History of the Zelda Timeline

The history of the Zelda timeline details how the chronology of the Legend of Zelda series has evolved throughout the series' history; both the official explanation, as well as the fan interpretations.

Overview
For long, the Zelda timeline theory is perhaps the object of greatest debate amongst fans of the series. Nintendo's transcendental and thorough method of incorporating the tried-and-true formula of "gameplay first, story later" has arguably produced some of the greatest games of all time, but it has also resulted in an incoherent chronology - full of loose ends, contradictions, and general confusion. Fortunately, this has motivated fans to do all they can to sift, sort, and organize the Legend of Zelda canon. The December 2011 release of Hyrule Historia in Japan revealed a detailed and official chronology of the series. Hyrule Historia is a compilation of official sources with Eiji Aonuma as its chief editor. Therefore, it represents the developer's view of the chronology most accurately.