The Upheaval lead to much horrid tectonic activity throughout the land of Hyrule; most notably, several pieces of earth were suddenly ripped from the ground and sent to float in the heavens. Many of these floating islands are made of ancient Zonai architecture and technology, and some even have Shrines — challenges tailored for the intrepid Hero of the Wild. While traveling across the western skies, the player likely will see something that is not a mere island, but a colossal stone sphere which hangs like a small moon in the heart of the North Gerudo Sky Archipelago. However, this is no moon — it is, in fact, Starview Island, one of the many Zonai sanctums found in the sky.
Spoiler Warning:
The rest of this article contains significant spoilers for Tears of the Kingdom about the story, gameplay mechanics, etc. that you might not wish to see. Continue reading at your own risk.
While Starview Island is quite large, it is quite a distance from its surrounding islands, so just getting there will prove challenging. But as is the case with most challenges in Tears of the Kingdom, there are several solutions. Those adept in aeronautical engineering can build a nice plane or jet and fly to Starview Island (anything is possible with enough Zonai batteries). But if, like me, you are not so good at building, you will likely have to take the many giant floating blocks strewn across the smaller islets. You can Ultrahand the floating blocks with some rockets and gain enough height to glide to another island, or maybe you can even get high enough to glide all the way to the hole atop Starview Island to enter. The trek may be a difficult one, but the treasure within the spherical haven is worth it.
The inside of the sphere is like the dark caverns on the surface, except the sunlight is able to barely leak in through the hole entrance. Inside is an uneven terrain with lamps that shine intense beams of light on movable wheels, mirrors that reflect the light beams, and orange sensors that turn green when the lamp lights shine upon them. Oddly enough, like a small moon, the gravity level here seems to be lower than that of Hyrule’s surface, allowing Link to jump higher and farther than before. The Hero of the Wild is no stranger to this. Gaining access to the Mayasiar Shrine will not be so easy; it will require a highly-involved puzzle to be solved first, because apparently the art of crafting keys had not yet been discovered by the Zonai when building this marvelous structure.
Like the true action-adventure hero he is, Link moves the lights and mirrors around this star-gazing structure. He uses the generous wind gusts and low gravity to traverse the awkward terrain, and follows the light paths until they finally turn all of the glowing orange sensors to verdant green. After the puzzle is solved, the Mayasiar Shrine appears before the player. And for those heroes who are true dungeoneers, there is an optional hidden treasure chest containing a snazzy Sage’s Will that can be earned with a little extra work. Thankfully, there is no puzzle inside Mayasier Shrine other than Rauru’s Blessing, which includes a Light of Blessing and a nifty Star-Fragment Staff to compliment the Starview Island. The Hero then departs, leaving this old, mysterious fragment of history behind to float evermore in the heavens.
