About two months ago, I took a break from exploring the Lost Woods in A Link to the Past and put my Breath of the Wild cartridge back into my Switch to explore Thyphlo Ruins, just north of the latest version of Hyrule’s Lost Woods. My last save was at the top of Death Mountain’s crater and right next to Vah Rudania. I took a quick look at the map in the Sheikah Slate, found which direction I needed to go in, and let Link bring out his paraglider to get closer to Thyphlo Ruins. I stopped by a stable to bring Epona with me so I could reach the entrance faster and then left her waiting there while I stepped inside.
I was on a mission and not for the hidden Shrine (that one had already been found a long time ago) but to snap a couple of pictures. If you recall Thyphlo Ruins, you might remember that it’s more or less pitch black there, so taking pictures of the place might not be very optimal. After all, you can’t see much even if you bring a lit torch with you and light up the bird statues functioning as torches. If you wonder why I was going to the ruins just to take pictures, I have a very simple answer for you: I write articles, and pictures were needed for my then-upcoming column.
I did fairly well at first. I lit up the path before Link, trying my best not to get lost, and took only a few hits from enemies lurking in the dark. I took my time re-exploring the ruins and finding the best angles for my photos. Then I found a wall of pillars I didn’t remember seeing before and, unfortunately, let my torch run out. Scattered along the paths of the ruins were bird statues you could set on fire, and I looked around for one but I couldn’t see a tiny fire burning anywhere. I ran around a little, but not too far away so I wouldn’t find my way back again. There was still no fire to be seen in the distance. I walked back and started experimenting; an illuminating bomb created by the Sheikah Slate and a Flamespear were the only things I was carrying that made Link’s surroundings slightly brighter.
I gave up on carrying a bomb with me pretty quickly and hit buttons repeatedly to try to convince Link that climbing pillars might not be the smartest thing to do in this situation. Somehow, I managed to press the button that calls for a horse. I didn’t think much of it at first and continued trying to figure out how to leave the place (or if I even wanted to leave at all), but it didn’t take long before I saw Epona’s icon move slowly on the mini-map at the bottom right corner of my screen. Then I heard a neigh. Can you imagine how surprised I was to see that my dear horse had made her way through the darkness and somehow, miraculously, found me standing on the other side of the wall of pillars?
Well, I was very surprised! Humored, too, and I don’t think I’ve ever loved Epona as much as I did right there and then. That sweet creature faced the darkness on her own and came to me! My heart was melting, it was such a sweet gesture I hadn’t expected to happen by accidentally pressing on the call-for-horse button. I can’t recall exactly what happened next, but I’m sure I passed through the pillars to go to her and then treated her to some apples. She had definitely earned them. But then I started to wonder: How were we going to get out of here if I couldn’t see anything?
I got up on Epona’s back and steered her into a slow walk, not knowing exactly where I was leading us, just as long we got somewhere else. I hesitated a lot and I eventually got us to a path, but I still couldn’t find my way back to the entrance where I had left Epona to wait for me. I got off the saddle and tried to follow the path in one direction before giving up, returning, and following the other direction. I was lost and felt like I had fooled poor Epona into this tricky situation even though I hadn’t called for her on purpose. I could always let Link teleport away to a shrine somewhere outside in sunny Hyrule, but it didn’t feel fair to leave Epona alone in Thyphlo Ruins. I knew that I could ask a stable staff to fetch her for me but, as I said, it didn’t feel right.
After spending several minutes wondering how I would solve this problem and thinking of what options I had, I could only see one solution for me. I was playing late at night and I hadn’t planned on staying up very long only to snap a couple of pictures, but this small misstep was keeping me up longer than I intended (after all, I had university classes to wake up to in the morning). Fortunately, I managed to make up my mind after some internal debate. The solution I came up with was really simple and it felt like the most natural option I could go for.
I hadn’t really made any progress in the game by revisiting Thyphlo Ruins so I simply went to my saving log and loaded my last save. Within a couple of seconds, I was back on Death Mountain with a towering Vah Rudania standing next to me, and it was as if me and Epona’s adventure in the darkness had never happened. Satisfied, I closed my game, placed the Switch on my plant stand-turned-bedtable and turned off the lights to drift into a good night’s sleep without any troubles or worries.
