Walkthrough
With all three Spiritual Stones in hand, return to the Temple of Time in Castle Town. Zelda throws you the Ocarina of Time from atop the castle as she flees Ganondorf on horseback — learn it, and at the stone altar inside the temple, play the Song of Time she taught you in her message to open the Door of Time.
Beyond the door waits the Master Sword, set in a stone pedestal. Pulling it doesn’t instantly make you a hero: Ganondorf was right behind you, waiting for the Sacred Realm to open so he could slip in first. The act of drawing the sword itself seals you inside the Temple for seven years.
⚠️ This is childhood’s point of no return — anything you leave unfinished as a kid (Skulltulas, Pieces of Heart, sidequests) is still there when you come back, but several shops and characters change.
Waking up
You wake seven years later as an adult, with Rauru waiting for you in the Temple of Time — the Master Sword stopped you from aging further, but it didn’t stop Ganondorf from seizing the Sacred Realm or Hyrule from falling under his rule. Now you face the six Sages and the temples that will wake them.