This article is part of a directory: Return To Monkey Island: Complete Guide And Walkthrough
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It didn't take long for Return to Monkey Island to actually take you to the eponymous island, did it? This act is a little on the short side, but there are still plenty of puzzles to solve and new areas to explore.

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And did you think you were done interacting with the evil ship's crew? Certainly not. They're sticking around a little longer to provide help - whether they're conscious of the fact or not. Here's how to help Guybrush muddle his way through life as only he knows how.

Find The Secret Of Monkey Island

Return to Monkey Island Guybrush underwater

You’ll begin this act underwater – you’ll need to quickly move to the right, with your time left ebbing away each time the screen transitions. Don’t worry, though, you’ll reach Monkey Island soon enough!

Return to Monkey Island Washing up on Monkey Island beach

Ah, it’s good to be back.

Take a breather while on the beach. If you examine the tree on the left, you can eventually come to an epiphany about the heart scratched into it. Kick the tree five times for an achievement.

Head on over to the left and examine the skull on the ground. It’s not Murray, but Guybrush will pick it up anyway. Now move into the jungle at the back of the screen, which will bring you to the Monkey Island overworld map.

Return to Monkey Island overworld map

There are a few locations you can go – check out the red berry bush first, next to the river. It’s the first step on the Map to the Secret.

Return to Monkey Island Following the map

The next step tells you to follow the big stone handtake the right exit from this screen to do so. Next, you need to follow the path to the north past the wooden chicken, and then to the right past the bees and alongside the… helpful yet incorrectly-spelled sign.

This familiar sight is very, very obviously a trap. Try to pick up the shovel in the center of the screen, and Guybrush will get caught. The next scene contains some important revelations, so be sure to listen carefully! Importantly, you’ll find out that Captain Madison has the genuine map to the Secret, but it’s encrypted, and she's recruiting you to help her decrypt it.

To break the encryption, an individual with the map needs to play LeChuck's theme song, eat his favorite food, and speak his catchphrase.

One thing leads to another, and you’ll end up working with the pirate leaders as Guybrush is the only one of them able to get onto LeChuck’s ship, which is how you’ll find out the three requirements to decode the map.

Return to Monkey Island Finding skulls and exploring monkey island

At the moment, though, it’s time to explore Monkey Island a bit more!

  • Head up to the top of the mountain. There’s another skull here, pick it up.
  • There’s another skull lying on the ground near the shipwreck. Go grab it.
  • There’s also a skull on Volcano Beach near some driftwood.
  • Finally, there’s a skull on the path to the giant monkey head.

While you’re at the giant monkey head, go chat to your new ‘teammates’ and also the actual Murray skull on the right-hand side of the screen. While you’re there, pick up the arm bone on the floor near the wooden spikes.

Talking to the pirate leaders will reveal that you can get one of them to cast a disguise spell on you, but you’ll need to find a secret possession from one of LeChuck’s crewmates to accomplish this.

How To Get A Secret Possession From One Of LeChuck’s Crewmates

Return to Monkey Island Going underwater on volcano beach

Head back to Volcano Beach. You can tread water towards LeChuck’s ship and climb back aboard. You’ll walk underwater – there’s one more skull to be found at the left edge of this screen – pick it up and then climb up the anchor chain.

Instead of climbing over the rail again, sidle along the ship’s side and climb down to meet up with Gullet again, still stuck in the rudder. He’s holding a book of poetry – that would do for a secret item!

Chat to Gullet, and help him out with his poetry:

  • Germs rhymes with Worms.
  • Roses grow.
  • Snack rhymes with Black.

With those answers, Gullet will be satisfied, and his first volume of poetry completed.

Return to Monkey Island Talking to gullet about publishing poetry

He won’t just hand you the book for free, though – hand him the business card that you received from Conrad all the way back in the first act and Gullet will happily hand over the book.

With the book in hand, return to the giant monkey head and give it to the pirate leaders. The book of poetry will be turned into a book of disguise that you can use to take on a new appearance.

Return to Monkey Island Disguised

Leave the area and head back to the ship – you can simply click on the ship instead of Volcano Beach to take a shortcut. Recite the poem before climbing up over the railing – as Gullet.

How To Learn LeChuck’s Catchphrase

Return to Monkey Island LeChuck's Diary

Now that you’re on board, it’s time to find the three things you need to decode the map. Asking Apple Bob about them will give you some clues: apparently, LeChuck’s catchphrase changes all the time, his favorite food is probably something Putra makes, and Flair Gorey is composing his new theme song.

Head down into the ship and then into LeChuck’s cabin. On the shelf to the right is his diary – pick it up. Examine it in your inventory to read it – you can learn his catchphrase this way. The final entry that mentions a catchphrase is April 10, which states that LeChuck went back to the catchphrase he had on the 17th. Flipping the pages back reveals that the catchphrase is Plunder my blasphemous bilges.

How To Learn LeChuck’s Favorite Food

Return to Monkey Island Putra in the galley and a squid on volcano beach

With that done, head to the galley and chat with Putra. During the conversation, when the opportunity comes up, call her a chef. This will make her like you a bit more and offer up more information – for example, LeChuck’s favorite food. She’ll reveal that it’s tentacles with daisy sauce, but she doesn’t have any tentacles in the galley to cook it.

To get a tentacle, head back underwater via the anchor, and walk back up to Volcano Beach, where you’ll find a dead squid. Using your trusty ceremonial knife, cut off a tentacle. Bring this back to Putra, and she’ll make you the dish.

How To Learn LeChuck’s Theme Song

Return to Monkey Island Distracting Flair with the bell

To get LeChuck’s theme song, head back up to the deck. You need to distract Flair, who is busy composing it – start a vote by ringing the bell near the ship’s wheel, but only once. Ringing it twice will just cause Apple Bob to tell you that LeChuck is off-ship.

Flair will come up from the ship and start wondering what the vote is about – use this distraction to sneak back down into the ship and snag the sheet music from the barrel to the left.

How To Decode The True Map

Return to Monkey Island Murray as part of a skull xylophone

It’s time to decode the map, and it’s your task to carry out the instructions. Head back to the giant monkey head and chat with the pirate leaders.

The first thing you have to do is play LeChuck’s theme song, and your instrument (sorry Murray!) is the makeshift xylophone made out of the wooden stakes to the right. First, place a skull on top of each pole – you should have picked up enough for each stake. Once all the skulls are on, conk each of them on the head with the arm bone you picked up nearby, and make a note of the notes they play. For example, from left to right, our skulls made the following notes:

Ti – Sol – Mi – Fa – Re – Do – La

Examine the music score you nabbed from Flair – the tune is:

Do – Do – Mi – Sol – Fa – Fa – Re

Conk the respective skulls with the arm bone in that order. Remember that Murray's note is 'Ra', the game won’t emphasize this fact in his object label.

Return to Monkey Island the new pirate leaders and Guybrush eating a tentacle

In the cutscene that follows, you’ll need to pick the right words to make up LeChuck’s catchphrase. Specifically, they are ‘Plunder,’ ‘my blasphemous,’ and ‘bilges.’ Follow this up by agreeing to eat the tentacle dish, and then enjoy the cutscene.

How To Repair The Sea Monkey

Return to Monkey Island Guybrush and Elaine sailing away

First things first, pick up the book on the stump and Murray. Then, pick either exit to return to the Monkey Island map.

Travel to the Sea Monkey shipwreck and use the helpful book on the wreckage.

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