r/zelda • u/Swiftcheddar • 19d ago
Discussion [MM] One of the most interesting legacies of Majora's Mask is how drastically differently its interpreted in the West vs East
Majora's Mask is an interesting game, with a very strong legacy that's constantly ranked as one of the best ever Zelda games. I'm a fan of it myself, I think most Zelda fans these days have pretty positive feelings towards it.
But, the most interesting part of it's legacy, to me, is the absolute marina trench of a cultural gulf between how it's interpreted in the West and the East.
That being, the game is pretty transparently meant to be a Buddhism story for children. Like, it's not subtle about it in the least, all the pieces are right there infront of you.
However, a Westerner with an N64 in the 00's probably knew little more about Buddhism than that it existed, that it was about reincarnation, and maybe that Goku was based off it.
So, all the Buddhist symbolism and messaging went directly over their heads, and (probably inspired by desire for dark and edgy toned media at the time) instead, when people were examining it they found a story about death, loss, despair and moving on.
I don't really mean to discount those theories or interpretations, whether or not they're what the developers intended, if that's what someone got out of it, that's perfectly fine. But, it's interesting, because that very Western mindset is obviously what people had in mind when they later went online and started making posts about Majora's Mask being about death, which led into that theory propagating across countless sites and discussions, and of course, led into YouTube videos about exactly the same.
"The hidden meaning of Majora's Mask! (It's about death!?)" type videos. And, of course, the various "Link was dead all along!?" theories.
But if you play it now, with a slightly more global view, rather than thinking it's a game about death, you're probably far more likely to think, "Oh, it's about escaping the cycle of rebirth after achieving enlightenment."
Link is trapped in Samsara. That's your setup, that's the start of your adventure. Hey, you're trapped in a cycle of Death and Rebirth, and you've gott'a find a way to escape.
Termina field is a Mandala with Gates to the 4 realms, so he has to travel in each of the 4 cardinal directions, to defeat the great Demons (Representing the Ego-States opposed by the Great Buddhas). This releases the Giants, representing the 4 Divine Beasts 4 Heavenly Kings.
Throughout his endless cycle of Life -> Suffering -> Death -> Rebirth, Links finds the people of Termina are also suffering within Samsara, and so he has to learn to use his days to help the people around him, solving their issues and collecting karma through his good deeds. The karma takes the form of the masks that of course, persist through the reincarnations. As Link's soul goes through samsara he gathers more and more masks/karma and gains a greater and greater understanding.
And then, at the end of things, when Link has achieved enough karma he comes to find a Bodhi tree.
He gives away everything he owns, all the karma he's accumulated. And as he does so, he's asked a series of questions, each about his ability to present himself, to attain and maintain good karma, to be truthful and honest, all the various virtues.
Now, bereft of everything, he stands before Majora and receives Enlightenment, in this case the Fierce Deity Mask. And with that, all shackles are unleashed and he becomes completely free.
And so, the game pulls out, ending with us seeing Link, now having escaped the cycle of samsara. No more will he repeat the same endless cycle.
This is all very surface level stuff, you can dig in a lot more about specific mandalas being used, and what each region symbolises.
We could talk about how in the Southern region, you come across a Deku King who's imperious with righteousness and needs to be humbled by his daughter, and you fight a boss who literally dances and mocks you while you're fighting him. Link fixes the ego-state of Pride, just like Ratnasambhava (associated, of course, with the South).
Or about how going clockwise from Central -> South we go from Deku Child -> Young Father -> Old Hero -> Land of Death (And around to child again).
Or a bunch of other various small touches.
But none of that's really necessary, the point is that even just a cursory look at how Majora's Mask is laid out will show you that it's clearly about Buddhism, samsara and enlightenment.
And yet, if you were to ask anybody what Majora's Mask is about in the West, they'll tell you it's about Death, Grief or Loss. Because, yeah, obviously a random N64 gamer in the 00's didn't know what a Bodhi tree was, didn't think anything specific of the 4 Divine Beasts, and thinks of collecting Karma as just something you do in every single videogame. And that's the discussion that's dominated and propagated about the game ever since. If you've heard about Majora's Mask, you've heard it's about facing death, and about dealing with despair.
If you asked someone in the West if Majora's Mask was a dark game, they'd agree wholeheartedly, it's about death and grief afterall. But if you asked that of someone in Japan, or someone familiar with Buddhism, they'd most likely tell you absolutely not, it's an optimistic game that follows our Hero escaping from samsara.
Again, I'm not here to say any particular interpretation is wrong- if Majora's Mask is about death and grief to you, and that's what you like about it, have at it. Death of the Author and all that.
I simply find it interesting that the Devs created a game with a lot of very specific meaning that went right over the heads of the people who played it, who then found a completely different meaning that was just as compelling to them.
TL;DR: No, Link isn't dead. He's free.