Level One - The Eagle

What an odd name for a dungeon; I suppose that it is indeed shaped like an eagle, but I digress.  Now fully equipped with a blue ring, blue potion and resounding courage, Link sets out to the first dungeon which is only steps away from the origin point in the center of a lake.  The entire level is blue, and this is one of the irritating elements of this game: the dungeon paneling is extremely nauseating, and it only gets more so as the game gets progressively more difficult (however, the other fact of the matter is that one can access levels one, two, three and eight from the very start...completing the levels in order ensures that one will have the equipment necessary to be able to complete the next; however, the game does give you some liberty, though this liberty is quite dangerous...level eight, after all, is full of darknuts and other hilarious baddies.)

Out of every Zelda game I have ever played though, out of every time I have replayed any game as well, when you look at the first dungeons next to one another; this one is by far the most simple, straightforward and even action-wise, the easiest.  Now, this would indicate that the game itself would be simple right?  The first dungeon must set the tone for the rest of the game.  Au contraire, ye of little faith.  Au contraire.  That's really only true for the next installment (where the first dungeon is a pain in the butt and so is, consequently and progressively, the rest of the game).

So here is Link in the entrance foyer of The Eagle, checking things out, taking a short break from all monotiny it took him to be so well prepared to even take his first steps into these halls.

Entrance to Level I - The Eagle

What's this...a world beneath Hyrule?  Looks weird and dangerous...awesome!  I can't wait to explore it.  According to Impa, this is where I'll find the pieces of the Triforce that I need in order to help out the captured Princess...

 Thank goodness for the equipment run; for it made this dungeon an absolute breeze.  Link went through every single room with little to no resistance, losing not a single heart in his exposition of this simple level with very little puzzle value.  (The only puzzle value this level offers is that there is a straight-forward path to the boss and rooms on the side which must be explored in order to make the dungeon complete.)

The Old Man's First Language is Engrish

Wait, I'm sorry, I didn't catch that...do you, perchance, speak Hylian?

Even as a little kid, this room has always struck me as funny.  I mean, to begin with, it's not much of a hint (all it really refers to is that on the eastmost peninsula of Hyrule, once one has the raft, you can access a secret cave...but since I had already passed the eastmost peninsula of Hyrule several times and seen the vantage point I already knew that something had to be on the other side).  The second thing is that, thanks to the fact that this game was made in the 80s when Japan's relationship with the United States was considerably new, the ability of English translators in Japan was limited (this was made most famous by "Take Your Base", a song which takes random bits from a video game that was poorly translated and makes it into a hilarious techno) so in effect, the old man here doesn't have a good command of Hylian (or in our perception, English) in the respects of morphology or syntax.  His spelling is off and his syntax is quite Yodaish.  (A proper hint would read "The secret lies at the most eastern peninsula.")  But enough on this aside, as humorous as it is...it's just fun to note that the novelty of the relationship between Japan and the United States is marked in this game.  (In present day, however, there are many people in Japan fluent in English and several people in the United States fluent in Japanese.  These two cultures have definitely intertwined.)

The First Underworld Boss - Aquamentus

A scary dragon that spits fire...yet he just stands there, letting me run around and fire sword beams at him.  I wonder what the heart was that he left behind too...it made me feel stronger but I can't help but wonder what it was made of.

The first boss fight of the Legend of Zelda Ultimate Adventure - Aquamentus.  Aquamentus is the most insanely easiest boss ever, and in some rights, I don't even know if he deserves the rights to be called a boss, and more like an obstacle.  He just stands there and spits three fireballs at you every couple of seconds.  So in this game, all you do is stand at the other corner of the room with full health and fire sword beams at his head.  Game, set, match.  And if you don't have full health, get close to his head and stab it to death.  Same effect, just a little more difficult (but not by much) to dodge the fire he spits.  In ways, you can count on more enemies in both the underworld and overworld annoying you than this guy.

Triforce of Wisdom - Piece #1

 Yahoo!  I found it, the first piece of the Triforce!  Celebrate!

My evidence for you that the first dungeon was indeed completed.  We're on our way now to the second dungeon, not wasting any time in between.