Lookout Landing SUCKS as a fort! (Tears of the Kingdom)

[@TheBreadPirate]

I love castle defenses, but I also have a lot to learn. Let me know you have and critiques or suggestions!

[@BowlOSoup6661]

Edit: Nevermind I'm just stupid

[@TheFutureJedi]

Ello

[@SoloTurtle]

Not enough monkeys

[@riptidedune]

Honestly it would be a lot of fun to have a side quest to defend Lookout Landing, kind of like (spoiler place).

[@Tablecloth479]

Hi bread pirate!

[@Slothology.]

The mental image of Link screaming at Purah and everyone else in Lookout Landing like Gordon Ramsey about how awful every aspect of the fort is is amazing

[@Isuream6331]

I’m now imagining Link being Hyrule’s new general. Sounds terrifying for any foreign country

[@BonaparteBardithion]

I'd say most of them get a pass since there hasn't been a Hyrulian army or even a united monster front since Link's time, but Purah was there. She lived through the Calamity and she should know better.

[@MidnightLugia24]

Especially if you imagine Link only using his various grunts/sounds along with hand gestures, i.e. how Link communicates with Bread Pirate 😂

[@karenaugustyniak4925]

WHERES THE BETTER DEFENSES

[@ineedzemedic5810]

Knowing Link is basically a zonai engineer of mass destruction. I understand

[@Aurea_Astrae]

The only reason a Lynel hasn't leveled the place to the ground is because link leveled the lynels before they could do that

[@legion6211]

There are 9 lynels in the overworld I believe, All of them are nowhere near

[@gavinmcintyre1742]

Yeah and you can thank link for that

[@BisexualPlagueDoctor]

@@legion6211there used to be lynels closer by, still, like, an entire kilometer and a half away but whatever

[@wesleysylvester6444]

@@legion6211 the run super fucking fast. would be a 3 minute run

[@ulrikebeckmann4986]

​@@wesleysylvester6444and they can teleport if you run away they will maybee teleport to you

[@FIamestalker]

To be fair to Lookout Landing, I got the impression at the start of the game that it basically didn't exist when Link and Zelda went to the Castle. I thought it was just the staging ground for Zelda, Purah and the researchers, and was turned into a fort and central command post after the Upheaval to *"Look Out"* for the missing Link and Zelda. It must have been constructed in a hurry with whatever materials they had on hand, which was likely mostly stuff from the Hudson Reconstruction caches, which would explain the heavy use of planks and wooden beams.

[@sarowie]

it would also explain why the tower is integrated so badly: The unterground section was there first, then the tower, then the walls. They would fortify the tower "eventually".

[@sakurakitsunestar]

I agree I feel it was a research camp that ended up fortified (just badly)

[@brycebitetti1402]

​@@sakurakitsunestarTo be fair, I don't think Hyrule has a military at the moment. The only one of them who was actually involved in any actual military outfit is Link, and he wasn't necessarily a master tactician.

[@vraolet]

Also the damaged escape tunnel and the vault predate the creation of the fort which would kind of force them to build it here anyway, and I say damaged escape tunnel because it probably was in a much better state before the earthquake that created all the grottos and abyss.

[@homerman76]

There's also the fact that Bokoblins and Moblins aren't especially intelligent, so some basic fortifications would still help enough. That being said, still no excuse for the drawbridge that can't go all the way up because of the lighting 😅

[@kiwilemontea4622]

Cut em a little slack. This place wasn't originally intended to be a fort or a castle- it became one out of necessity. They had to construct this while already surrounded by enemies, and the bulk of the outer walls was probably made over only a week or two. I think it's implied that Hyrule Castle was cleared of monsters between BotW and the Upheaval, so they may have thought they didn't need to defend as much from that angle.

[@nerdwisdomyo9563]

Some of the design choices actually make it HARDER and less intuitive to build, like planks instead of logs for the walls, and moving all the dirt from the moat off to wherever they got rid of it, and having four gates instead of one It is objectively easier to not do those things, they are deliberately making the whole building process more difficult for less gain But its a video game so idk its not that big of a deal 🤷‍♂️

[@meatlemonade3338]

i also think that since the calamity, a lot of knowledge and skill was lost in various trades including construction. you really only see a very few new homes being built in hyrule and they're all in the same prefab style. it's remarkable they were able to get the skyview towers and lookout landing up at all

[@silverblade357]

This. Ganon's return brought back the Blood Moon which brought back the monsters. Until the Upheaval, Hyrule had been enjoying a relative peace.

[@brandimullins8813]

funnily enough, when attacking Fort Hateno early on in my playthrough, i was unironically killed by the wooden stakes at least a small handful of times, especially from an enemy knocking me back into them

[@TimesChu]

I can actually explain the plank thing: Lookout Landing is built right on the remains of Castle Town. In BotW, the area around Hyrule Castle is littered with the remains of buildings, but in TotK most of them are gone. It's highly likely all the good wood left in the area was scrapped to build Lookout Landing in a hurry, rather than spending time hauling in and sinking 200 logs. Which of course is not a good excuse, but it is an explanation.

[@Kyonari]

would make sense since its also not really required to be that good as the monster problem really only got worse after it was already created

[@ARCrow007]

it was build OUTSIDE of castle town where the phantom chestplate was obtainable (also the 1st memory picture in botw)

[@appledoo]

@@ARCrow007 fun fact : you can move wooden boards, they aren't sedentary :O

[@Majora404err01r]

It's actually built on top of the sacred ground ruins 🤓

[@LazyNVersions]

@@ARCrow007 It’s built at the very least near the area, so this explanation would work pretty well. Again, still doesn’t excuse how bad Lookout Landing is at this stuff

[@eriatarka_]

This video makes me imagine Link running around, yelling at random civilians, yelling at Purah, explaining all of this just hand gesturing to the areas he's complaining about

[@west3Dgaming]

I can't explain how much I want to see animated shorts from the perspective of villagers of Link dropping out of the sky, buying every piece of produce available, then jumping on a rocket and blasting away. Dressed as ridiculously as players tend to dress

[@thegoldenapplebryanwu6816]

@@west3Dgaming I'll do that right away.

[@notimportant221]

FEED ME YOUR MIND-DATA, HUMAN. MY DATA-HUNGER GROWS EXPONENTIALLY. MY POWER GROWS EXPONENTIALLY.

[@ness6714]

I like to think that once he got the new arm he had the sudden urge to be a build critic.

[@celestialdragonlord5004]

@@thegoldenapplebryanwu6816 I'm looking at your channel bud......where's it at??

[@DarkDepth2000]

Don’t worry, once the fort is completely destroyed they’ll use link as the last line of defense.

[@TheBreadPirate]

Meanwhile, Link is 300 yards away creating a Korok shish kabob.

[@longlivethe9989]

@Entropy8132 the teleportation sites operate separately from towers and damaging them is definitely not a priority for the monsters. Not to mention a shrine in the castle town ruins that's like 20-30 seconds away from the fort. But yeah Link's existence kind of makes it impenetrable...

[@Blue2Pran2907]

@Entropy8132 or a travel medallion

[@Redmeteor200]

Uh oh...

[@bread1242]

@@TheBreadPirate mmm 😋

[@lamronjr8785]

I've always believed that the reason for using wooden planks was they had a surplus of them from when the 'hyrule restoration project' began and that they had such a large number of them around that it was the only feasible way to make a large fortification in a very short time in their eyes.

[@UnderAverage]

The spikes could even act as cover for the bokos! There’s a perfect spot between the higher and lower level of spikes that they could squeeze into and be unaffected by arrows.

[@jimmyp4024]

What arrows?

[@BYRONDAMANN]

the one boko who accidently rams himself into the spikes

[@FantasyFan-p2i]

That's what I was thinking!

[@conorgalvin4289]

@@jimmyp4024 no, what bows?

[@Windless1]

The yiga has even better defences in any of their bases than the castle

[@longlivethe9989]

the yigas have literal books about fortification principles lol

[@Jaxagain.]

⁠@@longlivethe9989A lot of people view the Yiga as incompetent idiots but compared to the other people in Hyrule they are gods.

[@Ordinaryhumanbeing-cg5vx]

@@Jaxagain. They’re just understaffed.

[@Luxembourgish]

@@Jaxagain. Kohga is not smart since he defeated himself with his own rockets, Sooga did all the hard work.

[@agent_squidboy0470]

The Yiga even write notes about how and where to build forts in the depths

[@MapleRose9]

I like the fact that other people besides Link are at least /trying/ to fight the monsters now. I'd like to see an analysis of the Monster Fortresses.

[@GerardMenvussa]

One of my favourite part of the game. People found hope after Link's victory at the end of BotW and have become proactive, it's nice :)

[@jark06]

I really like that people actually know who you are and are taking an active role in rebuilding or protecting hyrule. I really hope that years from now the next Zelda game is a new link and Zelda set after TOTK, and we get to see hyrule properly rebuilt, with actual huge towns like castle town. Obviously to keep the game fresh other stuff would have to change but I think seeing this hyrule fully restored would just be cool.

[@iyes-ux2dt]

What about a Gerudo town analysis

[@franconunez925]

Link seeing the villagers: *thumbs up while smiling* "You really suck at this but is a decent first step"

[@Chris-gx1ei]

Link is on a whole new Level, he is a Bioweapon of the Gods that defeated Grown Ups at the age of 4

[@eldibs]

I just figured Lookout Landing wasn't originally designed as a fort but as a research station, and they hastily had to throw together fortifications from what they had available when monster started cropping up again. Also, they probably don't expect the monsters to lay proper siege, they probably just expect small-to-medium groups of monsters in waves, not an army of 2,000 using actual tactics and strategy.

[@homerman76]

Which is a fair expectation with how the monsters normally behave, if the monsters moved in mass no amount of temporary defense measure would be able to help. Defenses on level with repelling such a force would require a lot more time and resources because of what Lynels, Gleeoks and Talus are capable of

[@noxic8863]

​​@@homerman76 in fact I'm pretty sure it was mentioned somewhere that Gleeoks didn't existed before the upheaval (or at least they had no record of them) just like the Gibdos and Horriblins, so it was kind of impossible to be prepared for them before they started finding them around and assessing their powers and weaknesses

[@OtakuUnitedStudio]

@@noxic8863 Given how the researchers describe the changes in biology and behavior for 'Blins and Lizalfos seems to have be really sudden, they probably didn't even get a chance to plan for THAT. It's been a few years at most - some of the kids from BOTW have gotten bigger and some new ones have been born and are old enough to talk. Yet that's still really quick for Stone Age level creatures to suddenly start wearing armor and building fortifications.

[@davidchao6606]

I’d assumed it’s more like a forward operating base from which Purah coordinates and spearheads research efforts. The defenses are prob hastily fortifications in response to the blight.

[@taddad2641]

Monsters don't have the strategty to do so though they have the numbers. But if ganon was ble to direct them again? Though it seems as if Ganondorf had other plans. He wanted to seize control with minimal resistance and, possible, casualties to the people. You can't rule a land without a population after all. Every single situation in the four other races of hyrule is ganon acting to weaken them. Forced the gerudo into a siege situation and held them down. Poisoned the zora till they could barely move. Inhibited and distracted the Rito with that blizzard. And most deviously was drugging the gorons and likely had plans of turning them into an army.

[@Terlinilia]

I love how Purah is probably the most important figure in Hyrule at the moment but she's also the least protected

[@BYRONDAMANN]

I also like that fact about link when he's also a really important figure put nobody is protecting him

[@Terlinilia]

@@BYRONDAMANN He can protect himself, he's link

[@alwest4472]

@@BYRONDAMANNhe’s link. He doesn’t need defending lol,

[@andrewaftontheandroidhedge2780]

@@alwest4472 everyone needs defending from link

[@Spookyguy223]

I’d love to see more analyses like this! I love stuff where you apply a real world out look on stuff in video game!

[@TheBreadPirate]

That can be arranged!

[@pokkiheart]

this actually got me thinking about how long it took to build and how much time went into it. Because the game almost implies that nearly every change you see happened after "the upheaval" but we don't know if that was weeks, days, or hours before Link wakes up.

[@giornaguirne]

I believe it's stated by an NPC that it was about 2 weeks. Lookout landing isn't terrible considering they'd been without a government for 100 years. The princess and a lone swordsman returned only a couple years earlier to take over the few settlements scattered across a post-apocalyptic landscape. I think people are asking an awful lot of what's essentially the Nick Jr Walking Dead crew.

[@godzillahomer]

@@giornaguirne heck, if Lookout Landing was built for the purposes of restoring Hyrule Castle Town before the upheaval... It makes sense. It's not a military base. It's a worker camp, either designed to keep wild animals out or hastily rebuilt into a military outpost.

[@jark06]

Yeah I’m pretty sure lookout landing was a base camp before the upheaval to investigate hyrule castle and the gloom. Once link and Zelda disappeared purah took over and refugees/researchers moved there and a small military was built up.

[@WhitePointerGaming]

There's at least several years between the end of BOTW and when Link wakes up on the sky island in TOTK, given that several characters, such as Tulin and Riju, have noticeably aged, and then there is Mattison, who wasn't even born in BOTW but in TOTK is old enough to go to Gerudo town. Granted, we don't exactly know how much time passed between the end of BOTW and the *very* beginning of TOTK (when Link and Zelda are exploring under the castle), but that's the best guess we have at the moment.

[@patrickshaw411]

After severe damage, I wouldn’t be surprised if Link was asleep for 2 months. His hair looks longer too even if the original was in a ponytail. 2 months is also a good time for everyone to respond to the calamity. We have lookout landing as well as the Zonai Research team, and that sort of organization doesn’t happen overnight.

[@AdrianHereToHelp]

I think one thing in favor of the moat is the fact that monsters in BotW/TotK can't swim, and will just die when submerged in water, save lizalfos. I don't know how many lizalfos are in the surrounding area, but that would cut into the monster forces significantly once all the drawbridges are raised and such (obviously the moat can still be bridged and got around other ways, but that fact does help)

[@OtakuUnitedStudio]

The closest Lizalfos are near the Dueling Peaks. They'd have to travel a good distance, and would most likely be coming from a direction that would give ample time for planning.

[@joshuaneate358]

As explained in another comment, Lookout Landing doesn’t stand a chance. Aerocudas can easily soar above, can carry monsters and drop them to breach the fort, or drop bomb barrels and raze the compound to the ground. This is shown in several instances in the game like in the Turin quest and in some parts of the depths. Next, Moblins can throw Bokoblins or rocks or whatever over the walls. Horriblins can go through the Royal Passage and into the emergency shelter if they have the knowledge. Any well commanded monster force (especially with silver enemies who have 700+ health) can certainly breach Lookout Landing. Even with a large Hyrulean combined-arms force, their weapons are not the best, either decayed or low damage and durability. Silver Moblins and Horriblins and Bokoblins will easily tank and do major damage. Hyrule’s only hope is if Link comes to the rescue, and with his swordsmanship and skill he will be able to fight off the attacking forces. But if link isn’t there, Lookout Landing is going to be destroyed.

[@Sarah_H]

I think the moat is shallow enough in some places for moblins to stand up in. I'd have to check again, but it ISN'T that deep

[@ggholdengo]

@@joshuaneate358 last time I'm playing as link, I'm trapping koroks in a crudely-made wickerman and setting it on fire with dinraal

[@bridgetst.julien6902]

To answer your question on how many lizalfos, ALL OF THEM, THEN A BLOOD MOON HAPPENS THEN THE ONES LINK ABSOLUTLEY OBLITERATED RESPAWN AT THE SAMD PLACE AS ALL THE OTHERS

[@Myxgrassxisxgreenest]

I like how after praising the underground area for being hidden he climbs the ladder, and shows how the entrance is in plain sight of Hyrule Castle.

[@aguyontheinternet8436]

but like, they wouldn't think to look there for a secret underground entrance, right?

[@Walsh-ts1so]

@@aguyontheinternet8436 scouts or archers from the castle wall can see the secret entrance open as soon as it does

[@WyGuy2087]

when you first enter the lookout landing the area is covered by a stone trapdoor isn't it?

[@HungryWarden]

Not to mention the fact that the passage is already full of monsters.

[@LazyNVersions]

Well, it can be closed and in BOTW we had no idea it was there. It’s safe to assume they could fortify the passage, but don’t need to yet because of the rock wall. Unsafe until that cave is blocked off, once the cave is blocked off properly (hopefully they listen to Link) then they can hide in there no problem.

[@wildmonkeycar]

Another reason Lookout Landing was built where it was is because of the safe house beneath it. It was originally a safe house for the Royal Family, and was hidden underneath the fountain that used to be there (visible in BotW). The escape tunnel was originally meant to be used going from Hyrule Castle to the safe house as a means of escape, in case of a siege. Lookout Landing was built around and on top of the safe house, and the tunnels were sealed off, both from the passage of time and for defensive reasons

[@BYRONDAMANN]

the bokos could just pour lava down the hole and that's bye bye to the npcs

[@themonsterunderyourbed.7620]

They don't even HAVE lava.​@@BYRONDAMANN

[@gavros9636]

The spike trap things are interesting as this isn't the first game they show up in, they appear in Skyrim too and are used there as destructible blockades to block entrances that should of had portcutlesses but didn't.

[@Sillynyan-360]

should have*

[@captianblitz]

To be fair to the tunnels, if Link wasn't an excavation machine who could easily clear the tunnel at the slightest whiff of shinies, the whole thing would be clogged with rock and debris, and the actual entrance into the Emergancy Shelter is small (so the larger and more dangerous monsters cant get in at all) and thus is easily barricaded and defended when that barricade breaks.

[@gblackuser]

Also, the escape tunnels aren't to go into the castle. The escape tunnels are meant to get the royal family *out* and to their emergency shelter in case of siege.

[@captianblitz]

Yes but in evaluating Lookout Landing the history behind it needs to be ignored in place of strategic value. Is it a cool fact? Yea. Will that fact stop a Moblin from skewering you? Probably not.

[@EmissaryofWind]

From the NPCs dialogue, nobody seemed to have known about the tunnels before we're able to explore them. Which is a little weird because Purah and Impa should have been familiar with the castle's defenses pre-Calamity, but from the way the tunnels look it's very possible they had fallen out of use long before the Calamity.

[@faithh5546]

​@EmissaryofWind yeah, and there's a sign at the bottom of the stairwell talking about Rauru and stuff (I don't remeber exactly) which no one knew about him until fairly recently. So I don't think those tunnels have been used in a LONG time

[@EmissaryofWind]

@@faithh5546 Doesn't Zelda recognize his name as the founder of the kingdom?

[@HoneebunnySapphire]

The best part to me is that all of their worst defenses are facing Hyrule Castle, which, to their knowledge, is where their worst and strongest enemy is residing. That's where they should have the most protection of all!!

[@spacebras]

In their defense (haha) lookout landing was built in between game one and two :)

[@randomnobody660]

​@@spacebras eh. I'd say it's built entirely in game 2, some time between prologue and when link wakes up on the sky island.

[@damiankaleomontero496]

but Purah and the like all say they don't know if Gannon's in the castle, and for years it has been a very safe area, so assuming the monsters from the south are a bigger threat is not necessarily dumb.

[@thenitpickchannel9993]

@@damiankaleomontero496 i know but then again the same castle that was once safe is no floating and had Gloom spewing from the bottom, so I’m not just gonna assume that Calamity 2 won’t happen. I’m surprised nobody had PTSD from the calamity and started fortifying that side of the fort immediately

[@OffbrandDTraveler]

@@damiankaleomontero496 Tbf I’d also wanna be better protected from the floating castle in which resides the highest concentration of evil substances in the whole kingdom /lh

[@rickhemsfield4104]

The multiple entrance thing really shows during the battle in gerudo town with the gibdos

[@BonaparteBardithion]

I was looking to see if someone had already mentioned this. We actually see the problem of dividing defenses in action and that's in the town with secure stone walls and probably the most formally trained standing army (maybe rivaled by the Zora). And they didn't even address the real defensive problem: There's a gigantic window open to the desert leading directly to the throne room. There are no extra guards on it, and it's right next to one of the entrances to the emergency shelter. I wouldn't doubt this is how the Thunder Helm got stolen in BOTW. It's definitely not a secure location for a political leader, even one trained in combat.

[@OtakuUnitedStudio]

@@BonaparteBardithion Riju briefly mentions they should "probably plug up the hole behind the throne." They never do.

[@darrelsam419]

​@@BonaparteBardithionYeah, I always found it hilarious that there's just a massive hole behind the throne. Like if anyone had a good enough aim they could just kill everyone in the throne room with a bow and a few arrows.

[@gogokowai]

The view and the breeze are more important than the defense.

[@taddad2641]

@@gogokowai well be fair the breeze might be super important.

[@landonbaker1218]

This is what happens when you hire a residential contractor to build your military base, looking at you Hudson

[@daceymcnally8728]

It’s hard to talk about the intelligence of Ganondorf’s forces when you’re wearing a stitched hat with button eyes that successfully convinces said forces you’re one of them.

[@ChrisCalebDaniel]

True😂

[@joshmccormack9375]

Don’t forget that the Escape Tunnel is to escape Hyrule Castle itself, not Lookout

[@dogman15]

And 100+ years ago, it was probably much easier to traverse. No need to swim or destroy rocks.

[@webbowser8834]

Oh sure, originally I'm sure it served it's purpose admirably. At this time though, it's a monster-infested liability. I actually think Pirate was being overly generous in his analysis of the escape tunnel, it really does not serve any beneficial purpose to the Hylians in its current state and would require a *massive* effort to make it anything other than yet another entry point into the landing.

[@calebjones7868]

also it hasn't been properly Maintained for over a hundred years due to Ganon shenanigans

[@jesusramirezromo2037]

It literally leads to where the monsters are coming from, they're better off with it being sealed

[@brlin]

The rocks are there possibly because when the royal people flee from the castle, they bombed the escape tunnel to discourage the chasing enemy from approaching.

[@Sheylenna]

I think one of the reasons Lookout Landing is built so strangely is because it was built as a residence first... then they added the tower. When the miasma started, they probably started fortifying it and used the planks they were using to build more buildings to build the wall. Also, the area they built in was already a lake with 4 entrances they had to bring in soil to make the landing as it is in TotK since it's the sacred ground ruins the lake was much larger in BotW.

[@lunyxappocalypse7071]

Thats a good point, but if so they technically could of created an outer wall. That is what's traditionally done.

[@Smallbox-v9v]

I feel like although the lookout landing was supposed to give link a sort of starting base to stay in, it could’ve had more special moments that made it more than just an outpost. Some ideas would be like a horde of monsters start invading the lookout landing and you have to help the soldiers fend off the monsters. Things like that would make the lookout landing feel a bit more special or atleast feel more like an important part to your adventure than just a house of men and beginnings of fan art.

[@jark06]

Beginnings of fan art hahahaha

[@wetmanux54]

Like the gibdo attack on gerudo town, but more

[@quinndaniels1928]

@@wetmanux54 yeah, that's a good point. I did the Gerudo quest line before any of the others (really was hoping to see the Gerudo Vai outfit return and was willing to complete all the quests in case it was unlockable. Not upset about that at all,,,,,,) and it kinda made me think that the other questlines would also include some sort of seige event. That was way before I learned of the monster forces side adventures, though. But it would have been cool to see the different races fight and defend alongside each other, more than just the sages.

[@seelcudoom1]

it should have been ganondorfs army instead of them just being in a pit you jump in you actually rally hyrules forces to invade the castle and ganondorf sends his army to put a stop to it, and you get reinforcements from the various side quests you did

[@dameonlarouge4044]

This immediately made me think of a version of Link where Zelda lent him the Triforce of Wisdom. Immediately walking around Hyrule-doing quests, being brave-but also questioning every defense strategy out there 😂❤

[@JoshuaEisenbart]

Lookout Landing was probably built in two different phases and mindsets: the first was before the Upheaval, and the second was after. We know that Zelda herself commissioned Hudson Construction to build Lookout Landing, and that the Skyview Towers were designed to work with the Purah Pad, so it must've been started before the Upheaval. However, since the mini-stable and general shop are not finished until after Link makes his way back there, it is safe to say much of it was finished while Link was still on the Great Sky Island. In particular, I believe that the gates, Purah's house, and the Skyview Tower were all built, or at least started, before the Upheaval. This is evidenced by the handrails/minimal crenelations, the sheer importance of those aspects, and, most subtly, the much higher build quality: the boards are much closer together, and the ramparts have a neater edge. This also explains why so many of the flaws in Lookout Landings defenses are at these points: they were built with the mindset of a base of operations(or BoO) for rebuilding and research, not defense. The second phase saw the construction of the walls, and began after the Upheaval. This is evidenced by the larger crenelations and slopier fit of the boards. This also explains why boards were used instead of logs: they were originally cut because Hudson Construction intended to build a BoO, not a fort, and had to be repurposed. Also, something to note about its placement, and the tunnels: the stone bunker was there long before the fort was. Lookout Landing was specifically built around the ruins of the ancient knighting grounds of Hyrule, and the game mentions several times that the tunnel was in fact an emergency escape route FROM Hyrule Castle TO the Emergency Shelter, while implying that it is 100's, if not 1,000's, of years old. That is why it is in such bad shape. However, it is not as if they aren't trying to make up for all these flaws. The northern gate is both the narrowest one, and the only one that stays closed, while Purah herself maintains a constant watch of Hyrule Castle. Also, the placement of the spikes on the north side are particularly clever. The north side of Lookout Landing has the most trees, and placing spikes between them, as they did, will certainly slow down any would-be attackers, simply by creating a enough obstacles. Yes, the monsters at Fort Hateno certainly did install more spikes, but those are extremely flimsy, and can be broken with a single swing of a 2-handed weapon, requiring constant replacement. The spikes around Lookout Landing can't be broken in-game, though the laws of reality mean they aren't invincible.

[@viperleviathan9021]

Also, presuming Ganon's army have a decent amount of intelligence, the lack of a roof mean's they're SCREWED. One, Moblins are able to chuck Bokos, so if they get close enough to throw them over the ramparts (or that RAILING), the enemy has breached the castle. Two, arrows can be shot upwards to rain down on the unprotected people inside. And third, and this is the one that really poses a problem, AEROCUDAS. These things are intelligent enough to steal weapons and bring in reinforcement Bokos, as seen in Tulin's questline. All it takes are a few of them flying over with Bomb Barrels (which they do carry in the depths) and the whole structure is done for.

[@sarowie]

The could be a cool scene where the Yiga act as semi-commanders of the Monsters. The Yiga sure have the intel. The only question is if the monsters would listen to the Yiga.

[@brycebitetti1402]

​@sarowie I highly doubt it. The Yiga are mostly incompetent anyways, but the monsters don't seem to listen to anyone other than Ganon.

[@aidanhammans9337]

@Entropy8132A talus is a maybe, but presuming Mineru was there, she could metal slap a Silver Moblin till it dies. What we should really be wary of is Gloom Spawn.

[@FartSmella99]

also, can't lizalflos jump like really high? like high enough to jump over the moat, and then the wall?

[@boggle4763]

Plot twist: the skyview tower turns into a giant guardian and destroys all the bokos

[@lavenderpants8695]

I thought it was a big miss to nit have a Lookout Landing defense mission like the one in Gerudo Town. I figured it would be one of the final missions and was surprised that didnt happen.

[@sarowie]

oh - that sounds like fun! And the more main objectives you have unlocked, the more defenders you have. Most people would have support from the major races, but speed runners would have to way less support! Heck: We could even tie back the Yigas into it: If you have defeated master Koga, no Master Koga. Koga not defeated? Koga in a Mech Suit!

[@goshdarnwizard]

That was exactly what I was thinking and that whole protect gerudo town segment was honestly one of my favorite things about that quest.

[@GamePlan692]

It could have happened when Ganon summons the blood moon at the end of the game

[@lavenderpants8695]

@@sarowie exactly!

[@brycebitetti1402]

​@GamePlan692 Or maybe we could move that Blood Moon moment from when Purah spots Zelda at Hyrule Castle to after The Sages save Link from Phantom Ganon. You have to race back to Lookout Landing to defend it. Though, I'm unsure if the engine could even handle a scenario like that at all.

[@thecjgameworld4013]

So about the tunnel, it was always there but nobody currently knew about it, you can only discover it because the sweeper accidentally broke the small secret entrace open.

[@lukew8337]

It was also made to be an escape from the castle thousands of years ago.

[@Dave01Rhodes]

Yeah, and the Upheaval messed around with the ground, opening up a bunch of caves. The escape tunnel probably got trashed by it.

[@samhughes729]

I’m gonna be honest, I love this video and I would love to see more like this. Seeing the contrast between media and realism is so much fun.

[@cowhale]

The wooden spikes at 13:55 remind me a lot of the earthworks used in the American Civil War. Pamplin Historical Park has some recreations of them. Not sure if that’s the same thing, but the size of the spikes and the angle they’re at looks similar.

[@brycebitetti1402]

To be fair, I don't think that the place was really designed as a fort at all. It was likely just a research center setup by Purah and Zelda before the Upheaval happened and defenses were hastily grafted onto it. It also makes sense given that Hyrule has no formal military, only a handful of volunteers as a part of the Monster Control Crew, who I'd assume were only formed recently.

[@TheQuilavaQueen]

I like that you did all of this without acknowledging that they used wooden defences against enemies that we know can and will imbue their weapons and arrows WITH THE POWER OF FIRE. And have flying creatures that could just supply drop monsters into the inside of the castle. But in all seriousness fantastic video, and I'd love to see something like this for Fort Hateno, Gerudo City or Hyrule Castle itself.

[@Kyonari]

I mean this is something that only started not that long ago for them and I doubt any of them can see into the future

[@lunyxappocalypse7071]

True, it really should be at least a combination of stone and wood, like how the a'viking people made them. One huge advantage with wood is that it is (relatively) easily replaceable, but that does not help when your whole base fort is made up of it.

[@FIamestalker]

There should've been a defence mission for Lookout Landing, there even was a good, dramatic moment for it too if it was placed right after the fight with the Phantoms in the Castle

[@ricardoac0380]

I hope they add this mission as part of a DLC.

[@Isuream6331]

I think it actually should have occurred during that blood moon cutscene

[@atlantic85]

That would be sick

[@atlantic85]

We did get a similar thing in the Gerudo town quest

[@solarwreathe3789]

I was dead certain that would happen both after the gerudo defense, and seeing how npcs from each regional town moved into lookout after completing their respective quests. you have gerudo soldiers at the entrances and a zora army training there, it seemed obvious.

[@JustaBi182]

I don't know why this concept makes me so happy, also STORMIN THE CASTLE, ITS PERFECT

[@Miss_Rydia]

This was really interesting! I'd love more videos on the architecture around Hyrule.

[@shiners3328]

Did you know the castle sucks at being easily defensible? Thing got taken over TWICE

[@strawdeath263]

To be fair, those invasions both happened from within, rather than being due to an external offensive.

[@Spygirl812]

Yeah fair

[@atlantic85]

@@strawdeath263Exactly, most castles that lose sieges tend to be due to inside jobs. A good case in point is Corfe Castle during the English Civil War. Survived for four years, and then someone showed the Parliamentarians the sally-port.

[@oliverwatson6634]

​@@strawdeath263 then don't hide sealed mummies in the basement

[@chunkyrager]

true, but it got taken over by a demonlike being with almost unimaginable power (twice) , if it was another normal armky (or even a monster army) it wouldn't have been taken over.

[@annamariaupdates]

i would literally love for you to analyze other settlements like zora’s domain!!! so so cool, great vid man

[@ciarz_]

This would turn into the greatest hissy fits ever, since most of these are just villages, not forts.

[@Preston241]

Good idea! I think the other races primary settlements are all fairly well defended. Critiques could be made but all of them have a good combination of natural defences, and play well to their respective denizen’s martial abilities.

[@twinzzlers]

​@@ciarz_A good settlement, especially if it's important, is well defended

[@personofpowera.b.c990]

I agree!!

[@personofpowera.b.c990]

I feel like Rito Village would be the best because they could just break the bridge. Same with Zora’s domain, but it would be harder to rebuild afterwards. The gerudo, we saw how that worked. It literally shows that if link wasn’t there, they’d be wiped out!! And goron city doesn’t have anything. It’s just a town, only thing protecting it is that it’s on the side of a volcano and it’s harder to get to.

[@mitwhitgaming7722]

As someone who loves history, I always enjoy videos that apply real history to fictional settings. 😁 Yeah, you would think with Lynels essentially be super cavalry, they would have more of those _cheral de frise_ around the fort. If I were in command, I would probably have them put 2 or 3 layers of them, because screw Lynels! 😅

[@TheBreadPirate]

Ayy, thanks Mit!

[@BowlOSoup6661]

*that

[@mitwhitgaming7722]

​@@TheBreadPirateYou said you haven't done Gerudo Town yet, but this video applies double for them!

[@ChrisCalebDaniel]

​@@TheBreadPirateIf you were wondering if hylians have religious services, they do and they pray to someone named hylia. Skyward sword gets a bit more deeper into it. Hopefully this helps! 😅

[@amythistfire5042]

I think the spikes in the ground used to span around the entire fort, but through battles and lack of upkeep, there ended up being only a few left. After the initial upheaval, the enemies stopped directly attacking the fort, so they didn't need to keep maintaining them.

[@FirstNameLastName-my7ct]

The reason why you can’t find any bows or arrows I because they are trying to prevent Link from stealing all of their equipment.

[@FIamestalker]

The moat was already there in Breath of the Wild, it was a -park- big fountain. They repurposed the already existing water into a moat, they didn't dig it out themselves so there wouldn't have been any excess dirt to use. In fact they did the opposite, partially filled it in to make more room for the other structures they needed

[@leobankowski7682]

it was a fountain

[@FIamestalker]

True, I remembered it being more than that. It was big fountain though, perfect to hide the secret emergency shelter.

[@colindowney08]

Theoretically the Aracudas could carry enemy forces from above and drop them in the fort

[@potato3.732]

Then again the Rito could shoot them down from the air. Edit: If they were given bows.

[@canadianoctopus1479]

@@potato3.732 The Aracudas could carry bomb barrels so if they got shot down they would still do damage.

[@potato3.732]

@@canadianoctopus1479 if Link was there he could use recall but if he wasn’t there would be trouble.

[@canadianoctopus1479]

@@potato3.732 If link was in any battle his side would win

[@colindowney08]

@@potato3.732 true that’s actually a good idea

[@Joe_334]

I like how Purah made sure her room was on the second floor. Everyone else gets the ground level, or underground, lol.

[@ItatsuMagnatsa]

The Spike Walls you were talking about are actually supposed to be at the Base of a Wall surrounding it to Deter the Enemy from bringing Ladders, Climbing Ropes, and just charging in at the Wall for Cover from tge Archers who could not shoot Straight Down. Which is where Shad's Video on the Subject of Medieval Walls and Castles comes into Play here.

[@hollysabala]

Now I really want a series out of this, for other parts of the game and even other games too

[@Burrito25]

I mean, most of the defenses were put in place quickly after the upheaval, so to do all of these defenses in at most a few weeks is impressive. At least they don't cower in villages and die as they did in the calamity

[@JPSIWA_333]

Why does everyone have that pfp?

[@Burrito25]

@@JPSIWA_333 oh its just some inside joke with another channel

[@alastryona]

There's also no building sized death robots anymore, which probably helps. (that + any fighters in this era of hyrule would be used to fighting bokos since they're so common)

[@cyrilwiddershoven6437]

@@JPSIWA_333 cuz of a channel called cdotkom hes a nintendo youtuber and he made this like one of those pngtubers his movement with the koroks. Yahaha

[@jstar3382]

Honestly man I think they had a month or 2. A lot has happened in the time link was out

[@PaxtonGillette-ge7pk]

The thing is they didnt know about the secret tunnel, so they cant have predicted that it would be that treacherous

[@BonaparteBardithion]

Yeah, but you don't have to go far in to found out it's infested and they don't do much to re-block the entrance once it's uncovered.

[@PaxtonGillette-ge7pk]

@@BonaparteBardithion yes, but link is the only one to go into the tunnel, and I think that the end of the world is more pressing than sealing off a tunnel

[@YourCrazyDolphin]

​@@PaxtonGillette-ge7pkI mean, sealing off that tunnel is a very important step to not getting attacked by the world-ending monster.

[@PaxtonGillette-ge7pk]

@@YourCrazyDolphin how would they seal it off? wood? also if im correct theres a stalnox in that tunnel, and theres no way a stalnox cant break through some wood.

[@YourCrazyDolphin]

@@PaxtonGillette-ge7pk The stalnox definitely can't fit into the end part of the cave. Wood fortifications are still reasonably effective once reinforced, after all the entire fort being wood isn't seen as a problem on its own. Alternatively literally just roll a big rock in front of it, the top entrance is large enough to lower whatever materials are needed down there on a pulley.

[@remmistein]

It would be super interesting if you did a separate video that focuses on the 32 unique Yiga encampments that populate the four distinct regions of the Depths. In contrast to Lookout Landing, these camps do a great job at providing offense and defense!

[@xinpingdonohoe3978]

34.

[@tamus4655]

I think that the moat had actually already been dug out (and the excess dirt therefore gone) when lookout landing was established-I remember that area of the map was a circle garden in botw

[@ForDeutschland]

In loving memory of the warm doublet, may he rest in piece

[@xinpingdonohoe3978]

I used to be able to mix a Ruby Circlet, Warm Doublet and Snow Boots. Proper snow traversal, without having an incomplete Snowquill set or erroneous weapons. And now the first cold resistance you get clashes with Snow Boots...

[@wbutzke1]

It would have been cool to have had a quest where you protect Lookout landing from charging enemies. Similar to the part in gerudo town. Could have been part of the Monster Forces quests

[@shineinstars]

omg yes that would've been so fun

[@monkeysgame172]

Was really hoping after the phantom ganon fight that you would have to rush back to the fortand defend it, but the result being that the fort gets completely destroyed and they have to move somewhere else and hide

[@HungryWarden]

You should look at the defense of Akkala Citadel. See if it should’ve actually fallen like it did in the Calamity. According to my research, they were facing off against not just Guardians but Bokos, Moblins and Lizalfos as well.

[@personofpowera.b.c990]

Honestly, I can imagine you as link criticizing lookout landing and almost loosing his mind over it 😂 your voice is kinda what I imagine when I think about what link would sound like 👍 THIS VIDEO WAS SO GOOD!!! THANK YOU!!!

[@grookeymon]

He just gave us a history lesson about castles in a zelda video.

[@west3Dgaming]

When the seal opened up to reveal the underground bunker was one of my favorite moments of the game. I kind of wish you could close and open it again

[@davidfitzpatrick6535]

21:48 hey never underestimate the importance of having cooks for ur army. If u're army is starving they're going to lose the will to fight FAST.

[@falinasilvertail]

0:20 IRL, the only castles we still have around these days are due to them being the only ones that were made from stone, which last considerably longer than wooden castles. It also helps if the castle was larger, as a larger castle's building materials would need more time to be depleted by scavengers, thus destroying it by means of reusing it's materials for new structures.

[@jaydenwan5760]

12:29 those spikes design are similar to those used by the ancient Chinese ,they are usually placed in front of the gate of a fort to stop battle rams and cavalry

[@orangeapples]

In their defense, when you fight the Demon King’s Army it’s like 40 enemies.

[@Mysticgamer]

And then he summons the regional bosses.

[@xinpingdonohoe3978]

​@@Mysticgamer Marbled Gohma would simply remove Lookout Landing. Giant flaming explosives and wood don't mix.

[@BowlOSoup6661]

You can see just how different these videos are from some of your older ones, and I love it, the editing is great. Good video even though I haven't even watched the whole thing yet.

[@harleylopes6057]

Really cool video!! Lookout landing is the closest thing Hyrule has to an actual castle rn Would love to see you do this to the Zora castle, the Gerudo town and the Yiga base!

[@MaxWelton]

20:03 in an emergency, the shopkeeper would be happy to appropriate her wares to the troops to defend the castle

[@inflitor]

14:00 those Wood Spikes Coupe be a defense against Hinoxes. They Could step in them and then Fall over. But yeah they arent very efrective Like this

[@starblade8719]

I mean I never thought of it as something that even needed defending until now, considering it was built before the return of the monsters. They likely would have built somewhere that wasn’t next to next to the root of all evil otherwise

[@alexandernelson3703]

Not to mention that before the Upheaval Hyrule Castle was A: on the ground and B: presumably under Hylian control. There's a reason the most lightly defended side is facing TOWARDS the castle, it's literally the last place they would be expecting an attack from. Heck the fact that's it's called 'Lookout Landing' implies that it was originally supposed to be a literal lookout tower to warn the castle town and castle proper, rather than a defensive base in it's own right

[@riptidedune]

This is Hyrule. There are flying redeads, giant spider robots with powerful lasers, a flying version of that, puddles of horror that try to grab you, the sky is freaking falling, there’s massive tri-eyed flying beasts, and a clan who uses literal magic and bs to wipe out the enemies of Ganon. Nowhere is safe 😭

[@TheBreadPirate]

We are DEAD! 😭 It was nice knowing your Riptide.

[@leothebugnerd]

its ok the spider robots mysteriously vanished after the events of botw, never to be seen again. now we only have to worry about literally everything else :)

[@pokadotplot]

Great video. I love your content. Maybe do a comparison video on the other citadels of the other races or groups? Eg: Gerudo hideout and or city, Zora town, Yiga clan, etc.

[@BonaparteBardithion]

Gerudo Town and the Yiga Hideout would make particular interesting case studies since we see both get invaded (the latter by a one-man army). Fort Hateno would be an interesting one as well since, as he mentioned, it has enough value as a fortification that the monsters are repurposing it.

[@BisexualPlagueDoctor]

The spikes were most likely intended to act as a deterrent, but would realistically have served better as something lining the moat, or something that could be dropped infront of weaker defenses (although not nearly as large for the latter) Defending the moat is useful because lizalfos, and hinox

[@ChromeShade]

This makes me think it would have been really fun if we had a big battle at lookout landing like this! The bokos trying to take over and you have to defend it. Would have been so fun haha

[@joelhemphill8005]

I think the 'anti-calvery' stakes are probably designed for use against Hinox. Sure, they aren't calvery, but I think they serve a similar role to something like a war-elephant (alongside the battle talus)

[@ultrajesper2]

Remember, this Fort is a colab between Hudson construction and the mad scientist Purah. The latter who got the "brillant" idea of having Skyview Towers need to hurl the user into sky leaving no one but Link able to use them. So blame Purah

[@TheBreadPirate]

Way to go Purah. 😤

[@Shinntoku]

In fairness, I think other characters *could* use a paraglider, otherwise it would be weird for the Hateno Dye Shop to offer a glider customization service

[@kit76149]

@@Shinntoku Age of Calamity shows other people could use a paraglider. It's just a case that there needs to be an excuse like "only Link is brave enough" for us to have this be a quest and something we need to unlock in gameplay.

[@mapdoor1418]

If Lookout landing was built before the upheaval then Hyrule Castle wouldn't have been a threat to the fort when it was built. Also the escape tunnel was probably originally used for the royal family 100 years ago with the people in Lookout landing discovering it by accident. Which would explain why the tunnel is in such a bad state

[@SirPanikalot778]

I would also like to point out the usage of the skyview tower as an escape route (now I have no idea how useful being launched into the sky might be in warfare) but assuming that each person has a paraglider, evacuation would be decently simple.

[@PhantomsnowAlexa]

I like to believe that lookout landing has a few surprises for unwanted monsters. There could be hidden guardian tech stashed away awaiting some foolish monsters to come.

[@OmegaChip]

Really like this concept, you should do this for more places in this game

[@eevee_awsom2631]

The pseudo-Cheval De Frise things are pretty much just makeshift barriers, like you said though, the monsters have already made those better, therefor they would know how to avoid them

[@BrickfistYT]

You know its a wonderful day when the bread pirate uploads a 25 minute video!

[@jakedenny5170]

The water in the moat is the most safest thing against the monsters because as we can see in game all enemies can't swim except for lizolfos so that means they can easily get rid of most enemies (disclaimer I'm sorry if i broke a rule i just wanted to say the water is really a great defence for this fort)

[@theyoshigang2009]

It would’ve been amazing if there was a mission where you had to defend Lookout Landing.

[@bosssoider1854]

maybe in the next game

[@Overdrive-_-]

Ganon wouldn't even have to siege the fort, he could just use his army to get inside it easily Also Slergo and Offrak(the goron boys) are the best soldiers

[@arcticfluffyfoxy]

They are absolutely the best soldiers they're also really good cannonballs edit Imagine giving them little iron armour and just bowling them into the enemies it would be so funny this is why gorons are so strong when they roll nothing can stop them

[@Overdrive-_-]

@@arcticfluffyfoxy An unstoppable force vs movable objects

[@arcticfluffyfoxy]

@@Overdrive-_- LOL

[@NayruYT]

This is the most up my alley video I've ever watched on Zeldatube haha, I adored it, and it is a great example of how even some light historical consulting would serve to improve these small details by quite a bit.

[@johannessmith1369]

To be fair on the giant Cheval de Frise, a bunch of the monsters might simply be big enough to render normal sized ones ineffective. The bokoblins would have regular ones because Hylians scale with regular humans. That still doesn't explain why they're so haphazardly placed, but it might explain why they're so big.

[@littlebulldog26]

I love this video so much! Maybe you should do videos reviewing the defenses of other major settlements around hyrule, such as rito village, hateno village, Zora’s domain, Gerudo town, and more!

[@painfish208]

16:30 there’s a chapel in Twilight Princess’ Snowpeak ruins. Given it was likely owned by a side branch of the royal family or someone of high importance in Hyrule (the comfortable mansion portion bearing a coat-of-arms along with the fortress portion that’s heavily implied to be for cultivating the Dark Hammers lends credence to this), probably yes.

[@S.I.L.]

Also churches in ALttP and ALBW. Even in BotW and TotK Kapson the Zora is a priest.

[@genralgaming5317]

In AOC the temple of time appears to be used for religious services

[@the_dragonlord7689]

The tunnels were meant to get from the castle (when it was being used by Hylians) to get to the shelter.

[@777SilverPhoenix777]

Generally, those weird spikes are called spiked terrain barricades or spike walls. They are supposed to stop infantry from breaching weak points in walls and stop cavalry as well. However, as you pointed out there are way too few of them to be useful. Another thing of note is they are only present in games like D&D and video games. The only historical use of them was possibly in the revolutionary war where a version that stuck out of the ground was used at Fort Lee to Fort Washington by/in the river to defend a big area against boats.

[@soggycheese8485]

@TheBreadPirate my one suggestion is about the merlons and crenellations. I don't think it's fair to critique the height seeing as how historically, some castles did have merlons at a similar height to Lookout Landing. They were between 3 and 7 feet because it's not terribly important in a siege scenario to be able to stand to your full height. Crouching while shooting out between the crenellations would be common anyway to reduce your available area to be shot by enemy archers, so having the merlons only 3 feet isn't a huge deal. Good vid, well done

[@TheBreadPirate]

Good thoughts! Thanks for the feedback. I'll consider that in my next one.

[@bkking18]

Are you a fan of Shadiveristy? He does videos similar to this and I love them! You should do Gerudo Town too, it blows my mind that the throne rooms is just open to the desert in the back.

[@BlitzerXYZ]

8:42 Ganondorf's forces can be confused by a crude mask. I think you are overestimating them a bit

[@NeilAumaster]

Except is not the mask that's fooling them, is the smell coming from it, making you smell like boko If what I heard is true anyway

[@BlitzerXYZ]

@@NeilAumaster if it were just the smell then Link would never anger them because he definitely smells like a Boko with all the horns he carries. Sight plays a role. The smell may help but sight is definitely more important

[@NeilAumaster]

@@BlitzerXYZ Yeah, that makes sense

[@rsnnramlall9642]

cough cough majora's mask

[@FoxDog1080]

13:00 This type of defense is just commonly found in videogames with castle defenses Idk where it originates, but it's probably those archer stakes after decades of videogame evolution

[@happyaerer]

This video was really cool and interesting. I wasn't planning on watching a 25 minutes video, but it was well paced and interesting enough to keep me watching and I think you made a great video.

[@totkzeldagaming]

Zelda did say that "link will be the last line of defence" so I guess if they get raided link will have to be put in danger again

[@davidwhidden9337]

Imagine if this was made of guardian parts. Explaining what happened to all the husks around. Heh.

[@Claire-g8n]

The spikes might be used too keep back monsters like a wall. That was if it didn’t have huge gaps.

[@atlantic85]

In my test siege, it was a nightmare trying to ride a freshly caught wild horse onto the drawbridge, it kept running into the spikes.

[@damianvila]

I think those are probably designed to keep the Stone Talus away from the walls, as they’re moving raised platforms. Though those need to be placed closely together to be effective.