The Legend of Zelda's timeline is confusing, depictions of the Sacred Realm are rather consistent, if only because it's featured so rarely in-game. Despite the Triforce being the series' most recognizable iconography, the Sacred Realm is shown in very few games, and is only explorable in a single title.
The creation of the Sacred Realm is delineated in Ocarina of Time, the Nintendo 64 classic released in 1998, after purging Ganondorf's curse from the dying Deku Tree. Link is told of how the three Golden Goddesses - Din, Farore, and Nayru - descended up on the chaos of the universe and molded it into the land that would become Hyrule. With their work complete, the Goddesses left for the heavens, leaving the Triforce at the location of their departure. As described by the Deku Tree, one of Zelda's most prominent recurring characters, this resting place of the Triforce becomes the Sacred Realm.
Although Princess Zelda later describes the Triforce as being hidden in Hyrule, Ocarina and other games in the series consistently depict the Sacred Realm as a world parallel and connected to the one occupied by Hyrule. The Sacred Realm is also known as the Golden Land and is only seen in four games - A Link to the Past, Ocarina of Time, Twilight Princess, and A Link Between Worlds. The latter three uniformly feature the Sacred Realm only during cutscenes, but ALttP actually has players explore it to a great extent.
The Portal To The Sacred Realm Is Sealed
The Triforce is frequently seen outside of the Sacred Realm, which brings some inconsistencies in the timeline. Such is the case in Skyward Sword, where the three golden triangles are hidden in Skyloft after being entrusted to the Goddess Hylia. Skyward Sword is chronologically first in Zelda's timeline, and following the game's events, several wars break out over control of the Triforce. One of these is the Interloper War, which is described to Link in Twilight Princess. A group of sorcerers, known only as the Interlopers, employed the power of the Fused Shadow to try and seize the Triforce. The four Light Spirits, who keep guard over different regions of Hyrule, were forced to intervene, splitting the Fused Shadow and banishing the Interlopers to the Twilight Realm, where their descendants would eventually become the peaceful Twili.
In response to this strife, an ancient Sage named Rauru constructed the Temple of Time to lock away the entrance to the Sacred Realm. Rauru would become the Sage of Light and reside in the Sacred Realm himself, though he did frequently appear in Hyrule in the form of the wise owl Kaepora Gaebora. Rauru guards the Triforce in Ocarina of Time's Temple of Light, a part of the Sacred Realm directly connected to Hyrule by the Pedestal of Time, a portal held closed by the Master Sword. The Master Sword was then locked behind the Door of Time, which can only be opened by someone in possession of the three Spiritual Stones. The Kokiri Emerald, Goron Ruby, and Zora Sapphire were then spread throughout Hyrule to be guarded by its non-Hylian inhabitants.
Ganondorf Enters & Corrupts The Sacred Realm
Shortly before the events of Ocarina of Time, the Gerudo King of Thieves, Ganondorf, attempts to take the Kokiri Emerald from the Great Deku Tree. For turning Ganondorf away, the King of Thieves curses the Kokiri's guardian. The Deku Tree then summons Link, a Hylian boy orphaned by the civil war that happened before Ocarina of Time, and so begins the quest to retrieve the Spiritual Stones. Although he was initially thwarted by the Deku Tree, Ganondorf deftly allows Link to open the portal to the Sacred Realm. After pulling the Master Sword, Link is sealed inside the Sacred Realm until he is old enough to wield the Blade of Evil's Bane. Ganondorf enters the Sacred Realm behind Link and attempts to claim the Triforce. Because Ganondorf's Courage, Power, and Wisdom were not in balance, the Triforce split into three pieces. Ganondorf was awarded the Triforce of Courage and proceeded to corrupt everything in the Sacred Realm except for the Temple of Light and the Chamber of Sages within, and subsequently begins his conquest of Hyrule.
When Link awakens seven years later, the kingdom of Hyrule is in ruins and he is charged by Rauru with awakening five Sages throughout Hyrule. Ganon's power in Ocarina of Time can only be contested by those who wield the other two pieces of the Triforce - Link in possession of the Triforce of Courage, and Zelda with the Triforce of Wisdom. The rest of the Sacred Realm's history takes place on the branch of the Zelda timeline where the Hero of Time is defeated. Ocarina of Time retcons the original backstory to A Link to the Past, but the fate of Ganon is essentially the same. No matter the outcome of the final battle in Ocarina, Ganon is sealed within the corrupted Sacred Realm by the Seven Sages. In the timeline that leads to A Link to the Past, Ganon defeats Link and Zelda, and claims the other two pieces of the Triforce.
Link Enters The Dark World & Restores The Golden Land
Over the course of centuries, Ganon consolidates power in the sealed Sacred Realm until eventually the portal is re-opened. In A Link to the Past's original backstory, it was Ganondorf, leader of a band of thieves, who broke the Golden Land's seal to claim the Triforce. With Ocarina making this impossible, it's unclear how the Sacred Realm was re-opened, but the event lead to the Imprisoning War. Ganon's armies emerged from the corrupted Sacred Realm, now known as the Dark World, and attempted to conquer Hyrule. The kingdom's knights were barely able to succeed in defending the land, and the Seven Sages of that time once again sealed Ganon inside the Dark World. Hyrule enjoyed peace once again, until the rise of the wizard Agahnim begins the events of ALttP.
As an alter ego of Ganon, Agahnim quickly gains influence in Hyrule for solving many of the kingdom's problems with powerful magic. Agahnim seizes control of The Legend of Zelda's Hyrule Castle and banishes six Maidens, descendants of the Seven Sages, to the Dark World. Link confronting Agahnim and being sent to the Dark World marks the only time players have been able to freely wander the Sacred Realm. In the Dark World, Link rescues the seven Maidens (the seventh being Princess Zelda) and finally confronts Ganon at the Pyramid of Power. After defeating the Demon King, Link reclaims the Triforce, restores the Golden Land to its former glory, and resurrects his uncle and the slain king of Hyrule.
The Sacred Realm reappears briefly at the end of A Link Between Worlds, the story of which occurs after The Legend of Zelda's Triforce was split once again. After Link thwarts Yuga's plan to steal Hyrule's Triforce to replace that which was destroyed in Lorule, Princess Hilda sends Link and Zelda back to their world through a crack in Lorule's Sacred Realm. With the Triforce restored and once again in the Golden Land, Link uses it to wish for the return of Lorule's inverted golden triangles, restoring the glory of Hyrule's twin kingdom. Although it is incredibly important to the series' lore, this is the last of the Sacred Realm's few appearances in The Legend of Zelda.
