Chapter 02 · Child Link · Main quest
Hyrule Castle Walkthrough
To meet Zelda, get the Weird Egg from Malon outside the castle, let it hatch into a Cucco, use it to wake Talon by the moat, stack his two crates to reach the drain hole, then slip past the courtyard guards.
Zelda gives you her Letter, and Impa teaches Zelda’s Lullaby as she escorts you out. The route is the same shape as on N64, but the remake keeps its day and night cycle running in town, and FinalBoss notes the drawbridge is raised and the courtyard entrance watched at night, so go in daylight. Afterwards, Lon Lon Ranch is a short detour for Epona’s Song.
What changed in the remake
- Confirmed The day and night cycle keeps running inside towns, so shops, NPCs and the castle approach change as time passes instead of being locked to one state.
- Confirmed The Castle Town Market uses a camera that follows Link instead of the old fixed angles, and the free camera on the Right Stick works throughout.
- Confirmed Zelda’s cutscenes are fully voiced and Castle Town gets expanded scenes and dialogue.
- Confirmed Zelda’s Lullaby is played Y X A Y X A on Switch 2 (the N64 C-Left, C-Up, C-Right pattern), or hummed into the console microphone once learned.
- Single source A new early bottle comes from helping the Castle Town Potion Shop owner with a bug problem; it arrives filled with Red Potion.
- Single source The Malon side quest can be followed in the Threads of Time progress tapestry.
Before you go
This chapter starts right after the Great Deku Tree. As you cross the bridge out of Kokiri Forest, Saria gives you the Fairy Ocarina. Head across Hyrule Field to the Castle Town drawbridge. If you arrive at night the drawbridge is raised, so wait near it or kill time until morning.
You need nothing beyond your sword, shield and the Ocarina. A full Slingshot bag helps with Market extras such as the Shooting Gallery, but none of them are required for Zelda.
Optional Market stops on the way: RPG Site’s remake route lists a Gold Skulltula inside a twitching crate in one of the pot rooms (roll into the crate to break it), a perfect Shooting Gallery run for the bigger seed bag, and the Potion Shop owner’s bug errand, which it says is a new source of your first bottle. Because the remake’s clock keeps running in town, some shops and residents are only around at certain hours.
Step-by-step route
- Enter the Market. Malon usually starts near the central fountain. If you find her there, leave the Market and head up the road toward the castle; she moves to the castle approach.
- Talk to Malon beside the vine wall on the castle road. She explains her father went to deliver milk and gives you the Weird Egg.
- The egg hatches when the next morning comes. If your item still shows an egg, wait out the night; the Cucco is what wakes Talon, not your voice.
- Climb the vines next to where Malon stood and follow the high ledge to the gate arch. Drop down on the far side, avoiding the opening in the arch roof that leads you toward a guard.
- Go up the grassy slope on the left, staying away from the guard at its edge and the two on the road. Cross the upper grass toward the flowers and climb the brick section on the far wall.
- Drop beside the moat, swim along it to the shallow corner, and climb out. Talon is asleep beside his milk crates.
- Stand in front of Talon and use the Cucco. He jolts awake and runs off to find Malon.
- Push the first crate off the ledge into the gap, then push the second on top of it. Climb the stack and jump into the small drain opening in the wall.
- In the courtyard, move from cover to cover. Wait behind hedges and fountains until a guard turns away; do not try to sprint the whole yard in one go.
- Around the fountains, keep the fountain between you and the nearest guard and circle with him. In the section with loose rupees under a raised plank, take the plank route above.
- In the final hedge area, loop around the central bush and dash through the last arch when the closer soldier walks to the far side.
- Talk to Zelda in the garden, agree to her plan, and take Zelda’s Letter.
- Impa meets you on the way out, teaches Zelda’s Lullaby (Y X A Y X A on Switch 2) and escorts you back outside. Finish the lesson before you go anywhere else.
Lon Lon Ranch: Malon and Talon
Lon Lon Ranch sits in the middle of Hyrule Field and is worth a stop now. Once Talon is awake he returns home, and in the daytime Malon stands in the horse paddock beside the young Epona. Talk to her until she brings up the song her mother taught her, then take out the Ocarina next to her. Play along to learn Epona’s Song (X Y A X Y A on Switch 2). You must learn it as a child, because adult Link needs it to win Epona from Ingo later.
Talon runs a Cucco-finding game in the ranch house. On N64 the prize was a bottle of Lon Lon Milk; RPG Site’s remake walkthrough lists it as the game that awards your second bottle. The same guide places a Piece of Heart in a run-down building in the southwest of the ranch, reached by pushing blocks to expose a crawlspace, and a Gold Skulltula in a tree behind that building. These details come from one remake source, so check the in-game map if anything looks different.
Common stuck points
Malon is not at the castle: she is still in the Market. Leave and come back up the castle road.
Talon will not wake: you are still holding an egg. Wait for sunrise so it hatches.
Caught by a guard: on N64 you were marched back outside and had to redo the section; remake guides do not describe a different penalty. Stop at every piece of cover and watch the patrol turn before moving.
Courtyard entrance blocked: it is watched at night. Come back during the day.
Frequently asked questions
How do you get past the guards at Hyrule Castle?
Skip the front gate by climbing the vines beside Malon, then use the moat and Talon’s crates to reach the drain hole. In the courtyard, wait behind hedges and fountains until each guard turns away.
How do you hatch the Weird Egg?
Just wait. It hatches into a Cucco when the next morning arrives, and the remake’s clock keeps running in town.
What is the Zelda’s Lullaby input on Switch 2?
Y X A Y X A. That mirrors the N64 C-Left, C-Up, C-Right pattern. You can also hum it into the microphone after Impa teaches it.
Where do you learn Epona’s Song?
From Malon in the Lon Lon Ranch paddock while Link is a child. Play X Y A X Y A after she mentions her mother’s song.
Where do you go after meeting Zelda?
Show Zelda’s Letter to the Kakariko gate guard to open Death Mountain Trail. Many players visit Saria in the Lost Woods first for Saria’s Song, which helps with Darunia in Goron City.