The Legend of Zelda is one of the most influential game franchises in gaming history. The franchise is well known for its timelines where Ocarina of Time split the timeline into two or three (depending on if you follow the Hyrule Historia or Nintendo’s interpretation) different timelines all following separate eras. The Era of Decline timeline has the most games and includes games like The Legend of Zelda and The Adventure of Link, but in total, it encompasses seven games.
We’ll be exploring the Era of Decline and how you can play its games in 2024. So make sure you grab your sword because it’s dangerous to go alone.
Era of Decline
The Era of Decline, or The Decline Timeline, takes place after the events of Ocarina of Time where Link is unable to defeat Ganon/Ganondorf at the end of the game. This can also be viewed as any time Link is defeated in battle before the climatic end. This timeline is split up into different segments, starting with the Imprisoning Wars and ending with the Era of Decline.
Honestly, every timeline proceeding Ocarina of Time is tragic in its own right between the Adult, Child, and Decline timelines. In the Adult Timeline, Link defeats Ganondorf and then returns to his own childhood. This leaves a void where the Hero of Time is no longer able to protect the land and throws it into chaos.
The Child Timeline follows Link after he returns to the present, where, with the help of Zelda, he is able to stop Ganondorf’s plan without opening the Door of Time. This, also not remembered for defeating Ganondorf, fills Link with regret as he is not remembered for being a hero, and then he loses the only thing that makes him a Kokiri: Navi. As we can see, Link does not have a happy ending in this game.
While the other eras certainly have their own compelling narratives, let’s now turn our attention to the Era of Decline. A period filled with mystery, danger, and thereat adventure, it’s a timeline that promises to captivate and thrill.
The Era of Light and Dark
This is the start of the Decline Timeline, and it starts off with one of the greatest Zelda games before the 3D games: A Link to the Past.
This game takes place after the Imprisoning Wars, during which scores of greedy Hylians travel to the Sacred Realm in search of the Triforce. This causes them to mutate into monsters that wreak havoc on the land, forcing the sages to close it off for good. A Link to the Past follows this strife, and after a series of disasters, the king offers a reward to whoever can end them. A priest by the name of Agahnim steps forward and, by using his magic, puts an end to them.
After this, the king makes the priest his advisor. Agahnim then proceeds to brainwash all the soldiers in Hyrule and imprison the six maidens, which turns out to be a bad move. Come to find out Agahnim is actually a puppet of Ganon and that Ganon was calling the shots the whole time. Link ends up defeating him with the help of Master Sword, but as we know, this isn’t the end of the story.
This very same Link then sets off on a ship searching for a new adventure, as fighting a giant trident-wielding pig demon apparently isn’t enough for him. Link eventually sails into a storm, and his ship is struck by lightning. He then wakes up on the Island of Koholint to start Link’s Awakening. Here, he is tasked with waking up the Wind Fish, a giant whale-looking fish deity who is sleeping inside an egg on top of a mountain.
The Wind Fish is suffering from nightmares that are causing the decline of the land. Link is then tasked with finding musical instruments to wake him up. Near the end of his adventure, Link learns that he is on a dream island, and waking the Wind Fish will destroy everything. He knows it’s still the right thing to do, so he wakes up on the wreckage of his ship in the ocean to see the Wind Fish flying overhead.
This leads us to our next two games: The Oracle of Seasons and The Oracle of Ages. These two games are part of a complete game, each serving as half the story. This is a different Link from the last one, and the game takes place in either Holodrum or Labrynna. Twinrova is set on reviving Ganon again, and it’s your job to stop them. By combining the two games, Ganon is revived and promptly defeated after defeating Twinrova.
While this concludes the Era of Light and Dark, it’s far from the end of the decline.
Golden Era
What follows is known as the Golden Era. While no games live in this era, it sets the stage for the Era of Decline that’s coming up. It’s said here that each king uses the Triforce to bring about prosperity to the land, but it doesn’t last. The last king to use this power became afraid that after he was gone, the Triforce would be misused, so he ordered the Triforce of Courage to be hidden.
The king then placed a spell on this piece, and only someone who had the Triforce marking on their hands could wield its power. The king passed, and his son became ruler; the problem was that the king didn’t trust his son, so he hid the location of the Triforce of Courage from the prince. Zelda, on the other hand, was given the Triforce of Wisdom and refused to give up the location of the other piece. This infuriated the prince, who then cast a sleeping spell on Zelda.
He felt really bad about this, as it turns out the king was right. He then tried to rule as best as he could while Hyrule shrank more and more until its decline made it a small kingdom. The prince, now king, would order that every female born from the bloodline be named Zelda in his sister’s honor, creating the Legend of Zelda.
Era of Decline
This era is where the series started chronologically, not canonically. Here, we start with The Legend of Zelda where the current Princess Zelda splits the Triforce of Wisdom into eight pieces to hide them across Hyrule. This game takes place thousands of years after the Golden Era and it starts when Ganon obtains the Triforce of Power. His main goal is to complete the Triforce so he can rule the land with an iron fist. This is what causes Zelda to split the Triforce of Wisdom in her possession.
Link completes this piece and uses it to defeat Ganon once and for all. This is when Link learns of the true Legend of Zelda and embarks on a quest to revive her while preventing the revival of Ganon. Armed with the Triforce of Power and Wisdom, Link sets off to obtain the Triforce of Courage in The Adventure of Link. In the end Link is able to overcome Ganon’s forces, find the Triforce of Courage, and wake up the sleeping Princess Zelda.
Now, I know what you’re thinking. What about A Link Between Worlds? Isn’t that in the Timeline of Decline? Yes, you would be right. A Link Between Worlds does happen here, and it happens a few hundred years after A Link to the Past; the problem is that it’s not really known what era in this timeline it takes place. At least, not officially. It’s somewhere after Link’s Awakening but before Legend of Zelda. We don’t even know if it was before or after the Oracle of Ages/Seasons.
How to Play These Games in 2024
https://://gty.im/1858326110
These games are still playable today. You can go with original hardware, but that may be a costly endeavor in both time and money, and it is also not a satisfying answer. The Legend of Zelda is available on multiple platforms, including NES, GameBoy Advanced, and GameCube, and it’s one of 30 games on the Classic NES release. Do you remember that miniature NES with tons of NES games? It’s also available as virtual consoles on the Wii and Switch.
Next on this list is The Adventure of Link. While not as popular as the other titles on this list, it did see some releases. It was released on the GameBoy, DS, and Gamecube. It also had a virtual console on the Wii platform. To my knowledge, it has not been released on Switch, but it appears on the mini NES Classic along with the first game.
A Link to the Past is more easily found via its online services. It has virtual consoles on the Switch. It is also one of the NES Classic. So, this game is readily available on new hardware, given New 3DS, Wii, a games on the SN that it was one of the franchise’s most popular classic games before the series went 3D.
The Oracle of Seasons and Ages didn’t get the same amount of love. While they were popular GameBoy games, it was only re-released on the 3DS in 2013 and the Switch in 2023.
Finally, Link’s Awakening is the only game on this list that received a complete remake for the Switch. It also features an updated port for the GameBoy Color, which saw a virtual console on the 3DS. It was released on the Zelda-themed Game&Watch along with The Legend of Zelda and The Adventure of Link.
Of course, you could also play these games through emulation, with dozens of options and plenty of websites to find ROMs on. However, I would not suggest you do that, as Nintendo would be most unhappy with you. Professionally, I advise you to do this at your own risk and not to visit RetroArch to download an all-encompassing emulator along with Emuparadise to get your ROMs or ISOs.
For More Great Content
If you enjoyed a trip down memory road with me, check out the top 5 glitches you can do in the Legend of Zelda! For other content by me, click here. I would greatly appreciate it! For more gaming content, click here!
Total Apex is an all-encompassing content producer. We provide heavily detailed articles every day on entertainment, gaming, sports, and so much more! Check out all our great sports content Total Apex Sports. Check us out on X @TotalApexEandG and our other sites: Total Apex Sports Bets and Total Apex Fantasy Sports.
