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Skull Dungeon (Level 4) Walkthrough

Oracle of Ages 100% Completion Walkthrough24 chapters
Walkthrough overview
CoversSkull Dungeon beneath the volcano of Symmetry City, in the present, from the entrance to the Essence of Time
DungeonSkull Dungeon (Level 4): Switch Hook, mini-boss Armos Warrior, boss Eyesoar, Essence of Time: Burning Flame
RewardsCompass, Dungeon Map, 5 Small Keys, Switch Hook, Boss Key, Heart Container, Burning Flame. No Heart Pieces, rings, Gasha Seeds or soft soil in this chapter

The Skull Dungeon is the fourth dungeon, hidden under the volcano above Symmetry City. It is a maze of lava floors, minecart tracks and colored floor tiles, and its treasure is the Switch Hook, which swaps you with a stone diamond or a pot. You take the Compass, the Dungeon Map and five Small Keys, beat the Armos Warrior, find the Switch Hook, win the Boss Key from a pot puzzle and defeat Eyesoar to collect the Burning Flame.

Link fighting Eyesoar at close range
Link walking toward the shrine where the Burning Flame waits
Link raising the Burning Flame with its message box

Recap: entrance, Compass and first Small Key

Enter the dungeon

The entrance is the cave behind the waterfall at the pond in Symmetry City, and the walk into the dungeon is covered at the end of the Symmetry City and Talus Peaks chapter. Bring the Seed Shooter, Bombs, Roc’s Feather, the Power Bracelet and a stock of Ember and Scent Seeds, because all of them are used inside.

The pond with the waterfall hiding the Skull Dungeon entrance
Link walking toward the cave behind the waterfall
Link in the Skull Dungeon entrance room with gold statues

Lava rooms and the Compass

The Compass chest is in the block room past the first lava rooms: push the right-most block down to reach it, as the Symmetry City and Talus Peaks chapter shows.

Link on grey bridges over lava past two Sparks
Link walking out of the room beside the lava
Link in the block room with the Compass chest at the left
Link holding up the Compass with its message box

Block puzzle and Small Key 1

The first Small Key is the reward for the colored-block puzzle in the room after that, so push the block onto its marked square with the blue face up and take the chest that appears.

Link entering the block room with two Stalfos below and the colored block beside him
Link pushing the colored block toward the marked square
Link beside the colored block as it flips over
The colored block settled in the middle of the four statues
Link holding up the first Small Key with its message box

Dungeon Map, Small Keys 2 to 4 and the minecarts

Dungeon Map

Go back to the first lava room and continue east, jumping across the tiles to the locked door and using Small Key 1 on it. Beyond it is a room with Stalfos, a Spark and a Green Zol, and on its east side the first minecart. Hit the track switch, ride the cart to the small platform with a chest, and open it for the Dungeon Map. Ride back, restore the switch and take the cart toward the south end of the track.

Link riding the minecart up the rails past the track switch
Link in the minecart on the rails crossing a green walkway
Link striking the track switch while the empty cart waits on the rails
Link at the chest platform with the minecart beside him
Link holding up the Dungeon Map with its message box

Small Key 2

Hit the switch on the way south to change the rails, and the cart carries you to a room with a Moldorm and a crystal switch. Kill the Moldorm with a Scent Seed, then fire the Seed Shooter at the crystal switch, from the cart if you like. A chest rises with Small Key 2. Take it, ride the cart to the middle room and open the locked door on the right.

Link riding the minecart along the rails toward the Moldorm room
Link in the room with the Moldorm and the crystal switch above
A seed burst hitting the Moldorm
Link firing the Seed Shooter across the room
Link holding up Small Key 2 with its message box

Blade Traps and the lava lever

Beyond the door the first Blade Trap waits. Step toward it and back to set it off, then jump the lava to the north exit. In the next room, equip the Power Bracelet and pull the lever to stop the lava, then run for the north exit before the flow returns. Kill the four Stalfos in the following room to unlock the west door; corner each one and strike as it lands from a hop.

Link slashing an enemy beside a lava channel with a Blade Trap below
Link jumping the lava channel with Roc's Feather past two Blade Traps
Link pulling the lever with the Power Bracelet above the flowing lava
The lava room turned pink and view after the lever is pulled
Link facing Stalfos in the room with the west door

Color tile puzzle and the block room

Past the Hardhat Beetles, the door of the next room opens when the colored floor tiles on the left match the pattern displayed on the right. Each jump onto a tile changes its color, so step only on the tiles you need to change, the right number of times. In the room after that, spring the Blade Traps, circle the block as they retract and push it down two squares. Spring them again and push it left before they come back, onto the black square. The gate opens and a minecart is waiting.

Link and a Green Zol beside the colored tile floor and its pattern
Link stepping on colored floor tiles to match the pattern
Link beside the tile floor and the pattern it must match
Link in the block room with a Blade Trap at the top and a cracked floor
Link pushing the colored block toward the hole in the floor
Link riding the minecart along the track after the gate opened

Small Key 3

The cart stops at the north of the dungeon. Go east and shoot the crystal switch with the Seed Shooter, from the cart or the platform, to raise a chest holding Small Key 3. Walk back two rooms west and use the key on the key block, which opens the barrier.

Link on a green platform over lava as the chest appears at the left
Link at the chest that rose beside the lava
Link holding up Small Key 3 with its message box
Link next to the key block by the minecart tracks

Long track, moving platforms and Small Key 4

Climb into the second minecart and ride a long track while three Stalfos wait at the top of the room. Shoot all three with the Seed Shooter or throw Bombs before the track ends, because that opens the door to the west. Next you cross moving green platforms over lava, then go south to a room of colored tiles with a pattern shown on a block at the top. Jump on the tiles until the floor matches it and Small Key 4 drops.

Link in the minecart with three Stalfos waiting at the top of the room
Link in the cart below three Stalfos and a fire bat at the top of the room
Link in the cart on the long track beside a Stalfos and a fire bat
Link on a pot ledge above the green platforms in the lava room
Link stepping on the colored tile floor with a flower guard above
Small Key 4 appearing on the tile floor next to Link

Back to the cart

Return north, use Small Key 4 on the key block and board the minecart again. At the end of the track, leave through the door on the left.

Link beside the waiting minecart on the track platform
Link riding the minecart along the track over lava
Link in the cart at the end of the track with two Ropes nearby
Link at the door on the left beside the parked minecart

Mini-boss: Armos Warrior

Defeat the Armos Warrior

The Armos Warrior boasts about his mighty sword and shield, then sends his sword floating through the room. The blade flies in a straight line, so move to make it hit the Armos Warrior himself. Three of these hits shatter his sword and shield. Without them he simply charges, so step aside and strike him while he is stunned against a wall. Take the fairy that appears if you need hearts, and leave by the south door. Other foes are listed in Enemies.

Link facing the Armos Warrior and his shield on the yellow patterned floor
The Armos Warrior's sword flying out from his hand toward Link
The Armos Warrior's shield cracked as his sword flies back across the room
The Armos Warrior without his shield crying NO
Link striking the shieldless Armos Warrior with his sword
Link with a fairy fluttering nearby after the Armos Warrior is beaten

How to get the Switch Hook

Cracked wall and the bridge

Only one route leads south from the mini-boss room, over a lava room with a green bridge. A cracked wall stands in the next room, so equip Bombs and blow it open to enter the colored-tile chamber behind it.

Link stepping onto the green bridge over the lava
Link below the cracked wall with the message that it could be broken
A bomb blast opening the cracked wall above Link
Link on the yellow start tile of the blue tile chamber

The chest with the Switch Hook

The floor of this room is blue, and you start on the yellow tile. Every tile you leave turns red, so plan a path that crosses each blue tile once without trapping you in a corner; if you get stuck, leave and re-enter to reset. When every tile is red, a chest appears holding the Switch Hook. Fire it at a stone diamond or a pot and you and the target trade places. Make it your item for the rest of the dungeon. Items and Equipment covers its later upgrade, the Long Hook.

Link walking the blue tile floor, leaving red tiles behind
Half the tile floor turned red as Link crosses it
Only a narrow strip of blue tiles left on the floor
Link holding up the Switch Hook with its message box

Using the Switch Hook: lava crossings and Small Key 5

Diamonds, pots and buttons

Leave west and swap with the first diamond, then return to the minecart room and walk north on foot. Keep switching with diamonds to cross lava and open the way south and east. In one room you must swap with a diamond, stand on the button and then swap with a second diamond to open the exit, which leads to a staircase down.

Link beside a stone diamond across a lava channel
Link on foot in the minecart room beside the pots
Link swapping places with a stone diamond over lava
The Switch Hook shooting toward a diamond across the lava

Ropes, pots and the invisible Gels

North of the stairs, kill the Ropes, then swap with the diamond from below and with the pot. Bring the diamond onto the button by swapping with it several times to open the next door. Cross the lava on the following screen by hooking onto the pots, and re-enter the room if you slip. In the room after that, jump onto the center tile to reveal the invisible Gels so that you can kill them, then continue west past the lava and Blade Traps.

Link slashing a Rope north of the stairs
Link carrying a pot beside a diamond on a lava-ringed island
The Switch Hook shooting out toward a pot across the lava
Link on a pot ledge with more pots across the lava

Second large tile floor and Small Key 5

A second large blue floor must be turned red. Start on the yellow tile and walk so that each tile you step on turns red, with no dead end. When the whole floor is red, a chest appears with Small Key 5. Exit through the north door.

Link starting a second large blue tile floor from the yellow tile
Link crossing the large floor with the right half red
Most of the large floor red with a blue patch left
Link at the last blue tiles of the large floor
Link holding up Small Key 5 with its message box

Boss Key

Moving platforms, ladder and key block

Ride the moving platforms north of the puzzle room, switching with diamonds and pots where the lava gets in the way, and jump across on the green platforms with Roc’s Feather. Climb the ladder to a side-view room of brick pillars topped with pots, where you swap with the pots or jump over them. At the top, use Small Key 5 on the key block and clear the stone diamonds.

Green platforms drifting over lava beside Link
Link standing on a green platform above the lava
Link climbing brick steps in the side-view room with pots on the pillars
Link swapping with a pot on a brick pillar using the Switch Hook
Link at the key block with Stalfos waiting in the next room

Three lava rooms

You now cross a series of three lava rooms. In the first, pull the lever as far as it goes and run: you only just reach the far side before the lava starts. In the second, pull the lever to stop the flow, cross to the first pot and stand on it, because lava never covers a square that held a pot. Swap from pot to pot toward the upper left and finish with a diagonal jump.

Link beside the lever below the lava room before the flow
Link at the edge of the lava room with the first pot ahead
Pots standing in the lava toward the upper left
Link on a safe tile in the lava room with two pots at the top
Link jumping diagonally across safe tiles in the lava

The pot puzzle and the Boss Key

The third room needs a plan, and leaving and re-entering resets it. Climb the steps, then use the Switch Hook and pushing to get one pot onto the floor button and yourself to the far corner past the short wall. A chest opens and holds the Boss Key. Jump off the ledge and return to the stairs.

Link among pots and the Switch Hook before the pot puzzle
Link on the far ledge with the floor button and pots set
The chest holding the Boss Key appearing in the pot room
Link holding up the Boss Key with its message box
Link back below the ledge after taking the Boss Key

Boss: Eyesoar

Reach the boss door

Go southeast and take the stairs down. Hook onto the stone diamonds, go east and use pots and the moving platforms to reach the ladder on the east side. Climb it and open the boss door with the Boss Key. Boss Strategies collects every boss fight.

Link beside stone diamonds on both sides of a lava channel
Link firing the Switch Hook at a pot on a brick pillar
Link reaching the ladder on the east side
Link using the Switch Hook beside the pots and staircase
Link stepping through the boss door with the Boss Key

Defeat Eyesoar

Eyesoar starts the fight at once, shielded by four eyes that circle its big central eye. Hits on the outer eyes only knock them away, and they regrow. Fire the Switch Hook so it connects with the central blue eye. You swap places with it, the outer eyes scatter and you can slash the center with your sword. Keep hooking and slashing until it falls.

Eyesoar's central eye circled by four outer eyes
Link after the swap slashing the central eye of Eyesoar
Link hitting Eyesoar's eye with his sword
Eyesoar bursting apart as it is defeated

Heart Container and the Burning Flame

Eyesoar leaves a Heart Container. Take it, then walk north along the carpet to the shrine at the back of the dungeon. The Burning Flame floats in front of you. Pick it up to claim the fourth Essence of Time; the Essences of Time page tracks all eight.

A Heart Container appearing after Eyesoar falls
Link holding up a Heart Container with its message box
Link walking north along the carpet toward the shrine
Link raising the Burning Flame in the shrine
Link holding the Burning Flame, an Essence of Time

When the essence is yours, the Maku Tree speaks to you. It says the memory is returning, and that the ridge north of Nayru’s house must be tied to the Essences. That is your next goal.

Essences of Time swirling around Link in the dark
The Maku Tree saying it is remembering more and more
The Maku Tree saying the ridge must be related to the essences

Chapter checklist

TypeNameWhere
Dungeon itemCompassChest in the south room beside the first lava rooms, push the right-most block down (present)
Small KeySmall Key 1Chest after the colored block puzzle (present)
Dungeon itemDungeon MapChest on the platform reached by the first minecart (present)
Small KeySmall Key 2Chest revealed by shooting the crystal switch in the Moldorm room (present)
Small KeySmall Key 3Chest revealed by a crystal switch north of the block room (present)
Small KeySmall Key 4Falls when the colored tiles match the pattern (present)
Mini-bossArmos WarriorRoom after the second minecart (present)
Key itemSwitch HookChest in the tile room behind the cracked wall (present)
Small KeySmall Key 5Chest after the second large tile floor (present)
Dungeon itemBoss KeyChest at the end of the pot puzzle room (present)
BossEyesoarBoss room at the top of the east ladder (present)
Heart ContainerHeart ContainerLeft by Eyesoar (present)
Essence of TimeBurning FlameShrine north of the boss room (present)

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