Wind Temple

The Wind Temple was the sixth and penultimate dungeon of The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker, and one of the two which housed the sages who could restore the Master Sword to its original glory. It was one of the earliest dungeons in the series to have a 'wind' theme, and many of its puzzles revolve around this concept, frequently requiring the use of the Deku Leaf. Link explored the temple with the Wind Sage, Makar.

Location
The Temple was built inside a mountain in Old Hyrule, which is underwater at the time of The Wind Waker. This means that the original entrance to the temple is unreachable. However, the water has not leaked inside the temple, meaning that it is still intact and can be accessed from a second entrance, located at the top of the mountain and still above the ocean. The peak of the mountain, which rises above the sea level, forms Gale Island. This island is located in the far north of the Great Sea region. The entrance to the Wind Temple is inside a cave on this island. The entrance to said cave is protected by a magical statue blasting out high speed winds to repel intruders. Once Link obtains the Iron Boots, he is able to walk through the winds and destroy the statue with the Skull Hammer.

Origins
The Wind Temple was built before Hyrule was flooded, and was used by the Wind Sages to pray to the gods. The last sage of the temple before the events of The Wind Waker, Fado, (a Kokiri), did this by playing music on his cello - specifically the Wind God's Aria. Traditionally the King of Hyrule would conduct the song using the Wind Waker. The Wind Sages prayed, along with the Earth Sages, for the power to repel evil to remain in the Master Sword, so that it could be used to defeat Ganondorf, should he ever return from exile in the Sacred Realm.

Early history
When Ganon did attack, the Hero of Time did not reappear to save Hyrule, as had been hoped, and thus the Master Sword was unused. Instead, the gods flooded the kingdom and sealed Ganon away. Most of the inhabitants who did not flee to the mountaintops (the islands of The Wind Waker) perished, but those with certain magical abilities (namely the king, Fado the Wind Sage, and Laruto the Earth Sage) remained behind in Old Hyrule, never aging and seemingly immortal.

When Ganon broke the seal and re-emerged to attack the people above the waves, he realised that the Master Sword could still be a threat. In order to neutralise this threat, he decided to kill the two sages (Fado and Laruto) who were praying for the power to repel evil to remain in the blade. He sent his minions to attack them, Molgera leading the army which invaded the Wind Temple. Fado was overwhelmed and killed (as was Laruto in the Earth Temple) and Molgera took up residence in the temple to prevent any future Wind Sage from restoring the Master Sword's power.

Link's role in the Wind Temple
It was around this time that the events of The Wind Waker began. Link managed to locate and wield the Master Sword, and went to the Forsaken Fortress to defeat Ganondorf. However, he found that the blade could not harm his foe. Ganondorf told Link that he could not be defeated by a blade that did not sparkle with the power to repel evil, and that the Master Sword was useless to Link. After Link escaped Ganondorf's clutches, the King of Red Lions informed him of his suspicion that the cause of the sword's unexpected failure was that something had happened to the sages. However, because of the barrier Ganondorf had erected around Hyrule Castle, it was impossible for Link to access the two temples from Old Hyrule. Therefore, he would need to enter through the mountaintop entrances, which the King of Red Lions then marked on Link's Sea Chart.

Link first attempted to enter the Earth Temple, but he found that Laruto was dead. Her ghost informed him that the door of the temple would only open when her descendant, the next sage, played the Earth God's Lyric there. Laruto taught Link this song, and he used its powers to awaken the next Earth Sage, who then helped Link enter the temple and destroy the evil inhabitants. The new Earth Sage then took up Laruto's role and began to pray for the power to repel evil to remain in the Master Sword. (See the Earth Temple article for more information.)



When Link then attempted to access the Wind Temple, the story was almost identical: first, he arrived at Gale Island to find Fado dead and only a spirit remaining. Fado told Link what had happened, and that to enter the temple he would need to play the Wind God's Aria to Fado's descendant, the next Wind Sage, to awaken him, and the new sage would have to play the song again on Gale Island to open the way. Fado informed Link that his descendant would also be an expert cellist, and asked him to tell the King of Red Lions (who had by this point been identified as the King of Hyrule) that he, Fado, would continue to play the song which the king had once conducted for him, "even in the next world."

Link then sought the cellist who would take Fado's place as the new Wind Sage. Having seen Makar playing a cello earlier, Link went to the Forest Haven, Makar's home, where he heard a cello being played behind the waterfall there. Link used the Grappling Hook to swing through the waterfall and found Makar practising for his role in the annual ceremony which took place in the Forest Haven. Makar was surprised to find that Link had heard his playing from outside (he had hoped to practise in secret and thought that the sound of the waterfall would drown out the noise) and even more surprised when Link conducted the Wind God's Aria for him. Fado's spirit appeared and told Makar that he was to be the new Sage of Wind. Makar then agreed to accompany Link to the temple and use the song to open the door. Link and Makar then entered the temple. Together they solved its puzzles and vanquished its evil inhabitants, including Molgera. Makar then began playing and praying in the boss room, finally restoring the Master Sword to full power. Makar remained behind in the temple to pray while Link departed for his final battle against Ganondorf.

Makar stayed there for the remainder of the gameplay. However, in the ending credits of The Wind Waker, after Link had succeeded in using the sword to defeat Ganondorf, he was rescued by the pirates and reunited with Link on their ship once he returned from Old Hyrule. It is assumed that Makar then returned to either the Forest Haven or the Wind Temple.

Dungeon


The Wind Temple consists of a large main shaft, with smaller paths branching off it, much like the Water Temple in The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. This shaft has a large fan underneath a grate at the bottom, allowing Makar or Link (using the Deku Leaf) to float up and down the shaft. The boss room is located at the end of a passageway underneath the grate.

The first part of the dungeon is a linear path, in which many doors are opened through Makar's ability to plant seed in special marked patches of ground and make trees grow. And the end of this path, Makar plants a tree to open a door for Link, but is immediately captured by Floor Masters. Link then enters the main shaft (which is mostly blocked off at this point) and finds Makar locked in an impenetrable cell. Link then solves other puzzles in the dungeon, (many relating to the theme of wind and requiring use of the Deku Leaf), before opening the shaft and obtaining the Hookshot from the dungeon's miniboss.

Using the Hookshot and Iron Boots, Link frees Makar, and together they activate the fan, open the grate at the bottom of the shaft, locate the boss key, and finally defeat Molgera and avenge Fado.

Items
In the process of completing the Wind Temple Link receives:


 * A Heart Container (after defeating Molgera.)
 * The Hookshot (after defeating the Red Wizzrobe, the miniboss.)
 * Several Treasure Charts.

Enemies


The following enemies are found within the Wind Temple:


 * Armos
 * Armos Knight
 * Bokoblin
 * Blue Bubble
 * Floor Master
 * Peahat
 * Stalfos
 * Traps
 * Wizzrobe

Bosses

 * Mini-boss:Red Wizzrobe
 * Main boss: Molgera, the giant sand-worm creature which killed Fado. See main article: Molgera.