TotK Hyrule Castle: Entrances, Hidden Passage and All 51 Chests

In The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, Hyrule Castle has been torn in two. Part of it stayed on the ground, ringed around a huge chasm; the main castle floats above it on a mass of rock. This page is about exploring it on your own: how to get in, which rooms it has, what is in the chests of each, whether anything comes back, and where the chasm underneath leads. For the story visits, see Crisis at Hyrule Castle and the final battle walkthrough; they are not repeated here.

How do you get into Hyrule Castle?

You can go any time after you have the paraglider. The monsters inside are tougher than those around it and Gloom is everywhere, so bring Warding food and Sunny dishes. There are four ways in:

Mind your stamina if you glide: the single wheel you start with will not get you there, so bring a few stamina-restoring dishes or add Stamina Vessels first (see hearts or stamina). On your first visit, activate Serutabomac Shrine inside the castle so you can warp straight back.

The Docks sit in the cliff right below the castle. The Hylian Shield is there; both routes are on its page.

Where are the Royal Hidden Passage entrances?

The Royal Hidden Passage is the cave that links Lookout Landing to Hyrule Castle. The game data has three entrances:

The Lookout Landing end needs any one regional temple finished. After that, Jerrin is in the Emergency Shelter beside a hole she has opened in the wall; talking to her starts Who Goes There?, and crouching through the hole puts you in the passage. Reportedly you do not need a temple to come in from the castle end, where a hatch in the floor of the Observation Room lifts with Ultrahand.

There are 6 chests inside, including all three pieces of the Soldier’s set; the route to each is on the Soldier’s set page. There is also the Horned Statue, which buys and sells Heart Containers and Stamina Vessels for rupees (A Deal With the Statue).

Click “Show on map” to move the map above to that spot.

“Knight’s Halberd + Knight’s Halberd” is a Knight’s Halberd with a second Knight’s Halberd fused to it.

What rooms does the castle have, and what is in their chests?

The game names 14 areas of the castle. The ground level is on the island ringed by the moat; the floating castle is right above it. The table counts the 51 chests inside the moat from the game data, each under the area nearest to it:

The ground level is mostly Soldier’s gear, and things get better the higher you go: the Royal weapons cluster in the Second Gatehouse and Princess Zelda’s Room, and the Royal Guard weapons are only in the 4 chests of Princess Zelda’s Study and the Sanctum.

Chests that take a little work:

• Champion’s Leathers (Sanctum). The Sanctum is the throne room. In front of the throne are two unlit braziers; light both with a torch, Fire Fruit or anything burning and a hidden chest appears. It is the reward for the side quest A New Champion’s Tunic.
• Royal Guard Boots (King’s Study). Take the stairs by the shrine down to the Library. One section of the bookshelves on the north wall moves with Ultrahand, and the King’s Study is behind it. Another chest, behind the Library’s east wall, holds a Shard of Dinraal’s Spike.
• Royal Guard Cap (Princess Zelda’s Room). Behind the folding screen as you come in.
• Royal Guard Uniform (Guards’ Chamber). Above the Guards’ Chamber; the route is on the Royal Guard set page.
• Hylian Shield (Docks). Light the big brazier on the top landing and the chest appears.

Every chest’s position: click “Show on map” and the map above moves to that chest. “Nearest landmark” is the named area closest to the chest; the chest is not always inside that room and can be a floor above or below it.

Click “Show on map” to move the map above to that spot.

The table shows what the game data puts in each chest. Until you open it, a weapon chest’s weapon is swapped for a better one of the same line as your kill points rise (Soldier’s to Knight’s, for example); see weapon bonuses.

Do Hyrule Castle chests respawn?

No. An opened chest stays empty, and a Blood Moon does not refill it. What does come back after a Blood Moon:

• Weapons lying around. The Royal Guard and Royal weapons left in the Sanctum, Princess Zelda’s Room, the Guards’ Chamber, the Library and elsewhere reappear after a Blood Moon once you take them, and so does the Dusk Bow lying high on the central spire above the Sanctum. Which ones are where, and a route that picks them all up, is in weapon farming.
• The monsters. They revive, with their weapons.

So take what you want from the chests in one go, and come back after a Blood Moon for the weapons.

Where does the chasm under the castle lead?

To the final battle. Hyrule Castle Chasm is on the ground right below the Sanctum, ringed by the ground level: Show on map. Jumping in takes you down through Gloom’s Approach, the Forgotten Foundation and the Imprisoning Chamber to Gloom’s Lair and the fight with Demon King Ganondorf. You can jump without the last main quest, but once you go down it is one fight after another; the route and what to bring are in the final battle walkthrough.

What else is there to do in the castle?

• Koroks. The game data has 20 inside the moat; see Korok seeds.
• Gloom Spawn. Around the Docks and the Lockup, Gloom Spawn rises out of the Gloom. If you would rather not fight, wait somewhere high until it goes away; see Gloom Spawn.
• The main quest. The first part of Crisis at Hyrule Castle sends you to the First Gatehouse to find Captain Hoz; the second part follows Princess Zelda from the Second Gatehouse to the Sanctum, where you fight Phantom Ganon.

See also

• Crisis at Hyrule Castle
• Weapon farming
• Royal Guard set
• Soldier’s set
• Final battle walkthrough