Tears of the Kingdom – How to Solve the South Hyrule Sky Archipelago Puzzle

The Sky Islands in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom hold many mysteries, whether that’s different enemies to fight, resources to harvest, or puzzles to solve. One of the easier-to-access of these puzzles is in the South Hyrule Sky Archipelago, on the southernmost floating island. While the puzzle itself is straightforward, solving it takes decent reflexes and a bit of patience. This guide will cover how to solve it and what you get as a reward.

Related: Tears of the Kingdom – How to Get To Sky Islands

South Hyrule Sky Archipelago Puzzle Solution in Tears of the Kingdom

This puzzle is all about keeping the water in the two reservoirs at their lowest point so you can collect the treasure resting at the bottom. To do so, you have to lift the stone slab nearby to drain the water, then lock it in place to keep the water low.

You’ll be using two of your abilities to solve this puzzle: Ultrahand and Recall. You’ll also need two tree trunks for the higher puzzle and a single trunk for the lower.

Upper South Hyrule Sky Archipelago Puzzle Solution

Start by connecting two tree trunks with Ultrahand, then place them on top of the structure that contains the slab.

Raise the slab to its highest point and keep it there long enough for the water to drain, then leave it for about five or ten more seconds. Release Ultrahand and swap to Recall when the slab returns to its original position. Recall will bring it back up long enough for you to swap back to Ultrahand and attach the connected logs to the top of the slab. If you’ve done it right, once Recall deactivates, the slab will stay in its higher position and the water will not drain.

Your reward for solving the upper puzzle is a 6-damage Magic Rod, a one-handed weapon you can attach a Ruby, Sapphire, or Topaz to and give it elemental powers.

Lower South Hyrule Sky Archipelago Puzzle Solution

The lower puzzle follows the same logic as the upper, but because you need to be more precise with positioning the log, I had a much rougher time solving this one. The catch with this section of the puzzle is there’s only one hook you can use to stop the slab from descending, and you need to attach the log to it at the right angle and position or it won’t stay connected.

The process is the same. Ultrahand the slab up to let the water drain, wait a few more seconds, let it fall, then Recall it back to its higher position. Quickly swap back to Ultrahand and attach the log to the slab, but this time it goes on the back of the slab. The log also needs to have enough overhang that it doesn’t immediately detach when the slab falls.

Leave about half of the log on either side of the hook to get it to stay in place. Once everything is stationary, you can collect the treasure: something called a Sage’s Will, which will no doubt be useful later in your adventure.

And that’s it! Check out our other The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom guides below to help with crafting, exploring, and tackling challenges across Hyrule.

Tears of the Kingdom Complete Guide | Every Ability & How To Unlock Them | How to Get The Paraglider | How to Get & Use The Travel Medallion | All Armor Locations & Where to Find Them | All Construct Materials & Where to Find Them | All Shrine Locations & Strategies | How to Get More Heart Containers