User:Mighty Dekunut/Gerudo Desert box

Both this game and its sequel,, are linked in continuity, since the first game revolves around retrieving two of the major fragments of the Triforce, and Ganon is fought in order to rescue Princess Zelda; the second game revolves around finding the third major fragment in order to revive an incarnation of Zelda that was comatose for a very long time, and to impede the revival of Ganon.

The game is set chronologically after, according to the back of the box for the SNES game, although Shigeru Miyamoto said in an interview that occurs last (after ). However, Miyamoto said in a later interview that the original order was correct, saying that led into, which in turn led into.

With the release of new Zelda games and the growing complexity of the timeline, the placement of these two games became less clear, leading to various unconfirmed theories. For example, follows the events of  and (as suggested by the book )  and. This means that technically follows the events of  (though not directly, since the stories are unrelated and not contradictory to each other). This entire timeline of games, according to, has its roots on a chronological branch from. Because of this, although games like and  are sequels to  as well, they head into separate timelines, remaining therefore unrelated to the aforementioned 2D games, including.

Both this game and are linked in continuity, since the first game revolves around retrieving two of the major fragments of the Triforce, and Ganon is fought in order to rescue Princess Zelda; the second game revolves around finding the third major fragment in order to revive an incarnation of Zelda that was sleeping for a very long time, and to impede the revival of Ganon.

The game, being a sequel to the first and featuring the same hero, is set chronologically after. This first game is said to be preceded by, according to the synopsis on the back of the game's packaging for the Super Nintendo. However, Shigeru Miyamoto said in an interview that the two games are set before. A later interview confirmed the original placement, meaning that the two games occur after both and.

With the release of new Zelda games and the growing complexity of the timeline, the placement of and  became less clear, leading to various unconfirmed theories. However, the book places this game as the latest entry in the timeline that has its roots in, and starts with.

The timeline found in confirms that  is the sequel to both, as well as  and. The prologue speaks of Link defeating Ganon and saving Hyrule, an apparent reference to. Link journeys away from Hyrule to embark on a "quest for enlightenment". The "quest for enlightenment" away from Hyrule is the story told in the Oracle Series; at the end of a Linked Game, Link leaves Holodrum and Labrynna on a boat similar to the one seen at the beginning of. However, a minor continuity error occurs when Link and Zelda meet for the first time in the Oracle games. They do not appear to have met beforehand, despite having met in.

As confirmed by the guidebook, is the first title in the Downfall split timeline, which is the result if Link is defeated by Ganondorf in. This leads to Ganondorf obtaining all the pieces of the Triforce, forcing the seven sages to seal him away into the Sacred Realm in a desperate attempt. As confirmed by several developers, including Satoru Takizawa, was meant to be a reenactment of the Imprisoning War told in the backstory of.

Prior to the confirmation of a third timeline split, had several different timeline proposals. The synopsis on the back of the original game release's packaging identifies Link and Zelda as the "predecessors" of the original characters, and thus had placed at the then-beginning of the timeline. However, Shigeru Miyamoto made a statement in an interview (following the release of ) that contradicted the aforementioned statement. In that interview, Miyamoto had placed after, the original , and. Miyamoto gave another interview a year later that seemed to confirm the game's placement after, although this time it is said to be before the original and its sequel.

Also confirmed in, the game's immediate sequels are the Oracle games followed by , all of which feature the same Link. Some time after defeating Ganon at the end of, Link is transported by the Triforce to Holodrum where takes place. After defeating Onox, Link travels to Labrynna and takes place. Link then defeats Ganon in the linked ending of the Oracle games and leaves Labrynna by boat to continue his training in new lands. After completing his training, Link travels back towards Hyrule by boat when he is shipwrecked on Koholint Island and takes place.

When it comes to the chronology of, is one of the most vital and decisive installments, which is attested by both its placement and the connections with past and future games. It is generally considered to take place very early in the timeline, as the game establishes the origins of such important elements in the series as Ganon and the Triforce. According to the book, it's indicated to be the final Zelda game in the pre-split timeline era, which starts with SS undefined (which, short after its official announcement, was confirmed to take place before ). The other games preceding are  and.

The time travel that occurs at the end of the game is confirmed to have created two parallel timelines. The "Adult Timeline" continues after Ganon was defeated by Link and sealed by the Sages in the Sacred Realm. The "Child Timeline" continues after Link returned to the past and changed history so that Ganon never came to power at all. The Adult Timeline leads into and its sequels ( and ), while the Child Timeline leads into  and.

In addition to the two described timelines, a third branch is confirmed to take place after. It starts with the Hero of Time, Link, failing to defeat Ganondorf, which allows him to conquer Hyrule and, eventually, the Sacred Realm as well. As a result of this, the Imprisoning War takes place as an attempt to finally seal Ganon. Because he succeeds to corrupt the sacred Realm, however, turning into the Dark World, it is sealed alongside him as well. This leads to the events of, which in turn is followed by and , ,  and , in that order.