magus wrote:Your timeline is a bit different from what I've read/gathered from official sources such as manuals and what not and a bit of unofficial stuff. That and you're missing The Adventure of Link, Oracle of Seasons, and Oracle of Ages.
Here's the timeline as I understand it:
Ocarina of Time
Majora's Mask
Twilight Princess
Windwaker
Phantom Hourglass <-- From what I've read Hyrule is supposedly unflooded in this one removing the possible continuity error of the other games being in this order. Also, in a way, it explains why Hyrule is so barren in the original game and sparsely populated in Adventure of Link
Legend of Zelda
Adventure of Link
I left a gap because I'm not entirely sure where A Link to the Past falls anymore, it takes place before Legend of Zelda and Adventure of Link but there's some speculation as whether it's before or after Ocarina and before or after Windwaker. Before Ocarina came out the title "A Link to the Past" was interpreted as being a history of Hyrule and showing what came before the original Zelda but with Ocarina and all the others before it, there's no way to tell how far into the past it is. Also, the title could now be interpreted as "a link to the past" in bridging the gap between Hyrule being flooded and unflooded putting it between Windwaker and the original. Personally, I think it's between Windwaker and the original but it's hard to tell for sure until Phantom Hourglass is out.
The only ones I honestly have no idea where they take place are Oracle of Seasons and Ages. They do have the Twin Rova sisters so that links them vaguely to Ocarina but other than that it's anyone's guess.
Also, here's a rundown of which games have the same Link as far as I understand it:
Legend of Zelda and Adventure of Link
A Link to the Past and Link's Awakening
Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask
Oracle of Seasons and Oracle of Ages
Windwaker and Phantom Hourglass
Twilight Princess
The two four swords games and Minish Cap are linked by story but I think the Links are all different and I'm not entirely sure they're directly related/ tied into the other games other than Four Swords Adventure that goes into Ganon/Gannondorf.
I figure that Link to the Past is a few centuries after Twilight Princess. Like I said before, the location of the Master Sword and everything around it is a clue.
OoT is undeniably the first thing to happen chronologically. It sort of explains how Ganon started the Dark Realm, where he came from, and even his transformation into his pig form. And look where they kept the Master Sword: The Temple of Time, which, at the time, was rather lavish.
Then Twilight Princess, which we know to be the next game after OoT. Look at the Temple of Time now: Crumbling, taken over by forest, so on so forth. And the Master Sword is still in that same area.
Now look at Link to the Past. Where's the Master sword? On a pedestal in the middle of a forest! The area is roughly the same size as it was in Twilight Princess, and the Master Sword is even there.
I think you might be right about the first two games being after Wind Waker/Phantom Hourglass. But I think Link's Awakening takes place right in the middle of the two. Link was sailing home from his adventure, and landed on an Island in the middle of the sea. Not to mention, it turned out to be a dream in the end, so they can do anything they want afterwards.
I still don't know about Minish Cap, Four Swords, or the Oracle games, but I think Minish Cap is right before the Four Swords games. In MC, Vaati was not well known by anyone, and apparently moving about freely, and in Foru Swords, he was a prisoner, possibly because of Zelda and Link.
Oh, and I meant Adventure of Link when I said Link's Adventure. I get these things mixed up sometimes.