The Last Guardian – Falling Bridge Puzzle, Lower the Drawbridge

After using the glowing jar to open the gate, and then destroying the painted sun windows with the armored statue’s head, it’s time to move back outside the ruins to a rickety old bridge. There are several paint suns blocking your way through, though. You’ll need to destroy them in order to get Trico to pass. In this article, we’ll show you how to complete the falling bridge puzzle, as well as how to lower the drawbridge for Trico.

Cross the Rickety Bridge

Moving into the sunlight you will instantly take notice of the rickety old wooden bridge that holds your path forward. There’s a massive painted sun in your way, though, and it appears to be guarded by wrought iron bars. You won’t be able to break this one by attacking it with something, instead you’ll have to use the ruins switches and mechanisms to move it around.

Hop off of Trico’s back and head down the stairs, and drop off the side right in front of the painted sun. You will land on a small platform that leads over to the mechanism holding the sun up in the air. Grab onto the switch with O and push it forward to send it falling into the abyss of the valley. When it falls, the mechanism will catch, causing some of the platform and railing to fall out of view as well. Wait for Trico to jump across the gap (command him if he takes too long). Once he jumps, give him a few moments to turn around and get into place. You have to wait for him, or he won’t be able to catch you when you jump.

Jump to Trico

With Trico in place, get a running start and jump for the other platform. You’ll miss, as expected, but time will slow down and Trico will reach out, catching you in its mouth. Once it drops you, head up the platform and look for another piece that juts out to the right. Use it to move to a lower platform with another painted sun window. Grab onto the item from the back, and push it over the edge. The platform will begin to fall. Wait for Trico to start whining, and then jump towards it again. The beast will miss, but luckily that massively long tail slings underneath the bridge, catching you safely in its warmth.

The bridge begins to collapse, and Trico runs for the exit, jump to a small platform. Climb up the beast as fast as you can, and hop off. There’s a large log pillar here that the beast can grab onto, so move the jar in its way and let it roll into reach. Trico will grab it, allowing it to pull itself up to safety. Trico will jump up to the next area just as the platform beneath you breaks.

Wait for Trico to sit down, then head up the stairs behind it. This will lead you into the next area of the puzzle. There’s still a lot to do in this section, so it is best not to waste too much time. Follow the path around until you reach a room with a painted sun hanging on a track above you. There are armored statues here that will try to get the boy, and with the sun in place, Trico won’t come into the room.

That means you’ll want to avoid the enemies for now, so head up the stairs to the left. They’ll lead to a small gap, jump it, and then move down the right side of the room and hop to the middle. Your destination is a set of handholds in the back left of the room, so move up the stairs, avoiding the enemies, and start climbing. If you time it right, you should be able to make it up the handholds before the enemies can grab you.

Now that you’re up top, look for a hanging chain. Don’t climb up it, though. Instead, grab onto it, and pull it back. Then, with a running start—while still holding on to the chain—run off the edge and start climbing slowly. Turn around on the chain and jump to the new platform to gain access to the painted sun. Push it off and then watch Trico smash the statues to bits. When you are ready to continue, tiptoe across the broken track and follow it around to the left to find a ladder.

Head down the ladder and activate the switch to let Trico through. This leads to the third portion of this area, another set of painted suns that you’ll need to destroy to convince Trico to continue.

Destroy the Hanging Sun Windows

The only way forward is up, so climb atop Trico’s back and have it stand along the left side of the ruins above you. This will give you access to a small area that you can jump off of. Hop over to the top of an old, broken cage, and then continue moving forward, taking each leap carefully to avoid falling to your death. Some of the jumps may require you to climb up the chains to continue.

When you jump off the third cage top to the chain, simply slide down. This next part is all about timing, so wait for the seesaw platform to rise above the bottom handhold. Then, take off running and jump to the hanging boards. Climb up them, and make your way through the sun window using the handholds. Climb the chain at the top, then jump over to the other hanging objects to move higher. It’s a pretty straight forward path, so just keep going until you reach the top of the chain that the sun window is hanging from.

Interact with the switch, and then push the window off to get Trico to move forward. Once Trico has jumped to the next pillar, drop down onto his back to continue. Have the beast continue hopping forward to the next pillars until you reach another rickety old platform with a sun window on it. This one is easy to destroy. Simply run up to it and grab it so you can push it off the side. Trico will hop down once it is gone, causing the entire platform to buckle and groan. Hurry and jump aboard the creature so he can move to the next platform. This will cause a chain reaction, which will leave you and Trico hanging on a pillar with no way forward.

Lower the Drawbridge

Before you can continue, you’re going to need to lower the drawbridge blocking your way. Climb down Trico’s tail, and hop over to the handholds on the wall. Use them to ascend to a ledge that leads to more handholds and another ledge that you can follow around the corner of the building. At the corner the boy will look back at Trico, assuring the beast that he will return.

Jump to the platform in front of you and continue up the nearby stairs. This leads to a circling staircase, with an armored statue in the center. Take note of the statues position, and start running. Jump right in front of the thing to land in the center of a small tower. Activate the switch here to open a gate at the top.

Run past the next set of guards and up the next staircase. Jump into the center pillar again to find another switch, which will open the way forward further up the stairs. Avoiding any statues in the area, run up the stairs and through the gate, taking a turn to the right to find a path that leads to several beams overlooking the valley. You should see Trico to your left, below you. Climb over the beams, careful not to step on any of the cracked or breaking ones, and then jump over to the wooden platform on the other side.

The platform will collapse, and the boy will find himself dangling with one hand from the edge of the next building. Wait for Trico to jump over to you, then drop onto his back. You need to get the drawbridge lowered quickly now, before Trico loses his grip.

Hop over to the chain on the right, and climb up it to find a platform with a ladder leading down. Climb down the ladder and trigger the switch to lower the drawbridge and let Trico in. Alternatively, just jump off Trico and limp towards the switch until you regain full movement.

Find Trico Some Food

Continue through the area and remove any spears from Trico’s back and sides. After a few moments, the creature will lay down, in need of food. Head through the half open gate (the one with the minecart wedge under it), and drop into the rubble below. There’s a barrel down here that you must grab. Of course, getting it back to Trico is going to take a bit of work. You’ll have to take turns tossing the barrel up the rubble. It’s pretty simple to do, just make sure you don’t toss it near any inclined edges.

With the barrel out of the rubble, feed it to Trico and then head back through the hole. Grab the minecart from inside, and pull it forward, towards the rubble. Push it all the way down to the pile of rubble where you found the barrel, and then climb onto it to gain access to a switch that can be pulled to open the gate.

Trico will follow, pushing the other cart out of its way. Once Trico is inside, climb atop its back and order it to move forward. It will move through the rubble, and into a dark area that only it can traverse, jumping up to the next section of the game. Don’t hop off just yet, though. Trico has a few jumps to make before it brings you through the building, and back out into the daylight of the next section of the game.

Continue on to the next part of our walkthrough and learn how to climb to the top of the broken towers in The Last Guardian or return to our The Last Guardian guide for more in-depth walkthroughs and articles to help you along your journey.