How to complete Mattison's Independence quest in Tears of the Kingdom

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom sees the return of many well-liked characters from Breath of the Wild, and that includes the residents of Tarrey Town. The village you helped establish in Breath of the Wild is now thriving, and is where Tears of the Kingdom‘s home-building sidequest resides. But to start building a home in Tears of the Kingdom you’ll need to clear a quest called Mattison's Independence.

See, in the gap between Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom, Hudson has become president of his own building corporation, and also had a child, Mattison. When you arrive at Tarrey Town for the first time, Hudson and his wife Rhondson are discussing a matter at hand: Mattison has reached the age where she must leave Tarrey Town for Gerudo Town, to learn more about her culture and begin her own journey.

The issue weighs heavy on Hudson and Rhondson's minds, and you won't get any home-making done. So it's time to help establish "Mattison's Independence" and assist these parents in seeing their child off.

You’ll first learn about this quest when you enter Tarrey Town and talk to Hudson. After a quick catch-up with the builder, you’ll get the start of the quest, and learn Mattison is currently up in her room, studying for the trip. Head upstairs and you’ll meet Mattison, and she’ll realize it's time to head off and talk to Granny Monari for her "less-son" (get ready for a lot of -son jokes).

Monari tends to hang out at the bench near the entrance to Tarrey Town, by the goddess statue. You’ll get a little quiz on Gerudo language here, which you can brush up on by looking at Mattison's notes in her room before heading out. You’ll be asked what the word for grandma is; which is "Vaba!" — the only correct answer.

Once you’re done there, Mattison will express some determination to help her father out one last time before departing for Gerudo Town. This means heading down to the construction site; only, the railcar currently has a toll, and Mattison can't pay. Though you can't offer to cover the toll, you can do something much funnier: help her sneak by the toll man. You’ll need to block his line of sight, which will require some material, and the only stuff around at the moment are cutouts of Hudson.

Rhondson won't let you take the pristine ones sitting out in front of the construction offices, but she will let you take the old ones out of the storehouse — provided you can get inside. The door's jammed, you see. And much like other jammed-door puzzles in Tears of the Kingdom, this will necessitate some environmental awareness and use of the Ascend power.

Head out back, behind Tarrey Town, and you’ll spy the mouth of a cave just near the railcar station. Head up there, and use the Ascend ability on the conveniently noticeable platform to zip up and into the storehouse. Looks like the cutouts you need are what's blocking the door.

Once you open the door, Rhondson will thank you and move all the cutouts out back, for you to freely Ultrahand together. I used four of them, along with a stabilizing plank, to concoct the ultimate Hudson Wall in front of our pesky toll-taker.

Mattison will sneak by, and you can head on to the next section of the quest.

There's just one stage left. Down below, you’ll find Hudson pondering over a balloon. It's a gift for Mattison, to assist her in getting to Gerudo Town. But they want to add something special to it: not -son, but the sun. Specifically, they want to dye the balloon with Sundelions, to make it bright.

The only problem is that Sundelions mostly tend to grow high up. Like, way high up. Luckily, Link has the Recall power. Find some nearby fallen ruins and use Recall to zip back up to the sky islands and grab some Sundelions. We already have a few by this point from exploring, and you’ll need 10 Sundelions in total for the quest.

Bring them back, and you’ll get a touching series of cutscenes as Mattison sets off on a new journey.

The emotional scene is a reward in its own right, as are the 100 rupees apiece you get from Hudson and Rhondson. But alongside a heartwarming scene and a tease of more potential story awaiting in the Gerudo desert, you’ll also be able to chat with Rhondson and set up your very own dream home. Granted, you will need 1,500 rupees just to get started. Hey, at least you’ve got 200 in the bank already.

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