If Link calls Saria on the ocarinaphone at this point, she’ll say worried that something bad is happening at the castle. When Link goes to the castle to investigate, the scene from his nightmares plays out. Impa and Zelda flee the castle on horseback; when Zelda sees Link, she throws something that lands in the castle moat. And then Link finds himself face-to-face with Ganon, who demands to know where Zelda’s horse was going. Link characteristically says nothing and draws his sword to fight Ganon, who’s amused by his spirit but knocks him over with a magic blast. Proclaiming that he will soon rule the world, Ganon takes off to find Zelda.
Link jumps into the moat to get the item Zelda left for him, which turns out to be the Ocarina of Time. He immediately replaces the fairy ocarina with it, which is a little inconsiderate given that the fairy ocarina was a parting gift from a dear friend [1]. Saria even remarks that the ocarina sounds different if Link calls her. Anyway, as soon as Link picks up the Ocarina of Time, Zelda contacts him telepathically to let him know she had to flee but to pass on a fifth song, the Song of Time. Now Link has everything he needs to open the Sacred Realm and protect the Triforce, but there’s so much to do before that.
The Great Roundup
While Link can’t finish planting magic beans, gathering heart pieces, or killing gold skulltulas, there’s a lot of progress that can be made on that front now, plus another quest that can be wrapped up [2][3].
The first stop is to return to Kakariko Village. There was a skulltula in the graveyard that I noted earlier, and now with the boomerang it’s possible to get the token after killing it. Going up to Dodongo’s cavern, there’s another skulltula there that requires taking the elevator platform up to the second floor and running it backward – since the pillar hasn’t been brought down to create the stairway to the second floor, Link can access the skulltula and kill it with the boomerang. Back in the village, another kid in the skulltula house is freed of the curse and awards Link with another wallet upgrade.
There are two skulltulas in Lon Lon Ranch that were out of reach when Link last visited. Now it’s time to run all over Hyrule Field and visit locations where the Stone of Agony triggers. Each one hides an underground area with nice rewards. The first, near Kakariko Village, has a gold skulltula protected by a big skulltula. The second, near Lake Hylia, has a business scrub who’ll sell Link a heart piece for 10 rupees – given the usual extortionate rates these guys charge, this is a bargain and a half. The third, near Gerudo Valley, has a bunch of webbed-off areas, one of which has a cow and another gold skulltula.
While running around Hyrule Field, Link comes across a man running laps around Lon Lon Ranch. He stops running at night, giving Link a chance to talk to him. He apparently wishes he could be a rabbit, even if it’s just pretend – aha! The bunny hood has found its new owner, who fills Link’s wallet. Fifty of those rupees go to the mask owner, and this quest chain is now done. Link is given a new mask, the mask of truth. And he has enough rupees to go back to Zora’s River and pick up the last magic bean.
Back in Kokiri Forest, there’s another place to lure out a skulltula and plant a magic bean. There are two more of these patches in the Lost Woods, plus a Stone of Agony hole with a business scrub who’ll upgrade Link’s Deku nut capacity. Another Deku nut capacity upgrade can be earned by returning to the Forest Stage and wearing the mask of truth. Inside the dead Deku tree, there’s a skulltula in a previously-inaccessible room – getting in requires a bomb, and collecting the token requires the boomerang. Link’s now killed enough skulltulas to break another kid’s curse, and his reward is… bombchus.
Gerudo Valley is not welcoming to child Link, but there’s some stuff he can do without fully entering the area. There’s a skulltula near the entrance, and a couple heart pieces Link can reach with his cucco glider. There’s also a skulltula/bean patch of dirt, and we know what to do with that. The river in this area flows into Lake Hylia, where there’s one last skulltula hiding on the Lakeside Laboratory. There’s also a couple scarecrows, one of whom asks Link to make up a song for him. Link obliges, and the scarecrow promises to remember the song. The owl’s still hanging around the area and offering Link a ride to the castle, and now it’s time to go.
Next: Dread it… run from it… destiny still arrives.
[1] I’m sure he just stuffed it deeper in his backpack, to keep as a memento while he uses the Ocarina of Time for its added magical abilities. Right?
[2] This section doesn’t perfectly reflect how I played it. I’ve rewritten it to minimize how much extra running around and backtracking I did.
[3] Since the Stone of Agony is useless to me, I’m following a guide – without story/plot information – for locations where it would trigger if it weren’t.
