Lakebed Temple

Template:Dungeons

Lakebed Temple, also known as the Zora Temple,^[1] is the third dungeon in Twilight Princess.

Entrance to the Temple

The dungeon is located at the bottom of Lake Hylia, and as such, Link can only gain access to it after both acquiring the Zora Armor in Kakariko Village and purchasing some Water Bombs, as the entrance itself is blocked by a boulder.

Themes and Navigation

The temple is based around water and appears to be a spiritual successor to the Water Temple of Ocarina of Time, but instead of level manipulation, the dungeon's functionality is actually based on the transport of water from its sources to dried rooms. Notably, several rooms contain large ancient gears and waterwheels, which, albeit not to the same extent as the complex machinery found in the Goron Mines, seem to show an advancement in technology since the events of Ocarina of Time.

This temple's greatest feature is its rotating central staircase, which must be turned to move streams of water in the dungeon. Using different handles and mechanisms, Link must bring the flow of water to move waterwheels and platforms to advance deeper into the temple. Link's main goal is to get the water level in the rotating central staircase room high enough to reach the boss door. During the exploration, he also must frequently shoot Bomb Arrows to bring down some stalactites on the ceiling, so that he can climb up to some spots.^[2] The item Link receives in this temple is the Clawshot, needed to reach to otherwise inaccessible places. It is acquired after defeating the temple's mini-boss, the Deku Toad.

In terms of structure, the Lakebed Temple resembles the Fire Temple from Ocarina of Time, having multiple floors and the highest rooms being parallel to each other, as if the two main sides of the temple (west and east) were intended to have a symmetry. A notable difference, in comparison to the aforementioned Fire Temple, is that Link has to fully explore both sides to clear the dungeon, whereas the eastern highest-end rooms of the Fire Temple are optional.

The final boss of the temple is Morpheel. The boss is found after Link descends while swimming through a long shaft leading to the battle arena. Upon clearing the dungeon, Link receives the third and final Fused Shadow and another Heart Container.^[3]

Minor Enemies and Traps

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Bari
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Bombfish
Chu Worm
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Helmasaur
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Keese
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Lizalfos
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Masked Lizalfos
Purple Chu.png

Purple Chu
Red Chu.png

Red Chu
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Shell Blade
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Skullfish
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Tektite
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Toado
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Yellow Chu

Trivia

The background music in the Lakebed Temple is, in some ways, thematically similar to that of the Water Temple of Ocarina of Time.
When Link speaks to Midna, she initially admires the beauty of the dungeon and considers the place to be better than the Goron Mines; however, after some time, she changes her mind and complains about the complexity of the temple.^[4]^[5]^[6] This may be a reference to how previous water dungeons in the series were similarly complex in structure or in the need of manipulating water, as well as directly refreanceing the number of keys needed in Ocarina of Time's Water temple. Despite her complaints there is are no grand searches for small keys beyond the first one.
It is possible to perform a Big Key skip for the Lakebed Temple, as the boss door itself does not actually lead directly to the boss chamber (Link must drop down a hole past the door).

Etymology

Names in Other Regions
Language		Name	Meaning
	Japanese	Template:Japanese	Lake Bottom Temple
	French^EU	Temple Abyssal	Abyssal Temple
	German	Seeschrein	Lake Shrine
	Italian	Santuario del Lago	Sanctuary of the Lake
	Spanish^EU	Santuario del Lago	Sanctuary of the Lake

Gallery

The entrance to the Temple
Map of the Lakebed Temple

References

↑ "The place beyond this rock is sacred to my people. It was once called the Zora Temple." — Zora (Twilight Princess)
↑ "Whoa! Don't you think you ought to knock down those stalactites hanging off the ceiling first? They don't look to be very stable. I'd bet they'd break pretty easily if you hit them with enough force, don't you think?" — Princess Midna (Twilight Princess)
↑ "There it is! The last Fused Shadow... I'll just take that, thanks! Now, don't resent me for all I've put you through. I NEED this thing!" — Princess Midna (Twilight Princess)
↑ "This place is much nicer than those stuffy, hot Goron mines!" — Princess Midna (Twilight Princess)
↑ "This is one huge temple. Just trying to find a single key is going to take a lot of effort..." — Princess Midna (Twilight Princess)
↑ "Why did those Zoras think it was a good idea to build such a huge temple?!" — Princess Midna (Twilight Princess)