Twilight Princess: Palace of Twilight

As Link and Midna prepare to begin exploring the Palace of Twilight, she has one last request for Link: That she be allowed to hide in his shadow until they finish. She’s embarrassed about her transformation, and would rather her people not see her like that. There are some Twili hanging around in the outside area; they’re cursed, but not as fully transformed as the ones Link’s been fighting under the portals. They’re also not hostile to Link, so he can go about his business.

The main objective for the first part of the dungeon is to get two sols, balls of solid light, and return them to the starting area. When deposited into sockets, they open up hard light platforms that help Link find the way forward. Complications in this endeavor include patches of dark fog, which turn Link back into the wolf, the various shadow enemies Link has fought up to this point, and new enemies which are giant versions of Zant’s helmet that spit fireballs at Link finally giving a good chance to use the shield bash ability to reflect projectiles. At the end of each path, Link fights a phantom version of Zant that teleports all around the room, trying to summon swarms of enemies. The trick for these fights is catching the phantom at the perfect moment where it’s too late for it to teleport away, but still before the summon can be completed.

After defeating each phantom Zant, Link can knock a sol out of a nearby hand holding it. The hands function as a combination of the various master enemies and Phanto from Super Mario Bros. 2 [1]: they will relentlessly chase after the sol, trying to get it back. Unlike Phanto, they can be temporarily stunned with arrows. Getting back to the courtyard requires an intricate dance of using the sol to disperse the dark fog, placing it to create the platforms leading forward, and grabbing it with the Clawshot before the hand scoops it up. Along the way back, Link can claim the 44th and 45th heart pieces, completing that collection.

Once both sols have been returned to the courtyard, they open a staircase leading forward. They also imbue the Master Sword with their light, allowing it to disperse the dark fog and do more damage to the shadow foes. (This is the closest the dungeon comes to having a treasure item.) The rest of the dungeon is a platforming climb up the central tower, culminating in a room filled with dark fog and shadow enemies and, surprisingly, not a lot of useful items for the fight with Zant.

Zant greets Link and Midna by telling him his story. He believed the Twili royal family was weak for accepting their exile into the Twilight Realm rather than fighting back, and only put up with them because he believed he’d be the next king. When he was passed over for Midna, his despair led him right to Ganon. Ganon gave him the power to take over the Twilight Realm and the world of light, spreading darkness and… well, Zant doesn’t say it, but his actions let Ganon leave the Twilight Realm to take another shot at conquering Hyrule. Throughout the cutscene, Zant’s behavior becomes more erratic – twisting himself in odd ways, and a petulant display hopping around when he talks about being passed over. (This is actually more like the weird Zant from Hyrule Warriors. On the topic of that game, I recognized the inspiration for a lot of the attacks he uses.) Once he’s done speaking, the battle with the usurper king begins.

The first five phases of the fight recreate elements from earlier boss/miniboss fights:

1. Diababa – Zant teleports around, shooting energy at Link. Link can grab him with the Gale Boomerang to bring him closer for sword attacks.
2. Dangoro – Zant jumps around the metal plate, trying to shake Link off. Link can hold on with the iron boots, then chase Zant down when he tries to shoot energy at him.
3. Morpheel – Underwater; Zant appears inside a giant version of his helmet, then later, one of four helmets. Link pulls him out via Clawshot.
4. Ook – Zant shoots energy from the top of pillars. Link knocks him off, causing him to land on his head and get stuck.
5. Blizzeta – On ice; Zant grows enormous and flies around, trying to land on Link. Link dodges and smashes Zant’s foot with the flail, causing him to shrink as he hops around holding his foot. This was the worst phase; getting enough traction to chase Zant down to stab him was tough.

Finally, they appear outside Hyrule Castle, where Zant simply lets loose with a flurry of attacks. At first I tried fighting back, but eventually he’ll wear himself out, leaving himself open, and from there it became a game of blocking his attacks as best I could and waiting for him to tire.

Defeating Zant didn’t restore Midna’s form, and he taunts her that she was transformed with Ganon’s power, so of course it did nothing. Midna says the reason he was passed over to rule was because he has the same lust for power that led the gods to banish the Twili’s ancestors in the first place. Zant says Ganon will resurrect him, before Midna’s hair grows into three long tendrils that stab him, causing him to explode. Midna’s horrified by just how powerful she is now – she only used a little bit of it killing Zant – but she also can give Zelda back her own power and save Hyrule.

Next: One castle stormed and false king dethroned, one to go.

[1] The American game by that name, not The Lost Levels.