The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time/Bottom of the Well

The Infinite Darkness

In the past seven years, Ganondorf's dark aura has crept into places beyond imagine, rooting up many evils. Link's quest is about to take him to one of those places.

Head for Kakariko Village. Upon entering the town, Link finds it ablaze. Sheik is there, looking at the village well. Suddenly, the wooden frame above it gets thrown into the air! An invisible force comes out of the well, picks up Sheik, throws him around in mid air, and finally tosses him to the ground a fair distance away. A dark slime-like mist rushes out of the well and across a building. It circles around the village before heading straight at Link who takes a defensive stance. Although the beast rushes into his shield, Link gets overtaken as the screen goes black and you hear him scream in agony.

Link regains consciousness with Sheik kneeling over him. Sheik explains the situation to Link: an evil that was sealed inside the well has escaped to the Shadow Temple in the Graveyard. Impa, Zelda's former attendant, leader of the Sheikahs, and Sage of the Shadow Temple, has gone to the temple to battle it. Sheik then teaches Link the melody that will lead him to the temple, the Nocturne of Shadow.

The Nocturne of Shadow:

The Bottom of the Well

Before you enter the temple, you will need an item that will allow you to see invisible items, enemies and passages: the Lens of Truth. It lies at the bottom of the well. Unfortunately, the well is sealed off, so you will need to return to the past and retrieve the item as a child.

The Song of Storms

Enter the windmill that is directly in front of the well. The angry music man inside claims that seven years ago, a child with an ocarina played a strange song that messed up the windmill. Pull out your ocarina. The man will remember the song and teach it to you (it is the same melody playing in the background).

The Song of Storms:

The Bottom of the Well

Head to the Temple of Time and return the Master Sword to it pedestal. Return to Kakariko Village (You can use the Nocturne of Shadow you just learned.) Enter the village windmill and play the Song of Storms. The windmill will drastically speed up, and churn out all of the water in the well. You are now free to explore it, but beware.

Deceptive Illusion

Crawl through the tunnel at the well's entrance. Drop down the ledge with the ladder in front of you, then kill the Big skulltula. You will see a skeleton lying against the left wall. If you Z-Target it and use Navi, she'll tell you that the spirits are saying "Look for the eye of truth..."

Walk through the section of the wall between the skeleton and the mound of the dirt; it is not real. The Lens of Truth in this dungeon will allow you to see what is real and what is not. In the next room (through the fake wall next to the skeleton), stay on the main path to avoid falling into invisible pits.

Hidden Pitfalls

Go across the pool of water in front of you (notice the crawl space at the bottom of the pool, on the right) and wait a bit. You'll hear the flapping of some sort of wings; unfortunately it's a Green Bubble patrolling the shallow trench that wraps around this room. If you watch the Green Bubble, its fire will extinguish once in a while; use this time to shoot it with a bullet from the Fairy Slingshot.

Go left or right (right is easier as the Green Bubble won't be coming straight at you) down the trench, and follow it around two corners. After the second corner, run halfway down the hall until you reach an area where there is a Triforce inscribed on the floor (the middle of the hallway, opposite the fake wall you entered from). Stand on the symbol and play Zelda's Lullaby. The water on this floor will stop flowing and drain.

After draining the water, return to the pool of water you passed near the dungeon entrance (with the crawlspace). It is now an empty pit, so drop down into the pit and head through the crawlspace (there's a chest opposite the crawlspace with some bombs in it). Go forward slightly, kill the Big Skulltula, climb the wall, and then go through the door straight ahead.

Alternative route and the compass

If you want to get to the Triforce symbol faster (note that this may take longer if you fall through a hidden hole), run through the area where several logs are and go through this second fake wall and you'll end up in another room. Do not go directly through the area where there is a set of hanging log arches on the floor, because there is a pit hidden there. There is also a Wallmaster lurking in the room, so stay alert. Go to the furthest dead-end of the room and it will also be a fake wall.

If you have the Lense of Truth, you can use it to acquire the compass more easily. The large chest in the room contains the item, but there is a large pit in front of it. Run to the right side of the chest, then approach it from the side to be able to open it safely.

The Dungeon Map and a dangerous basement

If you happen to fall into one of the holes (skip this section if you didn't) in the middle area between the fake wall and the Triforce symbol (the room with the Wallmaster), you'll end up in a room with acidic water, a re-dead, three silver rupees on the floor, and five pathways (the ones without torches are useless unless you need to stock up on supplies; one has grass, and the other has pots).

One of the pathways has yellow torches in front of it: head through the boulders there, kill the re-dead, then grab the Dungeon Map from the chest. Head back into the main part of the room and you'll notice the fourth silver rupee at the top of the ladder, above the blue torches.

Climb up the ladders and grab the fifth silver rupee to unlock the door. Head through it to re-enter the main room and entrance to the dungeon.

A Morbid Monster

On the map, you'll now be in the large room that's the farthest to the east on level B1. You'll see four white pillars located around the room; however they're quite peculiar. If you approach one, it will bend over and grab you! They aren't pillars, they are arms! After you are grabbed, mini-boss music will begin playing and Dead Hand will come out of the ground and try to eat you.

Tap buttons to breakaway from the hand you trapped yourself in. Ignore the hands but stay clear of them unless you need to call Dead Hand back again; they can't harm you, but they might hold you long enough for Dead Hand to. Note that the arms can be destroyed, but they don't drop anything or help defeat Dead Hand any quicker.

Dead Hand's weakness is its face, so you have to wait for it to bend down to attack you before you can strike it (just stand in front of Dead Hand and wait for it to lower its head). It takes about 9 hits to the face to kill Dead Hand. After striking it about three times, Dead Hand will retreat into the ground and cause a shockwave-like effect made of dirt or some sort of energy; avoid this or defend to avoid taking damage.

Truth within the eye

Open the chest that Dead Hand left behind to obtain the Lens of Truth. Try looking through the Lens before you leave this room: behind the big chest, against the wall, will be another chest with a Huge Rupee (200)!.

You've done what you need to here, but there are still more places in the well to explore if you wish (there's also more treasure).

Small Key #1

Return to the main room and head to the top left of the room. Fall down into the pit with the small chest containing a single Heart Container, then climb up and into the farthest west room. The room is dark a purple, with several coffins and a Gibdo walking around (a mummy-like re-dead). Kill the Gibdo, then light the torches around the room to open the coffins. Some contain monsters, so watch out. There's a small key in the southwest coffin (the one farthest from the door, on the left as you enter the room).

Grab the key and head back to the main entrance. Head to the northeast corner of the room to find a crawlspace. Head through it and then open the locked door.

In this room you'll see three Fire Keese and the Beamos. Do not move. There are four large hidden holes in the floor. Kill the three Fire Keese with the Fairy Slingshot, then use the Lense of Truth to approach and kill the Beamos with bombs. The chest in this room contains a Blue Rupee, and the pot has a magic container. Head through the door to re-enter the main room.

You'll be in the eastern gated area, with a Like-Like, Gold Skulltula, and small chest that contains a Blue Rupee. Kill the Like-Like with your sword, and then the Gold Skulltula with your boomerang.

Run back through the room with the Beamos and Fire Keese and return to the main entrance.

Small Keys 2 and 3

In the main entrance, grab the two chests containing Small Keys near the entrance, both in individual secret side compartments. Head into the center area and through both of the locked doors (each contains a Gold Skulltula). On the left there's a Deku Scrub and three flying pots. On the right are four keese and a giant pit (use the Lens to see a pathway).