After Link finally meets Princess Zelda at Hyrule Castle and obtains Zelda’s Lullaby, he is instructed to head to Death Mountain to find the next Spiritual Stone, the Goron Ruby. Before that, however, Link can take a small detour to a little ranch in the center of Hyrule Field known as Lon Lon Ranch.
Lon Lon Ranch is a relatively small location filled with all sorts of extras and goodies for Link to collect on his journey, as well as serve as the home for the minor characters Malon and Talon, whom Link met at Hyrule Castle prior. There are only a few buildings in the locale; a home, a barn, and a storage shed.
The home is naturally where Malon and Talon live. It’s also where Link can play a minigame hosted by Talon where he has to find three special Cuccos among a flock of regular ones. Doing so will net him a bottle filled with the delicious Lon Lon Milk! Link can also explore the upstairs area, which contains a bedroom. There are various pictures and such in this room, and I always wondered what happened to Malon’s mother, as she doesn’t get mentioned very much outside of a couple lines from Malon.
The building next to the home is the stables with all the cows. Here, Link can encounter Ingo, who complains about having to do all the work on the ranch while Talon just lazes about all day. Once Link acquires Epona’s Song, he can also play that to the cows here to replenish his bottle of Lon Lon Milk.
In the center of the ranch is a horse pen where Malon is standing in the middle, humming a song. If Link shows Malon his ocarina, she’ll offer to teach him the song, which grants him the attention of a certain horse named Epona. Though initially afraid of Link when he approaches, Epona’s Song tells her that he’s not a threat and can be trusted.
Finally, there’s a storage shed in the corner which houses a bunch of boxes that can be moved around and a hidden hole discovered, which conveniently leads Link to a Piece of Heart!
Once Link pulls the Master Sword and goes to the future, he finds that the ranch is in complete disarray. Ganondorf has given Ingo the ranch, while Talon has been kicked out, and Malon still hangs about, though it almost feels as though she’s trapped there.
Link can challenge Ingo to a horse race which, if he wins, he ends up being able to keep Epona as part of a bet from Ingo. However, Ingo has other plans, and instead locks Link inside the ranch, attempting to trap him forever. This leads to one of the most iconic and memorable scenes in the game where Link leaps over one of the walls on the side of the ranch, freeing himself as well as Epona in a small but epic cutscene where he obtains Epona for good and can ride her around Hyrule Field any time he chooses to.
I always liked how, despite the area being relatively small and rather empty, it always felt like something was going on around this area at the same time. There’s plenty of minigames, golden Skulltulas, as well as some characters with simple stories to help add to the worldbuilding of Hyrule. I appreciate that there are even details in the home that, if you look closely at and think about, gets you to consider other elements of the story and allows you to fill in the blanks of Malon’s mother. It’s also the home of Epona and a crucial component of her first-ever appearance in the series, so in my mind, it sticks out as an important locale in Ocarina of Time.
