Chapter 12: Tower of Autumn & Eyeglass Lake

1. 12.1 Return to Horon Village via Subrosia
2. 12.2 Find the Subrosian portal in the lake
3. 12.3 Obtain the Bomb Flower
4. 12.4 Gain the power of autumn
5. 12.5 Return to the overworld
6. 12.6 Enter Unicorn’s Cave

12.1 Return to Horon Village via Subrosia

You might be tempted to use a Gale Seed to return to Horon Village, but the Subrosian route is better long term.

The next dungeon is near Horon Village. While you could return the easy way with a Gale Seed, there’s actually another way that will save you time later. There’s actually a secret path from Horon Village into Subrosia! There’s just one catch; you can only open it from the Subrosia side. Since backtracking to get to here is more tedious than any other way, it makes sense to do that now.

Exit the dungeon, and then hop down the gap in the cliff to the screen below. Jump down another cliff, and then proceed eastward one screen. You’ll be back on the screen with the tree stump. Head north, and then continue north by climbing the set of steps up the mountainside. When you reach the top, do a U-turn and head back south, jumping over the cliff and directly on the portal to Subrosia.

You won’t have to reacquire your Feather this time, thankfully. Hop over the river of fire, and then head west. This time you’ll want to turn south. Hop over the lava puddle, head down the steps, and then head south one more time. You’ll see a cave surrounded by charming skull symbols. Don’t worry; it’s safe to go inside.

Inside are a bunch of what appear to be skeleton pirates. Go ahead and talk to them; they’ll idly chat your ear off. One will give you a hint to something later; file away the information if you want, but we’ll come back here to get that information when the time is right. For now, just head up two flights of steps. You’ll emerge on the top of their little home, where a Subrosian portal awaits.

Head into the portal, and immediately you might recognize this place if you did a bit of exploring. You’re now just below the very southern end of Horon Village. Flip the switch, and stairways will extend that allow you to head out into the village proper.

12.2 Find the Subrosian portal in the lake

Feel free to get some Rings appraised while you’re visiting Horon Town. When you’re ready to pick up the adventure again, leave Horon Village via the northern exit to head to North Horon. Pass by Impa’s house, heading east followed by north twice. Once you reach the bridge that takes you to the Gnarled Root Dungeon, head east. You’ll find a new Octoroks on the next screen; defeat them and head southward.

You’ll find yourself now heading straight towards Eyeglass Lake. There are no enemies to speak of here… at least yet. Hop over the potholes and step out onto the lake’s icy surface. Follow the ice southeast, and eventually you’ll find yet another Subrosian portal, this one taking you to yet another new area of the land. You will want to be careful as there is one Piranha guarding the portal. Dive under it as you sneak up on the land to enter the portal.

12.3 Obtain the Bomb Flower

If you haven’t guessed it yet, you’re here in Subrosia to gain the last seasonal spirit: the Spirit of Autumn. However, that tower is sealed off with a massive rock in front of it. Your ordinary Bombs won’t cut the mustard, so you need something better firepower.

Head south, and then head south again. You’ll now enter perhaps one of the most treacherous parts of the Subrosian “overworld.” Jump over the potholes and quickly proceed past the erupting volcano to the south. Continue following the landmass around towards the west.

The landmass will abruptly end, but thankfully you can forge a path with some clever jumping. Jump onto the island in the middle, and then continue onto the little isthmus that extends off to the west. And then up ahead, you’ll encounter a Podoboo Tower. If you dug around enough in the Subrosian landscape, you’ll have found these already, but this is the first one that just emerges all on its own. They’re mostly harmless save for the fireballs that it occasionally hurls at you. You’ll want to be quick, but not too quick that you make mistakes jumping over the lava.

The first part is fairly basic; just head all the way to the left, jumping when necessary, until you get to the Podoboo Tower; then just hack at it with your sword until it’s gone. Hop up, and then to the right onto the long, narrow strip of land. Then head northward.

There’s another Podoboo Tower on the next screen, but you don’t need to deal with it at all. Just head east once you arrive. There’ll be one more in this final area, and, while it is a bit of a stretch, your sword will reach it from the southwesternmost island. In order to get the Bomb Flower, jump all the way to the right, and then jump up. Use your Power Bracelet to hoist the flower out of the ground to claim it as yours.

12.4 Gain the power of autumn

Now that you’ve made it all this way, you’ll need to head back. The way back is exactly the way you got here, except in reverse. Head west, south, east twice, and then north twice to make it back to the house just south of the Eyeglass Lake portal.

To get to the Temple of Seasons, keep your Roc’s Feather equipped and head west. You’ll need to head west, jump over the river of lava, and then head east again. Then head north. You’ll see this funny-looking post with an S written on it; there’s nothing you can do with it yet, but you can lift up the rock guarding the pit. Then, with the help of a Pegasus Seed, your Roc’s Feather should carry you over the gap of two consecutive potholes where the rock once was.

You should now be back in familiar territory. Head north, and then jump over the lava pit just after that. Head east twice, and you’ll be just outside the Temple of Seasons. Head north to head into the temple, and then make your way to the northeast, jump over the channel of lava, and then head north. You’ll find a couple of Subrosians milling around the tower. Talk to them, and they’ll be utterly ecstatic that you brought them a Bomb Flower. They’ll easily take it off your hands and explode the door open wide. Once they’ve done so, walk in.

The Tower of Autumn isn’t tricky or taxing at all. Simply use Roc’s Feather to jump over each of the lava rivers until you reach the stairs in the north. Walk down in order to find the next staircase. And then finally go back north to find the Spirit of Autumn.

12.5 Return to the overworld

Now, with all four seasons at your beck and call, it’s time to return topside. Head downstairs twice, and then leave the Temple of Seasons by heading south, southwest, and south again. Head west twice, jump over the lava river, and then take the staircase southward.

After you head east, you’ll need to down another Pegasus Seed to hop over the long gap (thankfully, the rock should still be gone at this point). Head south twice, east, jump over the river, and then head east again to get to the Sign-loving Subrosian’s house.

Finally head north one more screen, and you’re back at the Subrosian portal. Hop in.

12.6 Enter Unicorn’s Cave

Be wary of the Piranha when you jump back in the water. Head north, and get back on the ice so you can reach the staircase out of the water. Once you continue north, you’ll find Pig Warriors and Moldorms lurking nearby. Kill them all, and then boldly stand on top of the tree stump. It’s time to put your newfound power of autumn to the test, so use the Rod of Seasons three times to change the world from winter to autumn. In autumn, some potholes will find themselves covered with leaves that you can walk on, and rock-like mushrooms will suddenly be able to be plucked from the ground.

Head north, and you’ll find a trio of Buzz Blobs milling around. Watch out for them and continue up and around to the east. Speaking of those rock mushrooms, you’ll find three on this screen having cast their rocky exterior for their autumntime softness. Pick up the first two so that you can access the staircase, and then you have access to the fifth dungeon: Unicorn’s Cave.

In autumn, you can pick up these mushrooms to access Level Five.

David Johnson

David Johnson, a.k.a. "The Missing Link," was once the webmaster of both Zelda: The Grand Adventures and ZeldaBlog. He works as a software engineer in the games industry. David also pontificates about Zelda, writes features and guides for ZU, and obsesses about CD-i.

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