Majora's Mask Termina's Epona?

[DeletedUser9]

I was playing Majora's Mask the other day and noticed something odd that I previously had payed no attention to or noticed.

At the beginning of the game, Link who is clearly from Hyrule is riding on Epona, also clearly from Hyrule. Before even passing into Termina, the Skull Kid steals Epona, then states he "got rid of her". Now this is obviously a sinisterly censored method of saying "killed", however later in the game you find Epona again in Romani Ranch, which always made me assume the Skull Kid actually just let her into the wild or something.

But could this have actually been an alternate version of Epona? The Epona of Termina?

I hadn't thought of this until now, but I really think this is the case. There's no way the Skull Kid could have released Epona into the wild in an underground tunnel filled with chasms, and his wording and the delivery during that moment was incredibly sinister. So then the Skull Kid must have killed Epona and Link simply found Termina's equivalent.

Thoughts? Do you think this is the case? And what did you think when you first played through the game? Am I late to the party figuring this out?

 

[Locke]

I'm pretty sure one of the ranchers or Navi says something about her being the same one you lost. I'll go check quotes now.

---

Apparently ZI doesn't have the script, so I looked in the text dump, which makes it easier to miss things.

It is Epona's Song!
The song of two who are bound
by trust.

Link and Epona trust each other. Something that comes with time and experience.

A small, lost horse seems to have
been taken in by Romani Ranch,
south of town...

I'll teach Romani's horse-calling
song to you, Grasshopper.

This one doesn't make sense. How would she know Epona's song?

L-Look!!

Isn't that your horse?!?

Granted she may have been mistaken, I think that because this potential mistake wasn't clarified this also serves to imply that it is in fact Epona from Hyrule.

Nothing completely conclusive, but those are my opinions on their interpretations.

 

[thelastsheikah]

Maybe since she is an exact replica of the hyrule version like everyone else, her family came up with the same song for calling horses as their hyrule versions did. And about Epona making it there safely, maybe there was still a little good left in him. I mean he never really hurt link when they first met and he only turned him into a deku instead of just killing him. I think at that point there was too much good in him for him to be able to do something like that. If majora had completely taken over by then than he would have just killed them both.

 

[VergilDante100]

Perhaps this could be the alternate version of epona after all, i am not too sure however if epona was being ridden at the beginning of the game and the skull kid did his thing to steal her away, he wouldn't go as far to kill the horse, perhaps just send it into termina where link finds her again after going into romani ranch and doing the events there, however there is always a possibility this is a termina epona since there is a slight possibility that epona was truly killed since epona in OOT did not need to grow up since the events of the game were reversed in the end by the master sword going into the pedestal of time, who is to say personally.

 

[Deku man]

An alternate Epona? Quite an interesting theory. Now, I always just assumed that when Skull Kid "Got rid" of Epona, he put the horse inside the ranch, then blocked the path with the boulder, so Link couldn't get to Termina Bay and Ikana Canyon, thus stopping his quest. That's just my theory. I find the possibility that there is an alternate Epona flawed for 2 reasons. 1) If the new Epona was really "alternate", wouldn't it have no experience, or trust, with Link? I mean, I suppose the horse call (Epona's Song) could have some effect, because the horse trusts Romani, (Or Creamia, I don't remember which) who knows and most likely plays the song. Even so, the "alternate" Epona would still have absolutely no experience with Link, but still let's him ride her all over Termina. And possibly 2) If alternate means opposite (I'm not sure if that's what you mean by alternate) then wouldn't Epona act differently? Or move faster or slower? Anyways, those are the flaws that I find in that theory.

 

[athenian200]

I always thought it was the same Epona. I mean, I thought perhaps he killed Epona at the beginning of the game, when he said he "got rid" of her, but I was sure it was her when I saw her at the ranch. Perhaps this is related to not wanting think of Epona being dead, though.

If that is Epona's counterpart, she's an exact replica of Epona as far as I can tell... to the point that it scarcely matters whether or not she's the exact same horse. Since the likeness is such that it would be impossible to tell, it seems simplest to conclude that they are, indeed, the same.

Especially since many counterparts have some kind of variation that distinguishes them from the original character. Ususally an alignment or personality change. Since Epona doesn't meet that criteria, I don't really see it.

 

[TheGreen]

Maybe since she is an exact replica of the hyrule version like everyone else, her family came up with the same song for calling horses as their hyrule versions did. And about Epona making it there safely, maybe there was still a little good left in him. I mean he never really hurt link when they first met and he only turned him into a deku instead of just killing him. I think at that point there was too much good in him for him to be able to do something like that. If majora had completely taken over by then than he would have just killed them both.

Good in Majora's host body? I think not. Majora liked the game of it all too much. I think that yes it's possible that He released Epona in the wild using some hocus pocus, but not because he's kind, but the horse would clearly not be able to escape like Link did and that would be the end of the fun he could have with teh horze.

Perhaps this could be the alternate version of epona after all, i am not too sure however if epona was being ridden at the beginning of the game and the skull kid did his thing to steal her away, he wouldn't go as far to kill the horse, perhaps just send it into termina where link finds her again after going into romani ranch and doing the events there, however there is always a possibility this is a termina epona since there is a slight possibility that epona was truly killed since epona in OOT did not need to grow up since the events of the game were reversed in the end by the master sword going into the pedestal of time, who is to say personally.

Similar post, so same reasoning: I agree that he could let Epona live, but only so he can screw with Link.

Also I'm convinced that there could be an alternate Epona, the logic in the original post is good and Locke's info is contradictory I think, but it doesn't exclude the possibility of there being a second Epona. The fairy could be mistaken, in fact it isn't even sure if itself as it phrases the exclamation in the form of a question.

 

[Random Person]

An alternate Epona is an extremely well thought out idea. However, I choose to not believe it.

1. As mentioned before, Skull Kid is not so sinister that he would kill just yet. Every prank he pulled was just a prank. He didn't directly kill anyone as far as I can remember. (This doesn't mean that people didn't die from his pranks) He attacks people and places curses. The only thing he may have killed was the butler's son, but we have no proof of that.

2. Epona let's Link ride her even before he plays her song. Now this is not final. If this is a different Epona it could be that this Epona is just more tame.

3. The term "got rid of it" was not quoted to mark sarcasm or a euphemism. It can be substituted to mean "kill", but Skull Kid showed no pause in speaking, nor were there quotes around his statement. This is a grammar issue which could have just been a mistake if it was suppose to mean "kill," but I doubt it.

4. And last, Link takes Epona with him when he leaves Termina. What a rude little boy, taking other people's horses. But since the other Epona didn't belong to him either... eh.

All these observations still do not mean 100 percent sure that this is not a duplicate Epona, but it's a pretty big coincidence to have ALL of these. I still choose to believe it's the same horse.

 

[Dodongobomber]

yeah the fact that she responded to eponas sogn right away pretty much means its the same epona. but it doesnt really matter anyway.

 

[insanity76]

Also, if I recall doesn't the horse at Romani Ranch get excited whenever she sees Link on the First Day whenever Tatl points her out to Link and he runs up to the fence? That could also indicate that it's the same Epona and she recognizes Link, and is glad to see him.

 

[PhantomTriforce]

This is a very interesting point you bring up, but I think they are the same Epona. Everyone in Termina, though have the same personality, have different names than their counterparts in Hyrule. So I believe that this Epona is the same as the Hyrule one. Also, she recognized the same "Epona's Song", so that's further proof that they are indeed the same horse.

 

[Ooccoo Watcher]

Epona is not alternate because "got rid of her" means gave her to Romani.

 

[Ghosi]

I believe that Epona is the real Epona. By learning "Epona's Song" it makes sense why it is the real one. Skull Kid could have reffered as getting rid of her like letting her go away and getting lost or something.

 

[February Eve]

I think it's possible he could have simply warped her to the ranch, or something similar. After all, I'm not sure how in the world he broke all the great fairies into multiple stray fairies without killing them, but he did, so he's obviously pretty powerful (rather, the mask is granting him a lot of power). Even if that can be explained away by the great fairy's own powers, there's also the way he transformed both Link and Kafei - again it seems like something that would involve a lot of power, but it didn't physically harm them. As another person said, it seems his pranks are more extreme mischief than maliciousness. He may have put Epona in danger because he can't see the consequences of his actions - or the mask is preventing him from doing so - but he doesn't seem the type to directly kill anything.

[spoilers]

Actually, even Majora's mask didn't kill the skull kid when he was "no longer useful" - it just cast him aside. Though considering it was about to consume everything anyway, perhaps it figured the point was moot. Still, it seemed more concerned with causing chaos, confusion, and prolonging anxiety than with direct assassinations. A pony that's used to being cared for suddenly being lost (as it traumatizes both the owner and the pony instead of just one of them) seems to fit its MO more. Personally I assumed Epona survived and then got lucky because Romani or Cremia found her.

[/spoilers]

That being said, I'm still pondering the idea of an alternate Epona and how that would work out. I'm always open to speculation on things that could take place off-screen in a game.

 

[ikilltoonlink]

hmmmm interesting theory makes sents but dosing the phrase "get rid" mean a lot of different things? like take this for example, "i got rid of the dog!" that can mean 2 things you killed it or you gave it to some one i think majora just GAVE it to romani you know what i mean?