Shadow Invasion

Zant's Invasion of Hyrule is the name of a large scale invasion launched against the land of Hyrule by the evil King of Shadows named Zant, the usurper King of Twilight featured in Twilight Princess who overthrows the Royal Family of the Twilight Realm and seizes control of the Twili race for himself, as well as its aftermath. The origins of the invasion are rooted in a time long before the events of Twilight Princess when the King of Evil, Ganondorf, is captured and sentenced to execution for his crimes against the Royal Family of Hyrule by the ancient Sages. However, due to his possession of the Triforce of Power, this attempt fails, causing the Sages to use a relic known as the Mirror of Twilight to banish Ganondorf to the Twilight Realm, where roughly a century later, he influences Zant to take over the Twilight Realm and attempt conquest of Hyrule in exchange for releasing the Dark Lord back into Hyrule once more. Eventually a new incarnation of Link and Princess Zelda team up with the overthrown ruler of the Twilight Realm, the Twilight Princess Midna, to stop Zant and discover the truth behind his actions, which reveals to them that the great evil once fought by the Hero of Time has returned to haunt Hyrule once more.

An Execution Gone Wrong
Following his capture and imprisonment for his crimes following the end of Ocarina of Time, the Gerudo King of Thieves and King of Evil, Ganondorf, was sentenced to death by impalement in the infamous Arbiter's Grounds, home of a relic known as the Mirror of Twilight. The ancient Sages conducted the Dark Lord's execution in the Mirror Chamber atop the roof of the Arbiter's Grounds, and the Sage of Water brandished the Sword of the Sages, impaling Ganondorf through his chest and leaving him with a glowing wound. However, the Triforce of Power activated within Ganondorf at that moment, renewing both his malice and his strength and preventing death from overtaking him. The evil Gerudo soon broke free of his heavy manacles and used his new-found power to kill the Sage of Water before ripping the blade from his torso and turning it on its owners. Left with no choice to prevent the Dark Lord from killing them all and escaping, the Sages activated the Mirror of Twilight, opening the gateway between Hyrule and the Twilight Realm and sending Ganondorf through it.

The Rise of Zant
A century later, the Twilight Realm entered a period of political instability when the Throne of the Twilight Realm was suddenly vacated. The true Twilit king seemingly had no male heirs and only a single daughter, Princess Midna. One of the Twilit king's advisers, a Twili named Zant, stood as one of the primary candidates to succeed him in the absence of any male heirs. Midna's father however had refused to name Zant as his successor prior to the end of his reign, and due to there being no male heir to succeed him and no pre-chosen successor, the Twilight Realm was left without a ruler. Due to general mistrust of Zant due to his thirst for conquest and his lust for power, he was passed over, and the position was filled by Midna. With the ascension of Midna to the title of "Twilight Princess", Zant became emotionally unstable and entered severe depression. It was in this state that he was approached by the spirit of Ganondorf, who posed as a god and offered an exchange: he would give Zant the power to take the throne by force, and once he was secure as the ruler of the Twilight Realm, Zant would release Ganondorf back into Hyrule. Zant transformed the Twili into Shadow Beasts and attacked the Palace of Twilight, where he overthrew Midna by force and transformed her into an impish creature before she escaped Zant's coup. He then sealed away the Sols, the source of light in the Twilight Realm, within the Palace of Twilight, leaving the land in darkness.

The Invasion of Twilight
Zant opened the gateway between the two worlds as the self-proclaimed King of Twilight. As the Mirror of Twilight is the lone link between Hyrule and the Twilight Realm, it is thought that Zant brought his army through this very same portal, as he was now able to open the portal as the sitting ruler of the Twilight Realm. Twilight surged from the Arbiter's Grounds and preceded the coming of Zant's army as they flooded from the Twilight Realm into Hyrule. The King of Shadows used his sorcerer's powers to shroud the areas traveled by he and his army in twilight. As long as twilight was present, Zant and his army were not reduced to mere shadows, as they could no longer retain physical form in the light as punishment for their ancestors' actions. Zant first targeted three of the four Light Spirits that had been responsible for locking the Dark Interlopers away in the Twilight Realm long ago at the behest of the goddesses, sending his Shadow Beasts to steal their light and divide it up amongst a multitude of twilit insects that would scatter around the provinces. This action caused the Light Spirits to be reduced to little more than powerless vapor, as well as casting each of their respective provinces into twilight as well and reducing those who resided in them to spirit form. The Twili army conquered province after province with ease, but Zant had his sights set on conquering the one thing that could be seen from almost anywhere in Hyrule: Hyrule Castle.

The Siege of Hyrule Castle
The Twili army eventually even reached the gates of the fortified Hyrule Castle Town itself, invading the city and forcing the surrender of its inhabitants. Once the city was firmly under his control, Zant turned his attention to the stately Hyrule Castle just beyond the city's main square. Shadow Beasts poured into the well-manicured courtyards of the castle, swarming and overwhelming the soldiers that were present to guard the home of the Royal Family of Hyrule and setting the area ablaze, with the smoke and flames even visible from the square of Hyrule Castle Town. With the castle now surrounded by the members of his army, Zant turned his attention to conquering the castle and capturing the country's young matriarch: Princess Zelda, who ruled from her Throne Room high atop Hyrule Castle Tower. The Shadow Beasts burst into the solemn halls of Hyrule Castle, killing soldiers as they went and forcing others to retreat up the great central keep of the structure, Hyrule Castle Tower. Eventually, only the citadel that housed Princess Zelda's Throne Room remained, and what soldiers were left fled up the keep to protect their ruler from the coming Twili army. They attempted to fortify the Throne Room for the coming attack, with Princess Zelda herself even taking up a ceremonial rapier sword to command her soldiers in the coming struggle. However, twilight soon billowed into the chamber through its large doorway, and from the twilight emerged countless Shadow Beasts that viciously attacked the soldiers in their path. Eventually, most of the soldiers that had been protecting Princess Zelda were dead or captured by the Shadow Beasts, who remained at attention as they cleared the path to the Throne Room for Zant.

Light Surrenders to Shadow
It was at this moment, when her army was now outnumbered or half-dead, that Princess Zelda was faced with a dark figure proceeding to strut up the central carpet of her Throne Room. This dark figure, Zant himself, stopped a few meters away from Zelda's throne and gazed at her and her last few remaining protectors. It was here that the self-proclaimed King of Shadows presented the Princess of Hyrule with an ultimatum: to surrender and have the lives of both she and her people spared, or to fight and perish in the resulting battle. At this, Zelda's protectors uneasily glanced at their ruler, wondering what she would choose to do and what implications it would have for them. Zelda, not wishing to risk the lives of her people against seemingly impossible odds, dropped her rapier sword as a sign of submission, signaling that she would yield to Zant's demands and surrender herself into his custody. Twilight surged from Hyrule Castle and covered the land like a shroud, causing much of the Hylian populace to be reduced to spirit form, unaware of what had happened to them. With this, the largest phase of the invasion was now complete, as the land of Hyrule and its government were now under the control of the King of Shadows and secretly his dark master.

Aftermath
The aftermath of the invasion is largely chronicled during the events of Twilight Princess, where a new savior rises from the bloodline of heroes to save Hyrule and the Twilight Realm from Zant and his master, that new hero being a new incarnation of Link, who lives in the distant Ordona Province, namely in the quaint Ordon Village. It is this small yet peaceful annex of Hyrule that becomes Zant's final target, as it is the last major province and home to the final Light Spirit, Ordona.

A Hero in the Making
On the day that he was scheduled to leave for Hyrule Castle to deliver a special gift to the Royal Family, a young man named Link and his friends are brutally attacked by King Bulblin and his Bulblin riders (serving as co-operatives of the members of Zant's army but really fighting for Ganondorf) at the spring of Ordona, where the Bulblins knock Link out and make off with his friends from Ordon Village. The young hero pursues them across the gorge separating the Ordona and Faron Provinces and discovers that Faron Province is now shrouded in a strange darkness before being forcefully pulled through this strange curtain of darkness and into the twilight by one of Zant's Shadow Beasts. Though the beast attempts to strangle Link, the Triforce of Courage activates to protect its bearer, forcing the beast to relinquish its hold on Link. Rather than transforming into a lost spirit like all others however, Link is transformed into a divine wolf form, revealing that he is not only the possessor of the Triforce of Courage but also the Hero chosen by the goddesses to save Hyrule from evil. The beast then drags the unconscious Link to the dungeons of distant Hyrule Castle as the overthrown Midna watches nearby.

Link is rescued from the dungeon of Hyrule Castle by Midna and accompanies her to meet with the imprisoned Princess Zelda, who charges the pair with finding a way to defeat Zant and restore light to the land of Hyrule before they are forced to leave her. Midna and Link return to Ordon Village, just outside the curtain of twilight, where they find a sword and shield before returning to the Faron Province. Here, Link recovers the lost Tears of Light belonging to the Light Spirit Faron and restores light to both the Light Spirit and the Faron Province. It is here that Link is given the Hero's Clothes, the very garb once worn by the Hero of Time and a priceless treasure kept by the Light Spirits. Faron gives this heirloom to Link, confirming that he is indeed the Hero chosen by the goddesses and the true successor of the Hero of Time.

Quest for the Fused Shadow
On Faron's instructions, Link proceeds with Midna to the Forest Temple, a great tree-like structure located deep in the heart of the Faron Woods. It is here that the Hero discovers that evil has taken root, causing the disturbances within the forest. He also discovers that a colony of monkeys inhabiting the Forest Temple have been imprisoned by their own possessed leader, Ook. Link scours the temple searching for all of the imprisoned monkeys, battling and freeing Ook from the control of a Twilit Insect along the way and earning him the magical Gale Boomerang. With the help of the freed monkeys, Link is able to reach the deepest chamber of the temple, where he discovers that a gigantic parasite, Diababa, has seized the Fused Shadow fragment that Faron had placed there long ago and is now living off of the temple's energy. With Ook's help, Link is able to destroy this hideous creature and reclaim the second of the four fragments of the Fused Shadow for Midna.

Link is next sent to the lands guarded by the Light Spirit Eldin by Faron, who instructs him to lift the Twilight covering the region and restore Eldin to his former power. Entering the Twilight again reverts Link to his divine wolf form once more, and he discovers that this is where the Ordonian children have been left by King Bulblin's soldiers and are now in the care of the shaman of Kakariko Village, Renado. The Hero discovers that the village has been waylaid by attacks from Zant's army. He meets with what remains of Eldin, who gives him another Vessel of Light and instructs him to seek out his lost Tears of Light scattered throughout the Eldin Province. After collecting all of the Tears of Light, Link restores light to the province and Eldin to his former strength. Eldin, who takes the form of a divine bird, tells Link that the next Fused Shadow fragment which he had sealed away long ago rests within the Goron Mines high atop Death Mountain, guarded by the proud Goron tribe. Link reunites with the Ordonian children before returning to Ordon Village to seek out Bo, the mayor of the village who once earned the respect of the Goron tribe. Bo gives Link the Iron Boots necessary to make his own weight comparable to that of the Gorons. Using these, Link is able to climb Death Mountain and match the power of the Gorons, earning their respect as well as access to the Goron Mines. He learns of the plight of their patriarch, Darbus, who has fallen under the sway of the Fused Shadow fragment. Fighting his way through the mines, Link eventually reaches the chamber where Darbus is held and discovers he has been transformed into the Twilit Igniter Fyrus. After battling and defeating the beast, Link recovers the Fused Shadow fragment, restoring Darbus to his original self and restoring peace to the mountain.

The Hero's next destination according to Eldin would be the final province covered in Twilight, the Lanayru Province guarded by the Light Spirit Lanayru. In his wolf form, Link explores the province and discovers it to be the home of Hyrule Castle Town and Hyrule Castle. Link enters the city and discovers that Ilia is there, tending to a sick young Zora under the care of a barkeeper named Telma. Link finds his way to Lake Hylia, where he discovers it has nearly run dry as Zora's River, the lake's water source, has ceased to flow. Working his way up the river, he discovers that Zora's Domain, the source of Zora's River, has been completely frozen over by Zant, with the Zoras all trapped within the ice. Warping a gigantic volcanic rock from Death Mountain to Zora's Domain, Link is able to thaw the river's water source out, breaking the ice, restoring the river's normal flow, and freeing the Zoras from their imprisonment. The Hero is approached by the ghost of Rutela, who asks Link to help her son, Ralis, in exchange for the power to navigate water like a Zora. Link then meets with what remains of Lanayru, who gives him another Vessel of Light and tells him to find his lost Tears of Light scattered all over the province. After collecting nearly all of them, Link is forced to battle the Twilit Bloat for the final tear. After killing it and reclaiming all of the Tears of Light, Lanayru is restored to his former strength and light returns to the province. It is here that Lanayru, who takes the form of a divine serpent, tells the tale of the Dark Interlopers to Link, warning him of the dangers of power and telling him that the final Fused Shadow fragment rested within the Lakebed Temple at the bottom of Lake Hylia.

Link then returns to Hyrule Castle Town, where he finds Ralis in the care of Ilia, who he discovers has lost her memory. He helps Telma and Ilia get Ralis to Kakariko Village to be treated by Rendao for his illness. It is then that Queen Rutela appears to Link once again and leads him to the Zora Armor that will allow him to swim underwater for any amount of time like a Zora before passing into the next world. Using this new armor and his Iron Boots, Link journeys to the bottom of Lake Hylia and into the Lakebed Temple, where he searches for the final Fused Shadow fragment. Eventually he learns that the relic has been seized by a gigantic eel-like beast, Morpheel, and is forced to battle the monster in the temple's deepest recesses. After the defeat of Morpheel, Link is able to claim the final fragment of the Fused Shadow for Midna, who teleports them back to Lanayru's spring, where they are confronted by none other than their enemy, Zant.

Zant knocks Link out and embeds a Shadow Crystal into his head, reverting him to his wolf form permanently for the time being. The King of Shadows then takes the Fused Shadow fragments from Midna and taunts the Twilight Princess before trying to sway her to his side, asking her to give him the power of the true ruler of Twilight Realm that she still retains that marks her as the true ruler of the Twili. Midna refuses Zant's request, causing the latter to expose her to the full light of Lanayru, mortally wounding her before she and Link were spirited away by Lanayru. Link takes the injured Midna on a dangerous journey through the sewers of Hyrule Castle Town in an attempt to reach Hyrule Castle and seek Princess Zelda's aid for Midna. He eventually succeeds in getting Midna to the princess, who finally deduces who Midna really is and sacrifices her physical being to heal Midna and give her the power to remain corporeal in the light, but not before telling Link to seek the Blade of Evil's Bane, the Master Sword, in the Sacred Grove in order to break the curse placed on him by Zant. After leaving the castle, Link and Midna witness the entire structure become encased within a giant, pyramidal barrier of Twilight energy, preventing entry.