Sky Keep

The Sky Keep is an area you access only after passing your Silent Realm challenge. What lies here, in store for you? Well, first off, there are eight total rooms, that you must figure out how to best alter, in terms of their structure. This can be the fun part, but for those who dread puzzle challenges (even the more exciting ones that Zelda offers), it might be more of a tedious chore. Yet your attitude and persistence can help determine that. 

Sliding puzzle - like terminals are what will help you get this done, and you have to go and find them, one at a time. But you can choose to complete any of these rooms in the order you see fit. Six rooms resemble six previous dungeons that you encountered here in the game while holding access to Triforce pieces. Now, this alone means you can, for the first time ever, now get access to all three Triforce parts --- as Link!

How cool, right? The game really went above the call of duty here. Enter the Silent Realm to collect these pieces. But you probably knew that already as you might have recently come from there. But I didn’t mention the last two rooms, which are quite special indeed ; these last two contain a personal entrance and invitation to fight Dreadfuse.

Dreadfuse has got a small key that you can only get once he’s beaten. So roll up those sleeves once again. We’re going to go at it, mano a mano, with the mini - boss of Skykeep…..

If you really think about it, he kind of looks like Scervo, the mini - boss you faced in the Sandship earlier. Both of these guys are robotic, skeletal pirates who, despite how cool and modern they are, can still not break down and dance….that would’ve been cool, but oh, well. You fight Scervo on this broken bridge area (where you might stop to think, once or twice, about asking for a truce), and that is where he will charge at you. 

Push him backwards, to the very edge, in order to disarm his sword. Then, he’ll get into his second phase of battle, and things will really excite you ; now, what he’ll do is this --- he’ll pull out his second sword (where he managed to keep it, I don’t even dare to ask..) and attack you more frequently. If you make him lose his balance, again, it will cause his sword to lose some of its charge, and he’ll then have to spend some time recharging it. But like a good gentlemen, you can wait, I’m sure. Right?

Wrong. This is your moment to act ; push him to the edge, and he’ll lose his other sword. Now, it’s a fair, one - sworded fight for both parties, and that’s how I like it. Right after losing his second sword, he’ll use his hook to attack you. He can also spin the upper half of his body to do his own version of the Spin Attack on you, so be aware.

Guess what you’re going to do now? The same thing you did before. Push him right back to the edge again, and make him fall off and explode on the ground, upon impact. It makes for a bigger fall than Humpty Dumpty’s, and no one can survive that. Too bad for him.

Metal bars on the gap of the bridge will then rise, after Humpty Dumpty is no more, and you’ll then get through to your treasure chest with a small key. Just Clawshot up where you see the target appear. Thanks, Humpty! Move along…..

Now, you’ll also notice, inside the Sky Keep, that no single dungeon resemblance is present, and that’s one of the coolest parts about being in here. In fact, all the dungeons you went inside seem to come alive here, a bit of each here and there. So it’s like you’re playing through the hardest rooms of all of them. 

Metal Shield Moblins are in the Sky Keep, too, so you have to outwit these fat bandits in order to even get by. Break their shields, slash them, and make your battle cry louder than theirs could hope to be. It’s they who should be afraid of you, at this point. Even though they carry a spear and a giant, squared shield that can protect their entire body, they should still know who is a better warrior….you. 

Watch out for some Moldorm tile - loving worms (or caterpillars, whatever they are actually supposed to be), who can annoy the heck out of you here, too. Fight some Furnix and Quadro Babas as well.The Furnix are giant red birds with loose, curled tails as weak points, basically, that move fast and want to come down on you in any way they can. Quadro Babas are just Golden Deku Babas but that can do a little more than their cousins ; these Quadro Baba plant monsters can move their mouths not only vertically but horizontally as well. 

The Quadro Babas are more aggressive, as well as far more durable, than the original Deku Babas or even Boko Babas. They can swerve out of the way of your sword, too. So you have to be methodical and fast when striking, counter - stepping as well….. 

After getting all three Triforce pieces, you rise to an altar and hope to advance in finding out who has been behind Ghirahim’s attacks. Then, you’ll find the island holding Sky Keep up breaks off, falling downward into the Sealed Grounds, where you find out it was actually a disintegrated portion of the larger, Sealed Temple. Now, the final challenge lies ahead, stopping the curse that lies below the earth, of which you have seen a foul beast rising since the very beginning of this game….as well as finding out where you can put an end to Ghirahim, and what is really going on.

Who is behind all this? Does it end now? Play on to find out, in your final showdown…..