‘Destroy Ganondorf’ walkthrough, how to get to Ganondorf in Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom

Destroy Ganondorf‘ is the last main quest in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. The quest gives you a clear goal: you must find Ganondorf and destroy him. But even getting to the Demon King poses its own challenge (easily one of the hardest in the game).

In this walkthrough we cover every step on your march to the final battle, from the Hyrule Castle Gorge through the Forget foundation and the fight against The army of the demon king. If you’re just looking for advice on how to emerge victorious, check out our guide to defeating demon king Ganondorf.


How to get to Ganondorf in Tears of the Kingdom

Your goal is to reach the room where the game started and end the Demon King once and for all. If you’ve been Hyrule Castle in the air (which you may have done on your quest to get the Royal Guard Armor), start at the Serutabomac Shrine and jump to the ground.

Image: Nintendo EPD/Nintendo via Polygon

If not, start at Lookout Landing and head north towards Hyrule Castle. Open the gates with Ultrahand and head north until you reach the gaping chasm where the castle once stood.

Save the game there. We’re going to speed this up effectively, but you can stop and fight as many bad guys as you want.

Hyrule Castle Gorge

Jump in.

Link dives into the Hyrule Castle Chasm during the Destroy Ganondorf mission in Zelda Tears of the Kingdom.

Image: Nintendo EPD/Nintendo via Polygon

When you descend you will see the Cambatures Lightroot to the north (this is very easy to see if you start at the Serutabomac Shrine as it is directly below). Hit it to dispel the darkness from your map.

At the bottom of the canyon, head south. There are three Shock loves in this cave. Run, jump and slide past them to find a room with five Black Horroblins in – continue south, climb the wall (you can test it if you have two full endurance wheels).

Link carefully walks past a jerk-like chasm below Hyrule Castle in Zelda Tears of the Kingdom.

Image: Nintendo EPD/Nintendo via Polygon

At the top you will find five Electric Keith – kill it quickly and then slowly approach the drop to the south to get a Silver Lynel. These are really tough, even if they’re not Gloom-Wreathed.

Link sees a silver lynel in Hyrule Castle Chasm in Zelda Tears of the Kingdom.

Image: Nintendo EPD/Nintendo via Polygon

So look to the left to see where the path continues, and hover over it.

Link stands on a rocky outcrop a short glide from a hole in the wall while in a chasm below Hyrule Castle in Zelda Tears of the Kingdom.

Image: Nintendo EPD/Nintendo via Polygon

Enter the hallway and the ground below you will begin to sink. This is fine – fall down. In the next room you will see some falling blocks. Hop on one and remember your way back up.

Link uses Recall to drive a block out of a chasm under Hyrule Castle in Zelda Tears of the Kingdom.

Image: Nintendo EPD/Nintendo via Polygon

Your southbound march takes a turn to the west. Follow the hallway to another atrium. To your right is the Lynel you just avoided. To your left is a couple Frost loves And Frost Kees. Again, steer or avoid at your leisure, but get past it and you’ll find yourself on another falling platform. (What exactly did Ganon do with the place?!)

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Link fights two frost likes under Hyrule Castle during the Destroy Ganondorf mission in Zelda Tears of the Kingdom.

As you dive to the bottom, you’ll find yourself facing some Lizalfos, and this disheartening message that says the power of the wise is out of reach. Yeah, you’re on your own, boy…

Link collapses into two lizalfos under Hyrule Castle in Zelda Tears of the Kingdom.

Image: Nintendo EPD/Nintendo via Polygon

These two are worth taking out – start with the silver one, as it has an electric weapon that makes things unnecessarily difficult. When you’re done, loot the east room for a bunch mighty Zonaite weaponsa mighty construction arcand a mighty Zonai shield.

By the way, this is a good place to save the game.

Looking north there is one Silver Moblin patrolling the other side of a broken bridge.

Link stares at a silver moblin across a corridor in Hyrule Castle during the Destroy Ganondorf mission in Zelda Tears of the Kingdom.

Image: Nintendo EPD/Nintendo via Polygon

When you get closer, two Chuchus will appear. Defeat them, but watch your step. The last part of the passage will crumble when you step on it, causing some spawning Gloomy hands.

Link stares at Gloom Hands beneath Hyrule Castle during Zelda Tears of the Kingdom's final mission.

Image: Nintendo EPD/Nintendo via Polygon

You do not want to fight them so turn around and grab the wing in the west wing and use it to go through the hole. If you have trouble building Zonai devices, a rocket on the back will definitely help.

Link creates a Zonai plane with Ultrahand in Hyrule Castle in Zelda Tears of the Kingdom.

Image: Nintendo EPD/Nintendo via Polygon

Run past the Moblin and follow the path to the left. This should all look very familiar.

Forget foundation

Link enters the Forgotten Foundation in Zelda Tears of the Kingdom.

Image: Nintendo EPD/Nintendo via Polygon

Go past the luminous stone to get one Silver Bokoblin wait at the bottom of the stairs. Take it out as the corridor behind it contains four Gibdos and ends in a breakable wall.

Link takes a picture of four gibdos under Hyrule Castle in Zelda Tears of the Kingdom.

Image: Nintendo EPD/Nintendo via Polygon

Break through and run to the next room. This will return you not only to the visible map, but to a room you remember from the beginning of the game.

Link stares at a mural in a room beneath Hyrule Castle in Zelda Tears of the Kingdom.

Image: Nintendo EPD/Nintendo via Polygon

When you’re done, head east and follow the hallway to the Prison room and jump down in Gloom’s Lair. Pick up Zelda’s torch if, like us, you’re a sentimental type.

Note: When you get this location, you have reached the point of no return.

Link reaches the point of no return during Zelda Tears of the Kingdom's Destroy Ganondorf mission.

Image: Nintendo EPD/Nintendo via Polygon

We strongly recommend placing a Travel Medallion (teleport pad) here in case things go wrong. It also means you can now teleport away to stock up on any healing items you used on your way in, as well as restore any Gloomy Hearts.

Press the Jump prompt, slide down and sit back.

An audience with the Demon King

After a short cutscene featuring the Avengers of Hyrule (aka your Wise Ones who come and make an ostentatious entrance), things begin.

Link battles a small army of gloomy bokoblins in Zelda Tears of the Kingdom.

Image: Nintendo EPD/Nintendo via Polygon

There are three stages, each of which is split into several parts. It wouldn’t be a final level if there weren’t a bunch of different stages, would it?


Defeat the demon king’s army

Fortunately, as the Sage of Wind points out, you don’t have to fight alone, and the power of the sages is with you once again.

You will be dealing with a veritable army of them Bokoblins in all shapes and sizes, up to and including a Boss Bokoblin. At the top of the screen is a joint health bar.

As you defeat enemies, this bar gets smaller. New enemies will spawn at certain steps. Here’s a brief overview:

  • 100% Army Health – Bokoblin Army
  • 50% Army Health – Lizalfos Army
  • 25% Army Health – Gibdo Army
  • 20% Army Health – Moblin Army

There’s no real tactics here, other than fighting things the way you usually fight them! Make good use of dodging and Flurry Rushes and you’ll be fine. If they have shields, hit them with a weapon that has a shock absorber attached.

After defeating the demon king’s army

We call this detention because it is completely avoidable if you do your homework.

If you have all five Wise Men, you don’t need to do this; however, if you skipped the Sages, you must now fight the bosses of each of their respective temples and enormous amount of difficulty to an already tricky battle.

Yes, you have to fight them all in turn. No, your health does not recover and your gloomy hearts do not recover. Oh, and you don’t have the backup you would if you fought in the temple and got the help of the sages.

Link stands in front of a confiscated structure in Zelda Tears of the Kingdom.

Image: Nintendo EPD/Nintendo via Polygon

If you’ve already beaten the bosses, you’ll see a scene where they all appear together instead; your sages step forward and take them out as you’re walled in, ready for the final stage: actually battling Ganon.

A Goron Sage battles a giant rock monster during the Destroy Ganondorf quest in Zelda Tears of the Kingdom.

Image: Nintendo EPD/Nintendo via Polygon

Follow the path to the room at the end. This is where the final confrontation against Demon King Ganondorf begins.