How would you feel if IS did timeline splits with FE like the Zelda series?

[Anacybele]

No, no, no, I don't mean more time travel shenanigans where somebody winds up splitting the timeline via how Ocarina of Time Link being sent back to being young again does (since I really don't want anymore dumb time travel). I'm talking about something like the THIRD timeline Nintendo created from it, where OoT Link actually loses to Ganon. It's written in the official timeline that A Link to the Past occurs in a reality where OoT Link was defeated by Ganon.

I'm thinking it'd be fascinating if IS did something akin to this and made a game that assumes, for example, that Ike didn't actually leave Tellius. Or that Eliwood died with his father and Nergal won in FE7. Stuff like that. Wouldn't this be neat? It'd open up loads of possibilities for future titles and say that what occurs at the end of one game may not be what's taken into account later on.

I'd love to see this happen!

Edited November 6, 2016 by Anacybele

[Punished Dayni]

It's a neat idea, but one that might backfire horribly. Could be a mess of a story, and if they made an alternate retelling in a different style to the older title likely would drive everyone mad. Hell, I had a similar idea today where Roy's army died, and an army led by Eliwood and a bunch of the FE7 cast had to fight the demon dragon. Could be cool to see these ideas, but I don't see IS doing so. At least, no full titles about an alternate past.

Besides, they already have done retconning without making whole new timelines afterwards. Probably shouldn't trust things staying the same for a story as is.

[Hardin]

To me it seems kind of superfluous. It seems unnecessary to make all kinds of story hooks for games that are so old.

[Rezzy]

We already sort of have this in Awakening. There's the good ending timeline, where Grima is defeated. And then there's the bad ending where Grima wins, where all the Gen 2 units come from. The bad ending still exists somehow, because Lucina and Friends don't vanish from existence once Grima is killed, but if there can only be one timeline, by all rights they should disappear like Marty McFly in Back to the Future.

[Anacybele]

Yeah, I'm aware that Awakening sort of does this. But I'm talking about it on a multi-game scale, not just within one game, Rezzy.

This may not be NECESSARY or anything, but that doesn't mean it can't be cool, imo.

[NekoKnight]

I'd rather have a game with the conflicts mentioned but not directly shown (such as the original war between Yune and Ashera's forces) than alternate outcomes of canon stories. It was fine for Awakening because alternate timelines was a part of that game's plot, but I don't want to see anymore multiverse shenanigans.

[Augestein]

Alternate timeline sort of stories would be cool. Like a "what if everyone got killed in FE1 that could wield Falchion?" They don't even need to be canon. Although, I think Fates may have been the start of them dabbling in that sort of direction Ana, so you may get your wish for FE15! Think about it, the first story was a story with two timelines essentially, Fates was about a game that lets you actually pick alternate storylines. Maybe the next one will be a story like that where you actually lost.

[Magical Glace]

I'd probably be more open to it when IS starts showing they can write with some degree of competence again.

I will say that it can be done well (I've heard that DQ Builders does a surprisingly good job with this concept, working off an alternate ending of DQI), though. I'm more just worried that it'd be done horribly.

[Jave]

I kinda hope they don't do it. It makes sense for Zelda to do it since it's the same lineage of heroes and villains, so the games must be connected in some way. But trying to link every FE universe would probably be a pain and end up a mess. Not to mention the huge complaints they'll get from people whose headcanons got ruined.

I wouldn't mind a non-canon crossover spinoff, though. Kinda like what Final Fantasy does.

[Augestein]

I don't think it's necessarily linking them all, but more along the lines of alternative stories. Like... What would happen if Sigurd defeated Alvis instead?

[MCProductions]

Isn't this literally what outrealms are for? We know Awakening at least has a timeline split, and all three routes of Fates are implied to somehow all be canon thanks to heirs of fate among other things. Hell, Heirs of Fate in particular flat out fucking states that literally every possible outcome in an FE game is canon

[Augestein]

Isn't this literally what outrealms are for? We know Awakening at least has a timeline split, and all three routes of Fates are implied to somehow all be canon thanks to heirs of fate among other things. Hell, Heirs of Fate in particular flat out fucking states that literally every possible outcome in an FE game is canon

I'd think so. Really the outrealms are the coolest thing from Awakening by far. I love things like this..

[wheelsonfire]

This seems pretty cool, but I don't it would work gameplay-wise... For one, if you had something like FE7 and FE6, which ending would you chose? You'd have to pick b/c not everyone would want to buy (and link up with) the previous game... And for those what want to see every possible scenario would have to buy a ton of different games...

As cool as this is, I don't see it working....

[MissShake]

Although, I think Fates may have been the start of them dabbling in that sort of direction Ana, so you may get your wish for FE15! Think about it, the first story was a story with two timelines essentially, Fates was about a game that lets you actually pick alternate storylines. Maybe the next one will be a story like that where you actually lost.

This is sort of my thought process too. It's the perfect candidate to show the world in a different state based on whether Nohr or Hoshido wins the war, or if they make peace, or whatever. But as to your question, I feel like that'd be really interesting. I love the official Zelda timeline (despite the amount of theorists who aren't a fan) and I think the entire Butterfly Effect thing you have in mind would be cool!

...But honestly I just want an official timeline of any sort because I love that sort of stuff.

[Topaz Light]

We already sort of have this in Awakening. There's the good ending timeline, where Grima is defeated. And then there's the bad ending where Grima wins, where all the Gen 2 units come from. The bad ending still exists somehow, because Lucina and Friends don't vanish from existence once Grima is killed, but if there can only be one timeline, by all rights they should disappear like Marty McFly in Back to the Future.

It's also always possible that in the process of traveling back in time, their temporal points of origin were somehow reassigned to the moment of their emergence into the game's main timeline, rather than remaining affixed to their conceptions in their own timeline. It's a bit arbitrary and there isn't really any evidence for it, but that's what I'd personally go with.

Anyway, in regards to the topic at hand, I certainly think it'd be potentially very interesting to explore other potential courses of events and their impacts on their respective universes, but I can sorta see where it'd start getting really convoluted, too. I am really curious what, for example, an Elibe where Dragons were never driven off would look like, and what kind of story would take place there.

Edited November 8, 2016 by Topaz Light

[Magical Glace]

Anyway, in regards to the topic at hand, I certainly think it'd be potentially very interesting to explore other potential courses of events and their impacts on their respective universes, but I can sorta see where it'd start getting really convoluted, too. I am really curious what, for example, an Elibe where Dragons were never driven off would look like, and what kind of story would take place there.

Would that be "No Scouring in the first place" or "Dragons won the Scouring"?

[VincentASM]

Hmm, it depends on the implementation, but I don't disagree it could be an interesting concept.

You know, part of me wonders if this has already happened.

Say, what if Awakening took place after Marth and company failed to stop Medeus? I don't mean in Shadow Dragon (since Awakening makes out Marth to be a hero), but in Mystery of the Emblem, where the game can end without fighting the newly resurrected Medeus.

That could explain how the Binding Shield isn't in its final form (with the five gems intact) in Awakening.

[Jave]

Now that I recall, there are plenty of moments in the series that could be seen as timeline splits. Some barely change the outcome, but others could have some interesting repercussions.

- The good/bad ending in FE3/FE12

- The route split in FE5

- The good/bad ending in FE6

- Eliwood or Hector as the lead in FE7

- Eirika or Ephraim route in FE8

- Pelleas dies or lives in FE10

- The confirmed bad future in FE13

- The big decision at the beginning of FE14

While it would be interesting to see what happens long-term in some of these splits, I'd rather not see anything "official" revealed, unless they implement it somehow in a future game.

[KoimanZX]

I am one those party-pooper types who is not too big on the whole "multiverse" thing introduced in Awakening. I liked it better when each of the games had their own, self-contained canon with a few of the games being sequels (or interquels) of other games. The outrealm shenanigans are more or less an out-of-place science fiction element whose only reason for existing is to justify the DLC. I also preferred having only one Anna per game (because turning her into Nurse Joy was pretty dumb).

[Dandy Druid]

Not sure how I feel about a multiverse, but a premise about a dystopian world and you have to rise up and take over would be cool. Something similar to FE4's 2nd Generation or the first Chapter of Radiant Dawn. A 'rebel' game would be fresh for the series IMO.