LEVEL 35: TEMPLE OF HORUS
Secrets: 0*
FIRST WATER AND SCALES PUZZLE: Go up the ramp to a room with a cage containing a nasty monster. At the other end of the room is a balance-beam scale with a silver pitcher on one side and a feather on the other.** As you approach the scale, Lara looks to the left at the inscription above one of the fountains. There are two wavy line symbols representing water, so for this puzzle you need two liters of water.
Pick up the LARGE WATERSKIN from the floor near the skeleton. You will need this—along with the SMALL WATERSKIN, which you should still have in your inventory from the MASTABAS level—to complete the puzzle. The large waterskin holds five liters; the small waterskin holds three liters. You can fill the skins at the fountains, empty them on the ground and combine the contents (using the inventory ring) in order to get the amount you need in one skin.
First, empty the small waterskin if it still has any water in it. (Stand Lara somewhere other than in one of the fountains, escape to inventory, select the small waterskin and use it to empty it.) The large waterskin should be empty when you find it. You should now fill it: Stand in either fountain, select the large waterskin and use it to fill it.
(BUG NOTE: If Lara says "no" when you try to fill or empty the waterskins, try pressing Action instead of Enter when using or combining the items within the inventory ring. This may help. If not, see the bug note at the bottom of the page.)
Now you should have the large waterskin filled with five liters and the empty small waterskin. Select the large waterskin then combine it with the small waterskin to fill the small waterskin from the large one. You should now have the small waterskin with three liters and the large waterskin with two liters.
Position Lara squarely facing the scale platform with the pitcher on it. Make sure she's right up against it. (You might want to save your game before pouring the water.) Select the large waterskin (with two liters of water) and use it to pour the water into the pitcher. If you're too far from the scale, Lara will pour the water on the floor and you'll have to start over. You will hear water pouring if you've done it correctly. If you use two liters of water, the scale will balance and the grate in the floor nearby will open. If you use the wrong amount of water, the scale won't balance and the monster will be released. You must then kill it (and it's rather hard to kill—poisoned arrows work quite well, though), or reload a saved game and try again.
Drop down through the open grate and follow the passage to a room with a climbing pole going down into an opening lined with retractable spikes. Enter and kill a couple of bats. Take a standing jump to grab the pole. Slide down to just above the spikes. Then, just as the spikes begin to recede, slide down through the opening. Kill a few more bats in the room below. Continue to the next room.
SECOND WATER AND SCALES PUZZLE: It's the same basic setup as the previous puzzle, only this time, according to the number of wavy lines above the fountains, you need four liters of water. First pour out the small waterskin so both skins are empty. Now go to one of the pools and fill the large waterskin. Select the large waterskin then combine it with the small waterskin to pour water from the large skin into the small one. You should now have the small waterskin filled with three liters and the large with two liters. Empty the small waterskin. Again select the large waterskin and combine it with the small waterskin to pour water from the large skin into the small one. You should now have the small waterskin with two liters and the large waterskin empty. Refill the large waterskin. Again, select the large waterskin and combine it with the small waterskin to pour water from the large skin into the small one. You should now have the small waterskin with three liters and the large waterskin with four liters.
Go to the scale and pour the four liters of water from the large waterskin into the pitcher. This should balance the scales, opening the grate in the floor. As with the previous puzzle, if you use the wrong amount of water, the cage door opens releasing the Ammit-like monster. You'll need to kill it or reload in order to try again.
Drop down through the open grate and follow the passage to another room with a climbing pole and retractable spikes. Again, you'll need to kill some bats (three, I think). Then take a standing jump to grab the pole. Slide down to just above the spikes. Then, just as the spikes begin to recede, slide down through the opening. Kill 3 more bats in the room below. Continue to the next room.
THIRD WATER AND SCALES PUZZLE: Here we go again. This time there's only one wavy line symbol above each fountains. That means you need to pour one liter of water into the vessel on the scale. Fill the small waterskin. Select the small waterskin then combine it with the large one. You should now have the large waterskin with three liters and the small waterskin empty. Fill the small skin again. Select it and combine it with the large one. You should now have the large waterskin with five liters and the small one with one liter.
Go to the scale and pour the one liter of water from the small waterskin into the pitcher. This should balance the scales, opening the grate in the floor. Again, if you use the wrong amount of water, the cage door opens releasing a monster. You'll need to kill it or reload in order to try again. Once you get the grate open, drop down through the opening and follow the passage.
ROOM WITH SHAFT OF BLUE LIGHT: Climb down inside the shaft. There's a small room partway down the shaft. This contains a complicated trapdoor mechanism and a closed gate. There's nothing you can do here now, so climb all the way down the shaft until you can dismount on a small ledge.
Cut scene: A panoramic view of the statue of Horus awaiting its armor. It stands in a cave on a small island surrounded by a moat. (Classic boss level architecture if you ask me.)
SHOWDOWN: Turn right (north) and take a running jump from the ledge to land in the water below. Turn around and find a place where you can climb out of the water onto the island a little bit to the left of where you splashed down. Place each of the 4 HOLY SCRIPTURES on one of the pedestals surrounding the statue of Horus. (You should have these from the UNDERNEATH THE SPHINX level.) Then approach the statue from the front.
(BUG NOTE: There is a bug in this section which may manifest in varying degrees. See the details at the bottom of the page.)
Cut scene: Lara arranges the armor on the statue and places the amulet on its chest.
FMV sequence: High in the heavens sparkling light energy coalesces into a shining falcon, which dives down through space into the pyramid. It smashes into the statue, energizing the god and bringing him into physical form.
Then, somewhere outside, a swarm of locusts gathers and speeds toward the pyramid. The insects penetrate the tunnels and surround Horus. The god explodes, his energy scattered. Lara is blown off her feet by the blast, and the amulet flies through the air landing in the water nearby. Set appears in Horus's place.
Set: My wicked cousin is once again returned to the stars. It is I who shall rule over this world once more. Come forth and kneel and bow before your god before he extinguishes your worthless life.
Set is apparently unwilling to negotiate. He immediately starts shooting shards of some weird, blue energy. You can't destroy him. (After all, he is a god.) So you'll have to re-entomb him. First find the AMULET OF HORUS, which was flung into the water when Horus was vanquished. It is on the bottom of the moat, just below the ledge where you climbed out of the water earlier—and nearly on a direct line from Lara's starting position after the movie. Just turn left (north) and run to the water, jump in and pick up the artifact.
(NOTE: The following sequence, from the amulet to the top of the cave, is shown in this series of screenshots.)
Once you have the amulet, the wrought iron gate on the south side of the cave opens. To get there, turn left and swim around the island to the southwest corner of the cave. Here you can climb out of the water on a small, square ledge. Take a standing jump up the slope. Then follow the rock shelf around to the left (south) and up the ramp to the open gate. Enter, pick up the Uzi clips behind the gate, and pull the switch to open the other gate, on the north side of the cave.
To get there, exit the first switch room and go to the right (east). Take a running jump from the end of the rock ledge to land on the rocks below (in the southeast corner). Cross the rocks to the far left (northeast) side and turn to face north. The cave wall should now be on Lara's right. Take a running jump to grab the thin ledge ahead. Pull up. Take a running jump from that ledge to grab the block ledge ahead and pull up. (Lara should still be facing north with the east wall on her right.) Take a standing jump up the slope and follow the rock shelf around to the left (northwest). Jump down from the high ledge to the ledge running along the north wall (this has a rectangular mural with bird wings above it). Enter the room, pick up the small medipak behind the gate and pull the switch. This activates a mechanism up in the room inside the SHAFT OF BLUE LIGHT.
Exit the north switch room and jump into the water. You'll land in the moat just about where you picked up the amulet. Swim to the right all the way back around to the southwest corner. Climb out on the same small, square ledge. Now repeat the same sequence you did to get to the two gates originally, working your way around from the southwest corner to the northeast corner. This time you don't need to use the switch in the south room. Just run across the ledge and jump off the other side. And, when you reach the rock shelf in the northeast corner, instead of jumping down to the ledge near the north gate, look for a light colored square block that wasn't there before.
Climb on top of this block and take a standing jump to the flat spot at the top of the slope. If you need it, pick up the small medipak on the left. Then take a running jump from the right (south) end of the ledge to grab the rectangular ledge jutting out of the left (east) wall. Pull up. Go to the other end of this ledge and take a running jump, aiming to the left of the stalactite hanging from the ceiling. You'll land on a dark ledge in the southeast corner of the cave (above where you were earlier). Cross that ledge to the far right (southwest) corner and look for a crawlspace ahead in the overhanging rock. Take a running jump to grab the opening and crawl in.
Go through the narrow tunnel and crawl out the opening on the other side. Turn or roll to face west (away from the opening). Run around the corner to the right (northwest) end of the ledge. (Lara should now be facing north.) Take a running jump to grab the ledge above and pull up. Go to the right side of this ledge so you're facing the SHAFT OF BLUE LIGHT. Take a running jump to grab the climbable wall. Climb up and to the right to the ledge where you first entered the cave. Grab the climbable wall on the left and start climbing up inside the SHAFT OF BLUE LIGHT.
Cut scene: Lara finishes climbing to the room above. She places the Amulet of Horus into the odd mechanism. The trapdoor closes, presumably sealing Set inside the cave.
FROM THE SHAFT OF BLUE LIGHT TO THE EXIT: Turn around and exit through the gate. Go up the stairs cautiously because there is a sliding block trap ahead. As with the previous traps, to get through, position Lara at either side of the sliding block, and take a standing jump just as the block slides away toward the other side of the opening. Repeat this for two more block traps.
At the top of the stairs is a steep tunnel. The vibrations from Set's almighty tantrum have begun to knock the place down. Wait in the doorway as a couple of huge stone blocks fall from the ceiling. Then continue up the right side of the tunnel. If you look up, you'll notice that the falling blocks are the ones with skulls on them. You can then avoid standing under them. Take a running jump across the deep pit to grab the opposite edge. Pull up and go between the two columns and up the left side of the slope in order to avoid more falling blocks. Take another running jump across the next pit to grab either the left side or the middle of the opposite ledge. (If you grab the left side, traverse to the middle.) Pull up.
For this next section of tunnel, avoid the left side, where there are more falling blocks. Take a running jump from the right side to grab the ledge on the other side of the third pit. Pull up and run into the hall in the center before the various falling blocks slam down. Now continue up the ramp to finish the level and the game.
FMV sequence: Moonset and sunrise in the desert near the pyramids. Lara, out of breath and limping, makes her way toward the exit as the tomb crumbles. A shadow passes across the sunlit doorway. Lara looks up and sees that it is Von Croy. He motions for her to come along.
Von Croy: Quickly girl, before it collapses around you!
She is knocked back as a tremor rocks the tomb.
Lara: You back, Werner? No more Set?
Von Croy: No time! Your hand, Lara. Give me your hand!
Lara dashes for the doorway and just manages to catch onto a ledge as a the floor falls away beneath her.
Von Croy: Take may hands. I can pull you to safety!
Lara: Good to see you again, Werner.
Von Croy: I couldn't leave you!
But before he can reach her, the door collapses, bits of rock flying everywhere. Von Croy manages to get to safety, but Lara is sealed inside the tomb. He turns and looks back toward the temple. Then he removes his hat and bows his head.
*NOTE: There are 70 secrets in the entire game. These are marked "(x/70)" in this walkthrough. To check your progress in-game, press Pause and choose Statistics.
**FYI: This puzzle is an allusion to the ancient Egyptians' beliefs about death and the afterlife, described in their Book of the Dead. In order to attain immortality, a soul had to endure a series of trials, culminating in the weighing of the heart, which the Egyptians believed was the seat of the soul, against the "feather of truth." If the person had been good and just in life, the heart and the feather would balance, and the person would be granted immortality. If the heart was heavy with misdeeds, then the gods would refuse the person salvation, and his or her heart would be eaten by the monster/goddess Ammit (also known as "the devourer"). Ammit is described as having the head of a crocodile, the forequarters of a lion, and the hindquarters of a hippopotamus. For more info, visit these sites:
University of Pennsylvania (Translation of the Book of the Dead by E.A. Wallis Budge)
BUG NOTE: This particular bug can range from mildly annoying to crippling. It apparently begins in the third water puzzle area. At this point you may notice flares don't work. You can draw them but they don't light until you throw them. Also, Lara may refuse to use the waterskins. Later, in the area with the statue of Horus, she may refuse to put the holy scriptures on the pedestals. And, for some players, the Amulet of Horus remains in the inventory after the cut scene and movie and does not appear on the bottom of the moat. As a result, it could not be picked up, the south gate doesn't open and the level can't be completed. Possible fixes include the following:
If you're playing on the PC, try pressing Action instead of Enter when using or combining items in the inventory.
If you're having trouble placing the holy scriptures or using the waterskins and the above suggestion doesn't work, just keep trying. Some players have reported that Lara will eventually do what she's supposed to do.
If the amulet doesn't leave your inventory and appear on the bottom of the moat, try lighting a flare underwater. Some players have reported that doing this causes the amulet to appear. And, from what I've heard so far, if you are able to retrieve the amulet, everything returns to normal.
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Copyright © 2000 - Stellalune (e-mail stella@tombraiders.net). Special thanks are given to the participants in the alt.games.tombraider newsgroup, without whom some parts of this walkthrough couldn't have been written. Thanks also to Jack and Basil for their help on this level. Feel free to copy, distribute and quote this walkthrough, but please include this credit line so people can send me their corrections, comments and suggestions. Also, if you'd like to offer this on your own web site, please read and follow the instructions here.
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