How To Get Onto LeChuck’s Ship In Act 1 Of Return To Monkey Island
After learning some pretty shocking details about the true ending of the second game in the series, Return to Monkey Island kicks into gear, launching you into an adventure that starts in what should be a very friendly place, Mêlée Island.
In what is undoubtedly one of the game’s biggest calls to fanservice, this act begins with Guybrush reacquainting himself with the lookout from the very first game. A short conversation establishes your quest: to put a ship and a crew together to find the Secret of Monkey Island™ – sounds familiar, huh? Let’s get started.
Talking To The Pirate Leaders
After greeting the lookout, head down to the docks. Walk along, examining the poster on the way to find out who the new governor is (and her motto – she’s hard on softness), and then enter the Scumm bar when you reach it. You can’t head into the distance to confront LeChuck yet.
On the right side of the Scumm bar, you can talk to the new pirate leaders. No matter how you navigate this conversation, the end result is the same – at the end of the day, you’ll have to find alternative arrangements to start your mission to find the Secret of Monkey Island.
You can now try to board LeChuck’s ship by walking down the pier next to the Scumm bar and speaking with the quartermaster, but no matter how the conversation goes, she’ll realize that you’re Guybrush Threepwood and let you know that you’re blacklisted from trying to get aboard. This does give you a new objective, though: obscure your identity and try to get a job as a swabbie onboard LeChuck’s ship. This will require that you find a mop and a disguise, and once aboard, your plan is to seize LeChuck’s ship.
Exploring Low Street
Upon heading back to the dock, you’ll spy a familiar face walking past. Follow her to the right and into Low Street. There, you’ll meet another familiar face, Elaine. Chat with her to find out what she’s up to – fighting scurvy with limes, apparently!
Once free to roam again, examine the bust near the arch and then head to the left and talk to the men of low moral fiber if you want. With that done, it’s time to explore the shops on Low Street. First, head into the International House of Mojo on the right.
Here, you’ll get to talk with the Voodoo Lady. When you enter, she will present you with the Book of Hints, which you can use to subtly nudge you in the right direction for a puzzle (you don’t need that, you have us!). Keep talking with her to learn about Dark Magic, Elaine, LeChuck, and to get a clue about where you’ll get a mop.
After talking to the Voodoo Lady, examine the empty bag of disguises on the shelf near her. She’s all out, unfortunately, but will let you know about an Eyepatch of Jon Laney, an artifact that would help you disguise yourself that’s currently held in the Mêlée Island pirate museum. That’s another thing to add to the to-do list.
Examine the ceremonial knife and the forgiveness frog on the bottom of the screen. After examining them, grab them both with a right-click. You can also pick up the skull at the back of the shop. With that done, you can leave the International House of Mojo and enter Wally’s shop across the street: Wally’s Maps-n-More!
Catch up with Wally to learn more about the Dark Magic pirates infesting Mêlée, and then try to snag the monocle from his table. Just like old times- oh, it turns out he basically wants you to take it! You can examine all the maps for some funny lines, but it’s only meeting Wally and grabbing the monocle that we need to do here.
Leave the shop and head to High Street through the archway.
Exploring High Street
While the general store and the alleyway are fruitless to explore, there’s now a locksmith on the left side of the area.
Enter to meet Locke Smith – talk to her. An important titbit of information to pick up here is that Locke can create a key just by knowing the lock’s serial number. These can only be viewed with a magnifying glass.
Having learned that interesting piece of information, leave the shop and head into the jail opposite. Here, you’ll be able to chat with Otis and Stan. From these conversations, you can pick up the following new objective: Break Otis out of jail. Stan will also ask you to go get his toothbrush from his office, but trying to do this ends up being a waste of time – his toothbrush is locked inside his boarded-up office.
We can, however, break Otis out of jail: use the monocle you picked up at Wally’s shop on the lock on Otis’ cell door. Guybrush will handily write down the serial number he finds there and add it to his inventory. With that in hand, go back to the locksmith. Give Locke Smith the serial number, and you’ll receive a key – you can use this on Otis’ cell door to free him. You don’t get anything in return but the sweet satisfaction that you’ve helped out an old friend. Yes, this was totally optional.
You can’t free Stan, by the way. He’s convinced that he will get acquitted and won’t let you.
With that done, you can now return to the street, head through the arch, and enter the Governor’s mansion. Here, you’ll reacquaint yourself with Carla, Swordmaster-turned-Governor. After exhausting the conversation, take a look around the place. Examine the books in the bookcase and make a note of their titles. Also, examine the stuffed animal on the right – when Carla says you can take it, do so. With that, we’ve explored all of Mêlée proper, it’s time to finish off your exploration and start solving puzzles.
How To Get Onto LeChuck’s Ship
Talking to the quartermaster has revealed two things that you’ll need to get onto LeChuck’s ship – a mop of your own, and a disguise. After all, Guybrush Threepwood is the entire blacklist. Luckily, Mêlée Island has all the resources necessary to accomplish these tasks. We’ll begin with the mop.
How To Get A Mop
Before we explore the island’s other locations for the first time, head back to the Scumm bar.
Take the path to the side of the Governor’s mansion to open up the Mêlée Island map to get there faster by clicking directly on the dock’s location.
After entering the Scumm bar, you can pick up a Trivia Book on the table and also badger Cobb into referencing the very first game in the Monkey Island series for an achievement.
Head to the back of the Scumm bar again – you can talk to the pirate leaders again, but it’ll be fruitless. Instead, head into the kitchen and try to grab the mop in the corner. Here, you’ll have a lengthy conversation with the cook about exactly how you’ll acquire a mop – you need to carve a mop handle from a particular tree, but the cook doesn’t give you much more information than that. He will let you know that the mop head can basically be anything, though. Before leaving, head outside through the door to the right and pick up the string.
How To Find The Mop-Handle Tree
Now, leave the Scumm bar, return to the Mêlée Island map, and then head straight back to the Scumm bar. There will be yet another new face to talk to – a clean-looking man. He will mistake you for a waiter and demand that you bring him some food. Talking to the cook in the kitchen reveals that he wants a dish that he was served at the Governor’s mansion and that he doesn’t know the recipe.
At this point, you can ask Wally about getting a map to the right tree with the wood to make a mop handle. He will tell you that he needs only a sliver of the wood to make a map – you have your new sub-objective: retrieve a sliver of the cook’s mop.
Head back to the mansion. In the bookcase, you’ll see the book you need – “Ingredients” by Barbie LeFlay. Trying to borrow the book, however, ends up being a lost cause – Carla wants an apology and a good one at that. Hand her the forgiveness frog that you picked up at the International House of Mojo – you’ll find out now that you need to write personalized apologies on the frog if you want them to be worth anything.
On Casual Mode, you won’t have to write anything on the frog. Carla will accept it on the first attempt.
Use your quill on the frog and choose the following options:
- Dear Carla,
- Sorry for losing the book I borrowed.
- I admire that you are hard on softness.
- … as shown by your actions on Santo Domingo.
- You scare the heck out of me.
With those options written on the frog, try to apologize again. This time, it will work – now you can successfully borrow the cookbook.
Head back to the Scumm bar and give the book to the cook. With the cook endlessly distracted, you can now use the ceremonial knife that you picked up at the International House of Mojo on the mop in the corner.
With your new sliver, head back to Wally’s shop. Pick up a second monocle while you’re there, and then hand Wally the sliver. He’ll give you a map.
With the map in hand, you should now head to the Mêlée Island forest. Ignore the museum on the right for now and open up the map. You should have a good idea of what you need to do here:
- Head north from the forest entrance, into the woods. While you are on this screen, use the ceremonial knife to collect a sample of the carnivorous plant.
- Take the right exit near the purple flowers.
- Head north near the purple flowers.
- Take the right exit near the carnivorous plants.
- Take the left exit near the green mushrooms. Be careful using the map here, the perspective changes.
- Take the middle exit near the green mushrooms.
- Take the left exit near the purple flowers.
On Casual Mode, you do not have to worry about changes in perspective or making sure you’re lining up exits with specific plants. Instead, just take the path indicated by the map, taking the left, right, and central exits as they appear on the map.
With those directions followed, you’ll reach a clearing and the distinctive Mêlée Island Mop Handle Tree. Use the ceremonial knife on the tree to get yourself a mop handle.
How To Get A Mop Head
As you may have guessed already, there are multiple things that you’ve already picked up that can be used to serve as your mop’s head! Combine your shiny new mop handle with any of the following objects:
- The string you found at the Scumm bar.
- The stuffed animal from the Governor’s mansion.
- The skull you got from the Voodoo Lady’s shop.
- The sponge that you may have picked up already if you went off-walkthrough to the Shipyard.
The choices all lead to a functional mop. Congratulations, you have a mop. Now, all that’s left is a cunning disguise.
How To Get A Disguise
Now that you’re back at the forest entrance, head into the Museum of Pirate Lore on the right. You’ll meet Conrad, the curator. Talk to him and examine the displays in the museum – of particular note is the display case holding the Eyepatch of Jon Laney, an item you’ll need to make a disguise.
If you try to examine the display case lock with a monocle as you did with Otis’ cell door, you’ll find that the serial number is too small to read. Instead, combine the two monocles you have into a more powerful magnifier, and use that. As before, you’ll end up with a serial number.
Head into the storeroom at the back of the museum and pick up the box of cracker mix.
On Casual Mode, the storeroom will be locked – you will not need to pick up any cracker mix.
With those items in hand, head back to High Street and enter the locksmiths. Hand her the new serial number, and you’ll get a new key. While you’re here, hand her the cracker mix from the storeroom – you’ll get some stale crackers as a reward.
On Casual Mode, you can simply take the crackers.
Head back to the museum. If you try to unlock the display case, the parrot will alert Conrad, and you’ll get caught – scuppering that attempt at stealing the eyepatch. Instead, feed the parrot one of the stale crackers you got from the locksmith and then open up the display case. Quickly steal the eyepatch, and you’ll automatically leave the shop with your loot in tow.
Take the eyepatch to the Voodoo Lady at her shop on Low Street and ask her to charge it up. She will request that you bring her the Bite of a Thousand Needles. Give her the carnivorous plant sample that you picked up in the forest.
On Casual Mode, you will not need to get the Bite of a Thousand Needles.
How To Get A Job On LeChuck’s Ship
With all that preparation taken care of, you should be able to get onboard LeChuck’s ship. Head to his ship and then walk past the quartermaster, hiding behind the crates to the left. Here, you’ll be able to put on the Eyepatch of Jon Laney out of view.
Talk to the quartermaster with the eyepatch disguise on, and you’ll fool her. Then, present her with the mop you made and you can board the ship, ending this act and securing yourself a job as a swabbie!