There’s nothing to revisit on the previous levels of the Tower of Spirits; Link got everything in the previous three areas last time. The new area features the return of Phantom Eyes and teleporting Phantoms, now called Warp Phantoms and no longer golden. The Phantom Eyes are also slightly different – they don’t stay defeated. This is actually a good thing, because Warp Phantom Zelda can only use the teleportation ability to warp directly to the Phantom Eyes (then smash them with her sword, heh). This lets her slip behind closed doors or get across gaps, then usually find some way for Link to follow her. This ranges from simply stepping on a switch to using the new paired floor tiles that, if Link and Zelda stand on both halves of the pair, will swap their locations.
The final puzzle of this area of the Tower involves having Phantom Zelda mirror the path patrolled by the other phantom on the floor across a series of tiles that light up. This opens the way to the chamber with the Fire Rail map, restoring Spirit Tracks into the final quadrant of the map. They celebrate with a high-five, then are startled when Byrne confronts them. Before Byrne can attack, Anjean shows up to stop him. Her dialogue reveals that Byrne was once her apprentice, but abandoned his post. Byrne wanted power from the Spirits of Good, but they wouldn’t give it to him, so now he’s working with Cole to resurrect Malladus. Anjean is deeply disappointed in what Byrne’s become and prepares to confront him, sending Link and Zelda back to the tower lobby so they can continue their work.
Anjean’s beyond their help now, so Link and Zelda take the Spirit Train to the Fire Realm. There, a volcano causes rocks to rain down on the tracks, and Link needs to clear them with the cannon or they’ll damage the train. There are two stations visible. The first is the Goron Target Range, but the minigame isn’t open, so Link needs to go to Goron Village. The volcano eruption has blocked the path from the train station to the main village, although Link can visit the trading post and see they have a quiver for sale – so he’ll be getting a bow soonish. The only way forward Link has is to talk to Kagoron, the messenger of the mountain goddess.
The path the the Altar of the Mountain Goddess is troubled by rolling boulders and falling lava rocks. There’s a stamp station a little off the main path that requires getting past a couple Fire Babas that are perfectly positioned to eat Link and spit him out into lava if he doesn’t run past them the second he hits the ground. When Link explains his quest to Kagoron, Kagoron is willing to help – but knowledge of the Fire Sanctuary rests with the Goron elder, who’s in the village, which is blocked. Fortunately, Kagoron has an idea, including how Link can help, and comes to the village entrance. The Gorons set Link up with the fourth and final train car, a freight car. Link can now haul cargo in addition to passengers. In return, Kagoron asks Link to find something cold enough to cool the lava.
As it turns out, the Anouki’s chief export is Mega Ice. Unfortunately, there’s a complication with that, too. A ChuChu fell into the water they use to make the ice and polluted it, so until they can find another water source, there’s no more Mega Ice. The Anouki who makes the ice asks Link to take him somewhere cold with clean water – in this case, Wellspring Station. Delivering the Anouki there earns Link another Force Gem that provides a second link between the Snow and Forest Realms and opens a warp gate to the Ocean Realm. Link’s got a chance to check this out, because the Anouki wants to protect the trade secrets involved in making Mega Ice.
When Link comes back, he’s able to get 20 blocks of Mega Ice loaded onto the train. The cited price is 25 rupees, but he’s able to negotiate and get it for free this once. After the price is settled, the rules of the trip are laid out: keep the train steady, don’t get hit, and outside the Snow Realm, some units are inevitably going to melt. When Link returns to the Fire Realm, the Dark Trains have taken up residence, so he’s got to go around to get to the Goron Village. It takes ten units to make things cool enough for Link to walk across and enter the village proper.
Next: Link’s got a freight car, he may as well use it.
