SK Paradox Triforce Galaxy

The Starship Phonix heads back to Hyrule. "So, Aaron, after we land, do you mind taking the lead in the search for your Somebody?" "I have an idea of where not to go, at least. We're not getting anywhere near Hyrule Castle without being utterly destroyed." "Fair enough."

As the Legend of Zelda theme starts bringing heavy doses of nostalgia, you are dropped into the Hyrule Open Zone once again, and as you are traveling on Epona, Siccon makes some references to the Sonic Lost World Zelda DLC level back when the Wii U could connect online for the superfans. One of Aaron's swords you can find in this Galaxy looks just like the one from Sonic and the Black Knight, and it's even able to be equipped by Siccon, changing the background music to Knight of the Wind. But you have to complete a side quest for this. More Korok Seed puzzles, anyone? I know, I know, I hate it too. Not every one is required… there's quests involving every branch of the Zelda Timeline here. Your powers have to increase via Spirit Orbs from these quests, some of which involve crossovers, and not all of them come from shrines in SK. After the Rare-style collection quest, Zelda needs help fighting off enemies in a battle that's a homage to Kingdom Hearts 2's Battle of 1000 Heartless. We get Divine Dragon form Zelda as a party member for this segment similar to the Kingdom Hearts games, another Tears of the Kingdom reference. There's even a Korok Seed off to the right from the Hyrule Castle entrance, in the same spot as the hole that is how you entered the castle dungeon during the intro sequence of A Link to the Past. In Soul Kingdom, The dungeon from A Link to the Past is directly connected to the Depths from Tears as well as the castle. There may be some side quests down there for later. The dungeon section plays like that section in the beginning of Sly 2 where you're sneaking through the wine cellar to get to Dimitri's nightclub so you can take pictures of the Clockwerk Tail Feathers. It's another Connor section, but combined with the use of the Ball and Chain from Zelda Twilight Princess. Aaron responds by saying, "It's a shame we couldn't get The Murray for this." Connor gets a smile on his face as the Nobodies head for the Castle Throne Room.

SKSKSK

Aaron speaks first. "If this was any other situation, I could use one of my potions to give Link a voice to make the remembering easier, but I don't think I can even get close to Link without the Sin noticing this time. I'll send out a Beatle drone to see what we're up against…" And with that we cut to gameplay as Aaron tosses the Beatle through into the air, and it has to pick up Bombs from Bomb Flowers to clear the enemies out. At least a few of them are the ancient robots from that first Breath of the Wild trailer, back when it was known as Zelda Wii U, so you're going to be dodging lasers trying to shoot you out of the air… it's still a kids game, so nothing too difficult, but it's not going to be a walk in the park. After the room is cleared of threats, the Beatle heads back to Aaron's hands as they head into the room, and the Sin springs to life. "Demi-Soul Princes. Let's cut to the chase. I do want to give Link back to you, just as soon as my experiments are done. We almost did the experiments on Sly, and we might still go after him soon, but Link's lack of a spiritual connection to the other Princes made him an easy target." "What are you planning on doing to him?!? Whatever it is, we won't let you!" "… Try me."

The Zelda boss intro says,

Luxuria - Sin of Lust

There's a Light energy collection mechanic for this fight. Fill the meter and you can bring down the shield surrounding the boss. But just as the boss name implies, you don't want to get too greedy with boss damage… After about 3 cycles of this, the HP bar hits zero and Link falls to the ground. "He's still breathing?!" We need to get him to Toad Town Hospital immediately!" "On it! Mushroom Galaxy, here we come!

SKSKSK

"Dr. Toadly. Please give us some good news…"He's going to be OK, but just barely. If you guys hadn't come when you did, he wouldn't have made it in time… I am extremely relieved to say that I see a full recovery happening. All that energy really helped. "So you're saying, Link becoming a Soul Prince and getting his darkness purged…" "It saved his life?!" The Dr nods. "Link should probably stay away from any combat for a while." "Agreed. But we're just glad to see him OK."

SKSK

As the scene fades out, we're back on the Phonix. Aaron comments, "I've called Bentley to come keep an eye on him. He's going to be staying in the Galactic Ranger area of the ship for a while, and hopefully by the time of our return to Soul Kingdom he'll be ready for action."

"I hope so. Really, I do."

End Chapter