Shadow Temple

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This article is about the dungeon from Ocarina of Time. For the dungeon from A Link Between Worlds, see Dark Palace.

The Shadow Temple is the seventh dungeon in Ocarina of Time, filled with illusions and macabre imagery. Whispering voices claim that the temple "gather[s] Hyrule's bloody history of greed and hatred..."[1]

Gaining Entrance

After gaining the Forest, Fire and Water Medallions, the next time Link visits Kakariko Village as an adult, he will find it on fire, and Sheik in front of the Well. An evil shadow spirit emerges, breaking the well's bar and tossing Sheik around, then knocking Link out when he tries to protect them. Link comes round to find the force gone, the fires extinguished and Sheik kneeling over him. They teach him the Nocturne of Shadow, allowing him to warp to the Triforce Pedestal outside the Shadow Temple, and order him to follow Impa there to help her with the evil spirit.

After using the Nocturne to warp, and entering the cavernous space behind, Link is presented with a room full of unlit torches. Lighting all of these with Din's Fire opens the door, but to enter the Shadow Temple proper, he must hookshot across a large pit - while Link can light the torches and enter as a child, this essentially prevents him from fully entering except as an adult.

While not strictly necessary to gain entrance, illusions make it difficult to progress, with a voice periodically whispering to Link that the "Shadow will yield only to one with the eye of truth, handed down in Kakariko Village". The "eye of truth" is the Lens of Truth; to obtain it from the Bottom of the Well, Link must paradoxically obtain the Song of Storms from the Phonogram Man as an adult, then play it as a child to drain the well and create the Phonogram Man's obsession with it. Working his way through the well as a child and obtaining the Lens allows Link to find his way through the Shadow Temple much more easily.

Dungeon Overview

The Shadow Temple is filled with invisible enemies, guillotines, scythes, etc.; which can only be seen plainly with the Lens of Truth. Early on in the dungeon, Link faces another Dead Hand, and when defeated he receives the Hover Boots; which allow him to cross gaps by walking on air.

After Link defeats the boss of this dungeon, Bongo Bongo, he travels to the Chamber of the Sages where he meets Impa, the newly awakened sage of Shadow. She adds her power to his and gives him the Shadow Medallion. The song used to warp to this dungeon is the Nocturne of Shadow.

The Shadow Dungeon and the Bottom of the Well are both symbols of the dark history of Hyrule (hence the quotation), being inspired by real life torture chambers and mass graves. Both areas are full of undead enemies, such as Gibdo (or ReDeads if burned) and Bubbles. Dead Hands, a mini-boss found in both areas, is a large pile of flesh and blood, possibly made of Hyrulians or their enemies. The Shadow Temple also holds Bongo Bongo, a boss which has it's hands separated from the main body without arms.

Gold Skulltulas

References

  1. "Shadow Temple... Here is gathered Hyrule's bloody history of greed and hatred...", Ocarina of Time in-game text