The next area is called Near the Fields, and the first stage is The Field. Okay, they could have maybe communicated a little better there. Anyway, as the Links arrive, the maiden notices a girl standing alone out in the rain, so the Links go over to see if they can help. She says she’s running errands for her father, but between the rain and the soldiers firing cannons all over the place, she’s having a hard time getting home, and asks the Links to help her out. They agree, and so the escort mission begins. The girl – Malon – can take damage from enemies, and she doesn’t have a lot of health, and if she dies the Links die so a Force Fairy can resurrect everybody. It’s a fairly short mission, with the hardest part getting her past the cannons at the beginning because she moves so slowly. When the Links get her home, Talon’s grateful for their help and lets them borrow horses to help in their journey. Malon and Talon’s conversation also seemingly confirms that the soldiers are mind controlled. The horses can jump over fences and trample soldiers, making the next several screens a breeze.
Eventually the Links get out of the horses’ range, just as the rain clears up. The fields ahead are populated by Gohmas, so the next part of the quest is finding a way to deal with them. The solution, of course, is to get a bow and shoot them, but getting the bow requires powering up Pegasus Boots at a fairy fountain, which lets the Links run over gaps, eventually allowing them to reach where the bow is stored. Once they’ve gotten the bow and defeated all the Gohmas, they can get a shovel as a reward, allowing them to dig open a tunnel that leads them out of the area. Near the exit is a giant Force Gem worth 1,000 – Tingle tried repeatedly to steal it, but it’s too heavy for him to carry.
The final part of the stage is a series of big fights. First there’s a bunch of soldiers, then a couple flail troopers, and finally a Chief Soldier surrounded by a bunch of regular soldiers kind of like the various swarm enemies. After that fight, the Links come up against a pair of Stalfos, led by a Big Dark Stalfos in the Dark World whose sword projects to the Light World. When the Big Dark Stalfos is beaten, he turns out to be one of the Knights of Hyrule who keep the sacred jewels. He says that he and the jewel had become cursed, and gives the jewel to the Links for safekeeping.
Kaepora Gaebora arrives at the start of the next stage, The Swamp. He explains that the swamp waters in the area are poisonous, an effect caused by Vaati’s corruption. Falling into the swamp causes the Links to sink, and respawn at the edge minus some health. So, of course, the swamp portion of the stage involves a lot of platforming over the swamp, often jumping between lily pads. After the first section, there’s a sign left by Tingle that talks about jumping over the lily pads, which seems mostly extraneous at this point because to get there Link has to do just that. (Also, Tingle can fly.) It does mention Zoras, who shortly start popping up under the lily pads, sending anyone on them high into the air, adding an extra wrinkle to the platforming.
After passing through the swamp, the Links come to the second portion of the level, a graveyard, which is of course populated by Ghinis [1], who are being mean to a ghost girl. To get them to stop, the Links need to explore a grave to find a Moon Pearl, travel through the Dark World, and stand on a bunch of switches to banish them. Then they can enter the nearby house and meet Dampé, who tells them about a mirror that can seal monsters away that used to be in the Forest of Light, only said forest is now covered with clouds and is more like the Forest of Dark. (Only slightly paraphrased.) A treasure chest in his home has a Power Bracelet, which lets the Links pick up huge things like trees to make their way forward.
The final section of the stage is a large area with four lamps that are lit by standing on a switch. Near each is a large Ghini, who poofs when they enter a lamp’s light. Once all four are gone, the boss – Big Poe, who looks like Jalhalla – shows up. He’s only stunned when he’s in the light, but that gives the Links a chance to hit him. After a few hits, Big Poe skitters off, allowing the Links to complete the stage.
Next: Hyrule Castle, take 2.
[1] I really don’t understand why there are two different names for the ghostly enemies. As far as I’ve played, Ghinis and Poes have only kinda appeared together in the Oracle games, where it’s usually Ghinis but Link gets a Poe Clock from a ghost in Ages and (two of) the Poe Sisters show up as a miniboss in Seasons, and here with Ghinis but Big Poe. (Iron Knuckles and Darknuts are similar, although the different names were established in Adventure of Link, which had a lot of different enemy names for similar concepts, including its own ghostly enemies, the Moas.)
