Ahhh, that’s what it was? Thankfully, another Hexbear tipped me off about the Scarecrow’s Song, so I did write it down (eventually memorized) and have used it a handful of times, but for some reason I didn’t think to use it there. And actually, that explains some odd Navi behavior I think I’ve seen elsewhere, so let me try it real quick…

…sure enough, there’s a scarecrow spot at the beginning of the Sacred Forest Meadown maze that would let you bypass the whole darn thing! That part was really annoying for me as Adult Link (and I also think it’s really odd how the Moblins don’t disappear after you clear the Forest Temple…is there a lore reason for that?), so I’ll definitely have to file that one away for when I do a Master Quest run.

…THAT’S what the bugs are for?! I was actually going to ask you, “Hey, so…what are those bugs for besides selling to that one lady?” but I don’t think I’d ever have guessed they’d be related to finding Gold Skultulas (unless you stuck me in a room with this game and wouldn’t let me out until I got all 100 Skulltulas…I’d probably read enough dialogue to figure it out). Now that you mention it, in addition to the House of Skulltula hint about Gold Skulltulas liking soft soil, I think there’s a hint somewhere or other (maybe from the Sheikah Stones via the mask of truth?) that mentions the bugs also liking soft soil, but I didn’t put two and two together. I think I thought it was saying that you could find the bugs there, but in retrospect, that doesn’t make much sense when you find them under rocks and grass. Another reason for the disconnect could be that I played through the initial Young Link section (all the way up through becoming Adult Link for the first time) entirely in Japanese, so I didn’t have as strong a connection for those key words in English.

Well, at any rate, that was a huge one: got me the last one in Kakariko, the last two on Death Mountain, the last one in Lake Hylia, another one in Gerudo Valley, last one in Haunted Wasteland, the last two in Lost Woods, and the last one in Kakariko. Only four more to go!

I did know about the tree thing from having watched someone play through the first few Young Link dungeons (I think I got a few that way just by remembering which trees they’d bonked—one in Lon Lon Ranch, and maybe one either in Kakariko proper or a tree in Hyrule Field near the entrance to Kakariko?), but it looks like I wasn’t as thorough as I ought to have been about checking. I found one in Zora’s Fountain this way, as well as at the entrance to Zora’s River.

I found the last one in Gerudo Valley by just listening closely (I’d missed the one on the back of the arch opposite the tent). That leaves one last one somewhere in Zora’s Domain, which is inconveniently the most sprawling area besides Hyrule Field, encompassing three separate zones…but actually, I found it really quickly! Seems like this was another Adult Link only one, since it was pretty easy to find (it was on one of the walls accessible via the elevated platforms halfway up the river). Yippee! And now, for my reward…

…unlimited Huge Rupees? Well, I understand it thematically, since they’re supposed to be this super rich family, but considering the absolute earliest you could have gotten all 100 Skulltulas is after finishing the last temple, who would need rupees at that point? What’s the Venn diagram intersection of “People who are completionist enough to have collected all (or very nearly all) Skulltulas going into the final temple” and “People who are still missing a lot of key items after the final temple (such that they might need to spend a lot of money)”? I feel like you have enough money to buy whatever you want for like 90-95% of the playthrough. Oh well, at least I unironically got a Sense of Pride and Accomplishment for doing this (mostly) using my own brain. It’s a lot more reasonable than, say, trying to get all the Korok Seeds in Breath of the Wild.

Will do! Okay, so there’s another scarecrow spot on the little island where I got a Gold Skulltula back as Young Link (presumably to allow you to get there when the lake’s drained?) but I notice that Navi is also activating at the base of the right pillar. Tried bombing, Song of Storms, Zelda’s Lullaby, but none of those worked. Hmm. Or actually—is that Navi telling you that this is a spot where a Gold Skulltula appears during the nighttime?

…wait, don’t tell me…Aha, I got it! Wow, I feel really silly. What happened was, I assumed that the stone tablet next to the warp pad was referring to the aforementioned Gold Skulltula, so once I got it as Young Link I figured I’d done everything I needed related to that island. In retrospect, that does seem like a fairly elaborate setup for a single measly Gold Skulltula, but hey—I got there in the end! Thanks for the nudge.

I accidentally spoiled myself early in the playthrough about using the Song of Storms to open some of the hidden grottos (after having used dozens of bombs on a few Stone of Agony spots to no avail). I’ve yet to see any evidence that this is even hinted at anywhere in the game—and believe me, I talked to a lot of Sheikah Stones with the Mask of Truth—so I don’t feel too bad about “cheating”. But surely there must be some oblique, obscure hint somewhere, even if it wasn’t adequate, right? It seems like too frequent a mechanic to be left totally to guesswork (or game magazine fodder). When I’m done with this playthrough, I’m gonna search through the text script of the game and see if I find anything.

Ah, turns out it was just that I had to finish the Dampé’s Crypt race in under a minute. Well, I don’t feel too bad about that one. Took me a little longer than I expected (15 minutes or so?) but I got it.

Yup, it was the Shooting Gallery lol. I swear I perfected it before, but I’m guessing you get some other reward the first time and I never bothered to try again. (Upon consulting Zelda Dungeon, I think I must have done it before I actually got the bow and arrow! Oopsy daisy).