Operation Replay: Skyward Sword Chapter 15: Leaps of Faith Aren't All They're Cracked Up to Be

Hello, everyone, and welcome to another installment of my Skyward Sword playthrough. Today's agenda: The Fire Sanctuary. I realize this week's post is somewhat late, and my apologies. And without further ado, let's get on with the show.

So, the Fire Sanctuary. I suppose I shouldn't be surprised that it wasn't really all that different from the previous fire dungeon, but then, they are located in the same volcano, or something. Except this dungeon has fun little plants that collect water!

You can see one of them in the above picture. It's that spiky green thing next to the owl on the left. I'm not sure what the significance of the owls here is, since I'm pretty sure owls don't live in volcanoes. Well, whatever.

Turns out the spiky water buds are useful because when you shoot them, they open up and a big water droplet falls out. If the droplet lands on lava, it cools some of the lava so you can jump across it and get across the river of lava blocking your way. Fun stuff.

So here I am at the start of the dungeon. I had to hit the bud in the top center of the above photo so I could proceed. Then I had to do the same thing a little farther on so I could ride on a piece of cooled lava (yay!) down the lava river, which eventually led me to a key.

Here's the view from a handy balcony, showing the lava river I had to traverse. Yay! And when I made my way to the other side of the river...

A Mogma I haven't met before! Cool.

Heh heh. You're all hairy.

Hey! That's MY treasure. Don't get your hopes up that you're going to get it, because it's MINE! Keep your grubby paws off it! Not that you'll be able to get to it before I do, but whatever, furry man.

Uh, okay...

Well, that sounds fun. I can't wait to leap into the mouths of "sleeping statues." What are the chances that the "statue" in question is actually some sort of monster waiting to eat me? These things are never straightforward, are they? Well...I do need the flame...so I'll just press on and deal with it when I get to it.

So, I kept moving through the dungeon, and eventually found...this guy!

Sorry it's so blurry. He's saying, "That stuff looks HOT! I wouldn't mind a little hot bath for my sore shoulders, but this is too much!" Oh, calm down, you wimp. It's just a little lava...wait a minute. That's a Mogma. They're actually showing a Mogma's whole body! You mean they have bodies below their waists! Oh, I never thought they'd actually go to the effort of showing that. Hmm. I guess Mogmas have tails.

Yep, I'm your new guard. I just don't look anything like the bad guys. Like, at all. Why do people always assume I'm with the bad guys? It just doesn't bode well for my outfit.

Okay, fine. I'll just leave you there then, one broken chain link away from a horrible, horrible death. Jerk.

You know, those buds look kind of like crazed birds, or frogs, or something. Gah! Stop looking at me!

And it was then that I discovered you can stab the buds with your sword and run around with them on the sword. Which proves to be quite handy, should you need to douse something...

...like the thirsty frog above. Interesting stuff.

So eventually I made my way to a large circular area with a grate at the bottom of it and lava below that. There was a flat rock on the grate that I could stand on, and hands made of lava would come up underneath it and lift it up, allowing me to reach the next level. Eventually it became apparent that I would have to defeat the lava hands to move onward. Fortunately, there were some water buds in the room, so I defeated the lava hands by impaling water buds on my sword, then throwing them at the hands, which cooled them off for a short time, during which I could hit them and break them into bits with my sword. Cool! And when I was done, the Mogma in the next room changed his tune.

Oh, NOW you like me. You couldn't see that I was a good guy before? You know, because I've never seen another bad guy in this game that had blond hair. Okay, whatever.

Okay, fine, whatever. I'd better get something good for this.

Yes, you do. See the whole "horrible, horrible death" thing above. From lava, or from just, you know, hanging there in the air, slowly starving to death, because I doubt the bad guys were going to cut you down anytime soon.

He's referring to my Digging Gloves. Apparently they're worn out?

Well, that's comforting...

Ooooooh. I wonder what fancy tricks these can do?

Oh...well, then. This was...unexpected. Well, I guess that is pretty spiffy...

Well, whatever. I kept making my way through the dungeon, and what did I find? Another chained-up Mogma!

Well, at least he doesn't think I'm a bad guy...so I freed him.

At first it looked like he was going to screw me out of whatever information it was he had for me, but then the last guy I saved showed up. Turns out they're brothers. After that it was cake.

Okay, okay, whatever. Shut up so I can get whatever's in that chest.

Well, I guess I didn't take a picture of what was in the chest, but I'm guessing it was the Dungeon Map. So I pressed on, and eventually found my way to another underground maze, where I ran into yet another Mogma.

Yeah, yeah, whatever. Pushover. I caught him in, like, a minute.

And inside the chest was a Piece of Heart. Excellent!

So, later on... (after escaping another underground maze that started filling up with lava) I eventually found the bridge where I'd have to make the leap of faith, or whatever it was. Here's the Clue Tablet laying it all out for me.

There was no visible difference between which end of the bridge I jumped off of (I didn't take any picture of this for some reason). So in the end I picked one at random and jumped. Then it was just a matter of landing in the mouth of the statue at the bottom of my fall (which was surrounded by lava) but as I got closer, a platform I could land on magically appeared. Success!

Of course, the pathway I landed on led to another room, which contained a puzzle for getting the Boss Carving. This time I had to tunnel underground and light some statues on fire in the proper order. But I was successful!

Let's see what the Boss Carving is this time!

Mysterious crystals, you say? And some are missing? I was a little suspicious at this point, because it seemed like I was going to have to find the missing crystals before I could get through the Boss Door. But as it turned out, that wasn't necessary...and I proceeded to the dungeon's last room!

This guy again? Groan. They couldn't think of a better boss for this room? Although, I guess it's entirely possible that Ghirahim already killed him for me, but whatever.

You too, freak. I see your demented sense of style hasn't abated any.

A thread that needs to be snipped, post-haste. Preferably with this really sharp sword I happen to be holding. Is that a sufficient joke about the thread snipping? Damn, I really could think of something better if I had the time...okay, let's see here...

But then Ghirahim started monologing about the hieroglyphics on the walls, so I had to pay attention.

Blah, blah, blah, you're weird. Get on with it.

Creepy! Get away from me!

Are you finally going to tell me who your master is? I'd kinda like to know.

No can do, compadre. The secret will die with me! I defy you!

So then he started talking about how pretty he is, or something, and being even weirder than usual.

A penis?

Sorry, I couldn't resist.

Wow, this guy is even weirder than I thought he was. Well, whatever. Time to prepare for battle, I guess.

Okay, so this fight was really frustrating. I'm still not sure exactly what I did to win. But the important thing is that I won!

Take that, whatever I did!

Is this the part where you kill me and end all your problems? Oh, wait, then you wouldn't know where to find the Time Gate. Well, it's not like it isn't just sitting around waiting for anyone who stumbles into that temple at the Sealed Grounds to find it...