The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time/Forest Temple

A Changed Forest
Upon entering the Kokiri Forest, you should find that it is severely overrun with monsters. Because of this, the children have barricaded themselves in their homes. Head into the Lost Woods. On your way to the Sacred Forest Meadow, you should eventually find Mido blocking your path. Play Saria's Song for him. He will be convinced that you are a friend of Saria's, and he will let you pass. If you play the song to hear Saria, she will tell you she is in the Forest Temple and needs your help.

Remember the Song
If you decided to go to Lake Hylia as a child and play a song to the scarecrow Bonooru, go back to Lake Hylia and play it again. Bonooru will remember it and you will have the Scarecrow's Song  to play. Now the wandering scarecrow Pierre will appear if he hears your song in some places. He will become a stationary target that can be latched onto with the Hookshot. If Navi flys to a far away spot, try playing the song. You can actually get to places faster this way. It even lets you skip the maze in the Sacred Forest Meadow if you want to.

Sacred Forest Meadow
Instead of Mad Scrubs populating the area, there are Moblin Guards, monstrous, dog-like guards patrolling the corridors. If they see you, they will ram you into the wall. This time, there is no top-down view when navigating the area. To safely traverse the meadow, wait for a guard to pass you or change direction. When it does, sneak up behind it and use the Hookshot to kill it. If you are an advanced player, use the walking sideways technique (which Navi describes to you before navigating the meadow) to check to see if it is safe to progress though a certain spot. If you play the Scarecrow's Song, you can bypass the maze by using the Hookshot on Pierre at the start. When you finish navigating the maze, you will find a much larger guard, a Club Moblin, much more menacing because it holds a club. He will ram his weapon into the ground to send a vibration that will knock you down and injure you. Run straight towards him, but dodge the tremors that he sends. When you are behind him, attack him with your sword three times to receive a lot of Rupees upon his defeat.

At the end of the meadow, there is a silence as Link walks to the tree stump where Saria sat, only to find that she isn't there. Sheik then appears out of nowhere. He teaches Link a melody that will transport the player to the Forest Temple entrance at any given time: The Minuet of Forest.

The Minuet of Forest 

For now, Sheik will use a Deku Nut to dissapear, but not for good, because for the rest of your quest, every time you are about to enter a new temple, Sheik will appear to teach you a song that will lead you to its entrance. The spot you will be transported to is a fairly large white platform with a marking of the Sage Medallion in the center. For instance, the large, white platform at the entrance to the Forest Temple is where you will be transported if you play the Minuet of Forest.

Take out your hookshot and aim it at the tree hanging over the broken stairs. You should see a red dot when you aim at it (if you can't, move closer). Hookshot to it and enter the temple.

Entering the Forest Temple
Immediately when you enter the temple, kill the two Wolfos and then climb the vines on the left. Climb up and open the chest to get the first small key. For the remaining dungeons, you will use these keys to progress. Then enter into the next room. Make quick work of the Big Skulltula and enter the next room. If you use the Hookshot to hit the Skulltula, you don't have to wait for it to drop and turn its underbelly towards you.

The Poe Sisters
This is the main room of the temple. You will see four poes, the Poe Sisters, who steal the fire from the torches surrounding an elevator, its power source. As a result, the elevator goes down and shuts off. You must re-light to the torches to reactivate the elevator, which leads to the Boss Room. In order to re-light the torches, you must kill the four Poe Sisters.

The Fairy Bow
Just go straight into the room in front of you. Kill the Blue Bubble, which is a flying skull surrounded by blue flames. Use your shield to defend against it and it will lose its blue flames, and then you can kill it and enter the next room. Here you will fight two Stalfos, restless skeleton armored warriors. Z-target them and then use your shield. Their attacks will damage your health severely, so be careful when fighting them. When one attacks, dodge it, and then attack it. They have shields, too, so don't let them counter your attacks. Kill both of them and retrieve the small key from the chest that appears and go back to the main room. Look around the room for the Time Block with the symbol from the Door of Time on it. Play the Song of Time and it will disappear.

Enter the room. Avoid the Octorok and new enemy, the Big Deku Baba, an enlarged Deku Baba. Go to the right side and use your Hookshot to kill the Skullwalltulas that are on the vines. You can't reach the top one. Climb up and avoid the top one. (If it turns purple, it will attack you!) However, there is an alternate way. Did you remember to get Bombchus? Use one and aim it at the last Skullwalltula. That takes care of the third! Climb the vines to the door at the top. Enter the next room. Kill the Blue Bubble inside to get the Dungeon Map. In the next room use your Hookshot to hit the black target with a cresent moon on it on the right side wall. You will be pulled toward the spot and fall down on the platform. Step on the red switch to drain the water from the well. Now jump or climb the vine down to the ground and into the well. There is a small key in a treasure chest you need.

After you get it head all the way back to the main room. Look for the door that is locked and then unlock it. Open it and kill the Big Skulltula. In the next room a Blue Bubble will come after you. Just go around it and walk around until you find a ladder. Then climb up it. There are arrows on the ground. Find the big greenish-blue block and push it following the arrows. It will go against a wall. Just navigate through the corridor to the other side of the block and push it from there, following the arrows on the floor until it falls a few inches into place. Jump onto it, and climb a nerby ladder to go onto the next floor level. On this level there is a brownish-red block. Drag it backwards until you can no longer pull it. Then jump down to lower floor and look for the ladder again. Don't go up by the other block again. Look for the ladder on that floor and climb up it. Go up the ladder and push the the same block against the wall. Now go back down the ladder and up the greenish-blue block again. Push the brownish-red block all the way foward across the broken wooden one below. Then climb up onto the block and go up the small path. Up here are two Blue Bubbles that you don't need to fight, so just ignore both of them.

Now enter the locked door. Strangely enough, this corridor is twisted. Just walk straight through it and go into the twisted room at the end of the passageway. Be careful, a devious enemy called a Wallmaster lurks in this room. It will fall from above to capture you, and you'll be at the start of the dungeon afterward. Avoid as it drops by running, then when you see it drop, kill it for a Rupee bounty. If you look in this room, an intricate chest is on the wall. Navi will comment on it if you target it. Don't latch onto it, though. Just jump across the three platforms to the locked door and enter it. Go down the stairs and enter the mini-boss room. Make note that a Poe Sister is in one the three paintings here. Kill the first Stalfos in this room. After you kill the Stalfos a platform will come down in the middle with two more Stalfos. After you kill one of them his remains are still on the ground. After about a minute he will get back up. You need to have them both killed at the same time. This can be tricky at times. A treasure will appear in the middle of the room once the Stalfos are gone. Open the chest. You will receive the Fairy Bow. Now you can shoot arrows, which you need to get through this strange, mysterious temple.

The First Two Poe Sisters, Joelle and Beth
Go back to the previous room. In this room, there are three paintings of a Poe Sister on the wall. Two are blank. Use an arrow to shoot the painting with the Poe. If you get too close to it the Poe Sister will disappear and go to a different painting. Shoot the three paintings and then fight the real Poe Sister. This is Joelle, the Poe Sister who thieved the red torch When fighting her, she will often disappear and swing her torch towards you. Simply use your Hylian Shield to protect yourself. You can use the Fairy Bow, the Hookshot, or the Master Sword to defeat her. Once she's defeated she will lose the red flame, so the red torch will light in this room, and by the elevator. You will see a chest appear which has a small key inside upon Joelle's defeat. Don't forget it! Now go back through the Mini-boss room where you got the Fairy Bow and to the other side. Here you have to go through the same fight again, but with the second Poe Sister. She is Beth, the Poe Sister who took the blue torch. Kill her and the blue torch will light like the red one did and a chest will appear which has the Compass. Don't go through the locked door at the top of the staircase in this room yet. You need another key first.

The Third Poe Sister, Amy
Go all the way back out to the room you reached at the end of the block puzzle right before the twisted corridor with the two Blue Bubbles. Turn back around and look right above the door as you go out it and shoot the eye with your Fairy Bow. The corridor will untwist. Walk back down the now non-twisted hall and jump down to the floor to find the beautifully decorated blue and yellow chest that you saw on the wall. Inside it is the Boss Key. This key allows you to open the door to the Boss Room. For the remainder of the game, all the Boss Keys will be in this type of chest. Now you need to get another key as well. Watch out for the Wallmaster, because it still lurks in the room. Jump down a hole in the floor to find a small room. Kill the two Blue Bubbles to open the door in the room and then go through it. You will be in a familiar room but on a ledge. Be careful, because what ever you do, DON'T FALL FROM THE LEDGE. Kill the Big Deku Baba and go in the door that is the furthest on the right side. There will be another strange hand called a Floormaster in this room. Attack it with your sword but when it turns green it is invincible and will swoop after you, so hold up your shield. When you think you've killed it, it will split into three smaller Floormasters. Kill all the little Floormasters with Din's Fire and get the key from the chest that appears in the room. Do this quickly, because the mini-Floormasters will attempt to latch onto you and drain your magic power to regenerate themselves.

Leave the room and go through the door on the end of the ledge. You'll once again be in the room with the block puzzles but at a different ledge. Jump down and go all the way up to the top of the corridors again and then shoot the eye above the door that leads through the corridor again to re-twist the hallway. Go through the twisted room, avoid the Wallmaster, jump across the platforms into the next room, go down the stairs where Joelle was, through the Mini-boss room, and through up the stairs where Beth was and unlock the door. You will be in the second twisted room. It also has a Wallmaster inside. Avoid it and cross over to the nearby platform with the ladder. This will lead you to the second corridor. However, it is not twisted. Walk through the corridor carefully, because there is another enemy introduced here: the Green Bubble. It spins in a circle and tries to hit you if you get near it. Stun the two Green Bubbles with your Hookshot to eliminate their flames, and then kill them with an arrow and unlock the next door. In this room there are four spinning platforms. Look for a frozen eye switch. You can melt the ice on it two ways. You can simply jump onto the platform with the eye switch and use Din's Fire to melt it, or you can go on the spinning platforms and use an arrow to shoot through the fire on the lit torch in the middle and melt the eye switch by timing it right. The eye switch will twist the corridor if it is shot with an arrow when it is thawed.

Go through the door and back into the twisted corridor to reach the twisted room. Drop down the hole in the floor to land in another weird room. In this room the ceiling falls on the floor, but there are empty spots in it, so you can make it across, but be careful because there are Big skulltulas around, and your shooting accuracy with the Hookshot and Fairy Bow is thrown off in this room. There is a chest with arrows if you want to restock on the floor. Reach the switch on the floor and hit it to enter the next room. Here, there is a big painting of a Poe Sister. Pay close attention to its details. Then, shoot it with an arrow and five blocks will fall on the floor. Push and pull them so they fit together and match the picture of the Poe Sister above. One of them is a fake image and darker than the rest. Ignore it, because you have only one minute before they return to where they were. If you arrange the picture correctly then the third Poe Sister will emerge from it. This Poe Sister is Amy, the Poe Sister who snatched the green torch. Kill her just like you killed the other two Poe Sisters. The green torch will light both here and in the main room. Leave the room and kill the Big Skulltula in the next room.

The Last Poe Sister, Meg
Now in the main room again (but at a previously unreachable spot) you'll notice the fourth Poe Sister crying over the deaths of her sisters just below you. Drop down and approach her to begin combat.

Unlike the other Poes, you're in for a surprise; her name is Meg, the Poe Sister who snagged the purple torch. Because you killed her sisters, she wants revenge! She will make three copies of herself, so this can be tricky at times. The moment she and her clones appear, look for the one that briefly spins: that's the real one you need to destroy. After a few hits, she will be defeated; all the torches will light up, and the elevator will be reactivated.

Boss: Phantom Ganon
The elevator will come back up. Get on the elevator and go down. In this room, there are two holes on the two sides. Look through them. Parts of the walls in the center part of this room are standing out and have handles on them. Go next to them and push once. Then let go and look and see if new holes are revealed. Three switches are down here, hidden behind the walls. Hit the first you find to raise the cage blocking the second, then from there hit it to raise the cage blocking the third, and hit it and you will open up the path to the Boss room. On the Boss Door is a gold lock with horns. The Boss Key will open it.

Enter the room and climb up the stairs. You will find that there is nothing in this room. If you try to leave, the boss will make his entrance. The exit gets blocked off by iron bars, trapping you inside the room. You will see who appears to be Ganondorf. It is not the real deal, but it is the boss of the Forest Temple - "Evil Spirit from Beyond: PHANTOM GANON".

Paintings
For the first half of the battle, you will watch Phantom Ganon and his horse enter one of the paintings on the wall. After Ganon reaches the end of the painting, he will turn around and two of him will be coming towards you. Identify the positions of the two and then look for the more colorful Phantom Ganon A small, purple portal will form in front of the real Phantom Ganon when he reaches the front of the painting to allow him to emerge from it. He is your target. With your Fairy Bow ready, shoot him when he comes out of the painting. If you aim for the decoy, it will turn around at the last second. If you miss your chance to hit Phantom Ganon and he emerges, he will shoot a ball of magic onto the floor with his scepter. Stay clear of it. After you hit Phantom Ganon with three arrows, he will stop entering paintings and let his horse ride off. This is now the second part of the boss battle.

Magic Attacks
Phantom Ganon will throw a magic, bright yellow ball at you with his scepter and you have to swing it back at him. Z-Target him to accurately watch him, and when the ball of magic gets close to you swing your sword and it will turn blue and go back at him. It may miss him or he may hit it back to you. If he does, then hit it back at him until he gets hit. As you do that, the magic ball will speed up and you will need to react faster. It may miss Phantom Ganon when you swing it at him. When you finally hit him he will fall to the ground. Then run up to him and strike him as many times as you can using your sword. If he has the chance when he's almost defeated, Phantom Ganon may launch a sparkling white ball of magic at you. Use the Spin Attack to counter it. Keep this up until Phantom Ganon has been defeated. As he dies, he will crumble apart.

When you defeat him, you will find out that the real Ganondorf was watching. He becomes frustrated with his creation and banishes it to the gap between dimensions. Enter the blue light that appears to leave the Forest Temple.

Saria and the Forest Medallion
After stepping into the blue light, you will be transported to the Chamber of the Sages again, the place where you met Rauru. Saria will emerge from a green platform in front of you like the yellow one Rauru was standing on. She reveals that she is the Sage of the Forest and her duty is to protect the Forest Temple, so she and Link cannot live in the same world. After speaking with her, she will give you the Forest Medallion , which contains her power. As you leave the Chamber of Sages, she will tell you she will always be your friend.

Even though Saria is now a sage, you may still talk to Saria with "Saria's Song" at any point in the game. Right now, she will tell you she didn't want to become a sage at first, but that she is glad to be helping you on your quest.

The Deku Tree's Sprout
You will find yourself in front of the Deku Tree. Link notices a root. It suddenly sprouts from the ground, revealing a large sprout with a smiling face, the Deku Tree Sprout. He reveals to him that Link is not a Kokiri, but a Hylian. This makes sense because Link became older and was able to leave the forest, something the Kokiri cannot do. The Deku Tree Sprout reveals that Link was brought to the Deku Tree by his Hylian mother during a time of war before Hyrule was unified. The Deku Tree could sense that Link was the child of destiny, so he took him in and raised him as a child of the forest. As for his mother, she passed away from the injuries she took from the war. Her fate upon her death is unknown. The Deku Tree Sprout tells you that you were always destined to leave the forest and to break the curses on the other temples. As for the Koriki Forest, it has returned to normal and the Koriki are back outside.

The Prelude of Light
Return to the Temple of Time. Sheik reveals that there will be a time where Link will need to return to the temple as quickly as possible, and so she teaches him the melody for when that time comes: The Prelude of Light.

The Prelude of Light 

Sheik will also tell you that you can return to the past by putting the Master Sword back in the Pedestal of Time. Sheik will disappear again and the temple will suddenly be illuminated in light.

Quest for the Biggoron's Sword
If you have received Cojiro from Anju the Cuckoo lady in Kakariko Village, you can continue the item trading sequence in the forest.


 * Odd Mushroom: Upon entering the Lost Woods, head to the left. You should find a strange looking man asleep. He is Grog. Awaken him using Cojiro. Apparently, he is the original owner of the bird. He will give you the mushroom to take the the potion lady in Kakariko.
 * Odd Medicine: You have only three minutes to deliver the mushroom to the potion lady. If you have Epona, this task will be a whole lot easier. To get to the potion lady's abode, find the potion shop that relocated from the market. There is a back door on the left. Now enter the barn on your right. Give the mushroom to the lady.

NOTE: You cannot use warping melodies to help you. If you do, the time will automatically drop to 0 seconds.
 * Poacher's Saw: Take the medicine back to the person who gave you the mushroom. He is gone. You will find Fado, a blonde Kokiri in his place. She claims that he is gone and that the medicine you carry belongs to the forest. After she demands it back, she will give the saw he left behind.

Quiver Upgrade
The Shooting Gallery relocated from the market to Kakariko Village. The building lies between the Windmill and the House of Skulltula. The game still cost 20 rupees and you still have 15 shots. They are in the same positions as last time, but their appearances have been scrambled. If you win, you will receive a quiver upgrade and be able to carry a maximum of 40 arrows.