Near the entrance to the Fire Sanctuary, there’s a Gossip Stone that promises a heart piece to one who can dig like a Mogma. Well, Link can do so now, and tunnels to find a small cave with a couple fairies and the heart piece. Then, in Faron Woods behind the Sealed Temple, Link and Gorko work together to uncover a Goddess Wall, and Gorko has an ancient text that suggests things that can be drawn on the wall: “Life’s Crimson Vessel” for “the source of life” (heart/hearts), “Closed Circle” for “destructive force” (circle/bombs), “Arrow in Repose” to “strike targets from afar” (arrow/arrows), and “Glimmering Hexagon” for “great riches” (hexagon/rupees). After those four, there’s a garbled fifth text hinting to draw the Triforce for a special reward – three fairies. For demonstrating the Goddess Wall’s powers once, Link gets a heart piece from Gorko. For showing all the drawings, he gets a gold rupee.
As Link charges a Skyward Strike to activate the Gate of Time, the temple begins shaking, indicating it’s time for another fight with The Imprisoned. Groose has gotten over his feeling of uselessness and has been preparing something: he’s set up rails around the top level of the Sealed Grounds and installed the Groosenator, a catapult that lets him throw bombs to stun the Imprisoned. A very useful weapon, since the Imprisoned has a couple new tricks of its own. First, every step has the shockwave from the start. Second, it’s grown (goofily long) arms it can use to climb the walls. To knock it down, Link can cut off its fingers or have Groose shoot it. Also, the arms make it harder for Link to reach the Sealing Spike when it’s knocked down. However, three knockdowns with the Spike driven into its head returns it to the seal.
The old woman thanks Link and Groose for sealing the Imprisoned again, and promises Link answers await him through the Gate. The Skyward Strike shatters the slab into a bunch of 3D Tetris pieces, which reassemble into the open Gate of Time. Link stops before going through to invite Groose to come with him, but Groose declines, saying he’ll stay to keep an eye on the seal. Impa’s waiting for Link in the past, explaining he’s in the Temple of Hylia, shortly after the goddess send Skyloft to the sky. She sends Link to finally meet with Zelda.
Zelda lays out the full story: A demon king named Demise raised monsters for a war on the Goddess Hylia in an effort to claim the power of the old gods, which is indeed the Triforce, for his own. Hylia sent her people to the sky, creating Skyloft. She was ultimately victorious over Demise, sealing him away, but the seal wouldn’t last, and she couldn’t defeat him a second time. So, she came up with two plans: she created Fi to guide the chosen hero on his quest and sacrificed herself so that she could be reincarnated as a mortal. Link is obviously the chosen hero, Zelda is Hylia’s reincarnation, and The Imprisoned is Demise.
Zelda intends to remain in the past, maintaining the seal. Link has another task – his trials have made him worthy to claim the Triforce. To help him, Zelda/Hylia blesses the Master Sword with her power, and the Master Sword assumes its familiar form (and yes, the music plays this time). This is my favorite Master Sword moment yet. Zelda creates a crystal cocoon to sleep in while she maintains the seal, but asks Link one favor: after all the times she’s woken him up, she wants him to be there when Demise is destroyed and it’s time for her to wake up. Link promises to do so, and Zelda enters her long sleep. Impa promises to watch over Zelda while Link fulfills his quest.
Back in Link’s own time, the old woman tells Link that the Triforce is said to have been hidden in Skyloft, but that’s all anyone knows of it. Groose has made his own decision: he’s going to stay in the Temple. He’s finally accepted Link’s the chosen hero and he’s not, but also realized that doesn’t mean he doesn’t have his own part to play in the story. He draws Link’s attention to a spot in the temple that he things would grow an awesome tree. He asks Link to tell the people in Skyloft he’s doing fine, especially Cawlin and Strich. I’m impressed with the writing for Groose: they made him so unlikable at the start, but it’s just as hard not to like him now.
This game has defied the traditional structures of the series. The first two dungeons existed to get Link the tablets to open portals to the volcano and desert regions, then the third dungeon led to a key plot twist. Then the game went back to a well-traveled path: Link needs to clear forest, fire, and water dungeons to get items tied to the golden goddesses and/or the virtues of the Triforce to get the Master Sword [1]. And only now, near the end of the story [3], does the real quest begin.
Next: A whale of a problem.
[1] I don’t know that any game has followed this formula exactly as described [2]; it’s a composite of all the Master Sword stories (and Phantom Hourglass, which has a lot of the same elements).
[2] Even for Skyward Sword, it requires reading the Ancient Cistern as a forest dungeon and the Sandship as a water dungeon. It’s not a particularly good fit, but if you hammer it enough, it works.
[3] Link’s got 19¾ hearts out of a presumed 20. I suppose they could do like the Oracle games and suddenly expand the life bar.
