The World Within

The Mystery of the Mirrors

The cutscene that plays after completing Castle Town brings you to a new world that was swallowed by the darkness: The Dwarf Woodlands. In order to escape, Aqua must figure out the secrets that lie beyond the mysterious mirrors scattered throughout the area.

There are 7 mirrors total to explore. For the sake of this walkthrough, we’re going to tackle the mirrors in a specific order, as 3 of the mirrors are story-related and 4 of the mirrors are completely optional. We recommend exploring them in the order shown here:

The table below will give you a general overview of the 4 optional mirrors. We’ll cover the 3 story-related mirrors in greater detail later in this walkthrough.

The Mines

Mirror 5 is the first of the story-related mirrors, and it’s perhaps the most lengthy of all to complete. In order to reach the exit mirror, you must navigate a series of platforming and puzzle challenges. There are several mirrors throughout the mines, and looking into them will reveal platforms that you can use to continue onward. Examining each mirror at the right time to line up the platforms properly is your ticket out.

Luckily, the Mines are pretty straightforward, so there’s really no opportunity to get lost. It’s pretty much a straight line from the entrance to the exit, with 4 puzzle mirrors to solve in order to progress along the way.

The first puzzle mirror simply makes a stationary platform appear behind you, which you can use to jump up to the platform above you and continue along the path. The second puzzle mirror gets a little more complicated: the platform inside it moves up and down and you have use the Triangle Button to examine the mirror at the right time to line up the platform halfway between the level you’re on and the level you’re trying to get to.

Continue up the path until you reach the third puzzle mirror, which is even more complicated than the last. Instead of having to time the placement of one platform inside the mirror, you have to time the placement of three. Though really, the first two are the only ones you need to worry about, as Doubleflight and Air Slide can be used to bypass the third platform completely to reach the wide-open platform ahead.

Here, you’ll encounter a few waves of Heartless. Many of them are aerial enemies that like to hug the outside edges of the platform, so be very careful when fighting them that you don’t accidentally fall off when your combo ends.

Along the back wall of the open area is a ramp leading down to the fourth and final puzzle mirror. Examine it, and the ramp behind you will disappear. Make your way around the mirror to the other side and wait to examine it until the ramp is directly behind you in the mirror. The ramp will reappear, leading up to the final platform, where you’ll find the exit mirror. But just because you found the way out doesn’t mean you’re out yet!

The Labyrinth

Return to the Save Point if you need to replenish any HP or MP, then head out for mirror 6. This mirror is easy to get lost in, as it is a never-ending labyrinth that reflects out in every direction. The trick to getting out of here is to locate the glowing pillars, strike them, and examine them to reveal the next one. The hard part is that every time you examine a pillar, the room inverts and suddenly the gravity is flipped, making it even easier to get lost.

Fortunately, there are only 3 pillars you have to locate, so it’s not horribly complicated to get out of the Labyrinth. While their exact locations are very difficult to describe, as there is really no landmark position in the room, we can warn you that if the room begins to get dark in front of you as you’re navigating the room, it means you’re about to reach the unseen edge of the room and be brought back to the center. Just keep looking around and you’ll eventually find all 3 pillars. Once you do, you can finally enter the altar and leave through the exit mirror.

The Endless Staircase

Be sure to return to the Save Point to restore any lost HP and MP. We’ve saved the easiest of the three story-related mirrors for last, but waiting at the end of it is the hardest battle yet!

Enter the mirror, climb the stairs and examine the invisible wall. You’ll return to the bottom of the stairs, so climb the stairs again and examine the invisible wall again. You’ll return to the bottom of the stairs again, so repeat this step one more time, and when you return to the bottom of the stairs, a mirror will be directly behind you. Examine it, and you’ll be taken to the final showdown with your phantom!