Moldarach

Moldarach is a Boss in Skyward Sword.^[1] An Aracha that has reached the age of one thousand years,^[2] two of them appear throughout the game; one as the main boss of the Lanayru Mining Facility and is overall the third boss of the game, and another later encountered at the Lanayru Shipyard in the Lanayru Sand Sea as a mini-boss.

Characteristics[]

Fi's Comments

Target lock: Moldarach
An Aracha that has survived its very lengthy larval stage is known as a "Thousand-Year Arachnid," which is precisely what you see before you.
Over 90% of its body is shielded by a tough, chitinous armor that can deflect even the sharpest blade.

The weak points are its overdeveloped pincers, but you must hit each at the right angle relative to the pincer's position to be effective.

This beast has a tendency to bury itself in the sand when it feels its health is endangered.
When it is burrowed below the sand, you can expect at least an 85% chance that it will attempt to stab you with its tail.
I highly recommend removing the creature's environmental advantage by blowing away sand, thereby revealing its position.

Analysis reveals that the creature's central eye will be vulnerable to attack once its pincers have been properly disposed of.
I calculate a near 100% chance that an assault on this weak point will ultimately prove quite fatal.
However, I infer from the armor surrounding the central eye that horizontal, vertical, and diagonal slashes will be entirely ineffective.

Link first battles a Moldarach in the Lanayru Mining Facility. As Link enters the dungeon's disused room, the Moldarach springs out of the sand filling the room, and attacks.

Moldarach will defend itself with its claws, but once it drops its guard to attack, Link must slash the eyes inside the claws in the opposite direction that the claws are guarding; if the claw opens vertically, Link must slash it horizontally, and vice-versa. After slashing the eyes, one of them will turn red and Moldarach will then attempt to grab Link. The young hero can break free by shaking the Wii Remote and Nunchuk (or both Joy-Cons in the Switch remake), but if he takes too long to escape Moldarach will stab Link with its stinger. The Slingshot is helpful during this phase of the battle, as its pellets stun the eyes temporarily so the young hero can proceed to inflict damage to them.

After hitting a claw enough times, it will fall off, and Link must then do the same for the remaining claw. Moldarach will then burrow under the sand and try to attack with its stinger by jabbing it at Link, although this attack is easily avoidable with a backflip or a side jump. Link must blow away the sand covering the arachnid with the Gust Bellows to force it out of the ground. Its eye will turn red when it begins to charge its stinger attack, which is the Critical Point that Link must stab until it falls.

Another Moldarach is fought in the Lanayru Shipyard, and is fought using the same strategy.

Nomenclature[]

Moldarach's name seems to be a portmanteau of mold, a term used throughout The Legend of Zelda series to denote enemies with a long or noteworthy tail (e.g. Moldorm, Twinmold) and often an affinity for sand, and "arachnid".

Names in other regions
Language		Name	Meaning
	Japanese	モルドガット (Morudogatto) ^(SS)^[3]
	German	Dunkler Äonenskorpion: Moldoghad ^(SS)	Dark Eon Scorpion: Moldoghad
This table was generated using translation pages. To request an addition, please contact a staff member with a reference.

Trivia[]

Moldarach is the first and only boss in "The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword", as well as the very first boss in The Legend of Zelda series to be a boss at first, and later on get fought as a mini-boss.
After both claws are removed and Moldarach burrows under the sand, the player can get a rough estimate of where the boss is by looking at Link staring at the direction of where the boss is.
Pre-release material from 2010 show Moldarach fought in the Faron Woods. Its design was slightly different, with its tail having purple parts. (View Gallery)

Gallery[]

A developmental model of Moldarach from the 2010 demo

References

↑ Encyclopedia, Dark Horse Books, pg. 193
↑ "An Aracha that has survived its very lengthy larval stage is known as a "Thousand-Year Arachnid," which is precisely what you see before you." — Fi (Skyward Sword)
↑ Hyrule Encyclopedia, Ambit Ltd., pg. 209