We examine the best places a live-action Zelda series could go on the timeline.
A few days ago we learned that Netflix is in talks with Nintendo to develop a live-action series based on The Legend of Zelda. While the series could just ignore the current Zelda timeline and do its own thing, it’s also possible that the story told in the series will be officially connected to the games. If it is connected to the timeline, the series could be used to fill in some gaps that we currently don’t know too much about in the Zelda universe.
I’ve spent some time thinking about it and have come up with several places that a live-action Zelda series could be placed nicely on a timeline.

1. Before Skyward Sword
A lot of crazy stuff happened before the events of Skyward Sword. There was a huge war with the Demon King Demise for the Triforce. This ended with the goddess Hylia eventually sending some humans up into the sky on a patch of land known as Skyloft for safety and the remaining races on the ground weakly sealing Demise.
Detailed accounts of the events taking place during this war are still unknown. Skyward Sword showed us that during this era there was even a race of super advanced robots before the war. Additionally, a non-canonical comic in the back of Hyrule Historia also tells a tale of the events that happened during this era.
There is clearly a demand for more information on the events that occurred before Skyward Sword. If Netflix were to tie their series in here it could also be used to give Demise a deeper character than we briefly saw in his only game appearance.

2. The Hero of Men
Before Minish Cap there was a tale told about The Hero of Men. No game has taken place to describe the events that took place during this era, so it’s another great place for a live-action Zelda series.
The tale of The Hero of Men is pretty straightforward. The kingdom of Hyrule was taken over by evil dark beings. The Picori then came from the sky and delivered a sword and a golden light to The Hero of Men. This hero then drove out the darkness and, apparently, sealed it with the Picori’s sword in a chest.

3. Before The Wind Waker
After the events of Ocarina of Time, on the Adult Era timeline, Ganondorf somehow escaped his seal in the Scared Realm and began to pursue world domination once again. These events could be greatly expanded upon to tell a great tale.
The only downside is that there would be no happy ending in this series. As anyone who has played 10 minutes of The Wind Waker knows, King Daphnes Nohansen Hyrule, desperate for a solution to save his kingdom from Ganondrof, entrusted his kingdom to the gods. This ended with the gods flooding Hyrule in an attempt to stop the evil Gerudo prince.

4. Before The Original Zelda
There was a lot going on politically before the first Legend of Zelda title. The king of Hyrule was worried about the power of the Triforce being abused, so he hid the Triforce of Courage. This same king passed the Triforce of Wisdom down to his daughter, foregoing giving it to his son who he didn’t trust.
The young prince was promoted to king upon his father’s death, but was mad that he didn’t obtain the Triforce. A powerful wizard advised the new king to seriously question his sister, Zelda, about what was going on. Zelda refused to tell the king or the wizard where the Triforce was, so the wizard eventually cast a spell on Zelda that would cause her to sleep forever.
The king immediately regretted this and placed Zelda in an alter (which you may remember from The Adventure of Link). After all of this, Hyrule then went into a steep decline.
I’ve always wondered why the land of Hyrule looked so bleak in the first two Zelda games. A more detailed account of the events that took place during this era could be an exciting way to delve deeper into this tragic back-story that also somehow relates to the unknown resurrection of Ganon.

5. After The Adventure of Link
After the events of the second Zelda title, two Princess Zelda’s co-existed at the same time. The younger one was rescued by Link in the first game; the second is the older formerly sleeping Zelda who Link later saved. What occurred after these events is completely unknown.
Was Ganon once again resurrected? Did Link and the two princesses rebuild Hyrule and both fight for his heart? Maybe we need a Netflix series to fill us in.
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So there are my top picks for where Netflix’s The Legend of Zelda series could take place on the timeline. Is there a back-story or different era you would like to see explored in this show? Tell us about it in the comments section below!