Great Palace

The Great Palace is the final dungeon of and the resting place of the Triforce of Courage. Link seeks to enter the palace to claim the relic and unite it with its two counterparts, the Triforce of Power and the Triforce of Wisdom, in order to awaken a cursed Princess Zelda from an eternal slumber cast upon her an age before by an evil magician. After succeeding in lifting the "Binding Force" cast over the Valley of Death in the central section of Hyrule by restoring six crystals to their respective statues in six other palaces found across the land; Link is able to enter the palace in search of the final Triforce piece. Within the walls of the immense palace, Link is faced with his greatest challenges yet from some of the fiercest enemies he has encountered such as the very powerful guardian of the palace, the mighty Thunderbird, and shortly thereafter faces his own shadow to win possession of the Triforce of Courage from an old man that resides in the palace, guarding the relic until a worthy person came to claim it.

History
The origins of the Great Palace are unclear, such as who built it or when it was built exactly. The palace is introduced in the backstory of The Adventure of Link, which reveals that there was once a wise King of Hyrule that ruled over a golden age for the kingdom of Hyrule with the united Triforce at his command. However, as his time began to draw to a close, he began to arbitrate as to what to do with the Triforce once his death came. Deciding that no worthy individual (not even his own son) existed to inherit the full Triforce and thus keep it from bringing evil upon Hyrule, the King decided to split the relic up into its three component pieces, leaving the Triforce of Power and the Triforce of Wisdom within the kingdom. The Triforce of Courage, however, was spirited away by the King, to be concealed deep within the heart of an immense structure known as the Great Palace, located at the head of the Valley of Death in Eastern Hyrule. The King crafted both a guardian for the palace as well as a final test for the one that would enter the palace in search of the missing piece of the Triforce. Here the relic would remain, resting in the deepest sanctum of the palace, awaiting the time when a worthy person would come in search of it.

An age after the King of Hyrule hid the Triforce of Courage deep within the Great Palace, the young hero known as Link basked in the wake of his triumph over the evil Ganon several seasons before in The Legend of Zelda when suddenly, on his sixteenth birthday, the symbol of the Triforce appeared on the back of his hand. Little did he realize that this was the result of a spell the King had cast over Hyrule long ago, which would cause the symbol of the Triforce to appear on the hand of a courageous individual that had proven their courage and worthiness, marking them as the King's intended successor as the possessor of the united Triforce. Puzzled and shaken by the symbol's meaning, Link consulted the nursemaid of Princess Zelda, Impa, about its meaning. Impa immediately realized the vast importance of this symbol, as her family had kept watch for this special individual for generations. After regaining her composure from her initial shock at the sight of the symbol on Link's hand, Impa immediately took Link to the North Castle.

Impa took Link to the so-called "Door That Does Not Open" and pressed the symbol on Link's hand upon the door, causing its lock to fall open and grant entry to the chamber beyond. Inside, Link saw a beautiful young woman sleeping peacefully upon an altar in the center of the chamber. Impa began to related to Link the "Legend of Zelda" passed down through the generations. This legend stated that after the King concealed the Triforce of Courage within the Great Palace, he confided what he had done to his daughter, Princess Zelda, but chose not to tell his son, as he had judged him unworthy of possessing the entire Triforce. Soon after the King's death, the Prince of Hyrule ascended to Hyrule's throne but was dismayed and angered to see that he would only inherit the Triforce in part, causing him to search far and wide for the missing piece, though this search proved fruitless. It was then that a magician close to the King brought some unexpected news to the prince, revealing that Princess Zelda knew a secret regarding the missing piece of the Triforce. The prince immediately confronted his sister about the Triforce, but she refused to tell him anything. The magician then threatened to place Zelda in an eternal slumber if she did not speak, but still she said nothing. Though the prince tried to stop him, the magician cast the powerful spell upon Zelda and died from the magical backlash from the spell. In his grief, the prince laid his sister to rest in the North Castle, hoping that she would one day come back to life. He also decreed that in honor of his fallen sister, every female member of the Royal Family of Hyrule would henceforth bear the name of Zelda.

Link learned that the only thing powerful enough to break the magician's curse on Princess Zelda was the united Triforce. Impa then handed Link a chest bearing the symbol of the Triforce and containing an ancient scroll and six mysterious crystals. Link found that he could read the ancient handwriting of the King to his surprise, and discovered that the Triforce of Courage even now lay in the depths of the Great Palace, awaiting a worthy person to come and claim it. In order to reach the Great Palace however, Link learned he would have to remove the "Binding Force" cast over the entire Valley of Death by the King. The only way to do that would be to restore each of the crystals to their respective statues deep within the six other palaces located all around the continent of Hyrule. With great resolve and courage, Link set out from the North Castle to seek out each of these palaces, and after much adventuring and toil, he was able to successfully restore all of the crystals to their proper places, causing the Binding Force to dissipate and grant him access to the dangerous Valley of Death. After fighting his way through the hostile caverns and lava pits of the Valley of Death, Link finally reached the Great Palace atop the valley.

Within the walls of the immense palace, Link faced the most difficult challenge he had ever faced, as the enemies found within were far stronger than anything he had yet encountered on his journey. Braving the multiple abysses, pits of lava, and the labyrinth-like halls of the palace that were filled with enemies, Link fought his way through the fortress, extending several stories beneath the ground as he descended in search of that which he sought to obtain. Eventually, the young hero reached a large chamber that preceded the final chamber of the palace. Looking around the chamber, Link was surprised to see a great bird-like creature, the mighty Thunderbird, descend from the air and begin to assault him with aerial attacks and fireball attacks. As this creature appeared immune to danger in its present form, Link guessed that magic could perhaps help him determine the palace guardian's weakness, and so he cast the powerful Thunder Spell, causing the creature's color to change abruptly as well as causing its face to appear. The hero began to finally inflict damage upon the creature by slashing at its face. As the battle raged on, the Thunderbird began to attack with increased speed and ferocity. Finally however, Link delivered the death blow to the creature, causing it to disintegrate into nothingness and leave behind the key to the final chamber of the palace.

Using the key left behind by the Thunderbird, Link proceeded to unlock the door to the final chamber of the Great Palace, the chamber of the Triforce of Courage. Within this chamber, Link saw an old man guarding the final Triforce piece and began toward him to claim it. However, the room suddenly darkened, and something quite unexpected happened: Link's shadow abruptly came to life and rose up, standing between the hero and his prize. Realizing this was his true, final test of his worth, Link prepared for his toughest battle yet, a battle against a part of himself. The shadow was able to mimic almost every move Link made, and it was capable of countering almost all of them in turn. Eventually however, Link came to realize that the shadow's weakness was jumping, and so made to exploit this weakness, inflicting damage upon the dark manifestation of himself. After exploiting this weakness enough, the shadow fell back to its normal place in Link's wake, leaving the hero's path cleared to his final goal. Proceeding forward, Link was awarded the final Triforce piece for his extraordinary effort in conquering the trials of the Great Palace. After returning to the North Castle and reuniting the lost piece with its counterparts, Link was successfully able to rouse the ancient Princess Zelda at long last.

Design
The Great Palace utterly dwarfs the size of any dungeon Link has seen throughout his entire adventure (and even his previous adventure for that matter). With its winding passageways, multiple levels and treacherous lava pits, it truly proves to be the ultimate test of the hero's wit and his worthiness to take possession of the Triforce of Courage. The palace was built using cream-colored blocks and pillars, as well as cream-colored blocks that were meant to obstruct passage to its inner sanctums that could be destroyed with a mere swipe of Link's sword. The palace was built into the head of the Valley of Death and extends several stories beneath the surface, necessitating the use of several elevators at times to travel to the deepest parts of the palace where its biggest challenges await. Many dissolving bridges are shown to have been built across the many lava pits within the palace as well, to test the one's speed an endurance to reach the other side before the bridge fully collapses from beneath them. It appears to be semi-decorated on the interior as well, as many decorative curtains and statues appear within the palace's walls. It is also possible to start from the entrance of the Great Palace if Link is killed by pushing "Continue", making it so he does not have to trek back through the difficult terrain to reach the Great Palace if he continues.

Enemies

 * Bots (Strengthened)
 * Bubbles (Small and Large)
 * Red Ropes
 * Yellow Ras
 * Giant Bots
 * Firebirds
 * Fokka

Trivia

 * Super Smash Bros. Brawl features a remixed version of this dungeon's background theme.
 * This is the only dungeon in the game Link finds when it's night.