For years now, Nintendo has teased that there is some sort of “secret (some might even say “sacred”) document,” deeply locked away from prying eyes at Nintendo’s Japanese headquarters. The document in question is said to reveal the actual chronology of events which have taken place within the timeline of The Legend of Zelda series.
If this is indeed the case, one can only wonder why they are hiding it away as they are. But whatever the reason, the fact remains that there seems to be no solid, conclusive, official timeline known to the public. As such, many fans have made their own efforts to figure out where the pieces of the puzzle go and how they might fit.
One prominent theory is that there is not one timeline, but two, created from the two diverse paths of Ocarina of Time, which is often placed at the start of everything. GameTrailers has posted one such video chronicling the theory, while YouTube user “ocarinahero10” has created his own:
The video was positively received, enough so that Ocarinahero10 chose to submit it to Nintendo in order to see if they could at least tell him whether or not he was in the right neighborhood.
But the response he received was not what he had hoped for:
“There isn’t a true frame or reference or time line possible for the series.” As a Zelda fan, I can see how this might be troubling for those who follow the series with a great zeal. And as an aside, is there anyone reading this who thought it was the same Link across all the games (spirit/reincarnation notwithstanding)?
Of course, it definitely appears to be a stock response of some kind, and as a result, it seems that there are fans who are immediately ready to dismiss it. “I personally will not, cannot, and simply, do not, accept that,” writes Dathen Boccabella of Zelda Informer.
“Nintendo can say whatever they want, but they cannot stop us. I don’t care what they have to say on the timeline because there is a timeline. Of course there will never be a definite timeline that all theorists will agree upon, but we can’t accept the statement that there isn’t a timeline.”
Of course, their stance is weakened a little bit by the fact that they won’t take anyone’s word for it that there is no timeline– not even if the producers, Shigeru Miyamoto and Eiji Aonuma themselves, got together and held a grand party for a press conference to announce that any effort to connect the games has been a colossal waste of time.
But on the other hand, the response itself comes from Nintendo, who as they point out seems to have a rather weak grasp on what the facts of Zelda are themselves. For added amusement, they find Nintendo of America guilty of “Rule #14,” and “Gannon Ban” them.
And it’s at this point I feel I should wash my hands of the whole affair, but I’m entirely too amused by it all. But who am I to talk? I’ve got Mega Man and Mario on the brain.
Whatever the case may be, though, I think that for Ocarinahero10 to say that Nintendo is “abandoning Zelda” is going to extremes, just a little bit. Issuing a response without watching the video does seem to be a bit of a slap to the face, I won’t argue that. But at the same time, I’m not sure what a petition would solve.
Still, I wish that Miyamoto and/or Aonuma would just put an end to it already, and release a timeline. If they don’t have one, make one up (as long as it makes sense)! Or even just look at some of these theories and pick one. On the other hand, if they did produce a timeline that doesn’t agree with what some fans have come up with, I imagine they’d dispute it.
Of course, we know that Miyamoto has his beef with stories, but Zelda seemed to be the exception to that rule. If so, then why not throw the fans a bone? What does keeping the order of the games a secret solve?
So, I don’t know. It’s all so bat$#!@ crazy. At least Inafune gave us some answers for Mega Man X after a long enough wait.
