Zora's Domain
Zora's Domain is a location from Ocarina of Time and Twilight Princess.It appears in A Link to the Past as Zora's Waterfall.
Ocarina of Time
Zora's Domain is the home of the aquatic race of the Zora. The large cavernous area is accessed from Zora's River or from a secret entrance hidden under water in Lake Hylia. Zora's Shop is also located here where items, such as the Zora Tunic, can be purchased. Zora's domain is the home of King Zora and his daughter, Princess Ruto. To enter Zora's Domain, Link will need to play Zelda's Lullaby in front of the seemingly impassable waterfall at the end of the Zora's River trail. When trying to acquire the Spiritual Stone of Water early on in the game, Link is required to enter Lord Jabu Jabu's belly and rescue Princess Ruto. Zora's domain plays a key part in the game, housing one of the 6 sages, Princess Ruto. If you are able to enter as an adult, you will see that it is frozen over. The only Zora that inhabits it by then is King Zora, who is frozen over by Red Ice.
Twilight Princess
Zora's Domain consists of two main areas: The throne room, and what might possibly be Zora's Fountain, which connects to Snowpeak. It is necessary to fish here (between the Mother and Child Rocks) after getting the Coral lure, so that Link can get the Reekfish Scent. There are 3 ways to enter it:
- Warping
- Blowing up a rock in Hyrule Field, which blocks the entrance.
- Playing Plumm's minigame (this takes you to upper Zora's River, and from here, you can enter Zora's Domain by swimming.
When Zora's Domain is covered by Twilight, the Zoras are frozen solid. This time, Link must warp to Death Mountain in order to get the Molten Shard to defrost the Zoras. After you get the Water Bombs and Zora Armor, you can sink to the bottom of the throne room, and blow up the shard, releasing a Goron that was trapped in it. Speak to him, and you will get a Bomb Bag.
Trivia
- Hyrule Castle can be seen directly south through the "canyon" of Zora's Domain (especially when it is encased in the giant twilight pyramid).
The process of unfreezing Zora's Domain as part of Link's quest in Twilight Princess may be a nod to Ocarina of Time. During the release of Ocarina of Time, gamers tried endlessly to figure out how to unfreeze Zora's Domain after they had obtained the Water Medallion by either using bombs, fire arrows or Din's Fire. Some people to this day still believe it can be unfrozen.