Contents:
Starting Story: How does the game start.
Game Story: What does Link do in the game.
Ending Story: What happens at the end.
Analysis: How the White Mage avoided a time travel paradox.
Abridged Story Five short paragraphs for everything.

Starting Story:

There isn't much of a story as far as Link is aware. The governor for the region dumped him in the land, only asking to collect the six pieces and retake a bunker. That doesn't mean there isn't a story. Fortunately, Link doesn't seem to ever need to know what's going on to succeed.

A southern province of Calatia has been under attack. Ganon has somehow managed to sneak into the King's Bunker, which is only able to opened for Calatia's king and queen. Whether Ganon found a way in or was somehow spawned inside doesn't matter, there's no way the King would want to visit the bunker now. So, Ganon thinks that he has a permanent foothold, and everybody assumes Ganon could never be driven out.

When the wizards cast the spells that only allowed the rightful king and queen to unseal the bunker, they left a failsafe. It's been a royal secret, but an override key was created. The door can be unsealed by anybody with the override key, but it was split into six pieces, and hidden across the province. A hero who could collect all six will have proven themselves worthy to enter in the king's place. Normally, only the royal family, the top royal guards, and the regional governor would be allowed to know about the key. Link is somebody who could be trusted with a royal secret.

Whether the King is aware of Ganon's presence is a little murky. The governor is attempting to remedy the situation before the King finds out. So, the governor sends in Link. You might be able to get a little more information from the governor, but he probably wouldn't be found in such a small village.

Link may have almost no information at all, but he is not left completely alone. One of the King's spies who had been living in the region has left their home. That person would be able to guide Link to the next dungeon when he is lost. The spy somehow knows where you need to go, and even though the story has ended after beating the game, you'll want to talk to the spy one last time afterwards. Competent spies are hard to locate and keep as inconspicous as possible, so good luck finding his residence. Try asking at the big house labelled HELP right next to the starting location.

That's all for the pre-game story, but you might have one question. What's Calatia? It's a close ally and the western neighbor of Hyrule. There's a little more information about this in the main page, in case you want to verify for yourself, but the 90s official comic book technically isn't canon. Probably better off that way, since it would mean the 90s cartoon was canon too. But at least in both of those, Zelda was far from helpless in battle.

Game Story:

Link starts out receiving a terrible sword from the White Mage as soon as he enters the region. Then the first thing Link comes across is a building with HELP written above the door. Link goes in the building, which is called the Help Cave for some reason, and the man inside offers his help throughout the quest, and tells Link where to go to find the first dungeon.

Link goes exploring, and finds a river just past the dungeon. The river has a bridge across, but it's missing pieces so you can't get across. He gets through the dungeon and doesn't find a Tear, but obtains a candle that will help him burn away an obstruction near the Help Cave. The bush burns and Link finds a blue warp tile. The man in the Help Cave says to use it to get to the Past, so he steps in. Now he's in some weird unknown place, just three rooms each with a warp. One room goes to the past, the one he entered goes to Link's present, and the third goes to the future.

Link steps out of the warp, and the world is immediately different. He's still on the same kind of raised area, but the trees are different and the enemies are different, and the edge of the desert is too now far away to see. Even the music Link hears in his head is different. Link thinks to himself, for the desert to recede this much, it is definitely a long time ago. What Link doesn't quite pick up on is that it means the desert is expanding, not receding. Link makes his way back to the dungeon, although the terrain is a bit unfamiliar. He gets through and finds a bomb bag, but still no Tear.

This time the man in the Help Cave says to go into the future, and work your away around to that same dungeon a third time. The future is actually considerably different. The desert that was to the east has expanded and now stretches past the river to the west. This time, Link finally finds a Tear at the end of the dungeon, and the White Mage says to go to the desert. Link continued to get help from the man in the Help Cave.

Link's ventures into the desert in the Present. The dungeon is impossible, one side has invisible enemies and the other side is blocked with a button that is out of reach. He comes across a warp on a tall rock, and a music mark on the ground. He plays the ocarina and a ladder up the rock appears. He climbs into the second warp, and comes out in the Past. He makes it through the dungeon, with a brief stop in the overworld, to get the amulet that lets you see invisible enemies. There is also a path in the dungeon that is blocked by chains, and Link's current sword can't break them.

Link goes to the Future, where the main entrance has collapsed. He goes around the side and goes in the side entrance. He gets through the dungeon to find a stronger sword. Now he goes into the Present, fights the monsters that were invisible, and collects a key. He goes back to the Past, and breaks down the chains blocking the path and uses that key, and he finds a path to a button in the room with the blockage in the Present that lowers the blockage. Now he goes back to the Present, and that button had remained pressed, so he was finally able to get into the dungeon. He finds his treasured Magic Boomerang and the second Tear.

With the Magic Boomerang, Link can finally cross the river in the future. We start with Link going to the class selection area, located just outside the town. This seems to be some sort of secret society, maybe tradesmen or something, it's not really clear. Somebody explained the four classes, but also had some choice words about the guy in the Help Cave. Link selects one of the classes, knight, wizard, monk, or thief. Then he goes deeper into the class area to the class dungeons. He beats the first pair of class dungeons, getting two somewhat useful items. That's the end of the first class area, so he leaves.

Next Link goes north into the town. It's bordered by a river to the east, and mountains to the west. People seem crowded to the south of town, and Link finds that monsters seem to inhabit the buildings in the north part of town. The town was left dying after some evil wizards drained it for centuries and moved on. The town is pitiful, a sad shell of a sad shell.

Link heads south to explore the western part of the river, which leads to a rocky wasteland with lava flowing down the mountain from the north. Link goes through what little of the area that he can, and he comes across a time warp and the opening of a huge cave that is clearly the third dungeon. He decides he'll get back to the dungeon later, and ventures through the time warp to the present.

The wasteland is a lot less apocalyptic in the present. There are a lot of large boulders but no lava. Link again skips Level 3 and goes east to the river and north to the town. Along the way, he steps on a button that restores the bridge in this time period, which isn't immediately useful. The town here is better. It's still just a collection of small homes, but it has a creepy statue in the middle. He also comes across the bomb shop for the first time.

Link hears from the town that there is a wizard in a cave in town, draining the town's resources. Link incorrectly thinks, this definitely won't stand. He bombs his way into the cave, and doesn't get very far in the cave. There is a group of overloading wizards standing behind a wall, taunting Link. Bragging about having strength from ruling the town for such a long time was their undoing. Even Link couldn't miss that. And he will miss a lot. But, defalted, Link exits the cave. He leaves the town, distraught by their plight, but unable to do anything about it.

Link walks back through the Flatlands and back into the portal. He ends up in the past. The area is still dead, but at least now it's recently dead. Instead of boulders or lava, this time dead trees populate the area. He travels straight east, and as he reaches the river, he notices a large rock shaped like a skull gagged with a smaller rock. He bombs the rock, and enters the skull to Optional Dungeon 1. Link breezes through the dungeon, getting better armour.

The next destination is the town, of course. The town is very similar to the town in the present. The main difference is that now the evil wizard is a recent arrival. And the longer Link waits, the stronger the wizard gets. Link ventures into the same cave, but this time he can fight the wizard and accomplices. He defeats them handily, but receives only a single piece of heart.

The townspeople already knew the wizard was defeated by the time Link gets out of the cave. They even pulled down the creepy statue, and were in the process of smashing it to bits. The people were grateful, but the shop was the important part. The shop owner is willing to give you a small discount, making it one of the cheapest shops Link will find on his quest. The other odd bit is the empty cave in the town. Now the person in it says he wants to make something out of it, and asks for 500 rupees. Link would like to help, but he does not have enough money, and when he does get enough money there are some items he wants to buy first.

Link goes southwest to the warp next to Level 3, and jumps forward to the present. The walk to town is getting repeditive, and Link hopes that isn't the closest time warp. This time when he enters the town, everything is different. The significantly more buildings are planned out with a couple roads. The statue that was pulled down is in the center of the town square, and instead of some creepy monster, Link finds creepy statue of himself. The far northwest where the evil wizard cave is now farmland. The cave is still there, now called the Sacred Cave. It is a quiet cave with some statues at the back. Link activates a button in the cave, and the water level partially lowered, but it seems to not be of any use.

The town expanded to the east, and so there is a bridge to cross the river. Link sees a large apartment/hotel building, and a second town entrance, although that entrance requires the ladder. To the north across another bridge is a large castle sitting next to a time warp. Link takes a look at the castle first. He meets the governor who wants to get rid of Ganon, but doesn't seem to know how. Upstairs is an area only for staff with incredibly cheap shops, and the only way Link is getting through is if he chose knight for his class. He also finds a bombable wall, leading to a piece of heart located in the basement.

He hops into the time warp first. He travels to the past, and is in the town. Since neither bridge has been built yet, Link is stuck in the tiny northeast corner of the town. There is a town entrance to the east leading into the jungle, but this one also requires the ladder. He goes to the future, which is slightly more useful. This side of town is abandoned and full of monsters, but west of the river is still nice. The castle is pretty destroyed with the doors barred from the inside, probably rubble. The bridges were destroyed, but there is the east town exit again. Link checks that out to find a dead end with a piece of heart. So until Link gets the flippers, this time warp isn't useful.

Link is pretty satisfied with the results of his good deed. But there's one last place he wants to check. He runs back to the warp and back for the last time, this time in the future. The town is a lot more like the saved town in the present. This bridge is destroyed too, just like the one at the time warp. Not only that, a fence was constructed along the river. It seems to be working to keep the monsters out. Link can still cross once he gets the flippers though. The other useful thing Link found was in the Sacred Cave, in the room where the water level was partially lowered. Now it's all the way down and a lower passageway brings Link to a Magic Container, the only one not found in a dungeon.

Now that all the optional stuff is complete, Link heads throught the Flatlands. He stops at a shop cave to buy a Wood Bow before going into the time warp. Level 3 was just a blur since then, mainly because the warp is so close. Link beats it in the past, getting the Medium Wallet, letting Link carry 500 rupees. He beats in the present, getting the Wood Arrows. Last he beats it in the future, killing the Blue Ghoma at the end to get the third Tear.

With the bow and arrow, Link can explore the northern section of the desert in the future. He remembers coming across a red target on a rock near the first warp, and when he shoots it, a tile lowers that was blocking a ladder down. From there, Link can go into the Jungle, and straight towards the jungle time warp. The south river is dried up, but he still can't get across the north river. He also came across a windmill whose entrance was blocked by a heavy rock.

Link travels to the past, where he is now between the two rivers. Fortunately, there is a bridge across the north river, so he crosses and goes straight to Level 4. The dungeon is kind of confusing. Within the dungeon, passageways make you travel between time periods instead of between map locations. But only about a third of each time period is accessible, and it's not possible to exit the dungeon in a different time period than you entered. He gets the Ladder at the end of the dungeon.

The next part gets Link lost. He gets back to the jungle time warp, and into the future. He eventually realizes he's missing the end of the river, and the path is barred by a very heavy block. He uses the whistle to get to Level 2, and winds up in a warp zone. This is new. He sees he can warp to the help cave, the town, level 1, level 2, and level 3, while the other levels and the coin cave remain locked. This works much better than blowing the whistle over and over again.

So Link finally goes to Level 2, and goes south into the time warp. He goes to the future, and works his way north, following as close to the coast as possible. Along the way, he meets a science fiction writer. He finally finds a spot in the northern river where he can use the Ladder to cross. On the other side, Level 4 is easy to get to. He explores the dungeon, which is just as confusing as in the past. At the end, he gets the second best sword, the Master Sword L1. He makes his way back to the jungle time warp, still in the future.

Link takes the time warp to the only time left, the present. While exploring the jungle, he actually meets two interesting groups of people. First is two scientists in a cave, one of whom disappears through a green portal. Second is two lousy guards smoking raggedy roll-up cigarettes, clearly hiding from their boss. He also finds some tentacle thing blocking the path across the north river, which the Master Sword is able to destroy. He gets through the last part of Level 4, having to defeat a Super Manhandla (2) in the process. But that does it for the jungle dungeon and the fourth Tear.

Now it is time for some stops. While in the present, he travels southeast to the third optional dungeon in a big red statue of a fish. It only requires the Ladder to reach, and he obtains the Red Armor there. Then he whistle warps to the town and buys the power bracelet, and goes south to the second class area. There he collects two very useful class items. Then he whistle warps to the Help Cave. He goes into the future at the nearby time warp, and works his way to the north desert. There, he finds the second optional dungeon in the windmill, and gets a magic upgrade that cuts his magic use in half.

After that he goes north to the jungle time warp, and goes to the past. He journeys to the east to visit an extra-wide tree with a doorway located south of the bridge. This is the HCP Cave, where six heart container pieces hide, and Link is able to get five. First is killing a boss, which is not too bad just a Super Manhandla (2). Second is sneaking past enemies, or killing them if preferred. Third is a long line of block puzzles. Fourth is behind a heavy block requiring the Power Bracelet, and a giant maze of blocks. Fifth is also behind the heavy block, a giant maze of raft docks on a lava maze. He'll need to come back for the last one when he gets the Power Glove.

Link can now finally move on to the Mountain. He whistle warps to the Flatlands in the southwest, and goes into the lava-filled future. He uses the ladder to cross a few lava flows, and then it's up the mountain. Link can't help but notice a bunch of signposts that look like they are for the Thief's Hookshot. The path up leads to a cave, which of course contains more lava. He gets to a branch in the cave and tries south. He ends up exiting in the southeast mountain, and crosses some lava flows to the fifth dungeon. But the doors to the dungeon are barred, so there is no way for Link to get in.

He goes back the same way, and takes the north branch. He ends up on the west of the mountain, but is able to climb to the top. An odd man tried to explain why there were places where the whistle doesn't work, but Link is skeptical. But just to the east of his cave is the mountain time warp. He checks out the present first. There are a couple caves, but there are statues blocking the path at every exit. He goes back to the warp and into the past.

In the past, the statues are, for the lack of a better term, still there. They ominously exist in the same place. But they don't seem to be in the way in the past. He comes across a band of superheroes that don't seem to want to help. Then into the cave. There's only the one, but it's pretty long. Then the path to the dungeon is clear. In Level 5 past, he comes across a switch on the screen mirroring the entrance, which doesn't seem to do anything. He kills the boss and gets the Silver Arrows.

As he steps outside the dungeon, he discovers what that switch did. It lowered the statues. Now he get across them easily. As he treks back to the time warp, he wonders if the switch will remain activated. Fortunately, the statues in the present also lower. That means Link can get through the caves, but they are complex in the present. He manages to eventually find himself in front of the dungeon. This one is a familiar premise. There are blocks of two colors, one of which is up and the other is down, and there are switches that swap the positions. Not only does he defeat the Sandman Ghoma (3) to get the Tear, he also finds the Raft inside.

Before going to the next dungeon, he uses the time warp near the Help Cave to get to the past, and travels toward the town. He uses the Silver Arrows to open the third and final class area. Link gets two seriously useful items, and is done with class dungeons. Next he has to whistle warp to the town, and buys a superbomb. Then he goes back to the mountain. There was one more thing to do up here, and he eventually finds it. In one part of the overworld is a small plateau shaped like a rupee, and large cracked rock at the top. He uses the superbomb and then enters the Coin Cave. He's told he can now get here via Warp Zone, and then fills up his rupees. He whistle warps back to town and buys another superbomb.

Link exits the town to the unknown raft dock. He shoves off, and slowly rides the raft down the river, out from the shore, and to a large island. This area is called the wandering islands because they change so much over time. It's a raft maze, traveling from island to island. Finally, he rafts past Level 6, unable to turn. There are no docks on that island, so Link makes a point to remember for when he gets the Flippers. When the raft ride ends north of the dungeon, Link finds another time warp. North is an second mountain. He goes to the future, a swampy land where there's a wall of rocks blocking the path and an odd yellow shield on the cliff wall, and a ton of Zoras. So instead he travels to the past.

The past is cold. The islands are snow covered, and sheets of ice bridge the gaps between islands. Along the way, he finds an odd pile of rocks with a set of stairs clearly underneath. He uses his superbomb to find the fourth and final optional dungeon, where he finds the coveted Fire Boomerang. Then he goes south, which eventually loops around to Level 6. Inside, he gets the yellow Mirror Shield. Now he has little to fear from Like-Likes, since they can't eat this shield. Then he makes his way back to the time warp.

In the future, Link is able to reflect the fireballs from the Zoras. One of the reflected shots hits the yellow shield, and the rocks blocking the path lower. He wanders into the swamp. There is walkable muck between the islands. It's slow going, but enemies don't seem suffer from decreased speed. He eventually gets to Level 6, dodging some powerful enemies. In the dungeon is the last item in the game, The Flippers. He swims back to the time warp in considerably less time.

Now Link goes to the present. He swims south to the last part of Level 6. Inside is the fifth bomb bag, but more importantly the Patra 3 guarded the final Tear. Link dispatched of him pretty easily, and now he has all the pieces. He's not sure just what to do with them, but was told to find a cave in the Jungle. Also, the last area left to explore is east of the north Jungle. He goes back to the town, and buys the Power Glove. He takes one trip back to the Coin Cave to get the remaining rupees necessary to buy the Gold Arrows.

He wanders to the area where the Jungle meets the east mountain, and finds a cave. He takes it, needs to use the Power Glove. He ends up in a flat area partway up the east mountain. There's a whistle spot that lowers a fence, allowing Link to climb down the mountain to the Islands. He finds the bunker pretty easily, but it is locked up tight.

Link climbs down the mountain to the Island warp, and goes into the future. He swims to the Jungle and finds the same cave. He goes through and again makes it to the same area. This time there is a target to shoot with an arrow, which lowers blocks that prevent him from climbing down the mountain. He finds the bunker, but again the entrance is barred. Two down, one to go. He goes down to the warp and into the past. He swims around to the cave, and it's still the same. This time there are just pushable blocks that will not let you climb back up, but the Bunker is open.

Inside the bunker, the first thing Link comes across is some royal guards, who would warn him away without all six Tears. They silently let him pass. He's not sure whether they are under some kind of spell or just not aware Ganon was inside. There isn't much Link can do here. In front is the boss door, one way has a door that is barred, but the other leads to a switch, similar to the mountain statues. He activates it and leaves.

He comes back in the future, and the entrance is open. A different door inside is barred, and there is nowhere else to go. He leaves and comes back in the present. Once there, he actually can get somewhere. It's to another switch. He activates that one, and leaves. He comes back in the future, and this time the door isn't barred any more. He makes his way through the dungeon, and at the end is a Fire Gleeok. Once Link defeats it, he is given the message he can now use the warp zone to get here inside the dungeon. He goes north to the last screen, and finds one last time warp.

He stops in the present and finds only a key. He goes to the past, and there is a path to take. After defeating a many-headed Gleeok in a room with a barred door, he gets to a switch. This opens bars on the door, which is the same door as was barred in the present, which he already saw from the other side. It leads to the dungeon entrance. He leaves and comes back in the future. The door isn't barred anymore, and Link makes his way through the rest of the present bunker. At the end, he has to fight a Patra 2 for the Boss Key. Then he leaves the dungeon.

He gets to the mountain warp to go to the past. Link can't climb up the mountain in this time period, so he has to swim back to that cave. He gets through, and enters the bunker for the last time. He opens up the boss door, and proceeds through the last of the last part of Level 7. He eventually finds Ganon, who has an additional twist. Not only is Ganon invisible, Link is confused and is not sure where he is. He manages to prevail anyways.

Ganon drops a second set of Tears arranged in a circle. Link picks it up, and finds a broken wall that leads to an enclosed valley. There is a block nearby, so Link does the only sensible thing left, uses it to plug the hole in the back of the Bunker. That triggers the whole valley to change, and now he can go north or south. South leads just northwest of the bunker entrance, and north leads to the end of the game.

Ending Story:

So, you found a set of tears. Then at the end of level 7, Ganon had a second set of tears. That's odd, but that could be how he got in. And then you find the hole in the back of the dungeon. Odd, but also a way in. Link never figures out which, but it was the second one.

From Ganon's perspective, it was perfect. He found a little inaccessible valley with a weak wall, and when he pushed his way through, he found himself in the King's Bunker. He knew it was protected by a seal, and even knew of the Tears. It was inside the dungeon that he found his set of Tears. He also figured they were the only set, and so he thought the bunker was unassailable.

Ganon launched a new wave of monsters on the area from the safety of the bunker. The monster population in the wild kept increasing under his influence, isolating the small village. The village was further damaged by the evil traveling sorcerer who took up residence in the cave, sapping resources and strength from the locals.

Then there's you, finding your own set of Tears as intended. Ganon never figured Link or anybody else would be able to get inside. That made sending enough monsters to kill Link less urgent. But you fought your way through, vanquished him, and took his second set of tears. You left the dungeon and closed the back entrance, saving the bunker but trapping yourself. Fortunately, that unlocked the final path leading to a gold temple (this is not the gold statue).

In the temple, you finally meet the white mage again in person, the one who gave you the sword. It turns out, he was one of the original wizards who made the seal. He slept for an unknown length of time, awakening when his help would be needed. He would be able to fix the spell, and was the one who fused shut the backdoor into level 7. He will keep the second key with him through his next sleep, ensuring that the one to be scattered in six pieces is the only set.

Just before telling you to bring the keys to the altar, he scoffs at what you call the key and everything...

Let's go to the beginning. An ancient King wanted a mountain bunker, in case the capital were to come in danger. A deep cave was dug, and walls and ceilings were shored up into rooms. The bunker was loaded with oppulent furniture and metals, supplies, a treasury, and an armory. Last was the magic seal, only allowing the King to enter.

An order of wizards was brought in to make the seal. Let's say the Third Order of Odegra just for fun, but it really doesn't make a difference. When these wizards made the seal, they made a key. They decided to make it in the shape of their symbol. It would be broken into six pieces and hidden for when needed. When they cast their spell, it misfired and accidentally made two. They destroyed one of them, and broke up the other into the six major dungeons. Well, destroyed apparently was not the right word for it.

...So that's why there are two. What is important here is their symbol: a six-petal cornflower. You've been collecting Flower Petals, not Tears. A real cornflower has more than six petals, but something is mentioned about six tenets or whatever, so it was given six petals. Yes, there is such a thing as a cornflower and it really is purplish blue.

Anyways, it was also mentioned that they were called The Corns behind their back because of the flower symbol. But there never was anybody named Chronos. And from there, history's mistakes become apparent. Corns got misspelled or misspoke, and turned into Cron or Chrono, and then plaural to Chronos. It wasn't a person's name, but the local's mocking name of the order. Then of course, they had to tear the petals off the flower, so it wasn't the crying type of tear. It was a torn cornflower.

So what's the true meaning of the title? Chronos the Tears of Fate. Is it a time-manipulating ripoff of the movie Manos the Hands of Fate? Or is it barely competent wordplay on what you are really collecting? Well, both. The movie ripoff was first, and was only a preliminary title. Once I found the existence of an actual blue cornflower, the similar letters cemented in the title.

Analysis of the Ending - Lying to Avoid a Time Travel Paradox:

I wasn't sure if anybody would ever notice this, so time to point it out. There is only one key. It would not be a good idea for anybody like Link or Ganon to realize how to make a time travel duplicate, so the White Mage Chronos lied. Seriously, what do you expect from somebody whose only name is admitted to be an alias.

Did you notice that he says he'll scatter the six pieces? Or rather, when he said that? In the past. Well yea, that's when you needed to kill Ganon. Fine, fair enough. Yes that is the case, but you're missing one piece of information.

There are eighteen dungeons for levels 1-6, but only six of them have tears in them. None of the Tear dungeons are in the Past. They are all in the Present or the Future. Both of those are in the future relative to the Past.

So if he scattered them in the Past, and you collected the pieces in the Present and Future, brought them back to the Past, which he then scattered, and so forth. It's a loop. The second set of Tears only existed in that loop. But luckily we are not at wondering whether the chicken came before the egg.

We can resolve this paradox with only one real set of Tears. When you got to the White Mage's temple or whatever after Ganon, you're not bringing one set of Tears, you're bringing both sets of Tears. The White Mage manipulated all of this rescue, possibly including the order you got the Tears. He got you to do the time travel dirty work for him. All he needed to do was guide your progression with the Help Cave, and pull a switcheroo. The solution is that simple.

The White Mage assembled the key you collected from the dungeons. He broke apart the set of keys you took from Ganon's cremated remains, and scattered that one. It looped around thanks to you, and then since it hit the switcheroo, it's the set that's kept by the White Mage. All it means is that at the end of all this, the one and only set of Tears is several hundred years older than the rest of the universe, which turns out is not a problem for an inanimate object.

There you have it. There was never a second set of magic Tears, and the time travel loop is closed. The White Mage just is that good. He essentially summoned the hero and the pieces to his own time period solve his immediate problem.

Next is just speculation, but it's pretty likely the White Mage is also the creator of the time warps. One spot is when he needs Ganon to be defeated, one is exactly when the required hero lived, and the third is probably just a good time to get some Tears. It's too convenient to be random. Gods are also a reasonable explanation for creating the Time Warps to solve the Ganon problem, as far as Zelda explanations go. They've also done that some character was one of the gods in disguise. Doesn't matter whether the White Mage was a time traveller, a prophet who slept, or the manifestation of one of their world's gods. Point is the time warps are too convenient to not be made for this specific purpose.

If you insist on a random explanation of the White Mage that isn't part of the game at all, let's say he was a manifestation of one of the gods. That seems like an easy sell for a Zelda game.

Anyways, I hope that clears up any confusion, and closes all time travel paradoxes. Thanks for taking a closer look at the story.

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