Retronauts Episode 533: The Zelda Timeline

Should we count Ganondorf Goes Fishing?

How's Tears of the Kingdom treating everyone out there in Hyrule? I'm only a few hours in myself, still stuck on the game's tutorial island, but I'm loving the sheer breadth of creativity out there as players all over the world tinker with physics to build outlandish vehicles, contraptions, and figurative Trojan horses.

However, in the distant past of April 2023, before any of us got our hands on Nintendo's latest installment of The Legend of Zelda, four fans assembled a podcast to address the wonkiest, least-stable structure ever seen in the franchise: The official timeline, as presented in Hyrule Historia back in 2011—later translated into English in 2013.

Host Jeremy Parish welcomes regular co-hosts Stuart Gipp, Nadia Oxford, and myself (Diamond Feit) to dive into what Nintendo says happened versus what 37 years of games present as the truth. Along the way, we ask all-important questions such as "does any of this make sense?" and "does anyone actually care?" Your answers to those questions may differ from ours, but I for one had a great time talking about all of this as I anticipated purchasing Tears of the Kingdom.

Description: Jeremy Parish, Stuart Gipp, Diamond Feit, and Nadia Oxford join together like a Triforce of knowledge (with a bonus piece) to explore the absolute mind-boggling inanity of The Legend of Zelda's chronology. Which timeline is canon? (And which is thirstiest?)

Retronauts is a completely fan-funded operation. To support the show, and get exclusive episodes every month, please visit the official Retronauts Patreon.

MP3, 49 MB | 1:44:20 Direct download Retronauts on iTunes Retronauts at Audioboom

Artwork for this episode by Greg Melo and editing thanks go to Greg Leahy.