Ancient Tomb

The eighth and final dungeon in Oracle of Ages, the Ancient Tomb is located within the Sea of No Return. The "Sea" is actually dried up, revealing a great maze filled with strong adversaries (Darknuts and Lynels). Within the stone halls of the tomb are many twists, turns, traps, and treasures. The main treasure that Link obtains within these ancient catacombs is the Power Glove. Link must then use this new found power to take on the tomb's boss: Ramrock. After defeating Ramrock, Link is rewarded with the Falling Star (the last Essence of Time).

The Maku Tree cannot detect the presence of the final essence hidden within this dungeon, meaning Link gets no clues as to where this dungeon is located. As such, Link must rely on detective skills alone to locate the dungeon. The reason that the Maku Tree is unable to detect the Essence may be that it only exists within the past. Although the essence within the Wing Dungeon and Mermaid's Cave are also in the past, it can be presumed that the essences do exist in the present too, but are simply inaccessible.

Background
The history and the disappearance of the Ancient Tomb is a great mystery. With its loyal guard, the Sea of No Return, few to no one could ever reach the tomb alive. Those few who did were quickly dealt with by the Darknuts and the Lynel who waited to meet them. A secret entrance on Crescent Island was created, in the shape of what the Tokay call their guardian, a stone head. It is currently unconfirmed if the head was created exactly for this purpose, or simply used for it.

Exactly who was entombed here is never revealed. It is possible the Ancient Tomb was built for many people, rather than just one person, given its size.

At some point, during the four hundred years which Link traverses while traveling in time, a bizarre change occurred: The Ancient Tomb vanished, the Sea of No Return vanished, and the key to the Ancient Tomb's access, the stone guardian, became the dungeon called Moonlit Grotto.

Perhaps not by accident, the former site of the Ancient Tomb would later become the Yoll Graveyard.

Quite likely, the mystery of how this tomb simply vanished from history, along with its guardian sea and secret passage, will never be solved, outside of theory.

Themes and Navigation
At 52 rooms, Ancient Tomb is the largest dungeon in Oracle of Ages. Its overall form is a buried pyramid with increasingly large basement floors under the small ground floor, the sole exception being the lowest floor, which is as small as the ground floor. The Ancient Tomb features puzzles and other elements from every other dungeon in the game (e.g. Crystal Switch and colored barrier puzzles from the Crown Dungeon, temporarily solid lava from the Skull Dungeon, and underwater areas from Jabu-Jabu's Belly) as well as a few that show up in Oracle of Seasons but otherwise not in Oracle of Ages, such as ice floors from the Sword & Shield Maze.

The central puzzle of the Ancient Tomb involves the acquisition of four tablets to open a sealed door in the center of the second basement level. Each tablet is found in a branch of this floor with a different theme: a Chaser maze in the northwest, a water-filled area in the northeast, lava floors in the southwest, and ice floors (as well as more Chasers) in the southeast.

The treasure of the Ancient Tomb, the Power Glove, is used to move the immensely heavy statues that are found in some rooms of the dungeon and in the labyrinth outside.

Trivia

 * The map in Hero's Cave mistakes the dungeon as the Ancient Tomb.