Tears of the Kingdom

Sepapa Shrine TotK: Backtrack Solution and Chest

Find Sepapa Shrine east of Hyrule Castle, solve Backtrack with Recall, and grab the hidden Strong Construct Bow chest with this step-by-step guide.

MephasmBy Mephasm 4 min read

Link using Recall to rewind a boulder along its path, shown as a glowing line in Tears of the Kingdom

Sepapa Shrine is a Recall shrine through and through. Its challenge is called Backtrack, and every room asks you to undo something: reverse a moving platform, ride a plank back the way it came, and rewind a ball into the switch you just pulled it out of. So here’s the deal: if Recall still feels awkward, this is the shrine that makes it click.

This guide covers where Sepapa is, the full Backtrack solution and the hidden chest with the Strong Construct Bow.

Sepapa Shrine Location

Sepapa sits in Central Hyrule on the Surface, just east of Hyrule Castle on a small patch of land near the castle moat, toward Hyrule Forest Park. A low hill hides it from most angles, so it is easier to spot at night, when the shrine’s green glow stands out.

DetailAnswer
ChallengeBacktrack
RegionCentral Hyrule, Surface, east of Hyrule Castle
CoordinatesRoughly 0221, 1084, 0028
Ability usedRecall (plus Ultrahand for the ball)
BringNothing required, a torch is provided; Fire Fruit helps
ChestStrong Construct Bow
RewardLight of Blessing
Sepapa Shrine quick facts.

The Tears of the Kingdom interactive map shows the spot if you want to plan a route from Lookout Landing.

Loading the map…

Backtrack Solution: Step by Step

Link riding a horse through tall grass across Hyrule Field at sunrise in Tears of the Kingdom
Sepapa Shrine hides behind a low hill in Hyrule Field, just east of Hyrule Castle.

Room 1: Reverse the Platform

The Setup: Climb the first stairs. A platform circles the block structure in front of you, but it travels the wrong way to carry you up.

  1. Wait until the platform is close to you.
  2. Use Recall on it. Its path reverses.
  3. Hop on and ride it up to the higher level.

Room 2: Torch, Plank and Gate

Next you reach a locked gate with two unlit torch stands beside it, a torch lying on the floor, and a stretch of water.

  1. Pick up the torch and equip it. If your weapon slots are full, drop a weapon here and grab it again on the way out.
  2. Cross the water to the far wall, using the floating wooden plank. A flame on the way lets you light the torch if it is not burning yet.
  3. The far wall is covered in dry leaves. Touch your torch to them and step back. The fire climbs and burns the wooden ledge above, and a chest drops down to you. More on that below.
  4. Use Recall on the plank so it drifts back toward the gate, ride it, and relight your torch on the way if needed.
  5. Light both torch stands next to the gate. It opens.
  6. Put the torch away and swap your weapon back in.

Here’s Where It Gets Wild: If the torch goes out mid ride, do not panic. Fire Fruit works on the stands too, and you can always Recall the plank and try again.

Room 3: Rewind the Ball

The last room has two gates, a ball, and two switch slots. This is the clever one.

  1. Take the right path to the ball. Use Ultrahand to drop it into the nearest slot, and wait for the first gate to open.
  2. Move the ball into the second slot and leave it there.
  3. Walk back and go through the open first gate on the left path.
  4. Turn around, find the ball, and use Recall on it. It rolls back into the first slot, which opens the next gate.
  5. Walk through before the rewind ends and the ball leaves the slot.
  6. Reach the altar and claim your Light of Blessing.

When I first found this, the moment the ball rolled back up on its own felt like a magic trick. You solve the room by undoing your own work. The devs hid the whole lesson in plain sight in the shrine’s name.

Sepapa Shrine Chest: Strong Construct Bow

The chest is optional but free, and it is in room 2. It sits on a wooden ledge high on the far wall, above a wall of dry leaves.

  • Torch route: Light the leaves with the torch you picked up. The flames burn through the wood under the chest and it falls to the floor.
  • Arrow route: Fuse a Fire Fruit to an arrow and shoot the leaves from the plank. Our Fuse guide explains how.
  • Reward: A Strong Construct Bow, a decent early bow if you are still shooting with something weak. (Sepapa’s Depths counterpart is the Apapes Lightroot.)

Grab it before you light the gate stands, since you are already standing at the wall with a lit torch.

Rewards

RewardWhereWhy it matters
Strong Construct BowChest in room 2Free ranged upgrade
Light of BlessingAltar at the endFour buy a Heart Container or Stamina Vessel
Travel pointShrine entranceQuick access to the area around Hyrule Castle
Sepapa Shrine rewards.

Tips

  • Practice timing: Recall the platform as it comes toward you so you do not wait a full loop.
  • Keep the ball in view: Recall only targets what you can see, so stand where the ball is on screen after the first gate.
  • Bring Fire Fruit: It is the backup if your torch goes out.
  • Hunt Koroks after: Central Hyrule is full of them. Check our Korok seed locations guide.

Lore Deep Dive: Recall is a Zonai power tied to time, and Rauru’s people built their shrines to train exactly these abilities. Backtrack is the purest version of that idea: a room that only opens when you think in reverse.

Sepapa Shrine FAQ

Where is Sepapa Shrine?

In Central Hyrule, just east of Hyrule Castle near the moat, at roughly 0221, 1084, 0028.

What is in the Sepapa Shrine chest?

A Strong Construct Bow. Burn the dry leaves on the far wall of the water room so the chest drops.

How do you solve the ball puzzle in Sepapa Shrine?

Put the ball in the first slot, then move it to the second, go through the first gate, and Recall the ball back into the first slot to open the next gate.

Do I need fire for Sepapa Shrine?

The shrine gives you a torch, so no. Fire Fruit is a handy backup.

Anyway, Sepapa is short, friendly and a great Recall lesson. Grab the bow, rewind the ball and carry the trick into every shrine after it.

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Mephasm

Mephasm

Meet Mephasm, or Peter to those who know him offline. Ultra-gamer. Ultra-geek. The guy who has read every Cyberpunk 2077 lore entry, completed every Baldur's Gate 3 origin run, and still has opinions about Divinity: Original Sin II builds that would make most players' heads spin. A true RPG connoisseur, Peter lives for deep narrative systems, branching dialogue, moral complexity, and the kind of worldbuilding that takes a wiki to fully unpack. When he's not deep in a turn-based strategy or making chaotic choices in Night City, he's storming the battlefield in the Battlefield franchise, proving that the ultra-geek is also very much an ultra-soldier. Covers: Cyberpunk 2077, Baldur's Gate 3, Divinity: Original Sin II, RPGs, Battlefield