Ocarina of Time Remake Desert Route: Flags, Guide and Requiem

This chapter connects Gerudo Fortress to the Spirit Temple. The remake calls the storm area Mirage Desert and the destination Evil Desert Colossus in its English interface (the Haunted Wasteland and Desert Colossus of the N64 original). You first cross as an adult, learn the warp song and return as a child. You do not need the archery prizes, a Magic Bean or a Great Fairy’s spell to complete this link in the main story.

What should you check before leaving the fortress?

How do you cross the first gap and follow the flags?

1. Have the gatekeeper open the rear gate. With the pass, climb over the gatehouse using its ladders and talk to the keeper beside the barred opening. Go through after she raises it. Keep the Longshot and Lenses in convenient slots.
2. Use the Longshot target across the sand gap. A target hangs between the posts beyond the entrance. Aim from firm ground and pull yourself across.
3. Move from one flag to the next. At each pole, turn the camera until you can see the next flag in the haze, then walk to it. If the next marker is unclear, stop and look around instead of continuing in a guessed direction. The line eventually reaches a pair of flags beside a raised stone ruin.

4. Climb the ruin’s stairs and read its stone tablet. This is the end of the flag section. The tablet refers to eyes of truth and a guide to the Spirit Temple. The room beneath the ruin is an optional detour; the onward route starts at the tablet above.

How do you make the guide appear and keep up?

5. Activate the Lenses and inspect the tablet. The purple, lantern-carrying Phantom Guide appears. Finish the conversation and agree that you are ready. Do any healing or equipment changes before setting off.
6. Follow the guide’s actual turns. Keep the Lenses active so you can see it and stay close as it winds through the storm. Avoid drifting toward distant ruins or guessing a straight line to the temple. Sand enemies can interrupt you: evade or quickly clear one that blocks your path, then immediately reacquire the guide.
7. Continue straight when the guide finishes. At the last ruins and flags, it stops to speak. Finish the dialogue and follow the indicated way out of the storm. The area title changes to the Evil Desert Colossus and the temple becomes visible across the open sand.

If you stray and find yourself back at the start, repeat the target crossing and the flags, then restart from the tablet. Check magic before another attempt. The guide is not a return escort; learn the warp song at the destination before leaving.

Where do you learn the Requiem of Spirit?

8. Walk to the temple’s covered entrance approach. Cross the open desert toward the giant stone figure, passing the palms and avoiding the sand enemies. Approach the stairs beneath the canopy outside the temple. Sheik appears here.
9. Finish Sheik’s lesson. Follow the notes shown on screen and learn the Requiem of Spirit. Wait for the learned-song confirmation and the rest of the conversation. This song returns you to the Colossus in either age.

How do you return as a child?

10. Play the Prelude of Light and replace the Master Sword. Warp to the Temple of Time, walk to the pedestal and put the sword back to become a child. Leave the pedestal chamber and play the Requiem of Spirit to return to the Colossus. Check that Link is young before entering the Spirit Temple; its first route uses a low opening that adult Link cannot enter.

Which nearby rewards can you leave for later?

For the main story, your exit checklist is short: Requiem learned, child Link at the Colossus, ready to enter the Spirit Temple. Continue with the Spirit Temple’s child route, or use the walkthrough index to review the preceding chapters.