As Link climbs out of the water into the Catfish’s Maw, he reflects on the previous dungeons he’s explored. Every crypt has thrown something new and dangerous at him. Monsters have lurked in every room. What would this monstrous stone fish have planned for Link within its dark and watery confines?
Link’s first steps into the dungeon are familiar at least. It’s an empty room that seems to serve as a parlor, a feature shared with every other dungeon he’s visited. Rather quaint for such dangerous places. There’s a passage way, the only one, to his left. Link keeps his eyes trained on the cyclops statues staring straight ahead, in case they suddenly decide to behave less like statues and more like enemies, before cautiously passing through the entrance and into the heart of the dungeon.
Making his way through a few rooms, Link encounters all of the traps and dangers he’s come to expect. Pitfalls, spinning blades, and feral beasts make each step hazardous. It’s nothing he hasn’t dealt with before though. Good timing, fast use of his shield, and the occasional swipe of his sword carry him through to progress. The real issue comes as he finds a room with a skull-shaped tile pattern on the ground, and when, after stepping into the room, the doors slam shut, locking him in.
With the exits sealed, Link is set upon by a massive skeleton knight that drops from the ceiling. Master Stalfos, as it is called, immediately attacks Link. The knight is formidable, and it gets in a few good swipes, but Link’s patented patience and courage eventually help him deal a critical blow. The bones of the knight fall to the ground, but Link can see that they are stirring, and wonders if this undead foe will rise again.
Not wanting to take any chances, Link remembers the words of the Stone Owl he had found earlier. The statue told Link that a skeleton could be destroyed using a bomb. Link sets an explosive by the bone pile and retreats to a safe distance as the bomb goes off. The bomb does the trick, doing massive damage that causes the Master Stalfos to quickly compose itself. It’s a process that Link repeats three times, but the knight follows his third revival with a tactic Link has not seen yet from an enemy: it retreats.
The knight is gone and the door opens, but Link is still surprised by the show of intelligence from his opponent. There’s also the fact that it spoke to Link. Curious but undaunted, Link presses forward into the next room. Next to the entrance he finds a new treasure chest, which he assumes is a prize for defeating the knight. It might have been, but upon opening it, all that Link finds is a note, written by the Master Stalfos, that says it has taken the treasure, and that Link will need to come and get it. The knight is taunting Link. Now he is anxious to find that knight again.
Link does find him again. And again. And again. Three more times in three more chambers nearly identical to the one where they first fought, Link tangles with the Master Stalfos. With each battle, Link’s understanding of what needs to happen grows. Progress through the dungeon is often slow. Many areas seem to be out of reach, along with many treasures. Whether he’s navigating a room full of smaller skeletons just as eager to kill him as the big one, or if he’s diving through the dark depths of the Maw’s water ways, Link is only able to make real progress after he’s delivered a beating to his massive friend. The Master Stalfos still has that mystery treasure. Whatever that prize is, it must be essential to clearing the dungeon.
Essential it is. After one last Bomb to the Master Stalfos’s boney face, the cowardly knight can take no more and erupts into a ball of dark fire and smoke. All that remains are his ashes and Link’s mystery prize: a Hookshot.
Being an old pro with this mechanical wonder, Link wastes no time in using the Hookshot to its full potential to finally explore the entirety of the dungeon. He uses it to snag previously un-snagable treasures, reach previously unreachable chambers, and beat previously unbeatable baddies. The tool’s utility is high, high enough to match Link’s imagination. Grappling up, down, and all around (even through an underground chamber full of the ever-surprising-to-see Goombas), Link arrives at the lair of the dungeon’s master, the Slime Eel.
The Slime Eel puts up a good fight, biting at Link from holes it made in the walls and swinging its spiked tale from the pit in the floor, but the Hookshot makes it too easy for Link to drag the beast out of its hiding spots so he can introduce it to the business end of his blade. The eel tries its best, but Link is too good of a shot too many times, which seals the monster’s fate.
With nothing else standing (or wriggling) in his way, and with a new Heart Container added to his collection, Link saunters into the dungeon’s innermost chamber to claim the Wind Marimba. The Catfish’s Maw was not what Link expected, but he’ll take the accomplishment of finding the instrument, the fun of earning a Hookshot, and the confidence boost that came from defeating both a crafty knight and a massive beast.
