The First Leg of Our Journey

The Pair Arrive in the Sanctuary

We finally emerge from the sewers of Hyrule Castle to find ourselves in the Sanctuary, a church-like structure.   Here, a priest welcomes us...well, not really us, he seems far more concerned about Zelda's welfare than ours.  After thanking us for escorting Zelda safely from Agahnim's clutches, the cleric informs us that in our current state, we are not going to be a match for our foe: we need to obtain the Master Sword, an ancient relic designed to repel evil.  And so we are given the first mission of our quest.  The game is clever however...the plot is very layered.  Gaining the Master Sword to thusly defeat Agahnim forever would seemingly put an end to the reign of evil in Hyrule, right?  No, it is merely a step you must take towards that goal.  One way or another, Link starts his adventure through the light world, with no direction as to where the Master Sword sleeps, nor with any clue as to how to obtain it.  Before we start to peel back the layers to this mystery, it is always best to be prepared for the dangers that lurk ahead, so let's take this opportunity to gain a few things, shall we?

A Piece of Heart!

We will spend the first leg of our quest hunting down several pieces of heart.  Before this game, Link augmented his life energy, or hit points, by finding full heart containers.  This game is the first to use heart pieces, which are the same thing except that one must obtain a number of them (in this game and most to follow, four) in order to augment Link's survivability.  By finding these pieces before setting forward on our adventure, we make the game a bit easier on ourselves.  Besides, I always like to have things for the dungeons instead of just for the final fight of the game!

Magic Bottle #1

Another new element to Zelda introduced in this title are magic bottles.  These bottles allow Link to carry medicine for his magic, life, or  both as well as a way to carry fairies once he has the bug-catching net.  Fairies are a huge-life saver, especially early in the game, as when you lose your life energy, they automatically revive you.  Later in the game, as fairies only restore a low number of hearts, potions and timing serve Link far better (especially as he'll have the cash to buy them).  One way or another, this is the first sighting of a bottle and it found its way into the series after that as a trademark item allowing the player some customization in how s/he adventures.

Young Boy Gives Directions

The first leg of our journey in our collection of items to help Link out once the real thing begins will take us in and around Kakariko Village, the major town of Hyrule.  This town finds its way into many subsequent titles, and here, a little boy gives us our first direction in our quest: he tells us of the wise man who fled to the Eastern Palace when the soldiers came.  Perhaps he can be of assistance?  Oh yes he can, Link.

Meeting Sasharala

We travel to the Eastern Palace region, and find next to it a small shack.  Inside is the Kakariko Village elder far away from his home, awaiting a hero (I need a hero~).  One way or another, Link will speak with him and Sasharala spills the beans on nearly everything about the first part of your quest.  He tells you that in order to obtain the Master Sword (which you remember is the true goal of the first section of your journey) you must first hold three pendants to prove your worth as the Hero of Time.  He also tells us that if we journey into the palace next door to get the first of these pendants, the Pendant of Courage, then he will unveil more secrets for Link.  If that isn't a subtle hint (Link, go into the Eastern Palace for me!) then I don't know what would classify.

Link Captures a Mushroom!

Before we journey to the Eastern Palace though, it is imperative that we journey into the Lost Woods for a moment.  This fog-covered, maze-like forest isn't original to this game (it was seen in the original Legend of Zelda, though the maze there wasn't nearly as intricate).  While the Lost Woods are an important, ultimate stop on the first part of our quest, this won't be until much later.  For now, we are just here to get the magic mushroom, which we will deliver to the witch by the Eastern Palace so that when we're done there we'll have magic powder.  Magic Powder has limited uses, but can prove useful in, no pun intended, a pinch.

All this collecting and running around Hyrule done, let's head back to the Eastern Palace and start the real adventure!