With a task at hand, Link must enter the Deku Palace, forbidden to any race but their own. Putting on the guise of the Deku Mask, he is welcomed, but with limitations. He is let into the grand wooden gate by the two guards out front, telling you that you may witness the public humiliation of the monkey who has angered their king. “Follow this hall straight to the royal chamber,” they say. “Do not enter any other areas whatsoever!”
Of course, we’re going to snoop around the rest of the palace.
However, should you choose to first examine the situation going on in the Royal Hall, there is much going on in this one room. The monkey you are set to help is tied up to a wooden totem, propped up behind bars for all the Deku people to see his punishment. The Deku King sits on his throne on a decorative platform with his loyal butler by his side. The king’s subjects riot with him, and in the center of the room, a large bonfire pit. This is not a good sign.
After checking in on the monkey, he will tell you that there is a princess in need of saving. The Deku Princess, who he was believed to have kidnapped, is actually lost within the Swamp Temple and may fall victim to a monster if not aided immediately. Now is the time to venture off into the Inner Garden of the palace to help the poor creature. Go to the left or the right to begin your journey around the palace and there are two things that you are certain to come across: vegetables and guards. The garden has an abundance of both.
Throughout the rooms, there are several gardens being watched over by Deku Guards. Link must sneak by without being caught to get to his goal: the monkey. With many walls built with thick logs and the leafy greens planted in rows, Link has plenty of coverage to evade the watchmen’s gazes.
If you have taken a left turn first, you will stumble across a dead end — but this side also holds a secret. Waiting at the end of the trail is a Heart Container. The right is where you need to go to progress to the monkey’s chamber. Make sure you have some Magic Beans on hand before you go. If you don’t have any, there’s a secret chamber beneath the palace garden where you can find a salesman. The secret route is hidden in a tall place, so you will need it.
Travel three rooms into the right chamber and you’ll find a hole in the ground where the bean merchant awaits you. I don’t know why he thinks that’s good for business but to each their own. He gives you a free sample since you’re his first customer in ages (again, poor business, but hey, we’ll take it), but if you buy another for only 10 rupees, there’s a little treasure right where you are. Scoop up some spring water, place it in the soft patch of soil, and plant that bean to get an easy 20 rupees.
Make your way to the outside of the palace, whether it’s sneaking all the way back around or getting the boot from the guards (you’ll find they’re very forgiving if you want to be let back in), and go right of the palace gates. Deku Link will need to hop across the poison bog by skipping from one lilypad to the next until he can reach his destination. Another soft patch will be there for you to plant your bean and the plant will raise you up to the next level, but be warned, if you fall, you fall back into the garden where the guards can easily catch you.
Using an array of Deku Flowers, Deku Link can glide over the garden with ease — that is, until other territorial Deku Scrubs start shooting at you. Now while it’s not entirely necessary to take them out, if you defeat them in battle you will be able to use their own Deku Flowers to propel yourself and create extra safety nets if you think you can not make it to the next platform. Doing this will finally bring you to the captive monkey where he will teach you the “Sonata of Awakening,” allowing Link to open the Temple gates. However, upon doing so, this will further the Deku Kings suspicions of the monkey and your time is short. What else is new for a game with a three-day timespan?
Be sure to check out the rest of our articles from Majora’s Month, our month-long celebration of Majora’s Mask’s 20th anniversary!
