A Hylian Is Stranded on a Desert Island…

My Story-within-a-Story from The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

In my previous piece on the masterpiece that is The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, I mentioned stumbling across a desert island, losing all my gear (and clothes), bumbling about trying to solve the quest to get my gear back, dying a dumb and easily preventable (though, in hindsight, hilarious) death, and having to turn away, vowing to return someday.

Well, that “someday” finally happened. After several more hours of exploring, questing, battling, trading, and upgrading, I came across the island again (or rather, its nearest coastline). This time, I felt ready to take it on and beat it.

What happened was so cool — really, one of the funnest side quests I’d ever experienced in any game—that I just had to chronicle it, narrated from the perspective of a stranded Link. Oh, and of course there is plenty of Hyrule scenery porn screenshot* goodness. Enjoy!

SPOILER ALERT: This entire post is one big spoiler for the “Stranded on Eventide” shrine quest. You’ve been warned!

*All screenshots were captured using the author’s Nintendo Switch during his many trips to Eventide Island. Obviously, credit goes to Nintendo for creating the game in the first place.

Prologue

“I had just cleared out a Lizalfos camp off of Cape Cresia when I saw it on the horizon: the island of my nightmares. Yes, literally my nightmares: for as long as I can remember, I’ve had dreams—so vivid, they feel more like ancestral memories—of me being stranded on an island, without any clothes or gear, and getting killed by Octoroks while trying to escape.

Those dreams seared that island into my consciousness so deeply that as soon as I saw the cursed rock, I immediately recognized it. There was no doubt in my mind—that was the island where I died in my dreams. I had to find a way onto it.

I asked around at Lurelin Village. The cursed isle, apparently, is called “Eventide Island.” It’s too far out to swim to, and far enough that fishermen don’t bother taking their boats there. On top of all that, it’s supposed to be cursed—but there’s said to be treasure there, too.

Not that any of that mattered to me. I had to go there so I could dispel its image from my mind, so I could finally stop it from haunting my dreams. I bought some arrows, cooked some crab, and sat by the campfire I made near my raft. I was ready to set sail at dawn.”

Dawn of the First Day: Landfall

“At the crack of dawn, I hopped on my raft, whipped out my Korok leaf, and let the gusts of wind guide me to Eventide. The sky and the water were so clear, I could see the coral reefs just below the ocean’s surface. The sun bore down on me, in my many layers of armor.

I kept thinking about the island being cursed, and decided not to take any chances with my raft. I docked it next to a ring of rocks sticking out from the sea, and swam a short distance to the island’s shore. As soon as I set foot on the beach, something strange and terrible happened…

A strange voice called out to me, saying that I had just entered a “trial” of wits and strength, which I would have to solve without any of my gear. As confused as I was while hearing the voice, it paled compared to when the voice stopped and I realized that not only was my gear gone, but the voice also took my clothes away!

I had nothing. No food, no weapons, no shields, no armor. Not even my Korok leaf, which meant I couldn’t head back on my raft. I was stranded on a desert island, taunted by a spirit, fully unprepared for whatever was waiting for me on this cursed rock.

I figured I might as well get to work. I started by foraging whatever fruit and materials I could find. I picked a few fallen tree branches from the ground, coconuts from palm trees, even some durians and bananas. It wasn’t much, but it was a start. At least I had some semblance of a weapon with the tree branch.

The center of the island was more densely vegetated. You might even say it was a little jungle. I found some more bananas, as well as some mushrooms growing on some tree roots. I also ran into a Red Chuchu, but had to run away to spare my only weapon from its flames.

In the middle of the jungle, I found a bog. In the middle of the bog was a tree stump with a woodcutter’s axe lodged on it. I needed that to chop down wood for the campfires I’d eventually have to make. But I’d seen that type of bog before—it was bottomless. No matter how hard you swam, it’d still drag you under. I had to find another way.

Fortunately, there were several high points surrounding the bog that made good launching spots for my paraglider (which the mysterious voice, mercifully, let me keep). I easily glided onto the tree stump, and the axe was mine!

Getting off the stump was trickier, but I got just enough of a running start before jumping that I just barely made it back onto solid ground.

Now, it was time to chop down some firewood. I felled a few palm trees, then chopped the trunks up into useful, burnable planks of wood. I still needed to find a suitable spot to actually burn the fire—as well as something to ignite it with—but this represented good progress on my part.

I also wondered what might have sunk underneath that bog. Fortunately, the creepy voice let me keep my Sheikah Slate, which meant I could still use all my runes. Sure enough, upon activating Magnesis, I spotted a treasure chest!

Naturally, I dragged it right out of the bog to see what goodies it contained.

Score—a sword! Finally, I wasn’t completely defenseless. I could finally fend off that Red Chuchu, as well as an Octorok that kept spitting rocks at me. The latter left me an octo balloon, which I was certain would come in handy later.

I emerged from the jungle, onto the beach. And I immediately spotted trouble: a pack of Bokoblins camped out on the beach, surely up to no good.

I spied on them for a while. Look at those ugly things. They weren’t doing much except sitting by the campfire, roasting fish on spears, and mumbling to each other.

I wanted to save my sword, in case I ran into bigger and badder baddies later on. So I figured I’d sneak by them, lay a bomb next to one of the explosive barrels in the camp, sneak away, and make the camp go “boom.”

Unfortunately, it didn’t go the way I planned. I was able to plant a bomb, but on my way back, the Bokoblins became aware of my presence. I don’t know whether they saw or heard me, but it was a moot point. They went straight into attack mode.

One of them lit the tip of its spear on fire over the campfire, which complicated matters for me. The spear kept me too far to attack them, and my tree branch would’ve burned up as soon as it made contact with that thing.

My best bet was to try and lure them to the explosive barrel I planted the bomb at. Of course, this was much easier said than done.

Suddenly, a thunderstorm rolled in, which extinguished the burning tip off the spear. Perfect—now I could get close, smack the spear off the creature’s hands, and use it to beat them back.

Never mind. One of the other ‘blins chucked another explosive barrel at me. Direct hit. Look at his smug face, too. He looks very pleased with himself.

Things were not looking good for me. I was overpowered and outnumbered. But then, I noticed something curious. Some metal boxes by the encampment were starting to sparkle. Sensing an opportunity, I lured the fiends near them.

POW! Lightning struck the metal boxes, frying the critters. Even better, the ones that didn’t succumb instantly were tossed away, landing right by the remaining explosive barrels. The ones I had set my bomb next to.

BOOM. Bye, bye, bokos. I had won this round, using nothing more than my own ingenuity… and a little help from the gods, of course.

Once the dust settled, and the storm cleared up, I found what the Bokoblins had been guarding—an orb. The spooky voice had mentioned that this trial involved bringing three orbs to different pedestals around the island. So this was one of the keys to getting my stuff back, and getting off the island.

I looked around for the pedestal. Eventually, I noticed something glowing in the distance—it was giving off the same colored glow as the orb. I figured that had to be the pedestal I was looking for, so I headed there with the orb.

The pedestal was just offshore from the very tip of the island. I used Cryonis to create an ice bridge to the platform, where I placed the orb. The platform started glowing blue—one down, two to go.”

Dawn of the Second Day: Clearing the Jungle

“Right as I placed the orb on the first pedestal, the sun was starting to peek above the horizon. It was the start of my second day stranded on Eventide. Now that I was getting the hang of this island, and knew what to look for to complete the trial, I started combing the island in search of the second orb.

I didn’t find the orb. That would have to wait another day. I did, however, find another Bokoblin camp. This batch would be trickier to take on — they were on a tree fort, which gave them an advantage over me. I’d be fairly easy pickings for them, trying to walk up those stairs. But they were guarding a few treasure chests. So I had to figure out some way to get to them.

I stepped away from the camp and decided to return at nightfall. If I waited for the bokos to fall asleep, I could sneakstrike them without them ever knowing what hit them. So I returned to the beach, set up some of the wood I chopped, and used some red chuchu jelly to start a fire. I waited for the sun to set, after which I returned to the camp.

Much better. The ghouls were fast asleep. I crept down to the base of the camp, then slowly snuck up the stairs towards my first target: a red Bokoblin, snoring away, dreaming about… whatever these things dream about. *shudder* I raised my weapon, ready to strike…

Only to have them wake up to the loud blowing of a horn. Somehow, I’d been spotted. Again! Which meant that, yet again, I’d have to take these critters out the old-fashioned way.

Fortunately, the weapons I’d picked up at the other camp were more than match for these chumps…

…Even if they weren’t the most durable.

After felling the the other two beasts, I found the one who had sounded the alarm on me. Of course, a sentry—they never sleep. And it was still blowing its horn at me! I probably should’ve taken that one out first, but I didn’t have a bow. Fortunately, blue imp dropped a decent bow for me, along with some arrows. I wasted no time dispatching this little devil, silencing its alarm forevermore.

Once the camp was clear, I stocked up on supplies, and waited for morning, when I’d continue my search for the remaining orbs.”

Dawn of the Third Day: Finding Higher Ground

“Once the sun rose on my third day marooned on this deathtrap, I plotted my day ahead. Looking up from the boko camp, I saw some cliffs that rose high into the sky—the highest point in the island. Since higher ground would allow me to better scope the island for the other two orbs, I set out to scale the cliffs.

Occasionally, I’d stop to look at the turquoise waters stretching out below me. This would be a wonderful place to take a vacation, if it wasn’t cursed and teeming with monsters.

Climbing the cliffs without my climbing gear took longer than I would have liked, but fortunately, there were plenty of small ledges I could use to catch my breath before continuing onwards. The ocean stretched out as far as I could see; Hyrule was way out in the distance. To call this place “remote” is quite a disservice to this place’s desolation.

Eventually, I reached the top of the cliffs. The view was incredible. It almost made me forget about my predicament and distinct lack of essential gear or protective clothing.

I looked down and saw more trouble—yet another Bokoblin camp. Except this one had a Moblin to boot. And they were guarding an orb! I thought long and hard about how to engage them. I did not want to waste my best weapons (I had a feeling these weren’t the last of Ganon’s lackeys left on this island). So I had to come up with a different approach.

Fortunately, bombs are unlimited. They also confuse these critters every time (Bokoblins may be evil, but I’ve learned that they’re not very smart).

Boom. Almost too easy. Best of all, I was too far away, and too high up, for any of the baddies to strike back at me.

After lobbing tons of bombs, and using arrows to pick off the sentries on the watchtowers, the only ones were were a (very angry) blue Bokoblin and the Moblin. They weren’t falling for my bombs anymore. How else could I waste them without exposing myself to harm?

I climbed down from the ledge and hid behind a large stone slab behind the camp (which I found out was also covering the second pedestal, as you can see above). I then waited patiently until nightfall, when the two demon spawn fell asleep.

Well, one of them did, anyway. The blue Bokoblin still seemed pretty riled up from all the commotion earlier. I was still able to sneak up from behind while it was looking away; I made quick work of it.

The only thing left to do was to sneakstrike the Moblin. And time was running out—the sun was about to rise, which meant it was going to wake up soon. And if woke up, I’d have to fight it the honorable way: face-to-face. And who wants to do that? So I snuck near him, a little faster than I would normally, but not fast enough to rouse him from his slumber…

Ready, aim…

BANG. Right in the nick of time. One-hit kill, no wear or tear on my weapon, and a camp full of supplies all to myself.”

Dawn of the Fourth Day: They Might Be Giants

“With no more enemies nearby, I was free to move the stone slab away from the pedestal (with an octo balloon, of course) and place the second orb in. I was only missing one more orb before I could get the hell out of here.

Obviously, I recouped, restocked, and recovered before I headed out again. It turns out durians and radishes make for a very hearty and healthy dish (hint, hint).

I walked towards the edge of the camp and looked down. The good news: I had found the final orb! The bad news: it was resting on top of a Hinox. This whole side quest is starting to feel like a send-up of desert island tropes.

Eat your heart out, Gulliver.

In any case, I didn’t have much of a choice. I had to get that orb if I was to get my stuff back and finally get off this island. At first, I thought that maybe I could just cut the rope tying the orb to the Hinox. So I snuck just close enough to get in range without waking the giant, and aimed my arrow at a section of rope around its neck.

Yeah, that didn’t work. I woke up the monstrosity, which began charging at me right away. He was slow enough that I could run away and keep a healthy distance from him, but he was fast enough to quickly catch up to me whenever I tried to aim an arrow at him.

Naturally, I aimed right at its big, ugly eye. That would distract him just long enough to strike with my strongest blades a few times, before it got up and started chasing me again.

Sometimes, it would pick up palm trees to use as clubs. Then I’d really have to run for it—those things reach far, and their blows are all sorts of painful.

I did catch a break, though — out of nowhere, a Fire Chuchu got in the Hinox’s way and set its wooden leg armor on fire. I took advantage of the newly-turned tables to deliver a flurry of charged swings.

Eventually, I proved too much for the Hinox. The giant fell, disappearing in a purple explosion…

…and there was much rejoicing.

Finally, the final orb was in my possession. I carried it to the only place the last pedestal could have been, the only place I had yet to explore on the island…

…The top of that flat-topped, rocky hill. Finally, after four and a half days of scraping by on coconuts and scavenged weapons, I was about to break out of my island prison!

I was so excited, I didn’t even notice the thunderstorm that had just rolled in. I just kept climbing up that hill.

…And of course there would be some more Bokoblins, waiting to ambush me. With some electric Chuchus to boot. Well, what’s one more fight at this point, right?

The electric Chuchus were an unwelcome nuisance. It seemed like I got shocked every three seconds, which drained my hearts and forced me to drop my weapon each time. Fortunately, the Chuchus were fairly indiscriminate electrifiers—and they seemed just as much of a hindrance to the Bokoblins as well.

In the end, they mostly took care of themselves. Following the epic brawl, I picked off the remaining enemies, retrieved the orb, and placed it in the final pedestal.

Upon placing the final orb, the spooky voice spoke once more, commending me for completing the trial and (finally) returning my gear to me. Phew.

And on top of that, a shrine rose from the highest point in the island! The voice invited me to enter. Which I did… once the thunderstorm died down and I was able to climb the cliffs without slipping off or turning into a Hylian stir fry.

…And as soon as I entered the shrine, the legendary treasure of Eventide Island was mine for the taking. Along with an always-useful spirit orb.”

Dawn of the Final Day: Escape from Eventide

“When I emerged from the shrine, it was the dawn of a new day. With my treasure and gear in hand, I was ready to return to civilization. The island looked so much more peaceful and serene now. It almost made me want to stay behind; certainly, it beckoned me to return someday.

Wait, what am I saying?! I was anxious to get the hell out of there and never come back!

I’m not sure what became of the raft I took to the island, but as it turned out, there was another perfectly seaworthy raft on one of the beaches. And since I got my Korok leaf back with the rest of my gear, I had everything I needed to make a break for freedom.

Wasting no time, I put my Korok leaf to work, creating a gust of wind that pushed the raft off shore and propelled it away from Eventide and towards Hyrule.

Finally, I was free! After four days of torment, I finally bid Eventide Island farewell. I left a richer and stronger Hylian, and could finally put the nagging visions of that island to rest. And I hopefully made the island a little safer for other unfortunate explorer who stumble upon it after me.

On my journey back home, I started pondering. Was I destined to visit that island? Did my dreams about the island act as a kind of siren’s call, planting a seed in my mind what drew me to the island as soon as I saw it? Now that the shrine’s been uncovered, has the curse lifted? What would become of the next poor sap to get stranded on the island?

Anyway, none of that was my concern anymore. I was anxious to get home.

Finally, eventually, I made it back to Hyrule! And I was immediately greeted by a blue Chuchu. I had made it back, alright. And man, it felt good to be back.

I had passed the trial of Eventide Island. I had weathered its curse and lived to tell the tale. I had plundered its resources, slain its monsters, and found its treasure. My adventure in Eventide had come to an end — and now, I would have to set my sight on another quest.

…after getting some well-deserved rest, of course.

Thank you for reading! If you enjoyed what you’ve just read, please recommend and share this article. And be sure to check out The Legend of Zelda: A Breath of Fresh Air, also on Medium.

Jay Rooney is a lifelong Zelda fan. Hit him up on Twitter to discuss Breath of the Wild and other Zelda games. All screenshots are original and were captured with the author’s Nintendo Switch.