Gerudo Desert


 * This article refers to the location in Twilight Princess. For the desert containing Gerudos in Ocarina of Time, see Haunted Wasteland and Desert Colossus.

The Gerudo Desert is a desert in Hyrule featured in Twilight Princess and Link's Crossbow Training. In Twilight Princess, the desert is home to the Arbiter's Grounds, which can be found up north.

Twilight Princess
The Gerudo Desert is found in the Desert Province, located in the corner of Hyrule. The Gerudo Desert is completely cut off from the rest of Hyrule after being abandoned years ago. It can first only be reached by being shot out of Fyer's cannon, and can only be left by warping out of it. Even though the game takes place after Ocarina of Time, the Gerudo tribe is nowhere to be seen in this desert. The Gerudo Desert is uninhabited by people and has instead been overrun by Bulblins.

According to Auru, the desert once held a "prison to hold the worst criminals" of Hyrule. The desert covers a vast territory, but most of its surface is a barren wasteland with no signs of life other than some monsters like Moldorms, Shadow Beasts, Bulblins and Leevers. It also has long endless holes within its surface which makes it harder to move faster through the desert. The Gerudo Desert has only two significant locations: Gerudo Mesa and Arbiter's Grounds. On the top of Arbiter's Grounds lies the Mirror Chamber, which houses the Mirror of Twilight- the only way to access the Twilight Realm. The Mirror of Twilight can create a portal inside a gigantic rock to the Palace of Twilight. The mirror was shattered into 4 pieces by Zant but later was recovered by Link and Midna. After the defeat of Ganondorf, Midna (in her true form) departs to the Twilight Palace and completely shatters the mirror. The Gerudo Mesa is the other important location in the Gerudo Desert. The Cave of Ordeals, a large optional dungeon, is located within the mesa.

Link's Crossbow Training
The Gerudo Desert serves as the backdrop for two fixed stance, enemy slaughtering scenarios (defender mode) in Link's Crossbow Training. Bonus point items are much less common in this barren setting. The first appearance, during Stage 1, Link faces a constant onslaught of Stalfos rising from the sand. The skeletal warriors approach slowly and several Automatic Crossbow upgrades can be obtained by killing enemies glowing green.

The second appearance in Stage 5, seems exactly the same with different enemies. Moldorms will circle Link, mostly underground, jumping occasionally, which is the opportunity to shoot them. Between swarms of Moldorms, a group of Leevers will encircle Link before attacking.

Theory
In the Gerudo Desert from Twilight Princess, it should be noted, however, that a mesa can be seen far to the south of the "playable" desert area. This mesa resembles the Spirit Temple as seen from the Gerudo Fortress in Ocarina of Time. However, there is also a strong possibility that the Arbiter's Grounds and the Spirit Temple are the one and same due to their identical locations, the presence of the Gerudo Goddess of the Sand, and the presence of a large round mirror in Ocarina of Time that greatly resembles the Mirror of Twilight (the main mirror that reflects the light Link needs to shatter the statue's face and enter Twinrova's chamber). The presence of this mirror, along with the Spirit Temple's general theme of mirrors seems to indicate a possible connection since the Arbiter's Grounds was most famous for the Mirror of Twilight.

Another theory is that the Arbiter grounds is part of the Spirit Temple not accessed during Ocarina of Time. The The Spirit Temple was in fact embedded in a wall of a Mesa while the Arbiter grounds is out in the open so my theory is at one point between the two games, an earthquake of great magnitude took place and caused the forming of the many canyons and trenches across the kingdom of Hyrule. This also caused the Gerudo Vally to be swallowed up by the mountains thus cutting off the desert from the rest of Hyrule. This could have caused the Mesa to cave in and collapse destroying the greater parts of the temple while exposing the hidden inner sanctum where the mirror stood when it was not lowered. When the sages then discovered this they converted what was left into the Arbiter Grounds to use as a prison for Hyrules worst criminals. Several valid points to this theory are avalible. The first is as stated above the mirror which is more then likely the Mirror of Twilight. The mystical force of the Mirror would preserve itself by the will of the Goddesses no doubt since it was proven only those of the true blood of the Twili Royal Family, or of the Cursed Cycle could shatter the mirror, though the connection to the the curse may have more to do with the Triforce. The second fact is the central area of the Arbiter grounds where the Mirror of Twilight stands, it appears to be simular to the room link first sees the large mirror on before lowering it. It is possible since the mirror was lowered by Adult Link the collapse of the Spirit Temple only caused the roof to fall down leaving the mirror unharmed. The final thing that supports this theory is the location of the Goddess Statue which is outside where the Mirror sits, meaning its possible the mirror at some point was moved from its original position.

Trivia

 * The Hylian Typography on the map of Hyrule lists the Gerudo Desert under the name Great Desert.
 * In Four Swords Adventures, the Gerudo tribe makes another appearance, but instead of being in the Gerudo Desert, they appear in the Desert of Doubt.
 * Gerudo Dragonflies can be found in Lanayru Desert, referencing Gerudo Desert and the Gerudo people. It should be noted that the term has also been translated as "Geld" when referring to sand-based creatures such as the Geldarm, and has such been in use ever since The Adventure of Link, long before the Gerudo people appeared in the series.