Deku Tree's Death

In all likelihood, OoT's first dungeon being a tree was probably an homage to the original LoZ. Maybe it seemed appropriate to them that the first 3d game should start with a similar-looking dungeon to the first 2d game's.

About it being on an island...

Notice how the classic games are on the Downfall timeline. What if, somehow, the Great Flood still happened in the DT? We have the circumstances, and we have the conditions. It may not have happened the same exact way, and its clear that not as many people survived, but... It had to have happened.
There is no Hyrule Castle in the original LoZ. There is no Temple of Time. Almost everywhere has tons of rivers.

In the original Zelda theirs no castle because it does not happen in the entierty of Hyrule but in a minuscule part of it. That kingdom was next to the sea we see that in AOL in the lower right of the western continent.

Originally Posted by Animateur

About it being on an island...

Notice how the classic games are on the Downfall timeline. What if, somehow, the Great Flood still happened in the DT? We have the circumstances, and we have the conditions. It may not have happened the same exact way, and its clear that not as many people survived, but... It had to have happened.
There is no Hyrule Castle in the original LoZ. There is no Temple of Time. Almost everywhere has tons of rivers.

No reason this time. There's a Hero present. The only reason why the Great Flood happened the first time was because the Hero of Time was gone and Ganon came back. In the DT, everytime Ganon appears a Hero also appears as well ready to defeat Ganon.

So there's no reason for the Great Flood to happen.

Mmkay. I've never actually played the retro games--or really any of the "pixelated" games for that matter, so...

Originally Posted by Animateur

Mmkay. I've never actually played the retro games--or really any of the "pixelated" games for that matter, so...

Yea...

You're gonna wanna play them~

Originally Posted by keyaki

No reason this time. There's a Hero present. The only reason why the Great Flood happened the first time was because the Hero of Time was gone and Ganon came back. In the DT, everytime Ganon appears a Hero also appears as well ready to defeat Ganon.

So there's no reason for the Great Flood to happen.

That's because all the Heroes in the decline branch happened to win. If a Hero lost, and there was no one else available to buy time like in the OoT bad end, divine intervention would still be possible. Of course, there's no indication that any such thing happened beyond OoT bad end, when there were Sages present to act, so it's a moot point.

Originally Posted by tlozbj

In the original Zelda theirs no castle because it does not happen in the entierty of Hyrule but in a minuscule part of it. That kingdom was next to the sea we see that in AOL in the lower right of the western continent.

Didn't Ganon destroy most of Hyrule before kidnapping Zelda?