Lanayru Desert
Lanayru Desert is a location in Skyward Sword, a very large part of the Lanayru Province. It is home to its protector, Lanayru the Thunder Dragon. Taking its name from the province that it is apart of, it is named after the Thunder Dragon.
History
The Lanayru Desert, along with the rest of the Lanayru Province, was once a vast green landscape, inhabited by an ancient robotic civilization who performed various mining tasks in the area. However, climate change slowly transformed the once prosperous region into a desert over several centuries. All of the region's natural resources depleted and all that remains of the once green land is a vast desert with many hazards and a lot of quicksand. Along with the green land perished a great sea that was once located where the Lanayru Sand Sea now exists. The water completely dried up, leaving behind a huge sea of sand.
Link first visits the desert while in search for his childhood friend Zelda, after receiving the Amber Tablet from the Earth Temple upon Eldin Volcano. The Amber Tablet, upon being placed inside the Statue of the Goddess on Skyloft, reveals a new opening in the clouds leading to the Lanayru Desert. After descending, Link finds himself to be situated in an area known as the Lanayru Mine.[1] The mine itself was one of the notable locations where the Ancient Robots were mining for Timeshift Stones, which are their main source of power.
After Link activates one the deserts many Timeshift Stones, the area, citizens, and objects all located within the vicinity of the stone all replenish and reactivate to life.[2] After traveling through the mine, Link proceeds to the proper Lanayru Desert. He goes on to rescue an Ancient Robot from a technologically-advanced variety of Bokoblin known as a Technoblin, to which the robot thanks Link, and upgrades his Beetle into a Hook Beetle which can now pick up and drop various objects, claiming that it is of Lanayru Province origin. Using his upgraded Beetle, the young hero travels further across the desert, and reaches the ancient Temple of Time where Zelda is said to now be located at. Unfortunately, Gorko the Goron says that the entrance to the temple is blocked by rubble after a recent explosion there.[3] Another robot alters Link's Map to show the region based on how it appeared in the past, and it also reveals that there is another entrance to the Temple of Time located deep inside the Lanayru Mining Facility. Link activates three power nodes which energize the power generator that can raise the mining facility from below the ground. Upon doing so, it rises out of the sand as expected and he ventures within, gaining the Gust Bellows and fighting Moldarach, a large, fully grown Aracha, before discovering Zelda and Impa at one of the two surviving Gate of Time in a brief confrontation with Ghirahim.
Later in the game, Link returns to Lanayru Desert to search for Nayru's Sacred Flame. He completes Nayru's Silent Realm Trial and receives the Clawshots. Using the newly acquired item, Link travels to the Lanayru Sand Sea where he finds, and revives, an Ancient Robot by the name of Skipper. Skipper says he was the captain of the Sandship, a ship that protected Nayru's Sacred Flame, until a gang of pirates led by Scervo took it from him. Link and Skipper travel by boat across the Lanayru Sand Sea, searching for clues for the whereabouts of the Sandship. After traveling to Skipper's Retreat, the Shipyard, and the Pirate Stronghold, they finally track down the fabled ship and board the vessel.
Features
The desert could be considered the most hostile and deadly location in the game due to its absurd amount of quick sanded areas, gorges and the plentiful numbers of fast-moving and electrical enemies that can cause considerable damage to Link, along with the side effect of paralyzing him. It is scattered with Timeshift Stones, objects that, as their name suggests, shift a small portion of the desert into a state of time from one thousand years ago. With the Lanayru Mining Facility, Sandship and Pirate Stronghold, it is home two two of the game's major dungeons and a mini-dungeon, all of which also require time shifts to complete them, and specializes in the mining of the Timeshift Stones. When in the desert's present, all of its good inhabitants, the Ancient Robots, are long since dead and Lanayru is missing. It is for that reason that time shifts to revert small sections of the desert into a past state are required. Although that makes the enemies swarming the area in the present cease to exist, it brings back to life the nearby remains of any Technoblins. The Temple of Time is found here with a Gate of Time, and it is also here that Link obtains the Clawshots. Like the other three regions of Skyloft, Faron Woods and Eldin Volcano, it is home to one of the four Silent Realms; in this case, Nayru's Silent Realm.
A common enemy of the desert are the Aracha, small creatures that bury themselves in the sand and take approximately one thousand years to fully mature, of which two fully mature ones can be found. The Ampilus are another common enemy of the desert and one of the deadliest due to their quick hostility, speed and electrical rolls. On a plus side, Tumbleweeds are very common throughout the main portion of the desert and can be used to help upgrade items in Skyloft's item upgrade shop in the Bazaar.
Trivia
- Gerudo Dragonflies can be found in the desert, referencing Gerudo Desert and the Gerudo people.
 Names in Other Regions 
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- ↑ "A report, Master Link. We have arrived at Lanayru Mine. This arid region was transformed into a desert over the course of several hundred years. My projections show that Zelda must have traveled through this area." — Fi (Skyward Sword)
- ↑ "I am able to confirm that a time shift has occurred within this space. Any impact to the blue stones creates a sustained temporal disruption field in the surrounding area. Readings show that this area is in a past time state." — Fi (Skyward Sword)
- ↑ "Good to see you, bud! Seems like you pop up everywhere! Though I am one to talk... Anyway, bud, there is something I am dying to tell you. It is the discovery of the century! This is a sacred place known as the Temple of Time. I could not believe my eyes when I saw a human who lives on the legendary Isle of the Goddess! It wore clothes just like the ones written about in the ancient manuscripts! And it looked just like you, bud! It came with another person...and they entered the temple! I wanted to chase after them... But then there was an explosion all of a sudden! And the entrance... Well, you can see for yourself, bud. I do not think we are getting past this mess. I just wish we could find out what is happening on the other side!" — Gorko (Skyward Sword)