The Terminan Apocalypse is the ultimate fate that approaches over the land of Termina and is Majora's Mask's main goal. If Link fails to play the Song of Time before the 72 hours are up, the Moon continues to slowly fall onto Clock Town, killing everyone who resides there as well as everyone else in the land. This is the Game Over in Majora's Mask.

The Events[]

The event takes place at 6 AM on the New Day, right after the culmination of the Final Day. The Moon first crashes into the Clock Tower at the center of Clock Town, causing it to collapse, before crushing the rest of the entire town under its weight. As a direct consequence of this impact and the fact it occurred in the very center of Termina, a powerful, fiery, dense shock wave is sent throughout the entire land, destroying everything in its path and wiping out all inhabitants, including Link, who, no matter where he is in Termina, or in any form, even as Fierce Deity Link, presumably dies from the explosion.^[1]

Majora's Mask is then seen receding into the fiery darkness and fading to black, similar to the introduction sequence at the title of the game. But, somehow, the Happy Mask Salesman asks Link what happened during this moment, saying he has met a terrible fate,^[2] just as he did when he and Link first met. Link himself is then shown standing inside of the Clock Tower, back on the First Day. Though he and the rest of the land seems to be safe from the tragedy again, all progress the Hero of Time has made during the previous three-day cycle is lost, meaning that he will resume his quest since the last time the Song of Time was played.^[1] In Majora's Mask 3D, however, if Link wishes to continue from the previous three-day cycle, the game must be reset in order to resume from the last time it was saved.

Trivia[]

• This event is the Bad Ending of Majora's Mask.
• There is a longer variation of this event. If Link meets the Skull Kid atop the Tower and plays the Oath to Order without having freed all of the Four Giants, the freed ones will still try to stop the Moon at all costs, only to fail to do so. Link will then have only one minute to play the Song of Time and return to the First Day. If the minute lapses, the Giants will collapse to the ground due to the unrelenting force of the Moon, and the apocalypse will continue as if the giants were never called, inevitably leading to Termina's destruction.

  

• Strangely, if one were to control the camera through debugging and clip through the Moon during the cutscene when it crashes into Clock Town in the original N64 version, a second smaller Moon can be seen inside of the main one that is visible, at the size as it appears on the First Day, resembling a "core". Although most likely a developer oversight, the second Moon is the result of the model being loaded from the top of the Clock Tower when meeting the Skull Kid.
• In the original game, the clouds in the sky appear to be rapidly swirling around Termina, similar to that of the eye of a hurricane. In Majora's Mask 3D, however, the eerie red sky stays the same as the Moon crashes down.
• In the original version, the sun gradually begins to rise as 6AM approaches. In the 3DS remake, this is not the case and the sky remains dark, starry and blood red for the entire night.
• If Link was to place Epona in front of the Clock Town's entrance facing Southern Swamp, she can be seen during the cutscene, neighing more often than usual as the Moon crashes into the Clock Tower, a rather sad scenario.
• Enemies can be seen in Termina Field as the moon crashes in the original game. In the 3DS version, they are absent.
• This is one of the few instances of a Game Over in the The Legend of Zelda series that does not involve Link dying after fully depleting his health. Some of the other instances include: if Princess Zelda is rendered lifeless stone by Vaati after his ceremony (following the third chime of the bell) and he claims the Light Force in The Minish Cap, when Telma's wagon is totally burned in Twilight Princess while she and Link try to escort Ralis to Kakariko Village, when a passenger of the Spirit Train is captured without the Pirate Hideout being unlocked in Spirit Tracks (which is actually the case when Carben is traveling with Link to the Ocean Sanctuary), if The Imprisoned manages to reach the Sealed Temple in Skyward Sword, and most recently, if Link allows Riju and Gerudo Town to be overrun by Gibdo in Tears of the Kingdom.

Gallery[]

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  The Moon about to crash into Clock Town in Majora's Mask

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  The deadly shock wave of the blast reaching toward Link's location in Majora's Mask 3D

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  Link helplessly cowering in fear moments before the fiery blast consumes him in Majora's Mask 3D

Video Gallery[]

No giants summoned

Three or fewer giants summoned

References