The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past: how to unlock
Equipment and actions that open important routes, transport and sword upgrades in the SNES game.
Draw the Master Sword
Collect all three Pendants of Virtue from the Eastern Palace, Desert Palace and Tower of Hera. Then enter the sacred grove in the northwestern Lost Woods and draw the real sword from its pedestal. The loose imitation swords elsewhere in the forest do not count.
Pendants of Virtue — Zelda Fandom · Lost Woods — Zelda Fandom
Open the Desert Palace
Bring the Book of Mudora to the stone tablet surrounded by three statues in the Desert of Mystery, southwest of Hyrule. Stand before the tablet and use the book. Link makes the Wish of Opening, moving the statues and exposing the route to the palace entrance.
Desert Palace — Zelda Fandom · Book of Mudora — Zelda Fandom
Activate Flute fast travel
Speak to the Flute Boy in the Dark World's Haunted Grove for the Shovel, then dig up his Flute in the Light World grove. Play it beside Kakariko's central weathercock statue to release the bird. Playing it afterward lets you choose among eight Light World travel points.
Go deeper into the Swamp Palace
Bring Zora's Flippers to the southern Dark World palace. Return to its Light World counterpart, the Swamp Ruins, and pull the watergate switch to drain the outside pond. That also floods the palace's first room; return to the Dark World and swim across to continue.
Temper the Master Sword
With the Titan's Mitt, lift the dark stones around the frog-shaped swordsmith south of the Village of Outcasts. Escort him through a Magic Mirror portal to his partner's house southeast of Kakariko. Once reunited, the smiths offer the Tempered Sword upgrade for ten Rupees.
Dwarven Swordsmith — Zelda Fandom · Titan's Mitt — Zelda Fandom
Summaries written for this guide. Artwork and screenshots © Nintendo.