7 replies to this topic

[Wolf O'Donnell]

So, this is the month that the new Zelda game gets released. So I thought we could try to put some life back into this part of the forums, starting with a theory proposed by some guy:

 

Theory: Link is dead in Majora's Mask

 

 

Personally, I think they've contradicted themselves. It's a neat idea, but how can the scene of Link riding into the forest be him accepting his fate and moving on, if he hasn't moved on in Twilight Princess and is still hanging around because of his regrets?

[Arturo]

I found the theory brilliantly constructed, but too farfetched to be true. Very enjoyable.

[Snow]

Surely Link couldn't have died at the age of 9 if he had descendants, right?

[J-Roc]

Surely Link couldn't have died at the age of 9 if he had descendants, right?

 

He is a time traveler, so technically anything* is possible.

[SnowsilverKat]

At least it was more well thought out than most crack theories.
 
I do like the message of 'you can interpret any way you want,' though.  I personally don't see it the way they do, or if anything, that he's symbolically grieving the loss of Navi.  That seems to make much more sense than 'Link's dead.'
 
They didn't discuss what Majora's Mask symbolized at all, which I found odd.  You'd think the antagonist of a dying world would represent something. And it can't be 'regret' because canonically Link doesn't get over his regrets until he's a ghost during Twilight Princess.

And hey, on the Alice in Wonderland thing? Pretty much very game post Zelda II starts with Link waking up. Maybe ALL the Zelda games are just crazy crack death dreams after all!

Edited by SnowsilverKat, 10 November 2013 - 07:41 AM.

[Kwicky Koala]

Definitely a neat theory. Reminded me of why I liked the game - and the use of SNES-era music made me think of the idea that maybe the plot of Majora's is a throwback to those days of 16-bit RPGs with surprisingly mature themes (ie. FF6, Terranigma etc, any game with death as a prominent theme).

[Wolf O'Donnell]

Yeah, they were pretty mature now that you mention it... and mature without insane amounts of violence and bewbage.

[Egann]

I think people are reading too much into it. It makes sense, and if Majora's Mask had ended any way other than it did, I might like it. As is, I think Majora's Mask was intended as a coming of age story for the gamers playing it. Ocarina was very much into hand-holding the player through the plot, and very rarely does Link take real initiative beyond what one of the other characters tells him to do...because he's a child.

 

Then there's Majora's Mask. Aside from a deliberately cryptic remark from Tael and a deal with the Happy Mask Salesman, no one tells Link what to do. Ever. The instant he takes initiative to do things on his own he runs into worlds which should be upside-down and underground.

 

Link is going through the stages of grieving because he is LITERALLY GRIEVING THE UNIVERSE WHICH MADE SENSE. He's having to become an adult, which means dealing with adult concerns, like death, making decisions when you don't know what's going on, and even learning to cope with sexuality and love. I think all of us kinda went through a grieving stage when we realized we didn't understand this universe as well as we thought we did. 

 

And this makes perfect sense in universe, too. Ocarina ends with Zelda admitting she made a mistake, and all through Majora's Mask Link is coping with that realization. There are other things he's grieving, but Zelda's guidance and a universe which makes sense are the big ones.

 

There's also the Link Stalfos in Twilight Princess. If Link had died as a child (before Majora's Mask) he would be a Stalchild. His spirit is an adult Stalfos. As we haven't seen the Ocarina of Time since Majora's Mask, I'm inclined to think Ocarina Link NEVER returned to Hyrule. That's the other thing he's grieving: he can't return, so he will never have a home (the Happy Mask Salesman says he's in the "midst" of his travels. then immediately says Link should return home "as well." The clear implication is that travel IS Link's home, and Link will be doing the Ace Rimmer thing for the rest of his life. Needless to say, because he never returned, he could never pass on his techniques to the next hero, so his spirit assumed the form of a Stalfos. In Zelda lore, dead people are either poes or stalfos, and only the stalfos can show Twilight Princess Link swordsmanship techniques. 

 

That said, I beg to differ with the standard interpretation of Majora's Mask. Link is *not* looking for Navi. The book-ending image of Link's carving on the stump is very clear he was looking to save the Skull Kid. He didn't start that way, sure, but by the end he realized that was what he had been looking for all along.