The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons/Spool Swamp and Poison Moth's Lair

Poison Moth's Lair is a very uninviting dungeon, filled with a melee of traps and many narrow corridors. You won't want to let your guard down, even for a second.

The moth-like carving outside the dungeon fortells the worst danger dwelling here. Keep that in mind.

Tough Monsters, Tricky Pitfalls
As head into the dungeon, you'll face monsters right away. Three Spiked Beetles roam the first room. You'll need a shield to defeat them, otherwise, you won't be able to progress. When they charge at you, make contact with your shield, and they'll flip over. Upside down, they can easily be slayed.

When they're all gone, the door here will open. Smash the pots for supplies, and you can consult an owl statue for hints if you explore the area to the west before going on.

A Path of Trouble
The next room has a Mini-Moldorm patrolling the floor. This creature will try to bump you away, and scuttles around in a random path. Four hits will take care of it.

To your left is a big pit. A platform is passing across it, but it never comes to you, so you can't reach it yet. You'll need to come back later. For now, continue around the corner.

Some more Spiked Beetles await. Just keep your shield up as before and keep moving. You'll also see a blue trampoline across the room. It holds no purpose right now.

Along the way, there is a second platform that doesn't come all the way over, so it's out of reach. All you can do is keep following the path. If only you could jump...

At the end of the path, you'll be attacked by Floormasters. Defeat them, and smash through the first few pots here. You'll see a switch that opens the door, but only when held down.

Go around the switch to the lower-right corner of the room to find two pots. Smash the one on the right and carefully push the one on the left down until you get it placed on the switch. You won't need the Power Bracelet to push it.

The following room contains Arm-Mimics, which will imitate your movements. A few sword slashes will defeat them, but they can be hard to corner. A Whisp is also present. Whisps rebound off walls and bump into you if you're in the way. Strike it with the boomerang to defeat it. This is the only effective weapon on a Whisp.

With all the enemies gone, you have a clear path to the staircase, but you'll need a key first. go west to find it.

A Rigged Floor and a Small Key
You'll see another path branches off to the south. If you try heading further west, you'll end up hitting a switch that causes all the brown-paneled floor to crumble.

The room at the end of the southern path has a few rollers you can push out of the way, but a few cracks in the floor. Carefully head forward until you reach the chest in here. Open it for a Small Key. You can get out through a shortcut if you push a small block up. It's located at the end of the path past the chest. Now, go back and climb the staircase.

Two PolsVoice are here. You can use bombs, but they have a secret weakness. If you play a flute, the loud music will overwhelm the PolsVoice.

PolsVoice despise anything loud and will flee when something noisy bugs them. Why? Their ears are just too big!

With the PolsVoice gone, push the block in the upper-right corner to go north.

The Dungeon Map
Defeat the two Mini-Moldorms, and a chest will appear. It has ten bombs inside, which hints on what to do next.

There is a small area marked on the floor, hinting to a hidden room. Bomb the spot in the marked area to uncover the entrance to the room.

Inside, you'll find the Dungeon Map.

After you get the Dungeon Map, go back the way you came. Now, push the block right next to the one you pushed before down. Then, go over to the block in the lower-left corner and push it out to go west.

Statue Symmetry
As you venture down the hall, you'll find two sets of six statues. One set is aligned perfectly, but the other one isn't. In order to proceed, you must put the statues in the right order.

There are 4 steps to putting them in the proper order:

With the statues realigned, the door will open.

Halls of Trouble
You'll find that the next few rooms are heavily guarded by enemies. Peahats, Mini-Moldorms, Whisps, and Green Zols all block your way forward. Each enemy is trying to keep you from getting to an important item in this dungeon. Fight your way through them, and when you get to the Whisps, go straight up. The path to the left is a dead end.

The last line of defense is a pair of Hardhat Beetles and Green Zols. They guard a narrow walkway to a locked door. Carefully make your way past without falling, or else you'll end up tumbling down one floor into a room full of enemies and you'll have to climb back up. However, there is a chest with 30 Rupees as well. You can get it now, but you'll get a better chance later.

The Roc's Feather
When you open the locked door, you'll find four Arm-Mimics and a green Spike Trap circling around the room. Unlike most traps, this one won't stop moving. There is also a moving floor that can make defeating the Arm-Mimics a pain. Even if you don't move, the floor can move the Arm-Mimics. Try to bunch them up and carefully defeat them.

When you've defeated them all, you'll be rewarded with a chest. Inside is the Roc's Feather (L-1). This feather makes you lighter, and allows you to jump one space at will. Now, you can jump over gaps, deep water, and even enemy attacks. You can also jump without moving, and hop over any traps or monsters in your way. With Roc's Feather in hand, you're one step closer to confronting this dungeon's greatest threat.

Jumping the Gaps
Now that Roc's Feather is in your arsenal, go back to the last room. Either head down or fall into the lower floor below.

Now, you can simply jump over the water to claim the 30 Rupees if you haven't already.

Go east, and you'll come across the platform that was previously out of reach. With good timing, you can jump onto it, and then jump over to the other side. From here, take the path you used before to the second platform that never came over. Jump onto it when it get close enough, and it will take to the entrance to the basement.

Taking the High Road
When you enter the basement, you'll be near a Thwomp. However, you don't want to go all the way down. Jump from the ladder onto the Thwomp's flat top, and when he comes back up, jump across the two platforms onto the second Thwomp, and jump over to the next room from there.

You'll be swarmed by Keese here. Try to get rid of as many as you can, and jump across the moving platforms to reach a ladder headed upstairs. The gap between the second platform and the ladder is bigger than one space, but a good jump from above can land you by the ladder if you hold.

Small Key #2
You'll find a blue trampoline is inside this room. There is also a strange-colored tile over by the staircase you came up. Perhaps it marks where the trampoline should go! Push it over onto the tile and jump on it. You'll be launched up a floor, and land into a room with a chest. Get rid of the Green Zol and you'll have a clear path to another Small Key.

Now, fall back down to the room below and use the staircase on the other side.

A Helpful Combination
You'll find yourself running into some more rollers, but in exchange for cracked floor tiles, you must now navigate across spikes. This is the first time you will need to use a item combination to move on.

Equip both the Power Bracelet and Roc's Feather, and push the rollers out of your way. Then, jump across the spikes that block your path forward.

The Compass
After you've completed that puzzle, you'll come to a place where a chest resides, but it can't be reached from the right side of the room. There is only one way to get it: fall down into the room below.

Here, you'll be able to get a helpful hint from an owl statue. Use the trampoline to jump up to the left side of the room and claim the Compass.

After getting the Compass, drop back down to the lower room and take the staircase down to the basement.

Backtracking and Trap Jumping
This room will take you back to the one with 30 Rupee chest. You can jump across from above (the tricky way), or ride the platforms down below and jump when they get near a ledge (the easy way). Either path leads to the staircase back. Taking the high road requires a lot of jumping, and fighting off Keese, while the low road requires only three jumps and has fewer Keese.

After you return, it's only a matter of backtracking to the brown-paneled floor.

When you reach it, simply jump over the trap switch and the floor will stay intact. You have a clear shot forward to a locked door, but you can make a quick detour for a Gasha Seed.

A Gasha Seed
There is a small path right by the door you can take. It has a moving floor, which can impede your movement, and a Green Spike Trap waiting to skewer you. However, a simple well-timed jump over it will be enough to dodge it. You'll find an owl statue to consult on the path, and at the end, a chest with a Gasha Seed inside.

Now, get your health filled up with the pots outside the locked door: on the other side is the miniboss.

The Calamareye Trio
The minibosses are Calamareye, a trio of sharp-tempered squids. They attack anyone who enters their lair. The Calamareye will open their mouths to spit fire each time they emerge from one of eight pools of shallow water. When you try to attack them, they'll dive for cover, and they can't be harmed in the water. However, what about on land?

Equip your Power Bracelet and wait for one of the Calamareye to emerge. Yank it out of the water, and toss it over to dry land. Unable to breathe on land, it will flop around, vulnerable to sword strikes. However, it will soon make a mad dash back to the water, so get as many hits in as you can. Do this to all three and they'll surrender.

After the battle ends, a panel will open in the lower-right corner of the room, revealing a staircase.

The Boss Key
The staircase will take you to a long path that winds around over the room where the Peahats lurk. There are two ledges you can jump across. Jump across the one at the edge of the path. Simply go up to the ledge and you'll jump automatically. It will take you to a hole that leads into a lower room.

Here, a Giant Blade Trap is circling the room. If you wish to avoid it, push the block in the upper corner or the third block from the top. The chest with the Boss Key is blocked off, but the fourth block from the top can be pushed into the pit.

Use Roc's Feather to jump over the gap and retrieve the Boss Key.

Now, go down to the lower end of the blocks and push the one at the bottom to get back to the first room. Head straight down and use the warp point.

Go back up the staircase and jump across the first ledge on the path. Just ignore the Peahats, and head east to reach the boss.

Boss: Mothula
The greatest threat here now awaits you: Mothula. Mothula is the boss of the dungeon, which lives up to its name. Mothula is a rather tricky boss, because it is far more skilled than the bosses before it.

Mothula circles around the room, shooting fireballs at you as it flies. It may also spawn Baby Mothula to protect itself. They can be destroyed quickly, but they can also get in the way.

If Mothula flashes blue, it will spawn four spinning fireballs around itself. The fireballs will expand out, making it tough to land an attack on the monster.

If Mothula flashes red, he'll release four Baby Mothula as a way of preventing you from landing an attack. He can also summon them at anytime at will.

Fortunately, Mothula's powers aren't easy to call on. It takes a lot of energy for the creature to use them. After a while, Mothula will get tired and settle on one of the two platforms in the middle of the room, vulnerable to attack.

Use Roc's Feather to jump across the two platforms and dodge Mothula's attacks. Mothula is easier to defeat from the platforms, but you can still hit him as he circles around. You risk losing health by attacking Mothula head-on or falling down the pit by attacking from the platforms.

If you fall through the gap in the floor, you can use the trampoline to jump back up. However, Mothula will fully recover his energy and the battle will restart.

As Mothula nears defeat, he will start spawning greater numbers of Baby Mothula and summon a larger shield of six spinning fireballs.

If you are able to best the poison-fanged Mothula, it will perish, unable to recover. In his place will be another Heart Container.

A panel will have opened in the room to reveal a staircase. The path to the third essence has been opened. You'll find the Bright Sun awaits. Young shoots grow quickly under the warm rays of the Bright Sun!

A Mysterious Waterfall
With the Bright Sun retrieved, you'll be warped out as usual and receive another message from the Maku Tree. The Bright Sun has strengthened him, and he has seen that the powers of darkness still grow somehow.

He has also dreamt of the waterfall on the mountain north of Sunken City. The next esscence could be there, but what does the waterfall hide...?