Dark Palace


 * For the similarly-named palace in, see Palace of Darkness.

The Dark Palace is a dungeon located in Lorule in. It is the Lorule counterpart of the Eastern Palace of Hyrule.

Location
In order to access the Dark Palace, Link must traverse a maze by merging into walls to avoid detection by the Lorule soldiers who guard it. If Link is seen, he will be placed in a prison cell which can be escaped by wall merging.

Themes and Navigation
The Dark Palace shares a similar layout to the Eastern Palace. The main item required for this dungeon is Bombs, without which it cannot be accessed. Link must use them to trigger switches, destroy cracked walls, and even open the dungeon's entrance.

True to its name, the Dark Palace often requires Link to adventure through it without the aid of light. Many invisible walls, floors, and markings on walls showing the path to the objective, only appear when the room is in total darkness. As a downside though, the player is unable to properly see Link or enemies without the aid of light. To open the path to the Gemesaur King, Link must destroy obstructions blocking windows on a higher floor, allowing light to filter down to the room outside the Gemesaur King's lair to trigger switches.

The dungeon also has a thematic element of Rupees and gemstones. Many walls and barriers in the palace featured colored gems atop them, and the boss, the Gemesaur King, is covered in gems and releases rupees when these gems are struck with Bombs.

Items
Link can find one of the four pieces of Master Ore in a Big Chest on the second floor of the dungeon, but it is not mandatory to obtain. Just north of the topmost room is a smaller room, which can be reached by activating the southern switch and causing the northern wall to flip. In order to reach it, Link must place a bomb next to the switch and quickly make his way past the platforms to the northern wall, where the Helmasaur's mask is. The wall will flip once the bomb explodes, taking Link to the smaller room.