6.1 Dangerous Hyrule

Go to Eastern Hyrule and head south from Nabooru. Play the Flute in front of the River Devil and it will disappear instantly. The narrow trail ahead is filled with three action scenes with Lizalfos throwing rocks at you. Once you get through, go north into the cave in the swamp.

Make your way to the end of the cave and you’ll find a Point Bag. Leave the cave and go east through the forest. Go south from the cave you come close to and you’ll end up in an action scene with another Point Bag. Head south and walk along the shoreline to find the last Heart Container.

After getting the Heart Container, head up north into the forest again and enter the cave. Watch out for the Tektites and Lizalfos inside though! Use the Hammer on one of the forest squares once you get to the other end of the cave to reveal a new town, New Kasuto.

~ New Kasuto ~

The residents of Kasuto had to flee it for whatever reason. They have made a new town hidden in the forests in Dangerous Hyrule. Out of every town in the game, this one has the most to offer us.

As you walk by, talk to an old lady in purple by her house. She’ll invite you to come in, and she tells you that there is a secret at the edge of town. Go down to her basement to get the last Magic Container. Leave her house.

A little further into town, one of the open houses will have an opening inside to the basement. Go down and speak to the Wise Man. He’ll give you the Spell Spell, and its main use will be in this town. Go to the far end of town, and use Spell.

The magic will make a big building rise out of the ground. Obviously you’ll want to do nothing more but go inside. Take the Magical Key, and walk out.1

With this Magical Key, we will no longer need to hunt for Keys in palaces. This special key can be used an unlimited number of times without disappearing. It will only be used in the Hidden Palace since the Great Palace has no locked doors, though.

After getting everything in town, backtrack all the way to the swamp area that has the cave that had the Point Bag.

~ Discovering The Hidden Palace ~

Walk along the mountains on the west side of the swamp area and you’ll come across an action scene. It has an extra life, which will come in handy shortly. Go all the way to the desert area and play the flute in the center of the three rocks. The Hidden Palace will appear right in front of you before your eyes!

Before you go in, I recommend you level up at least once. In the forests, let a weak enemy touch you (not strong ones). You can kill the two Deelers and Lizalfos to get a mere 310 points per action scene. When you’re ready, enter the Hidden Palace.

6.2 Hidden Palace

(Click image below to view a full-sized map of the Palace)

Shortly after you enter, you’ll come across two hallways. Take the left one first. You’ll end up in a room filled with blocks and a Point Bag at the bottom of them. Grab the Point Bag and return to the elevator.

The hall on the right leads to a Point Bag right away. Use the Upward Thrust and Jump to get it. Go down through the elevator and use the Magical Key to go through the locked door. Due to it, there are no Keys in this palace. Continue on.

After going down the first elevator, the goal is to keep heading east. Avoid or kill the Wizzrobes and the Doomknocker. The next room contains a Blue Iron Knuckle, but I suggest you kill it. Enable Jump and avoid falling down the holes. Hit the statue on the ledge to get a Red Potion. Keep going east.

You’ll come across a long room filled with Wizzrobes and statue heads shooting at you from the walls. Use Reflect to get rid of the Wizzrobes and your running and jumping skills to avoid the beams. In the middle of the block structure, use a Downward Thrust to get a Point Bag at the bottom.

Soon a room will come up with four statues and a block wall at the end. Shortly after the third statue, there is an invisible hole. Use Jump to get over it and slash your way through the block wall. We find an old foe in this room, but he’s much easier this time.

Iron Knuckle hasn’t trained since our last encounter with him, but we have. This time he won’t take as many hits, so kill him again with ease. When you defeat him, grab the Key and unlock the door to get the final item, the Cross.

Once you get the Cross, go back west and let yourself fall down the invisible hole this time. Use Jump and go on the right on the other side of the block wall to get a Point Bag. Go west while fighting your way through the Armored Stalfos and Wizzrobes. Go up the elevator and backtrack west to the room that had a Red Potion inside the statue.

Go down the hole and land on the disintegrating bridge. Immediately go left and fight the Blue Iron Knuckle for a Point Bag. Let yourself fall two more times in a row and grab the other Point Bag on the left side. The hole here is a loop, so fall down three more times and go through the locked door on the right side of the room.

~ Finding Barba ~

This room has several lava pits, Myus, and Dragon Heads. Enable Jump (don’t do Fairy at all) and try to make it across. Save your magic since we will need quite a bit of it in a future room. Kill the two Wizzrobes and Red Iron Knuckle. Use Fairy to fly across the lava gap.

I hope you saved your magic, that’s why we needed it. Don’t fly too close to the lava or it’ll pull you in. After a bit of walking, you’ll find an elevator. Go down it and take the left hallway. Use a Downward Thrust on the blocks and grab the Point Bag before the enemies kill you. Return to the elevator and go up. Take the hallway on the right.

Iron Knuckle challenges us once again, but he shouldn’t be very hard for you for a third time. After battling him, you’ll come across a hallway with a small hole and bridge in the middle. Get to the other side with Jump, and you’ll find one of the worst Link Dolls in the game.

This Link Doll is guarded by a Blue Iron Knuckle and two blazing speed Bubbles. Since we need to use Fairy momentarily, it is best to just skip this one to avoid having the magic sucked out of you by the Bubbles. Go down the hole and use Fairy to fly into the hallway to fight the boss of the palace, Barba.

~ Barba ~
There are three platforms and three lava pits in this room. Barba will always appear out of one of them randomly. Shortly after he appears, he will breathe fire at you, then go back down into the lava. His face is obviously his weak spot.

Jumping isn’t the only way to hurt him. You can also duck down and stab him when he’s going back down one of the pits. This is slightly risky though as you have to be close to the edge to hurt him. When you have finally slayed the fiery beast, grab the Key and go into the next room to place the Final Crystal.

Place down the final crystal and call it a game…..or not! We still have to go to the Great Palace to claim the Triforce of Courage. Train in the woods outside of this palace until you have an L-8 on everything before even thinking about going to the Great Palace. Bravely leave the palace and prepare for one of the greatest challenges any gamer will ever face…