Dark Palace


 * For the similarly-named palace in, see Palace of Darkness.

The Dark Palace is a dungeon featured in. It is the Lorule counterpart of the Eastern Palace of Hyrule. Bombs are required to access it, and its boss is the Gemesaur King.

Entrance to the Temple
In order to access the Dark Palace, Link must traverse a maze by merging into walls to avoid detection by the Lorule Soldiers who guard it. If Link is seen, he will be placed in a prison cell which can be escaped by wall merging.

Themes and Navigation
The Dark Palace shares a similar layout to the Eastern Palace. Link must use Bombs to trigger switches, destroy cracked walls, and even open the dungeon's entrance.

True to its name, the Dark Palace often requires Link to adventure through it without the aid of light. Many invisible walls, floors, and markings on walls showing the path to the objective only appear when the room is in total darkness. On the other hand, Link is unable to see otherwise-visible structures and enemies without the aid of light. To open the path to the Gemesaur King, Link must destroy obstructions blocking windows on a higher floor, allowing light to filter down to the room outside the Gemesaur King's lair to trigger switches.

The dungeon also has a theme of Rupees and gemstones. Many walls and barriers in the palace feature colored gems atop them, and the boss, the Gemesaur King, is covered in gems and releases Rupees when these gems are struck by exploding Bombs.

Items
Link can find one of the four pieces of Master Ore in a Big Chest on the second floor of the dungeon, but it is not mandatory to obtain. It is located in a small room accessible through a secret door—the northern wall, which swivels when a switch is activated—on the northern side of the palace's topmost room.

The Compass can be found in the northwest room of the first floor; activating both switches within the time limit reveals the chest. The Big Key is in the southwest room of the basement floor. Link must throw Bombs down three separate ramps while on a moving platform—this activates the three switches that cause the Big Key chest to appear.