Skyward Sword walkthrough

Ancient Cistern

Notice the Bird Statue on your left, then jump on the two lilies in front of you and read the stele to the right: "Carved into the great statue are inscriptions of gratitude. They reveal the secret order of this temple. First the back, then the rear, then the back of the right hand, and finally the back of the left hand." Jump into the water, notice the silver rupees in the hands of the statue and perform a spin maneuver to get them, and so the hands close. Then take a look at the back of the statue's hands and notice a blue symbol on the left of the right hand and a blue symbol on the right of the left hand. Then swim towards the back of the statue, go to the bottom of the water and notice a blue symbol at the bottom on the "back" (rear) of the statue. Surface, then look up and notice a blue symbol at the top of the back of the statue. Now swim to the east and perform a spin jump to get on the ledge of the room. Grab and lower the lever to unlock the closest door, and open this door.

Jump on one of the lilies that will turn upside down! Then swim towards left and get out of the water. Cut a part of the Skulltulas webs to get through, then a little further read the stele hidden by some grass: "Strike the gemstones pointing to four directions wisely. The way will only open for one who knows the temple's secret order". Then look at the door and notice its four crystals, and remember the four symbols you saw earlier. Hit the crystals in the order you saw on the first stele (back, rear, right hand, left hand), which is: top, bottom, left and right quickly or else the mechanism will reset.

Open the door and look at the two Skulltulas on the ceiling. Jump into the water, pick up the red rupee in the alcove to the left, then swim to the other side. Get on the lily, use the Slingshot at the Walltulas, then climb the vines. Take a look at your map and see the passage to the right, but the lily's roots are preventing you to go further. From the southeast corner (where you were), jump on the lily to make it turn upside-down, then swim towards the now accessible passage. Perform some spins to break the wooden fences, then get out of the water and open the next door. Open the chest to find the Small Key! then jump left and get on the water stream to get propelled! Attack or avoid the Deku Baba, jump right and open the door to get back to the entrance room.

Go back to the door in front of the entrance and unlock it. Jump to the lower floor:

Mini-Boss: Stal-Master

A Stal-Master with four arms! Fight it like you would with any other Stalfos, but be very careful and draw back or do back jumps when it is attacking you with its fours arms together. Don't hesitate to break some skulls to refill your hearts. Open the next door and get the Whip in the chest! Get out, then go near some kind of tap. Aim at hit, throw the Whip to grab it, then pull to turn it on: a water stream bursts behind you! Get on the water stream to get one floor higher and get back in the main room using the door ahead of you.

Go back to the east side, go past the door you already opened and keep on climbing. Take a look at the hooks on the wall, then use your Whip to grab the first hook, swing and jump. Do the same with the second hook, then go ahead and open the chest containing the Map. Look up, these flying beasts are Furnix, and Fi informs you that they are weaker when their tail is unfolded. Then throw your Whip at its tail when it's unfolded, pull to make it fall and hit it with your sword a couple of times.

Jump into the water, swim to the right (west side), then climb on the lily and take a look at the lever in front of you. Use the Whip at the root of the lily in front of you to turn it upside down, jump on it, then throw the Whip at the lever and pull to lower it: The water on the left ceases to flow. Swim towards the now accessible passage to the left.

Get out of the water, open the chest behind the fish's jaw to get 20 rupees, then go to the bars. Throw your Whip at the lever behind the bars and pull! (not that easy to find the good angle to aim) Go ahead, rush to the Archer Bokoblin to the right and get rid of it. Then throw the Whip at the hook, swing, grab the vines and climb. Now attack the two Deku Babas, then jump towards the vines, climb quickly and let go next to the second Bokoblin. Hit it, then jump down further, grab the lever with your Whip and pull: The bars at the top disappear. Climb the vines behind you, grab the hook, swing, grab the vines in front of you and climb up. At the top, get rid of the three Deku Babas, then grab the tap and pull to turn it on: The water is getting sucked towards the bottom. It's time for a leap of faith!

First basement

Get out of the water, take a look at the Bird Statue and save if you want to. Launch the Beetle at the string holding the Skulltulas so they fall on the lilies and turn them upside down. Swim towards the passage that is now freed, go ahead and surface to the right. Take a look at the Bokoblin a little further, it's carrying a key. Stand to the right, out of its range, then shoot a Deku nut at it to stun it for a few seconds, then quickly throw your Whip at it to grab its Small Key! Go to the other side of the stream and unlock the door. After Fi showed you a big chest probably withholding this temple's key, get rid of the Bokoblin to the right, then go ahead north and jump into the water to be drawn to the...

First floor

... and in the north room. Perform a spin jump to land next to the Bird Statue, then grab and lower the lever to make the bars disappear and create a shortcut. Swim towards northeast, perform a spin jump to reach the ground, then throw your Whip at the lily's roots to turn it upside down. Jump on it, then grab the vines and climb. Go left, slash the Quadro Baba, then jump on the lily in front of you to turn it upside down and free an underground passage. Follow this passage, pick up the red rupee, beware the Floaks, then climb the stairs.

Launch the Beetle at the Deku Baba's root to get rid of it, then go right. Throw the Whip at the tap to create a current of water under the lily, then jump into the water and get back where the Quadro Baba was. Throw your Whip at the lily's roots to turn it upside down, then jump on it, then to the other side. Go ahead, climb the stairs, then throw the Whip at the lever to pull it down and lower the bars.

Draw to you and defeat the other Furlix, then use the Slingshot at the small Skulltula to the right. Grab the vines, go left, then go down, let go a second and grab the vines again, then keep on going left and let go. Go ahead, throw the Whip at the tap to turn it on, which will create a water stream shortcut, then throw the Whip at the hook-lever and lower it: the statue will go down one floor! Get into the statue, jump to the bottom and open the door.

First basement

Go towards the Cursed Bokoblins and hit them while finishing them off using your "ending blow" (you should loot at least one Evil Crystal!). Head left (east) and follow the corridor until you reach the Fire Keeses, then read the stele which advises you to hit the gemstone hidden within the eyes to stop the flow. Backtrack a little, jump on the lily and on the next one, then look right at the blue eyes of the monster. Send the Beetle into one eye and hit the pink crystal behind its eyes, which will stop the strange liquid's flow. Go back to the stele, then launch the Beetle at the bomb, and drop it on the huge cracked rock on the right after the hook.

Go back to the lily, jump and throw the Whip at the third lily's roots to turn it upside down, then jump on the ground and go right. Throw the Whip at the hook, swing and jump on the pillar. Grab the vines on the pillar, climb to the top, then jump on the second vines pillar and let go to the south. Go ahead, jump and grab the vines on the wall, then walk to the edge. Throw your Whip at the hook-lever and pull it to the left to invert the rotation of the pillar. Dash and jump on the pillar, then get off in front of you. At the end of this path, jump on the vines column and let go south. (You can't go any further.) Go ahead, jump and grab the vines, then climb. Go to the rusty bars, then throw the Whip at the same hook-lever to invert once more the pillar's rotation, but also the rotation of the vines column you just grabbed. Go back, grab the vines on the column, climb a little and let go south. Go ahead, get rid of the Fire Keeses, then jump down. Stand under the string, grab it and climb it. More Cursed Bokoblins will appear and try to grab you! Shake the Wiimote if necessary and keep on climbing up to the...

First floor

Read the stele which says to turn the statue back into its original form and to go down the string to the earth's core. Notice the Bird Statue behind you, then go left, jump and lower the level which will make a platform appear to the west and which will free another hook-lever. Get close, use your Whip at the hook-lever and push it up to make the statue go back up. Get back to the stele and grab the string to get down.

First basement

Go southeast, use your Whip to turn the tap on and create a new water shortcut. Jump down, go left and go down up to the chest withholding a Blessed Idol! Then when the Cursed Bokoblins get to you, dash south (ahead) to avoid getting crushed by the statue going even lower. Open the door, walk on the water stream, then turn the tap on to make another stream appear (if you haven't done it yet) and walk on it as well. Turn another tap on, climb one level, then get close to the lock on the left and put the statue in its place (the statue-side must be hidden). Climb the stairs, then turn the four taps on so the statue will get even higher! Refill your hearts with the flowers, save your game with the Bird Statue and climb the stairs.

Boss: Koloktos - Ancient Automaton

After a new chitchat with Ghirahim, you face a pile of golden parts that assemble to form a giant robot with six arms! Avoid its attacks and run behind it so one of its arms gets stuck into the ground while trying to grab you. At this precise moment (you will hear a huge noise), run, aim at its arm and use your Whip to take its arm off its body. Repeat this action with two other arms, then the red orb on its body will sometimes become reachable. Hit this orb when you can while trying to take off another arm to have full access to this orb. Hit the orb as much as you can before it starts to reassemble! Repeat the first strategy (the arms aren't stuck into the ground as long as before) to start the second phase where the robot will now get up on two legs!

Use the same tactic so most of its arms get stuck into the ground and quickly rip them off using your Whip. Pick up one of the blades it was wielding, then get close to its armless side and strike it several times, first aiming at its legs with horizontal strikes, then at its remaining arms and the red orb on its body. The robot will assemble again. Do this strategy twice more to get rid of it!

Pick up the Heart Container lying amongst the automaton's remains, then open the next door. Get on the Goddess' symbol and perform a Skyward Strike while aiming at the same symbol in front of you. Green flames burst out and enter your sword. By receiving Farore's Flame, your sword got longer and its sharpness got improved. Furthermore, on your right hand, a triangle starts to glow... Fi says that you can now learn another song on the Isle of Songs. Once outside, the Water Dragon notices your sword and encourages you to go on with your quest.