The End - The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword Guide - IGN (2024)

Welcome to IGN's Walkthrough for the Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword. This page contains information on The End of Link's adventure, including how to awaken Zelda, defeat Ghirahim, and the final boss.

Sealed Temple

Video Guide: Awakening Zelda

After the events of Sky Keep you will have the Triforce in hand and a long cutscene will deposit you in the Sealed Temple.

You can now return to Skyloft and stock up on Potions and definitely play Boss Rush Mode for the Hylian Shield, you will not be able to take on the final boss with anything else easily! It helps to buy a few guardian and health potions.

The Demonic Forces

At the Sealed Temple Ghirahim will re-appear and travel through the time portal into the past. If you have a bunch of Potions, the Hylian Shield and good health, head in after him!

Walk out through the double doors to the Sealed Grounds of the past.

You will be fighting a TON of Bokoblins here. Be sure to lock on to one of them while swiping at a group so your sword connects. Ample Stamina Fruit are in the area so use Spin Attacks while standing near them

You can run past the majority of enemies in this sequence. Ghirahim will raise several roadblocks stopping your progress at which point you will have to face the horde.

At the first one of these Wooden Shield Moblins appear. Use the Bow to easily take them out or a Bomb to clear their shields. Make sure all the nearby Bokoblins are suppressed first.

You can run past the archer Bokoblins if you want. The next roadblock features a Blue Bokoblin and a swarm of red Bokoblins, but nothing you haven't seen before. Another roadblack has some Stalfos but they are easy to kill with your powered-up Master Sword.

A Bokoblin with a Monster Horn will appear and give you a lot of trouble, calling an infinite supply of Bokoblins. You can run past him to the next road block if you wish, but here's how to take him out at the roadblock:

You can easily Z-target him and then dash after him. Use the Whip to snatch the Monster Horn from him. Once he loses the horn, he'll take out his weapon, and act like any normal Bokoblin would.

For a more complicated way, you can grab a Stamina Fruit and dash after the Bokoblin with the horn until you can pin him alongside one of the walls and use a Spin Attack to kill him. Quickly run to the Monster Horn, grab it up, and spin again to clear the area, else another Bokoblin will grab the horn.

Keep running past the Bokoblins as you near the bottom -- there's no need to fight them! A gap in the fence at the very bottom leads to a final face-off against the Bokoblin army.

Use Spin Attacks and grab as many hearts as you can before facing Ghirahim for the final time.

Boss Battle - Ghirahim Round 3

Video Guide: Final Ghirahim Boss Fight

The point of the first few rounds of this fight is to get Ghirahim to the edge of the platform. If he attacks, you can use shield bash to deflect his moves and give you more time to hit him before he attacks again. Otherwise just hit him with your sword until you can knock him off the edge. The best way to accomplish this is to land steady, side-to-side blows to his body. When Ghirahim appears as though he is going to attack, get ready to block/shield bash.

Hint: If you figure out the timing in between each of his attacks, you can stop hitting him prematurely, and that will "reset" the timer, allowing you to start attacking him again; Thus allowing you to make the battle go by quicker.

When you knock Ghirahim off the ledge, you can perform a Fatal Blow from the upper ledge by swiping down with the Nunchuck and Wii Remote. If you fall down, you can still perform the move.

Ghirahim will change tactics after this. When you get him to the edge of the platform, his hands will glow purple and you will have to carefully make sure that your sword doesn't hit it, because he swap places with you, placing you at the edge. To prevent this, take a quick note of the angles of his glowinghands.

Slice rightbetween the openings his hands create, same as if you were fighting aDeku Baba, or a Stalfos. If you hit one of his hands, and he manages to swap places, make sure you watch for the gap and run back around Ghirahim, putting him between you and the edge.You can take a bit of time with time, as he will not attack immediately.

The third platform requires the same technique. Once you get to the ground things change up a bit.

Ghirahim Phase 2

Ghirahim will now start using an energy attack, similar to your ownSkyward Strike,that you can block with your shield.

Stick close to him so you can counter his attacks, mainly using sheild bashes. Again, strike where he isn't, like when his hands glowed. When you get the opportunity, you MUST aim for the glowing diamond on his chest. Use a stabbing thrust attack to hit him.

Ghirahim Phase 3

For the final round, Ghirahim will summon a sword. You must block his sword strikes now, then chip away at the sword itself by using perpendicular strikes. Take your time with this -- he'll hold his sword up forever as you plan a swipe. Wait for him to hold the sword horizontally or vertically, then swing at a right angle to it. If you don't chip away at the sword in one fell swoop, his sword will fix itself up again.

Pay attention to the orange core you expose. Once you can swipe at the orange core a few times, he will make himself vulnerable to personal damage - you'll have a to nail Ghirahim in the chest again with a stabbing motion.

You only need to break his sword and stab him twice.After you defeat Ghirahim for the final time, Demise will appear, absorbing Ghirahim into his sword and challenging you to a duel.

You do not have to follow him into the portal at the bottom of the Sealed Grounds now -- you can return to the future and head to Skyloft to replenish your Potions. *THIS IS HIGHLY RECOMMENDED, AS THE COMING BATTLE IS DIFFICULT*

Note: You should make a copy of your save now, since the save you make after the Demise battle will give you the chance overwrite your current save and start a new Hero Mode game! This will allow you to keep a copy of the normal mode, if you still wish to finish up side quests, etc.

Video Guide: The Final Battle

This goes without saying: This is the Final battle, and there are two phases. You should note: Skyward Charge does not work in this battle, as it has in the game up until now - Do not expect to be able to use it until Phase 2, which will be explained then.

Tip: Stock up on potions before battle. If you've been diligently catching bugs throughout the adventure, you should be able to upgrade some Heart Potions to Heart Potion++ -- which means each potion heals all your hearts twice! You can also utilize Guardian Potions to great effect. If you struggle with blocking and evading, bring some of the latter, too.

Having 4 bottles of Guardian Potion plus the Potion Medal and the shield will simplify the battle, but you still need to be on your toes and move out of Demise's way. You still need to work to win, but you can take you time charging the sword in the second phase without fear of losing hearts

Demise Phase 1

If you are not the world's leading expert on the Shield Bash you will most likely need Revitalizing Potions or the Hylian Shield for this battle. You can use lock-on targeting and jump back when he attacks, but Shield Bash counters make this battle extremely short.

During the first phase of the battle, you want to stay close to him. If you are distant from him, he will do a charging attack that will decrease your life by two (2) hearts, that can be difficult to avoid. (but you can jump to avoid it)

Demise's attacks are slow and easy to counter, just use Shield Bash and then immediately use a single sword attack at any angle to hit him. (Note: He only has one attack that will strike at you twice: an alternating diagonal strike with his sword.) If you use Spin Attacks, there's a chance that you can damage Demise so much that he will go down on one knee. When he does this, attack him with everything you've got!

You can get in a perfect pattern of countering Demise's attacks and hitting him with Sword Spins that will take him out in a very short time. You can get past this phase without bringing him to his knee at all, but it will take much longer.

Demise Phase 2 (Final)

During the next phase, the arena will fill with lightning and Demise will begin to charge up his own Skyward Strikes. Notice that clashing with his sword will cause you to take an electric shock. (Also note: If you are too close to him when his sword is charged, it will knock you off your feet)

You should also notice that you cannot regularly charge your own Skyward Strike - The only times you are able to charge your sword are when there is lightning going through the sky. (Hint: You should try and charge your sword before Demise charges his. Just make sure that you release it at him, he usually is very ready to charge at you since you stole his thunder - literally in this case.)

Tip for Skyward Sword HD: In addition to charging requiring lighting, raising your sword all the way can sometimes be tricky in the Switch version. Make sure to recenter your Joy-Con with Y if you're using motion controls. It's sometimes easier to raise the sword skyward when not locked on to Demise, so break the lock if you're struggling with getting the sword to be vertical.

Chances are, he already has his own sword charged. If your Skyward Strike collides with his own, they will cancel. You won't get hit, but you also won't deal any damage. The key to this battle is to make sure your strike hits him before he unleashes his own. (A likely patter to this is: Shield Bash three of his attacks, lower your shield and raise your sword. You should be able to charge a Skyward Strike and then unleash it quickly to stun him. Learning to counter his three-strike attack is crucial to winning this fight if you are unable to master charging your sword in time, and have to battle him in close-combat.)

When your Skyward Strike hits him, he'll become paralyzed. This is your opportunity, and you'll want to capitalize on it. Run up to him and start whacking away. He should fall back and you will have a chance to perform a Fatal Blow. Do not do it. Demise is not weak enough. If you do, he'll roll out of the way and you'll be left vulnerable. Let him get up and repeat what you just did.

Demise will be weak enough on the third time he falls back. Once he falls for the third time, perform a Fatal Blow, and sit back and watch the ending.

You've just beaten the game!

If you want to rewatch the ending cutscene and the credits, click the video below.

Note: If you save after the credits roll, you will erase your save and create a new Hero Mode save! If you want to keep your old game for Side Quests, or whatever, DO NOT SAVE (or make a copy of your save first).