With the Bridge of Eldin out of service, the only way from Hyrule Castle Town to Kakariko Village is the long way over the Great Bridge of Hylia. That bridge is blocked by our old friend, King Bulblin (Goblinicus maximus). After being out-jousted by Link last time, he’s upgraded his gear: he now has big ACME Shields on either arm. Unfortunately for him, Link (Sagittarius equitatus) has also upgraded his gear, and an arrow can easily pass between the shields. After taking a couple shots, King Bulblin is once again sent flying off the bridge while Link sticks his head in the frame and says, “Beep beep!” Or maybe I just imagined that last part [1]. King Bulblin loses a key as he goes flying, and Link catches it. That key opens a couple gates along the way, which will make both this trip and future trips easier.
For the rest of the trip, Link is escorting the wagon with the woman from the bar, Ilia, and Ralis while Bulblin archers try to set it on fire. If they succeed, Link can put the fires out with his boomerang. That’s not the hard part. The problem is, there are Kargarocs flying overhead that cause the wagon to divert course if Link doesn’t take them out in time, and it took a frustratingly long time for me to connect the dots between them and the wagon going around in circles. Eventually, Link makes it to the village, where everyone’s safe. After looking after Ralis, Renado says he’ll be fine. Colin says he’ll stay with him until he wakes, and asks about Ilia’s condition. Renado confirms she’s lost her memory, but he’s confident she’ll get it back again somehow. Telma, the woman from the bar, introduces herself properly, and asks Link if he’d be interested in joining a group of people who are doing what they can to save Hyrule. Her bar’s the group’s headquarters, and she mentions that it has a secret passage to the castle.
As Telma heads off to talk to Renado, Rutela’s spirit appears to Link again. She leads him into the village graveyard and through a tunnel to where her people are buried. As she reaches her husband’s grave, she thanks him for all he’s done for Ralis and opens the grave, revealing the Zora Armor. It lets Link swim freely, but makes him vulnerable to fire and ice attacks. Finally, she tells Link to pass a message to Ralis if he gets a chance, telling him not to mourn her, that he must be brave now and lead the Zoras, and that she loves him. As Rutela disappears, Midna pops out, asking if Link’s forgotten the Fused Shadow. And just in case Link’s content with what he’s accomplished so far, she points out that Link hasn’t really done anything about the underlying problems that led to Hyrule being covered in shadow or the children being taken. It’s kind of a weird approach for her to take, since one of the reasons Link’s done all this was to get the item needed to get to the next dungeon.
As Link heads out of town, the postman catches up to him with a couple letters. One’s from Barnes, who’s already diversified his creations, and now sells bombs that work underwater. Link heads back to the bomb shop to check this out. Apparently the water bombs are incapable of coexisting inside the bomb bag with normal bombs, however, so Link first has to sell back all he has (at a separate counter spot, with Barnes pulling his welding mask down to talk to him there – it’s almost like he’s trying to disguise his identity, as if Link can’t see him pull down the mask and walk over) and then buy them. The second letter is from the Lanayru Tourism Association, advertising a couple minigames in the area: a fishing hole and an archery minigame.
On the way back to Lanayru’s area, Link can find four more insects: mantises by the Great Bridge, and butterflies near the entrance to Hyrule Castle Town. In town, there are two people Link needs to meet right now. The first is a man collecting rupees “for the sake of peace in Hyrule.” When Link donates to him, he says the spirit of love will descend upon Link. On the south road, Link finds Agitha’s Palace. Agitha calls herself the princess of the bug kingdom. She mistakes Link for a grasshopper (hey, that was Romani’s nickname for Link in Majora's Mask). She’s distressed because she’s invited a bunch of golden bugs to a ball, but they’ve gotten lost along the way [2]. When Link gives her the first insect, she rewards him with a wallet upgrade, doubling his capacity to 600 rupees. Afterward, she gives him 50 rupees for delivering each insect, unless it completes a pair, in which case she gives 100. And she says some truly bizarre things when given an insect. (“Li’l ant, li’l ant, I might mistake you for a grain and put you in my cereal…”) Link doesn’t give her all the bugs in one go, because why overfill his wallet, and as he leaves, she rather creepily informs him that she knows he still has some left. With the bugs, Link’s able to raise 1000 rupees to give to the collector, and after reaching that milestone, a heart piece comes to him out of the sky.
Next: Water dungeons tend to be so bad I’d rather play archery minigames than go to one.
[1] Road Runner jokes aside, the cutscenes at the start of this sequence are really well-done.
[2] Knowing the character from Hyrule Warriors, it’s no surprise she’s involved in this quest. The surprise is on Hyrule Warriors’ side; among Link, Impa, Sheik, Zelda, Ganon, Darunia, Ruto, Agitha, Midna, and Zant [3], Agitha’s clearly the odd choice.
[3] The original playable characters, minus an original character and two from Skyward Sword.
