Why Does It Matter?

[GerudoDesert]

Please think of it. The theorising in Lost was one huge aspect why the series has such a great fanbase. The same goes for The Legend of Zelda. Most of the people may not even know there is a Timeline. But, since Miyamoto and Aonuma made the Timeline official, most of the Zelda fans are trying to connect the games. It's a piece of the mythology of Zelda. The Timeline is making the games more mysterious. No one gets forced to build an own timeline, or connecting the games with each other. With all the theories, the fanbase of Zelda will grow deeper together. For me, the Timeline is just as important as the games itself. Like I said a few times before.

Lost only had four main time-lines: Before the crash, after the crash, after being rescued, and what happened if they had never crashed. It really isn't confusing if you watched every episode of Lost and can listen. ANYWHO, The time-line in the Legend of Zelda really does not need to be as complicated as it is.

 

[Dr3W21]

I don't think that is completely true, though discrepancies do exist. I suppose that is because the stories told are legends. If the series was called the History of Zelda it would be different.

Honestly, I couldn't agree more. I guess that's why I don't really like to mess around with timelines and whatnot.

 

[linkvsganon]

Why it matters is because, like many people we are curious and always try to find the answer to every question. The point is its fun to debate and discuss the timeline while everyone helps and contributes to others making better timeline which allows some of us to see things we missed.

 

[Simon]

I'm not particularly bothered about whether my, or someone elses, timeline is correct but as a LoZ fan I have great fun dabbling in timeline theory every now and then.

 

[Rauru]

It's fun, though.

(30 Character Limit)

 

[zolakiller]

time line gives story ....... story line is a key part of a game story line is the most important part of a game depending if its street fighter or a first person shooter but for zelda and other games they need storyline and zelda has that

 

[Wolf Sage]

I actually kinda don't like the timeline thing myself to be honest. I just believe that some titles in the series fit into a Grand Timeline (now split), and some others DO NOT; the others are in their own little continuities.

Regarding the ultimate question: Why does it matter? Well, to be honest at first it didn't really matter. Back when the first Zelda games came out was a time when games of its nature (Adventure games) were kinda expected to have sequels; if that makes sense. Video games were becoming increasingly popular, especially in the adventure genre. Games in the series following The Legend of Zelda (the first game) were most likely automatically assumed by a majority of fans to follow this convention and thus have sequels.

You see, it kind of didn't matter back THEN (up until fairly recently). The point is, it kind of matters NOW. As you may have surmised when reading my above paragraph, there seemed to be a sort of demand for continuity in the form of sequels some years ago. Since the demand for a timeline-esque continuity has been so strong, Miyamoto and others at Nintendo are actually trying to implement the idea into the Zelda series a little (a lot?) more. That is to say, they are putting more emphasis on the timeline idea. A timeline was asked for by fans, so we were granted one (sorta). A testament to this is The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker, which strongly (almost completely undeniably) hinted at Ocarina of Time's events and plot as a sort of prequel to it.

On another note. When asked about the ultimate timeline in an interview, Word of God (the Nintendo guys) actually stated back then that they fit the games into a grand timeline after their stories are finished (being created). Note: This particular interview took place back then. I believe they are now, recently, creating Zelda games (like WW) with the timeline in mind. That is to say, they know beforehand where the games will fit in the timeline. <This doesn't apply to every recent Zelda game (like Minish Cap), of course.

Hope I was clear.

 

[Satsy]

If people didn't care about fitting things into appropriate niches, Tetris probably wouldn't have taken off.

In the grand scheme of things, no, it doesn't matter -- its a videogame series, where sometimes there are throwbacks to previous titles, and sometimes they're just as fine as stand-alones. Its not meaning-of-life level questioning, no matter how passionate people are on the subject.

Of course that doesn't mean its all pointless. A timeline has been hinted at, and naturally thinkers will want to figure out the ultimate Zelda puzzle. But it could be worse. I had a break from thinking Zelda and played EarthBound, where hints are provided but nothing confirmed and everyone's got their own interpretation, which can vary much wilder than this series. And there were only 3 games there!

 

[LolGames4U]

I agree with you. Nintendo didn't intend for there to be some huge, convoluted, confusing timeline with splits and reincarnations and such. I like to theorize about the placement of the games and I find the timeline split interesting, but I really don't think that there's that much to it. Miyamoto-sama admits to not even knowing the timeline, so why would everyone else know it?