WARNING: This article contains spoilers for Skyward Sword, but it could also prevent you from having to start the game all over again.
Not long after Skyward Sword launched, the website Zelda Informer posted about a potential game-ruining glitch in Skyward Sword. It involves the quest to get the Song of the Hero. Apparently, if you go to the Thunder Dragon first, the is the potential that you could set into motion a series of events that prevent the game from progessing any further. They emailed technical support for Nintendo and received this response:
We have been made aware of the issue that results in being
unable to progress in the Song of the Hero quest. If the game has been saved
after completing the sequence of events, it will no longer be possible to
proceed through the game on that save file. The only options at that point are
to either start the game over or to use an earlier save file to continue.
The situation is caused by performing the following sequence of events
during the Song of the Hero quest:
1. At the beginning of the quest, go
to Lanayru Desert to retrieve the song of the Thunder Dragon.
2. In the
Lanayru Mine, speak with Golo the Goron.
3. Complete the Thunder Dragon's
event, and receive his song.
4. Before heading to the forest or volcano
regions, speak with Golo in the mine again.
5. At this point, the forest
and volcano events will no longer occur, making it impossible to continue.
Solutions:
This issue WILL NOT OCCUR if the Fire and Water Dragon
songs have already been collected before collecting the Thunder Dragon's song.
Talking to Golo in the Lanayru Caves will also NOT trigger this issue.
If the game has been saved after completing the sequence of events, it will no
longer be possible to proceed through the game on that save file. The only
options at that point are to either start the game over or to use an earlier
save file to continue.
I wish I had a better answer, but I'm afraid there
currently is no other fix available. I can assure, however, that we are
documenting all feedback we receive on this issue. Thank you for your patience
and support.
Sincerely,
Sharon Matheny
I'm lucky that I narrowly avoided making this mistake. So hopefully no one out there will have to start their games all over again.