Having cleared the Akkala Labyrinth, I recall that on the west side of the maze I had spotted a treasure chest behind bars that I couldn’t get to, and noting the bars have retracted from the window of the shrine chamber, I wonder if perhaps they are gone from from that spot as well. I make my way back down into the maze and find the chest, but the bars are still there. There must be a way around that I hadn’t discovered earlier; I explore a bit more, carefully, and find it, hidden behind a large metal box that I need to use magnetism to get out of the way.
The chest contains merely a sapphire, but at least the mystery is now solved. I walk to the entrance of the labyrinth and gaze out into the distance, to see what’s nearby and try to assess if I might be able to reach any of it by gliding. There are steep and tall cliffs at the northern edge of the Hyrule continent, which is how I was able to glide down to the labyrinth; how I can get back up, it seems is a matter for careful climbing, if I’m able. I could always just transport to any shrine I wished on the mainland, but something tells me that if I take a more natural path, I’m bound to find some more korok seeds, or perhaps something else of interest.
Looking down below, I spot a few islands, and as the time is late, and it has grown dark, I also spot some glowing mineral deposits, the type that usually yield luminous stone.
I glide down and first land on the tiny island. There’s a large flat stone covering a water-filled depression, little more than a puddle, really, but I recognize that I need to use the time-stop power to launch the stone and uncover something; I discover a boulder beneath and lift it to reveal a korok seed.
It’s a decent swim from this tiny island back to the shore of the main island, and along the beach there are 2 or 3 dead Guardian hulks rotting and rusting away in the surf. I search them to find some ancient technology pieces, and then I spot a live Guardian patrolling the beach. I don’t want to fight it, and keep my distance, and manage to avoid it detecting me, thankfully.
I walk up the beach around to the north, and get along the north east corner, where I bomb a few mineral deposits, and find another korok seed. I make my way as far west as I’m able, before the beach runs out and the water gets too deep, and so I figure I’m done exploring this area and am ready to start to try to climb up.
I get up about halfway, when it starts raining, and then it turns into a full-blown thunderstorm, and doesn’t let up for 6 hours game-time. I could just stand on the side of the cliff and wait it out, but I’m impatient, and it’s potentially dangerous, so I teleport myself back to the shrine near the Akkala stable.
I run up to the stable and talk to a few people, and Pikango reminds me of the photo in my album that is of a nearby location to the west. I head out that way directly, veering slightly off course to the south, but realize that I’ve diverged a bit, and head back to the north after dealing with some night moblin skeletons that pop up. Heading to the north, it gets a bit hilly, and then I spot a herd of wild horses, and try to catch one, but it kicks me and I give up. But nearby, I see a little gully, wherein it looks like there’s a lake or something, and I think that may be the site where one of my memory photos was taken. I get closer, and it is a fountain or spring of some kind; a statue in the center of the goddess Hylia, and some other carved stone work give it an ancient appearance. I drop down to pray at the satue; it tells me to offer a scale from the red dragon here, so I definitely need to get one of those at some point. I notice the spot where I can recollect my lost memory, and trigger it; a cutscene ensues.
In it, Zelda is frustrated that she’s been praying all her life for the power to contain the calamity, and hasn’t been able to feel it working. Link stands nearby, apparently on guard, but listening to her, while Zelda monologues for a bit.
I resume exploring the spring area, and there’s a tunnel leading into the rock, which I go explore; it emerges into a quarry area where more of those patrolling hover copters are flying about. I try to keep out of sight, but there’s a lot of forage around — minerals, mushrooms insects, and more. I grab a few things, but then more moblin skeletons pop up and start harassing me, and in the process of dealing with them, I am noticed by one of the hovering guardians, and it opens fire on me. I take some damage from a near hit, but it’s not bad, and I manage to run around a large rock and hide until it resets and leaves me alone.
I decide to leave the quarry for the time being, and come back another time perhaps. Walking back along the ridge leading to the Spring of Power, I spot a shrine, which looks to be on the top of the next hill. I head in that direction, and as I get close, I realize that it was an optical illusion caused by two hills lining up with my sight just so; it’s actually further back on top of an even taller hill that the first hill was occluding. And as I get closer still, I find that it’s not a hill at all, but a massive, tall column of stone. The closer I get, the more the land around the column appears to sink before me, and by the time I get close, I realize that there’s actually a very deep chasm, and if I were to glide over to this column from where I’m at, it’d be a difficult climb to get up to the shrine.
To my right, I pass another sleeping Hinox, which I leave be, and further past it there’s a mountainous ridge that rises about to the level of the shrine. If I can climb up that, which looks easier, I should be able to glide over to the column where the shrine is, and land close enough to the top that the rest of the climb to get there will be easy.
I make the climb and the glide, and it is in fact easy.
I reach the shrine, and the game tells me that a shrine quest called the Skull’s Eye has just been completed; I don’t recall triggering the start of this quest, so I guess I just solved it ahead of time. I unlock the shrine, and go inside. There’s no trial or challenge; the shrine master awards me a flame blade and a spirit orb. I don’t take the flame blade, as my inventory is still full, and I already have one. This one is nicer though, but if/when I need to replace the one I have, I can come back.