Story Summary

Twilight Princess follows Link as a creeping dusk swallows Hyrule, turns him into a wolf, and draws him into an alliance with Midna. Together they cleanse the land, gather the pieces of a lost throne and end the schemes of Zant and Ganondorf. The summary below is split by story act and links to the matching walkthrough chapter.

Act 1: Ordon Village and the first twilight

Link lives as a ranch hand in Ordon Village, minding goats, riding Epona and looking after the village children. Rusl, the village’s swordsman, asks him to carry a gift to Hyrule Castle, but before he can leave, Bulblin raiders attack. They carry off Ilia, Colin and the other children, and Link is knocked down trying to stop them.

Chasing the raiders into Faron Woods, Link meets a wall of black mist. A shadowy hand pulls him in and he awakens as a wolf, chained in a cell beneath Hyrule Castle. A small masked figure called Midna offers to free him in return for his obedience, and she leads him out of the dungeon. Across Hyrule, land swallowed by the twilight is covered in a dusk where people turn into spirits who cannot see or hear anyone.

Midna guides Link to Princess Zelda, who waits alone in a tower. She explains that Zant, a ruler from the Twilight Realm, has taken the kingdom and that she surrendered to spare her people. The three Light Spirits of Hyrule have also been taken, and Link must free their provinces by gathering the Tears of Light. Midna agrees to guide him, and the pair leave the castle to begin.

Act 2: The three provinces and the Fused Shadows

Link returns to Ordon and then Faron Woods, where he gathers the Tears of Light and frees the Light Spirit Faron, who restores his human form for the time being. The trail leads to the Forest Temple, where Link defeats Diababa, a giant plant poisoning the area. It leaves a Fused Shadow behind, a relic of Twilight Realm magic that Midna wants.

Midna lets slip that Zant was once one of her own people, a man who gained terrible power and cast her out. She is the true ruler of the Twilight Realm, and the Fused Shadows are pieces of the same power that Zant now uses against Hyrule.

In Eldin, Death Mountain is wrapped in smoke and the Goron tribe has been threatened. Link wins the trust of the Gorons, enters the Goron Mines and defeats Fyrus to free the second Light Spirit. A second Fused Shadow is his reward.

Lanayru is next. After the light returns to the province, the Zora are found suffering and Link enters the Lakebed Temple to stop Morpheel and take the third Fused Shadow. Zant then ambushes Link and Midna, steals the Fused Shadows and strikes Midna down. Link carries her to Zelda.

Act 3: Midna’s price and the Master Sword

At the castle, Zelda gives up her own life force to keep Midna alive. Revived, Midna asks Link to take her to the Sacred Grove, where the Master Sword rests. Link passes the Guardian statues’ test, reaches the sword and pulls it free. It breaks the curse that holds him in wolf form, so from now on he can change at will.

With the blade in hand, the party seeks the Mirror of Twilight, the portal between the two worlds. Zant has shattered it, and Link must recover the missing shards to rebuild the way into the Twilight Realm.

Act 4: The Mirror of Twilight shards

In the Gerudo Desert Link crosses the Bulblin camp, faces King Bulblin and enters the Arbiter’s Grounds, a ruined prison where he defeats Stallord. The first shard waits in the Mirror Chamber at the top of the grounds; the remaining shards lie in Snowpeak Ruins, where a yeti couple lives in a mansion, and in the Temple of Time, whose guardian statue he must guide through the ruins.

The last shard is in the sky. The City in the Sky, home of the Oocca, is menaced by the dragon Argorok. When Link wins, the Mirror of Twilight is whole again.

Act 5: Zant, the Palace of Twilight and Ganondorf

The mirror opens a path to the Palace of Twilight. Midna recovers her power, gets back the Fused Shadows and confronts Zant. He declares himself a god and fights Link with the stolen magic. When Link defeats him, Zant is left with nothing and admits that he was only a pawn.

Ganondorf, the real power behind Zant, then appears and kills him. Back in Hyrule, he takes the Triforce of Power and prepares to take the kingdom. The way to Zelda leads through Hyrule Castle.

Act 6: The final battle and farewell

Link fights through the castle to the throne room, where Ganondorf has taken control of Zelda. Her possessed body fights Link, and when she is freed, Ganondorf takes the beast form of Ganon before the duel moves outside to Hyrule Field. With the help of Zelda and Midna, Link defeats the king of evil with the Master Sword.

When it is over, Midna says goodbye. She shatters the Mirror of Twilight so that the two realms can never cross again, and Link is left to return to Ordon, knowing that the bond he forged with Midna cannot be mended.

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