I think it has one of the sweetest moments in the whole series. When the guy transforms from a mummy back to a man, and his daughter comforts him, telling him it was all a dream, and they just hug each other. I nearly cry every time.
I really do wish the Zelda games would go back to the N64/ GC way of telling stories. Even though they were simple, they were relatable and poignant in a way that even much complexer stories often weren't. The whole open world memory shtick can just never hit the same. Plus something about the tone of the newer stories feels almost shallow, because even though dark stuff still happens (arguably more even) it just doesn't hit the same. It feels less believable, as if the stakes are just fake.
TotK especially feels guilty of wanting to evoke emotional drama but being too scared to commit to the consequences and honor its emotional stakes. In the end nothing was lost and Zelda‘s sacrifice is retroactively robbed of its impact. It‘s jarring for a series that is defined by bittersweet endings.
@@lmnt66 I disagree. I see TotK's story as if a new calamity would happen again. The bittersweet ending was in BotW, as in, "we lost the old kingdom, but we still have our lives". In the sequel it was closer to something like, "we survived, and we started rebuilding, but now we may lose everything again". In a sense, it's the same type of ending as in MM.
while i do love me some youtube typical hour long video essays, your short concise to the point videos really are great at injecting the pure Essence and Feeling straight into the vein. its like a supercut summary of everything that makes the particular topic great (in this case mm) and making one relive the entire game and the feelings they evoke in a brief condenced manner for a boost of serotonin. really good concise script and on point editing to go along with it
I really appreciate this - I'd love to dive into all the minutiae but I ain't got the time! It's good for me because it really helps trim the fat off the scripts and good for you because you seem to enjoy it! Thanks for the feedback!
Wow!!! Never before have I seen the themes and meaning behind Majora’s Mask summed up in such a perfect and succinct manner. Amazing video; one that I am sure I will be revisiting in the future!
This video has changed my life. Literally. You've summed up some extremely important points in this amazing game that makes me feel like I have better understanding of what I need to do now.
Lil' Bean Green! You just blew my mind from 1:50-3:00, so much that I had to re-watch it three times! I consider myself to be someone who thinks deeply about certain things, and yet, I'd never considered the angle you presented of Link reconciling the duality of his identity in this game and I feel kinda foolish because that theme fits so perfectly with the imagery and story of this game. Even the duality of the Stone Tower Temple, heck, even the design of the Fierce Diety sword matches this idea perfectly. Gosh, I would really love to see the Zelda team develop another poignant title like this. I'm honestly tiring of fantasy games where it all leads up to a giant endgame battle in the most conventional sense; this game and Link's Awakening do that in form, but not in function, and they both leave me craving more complex themes than simple good vs evil.
What an awesome video! You do such a fantastic job of articulating all of the complex inner workings and emotions within Majora's Mask that make it such a masterpiece, can't wait to see more!
FINALLY someone said it! You nailed what the story and themes are truly about. Not a lot of people really get that and they don't see the game for it's deeper underlying meaning. People tend to call the game dark or say it's the "darkest Zelda" but they don't truly understand why it's dark. Majora's Mask is dark on a more emotional level and it's the themes that drive that darkness. It's more depressing than dark but it's also kinda therapeutic in a way. I wouldn't call it the darkest Zelda for that reason. Everything you said in this video is why Majora's Mask is my favorite game of all time. Great video as always man. Keep it up.
Link is the only silent protagonist i can think of that is their own character and their thoughts and feelings are easily understood since he is pretty much a surrogate for the average person. OOT is just cowboy bebop for kids thematically and the older you get the more you go "damn, that hits too close to home". The time trilogy OOT, MM, WW as I call it hit the older I get. I was replaying the ending bits of WW and damn the king I relate to and I'm only 30 man. Wind Waker in general is highly underrated especially talking about how depressing it can get.
Speaking of series with bright aspects that mask dark themes… The Kirby series is obviously no stranger to that, and it has been at it since Kirby’s Adventure on the NES. Themes that revolve around tragedy, loss, clinging on to the past and/or forgetting it entirely, loved ones suddenly become horrific monstrosities, internally conflicting to stay true to said loved one, and… attempted suicide… Most Kirby titles have primarily focused on embodiments of negative emotions and cunning tricksters that want power over everything (one obvious example atoning for that…), from Kirby: Triple Deluxe and onwards, Kirby plays a masquerade theme and implies the tragic backstories of the main antagonists. Sectonia was once a beloved queen before her lover, Taranza gifted her an otherworldly mirror that, unbeknownst to him, contained a vile entity that transformed her into a power-hungry, beauty-obsessed monster. Regardless of Taranza’s feelings toward her, he still loved her. But the damage done to her was irreversible. As if that wasn’t tragic enough, President Haltmann was once a respected CEO of a megacorporation. He had a daughter too, Susie. However, Susie was caught trapped in an experiment with the mother computer, Star Dream, that transported her into Another Dimension. Her father tried every effort to find her and bringing her back. But the more time he spent with Star Dream’s database… he had begun to change drastically to the point he forgot his own daughter. He went from a humble CEO to a deranged maniac with the ambition to mechanize entire planets and harvest all their resources. Somehow, Susie did escape the gap between dimensions, but only when she returned to her father, wasn’t the same anymore. Haltmann appointed her as his premier secretary and treated her as such instead of a daughter. Susie devised a long-term plan to give away Star Dream to the highest bidder so she can regain the memories of her father back to him… THAT ended in failure… Arguably the most tearjerking backstory in the series at that point revolves around the Three Mage Sisters and their officiant, Lord Hyness. One girl was caught in a fierce, unforgiving blizzard… One suffocated by the fires of a volcanic eruption… and the other… after everything she held dear had died… chose to end it all… herself… at the top of a towering structure… to be struck by lightning… Death was inches away from these three girls… But it was not the end. Lord Hyness came at the nick of time and granted them the powers of the very elements that nearly took them. He took them as his disciples and aided in resolving an intergalactic crisis. Sometime later, Hyness came across something he shouldn’t have… the Jamba Heart… the essence of Void Termina. A once-revered shaman turned insane, he spreaded this dark aura upon his three pupils. Together they conducted pagan rituals to ensure their dark god is to be awakened. Out of fear, the Ancients stopped them and sealed them away to prevent their misuse of power, and attempted to erase all memory of their existence from history. Sealed to the very edge of the galaxy, Hyness and the Mage Sisters remained in stasis for eons… They last thing they felt in their hearts was nothing but hatred and malice. Hence, where Star Allies unfolds. The Kirby series continues to follow this trend no matter how you look at it. Between Kirby and The Legend of Zelda, they’re two of my favorite Nintendo franchises, and I admire the masked approach they take. Speaking of the Mage Sisters… Would you like to know what I’ve discovered between them and an interesting correlation in BOTW and TOTK? (It’s going to be a lengthy explanation, so I could divide these points in separate replies…)
@LittleBeanGreen Bizarre Connections & Correlations (Part 1): As previously mentioned, the Three Mage Sisters are a trio of generals of magic who serve a once-benevolent-turned-corrupted shaman call Hyness. Their ambition: to revive a god of darkness called Void Termina. While the Mages and Hyness continue their course for utter madness, the players discover tragic backstories surrounding the Mage Sisters. It turns out they weren’t always like this. They were once normal girls who were living life at the fullest until they were met with near-death situations by environmental disasters. The Fire Mage, Flamberge, suffocated in a fire. The Ice Mage, Francisca, was trapped in a snowstorm. The Lightning Mage, Zan Partizanne, arguably has the most tragic background of the three. After losing everything she held dear, she climbed a tower to allow lightning to take her life. Attempted suicide... Just when death was inches away to these poor girls, Hyness came and saved their lives by fusing them with powers of the very elements that nearly killed them. Since then, all three of them served Hyness humbly. Hyness was once long believed to be a figure of a righteous stature. Until… he came into contact with the Jamba Heart, the source of the malevolent power of Void Termina. Because of this, Hyness was driven mad and went insane. Shortly afterwards, the Sisters would follow, leading to the formation of the cult, Jambastion. They sought to awaken Termina. However, before they could act on their plans, a group called the Ancients caught them off guard and stopped Hyness before the rituals could be completed. Instead of execution, due to the fear of their power, Hyness and the Mage Sisters were sealed to the edge of the galaxy. They were sealed for eons until the seal on them broke. Thus, the events of Kirby Star Allies take place. While the game describes their backgrounds as brief and implied as it possibly can, the Mage Sisters weren’t given a thoroughly detailed backstory. While often compared to the Beast Pokemon of the Johto region (Gen 2), there’s a rabbit hole much deeper than anyone realized.
@LittleBeanGreen Bizarre Connections & Correlations (Part 2): The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom feature a massive yet tragic version of Hyrule, a land ravaged by evil and plagued with sorrows from a distant past. Upon awakening from the Shrine of Resurrection and leaving the Great Plateau, Link, the last surviving Champion of Hyrule, must traverse a world barely unrecognizable to him with little memory of himself or what’s happened. While traversing the scarred landscapes, he comes across mysterious and massive fossils of mighty beasts that lived in the distant past. These beasts became simply known as the leviathans, massive whale-like creatures that roamed the skies of Hyrule. While little is known what the leviathans were, fan theories point out the resemblance of the creatures featured in past Zelda titles. Most importantly, it was how each leviathan died. One leviathan was killed by an eruption from Death Mountain, one took refuge inside the base of North Hebra Summit but got trapped in a blizzard where it froze to death, and another died in the Gerudo Desert due to a catastrophic drought. The latter, as confirmed in Tears of the Kingdom, was revealed to have a child which died along with it. All of them suffered from environmental disasters. Sound familiar? Where am I going with this? What do the leviathans of Hyrule have to do with the Three Mage Sisters? What if… the Three Mages Sisters… were once friends with the leviathans? Were the leviathans their adoptive family? The correlation seems accurate. Flamberge suffocated in a fire, similar to the fate of the Eldin leviathan. Francisca was trapped in a blizzard, similar to the fate of the Hebra leviathan. However, Zan Partizanne suffered a different fate from the parent and child leviathans of the Gerudo region. Were the Gerudo leviathans like a family to Zan? Did the parent leviathan die on the surface while Zan and the child sought shelter in an underground cavern? It’s plausible. It’s possible Zan and the child leviathan tried to seek shelter in the cave with what very little is to be found but grief for the loss of the parent. The cave’s water… not only was it mostly dry… but undrinkable, and there was absolutely no food. In the midst of the chaos, the child leviathan falls ill. Despite Zan’s best efforts to nurse the child back to health… it succumbs to exhaustion and dies… Heartbroken, Zan lost her adopted family… Everything she held dear was lost… Instead of living on with a survivor’s guilt… she climbed the Lightning Temple to allow lightning to take her, as the Gerudo region is associated with lightning. Did Hyness find these girls in the result of the aftermath of the disasters that occurred in Hyrule? Shocking as it all seems, but the correlation is accurate.
@LittleBeanGreen Bizarre Connections & Correlations (Part 3): The more I learn about the Mage Sisters, the more I keep on pointing them to Hyrule. The loose connections between Kirby and The Legend of Zelda have become a little too obvious that most people seem to have not noticed. For example, take a side-by-side look at Nauru’s 2D sprite model in Oracle of Ages to the appearance of Francisca. Don’t they look alike? Not to mention the calm, collected personality of Francisca, as well as her powers of ice and water. That spells Nayru, both oracle and goddess. Not enough? Let’s look at Flamberge. Fan artwork depict Flamberge unmasked and you notice right off the bat that she has a fang. While some could say she’s vampire-like, but let’s dive a little deeper. Batreaux. A friendly demon who wishes to be human. His wish is granted if the player obtains all Gratitude Crystals… sort of. Bottom line is that he too had fangs in his demon form, but human form or not, he is still that of demon origin. Now am I saying that Flamberge is possibly a descendant of Batreaux? Before I can answer that, you have to know Flamberge’s questionable personality… Flamberge is easily angered and short-tempered. She’s the polar opposite of Batreaux’s personality. So if I took that into consideration, who in Skyward Sword would fit the category of rude and short-tempered?… Groose. While it remains unknown if Batreaux eventually got a spouse after his human appearance, let alone Groose eventually gets paired with say… Peatrice for a possibility. Again, this is just speculation, but hear me out. If one is to look into a family tree, there comes a time when families eventually come together in each passing generation. Given Flamberge’s “demon” heritage, she could have possibly have been a descendant of Batreaux, but also given her short-tempered personality, she could also be a descendant of Groose. At some point, their respective families might have joined together. Possibly giving birth to Flamberge. As if that hasn’t been convincing enough, let’s now look at Zan Partizanne, the eldest of the Mage Sister trio. She has undying loyalty to Lord Hyness, the mages’ officiant. She’d follow him regardless of his insanity. Now bear in mind, “undying loyalty”… that’s more of a Sheikah trait. The Sheikah and Yiga have undying loyalty to their respective deities. The Sheikah to Hylia and the royalty of Hyrule, and the Yiga to Demon King Ganondorf and his manifested hatred and malice, Calamity Ganon. Zan Partizanne betters fits the description of undying loyalty no matter which end she would face. The tear in the Sheikah Eye represents the horrific things the Sheikah have done to keep the line of Hylia secure. The taiko drums in Zan’s ring-shaped contraption has tear-shaped symbols that resemble the tomoe, and that in turn resembles the Amber/Dusk relics in the Silent Realm, or the Zonai Secret Stones. Surprise or not in the latter point, given the Sheikah tech was inspired by the Zonai tech. With all of this into consideration… did the Mage Sisters originate from Hyrule? Is Francisca a possible descendant of Goddess Nayru? Is Flamberge in the bloodline of both Batreaux and Groose? Was Zan a Sheikah? All three started out as normal girls until environmental disasters struck. When Hyness first found and saved them, it’s possible that the Sisters first assumed their Poe-like appearances from that point on. Bear in mind, all three of them were said to be orphans… And also bear in mind that they, like Hyness, fell into the influence of Void Termina, the mastermind of their misery. I pointed out to other theorists that the Dark Skeletons (dragon-like fossils that correspond to the leviathans on the surface) in the Depths might have been manifested reminders of that with the assumption that these dark fossils were never alive to begin with, but rather materialized as a sinister reminder of something dreadful… If you look deeper, each of them are habitats of Gloom Spawns. Strangely enough, the Phantom Ganon encountered at the Gerudo Dark Skeleton is equipped with a spear. The others at the other Dark Skeletons carried swords. Gerudo, a land associated with lightning… Which of the Mages carries a spear and bears the power of lightning? Zan Partizanne. As if that isn’t proof enough, in BOTW, near the remains of the Eldin leviathan, there are four rocks that form a circle. Strangely enough, this was no Korok puzzle. Stones can mark as a memorial or a grave of someone who died. Flamberge was caught in a blazing inferno when she was just inches away from death. The same tragedy happened to the leviathan at Eldin. Those rocks don’t appear in TOTK… In BOTW, if you exit the cave where the Hebra leviathan is located at the North Hebra Summit, you continue around looking at a snowfield until you notice an active Guardian stays still until approached. I’m willing to bet that was as far as Francisca went before she collapsed near-death. In TOTK, the Guardian is replaced with rubble from the sky islands with a Frost Gleeok guarding it nearby… In BOTW, at the Gerudo leviathan’s remains, you find the warm, cool, and electric safflinas. Now doesn’t that say something I’ve mentioning this whole time. In TOTK, if you completed the Regional phenomenon in the Gerudo Desert, you can exit the cave where the leviathans’ (counting the child) skeletons are located and the Lightning Temple is directly in front of you. It was obvious… The Lightning Temple was the towering structure Zan climbed to the top of… to “end it all… herself…” The roof of the Lightning Temple was where she attempted suicide… using the lightning to take her life… One by one, Lord Hyness arrived and granted the powers of the very elements that nearly took the girls, and took them as his own disciples.
@LittleBeanGreen Bizarre Connections & Correlations (Part 4a): While I got nothing else to prove the connections between Hyrule and Dream Land, it all comes down to… Wait… Dream… Land… - People always compared the Gerudo leviathan to the Wind Fish in Link’s Awakening… The Wind Fish brought forth a living manifestation of its own dream with a Nightmare attempting to take over it and the world beyond the shores of Koholint… The final boss of Kirby’s Adventure/Kirby: Nightmare in Dreamland is called Nightmare. One of the enemies is a Kirby-like figure, which in the Switch remake, is a recycled design of Kirby’s model from Star Allies, the Kirby title the Three Mage Sisters debuted from. - One episode of the Kirby: Right Back At Ya TV show revolves around two whales, a parent and a child, and their struggle to reunite with each other. Is Tears of the Kingdom’s introduction of a child leviathan a loose callback to that? - Speaking of, one episode has the kids go to school, and whoever is the teacher wears a hat that turns them into mean-spirited @$$holes, is Drug Lord Yunobo a loose callback to that? - Kirby and the Amazing Mirror and The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds; both feature worlds with mirrored counterparts of individuals of the light world; both heroes’ mirrored counterparts are cowards. - What about the Wizzrobes? The Wizzrobes in BOTW and TOTK all appear with fire, ice, and lightning magic. The colors of the robes bear a near-identical resemblance to the colors of the Mage Sisters’ robes when they fully succumbed to corruption as the Repentant Retaliators… Are the Wizzrobes physical manifestations of the Mage Sisters’ mischief? - Why does the Jambastion symbol bear a resemblance to Vaati’s demonic form, who in turn resembles Dark Matter and Zero (and his 02 form)? Void bears a resemblance to Zero and Dark Matter, but why does Vaati appear as such? Does the heart in the Jambastion symbol represent Vaati’s fascination by the evil within the hearts of men? Given he was called the “Wind Mage,” wouldn’t that have made him the secret Mage Brother? - Link’s Awakening’s final bosses shapeshifts into monsters Link fought in A Link To The Past; Ganon included; Dehtl inspired Vaati’s demon form; Kirby final bosses are known to resemble the evils Kirby fought prior to each entry. - You know, it’s very odd that Star Allies’ final boss is called “Void Termina.” As in “casted into the Void of the Evil Realm.” “Termina, a land parallel to Hyrule, as its name implies, doomed to die.” - Was Zan’s intentional destruction of the Jambastion Fortress a loose callback to Ganondorf’s destruction of his castle in Ocarina of Time? - Void Termina's first phase battle description: “Rise! Oh, Dark Lord of Despair! Crush the stars! Lay waste to care! Rise and cover the land in sorrows! May your symphony of emptiness bring the end of all tomorrows!” Ganondorf’s (in)famous order to his army: “Rise. Rise, my servants. Sweep over Hyrule with the power I have granted you. Eliminate this kingdom and her allies. Leave no survivors!” - Swords, Axes, and Spears. Each Mage Sister has a specific weapon. Both BOTW and TOTK let you use these different classes of weapons. - Sealed away due to the fear of power only to be redeemed at a later point in time? Sound familiar? (i.e. the Twili; the Divine Beasts)
I'd really love for them to come back and make one more Majora's Mask style game. No Hyrule, no Ganondorf, no Triforce, just Link on an adventure in a new world. They've overdone Ganondorf more than they've overdone William Afton as an antagonist at this point, and the few times they DO create new antagonists like with Skull Kid and Vaati they come up with good stuff. They really need to make a new Zelda, that's all weird and different like Majora's Mask, that takes place at a point in the timeline where they've finally put an end to Ganondorf for good.
Nintendo shot themselves in the foot when they made Skyward Sword as that game's storyline permanently _forces_ them to reuse Ganondorf in order to make sense of the "Bringer of Demise's" words regarding an incarnation of the Demon Tribe's hatred for the gods to forever antagonize the descendants of the Hero and Goddess for all _eternity._ The only Lore consistent way for Ganondorf to be vanquished once and for all would be by *ending* the current timeline altogether and then rebooting the franchise from scratch with a new mythology unrelated to the one established in Skyward Sword.
@@LittleBeanGreen Breath of the Wild takes place at the end of the timelines following a refoundation of the kingdom by the Zonai so the timeline is still very much the exact _same_ as that where Skyward Sword took place making "Calamity Ganon" just as much an incarnation of the Demon Tribe's hatred for the gods as all previous Ganondorfs in the timeline.
I wholeheartedly agree. While the tone is dark and oppressing initially, this is necessary so that the more you play the game, connect with and help the people in Termina, the more the game’s true underlying theme can shine through: One of healing through hope, friendship and perseverance in spite of the seemingly world-crushing darkness we face. I remember being terrified by the imagery of the grimacing moon as a child and for the longest time the game felt too anxiety-inducing for me to play. Then I recently started tackling my own childhood trauma through therapy and felt the need to return to the game, and everything connected. I realized what I once thought terrifying was the game being honest about the darkness we experience and acknowledging it, and by recognizing a part of myself in it I found the comfort I needed to finally connect to the true message of hope and perseverance the game has been trying to communicate to me all along. Suffice it to say Majora is now one of the greatest gaming experiences I‘ve ever had. ❤ … Also goddamn it Nintendo, bring in Koizumi again for the next Zelda, you cowards 😡
Majora's Mask definitely feels like the most emotional and personal Zelda game for sure. I'd be really interested to see what Koizumi could do with an open world.
As my 2nd favorite game in the Zelda series (and my 2nd favorite overall; Ocarina of Time as my #1), Majora’s Mask has such a bizarre and twisted form of storytelling. Something no other Zelda game has done to this day. All the more reason why I have my opinion that Majora’s Mask has the best story and storytelling in the series. It strays away from the conventional Triforce trio struggle, and rather than focused on facing off a figure of great evil who desires power, Link faces off against the living embodiment of sins, tragic and cruel, that desires to spread agony, despair, destruction, and chaos; in other words, make the living world a living hell rather than ruling with an iron fist… While there is still little evidence of what happened to the Hero of Time between the events of Majora’s Mask and Twilight Princess, there is a fan-made miniseries (still in progress as of now) that supposedly focuses on that, “A Hero’s Purpose”. Furthermore, HMK made an interesting video of a well-constructed hypothesis about the Hero of Time’s fate.
I'd almost go so far to say that Majora's breadth of storytelling isn't just unique to the Zelda series, but to gaming writ large. I'm in the process of looking at the Hero's Shade in TP and, although I'm not too concerned with what became of him, I am going to analyze his purpose in that game. Stay tuned!
@@LittleBeanGreen All of the people you meet, have accepted their deaths. I dont think you understand this game. There is nothing that deals with it in the way that this does.
@@timmyp6297 The swordsman in the back room who says he's scared and doesn't want to die? Mikau saying to Link "even if I die I won't be in peace?" Darmani, who haunts his own grave and is filled with regret...all of these people have accepted death?
yeah… _Majora’s Mask_ has one of the darkest stories and tones, but it also has one of the happiest endings, aside from _Skyward Sword,_ perhaps 🤷🏻♂️ …and come to think of it, maybe that’s why _Skyward Sword_ feels like the least of the classic 3D _Zelda_ game? because it lacks the mixed bittersweetness of the other games? great video 👍 it makes for a nice companion to the Good Blood video on _OOT._
I think it has one of the sweetest moments in the whole series. When the guy transforms from a mummy back to a man, and his daughter comforts him, telling him it was all a dream, and they just hug each other. I nearly cry every time.
A beautiful moment indeed. Good to see ya, Guy le Douche!
I really do wish the Zelda games would go back to the N64/ GC way of telling stories. Even though they were simple, they were relatable and poignant in a way that even much complexer stories often weren't. The whole open world memory shtick can just never hit the same. Plus something about the tone of the newer stories feels almost shallow, because even though dark stuff still happens (arguably more even) it just doesn't hit the same. It feels less believable, as if the stakes are just fake.
I'm with ya - there's definitely still dark stuff, you just seem so far removed from it.
Probably because in newer games villains are just evillllllll. While in older games the villains had some sort of reasons for their actions
TotK especially feels guilty of wanting to evoke emotional drama but being too scared to commit to the consequences and honor its emotional stakes. In the end nothing was lost and Zelda‘s sacrifice is retroactively robbed of its impact.
It‘s jarring for a series that is defined by bittersweet endings.
@@lmnt66 I disagree. I see TotK's story as if a new calamity would happen again. The bittersweet ending was in BotW, as in, "we lost the old kingdom, but we still have our lives". In the sequel it was closer to something like, "we survived, and we started rebuilding, but now we may lose everything again". In a sense, it's the same type of ending as in MM.
Link’s awakening.
Even though link is a child in both games I see him as more as an adult in majoras mask even though he’s only slightly older
Majora Link is definitely more mature!
while i do love me some youtube typical hour long video essays, your short concise to the point videos really are great at injecting the pure Essence and Feeling straight into the vein. its like a supercut summary of everything that makes the particular topic great (in this case mm) and making one relive the entire game and the feelings they evoke in a brief condenced manner for a boost of serotonin. really good concise script and on point editing to go along with it
I really appreciate this - I'd love to dive into all the minutiae but I ain't got the time! It's good for me because it really helps trim the fat off the scripts and good for you because you seem to enjoy it! Thanks for the feedback!
Couldn't have said it better myself!
Majora’s mask is to underrated! Great video. Also thank you for not saying majora’s mask is “A dream” or “Link is Dead” I get so annoyed with those.
Also keep up the good work!
Yeah I don't stand by either of those theories.
@@DaRealNoobTube YOU GOT IT. Thanks for checking it out ;)
Yeah, only one game is a dream, it still hurts.
@@voltron77 So, does that rule out PH?
Wow!!! Never before have I seen the themes and meaning behind Majora’s Mask summed up in such a perfect and succinct manner. Amazing video; one that I am sure I will be revisiting in the future!
Thanks for watching!
I can watch video essays on Majora's Mask all day an not get tired of it.
Might have to start making more heh
This video has changed my life. Literally. You've summed up some extremely important points in this amazing game that makes me feel like I have better understanding of what I need to do now.
That's high praise. Glad you could take something constructive from it!
This was absolutely fantastic. I'm floored. Instant subscriber upon seeing. Kudos to you, my man!
Thanks for watching and the kinds words! Glad you enjoyed it!
Lil' Bean Green! You just blew my mind from 1:50-3:00, so much that I had to re-watch it three times! I consider myself to be someone who thinks deeply about certain things, and yet, I'd never considered the angle you presented of Link reconciling the duality of his identity in this game and I feel kinda foolish because that theme fits so perfectly with the imagery and story of this game. Even the duality of the Stone Tower Temple, heck, even the design of the Fierce Diety sword matches this idea perfectly. Gosh, I would really love to see the Zelda team develop another poignant title like this. I'm honestly tiring of fantasy games where it all leads up to a giant endgame battle in the most conventional sense; this game and Link's Awakening do that in form, but not in function, and they both leave me craving more complex themes than simple good vs evil.
Glad you could find something new in it!
What an awesome video! You do such a fantastic job of articulating all of the complex inner workings and emotions within Majora's Mask that make it such a masterpiece, can't wait to see more!
Thanks for the kind words and for checking it out!
Your videos are brilliant and hope you get more subs, likes, and views. Good luck.
Thanks for watching!
Link as the Hero's Shade is not a reversal on his growth, he's performing his duty to Hyrule.
What duty is that exactly?
FINALLY someone said it! You nailed what the story and themes are truly about. Not a lot of people really get that and they don't see the game for it's deeper underlying meaning. People tend to call the game dark or say it's the "darkest Zelda" but they don't truly understand why it's dark. Majora's Mask is dark on a more emotional level and it's the themes that drive that darkness. It's more depressing than dark but it's also kinda therapeutic in a way. I wouldn't call it the darkest Zelda for that reason. Everything you said in this video is why Majora's Mask is my favorite game of all time. Great video as always man. Keep it up.
Thanks for that extra input and glad you enjoyed ;)
Link is the only silent protagonist i can think of that is their own character and their thoughts and feelings are easily understood since he is pretty much a surrogate for the average person. OOT is just cowboy bebop for kids thematically and the older you get the more you go "damn, that hits too close to home". The time trilogy OOT, MM, WW as I call it hit the older I get. I was replaying the ending bits of WW and damn the king I relate to and I'm only 30 man. Wind Waker in general is highly underrated especially talking about how depressing it can get.
It's overshadowed by its own art style although I think that juxtaposition is actually what makes the themes hit harder.
Speaking of series with bright aspects that mask dark themes…
The Kirby series is obviously no stranger to that, and it has been at it since Kirby’s Adventure on the NES. Themes that revolve around tragedy, loss, clinging on to the past and/or forgetting it entirely, loved ones suddenly become horrific monstrosities, internally conflicting to stay true to said loved one, and… attempted suicide…
Most Kirby titles have primarily focused on embodiments of negative emotions and cunning tricksters that want power over everything (one obvious example atoning for that…), from Kirby: Triple Deluxe and onwards, Kirby plays a masquerade theme and implies the tragic backstories of the main antagonists. Sectonia was once a beloved queen before her lover, Taranza gifted her an otherworldly mirror that, unbeknownst to him, contained a vile entity that transformed her into a power-hungry, beauty-obsessed monster. Regardless of Taranza’s feelings toward her, he still loved her. But the damage done to her was irreversible. As if that wasn’t tragic enough, President Haltmann was once a respected CEO of a megacorporation. He had a daughter too, Susie. However, Susie was caught trapped in an experiment with the mother computer, Star Dream, that transported her into Another Dimension. Her father tried every effort to find her and bringing her back. But the more time he spent with Star Dream’s database… he had begun to change drastically to the point he forgot his own daughter. He went from a humble CEO to a deranged maniac with the ambition to mechanize entire planets and harvest all their resources. Somehow, Susie did escape the gap between dimensions, but only when she returned to her father, wasn’t the same anymore. Haltmann appointed her as his premier secretary and treated her as such instead of a daughter. Susie devised a long-term plan to give away Star Dream to the highest bidder so she can regain the memories of her father back to him… THAT ended in failure…
Arguably the most tearjerking backstory in the series at that point revolves around the Three Mage Sisters and their officiant, Lord Hyness. One girl was caught in a fierce, unforgiving blizzard… One suffocated by the fires of a volcanic eruption… and the other… after everything she held dear had died… chose to end it all… herself… at the top of a towering structure… to be struck by lightning… Death was inches away from these three girls… But it was not the end. Lord Hyness came at the nick of time and granted them the powers of the very elements that nearly took them. He took them as his disciples and aided in resolving an intergalactic crisis. Sometime later, Hyness came across something he shouldn’t have… the Jamba Heart… the essence of Void Termina. A once-revered shaman turned insane, he spreaded this dark aura upon his three pupils. Together they conducted pagan rituals to ensure their dark god is to be awakened. Out of fear, the Ancients stopped them and sealed them away to prevent their misuse of power, and attempted to erase all memory of their existence from history. Sealed to the very edge of the galaxy, Hyness and the Mage Sisters remained in stasis for eons… They last thing they felt in their hearts was nothing but hatred and malice. Hence, where Star Allies unfolds.
The Kirby series continues to follow this trend no matter how you look at it. Between Kirby and The Legend of Zelda, they’re two of my favorite Nintendo franchises, and I admire the masked approach they take.
Speaking of the Mage Sisters…
Would you like to know what I’ve discovered between them and an interesting correlation in BOTW and TOTK? (It’s going to be a lengthy explanation, so I could divide these points in separate replies…)
I haven't played any Kirby games so it's interesting to see the parallels.
Go for it!
@LittleBeanGreen
Bizarre Connections & Correlations (Part 1):
As previously mentioned, the Three Mage Sisters are a trio of generals of magic who serve a once-benevolent-turned-corrupted shaman call Hyness. Their ambition: to revive a god of darkness called Void Termina. While the Mages and Hyness continue their course for utter madness, the players discover tragic backstories surrounding the Mage Sisters. It turns out they weren’t always like this. They were once normal girls who were living life at the fullest until they were met with near-death situations by environmental disasters. The Fire Mage, Flamberge, suffocated in a fire. The Ice Mage, Francisca, was trapped in a snowstorm. The Lightning Mage, Zan Partizanne, arguably has the most tragic background of the three. After losing everything she held dear, she climbed a tower to allow lightning to take her life. Attempted suicide... Just when death was inches away to these poor girls, Hyness came and saved their lives by fusing them with powers of the very elements that nearly killed them. Since then, all three of them served Hyness humbly. Hyness was once long believed to be a figure of a righteous stature. Until… he came into contact with the Jamba Heart, the source of the malevolent power of Void Termina. Because of this, Hyness was driven mad and went insane. Shortly afterwards, the Sisters would follow, leading to the formation of the cult, Jambastion. They sought to awaken Termina. However, before they could act on their plans, a group called the Ancients caught them off guard and stopped Hyness before the rituals could be completed. Instead of execution, due to the fear of their power, Hyness and the Mage Sisters were sealed to the edge of the galaxy. They were sealed for eons until the seal on them broke. Thus, the events of Kirby Star Allies take place. While the game describes their backgrounds as brief and implied as it possibly can, the Mage Sisters weren’t given a thoroughly detailed backstory. While often compared to the Beast Pokemon of the Johto region (Gen 2), there’s a rabbit hole much deeper than anyone realized.
@LittleBeanGreen
Bizarre Connections & Correlations (Part 2):
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom feature a massive yet tragic version of Hyrule, a land ravaged by evil and plagued with sorrows from a distant past. Upon awakening from the Shrine of Resurrection and leaving the Great Plateau, Link, the last surviving Champion of Hyrule, must traverse a world barely unrecognizable to him with little memory of himself or what’s happened. While traversing the scarred landscapes, he comes across mysterious and massive fossils of mighty beasts that lived in the distant past. These beasts became simply known as the leviathans, massive whale-like creatures that roamed the skies of Hyrule. While little is known what the leviathans were, fan theories point out the resemblance of the creatures featured in past Zelda titles. Most importantly, it was how each leviathan died. One leviathan was killed by an eruption from Death Mountain, one took refuge inside the base of North Hebra Summit but got trapped in a blizzard where it froze to death, and another died in the Gerudo Desert due to a catastrophic drought. The latter, as confirmed in Tears of the Kingdom, was revealed to have a child which died along with it. All of them suffered from environmental disasters. Sound familiar? Where am I going with this? What do the leviathans of Hyrule have to do with the Three Mage Sisters?
What if…
the Three Mages Sisters…
were once friends with the leviathans? Were the leviathans their adoptive family?
The correlation seems accurate. Flamberge suffocated in a fire, similar to the fate of the Eldin leviathan. Francisca was trapped in a blizzard, similar to the fate of the Hebra leviathan. However, Zan Partizanne suffered a different fate from the parent and child leviathans of the Gerudo region. Were the Gerudo leviathans like a family to Zan? Did the parent leviathan die on the surface while Zan and the child sought shelter in an underground cavern? It’s plausible. It’s possible Zan and the child leviathan tried to seek shelter in the cave with what very little is to be found but grief for the loss of the parent. The cave’s water… not only was it mostly dry… but undrinkable, and there was absolutely no food. In the midst of the chaos, the child leviathan falls ill. Despite Zan’s best efforts to nurse the child back to health… it succumbs to exhaustion and dies… Heartbroken, Zan lost her adopted family… Everything she held dear was lost… Instead of living on with a survivor’s guilt… she climbed the Lightning Temple to allow lightning to take her, as the Gerudo region is associated with lightning. Did Hyness find these girls in the result of the aftermath of the disasters that occurred in Hyrule? Shocking as it all seems, but the correlation is accurate.
@LittleBeanGreen
Bizarre Connections & Correlations (Part 3):
The more I learn about the Mage Sisters, the more I keep on pointing them to Hyrule. The loose connections between Kirby and The Legend of Zelda have become a little too obvious that most people seem to have not noticed. For example, take a side-by-side look at Nauru’s 2D sprite model in Oracle of Ages to the appearance of Francisca. Don’t they look alike? Not to mention the calm, collected personality of Francisca, as well as her powers of ice and water. That spells Nayru, both oracle and goddess. Not enough? Let’s look at Flamberge. Fan artwork depict Flamberge unmasked and you notice right off the bat that she has a fang. While some could say she’s vampire-like, but let’s dive a little deeper. Batreaux. A friendly demon who wishes to be human. His wish is granted if the player obtains all Gratitude Crystals… sort of. Bottom line is that he too had fangs in his demon form, but human form or not, he is still that of demon origin. Now am I saying that Flamberge is possibly a descendant of Batreaux? Before I can answer that, you have to know Flamberge’s questionable personality… Flamberge is easily angered and short-tempered. She’s the polar opposite of Batreaux’s personality. So if I took that into consideration, who in Skyward Sword would fit the category of rude and short-tempered?… Groose. While it remains unknown if Batreaux eventually got a spouse after his human appearance, let alone Groose eventually gets paired with say… Peatrice for a possibility. Again, this is just speculation, but hear me out. If one is to look into a family tree, there comes a time when families eventually come together in each passing generation. Given Flamberge’s “demon” heritage, she could have possibly have been a descendant of Batreaux, but also given her short-tempered personality, she could also be a descendant of Groose. At some point, their respective families might have joined together. Possibly giving birth to Flamberge. As if that hasn’t been convincing enough, let’s now look at Zan Partizanne, the eldest of the Mage Sister trio. She has undying loyalty to Lord Hyness, the mages’ officiant. She’d follow him regardless of his insanity. Now bear in mind, “undying loyalty”… that’s more of a Sheikah trait. The Sheikah and Yiga have undying loyalty to their respective deities. The Sheikah to Hylia and the royalty of Hyrule, and the Yiga to Demon King Ganondorf and his manifested hatred and malice, Calamity Ganon. Zan Partizanne betters fits the description of undying loyalty no matter which end she would face. The tear in the Sheikah Eye represents the horrific things the Sheikah have done to keep the line of Hylia secure. The taiko drums in Zan’s ring-shaped contraption has tear-shaped symbols that resemble the tomoe, and that in turn resembles the Amber/Dusk relics in the Silent Realm, or the Zonai Secret Stones. Surprise or not in the latter point, given the Sheikah tech was inspired by the Zonai tech.
With all of this into consideration… did the Mage Sisters originate from Hyrule? Is Francisca a possible descendant of Goddess Nayru? Is Flamberge in the bloodline of both Batreaux and Groose? Was Zan a Sheikah? All three started out as normal girls until environmental disasters struck. When Hyness first found and saved them, it’s possible that the Sisters first assumed their Poe-like appearances from that point on. Bear in mind, all three of them were said to be orphans… And also bear in mind that they, like Hyness, fell into the influence of Void Termina, the mastermind of their misery. I pointed out to other theorists that the Dark Skeletons (dragon-like fossils that correspond to the leviathans on the surface) in the Depths might have been manifested reminders of that with the assumption that these dark fossils were never alive to begin with, but rather materialized as a sinister reminder of something dreadful… If you look deeper, each of them are habitats of Gloom Spawns. Strangely enough, the Phantom Ganon encountered at the Gerudo Dark Skeleton is equipped with a spear. The others at the other Dark Skeletons carried swords. Gerudo, a land associated with lightning… Which of the Mages carries a spear and bears the power of lightning? Zan Partizanne.
As if that isn’t proof enough, in BOTW, near the remains of the Eldin leviathan, there are four rocks that form a circle. Strangely enough, this was no Korok puzzle. Stones can mark as a memorial or a grave of someone who died. Flamberge was caught in a blazing inferno when she was just inches away from death. The same tragedy happened to the leviathan at Eldin. Those rocks don’t appear in TOTK… In BOTW, if you exit the cave where the Hebra leviathan is located at the North Hebra Summit, you continue around looking at a snowfield until you notice an active Guardian stays still until approached. I’m willing to bet that was as far as Francisca went before she collapsed near-death. In TOTK, the Guardian is replaced with rubble from the sky islands with a Frost Gleeok guarding it nearby… In BOTW, at the Gerudo leviathan’s remains, you find the warm, cool, and electric safflinas. Now doesn’t that say something I’ve mentioning this whole time. In TOTK, if you completed the Regional phenomenon in the Gerudo Desert, you can exit the cave where the leviathans’ (counting the child) skeletons are located and the Lightning Temple is directly in front of you. It was obvious… The Lightning Temple was the towering structure Zan climbed to the top of… to “end it all… herself…” The roof of the Lightning Temple was where she attempted suicide… using the lightning to take her life… One by one, Lord Hyness arrived and granted the powers of the very elements that nearly took the girls, and took them as his own disciples.
@LittleBeanGreen
Bizarre Connections & Correlations (Part 4a):
While I got nothing else to prove the connections between Hyrule and Dream Land, it all comes down to…
Wait…
Dream… Land…
- People always compared the Gerudo leviathan to the Wind Fish in Link’s Awakening… The Wind Fish brought forth a living manifestation of its own dream with a Nightmare attempting to take over it and the world beyond the shores of Koholint… The final boss of Kirby’s Adventure/Kirby: Nightmare in Dreamland is called Nightmare. One of the enemies is a Kirby-like figure, which in the Switch remake, is a recycled design of Kirby’s model from Star Allies, the Kirby title the Three Mage Sisters debuted from.
- One episode of the Kirby: Right Back At Ya TV show revolves around two whales, a parent and a child, and their struggle to reunite with each other. Is Tears of the Kingdom’s introduction of a child leviathan a loose callback to that?
- Speaking of, one episode has the kids go to school, and whoever is the teacher wears a hat that turns them into mean-spirited @$$holes, is Drug Lord Yunobo a loose callback to that?
- Kirby and the Amazing Mirror and The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds; both feature worlds with mirrored counterparts of individuals of the light world; both heroes’ mirrored counterparts are cowards.
- What about the Wizzrobes? The Wizzrobes in BOTW and TOTK all appear with fire, ice, and lightning magic. The colors of the robes bear a near-identical resemblance to the colors of the Mage Sisters’ robes when they fully succumbed to corruption as the Repentant Retaliators… Are the Wizzrobes physical manifestations of the Mage Sisters’ mischief?
- Why does the Jambastion symbol bear a resemblance to Vaati’s demonic form, who in turn resembles Dark Matter and Zero (and his 02 form)? Void bears a resemblance to Zero and Dark Matter, but why does Vaati appear as such? Does the heart in the Jambastion symbol represent Vaati’s fascination by the evil within the hearts of men? Given he was called the “Wind Mage,” wouldn’t that have made him the secret Mage Brother?
- Link’s Awakening’s final bosses shapeshifts into monsters Link fought in A Link To The Past; Ganon included; Dehtl inspired Vaati’s demon form; Kirby final bosses are known to resemble the evils Kirby fought prior to each entry.
- You know, it’s very odd that Star Allies’ final boss is called “Void Termina.” As in “casted into the Void of the Evil Realm.” “Termina, a land parallel to Hyrule, as its name implies, doomed to die.”
- Was Zan’s intentional destruction of the Jambastion Fortress a loose callback to Ganondorf’s destruction of his castle in Ocarina of Time?
- Void Termina's first phase battle description: “Rise! Oh, Dark Lord of Despair! Crush the stars! Lay waste to care! Rise and cover the land in sorrows! May your symphony of emptiness bring the end of all tomorrows!”
Ganondorf’s (in)famous order to his army: “Rise. Rise, my servants. Sweep over Hyrule with the power I have granted you. Eliminate this kingdom and her allies. Leave no survivors!”
- Swords, Axes, and Spears. Each Mage Sister has a specific weapon. Both BOTW and TOTK let you use these different classes of weapons.
- Sealed away due to the fear of power only to be redeemed at a later point in time? Sound familiar? (i.e. the Twili; the Divine Beasts)
This was such a good watch, like damn
Thanks, Cap!
Am I hearing that I should play Majora's Mask for the Nth time, but with a new perspective? Alright then!
Please do! Let us know what you find ;)
Get it, Little Bean! 1000 right around the corner 💪🏼
Thanks, my MANNDROID!
I'd really love for them to come back and make one more Majora's Mask style game. No Hyrule, no Ganondorf, no Triforce, just Link on an adventure in a new world. They've overdone Ganondorf more than they've overdone William Afton as an antagonist at this point, and the few times they DO create new antagonists like with Skull Kid and Vaati they come up with good stuff. They really need to make a new Zelda, that's all weird and different like Majora's Mask, that takes place at a point in the timeline where they've finally put an end to Ganondorf for good.
I think it's funny how these new games tried to throw out so many of the old Zelda formula's schtick but then had Ganondorf as the main bad.
Nintendo shot themselves in the foot when they made Skyward Sword as that game's storyline permanently _forces_ them to reuse Ganondorf in order to make sense of the "Bringer of Demise's" words regarding an incarnation of the Demon Tribe's hatred for the gods to forever antagonize the descendants of the Hero and Goddess for all _eternity._ The only Lore consistent way for Ganondorf to be vanquished once and for all would be by *ending* the current timeline altogether and then rebooting the franchise from scratch with a new mythology unrelated to the one established in Skyward Sword.
@@javiervasquez625 Like Breath of the Wild? hahahahaha
@@LittleBeanGreen Breath of the Wild takes place at the end of the timelines following a refoundation of the kingdom by the Zonai so the timeline is still very much the exact _same_ as that where Skyward Sword took place making "Calamity Ganon" just as much an incarnation of the Demon Tribe's hatred for the gods as all previous Ganondorfs in the timeline.
@@javiervasquez625 Nintendo has placed it so far in the future as to be irrelevant to the old timeline.
It's a shame TOTK wasn't the same for the series as MM.
Perhaps in the next one...
I wholeheartedly agree. While the tone is dark and oppressing initially, this is necessary so that the more you play the game, connect with and help the people in Termina, the more the game’s true underlying theme can shine through: One of healing through hope, friendship and perseverance in spite of the seemingly world-crushing darkness we face.
I remember being terrified by the imagery of the grimacing moon as a child and for the longest time the game felt too anxiety-inducing for me to play.
Then I recently started tackling my own childhood trauma through therapy and felt the need to return to the game, and everything connected. I realized what I once thought terrifying was the game being honest about the darkness we experience and acknowledging it, and by recognizing a part of myself in it I found the comfort I needed to finally connect to the true message of hope and perseverance the game has been trying to communicate to me all along.
Suffice it to say Majora is now one of the greatest gaming experiences I‘ve ever had. ❤
… Also goddamn it Nintendo, bring in Koizumi again for the next Zelda, you cowards 😡
Majora's Mask definitely feels like the most emotional and personal Zelda game for sure.
I'd be really interested to see what Koizumi could do with an open world.
As my 2nd favorite game in the Zelda series (and my 2nd favorite overall; Ocarina of Time as my #1), Majora’s Mask has such a bizarre and twisted form of storytelling. Something no other Zelda game has done to this day. All the more reason why I have my opinion that Majora’s Mask has the best story and storytelling in the series. It strays away from the conventional Triforce trio struggle, and rather than focused on facing off a figure of great evil who desires power, Link faces off against the living embodiment of sins, tragic and cruel, that desires to spread agony, despair, destruction, and chaos; in other words, make the living world a living hell rather than ruling with an iron fist…
While there is still little evidence of what happened to the Hero of Time between the events of Majora’s Mask and Twilight Princess, there is a fan-made miniseries (still in progress as of now) that supposedly focuses on that, “A Hero’s Purpose”. Furthermore, HMK made an interesting video of a well-constructed hypothesis about the Hero of Time’s fate.
I'd almost go so far to say that Majora's breadth of storytelling isn't just unique to the Zelda series, but to gaming writ large.
I'm in the process of looking at the Hero's Shade in TP and, although I'm not too concerned with what became of him, I am going to analyze his purpose in that game. Stay tuned!
Majora's Mask deals with the finite. It deals with inevitable death. I would say its probably the darkest game ever made bar none in that regard.
I'd wager plenty of games deal with that. But Majora's Mask uses that as a road block to overcome. Not as a fate to be accepted.
@@LittleBeanGreen All of the people you meet, have accepted their deaths. I dont think you understand this game. There is nothing that deals with it in the way that this does.
@@timmyp6297 The swordsman in the back room who says he's scared and doesn't want to die? Mikau saying to Link "even if I die I won't be in peace?" Darmani, who haunts his own grave and is filled with regret...all of these people have accepted death?
yeah… _Majora’s Mask_ has one of the darkest stories and tones, but it also has one of the happiest endings, aside from _Skyward Sword,_ perhaps 🤷🏻♂️
…and come to think of it, maybe that’s why _Skyward Sword_ feels like the least of the classic 3D _Zelda_ game? because it lacks the mixed bittersweetness of the other games?
great video 👍
it makes for a nice companion to the Good Blood video on _OOT._
Zelda has had a good history with the bittersweet - I think that's why TotK fell a little flat too. Thanks for watching!
The hero's shade is an adult, so if mm is literal, he makes it to adulthood at least?
At least.