The timeline for The Legend of Zelda games is notoriously convoluted, and a recently translated interview from 1999 reveals that Skyward Sword usurped Ocarina of Time as the series’ so-called Episode 1. When Ocarina of Time released in 1998 for the Nintendo 64, there were only four games that preceded it, the original, Zelda II: The Adventure of Link, A Link to the Past, and Link’s Awakening. For a long time, there was no official order the games were set in, since each entry was only loosely connected, but now The Legend of Zelda‘s famously confusing timeline definitively starts with Skyward Sword, an honor originally intended for Ocarina of Time.
For the most part, the Zelda series is something of an anthology, where most entries are only narratively connected through broad themes. The series as a whole typically recounts the numerous times the descendants of the goddess Hylia and those who inherit the spirit of Hylia’s chosen hero are tasked with destroying the reincarnations of Ganon. While some games lean into the divine involvement more than others, the series uniformly depicts Princess Zelda and a hero canonically named Link as the two who are predestined to save Hyrule.
According to a 1999 interview with Zelda producer Shigeru Miyamoto, translated by shmuplations, Ocarina of Time was the first game in the series intended to serve as a sort of origin story, though it is now the game which initiates every split in the Legend of Zelda timeline. In 1999 Miyamoto says an important part of Ocarina of Time was telling “the story of where the Triforce came from, and it is meant to be ‘Episode 1’ of the Zelda saga. The basic order is Ocarina, then the original [Famicom Disk System] Zelda, followed by A Link to the Past.” Miyamoto did not mention Zelda II or Link’s Awakening, but those were likely considered direct sequels to the original game and ALttP respectively.
The 1999 Legend Of Zelda Timeline Has Completely Changed
It is surprising to see Miyamoto list the order of events considering Nintendo was notoriously secretive about the Zelda timeline until a master copy was published in Hyrule Historia in 2011. That is the same year Skyward Sword came out and became the new origin story for the recursive conflict. Miyamoto was interestingly pondering some questions in 1999 that wouldn’t be answered for 12 more years. In the interview he says: “there’s still a number of things I’m not satisfied with. ‘How did Ganon really become the way he is…?’ ‘Is Link from Ocarina the father of Link from the original FDS Zelda…?’ ‘Who was his mother then? Zelda…?'”
With Skyward Sword fitting on the Zelda timeline at the very beginning, some of these questions were answered, but by then Miyamoto’s rough chronology from 1999 had entirely changed. The first four Zelda games all still share a timeline, but it happens in a branch where the Hero of Time was defeated by Ganon. Instead of the original Zelda immediately following Ocarina, it is ALttP and its direct sequel, Link’s Awakening. The two Oracle games, A Link Between Worlds, and Tri-Force Heroes then take place before The Legend of Zelda and The Adventure of Link conclude that timeline branch.
In 1999 Miyamoto suggested it might take “two or three more games” to answer the mysteries left unsolved by Ocarina of Time. There were actually 10 new Zelda games released after Ocarina before the series finally got a thorough explanation of its primary conflict in Skyward Sword. Even though there is now an official timeline, its veracity is of little concern to Nintendo, as evidenced by Breath of the Wild‘s unspecific timeline placement. Nintendo develops games from a mechanics-first standpoint and the convoluted nature of The Legend of Zelda‘s timeline is a result of that. Ocarina of Time is still celebrated as a masterpiece, but it used to hold an even more important spot in the series before it was ultimately replaced by Skyward Sword.
