The branch
- The Wind WakerHyrule under the seaTwilight PrincessHyrule on dry land
Picture two Zelda games that cannot both be true. In The Wind Waker, from 2002, the kingdom of Hyrule lies under the sea. In Twilight Princess, from 2006, the same kingdom is dry land. Both are on Nintendo's list. Neither is a retcon. Neither is a reboot.
- 1998Ocarina of Timepublished 2011Three paths
Nintendo's answer was a branch. Ocarina of Time, from 1998, ends with the hero sent back to his childhood. There the timeline splits. On one path the hero loses. On the other two he wins: once in the future he left, and once in the childhood he went back to. Each later game sits on one of the three.
- Under the seaDry landTwo paths
Hyrule is under the sea in one game and dry land in another, and both are on the owner's list. Under the branch rule, which is true?
Both happened, on different paths from the same split.
Right. The sea is the end of one path and the dry land is the end of another. Both count, and neither had to be denied, which is what a branch is for.One of them is wrong and the owner has not said which.
Not yet. The owner has said: both. A branch is the owner choosing not to pick, by giving each story its own path.The later game replaced the earlier one.
Not yet. That would be a retcon or a reboot. Nintendo did neither; it drew a map on which both games keep their place. - Hero defeated5 titles, as the 2011 book drew themChild path3 titles, as the 2011 book drew themAdult path3 titles, as the 2011 book drew them
As the 2011 book drew it, the defeated path held five titles and each winning path three; more came later. In 2018 it placed Breath of the Wild below all three, in a far future belonging to none; its 2023 sequel sits there too. Its producer said it was the very end, and would not name the path.
Two games contradict each other, and the owner draws a branch. Tap what that says about the EARLIER game.
Tap the part of the picture that answers it.
It still happenedIt was a mistakeIt was rewrittenIt still happened
Right. On its own path. The split lets the list hold both stories without a lie, and the cost is that the reader now needs the map.It was a mistake
Not yet. The owner put both games on the list on purpose and drew the split to hold them. A mistake is something the owner drops or fixes; this one was filed.It was rewritten
Not yet. Nothing in either game was changed. A retcon rewrites the past; a branch files the two pasts side by side.- 2019, a new pathEndgame2021, three pathsThree Spider-Men
Films do it too. Avengers: Endgame, from 2019, let its heroes take things from the past, and the film's rule was that this does not change the present: it makes a new path. In 2021 Spider-Man: No Way Home put three Spider-Men on one screen, each from a different film series, each still true on his own path.
Picture a series with 600 promises in all, 200 of them made before the split. Move how many paths the owner has drawn and watch how many a new game on one path must keep. Made up to show the shape.
Promises on one path600 made upPromises in all600 made upPaths the owner has drawn: 1 path
One path: every new game must keep all 600. One story, one pile.
Promises on one path400 made upPromises in all600 made upPaths the owner has drawn: 2 paths
Two paths: 400 each. The 200 from before the split bind both; the rest are split.
Promises on one path333 made upPromises in all600 made upPaths the owner has drawn: 3 paths
Three paths: about 330 each. The writers breathe; the readers buy a chart.
Promises on one path266 made upPromises in all600 made upPaths the owner has drawn: 6 paths
Six paths: about 270 each. The pile is lighter and the map is a poster. A new reader asks which path to start on.
What does a branch buy, and what does it cost?
A clean start, like a reboot.
Not yet. A reboot empties the list. A branch keeps everything and files it. The old games on the other path still happened; they just happened elsewhere.Nothing. The promises are all still there.
Not yet. They are all still on the list, and a game on one path keeps the shared ones plus its own path's. The frames show the pile per path falling as paths are added.Fewer promises per story, at the cost of a map the reader has to learn.
Right. Six hundred becomes about 330 on each of three paths: the 200 made before the split bind every path, the rest only their own. Nothing is thrown away. A story that needs a chart has moved work from the writer to the reader.Move the control.
- RetconrewritesRebootemptiesBranchfiles
So the branch is the one fix that throws nothing away. The retcon rewrites, the reboot empties, and the branch files. Its price is paid by the reader: Nintendo's chart has three paths and a far-future box, and a newcomer who asks where to start is handed a map before a game.
- Film Athe war ends one wayFilm Banother wayBoth canon
A film series has two films that end the same war in two different ways. The owner announces that both are canon. What has it done, and what has it handed the audience?
Rebooted the series.
Not yet. A reboot would drop one or both endings and begin again. Keeping both is the opposite of emptying the list.Drawn a branch: both endings stand on different paths, and the audience now needs to know which path each later film is on.
Right. The owner kept both and gave up the single story. From now on every new film carries a label the audience must read, which is the map a branch costs.Retconned the first film.
Not yet. A retcon changes the first film's ending. The owner has said both endings stand, so neither was changed.
Lesson complete
A branch keeps two contradicting stories on two paths. Nothing is thrown away; the reader pays with a map.