Pandora's Labyrinth of Deceit
Pandora's Labyrinth of Deceit is the fifth chapter of the storyline in Kid Icarus: Uprising. This mission features the return of the last fortress guardian of the original Kid Icarus, the goddess of calamity Pandora. In addition, Dark Pit's creation is also revealed towards the climax of this chapter.
Aerial Mission
Pit will start this chapter in the quiet sky, where Palutena will explain that the Reapers did a great job of hiding the entrance to Pandora's lair. The angel becomes puzzled, before witnessing the formation of a dimensional rift that leads to Pandora's labyrinth. During one of the most bizarre flying sequences of the adventure, Pit must travel through a series of vortexes and polygonal hallways, many of which play mind tricks with deceptive walls and illusions; however, certain types of wall can injure Pit. Enemies are everywhere, but also seem disoriented in this space, with some randomly disappearing while others seem to lose control of their flight. This is also the first chapter where different paths can be taken, although most of them lead to dead ends that will only waste the Power of Flight. Towards the end, Pit will fly through multiple illusions, including a recreation of the first chapter, a short trip through space, a seemingly digitalized area, and a large hall with columns that can deflect aprojectiles.
Ground Mission
The ground portion of this chapter is said to be one of the most complicated yet, as the labyrinth of Pandora contains many illusions and tricks. It is also home to the Mirror of Truth, which is responsible for the creation of Dark Pit. It starts with Pit immediately landing after the confusing flight into the Labyrinth. Pit and Palutena will banter with Pandora all throughout the chapter, mainly commenting about the unique setting. In addition to trampolines, Pit will wander into multiple arenas where Exo Tanks can be used. He will also have to fight his way through confusing, moving walls and invisible floors to get towards the boss room where Pandora resides. Once he reaches the area, he exchanges some conversation with Pandora before fighting.
Intensity Gates
The chapter's Intensity Gate is located beneath the trampolines found halfway through the level, and requires a high difficulty setting of 8.0. It contains no traps, but rather a classic room decorated with textures from the original Kid Icarus, as well as an image of its well-known shop. A single Treasure Chest can be found here, which contains a weapon.
Boss Battle
Pandora serves as the boss of this chapter, and is capable of using teleportation and other deceptive tactics during the fight. One of her main attacks is to spit out bombs that can be hit back at her with melee attacks, as doing so will cause the most damage to her. Halfway through the battle, she will pretend to surrender and trick Pit into breaking the Mirror of Truth, which results in the creation of Dark Pit. Pandora reveals that this was her intention all along--however, to her surprise, Dark Pit turns against her and teams up with Pit. Together, they defeat Pandora. Immediately afterwards, Dark Pit gives his counterpart a mighty kick and mentions of how he dislikes Pit copying his look. After stealing Pandora's powers by running through the remnants of her black-blue flames, he quickly flies away.
Trivia
- This chapter seems to purposely use glitches with enemies to disorient players, and will often make them move in erratic patterns.
- The flying portion of this mission appears to be a reference to the polygonal structure of Star Fox on the SNES.