#before split

Rauru was an Ancient Skyloftian and the Sage of Light whom died of age sometime after Skyward Sword shortly after the birth of Hyrule. it’s also possible that he is the reincarnation, or spirit of Gaepora. (Zelda’s father in Skyward Sword)

Saria the Kokiri and Sage of the Forest whom was killed inside the Forest Temple, and reawakened as a Sage.

Darunia the Goron and Sage of Fire was defeated by Volvagia in the Fire Temple, again being reawakened as a Sage.

Ruto the Zora Princess and Sage of Water was killed by Morpha and once again reawakened as a Sage by Link.

Impa the Shiekah and Sage of Shadow fought to protect Kakariko Village from the dark spirit that had ravaged it before sadly perishing before Link arrived. Once Link defeated the spirit she too awoke as a Sage.

Lastly Nabooru the Gerudo, and Sage of Spirit. whom Link met as a child in the Spirit Temple was captured by Twinrova, more specifically Kotake and Koume and transformed into a mindless slave. When Link freed her she was still alive and attempted to escape, only to be killed right in front of Link. After Link defeated Twinrova she was awakened as a Sage.

This explains their spirit like appearances and their newfound way of traveling, Each one gave their life for Hyrule, and each deserves a spot in the Legend. Also this is commonly noticed but most of the Sages were women. Saria, Ruto, Nabooru, Zelda. all women. Rauru and Darunia were the only two men.

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All 3 timelines were split simultaneously, by a single action.

After driving his sword into Ganon for the last time, Link collapses, severely wounded from the long hard battle. Any potions or faeries have long since been used up, and he’s in such bad shape that he isn’t going to be able to hang in there long enough for Zelda or anyone else to get help.

Zelda doesn’t want him to die, not after everything he’s been through and all that he’s done for everyone. She realizes, if she sends him back in time, his injuries won’t have occurred yet, and he’ll get to live a full life, including his lost childhood years.

So Zelda takes the dying Link in her lap, and plays the Song of Time. The problem is, Link is already in the middle of the process of dying, and you can’t send a dead person back in time, so the timeline splits in “half”.

In one time, Zelda finishes playing the song only to find Link dead in her arms. Unfortunately, even though it looked as if Ganon was finished, a small bit of life still lingered within him. Link’s Triforce of Courage then goes to Ganon, since it sees Ganon as being the one who killed Link. (Even though Zelda’s playing the Song of Time unintentionally sped up Link’s death process, it was still Ganon’s doing that Link had ended up in that state in the first place.) Ganon is revived due to receiving Link’s triforce and despite her best efforts, Zelda is unable to stop Ganon, and he takes her triforce piece too. Here we have the Downfall Timeline.

In another time, Link magically evaporates into a cloud of sparkles, transported back to his childhood. Ganon’s actual passing away goes unnoticed (since Zelda had thought him already dead from the point where Link drove his sword in). Zelda lives on to rule Hyrule as Queen for the rest of her days. Here we have the Adult Timeline.

Meanwhile, Link is sent back to relive his childhood and arrives in the past, safe and healthy. He makes friends with Zelda all over again and warns her father in advance about Ganondorf’s betrayal. This eventually leads to Ganondorf’s execution (which we see as a sort of flashback in Twilight Princess). Link goes on to have his adventure in Termina, and eventually joins the Royal Hylian Army once he’s physically old enough to enlist. He has a child of his own at some point so that Twilight Princess Link becomes his descendant. (I suspect he probably marries Malon due to TP Link’s childhood circumstances, but there could be other ways to bring his circumstances about, so there’s no guarantee.) And here we have the Childhood Timeline.

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