How to get Epona in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
Link’s iconic companion is available as a horse in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, but how exactly do you get Epona?
Throughout the history of The Legend of Zelda, players have been accompanied on their journey by a very special horse, Epona. She made her first appearance in The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time on the Nintendo 64, first encountered at Lon Lon Ranch as a young, timid horse. Later on in the game, Epona becomes Link’s companion allowing him to get around Hyrule field at a faster rate.
Epona makes a return in Majora’s Mask, The Minish Cap, and in Twilight Princess. In The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, horses aren’t a major part of the game but rather an optional way for Link to get around. Link can tame a variety of wild horses, board them in stables and even name them — all of these features make a return in Tears of the Kingdom.
But if you used a certain Amiibo in Breath of the Wild, you had the chance to unlock the horse of legend, Epona. Link could then take Epona to the stables, register her and then bring her along for the adventure.
Epona makes a return in Tears of the Kingdom, but you’ll need to know how to unlock her.
How to get Epona in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
There are technically two ways to get Epona in Tears of the Kingdom. The first requires use of a specific Amiibo — Twilight Princess Link. Scanning this Amiibo has the chance to drop Epona as a one-time special reward. There are a few other unique items that can drop instead, so you might need to scan the Amiibo on the following day to try again.
The second way to get Epona also relies on the Amiibo, but might be good news if, for some reason, you’ve lost access to the Twilight Princess Link Amiibo. If you used the Amiibo in Breath of the Wild, unlocked Epona from it and still have your saved date intact, then Epona will carry over to your Tears of the Kingdom playthrough.
This also means that you can technically have two Epona’s in your stable, if you scan the Amiibo and drop Epona before heading to the stable for the first time. Your new Epona can be registered and boarded at the stable, but in checking the stable later you’ll discover that both your new and old Epona are stored.
It’s unclear if this is an unintentional bug, meaning that it could be patched out in a later update. We’re also unsure if you definitely have to scan the Amiibo before heading to the stable for the first time, as this was how we achieved the two-Epona result.