24th June 2008, 9:32 PM
Yes yes...
Actually the continuity is fine for most of the games. I still don't know when Twilight Princess is supposed to take place, and the Oracle games don't seem to have any place in the main storyline (I have to assume they are alternate universe stories). Other than that, Four Sword Adventures confuses things by having Ganon sealed at the end rather than killed, so it's hard to figure out where he came from in OOT if FSA is supposed to be his new official "first appearence". Other than that, Link's Awakening originally appeared to be a direct sequel to LTTP, but at some point Miyamoto officially said it could be put after all the Zelda games that were out at the time he made that statement (latest being Majora's Mask at the time), which leaves either the LTTP Link, OOT Link, or original Link.
The order of games seems to be as follows:
Minish Cap
Four Swords
Four Swords Adventures
Ocarina of Time
Majora's Mask
Wind Waker
Phantom Hourglass
Link to the Past
The Legend of Zelda (Hyrule Fantasy if you like)
Adventure of Link
I personally place Link's Awakening after LTTP, using the LTTP Link, as that was the original way it went down and Miyamoto's later statements are too fuzzy (plus it makes the appearence of LTTP elements make sense if you are one to think of Lord Jabu Jabu as possibly the Wind Fish).
Twilight Princess' location in the storyline I'm not clear on. If anyone has some sort of official statement on when this took place I'd like to read it. I think I recall something about it taking place way after Wind Waker but I'm not sure.
The two Oracle games are trouble. Some have said they take place after Majora's Mask, but that's impossible as Link literally visits the triforce, clearly in the posession of the royal family, at the start of both games. The events of Ocarina of Time and LTTP combined basically rule out this scenario. Ganon himself claimed the triforce of power at the end of OOT and kept it there through the ages. It's made clear in LTTP that, whatever may have happened between that time and it, the entire triforce was never reclaimed by hyrule and enshrined. Ganon himself simply obtained the entirety of it at some point and by the time LTTP starts it's clear that Hyrule has never officially had it since that time. Wind Waker takes place a century after MM and it is made clear the hero of time never even returned from wherever he went after MM, furtehr it's made clear that Hyrule doesn't have the triforce, that Ganon managed to find a way out (possibly through a puppet body), and that while the triforce was completed, the old King made it vanish from Ganon's grasp just after making one wish on it. Where it went from there is unknown (possibly to the golden realm, aka, dark world, where Ganon easily aquired it thus making the king's banishment of the triforce meaningless).
As the triforce hadn't even been found before the events in OOT (and the Master Sword hadn't been found/forged from the Four Sword before that), that basically means the two games couldn't take place during any time before LTTP. I considered it taking place after Zelda 2, but the Link in the Oracle games is portrayed as young, and in Zelda 2 it's clear the original Link has become "teen Link" (in fact it's a major story point). So either it took place way after Zelda 2 (leaving me to wonder why that Link was already considered a hero and ready to help his friend Zelda from the very start), or it didn't occur in that time anyway. This leaves it taking place after LTTP. If it did, and we also are going to assume that Link's Awakening starred the same Link, it means LA took place AFTER the Oracle games, which fits the storyline well enough as LA makes it clear that that character went on "many journeys" after he slayed Ganon (which incarnation isn't specified). That does make one wonder about Twinrova's presence as that was an OOT character.
The problem with Twinrova is the extended sequence of their ghosts arguing before realizing they are dead. Dead. So... they died and then were revived in order to revive... Ganon? Erm... why not cut out the middle-witch if you already are reviving ancient evil? Plus, since when was Ganon dead? Since after LTTP? Sure, for a time but he apparently came back. Since after Zelda 1? Certainly, but the revival method of choice in Zelda 2 involved getting his killer's blood. One might say that this Twinrova was just a new generation that found a new spell as they couldn't get the blood of original Link, but it really stretches it at that point. Further, there's the issue of the Oracles themselves. What are they exactly, and why did we never see them in previous Zelda games? The great goddesses, near as I can tell, were more of "deist" deities that merely created Hyrule before departing forever (in fact that appears to be a major point early in OOT, that the gods left long ago and only the triforce is left, though WW makes it clear lesser gods are still around). Really the only conclusion I can reasonably reach at this point is that the two Oracle games are some sort of alterante reality storyline. In this reality, I would have to say that Ganon was killed instead of banished (and Twinrova somehow escaped instead of being killed, which as her death allowed Nabooru to be awakened likely is what forced Link to kill Ganon by another method), thus allowing Link to gain the triforce of power, and all the pieces were then kept by the royal family. As in the end of OOT, Zelda then decided Link deserved his youth, and considering the state of Hyrule and the fact that they had the triforce used it to restore it instead of the song of time, possibly wishing for the kingdom to be restored to what it was before Ganon's betrayal, which would make both Link and Zelda kids again (I doubt the triforce does those "tricky wishes" where it would also restore Ganon even though that's clearly not what they wanted, as LTTP makes it clear that it manifests a wish based on what one feels about the wishes they make, such as how strongly and so on).
Actually the triforce doesn't factor into the game as much as the other two but it does appear Ganon still at least has the part of power. The confusing aspect is that in this game Ganon appears to be roaming freely before being banished. Did he break free and get enslaved early in the story, or what? It couldn't take place after Zelda 1 as Ganon is clearly dead by that point (dead dead, NES Link doesn't mess around) and trying to say he was reincarnated by magic as a mere aside pushes credibility. If he did break free again, Link appears to have defeated him by the end of the game. If it was anything like Wind Waker and took place centuries after that game, Ganon there may not have been the real deal but a puppet (it's hinted at by his first form, and his second form turning to stone when you stab him in the head at the end of WW that the Ganon you are fighting is more like Agahnim than anything). However, with all the drama about trying to actually kill him and banishing him to a shadow world, it seems very unlikely that the Twilight Princess appearence of Ganon is anything but the real deal. TP is a little confusing that way.
Actually the continuity is fine for most of the games. I still don't know when Twilight Princess is supposed to take place, and the Oracle games don't seem to have any place in the main storyline (I have to assume they are alternate universe stories). Other than that, Four Sword Adventures confuses things by having Ganon sealed at the end rather than killed, so it's hard to figure out where he came from in OOT if FSA is supposed to be his new official "first appearence". Other than that, Link's Awakening originally appeared to be a direct sequel to LTTP, but at some point Miyamoto officially said it could be put after all the Zelda games that were out at the time he made that statement (latest being Majora's Mask at the time), which leaves either the LTTP Link, OOT Link, or original Link.
The order of games seems to be as follows:
Minish Cap
Four Swords
Four Swords Adventures
Ocarina of Time
Majora's Mask
Wind Waker
Phantom Hourglass
Link to the Past
The Legend of Zelda (Hyrule Fantasy if you like)
Adventure of Link
I personally place Link's Awakening after LTTP, using the LTTP Link, as that was the original way it went down and Miyamoto's later statements are too fuzzy (plus it makes the appearence of LTTP elements make sense if you are one to think of Lord Jabu Jabu as possibly the Wind Fish).
Twilight Princess' location in the storyline I'm not clear on. If anyone has some sort of official statement on when this took place I'd like to read it. I think I recall something about it taking place way after Wind Waker but I'm not sure.
The two Oracle games are trouble. Some have said they take place after Majora's Mask, but that's impossible as Link literally visits the triforce, clearly in the posession of the royal family, at the start of both games. The events of Ocarina of Time and LTTP combined basically rule out this scenario. Ganon himself claimed the triforce of power at the end of OOT and kept it there through the ages. It's made clear in LTTP that, whatever may have happened between that time and it, the entire triforce was never reclaimed by hyrule and enshrined. Ganon himself simply obtained the entirety of it at some point and by the time LTTP starts it's clear that Hyrule has never officially had it since that time. Wind Waker takes place a century after MM and it is made clear the hero of time never even returned from wherever he went after MM, furtehr it's made clear that Hyrule doesn't have the triforce, that Ganon managed to find a way out (possibly through a puppet body), and that while the triforce was completed, the old King made it vanish from Ganon's grasp just after making one wish on it. Where it went from there is unknown (possibly to the golden realm, aka, dark world, where Ganon easily aquired it thus making the king's banishment of the triforce meaningless).
As the triforce hadn't even been found before the events in OOT (and the Master Sword hadn't been found/forged from the Four Sword before that), that basically means the two games couldn't take place during any time before LTTP. I considered it taking place after Zelda 2, but the Link in the Oracle games is portrayed as young, and in Zelda 2 it's clear the original Link has become "teen Link" (in fact it's a major story point). So either it took place way after Zelda 2 (leaving me to wonder why that Link was already considered a hero and ready to help his friend Zelda from the very start), or it didn't occur in that time anyway. This leaves it taking place after LTTP. If it did, and we also are going to assume that Link's Awakening starred the same Link, it means LA took place AFTER the Oracle games, which fits the storyline well enough as LA makes it clear that that character went on "many journeys" after he slayed Ganon (which incarnation isn't specified). That does make one wonder about Twinrova's presence as that was an OOT character.
The problem with Twinrova is the extended sequence of their ghosts arguing before realizing they are dead. Dead. So... they died and then were revived in order to revive... Ganon? Erm... why not cut out the middle-witch if you already are reviving ancient evil? Plus, since when was Ganon dead? Since after LTTP? Sure, for a time but he apparently came back. Since after Zelda 1? Certainly, but the revival method of choice in Zelda 2 involved getting his killer's blood. One might say that this Twinrova was just a new generation that found a new spell as they couldn't get the blood of original Link, but it really stretches it at that point. Further, there's the issue of the Oracles themselves. What are they exactly, and why did we never see them in previous Zelda games? The great goddesses, near as I can tell, were more of "deist" deities that merely created Hyrule before departing forever (in fact that appears to be a major point early in OOT, that the gods left long ago and only the triforce is left, though WW makes it clear lesser gods are still around). Really the only conclusion I can reasonably reach at this point is that the two Oracle games are some sort of alterante reality storyline. In this reality, I would have to say that Ganon was killed instead of banished (and Twinrova somehow escaped instead of being killed, which as her death allowed Nabooru to be awakened likely is what forced Link to kill Ganon by another method), thus allowing Link to gain the triforce of power, and all the pieces were then kept by the royal family. As in the end of OOT, Zelda then decided Link deserved his youth, and considering the state of Hyrule and the fact that they had the triforce used it to restore it instead of the song of time, possibly wishing for the kingdom to be restored to what it was before Ganon's betrayal, which would make both Link and Zelda kids again (I doubt the triforce does those "tricky wishes" where it would also restore Ganon even though that's clearly not what they wanted, as LTTP makes it clear that it manifests a wish based on what one feels about the wishes they make, such as how strongly and so on).
Actually the triforce doesn't factor into the game as much as the other two but it does appear Ganon still at least has the part of power. The confusing aspect is that in this game Ganon appears to be roaming freely before being banished. Did he break free and get enslaved early in the story, or what? It couldn't take place after Zelda 1 as Ganon is clearly dead by that point (dead dead, NES Link doesn't mess around) and trying to say he was reincarnated by magic as a mere aside pushes credibility. If he did break free again, Link appears to have defeated him by the end of the game. If it was anything like Wind Waker and took place centuries after that game, Ganon there may not have been the real deal but a puppet (it's hinted at by his first form, and his second form turning to stone when you stab him in the head at the end of WW that the Ganon you are fighting is more like Agahnim than anything). However, with all the drama about trying to actually kill him and banishing him to a shadow world, it seems very unlikely that the Twilight Princess appearence of Ganon is anything but the real deal. TP is a little confusing that way.
"On two occasions, I have been asked [by members of Parliament], 'Pray, Mr. Babbage, if you put into the machine wrong figures, will the right answers come out?' I am not able to rightly apprehend the kind of confusion of ideas that could provoke such a question." ~ Charles Babbage (1791-1871)