On this view, the Elegy of Emptiness anchors Link as a fixed point within Termina, reinforcing the fact that he ultimately is bound within the three-day timelines of the world, without the opportunity to ever really “stop playing” the game. This is why NPC’s can interact with Link, whereas it makes no sense to speak of NPC’s directly engaging the player, who exists outside the bounds of the video game. Instantiating a statue of Link that takes the same form as these fallen heroes highlights the fact that Link, by virtue of existing within the video game, is, in one sense, a character not dissimilar to NPC’s. These fallen heroes are categorically fixed points in Termina, devoid of agency in fact, I argued much earlier that a useful way of understanding the act of Link healing them is as Link actualizing their quests by imparting the agency of the player to them. Interpretation 1: the Elegy which is performed from a position of EmptinessĮach interpretation emphasizes different components of Igos du Ikana’s description of the song Interpretation 1 emphasizes his claim that “this soldier who has no heart is your twin image.” To pick out the vacant statue generated by the song as Link’s twin image is tantamount to forcing what I’ve been calling ‘flat analysis’ put another way, claiming that Link the Character is identical to Link the Statue cuts Link off from his connection to the player’s agency, defining him as “just another object” in the world of Termina.Īnother way into this interpretation is the fact that, when Link dons the Zora Mask or Goron Mask and plays the Elegy of Emptiness, the statues generated are not images of Zora Link or Goron Link - rather, they are images of Mikau and Darmani, respectively. More specifically, what we will find is that the interpretive juxtaposition turns on the duality of Link as both an element of the game’s world and the conduit linking the player to that world. I will endeavor to show that each of these provides insight on a part of “Majora’s Mask,” but that neither encompasses the entirety of the game. We can see at first glance that its usage is ambiguous: we can either say that the song is an elegy which is performed from a position of emptiness, or we can say that the song is an elegy to emptiness - that is, a song which mourns the death of emptiness. The cleverness here comes from Igos solving the problem of Link being alone by multiplying the number of Link, albeit in a manner far more out-of-joint than, say, the Four Sword.) The difference in my two interpretations will turn on how we interpret the word ‘of’ in ‘Elegy of Emptiness’. (It’s worth noting, in passing, that this is also a subversion of the classic moment in “The Legend of Zelda” when an old man whom Link encounters tells him that “ dangerous to go alone,” and gives him a wooden sword. A shell of yourself that you will shed when your song commands it. This soldier who has no heart is your twin image. And so… I grant to you a soldier who has no heart. He adds, however, that “ is far too reckless for one to take on such a challenge.” His solution is to teach Link the Elegy of Emptiness. When Link defeats Igos du Ikana, returning him to his senses, Igos charges Link to seal Stone Tower in order to return light to Ikana Canyon, which has been clouded in spirit by darkness.
I will offer two separate interpretations of the song within the context of the game, and, by showing how these two interpretations coexist, will aim to reveal another aspect of precisely how the narrative of the game takes the player as one of its central elements - a theme which we’ve been working with for a while. But is there anything to say about the Elegy of Emptiness, besides shuddering and declaring it creepy? I think that there is, and that is the heart of my argument in this article. These statues are crucial to navigating the Stone Tower Temple, and they also look quite disturbing, resembling Link while at the same time seeming utterly inanimate. It allows Link to create a statue version of whatever form in which he is currently manifested - Hylian, Deku, Zora, or Goron. This is the song taught to Link by Igos du Ikana (5:40 in the video), the king of the Ikana whom I mentioned much earlier in this series. One cannot avoid the haunting, barely-explained plot device that spawned the horror story “ BEN drowned,” along with countless memes of a Link Statue vacantly grinning at you. In any analysis of “Majora’s Mask” that purports to be comprehensive, there must be an account of the Elegy of Emptiness.
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