Only Link's Awakening, and i had planned on picking up Minish Cap for free...

I suppose i could make that one of my projects in 2012, as post-college poverty strikes me and i build from square one. Nice, cheap virtual console titles that take a while to complete...

Then you can play the whole series chronologically! It will be fun times.

We could also solve the problem of the third timeline by simply assuming that it came into being when Link first pulled the Master Sword. Alternatively, each pull creates a new timeline, but since they are all identical in terms of plot, only one is relevant in terms of the series chronology.

For the record, we don't actually have to assume that Link died outright; the Hero of Time was never more than a distraction for the Sages to finish their seal, and if Ganondorf stayed long enough in the Sacred Realm after obtaining the Triforce, he might well have remained there until ALttP. We shall see what the official view is soon, though.

The placement of Four Sword Adventures is indeed curious. I suspect it was placed at the end of the child timeline so as to set the stage of more games involving Ganon (and potentially Vaati), if Nintendo would be so inclined.

Vaati's history might be a problem, or not. It is not too farfetched to assume that he could not escape the Four Sword for quite some time, but why FS was not placed immediately before FSA is a mystery to me. His fate is uncertain at the end of The Minish Cap (defeated, but not necessarily dead, as in FSA) and his return to power could have been set at a much later date than this timeline holds. It is worth noting that his origin predates the split in continuity, meaning he could turn up in any timeline if the creators so desired.

Now that I think on it, perhaps it's not the act of time travel in itself that creates the new timelines, it's the act of changing the past. We know in Ocarina of Time that the Song of Storms was part of a contained time loop, where Link had to go back in time and play the song so he could learn it, which frees up the sequence involving the bottom of the well (he's also responsible for unleashing Bongo Bongo, no less).

No, where Link really changes the timeline is probably when he steals the Silver Gauntlets. This wasn't a self-contained loop; if it were, we'd have to pick up the Gauntlets in the future, but also go back in time to obtain them so we could get them in the future. Instead he removes the Gauntlets from one timeline altogether. That is probably what created the third timeline, one where Link wasn't there to defeat Ganon.

I can see that logic, but to a point it works on a stable loop if you think in terms of multiple lines: up to the first encounter with the Spirit Temple, the silver gauntlets did not exist in the adult timeline (and that they did not exist because child link had already plundered them), and that this place where the silver gauntlets did not exist but 5 of the 6 sages were liberated continued to exist after adult link went back in time and created a new timeline wherein the silver gauntlets existed because he had them, enabling the liberation of Nabooru and fulfillment of the fight against Ganondorf immediately.

My head just exploded.

Word around the internet is that it actually states the Classic timeline (plus Oracles) is an alternate created if Link fails against Ganon (as in, falls in combat against him in the final battle). Which is kinda ridiculous if you ask me, and I will forever ignore it in favor of time travel shenanigans as speculated above.

Ok so for the classic timeline (the one that should be the real one) to occur Link has to fail in OOT? Doesn't sound right to me. But then again Hyrule fell before a link to the past so i guess it makes sense.

There are 3 timelines in OOT though, even without Link failing; The original (young Link) the 7 years later (old Link) and the timeline where link got sent back in time (after credits where he meets Zelda). So Link failing should technically be a 4th but w/e Nintendo made up the story, so they know what is right and we can only accept what they tell us.

Young Link leads into Adult Link, though. Those aren't necessarily separate.

From Zelda Universe:

"After Link dies in Ocarina of Time, Ganon obtains the entire Triforce. The Seven Sages seal away Ganon and the whole Triforce as a last resort, but villains with their eyes on the Triforce make for the Sacred Realm, which eventually turns into the Dark World and is filled with evil power. The Seven Sages then try to seal away the Sacred Realm itself, but end up fighting with monsters. This is the Imprisoning War of A Link to the Past."

http://www.zeldauniverse.net/forums/zelda-theorizing/137855-hyrule-historia-will-confirm-the-full-timeline-72.html#post4454772