Solving the Zelda Timeline in 15 Minutes | Unraveled 

I like to think that somewhere out there, there’s a dad trying to understand what the story of Zelda is so they can connect with their kid, and they clicked on a video titled “Solving the Zelda timeline in 15 minutes”, completely unaware of what is to come

Honestly as a kid the timeline seemed so simple and coherent to me and I could read off all of it verbatim so I have no idea why it took me 19 years to get diagnosed with autism

"dont ask me to do this again" *accidentally makes arguably the most popular series on polygon now that the mcelroys are gone*

What I love about this video is that Brian said on MinnMax that he didn't have a script, he just did this because a higher-up at Vox Media told him to make a video on the Zelda Timeline and he tried to explain that it would suck but he had to do it anyway so he just went with every single piece of Zelda media and rambled for three hours in a studio with Clayton

"Over here in Basketball Timeline, we've got Ripened Tingle's Balloon Trip of Love." --God, probably

"He's completed his life's purpose at age 12" All of us who peaked in secondary school felt that

"Everyone, All the time, Everywhere... and also Sonic" He said this like Sonic was something incorporeal, timeless and out of reach... kinda like a god or something... WAIT A MINUTE

Knowing now that this was 100% just Brian ranting for 3 hours and no script to try and make his boss happy makes it even better.

why is this the funniest god damn thing i've ever seen just... a grown ass man in a three-piece suit getting SO upset over this timeline to the point where he's yelling about monopoly

"Reggie, take notes!" Reggie: Retires

POV: You are tied up in a chair while a conspiracy theorist explains the entire Zelda timeline while simultaneously stripping.

the line “don’t ask me to do this again” hits different after he revealed that higher-ups in vox forced him to make a video on the zelda timeline and he decided to do his own thing with it

I absolutely love the lighting becoming slowly more and more red as Brian becomes more and more unraveled, really adds to the chaotic atmosphere

"Where does Breath of the Wild fit in the Zelda timeline?" Nintendo: Yes

Polygon trapped Brian in a conference room with only water and mini party foods for 4 weeks then threw the Monopoly game at him

He ends this first one with "don't ask me to do this again" and ends the final one with "now legally you can't ask me to do this again" that's really cool.

act one: -full suit -we are introduced to the world and the table is set with the main structure of the timelines act two: -lost the jacket -time break is introduced -problems are more prevalent and numerous -the beginnings of insanity act three: -no tie, vest unbuttoned -fully feral -time break is settled -timeline is completed

I want a whole movie about brian being an eccentric professor at a british boarding school but he loses his nuts over the zelda timeline and this is the denouement of the film

the text i sent my wife, explaining why i love this video "I love the Zelda timeline video specifically because he looks like a victorian teenager who was shunted into our time period somehow, and was then subsequently was forced to arrange a timeline for zelda while having monster energy pumped through an IV Drip directly into his bloodstream, and then, once understanding was garnered, he was sent back to his own time period, and we the viewer are the horrified victorian scholar he is explaining this all to"

I’m surprised he didn’t tie the property buying thing into Link’s house at Hateno in BOTW. It’s the first main game where link buys a house. He’s recovering his memory and decides real estate is one of the first things he should invest in before saving Zelda. This makes it a perfect sequel to Monopoly

*HE GOT IT. HE CRACKED THE CODE. THE PEOPLE WHO MADE HYRULE WARRIORS ARE MAKING A PREQUEL TO BREATH IF THE WILDS.*

His timeline isn't complete, he forgot the coloring books.

BDG: *Finally finishes the timeline* Cadence of Hyrule: I'm about to end this man's whole career.

I can't tell you how many times my partner and I have referenced this video as we play TOTK. Any time there is a timeline thing we haven't figured out yet, we look each other dead in the eye and say "THE TIME BREAK." Truly a work of genius.

I have never fallen in love with someone so quickly, and I’m scared at this mans raw power.

“and that means that joseph gordon-levitt exists in the zelda timeline.” _what a sentence._

he’s wearing this same suit for the last unraveled, this man loves symbolism and i can’t stop crying right now

Adult Link, Child Link, and Basketball is one of the funniest things ever.

"Okay so there's Adult Link, Child Link, and basketball" I... I don't know how to react to that, honestly

The red light just grows in intensity as the video goes on *PERFECT*

It is 2021, and Brian’s explanation of the Time Break actually fits with Hyrule Warriors Age of Calamity! He saw the future. He is indeed a scholar of Time Break studies.

The fact that the video gets more and more red as time progresses really shows his descent into madness

yall know that meme from Its Always Sunny where Charlie is pointing to the board with the red strings? This is that

‘Finished his entire meaning of existence by the time he’s like twelve’ summarizes the Pokemon games quite well.

"I've just saved your ass... WITH MONOPOLY!!!" - well that's a line I never thought I'd ever hear

Ah, so this is why Reggie quit... Someone cracked the code

This was a great, informative, and anxiety-inducing striptease.

BDG has found everyone on the internet’s kink: a strip tease while explaining the Zelda timeline.

I watched this with a blue light filter over my phonescreen in bed at 4am and the heavy red tint gave it a "serial killer explaining how he can prove he was too busy learning Zelda lore to have committed all those murders officer" vibe

After watching Brian’s interview at MinnMax, this video became way more fun and impressive knowing that it wasn’t scripted

I appreciate the change in lighting to go with the gradual descent into madness

The way he said “sonic” sounded so heartbroken.

Brian: "Hear me out, I'll explain how the Time Break makes sense!" Elder Scrolls Fans: "No, no. I'm with you so far."

I have never been so confused and yet so delighted by a video - the BDE (Brian David Energy) is strong here.

I like how the set slowly turns red as he descends into hell

“YOU MADE ME USE MONOPOLY!” Is probably my favorite quote ever right now.

Dear Polygon, Please have more Brian in a suit in the future. Thank you

3:51 I love how he fixes the one crooked one and then immediately there's 5 more crooked ones in the next shot

"white guy in a three piece suit growing more and more disheveled (over zelda)" is probably my sexuality tbh

I learned absolutely nothing beneficial to my future and yet I feel fulfilled emotionally, just how I like it

This is just Brian gradually losing his clothes over the course of 15 minutes

13:38 "And also Sonic" So many emotions playing out on Brian's face there

This video is hilarious, but what's really killing me is... that at some point, someone at Polygon had to have had the thought, 'Hmmm, should we cut out these titles beforehand, or should we make him cut them up by hand on camera, forcing ourselves to make constant jumpcuts? Nah, we'll make him do it, it's funnier.' Also, uncomfortable or no, that suit looks really sharp. They're just generally not built for jumping around a set, pinning Zelda titles to your theory wall.

A chapter in my autobiography: And then there’s another existential crisis, but this is my favorite one

Note: the adult timeline isn't where link stays an adult after Ocarina of Time. It's actually the timeline link left behind. Ganon is sealed away, but the hero of time is gone because he went to the child timeline

Zelda chess is obviously the Hyrulean Civil War that happened before Ocarina of Time

When he starts yelling about monopoly I think I can hear the cameraman struggle to not laugh

14:00 I feel like Brian David Gilbert saying with a straight face "I'm talking location, location, location" should have been recognized as a cry for help tbh

You're back after having seen the last unraveled, aren't you? It's ok. Take a seat. It had a good run.

*The original Unraveled:* "don't make me do this again!" *Polygon:* "well that's your career here!"

BDG: this whole goddamn suit is so tight; I feel like a Christmas ham Me: cuz you lookin like snacc

I’m here 4 years later. Totk just fuked up the timeline

"So even the canonical timeline isn't like super hard set in stone canonical, which goes to show it sucks." LIKE

I can't believe you defeated reggie so hard that he quit being nintendo president.

Brian is a gift to mankind

I swear, best Polygon videos are the ones that allow us to witness the rapid unraveling of Brian's sanity.

"And then it's another existential crisis,but this is my favorite one" -Brian David Gilbert 2018

I like the red tint increase in the filter over time it matches his rage at monopoly

Slight correction: The Adult Link timeline is not Link deciding to remain an adult. Child and Adult timelines happen simultaneously when Link defeats Ganon as an adult and then returns to his childhood timeline, leaving the Adult timeline to pick up the pieces of Ganon's rule without a hero. In the child timeline he goes looking for Navi and stumbles into Termina (Majora's Mask) whereas in the adult timeline Ganon comes back and the people await the Hero of Time to save them again; only he doesn't because he doesn't exist anymore (since Link didn't claim the Master Sword and remained a child). This forced them to flood the world to seal Ganon which eventually leads to the ocean world of Wind Waker.

When you said "Clayton, we have to start over" it was possible to hear the desperation in your voice

This is a broken man

Brian: I'M GOING TO SOLVE THE ZELDA TIME LINE!!!!! *solves the zelda time line* miyamoto: you have solved my riddle, you are the new riddle master

love how we learned in an interview that this video was fueled mostly by spite.

I swear to god BDG could carry this channel just posting videos like this once a week.

BDG: Don't ask me to do this again. 2 Years Later: [Unraveled playlist - 1/28]

please rate the iterations of link from most to least funky

Did BDG actually predict "Everything Everywhere All At Once" four years before it was released?

I love this guy so much I watched 15 minutes of him explaining a series I barely know the main character's name, AND HE MADE ME FUCKING ENJOY IT.

watching brian david gilbert come completely unhinged over the course of 15 minutes is life’s truest pleasure

BDG was entirely responsible for Age of Calamity, he said that Hyrule Warriors was important, so they made a Cannon game with it.... and somehow it makes this whole time line thing make even more sense....

I love how it gets redder and redder as the video progresses to signify brian's descent into madness

as someone who has never played any zelda games i am very confused and i love it

I walked out of my room for 2 seconds with a relatively normal Zelda timeline and then came back to Polygon talking about scribblenaughts with whatever the hell is on that board

That punchline was masterfully executed. Brian David Gilbert is a mad genius of comedy.

This sounds like a scholar in Morrowind telling you the entire story of how nirn was created. He's probably correct, but everyone thinks he's an insane heretic overcome by daedric influences.

the red light at the end is a VERY good touch

PLEASE for the love of god, make a video trying to explain kingdom hearts

In 20 years time they'll reveal that the LoZ timeline is actually the shape of the mastersword with the split timelines being the gaurd AND representing the Triforce at the heart of the series. MARK THESE WORDS

Okay, but can we mention how well Brian pulls off this outfit?

I came into this video knowing nothing about the Zelda timeline and now I feel like I understand it less somehow. It doesn't matter though, I'm really just here for Brian in that suit.

Huge fan of the fact that he included Scribblenauts, said "idk how that fits in yet" and then never elaborates

"Why does no one understand the time break except me, Brian David Gilbertson"

This is the polygon content we need

Everyone after today’s announcement: “Nintendo, you made me care about Hyrule Warriors”

Nobody’s going to question how sonic fits in there? Because the explanation WAS LITERALLY “BECAUSE SONIC”

"Don't ask me to do this again." According to the current length of the Unraveled playlist, they asked him to do it 22 more times.

Polygon: watch a grown man slowly loose his mind over the Zelda timeline me: NICE

4 years later, BDGs unraveled series still remains one of the most creative show about video games out there. It works on every facet and is amazing to watch. I really hope one day Brian creates another series with production on this level. It truly superb

rewatching this for the 20 millionth time realising BDG acknowledges Minecraft Steve as a part of the zelda timeline now

Well, actually...