Dimensional Theory

This thread may make you think, or you may dismiss it.

We know at the end of OOT Zelda sent Link back in time to re-live his childhood. This created a paradox and split the timeline...

My Theory

You can not split a timeline, the world Link was sent to suddenly sprang into existence with his arrival? no.

Ponder This:

Link was sent to the past of a alternate dimension/hyrule. Where he then merged with the child self of that dimension, or the child self of him didn't exist before his arrival. (one of the two.)

Having been forced out of his dimension, the triforce piece left him in order to stay in its own dimension (explaining the broken triforce in WW.) However the new dimension would also have its own version of the triforce that may have merged with him when he arrived.

(When we played OOT, the map was based entirely on the dimension link came from and follows the adult timeline.)

Now if you ever watched Sliders or shows like that, you would know that not everything is always the same in every dimension. The temple of time for instance may have been located in an entirely different place in the dimension link was sent to, and this is just one location that may be different. So think about that before trying to figure out how landmarks could of slightly or majorly moved.

-Chronokeeper

My Timeline

Adult MC? -> OOT -> WW - PH -> LoZ (due to massive geograhic changes post-flood) -> AoL
Child MC? -> OOT -> MM -> TP -> FSA -> LttP -> Oos/Ooa?

In the Wind Waker it discribs that the original owner of the triforce split it.

So Link went to an alternate dimension (the child timeline) and walked out of the Temple of Time,
finding to his surprise that he was in a forest*. Undaunted, he continued to Hyrule Castle and met Zelda.
Even the placement of Zora's Domain was different* in this dimension... I can't deny it's an interesting
idea, but I think it's much too fanciful and complicated for Nintendo & its fanbase

*Twilight Princess

^^ I don't find it complicated at all... In fact this is similar to one of the theories I came up with... I call it the Altered Past Timeline.

Without going into too much detail it's basically the Novikov Self-consistency Principle(NSCP), which says that the only possible timelines are those which are entirely self-consistent, so that anything a time traveler does in the past must have been part of history all along, and the time traveler can never do anything to prevent the trip back in time from being made since this would represent an inconsistency. In other words, destiny.

The NSCP would successfully counter any grandfather paradoxes, because destiny would not allow for certain things. Say for example, Link were to travel back in time, and try to kill his grandfather with a bomb. Technically, this would ultimately mean that he was never born, and thus couldn't have made the trip back in time in the first place. HOWEVER, according to the NSCP, no matter what Link does, he will never be able to kill his grandfather, because he was destined to be born all along. The bomb won't go off, or he will miss, or he will hurt but not kill his grandather. Either way, he will have some sort of "bad luck", and won't be able to kill his grandfather.

Therefore, when Link was sent back in time by Zelda, history "re-wrote" itself in order to make sense of Link, Zelda, and Ganondorf having the triforce. According to my theory, perhaps the Twili DID touch the Triforce, but were unworthy, and thus caused the Triforce to be eventually given to Link, Zelda, and Ganondorf.

Everything that Link once knew was different. ToT, which was once built by the sages, is now built by the Oocca in the new timeline. The Arbiter's Grounds now stand where the Spirit Temple stood in his previous timeline. I can go on and on, but this theory makes plenty of sense to me.

Originally Posted by Cukeman

So Link went to an alternate dimension (the child timeline) and walked out of the Temple of Time,
finding to his surprise that he was in a forest*. Undaunted, he continued to Hyrule Castle and met Zelda.
Even the placement of Zora's Domain was different* in this dimension... I can't deny it's an interesting
idea, but I think it's much too fanciful and complicated for Nintendo & its fanbase

*Twilight Princess

Well Nintendo seems to enjoy alternate dimensions.
Think about it... what is the Dark Realm/Sacred Realm of LttP? a pocket dimension copy of Hyrule.

Twilight Realm? Another copy of Hyrule (this is proven in the Zant cutscene where he takes link to the twilight realm at the fountain and link is temporarily transported to a exact copy but without the guardian..


Then theres apparently the Oracle series that seem to take place at the same exact time but with different Oracles... Two Hyrules

So is really that hard to imagine multiple hyrules? seems like Nintendo already has.

Originally Posted by astinktothepast

^^ I don't find it complicated at all... In fact this is similar to one of the theories I came up with... I call it the Altered Past Timeline.

Without going into too much detail it's basically the Novikov Self-consistency Principle(NSCP), which says that the only possible timelines are those which are entirely self-consistent, so that anything a time traveler does in the past must have been part of history all along, and the time traveler can never do anything to prevent the trip back in time from being made since this would represent an inconsistency. In other words, destiny.

The NSCP would successfully counter any grandfather paradoxes, because destiny would not allow for certain things. Say for example, Link were to travel back in time, and try to kill his grandfather with a bomb. Technically, this would ultimately mean that he was never born, and thus couldn't have made the trip back in time in the first place. HOWEVER, according to the NSCP, no matter what Link does, he will never be able to kill his grandfather, because he was destined to be born all along. The bomb won't go off, or he will miss, or he will hurt but not kill his grandather. Either way, he will have some sort of "bad luck", and won't be able to kill his grandfather.

Therefore, when Link was sent back in time by Zelda, history "re-wrote" itself in order to make sense of Link, Zelda, and Ganondorf having the triforce. According to my theory, perhaps the Twili DID touch the Triforce, but were unworthy, and thus caused the Triforce to be eventually given to Link, Zelda, and Ganondorf.

Everything that Link once knew was different. ToT, which was once built by the sages, is now built by the Oocca in the new timeline. The Arbiter's Grounds now stand where the Spirit Temple stood in his previous timeline. I can go on and on, but this theory makes plenty of sense to me.

I agree on this. Everything Link did when he was moving through time was supposed to happen. Like when he learned the song of storms... he was just repeating the written history and he had no choice but to learn the song in order to save the village, thus completing the time loop. However when Zelda sent him back to his childhood created a huge paradox because he never opened the way for Ganon and instead turned him in. So therefore it can not be the same dimension he came from, and I wouldn't be surprised if Link did walk out of the ToT and wonder what the heck was going on. Luckily he was able to find his way to the castle.

BTW it appears Navi doesn't exist in the new timeline, or she would of been with him as she was in the previous child timeline, which further indicates he may not have even existed prior to his arrival.

So if Link was sent back to another dimension was it pre-existing, or was it created as a result
of the paradox (Zelda sending him back in time)?

EDIT:
One potential pitfall with this theory is that one might claim that every slightly different
version of Hyrule is in a new dimension, eliminating practical map changes...

EDIT2:
This thread reminds me of when Homer Simpson makes a time-toaster lol

Originally Posted by Chronokeeper

Twilight Realm? Another copy of Hyrule (this is proven in the Zant cutscene where he takes link to the twilight realm at the fountain and link is temporarily transported to a exact copy but without the guardian..

Wait a minute... Wasn't the Palace of Twilight the only place in the Twilight Realm we got to visit? In the cutscene with Zant, in my interpretation, he just "temporarily banished" the Light Spirit, making the Lanayru Province go revert back to Twilight for some time, not a teleportation between dimensions...

On topic: The dimensional travel could explain geographical inconsistencies between OoT and the child timeline games, but would not explain inconsistencies between any other games (in the same timeline)... Also, during the end of OoT, we don't see any difference in the interior of the ToT, or the castle's inner garden, so I don't think thing would radically change... For example, if the ToT in the ending of OoT was exactly the same one from TP, then navi flew directly into the dungeon part of the Temple...

Originally Posted by ahaha

Wait a minute... Wasn't the Palace of Twilight the only place in the Twilight Realm we got to visit? In the cutscene with Zant, in my interpretation, he just "temporarily banished" the Light Spirit, making the Lanayru Province go revert back to Twilight for some time, not a teleportation between dimensions...

On topic: The dimensional travel could explain geographical inconsistencies between OoT and the child timeline games, but would not explain inconsistencies between any other games (in the same timeline)... Also, during the end of OoT, we don't see any difference in the interior of the ToT, or the castle's inner garden, so I don't think thing would radically change... For example, if the ToT in the ending of OoT was exactly the same one from TP, then navi flew directly into the dungeon part of the Temple...

Actually if you watch the whole cutscene again, you will see Zant standing in the exact same spot ALONE after he has sent Link back to the world of Hyrule. This shows that he did not temporarily banish the light spirit but actually traveled to the twilight realm.

The master sword is in the sacred grove in LttP which is the same location as TP, the inconsistencies of other locations could be explained through time, as we do not know how long LttP took place after TP.

The ToT from OOT is NOT the same ToT from TP - remember we never saw the ToT in the dimension Link travelled to. This temple was possibly not even built by the sages as suggested above.

I was talking about the ToT at the child part of the OoT ending, and we do see it (it's when Navi goes away, flying through the window).

And Zant appears alone in the regular version of Lanayru Spring, after the Light Spirit returns (as Lanayru transports Link and Midna to Hyrule Field, in order for Link to go to the castle)... You can see that at 3:30 in this video.

I always associated the TP Tot with the Oot forest temple, who says whoever had a kingdom in the forest couldn't build their own temple and steal the master sword?

I've sorta had this theory that Link arrived in the CT sorta like a "Hero From The Sky"... when he arrived, no one knew him, not even the Kokiri(if they even existed in this dimension)...

He was viewed by others as a drifter from a far away land, but at the same time, the triforce mark on his hand earned him recognition as a chosen hero of the gods, according to some old prophecy...

Being lonely, he then goes on to save Termina, and once he reaches adulthood, he saves Hyrule from something else, cementing his status as the "legendary hero" spoken of in TP.


Only problem with this is of course, it would mean that Link didn't have the triforce in TP, but just the mark.

I have a question that is open for anyone to answer. When Zelda restores Link's childhood and returns him to the time before they met, according to basic time travel logic from sci-fi would there not be TWO LINKS??

One just stepping out of the TOT and the other about to step out of the kokiri forest to seek out Zelda right?? What does the Link who had just completed his adventure do about his more naive and adventure inexperienced self in this situation??

When Zelda restores Link's childhood and returns him to the time before they met, according to basic time travel logic from sci-fi would there not be TWO LINKS??

Ha ha ha!

I laughed so hard.

Indeed this is an interesting theory, but Ganonslayer has a point.

I'm a tad confused, however, are you trying to prove there's a linear timeline?If so then because of Link meeting Link (ha ha) there would have to be two alternate "dimensions". Ah, now I see where you are going with this.

The split are two individual dimensions, and from there is that one dimension with possible other dimensions that don't cause a split. I'm still a tad confused.

No I believe in the split timeline like everybody else. I'm just unsure in trying to figure out Zelda time travel logic in comparison to traditional Sci Fi time travel logic.

Oh I wasn't talking about you there, in the third and fourth paragraphs I was talking about Chronokeeper.