How to Get Epona in Tears of the Kingdom (TOTK)

Epona, the ever-loyal horse of Link, is a trademark of almost every big Legend of Zelda title, and it couldn’t be different in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. Your girl is back into action to explore the full world of Hyrule on your side, but you first gotta unlock her in one of the two available ways. They’re actually quite simple, but you might encounter the same problems you’ve found if you wanted to get her on BotW. Well, let’s get to it. Here’s how to get Epona in Tears of the Kingdom.

How to Unlock Epona in Tears of the Kingdom

Epona can be obtained in two different ways: By either scanning an amiibo or by bringing her back directly from the previous title. 

Regardless of which method you go with, you must first reach the New Serenne Stable next to the Hyrule Castle. This is fairly early in the game, and it will be one of your first stops right after leaving the Great Sky Island. Speak with Lester to know if the Stable is actually opened, which doesn’t happen immediately after reaching the castle.

Once it’s working you can scan either the Super Smash Bros. Link amiibo or the Twilight Princess Link amiibo to instantly receive Epona gifted from the sky. Different Link amiibos give you some special, unique prizes as well, but Epona is not one of them.

Related: Tears of the Kingdom: How to Get Rockets in TOTK

Alternatively, you can bring her back from the previous game. If you have a BotW savefile on your Switch, the owner remarks that you are a good customer, allowing you to bring back all of the horses you collected in Link’s previous adventure. This includes Epona if you happened to have her in that game.

So ultimately, it all comes down to having to pay for the amiibo to get your faithful horse. Epona is not available in the base game in any way, and players shouldn’t get their hopes up for her to be given for free anytime soon. After getting her, register her at the Stable to make sure you won’t lose her randomly on the map.

She’s unfortunately still an amiibo-locked reward in the previous game to this day, and it probably stay the same in this new adventure. Now you know why the Kingdom is shedding its Tears.