"There’s been a lot of buzz about the tell-all Hyrule compendium known as the Hyrule Historia, set to hit Japan Wednesday, but here’s a megaton that as Zelda theorizing enthusiasts we Zelda Informers just couldn’t pass up. Hyrule Historia is going to reveal the Zeldatimeline.

We don’t know all the full details, but the confirmation comes from the table of contents page, posted at left. The layout looks eerily similar to the Legends Timeline I’ve propagated for the last year-and-a-half, but without full details and thanks to the confusion caused by timeline splits laid out a linear fashion it’s hard to say for sure what it means. Jump inside for the translated Table of Contents and my thoughts.

The confirmation comes under the second sub-header, titled “History of Hyrule,” which purports to reveal the full chronology of the series. It’s pretty easy for longtime vets of the series to figure out what each of the sections is about, but it’s hard to say much about the finer details that aren’t explicitly laid out in these sections, such as the Four Sword games, which are notably not mentioned.

History of Hyrule
~Finally Revealed, The Genealogy of the [Legend]~
The Timeline of Hyrule, Kingdom of the Gods………………………………..68
The Legend of Gods and the Hero of Time…………………………………….70
The Downfall of Hyrule and the last Hero………………………………………..92
The Twilight Realm and the Hero’s Descendant…………………………… 110
The Hero of Wind and the new World……………………………………………..122

“The Legend of Gods and the Hero of Time” pretty clearly refers to the creation myth as well as the events of Skyward Sword and Ocarina of Time; “The Downfall of Hyrule and the Last Hero” sounds like the flood story in The Wind Waker but given that the following section, “The Twilight Realm and the Hero’s Descendant,” clearly refers to Twilight Princess, it’s obvious that it must refer to something else – the classics, most likely, since in A Link to the Past Link is reportedly the last of the knights and the only one who can become the hero. Following the Twilight Princess chapter is a final section that introduces “The Hero of Wind and the New World,” or in other words The Wind Waker and its DS sequels.

Because the section for the classics falls between Ocarina of Time and the two primary sides of the split timeline in the chronology, it’s fairly obvious that there’s some kind of alternative storytelling going on here. Twilight Princess shows what happens after Ganondorf is captured on the Child Timeline, so the classic games can’t fall in-between, and if The Wind Waker were really meant to follow after then it should follow right after.

Those of you who’ve followed my Legends Timeline know that I’ve considered the classics as a sort of “alternate legend” that The Wind Waker and Twilight Princess sample but don’t concretely connect to plot-wise. From what I’m seeing, it looks like that idea might hold true! However, I’ll reserve judgment until we see the entire section translated in full."

http://www.newnintendo.net/blog/2011/12/18/hyrule-historia-reveals-zelda-timeline/

I'm surprised that this hasn't seen more buzz already.

The end is nigh...

Can't we just wait a day untill the book is released...

OMG finally!!! I've been waiting so long for this!

I am confused? A Link to the Past is supposed to be the first game, at least thats what Shigeru Miyamoto said when it came out. I know that he said that again when Ocarina of Time came, but that doesn't change the fact that it takes place BEFORE Zelda 1 and Zelda 2. Yet you seem to think its in the middle. It should be OOT, then A Link to the Past, then the classics, then TP and finally Windwaker, i do not know where Skyward Sword fits in as i have not really played it yet (i own it though).

We as adults like to make sense of things. As kids we didn't care and I have a theory that Nintendo doesn't either. More or less Nintendo made self sustaining story lines with little bridging between games.

But again, we as fans, crave order and knowledge. We will perfect the timeline eventually, something Nintendo never intended nor cared about. Thats just me.

Can you hear it? A storm is building. It builds in the hearts of a thousand thousand theorists. It roars in the throats of those who cannot accept ideas not their own. It builds on the edges of all thought, a threat to every thinking fan of the Legend.

The timeline theorists are screaming as decades of rote memorization and detail-oriented speculation are unraveled in the space of pages.

The end is nigh.

oh shit.

I wouldn't let the timeline crap bother me much, each game represents a different legend and that's that.