One Day More: Majora's Mask part 28

   Link wakes up on the ground outside of Clock Town restored to his original form.  Tatl and Tael are flying overhead and Link looks over to see the freed Skull Kid talking with the Four Giants.  It turns out the beginning of this whole mess was when Skull Kid thought the giants had abandoned him.  They had gone to each of their realms to protect and maintain order over Termina, but Skull Kid imagined they had forgotten their friendship.  As the Giants make clear Skull Kid is forgiven, they walk back to each of their lands and fade away.

   Skull Kid comes to understand the value of friendship and wishes to befriend Link since he put him through so much trouble.  Skull Kid then realizes that Link is very similar to the boy who taught him a song in the woods a while ago (that's because they're the same boy who taught the song).  Then out of nowhere, the Happy Mask Salesman appears holding Majora's Mask in his hands.  He says the evil power has now left the mask for good.  For a while I thought he was distraught about this, as though he wanted the power.  However, with further consideration, it suggests he will not have to guard the mask anymore.  It doesn't change the fact he's still creepy, but it makes it less unsettling that he gets the mask in the end.  The Mask Salesman tells Link that all the masks he has given away have been returned to his possession.  He also notes that Link's victory is in all the happiness he spread in getting those masks.  The Happy Mask Salesman ends by saying just because two friends part company doesn't mean they will never be able to meet again.  He says the power of friends to reunite rests entirely in those friends and that no distance can separate two people for long.  With these remarks, the Salesman begins to walk away before disappearing into thin air.  We may never know who he really is, some think he was one of the Ancient Ones who created the mask seeking to protect it from the weak.  With the end of the legend of Majora's Mask, he too fades into memory.

    Tatl, apparently not good with goodbyes, tells Link there partnership has ended as both have come to terms.  She then reminds Link rather callously that he has business to deal with in his world and that she, her brother, and the Skull Kid have a festival to celebrate.  As Link hops on his horse and rides off, Tatl quietly thanks Link for everything he did.  Tatl and Tael seemingly embrace (hard to say, they're both represented as balls of light with wings) and then the camera shows what happens through the rest of the day.

   The Indigo-gos and a host of others perform in Clock Town, gathering a large crowd.  The King of the Dekus makes peace with the monkey he had tried to kill.  The spirits of the dead in Ikana are laid to rest, and the man who Link helped escape the curse of the mummy goes outside with his daughter to greet the new day.  Cremia watches as Romani demonstrates her skills with a bow.  In a gathering of all the people of the town as well as the ranch owning sisters, the wedding of Anju and Kafei takes place formally at the gates of the city.  Sadly, those souls that aided Link were not brought back to life, as seen in Mikau's vacant spot on the stage with his band and the Deku Steward crying over the dead tree Link saw at the beginning of his journey.  Finally, Link is shown riding through the Lost Woods of Hyrule once again on Epona.  He rides with a downcast look, but at least he rides towards a patch of light filtering down from the trees.  As he moves away from the scene, a wood carving on a tree trunk shows Link, Skull Kid, Tatl and Tael, and the Four Giants as Saria's Song is heard one last time.

   And here ends the legend of Majora's Mask and the Hero of Time.

Goodbye

Three Days to Deliver, Three Days to Die (Day 3): Majora's Mask part 5

Day three is a little uneventful up until the end, so I'm gonna go ahead and talk about a few other things in this post.

Throughout day three, the festival music in the background has become more ominous, but beyond that everything seems pretty normal.  A little past noon, it becomes apparent that there are tremors running through the land of Termina.  The moon is closer than ever and by nightfall, everybody has gone indoors. It's safe to say Termina has gone terminal and has hours left until the inevitable. In the town square near the clock tower, there is a single man still standing.  He is the foreman who was building the bridge to the clock tower.  Upset that all of his apprentices had run away with the job unfinished, he stands alone shouting straight up at the moon.  He shouts again and again hoping that it will scare the moon back into the sky.  I don't think there's been a better time to use the word lunatic beyond this scenario.


At the stroke of midnight, the clock tower door opens as the structure converts into a platform.  Being forward thinking, the flower Link bought from the deku tree person merchant guy allows him to jump up towards the stairs of the clock tower.  Upon ascending, he finds the Skull Kid hovering around with Tatl's captive fairy brother present as well.  Having waited so that Link may have front row seats to the end of the world, he takes the last few hours to taunt Link without end.  Tael blurts out to Link and Tatl to go to the forest, mountain, ocean, and canyon and to "bring them here."  Skull Kid smacks his captive and then lets out a keening death wail to bring the moon down faster.  As the moon draws closer, the bell of the clock tower begins to shake uncontrollably, becoming the death knell of the world.  Skull Kid then reveals the Ocarina of Time and holds it over Link to taunt him some more.  To challenge the Skull Kid's limitless and apocalyptic powers, Link musters his magic and spits at him.  This gives just enough of a distraction to make Skull Kid drop the magic flute, thus reuniting the Hero of Time with the righteous power to do some serious wibbly wobbly timey wimey stuff.

Hey kids! Now you can play along on you nearest instrument.
Piano, guitar,  fiddle, banjo, or even kazoo if you feel so inclined.

As he holds the instrument, the first memory that comes to mind is Princess Zelda.  I suppose if you're gonna remember something at the end of the world, it might as well be a good memory.  In the memory, he hears the notes of the Song of Time.  The Song of Time, when played on the Ocarina of Time by the Hero of Time in the nick of time at the end of time, allows Link to jump back in time to the first day when he arrived at the base of the clock tower, a structure built to measure time.  Tatl at this point begins to wonder who Link is, but before she continues this thought, she remembers that the creepy mask man (technically the happy mask man, but we will see why creepy is more befitting in a moment) would help Link had he reacquired the ocarina.

Link goes under the clock tower where the man is waiting.  He seems to be somewhat aware that Link has gone to great lengths to retrieve the instrument.  As such, he summons a pipe organ out of nowhere and teaches Link a new song, the Song of Healing (Listen to it on Youtube. It's creepy but strangely relaxing.)  This song lays tortured souls to rest.  How exactly does this help Link?  Well, the dead tree person that he saw in the cave had it's soul taken by the Skull Kid, and then impressed on to Link causing him to transform.  By laying the deku spirit to rest, Link is returned to human form.  He has a similar hallucination to the one he had before (the David Lynchy one) but this one is a lot less unsettling as Link playfully waves goodbye to the giant tree person that was chasing him.  The spirit is then placed into a mask, that Link might take it on his quest.

Of course, the mask salesman asked that his stolen mask be returned.  When he sees that Link doesn't have his mask, he loses his cool.  He did this in the previous game (yeah, it's possible he's been stalking Link for a while now) at his shop when Link didn't return with the money he made in selling masks.  This time, there's no counter between the salesman and Link and also no witnesses.  He proceeds to strangle Link, but is overcome with the horror of losing the mask forever and decides to give Link a better reason to complete the quest (as if the end of the world wasn't enough).

He tells that the the mask in question, Majora's Mask, was one used by an ancient tribe in hexing rituals.  When the demon within the mask became too dangerous to control, the mask was sealed away.  The mask collector, whether to add another mask to his collection or perform nefarious acts, sought out and captured the mask.  He tasks Link once again to retrieve the mask.  This leaves me with the sense that this is probably one of the most morally ambiguous quests given in the Legend of Zelda franchise.  Leaving the mask with the Skull Kid leads to certain destruction, but returning it to the mask salesman who has no qualms with strangling children doesn't seem like the best alternative either.  Link is left with the only thing that seems right:   saving the world.

Continued in the next post.

The Fallen and the Freaky Mask Guy: Majora's Mask part 2

  So as it was, the skull kid floats off leisurely with one of the fairies while the other fairy quite literally kicks the warped tree person (called a Deku for all future reference) Link while he is down.  Being distracted as such, Tatl, the she fairy, fails to notice until it is too late that the mask wearing skull kid has absconded with her brother Tael (obvious name pun is obvious). She immediately blames Link but in the name of self preservation forms an alliance with him.

  After hopping from flower to flower in this new deku form in a manner comparable to something from Alice in Wonderland, Link stumbles upon a tree with a vacant face like the one he now bears.  It states that he can feel the sorrow of the tree.  Like its face will start crying at any second.  The skull kid had also taunted Link about his crying after claiming to have gotten rid of his horse.   It becomes pretty apparent that this is a sign of things to come.  This dead deku was the last poor victim to wind up down here, and now Link is just a chapter behind this poor fellow.

The face only a father could love.

Did I mention the grass runs away if you threaten it in any manner? Yeah, tall grass just throws itself against the wall until it shreds to pieces. Just thought you should know that.  I'll get into fear and death later, because in this E for everyone rated masterpiece, it's not getting old anytime soon.

"I'll save you rupees; I'll save you strife.
I'll take your time; I'll take your life."

After escaping tree hell by way of the door behind the dead deku boy (so close and yet so far), you find yourself in a sort of waterworks with gears turning along cogs and a set of stairs leading up to a door.  Walking up to the door, you hear a voice say with a soft chuckle "You've met with a terrible fate, haven't you?"

Tatl, who assaulted a guy with a sword and was hanging out with a masked creature with evil powers, hides behind you as you witness the most fabulously creepy gent you will ever see in a video game (that is in having all three qualities of being fabulous, creepy, and a gent).  On his back are several masks, few of which look like they actually want to be there.  While most of them look quite appalled, he never ceases to smile.  As all good business deals start, he admits to stalking you.  He's probably watching you through the window while you read this right now.  He goes on to mention that he sells and collects masks and that one from his collection has been stolen. Guess which one.   He then offers to help you return to human form so long as you reacquire the ocarina of time and his lost mask.  He then adds that he will wait in that spot, but only for three days, after which he must leave on a "business errand".

So that's your quest.  No princesses to rescue.  No wizards to battle. No dungeon crawling.  Just stop an unruly thief and get back his loot.  It's not like it's the end of the world, right? (Spoiler:  You'll be begging for a princess to rescue by the end.)

Next begins day 1