There are two more quests in Hateno Village, both leading to shrines near Mt. Lanayru. First, Clavia points to three trees atop mountains that form a line on the map, and says she found a passage in a book that relates to them: “When the three summit trees become one, turn your back to them and head toward the sea. A trial encased in stone awaits you there.” She wants to find out what it means, but can’t leave her child behind to go off on a treasure hunt. Medda says that the Spring of Wisdom that Zelda visited is in the mountains and probably has a treasure. The cedar line is the easier of the two quests; extend the line to the shore, stand Link there, and walk west toward the trees. There’s a bombable wall there, with the Tahno O’ah shrine behind it. It’s a blessing shrine, with the third piece of the Climber’s Armor set.
The Spring of Wisdom is easy enough to find, but once there, the real fun starts. There’s a Malice-infected dragon [1] draped over the mountainside, and the Goddess Statue nearby tells Link the dragon is Naydra, who has looked over the shrine for ages but… became infected with Malice, and it’s up to Link to free it. There are eyes all over its body, and those are the archery targets. After Link takes out the first, Naydra flies off and Link has to give chase. This serves as a tutorial on riding updrafts to chase after Naydra and taking advantage of the slow time effect while shooting while airborne. I’ve been quite critical of the parts of the game that don’t work for me, so let’s say this: This part was exhilarating and showed off the fun of archery, the scenery around Mt. Lanayru, and (of course) the dragon.
Once the dragon is free, the Malice around it disappears and it returns to the spring, and Link is teleported back as well. The Goddess Statue thanks and congratulates Link, and tells him to shoot Naydra one last time to free its spirit. After Link does, Naydra flies off, dropping a scale in the process. Link takes the scale and drops it in the spring as an offering, opening the door to the Jitan Sa’mi Shrine. After all that, of course it’s simply a blessing shrine.
There are three more shrines to find in the area. One, Muwo Jeem, is technically in the next area to the south, just across the border, but the Sheikah Slate led me there. This is A Modest Test of Strength; similar to the other Test of Strength shrine I’ve done but significantly easier. Behind a waterfall near the road leading to where I’ve fought a Lynel, there’s the Dow Na’eh Shrine. This one, Three Boxes, has a simple test of finding three metal treasure chests and loading them (not necessarily with their contents) onto a floor switch; this gives Link the large metal block he needs to reach the monk.
The final shrine is another one Kass speaks of in song: “A beast that wears a crown of bone, / Prancing through the lush green. / Mount the beast upon its throne, / For only then the shrine is seen.” The crowned beast is a deer with big antlers, and the tricky part of the quest is sneaking up on it without spooking it – even the stealth armor and crouch-walking weren’t enough for me. Once Link finally mounts him and calms him, he leads him over to the pedestal near Kass, which opens the shrine (Mezza Lo/Ancient Trifecta). There are four platforms arranged in a cross and a fifth platform that moves between them; the one nearest the entrance has a crystal switch that moves the fifth platform. As Link goes around the cross, the next two platforms have a treasure chest and floor switch that need to be brought together to open the exit on the last platform.
While exploring the area, Link finds his first living Hinox. They’re asleep as Link approaches, and take a few moments to wake up, giving Link some time to prepare. If he hits them in the eye with an arrow, it stuns them. Starting from far enough away – and using the patented Obi-Wan Kenobi High Ground approach, if possible – they can usually be killed before they close the gap. The first one I fought I chainstunned. If Link’s bow’s good enough, he can kill them before they fully wake up. Basically, Hinox mean free gear and food; after their deadly upgrades in A Link Between Worlds and the bloody nuisance bosses in Tri Force Heroes, seeing them like this is kind of a letdown.
There are a bunch of Koroks in the area, and a couple new ways of catching them. Sometimes Link will find a trail of lights and leaves along with a clinking sound; when the trail comes close enough to Link (or if he chases and catches it), he can examine it to make a Korok appear. One is similar to something I’ve seen before, but more elaborate: There are a bunch of targets on a path, and when they’re all shot, Link can shoot the balloon that appears. There are stumps that, when Link stand on, create a nearby circle of lights that Link needs to reach before they go out. One of these pretty much requires something I wish the game had explained somewhere: Link can jump on his shield and go snowboarding, without a Yeti in sight. And finally, there are blocks of ice that, when melted down, reveal Koroks.
Next: An electrifying gauntlet.
[1] I’d actually seen a green dragon flying around the Bridge of Hylia while exploring Dueling Peaks, but didn’t comment on it at the time.
