ZERO...
Smash Apprentice
Ehh... I don't know how active this place is, but I thought that I'd try to make a theory.
I'm sorry if it doesn't turn out too well... Well, here it goes:
The quote I used as the title is muttered by the Happy Mask Salesman after Majora is defeated and Termina is "saved" (we'll get to why I put quotations marks around saved later). My first time reading those words was when I was eight and had just barely managed to defeat Majora after a three year endeavor with a game that frightened my young self at every chance that it got. I felt triumphant. I had finally killed the one who was causing so much pain for Termina and me. Link must have felt similarly as he proceeded to leave Termina, possibly forever. However, was it a true triumph? As I grew older those words "The evil has left the mask after all..." would occasionally appear in my mind when I thought about the game. I became increasingly suspicious of the true meaning of those words. Then, one day, I realized that maybe the evil simply did leave the mask and that Majora was not actually dead. I had a bit of evidence, but not too much to support it. Now, I believe that I have plenty of sufficient evidence to support this hypothesis.
Firstly, let's examine the mask. Of course, as the game shows, Majora's Mask has incredible powers. These incredible powers allow it to bring never-ending blizzards, poison swamps, and ruin entire ecosystems. However, it is somewhat limited by what its wearer wishes. This limitation could perhaps even prevent it from being able to use all of its power. At the end of the game, we see Majora's Mask move by itself, meaning that the mask itself may possibly be sentient. However, as shown in the final battle against it, it is not the mask that is sentient, but rather, there is something sealed in the mask that is sentient. Now, logically, something sealed in something would obviously want to escape. Majora wanted to do just that.
However, who would let some kind of ungodly evil out willingly? Until one with a dark past such as the Skull Kid decided to wear the mask, it was effectively harmless. However, fortune smiled upon Majora, and the Skull Kid decided to wear it. The Skull Kid, with his newfound power, tortured the people of Termina and sealed the guardian giants with this power. This took place at least a month before Link arrived in Termina (Anju says that Kafei disappeared one month ago if you talk to her on the second day at Laundry Pool). When Link is travelling in the Lost Woods, oddly enough, the Skull Kid is there, too, outside of Termina. Why was he here? Well, to put it simply, he was looking to mess up Hyrule as well. Why would that be? It was the people of Termina who betrayed him? I believe that the mask influenced him to do it to be honest. Majora, unable to find anyone in Termina to challenge him, wanted to go to Hyrule (a place held in high regard if Anju's grandmother's stories hold true) to find a warrior that he would eventually trick into battling him and breaking the seal. However, more on that later.
The Skull Kid knocks Link unconscious and says the following upon further observation, "Huh? This guy... Well, that shouldn't be a problem." Of course, Majora had to have observed this and may have very well concluded that the person that the Skull Kid just pulled a prank on may be more powerful than he seems. However, the Skull Kid, still not completely under Majora's influence, steals Link's ocarina, cripples him, and heads back to Termina. For one reason or another, the Skull Kid (who I imagine is still not completely under Majora's control) uses the power of the mask to pull the moon out of the sky to crush Termina (remember, the Skull Kid is not as cruel as Majora. This would probably be a much less painful experience than what Majora would give Termina provided that he was not sealed). When Majora did overcome the Skull Kid's will, he might have been fine with the moon because although he knew that Link would be able to disrupt his apparent plans eventually, he might as well torture the kid. More importantly, however, if the moon did fall, it would likely destroy the mask, breaking the seal.
Right now, I just want to make a note about how Majora influences the Skull Kid. His influence on him grows incredibly slowly, but for a good reason. The Skull Kid doesn't seem to notice. If he did, he would likely try to get rid of the mask, as he does when he realizes that the mask is making him do such evil things at the end of the game on the Clock Tower after Link plays the Oath to Order. There's a saying about how putting a frog in hot water will make it jump out immediately, but putting a frog in lukewarm water and slowly turning up the heat will trick the frog into staying in the water as it doesn't notice the change until it's too late (This is actually untrue in real life. In fact, I believe that the opposite is true). This saying seems to hold true for Majora's slowly growing influence over the Skull Kid as the Skull Kid doesn't notice the influence until it's too late. Remember, most of what I have said so far is speculation. Now, we get more into the facts.
As you know, Link does free the four giants and stops the moon from falling. Majora's Mask frees himself from the Skull Kid, and proceeds to give two, rather chillingly serious lines of dialogue before disappearing into the moon, increasing its power. Of course, this incites Link to follow the mask to stop it once and for all. At this point, Majora adopts a completely new personality (not unlike Zant). This childlike personality is a bit unnerving, but Majora may intend it to do just that. By calling something a game, it makes itself appear more innocent than it really is. It wants to let Link win, but it doesn't want Link to become too suspicious if he finds the fight too easy. Why does he was Link to win? To break the seal on the mask. This may even be why Majora gives Link the Fierce Deity Mask if he has no masks (Honestly, I think the Fierce Deity Mask is something that Majora simply conjured up. I don't think there ever was a true Fierce Deity, but that's another theory of mine). So, Link fights Majora. Something has always seemed off about this fight, though. Majora, the same being whose power created endless blizzards, completely a poisoned swamp, destroyed an ecosystem, reversed aging, stole the bodies of species and transformed others into those bodies, and pulled a moon out of orbit, is... spinning into me while making odd sounds? While the beam it uses may be impressive, there isn't really anything else that would set it aside from a normal boss. Well, once Link damages it enough, it becomes Majora's Incarnation. I believe that this means that Link is breaking the seal, and when it transforms once again, the seal is completely broken. Yet, it's still using whips when it could easily simply take away Link's body. Why? Well, again, to keep Link from getting suspicious if something went wrong and Link still won. If that happened, Link may have realized that Majora was planning more than what was apparent. Clearing Link of any suspicion would allow Majora to torture and painfully destroy Termina much more easily as Link would think that he is gone. That light show and apparent disintegration it made when you defeated it? All to appear to be defeated. The moon going away? To appear to be defeated.
So at the end of the game, everything appears alright and whatnot. Then the Happy Mask Salesman appears out of nowhere, saying those chilling lines ever so solemnly, "Oh... So the evil has left the mask after all..." As anyone who has played Majora's Mask knows, the Happy Mask Salesman is always eccentric with his emotions. The only time he seems to be solemn is when he talks about the dangers of Majora's Mask, as if in fear. One would expect him to be extraordinarily happy when he gets the mask back, but he isn't. He may know that Majora isn't defeated, and instead, it has tricked everyone into unsealing its terrible evil. Why doesn't the Happy Mask Salesman tell Link this? Well, remember what Kaepora Gaebora said in Woodfall? "This swamp you are in has lost its guardian deity. But it was destined to fade anyway. Hoo-hoot... And that destiny is not limited solely limited to this swamp..." This implies that since its creation, Termina has always been doomed to fade. After seeing that Majora had not truly been defeated but instead had grown stronger, the Happy Mask Salesman realized this. However, he may have thought of another plan (warning the following is complete speculation). Majora now most likely knows how to travel to Hyrule by learning from the Skull Kid. After he is done completely torturing Termina, he is likely to go to Hyrule. The Happy Mask Salesman has been in Hyrule and undoubtedly
knows about the Triforce as well as the Master Sword, two things that would greatly assist in beating Majora. By tricking Majora into confronting Link and other Hyrulians in their native realm, the heroes would have a much greater chance of defeating Majora. Not to mention that it is likely that Majora thought he could pull a surprise attack on Hyrule without anyone else knowing. However, the Happy Mask Salesman could inform the people of Hyrule about this terror so that they would be more prepared, including Link who probably thought Majora was dead and no longer a problem. Unfortunately, this means that Termina could not be saved. However, it probably could not be saved anyway. Without any weapon that is truly the bane of evil in Termina, Majora could never be defeated.
This brings me to my next point. As soon as the Skull Kid put on Majora's Mask, Majora had already won. No matter what happened after that, Majora would win. Had the moon crashed, Termina would be destroyed, the mask (and the seal) would be destroyed, allowing Majora to be free. Had there been no Link to stop Majora, the Skull Kid would have gone to Hyrule, tortured Hyrule quite a bit, and eventually encounter Ganondorf or a powerful warrior like Darunia who would break the seal (I honestly think that Majora is more powerful than Ganondorf even if he has the Triforce of Power, so Majora would likely still get away). Regardless of the situation, Termina was never saved, and Majora wins.
Well, that was my first theory. I had a couple of better points that I thought up earlier, but I may have forgotten them. I also rambled a bit, unfortunately. If I clean this up a bit it probably would be better... Though, I feel as if the information, for the most part, is necessary in order to understand what I am trying to convey. Also, as a small note, I looked up what the Happy Mask Salesman said in the Japanese version to confirm that Majora was never pronounced dead. The text is as follows: おお、やはり 仮面から 邪気が 無くなっている... This roughly translates to, "Oh, so the mask's evil spirit is missing." Of course, this is essentially the same thing as what he says in the American/European versions. Anyway, I hope I didn't bore you with this long theory. It's just that I've always loved Majora's Mask, and I have always wanted for Majora to be the main villain in another Zelda game.
I apologize for inconsistencies or fallacies in my theory. If you find any, please correct me. If you find something that completely renders this theory untrue, please tell me.
So umm... thank you for taking the time to read this!
I'm sorry if it doesn't turn out too well... Well, here it goes:
The quote I used as the title is muttered by the Happy Mask Salesman after Majora is defeated and Termina is "saved" (we'll get to why I put quotations marks around saved later). My first time reading those words was when I was eight and had just barely managed to defeat Majora after a three year endeavor with a game that frightened my young self at every chance that it got. I felt triumphant. I had finally killed the one who was causing so much pain for Termina and me. Link must have felt similarly as he proceeded to leave Termina, possibly forever. However, was it a true triumph? As I grew older those words "The evil has left the mask after all..." would occasionally appear in my mind when I thought about the game. I became increasingly suspicious of the true meaning of those words. Then, one day, I realized that maybe the evil simply did leave the mask and that Majora was not actually dead. I had a bit of evidence, but not too much to support it. Now, I believe that I have plenty of sufficient evidence to support this hypothesis.
Firstly, let's examine the mask. Of course, as the game shows, Majora's Mask has incredible powers. These incredible powers allow it to bring never-ending blizzards, poison swamps, and ruin entire ecosystems. However, it is somewhat limited by what its wearer wishes. This limitation could perhaps even prevent it from being able to use all of its power. At the end of the game, we see Majora's Mask move by itself, meaning that the mask itself may possibly be sentient. However, as shown in the final battle against it, it is not the mask that is sentient, but rather, there is something sealed in the mask that is sentient. Now, logically, something sealed in something would obviously want to escape. Majora wanted to do just that.
However, who would let some kind of ungodly evil out willingly? Until one with a dark past such as the Skull Kid decided to wear the mask, it was effectively harmless. However, fortune smiled upon Majora, and the Skull Kid decided to wear it. The Skull Kid, with his newfound power, tortured the people of Termina and sealed the guardian giants with this power. This took place at least a month before Link arrived in Termina (Anju says that Kafei disappeared one month ago if you talk to her on the second day at Laundry Pool). When Link is travelling in the Lost Woods, oddly enough, the Skull Kid is there, too, outside of Termina. Why was he here? Well, to put it simply, he was looking to mess up Hyrule as well. Why would that be? It was the people of Termina who betrayed him? I believe that the mask influenced him to do it to be honest. Majora, unable to find anyone in Termina to challenge him, wanted to go to Hyrule (a place held in high regard if Anju's grandmother's stories hold true) to find a warrior that he would eventually trick into battling him and breaking the seal. However, more on that later.
The Skull Kid knocks Link unconscious and says the following upon further observation, "Huh? This guy... Well, that shouldn't be a problem." Of course, Majora had to have observed this and may have very well concluded that the person that the Skull Kid just pulled a prank on may be more powerful than he seems. However, the Skull Kid, still not completely under Majora's influence, steals Link's ocarina, cripples him, and heads back to Termina. For one reason or another, the Skull Kid (who I imagine is still not completely under Majora's control) uses the power of the mask to pull the moon out of the sky to crush Termina (remember, the Skull Kid is not as cruel as Majora. This would probably be a much less painful experience than what Majora would give Termina provided that he was not sealed). When Majora did overcome the Skull Kid's will, he might have been fine with the moon because although he knew that Link would be able to disrupt his apparent plans eventually, he might as well torture the kid. More importantly, however, if the moon did fall, it would likely destroy the mask, breaking the seal.
Right now, I just want to make a note about how Majora influences the Skull Kid. His influence on him grows incredibly slowly, but for a good reason. The Skull Kid doesn't seem to notice. If he did, he would likely try to get rid of the mask, as he does when he realizes that the mask is making him do such evil things at the end of the game on the Clock Tower after Link plays the Oath to Order. There's a saying about how putting a frog in hot water will make it jump out immediately, but putting a frog in lukewarm water and slowly turning up the heat will trick the frog into staying in the water as it doesn't notice the change until it's too late (This is actually untrue in real life. In fact, I believe that the opposite is true). This saying seems to hold true for Majora's slowly growing influence over the Skull Kid as the Skull Kid doesn't notice the influence until it's too late. Remember, most of what I have said so far is speculation. Now, we get more into the facts.
As you know, Link does free the four giants and stops the moon from falling. Majora's Mask frees himself from the Skull Kid, and proceeds to give two, rather chillingly serious lines of dialogue before disappearing into the moon, increasing its power. Of course, this incites Link to follow the mask to stop it once and for all. At this point, Majora adopts a completely new personality (not unlike Zant). This childlike personality is a bit unnerving, but Majora may intend it to do just that. By calling something a game, it makes itself appear more innocent than it really is. It wants to let Link win, but it doesn't want Link to become too suspicious if he finds the fight too easy. Why does he was Link to win? To break the seal on the mask. This may even be why Majora gives Link the Fierce Deity Mask if he has no masks (Honestly, I think the Fierce Deity Mask is something that Majora simply conjured up. I don't think there ever was a true Fierce Deity, but that's another theory of mine). So, Link fights Majora. Something has always seemed off about this fight, though. Majora, the same being whose power created endless blizzards, completely a poisoned swamp, destroyed an ecosystem, reversed aging, stole the bodies of species and transformed others into those bodies, and pulled a moon out of orbit, is... spinning into me while making odd sounds? While the beam it uses may be impressive, there isn't really anything else that would set it aside from a normal boss. Well, once Link damages it enough, it becomes Majora's Incarnation. I believe that this means that Link is breaking the seal, and when it transforms once again, the seal is completely broken. Yet, it's still using whips when it could easily simply take away Link's body. Why? Well, again, to keep Link from getting suspicious if something went wrong and Link still won. If that happened, Link may have realized that Majora was planning more than what was apparent. Clearing Link of any suspicion would allow Majora to torture and painfully destroy Termina much more easily as Link would think that he is gone. That light show and apparent disintegration it made when you defeated it? All to appear to be defeated. The moon going away? To appear to be defeated.
So at the end of the game, everything appears alright and whatnot. Then the Happy Mask Salesman appears out of nowhere, saying those chilling lines ever so solemnly, "Oh... So the evil has left the mask after all..." As anyone who has played Majora's Mask knows, the Happy Mask Salesman is always eccentric with his emotions. The only time he seems to be solemn is when he talks about the dangers of Majora's Mask, as if in fear. One would expect him to be extraordinarily happy when he gets the mask back, but he isn't. He may know that Majora isn't defeated, and instead, it has tricked everyone into unsealing its terrible evil. Why doesn't the Happy Mask Salesman tell Link this? Well, remember what Kaepora Gaebora said in Woodfall? "This swamp you are in has lost its guardian deity. But it was destined to fade anyway. Hoo-hoot... And that destiny is not limited solely limited to this swamp..." This implies that since its creation, Termina has always been doomed to fade. After seeing that Majora had not truly been defeated but instead had grown stronger, the Happy Mask Salesman realized this. However, he may have thought of another plan (warning the following is complete speculation). Majora now most likely knows how to travel to Hyrule by learning from the Skull Kid. After he is done completely torturing Termina, he is likely to go to Hyrule. The Happy Mask Salesman has been in Hyrule and undoubtedly
knows about the Triforce as well as the Master Sword, two things that would greatly assist in beating Majora. By tricking Majora into confronting Link and other Hyrulians in their native realm, the heroes would have a much greater chance of defeating Majora. Not to mention that it is likely that Majora thought he could pull a surprise attack on Hyrule without anyone else knowing. However, the Happy Mask Salesman could inform the people of Hyrule about this terror so that they would be more prepared, including Link who probably thought Majora was dead and no longer a problem. Unfortunately, this means that Termina could not be saved. However, it probably could not be saved anyway. Without any weapon that is truly the bane of evil in Termina, Majora could never be defeated.
This brings me to my next point. As soon as the Skull Kid put on Majora's Mask, Majora had already won. No matter what happened after that, Majora would win. Had the moon crashed, Termina would be destroyed, the mask (and the seal) would be destroyed, allowing Majora to be free. Had there been no Link to stop Majora, the Skull Kid would have gone to Hyrule, tortured Hyrule quite a bit, and eventually encounter Ganondorf or a powerful warrior like Darunia who would break the seal (I honestly think that Majora is more powerful than Ganondorf even if he has the Triforce of Power, so Majora would likely still get away). Regardless of the situation, Termina was never saved, and Majora wins.
Well, that was my first theory. I had a couple of better points that I thought up earlier, but I may have forgotten them. I also rambled a bit, unfortunately. If I clean this up a bit it probably would be better... Though, I feel as if the information, for the most part, is necessary in order to understand what I am trying to convey. Also, as a small note, I looked up what the Happy Mask Salesman said in the Japanese version to confirm that Majora was never pronounced dead. The text is as follows: おお、やはり 仮面から 邪気が 無くなっている... This roughly translates to, "Oh, so the mask's evil spirit is missing." Of course, this is essentially the same thing as what he says in the American/European versions. Anyway, I hope I didn't bore you with this long theory. It's just that I've always loved Majora's Mask, and I have always wanted for Majora to be the main villain in another Zelda game.
I apologize for inconsistencies or fallacies in my theory. If you find any, please correct me. If you find something that completely renders this theory untrue, please tell me.
So umm... thank you for taking the time to read this!
