The spot where Telma’s map indicated Auru has gone to is at the far southeast of Lake Hylia. Along the way there, Link finds another Howling Stone, this one with a tune I don’t recognize. The wolf appears off to the west, near a colosseum of some sort. There’s a watchtower in the area, and Auru’s at the top of it. He tells Link the history of the Gerudo Desert. There used to be a prison out there, and a mirror that was used to execute criminals. But now the road to the desert is impassable, and the prison has crumbled to ruins… but the mirror’s still out there. Auru points Link to Fyer, the man who runs the circus cannon. Auru saved Fyer’s life at some point, so now when he needs a favor, Fyer helps him out. In this case, he can calibrate the cannon to shoot Link to the desert. This flight’s paid for, but future ones will require spending rupees.
As Link lands in the desert, Midna decides it’s explanation time. After the Fused Shadow was taken from them, it wielders were chased from Hyrule into the Twilight Realm. Unable to return to the world of light, they became the Twili, the twilight people. And, as suggested during the encounter with Zant and by Midna’s familiarity with this story: it’s their ancestors. The Twili eventually made peace with their banishment, until Zant took over. The beings that Link’s fought at the portals are transformed Twili. Midna has only one way back into the Twilight Realm: the Mirror of Shadows – so I’m guessing that it’s the same mirror that was used to execute criminals. As the cutscene ends, Link looks off to the distance to see his destination, the colosseum we saw earlier with the golden wolf.
Enemies in the desert include Moldorms. This version burrows under the sand and pops out at Link unless he drags them out with the Clawshot, and I give up. Poes and Ghinis have differences that usually stay consistent between games. Iron Knuckles and Darknuts are basically interchangeable but only one or the other appears in any given game. But Moldorms and Lanmolas have appeared in the same game, but it seems when it comes time to assign a name they just randomly choose. But, whatever. These are Moldorms, and there’s nothing to do about it. Peahats also show up, but they’re not hostile and mostly exist for Link to catch a ride on with the Clawshot. There are also a bunch of Poes in the area, plus the last pair of insects, dayflies.
In the southwest corner, Link finds the missing piece of the Bridge of Eldin. After fighting off a shadow being set and opening a portal, he has Midna put it back to restore the path. Moving the bridge opens up what seems to be the endgame challenge dungeon. As Link heads north, he comes across a Bulblin camp. Once the Bulblins are all dealt with, Link can steal a boar and run around smashing all the wooden structures in the area to open up access to treasure chests. The key thing to do here is smash through the north fence to carry onward. On this path, Link meets the golden wolf, who opens up a chance to learn a new skill from the undead warrior: an iaijutsu strike called the Mortal Draw.
The next section involves passing through the main Bulblin compound. It’s meant to be a stealth mission, but you can totally blow every stealth roll and still make it through. You’ll just have to fight the entire compound, including the lookouts trying to snipe you. But their range is limited, and with the Hawkeye, Link can easily stand where they can’t hit and take them out. There’s a boar roasting over a fire, and if Link decides he wants bacon, he can hack at it until it turns into a heart piece. A locked room in the village houses a (live) boar – and the Bulblin King, back for round four. (That’s being generous and letting him count the time he caught Link unaware, without a sword, and more concerned for Ilia and Colin.) This is a straight-up sword fight, reminiscent of the Iron Knuckle fights from the N64 games. Link can wait for him to swing and miss, but it’s more satisfying to use the sword moves he’s learned. The Back Slice is perfect against a slow-moving opponent. After enough hits, King Bulblin gets up and moseys off. Unlike the last two times, he gets to strike back at Link in defeat, setting the compound on fire. Link steals King Bulblin’s boar, who’s spooked by the fire, and crashes through a bunch of barriers, dumping Link outside the colosseum.
Before heading in, there are a couple Poes here to collect. One is back in the now-abandoned Bulblin compound, the other right by the entrance. As far as I can tell, time doesn’t advance in area by the entrance, so I waited a long time for night to fall so I could collect its soul, only to realize I needed to go back to the Bulblin compound to wait for sundown.
Next: I’m just a Poe boy. Nobody loves me.
