Legend of Zelda: The Twilight Princess
Walkthrough — XVI. Storming Hyrule Castle and the Final Battle

From the initial courtyard head east to the door on the northeast wall. Along the way you'll be ambushed by a mass of Bokoblins and two Rocs. Take the group out the lower the energy fence that surrounds you and continue north through the door.

The scene will of course repeat itself further along in the next area, so rinse and repeat and take out the multitude of Bokoblins that assail you. The trick is to keep moving and slash wildly next facing one side, because they will try to surround you. Once the energy fence is down, round the wall to the northeast corner where a pull chain lies next to a gate. Pull it to open the gate and head through there.

You'll be confronted by the big lug that's been shadowing you at key parts of the game (who will, and as a result creeping out Midna, talk). Defeat him with the tried and true let-it-attack strategy, as its axe will get stuck in the grab with each swipe. Use that chance to get a few jumping slashes and other varieties of attacks in. once you defeat it, the big goblin will give you its keep and ride off on the Boar.

Double back to the central courtyard and head west this time. At the door in the northwest corner of the courtyard you'll get penned in again with some Bokoblins. As before, dispatch them all (though it may be wise not to Z-target, gives your swings a wider arc and thus they do more damage) and head through the door. Here you'll come upon a goblin camp that resembles the one we wrecked up something awful in the desert. Much the same, take out the archers and Bokoblins, and then grab a nearby hog and use it to smash through the barriers and towers, round the room along the west wall, and north through two more towers to an area with several pillars. Dismount the hog and use the Boomerang to activate each fan on top of the pillars to open the gate on the north wall. Pass through the gate and grab the Dungeon Map from the chest. Then, go back to pillars, switch to Wolf form and use your senses to spot a dig spot along the wall. Dig through to emerge on the other side of the wall.

In the Castle graveyard, first things first, dispatch the Stalfos that roam the graveyard (so they're not a headache later). Then, switch to Wolf form and use your senses to spot a circle of dead soldiers circling a rock under a tree in the northwest corner of the cemetery. Blow open the rock and step on the button inside to open the gate on the west room. Get in there and fill your lamp with oil and plunder the chests for a nice chunk of change (100+ Rupees). Then, light the torch to make the rain stop. Quickly roll across the graveyard to the gated room on the opposite side. Light the two torches there (if it's raining, the fire will go out) to open the gate.

Now, equip the Dominion Rod and guide each owl to the gap in the ground on the east wall. Once both are in their place, climb up the blocks on the south wall and cross the owls to the ledge above where a small key awaits in a chest.

Back track to the large central and unlock the front door. Immediately upon setting foot inside, you'll be set upon by Dinolfos and Bokoblins. Take out the lot of them, and climb the steps and use the Claw-shot on a chandelier to get up to the chest that just materialized. Claim the Compass from inside the chest, and then use the Claw-shot to make your way to the balcony east of your current position. Head through the door there to enter a room with an Iron Knuckle staring at you. Defeat it like you have before (let it strike and then go in for the kill) and then move over to behind the ledge sticking out of the north half of the floor. Use the Boomerang to put out the lone flame on the east portion of the room and block you're standing on will rise, letting you get a purple Rupee from the chest and access the rest of 2F.

Head east down the hallway and through the door. In the next room, switch to Wolf form to see a swarm of ghostly soldiers pointing at a painting. Switch back to Link and shoot the painting with a Bomb Arrow to open the way south. Follow through the door.

In this room you'll now face two Iron Knuckles. While that may seem impossible, it's really not. Just follow the strategy and they'll be down for the count in no time. Once that's done, head through the door on the southeast wall.

Back outside, head straight southeast towards the tower to trigger a cut scene. Apparently the situation was dire enough to warrant the intervention of Hyrule's secret society. Well, glad to see they're keeping busy. Nevertheless, continue on your path to grab the Big Key from the chest ahead. Then, run in and arc west and south to the other tower. You'll be attacked by a Dragon Knight (an easy kill) with a small key beyond as your reward. Now, go to the door on the front face of the central building and use a small key to enter.

For the next area, you'll need to climb the stairs up three flights until you reach the big door, encountering enemies at each landing. The first staircase is traversed by simple jumping, the second by using the Claw-shot to latch onto the grills covering the torches, and the third with the Spinner on the wall rails. At the Big key, turn to the right and open the locked door to find a delicious treasure room. Inside there'll be in a series of chests arrows, bombs, pumpkin seeds, and 466 Rupees. (Wow!)

Anyways, once you've finished cleaning out the place, the time has come to face the moment you've been waiting for. Go through the Big Door and once at the summit of the castle, enter the throne room.

BOSS: Ganon

Phase 1 – Puppet Zelda

This first phase is reminiscent of the first Ganondorf phase from Ocarina of Time. Keep a safe distance from “Zelda” while waiting for “her” to summon an energy ball. She'll throw it and you should quickly bat it back with a vertical chop. Back and forth you'll go, and eventually her grip will slip and the energy ball will hit her. Other attacks she'll pull are to form a massive Triforce on the floor. If you see that, run off of it, because shortly it will burn with electricity and you'll get hurt. Her third attack possibility is to charge at you with her sword in hand. After three hits from the energy attack, Midna will drive Ganondorf from Zelda and Phase 2 will begin.

Phase 2 – Dark Beast, Ganon

This is a fun round, sort of. The first round or two of this involve following the portals that Ganon can possibly charge out of until one turns blue. When it does, Ganon will quickly run out from it, and you must shoot him in the face with an arrow. Quickly run to his side, and he'll trip and slide across the floor. Run up to his stomach (where he still bears the wound from being stabbed by the Sages' light sword) and slash away. Keep in mind sometimes, Ganon will run out of the portal, but them jump to the ceiling and possibly jump onto you, so watch for shadows if he does jump away. Nevertheless, after one more round of that, Ganon will wise up and stop charging human Link head on, instead just jumping and dropping on him.

So, per Midna's suggestion, switch to Wolf Link form. Wait for Ganon to exit the portal (he'll charge if you're in Wolf form) and grab his horns with the A button (and hold—just like Goat wrangling) and then quickly move the joystick from left to right to toss Ganon on his side. Run up to his wound and chomp away. Three more rounds of that or so and it's on to a sweet cut scene and Phase 3.

Phase 3 – Horse Chase

This is pretty tricky if you're not good with horse riding. The objective is to follow Ganondorf on horseback, keeping pace with boosts and giving Zelda enough time to fire a light arrow at him. If Ganondorf is hit by an arrow, he'll slow down, and drop his defenses, let's you get a hit in. Be careful, as he'll summon a ghost cavalry contingent to shoot past you, and if one makes content you'll be thrown from Epona and have to catch up to Ganondorf again. After four hits or so it'll be time for Phase 4.

Phase 4 – Duel

I'm just going to say this now: this is the best Zelda boss fight ever. Savor it, because you're really not in any mortal danger. Ganondorf only does half a heart's worth of damage with most attacks, and you're surrounded by skulls on the ground with two fairies tucked away in each.

Ganondorf's a masterful swordsman, and is not easily hit. The trick is, much like with the Iron Knuckles, to let him make the first move, and use the exposure he leaves himself in with each sword swipe to circle behind him and land a few strikes. It'll take a while, but as long as you don't make the mistake of jump striking him (however, a good combo is to jump strike, roll from his counter, jump strike again, and roll again, because by then he'll leave a huge hole in his defenses) you'll eventually win. Once he's taken enough licks, a strong enough attack will knock him to the ground and give you the chance to land an Ending Blow.