VIII-5. Hyrule Castle Tower

Required

Master Sword, Red Shield, Boomerang, Bow, Lamp.

Recommended

Reserve Life Power.

To Get There

After getting all three Pendants, you need to go retrieve the Master Sword from the Lost Woods.  Take the trail back down the mountain (the cave entrance next to the big stairway) and once back in the Death Mountain Foothills, head northwest past the Twin Lumberjacks.  There is an entrance to the Lost Woods west of them.

Head south through the first log, then west and north to find the MAGIC MUSHROOM.  Go north through the nearest log, and turn west, then south through the log.  Head west again, and north through the log.  The MASTER SWORD is sitting on a pedestal at the north end of this clearing.  Read the inscription with the Book of Mudora if you like, but head to the north of the Sword and pick it up with A.  Sahasrahla contacts you and congratulates you on winning the Master Sword.  Backtrack to the log passage, and Zelda contacts you urgently saying that she’s being abducted.  (Again.)  From the Lost Woods, make haste to Sanctuary (though speed is irrelevant).  Link arrives at Sanctuary too late, and finds the loyal sage is badly hurt, and that the soldiers have taken Zelda to Agahnim.  To stop him, you must go back to Hyrule Castle.

If you'd like, you can go fetch some last-minute items before going to the castle (I usually do): trading the Magic Mushroom for the MAGIC POWDER at the Magic Shop and getting the ETHER MEDALLION from atop Death Mountain (requires the Master Sword) are both good ideas (though it's a long trek without the Flute).

In any case, enter Hyrule Castle the usual way (through the front door), and head through the west (or east) door.  Head south, up the steps, and exit through the south door.  Head east (or west) to find an energy field barring the entrance to the castle tower; it can only be broken by the Master Sword.  Break it, and go through the door.

Inside the Tower

The only enemies you'll see in the castle tower are Soldiers of all types, Ball and Chain Troopers, and the occasional one-eyed bat.

The first room is empty; head straight to the north door.  In this next room are two Ball and Chain Troopers; no pots to help you here, though.   If you have full health, use Sword Beams from the Master Sword to take them out; otherwise use the Boomerang and Sword method.  Once both are gone, the east door will open.  In the next room, kill the two Soldiers to reveal a chest with a KEY.  Unlock the north door and head up the stairs.

You’ll wind up in a dark room, so if you can, fire Sword Beams like wild to take out the bat and Soldier to open the west door.  In the next room, you’ll have to navigate through a dark maze (there are torches scattered about that you can light).  Head north, all the way west, south, east, south, all the way west, south, west, and north to find a chest with a KEY.  Head east again, then north, south, east, south, west, all the way south, east, south, and east to the locked door.  There are two more Soldiers in here; if it's too dark, fire Sword Beams like wild if you can, and then go up the north stairs.

There are two Soldiers in here as well; dispose of them however you can to get to the west door.  You’ll come to a dark abyss room; kill the Soldiers and head all the way north and through the east door.  There are Soldiers with bows in here; one of them will drop a KEY when you kill him.  Grab it and head through the locked north door and up the stairs.

You’ll now be back in well-lit rooms; dispose of the two red Soldiers and bats here to open the west door.  If you touch the Telepathic Tile in this room, Sahasrahla will tell you that you cannot directly injure Agahnim, but must reflect his power back to him with the Master Sword.  Anyway, go through the west door, and kill the two red Soldiers in the next room to open the south door and proceed.  There are lots of pots in this room, as well as two more Red Soldiers and a bat.  The red Soldier in the middle will drop the KEY for the east door.  Get the stuff from the pots and head through the locked east door.

In this room, there are two Soldiers (one with a spear) and a Ball and Chain Trooper.  Kill him with Arrows, and take out the other two to open the door to the north stairs.  In the next room, push the west statue out of the way and kill the Soldiers to get to the west door.  In this abyss room, just knock the Soldiers off the edge to get to the north stairs.   The music will change, and the north door of the next room leads to Agahnim's private chamber, where the wizard waits with Princess Zelda.  Agahnim taunts Link, and makes Zelda disappear.  He then retreats beyond the north of the room.  Slash the middle curtain with your sword and follow him.

Agahnim

Out on the balcony of the tower, Agahnim will start by telling you that you’ll be totally destroyed (heh heh), and then he’ll transport to a random location.  He’ll fire one of two types of energy balls at Link: orange, which you can deflect right back at him with the Master Sword, and blue, which are hard to avoid and can’t hurt the wizard.  Each time, after he fires at you, he’ll move to another location.  If he goes to the top of the balcony, right in the middle, GET OUT OF THE WAY, because he’ll fire lightning bolts straight down the screen, which are very damaging.  Once you deflect six of his orange fireballs back at him, he will send Link into the Dark World.

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