Water Dragon's Song

To complete the Song of the Hero, you need to go to Faron Woods to learn the Water Dragon's Song.

Golo Game-Breaking Glitch

In older Wii and Wii U versions of the game, there is a bug in this part of the game that could cause you to become stuck and unable to proceed. This bug does NOT occur in the Nintendo Switch version. If you are playing an older Wii or Wii U version of the game, you can avoid the bug by only talking to Golo the Goron before you have learned any of the dragons' songs, and not talking to him again until after you have learned all the dragons' songs. For more information, including instructions on how to fix the issue if your game is affected by the bug, please visit The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword – Song of the Hero Quest Issue.

Owlan's Plant Request

The next time you talk to Owlan, he will ask you to look for an exotic plant. Fi can add this plant as a dowsing target for you.

The Water Dragon

If you haven't done any of the steps for the Thunder Dragon's Song, then the next time you go down to the Sealed Grounds statue of Faron Woods, the Imprisoned will be about to break free again. If you go to the Sealed Grounds and the Imprisoned is not yet about to break free, you will need to finish the steps for the Thunder Dragon's Song before you can continue with the steps on this page.

The Imprisoned, Part 3

After the cutscene, go down to the bottom of the Sealed Grounds and the Imprisoned will emerge. Quickly attack its toes as best you can. The Imprisoned walks more quickly than before, so you may need to stun it with the Groosenator before you can hit its toes. Or you can use arrows to hit them, or Skyward Strikes. Also, remember that if all of the toes are gone from a foot, that foot will no longer send out shockwaves when it stomps.

Once you kill all of the toes, the Imprisoned falls over and you can do upward slashes on the spike to hit it into its head.

After this, the Imprisoned gets a dark halo on its head and slowly floats toward the top of the pit. Shoot it down with the Groosenator and run down to the Imprisoned and hit the spike in again.

After that, the path to Groose's bombs is blocked, so he asks you to run up to the Groosenator. Unfortunately, the Imprisoned is blocking the big air vent at the very bottom of the Sealed Grounds, so you will have to use the smaller ones to make your way to the top. Just use the nearest air vents until you are standing on the wooden railway at the top, then run to the Groosenator and talk to Groose. Check on the catapult to get in, move it side to side as needed, and aim at the Imprisoned's head. You need to aim right at the spike. That way, you will land on the Imprisoned's head so you can slash downward on the spike while standing on the Imprisoned.

Then when the Imprisoned is gone, go down to the bottom of the pit, hit the spike with a Skyward Strike, then follow the on-screen instructions to slash the sword in the proper directions to seal the spike again.

After dealing with the Imprisoned, when you're back in the Sealed Grounds Temple, the Old One says that the path to Faron Woods has flooded, so you can't go there directly. Groose asks you to go outside to the Groosenator so that he can catapult you to the dragon. Go outside and talk to Groose to be sent to the flooded Faron Woods.

Reach the Water Dragon

When you land in the water, you can talk to the Kikwi Elder to learn that the water came out of the tree behind him. Swim into the opening in the base of the tree, but watch out for the Chuchu in the water. Go to the surface of the water inside the tree and get up onto the grass at the top, then approach the outside exit. The Water Dragon will appear. She wants to test you before teaching you the full song.

Finding the Tadtones

Locations of the Tadtones in Faron Woods in The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword

Faron splits her song into pieces and sends little tadpole-like creatures called Tadtones around the flooded area. You have to collect them all to pass the test. The Tadtones look like small musical notes.

You can use Spin Attacks near Tadtones to pull them toward you.

There are Parellas in the area that will have advice for you if you talk to them.

To collect the first Tadtone, before you jump down from the tree, go up the ramp around the tree, kill the Bokoblins, and go to the end of the ledge at the northeast side of the tree. There are a couple of lily pads down below. One is to the left, and one is straight ahead. Run toward the one straight ahead so that you land on it, to flip it over. This will make one yellow Tadtone swim out. Collect it. (If you have already jumped off of the tree, you will have to go to the base of the tree and swim into the opening, float to the top, and go through the outside exit.)

Go northeast from there and look for the ring of eight blue Tadtones. Do a spin attack through the center of the ring to pull all of them to you at once.

The covered passageway in the Viewing Platform has four purple Tadtones, but it also has green spiky things that will stick to you and deplete your air gauge if you hit them, so carefully swim through to collect the four purple Tadtones. Remember that if you take too long to collect a group of Tadtones of the same color, they will escape from the score and you will have to collect them again. Try not to be too hasty, however.

Look southwest from the Viewing Platform to see one red Tadtone swimming around by itself. You can do a Spin Attack to quickly collect it.

Farther southwest from the Viewing Platform, there is one light blue Tadtone beneath the tree root, with some green spiky things around it. It will swim away from you when you approach, so do a Spin Attack to try to catch it before it can evade you.

Go east to where there is a ring of eight purple Tadtones. Pick up an air bubble to top off your air gauge. These Tadtones are far enough apart from each other that you will need to Spin Attack repeatedly to catch them all before they can escape from the score. Try to start with the northernmost Tadtone of this group and go counterclockwise to collect them. You can also do a Spin Attack into the round boulder in the center of the ring of Tadtones to reveal another air bubble spout.

Go southwest past some heart plants and you should see one purple Tadtone in a hole in the tree trunk up ahead. This one will also swim away from you when you approach, so swim through the hole in the tree trunk and do a Spin Attack to catch it.

At this point, some monster fish will appear throughout the area. If one of them sees you, it will turn orange and charge toward you. If you encounter one, do a Spin Attack to stun it, and another Spin Attack to kill it.

Exit the tree trunk, then go to the north side of the tree trunk and look under its roots. There are four yellow Tadtones here, as well as some green spiky things. Carefully swim through to collect the Tadtones, while also watching out for the Chuchus nearby.

Go southwest to the area where you opened the gate to Lake Floria earlier in the game. Look for a group of four pink Tadtones are swimming along the dirt path and the grass of this area in a big circle. Do a Spin Attack through them to collect them.

Go west and you will find a stone archway that has poisonous purple bubbles just beyond it. Don't touch these bubbles or you will lose air from your air gauge. Swim through the stone archway and make your way through the path to collect sixteen purple Tadtones. There is a slight gap between them about halfway through, so be sure to do a Spin Attack to avoid letting them escape.

At the end, swim east over the ledge to see two red Tadtones in the grass. Do a Spin Attack through the Chuchu nearby if it gets in the way, then collect the two Tadtones.

Look northwest for a line of four light blue Tadtones swimming along. They move around the area, so if you do not see them, you may need to wait for them to appear.

At this point, the Kikwi Elder will say that he has thought of something. If you go up and talk to him, Fi will add Tadtones as a dowsing target.

Look for a brick wall southwest of the Kikwi Elder, then look southwest for another one on a lower ledge. You will find eight green Tadtones in the passageway here. Swim through the passageway to collect them.

Go northeast past some poisonous bubbles to see two purple Tadtones. Do a few Spin Attacks to try to swim through both of them quickly.

Float upward toward the Kikwi Elder to find a ring of eight yellow Tadtones. Do a Spin Attack through the middle of the ring to get them, but be careful of the monster fish swimming around the area.

Swim toward the ground northwest of the Great Tree to find four red Tadtones swimming in a circle around a tree. Do a Spin Attack to get them.

Float upward and look for a Froak floating near a cracked wall. Target the Froak and do a Spin Attack to knock it into the cracked wall. This may take a few tries. When the Froak explodes on the wall, one green Tadtone will swim out. Use a Spin Attack to get it.

After you find all of the Tadtones, the completed song will play. Go back to the base of the Great Tree and swim through the hole, then float to the top and talk to the Water Dragon. She will teach you her part of the song and restore the woods back to their non-flooded state.

Retrieve a Rare Plant for Owlan

If you haven't gotten a quest from Owlan to retrieve a rare plant, go talk to him in the Knight Academy to start the quest.

Now that the woods are no longer flooded, you can go to the east part of Faron Woods and talk to Oolo the Kikwi. Fi can summon Scrapper to take Oolo to the sky. Then climb up the rope and swing to the ledge, and use the Viewing Platform Bird Statue to return to the sky. Fly to Skyloft, and go to Owlan's office in the Knight Academy. You will receive five Gratitude Crystals.

Learn the Other Songs

If you haven't learned the other dragons' songs, you can go to the red column and visit Eldin Volcano to learn the Fire Dragon's Song, and go to the yellow column and visit Lanayru Desert to learn the Thunder Dragon's Song.

If you have learned all three, visit Levias in the Thunderhead to learn the Song of the Hero.