How to Beat the Final Boss of Skyward Sword
Enemy Waves
When you are ready to take on the final bosses of the game, head through the Gate of Time. Here you will find an injured Impa. Exit through the doors of the temple here as she suggests. You'll see Ghirahim below doing a weird ritual on Zelda. He will fence off this area, so you'll need to run along the entire spiral to reach him.
He will begin sending waves of enemies to hold you back as you continue down the spiral. The first wave is Red Bokoblins, which can be easily defeated with a single sword slash. He will then place a fence that will be removed after defeating 5 normal Bokoblins that defend certain angled attacks.
Continue down the spiral, where many more Bokoblins will appear. Some of which will carry bombs, which you'll want to avoid entirely. You'll get to another fenced-off point where you'll need to defeat three Moblins. Continue after defeating them where you'll run into a huge wave of more Bokoblins, some of which are archers.
At the next fence, you'll need to defeat one Blue Bokoblin. Continue through the waves of Bokoblins to the next fence, where there are a couple of Stalfos to defeat. As you approach the end, there will be some Blue Bokoblin, Moblins, and Archers mixed in. Enter the center ring with Ghirahim, where there is one final wave of Bokoblins to defeat.
Ghirahim
The final battle with Ghirahim will begin. In this battle, the idea is to push Ghirahim back so that he falls off this upper platform. He will block your attacks, but they push him back. Once he falls onto a lower platform, jump down with him and then deliver a fatal blow to deal damage.
After attacking him so more, Ghirahim will begin to hold purple orbs in his hands. This just means you'll now need to angle your attacks more carefully to avoid hitting him. Repeat the process of knocking him off the ledge and dealing fatal blows two more times.
In this next phase, you'll both be on the ground and Ghirahim will use a sword. You can't damage him with your sword or any weapons at this point. You'll need to run as far as you can from him. He will then shoot orange beams at you, which you need to reflect with your sword in the direction they are oriented. He will reflect them back at you again, so continue doing that until they hit him (this phase should feel familiar to Zelda veterans). Once he is stunned, thrust your sword into his chest to damage him.
Repeat this process a few times. Eventually, Ghirahim will pull out a much larger sword. Attacking this sword weakens it, so when you hit it once quickly keep slashing in the direction opposite which he is holding it. Once you break the sword, you can damage him. Repeat this process a few times and Ghirahim will be defeated.
Although you've bested Ghirahim in this fight, his ritual is completed and he summons the demon king, Demise. It initially appears as the familiar The Imprisoned, but it will suck energy from Zelda to transform into its true form. He will then use Ghirahim as his own sword. Before venturing into the new arena for the truly final fight, you can save at the bird statue if you'd like.
Demise
In this first phase, you want to get up close to demise and quickly alternate between slashing at him from left and right. Once you land a single hit, quickly backflip away to avoid his attack. That's pretty much all there is to this first phase, you'll need to hit him roughly 30 times like this.
In the second phase, a thunderstorm will begin on the battlefield. This is a hint that you need to use Skyward Strikes to damage Demise now. When you charge one up, quickly release it to stun Demise. You can then run in and get many slashes in.
During this time, Demise will perform similar Skyward Strikes of his own. The best way to deal with them is to launch your own so that they collide in the air and cancel each other out. He will also continue to attack you with normal sword and charged attacks, which you should backflip to avoid.
After getting enough slashes in, Demise will fall to the ground for a short amount of time. At this point, you simply rinse and repeat this strategy until he falls to the ground for the third time. Once he does, quickly perform a fatal blow and Demise will be defeated.
After you win the battle, the final cutscenes will play out and it is a happy ending for all. Congratulations on completing The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword! Let the credits roll...
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