Midoro Palace

Midoro Palace is the second dungeon in and is a location featured in the non-canonical The Crystal Trap. The guardian of the dungeon goes by the name Helmethead.

Entrance to the Palace
The Midoro Palace is located in Western Hyrule, in the Midoro Swamp, and holds one of sacred lecterns in which Link has to place a magic crystal so that the final dungeon in the game, the Great Palace, can be accessed.

Themes and Navigation
Within the palace walls, Link finds the Power Glove, useful for Link to grant additional power to the mobility of his sword when used and break the rocks. The dungeon's master is the second boss, Helmethead.

This dungeon is slightly more difficult than the first one. The keys rise in number, there are more rooms and, during the course of the palace, Link finds himself blocked from other rooms by huge stone blocks. He finds the Power Glove, which allows him to break the stone rocks with his sword and secure his victory against Helmethead. The architecture is based on blue-colored blocks, making the dungeon's interior more visually elegant than Parapa Palace. Being located in the Midoro Swamp, this is possibly the first swamp-based dungeon in the Zelda series, followed by the Misery Mire in the next Zelda game. No Magic is mandatory, although Jump and Life give Link more possibilities to survive.

The Crystal Trap
In The Crystal Trap, the Midoro Palace plays an important role in the game since it is the location in which Link gets imprisoned by Ganon.

At the beginning of the book, Link and Princess Zelda are running inside the Midoro Palace trying to escape from Ganon's grasp, and they eventually find themselves in a tunnel below the palace. However, the evil wizard finds them and, after struggling, encases Link in a Crystal. Ganon explains that since he cannot obtain the Triforce of Courage and Wisdom from Link and Zelda respectively, he used a Magic Scroll which cast a spell to encase both pieces of the Triforce, including the Triforce of Courage encased in Link's heart. Zelda is now forced to seek the three items dictated in the Fairy's Scroll that will help free Link from the Crystal, but she has just 24 hours before the young hero gets trapped inside the crystal forever.

It is at this point that Zelda can decide whether to stay with Link or go look for help. By deciding to stay with the young hero, Zelda will be attacked by Boomerang Demons, and although she is able to fend off the first few attackers with the use of her dagger, she must choose to leave or else she will meet her death at the hand of the demons.

If, however, the princess chooses to go look for help immediately, a swarm of Tektites will attack her, but she will quickly and easily dispose of them using her bow and dagger. Just as Zelda is about to leave the palace, she will notice a quiver full of Magic Arrows and will take them, which turn out to be helpful later on in her journey.

Once Princess Zelda obtains the three items necessary to free Link from the Crystal, she will return to the Midoro Palace and use the Magnifying Glass, the Honeycomb and the Handprint to shatter the crystal. Link and Zelda can now either decide to go deeper into the palace or leave. If they decide to go deeper into the palace, a blue Goriya will come from behind and attack the pair. Zelda then shoots an arrow at the Goriya, who says that if the pair spares his life, he will show them a powerful weapon: a Battle Axe, which is the only thing that can defeat Ganon. Following the Goriya will lead the heroes to find the Battle Axe; however, this will eventually lead to a Game Over in the book since the true weapon to defeat the evil wizard is the Spear.