The two Goddess Chests Link activated during the Song of the Hero arc are on an island deep in the Thunderhead. Link has to tunnel from the landing point; there are two exits, each by one of the chests. The rewards here are a Small Quiver and a fifth bottle. Back on Skyloft, Link upgrades the Small Quiver twice to a Large Quiver, and then because only upgrading one Seed Satchel and having more Seed Satchels than Bomb Bags/Quivers bugs me, I bought two more Bomb Bags and Quivers and upgraded everything. On the bright side, I had the rupees and most of the treasures already, and Blue Bird Feathers were the only ones that were hard to come by.
There are two sidequests in the sky to wrap up. First, Instructor Owlan is worried that he’s collected specimens of every plant species there is, and wants Link to keep an eye out for something special to add to his collection. Dowsing in Faron Woods, Link finds a Kikwi who doesn’t trust that the monsters are gone and wants to move somewhere peaceful. I’m not sure if plant creatures really count as plants, and neither is Owlan, but he’s certainly intrigued. On Pumpkin Landing, Kina doesn’t like plowing and wants someone to do it for her. Digging stuff up sounds like Mogma work, and sure enough, Link finds one who’s sick of the volcanic heat and wants to go somewhere cooler. He’s not thrilled about the idea of working in a garden, but seeing Kina, he decides he wants to impress her.
Both of these tasks give Link 5 Gratitude Crystals for completion, bringing his total to 80. Batreaux says that’s every Gratitude Crystal in the world, and whether that’s true or not, it’s enough for him to become human and start hanging out in the Bazaar by day without scaring everyone. The reward for completing the quest is a Tycoon Wallet [1], which holds up to 9000 rupees… nice, but rather useless, unless Link has to pay to get the Triforce again. As always, the real reward for this kind of thing is the satisfaction of having it done, and this was a lot less work than Skulltulas or Poe Souls.
Link returns to Lanayru, who’s got a new minigame for him: fighting the old bosses again. The full list is both versions of the Ghirahim fight, all three versions of the Imprisoned fight (ugh), Scaldera, Moldarach, Koloktos, and Tentalus. Levias/Bilocyte is left out. Link gets to choose his first opponent, but then Lanayru chooses (seemingly at random, but I’m not so sure). Oh, and to keep things interesting, Link’s Adventure Pouch is off-limits, except for an equipped shield, and he doesn’t get to heal between fights. (Even passive items don’t work here; it’s not like the Cursed Medal.) The ultimate reward Lanayru has to offer is a super-sturdy shield, so okay, let’s try this.
I started with Tentalus – easy enough, right? Well, for some reason, the Wiimote decided not to be my friend when it came to aiming at Tentalus’ eye during the first phase. The second Ghirahim fight was better, and the Imprisoned Mk. I went fast because the Master Sword destroys its toes in a single shot. I drew Scaldera for the fourth fight, which let me heal to full and smash the boss. The reward for defeating four bosses and stopping is a heart piece, and I debated whether to keep going because I had full hearts, so I was in as good shape as possible. I could stop now and get a heart piece for sure, or keep going, and risk losing to bullshit when I run up against the Imprisoned Mk. III. When I looked at it like that, I took the heart piece, completing Link’s life bar. (Although he’s two short for these runs, because Life Medals don’t work.)
Round two started with Tentalus again, which mostly went better – I’m pretty sure I hit the eye every chance I got. Then came both Ghirahim fights in order and the Imprisoned Mk. I to get back where I was. Scaldera was next, easy as ever, then the Imprisoned Mk. II (much easier when you jump on its head – no shockwaves, and it hasn’t developed the instant-bucking reflex yet) and Moldarach. The shield only requires defeating eight of the nine, so the final choice was between my favorite and least favorite bosses, so I was desperately cheering for Koloktos, and got him. The reward is the Hylian Shield – immune to burning and electricity, and doesn’t take damage. In other words, there’s no reason to use any other shield (although I’ve found exactly two reasons to use any shield, period: Octoroks and Sentrobes).
Lanayru also offers Link the chance to replay Silent Realms for rupees or treasure, which hell no. I’ve got a real one to do, and I’m sure that’ll be bad enough. Link makes a visit to the Bazaar to fix his Adventure Pouch loadout: Hylian Shield, five bottles of Heart Potion++, two Life Medals, and sets out for the trial.
Next: Zelda’s awakening.
[1] There’s a face on the wallet that resembles gold Jovani from Twilight Princess.
