The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past #31 - Eastern Palace

1. Discover the whereabouts of the Kakariko elder, Eastern Palace

Your first task is to seek out the village elder that the Loyal Sage spoke of. Technically, he will be nowhere to be found in the village having fled himself ever since the wizard assumed control of the kingdom. A visit to Kakariko Village is useful as there are several items, plenty of money, and a few Pieces of Heart available for the picking up before setting off on your quest. And eventually some of the villagers will lead you straight to the elder himself. So for the moment, let’s head to Kakariko Village.

Leave Sanctuary. Head straight south between the trees and the rows of bushes, and you will find yourself just north of Hyrule Castle. Kakariko Village is off to the west, so head left along the main pathway. You will occasionally notice green Soldiers patrolling this area, so you can defeat them or skip past them at your preference. Eventually the screen will scroll to the left, and continue along, following the path. More Soldiers will be waiting, but quickly scurrying past them will get you to Kakariko Village safely.

The music will change, and you will be in the relative safety of Kakariko Village. Though there is a bounty on your head, most of the villagers will still trust you and treat you with respect, but there are two women there who will not trust you; if you run into one of them, they will call for a Soldier before running into their homes, locking the door behind them. it is a minor nuisance at worst, so do not worry about talking to people. you will see the Fortune Teller’s house on the current screen, but there is not much here, so head south to the village proper.

Tracking down the elder might seem like a wild goose chase, but the elder did not leave the village without telling someone.

The elder’s actual home is the northeastmost house in the village; it is a long house with a red roof and two entrances. Head into the door on the right, and you will see an old lady sweeping the ground. she will tell you that you have found the right place but that the elder has skipped town. Someone in the village knows where the elder is, she will reveal, but she does not know who. But for the trouble of speaking to her, she will reveal a little of the mystery about the Master Sword.

The person who does know where the elder is hiding is the blue-haired boy in the southwest of the village. you will find him between a water trough and a brown house near two Cuccos gallivanting across a yard. Speak to him, and he will reveal the elder’s location all the way in the kingdom’s east.

Optional Items & Pieces of Heart

If you would like to explore Kakariko village some more, feel free to pick up some of the optional items here. You can collect some Bombs, the Bug-catching Net, two Bottles, the Magic Mushroom and Magic Powder, and the first six Pieces of Heart, though you will have to journey a bit for some of those.

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2. Visit Sahasrahla, Eastern Palace

To get from Kakariko Village to the elder’s hideout, you can either take the northern or southern route around Hyrule Castle. Neither of the two are all that treacherous, though the southern route is slightly shorter.

Leave Kakariko Village via the southern exit, passing beneath the welcome sign to the village. In the screen to the south, you can either jump down the cliffs or navigate down them; either way, you will want to head towards the southeast into the trees. Follow the passageway around until you see a long dirt path heading generally eastward. Here you will start to encounter some variations of the Soldiers you are familiar with; now there are not only blue Soldiers with swords but also a blue Soldier with a bow. Deal with them and continue following the pathway, which eventually steers back north to the next screen.

You will need to leave the safety of Kakariko to find the elder Sahasrahla.

Finally, you will be back near your house. There are lots of guards waiting near your house as you close in on it, but take them out as you pass by. If you are ever low on hearts, you can take a quick rest by restoring the three hearts next to your bed. The road forks here, but continue heading east until the screen scrolls once again.

The next screen will bring you to another bridge to cross the river just to the north; cross the bridge and then follow the passageway heading east. The screen will scroll, and the pathway will end as it curves north. Take the northerly entrance into eastern Hyrule.

After you pass your house, you will find a bridge that will lead you to eastern Hyrule.

There, amongst the Eastern Palace ruins, you will face Octoroks and Armos aplenty.

The elder’s hideaway is practically due north from where you are. Watch out for the red Octoroks that will shoot stones in the four cardinal directions every once in a while. Climb up the staircase to the upper platform and veer northeast. Eventually you will find a house within a small sunken pit. Jump down, and head into the house. And then finally, after all this searching, you will meet the fabled elder Sahasrahla.

he will take a keen interest in you, but the Master Sword does not come free. In fact, you will have to prove your worth by collecting the three Pendants to mark the hero. he will challenge you to head to the Eastern Palace and collect the Pendant of Courage and tell you, once you have got it, to visit him again.

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3. Enter the Eastern Palace, Eastern Palace

The Eastern Palace is not that far away, but the area, full of its ledges and stairwells, is something like a maze. As you journey through it, you will see a few Armos guarding the stairwells; they will animate as you draw near and then follow you relentlessly. They’re vulnerable to the sword just like everything else so far.

Head east from the elder's home, dealing with enemies blocking your path.

When you find the a series of staircases, you know you are getting close.

From the elder’s house, head up the staircase to the north and then follow the cobblestone pathway clockwise to reach the southeast corner. Follow the pathway southeast, and you will eventually find an Armos guarding a set of stairs heading down and south; ignore that Armos and instead jump off the platform using the small gap in the wall on the eastern ledge. Once down a level, head north and east, ascending each of the staircases in turn, until you reach the Eastern Palace in the northeast of the area.

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4. Locate the Map, Eastern Palace

In every dungeon, typically the first responsibility you will have is to find the Map. In most dungeons, it will be placed perfectly along the core route through the dungeon; however, in this one, it is actually a small diversion. Nevertheless, seeing as how it is a critical piece of the experience, it is valuable to get anyway, so we’ll take the small journey to get it.

The first room has a two open doors to the left and right and a sealed door directly north. The open doors lead to useless dead ends, so ignore them. Instead, lift up the pot in the center of the room to reveal a switch; stand on it, and the sealed door will open.

The next room will reveal three new enemies called Popo, weird tentacle-like beasts. They’re relatively harmless and can be easily defeated with your sword. The door leading north is sealed, but there is a hidden switch in the floor that you might have even accidentally stepped on whilst defeating the enemies. Look for the small indentation if you haven’t yet found it and then step on it before proceeding north.

lift up the pot in the center of the room to reveal a switch; stand on it, and the sealed door will open.

three new enemies called Popo, weird tentacle-like beasts

Medicine balls

Medicine balls being flung at Link. A series of five small balls will be thrown at Link, each filling one of the two “lanes” of the narrow passageway, followed by a large medicine ball that completely fills the corridor. Wait until a large ball passes and then weave your way between the smaller obstacles. Once you have passed five of them, duck into one of the alcoves at either end of the hallway before proceeding. Once you have made it to the other end, you have the option of swinging around the hallway on the left-hand side of the room to snag a chest worth 100 Rupees if you wish. Either way, then proceed northward.

You will now be in a room that is essentially the hub of the dungeon as you will pass through this room several times on your journey to the boss. So this will be referred to as the Hub Room. The path going further into the dungeon is to the left, but to get the Map, head to the right. The door will be sealed, but there is a hidden switch between the two pots along the right wall.

Stalfos are rather annoying enemies to defeat with just the Sword; use the Boomerang to stun them.

The next room will present you with a new enemy type, and you will find a lot of them in the Eastern Palace. Stalfos are skeletons that jump away from you when you try to swing your sword at them. By far the easiest way to kill them is to use the Boomerang; oddly enough, it will not stun Stalfos but will instead damage them. You can also back them into a corner of the room and just repeatedly swing until you make contact. You do not need to defeat the enemies in this room to continue. You can just proceed to the two exits on the eastern wall; for now, you will want to take the upper one.

Again, there’ll be a secret switch in this room. it is under the pot in the center of the cluster of five. However, you will need to dodge the Anti-Fairy that’s bouncing around the room. The Anti-Fairy, if it hits you, will not only deal damage but also reduce your Magic Meter a small fraction. The only way to defeat them is to sprinkle them with Magic Powder, one of the optional items, which will turn them into a Fairy. Hitting the switch will open the door to the south, and in that room you will find the Map in a treasure chest.

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5. Obtain the Compass, Eastern Palace

With the Map down, the next logical step is the dungeon’s Compass. The Compass is less unfortunately less useful than the map as it only shows you where the boss’ lair is located, but in the more mazelike dungeons it can be handy. Fortunately, the normal route to the boss’ lair runs right by the Compass, so it is not out of the way to pick up.

Sometimes pottery can be the best weapons.

First, return to the Hub Room by hopping down the ledge, ascending the staircase, and then proceeding west two rooms. Once in the Hub Room, proceed to the west half of the raised platform; once again, the door will be sealed, but there is a hidden floor switch between the two pots on the far wall just as there was on the eastern wall. Press the switch and then proceed through the door.

you will find four more Stalfos eager to get the jump on you in this room. However, aside from them, there is really nothing to see here, so scoot past them and continue to head west.

Once you enter the next room, however, the doors will seal behind you, and a quartet of Stalfos will appear randomly about the room. You could try to defeat all of these using your sword by cornering each one, but that might prove a little annoying. The easiest way to defeat them is to grab one of the pots and hurl it at the Stalfos; Stalfos will only try to jump out of the way of your sword, not the pots, so line your throw and go to town. you have got five pots and four enemies, so you can afford a miss, and if you miss twice, you can always rely upon the Boomerang and the Sword. One defeated, the doors will open, and you will be led north where you will find a treasure chest with the Compass within.

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6. Collect the Big Key, Eastern Palace

you have got two of the four major dungeon items down, but you will not be able to collect the dungeon item until you get the Big Key, so that will be your next goal. there is nothing else in the room, so just head east.

Telepathy Tiles will occasionally give you hints about what to do in the dungeons.

This will put you in the lower part of an already explored room, but you will have a T-shaped hallway here. At the junction, there is a Telepathy Tile, which will allow you to commune telepathically with one of the main characters of the game, typically Sahasrahla but sometimes Zelda. These will usually give small hints as to how to defeat the dungeons. This one reveals that the dungeon item, which is the Bow and Arrows, can be used to defeat some of the enemies your sword will not be able to. Once you have talked to Sahasrahla, continue proceeding to the right as you cannot go down for the time being.

This Big Chest will tantalize you as you pass, but you cannot open it yet.

Now you will be back in the Hub Room, but this time down on the lower portion. The big chest containing the Bow is here, but you do not have the Big Key yet, so it is all for naught. Simply walk on to the right, ignoring the two Stalfos and the two Eyegore in the room. Eyegore will stand still until Link gets close, at which point their eyes will open; they will then start to give immediate chase, hotly pursuing Link for a few moments until they fall asleep. Eyegores are only vulnerable with their eyes open, but green Eyegores like these can be damaged with the sword. If you choose to fight them, they take quite a lot of damage before dying, but the strategy for them is not rocket science after all. Continue to the right through the open door.

The next room has already been explored, though from above. But the lower portion of the floor is pretty boring; there is just a doorway all the way at the south end of the room. Head through that.

The next room will be dark, and there are four enemies in the room, two you can see and two you cannot. The hallway in this room is a giant square, and the Anti-Fairies will be moving clockwise through the square. As such, you too will want to move in a clockwise fashion, watching out for the two Popo that will appear as you do so. Eventually as you continue through the room, you will hit a secret floor switch, which will open the door to the right that you just passed. Reverse course quickly and head through the door.

You will need to feel around for a secret switch just beyond the door.

The pot on the far right is the one that contains the Small Key.

There is something underneath that central pot.

This room will have three Stalfos and a mess of pots scattered about. The upper pot against the eastern wall has a Small Key in it, but since the room is dark and the Stalfos can sneak up on you, feel free to take them out with pots to the face first if you wish. Snag the Key, and then before heading back through the door, wait between five and ten seconds. The reason for this is that the Anti-Fairies from the previous room are technically still moving through the room, and you might walk out straight into their path. it is ultimately guesswork to predict if you are going to hit them or not, but hopefully that extra delay will give them enough time to pass.

Once you do head back west, do watch out for the second Popo in the southern corridor and continue clockwise until you find a locked door on the western wall. Unlock it and proceed west. This will lead you to a simple skybridge that goes over the pit with the medicine balls. you are perfectly safe; just follow the skybridge and enter the door to the left.

Finally, you are in the room with the Big Key, but where is it? it is actually hidden, and the cluster of Anti-Fairies around the pot should give you a clue of how to get it. But first, to get them to clear out, you will have to defeat all the other enemies in the room. That includes two Popo, two Stalfos, and one Eyegore. Use the strategies discussed to defeat them; if you need hearts, the two unguarded pots will have them. Once you defeat the five enemies, the Anti-Fairies will scatter to all the corners of the room. Lift the pot they were guarding to reveal a switch, then step on it; that will cause a chest to appear, and that chest will have the Big Key.

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7. Grab the Bow and Arrows, Eastern Palace

Now that you have got the Big Key, it is time to go grab the Bow. You technically can go back the way you came from, but that is the long way. Instead, use your new Big Key to unlock the locked door to the north. One or two of the Anti-Fairies may have gotten stuck up there, so be prepared to either wait or dodge; the dais with the Big Key should be safe ground, so feel free to wait there until you are ready.

Grab the Bow and Arrows

You will find the corridor in the next room blocked by two blocks. This is more or less just like the block puzzle that you solved in Hyrule Castle; just move the right block forward one and you will be able to pass. Turn right at the junction with the Telepathy Tile and head right.

Now all you have to do is snag the Bow. Back in the Hub Room, head down towards the two Stalfos and unlock the Big Chest to get the Bow and Arrows. With these, you will be able to beat the final boss easily!

However, before you celebrate too much, once you open the chest, four Stalfos will drop down on you, and these Stalfos will detach their heads, which will then steadily home in on you. Quickly get out of there! Your objective should be to the north through the locked door. Optionally, if you would like, you can head up the staircase towards the locked door, but instead jump off the cliff on either the left or the right into the pots below. This will drop you into a room with a few Fairies that you can use to heal right away or capture if you got the Bug-catching Net and an empty Bottle. The Magical Warp Tiles will then zap you to where you came from, and the Stalfos heads will be gone. Through the Big Key door and onto the boss’ lair.

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8. Head upstairs to the boss’ lair, Eastern Palace

The next room is dark and is filled with a large number of Popo and two Eyegore. Walking straight up will activate both Eyegore simultaneously, which will put you in a quick bind. Generally, it is best to activate them separately, so head to the left or right first and approach tentatively to draw it toward you. One of the Eyegore will have a Small Key on him, so you will at least have to defeat one of the two. Eyegore are particularly vulnerable to arrows, so consider equipping your Bow to take them out instead of using your sword to save time. Once you have the key, you can unlock the staircase to the left to go upstairs. You can also take a quick sidequest into the room on the right to pick up 90 rupees, though watch out for the Anti-Fairies guarding them!

Once upstairs, you will be close to the boss; they’re just five rooms away. But the second floor is no pushover. you will have to run a final gauntlet to be deemed worthy to fight them.

Surviving the Eastern Palace gauntlet

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9. Defeat the Armos Knights, Eastern Palace

The Armos Knights start out in a two-by-three grid formation, but do not attack them like this as, until they start hopping around, they’re not yet vulnerable. Once they do start hopping about the room, that’s the time to attack. For the first phase of the battle, the Armos Knights have a very predictable formation. they will migrate into a circle about the center of the room, marching in a row. A few seconds later, they will tighten the circle somewhat, but then they will migrate out to their outer circle very soon thereafter. After this, they will form a line at the top of the room and then march, in lock step, down to the bottom, inevitably squishing Link against the wall if no path is opened up. they will then repeat this pattern until there is only one Armos remaining.

The Armos Knights are both vulnerable to arrows and your sword, but by far arrows are more effective. The safest spots in the room are in the bottom-left and bottom-right corners of the room; stand there whilst aiming upwards to attack the Armos as they come toward or move away from you. You need not bother trying to follow them as their ring shrinks in size, though you can if you feel it safe. When the Armos Knights form a line at the top of the room, you will quickly need to make sure that you blow one of them away in order to pass through them safely; simply focus all of your fire against the one with the most damage. Each Armos will take three arrow hits before it gives up the ghost.

Defeat the Armos Knights

arrows are more effective

Defeat the last Armos Knight

The Armos are not actually that tough, until you whittle them down to one.

Once you are down to the last Armos, it will turn red and change its attack pattern. No longer will it march according to some formation. Instead it will just leap up into the air and over your head before trying to come down and squash you. Shooting it in the air will reduce the distance that it goes, but if it gets too close, you will need to leap out of the way. When you do decide to get out of the way, try to run in straight lines in order to set up your next shot. You still need three arrows in total to dispatch the last one, even if you damaged the last one before this point. If you run out of arrows, just move slightly out of the way when it leaps and whack it with your sword or, better yet, use a Spin Attack. Once you beat the sixth Armos, you will receive a Heart Container and the Pendant of Courage! it is time to head back to Sahasrahla.

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