This week Shannon and Joe venture into the Ancient Cistern and meet a few old frenemies, including Froaks and creeping Skulltulas, and cross blades with the most imposing Stalfos yet. Deep below the pristine water in the Ancient Cistern we stumble into an episode of Walking Dead: Bokoblins.
Once the secrets of the Ancient Cistern are revealed Link checks-in with a fussy Ghirahim and then deftly defeats the Ancient Automaton, Koloktos, using the mysteriously useful Whip to tear apart its mechanical limbs. Fi obtains the first sacred flame which holds the power of Farore and uses it to strengthen the Goddess Sword. Link also obtains the Triforce of Courage!
Back above the cloud barrier Link travels back to the Isle of Songs and learns Nayru’s Wisdom which will be the key for accessing Nayru’s Trial – an adventure for next week!
Check out our brief article on “The Spider’s Thread” by Ryūnosuke Akutagawa a short story that served as the inspiration for the Bokoblin climb sequence!
Some fun gifs from this section:
Shownotes
These are our literal shownotes, and may not reflect the content of the final episode in full.
Last Time
Last time on Tandem Legends, we did a few sidequests around Skyloft and earned some gratitude crystals.
In pursuit of the first Sacred Flame we traveled down to Faron woods to complete Farore’s Trial and we were gifted with the first spiritual gift: the Water Dragon’s Scale. Link explored Lake Floria, met some new friends, and finished some errands for Faron, guardian Water Dragon of Faron Woods and of Farore’s Sacred Flame. Link gained access to the next step on his spiritual quest – the Ancient Cistern.
Today
Today Joe and I will be discussing the Ancient Cistern. We meet a few old frenemies, the most imposing Stalfos yet, a fussy Ghirahim, and stumble into an episode of Walking Dead: Bokoblins.
After conquering the ancient Automaton, Koloktos, using the mysterious and useful Whip, Link acquires Farore’s Flame which strengthens the Goddess Sword. Link also obtains the Triforce of Courage!
Back above the cloud barrier, Link travels back to the Isle of Songs and learns Nayru’s Wisdom. The next step will be Nayru’s Trial back in the Lanaryu Desert.
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General Discussion
Temple proper
Look and feel
Top side vs underside
“The Spiders thread” story by Ryūnosuke Akutagawa 1918
Tranquil on top, feels very temple like
Mix of a Water Dungeon and a Shadow Dungeon
The zombie Bokoblin sequence was expertly done. Perfect execution
Lotus imagery, statue reminiscent of some depictions of Buddha
Whip
Simple but effective use of motion controls, fun
Unexpected (shannon expecting a grapple ala Wind Waker)
Koloktos battle
Shannon: really enjoyable, moving parts, dramatic pause while it reassembled (nice break), cool design
Big swords, Scimitars?
Get to carry them around!
Why creepy child laugh (not explained), neutral expression becomes smile as you damage it? Super creepy
Farore’s sacred flame
Super cool animation
Very Impressive looking
Triforce images abound
Goddess longsword
Does Link have a piece of the Triforce now?
Nayru’s wisdom
Statue comes from a different place this time? Huh.
Enemies
Furnix
Phoenix.
Joe kinda likes the whip mechanic to draw closer
Stalmaster
Joe struggled
Shannon triumphed
Third eye, a concept present in many religions
First of his name? Only seen in Hyrule Warriors after this.
Cursed bokoblins
Zombies. A little more graphic for Zelda than I expected
Skulltullas
We’ve come a long way since Skyview Temple
Deku baba
Green bokoblins
Froaks
Chuchu
Walltullas
Music:
Ancient Cistern
Lots of water noises/water container noises. Some of the most prominent notes seem tranquil at first but theres an underlying unease to the rest of the instruments
Under the Ancient Cistern
Quiet. Terrifying. Slow chimes with lots of low rumbling and random metallic clangs, dissonant, no real melody, exceptionally atmospheric
Cursed Bokoblins
More developed version of Under the Ancient Cistern? More brass, more lurking, more menacing, more dangerous feeling.
Koloktos Appears
Manic strings, echoed in Koloktos’ stilted movements, feels “wrong” — that this just shouldn’t be.
Koloktos Theme (Moldarach)
How do we feel about themes being reused?
Up until Wind Waker there wasn’t custom boss battle music in Zelda games, but since that game’s release I think it has become an expectation.
Nayru’s Wisdom (statue)
Pretty, feels more spiritual than Farore’s Courage
Nayru’s Wisdom Full
More prominent Harp, uplifting without feeling out of place?, delicate, music box quality
The theme music for this podcast, Overworld, was created by Kevin Macleod of incomepetech.com, licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
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