zelda-skyward-sword
I just finished the last temple in Skyward Sword, Sky Keep. In one of the rooms (the one inspired by Eldin) there are three switches you have to hit in order for the locked gate to open.
I couldn't figure out what the required order of hitting the switches were, so I had to brute force my way to the solution: 2-1-3 (if I'm not mistaken).
How was I supposed to know this without guessing? Were there any clues that I didn't catch?
Instead of giving it away, I'll start by giving you a hint, followed by the issue you are having in spoiler tags, and finally followed by the answer in spoiler tags at the bottom.
My hint is to look at the ship wheels hanging on the wall next to the door.
The issue you have is that you are reading the ship wheels wrong. The part of the wheel with the red outline is the top of the wheel. That is what you should used in order to determine the position of coloured section which details the correct order. For example, the below picture indicates you should hit the bottom piece on the key.
Finally, if you still cannot figure it out, here is the correct order:
The order is: Bottom, Top, Bottom, Right.
(image: screen shot from this video)
A sign next to the exit tells you what you need to do.
Seek the gemstones that sleep behind each statue. If you strike them in order from lowest to highest, the door will open.
After uncovering all three switches, simply strike the switches in order based on their elevation within the room, from lowest to highest, in order to progress.
To be exact, the correct order is:
The one at the bottom of the sand slope
The one near to the entrance
The one behind the thin trees
Quote retrieved from: http://www.zeldadungeon.net/Resources/Textual-Resources/Zelda14-skyward-sword-text-dump.php
Best Answer
There is a stone tablet in the room (next to the closed gate) that tells you what you need to know. It says something along the lines of (I don't recall the exact wording):
So of the three switches, you need to hit the one at the lowest elevation first (the second one you see down the ramp), then the one at the middle elevation (the first one you saw) then the highest elevation last (the last one behind the trees).