Wind Waker Part 13: Clash of the Winds

The path to Hyrule opens up when Link collects all the pieces of the Triforce of Courage. The triforce hunt quest is the most complained about part of Wind Waker, but is also perhaps the most rewarding quest in the Zelda series. After traveling across a massive sea, the biggest overworld in any Zelda game, you finally get to see this game's remarkable ending sequence.

King of Red Lions: Well done, Link! With the shards you have collected, the Triforce of Courage is now complete at last! We must make for Hyrule, quickly!

You must show the Triforce piece you have assembled to the gods.

Oh! What is this? There, on your hand- the Triforce piece now dwells within you! It is the Triforce of Courage - proof that you are indeed the true hero. You have controlled the wind and crossed the seas, and here, near the end of your quest, the power of the gods has been bestowed upon you...

Surely from this moment on, you shall be known as the Hero of Winds...

Link! Hero of Winds! Go forth! To Hyrule! To Zelda's side!

Wind Waker has some of the most epic dialogue I've seen in any game. And it only gets better from here.

The Element of Majora's Mask

A post on Zelda Universe, by Zelda fanartist Artmgjr, brings up a good point about the Zelda series having a 4th main element, beyond the 3 triforce elements of power, wisdom, and courage.

Triforce of Truth

Now, it might be going a bit too far to say the purple element is supposed to be a forth triforce to balance out the other 3. The games have always made it very clear that the triforce was left by the 3 goddesses who created the world, and adding a 4th one to the mix this late in the series would just be horrible writing. I definitely think Nintendo was making a point of these four colors/elements being important throughout the games...

I don't think this purple element represents truth, but something else... The element of balance is represented by the the color gold, as in the gold power of the complete triforce, the golden land... The key to getting the golden power is having the elements represted by red, blue, and green in balance.

So the purple element has nothing at all to do with the triforce, it's not balance, it's not truth... What it DOES have a lot to do with, though, is the world of Termina.

Majora's Mask takes place in another dimension, which again has absolutely nothing to do with the triforce, and the color purple is as prominent in this game as the color gold is in games involving the triforce. Even the logo itself is purple, instead of the usual red/sometimes green or yellow.

Wind Waker Part 12: The Overworld Dungeon

The final quest in Wind Waker before getting to Ganon's Castle, is the Triforce Quest. The Master Sword has its power back, but now Ganon is already in Hyrule, searching for Zelda, and could've already found her. To get back to Hyrule again Link needs to find the 8 pieces of the Triforce of Courage.

The first time Hyrule opened up, Link had just completed the trial of the gods, and the gods allowed him enter Hyrule in order to get the Master Sword. Then, after he saves Aryll from the Forsaken Fortress, he goes into Hyrule again with Tetra, and the King of Hyrule reveals that Tetra is Zelda and that she has Triforce of Wisdom. Why is it just now that you need the Triforce of Courage to go back there again?

It seems that going into Hyrule requires either the approval of the gods, or the ownership of one of the 3 triforce parts. This explains why Ganon can enter Hyrule at will since he has the Triforce of Power. When you entered with Tetra, she had the last missing piece of the Triforce of Wisdom.

Link's triforce quest had already started even in the middle of the 2 sage awakening quests. The 8 triforce pieces are scattered across the entire overworld, and finding them all without a guide requires you to explore nearly every square of this massive Great Sea.

Treasures are hidden all over this huge ocean. Some might contain rupees, sidequest items, heart pieces, or a treasure chart that marks one of those items on the map... But some treasures might contain one of the 8 triforce charts, which are needed to find the 8 shards of the triforce of courage.

Wind Waker Part 11: Awakening of the Wind

Barriers of Ice and Wind

The 2nd Master Sword Temple at Gale Island is blocked by a strong gust of wind.

Just like the Earth Temple, you need to go somewhere else first to find the required item to get into it. A nearby fish tells you the exact location of this item:

Are you thinking you want to get into that cave, small fry? The one that's protected by the crazy winds on that island? Heh heh heh! OK, then. Let me tell you a little secret... If you go five squares south and one square east from here, you'll reach Ice Ring Isle, where you'll find an item that will make you as heavy as stone! If you get that item, you won't have to worry about getting blown over by winds!

Thanks to the only clue in the game, finding this item is really easy. If it weren't for that fish's directions, it would be a matter of exploring every square until you happened to come across the right place.

Yep, that seems like a ring of ice alright...

The fire arrows take down the ice barrier for a limited amount of time. Then there's a kind of slippery platforming segment leading up to a cave...

Wind Waker Part 10: Kodak Moment

Getting some sidequests out of the way before going onto the 2nd Master Sword dungeon.

One part that I've been neglecting to do is the Pictobox sidequest. There's a pictobox shop on Windfall Island... well it's not really a shop, you can't buy anything there... more like an art museum I guess. The guy who runs it, Lenzo, is an obsessed photographer, and once you show him the Pictobox you got from the jail, he offers you a job as his assistant.

One of the weirder characters of Wind Waker... you can also go upstairs to check out Lenzo's art gallery.

Oh ho ho ho ho ho! Aren't these some finely snapped pictographs? You must admit it!

WHOA there gramps how did you get here so quick.

But come now! You needn't be so surprised, my young sir! It is a hobby of mine to sneak up behind people when they least expect it. It's quite an amusing diversion. Think nothing of it.

By the way, the pictographs you see decorating these fine walls have all been taken by none other than myself. They are my pride and joy! In my younger days I was tireless, sailing far and wide across the Great Sea, snapping pictographs wherever I went... Have a look at them, young sir!

There's a pictograph of some ChuChus.

Well, those are creatures called ChuChus. They are said to have medicinal properties, so they are a most important resource treasured by sailors the world over.

Why, there is even said to be an extremely rare species of them known as the Blue ChuChu. It is only under very unusual circumstances that they are ever sighted... You would be most lucky to ever come across one, young sir!

What? I've come across several blue ChuChus already I didn't think they were anything special. OMG they restore hearts AND magic! So... useless. Not like the rare milk you could get in Majora's Mask that gives you unlimited magic for 3 days...

Lenzo has some interesting backstory to tell about all of his photos... Are we gonna read all of it? Of course!