Level 8: The Lion
Level 8: The Lion is the eighth and penultimate dungeon found in The Legend of Zelda. This dungeon hides the final Triforce Shard, which when collected and combined with the rest of the shards will create the Triforce of Wisdom. Link comes here in search of that fianl shard after he has collected the first seven. Compared to dungeons before and after it, this dungeon is quite simple. Its location is under a bush in eastern Hyrule, and that bush must be burned by the Red or Blue Candle. This bush's location is, from the Starting Screen, four screens right, two screens up, one screen right, one screen down, and finally one screen right. The Boss of this dungeon is known as Gleeok, a previous Boss fought in Level 4: The Snake and Level 6: The Dragon.
Items
This dungeon contains two main items that can be obtained by Link. The first is called the Book of Magic. This item is actually an upgrade to the Magical Rod, as with this book Link's Magical Rod will now create a flame after its beam hits an object. With this object, the Red Candle becomes pretty much useless. This book is found in a side-scrolling section of the dungeon. The entrance to the underground area is found two rooms left from the start. The second item is called the Magical Key. This special key is basically a universal key that will unlock any and all Locked Doors found throughout each dungeon. This item makes all keys found or currently owned useless. This item is especially useful in Death Mountain, where Locked Doors are everywhere. This key can be found be travelling six rooms up and one room right from the entrance. Beneath the staircase will be the Magical Key. Oddly enough, neither of these items are required to complete the game, as both do something that another item also does. For example, the Book of Magic allows Link's Magical Rod to create a fireball, like either Candle. Also, the Magical Key unlocks door that Small Keys already could.
Enemies
There is a very good balance of enemies in this dungeon, including a varity of Darknuts, Gibdos, and Pols Voices. All the enemies are listed below.
- Enemies in Level 8: The Lion
Manhandla & Gohma
- Main article: Manhandla (The Legend of Zelda)
- Main article: Gohma (The Legend of Zelda)
The Mini-Bosses of The Lion are previous Bosses returning as Mini-Bosses. The first one is called a Manhandla, is that plant-like thing that appeared in both Level 3 and Level 4. In this dungeon, Link will fight Manhandla three times, and each time the battle is exactly the same; kill the claws and then attack the core. The second Mini-Boss that appears in thsi dungeon is known as Gohma, and is a spider-like creature that previously appeared in Level 6. However, this verison is slightly different then the previous version. There are two differences; first, this version is blue, while the other was red. Secondly, this version takes three hits with the Bow and Arrow to kill while the previous one took only one shot. Link will fight Gohma twice in this dungeon.
Gleeok
- Main article: Gleeok (The Legend of Zelda)
Also a previous Boss returning from a previous dungeon, Gleeok is a multi-headed dragon that guards the final Triforce Shard. This time, Gleeok has four heads in total, while the last two times it had two and three, respectively. Gleeok will put up a very good fight, as even after Link kills one head it will float around the room and shoot firebeams at Link, making it that much harder. After Link has finally killed all four heads, Gleeok will be defeated and thus a Heart Container will appear.
Old Man Locations
There are two different Old Man locations that Link can go to in this dungeon. The first location involves the Old Man giving Link a hint about the next dungeon. He will say, "SPECTACLE ROCK IS AN ENTRANCE TO DEATH."[1] This is a reference to how the final dungeon is located behind a bombable wall in Spectacle Rock. The second location also rewards Link with a hint from the Old Man. This time, he will say, "10TH ENEMY HAS THE BOMB."[2] It is unkown what this means, as it was likely a translation error.
Compass & Dungeon Map
The Compass and Dungeon Map both appear in this dungeon.
Compass
The Compass is used by Link in this dungeon to show him where the final Triforce Shard is via a blinking spot on his map. The room the Compass is found in contains a total of eight Pols Voices guarding it. This room is found only two rooms up and one room right from the entrance.
Dungeon Map
The Dungeon Map will show Link the layout of the dungeon after he has collected it. This will help Link explore all the rooms in the dungeon. The Dungeon Map is found in a room that contains one of the Mini-Bosses of the dungeon, a Manhandla. After Link has defeated Manhandla the Map will appear on the floor. This room is found by going up five rooms from the entrance of the dungeon.
Keys & Locked Doors
This dungeon contains its fair share of Locked Doors and Small Keys. In total, there are six Small Keys available to be collected and only four Locked Doors that need to be unlocked. This dungeon will thus give Link two extra keys that he can use in the next dungeon. However, because the Magical Key is found in this dungeon, all keys collected after it will not even be acknowledged by the game.