Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess Walkthrough
A step by step guide to Link’s epic adventure through Hyrule and beyond.
Hylian River
Now that you are back in Kakariko Village, speak to the folks there and visit Malo and Barnes’ shops to grab the bomb bag and the Hylian Shield. Once you have those two items, head northeast out of the village and head to the long bridge to the northwest where you previous jousted. At the far end of the bridge, bomb the boulders blocking the path and then you will be able to enter the twilight there. Now that you are back in wolf form, continue up the path to find Ilia’s purse on the ground. Give it a sniff to learn her scent and you will then be shown a trail when using your senses. Simply follow the trail all the way into the castle town and continue to follow the path to Telma’s Bar. Enter it and use your senses to listen to the conversation about the Zora boy that was found. Once they have talked, look at the map on the table to the right of the soldiers and then start your journey south to the red point on the map.
Make your way out of the bar and back out of the town, but now go to the east and continue to go east until you come to the Great Hylian Bridge. Start to cross it and a scene will play with an archer. Push the crate on the bridge to the side and then hop on it and over the edge to land in the water below. When you land, go over to the large building and listen to the owner talk of his troubles. He will then see the archer appear, so make your way over to it and fight it. Since it will have some help now, wait for it to swoop down and then attack it. Once you have defeated it, Midna will hop on it and you will now be able to control it through the gorge. Fly above and around the rocks as needed—it’s not a long or difficult path—and always dash to make the arrows always miss their mark. Once you reach the end, fly through the opening and you will be back on solid ground.
When you are back in control, go north—to the left of the boat rental cabin—and follow path down to river bed. Continue to follow it along to the end and walk up the ramp at the bottom of the ice pillars. Use Midna to jump up the platforms to the top and enter gates. Once there, you will need to defeat 3 shadow beings, one being behind a fence that you need to go around to get first. Once they are defeated, Midna will make you look below ice and will tell you to come back later. Now use Midna to teleport to Death Mountain and look at the large fiery stone that fell into the middle of the area earlier. Talk to Midna and listen to his blabbing and then teleport back to the Zora’s Domain and it will come along for the ride. When you arrive, you will free the Zora’s and release the water. Go to leave and Rutela will stop you and ask you to look for Ralis in Hyrule castle. For now, leave the area and jump off the waterfall where you will awake in cave. Go forward to speak to Spirit of Lanayru and get the vessel of light.
Now—once again—you will need to track down the tears in the area that the insects have taken. For the first 3 tears, you can find them easily enough right around the area where you exit speaking to Rutela. The first will scurry across the bridge, the second will be behind the boat rental shop in the southeast area of the lake and the third will be to the south across grassy platforms you need to jump over. Once on the other side, you will need to dig for the insect in the ground. The next three you can find by flying on the large shadow bird that you flew on earlier. On the small island near the boat rental place, you can find some grass that will let you howl in the same tone of the tune the grass makes. When the bird arrives, there will be three insects along the voyage that you will need to hit. Simply target them with Z and then dash into them. For the other six insects, you will need to teleport to Zora’s Domain all the way north. When you arrive, there will be one insect in the chamber you arrive in, that you will need to dash into the wall for it to fall down.
Get it and then leave and go over the waterfall again. When you reach the bottom, there will be two flying around the leaves in the water. Climb up them and jump to hit each with Z-targeting and pressing A. There will then be two others—one to the east and west. To get both, go to the shore with the two spirits and then go east. Look for the ledges to use Midna to jump up and continue around until you can go under the waterfall for the first insect. For the second, climb the ledge under the water fall and go the opposite way. Follow the ledges around and you will come to a large tunnel where the insect will be. Now for the final three insects, make your way out of the large cavern through the cave opening to the south. Once you enter the next area, there will be one insect to the west side at the cabin.
Break the boxes and listen to the spirit and the insect will appear on the ground. Kill it and then swim through the small opening to the southeast to reach Hylia Field. Head to the castle and face off against three shadow beasts and then enter through the gates. Find the next insect behind the tavern and then use Midna to teleport back down to Lake Hylia. When you arrive, you will get a scene showing the center of the lake. Go to the floating wood pieces there and use your senses to see a giant insect flying around. To defeat it, you will need to attack it twice to make it go belly up in the water. Once it does, get on it and press B to expand your attack and then strike its legs to finish it off. Once you do, you will receive the final tear. Now that you have returned all the tears, you will return to human form and will need to rescue Ralis to enter the Lake Temple.
Make your way to the building in the center of the lake and talk to the clown there to use the cannon. It will fire you up to the top of the cliff and allow you to grab some grass to call Epona and head to Hyrule Castle Town. Once inside the town, make your way to the tavern again and you’ll have a long scene with Telma about the Zora. Now you’ll need to escort a wagon with Ilia, Telma, and the Zora to Kakariko Village. The path is marked on the map with a purple line and the only time the wagon will diverge is when a bird drops a bomb in the road. Make sure to hit all the birds before they can drop them, or else the wagon will go in a huge circle before getting back on track. There will also be archers on mounts that will shoot fire-arrows at the wagon. If and when the wagon catches fire, use your boomerang to put the flames out. The whole ride is very straight forward except for the first encounter on the bridge where you will need to ride at the mounted enemy with your bow drawn and shoot him when you get close. Tag him twice to knock him off and to start the ride. When you do knock him down, you will also receive a gate key. There are only two times through the whole ride that you’ll need to stop to dismount and open a gate to proceed through.
Once you reach Kakariko Village, another long scene will play and you’ll eventually be outside the Inn. Rutela will appear in the sky and you will need to follow her to the graveyard. Crawl through the tunnel that opens and you will receive the Zora Armor that will allow you to swim and breathe underwater. There are also some boulders below the water in the chamber that can be blown up with the water bombs that are now available at Barnes’ Shop. Grab some water bombs and head back to the chamber where you got the armor and equip the iron boots. Walk to the right side and place a water bomb in front of the stones and enter the tunnel after it blows. This will take you all the way back to Hylia Lake and allow you to reach the entrance of the LakeBed Temple. Walk/swim to the purple marker on the map and go to the left side of the pit. On the ground there will be an air jet shooting upwards. Equip the iron boots and place a bomb on it and it will raise up to blow up the stone blocking the entrance to the temple. Once it explodes, swim up and enter.
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Jeff McAllister is a freelance journalist who has contributed to 12DOVE over the years. You'll typically find his byline associated with deep-dive guides that are designed to help you scoop up collectibles and find hidden treasures in some of the biggest action and RPG games out there. Be sure to give Jeff a thanks in the comments while you're completing all of those tricky Achievements and Trophies.