Wind Temple

The Wind Temple is one of the two major temples and the sixth dungeon to be explored in The Wind Waker that is located within the now-sunken land of Hyrule, beneath Gale Isle.

The two temples (the Earth Temple and the Wind Temple) were built in order to protect the Master Sword’s power to repel evil, by means of providing a place for the two Sages to conduct their prayers to the Golden Goddesses. The prayer song for the Sage of Wind was the Wind God's Aria. When Ganondorf somehow escaped his imprisonment within the tainted Sacred Realm, he saw the Hero of Time was not present to stop him and thus sought to remove the power to repel evil from the Blade of Evil’s Bane. In turn, he invaded the Wind Temple and killed the Sage of Wind, the Kokiri known as Fado. It was here that Fado’s spirit lingered on, awaiting the time when a new Hero bearing the Master Sword would come with a successor Sage to destroy the evil that now haunted the temple. Many centuries later, Link, the Hero of Winds, came with Fado’s successor, the Korok known as Makar, who bore the violin previously used by Fado himself. Together, the Hero of Winds and the new Sage of Wind worked together to purge the temple of evil and destroyed Molgera, freeing Fado of his obligations and fully restoring the power to repel evil to the Master Sword.

Construction
The Wind Temple was built inside one of the land’s high mountains in a similar fashion to its counterpart, the Earth Temple, with one entrance at the ground level and another at the summit. Deep within the heart of the temple was a sandy, cylindrical chamber that housed the shrine meant to be the place for the prayers of the Sage of Wind to be carried to the Golden Goddesses for the power to repel evil to forever remain within the enchanted blade of the Master Sword. A special magical violin was crafted for the Sage of Wind to play his prayer song: Wind God’s Aria. Typically this song was conducted by the sitting ruler of Hyrule, who would use a magical conductor’s baton known as the Wind Waker. As long as a Sage sat in each temple, playing their prayer songs within their shrines to the Golden Goddesses, the Master Sword continued to be blessed with its evil-banishing magic, and so it was for a time following the triumph of the Hero of Time and his subsequent journey through the flows of time.

The Coming of the Hero of Winds
After discovering the fate of the Sage of Earth and installing a new one in her place, Link restores part of the Master Sword’s power. However, he learns of the Wind Temple and travels there next to see what has become of the Sage of Wind. There, he conducts the Wind God’s Aria using the Wind Waker, causing Fado’s spirit to appear before him. The small Kokiri introduces himself and explains that Ganondorf had laid siege to the Wind Temple and caused his death. Showing Link what his violin looks like, he instructs the young Hero to seek out the one that now carries it and to conduct the Wind God’s Aria for that person, which would in turn awaken them to the knowledge that they are to be the next Sage of Wind. Link recognizes the violin as being the one held by the Korok known as Makar and returns to the Forest Haven to find him. Finding the small Korok hiding behind a waterfall practicing with the violin, Link conducts the Wind God’s Aria for him using the Wind Waker, to which Makar then plays along while remarking that the song seemed somehow familiar to him, as though it was something he had forgotten that was now attempting to be remembered. As Makar plays, Fado’s spirit also appears and plays as well before disappearing into Makar’s body. Link then takes the now-awakened Makar to the Wind Temple, where they work together to solve the temple’s mysteries. Unfortunately, Makar is abducted by Floormasters within the temple but is eventually rescued by Link when he discovers the Hookshot after defeating a Wizzrobe within the temple’s depths, using it (alongside his Iron Boots) to free Makar from his cell. The pair then continues on through the vast chambers of the temple until they finally discover the deepest chamber, the chamber of the Sage shrine. Link enters the chamber and confronts Molgera, using the Hookshot and the Master Sword to damage the great sandworm’s weak spot: its tongue. After dealing Molgera its deathblow, Makar enters the shrine and plays the Wind God’s Aria while Link conducts with the Wind Waker, causing Fado’s spirit to reappear one final time and play along with them. This action restores the Master Sword to its full power and finally frees Fado of his obligations, allowing him to finally rest in peace. Makar remains within the temple shrine and sends Link back above ground, now armed with a fully-powered Master Sword, to confront Ganondorf.

Destruction
It is presumed that as with everything else within Hyrule at the time, the Wind Temple is destroyed by the water, along with Hyrule Castle and the Earth Temple. Both the Sage of Earth and Wind escape the destruction, however, with the aid of Tetra’s pirates, and they greet Link and Zelda on the surface of the sea.

Dungeon
The Wind Temple appears to be a forest-themed dungeon in addition to its wind-related theme. Makar, the Sage of Wind, is himself a forest-dwelling creature (as was his predecessor, Fado), and his planting of small trees throughout the temple only adds to the forest-related atmosphere of the temple. The dungeon is filled with various traps (Spike Traps amongst them) and wind-related puzzles. The dungeon's primary chamber is a long, cylindrical shaft several stories tall that extends deep down into the temple's depths and has small sections that branch off the main shaft, at the bottom of which is a large propelling fan that periodically turns on and off after being reactivated. This is not too much unlike the Water Temple of Ocarina of Time in its makeup, as that temple also had a large central shaft-like cavern with the other areas of the temple branching off of it. Link makes very good use of several tools within this temple, primarily the Hookshot, the Iron Boots, and the Deku Leaf. The Command Melody is also heavily used in this dungeon to take control of Makar, who can reach some locations that Link himself would otherwise find difficult to reach. Within the dungeon, Link must face a Wizzrobe as a mini-boss in order to claim the dungeon's treasure, the Hookshot. Meanwhile, in the deepest recesses of the temple's depths, Link must face the great sandworm Molgera as the temple's boss, a battle which requires extensive use of the Hookshot in order to exploit Molgera's vulnerable tongue.

Enemies
Armos Knights Floormasters Keese Peahats Spike Traps Stalfos Wizzrobes

Trivia

 * While not located in the Forest Haven, the Wind Temple has prevailing forest themes (its sage is a forest character.) The Forest Temple in Ocarina of Time was originally intended to be the Wind Temple before it was changed. This is likely the reason the Wind Temple is associated with the forest.
 * The music in the temple has a resemblance to that of Faron Woods.
 * In Phantom Hourglass, a similarly-named dungeon called the Temple of Wind makes an appearance. This also happened to the Fire Temple with the Temple of Fire.
 * The Earth and Wind Temples cover the elements not already represented by the temples in Ocarina of Time, though they are more analogous to "shadow-themed" and "spirit-themed" levels in comparison.
 * This is the only dungeon in the game without new enemies, with the exception of the high-tier sub-boss Wizrobe. The rest of the enemies come from Dragon Roost Cavern, Forest Haven, Tower of the Gods and Earth Temple.

Theories

 * It is hinted by both Tingle and Makar that this Temple is dedicated to the Goddess of Wind, who is speculated to be Farore.
 * Due to their similar haircuts, identical races, and their common status of Sage, it has been theorized by some that Fado, the Sage of Wind, is a descendant or relative of Saria, the Sage of Forest in Ocarina of Time; This has not been confirmed by Nintendo or associates however.