Owlan's Exotic Plant is the last of the main side quests in The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword HD and becomes available after players have completed the Water Dragon's Song of the Hero trial in the flooded Faron Woods. It involves Link tracking down a rare type of plant for Instructor Owlan, who, as well as being an instructor at the Knight Academy, apparently serves as Skyloft's resident botanist.
The quest itself is surprisingly straightforward, with players simply needing to head to a particular spot in the woods and take part in a relatively short conversation. That said, some players may be a little baffled by Link's choice of plant, especially when considering the huge variety of vegetation that's growing down on the surface world.
Updated October 17, 2021 by Tom Bowen: Owlan's Exotic Plant is the final side quest in The Legend of Zelda Skyward Sword HD and is arguably the simplest one as well. Players won't really need to do anything, other than heading to two specific locations and engaging people (and plants) in conversation. Even so, once completed, the quest ultimately provides a more than fitting conclusion to the Batreaux storyline as well as an incredibly useful item.
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How To Start The Owlan's Exotic Plant Side Quest
To start the Owlan's Exotic Plant side quest, players will first need to reach the point in the story where Faron Woods becomes flooded. At this point, completing Faron's portion of the Song of the Hero questline will lead to the water being drained and the area will return to its normal state. Once this happens, players should head to Instructor Owlan's office at the Knight Academy, which can be found just to the left of the headmaster's office.
If players speak with Owlan, he'll explain that he's now studied all of the plants on Skyloft and its surrounding islands and will ask Link whether he could bring him something unique from down on the surface. If the young adventurer agrees to help, Fi will offer to set an exotic plant as a dowsing target, at which point, players can leave the office and set about finding something to fulfill the instructor's unusual request.
How To Find An Exotic Plant
Now that they know what they're looking for, players should make their way over to Faron Woods via the green pillar of light. When asked where they'd like to land, they should choose either the Viewing Platform bird statue or the one at the top of the Great Tree. They'll be heading to an area that's due east of the latter, although the Viewing Platform is a little closer for those looking to save themselves a little bit of time.
Upon landing, they'll need to climb up the log on the east side of the woods to gain access to a ledge overlooking an enclosed area with a few grass islands and a rope hanging down from one of the trees. There, players will find Oolo, who is one of the Kikwi they had to track down when they first came to the woods. If they speak to Oolo, he'll tell Link that he's fed up with having to constantly hide from monsters, so players should offer him an alternative home in the skies up above.
At this point, Fi will appear and ask players if they're sure they want to take Oolo to Skyloft, and responding affirmatively will cause the scrapper robot to show up and carry the Kikwi away. After Oolo and LD-301S are gone, players should climb the nearby rope, swing their way back up onto the ledge, and then go back up to the sky via the bird statue on the Viewing Platform. From here, they'll just need to guide the scrapper robot back to Skyloft and then return to Owlan's office at the Knight Academy to finish the quest.
Claiming The Reward
Despite Fi's reservations, it turns out that Oolo was precisely what Owlan was looking for and, after taking a moment to admire the new plant species, he'll reward Link with five Gratitude Crystals. Sadly, there are no additional rewards or mini-games unlocked as there are with some of the other side quests in The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword HD, although players can return to Owlan's office to check how Oolo is adapting to his new environment whenever they like.
If players have been completing side quests in the order that they become available and have collected each of the 15 loose Gratitude Crystals that appear in and around Skyloft at night, they should now have collected all 80 crystals. This means a trip to Batreaux is in order, so players should return to the graveyard, drop down the hole and follow the wooden planks to reach the monster's house.
Assuming they've been collecting rewards as and when they fulfilled the requirements, players should only have one reward left to claim; the Typhoon Wallet. This is the largest wallet in the game and can hold 9,000 Rupees, meaning that, when combined with the three extra wallets that are available from Beedle's Flying Shop, players will now be able to carry 9,900 Rupees in total, which is the maximum amount possible. There's more though.
With all of the Gratitude Crystals now collected, Batreaux is finally able to fulfill his dream of transforming into a real human. The process only takes a moment and is marked only by a short flash of orange light. Once the smoke has cleared, players can enjoy a brand new form of Batreaux, whose big red horns have now been replaced with wild tufts of scraggly orange hair.
Whether the transformation could be described as having been successful is perhaps a matter for debate. Batreaux seems happy enough with it though and tells Link how excited he is about finally being able to live a normal life like everybody else. It's hard not to feel happy for the guy given how kind he's been to Link throughout the game, not to mention the many fantastic rewards that he's provided players with.
Other Side Quests in Skyward Sword HD
- Lost Child
- Missing Sister
- Item Check Crush
- Cleaning Pipit's House
- Fledge's Workout
- Fixing Fun Fun Island
- Haunted Restroom
- Missing Baby Rattle
- Pumpkin Harvest
- Broken Crystal Ball
- Beedle's Missing Beetle