Arbiter's Grounds (Twilight Princess)

The Arbiter's Grounds is the fourth dungeon in The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess.

Story
Located in the Gerudo Desert, the Arbiter's Grounds served as a prison where convicts were either executed or banished to the Underworld through the use of the Mirror of Twilight. It was also the site of Ganondorf's death sentence by the Ancient Sages. Ganondorf escaped his execution, however, but was stopped and banished to the Twilight Realm, where he gave Zant his kingship and powers of sorcery.

After receiving the Master Sword, Midna directs Link to Gerudo Desert as to enter the Twilight Realm. Upon reaching the climax of the prison roof, Midna and Link stumble across a massive skeletal beast, Stallord. Zant revives Stallord by plunging a magic blade into its skull. After the battle, Link and Midna enter the Mirror Chamber, only to find the Mirror of Twilight broken. The Ancient Sages appear and explain to them the tale of Ganondorf's execution and that Zant shattered the mirror.

Dungeon
The Arbiter's Grounds is located in Gerudo Desert, which is only accessible from via the Oasis Flight in Lake Hylia before Twilight Portals are opened. The dungeon is desert themed; it is filled with quicksand and sand whirlpools. Along the way, Link must face many undead monsters. There are also many dark areas where the Lantern must be used. This dungeon is notable to frequently need to be in wolf form to advance. To continue the dungeon, Link defeats a Poe to learn the Poe Scent so he can chase down three others as a wolf. The mini-boss, Death Sword, is also fought in wolf form. After Death Sword is defeated, Link will no longer need to be in wolf form, as the rest of the dungeon is focused on the new item, the Spinner. The boss is a fossil revived by Zant, known as Stallord.

Items

 * Spinner
 * Heart Container
 * Mirror Shard

Enemies

 * Blade Trap
 * Bubble
 * Ghoul Rat
 * Poe
 * Poison Mite
 * Red Bubble
 * ReDead
 * Stalfos
 * Stalkin
 * Staltroop

Mini-boss

 * Death Sword

Boss

 * Stallord

Link's Crossbow Training
The Arbiter's Grounds serves as the location for Underground Target Practice and is seen from the outside in Fossil Stallord Battle.

Theory
While it is not known for certain, the Arbiter's Grounds could have some connection to the Spirit Temple from The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, as they seem to share architectural similarities (for example, the Goddess of the Sand seems to appear both at the top of the Arbiter's Grounds as well as within the Grounds themselves and is also a prominent feature of the Spirit Temple). Furthermore, mirrors were prominent in the Spirit Temple, and the Mirror of Twilight bears resemblance to the large round mirror that Link used to access the Spirit Temple's boss chamber. It should be noted, however, that there was no colosseum-type dome at the top of the Spirit Temple, so it may be pure Hylian addition. The fact that the Arbiter's Grounds housed many paranormal demons and spirits also seems to further support the idea that the Grounds were once the Spirit Temple, the place of worship for the spirits of Hyrule, particularly the Goddess of the Sand.

Etymology
Arbiter is another word for judge. While the name of the place seems to refer to one judge, during the execution of Ganondorf, more than one Sage is present. It might be a central area for arbitration, to a point where it was considered a being. Alternatively, the word arbiters may refer to the Ancient Sages who passed judgments within the Arbiter's Grounds.