Golden Skulltula: (42 total)
Pieces of Heart (15 Pieces, 9.75 Heart Containers total)
From Kakariko Village, head south to Kokiri Forest. You'll find it run over by all sorts of baddies. Avoid the Deku Baba and Deku Scrubs; you can talk to the Kokiri in their houses (they are terrified of going outside and have no idea who you are, even though you spent your entire childhood with them). Climb up the hill to the Lost Woods. Go to the Sacred Forest Meadow (right, left, right, left, straight, left, right). Instead of Deku Scrubs, there are now Moblins guarding the narrow passageways. Don't stand in the passageway because they will run you over -- they move surprisingly quickly for their bulk. One hit with the Hookshot will do them in. Once you get to the to of the stairs (don't forget to grab Golden Skulltula 11 on the way), you'll see a giant Moblin with a club. Run forward and stick to the left wall. He will hit the club to the left -- dance to the right just as the club hits the ground to avoid the massive backlash of the stroke. Now he'll hit to the right, so jump back left. Once you get past him, do him in with a few swordstokes (from the back). Once you get to the top of the stairs, you will see that Saria isn't there . . . but Sheik is. He will teach you the Menuet of Forest. This song allows you to return to the Sacred Forest Meadow on the upraised rock slab anytime, child or adult. Look at the tree in the meadow -- there is a branch hanging over some broken stairs. Hookshot to the branch. Fun ride! Okay, now go inside.
The Courtyards
Step forward and you will be confronted with two Wolfos. Just Z-Target one and kill him; then dispatch the second. You'll see vines growing on the wall to your right. Climb up the vines to the treetop. Kill Golden Skulltula 12, then jump to the other tree branch (or Hookshot over) to the small treasure chest. Inside is a small key. Now go through the next door. Hit the hanging Skulltula once with your Hookshot (he doesn't have to be facing away -- the Hookshot is powerful enough to go through his protective front covering). Go into the next room and step forward. The elevator will go down and the four lit torches will become four Poes, which will split up and go to different parts of the dungeon. You'll deal with them later. For now, go straight across (get Golden Skulltula 13 while you're at it) and up the stairs to the next room. Here you'll confront your first Blue Bubble. Just Z-Target it and run into it with your shield. Then dispatch it with two hits of the sword. In the next room, you'll have to fight two Stalfoes. It's basically the same as the Wolfos, only they are a bit more difficult to get rid of. Z-Target one and the other will leave you alone until its partner is dead. Keep your shield up and jump out of the way of their leaping attacks. Otherwise, just keep hitting them with your sword until they are dead. Your prize will be another small key. Go back into the room with the four torches. Go to the floor and go through the enclave on the right (it's between two staircases). You'll find a blue block; any time you see one of these, a good rule of thumb is to play the Song of Time. Do so here and the block will disappear, revealing a door. Go through the door. You are now in the first outside room (if you look up you'll realize you are just in a courtyard). Destroy the baddies and the Skulltula on the wall. Climb the wall with vines (you'll need to stay to the far right so you are halfway off the vines to avoid the last Skulltula) and go through the door. Kill the Blue Bubble to get the Dungeon Map. Proceed to the next room. You are now on a balcony overlooking the second outside room/courtyard. Look at 10:00 and you'll see a second balcony. Using your Hookshot, hit the target above the balcony. You'll get snagged and dropped onto the second balcony. Hit the switch in the enclave to drain the water in the well. Hookshot back to the other platform and go back into the first courtyard room. Climb back down to the floor and go into the well. At the bottom, you'll find a small treasure chest containing a key and several hearts. Walk along the passageway until you reach a ladder. You are now back in the second courtyard. Get Golden Skulltula 15 before returning to the main room with the four torches.
Getting the Bow
Go through the locked door up the flight of stairs (it's the third on the right). You'll kill another hanging Skulltula, then proceed. In here, kill the Blue Bubble and climb the two ladders. Look to the left of the first arrow painted on the floor and you'll see a green block. Pull it ten times. Then push it to the right until you hit the wall (we're just following the arrows on the floor). Now run clockwise around the wall to your left until you hit the green block and push it until you hit the wall. Climb the third ladder (over where the green block started) and take an immediate right. You'll see a red block. Push it as far as you can. Go back down the ladder and over to the green block. Climb the green block and the wall to the right. Now push the red block as far as you can. Climb it, turn right, climb the fourth ladder, turn the corner, and there are two Blue Bubbles. Kill them and keep going. The hallway you enter is the twisted hallway. In the next room, there is a Wallmaster, so be quick about going through the door on the right. In the next room, ignore the laughing Poes in the picutes and go all the way downstairs and through the door. You'll find a Stalfoe (be careful of the hole in the floor); kill him. Then the missing gap in the floor will drop down and two more Stalfoes will appear. These are your first timed Stalfoes; all this means is that, after you kill the first one, if you don't kill the second one in a certain amount of time, the first will revive. Don't worry; just be patient. There are hearts in the pots if you need them. Once you have defeated all three Stalfoes, you will be rewarded with the Fairy Bow. Click here for basic information; click here for operation tips.
To the Boss
Go back to the twisted hallway and then the room with the Blue Bubbles. There is an eye switch above the door; shoot it with an arrow. Now the hallway is untwisted. Go through it and into the room with the wallmaster. Drop to the floor, open the big chest to get the Dungeon Key, then drop in the hole in the floor. Here you'll have to kill two Blue Bubbles to proceed. Go through the door and -- surprise! You're back in the first courtyard. Grab Golden Skulltula 14 and watch out for the Deku Baba on the narrow passageway. Go through the door to the right in the last enclave. There is a wallmaster for you to kill: Z-Target it and pull up your shield. When you approach it, it will turn green and fly at you (if you don't hit it with your shield, it will strangle you). Stun it with your shield and hit it with your sword. It will divide into three small wallmasters. Kill each with a swift swordstroke. If you take too long, the runaway hands will jump to strangle you and become big wallmasters that can split into small ones themselves. So be careful; you don't want it to get out of hand . . . it's like budding, or something. Anyway, you'll get a small key once you get rid of it/them. Go back into the courtyard and go through the door on the right. Now you're back in the block puzzle room. Climb all the way back up to the Blue Bubbles and the not-twisted-anymore-twisted-hallway. Hit the eye switch to re-twist the hallway; pass through the wallmaster room. Now you're back in the room with the laughing Poe pictures. Stand at the level between the two stairs and shoot, with an arrow, whichever picture has a Poe in it. Then shoot the next. Lastly, shoot the picture right by you. The Poe (Joelle, as in Jo from Louisa May Alcott's Little Women. Check my allusions page for more fun!) will have nowhere else to run and will go down to the bottom of the stairs. Follow her down and Z-target her. If she starts coming at you with a swinging torch, bring up your shield. Otherwise, just shoot her with an arrow everytime she appears; after five shots, she'll be dead. Her flame will be returned to the torch in the room (and the torch in the main room with the elevator). Go back through the room where you got your Bow and repeat the Poe-killing process with Beth in here. Once she is dead, you'll get the Compass. Go upstairs and you'll find another wallmaster room. Go through the door to the right. Now you're in a second twisted hallway room (though this one isn't twisted yet). Use the standard Blue Bubble attack on the green ones here. In the next room, hop onto one of the rotating platforms. Once the torch is between you and the switch on the wall, let loose an arrow that will melt the ice and hit the switch. This will make the second twisted hallway twist. Go into the hallway and, in the wallmaster room, drop to the floor and hop through the hole in it. You're now on what looks like a giant chessboard. Take a step forward and the ceiling will fall. As soon as it lifts, run for the switch in the middle of the room (watch out for the hanging Skulltula). Step on the switch and let the ceiling drop around you. Once it raises, run to the door. You can make it, just keep running! Go through the door. Shoot the painting on the wall and five blocks will fall from the ceiling. Push them into the picture on the wall and the third Poe sister will appear. Use the standard Poe-killing process. Go through the door, kill the hanging Skulltula, and go through the next door. You're back in the main room. Hop down from the balcony and you'll see the final Poe sister waiting for you in the middle of the room. Approach her and -- surprise! -- there are four of them. Don't use Z-Target or immediately get out your Bow, but watch to see which one will turn around once. Shoot that one. She will reappear four more times (or however many more times it takes to killer her) and just keep shooting the spinning one. Once she's dead, the elevator will rise back up. Step on and ride downstairs. Now you are in what is possibly the coolest room in the entire game. Your goal is to get the bars to open your way to the boss' room. Walk up to one of the parts of the wall that is jutting out and push it. After each push, look in the enclaves. You need to push down a red, blue, and white switch, as well as get Golden Skulltula 16. Just keep pushing the room around until you're ready to go. If you need anything before the battle with the boss, jump onto the elevator to get back up to the main room. Otherwise, head through the door at the end of the hallway.
Phantom Ganon
Climb the stairs and wander around the circle awhile. Notice the symbols around the edges at the corners. Okay, so it's not a circle. Anyway, those are the places you do not want to be when Phantom Ganon strikes his lightning. You'll see what I mean. Head back to the gate and Ganondorf, himself, will appear behind you. He'll turn into Phantom Ganon and off you go! There are two very distinct stages to this fight:
1. Stand in the middle of the room, pull out your Bow, and start rotating. Two Phantom Ganons will come riding out of two of the pictures. One of them is real and the other is fake. There are theories on how to tell which one is the real one. I say just settle on one and don't worry; you have a 50-50 chance, so you'll get him eventually. If you keep spinning, you'll find them both. Anyway, if Ganon actually comes out of the painting, shoot him with an arrow and he'll turn around and run back into the painting. If he turns away just as he gets to the edge of the painting, put down your Bow and run like mad to the edge of the circle. Remember where I told you not to stand earlier? Yeah, this is the time to avoid the corners. Stand at the very edge of the circle and wait for Phantom Ganon to ride back into the painting. After you shoot him with three arrows, he'll move to step two.
2. Phantom Ganon will lose his horse and just kinda float in the air. Z-Target him, unsheathe your sword, and stand as far back from him as you can (but not so far back that the rope around the edge of the circle gets in your way of seeing what's going on). It's best to have Ganon on the left side of the screen and Link on the right, in my opinion, since Link is left-handed. There are two attacks at this point. One is this crazy, rainbow spiral thing. Just get out of the way, there's nothing that I have cound that you can do to defend against. The second attack is a ball of energy about the size of Link's head. The basic idea is to hit it back to Ganon with your sword (the timing needs to be just right so you don't get zapped). He'll hit it back to you, you'll hit it back, you get the idea; it's a regular game of ping pong. It gets faster and faster until either you or him mess up. Hopefully it's him. Once he's stunned by his own attack, run towards him and slice him with the sword as many times as you can (I suggest the jump attack, since it's twice as powerful as a normal slash). Hit him until he gives up the ghost -- man, sorry, my humor isn't usually this bad -- and Ganondorf banishes him to the world between dimensions after giving you a mild congratulations.
Grab the full Heart Container and step into the blue light to meet the Sage of the Forest: Saria. Afterwards, you'll get to meet a very perky plant who tells you all about your past. Step into Kokiri Forest to see that all the baddies are gone but the Kokiri still don't have a clue who you are.
