Spoiler The Chekhov's Gun

[Rytex]

For those of you who do not know what a Chekhov's Gun is, allow me to put it in three terms. Number 1, a quote from Chekhov from Star Trek:

"If you say in the first chapter that there is a rifle hanging on the wall, in the second or third chapter it absolutely must go off. If it's not going to be fired, it shouldn't be hanging there."

Number 2: The Harry Potter series turned this into an art form. Just about anything you find in the series was at one point, mentioned in passing, only to develop into something huge later on.

Number 3: If you still don't understand what it is, a Chekhov's Gun is an object that is usually mentioned in a sort of passing, conversational way in a story. Later on, this object becomes central to the plot in some way shape or form (for example, Sirius Black was mentioned in "The Boy Who Lived," Chapter One of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone/Sorcerer's Stone as the person who gave Hagrid the motorbike. Prisoner of Azkaban turned him into a major character.)

Now, why am I asking this? Because, for those of you who have beaten Skyward Sword, you have encountered one of these and I wanted to conduct a survey, if you will.

In the "tutorial" portion of the game, while you are on your way to save your Loftwing, you pass by a statue of a bird, and an old man is sitting right by it, lamenting the fact that it is missing an eye. Given that some people don't exactly talk to NPCs that say the same thing over and over again ("WELCOME TO CONERIA!"), you probably ignored him. Well, six dungeons and three dragon quests later, you go through the fourth and final Silent Realm trial and receive the missing eye. So here is the question:

How long did it take you to figure out that this stone was the missing eye from the statue?

I personally found it a brilliant move by Nintendo. It kinda forced you to really look around and pay attention to your surroundings, something that I hope we will see in Zelda Wii U.

 

[Wolf Sage]

I hate to toot my own horn, but I picked up on it rather quickly, as I do with most things; I'd never thought of it as a hidden thing, to be honest. If I had known it was not so obvious to other fans, I would have posted a thread about it as well, but alas, as always, I didn't think it would warrant it.

But the way Nintendo pulled it off was indeed effective, especially for Zelda, and I, too, hope to see something like it in future installments. :yes:

 

[TrueChaos]

i knew instantly. i'd looked at the statue a few times wondering what it was and why it was missing an eye. as soon as i got the stone i knew where it went

 

[seahawk1]

I haven't gotten past the Eldin silent realm yet (pathettic, I know ): ) but I figured the "missing eye at the begining of the game would be something important

 

[Hero of Time]

Well, I didn't even talk to the guy or pay attention to the statue in the beginning of the game. lol But it only took me a few minutes to find the statue anyways.

However, on my second playthrough (which I'm currently doing), I did talk to the guy since I knew the importance of the statue beforehand, and I thought it was pretty cool how they did that. Sometimes it takes a second playthrough to notice or understand these types of things.

I do hope to see more things like this in future Zelda games. I'd prefer the hints to be given like this, far beforehand, rather than right before you begin the puzzle. Even if it is still giving the player a hint, at least it requires more thought and memory of events that occurred previously in the game.

 

[New Link]

I found it right away.

But I LOVED this puzzle/idea.

My favorite kind of puzzle in Zelda is not one that is hard or frustrating, they are ones that make me smile after I complete them. And this one did

 

[unknown]

I had actually looked at the statue when the guy said that, and I saw what it looked liked exactly because I though it could be some kind of a sidequest at the time. When you get the stone I recognized that it was the exact same. I was in sky keep 1-2 minutes after I got the stone.

 

[guapo2003]

I'm not quite sure, but I'll go with less than 15 minutes. It didn't take too long.

 

[Wolf Sage]

Speaking of the statue, isn't odd how the old man sorta fit the stereotype of the weird old guy everyone (in town) thinks is crazy and no one ever listens to? You might recall seeing this sort of thing in many movies and TV shows. I find it funny that most gamers thought "Wow. That random old man's talking to a statue?!" and then it just so turns out later in the game that what he said actually meant something. Funny, that.

Kudos, Nintendo. :yes:

 

[SpiritGerudo]

Through the entire game, I was searching for the eye. Since Skyloft changes after each dungeon, after each one I would thoroughly search the place for it. Particularly the Statue of the Goddess, since that's where it was pointing to at night. When I found the spot on the left with all the remlits I thought that had something to do with it, but no. I knew right away where the thing was supposed to go, though I admit I never noticed the Hylian Crest on the eye that was there. I saddened me when I put it in, though. the whole hookshoting there thing was pointless. You'd think you'd skydive there, right??

 

[Chibiyu]

I knew right away - the missing eye bugged my sister all the way until the end of the game and was so happy to find out that the stone was the missing eye. I knew - I did it before her - because of her aggravation, I found it out easily.

 

[Ninten*]

Right away. Here's why. I heard about the Skyloft Silent Realm, so I decided to look it up on a walkthrough. The guy went to that Skiekah Stone and learned what happened. I wish I didn't watch it though. I don't think it would have taken me long, because when I first started playing, I was talking to someone (have no idea who it was) who said that it was curious the Bird Statue was missing an eye. In the back of my head though, I knew that I would be able to find it eventually. I didn't know it would be an essential part to beat the game.

 

[Wariopunk]

I've got to be honest and say it took me ages to figure out that. I feel rather stupid now.

 

[Mozzy]

Yeah, once that guy mentioned it I kept looking for more clues about it throughout the game. I actually became worried that it wouldn't be brought up again and would end up being one of those sidequests that wouldn't see fruition due to the programmers not having enough time to place it in the game. Once I got the gust bellows and used them to move the statues to reveal the thunderhead entrance I knew at some point that statue would do something integral once I found the eye. I just didn't know where the eye would show up and how important it would end up being.

 

[The Joker]

The missing what? I'll have to get back to you on that one when I'm sober.