3. Ganon's Castle (Ocarina of Time)

(Originally posted July 1, 2023)

A collection of simple thoughts on last levels, final dungeons, and endgame zones.
Spoilers for The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time.
Table of Contents

Context: Ganondorf has conquered Hyrule and captured Zelda during the seven years Link slept after claiming the Master Sword, giving him control over two pieces of the Triforce. The Six Sages combine their powers to form a bridge, allowing Link to storm the castle and defeat the darkness.

A classic sort of "final exam" dungeon where you go through six mini-versions of the main temples to open the way to the boss. There's a little-known illusory wall underneath the interior entrance hiding a room with some fairies and a collection of Business Scrubs who sell bombs, arrows, and red/green potions for inflated prices if you need to resupply.

Weirdly enough, Ganon's Castle does have its own dungeon item, stowed in the Shadow Temple segment: the Golden Gauntlets, which you use a grand total of... two, three times? They let you lift big pillars gating off the Fire Temple and Light Temple segments, and one outside of the castle which hides a Great Fairy who gives you a defense upgrade. They serve no other purpose.

Once you do defeat Ganondorf, there's a Metroid-style timed escape sequence along the exterior and part of the interior of the castle. Zelda's overblown gasp of fear when you take even a smidge of damage during it is seared into my brain.

I think the most striking part of the dungeon is hours before you ever go inside. It's when you first exit the Temple of Time and see the burning Death Mountain, the ruined castle town, the floating castle. The villain has already won; all you can do is pick up the pieces.