User:Setras

The Second Timeline Split
The official Zelda Timeline, of course, splits during, giving us the Child, Adult, and Downfall timelines. While this mechanic has only been employed once, however, this split (particularly the latter timeline) shows us that the series timeline could therefore fork in an infinite number of ways under an infinite number of circumstances (as is the case in the "many worlds" hypothesis in quantum mechanics). With this in mind, I believe a second timeline split occurs in the series- specifically, in SS undefined.

Unlike in Ocarina of Time, this is an implicit timeline split, with no real in-game events establishing it to have occurred (with one possible exception, which I'll explain later). There are multiple factors that hint at it, however. Prior to the start of Skyward Sword (in what will from now on be referred to as the "original" timeline), Hylia defeated Demise and sealed him undrground, where he degenerated into The Imprisoned. Link would later fight The Imprisoned on three different ocassions, before it was ultimately crushed under the Statue of the Goddess and destroyed. Soon after, however, Ghirahim enters the past and frees Demise there, before Link ultimately defeats him. It is this sequence of events that triggers the second timeline split.

In the original timeline, as previously mentioned, Hylia sealed Demise underground, where he sat for millenia. However, Ghirahim later frees him in this same era. This creates a time paradox- several, in fact:


 * If Demise were freed in the past, he would not have been able to sit underground to become The Imprisoned. As a result, Link would never have been able to fight The Imprisoned- yet he very clearly fought The Imprisoned three times before defeating Demise.
 * Likewise, with Demise removed from underground and defeated in the past, there would there have been any need for Zelda to entomb herself to keep him sealed (the seal having already been broken and Demise having been destroyed). Her past self should have therefore been freed from her crystal- yet this never occurs, and couldn't have if Zelda had emerged in the present.
 * Ghirahim would also have had no reason to kidnap Zelda, as his master would have already been eradicated, preventing him from being ressurected. As such, the events of Skyward Sword would have never happened- yet it was only after they did happen that Demise was defeated in the past.
 * With Skyward Sword having essentially never occurred, the Triforce would have never descended to the Surface and the Master Sword would have never been reforged, thus precluding every later Zelda game on the timeline from ever taking place.
 * Impa claims that she will "take care of" the Gate of Time once Link, Zelda, and Groose pass through it; once they do so, the Gate bursts into light and so is destroyed. However, this same Gate was originally sealed in the present, and its activation served as the catalyst in forging the Master Sword. Impa's statement indicates two real possibilities: that she destroyed the Gate in the past (which would explain its destruction in the present, but would have prevented its later activation and use in the present), or she sealed it in the past (which would be consistent with its activation and use in the present, but fail to explain its destruction).

Nature, whether in this universe or the Zelda one, abhors a paradox, and the events of most of Skyward Sword do not synergize with its final arc, leaving us with multiple paradoxes. As such, we can logically conclude that a timeline split occurs in Skyward Sword, leaving us with two (or perhaps three) additional timelines. The first of these, which I call the "Sound" timeline (as it flows relatively smoothly from past to present) stems from Demise remaining imprisoned in the past, and eventually leads to the official Zelda timeline. The second, which I call the "Unsound" timeline (owing to the aforementioned paradoxes it creates) is as-yet unexplored, but it would be a timeline in which Demise was defeated in the past, a parallel version of Zelda was freed from her crystal, a parallel Ghirahim was left masterless, the Master Sword was never forged (although a parallel version still exists in the Sealed Temple), and the Triforce never descended to the Surface. These two timelines actually overlap somewhat, due to the Gate of Time in the Sealed Temple. Initially, these two timelines were unified and shared a common beginning; and thanks to the Gate of Time (which provided both a physical wormhole through which objects could pass, and a catalyst for quantum tunneling, in which information in one timeline would affect the other) certain objects and events (e.g. Zelda's entombment, the Life Fruit Tree, the Master Sword in its pedestal, Impa getting the bracelet, etc.) are shared by both timelines. After the Gate's destruction, however, the two timelines could no longer overlap, thus becoming separate and distinct.

A third possible timeline also exists, which I call the "Fallen" timeline. As with the Downfall timeline, it is possible for Link to lose to Demise, in which case the latter could pass through the Gate of Time and take the Triforce (or at least the Triforce of Power, as, like his successor, he would most likely he out of balance, thus fragmenting the Triforce). This timeline would be truly unique, as it would originate in the Unsound timeline, but then flow into and diverge from the Sound timeline.

So, to summarize: in Skyward Sword, three additional timelines are formed from the fight with Demise: Sound, Unsound, and Fallen. The former eventually leads to the official chronology, while the latter two have yet to be explored.

Demise and Lorule
It's been established in that Lorule has its own, inverted version of the Triforce. Once this fact became apparent, fans everywhere immediately connected it to the inverted Triforce shown on Demise's sword in SS undefined. Here's my take on the connection.

Hilda mentions near the end of the game that, as with Hyrule's Triforce, there were wars over Lorule's Triforce. However, Hilda never specifies when these wars occurred. Therefore, it is possible (and, in terms of this theory, certain) that these wars could have occurred even before the events of Skyward Sword. As such, Demise may well have been one of the entities fighting over the Lorulean Triforce, thus originating in the country (which would explain his sword's insignia). Moreover, Hilda is the Lorulean counterpart of Zelda, who in turn is descended from the goddess Hylia. It would therefore be logical to assume that Hylia had a Lorulean counterpart as well, whom I have dubbed "Lylia". Following this theory, Lylia was the one who destroyed the Triforce and began Lorule's decay. Once she'd realized her mistake, Lylia gave up her divinity in shame, thus founding what would become the Lorulean Royal Family.

Demise, meanwhile, was furious over the loss of the Triforce, and desperately sought a replacement. His search led him to Lorule's Sacred Realm, where he was the first to discover the existence of Hyrule and it's Triforce. Seeking it for himself, Demise used his power to open a breach between the two worlds, from which he and his armies emerged; to the peoples of the Surface on the other side, it seemed as though they were emerging from underground. After Demise's eventual defeat and sealing, Hylia sealed the cracks linking the two worlds; but as her bloodline withered in the Downfall timeline, so too did the seal on the cracks. Thus do we have the backstory to A Link Between Worlds.