Part 2: Obtaining the Sacred Flames
After completing the Lanayru Mining Facility, you finally catch-up with Zelda and Impa, who instruct you to return to the Sealed Grounds adjacent to Faron Woods. There you encounter the Imprisoned, a large black beast that has escaped its sealed cage. Additionally, you learn that in order to open the time gate to get to Zelda, your sword needs to be enhanced with fires from the previously mentioned three regions, which involves revisiting the areas you just left, which is mildly annoying. However, once you arrive in the region the real annoyance begins: the Silent Realm trials. All three regions require you to go through a trial where you collect 15 tears, and have to do so without getting caught by the guards. If you get caught, you have to start all over from the beginning. The Silent Realms are on of my least favorite parts of any Zelda game. They produced huge amounts of anxiety when I played the game initially, and this did not alleviate on replay. I'm (somewhat) more willing to accept the revisiting of regions now compared to the first time I played this game. This was one of my major complaints of the game initially. However, I think what is accomplished on the revisits fit the overall story being told, as they wouldn't let just anyone open a time gate - it has to be someone who passes the trials, so this makes sense. But the Silent Realms themselves seem unnecessary. To be fair, once you pass the Silent Realm trials, a new area of the region is opened, so the majority of the gameplay during this part of the game takes place in a previously unaccessible area. This is where the game shines the most, in my opinion. The landscapes opens up a bit and feel more natural. The temples are quite good and memorable. At this point in the game you really feel like you are on an epic adventure. Starting with Lake Floria that leads to the Ancient Cistern and its boss, Ancient Automaton Koloktos. The Fire Sanctuary is a gorgeous temple, built within volcano peaks on Eldin Volcano. Perhaps the most memorable is the Sandship with its squid boss Abyssal Leviathan Tentalus. After you finish the awful Silent Realms, the pre-temple tasks to get to the temple in this section of the game feel relevant and much less tedious, and the temples are really quite fantastic.
The Imprisoned, a recurrent boss in Skyward Sword (more on it in Part 3).
Despite the annoyance of the Silent Realms, they look fantastic.
The Ancient Cistern in Lake Floria and its boss, Ancient Automation Koloktos.
The Fire Sanctuary, where you meet Ghirahim for a second time.
The Sandship with its squid boss Abyssal Leviathan Tentalus.
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