#Loz timeline

[prankprincess123]

In one timeline, Zelda cries. She spends her late teenage years and young adulthood sobbing, emotionally a widow by the design of her own plans. She spends years heartbroken and mourning the Hero she loved and sent away in hopes of restoring the childhood stolen from him.

In another timeline, Zelda is confused. She thought the fairy boy who helped her save her kingdom was her friend, and that he would always be there to play with her. She spends her entire youth wondering why her Hero is so haunted, and why he can't look at her without seeming like he's about to cry.

In both timelines, the kingdom needs a Prince-Consort and an heir, not just a young Queen pining over a boy from the forest, so she agrees to an arranged marriage. She marries a man she does not love, and bears a child, and tries to be the best Queen that she possibly can.

In one timeline, her love and loss are not a secret, it becomes a common saying that the rains beginning to flood the land are a reflection of the tears their Queen sheds for her long lost love.

In another timeline, she pines silently for her Hero, simply watching in heartbreak as his inner demons drive him mad until he is merely a shade of his former self and disappears.

In both timelines, her heir grows, marries, and has a daughter of their own.

In one timeline, this princess - not the Sacred Princess but one of the sacred line nonetheless - grows up with stories of her grandmother's life as a Sheikah and the Hero she loved and lost. She grows up with stories of how when you fall in love, you should hold on tight, never let it go, and never waste a moment with them. As the flood waters rise, she swears she won't make the same mistake as her grandmother made. She won't let a second with her love be wasted, so she runs away from the palace, following the sailor she loves out to sea.

In another timeline, that same princess grows up with firm and unwavering expectations of what her royal duty is and how exactly she is expected to see that through. She grows up with a grandmother who married for duty despite her love being right there, knowing that she too is to marry an appropriate suitor when she comes of age. It never even crosses her mind that she could have fought to be with her love.

In both timelines, this princess bears the next Sacred Princess.

In one timeline, the next Zelda is born free as the waves beneath her. Her name is Zelda as her mother couldn't bear to break that far with tradition, but such isn't a name fitting for a pirate, so her middle name is all she ever knows. She grows up free and feral, sunkissed and smirking, allowed to be wild and go wherever the wind takes her.

In another timeline, the next Zelda is born as the sun begins to set over Hyrule. She grows up sheltered in a palace of rules and expectations. She learns to hide both smiles and tears, nevermind any improper impulses that might cross her mind. She grows up as a proper princess, internally screaming for anything more than the darkness around her.

In both timelines, Zelda finds her Hero. She finds Link, or rather he finds her, and they don't let go this time. In this lifetime they will get their happy ending, together, and they will fight anyone who tries to take it away from them.

(Aka: my brain realized that both TP and WW are next lifetime direct sequels to OoT. And now all I can think is that TP Zelda got ALL the anxiety in the timeline split, and that if Tetra ever met Midna they would get along like a house fire in that there would be no survivors)

[occasionallyprosie]

Thinking about the Hero's Spirit

Okay, so, when Time left the Adult Timeline... he took the hero's spirit with him. There was no hero's spirit to reincarnate when Ganondorf re-emerged and (as of the goddesses flooding the world) no other spirit born that could become the bearer of the Triforce of Courage.

Until Wind. Wind, whose spirit is its own spirit, came and becomes the embodiment of courage unlike any other hero. He forges his own spirit into one unbreakable, restores the Triforce, and defeats Ganondorf at the age of twelve.

But his hero's spirit is stubborn in a way everyone else's is not. He doesn't need the goddess to bless him with reincarnation, he wasn't even born with the Triforce of Courage (due to the fragmentation) he restored it and out of sheer will became the one to bear it and he knows it. So out of sheer will and stubbornness, he reincarnates.

Enter Spirit. Spirit, who is a hero in every right, but he doesn't follow the beaten path because Wind's hero spirit doesn't do that. He chooses to be an engineer instead of a hero or a knight.

But then the timelines merge, and suddenly, there's two hero's spirits? What? Well, obviously First's goes to Warriors, but where does Wind's go?

Linkle. Linkle, because their spirit doesn't follow the beaten path, it makes its own path, it sails through the waves rather than with it, it forces the winds to yield to its call and its power, the limits of death does not bind it, the expectations of ghosts of the past does not force its hand.

First's, Sky's, and every other hero's, their spirit is one of tenacity, one of pain and suffering, one that can take every hit and still stand and fight. They share a spirit of determination, one of courage, one that is unbreakable because it will stand in the way and be the immovable object that will always be there to hold back the darkness.

But Wind's spirit? Wind's, Spirit's, Linkle's, their spirit is also one of determination, but theirs is one born of choice, theirs is a spirit of free will, of stubbornness and a need to stand their ground. They were not forged by pain like the others, but by love (for Aryll, for Phantom/ST!Zelda). They take every hit, but they don’t stand because they can and they must, they don’t get back up because they have this undying need to endure and to persevere, they get back up because of their loved ones and the people they protect. They are the unstoppable force that drives darkness back.

Don’t get me wrong, the original Hero's Spirit is still stubborn, those heroes are still an unstoppable force, they are still seeking to protect the people they love, but if you have a hero hated by all, a hero who has nobody they should logically be trying to protect? They would still fight because that's what's right, that's what their heart is like, the whole world could hate them and they'd still protect it because 'the people in that world deserve to be saved'. The Adult Timeline's spirit is much of the same, they are similar in spirit, but there are differences.

The original spirit is a forest, one that will never truly be destroyed because something will always survive and that something will regrow and restore the forest that once stood.

The second spirit is a river, carving its path through mountains and valleys, overcoming insurmountable odds and creating great canyons. Nothing can stop them for good.

[grandpadaruk]

New Timeline for TOTK release!

[bokettochild]

hi! I don't know if you know the fallen timeliness theory? For linked Universe if you do could you explain it to me a bit? Because I read a fic with it were legend was from a fallen time and was times other descendent? So if you know could you pls explain to me of so ty!

P.s. I really want to know about because I'm suckered for time and legend angst or them just bonding.

Alright! So, LoZ lore does have an "official" timeline as published in the Hyrule Historia, detailing the canon placement of all games prior to BotW in 2017. According to this official guide, there are three cannonical timelines in the LoZ universe (potentially four after the release of AoC). These timelines all result from events within the adventure of the Hero of Time.

The general names are the timelines are the Adult Timeline, the Child Timeline, and the Fallen Timeline/Downfall Timeline.

The Child Timeline

The Child Timeline is the result of Princess Zelda (OoT/Lullaby/Sheik) sending back the hero's soul to his childhood before Ganon ever came into power. This timeline features the fact that the Hero of Time's adventure is not known in his era, but rather left behind when he traveled back to before it happened. He then proceeded to go off and undertake the events of Majora's Mask and later becomes the Hero's Shade after his death. In terms of LU, this is the timeline Twilight comes from.

The Adult Timeline

The Adult Timeline is also the result of Princess Zelda sending the Hero of Time back to his original timeline. However, despite the hero being sent back to alter time, it still happened, and continues to exist even after he left it. This era has had the Hero's Spirit removed from it, unable to reincarnate without the hero first dying, so there are no more Heroes of Courage. There are heroes however, including Wind Waker's Link, known in LU as Wind. Here, because there is no Hero's Spirit, when trouble came, the goddesses flooded the world to get rid of it, creating the Great Ocean. Wind is the successor to the Hero of Time here, claiming the triforce of courage rather than being chosen by it and establishing a new era of heroes.

The Fallen/Downfall Timeline

This timeline is the one you asked about. While more debated and with many more variations, the general idea here is that the Hero of Time was killed by Ganon, and only be being sealed by Princess Zelda (OoT/Lullaby/Sheik), the Sages and the Knights of Hyrule. The seal on Ganon lasts a few hundred years before it is broken by Aganim, and a young boy named Link (LU Legend) is the one called to defeat him as a result.

The Downfall Timeline tends to have many variations on the course of events leading up to the death of the hero. Hyrule's Downfall by RwanLink is a fan animation that shows an alternate trail of events than the "official" timeline. Many fanfiction authors also have their own theories, varying from the hero still being a child to the hero having grown up and spent seven years training rather than being asleep, and his seven year nap actually being a preventative measure by Fi to prevent the timeline from occurring.

Usually, when reading fanfic, it's fair game what the events surrounding the Death of the Hero of Time are, so be aware of that!

The Legend and Time angst usually stems from Time's guilt at learning that not only did he leave behind alternate timelines, he also left one in utter ruin because he Failed.

Again, deviations regarding his fate do make it difficult to pin down how old he might have been at his death, but some author's (myself included) have written Time as being old enough to have messed around and left some progeny. Legend is NOT canonically Time's descendant. He IS, however, descended from a line of knights commonly associated with Time (the Knights of Hyrule*), as well as a knight who looked crazily similar to a young Time (Raven from the Oracle of Ages manga). This has led to theories of relations between Time and Legend. I've seen some theories where Raven and Time are biological brothers, Raven is Time's descendant, and even one featuring Raven as Time's father! All of these leave a lot of room for Legend and Time bonding/angst dynamics, so I love them all!

*this is actually the same Knights family which Ashei from TP is descended from, making them distant cousins!

[chained-spirits]

I’ve finally re-worked a timeline I’m happy with, if there are any questions, feel free to ask !

[phoenixcatch7]

Remembering my first time playing oot as a kid and hearing about the heroes of legend, those who had used the master sword before. And because I wasn't part of the larger community, no internet etc, I didn't know I was supposed to think of the other zelda games.

My theory was that every zelda game took place simultaneously across an infinite sea of parallel worlds, and each link could reach out and witness the other adventures alongside their own. I thought of them as different facets of the same soul, which turned out to be true enough, I suppose XD.

But I also thought the master sword was too simple a name and design, too overarching to not, similarly, be a culmination of different aspects, referencing different swords from real world myth and legend.

I remember I believed past heroes referred to people like King Authur, like Odin, like Hercules and Theseus and Achillies, like legendary samurai and kings under hills and travelling swordsmen and ladies lost to time.

And now, this small child, this little backwater kid my age was going to take up that mantle, join the ranks of heroes unsung, perform great feats in forgotten temples and save the suffering kingdom, here and gone, to slip back to home and safety upon journey's end, the kid with a hero's story and a precious, gleeful secret. That was how a lot of stories go, when they're targeted at little kids. Save the fairy kingdom from the bad pixie and run back to your parents before they wonder too long where you've been.

The direction Nintendo ended up going with making a canon timeline and destroying the mystery of how it all began (tho SS is amazing) takes a lot of the fable, the secrecy, the hushed gleam in the eye of it. But I still love it. For older players, it's another turn of the cycle, the new and old mixing into something unrecognisable and yet so familiar.

For new players, for children, the creator truly captured that feeling of stepping into another world behind your own, shifting ivy aside with your dirt scuffed hand, the feeling of wonder welling up inside as you step into the sunbeams of a brand new horizon where everything they told you about magic is true. The feeling of becoming something greater than the sum of your parts, of hearing a thousand silent voices at your back, of meeting equal with the legend, of being good for the sake of it and being rewarded with making a thousand memories, a thousand experiences beyond your wildest dreams.

Of, at the end of it all, being rewarded with the privacy and peace you really wanted, not being forced to perform nice for rude adults and go on stage to accept your little trophies. Something to cradle in your heart and smile secretive smiles, to be true to yourself, to always have that little something extra, something adults will never notice but you know. You know, and you will never breathe a word of that beautiful, magical world, because it's just. For. You.

I suppose that's always why I've liked the epilogue of a zelda game, the Links all choosing to close the loop, to return the master sword and return to their peaceful lives. To fulfil your purpose. To become everything they said you'd be and more. To go home, and your enemies don't follow.

The adults doubt your magic, but you don't. Not anymore.

[witch-oftheflowers]

✨Like don't ask me about LoZ if you can't handle the three time lines we now have to talk about. The history of the characters and everything else. See in this essay-✨

[ginkgo-gremlin]

Okay so I'm as pissed as the next guy about Nintendo saying botw/totk is "at the end" in terms of timeline stuff and I think it's lazy storytelling and is bullshit etc etc. but I've been thinking... What if it really is at the end of all of the timelines?

Hear me out.

What if, over many thousands of years, the barriers separating the different timelines eroded and the different versions of Hyrule collided to create the one we see in botw/totk? It was originally one universe, and one Hyrule. What if it eventually returned to its original state of being?

More under the cut:

Look I know Raru is like "a man" or whatever tf in ocarina of time and there are probably other discrepancies but I can't just accept Nintendo's "at the end" bs without trying to make it fit.

(also I'm secretly worried that this theory will gain popularity but people will forget it started here :/ not sure why but ..)

[sokkas-first-fangirl]

So, I'm working on my "LoZ Timeline" for the Luminous 'verse and I am seriously resisting the urge to do anything with Ecoes of Wisdom. It's not out, I have no idea where it would place on the timeline, I need to stop.

However, I am having a lot of fun with the Ancient Hero, Sheikah lore, and the first leader of the Yiga Clan. Does my timeline and lore make a lot of sense? Probably not, but nothing in the Zelda timeline does.

Will the Ancient Hero and first Yiga leader make an appearance in the Luminous series beyond vague visions? Also probably not, but I'm having fun and I love these two

[echoesofwisdomcountdown]

179 Days since Tears of the Kingdom Released. So I’ve recovered a bit from the movie announcement yesterday. Today I’ll share my belief about where Totk is placed on the timeline. I’ve been turning it around in my head but the Demon King Ganondorf, while appearing similar to Demise, is not Demise. The imprisoning war that’s talked about in Skyward Sword is not at all the same as the imprisoning war in Totk. So my belief is that Sonia and her husband are not the first Queen and King of Hyrule. At least they aren’t the first king and queen of the first Hyrule. I think that Skyward Sword happens and that Link and Zelda begin the creation of the Kingdom of Hyrule. After Twilight Princess, Spirit Tracks, and pretty much every other Zelda game besides Botw/Totk happens, the timeline converges and the old Hyrule is destroyed (or Hyrule is destroyed before the timelines merge, your pick.) There’s a period of time with no Hyrule and then the Zonai descend and Sonia and Rauru found Hyrule again . This new Hyrule Kingdom is the same that continues until Botw Zelda’s time. Hence this Ganondorf is imprisoned beneath the castle for so long except for the two Calamity events. That’s my theory (cough a game theory.)

[twin-chains]

Timeline things

I figured out how to fit the BS games into the timeline!

In order to incorporate all the heroes for this AU, the TC timeline will be split up so that “every time someone time travels and makes significant changes in that time, a new timeline split is created” (so going back in time to complete the Temple of Time in Twilight Princess wouldn’t cause a new timeline for instance). Basically this rule means that a timeline is created where the person DID travel through time and a timeline where the person LEFT and life continues on without that person, as if they just vanished into thin air. It is much more confusing than Nintendo's timeline but bare with me

This creates 4 main timeline splits

when Impa travels back and forth to aid Zelda in Skyward Sword

when Zelda sends Link back to his childhood in Ocarina of Time (we already know this one)

when Veran possesses Nayru to travel between the ages in Oracle of Ages

when Zelda travels back in time in the memories in Tears of the Kingdom

(technically Hyrule Warriors: Definitive Edition doesn't combine or split the timelines but rather makes the timelines super unstable since Cia brought people to her time rather than traveled herself, more on that later)

Skyward Sword

When Impa travels back and forth in time to help guide Zelda (Destiny) as Hylia's reincarnation, she inadvertently brings Ghirahim with her and starts the events of Skyward Sword as we know it. This is known as the Master Sword timeline because Link (Chosen) ends up upgrading the white goddess sword into the master sword.

However, this means Impa leaves a timeline where she didn't time travel in the first place known as the Goddess Sword timeline. In that timeline, Destiny is not kidnapped by Ghirahim but does end up being drawn to the power of the triforce on the surface. Chosen and Groose try to help her but Chosen doesn't find the goddess sword and Groose (the first ancestor of the Gerudo) ends up sacrificing himself to help defend them. Destiny somehow ends up barely sealing Demise but without Impa's guidance, she accidentally fuses the pieces of the triforce into one singular artifact known as the light force. The hylians of Skyloft still descend to found the settlement of Hyrule but some creatures (who later become the Minish) stay in the sky and discover the untouched goddess sword.

Demise's monster army is still scouring the surface as Hyrule is being founded. So in the Age of the Minish that follows, the small race descend from the sky and bring the light force and the goddess sword (referred to as the Picori Blade) to the hylians to help defeat the monsters. The light force only responds to the new princess (Power) due to her goddess bloodline. The hero of men (Mighty) wields the Picori blade and seals the monsters of Demise into the Bound Chest, thus creating the legends in the intro sequence of the Minish Cap. The Picori Blade goes on to become the Four Sword in the events of Minish Cap. Based on this, the Goddess Sword timeline contains the Four Swords trilogy (Minish Cap, Four Swords, FSA) while the rest of the games exist in the Master Sword timeline.

Ocarina of Time

We already know how the adult timeline and child timeline split. The downfall timeline is also basically the same in concept. When Young Link tries to wield the Master Sword, there's a timeline where he doesn't travel forward in time or get aged up into Adult Link. Thus, Young Link is not strong enough to defeat Ganondorf and dies during their fight.

The Adult timeline contains The Wind Waker, Phantom Hourglass, Spirit Tracks, and Hyrule Warriors.

The Child timeline contains Majora's Mask, Twilight Princess, Link's Crossbow Training, the Age of the Sheikah (first Calamity), and Breath of the Wild.

The Downfall timeline contains ALTTP, Oracle of Seasons, Oracle of Ages, and Link's Awakening.

Oracle of Ages

In OOA, the Twinrova send Veran to possess Nayru and use her time powers to go back in time to light the flame of sorrow while Legend uses the Harp of Ages to collect the Essences to stop them. But by doing so, there is a timeline that Veran-Nayru leaves and Legend is able to defeat the Twinrova prematurely, without the flame of sorrow lit to resurrect Ganon. In that battle, as a last ditch effort, the Twinrova curse Legend with horrible sorrow before they are defeated. This causes him to carry this innate sorrow in his heart that is subtle at first and slowly grows over time but Legend is none-the-wiser and sails home.

When Legend is sailing home, he goes on the adventure in Link's Awakening. But because of his growing sorrow, he can't bear the thought of saying goodbye to Koholint or waking the Wind Fish, so he chooses to stay there and live in that dream world forever. This is known as the Dream timeline.

In the Dream timeline, it's unknown if Legend is alive or if he died at sea or is in a weird state of Schrödinger’s limbo. In Legend's absence, the monsters of his time return six years later and two young children Star and Sun are forced to take up the mantle. They do not have the hero's spirit (Legend holds it) but are endowed with the light of the goddess, going on to become the heroes of light in BS Ancient Stone Tablets. These two heroes also go on a very fast-paced adventure many years later in BS The Legend of Zelda.

The other timeline where Legend successfully completes OOA and Link's Awakening in canon is called the Reality Timeline. In the Reality timeline, Legend returns home successfully and can defeat the monsters that return with ease. Many years later, Legend's successor Clover does ALBW and then travels to Hytopia to become one of the Triforce Heroes with two other Links nicknamed Ember and Aqua. In the Reality timeline, Hyrule enters an era of peace for many years until the Era of Decline, when Fay becomes the hero of TLOZ and the Adventures of Link.

Tears of the Kingdom

When Zelda goes back in time in the beginning of TOTK, she creates a timeline where she becomes the light dragon and lives for over 10,000 years (which is the canon of BOTW and TOTK) known as the Light Dragon timeline. The young pre-Calamity Zelda would notice the dragon during her childhood and feel strangely drawn to the creature, she ends up pulling herself away from her Sheikah research sometimes to spend time trying to catch a glimpse or study ancient legends about dragons and Zonai. The events of BOTW and TOTK occur normally in this LD timeline.

In the timeline where she doesn't become the LD, Zelda solely focuses on Sheikah research and experiments with ancient relics, even re-activating a strange mini-Guardian she names Terrako. This is known as the Terrako timeline because when the Calamity hits, Terrako goes back in time to prevent the death of the Champions in HW: Age of Calamity (technically creating 3 timelines because Terrako time travels too but we're going to pretend it works out for now until another game comes out)

Hyrule Warriors

Normally, Hyrule Warriors is the game that connects all the OOT timelines because of Cia opening up the time-space portals between the eras, allowing for Breath of the Wild to come after. However in this timeline, BOTW occurs in the child timeline with Twilight Princess, which is why the past heroes mentioned in the Subdued Ceremony memory are “skyward bound, adrift in time, or steeped in the glowing embers of twilight”

Meanwhile, I put HW after Spirit Tracks when New Hyrule is founded and a new royal army is formed. Purely based on vibes in all honestly.

Instead of 'merging the timelines,' HW creates cracks and instability between the timelines, accounting for weird inconsistencies between eras like Majora's mask in Link's house in ALBW or a small subsect of the Zora evolving into Rito without the flood in the Child Timeline. Maybe that’s also how the TC heroes manage to meet up across time hehe

Although, there’s a particularly strong connection between the downfall timeline and the goddess sword timeline. Namely, the palace of the four sword can be found in ALTTP while Ganon and the dark world find themselves in FSA (since with Groose’s death, the Gerudo, and Ganon by extension, cease to exist). I like to think their worlds are unstable already due to their status as ‘failed’ timelines in a sense and messing with the hero’s spirit (fracturing it into 4 with FS and the weird limbo Legend gets into in the BS games). So to compensate for their unstable states, they start to bond together and share pieces from their world like electrons to form some semblance of stability and strength.

This was just supposed to be about accounting for the BS games but all this timeline talk kinda got away from me and became an essay, it’s fun to think about though!

[occasionallyprosie]

A Thousand Ways

Chapter 4: "Mind Leaps"

Legend prevents an assassination, beats up some knights, and learns some things!

First | <<Previous | Next>>

Event Masterlist

Read On AO3

Warnings: panic attacks, cursing

Over the next couple days, his magic was coming back but was still rather dismal.

He still followed Zelda almost unceasingly, he'd gotten a dream that night—not one unlike the one that began his first adventure— about the other heroes in battle, they were fine at the end of it, nothing seemed off except how they mentioned they had no idea where he was, they didn't even seem in danger.

That was it, and a voice that he knew to be Farore's telling him to rest, they'd come to him.

As much as he disliked it, he did as told. He was enjoying it with Zelda and her kids, even if the guards made him want to crawl into a hole and hide all day.

During some meeting in the throne room, Legend sort of off to the side and just kind of watching everything play out as the army general, the court mage, and a few other important figures were discussing with Zelda about the safety of the kingdom.

He saw a tapestry bend and curl in the wind, he nearly dismissed it before he realized: there was no wind.

The carpet flattened.

Legend darted forward. He dove in front of the queen, ignoring outraged cries and swords being unsheathed.

A throwing knife cut into his hand as he caught it out of the air. With far less strength than he was used to, so using far more energy than he would prefer to make up for it.

The advisors, queen, and guards froze.

He didn't hesitate, he tackled the invisible person with ease, found their neck, and held the blade there.

"Drop the illusion," he snarled. "Or taste your own blade."

In an instant, he met the hazel eyes of a young mage of some kind, an assassin obviously.

"Guards!" The queen called.

Legend got up quickly as the guards rushed them. He hoped desperately they didn't grab him, and tried not to flinch when one bumped him. They seized the assassin.

"You bastard!" The assassin yelled. "You--devil! Nobody could see through that spell! Blessed by the hatred god, you are! The queen employs demons!"

Legend scoffed. If only they realized he'd wielded the Triforce three times over.

With a barked command from Zelda, the assassin was dragged away. Legend spun the knife in his hand, he had full intentions of keeping it. That was his policy, if someone attacks him with a knife and doesn't kill him, he keeps the knife. They'd have to take it back to get it back.

"Link," Zelda called and he turned to her. She gave him a soft smile. "Thank you. Well done."

A surge of warmth hit him. He ducked his head and gave an awkward half bow, hoping his ears weren't as pink as they were warm. He slipped back to his corner, but not out of awareness as the advisors and guards were far more aware of him.

He was far more aware too, senses as far as he could push them without magic. He wasn't letting anyone hurt Zelda, she was a friend to one of the other heroes at the least, and at most she was Fable's ancestor or descendant, that was plenty reason.

He leaned against the wall and spun his new knife, watching everything closely for the slightest, wrong move.

Rumor spread quickly throughout Hyrule Castle, Legend was well aware of that and he was unsurprised that that fact held true in this era.

At breakfast, Alphon suggested Legend join him for the day and they could see where his fighting skills were at.

Legend hated that idea, but he kept his mouth shut as Zelda agreed on the condition that Legend was fine with it.

Though he'd much rather be with the almost-assassinated queen, he knew that there would be many more guards around her and he wasn't sure he wanted to deal with that the whole day.

So he compromised and agreed to go with Alphon for the morning and rejoin Zelda after lunch.

In the training grounds, Alphon got Legend a sword and had him spar with him. He won within a couple minutes, it was a remarkably hard spar, not exactly challenging but it was harder than he expected.

However, that cued basically the whole grounds of knights to try and one up each other by fighting him. He didn't know whose Hyrule this was yet, but their guards' skills were abysmal and disappointing.

They gradually got more and more angry, most calling him kid, boy, lad, or some other child term. Legend knew he didn't look all that old, he frankly wasn't that old at all, and that definitely infuriated the guards as he won again and again, only breaking a sweat after some dozen spars.

Sure, his magic may have been low, but he was physically fine. He knew perfectly well how to fight without any magical items, despite what Warriors may say. This was his first adventure without having to start over from scratch concerning equipment.

He stumbled over roots and weaved past the great trees all around him, running rapidly through the forest, adrenaline pumping through his veins as angered yells and roars of fury followed him, rabid barks echoed and sharp teeth gnashed at his heels.

He ran. Fear took hold as he tore through the forest, thunder booming overhead and rain pouring around him. His tunic was soaked, his boots couldn't get true traction on the ground, tree branches smacked him in the face or cut up his hands as he shoved them away.

"GET HIM!" A gruff, angry voice roared with the thunder.

Teeth knashed at his back and Link ran.

He had to get away. He couldn't—He couldn't let them catch him. They catch him and he's dead. Agahnim would have him killed in the blink of an eye.

"DON'T LET HIM GET AWAY!"

Arrows flew past his head and Link's throat tried to close up as fear replaced the blood pumping through him. He tripped over a root and fell to the ground.

A boot landed on his wrist and he tried to hold back a scream, the stone floor of his cell was wet and soaked his back. The boot crushed and twisted and he screamed.

Laughter echoed above him, faces filled with glee were blurred by painful tears.

"Please," he begged. "Please don't—" his voice was cut off by another scream of pain as the same treatment given to his wrist was applied to his ankle. He could feel each bone shatter and twist and break. His voice gave out and he tried to get free.

He was slammed into the wall, shackles holding him up and he slumped limply. His head was dragged up by his hair and he whimpered pitifully.

"No--don't--I'm sorry. I'm sorry--please, please don't--"

"Sorry ain't gonna save you," the familiar voice chuckled lowly. He twisted against the bonds.

His wrists were held fast while senseless begging fell from his lips. Pain still flared through him, a blade driven into his stomach, just off-center, and twisted.

A strained, quiet sob was ripped from him just as the blade was, his body sagged and he gave up.

Nobody could survive the wounds he had. He was dead. Killed in a cell, tortured to death by soldiers.

A soft song overcame the laughter and angered threats and taunting jeers. Quiet humming and the chains around him tightened.

He sobbed, trying desperately to escape, he didn't want to die.

"I don't—please, no, I don't want to die—" he begged.

"You deserve to die!" Marin stood in front of him as he fell to his knees. "You killed us!" She cried, tears streaming down her face. "All of us!"

Behind her stood the people of Koholint.

"No!" he sobbed. "No, please—I didn't—I-I—Don’t do this. Please--"

"Face it. If ya had just stayed in bed li'e I told ya to, everythin' would've been fine," Uncle said bluntly, that disappointed face glaring down at him.

"Uncle please—I'm sorry, I'm sorry—"

"You're sorry?" Wind demanded angrily. "You left us, Vet! You left us!"

"And to think I looked up to you," Hyrule recoiled.

He screamed, senselessly apologizing and begging.

He needed it to stop. He needed all of it to just stop.

The song grew a bit louder, a bit more real, and the chains grew warm.

He fought against them, fearing for heated metal against his skin, it wouldn't be the first time. He sobbed and tried to escape, but the chains were wound tighter and the soft humming became a bit more prominent and then—he recognized it.

It wasn't the song Fi used to sing to him, hers was the slightest bit different. The Song of the Hero, she had called it.

This was one that he remembered far deeper, from a time he had no memory of, he shouldn't know this song but it was there and it brought peace, warmth, and safety.

The yelling faded, the screaming and the pain, it all slowly faded. Thunder still boomed and he still choked on a sob from it, an ocean trying to rise around him, but the soft song held it back, held him at peace.

It all faded, all of it.

Legend startled, registering that he was wrapped up in someone's arms. They were warm and something about them made his magic coo safe.

He slumped further into them, memories of his nightmares causing him to shake.

"Shh, it's okay, you're okay," they whispered into his hair, his mind too muddled and their voice too muffled for him to place their voice or presence. "I got you. It's alright, dear heart."

He choked on a sob, clinging to their front and trembling badly. He couldn't care for who it was, just that they were safe.

"I know," they murmured. "It's okay. Just breathe, you're alright."

It took a long time before he properly come to his senses. He realized it was Zelda who held and soothed him. He jerked away once he realized that, stared at her and her soft, concerned face, then buried his blazing face into his hands and muffled a whine of embarrassment.

She had the audacity to laugh at him, drawing a hand through his hair.

"It is no shame to need comfort." She kissed the top of his head and he went rigid. "Alphon said he told you our thoughts. You may say what you like about blood, but be as it may, magic does not lie and yours is that of my son's. So long as the goddesses will it, I will always be here for you."

Legend shuddered and slumped back into her. She easily hugged him close.

"I'm sorry," he gasped out. "I'm sorry. I-I'm so sorry—"

"Shh, none of that," she chided. "You have done nothing wrong."

"You don't know that." You don't know me.

"I know that the boy who unhesitatingly threw himself between a flying knife and myself, and who I've been watching play house with two children, couldn't have done anything to deserve the fear you hold."

He didn't respond to that.

Legend found the library and hid in there for the whole day. He needed to be alone for a while.

He found the history books and went as far back as they had, then worked his way forward. He paced up and down the shelves, tracing lines in a book he could hardly read. He found a book that translated to ancient Hylian and managed to reverse it and learn the current Hylian. Sky had memorized whose Hylian's were which, Legend had not. Nonetheless, this one wasn't that far off from his own. Their ancient Hylian was the same, at least.

They had the Heroes of the Four Sword, the Hero of Men, even a book or two on the Hero of the Sky and the Founding of Hyrule. But the next hero was where it was different.

It spoke of the Hero of Time, a child who told the king of how the King of Thieves was a traitor to the crown and intended to kill them.

It spoke of this hero's journey, and Legend covered his mouth in slight horror.

The Fallen Hero was the one who faced the King of Thieves, it was the Fallen Hero who'd come from the forest and fought the Gerudo King as a young child and then again as a teenager.

Not this... Hero of Time--Wind called the Old Man the Hero of Time, oh!

Time had mentioned how the timeline must've split, that he'd left behind another timeline where his Ganondorf won for seven years until Time did defeat him and then went back in time to prevent it all. The timeline he left became Wind's time and then the one Time lived in would one day become Twilight's era.

But these books, the history and the dates—

Someway, somehow, Time was the Fallen Hero.

Legend had spent a few hours searching the library for every account on the Old Man, even learning the circumstances of his death, then he turned and searched for the next history book.

He needed to know whose world he was in. Twilight's? Warriors' maybe? Zelda didn't seem to be the warrior queen Warriors spoke of, nor Impa the war general. He hadn't met any time sorcerers so—

Books on the Twilight Realm, which Twilight himself had mentioned once but never elaborated on. It was Twilight's era then...

He found a book about recent history that was probably far more accurate and personal to Twilight's adventure than the ancient ones about Time.

Legend didn't read it.

The sun was setting.

He slipped unnoticed through the castle and managed to arrive somewhat on time for dinner like Zelda had asked him to.

He didn't quite escape the nightmares that night, but Zelda had been there and ushered them away with that hauntingly familiar song.

Legend shadowed Zelda the next day, this time with a book in his hands. It was in some odd language similar to Lorulean, Zelda hadn't questioned his reading choice nor even looked at it, but he was enjoying the puzzle that was deciphering the language.

It was some mix of Lorulean, Sheikah, and Gerudo. Close enough to the three that he was confident in his ability to decipher it. It was a magic book, definitely, spells he was certain weren't quite dark in nature, it was close to shadow magic, which he had absolutely no capability to use. He had tried once, when his Impa agreed to see if his aptitude for magic applied to it as well, but lo' and behold, he couldn't muster the slightest bit of even mildly dark magic.

He ended up having a new book the next day, and this one was far easier to read and on magic he could, theoretically, achieve.

Zelda had recognized the book, and so most of their day was spent discussing it and Zelda talking him through how to actually achieve it.

His magic was almost full, he didn't have any intentions to use it until it hit full. It tended to deplete slower when he let it fully replenish rather than drain it when it was almost full.

That night after dinner was when he felt it click, he sighed softly, tension rolling off his shoulders and relief hitting him as his magic finally finished replenishing.

That morning, he told Zelda what was going on.

The black blooded monsters, the time travel, that he needed to find his way back to the group, she had been quiet for a time.

"Let me teach you some offensive magic," she requested. "You can leave at first light tomorrow."

He stared at her. "Wait what?"

"We'll arm you to your liking and send you off with plenty of supplies, obviously, but let me teach you some magic in case you lose your equipment again."

He hadn't expected the easy agreement, the belief, or the offer.

He agreed.

They spent the day doing magic, careful not to use too much of Legend's too quickly. He got the hang of the teleportation spell pretty quickly as well as the spinning shield.

Zelda called the teleportation 'Farore's Wind' and the shield spell 'Nayru's Love', the third thing she was teaching was 'Din's Fire'.

Apparently they were spells only learnable by those who wielded the Triforce, any part of it, and she had learned it from the ghost of her ancestor who founded Hyrule. He wondered if Twilight had learned it and just chose not use it.

She had some servants get together a bag of supplies and said she'd have a sword ready for him by dawn. Legend hadn't expected that much help, but thanked her nonetheless.

To wind down, Legend spent the evening with the prince and princess. They ended up demanding another story after he told them as gently as he could that he'd be leaving soon.

He went to sleep, hoping for no more nightmares.

Next>>

[the-game-spirit]

I have been going so insane over the zelda timeline regarding totk like I am LOSING my mind

like. either 1. botw/totk is a completely new continuity. worst option. boring.

2. it is SO FAR in the future of the (probably downfall) timeline and there has been SO MUCH canon-typical time bullshit in between that the other two either bleed over OR the ever-funny hyrule warrior's convergence theory happens that it may as well be just a soft reboot and history is just. repeating endlessly. also kind of boring imho

OR 3. totk memories happen sometime after skyward sword. interesting. also a completely fucking insane idea.

it's a misconception that SS zelda and link founded hyrule! they almost certainly didn't!

did the zonai make the timeshift stuff in SS? the tower of the gods in WW? the ooccoo? a fascinating concept!

what about the triforce? who knows! i don't think minish cap has anything to do with it either and it does get sealed away at some point sooooo

but more importantly

is there a fucking dehydrated ganondorf sealed away underground for every single zelda game

most people would be like, 'no, of course not, thats so stupid how does oot ganondorf exist if totk ganondorf is in hand jail already' and 'ganondorf has a history of reincarnation/revival but that can't happen if he's still alive ya dingus' and normally I would agree! I did agree! I've been scratching my head trying to make this work since I started playing totk

except!!! except!!!!!! we have literally already seen this happen before!!!!

so. skyward sword.

skyward sword is a closed loop time travel story. I cannot stand when people try to shoehorn another timeline split in SS because no split happens. that's the point. that was hylia's plan. the first hero? before skyward sword link? hylia's chosen knight that defeated demise? that was always skyward sword link in the past. demise even confirms this in dialog. something something he's 'never seen a hylian stand up to him before.' idk the exact quote but it Very Much Implies demise has never encountered any incarnation of link before.

so. how do we kill the imprisoned (demise) in the future and then go back and kill demise again in the past in a closed loop?

because we seal demise's consciousness in the sword, and his body in the ground

the imprisoned is clearly mindless. even more mindless than downfall timeline ganon post-resurrection. it has one single goal, which is to reach the temple and.... the master sword. with the consciousness of demise sealed within.

we have confirmation that two versions of the demon king can, technically, exist entirely separate from eachother.

it isn't a stretch to think that if his body is sealed away, effectively dead and unable to spread his malice, that the spirit of demise's hatred (if its not sealed with the sword, like in totk) would reincarnate until the time comes that the seal weakens enough (the first calamity) that it doesn't need to.

obviously there are still problems here like. where are the rito? (personally I think they just fuck off to hebra, which only barely exists in any other game, and I wholeheartedly believe the WW rito are a completely different species)

if totk ganondorf is sealed under the castle before oot, but the great plateau is implied oot castle town, why didn't we find dehydrated dorf there? uuuuuuuhhhhhhh next question

(listen the great plateau doesn't really match up with oot castle town anyway, no other details really match, definitely not the typical 'death mountain to the north(east), lake hylia down south' geography we usually see)

is rauru totk and rauru oot the same or different? zelda actually calls the sages 'ancient creators of hyrule' in oot, and since rauru is the only actually ancient one there.... uh. its entirely possible! why does he look hylian in oot? uhhhhhh? magic? because seeing some giant talking goat person that has never been seen before might not inspire trust in the traumatized monster-fighting 9 year-old-turned-16-year-old. also isnt oot rauru ALSO the owl? its been a LONG time since I played oot so I genuinely don't know if I just made that up but if so the guy has a history of changing form I guess

honestly I think we do have to allow for a certain level of handwavy 'new game' leeway, just like we do with EVERY game, in order to make this work. the map is always different. some things are introduced that have never once been heard of before in any other game. some things DONT exist that have in other games. some things are so different they're nearly unrecognizable. there are little easter eggs and no, they don't always have to mean something.

[cheshire-writer]

starting a wind waker replay, I forgot a lot of the intro lore but there was a particular detail that piqued my interest. It's spawned the headcanon that the Great Evil was the Twilight Invasion. Because what differentiated the Adult and Child timelines from each other besides the fact that in one, OoT!Link existed while in the other, he stoped existing the moment Zelda rewound his time.

WW's into says that after OoT, generations passed before another great evil appeared. Meaning even if OoT!Link had stayed and lived (instead of dying young-ish), he wouldn't have been around to fight the evil the kingdom was drowned for. But who do we know who was around generations after OoT!Link and who had a very good reason to not appear in the Adult timeline? TP!Link. As OoT!Link's canon descendant, if ooT!Link got kicked out of the Adult timeline and therefore didn't exist there anymore, he couldn't have any kids that would eventually lead to TP!Link. Therefore, a Twilight crisis in the Adult timeline would lack its Hero. And like every Zelda game, if there isn't a Hero, the kingdom will fall. And fall it did. Or rather, drowned. Leading to more generations passing, leading to WW!Link.

(Of course, that prompts the question of why another Hero didn't rise to face that Evil the way WW!Link did since it's not like a blood connection between the Heroes is the rule (rather, it's the exception). Same question for why a Hero wasn't around in totk's past era with Rauru and Sonia. Who knows? Maybe there were heroes but they died before meeting destiny? Maybe in the case of a Hero not appearing in WW lore after the oot!Link it was because the Hero spirit was busy being TP!Link and couldn't be living in two times (places?? time-places???) at the same time??? Who knows.)

[goodmorningdove]

Hey uh. What do yall think happened in the AoC timeline with ganondorf's revival. Like. He HAS to still be imprisoned by rarau in order for anything to make sense (otherwaise hed have taken over the world) but like. Current zelda cant go into the past bcz it wont be another 100 years until rarau looses hold so a DIFFERENT zelda will be there. But will that zelda be exploring the caves under hyrule? Or will our current zelda find a slughtly more intact rarau and be like huh... thats weird! And ganondorf and rarau will just sit there for 100 years being observed by the royal family and their army? Or was zelda's (or link's) presence what caused rarau to let go. Are there just going to be two zeldas as the one in the AoC timeline is not required to time travel as TOTK zelda already covered that? I need answers people!

[another-hyrule]

an illustration of the Zelda timeline