Eldin Volcano is erupting as Link skydives into the area, making landing safely impossible. We don’t see him land, but apparently he got knocked out and grabbed by Bokoblins, along with being relieved most of his items. (He still has the harp and earrings, for sure.) As Link breaks the pots around his cell to get a few hearts, a Mogma digs into the cell to tell him his items are missing since the Master Sword being one of those items means Fi’s unavailable. Oh, sure, he’s not totally unhelpful: he grabbed Link’s Mogma Mitts, letting Link tunnel out of the cell. There’s a Sheikah Stone on the mountain since the one in Skyloft is unavailable; as Link explores further, the Mogma pops up to warn him not to get caught and mark the contents of the treasure chests on his map.
This opens up a long stealth segment; fortunately, the Bokoblins seem to have terrible eyesight and worse hearing. (So it’s better than escorting Scrapper.) Along the way, Link gets his items back one-by-one. They start out mostly useless for combat, but helpful for exploration: the Gust Bellows can blow away piles of volcanic ash blocking Link’s path, the Clawshots let him zip to Peahats and vines, and the Whip lets him create a Peahat to Clawshot too. The Slingshot is the first item with combat utility; it can stun patrolling enemies, giving Link a chance to pass by. Then Link gets bombs, although he really doesn’t need them because whenever he can use them, there’s a nearby Bomb Flower. In the hot caves at the summit, Link finds the Master Sword waiting for him, which lets him defeat the Bokoblins guarding his Adventure Pouch, Beetle, Bug Net, and Bow. There’s a Goddess Cube in the area Link couldn’t hit before, but now there are floating platforms to make the distance shorter (alternately, the fully-upgraded sword’s beams travel further). The platforms also lead Link to the door to where Eldin, the Fire Dragon, is. Eldin apologizes for the inconvenience the eruption causes and agrees to fix the volcano, and not without teaching Link his part of the Song of the Hero.
Unlike the other two areas, the desert isn’t experiencing a weather event limiting where Link can land. The Goron who was looking for the dragon isn’t in his cave anymore; he’d moved to a cliff near where Link first landed in the area with an update: there’s a passage too small for him to crawl through in the cave, but Link can fit through and pass to Lanayru Gorge. Fi pops out in her tour guide mode, although what she says Link’s known since his earliest adventures in the area. Up ahead, Link finds the Thunder Dragon – or its skeleton, although the ghostly light hasn’t completely gone out of its eyes.
There’s a nearby locked door, with the key glinting on a butte nearby. Link grabs it with the Beetle and finds a Timeshift Stone mine. There’s a stone in a cart, and when activated, the robot says the stone was ready to be sent to the Thunder Dragon, and at that, the cart starts moving, starting an escort quest. The stone activates monsters that need to be defeated, platforms and areas that are sinksand in the past that need to be crossed, vines that need to be climbed, and Clawshot targets that need to be Clawshotted to before the cart moves too far. (Still better than escorting Scrapper.) At the end of the path, the Timeshift Stone brings the Thunder Dragon back to life, but he’s dying and far too weak to sing his part of the song. (He offers to rename Link LD-Link-16; Skyward Sword is the sixteenth game in the series canon [1].)
The Timeshift Stone lets Link reach a new area, where he finds a different Timeshift Stone. In the present, there was a withered tree in the area, but in the past, the robots were trying to grow a Life Tree to heal Lanaryu. Link takes the seedling, and whacks the Goddess Cube in the area. The tree won’t grow in the desert, but it might grow in the spot Groose pointed out in the Temple of Time. To accelerate the process, Link plants it in the past, meaning that in the present, it’s full grown and sprouted fruit. Link brings the fruit back to the desert and tosses to Lanayru, who is immediately healed by its effect. Grateful, he teaches Link the third part of the Song of the Hero. He also says he’s got an idea for something else he can do for Link, but that’ll have to wait till Link’s next visit.
With the dragons’ contributions complete, Link returns to Levias. Levias performs his part of the Song of the Hero, but the Item Get part is disrupted when the dragons fly up to sing the complete song together. This is… it’s not as disturbing as Twilight Princess’ Interlopers story, but that moment where Link reaches for the floating harp only to be interrupted by Fi floating upside-down in his face was… something. Levias says that the song is the key to a trial which will reveal the path to the Triforce. Another Silent Realm. Great.
Next: The farewell tour.
[1] Which excludes various things like the Game & Watch game, the Satellaview games, the Tingle games, and Link’s Crossbow Training.
