How to unlock the Royal Hidden Passage in Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom

There’s a Royal Hidden Passage tucked underneath the area of Hyrule Castle in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. The relatively small area has a lot crammed into it — everything from armor, a Stalnox, and a cursed statue.

There are two ways to get into the Royal Hidden Passage, one that requires a bit of progress and another that’s accessible immediately. We’ll walk you through how to access the Royal Hidden Passage, find its secrets, and collect all its loot.

How to access the Royal Hidden Passage

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The Royal Hidden Passage is accessible from the Emergency Shelter in Lookout Landing. You can hop right into the Emergency Shelter to find an opening into the passageway only after completing one temple — either the Wind Temple, Fire Temple, Water Temple, or Lightning Temple. It doesn’t matter which one.

Image: Nintendo EPD/Nintendo via Polygon

The alternative route is to access the Royal Hidden Passage is from the Observation Room in Hyrule Castle. Start by heading into the surface level Hyrule Castle area, past the gates. Look up and you’ll see an overhang — that’s the Observation Room.

You’ll have to climb the walls to get up there, which you should have plenty of stamina for. You’ll know you’re in the right place when you see Nobiro. Toward the back of the room, on the first floor, there’s a grate. Use Ultrahand to open it then drop right in. Don’t skip the chest here — there’s a diamond inside.

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Image: Nintendo EPD/Nintendo via Polygon

You’ll have to head down the winding stairs, making sure to explore all the different nooks and crannies as you go. When you reach the bottom, you’ll find a wall of red rocks to burst through and head underground. There’s a lot down here to explore!

What to do in the Royal Hidden Passage

Image: Nintendo EPD/Nintendo via Polygon

The winding Royal Hidden Passage has a lot to do — namely, you’ll want to collect all pieces of the Soldier’s Armor set, find the Bubbulfrog to get a bubbulgem, and maybe take on a Stalnox. You’ll also be hitting a lot of rocks.

Find the Bubbulfrog

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The Bubbulfrog is easily accessible from the Observation Room entrance, but you get can there either way. When you head down through that entrance and keep following the path, you’ll eventually get to a downward path heading deeper in. You’ll see a Shock Like, and the path to the Bullbullfrog is behind it. Again, break some rocks to get through and drop into the pit below, where you should see the Bubbulfrog. Defeat it and it’ll drop the Bubbulgem.

Collect the Soldier’s Armor set

Image: Nintendo EPD/Nintendo via Polygon

All piece of the Soldier’s Armor set are hidden in the Royal Hidden Passage — the Soldier’s Armor, Soldier’s Helm, and Soldier’s Greaves. The passageway is pretty maze-like, and our guide to finding the Soldier’s Armor can help you navigate it. Be careful when you’re making your way through these areas, however — there’s a huge Stalnox hiding beneath some rubble.

Repec at the cursed statue

Image: Nintendo EPD/Nintendo via Polygon

The cursed statue is easily accessible from the Emergency Shelter entrance to the Royal Hidden Passage at the (-0253, 0132, 0008) coordinates. In fact, it’s the first thing you’ll encounter in there after you crawl in and smash a few rocks. It’s right around the first right corner.

Here, you’re able to swap hearts and stamina.