There’s not much new to do in the sky. The Gear Shop at the Bazaar is selling a Bomb Bag, but after getting a Seed Satchel from a Goddess Cube, I’m kind of once bitten/twice shy about buying it. It’s not really worrying about rupees that’s stopping me (a few rounds of Thrill Digger would make back what I spent), but bomb flowers are common when bombs are needed and can refill the bag, and there are enough things competing for Adventure Pouch space as it is. With the wood-burning volcano done and the Iron Shield weak against electric attacks that haven’t been seen in either of the other areas, I swapped it back out for the Wooden Shield before heading to the yellow light. (Speaking of, I’m increasingly sure Peatrice, the item check woman, has a crush on Link.)
Fi introduces the new area as Lanayru Mine. There’s a Goddess Cube right at the base of the tower Link lands on when he arrives in the area. The mine is abandoned and devoid of intelligent life – only Keese, (yellow, electrified) ChuChus, and Electro Spumes remain. A few inactive robots dot the landscape. The minecarts can still be pushed along the tracks, which is needed to reach deeper into the mine. Link eventually comes to an open area with a large blue crystal. He whacks it with his sword, lighting it up, which causes the surrounding area to become a functioning mine – the robots work, the minecarts roll on their own, and the vegetation in the area comes to life (including Ancient Flowers which are a treasure item). Fi explains that the crystal has shifted the surrounding area back in time. There are unrefined Timeshift Stones throughout the mine, but only one stone can be active in a given area at a time. The other notable feature of the area is sinksand, which Link can safely run across but will sink into if he tries to walk; alternately, Timeshift Stones turn it more solid so he can easily cross.
After one last cart ride, Link arrives at the open Lanayru Desert. The desert is wandered by Ampilus, some sort of crustacean or mollusk critter that tries to roll into Link with their electrified shells. A little way into the desert, Link finds a group of cages. By getting to a high place, he can throw a bomb into one, revealing and activating the Timeshift Stone inside. When the area comes to life, a Technoblin – a Bokoblin with an electrified sword that shocks Link if he hits it – shows up with it. After it’s defeated, the cages open and Link can talk to a captive robot, who upgrades his Beetle to a Hook Beetle that can grab things to drop on specific targets.
With the Hook Beetle, Link can cross the large sinksand areas leading deeper into the desert. Ampilus and their shells are immune to sinksand, so when Link uses the Beetle to drop bombs on them, their shells remain as a platform Link can rest on to catch his breath before trying to run further. (However, if he waits too long, the shell disappears and another Ampilus spawns, which doesn’t end well for Link.) Crossing the first sinksand area this way, Link can branch off to hit another Goddess Cube. The next sinksand area has a sandfall to the west, causing the sand to flow east. Ampilus shells go with this flow, allowing Link to ride across while he recovers stamina, which lets him cross a giant area with no other safe places to stand and reach the area exit.
The next area is the Temple of Time, which sounds like where Zelda and her Sheikah guardian were headed next. This area has a bunch of Timeshift Stones and minecarts, with bridges for the carts that have been lost to time and so they only appear when the area has been shifted back in time. One Timeshift Stone is atop a stone structure enclosed in a cage with the only access point being a hole in the top, so Link needs to Beetle drop a bomb inside to activate it. After clearing the path, Link finds his way to the main area of the Temple, which is blocked by a pile of rocks. Gorko tells him he saw an actual sky person (Zelda) go into the Temple with another person (the Sheikah woman), but when he tried to follow, an explosion blocked off the entry into the temple, so he and Link are locked out from whatever’s happening on the other side.
Next: The hidden path.
