Zelda: Tears Of The Kingdom: After Hyrule Castle - Secret Of The Ring Ruins Quest, Thunderhead Isles

So you've been to Hyrule Castle in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, yet Link and his friends still have many trials and tribulations ahead of them. Our heroes need more help, and this section of our walkthrough will cover what to do after the events at Hyrule Castle.

It's dangerous here! As this covers the final sections of the game, there will be spoilers throughout this guide. If you don't want to know anything after the events of revisiting Hyrule Castle, then turn back now — go look for the Skyview Towers or maybe go and explore the Depths. Or, if you haven't finished the Regional Phenomena quest, go do that!

With that out of the way, here's what you need to do after visiting Hyrule Castle, where to find the Ring Ruins, and how to get to the Thunderhead Isles.

Zelda: Tears Of The Kingdom: Where To Find The Ring Ruins, Thunderhead Isles

Where do I go after Hyrule Castle?

After returning to Lookout Landing, speak to Purah to go over the events of what happened at Hyrule Castle. You and the four sages conclude the whereabouts of the real Zelda.

Going over all of the game's events so far, Purah concludes that there is still something missing. Someone, even. A fifth sage. The group decide to investigate any leads related to the ruins across Hyrule, and Purah tells Link to "find any other undiscovered leads!". This kicks off the Find the Fifth Sage Main Quest.

Find the Fifth Sage Main Quest

Where to find the Fifth Sage?

With the Find the Fifth Sage quest, you're not told where to go or what to do, which can be a little bit of a pain. But if you've been paying attention and speaking to Purah and the residents of Lookout Landing, you might find the lead your after.

Back at the beginning of the game after getting the Regional Phenomena quest, if you spoke to Purah, she would say that "there's another village that might yield more answers" and that she's directing an investigation over there. If you asked her about this, then you'll know she's investigating Kakariko Village. After the Upheaval, ring-shaped ruins appeared in the village, so Purah's team has been investigating them. Sounds like a good lead, right?

How to get to Kakariko Village

Kakariko Village is southeast of Lookout Landing, and just east of Sahasra Slope Skyview Tower. You may well have already been to the tower before or even visited the village for quests like the Gloom-Borne Illness.

If you haven't been to Kakariko before, then all you need to do is head east to Wetland Stable and then continue heading south, past the Lanayru Wetlands, to the village. When you reach some canyons, you're almost there.

When you reach the village, make sure you activate Makasura Shrine there. Head down to the bottom and find the new chief of the village, Paya, and Tauro, the leader of the Zonai Survey Team (who you may have already met depending on when you completed A Mystery in the Depths). You'll then get a brand new main quest — Secret of the Ring Ruins.

Secret of the Ring Ruins Main Quest

This is a fairly long quest, but things start simply enough — you just need to get inside of the ruins above Kakariko Village.

After talking to Paya and Tauru, you'll spot the ruins above you, Cimb up the ladders until you reach a section which is covered with a red rug. Look up and you'll be directly underneath the ring.

Use Ascend to get inside, and you'll see a stone tablet ahead of you. Snap a picture using your camera, and then leave the ruins and return to Tauro on the ground. Show him the photograph and he can decipher them.

The inscription is pointing you towards the Zonai Ruins in the Faron region, which is southwest of Kakariko. Tauro and his assistant Calip ask you to meet them at their base at the Popla Foothills Skyview Tower, which you can warp straight to if you've already unlocked it. If not, here's our guide on how to access Popla Foothills Skyview Tower.

Faron Region - Zonai Ruins riddle

Talk to Calip at Popla Foothills to find out that Tauro has run ahead. Check your map and look for a long river and lake that looks a bit like a dragon — just like in the image below:

Use the Skyview Tower if you want to get a good bird's eye view of the region. The place you want to go is southeast of the tower, around coordinates 0939, -2523, 0010. Remember to unequip any metal weapons and shields here.

As you approach the Zonai Ruins, you see a small camp set up with a notebook. Read it to find out that Tauro has gone further into the ruins. Luckily, there's a door right opposite the camp.

Head inside to find Tauro looking at a Zonai mural, which depicts a riddle or 'code'. Here it is in full:

"Wear the electric garb hidden at the long-necked dragons along the wide-mouthed forest serpent. Offer a Zonai charge to the altar at the tail."

Tauro surmises that the long-necked dragons refer to the pillars along the river, while he thinks the riddle as a whole is referring to Dracozu River — the river that you're right by. he then laments that he can't open the Zonai chest at the back of the room. Head up the stairs and open it yourself to reveal the Charged Shirt.

Show Tauro the garb by equipping it. This is one part of the "electric garb" that the riddle is referring to. You need to find the rest of the set. If you have the Sensor + feature installed on your Purah Pad, this will help out.

You need to find the Charged Trousers (1), the Charged Headdress (2), and the altar (3). We've marked all three locations on the map for you, but as long as you follow the river, you should be good.

Follow the river south until you get about a third of the way down. At around coordinates 0983, -2690, 0007, you'll notice a door that's emitting white light. Use a hammer to destroy the rocks blocking the entrance and open the chest inside for the Charged Trousers (1). Put them on now.

Continue following the river around the curve, then on the left, you'll eventually spot another door, which is in the river itself. Walk into the watery room, cut down the vines, and open the chest up top for the Charged Headdress (2). Equip that for a very cool-looking armour set.

Then all you need to do is follow the river down to its 'tail', and then look ahead of you to spot a third open door. Head inside and walk up to the altar. Make sure you have the Charged Set equipped. Grab a Zonai Charge out of your inventory and drop it onto the altar. Then a cutscene will play, the thick clouds in the sky will disperse, and you'll find out where your next destination is — Thunderhead Isles.

How to get to Thunderhead Isles, Dragonhead Isle

Tauro and Calip will head back to Kakariko, and now you need to figure out how to get to these new sky islands above the Faron region.

Before heading to the Thunderhead Isles, makes sure you have a minimum of 10 hearts of health — you'll need this to open a door later on.

You can either explore Faron on foot a bit and wait for a rock to fall from the sky, use Recall, and ride it up. Or, the easier way is to head back to Popla Foothill and use the Skyview Tower to glide southeast towards it. The islands are pretty distinctive-looking on the map, so make sure you know where you're heading.

Once you're on Thunderhead Isles, make sure you haven't got any metal weapons or shields equipped again. You'll now have to make your way across a small chain of islands using Zonai devices or the tools the island gives you.

On the first island, stand on the white block and wait for lightning to strike the rod next to you to be flung to the next island. Glide over to the next island, use Ascend, and then walk over to some minecart tracks.

Build a makeshift 'cart' using the wood and the Fans nearby and ride it along to the next island. Stand on the rubble and use Ascend to reach a small pong with a pillar in the centre and a chest. Climb up it (use Sticky Elixir if you want) to get a Shock Emitter Zonai device.

Hop on over to the island on the right, destroy the Constructs, and ride another cart along the tracks. If you use Ascend partway through, you'll reach Joku-usin Shrine. You'll be able to Ascend out of this room by walking up the stairs at the back of the room. Or you can go and fight the Flux Construct ahead if you want.

Glide (use Tulin's wind power if needed) to get to the roof of the building where you'll see a crank, a launcher, and a lightning rod. Rotate the crank so the two pillars line up with the southeast part of the island chain. Wait for the lightning to strike and it'll launch you ahead.

You won't be able to ride a cart across here, but you don't need to. Follow the island chain to the east until you reach the 'neck' of the dragon. You'll need to use a combination of gliding, climbing, and Ascend.

We went to the very top of the island chain, but all you need to do is look for an eye-shaped stone circle. Dive down to reach Dragonhead Island.

Aim for the centre of the eye to get to Joku-u Shrine. Cut your way through the vines and walk up to the door. This is where those ten hearts come into play. Hold down 'A' to open the door, and unveil an owl mask. Interact with it and it will open up the floor and light the way down below. A voice will speak to you and tell you to follow the light.

Where to take the mask

This is pretty simple, but you have a fair distance to travel. A new quest, Guidance from Ages Past, activates, and you now need to take the mask down to the Depths.

Use Ultrahand, grab the mask, and walk down the slope with it. Outside, build a Wing device with some Fans and a Steering Stick. Glue the mask onto the front of the Wing, and then line up your vehicle on the track. Interact with the Stick to activate the device.

Follow the light north and down slowly and land in a secluded area with a small body of water and an altar. The coordinates for this little area are 1322, -2463, 0082.

When you've landed, detach the mask from the Wing and stand in front of the altar with the mask to reveal an entrance to the Depths. Walk into Tobio's Hollow Chasm and ride the elevator down by placing the mask in the centre.

Once you're in the Depths, pick up the mask and walk towards the Construct Factory. Using Ultrahand, place the mask on the top of the altar, where the voice will speak to you once again and introduce herself as Mineru, the Sage of Spirit, the fifth sage you're looking for. She wants you to build her a body she can inhabit to help you. And that's your next task — building the Construct.

Finding out how to progress this part of the story can be difficult, however, you're never going anywhere alone without us. For more hints and tips for your Hyrulean adventure, check out our Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom walkthrough.