As soon as yoe enter the long area where you fight the first eye go back right away this is how I got it to work.
Exactly this, the whole puzzle triggere me in a game mechanic and not telegraphed kind of way.
The player is not told to read the owl sign every time he messes mess up. The player is not told that a loop into the centry forest area is actualy right. And to top it off the directions are wrong or misleading at least.
You Sir, helped me!