Game Theory: Is Link Dead in Majora's Mask?

[MatthewPatrick13]

Is Link Dead in Majora's Mask?

Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask is a DARK game! Clearly, one of the game's major themes is death, but just how dark does it REALLY get? Is it possible that this game is all about Link, Nintendo's signature mascot, dealing with his own death? Today on Game Theory, we review the evidence!

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[Aidopunko]

I fucking love this shit, thankyou for the video and thankyou Escapist! Can't wait for the MM remake

 

[SweetJackal]

I think this is one of the better fleshed out theories used on this show. Very convincing and really can't think of contradictions in the evidence, it's presentation or more likely and stronger interpretations of it.

The entire falling through the endless pit in the tree could be seen as a portal to a parallel world, one that trapped trapped link there. Dimensional travel is a strong theme in the Zelda series as a whole. Being trapped there could have prevented him from teaching others after rising from the dead as a Stalfos.

Still, I think this is one of my favorite Game Theories.

 

[V4Viewtiful]

I heard of that theory, one of the many reasons why this game stands out and is my fav, sooo many layers to explore.

 

[Fox12]

I agree with most of what was said. This is a pretty popular theory among fans.

That said, I refuse to believe that the hero of time, THE HERO OF TIME, got lost in the woods and died. It's too unceremonious, and I've had many rousing arguments with my roomate over that. I think he simply entered a parallel world. It's not that unheard of, since the same could be said to have happened in the oracle games, and other titles besides. I do agree that termina is obviously symbolic of death and loss though.

 

[Darth_Payn]

Anyone else think of Sarah Connor's Judgement Day nightmare from Terminator 2 when watching the moon crash into the ground with Link in the middle?
I didn't get a good look at the "official" timeline(s), but is Majora's Mask set in the same timeline with Wind Waker?


captcha: Built Ford Tough
Link would have to be to withstand a nuclear-strength explosion.

 

[Travis Fischer]

I agree with most of what was said. This is a pretty popular theory among fans.

That said, I refuse to believe that the hero of time, THE HERO OF TIME, got lost in the woods and died. It's too unceremonious, and I've had many rousing arguments with my roomate over that. I think he simply entered a parallel world. It's not that unheard of, since the same could be said to have happened in the oracle games, and other titles besides. I do agree that termina is obviously symbolic of death and loss though.

It wouldn't be the first time. The last time we see The Legendary Hero he's drifting aimlessly in the middle of the ocean on a plank of wood.

He suffered a head injury and may or may not have imagined a whole adventure that time too.

 

[Hades]

Doesn't the Stalfos knight actually disprove the theory rather then strengthen it? If Link died before Majora's mask he would have died as a child which the knight clearly isn't.

 

[V4Viewtiful]

Doesn't the Stalfos knight actually disprove the theory rather then strengthen it? If Link died before Majora's mask he would have died as a child which the knight clearly isn't.

but he time traveled into adult hood and Stalfos rarely look like what they did when alive

Anyone else think of Sarah Connor's Judgement Day nightmare from Terminator 2 when watching the moon crash into the ground with Link in the middle?
I didn't get a good look at the "official" timeline(s), but is Majora's Mask set in the same timeline with Wind Waker?


captcha: Built Ford Tough
Link would have to be to withstand a nuclear-strength explosion.

no, MM is in the TP timeline. Ganon was sealed in the Future Timeline and with Link gone Ganon came back unthwarted.

MM occurred because Link technically couldn't return to the Kokiri (being of natural human/elf birth) and Ganon would later be in a war against the Hyrule Kingdom and lose but this could have happened when Link was an adult because before the sacred realm was unlocked the Kingdoms had a truce. So link wouldn't need to stay as he explored looking for (we assume) Navi.

 

[Toadfish1]

There are so many things to support this theory. You picked the dumbest and most astoundingly arbitrary.

Since you don't keep any consistency on the position or prominence of the individual in question, the stages of grief thing becomes nothing more than pointing to a single individual and trying to attribute their individual mindset to the wider population. You could find an interpretation of someone within one area who is experiencing any one of the five stages, or none at all.

You also missed the single best proof of this theory, centering around the Mask itself. In Hyrule, what powers did he display with the mask? None. Absolutely, nothing. Skull Kid required his fairies to do his dirty work for him. Quite weird for a god. But, if we assume that everything that happened after Link fell into the tree stump was him dying, then attributing this god-like power to the one who managed to kill him makes sense.

And finally, what are the things that the Skull Kid does in Termina? First thing he does is split apart the Great Fairies. Next, he resurrects the great beasts. Then, he de-ages Kafei. Then, he puts the plants in the swamp and resurrects the great invisible blowing thing in Woodfall. Finally, he tells the pirates of the Zora eggs. So, he multiplies, resurrects, brings youth, sows plants, resurrects again, and spreads news of new life, before finally bringing the moon to life. This is all life magic. Evil, evil life magic. By contrast, Link spends his time killing things, both the monsters, and good people who are clearly suffering (the Goron, the Zora, the dance master, most of Ikana valley). He is a benevolent grim reaper. Heck, even looking at the Fierce Deity, he looks like a death god. Meanwhile, Majora in all her forms looks like a bizarre fertility idol (Remember what the eyes actually are according to her final form).

The story is a death god trying to bring peace by overcoming a life god. In a metanarrative sense, the point is about dying peacefully, with death overcoming life.

 

[daxterx2005]

I really, REALLY like this theory...
I always disliked the blatant reuse of the characters as new ones, but this all makes sense now.

 

[Therumancer]

I think this is one of the better fleshed out theories used on this show. Very convincing and really can't think of contradictions in the evidence, it's presentation or more likely and stronger interpretations of it.

The entire falling through the endless pit in the tree could be seen as a portal to a parallel world, one that trapped trapped link there. Dimensional travel is a strong theme in the Zelda series as a whole. Being trapped there could have prevented him from teaching others after rising from the dead as a Stalfos.

Still, I think this is one of my favorite Game Theories.

The biggest contradiction to something like this, and one that applies to many other theories like it, is that if it was true I think they would have both been more obvious about it, and actually lead with it in saying what the game was about. Sure you could say Nintendo didn't want to turn off it's kid-centric base audience, but if that was the case why bother to do it to begin with?

I find it more likely that it's more a case of the scattershot approach The Japanese take towards mythology, which is to say they like to sprinkle global mythology and all kinds of weird stuff into their games without rhyme or reason because they think it's cool, this leads to people looking at these things and finding all kinds of weird stuff and making theories but none of it was ever really intended. In cases where a Japanese game has a message of this sort, it's usually pretty straightforward in the telling, after all the average young adult audience isn't all that bright and that is still who they make most of their games for. For example in "Persona 3" the whole game is about fate and the inevitability of death, the game beats you over the head with this from the repeating statement "Memento Mori" onwards and if you didn't miss it the developers were so proud of their own depth that they were more than happy to tell everyone all about it constantly.

As far as where Link is, my immediate guess would be a parallel dimension since they made it quite clear, especially in Twilight Princess, that different worlds co-exist. What's more being a fantasy world it could literally be underground due to the fact that "hollow earth" theory is popular with science fiction and fantasy writers. That is the idea that the planet is a shell, and that inside of the planet is another whole world. There are even some who go so far as to claim "Journey To The Center Of The Earth" was a true story passed off as fiction, along with a number of other similar stories including one popular one about some pilot who allegedly managed to fly a plane into the hollow earth during WW II and then was suddenly silent about the stories after he was promoting, leading to theories of a government cover up. That said in pure fantasy some fictional world's like Mystara (D&D's "Known World") had elaborate "Hollow World" alternate campaign settings constructed detailing what was inside the center of the world. It's possible that at least one version of Hyrule is hollow and actually has a moon of the sort depicted, which while viewed as a moon is probably some kind of free-standing object towards the center of the planet, since magic is involved and Zelda has always been cartoony and unsubtle in it's style I doubt much thought was put into a lot of the "why" beyond the desires for the darker tone and style of artwork.

That said, it seems unlikely that if they wanted to go full out dark that they wouldn't have bothered to detail what happened to Link, since whatever could take him out in that form would have been an expected boss in a later sequel. Not to mention of course the questions it raises about Navi and so on. Simply put there is a lot of potential here they could have spun off into other works that I doubt they would have overlooked.

 

[Hero of Lime]

I don't dislike the theory, but looking at all the evidence, you can easily say Link just went to a different world/dimension and returned home safely afterwards too. It is hinted at many times that Twilight Princess Link is descended from Ocarina of Time/Majora's Mask Link. It's not officially said, but it would make sense considering his spirit actually reaches out to him, and refers to him as his "child."

Not to mention, as others would point out, the Hero's Shade appears to be an adult. Children who die in the forest become stalchildren, adults become stalfos. That said, I don't think the ghost is supposed to be a stalfos, it's probably just supposed to convey all of his regrets. Being tied to the world he had saved, but never really got the recognition. It's nice to know the Hyrule in the Wind Waker timeline gave him a cool statue and retold his story as it should have been.

That said, I refuse to believe that the hero of time, THE HERO OF TIME, got lost in the woods and died. It's too unceremonious, and I've had many rousing arguments with my roomate over that. I think he simply entered a parallel world. It's not that unheard of, since the same could be said to have happened in the oracle games, and other titles besides. I do agree that termina is obviously symbolic of death and loss though.

Also this.

Oot/MM Link is my favorite of all the Links, thinking he would die as a child having saved Hyrule in the future as a great hero, it makes me really sad! Plus I would like to think of Termina as a physical place. It feels like there is some real interesting history to the place, I would hate to see it relegated to a dream, or purgatory.

 

[Link Satonaka]

I don't dislike the theory, but looking at all the evidence, you can easily say Link just went to a different world/dimension and returned home safely afterwards too. It is hinted at many times that Twilight Princess Link is descended from Ocarina of Time/Majora's Mask Link. It's not officially said, but it would make sense considering his spirit actually reaches out to him, and refers to him as his "child."

Then again, Skyward Sword made it abundantly clear that the hero and the princess reincarnate, and there's no specific tie that I recall to requiring a blood relation. The "evidence" against the theory is just pulling details from two different games made half a decade apart that to my mind weren't really all that concerned with hammering out a bulletproof timeline. I'd personally only accept evidence for or against from within Majora's Mask itself.

Not to mention, as others would point out, the Hero's Shade appears to be an adult. Children who die in the forest become stalchildren, adults become stalfos.

I came to bring this up, and dispute it. Each game, is its own game. I am inclined to believe that Majora's Mask was designed around the stages of grief, and that continuity wasn't particularly on their minds at the time. Then we have Twilight Princess paying homage to what Majora's Mask stood for: it's not necessarily an attempt at continuity, but it very likely *is* a nod to past works. A reference or nod is not a good basis for arguing continuity: it's closer to a subtle break of the 4th wall.

That means the timeline isn't perfect. I prefer it that way. I prefer that each game be its own exploration of ideas and concepts, unrestrained by details they created half a decade ago that are completely irrelevant to what they are trying to accomplish here and now.

Majora's Mask is a game so loosely tied to Ocarina of Time that continuity between them is entirely irrelevant. There are a few references to Ocarina of Time but it doesn't really matter if you understand them or not, and your actions in the Majora's Mask universe have no impact, effect, or consequence to the characters or even the entire world of Ocarina of Time.

Twilight Princess is a game so loosely tied to Majora's Mask that continuity between them is entirely irrelevant. There are a few references to Majora's Mask but it doesn't really matter if you understand them or not, and your actions in the Twilight Princess universe have no impact, effect, or consequence to the characters or even the entire world of Majora's Mask.

I could keep copy/pasting that for just about every game in the franchise. Full disclosure: I'm not a fan of the retcons Hyrule Hystoria / Skyward Sword use to duct tape all the games together. Fun read, fun to imagine how they could all conceivably link together, but I won't call it canon: the original intentions of the content trump whatever new concepts the creators try to retroactively impose upon them (the original intention being: not created to stand against scrutiny as a chronological series, each work is an individual unrelated to any other in the franchise except by the most remote of vague references and occasional homages).

That said, I refuse to believe that the hero of time, THE HERO OF TIME, got lost in the woods and died. It's too unceremonious, and I've had many rousing arguments with my roomate over that. I think he simply entered a parallel world. It's not that unheard of, since the same could be said to have happened in the oracle games, and other titles besides. I do agree that termina is obviously symbolic of death and loss though.

Also this.

Oot/MM Link is my favorite of all the Links, thinking he would die as a child having saved Hyrule in the future as a great hero, it makes me really sad!

The best stories aren't always the ones that make us warm and fuzzy inside- they're the ones that stick with us, even if the reason they stick with us is because you really didn't want it to happen.

That aside, Link arguably has the will of the goddesses guiding him throughout OoT (there are at the very least elements of double determination), and his task completed, he is merely human at the end of the day. Link is not, and never was, a god. To deny him a human death simply on principle is to deny his character. Good writing doesn't have immortal heroes or glorified valiant dignified deaths: good writing conveys that the character is human. Save the power fantasies for fan fiction

You might dislike the idea that the goddesses allowed Link to die once his purpose had been fulfilled, but this is actually typical of how gods are portrayed in literature. Remember: we as humans fear death because it is a great unknown, but it would not be unknown to the gods, and the goddesses are ostensibly working in Link's favor: QED allowing Link to die is not punishment or lack of favor.

 

[norva13x]

This theory is nothing but fanon that has become popular. The writers never intended it that way.

First of all, to address some arguments above:

Skyward Sword did indeed establish that not all Links are related and are more reincarnations. However, in Hyrule Historia (written by Nintendo with the official timeline) it seems to imply that TP Link is indeed the direct decedent of the Hero of Time:

Link, the descendant of the Hero of Time: [...] The spirit of Link's ancestor, the Hero of Time, teaches him his secrets. Ever since returning to the Child Era, the swordsman has lamented the fact that he was not remembered as a hero. This is the reason he passes down the proof of his courage and his secret techniques to the Link of this era, addressing him as "son"." (Hyrule Historia (Dark Horse Books), pg. 118)

Also, much like the instruction manual ("This is a kind of parallel world that is similar to and yet different from the land of Hyrule, which was the setting for the Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time." (Majora's Mask manual, pg. 6), Hyrule Historia treats Termina as a parallel world:

"Link set off on his horse, Epona, who lived at Lon Lon Ranch. Months passed as he wandered in search of his companion, Navi, eventually losing himself in a mysterious forest. It just so happened that this forest led to a parallel world known as Termina." (Hyrule Historia (Dark Horse Books), pg. 110)


Maybe the fan theory is right, who knows, but there has never been a single quote from Nintendo supporting it, while the parallel world one has several sources. The Link being dead theory has never even been addressed by them as far as I know. It's an interesting theory but one that as far as all evidence points to has never been supported or was never intended by the writers. Termina is meant to be an alternate dimension but still a "real" place as far as Zelda canon is concerned.