History
Warning! There are spoilers in this text. If you haven't played the game and you don't want to spoil yourself, stop reading here!
Set over a century after the events of Ocarina of Time, the game begins with Link living and working as a ranch hand in Ordon Village. When monsters suddenly attack the village, and kidnap the village children and his close friend Ilia, Link pursues the attackers. A monster pulls him through a strange black wall, where the powers of Twilight transforms him into a large wolf. The monster drags him off before he wakes, imprisoned, in Hyrule Castle. An imp-like creature named Midna appears and tells him she can help him out of here if he will help her, and guides him to another of the castle's prisoners: Princess Zelda.
Zelda explains that the Twilight King Zant is trying to merge the Twilight Realm and Hyrule into a land of darkness using an evil power. Zant is a member of the Twili, a race of beings descended from magicians banished to the Twilight Realm by the great Light Spirits of Hyrule. Midna is a Twili who is searching for a weapon called the Fused Shadows to defeat Zant and save the Twilight Realm because Zant is evil
Restoring the four Light Spirits of Hyrule, Link and Midna reassemble the Fused Shadows that had been broken up and hidden in the Forest Temple, Goron Mines, and Lakebed Temple. However, Zant then appears and causes all kinds of damage. He takes the Fused Shadows, embeds a black crystal in Link's forehead (trapping him in his wolf form), and exposes Midna to the light of the Light Spirit Lanayru, critically injuring her. Link rushes Midna to Princess Zelda, who reveals that the only way Link can return to his normal form is to find the Master Sword. Zelda combines her heart with Midna's to heal her, allowing her to exist outside of the Twilight. After Link reaches the Master Sword, Zant's black crystal is forced out of him. Midna keeps the crystal, allowing Link to assume his wolf form at will.
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Link and Midna travel through Gerudo Desert and conquer the Arbiter's Grounds dungeon to reach the Mirror of Twilight—the only way to enter the Twilight Realm and stop Zant—only to discover that Zant has broken it. The ancient sages who guard the mirror reveal that they banished Ganondorf to the Twilight Realm using the Mirror, and that he may be the source of Zant's frightening, newfound powers. They also state that Zant attempted to destroy the Mirror completely, but could not do so, because only the true ruler of the Twili has the power to do so, and Zant's powers are false. He could only break it into four fragments, and three are missing.
After journeying through the Snowpeak Ruins, the Temple of Time, and the Oocca's City in the Sky, they obtain the missing Mirror shards. After Link and Midna restore the Mirror, the sages reveal that Midna is the true ruler of the Twili, the Twilight Princess, and that Zant's curse turned her into an imp. When Link and Midna confront Zant in the Twilight Realm, he explains that he encountered Ganondorf while in a rage about being passed over as the king of the Twili. Ganondorf offered to make Zant's wishes come true, and made Zant a vessel for his power. Midna regains the Fused Shadows, and uses it to kill Zant, although he returns to life afterwards, immortal due to Ganondorf's power.
Link and Midna return to Hyrule Castle, which is surrounded by a seemingly impenetrable magical barrier, but Midna breaks through it with the Fused Shadows. They then encounter Ganondorf, who possesses Zelda. Link is then forced to fight Zelda. After Link defeats her, Midna purges Zelda out of Ganondorf's spirit. He then transforms into the form of a giant boar (his "Ganon" form). After Link defeats Ganon, Zelda's spirit is released from Midna's body, bringing Zelda back to life. Suddenly, Ganondorf reappears in the form of what appears to be a floating, flaming apparition in the form of his head. Midna teleports Link and Zelda to safety, and tries to destroy him with the Fused Shadows. However, after Link and Zelda are safely transported to Hyrule Field, Hyrule Castle is destroyed, and Ganondorf, having defeated Midna, appears on horseback holding the Fused Shadow Midna wore on her head, before crushing it in his hand.
Zelda prays to the Light Spirits, who grant her the
Light Arrows, and she and
Link battle
Ganondorf on
horseback.
Ganondorf falls from his horse in battle, yet challenges
Link to a sword-fight. After battling,
Link drives the Master Sword into Ganondorf's glowing wound. Ganondorf stands, impaled, believing the
Triforce of Power will save him. However,
the image of the Triforce fades from his hand, leaving a dying Ganondorf. The scene changes to show
Zant's neck breaking, a sign that he is no longer receiving power from Ganondorf, and is thus no longer immortal.
Ganondorf seemingly dies while remaining upright.
With Ganondorf defeated, the curse that Zant put on Midna, who survived her defeat at his hands, is broken, and she regains her true form. Link, Zelda, and Midna travel to the Mirror of Twilight, where Midna returns home. Before she leaves, Midna bids Link and Zelda farewell, and then shatters the twilight mirror with one of her tears. After Midna enters the portal, the Mirror shatters, thereby naming Midna as the true ruler of the Twilight Realm (as it was said that only the true ruler could shatter the mirror) as well as severing the only known link between Hyrule and the Twilight Realm forever.
Source: Wikipedia. Ending screenshot from Zelda Elements