Chapter Text
As soon as I realized that Link can venture into the wells of Tears of the Kingdom, I made it my top priority to travel to Kakariko Village. The Kakariko Village Well in Ocarina of Time is one of my favorite dungeons in the entire Legend of Zelda series, and I couldn’t wait to see what horrors lurked beneath the village in Tears of the Kingdom.
The Kakariko Village Well is tucked away in a quiet corner of town in the shadow of a cliff. As soon as you drop down the well’s shaft, you’re confronted with grim stone architecture laid out in a simple maze. Faded red markings adorn high walls lit by a lone brazier. So far, so sinister!
But then I noticed the sparkle of an apple on the ground. I followed the trail of fallen fruit to find Cottla, Link’s hide-and-seek playmate from Breath of the Wild. Cottla is practicing her cooking in secret in order to surprise her father and older sister, and she keeps a battered copy of her mother’s recipe book next to her cooking pot. While basking in the glow of a mother’s love for her family, you can pick up a few simple recipes from the book. You can also harvest a healthy set of fortified pumpkins and swift carrots growing in a patch of sunlight, which Cottla allows Link to take in exchange for keeping her secret safe.
My favorite element of the trope of “the hidden underground room” is the dark glee of finding a horrible secret in an otherwise wholesome environment. Still, I have to admit that uncovering something sweet and gentle in a seemingly creepy environment is just as rewarding.