There are 14 commendations for you to unlock during The Journey to Mêlée Island Tall Tale. While several are straightforward and required for completing the Tall Tale, you can easily overlook others.
To complete them all, you’ll need to collect every Piece o’ Eight on Mêlée Island, talk to Spiffy the dog several times, take a talking skull on a tour of the island, and listen to Guybrush’s memoirs.
While you can miss out on the commendations involving Spiffy and Murray if you are not careful, you can unlock the rest all in one playthrough and at any point during the Tall Tale.
If you need a more detailed walkthrough of completing the commendations, check out our full guide, where we go step by step into every puzzle the Tall Tale offers.
Hired Help
Purchase the Chef's Uniform
To purchase the Chef’s Uniform, you must speak to the Chef in the Kitchen of Scumm Bar and then buy the Chef’s Uniform from the General Store.
As soon as you step foot on the island, head to the Scumm Bar. Once inside, walk to the back, where you’ll find the Chef in the Kitchen. Talk with him and tell him you are looking for work. He will mention that he reserved a Chef’s Uniform at the General Store.
However, before you can buy it, you’ll need to collect at least 45 Pieces o’ Eight around the island. There are 55 Pieces o’ Eight to find right away, so you can wait to pick up every Piece o’ Eight.
Look on top of barrels and inside crates for Pieces o’ Eight. If you still need some, check out our guide here, showing you every possible location for Pieces o’ Eight.
Once you have enough, head to the General Store on High Street and purchase the Chef’s Uniform.
Delayed in Transit
Deliver the Citizen of Mêlée's missing cargo
To deliver the Citizen of Mêlée’s missing cargo, you’ll first need to grab the Claw Hammer from the Jail on High Street. It is sitting on the table near the prisoner Otis. Once you have the tool, walk to the dock house with the winch near the sunken ship.
You’ll find two pulleys on the dock house that control the winch. First, lower the winch into the water. Then, climb the ladder to use the other pulley and move the crane to the right. The hook on the winch should latch onto the Cargo Crate in the water.
To pull it out, you’ll need to jump into the water and cut the two frayed ropes to release it.
After you’ve cut the ropes, get back on the dock and use the winch to lift the crate out of the water, all the way to the left, and lower it onto the pier.
When the Cargo Crate is safely on the dock, use the Claw Hammer to open it. Inside, you’ll find the Crate of Important Goods. Pick up the crate and hand it to Citizen of Mêlée.
Prison Break
Free Otis
To free Otis, you must put on the Chef’s Uniform to access the food in the Kitchen. With the uniform equipped, make the Root Beer Stewed Meat by placing the onion, leek, flower, sprinkles, fish, and meat in the boiling pot.
Once you have created the Root Beer Stewed Meat, pick it up from the pot and place it in the dog food bowl by the piranha poodles in the Alley. The poodles will eat the meat and then dispatch Walt, who is guarding a pair of Gunpowder Gummies.
Pick up the gummies, carry them to the Jail, and place them in each jail cell lock.
Next, you must purchase the Gunpowder Fuses from the General Store. After you buy them, return to the Jail and place one in each jail cell lock.
Now that you have primed each lock, you can equip your Lantern and ignite the fuses. The jail cell doors will blast open, freeing Otis!
Save the Clock Tower
Repair the clock and set it to midnight
To repair the clock and set it to midnight, you must equip the Chef’s Uniform to access the Extra-Potent Grog in the Kitchen. While wearing the uniform, you can refill your Tankard from the Extra-Potent Grog barrel in the Kitchen.
Refill your Tankard, approach the Thirsty Pirate with the Clock Tower Key, and pour him three drinks. After the third pour, he will pass out, and you can steal the Clock Tower Key from him.
With the Clock Tower Key in hand, open the door below the Clock Tower and walk up the stairs to the room with the gears. Unjam the skeletal arm from the mechanism and turn the ship’s wheel to the left until the clock chimes.
House Call
Gain entry to the Governor's Mansion
To gain entry to the Governor’s Mansion, you’ll need to purchase the Chef’s Uniform, deliver the missing cargo, set the clock to midnight, and give Murray a new body.
To give Murray a new body, you must gather pieces of skeletal remains and attach them to Walt’s body in the Alley. You can find a skeletal arm in one of the jail cells, another skeletal arm in the Clock Tower, a femur bone in Spiffy’s mouth, and a head by switching Murray for Captain Coco from the Scumm Bar.
After Murray has his new body, he will walk to the Mansion Guard and take his place on duty. You can now enter the Governor’s Mansion with the Mansion Guard out of the way.
Walk through the front door, and you will be in the Governor’s Mansion.
The Journey to Mêlée Island
Complete The Journey to Mêlée Island
To complete The Journey to Mêlée Island, you must take on LeChuck’s Ghost Pirates and speak with Corina in the International House of Mojo.
After gaining entry to the Governor’s Mansion, you will find Guybrush Threepwood and several Root Beer Bottles. Pick up one of the bottles to start the confrontation with LeChuck.
He will soon send his Ghost Pirates after you. Use the Root Beer Bottles to defeat the Ghost Pirates. You’ll need to defeat six waves of them before the door to the International House of Mojo will open. Head inside and place a Root Beer Bottle in the cauldron. Corina will appear and remind you to complete any other tasks you have left to do before speaking with her.
Once you are ready to complete the Tall Tale, talk to her, and she will take you back to the Sea of Thieves, having finished the adventure!
Pop Up Pirates
Defeat Ghost Pirates with root beer
To defeat 10 Ghost Pirates with root beer, you must first gain entry to the Governor’s Mansion. Inside, you’ll find four bottles of root beer. Pick one up, and LeChuck will appear. After his cutscene, he will send waves of Ghost Pirates after you.
There will be more than ten to defeat, so you won’t have a problem completing the commendation. Use your Secondary Use button to shake the Root Beer Bottle before pressing your Primary Use button to fire it at the Ghost Pirates. Defeat ten, and the commendation will unlock!
In Good Company
Take a seat in the Scumm Bar
To take a seat in the Scumm Bar, you must enter the Scumm Bar and sit on any stool inside. As soon as you sit down, you will unlock the commendation.
Elected Legend
Read about Guybrush's re-election campaign
To read about Guybrush’s re-election campaign, you must interact with one of his posters around Mêlée Island. You can find one as soon as you park your ship at the docks.
Head to the dock house with the winch, and you’ll find a poster you can read next to a barrel with a Piece o’ Eight. Read the re-election poster, and you will unlock the commendation.
Groggy Dog Story
Hear everything Spiffy has to say
To hear everything Spiffy has to say, you’ll need to talk to him at three specific points throughout the Tall Tale.
To hear the first four things, talk to Spiffy as soon as you dock your ship. When you speak with him, you’ll see four different dialogue options. Select them all to hear four of the six things.
To hear the fifth, you’ll need to purchase the Cute Monkey Toy from Citizen and switch it for the bone in Spiffy’s mouth. Make sure you hear the first four things before doing this!
After you switch the bone for the toy, talk to Spiffy again to hear the fifth thing he has to say.
To hear the sixth, you’ll need to defeat LeChuck’s Ghost Pirates and listen to Corina in the International House of Mojo. Don’t talk to her to leave the island just yet! Instead, return to Scumm Bar and speak to Spiffy again. Choose the new dialogue option to hear the sixth and final thing.
A Guided Tour
Take Murray on a tour of the town's key locations
To take Murray on a tour of the town’s key locations, you must carry Murray to nine different places throughout Mêlée Island. The town’s key locations are:
- Docks
- Scumm Bar
- Lookout Point
- Low Street
- Clock Tower
- General Store
- Alley
- Church
- Jail
He’ll need to make a remark about it to receive credit for taking him to the location. For example, when you take Murray to the Clock Tower, wait until he comments about being immortal or how the clock is broken.
Make sure you take Murray’s skull around the town before placing his head on the skeleton body in the Alley.
For a more detailed breakdown of the locations, check out our dedicated ‘A Guided Tour’ walkthrough here.
Mêlée Island Historian
Purchase the Mêlée Island History Book
To purchase the Mêlée Island History Book, you must have 200 Pieces o’ Eight after defeating LeChuck’s Ghost Pirates.
If you are missing some coins, check out our guide here, showing you every possible location for Pieces o’ Eight.
Memoirs of a Legend, Vol. I
Take in the view at all the memoir spots
To take in the view at all the memoir spots, you must sit down at ten different spots throughout Mêlée Island and listen to Guybrush’s thoughts.
The ten locations are:
- In front of the Pirate Leaders
- In front of Scumm bar
- Docks
- Low Street near Citizen of Mêlée
- General Store
- Alley
- Jail
- On building across from Church
- In front of Governor’s Mansion
- Inside Governor’s Mansion
For a more detailed breakdown of the spots, check out our dedicated ‘Memoirs of a Legend, Vol. I’ walkthrough here.
Mêlée Island Investigator
Complete all Commendations for 'The Journey to Mêlée Island' Tall Tale
As soon as you complete every other commendation you will unlock this commendation.
4 thoughts on “How to complete every Commendation for The Journey to Mêlée Island Tall Tale in Sea of Thieves”
“At any point in the tall tale” may not be the best wording for everything except spiffy. I neglected to do the Murray tour before attaching him to his body and was then locked out from completing that commendation and had to run it again.
Shoot! Good catch, pirate! Sorry that we lead you astray. We updated the article to reflect that and added an extra warning in Murray’s section.
Can you redo the Melee Island Spectacular to improve your time if you finish Guybrush quest? I didn’t get the commendation and now it is preventing me from finishing the whole Monkey Island thing!
Yeah, you can do it as many times as you like. You just need to ring the starting bell again. If you’ve done it once though, you need to collect your “prize” from the brothers before you can start running it again.