted in OoT due to the fact that it split. Due to these inconsistencies, Nintendo abandoned the adult ending of OoT being the Seal War and retconned it with WW, bumping ALttP (and its sequels) off of the AT in the process.
Now, onto the CT. MM was, again, a sequel to the time Link came back to in OoT, which at that point was the actual foundation of the split timeline, as the original four games were on the AT at that time. During the course of time in-between OoT and MM, Ganondorf was chased out of Hyrule, therefore never getting the chance to enter the Sacred Realm. However, at some point, the "divine prank of the gods" happened, in which the Triforce somehow split on its own. Ganondorf, after receiving the Triforce of Power, became "blind to any danger" and was captured by the Sages and executed. He then came back to life through means of the ToP and was sealed in the Twilight Realm. And, of course, the events of Twilight Princess occured a few generations later. After TP was released, Aonuma actually confirmed the fact that there was a split timeline by saying that WW and TP run parallel. In saying that, he said both that there's a split and that the two times cannot be reached, as "parallel" means two objects running side-by-side in a straight line and never meet. This left the canon at:
....../WW
OoT
......\MM--TP
At the moment, ALttP and it's sequels had no official placement, as it was prevented from taking place on the AT (and Ganondorf died at the end of WW), but Ganondorf also died at the end of TP and wasn't sealed in the Dark World (which hadn't been created, yet). There's the chance that Ganondorf may not be truly dead on the CT, but that's not what this thread is about, and I'm also not going to get into anything else with the "timeline". (I can't forget to say that Phantom Hourglass and Spirit Tracks were later created to be sequels to WW, though, now can I? So, I said it.
)
So, all these events are what I believe happened to create the split timeline, and what caused it to be what it is today. I'm hoping I was able to clear a couple things up with some of the people who didn't quite understand this properly (or not at all). Not saying you have to agree with this, just putting the information out there. So, yeah, that's all I've got. Thanks guys! =D
Ok, we all know that in no way was a split in the canon thought of from the start. I mean, who would have predicted that? Not even Miyamoto. However, two separate times were indeed created when Ocarina of Time was released. When Zelda sent Link back to his own time, a split was created to where a separate time branched off of the time Zelda remained in. All the events in Ocarina of Time right up until that point took place on a singular timeline, which is why the time paradox of the Song of Storms exists. If Link were to place the Master Sword back in its pedestal, time would just reverse rather than an actual event of time-travel occuring. However, Zelda knew what was going to happen when she sent Link back. She said "However, by doing this the door between times will be closed." She knew that she was creating a split when she sent Link back. But why would she do that? Because it was the wisest thing to do. Why is that? Read on, and I think you'll understand.
Now, some people are under the misconception that Link went through actual time travel at the end of Ocarina of Time, which is what created a split. However, this is not the case. If Zelda had sent Link back through actual time-travel, he would have landed as an adult, and that would have defeated the purpose of Link "regaining his lost childhood". Plus, this would have caused two Links to be walking around, one of which would have had no knowledge to not collect the Spiritual Stones to prevent Ganondorf from getting the Triforce. And that would have prevented the other purpose of Zelda sending him back, which would be to stop Ganondorf from touching the Triforce, just in a different way. See, he went back farther than he would have by just placing the Master Sword back in the Pedestal of Time on his own. He went back to before he'd even met Zelda. And intentionally so, as if he hadn't, Ganondorf would have already attacked Hyrule Castle. This leaves Link still going through a reversing of time as the only option of how he went back to his childhood. (Plus, an actual event of time-travel wouldn't have created a split, anyway. It just would have sent Link back in time.)
Going further into detail, I actually used to think that Nintendo would never continue on the time Link left behind, as he, well, left it behind, and the times could not be reached in any way possible. But then The Wind Waker came out, which was an obvious sequel to the time Link left behind. I remember being fascinated how Nintendo was able to make it work by having Link not have any connection to the Hero of Time. (Genious.) It was clear at this point that there was a split timeline, as Majora's Mask took place on what came to be known as the Child Timeline, whereas WW took place on what became known as the Adult Timeline. However, I later learned that Ocarina of Time was originally made as the Seal War mentioned in A Link to the Past's backstory. Since that was the case, I realized ALttP originally was to take place on the AT, as the Seal War was in the events that took place in the time Link left behind. But! Nintendo later realized that OoT couldn't be accurately used to depict the Seal War, and for numerous reasons, but mainly for two major contradictions. Link in ALttP was a descendant of one of the Knights of Hyrule that fought in the Seal War. Well, of course Link in OoT would have been that Knight. But since Link left that time behind, that ancestor could no longer have a descendant on the AT. The other main problem was that the Triforce was still split at the end of OoT, whereas it was whole in ALttP. The Dark World was created from Ganondorf's wish upon touching the Triforce in ALttP's backstory. However, he didn't get a wish granted in OoT due to the fact that it split. Due to these inconsistencies, Nintendo abandoned the adult ending of OoT being the Seal War and retconned it with WW, bumping ALttP (and its sequels) off of the AT in the process.
Now, onto the CT. MM was, again, a sequel to the time Link came back to in OoT, which at that point was the actual foundation of the split timeline, as the original four games were on the AT at that time. During the course of time in-between OoT and MM, Ganondorf was chased out of Hyrule, therefore never getting the chance to enter the Sacred Realm. However, at some point, the "divine prank of the gods" happened, in which the Triforce somehow split on its own. Ganondorf, after receiving the Triforce of Power, became "blind to any danger" and was captured by the Sages and executed. He then came back to life through means of the ToP and was sealed in the Twilight Realm. And, of course, the events of Twilight Princess occured a few generations later. After TP was released, Aonuma actually confirmed the fact that there was a split timeline by saying that WW and TP run parallel. In saying that, he said both that there's a split and that the two times cannot be reached, as "parallel" means two objects running side-by-side in a straight line and never meet. This left the canon at:
....../WW
OoT
......\MM--TP
At the moment, ALttP and it's sequels had no official placement, as it was prevented from taking place on the AT (and Ganondorf died at the end of WW), but Ganondorf also died at the end of TP and wasn't sealed in the Dark World (which hadn't been created, yet). There's the chance that Ganondorf may not be truly dead on the CT, but that's not what this thread is about, and I'm also not going to get into anything else with the "timeline". (I can't forget to say that Phantom Hourglass and Spirit Tracks were later created to be sequels to WW, though, now can I? So, I said it.
)So, all these events are what I believe happened to create the split timeline, and what caused it to be what it is today. I'm hoping I was able to clear a couple things up with some of the people who didn't quite understand this properly (or not at all). Not saying you have to agree with this, just putting the information out there. So, yeah, that's all I've got. Thanks guys! =D
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