Legend of Zelda timeline

I only knew the Ocarina of Time > Majora's Mask > Twilight Princess timeline and the Wind Waker > Phantom Hourglass > Spirit Tracks. I thought that Wind Waker took place before Ocarina of Time. I didn't know where the hell the other games took place. This is pretty important since Ocarina of Time takes #1 at Gamerankings.com with total of 5,000+ games. Of these I've played Legend of Zelda, Link to the Past, Ocarina of Time, Majoras Mask, Wind WAker, Minish Cap, Phantom Hourglass, Twilight Princess, and Skyward Sword.

THE START: The Legend of the Gods and the Hero of Time]

- Before the events of any game in the series the only know event that happens is that the Goddess creates the earth and heavens and stopped an evil called Demise from taking over the world.
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The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword
Skyward Sword documents the reincarnation of the Goddess Hylia, the ancient battle against a revived Demise and the return of the land in the sky to the surface. During his quest Link must travel through the sky and the land below in order to increase the power of the Goddess Sword. Eventually the Goddess Sword turns it in to the famous Master Sword.
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- In between Skyward Sword and the events of the next game three eras pass: The Sky Era, The Era of Chaos - which marks the sealing of the Sacred Realm and The Era of Prosperity – the era in which the Kingdom of Hyrule of first formed.
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-The next two games are both set in the fourth ear: The Force Era.
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The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap
The Minish Cap shows the first true inhabitants of the Kingdom of Hyrule and also marks the rise in power of the Wind Sorcerer Vaati and his untimely death. During the game Link must re-forge an ancient sword that gives him the power to spilt in to four copies of himself.
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The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords
Four Swords is a continuation of the story from The Minish Cap. It shows the revival of Vaati, and again shows his death at the hand of the four Links.
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- After Four Swords the fifth era begins: The Era of the Hero of Time.
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The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
Ocarina of Time shows the rise to power of Ganondorf, a descendant of Demise, who goes on to win the Triforce of Power. Link must travel back and forward through time on many occasions throughout his quest to rescue the Sages and gain the strength necessary to defeat Ganondorf and bring an end to his reign as the King of Evil.
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- Here's where things get interesting. After Ocarina of Time there are actually three splits in the timeline, not two as previously believed.

[SPLIT 1: Hyrule's Decline and the Last Hero]

- This timeline, also referenced as timeline C (because nobody knew before now it existed), is what happens after the events of Ocarina of Time if the Hero of Time meets his death against Ganondorf.
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- After the death of Link the Sealing War takes place. Without Link to defend Hyrule the Sages take it in to their own hands and seal away Ganondorf themselves in the Sacred Realm. While in the Sacred Realm Ganondorf (now transformed permanently in to Ganon) builds up his power and turns it in to the Dark World.
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The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past

A Link to the Past documents what happens when Ganon has gained enough power to break from the Dark World and wreak havoc on Hyrule once again. Using Agahnim to cover up his plan, Ganon finally reveals himself to Link at the end of the game. Link's objective is to find the Master Sword and rescue the seven Maidens before he can even do battle against the King of Evil.
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The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages/Oracle of Seasons
After the events of A Link to the Past Link travels away from Hyrule to seek and help other lands after receiving a message from the Triforce, this leads to the events of the Oracle games. The Oracle games can be placed in any order (because the games can be played in any order), and when linked together they show the proper ending. It is revealed that Twinrova are trying to revive Ganon, but once again Link is at hand to save the day.
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The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening
After the events of the Oracle games Link is traveling back to Hyrule when his boat is caught in a storm at sea which renders him unconscious. This leads to the events of Link's Awakening. The events of Link's Awakening are believed to be a dream, but if you finish the game without dying you see an alternate ending that does hint otherwise.
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- After Link's Awakening another ere begins: The Gold Era. The Gold Era is the time where the monarchy of Hyrule use the Triforce to grant their wishes.
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- Eventually the Era of Gold starts to decline, ushering in a new era: The Era of Decline.
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The Legend of Zelda
In The Legend of Zelda Ganon is revived and kidnaps Princess Zelda in order to acquire the Triforce of Wisdom. But little does he know that Zelda already shattered it in to eight pieces, which the new Link sets off to find before defeating Ganon in a climatic duel, winning the Triforce of Power in the process.
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Zelda II: The Adventure of Link
The Adventure of Link tells the story of the Hero from the previous game traveling across Hyrule, defeating all the evil to prevent another resurrection of Ganon. When Link succeeds he acquires the Triforce of Courage to go along with the two he found in his previous adventure. He then unifies the Triforce, brings peace to Hyrule and awakens Zelda from her eternal sleep.
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- These events bring an end to this timeline.

[SPLIT 2: The Dark World and The Hero's Descendant]

- This split in the timeline documents what happens at the end of the Ocarina of Time if Link succeeds in killing Ganon and travels back in time to a child, thus starting The Child Era. When back as a child Link and Zelda inform the King of Ganondorf's planned treason, so they arrest him and sentence him to death before he can put his plan in to action.
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The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask
Majora's Mask is only a side story which shows what happens when Link leaves Hyrule and travels in search of a dear friend. Skull Kid, who possesses the Majora's Mask – a fabled mask of untold power, attacks Link while he was riding Epona through the Lost Woods. Skull Kid steals the Ocarina of Time and Epona, and Link gets caught up in a quest to save a town from getting destroyed by a Moon that will fall from the sky in just three days.
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- After the events of Majora's Mask Ganondorf receives his death sentence at the hands of the Sages, but when they fail to kill him they open the Mirror of Twilight and send him to the Twilight Realm instead. These events bring and end to the Child Era and start a new one: The Twilight Era.
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The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
Twilight Princess roughly takes place 100 years after the events of Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask. While trapped inside the Twilight Realm Ganondorf possesses Zant and grants him his power. Zant then uses this power to take over the Twilight Realm, transform its Queen Midna in to an imp then invade Hyrule and blanket it in Twilight. Link then rids Hyrule of its Twilight, defeats Zant and then confronts and kills the now free Ganondorf.
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- After the events of Twilight Princess a new era begins: The Shadow Era.
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The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures
Four Swords Adventures marks the resurrection of both Vaati and Ganon, only to see them yet again defeated by a Four Sword wielding Link.
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- These events bring an end to this timeline.

[SPLIT 3: The Wind Waker and the New World]

- This split documents what happens at the end of Ocarina of Time to the world in the future when Link travels back in time to his original era. With Ganon sealed all is at peace, but one day Ganon breaks his seal and takes over Hyrule unchallenged now that Link has disappeared. Because of his immense power the people of Hyrule can't defeat him, so they pray to the Gods who flood Hyrule with continual rainfall. These events marked The Era Without the Hero.
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- After Hyrule floods a new era begins: The Era of the Great Sea.
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The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker
The Wink Waker takes place on top of a great sea, underneath which Hyrule once was before it was flooded. The only land still visible here are the mountain tops of Hyrule, and people that survived the flooding managed to populate them. This starts the adventure of The Wind Waker, which sees Link travel across the ocean in an attempt to stop Ganondorf terrorizing the inhabitants of the sea.
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- When the events of The Wind Waker come to an end another new era begins: The Era of the Great Voyage.
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The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass
After defeating Ganondorf, Tetra and Link set off on a new adventure of discovery to find the fabled Ghost Ship, which is said to contain priceless amounts of treasure. When they find it Tetra jumps on board only for the ship to vanish. With this Link sets off across a new world to find and rescue her.
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- When the events of Phantom Hourglass finish a new era eventually beings: The Era of Hyrule's Rebirth. Eventually Link and Tetra discover a new land, which they name the new Hyrule. 100 years pass and their descendants have to fight against a new threat.
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The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks
Steam power is the biggest advancement in technology in new Hyrule, as Trains become the main mode of transport. Link and Tetra's descendants must fight against Chancellor Cole and Byrne in order to stop the resurrection of Malladus. They fail to stop his resurrection, but Link goes on to defeat Malladus in a one on one fight.