I’m standing atop the Akkala Ancient Technology Lab, looking around, and the shrine at the labyrinth looks so inviting and near. I hop off and glide, and realize that it’s actually quite a distance away. But I have more than enough stamina with two full wheels to make it there.
As I come in for my landing approach, I see helicopter drones pop into view — one, two, three, four. I get closer still, and can see that the outer wall to the labyringth is open in the center, and you can just walk down a central hall of pillars, and see right up to the shrine, which is mid-way up the rear wall of the labyrinth in a large, rectangular citadel with a window, and the window is covered with bars; otherwise one could just easily climb right up there.
In the middle of the open area with the pillars, there’s a Guardian — a large one, but I take it down very easily, hacking the legs off and disabling it before it is able to muster even one attack on me. The drones flying above don’t seem to take any notice of me, and just continue to fly their routes. In fact, the entire time I’m at the labyrinth, they do not once detect me. Their sensors seem to be unable to reach all the way down to the labyrinth floor, so all they are really there for is to be intimidating, and, I guess, keep people off the roof.
I eventually do explore the roof, though, and they don’t spot me even then. I’m able to avoid them very easily. They do not seem to have wide angle vision, and literally only can see directly where their search beam is aimed. This means that despite their extremely powerful weaponry and huge amount of hitpoints, they are easily avoided and not much of a challenge.
I get into the maze and start looking for a way to get into the shrine chamber. I explore the east side of the maze first, and I don’t find a way up, but I do find numerous chests, containing rupees, ancient technology parts, and some pretty good weapons — royal broadswords and the like. I eventually make my way up to the northern edge of the labyrinth, which takes me along a long hallway where I encounter many chuchus, red and yellow, which I hit with arrows from a safe distance, and some keese. The corridor dead ends and there’s a chest with a nice flame sword, but it’s weaker than the weapons I already have, so I just leave it. I guess if I ever need it, it’ll be there for me when I go back.
I don’t find the way into where the shrine is, though, so I keep looking. Eventually I decide to climb to the top of the labyrinth and try to see if there are any secrets up there; I discover the central area’s columns are hollow, more like chimneys, and half of them contain a chest with something decent inside.
I explore the west half of the maze, and find a disabled Guardian, who wakes up and attacks me, but I kill it easily as well, and a few more keese and chuchus, some more nice weapons and chests with rupees and such.
I go back to the east half of the maze and re-explore, and find a path I had missed my first time, which involves a little climb and then turning down a hall. There’s some more good weapons — a Knight’s shield and a royal broadsword. I think I must be close to the shrine entrance, but the hall just dead-ends.
I return to the west half of the maze, and again find a path that I had missed my first time, and now I’ve solved the secret of the labyrinth. I see a chute leading upward to my right, which is blocked by thorns, so I pull out my meteor rod and shoot fireballs at them, and they burn away; I climb up and there’s a flame claymore, a pretty nice two-handed sword, but not as nice as the royal claymore that I’d broken earlier smashing the second Guardian.
I go back down the chute and continue down the main passageway, which leads up some stairs, and spirals around, and leads me up some more stairs, where I find the shrine chamber. I enter the shrine, and am rewarded with a chest and a spirit orb. The chest contains another part of the Barbarian armor outfit, which completes my set. Once I get it enhanced by the fairies, it’ll be a good one to take into battle, since it gives an attack bonus.
Exiting the shrine, the bars are gone from the window. There was also a hole in the floor that was covered with bars, and the bars are gone from there as well, and now a strong updraft is blowing up from the shaft.
I drop down the shaft, and fall a long way, before emerging into a vast chamber with a high ceiling. Rotting hulks of guardians litter the floor everywhere. I glide to a gentle landing and look around. The room reminds me of the scene in the movie Alien where they first find the egg pod chamber. It has that same feeling of foreboding.
In the center of the room is a raised dais with a chest on it. I walk up and open the chest, and it contains a Diamond Circlet, just like the one I bought in Gerudo town already. So… wtf, now I have two? Yes, sure enough it takes up an inventory slot. I don’t think you can sell off weapons and armor, so I hope this doesn’t mean that I’ve wasted a slot with a redundant item, even one as valuable and powerful as the diamond circlet.
As soon as I retrieve the circlet, four of the dead Guardian hulks come to life, and start targeting me with their lasers. I figured that might happen. I turn to run back to the updraft shaft that I fell down, but am hit by one, and then two blasts. I think about trying to fight the Guardians, but I’ve never fought two at a time successfully, much less four, and it seems foolish to try. I make it out, launching myself into the air and evading another salvo of laser fire.
That was exciting. Well done, designers.