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Prologue: Castle Escape – The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom Walkthrough

Echoes of Wisdom 100% Completion Walkthrough16 chapters
Walkthrough overview
  • Prologueplaying as Link, escaping the castle jail, and the waterways to Suthorn Beach.
  • Suthorn ForestSuthorn Beach and Village, meeting Tri, the first echoes, and mending the Suthorn Forest rift.
  • Suthorn Ruinsthe first dungeon, the Shadow Link fight, and the Seismic Talus boss.
  • Jabul Watersthe River and Sea Zora feud, Lord Jabu-Jabu, and Stilled Jabul Waters.
  • Jabul Ruinsthe whirlpool chase, the five colored switches, and the Vocavor boss.
  • Gerudo Desertthe Oasis, Gerudo Town, the desert rifts, and Cryptic Cavern.
  • Gerudo Sanctumthe tribute puzzle, the Bow of Might, and the Mogryph boss.
  • Hyrule Castlethe Hyrule Castle well rift, Stilled Castle Town, and the Ganon boss.
  • Eldin VolcanoKakariko Village, the Eldin Volcano Trail, and saving Goron City.
  • Eldin Templethe Bombs of Might, the lava hall, and the Volvagia boss.
  • Faron WetlandsScrubton, Blossu’s House, and escaping the Deku Scrub Lockup.
  • Faron Templethe small keys, the plant mini-boss, and the Gohma boss.
  • Hebra Mountainmeeting Condé, the climb through the snow, and the Stilled Hebra Mountain rift.
  • Lanayru Templefire orbs, fans and lasers, the slime mini-boss, and the Skorchill boss.
  • Eternal Forestthe six Ancient Orb pedestals, the Deku Tree, and freeing Link in the Stilled Ancient Ruins.
  • Null’s Bodythe final dungeon and the multi-phase fight against Null.

The opening of the game runs you through a playable Link sequence, a stealth escape from Hyrule Castle, a walk up Suthorn Beach to the village, the first rift in Suthorn Forest, and the Suthorn Ruins dungeon capped by the Seismic Talus fight. Here’s the whole route, step by step.

Zelda stands on a cliff overlook above a lake, with Hyrule Castle in the distance after escaping the rift
The Echoes of Wisdom title logo appears over a Hyrule vista as Zelda looks out toward Hyrule Castle

The game opens inside Suthorn Ruins with you controlling Link, not Zelda. This is a combat tutorial in disguise: walk the linear corridor and cut down every monster in your path while the on-screen prompts teach you Link’s moves. Link has a full 20 hearts plus his sword and items, so there’s no real way to fail this part.

Link walks a torch-lit corridor of Suthorn Ruins as the Swing Sword tutorial prompt appears
Link reaches a stairway in Suthorn Ruins while the prologue tutorial teaches the Jump button
Link, with twenty hearts, faces a Moblin in Suthorn Ruins as the Ready Shield prompt shows
Link crosses a blue-lit ruins chamber toward an enemy as the Target tutorial prompt appears
Link cuts down a monster in a Suthorn Ruins hall, part of the prologue combat tutorial

At the top of the ruins, Link walks into a miniboss fight against Ganon. He only has two attacks. He hurls glowing fireballs, which you can sidestep or bat back with a sword swing, and he lunges across the room behind his trident; dodge to the side and slash him as he passes. Stay close and keep swinging and he goes down quickly.

Ganon looms over the throne room at the top of Suthorn Ruins, declaring "Now I'll end you both!"
Ganon hurls a glowing fireball at Link across the purple throne room; sidestep it or swing to bat it back
Ganon lunges across the room behind his trident as Link dodges aside to slash him
Link swings his sword to send Ganon's fireball flying back at him in the prologue boss fight

Winning triggers the real story. Ganon’s trident tears a rift open across the floor and it swallows Link before he can escape. Moments later the pink crystal Ganon had sealed Zelda in cracks and shatters, freeing her. Control now passes to Zelda, standing alone in the same chamber.

After Ganon falls, Link stands before Zelda sealed in a pink crystal as a rift sparks around the trident
A purple rift tears open across the throne room floor and swallows Link
Zelda stands freed on the crystal's pedestal in the Suthorn Ruins throne room
Zelda, now playable with three hearts, stands alone beside the rift that took Link

Zelda, now playable with three hearts, stands alone beside the rift that took Link

Zelda’s Escape from the Ruins

As Zelda, pick up what Link left behind at the top of the stairs: “You got the swordsman’s cloak!” The rift immediately starts expanding to fill the room. Run. Follow the glowing light through the collapsing halls, and don’t stress if the dark edge catches you; the game just restarts the short chase from the last point.

Zelda holds up the swordsman's cloak at the top of the stairs with the "You got" text box
Zelda runs down a long staircase as the expanding rift swallows the room behind her
Zelda follows the glowing light through the collapsing ruins while the rift's dark edge closes in
Zelda hurries after the guiding light through a ruined hall as the rift spreads from the right

Zelda escapes onto a cliff overlook above Hyrule, where Hyrule Castle guards find her and escort her back to Hyrule Castle Town. You’re free to wander the town briefly, but there’s nothing to do yet, so head to the back of town and enter the castle. Impa greets you in the entrance hall, and you can peek into Zelda’s Room on the way before heading to the throne room.

Two Hyrule Castle guards find Zelda on the overlook to escort her back to Hyrule Castle Town
Townsfolk greet Zelda at the Hyrule Castle Town gate, relieved she was not stolen away
Zelda walks through Hyrule Castle Town past a small purple rift near the fountain
Zelda walks the red carpet up to the doorway of Hyrule Castle at the back of town
Impa greets Zelda on the red carpet of the Hyrule Castle hall and warns of rifts appearing everywhere

The king, General Wright, and Minister Lefte discuss the rifts swallowing people, including someone from Suthorn Village, until a rift opens behind the throne and swallows all three. Impostor copies step out in their place, and the false king declares that Zelda created the rift. She gets thrown into a cell in the castle’s underground jail.

A soldier's report shows a Suthorn Village villager being swallowed by a rift among the trees
In the throne room, the king learns someone from Suthorn Village was swallowed by a rift
A rift behind the throne swallows the King of Hyrule, General Wright and Minister Lefte
Impostor copies of the king, General Wright and Minister Lefte step out of the rift
The false king tells the guards "My daughter created the rift you see behind me"
Zelda stands locked in a cell in the Hyrule Castle underground jail as guards watch the bars

Escaping the Castle Jail

In the cell, Zelda meets Tri, the little spirit who has been following her. Tri hands over the Tri Rod, the tool that powers the entire game: walk up to an object or a fallen monster and learn its echo, then summon copies of it anywhere you like.

Tri, the glowing spirit, appears to Zelda in her Hyrule Castle jail cell asking "You can see me?"
Zelda holds up the Tri Rod beside Tri with the "You borrowed the Tri Rod!" text box
Tri explains to Zelda that the Tri Rod can create echoes of things in this world

Learn the Table echo from the furniture in the cell, then stack tables beside the wooden bench under the broken section of wall. Climb up, cross the broken wall into the neighboring cell, and walk out through its unlocked door.

Zelda learns the Table echo in her jail cell, the first echo of the game
Zelda places tables on the cell's shelf to climb toward the broken wall above it
Zelda stands atop her stacked Table echoes, level with the hole in the broken cell wall
Zelda drops into the neighboring cell after crossing the broken wall from her own
Zelda walks out into the torch-lit jail corridor after escaping the cells

The first storeroom has guards on patrol, and getting caught bumps you back to a checkpoint, so take it slow. Stack a Table to climb on top of the shelving units and walk right over the first guard. Drop down on the far side and learn the Wooden Box echo.

Zelda summons a Table beside a storeroom shelving unit in the Hyrule Castle dungeon to climb past the guard
Zelda stands on the shelving tops above a patrolling guard after climbing up from a Table echo
Zelda holds up a crate as she learns the Wooden Box echo in the Hyrule Castle dungeon storeroom

The next pair of guards patrol close to your path. Drop Wooden Boxes to block their view and slip past behind them. If a guard spots you, Zelda is marched back to her cell and you simply try again. Ahead, two more guards stand with their backs to you chatting about breaking pots. That line is a hint for what comes next.

Zelda lifts a Wooden Box near two patrolling guards in the Hyrule Castle storeroom to pen them in
Zelda sets a Wooden Box echo beside the crates on the floor to box in a storeroom guard
Zelda slips along the crates past the boxed-in guards in the Hyrule Castle dungeon storeroom
Zelda approaches two guards standing with their backs to her in the next Hyrule Castle storeroom
Two Hyrule Castle guards chat about throwing a pot to distract General Wright, a hint for the next room

Climb the ladder to the next shelving unit and run along the cabinet tops to grab the Hyrule Castle Pot echo. Then put the hint to use: throw a pot to the side and the guards leave their posts to investigate the noise. The trick works again in the final guarded stretch; toss another pot and walk straight out while they’re distracted.

Zelda runs along the tops of the storeroom cabinets above the guards toward the pots
Zelda holds up a pot as she learns the Hyrule Castle Pot echo on top of the storeroom shelves
Zelda carries a Hyrule Castle Pot echo overhead on the shelves, ready to toss it near the guards
Two guards rush to a smashed Hyrule Castle Pot while Zelda stays hidden on the shelves above
Zelda slips past a guard distracted by a thrown pot in the final guarded stretch of the castle dungeon

Up the stairs you’ll run into Impa, who believes Zelda over the impostor king. She spots the blue cloth in Zelda’s pocket, the cloak the swordsman was wearing, and has her change behind a statue. Zelda comes out hooded (“You got a disguise!”), and guards no longer recognize her on sight. When guards burst in, Impa deals with them herself and hands over the log, the book that tracks your map and quests. Continue up and a banner officially starts the main quest The Mysterious Rifts.

Impa meets Zelda below Hyrule Castle and reacts to news that the king, general and minister are impostors
Zelda steps out from behind the statue in her new hooded disguise while Impa keeps watch
Zelda in her hooded cloak beside Impa as the game announces You got a disguise
Impa knocks out the Hyrule Castle guards who burst in looking for the missing princess
Zelda holds up the log book Impa gives her, which tracks the map and quests
The Main Quest banner for The Mysterious Rifts appears as hooded Zelda continues through Hyrule Castle

The Waterways to Suthorn Beach

In the next room, learn the Decorative Shrub and use the row of shrubs on the right of the shelves to sneak through. Beside a bed on the floor, learn the Old Bed echo, the single most useful traversal echo in the game. Build a short bed staircase across the final gap and climb out to the castle garden.

Zelda holds up a potted plant as she learns the Decorative Shrub echo in the Hyrule Castle barracks
Zelda crosses a gap between the barracks shelves on a row of Decorative Shrub echoes
Zelda holds up a bed as she learns the Old Bed echo on the last shelf of the Hyrule Castle barracks
Zelda lays an Old Bed echo across a gap between the barracks shelves to keep moving
Zelda climbs a short staircase of Old Bed echoes across the final gap of the Hyrule Castle barracks

Cross the night-time castle garden, grabbing the rupees, and drop down the well into the Royal-Family Shortcut, a side-on stone waterway with ladders. Swim, dive, and use an Old Bed to climb the small ledges to each ladder.

Zelda climbs through the night-time Hyrule Castle garden after leaving the barracks
Zelda holds up a green rupee found in the Hyrule Castle garden at night
Zelda drops into the well in the Hyrule Castle garden that leads to the underground waterway
Zelda swims in the side-on underground waterway beneath Hyrule Castle, the Royal-Family Shortcut
Zelda dives toward rupees on the floor of the flooded underground waterway channel
Zelda uses an Old Bed echo as a step to climb a ledge toward the ladder in the underground waterway

Below, learn the Boulder echo and shove the loose boulder into the water to sink it as a stepping stone. Cross on the crate, laying beds or boxes into the water as a makeshift path, and drop a boulder on the floating wooden boxes ahead to weigh them down so you can swim through.

Zelda holds up a boulder as she learns the Boulder echo in the underground waterway
Zelda shoves the loose boulder off the ledge so it splashes into the underground waterway
Zelda stands on a floating Wooden Box to cross the water in the underground waterway
Zelda lays an Old Bed echo on the water as a makeshift path to the next crate
Zelda drops a Boulder echo onto the floating wooden boxes to weigh them down
Boulders hold the wooden boxes underwater so Zelda can swim through to the grate passage

In the last passage a rift blocks the stairs. Tri explains that she and her friends used to mend rifts, and suggests getting away from it for now. Jump into the water channel and the current carries Zelda out of the castle to a waterfall basin. Learn the Rock echo here, then stack Old Beds on the water to climb out of the basin and onto Suthorn Beach.

A purple rift blocks the stairs out of the passage beneath Hyrule Castle as Zelda approaches
Tri tells Zelda that mending rifts used to be her job beside the rift blocking the stairs
The water channel current carries Zelda away from the rift and out of Hyrule Castle
Zelda holds up a rock as she learns the Rock echo on the sand of the waterfall basin
Zelda climbs a stack of Old Bed echoes on the water to get out of the waterfall basin
Zelda steps out of a cave doorway onto Suthorn Beach after climbing out of the basin

Worth knowing: Zelda’s own bedroom sits inside the castle. Once you can return freely, come back and scan Zelda’s Bed (cost 3), the best healing bed in the game.

Zelda's Room in Hyrule Castle, with Zelda's Bed under its green canopy, the best healing bed echo
A close view of Zelda's Bed in her Hyrule Castle bedroom, worth scanning as an echo later

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