Heroic Portrayals, Alien Revelations, and Romani Ranch

Editor’s Note: This article was originally published May 24, 2019.

Romani Ranch is a small ranch community located off of Termina Field, home to Cremia, Romani, and a bunch of cows. The location serves a halfway point for Link’s quest in Majora’s Mask, as the path from Milk Road is originally blocked by a boulder and Link can only blow it up once he obtains a Powder Keg after conquering the game’s second dungeon. In addition to an opportunity to finally save Link’s loyal steed Epona, Romani Ranch is also home to a handful of interesting side quests. And no side quest is quite as fun, worthwhile, and intriguing as defending the Romani Ranch from “Them.”

If Link visits the milk ranch during the first day, he is able to talk a young farm girl named Romani and try out a game of horse archery. Link is given two minutes to pop a collection of peculiarly-shaped balloons that Romani places around the ranch. While still considered part of Majora’s Mask‘s main quest, this mini-game is also the preliminary part of an even longer side quest. By partaking in what seems to be a fun test of skill, the player is actually using the opportunity to prove his or herself worthy of a greater task. Riding your horse and shooting all of the balloons is just the test run of the real quest, thus revealing the strong sense of progression that marks a great Zelda side quest.

But now the real challenge comes; it’s one thing to shoot a few balloons in a two-minute time frame, it’s another to have to fend off… aliens. If successful in the shooting game, Romani teaches Link Epona’s Song as a reward and then asks if he would defend the ranch from “Them”. The girl explains that mysterious entities visit the ranch each year to steal its cows, but this year, she intends to fight back. So, she asks Link to return at 2 A.M. on the night of the first day, when these beings are due appear. The alien-like beings have a hankering for Romani’s prized cows, so Link must defend the stable by utilizing his horse and his bow. At this moment, the player realizes the balloons were really just a warm-up.

The real shootout with “Them” can be tense (and at times aggravating), but it’s also another fun test of skill. The time between the emergence of “Them” at 2 A.M. and their demise at 6 A.M. seems to drag on, tension rising with every second, and the mission can feel really tedious and difficult if you aren’t able to multitask. Sure, you can make things easier by using the Inverted Song of Time to slow the aliens down, but where’s the challenge in that?! This shootout sequence, with its added tension and difficulty, lets the player feel like a hero in a uniquely satisfying way. Imagine yourself mounting your horse, bow strapped across your back, as you fend off an army of aliens! You really get to assume the role of a hero here, and the rewards for succeeding are well worth the challenge of playing this game of extreme target practice.

If Link is successful, Romani rewards him with a bottle of Romani milk and a new set of side quests in Romani Ranch are opened up as well. The player can return to the ranch on the night of the second day to test their skills again by helping Cremia with a milk run. The fact that the side quest seamlessly transitions into another is very exciting and adds to the satisfaction the player feels after successfully defending the ranch. But the possibility of success also means the possibility of defeat. If Link fails in his mission, Romani and all of the cows are abducted. That’s kind of a scary thought: an alien abduction in addition to the threat of the moon crashing into Termina. And if Link visits the ranch on the second day after he fails, he will find Romani suffering amnesia from the whole event. Cremia will, in a heartbreaking moment, admit to Link that she wished that she had believed her sister. Such a tragic consequence of failure further separates this side quest from others.

And let’s not forget the aliens, which are a small but interesting twist in the land of Termina. According to Romani, these mysterious beings appear during the Carnival of Time every year. Where do they come from? Are they really aliens? Romani refers to the monsters as “Them”, so could they even be ghosts? Could these creatures that Link is defending against be wayward spirits of Termina or another kingdom?

Players and fans have found a lot of symbolism in Majora’s Mask, so such ambiguity in the saga of Romani and “Them” is another hook for players to latch onto with with this side quest. Majora’s Mask discusses death and despair in many interesting ways, so maybe this quest was another opportunity for the developers to discuss these themes. This side quest definitely gives players some interesting things to ponder when they think about the over-arcing meaning of Termina.

All in all, the Romani Ranch invasion is a really fun side quest that any player will enjoy while playing Majora’s Mask. It tests skill, has a few worthwhile rewards, opens up some other interesting side quests, and presents deeper questions about the history and secrets of Termina. Every aspect comes together into one of the best side quests in the Zelda series.

• “They Came…” by glitcher

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