Goron Mines

"Is this a mine or a volcano? Are you telling me the Gorons come in and out of here like it's no big deal?"

- Midna

Goron Mines is the second dungeon of Twilight Princess. Link enters the mines through a passage in Death Mountain, which he can access after defeating Gor Coron in a sumo match. The inside of the mines is filled with lava and flame geysers; to avoid them, Link has to use his Iron Boots to stick to magnetized platforms.

Link must seek out the three remaining Goron Elders, Gor Amoto, Gor Ebizo, and Gor Liggs in order to piece together a key to get into the boss' lair. The dungeon is two floors and contains many large rooms, some with walkways over massive pools of lava. The mini-boss guarding the Hero's Bow is a Goron Guardian. The dungeon's main boss is the Goron Patriarch Darbus, who was transformed into the Twilit Igniter Fyrus.

Frequently-encountered enemies include Torch Slugs, Dodongo, and Beamos. Link will also encounter several Bulblins, which wield bows or clubs.

The Goron Mines also are notable for featuring what's possibly an Hylian advancement in terms of technology, mainly thanks to the complex machines that operate to keep the place functional, including electromagnets, elevators and minecarts; Link can take advantage of the machinery available to explore the dungeon. However, whether these mines previously used to be either Dodongo's Cavern or Fire Temple, both from Ocarina of Time, is a mystery. Like Dodongo's Cavern, it's a long and extensive cave with areas full of lava, it has two floors and it's populated by some Dodongo creatures. Additionally, Link does not need to worry about the temperature, despite the hot enviroment.

On similarities with the Fire Temple, it is located inside the Death Mountain, it's populated by Gorons and some rooms have tall fences made of metal bars. There is also a secret-wise reference to the aforementioned Fire Temple. Within Ocarina of Time's said temple, there was a certain room which could only be reached by returning to the Fire Temple and using the Scarecrow's Song. Although it is not required to actually get to the room, the Longshot is required to obtain the treasure within. In Twilight Princess's Goron Mines, the room with water at the bottom which contains multiple Bulblin archers also contains a Treasure Chest which can only be reached after retrieving the Clawshot from the Lakebed Temple. However, instead of containing something very rare like a silver rupee, it contains a mere purple rupee.

Trivia

 * The dungeon's music may contain an extract of the Goron Lullaby from Majora's Mask in the background.


 * This is the only dungeon, in the game, whose main treasure item is not obtained in the same room where the sub-boss is found. The Hero's Bow is collected one room after the battle arena where Dangoro fights Link.


 * The Hero's Bow is theorized by some to be the Hero's Bow from Majora's Mask. Upon returning from his quest in Termina, Link would have brought the Bow he found in the Woodfall Temple to Hyrule.


 * There is a hidden area along the eastern cliff wall just to the north of the Bridge of Eldin that is extremely similar in design to the Goron Mines.