The timeline that never happened.

[ArchAngel217]

So...
THERE CAN BE ONLY ONE!?
And that means none of the events of the games can take place at the same time as games on other timelines

No. There are multiple spirit of the hero variants. Just its not in the child timeline. So o ly games in that specific timeline can't occur together.

 

[Spiritual Mask Salesman]

It kinda does, though. The spirit of the hero was in that link, atm, so it was sent away with him.

It seems like the Great Flood happens a long time after OoT though, the Hero of Time would have already been dead on the other timeline.

 

[ArchAngel217]

It seems like the Great Flood happens a long time after OoT though, the Hero of Time would have already been dead on the other timeline.

Yes, but the spirit of the hero would've reincarnated spontaneously. Instead, we link has to prove himself, thus creating a new spirit of the hero, which is a bit too late.

 

[Spiritual Mask Salesman]

Yes, but the spirit of the hero would've reincarnated spontaneously. Instead, we link has to prove himself, thus creating a new spirit of the hero, which is a bit too late.

So you think by WW Link completing the Trial of the Gods that instilled a new copy of the spirit of the hero in him for that timeline, rather than him just being born with the new copy which is why he can even beat the trial to begin with?

 

[ArchAngel217]

So you think by WW Link completing the Trial of the Gods that instilled a new copy of the spirit of the hero in him for that timeline, rather than him just being born with the new copy which is why he can even beat the trial to begin with?

Yes.

 

[MapelSerup]

I always interpreted it as there being no spirit of the hero in the adult timeline, only some random kid who happened to be pretty dang courageous and persistent.

 

[Ryuu Kage Desu]

So...
THERE CAN BE ONLY ONE!?
And that means none of the events of the games can take place at the same time as games on other timelines

I both like this idea, and hate it.

I've tossed this idea between a second post here, and creating a new thread. Obviously, this is where I have landed, for now.

We all remember that animated cartoon, that everyone hated, right?

Yea, that one. Could this be what Hyrule would have been left with? No! Before you click away, hear me out. A teenage Link, with an underdeveloped, juvenile mind, and being non-canon means it never happened, officially. Could Zelda have gotten so sick of him, that she used time magic, a triforce wish, or some thing (anything) to tell her younger self to just send the boy back?

 

[darklordoftech]

Maybe in such a game we could see the corrupted-but-not-transformed Sacred Realm and go to the realm where Ganondorf is sealed at the end of OOT to battle him?

 

[Fierce_Deity]

With all of these discussions about the timeline splits, I had a hypothetical thought. What would have happened if Zelda did not send Link back at the end of Ocarina of Time? Most obviously, the flood would not have happened. Link being forced to mature, and gain quite a lot of knowledge just from the adventure, let alone any learning that doesn't happen on screen, doesn't become crammed into a physically younger brain. Would the events of Majora's mask star an adult Link, or would it not happen at all?

I don't think MM would happen, at least not the way we know it. There's a 7 year or so gap between child Link and Adult Link. So in this alternate Adult Timeline Navi may still leave Link. He may still go and look for her, but the Skull Kid won't be in that place that he was 7 years prior so Link may not encounter him. Without Link meeting the Skull Kid and coming to Termina and rescuing the 4 Giants- Termina is destroyed. If Skull Kid with Majora's Mask survive the event themselves, maybe they invade in Hyrule?

Then, would Zelda, or another sage, have been privy to this information? Was Link sent back for purely moral reasoning, or was she trying to avoid another disaster? Would it somehow be worse than the flood?

Zelda has at times been shown to have some ability to see the future. But these usually come in vague dreams and images. However when she sends Link back there isn't any indication she is aware of any potential harm to leaving things as is. It does seem a genuine concern for Link to regain the lost 7 years.

So you think by WW Link completing the Trial of the Gods that instilled a new copy of the spirit of the hero in him for that timeline, rather than him just being born with the new copy which is why he can even beat the trial to begin with?

I don't think WW Link was born with the Spirit of the Hero. It seems in all the games, the Hero appears whenever there is a major threat. The only time this doesn't happen is in the WW prologue....because he and the spirit were sent away. That's why WW Link has to prove himself to the gods and I believe is the only version of Link that had to.

 

[Uwu_Oocoo2]

I don't think WW Link was born with the Spirit of the Hero. It seems in all the games, the Hero appears whenever there is a major threat. The only time this doesn't happen is in the WW prologue....because he and the spirit were sent away. That's why WW Link has to prove himself to the gods and I believe is the only version of Link that had to.

I had never considered this before, but now that you say it it makes a lot of sense. In WW they are fighting Ganondorf- the same being that had caused the king to flood Hyrule in the first place. So if a hero wasn't born to defeat him then, why would there be one appearing generations later? Presumably Ganondorf has been alive and plotting that entire time. Although presumably when you say "he and the spirit were sent away" that would mean that the Triforce of Courage for the AT was sent too; seeing as it was it's presence in the CT that caused the other fragments to be sent out and for Ganondorf to suddenly get the Triforce of Power. I guess once someone else came who was worthy of the "hero" title the goddesses decided to grant him the spirit and make a new Triforce piece.

 

[Moblinking5000]

So you think by WW Link completing the Trial of the Gods that instilled a new copy of the spirit of the hero in him for that timeline, rather than him just being born with the new copy which is why he can even beat the trial to begin with?

This is a pretty solid theory, but it does hinge on whether the SotH is a literal spirit or a metaphorical one; I've seen fan translators go back and forth on the matter.

Still, it would explain why Hyrule is flooded when Ganon escapes the seal of the Awakened Sages; the SotH left that timeline branch, so there was no other option but to flood the land to stop Ganon's reign.

 

[Ryuu Kage Desu]

Without Link meeting the Skull Kid and coming to Termina and rescuing the 4 Giants- Termina is destroyed. If Skull Kid with Majora's Mask survive the event themselves, maybe they invade in Hyrule?

Now, that would be an interesting game. Majora has thrown out the spent husk that was the Skull Kid, and now invades the land of Hyrule, using the body of the adult Link. It is now Zelda who needs to save Link.

 

[YoungGanon23]

What about the timeline where Majora wins or Ganon returns in Adventure of Link or SS past timeline