Temple of Time


 * This article is about the temple located in Hyrule. For the temple located in the Sacred Realm, see the Temple of Light.

The Temple of Time is the name shared by two unrelated temples in the Zelda series: one appearing in Skyward Sword, while the other in Ocarina of Time and Twilight Princess. Part of the Temple of Time, which appears in Twilight Princess, serves as a dungeon in the game.

History
The original Temple of Time in the Lanayru Province held one of the two Gates of Time, alongside the Sealed Temple. However, while using the Gate to hide Zelda from Ghirahim, Impa blew up the gate and much of the temple so that the demon lord could not follow.

Much later, in an age of chaos many years after the events of Skyward Sword, its name was given to a new temple built by Rauru at the same location where the Sealed Temple once stood, deep within the Faron Woods. This new temple was the sanctified gateway between Hyrule and the Sacred Realm, and its purpose was to protect that gateway, and thus the Triforce, from evildoers who would seek to misuse it. Inside the Temple of Time is a chamber that is home to the Master Sword and the Pedestal of Time; however, the entrance to this chamber is sealed by the Door of Time. When the Master Sword was infused into the Pedestal of Time, it sealed that gateway in the hopes of preventing all but the most worthy to reach the Sacred Realm, where the sacred Triforce lies within the Temple of Light.

It is said that only the Hero of Time may enter the secret chambers of the temple and draw the Master Sword. If the Hero of Time withdraws the Master Sword from its pedestal, it will once again open the portal to the Sacred Realm, granting access to the Temple of Light.

Within the temple stands a sacred altar which bears inscribed instructions to opening the Door of Time, which leads to the chamber of the Master Sword. The inscription reads that the person needs to have possession of all three Spiritual Stones, stand with the Ocarina of Time, and play the Song of Time.

By the time of Twilight Princess, which takes place hundreds of years after the events of Ocarina of Time, during the Era of Twilight, the Temple of Time has deteriorated over the course of the years. The remains of the temple, unlike in Ocarina of Time, cannot be easily reached by the main public since it is now located deep within the Sacred Grove. The only thing that remains in place is the Pedestal of Time, where the Master Sword rests.

However, there is a door which, when entered, allows Link to be transported years back to the time before the Temple of Time fell into ruins. Here, the Temple of Time has been slightly remodeled, as there are now two tall statues standing right next to the entrance to the chamber of the Master Sword. The most notable difference is that the altar for the Spiritual Stones is missing, as well as the Door of Time. If the Pedestal of Time is briefly struck with the Master Sword, it will reveal a staircase leading up to a whole new area within the Temple of Time. This new area acts as a dungeon.

Door of Time
The Door of Time, located within the Temple of Time, is the powerful barrier that blocks access to the Pedestal of Time. The Master Sword, which is the key to entering the Sacred Realm, rests in this pedestal.

The door can only be opened by bringing together three Spiritual Stones: the Kokiri's Emerald, the Goron's Ruby, and the Zora's Sapphire. When these three stones are brought together and the Song of Time is played with the Ocarina of Time at the altar, the door slides open and the path to the legendary blade is revealed.

According to Rauru, the Door of Time is, effectively, an obstacle to the Sacred Realm put in place when the Triforce was sealed away in the Temple of Light. At the end of Ocarina of Time, after Link and Princess Zelda seal away Ganondorf in the void of the Evil Realm, Princess Zelda asks that Link return the Master Sword to its pedestal and close the Door of Time, at which point the "road between times will be closed."

The Door of Time possibly made another appearance in Twilight Princess. At the entrance to the ruined temple, there is a single set of stone doors. When translated from ancient Hylian, the inscription upon them reads "Time Door." The mystical portal contained within these doors became the means through which the Link of Twilight Princess was able to travel back in time to visit the Temple of Time fully intact, as it stood in the days of his forbearer.

However, there is room for doubt that the doors portrayed in Twilight Princess are not in fact the same as the actual "Door of Time" of Ocarina of Time. One thing to take into consideration is the fact that the "Time Door" of Twilight Princess is located on the outer wall of the Temple of Time, the same place where one would enter the temple in Ocarina of Time but not where the chamber containing the Master Sword was entered - that more corresponds to the doorway that the Guardians of the Sacred Grove protect in Twilight Princess. However, the Door of Time was in two pieces in Ocarina of Time, unlike the door protected by the stone Guardians, which is one solid piece of stone that rose upward rather than parting into two pieces as the Door of Time did in Ocarina of Time. The "Time Door" is in two pieces, and thus more closely matches the physical appearance of the Door of Time. This may possibly be explained if the Door of Time was perhaps moved from its original place and refashioned to be the main door to the Temple of Time following the end of Ocarina of Time (the main door to the temple in Ocarina of Time was wood, not stone, giving further rise to the possibility that the Door of Time could have been moved).

Both the "Time Door" as well as the door protected by the Guardians are also of identical shape, which means that the Door of Time could easily have once occupied the doorway leading to the Chamber of the Master Sword. If the "Time Door" is in fact the Door of Time itself, it would give new meaning to its name as the "Time Door" exhibits time travel powers. One way or the other however, the Door of Time logically made another appearance, either as the "Time Door" or the door guarded by the statue guardians.

Ocarina of Time
In Ocarina of Time, the Temple of Time is located in a secluded area of Hyrule Castle Town, making it easily accessible to the public.

After collecting the three Spiritual Stones and finding the Ocarina of Time, Link travels to the Temple of Time to acquire the Master Sword and enter the Sacred Realm in order to obtain the Triforce before Ganondorf. However, his spirit is unexpectedly sealed away for seven years by the Master Sword, for Link was not yet old enough to become the Hero of Time. When he finally awakens, Rauru the sage explains Hyrule's dire situation to Link, gives him the Light Medallion, and charges him with the task of awakening the other sages to have the enough power to defeat Ganondorf and save Hyrule.

In order to awaken all of the Sages, Link must keep returning to the Temple of Time to use the Pedestal of Time and travel in time back and forth seven years. To help him with this, Sheik teaches the young hero the "Prelude of Light", a melody that Link can play on his ocarina to return to the Temple of Time any time he wishes.

Rauru advises Link to go to the Temple of Time and meet with "the one" who is waiting for the young hero in the Temple of Time. Here, Link meets Sheik, who reveals himself to be Princess Zelda as well as the seventh Sage. After explaining her motives, the princess asks for Link's help one last time to defeat Ganondorf and grants him the Light Arrow, the only weapon that can penetrate the Evil King's defenses.

Entrance to the Temple
Located in the Sacred Grove of the Faron Province, the temple first appears as unidentifiable ruins guarded by stone statues. When Link briefly thrusts the Master Sword into the Pedestal of Time in the Sacred Grove, a statue that was blocking a door is immediately removed. Entering this door allows Link to explore the temple before it fell into ruin. In the past, the Temple of Time is virtually identical to how it appears in Ocarina of Time, with the exception of the missing Spiritual Stones. The window in the Chamber of the Master Sword may be used to access a previously hidden part of the temple that appears almost entirely separate from Hyrule itself when the Master Sword is thrust into the Pedestal of Time. By stepping out of the temple doors, Link can travel back into the present.

The music inside the entrance hall is the same music as the Ocarina of Time version.

Themes and Navigation
Accessible only in the past, Link must traverse the private chambers of the Temple of Time that only the Hero chosen by the Master Sword is granted access to in order to obtain a shard of the Mirror of Twilight.

The Temple of Time has eight floors, all leading upward, and contains many windows in its upper levels showing light shining through from outside. Some enemies like statues, such as a Blade Trap or a Beamos, look more elegant and sleek in the Temple of Time than anywhere else. The main item to be obtained inside is the Dominion Rod, an ancient mystical rod used to animate and control statues. This is acquired after defeating the temple's mini-boss, a Darknut. The temple has a more archaic style than in Ocarina of Time, and its redesign reflects the redesign in the Master Sword.

Skyward Sword
An ancient Temple of Time that existed during the Era of the Goddess Hylia and the Sky Era appears in the northwestern section of the Lanayru Desert. It is accessible after completing the Lanayru Mining Facility dungeon. When Link first arrives at this temple, he finds Zelda and Impa at a Gate of Time. Ghirahim bursts in on the reunion, but is held at bay by Impa while Zelda throws the Goddess's Harp to Link. Zelda and Impa escape through the Gate and Impa uses a magical explosive to permanently destroy the Gate. The temple differs from its successor because it is an open air courtyard and is located in the desert. At the western edge of this temple is a monumental stone of the Hylian Crest.

Link's Crossbow Training
The Temple of Time appears in two stages of Link's Crossbow Training. The first appearance in Stage 7 is a Ranger Mode Level in which Link's objective is to tour the temple and slay the Lizalfos. Only a few rooms and hallways of the Temple of Time are used in this game. In addition the Lizalfos, Keese, and Beamos will also be found attacking Link.

The second appearance of the temple, in Stage 8, takes place in a single room within. In this room, Link battles a Darknut.

Trivia

 * The background music of the Temple of Time is the Song of Time.
 * If the inscription on the Pedestal of Time holding the Master Sword is translated from Hylian, it reads "Master Sword."
 * Likewise, the door that Link steps through to find the Temple of Time in the past bears an inscription that reads "Time Door."
 * In Twilight Princess, there are inscriptions on the wall just past the statues in the entrance of the Temple of Time which read "stone statue",  "sanctuary",  "master sword", and  "copy rod" (referring to the Dominion Rod, the dungeon's treasure, and the way in which it causes statues to imitate Link's actions). These words are repeated over and over on that wall, making it look like it contains more that it really does.
 * The 8th floor of the dungeon bears a striking resemblance to the Pantheon in Rome.
 * Tiles in the dungeon depict the Light Medallion from Ocarina of Time.
 * While the Master Sword and the Pedestal of Time make an appearance in The Wind Waker, they are found in Hyrule Castle instead of the Temple of Time.
 * It is possible to skip the Temple of Time in Twilight Princess and still be able to complete the Mirror of Twilight.
 * The Tower of the Gods from The Wind Waker has similarities to the Temple of Time, such as the fact that they are both located in close proximity Hyrule Castle, have similar music, statues which Link can control, numerous Beamos and Armos, and also the fact that the mini-boss in each temple is a Darknut, and there is also a room in each temple with a balance scale that requires the weight of statues to manipulate.
 * The Temple of Time is the only dungeon in the game whose mini-boss and (to a lesser extent) boss are recurring: The Darknut appeared in several of the previous installments, and Armogohma is based on the also veteran Gohma.

Temple of Time/Light Temple
The Light Temple, located in the Sacred Realm, is unable to be fully explored in Ocarina of Time, though it is mentioned by Rauru and visited by the Hero of Time each time he frees one of the Seven Sages, in which he only visits the Chamber of Sages. The Temple of Time in Twilight Princess contains an entire dungeon beyond the window in the Chamber of the Master Sword, seemingly leading to a place completely separate from Hyrule. The dungeon may be the unexplored areas of the Light Temple outside the Chamber of Sages.