Throughout his journey in Majora’s Mask, Link has to traverse a variety of terrains, climates, and regions. He meets different races and experiences the different lives of those races — literally. One of the first and arguably most challenging he has to embody is the Deku Scrub, particularly when he reaches the Deku Palace for the first time. I’ve never seen a piece of art capture Link’s difficult experience of this, let alone do it in such a creative and effective way as in Ethaliris’s piece.
Unlike the other transformative masks, Link has no choice but to occupy the body of a Deku Scrub for three whole days in Majora’s Mask. The way he screams at his own reflection when realizing his body is more plant than meat is a testament to how traumatic this experience was for him. He no longer had the safety of a sword and shield, only some feeble spin attacks, magic bubbles, and Deku Nuts.
We can only imagine, then, when Link realized he was not completely free of the Deku Scrub persona after the Song of Healing. He would need to once again occupy this form to progress throughout his journey in Termina. One early case of this was when he had to gain access to the Deku Palace. I envision that having to put the Deku Mask back on always filled Link with the same sense of terror and helplessness he felt the first time he saw himself in its form.
This overwhelming feeling of vulnerability is perfectly captured in Ethaliris’s artwork, thanks to the perspective she has created that warps the scale and sense of how intimidating the Deku Palace is. The two Deku Scrubs guarding the entrance are dominating the foreground, with their intense eyes and black-hole mouths questioning the presence of any intruders, and in the background, the colored wall of the palace and its structure beyond are towering. Link’s destination is a small, seemingly inaccessible entrance among the overwhelming structures and guarding Deku Scrubs that remind him of his own vulnerable form. It seems impenetrable as a simple scrub.
But as we know, Link is filled with courage. And that courage is all the more admirable when he has to face challenges like these and does so out of the heroic nature of his heart. He willingly occupies that feeble Deku Scrub form once again to help save the world.
