Hyrule’s Forgotten Unmarked Ruins (Tears of The Kingdom Lore)

Let's explore some of Hyrule's lost locations, this time Unmarked Ruins that are fading into memory...
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Timestamps!
Intro - 00:00
Rowan Plain - 01:06
Lake Illumeni - 03:08
Tarm Point - 05:23
Ancient Lab - 07:28
Popla Foothills - 08:52
Conclusion & Outro - 11:02
#zelda #tearsofthekingdom #nintendo

[@HyruleGamer]

What is your favourite Unmarked Ruin in Hyrule?

[@LinktheCommunistWaifu]

Tarm Point because there's a really funny side quest there where you take a guy in a raft across a river and you can do stuff like blow up the raft. Good times

[@hylianchampion17]

there’s a very interesting ruin on death mountain. it’s unmarked, and north of shadow hamlet. just like you mentioned Secro’s supplies from aoc, it appears to be of hylian architecture, but there are goron-crafted pots lying around it. i thought it might be an easter egg to Royo-Royo Depot in aoc, but i checked the maps and they don’t line up. Royo instead lining up with shadow hamlet. i would love for you to cover this, thanks! (edit: reposted my comment from your previous ruins vid)

[@camdenzeigler6954]

The ancient lab is marked in totk

[@alyssamitchell8191]

Lake Illumeni or the little settlement where you find the ultimate dish side quest

[@patrickaycock3655]

Im gonna be THAT guy and say... Your mom.

[@DarkAngelBluejay]

The Lake Illumeni settlement may just be a failed settlement. It was off the beaten path, but there may have at one time been an abundant resource nearby. People came and set up a few buildings, but then the Calamity hit, and getting needed supplies became harder and harder. They may never have seen a single guardian or many, if any, monsters at all. It may have just been location that ended this settlement. And once abandoned, it fell into disrepair and ruin.

[@HyruleGamer]

Good point :)

[@Glamurina]

Another possibility for the Ancient Tech Lab is that it wasn't forgotten, but instead censored. With how thorough Zelda was to completely scrap the remaining Sheikah tech across Hyrule, it's possible this place was actively removed from any maps and records.

[@wutmagna7222]

The developers themselves are the ones who worked so hard to completely scrub the map of all traces of Ancient Technology, as they didn't want anyone distracted from the new ancienter technology the Zonai brought, in spite of all narrative implications of such a scrub.

[@CrownofMischief]

​@@wutmagna7222Yeah, they really took to heart all those people complaining that the game would be a glorified DLC and tried to distinguish it as much as possible

[@dave_the_slick8584]

@@CrownofMischief They failed miserably.

[@Mitzi_DelverVRC]

Ok, totally real user and not just an alt account FirstnameBunchofnumbers

[@ewe6096]

Impa, Purah, and Robbie are still alive and would remember it. Scrubbing it sounds legit.

[@jiographic]

my little headcanon is that whoever lived near lake illumeni either discovered or spent time observing and studying the geoglyph nearby

[@HyruleGamer]

That'd be so cool!

[@FieryRed_BE]

unlikely

[@ArtemisWasHere]

Those ruins were in botw right? So that cannot be the case Unless they weren’t, can’t recall exactly

[@A-RonHubbard]

Well the geoglyphs did not appear until the upheaval as per my understanding.

[@Mari_Izu]

@@A-RonHubbard They didn't, they appeared suddenly in the present because Zelda messed up with the past.

[@theexistenceshow]

I don't think the old Tech Lab has been forgotten, since Purah and Robbie, who used to work there, are still alive in TotK

[@HyruleGamer]

But out of memory for the majority, as in it might not be commonly know anymore

[@AzurePip]

The ruined settlements are one of my favorite details in both BotW and TotK. It's so interesting to speculate what happened to these places of interest and what they looked like back in their prime prior to the Great Calamity.

[@Burrito25]

I absolutely love these random ruins videos! Two small ideas: for the lake illumini and popla foothills ones, perhaps they were holiday homes, owned by some wealthy merchants in castle town? They are in very nice and idyllic locations, so it was just a thought. Secondly, for the tarm point pillars and ruins (and similar ones), perhaps they were churches, places of worship to Hylia, for larger religious stuff than just a statue? Anyways those were just small thoughts I had.

[@joshuamackey2326]

Man the lake Hylia song that u played at the end of this video brought back so many memories god I love that music I remember the first time I heard it I was blowed away after the cut scene with zant ahhhh so many damn good zelda memories

[@HyruleGamer]

Thanks a lot! And thanks for sharing :D

[@telcarthc]

I have been playing this game every day since the release. Mostly done now but looking for that one elusive bubbul gem and a few wells. I play with headphones and just get lost in the sights and sounds. Like you, I love just exploring. Thank you for the videos.

[@damiencouturee6240]

Lol I've had it since launch (though I really didn't start playing til a few weeks ago because boy, there is a LOT to unpack in that game lol), and I've got about 70 shrines, 15 light roots, 100 koroks, and pretty much zero story progress. I got Tulin cause I like going fast, but other than that I'm just running around the world and stubbornly manually climbing mountains with an inventory full of rockets lol

[@keroseneserene]

Not sure if I missed something in the video, but I believe the Royal Ancient Lab Ruins are named on the map. They don't appear named when you're zoomed out, but the location name shows up when you zoom in, right next to the dragon tear above the New Serenne stable

[@Stormrunner1981]

Was about to mention this! Thought I was going a bit loopy!

[@Little-Dude]

Hate to be a little cynical, but I don't think the Lab Ruins would have faded out of memory, especially because those who remember it - Purah and Robbie - are not only still around but have important positions of authority in Hyrule at this point. I think the ruin names were removed just because the Sheikah tech and things related to it were removed as much as possible for TotK.

[@MonarchOfTheVoid]

My thought on the popla foothill ruin is that it's part of deya village but hates the villagers and thus moved a bit further and isolate their self.

[@BRIANNA_00]

Was just looking for something to watch to keep me sane during korok hunting. Thanks!

[@HyruleGamer]

Enjoy!

[@raffaelm6558]

I absolutely loved this especially because exploring and theorizing about these places is something that I enjoy so much. When you mentioned the wagons it actually reminded me that I came across a place recently that I hadn’t seen in 600h of playing TotK. Just North of Rebonae Bridge at Hylia River is a small unmarked ruin with a well and there’s also an Addison location nearby. When you go North from Addison you find tracks in the grass that lead towards the river and there’s a wagon stuck at the edge with another having toppled down towards a small strip of sand. There’s stuff thrown around everywhere and two Lizalfos are in the water but the carts are too old for them to have caused this. It looks to me like people fled from the Calamity and got off track there when the Guardians caught up with them but it’s weird that you can still see the tracks of the wagons.

[@HyruleGamer]

Thanks!

[@patrickaycock3655]

I think a lot of these "settlements" are more likely homesteads. Its not uncommon for there to be 3 or 4 buildings at a homestead. Home, barn, shed, storage.

[@19TheFallen]

In regards to the Royal Ancient Lab Ruins, it could be that they're not marked thusly because the people of Hyrule seem to be trying to forget the Calamity. And that includes the ancient tech of the Shiekah. It's evidenced that they're trying to bury that part of their past as best as they can, right on down to stripping down and disposing of all of the Guardians (save for the one on top of the Hateno Ancient Tech lab, for some reason) *and* the Divine Beasts. The Royal Ancient Lab, based on the memories from BOTW and, if you take _Age of Calamity_ into account, was shown to be the second base outside of Hyrule Castle for the tests on the Guardians and the Ancient tech as they repaired them. It was one of the starting places of the Calamity. And I can imagine that anyone involved in the process of burying that part of their past would bury the Royal Ancient Lab Ruins' true nature by stripping it of its name and treating it as nothing of importance......Just another building or structure razed to the ground by the flames of war.......

[@neox4735]

Link and the forgotten Hyrule Shoutout to the discord as always!

[@HyruleGamer]

Always Neox! 🙏

[@Burrito25]

eeeeyyyyyyy neox!

[@davidfitzpatrick6535]

With the popka foothills ruins. Maybe its like the Grinchs lair from how the Grinch stole Christmas. Its not OFFICIALLY apart of whoville or in this case Deya village but a place where outcasts of deya village lived. Or maybe it was a warning outpost for deya village but i think thats unlikely since mist likely deya village was attacked from the north abd this is on the south side. Place for escape maybe? Why so few buildings so frw survivors of the first deya village attack

[@6SamChat9]

5:44 Those same pillars are also found in the Wind waker underwater in sunken Hyrule

[@densuomega]

Loved the video. Always love these exploration bits as it'll expand on the Hyrule that once was. I have a few ideas for some of the locations you brought up. For Rowan plain, it could be that they were, as you mentioned, for farming or maybe livestock, but they also could have been for horse training, kind of like what it looks like Mabe village was for, giant stretches of grassland would be perfect to catch and train wild horses, and with one of the exchange ruins nearby, they could have been sold there, along with their other goods. For Lake Illumeni, it's an interesting one. According to Age of Calamity, the set of ruins in front of Sanidin Park was a restaurant, at least if I'm remembering that right. Those ruins by Lake Illumeni could have been homes for some of the workers that worked at that restaurant, maybe even collecting food from all the nature around them, or it could just have been places for travelers to rest, as Hyrule seems to be very open in that regard. For Tarm point, don't know, been wondering about them since BOTW. They could have been points for those on a pilgrimage (kind of like how the 3 springs were for Zelda in BOTW) in the era of 10,000 years ago or further back, since in the memory with Zelda 100+ years ago, they were even more abandoned then than they are now, as at least monsters roam around the Ancient Columns now. The problem with that though is, why are they still sparkling so fresh, even with all of that foliage? Is there a spell on them to keep them decently white, and if there is, can I learn it? For the Ancient Lab, I kind of thought that the devs just forgot to put the name in, but I like your idea more. I guess it could also be that they no longer serve any purpose, as most of the Sheikah tech just vanished, and whatever was remaining has already been put to use, so this area is now just free land, or a grim reminder of what happened. For Popla Foothills, there could have been stairs to this area that were just destroyed, or maybe even a ladder that's now gone, and the purpose of this place could have been for a lookout or maybe, a place of seclusion for a person of great importance, just trying to get away from things, as it seems they could be pretty self-sufficient there for a few days, assuming they brought supplies. Now that's all good, but I thought I'd have some fun with this one, so I think it could also originally have been a secret hideout spot for the kids of Deya Village, with a secret fort and everything, and only the worthy adults were allowed (Cottla kind of does this too in TOTK), and when they grew up, they just decided to build a house there with whoever was with them. It could've been romantic, or an absolute squad party of friends. Either way, it makes it a bit fun and sad knowing what happened to the place.

[@HyruleGamer]

Thanks a lot!

[@shanadorgelo]

I can't see anywhere if anyone has covered the Rauru Ruins settlement in totk... stumbled on it the other day and wanted some back story 😀

[@HyruleGamer]

Noted! 👀

[@LinktheCommunistWaifu]

Ahh yes I just restocked on chips and now I can watch Hyrule Gamer

[@HyruleGamer]

Awesome!

[@reachthroughreality]

For the last entry, I seem to remember something in Breath of the Wild mentioning lookouts that lived above Deya Village, I assumed that what those buildings were. I might be mistaken though. Something something Mandela effect.

[@HyruleGamer]

Mmm I'll have a looksy!

[@ewe6096]

Many of the smaller, out-of-the-way settlements may have simply been abandoned during or after the calamity. The fear of the guardians and monsters may have led those people to seek larger settlements for safety. The really out of the way cottages and cabins, like popla hills, may have been settled by Rito, who could have reached it easily by flying.

[@matneptune]

That one hut alone on the southern Gerudo highlands... the one that had a shrine quest in botw. I think that some gerudo women lived up there, because it's their territory

[@TheMikepatota]

These are my favorite spots to explore in BOTW and TOTK

[@Echohoody]

Thanks HG, I didn’t realize there were landmarks in TOTK that became unmarked that were previously marked in BOTW. I also didn’t realize that the ancient lab was displayed fully built in AOC. It would be interesting to see a future video showcasing the AOC landmarks that were built pre-calamity and compare to. BOTW/TOTK. I remember seeing the Great Plateau in AOC and it seemed like an entirely new area based on how different it looked.

[@Mari_Izu]

As a hack 'n Slash game with limited area for maps, they have a lot of areas that are super condensed, but they are as accurate as they can. Great Plateau was really cool to see, the stairways not flooded or not fool of dirt, the Temple of Time in pristine condition, the Shrine of Ressurection corridor before the roof fell to become the climb tutorial, etc. There were channels comparing the maps, but they never did more than few stages.

[@Marx-XIII]

I like to think that last location belonged to some kind of outcast or hermit that lived on the outskirts of Deya Village for whatever reason

[@paigehalseywarren]

Personally, I think the plains by the Old Serenne Stable were the “breadbasket” of pre-Calamity Hyrule. It was probably mostly farmland where there would be only a few permanent buildings and barns, grain storage, etc. There’s even the ruins of an exchange nearby which indicates a permanent market and collection point for taxes, surplus, etc. The land itself is fairly flat and not especially rocky, meaning it would be efficient for tilling. The lack of trees shows that it was probably cleared well before the Calamity, so few trees were around to reforest the land. It’s also very centrally located so seasonal labor from Hebra and Castletown could come help for the harvest and planting and return home during the rest of the year, which would explain how some of those Hebra villages survived without farms of their own. If they were farms, the grains and hay in any barns would have caught fire easily from Guardian attack and would have left very little evidence afterward. The buildings that are left were probably far away enough from the fires to survive. That’s my head canon anyway 😅

[@iknowyouhavebugs3524]

Yay!! I LOVE these kinds of videos!! I’m always wondering about this kind of stuff too.

[@HyruleGamer]

Glad to hear! :D

[@Redboots]

I wonder if, especially in regards to the illumeni lakeside and the poplar foothills ruins, if they were post-calamity built refuges, and once the immediate carnage of the calamity was over those places simply fell out of use.

[@tiffanymarsh2225]

I especially love these videos b/c I love the lore and design of the Zelda games but have always had difficulty with Nintendo controllers. Thanks to these videos I get to see the games so thank you.

[@HyruleGamer]

Thanks for watching, glad you enjoy!

[@kingdaniel3519]

These are some of my most favorite videos. Looking at a location and speculating on what life may have been like before the Calamity.

[@HyruleGamer]

Thanks a lot!

[@Sirona279]

It’s also a possibility that some of these places were already abandoned pre-calamity, or settled and subsequently abandoned post-calamity. Honestly, if a lynel moved in next door, I’d be outtie 9000.

[@HyruleGamer]

Very possible!

[@Alkaris]

I'm quite interested about the village you find in complete ruin by the Ancient Tree Stump, because at one point or another there was a village sitting right next to it, not just up on the cliff where the bridge is, but down below where it's just a pool of water with broken down houses submerged underwater. It just seems like a very odd place to build a house to begin with too, since it's not exactly flat land either.

[@HyruleGamer]

I'll note that one down!

[@danikaiTloZ_SW]

The "skyward sword style" ruins could have been placed on routes towards the springs and the forgotten temple. Maybe some people used to celebrate the dragons there wearing the elemental zonai robes. Probably there was something similar in the courage spring, but was covered by the zonai.

[@Haregue]

I really appreciate HG sticking to his guns and continues to make Zelda content! Keep up the good work dude!! Shit, ill even give you a list of topics lol

[@HyruleGamer]

Appreciate you watching!

[@HyruleGamer]

Also, all idea suggestions are very welcome!

[@TheLadyLiddell]

In regards to that last location, it's entirely possible that there was a path to it back before the Calamity, but time and the elements have completely erased/blocked it. Like a landslide or other erosion.

[@UsMoment09]

I just found the Royal Ancient Lab Ruins on the map in TotK. It seems like not having the name was a mistake because it's named now!

[@Westyle1]

One of the things I don't like is stuff obviously intended to be from OoT would no longer be standing as TotK shows that would've been more than 10,000 years ago

[@nicolettekaiser6086]

I think Daya village and the unmarked village near it might be ordon village from twilight princess

[@Gyashonav]

Starting off with my favorite region!

[@k_boo8232]

Oh sup man. I didn’t realize I got here this quick 😂 love ur videos ❤

[@HyruleGamer]

Awesome haha, thanks!

[@Mapper_Space]

The ancient columns are the ruins I know the least about and understand the least. I don't know if it is even possible to figure out its origins.

[@MrSuperleobros]

I actually became pretty fearful of these abandoned ruins as many of them seemed to have a gloom hands nearby 😂. So much to the point i always had a nearby shrine to teleport to on hand whenever i was near a ruined settlement. I always wondered if that was a deliberate choice.

[@kagomeLovesInuyasha3]

It might be just me but i want a version of this game post ganon so we can help restore hyrule and do things like we did to restore Leurlin village and actually see Hyrule come back to life.

[@hani951]

I really love your videos , i’m so happy every time I see a notif from you

[@HyruleGamer]

Thanks a lot, really means a lot to me!

[@TrueKoalaKnight]

The Ancient Tech Lab wouldn't make any sense to become "forgotten" since Purah & Robbie both once worked there. I think it's likely just an oversight or a glitch because it would otherwise it doesn't work as any sort of world building.

[@SirSonic900]

Is there any chance you'll be making a video on maybe either theory or lore on the blood moons?

[@Bokoblink]

your videos are my comfort videos

[@HyruleGamer]

Love to hear this :D

[@SirSonic900]

​@HyruleGamer yeah I feel the same way. You're one of my favorite KZbinrs. And I like to watch your videos just before bed. It helps me to unwind. 😌

[@satellachannel6423]

Ruins in weird/hard to reach spots could be (lazily) explained by one possiblity; hunters shelters. May be researchers outposts too.

[@HyruleGamer]

Some very well could be!

[@A-RonHubbard]

Am I missing something? The Royal Ancient Lab Ruins are definitely named on the map in TotK.

[@HyruleGamer]

I made mistake, just hadn't walked over it properly in TOTK

[@meleefox3218]

I guess you could say that these forgotten structures are "a link to the past".

[@HyruleGamer]

Reference on point 👌

[@johngonzillajg]

I wouldn't doubt the lake illumeni ruins are ruins because of that lynel protecting "his territory"

[@jaxpool155]

just a quick note: at 7:30 you mention the ancient lab ruins are unmarked, but i just checked my own map and they are labeled as "Royal Ancient Lab Ruins". maybe in your playthrough that you just missed walking over the point where it would count as discovered?

[@HyruleGamer]

There is a very real possibility I've messed up there 😅

[@jaxpool155]

​@@HyruleGamerno worries! just figured you'd wanna know, and i also double-checked to make sure i hadn't missed something accidentally! currently trying to 100% map completion, so i gotta be thorough. but i do love speculating about what places are unmarked like the others you mentioned, wondering what the devs may have intended to put there or at least wanted to imply!

[@kanyaebruh]

the ancient lab ruins isnt really a name people would forget, thats what they would just call it upon finding what we see now, we really dont know what they were ACTUALLY called even before botw...

[@noble6TheReachGod]

Maybe the Popla Foothills ruins were vacation homes 🤔

[@HyruleGamer]

Perhaps!

[@PhoenixDening-cz5wd]

How was Robbie and purahs old lab forgotten it should've became lookout landing or a new lab run by one of them

[@babyleafsaladd5322]

oh we are so back

[@HyruleGamer]

Yessssi!

[@oliviergagnon8719]

There is a lil bridge in botw called gleeok bridge that was unnamed in totk

[@HyruleGamer]

Interesting detail!

[@RodrigoFerreira-cc7ze]

I passed by it a few days before. It still has the name Gleeok Bridge. Now with a Battle Talus next to it

[@oliviergagnon8719]

@@RodrigoFerreira-cc7ze bro I was sure the name wasnt on the map, maybe Ill go check to see if I was sayin stuff outta my ass

[@BelgianPigeon]

The Royal Ancient Lab Ruins are named in my game, perhaps you had a glitch when recording?

[@Innerspacezombie]

day 60 of mentioning that on 6/6/2023 hyrule gamer made a video where, at 43.46, he spent 12 seconds simping about the ancient gerudo soldiers

[@joshuaputt9169]

Turn on my KZbin app and I'm greeted by a fresh video less than a minute old. This is a good day.

[@HyruleGamer]

Love to see it!

[@lilkorok]

dropping a comment down below for the lil korok

[@HyruleGamer]

Hell yeah!

[@SirSonic900]

🌳🍃 ya ha hah! You found me!

[@JavierPwns]

Haven’t played TotK in months

[@HyruleGamer]

You should give it a pick up!

[@robertbarrows6687]

The last one probably was a farm.

[@raptorrixx99-wv2hl]

All i think about seeing the ruins is...Fire...Death...Piano music... You know, the usual :/

[@Go4Broke247]

Last one is a miner's workshop.

[@HyruleGamer]

Oooh that's a really cool idea! 🙏

[@Go4Broke247]

@@HyruleGamer In my opinion, it used to be a thriving mining workshop or building, where it employed people of Hyrule, but now abandon. Also, I really enjoy your Lore Videos. Thanks!

[@Grandwigg]

I imagine he'd be jealous of where I live, hahaha

[@nakayoshi93]

I felt your jealousy... I want so bad to just live in a quiet, cozy little home

[@Innerspacezombie]

day 11 of mentioning that on 6/6/2023 hyrule gamer made a video where, at 43.46, he spent 12 seconds simping about the ancient gerudo soldiers

[@adamburgess311]

5:33

[@arcano9297]

are you the same guy from the arcihve?

[@HyruleGamer]

Wot

[@johnnyringo35]

Thanks for keeping with this.....many Zelda tubers have poo pooed this game and I find that disappointing..... I see all the possibilities......but it seems they were expecting it to be easier or something....I don't know. To each their own I can't be mad at 'em but I just think they are being a tad bit cynical.

[@HyruleGamer]

Thanks a lot for watching still 🙏

[@BalooDumptruck]

Reason why i left Nintendo bandit recently

[@TJR219]

🍃

[@ZuzkaZL]

Also jealous.

[@smallperson.]

Definitely not first

[@Innerspacezombie]

day 29 of mentioning that on 6/6/2023 hyrule gamer made a video where, at 43.46, he spent 12 seconds simping about the ancient gerudo soldiers

[@Innerspacezombie]

day 24 of mentioning that on 6/6/2023 hyrule gamer made a video where, at 43.46, he spent 12 seconds simping about the ancient gerudo soldiers

[@Innerspacezombie]

day 66 of mentioning that on 6/6/2023 hyrule gamer made a video where, at 43.46, he spent 12 seconds simping about the ancient gerudo soldiers

[@Innerspacezombie]

day 45 of mentioning that on 6/6/2023 hyrule gamer made a video where, at 43.46, he spent 12 seconds simping about the ancient gerudo soldiers

[@Mari_Izu]

You talk like you wouldn't do the same.