Upgrading Sword and Shield
Just because Link has the power to summon all four seasons doesn’t mean he’s done with Subrosia just yet. There are two special ores he can get to now with the magnetic gloves, which he can then take to the Great Furnace. There, the workers melt and fuse the two into hard ore, using a process that apparently calls for the three of them to line up and dance. Then, Link goes to the Smithy, where the master smith takes interest in upgrading Link’s shield to the iron shield. Back on the surface, Link can find an old man who, now that Link has five Essences, will give him the round jewel, completing the set. The jewels can be placed into sockets of a wall, allowing Link access to the Tarm Ruins.
As Link progresses through the ruins, he’ll find the third golden beast, a lynel. There are a couple of Deku scrubs in the area, too; one fights Link, the other wants to hear a melody on the phonograph. Both give Link directions through the Lost Woods area that’s just ahead. Passing through the Woods requires going in a proper set of directions, while manipulating the seasons between each move. The phonograph scrub’s directions lead Link to a grove where the second sword, the Noble Sword, rests. The second set leads him through the Woods. Along the path through the rest of the ruins is another gale seed tree, so Link can warp here freely should he need to.
Ancient Ruins
As Link approaches the ruins, a hooded figure appears and taunts him that stopping Onox won’t be enough. They also mention a plan to revive the Evil King. So there it is, some mastermind has concocted a plan to bring Ganon back after his defeat in A Link to the Past, and what Onox is doing in Holodrum and whatever’s going on in Oracle of Seasons are a part of it. There’s more to uncover, like who the hooded figure is and how to stop Ganon’s resurrection, but for now, it’s a big piece of the puzzle.
The tower requires a lot of travel between floors, with hidden staircases, pits to fall down, and trampolines to bounce up on. The most memorable puzzle is a trap that causes the walls to close in on Link; if he doesn't navigate the rest of the hallway's spikes and bats in time, he'll be crushed, resulting in an instant game over. The treasure is a boomerang upgrade, which travels farther and faster and gives the player more control over its arc; Zelda boomerangs have already pretty well established they’re immune to real physics, so this one just pushes it a little further. (Hey, it’s magic.) The miniboss is Vire, which is a boss version of the already annoying Link’s Awakening version. It’s very good at staying out of Link’s reach, and unusually for any boss, complains each time it’s hit. When it’s hit enough, it retreats, leaving a couple bats behind for Link to kill.
The final boss is Manhandla, whose reimagining here seems to be the basis for the Hyrule Warriors version. Its four mouths need to be killed with the boomerang, which reveals the core to be a giant buzz blob. So the core needs to be attacked with the boomerang as well, and after a few hits, it opens up to reveal the heart of the monster, which is vulnerable to the sword. Victory lets Link claim the sixth Essence of Nature, Blowing Wind. According to the Maku Tree, the next Essence is in a graveyard to the west. [1]
A Pirate’s Undeath for Me
The way to the graveyard is blocked by a broken bridge, so Link needs to find a way to repair it. Off to the east of Horon Village, there’s a desert side area with a skeleton pirate hanging out at the gate, talking about his quest to find the captain’s bell. The rest of the pirates are down in Subrosia – Link’s come across the house near their sunken ship during his travels there. Now that Link’s collected six of the Essences of Nature, the captain decides he’s a competent adventurer and asks him to help find the bell. On the upper floor, one of the pirates is working on remembering a sequence, which turns out to be the order Link needs to press the buttons on the desert gates.
Inside the desert, Link finds the other half of the pirates’ ship, with the ghost of one of the pirates who died looking for the bell. His skull’s out in the desert, and once Link finds it, will help him find the bell (if Link can put aside nonconstructive urges like tormenting the skull by throwing it into water or quicksand pits). The two find the bell, the skull departs for the afterlife, and Link takes it back to the captain, who isn’t satisfied because the bell’s all rusty. Fortunately, the Subrosian smith takes an interest in the bell and restores it. Once that’s done, the captain’s ready to set sail, although his crew’s gotten a bit too used to being on land after so long and get seasick. He yells at them for it, only for the sickness to hit him, so they park the ship while they get used to sailing. Conveniently, they park right where Link needs a bridge to reach the graveyard.
Next: The last two essences.
[1] I rewrote the intro to this section after replaying the dungeon and discovering the original opening was inaccurate and I left out one of the most memorable bits. The sentence I removed was "There’s not much to talk about in the dungeon, which is a straight climb up the tower."
