The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past #31 - Misery Mire

1. Grab the Ether Medallion, Misery Mire

The next dungeon is not too far away, but trying to get there as you are will end up in failure. The mouth of the dungeon is unfortunately below the water line, and waiting the storms out is not an option. You need to get in without delay. There is something that can be of use high on Death Mountain. it is a little bit out of the way, but beggars cannot be choosers.

When you ascend Death Mountain this time, you might notice that it sports a few new enemies.

Once you exit from the dungeon, use the Magic Mirror to warp yourself back to Lake Hylia. From then you will want to pull out your Flute and fly your way to Point #1. This will dump you right outside the exit of the cave that brought you from the woods to Death Mountain. The Ether Medallion, which is what you need, is at the very top of Death Mountain, up near the Tower of Hera. So for the most part, you can follow the previous path up the mountain you took back in Tower of Hera. You can take the shortcut through the Lost Old Man’s cave, head west to the long staircase, east into the Magical Warp Tile leading into the Dark World, and then Magic Mirror when you are standing on the reverse image of Spectacle Rock.

Just head west from the Tower of Hera out onto the floating island.

You can use the Book of Mudora to receive the Ether Medallion.

Once you reach Spectacle Rock, head due north. you will eventually find a railing, but if you follow it to the left side of the Tower of Hera, you will see a bridge leading out to the left. It extends out to another peak (or is it a floating island?) of Death Mountain. Either way, on that little nook you will find a giant green stone. Reading it will confound you with ancient Hylian hieroglyphics, but using the Book of Mudora will prove more fruitful. A burst of blue energy will be cast from you, and eventually you will hold up a golden medallion. This is the Ether Medallion, and it is exactly what you need to enter Level Six.

Piece of Heart

You should now be able to get the 23rd Piece of Heart, which means you can get all of the Pieces of Heart in the game except the last one.

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2. Enter Misery Mire, Misery Mire

Take out your Flute again, and this time you will want to head to Point #6. you will land on a small green patch of grass just over the desert. There will be two heavy stones on the ground. Lift up the one on the right, and you will uncover a Magical Warp Tile. Step on it, and you will be transported back to the Dark World again.

The storm hovering over the Swamp of Evil will not dissipate without the Ether Medallion. However, you cannot just use the medallion anywhere and expect the storm to disappear. You have to stand on just the right spot. to blow the clouds away.

Hop off of the ledge via the northern cliff and wander north. Misery Mire is more or less in the same location as the Desert Palace; what’s more, it has the same sort of courtyard — the place where you prayed using the Book of Mudora — before it as its twin. As you head north, you will see some deep patches of water and some vines popping out of the swamp. you will also spot some Dacto—crow-like creatures in the shape of miniature pterodactyls—and Ku—the Dark World equivalent of River Zora.

Just after the second deep pool of water, you will see the courtyard to Misery Mire. Get on “dry” land and follow it around until you reach a rather terrifying sight. What are all those heads? These are the faces of evil. You must conquer the center one as it is the only entrance to Misery Mire. Stand on the symbol of the Ether Medallion right before the face and use the medallion. The rains will stop, and the dungeon entrance will emerge from the waters. You can now enter in.

The Ether spell is what you will need to undo the monster magic sealing Misery Mire.

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3. Collect four Small Keys, Misery Mire

Of all the dungeons in the game, I would say it is arguable that Misery Mire is the most confusing of them. It really does function like a veritable maze. There are a lot of one-way doors, secret puzzles, and dead ends. or at least dead ends if you do things out of order. Truth be told, there really is only one path through the level, but it always feels like there are many divergent paths that can be taken.

you will enter into a rather narrow corridor that leads deeper into the dungeon. Five green Zol secretly sleep within the floor, and they will slowly pop out as you pass over. If you have your Hookshot out, and if you are quick, you can Hookshot the block on the far side of the eventual pit quick enough that you will not have to deal with the Zol. Once on the other side, you can head down into the vast basement.

Use the Hookshot to cross the gap in the first room.

Downstairs, you will find a foursome of Popo but also four of a brand new enemy: Wizzrobes. Wizzrobes are magicians that appear and disappear from time to time. They cannot be harmed whilst invisible or while appearing or disappearing; you can only hit them when there are completely solid. During the time you can strike them, they will be prepare and cast a spell in one of the four cardinal directions. The door to this room is sealed, so you will have to defeat the eight enemies while avoiding the Beamos’ laser beams. Once there are all defeated, the door will open, allowing you forward.

Thankfully, Wizzrobes were drastically nerfed from the original Legend of Zelda.

The next room is the Hub Room for this dungeon; you will venture back to this room several times as this room has seven exits do it (counting the one you entered), and most of the routes through the dungeon will pass through here. it is also a very complex room as it is multileveled due to the mesh grating on the left side of the room.

For this first pass through the Hub Room, you will want to head down the stairs. Downstairs all you need to worry about are a single Winder and several Sparks; the Winders and Medusa on the upper level cannot harm you underneath. Use one of the horizontal aisles to reach the left-hand side of the room. Reach the inner wall of the lower section and then head east; you might have to watch out for the Winder here because this corridor is one of its favorite haunts. Once you reach the staircase, head upstairs and through the door that follows.

Make your way through this hallway out of the Hub Room.

Moving this block will lead you to your first key.

you will find two Ropa in this next room. There are also torches that will periodically shoot fireballs out of them; however, they will not actually fire at you unless you start killing the Ropa. As a result, you should ignore the enemies and instead focus on the block that is blocking access to the northern corridor. Push the block left one space; not only will this allow you access to the corridor, it will also open the door as well. Head on through.

Continue north along the empty catwalks until you reach the next door. Even then, you will simply proceed north down the staircase and onto the wooden bridge. This is literally a bridge to nowhere, but there is a treasure chest at the end with a Small Key. there is nowhere else to go from here, however, so head back south two rooms to the room with the lanterns; then head east.

This room is a combination of traps that you will have seen over the course of your adventure so far. Other than the pesky red Stalfos that will throw bones at you when attacked, this room has a Beamos, a Yomo Medusa, and a bed of nails. First things first, you should defeat the Stalfos when the Beamos allows you to. In the process, you might think to use the skulls to thwart the Yomo Medusa and the Stalfos’ retaliatory bones; if you pick up the skull in the upper-left, you will notice the first of two Small Keys in this room.

The first three keys are close to one another, but the last one is the most devious.

Yes, there is a second key in this room as well. Once the Stalfos are dealt with, you will have to wander out onto the bed of nails. If you have picked up the Magic Cape or the Cane of Byrna, you might consider using it if you do not want to take the damage; otherwise, you will have no choice in the matter. Pick up the skull in the southeast on the bed of nails to reveal a hidden switch; step on it, and a treasure chest will appear, also on the bed of nails. Open that chest up to reveal the second Small Key. Once you have obtained that, unlock the door to the north and deactivate your invincibility if you turned it on.

The next several rooms are rather vanilla compared to what you have seen thus far. None of the next three rooms have enemies. In the first room, head over the grated catwalk into the door to the north. Then this will lead you along a catwalk that bends west and eventually continues that direction over two wooden bridges—one of which you earlier walked up to get a Small Key.

The corner room certainly throws a lot at you.

you will need to be careful of the Spark when walking through this narrow corridor.

The fourth Small Key is deep within the far corner of the dungeon.

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4. Locate the Map, Misery Mire

While you are here, it is imperative that you flip the Crystal Switch from brown to blue. For the time being, until you reach the second basement, all of the Crystal Switch blocks that need to be lowered need to be blue, so this had to be one of your first destinations regardless of the keys you needed to collect. Maneuver back around the large structure in the room’s center, avoiding the Sparks. The blue blocks will be lowered, which now means that the enemies will be free to wander northward (though the Wizzrobe might have already followed you). It also means that you can venture southward as well. Do so, and you will encounter two red Stalfos, two Medusa, and the aforementioned Wizzrobe. A Rabbit Beam is located under the third skull down in the center as well, in case you decide to throw skulls at the Stalfos. Unlock the door south and continue onward.

The Cane of Byrna really comes in handy in this dungeon.

The next room is chock full of traps. Not only do you have to deal with Two Medusas, you also have several Traps, a Giant Trap, and an unavoidable bed of nails to deal with. Head around the Medusa on their outsides. If you have the Magic Cape or the Cane of Byrna, activate it as you cross the bed of nails or else prepare to take damage. The lower half of the room has the Giant Trap and an Anti-fairy, both of which are easily avoided. Continue heading south.

you will spot two Medusa and a red Stalfos in the next square room. You cannot unseal the door to the west, and the Stalfos will not drop anything, so just proceed to the east.

This will bring you back to the Hub Room, and now can finally get the Small Key that is hiding within this room. Head directly south along the edge of the wall. you will pass by a locked door as you go, but you do not need to unlock it just yet. Instead, walk over the mesh grating back north. you will see a skull between two sets of lowered blue blocks; lift it up to reveal a switch. That switch will cause a chest with a Small Key to appear.

Retrieve the Small Key from the Hub Room now that the Crystal Switch is flipped.

it is possible to head to the room with the Map directly from here, but it is a little annoying to do it this way, so instead head left and enter the door you will find. This room will contain an Anti-fairy and four Sluggula, one in each quadrant of the room. Sluggula are not strong on their own, but they are naturally resistant to Bombs as that is their primary method of attack. Sluggula will periodically drop green Bombs in their wake, which will explode and can catch you unaware. However, it only takes a single sword hit to kill them; just make sure you do not poke your sword into a Bomb. Kill all four to proceed east.

Watch out for the Bombs from Sluggula; they can drop them right as you attack.

From here, you are in familiar territory. Head east through the room and then south through the next, avoiding the Beamos’ deadly eye.

there is not much to say about the next room. there is a Medusa, so you should be on your guard from the periodic fireballs, especially if you have not collected the Red Shield yet. But otherwise, there is a treasure chest in this room. Collecting it will net you the Map.

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5. Obtain the Compass, Misery Mire

You can now unlock the door to the west and head back to the Hub Room. Head up and left to reach the staircase down. This will bring you to a narrow corridor that heads west. Continue to the upper-left of the lower section of this room to reach a staircase back up to the upper level. Use the narrow ledge to head to the southwest of this room to where the locked door used to be. Head through that door.

With enough Small Keys, you can now make your way to the Compass.

The Bari holds one more key; make sure to leave the Crystal Switch blue as well.

you will arrive in a room with a moving walkway on the outside of the room that circles the room counterclockwise. you will find four enemies within: a blue Bari, two green Stalfos heads, and an Anti-fairy. there is also a Yomo Medusa in the room, which is the only real nuisance to be found. Carefully defeat the Stalfos and the Bari to receive a Small Key that was previously taped to the ceiling. Once you have got it, unlock the door to the west, making sure that the Crystal Switch here is still blue when you leave.

You have not had to deal with the Flying Tiles trap in a long while, so it is due time to meet them again. You technically do not have to weather the whole thing, though it probably is easier to dodge the onslaught before you get down to business. What you will need to do is to light all four torches. Since there are so far apart, it is best to use the Fire Rod if you have the magic for it. Once all four torches are lit, the door north will open until one of them goes out. Hurry through it.

you will need to light all four torches to open the way to the Compass.

there will be a red Stalfos in this room, but it should not give you too much difficulty as you just need to avoid it. you will see a chest at the edge of a bed of nails with, thankfully, two lowered blue blocks leading up to it. Waltz right up and collect the Compass.

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6. Collect the Big Key, Misery Mire

To get to the Big Key, you will need to find the other upstairs section of the dungeon. Thankfully, that is not too far away at all. Head south out of the room with the Compass, and then continue south through the room with the Flying Tiles.

it is there you will find the stairwell heading up to the first floor. However, you will have to run a small obstacle course to make it. This room has to Sluggula, a red Bari, a Wizzrobe, and a Yomo Medusa to boot. An important thing to note about the Yomo Medusa is that, if you use the Pegasus Boots to execute a dash attack, that counts as one continuous sword attack, meaning that the Yomo Medusa will be firing at its maximum rate. So you will want to avoid dashing on the conveyor belt, especially if you are in line with the Yomo Medusa itself. Kill the enemies if there are an annoyance (likely they will be), and then finally work your way up to the first floor.

Each of the next three rooms have a Wizzrobe each. What’s more, these three rooms are interconnected in a very interesting way. You do not have to kill the Wizzrobe in this room; in fact, even if you do so, they will continually respawn. you will then see two torches secured behind fencing and blocks. Each torch has a section of three blocks on one side of the barricade. These four torches play a rather integral part towards reaching the Big Key.

Opening The Passage To The Big Key

To go investigate the shaking, head through the door to the east. This room used to be just a very narrow hallway that led nowhere. However, lighting the torches it extended it to about three times the size. Wizzrobe may spawn here too, but you can ignore them. The more important feature is a very dark pit, so dark you cannot see below. While normally it is a bad idea to jump into pits where you cannot see the floor, this particular time it is totally fine. Jump on down. you will practically land right next to the chest containing the Big Key.

Before you light these torches, there is nothing to see in this room.

Afterward, the secret is revealed. The pit may look bottomless, but it is not.

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7. Grab the Cane of Somaria, Misery Mire

With the Big Key, you can now fetch the dungeon item. And thankfully, there is a quick and speedy way to get most of the way there. Head west through the door, and you will encounter a mostly empty room that contains only a Magical Warp Tile. Stepping into this will send you four rooms north of your current position. The destination room has three Wizzrobes—which you can almost certainly safely ignore—and a Big Door to the north, and you should definitely head in there. Again, there is nothing special in this room other than a Warp Tile, but this one will get you much closer to the Big Chest by sending you two rooms east.

The easiest way back to the Big Chest is by using the two Warp Tiles nearby.

you will warp into a room that is mildly hazardous, but that is what you get for saving time, I suppose. The room has two Anti-fairies and a Wizzrobe. The only real threat is the Anti-fairy in the center of the room between the rows of skulls, and that is really only a threat because the bottommost skull on either side of it contains a Rabbit Beam, which would surprise you if you weren’t expecting it. At least the Rabbit Beam does not give you damage, so you might think it is worth being a bunny for a short bit to free the Anti-fairy from its pen. Head all the way to the east of the room and walk through the door.

Again, you will be retreading familiar ground. Walk up the staircase and then over the grating to head south, and then head south again in the room with the Beamos to reach the room where you got the Map. This time, instead of exiting to the west, jump off of the platform and continue south. Walk up the staircase that you will find at the end of the room. Make sure you have your Hookshot ready before proceeding east; you will need it, and you will not have time to be caught fumbling around your inventory.

Leap off the platform with the Map to approach the room with the Big Chest.

As you enter the door, it will seal shut behind you. you will see a catwalk over the center of the room extending out over the large, black void. On the right side of the room is a block; you do not have time to walk around the bottom part of the barrier to head up the catwalk as it will start to crumble seconds after you enter. Instead you must Hookshot yourself to the block. Once you have done so, head into the long catwalk and immediately start dashing. The catwalk will start crumbling soon after you execute your dash. Whilst dashing, you will also be avoiding the lasers emitted from the Laser Eyes at the sides of the room. Once you reach the end, stop early to avoid bouncing backwards from the chest. Then simply walk up to the chest and open it for the Cane of Somaria.

you will have to be quick to get to the Cane; if not, you will run into traps.

The Cane of Somaria will not seem like that amazing a tool at first. Its purpose is to create a temporary block which can be lifted, dragged, and thrown. The Cane will also, if used while a block exists, blast that block to smithereens, sending a shock wave in the four cardinal directions. It is much handier than you will ever guess, though its utility is admittedly largely situational.

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8. Reach the boss’ lair, Misery Mire

Now that you have the Cane, it is time to head back to where you came from. Walk west to the Map room, north to the room with two Keys, north again to the first boring room, and then west once again to return to the room that you just recently warped into. You bypassed a Big Door in the room’s center just a little bit ago; now is finally the time to open that door. Dodge the Wizzrobe and Anti-fairies and continue north.

you have visited this very large and empty room before. First, if you head along the ledge all the way to the left, you will find a Magic Jar to completely refill your magic. Once you are ready, head across the long bridge to the north to enter the second basement. And, if you have done everything correctly thus far, you should have a single Small Key left over.

The entire second basement is enshrouded with darkness, so you will only have the light of your trusty Lantern to guide you. Thankfully, the floor is not that complicated as a result. This first room is wide and has two doors leading south. Four Medusa fill the room at various points, making it slightly treacherous. If you want some Rupees, and you do happen to have that extra spare key lying around, you can head to the southeast of the room to snag a quick 45 Rupees. Otherwise, head to the left end of the room, and you will find a single skull near the leftmost Medusa; it hides a switch underneath it that will open up the southwest door. However, this switch will need to be held down to remain activated, so weigh it down with a block from the Cane of Somaria.

Some switches need to be weighed down.

If there are no a statues nearby, you have a tool to do the job.

Through the door, you will find inside a rather boring room filled with two blue Stalfos and an Anti-fairy. There are blocks in the middle of the room, but you really do not need to bother with them nor the enemies. You can walk counterclockwise through the room and exit the door to the west.

This is the first rather interesting room on the floor and quite possibly the only room that has any sort of challenge to it. Head south around the barrier directly in front of you, picking up the skull along the way. As you reach the upper end, you will notice a Trap swinging back and forth. As it is swinging away from you, you will want to quickly head up, over, and down into the next aisle. If you are quick, you can do this without taking any damage. Pick up the next skull and continue on, eventually finding a door. However, even if you went through, you will quickly realize that you cannot head that way just yet.

nstead, continue north, and you will eventually find a Crystal Switch and a Medusa on an island surrounded by a bottomless pit. A Yomo Medusa is there as well, though it is of less concern. The thing you have to do is set the Crystal Switch from blue to brown via any means necessary. If you are at full health, you can use a sword beam (though watch out for the Yomo Medusa); otherwise, use the Magical Boomerang or an Arrow. If you want an extra challenge, you can head around the conveyor belts to find a crack in the western wall. If you have a Bomb explode at that crack, a task made slightly more difficult due to the conveyors, it will open a pathway to collect some more Rupees. However, that is completely optional; once you have hit the Crystal Switch, proceed to the door you passed earlier.

The Crystal Switches will take center stage in the back section of the dungeon.

The brown blocks will now be lowered, and you can proceed into the middle of the room. One Stalfos will be wandering around, but he has blue-colored and thus not a real threat. Head to the northern wall and place a Bomb at the crack you find. The wall will blast open, but something will happen with this bombed wall. This is the first time that Link will be beset by small creatures called Zoro who spill through the doorway after it is blasted open. Zoro will not do much damage, and there are exceptionally weak, but they will continue to spill through at regular intervals. A solid plan for passing through the door would be to use the Pegasus Boots, which will kill any Zoro that might emerge the moment you pass through. Explore the room beyond once it blows.

Beware of the Moro in the room. Beware exiting the room because of the Anti-fairies.

The other side will just have a lone Crystal Switch, which you will need to set back to blue as there are blue blocks preventing your progress in the previous room. Head back south and then, after dodging the released Anti-fairies, continue west.

The last room of B2 is a cavalcade of traps. Two Anti-fairies, a Medusa, a bouncing Trap, and a Rabbit Beam all await you, not to mention that a constant stream of Zol will rain down on you from the ceiling. there is a staircase leading up towards the upper half of the room, but do not take it yet. Instead, hug the sides of the wall until you reach the very northern end of the room, where you will find yet another Crystal Switch. You need to set it back to brown or else brown blocks on B1 will keep you from reaching the boss. Once that is set though, head upstairs.

One final Crystal Switch stands between you and Vitreous.

The only things keeping you from facing the boss now are just a simple Winder, an Anti-fairy, and a Medusa. Dodge all of them so you can unlock the Big Door to face Vitreous.

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9. Defeat Vitreous, Misery Mire

Vitreous will feel like a very familiar boss fight. In fact, it will seem like an amalgamation of Arrghus from the Swamp Temple and Kholdstare from the Ice Palace. Do not step into the slime containing the swarm of eyeballs; you will take damage from this unless protected by the Magic Cape or Cane of Byrna. Instead, you will want Vitreous and his smaller eyeball brethren to come to you.

Thanks to Vitreous’ lightning, definitely avoid standing in the center of the room.

If you find the perfect spot and keep swinging, the first phase will pass without losing life.

Stand to the side of the room, preferably the right-hand side to take advantage of Link’s lefty nature. Eventually, the smaller eyeballs will emerge from the slime and approach you of their own volition. Spam your sword attack to both damage them and knock them back.

When Vitreous attacks, use spin attacks for massive damage.

As you defeat the smaller eyeballs, the large eyeball at the rear—Vitreous itself—will occasionally poke its eye out of the slime. When it does, it will issue forth a lightning attack not unlike that of Agahnim. But if you are standing far enough forward on the side, it will never hit you.

Continue using your sword until all but four of the smaller eyeballs—the entourage just in front of Vitreous itself—are defeated. Once it is down to just them, Vitreous will come out to play. It will just bounce up and down in a steady motion. So long as it does not touch you, it will do you no harm as that is the only attack it has left over. Keep hitting it with your sword, and, given enough damage, it will kick the bucket.

That will naturally award you yet another Heart Container and your sixth Crystal. there is just one more Crystal to go, and Princess Zelda herself is there, waiting for you in Turtle Rock. it is time to go rescue the princess!

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