15 Video Game Mysteries Answered Years Later

5. The Legend of Zelda: What is the Official Timeline?

Sticking with The Legend of Zelda, for years fans had wondered what the official timeline of events surrounding Zelda and Link were. With so many games and branching narratives, it was far from easy to piece together into one cohesive timeline, particularly when compared to other popular long-standing IPs that had more straightforward narrative paths.

Each game featured similar elements like Link, Zelda, Hyrule and Ganondorf, but it wasn't really explained when these games were taking place, or how they fit together. 1998's Ocarina of Time had introduced the concept of time travel and branching timelines, which complicated matters even more, further muddying the waters.

Finally, in 2011, to celebrate 25 years of The Legend of Zelda, Nintendo published Hyrule Historia. This official Zelda book finally contained the chronological timeline, putting to rest years of speculation and theories. It turns out that Ocarina of Time had created 3 distinct timelines, with every Zelda game fitting on one of them, allowing fans to have a full picture of events for the first time.