The song “Oath to Order” is only really used once in Majora’s Mask, but this single moment is worthy of great reflection. It is played by Link near the game’s end when he summons the Four Giants from the north, south, east, and west to hold back the rapidly encroaching moon. It’s a song of hope that the Giants can fulfill their vow to save the people, and it’s a song of fear and desperation that perhaps Termina’s time has come. Mikel, the composer of the excellent album Zelda and Chill, captures the struggle between these emotions perfectly in his remixed version of the oath.
The song has a simple, solemn start with piano notes that are held and allowed to ring out, calling out to the Giants for salvation. Before the beat enters, another element that will be repeated later is added: a group of notes on a bell that increases in pitch. These bells seem to represent the hope of Termina’s people. It’s interesting, then, when the bells disappear near the one-minute point. As the Giant’s strain against the moon and their knees threaten to buckle, hope appears to give out. The bells don’t return again for a full minute, leaving the people lost in worry and despair until the Giants gain their footing and show their steadfastness in holding up the threatening celestial satellite. During this minute without bells, the beat reigns.
The beat is added into the track right around the 25-second mark and is the most interesting, moving part of this track to me. Upon close inspection, it clearly mirrors the sound of a heartbeat. It repeats the familiar lubb-dupp of life in groups of three. It simultaneously comforts us with the sound of a living patient and terrifies us with the irregularity that happens when we listen to the moment where the fourth repetition would be. In this moment when we expect the familiar rhythm, there is only one beat. This change causes us to fear for Termina and all the friends we’ve made in its many regions. As Link ascends to the moon, will he be able to stop Majora, or is this odd, single beat a precursor to the death of the world?
Mikel ends the track in the way that so many of our runs in Majora’s Mask end, by returning to the beginning. The simple piano notes return, leaving us without resolution as to the fate of the world. Like in real life, only our actions (in the game acted out through the proxy of Link) can fulfill the oath and provide resolution.
