The End

Before we can go to Ganon's Castle, we must first speak with...Shiek?  Shiek discloses her identity as Princess Zelda; something that was rather obvious from the first time we met her.  She then discloses a bunch of information about the past, and after her reminiscing is over, she entrusts the Light Arrows into your care, sacred arrows which are always the last item you get in any game.  They are awesome in that they defeat any enemy in one hit, they suck in that they consume a good deal of magic and that they are the second-to-last item you get, so it doesn't help you through any of the game's dungeons except the last one, which is easy anyway.

But just after she does this, she gets captured...revealing herself to us, she also revealed herself to the evil king and he now claims that he will claim all of the triforces.  Yeah, right, again.  He says that his only mistake was to underestimate us (then corrects himself, he underestimated the Triforce of Courage).  So now we know the trinity for sure...Link - Courage, Zelda - Wisdom, Ganon - Power.  And the Triforce split because Ganon was not of a righteous mind, its other pieces found protectors of themselves, in order to protect balance in the land.  Good explination, I guess.

So it's off to Ganon's Tower!  The sages make a bridge for us in a very, VERY pretty cutscene and implore us to save Zelda, the Sage of Time, who is destined to lead them to seal Ganon in the Evil Realm...but this is the EASIEST dungeon ever, so no worries.  The first part involves Link going down six halls, one for each of the elements, and dispelling the parts to the barrier that prevent him access to the keep itself.  All of these puzzles are easily done, and in here, we get the Gold Gauntlets (just a small improvement on the Silver Guantlets, probably to make sure we couldn't do these things BEFORE we got here).  A quick excursion outside nets us double defense, which is the game's last upgrade...at this point, I now have every item, every skulltulla and every upgrade the game has to offer!  Woohoo!  No point in waiting now, then!

The tower is just a series of rooms with action sequences, and once Link is done beating them, he simply climbs the stairs.  No choices, no nothing.  Just up.

At the top of these stairs is Ganondorf, the King of Thieves.  He goes on a long tirade about his ambitions and how you stand in his way.  (Yay, thanks.)  And you know what THAT means, don't you?

The fight with Ganondorf is relatively challenging, but not overly difficult.  All you have to do is play ricochet with the King and then shoot a light arrow at him, proceeding to use the stun opportunity to slash him.  (Seems the key in boss fights is creating an opportunity to attack...whether that be through creating an opportunity itself or stunning your opponent, whatever works.)  The trick here is though, that Navi can't target him...he's using dark energy, which she complains about and can't help you.  It's not too difficult to get a shot off, you just don't have much time to do it.

After awhile of this, Ganondorf starts to cackle and the tower begins to crumble.  You and Zelda are then standing there, and she informs you that the tower is collapsing, so let's get the hell out of here!  You have a limited amount of time to descend the entire tower, following Zelda so that she can open all the doors for you (you know, those grates had to be for something!)  This is really no problem, you only get into a fight once and as long as you keep up with Zelda, you'll make it with time to spare.

At the bottom, Zelda complains about hearing a noise...and then Ganon shows his true form, knocking the Master Sword away!  He's a dual-wielding beast with only one weak point: his tail.  This phase is simple as well: side-dodging and light arrows to the face work nicely, coupled with jump attacks to his tail.  Either way, the King of Evil is getting pissy that you're beating him, and when you take out the Master Sword, Zelda finally decides that it's time to help, holding him down, urging you to finish it.

In the most awesome cinematic yet for the final boss of a Zelda game, Link delivers several slashes to Ganon's forehead (with green...blood...flying everywhere) and finishes by piercing the demon with the blade, seemingly ending his life.  The end of the game is imminent.  The sages get to work and seal the evil king away.  Yay!  We win!  As he descends into his dark prison, though, Ganondorf laughs at you, for as long as he has the Triforce of Power, he will be alive, and he will be back for his revenge on you and Zelda, and will seek it against your descendents as well...mmhm...

This, in this moment, is how the legend was born!

The ending of this game is happy and sad.  The first part of it is very sad...Zelda and Link say good-bye, and they both know that they will not see each other again.  Zelda laments for the pain she has caused Link, and to atone for it, promises to send him to his proper time so he may live his life, but with the flow of time working the way it does, this means that though Hyrule is safe, no one will ever know of his actions in saving it; and all will be remiss.  A very sad, but metaphorical ending.

But we end on a happy note...there's a gathering of people in Hyrule Field, celebrating the new found peace...and high on Death Mountain, you see a scene of the sages, which is quite cute...with Saria on Darunia's shoulders and such, overlooking the new world that has been carved of their seal.  Then on a sadder note, Link visits Zelda once more in the proper time, but she doesn't recognize him...tear.

So ends The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time.