The big concern in Hyrule Castle Town is that Lake Hylia has gone dry, so water’s become scarce. There are a couple Gorons selling hot spring water, but that’s a stopgap solution at best. That’s one more thing to look into, but chances are it’s related to why contact with Lanayru’s been cut off. There’s also a group of cats hanging out in an alley; they’re suspicious of someone, but I couldn’t figure out whom.
Lake Hylia is west of Castle Town. As Link comes to the Great Bridge of Hylia across the lake, the camera shows just how dire the situation is: the lakebed is vast, and the lake itself would more properly be called a pool, or possibly a puddle. Link crosses the bridge, which is covered in a black substance that Midna notes smells funny. As Link stops to take a good whiff himself, a Shadow Bokoblin shoots flaming arrows at both ends of the line of the black substance, and whatever it is, it’s flammable. Going forward or back isn’t an option, so Link decides to take his chances going over the side. Fortunately, what’s left of the puddle is deep enough to break the fall.
There are a few Zoras standing around the remnants of the lake, and they know the problem is with the river flowing from Zora’s Domain. But they can’t get there to check it out – even walking’s ruled out. There’s also a man who relocated his business to the lakeside, but now there’s no water so the whole thing was pointless. In his mutterings, he looks up toward Zora’s Domain, and to the spirit’s cave, and then he notes a Shadow Bokoblin and starts cowering.
As Link approaches the Bokoblin, it picks up a piece of hawk grass and blows on it, calling a giant Shadow Kargaroc. This starts a miniboss fight with the Bokoblin shooting arrows at Link, but occasionally brings the Kargaroc close enough for Link to jump at it. Eventually the Bokoblin gets thrown, so Link’s able to finish it off. Midna gets a great idea: she jumps on the Kargaroc’s back and makes it accept her as a rider, then swoops up Link in its talons and fly him upriver. This sets up a sequence of navigating the Kargaroc through a fairly narrow canyon, dodging Bokoblin archers and crumbling rock structures. When it arrives at the source of the river, it drops Link off and flies away as Midna jumps off.
Midna notes that it’s getting cold, and a woman who runs a nearby boat rental shop – who’s got the same afro as the guy who runs the lantern shop in Ordona – agrees with her. The river’s dry this far up, and as Link and Midna enter Zora’s Domain, they see why: the area is frozen. After a series of jumps, they arrive in the throne room to find three shadow beings wandering around. Killing them opens a portal, as always, and Midna suggests heading out of the Twilight for a while. She also sees where all the Zoras have gone: they’re frozen in the ice below. Midna’s uncharacteristically concerned about helping thaw out the Zoras, and again repeats the suggestion to head into the world to find a solution.
The solution to the Zoras’ problem is the big volcanic rock that nearly fell on Link when he was climbing Death Mountain. Midna brings it back to the Zora throne room, where the combination of heat and it falling onto the ice causes the river to start flowing again. As they prepare to leave the throne room, they’re stopped by the ghost of the Zora queen, Rutela, who thanks them for saving her people and restarting the river. (Midna, now that the Zoras are okay, deflects the praise.) When the twilight beings invaded, she was executed as a warning to the rest of the Zoras, but she sent her son, Ralis, to Hyrule Castle to warn Zelda about what was happening – he’s presumably the Zora Ilia was looking over. She asks Link – whom she recognizes as a transmogrified human - to help Ralis, and in exchange, she’ll give him something that will let him breathe underwater. (There are two call backs to Ocarina of Time here – three if you count her name being derived from Ruto’s – her necklace resembles the Zora’s Sapphire, and the music is the Serenade of Water.)
With the river restored, the journey back to the lake is much quicker and easier, although apparently the landing was rough. Link eventually recovers, and Midna points out that they managed to land right in front of the spirit’s cave.
Next: Hooray! We are spared an embarrassing and financially-debilitating lawsuit!
