How to get the Master Sword back in Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
Fix the sword of legend and get it back in Link's hands, if you've got enough stamina!
The good news is yes, you do get the Master Sword in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. The bad news? It doesn't last long.
This fabled weapon goes through some heavy stuff early on in Tears of the Kingdom and consequently isn't usable after sustaining major damage. (And yes, in addition to the ill-fate of the Master Sword, weapons do break in TotK, just as they did in Breath of the Wild.)
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This takes place in the game's opening prologue segment. The developers clearly didn't want us to have the powerful sword available from the start, while the Hylian Shield also suffers a similar fate.
Making the legendary Master Sword woven into a Zelda game's plot is always a good trick to play if you're Nintendo. It holds it back from making the early game too easy, preventing you from speeding through shrines and Lynels too quickly, while also adding another layer of intrigue to the game's story and lore.
If you think the Master Sword being broken is mysterious enough, a little later in the game, Princess Zelda appears and takes the legendary weapon away from Link in a dreamlike scene. How peculiar.
But of course, Zelda fans everywhere share one key concern: how do you get the Master Sword back to a usable state after it breaks?
Read on to find out how to get the Master Sword back in Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom and how to fix it.
How to get the Master Sword back and fixed in Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
The Master Sword breaks at the start of the game and remains in Link's inventory for a while in an unusable state before Zelda comes along in a mysterious dreamlike sequence and takes it away from Link. Fortunately, there are a few different ways to get the Master Sword back and fixed.
Of course, major story spoilers follow. You have been warned.
The best way to find the Master Sword is to follow the advice in this hugely helpful YouTube video from LunarGaming:
If you'd rather follow a written description, we've got you covered.
First things first. You can only get hold of the fixed Master Sword if you have at least two full rings of Stamina. You can up your Stamina by completing shrines. Complete 20 shrines and you should have enough to pick up the sword of legend.
The quickest way to retrieve the fixed Master Sword is to land on top of the Light Dragon (one of four majestic Dragons that roam the map). The Master Sword is lodged in the Light Dragon's head.
Now, the Light Dragon follows a particular path along the map that repeats every few hours. See it in the YouTube video above at around the 48-second mark. Who knows, though, there's a chance you have already spotted the Light Dragon.
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It's very high up in the sky, so you will need to jump down off of something high and glide on over with your paraglider to land on the Light Dragon. Using a Zonai Device or jumping from the Water Temple (as suggested in the video above) is a great bit of advice.
Once you have landed on the Light Dragon, make your way over to its head. This is where the Master Sword is. Press the A button to grab and pull the sword, which takes two full wheels of Stamina. Now you've done that, a cool cutscene will play and the Master Sword is yours.
There are other ways to do it, though, including being able to mark the Light Dragon's location on your map screen.
How to mark the Light Dragon on the map in Tears of the Kingdom
To mark the Light Dragon's location on your map, you need to unlock the 'Recovering the Hero's Sword' side quest. This will prove tricky.
To unlock the quest, you need to follow these steps:
- Begin the regional phenomenon in Goron City
- Buy the Flamebreaker Armour
- Head into the Lost Woods and drop into the chasm by the entrance of the area
- Head to the lit-up area you can see in the distance
- Light the Rikonasum Lightroot (stand underneath the green glow and examine)
- This will light your surroundings
- Next to the root there is a grey pillar. Use Ascend and head up into Korok Forest and speak to the Deku Tree
- Head inside his mouth and kill the bosses
Once you've done all that (phew) the Deku Tree will mark the Light Dragon on the map for you. There is yet another way to find the Light Dragon and the Master Sword, too. That is completing the 'Impa and the Geoglyphs' side quest, which is going to be quite time-consuming. We'd recommend the method above instead!
Read more on Tears of the Kingdom:
- Zelda Tears of the Kingdom cast – voice actors revealed
- Zelda Tears of the Kingdom Korok seeds - seeds unearthed
- Zelda Tears of the Kingdom Green Tunic – get the look
- Zelda Tears of the Kingdom Paraglider – location revealed
- How long is Zelda Tears of the Kingdom? Hours needed
- Zelda Tears of the Kingdom OLED Switch – custom console
- Zelda timeline explained – series order
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Authors
Toby Saunders is a freelance writer specialising in Video Game journalism. He has a wealth of experience in the field and is published on many different websites including PCGamesN, Nintendo Life and Pocket Tactics. He has a degree in Film Studies (he gets to write about Film and TV occasionally, too).
