Chapter 9

🏊 Lake Hylia Sidequests

Before entering the Lakebed Temple, several important sidequests open up. Plumm's Fruit Balloon minigame, the Hawk Grass gliding sequence to restore the lake's water level, and the first Castle Town exploration all happen here.

Roadmap for this chapter

This page condenses spoiler-light planning: skim it before a session when you want to remember pacing, dungeon loot, or Dusk quirks without rereading an hour-long retrospective.

Rough session length for story beats sits around 45 min; doubling that is normal if you're multitasking Poe souls, bugs, heart pieces, or recording footage.

Objectives mirror the designers' gating—you can zig-zag earlier for collectibles once you recognize backtracking costs in Lake Hylia / Castle Town, but quests won't hard-block you with surprise flags as often when you stick to the order below.

Tags flag detour-heavy pacing; keep a bottled fairy or plentiful healing before obsessive sweeps—you'll save real time versus repeated deaths to attrition fights.

At a glance

Chapter 9 — Lake Hylia Sidequests
Region highlight Lake Hylia / Castle Town
Estimated story pacing 45 min
Boss spotlight Story or overworld pacing — see objectives
Tone tags Sidequests, Overworld, Zora Armor required, Heart Pieces available

Major beats (first objectives)

High-level checkpoints before you dive into the full ordered list:

  • Restore Lake Hylia's water level via the Hawk Grass gliding sequence
  • Purchase Water Bombs from Barnes in Kakariko Village
  • Speak to Lanayru's spirit again to learn the Lakebed entrance method
  • Complete Plumm's Fruit Balloon ride (optional Heart Piece)
  • Visit Castle Town and speak with Telma for the Resistance intel
  • Equip Zora Armor before diving into the Lakebed entrance

Regional focus

Lake Hylia / Castle Town

Featured items & abilities

  • Zora Armor
  • Water Bombs (purchase from Barnes)

Goals checklist

  1. Restore Lake Hylia's water level via the Hawk Grass gliding sequence
  2. Purchase Water Bombs from Barnes in Kakariko Village
  3. Speak to Lanayru's spirit again to learn the Lakebed entrance method
  4. Complete Plumm's Fruit Balloon ride (optional Heart Piece)
  5. Visit Castle Town and speak with Telma for the Resistance intel
  6. Equip Zora Armor before diving into the Lakebed entrance
✨
Dusk tip: The Hawk Grass gliding sequence requires precise timing. Dusk's 60fps makes the wind current timing feel more responsive than on original hardware. Save with Instant Save before the glide attempt.

Typical pacing: 45 min