Key Highlights:
- The Gallery bridge fight occurs during the Goat Head objective in Chapter 9.
- Place an Attachable Mine beside the lever before walking onto the bridge.
- Hand Grenades and Flash Grenades can also stop the Zealot, but require better timing.
Quick Links:
You can skip the Gallery bridge fight in Resident Evil 4 Remake by stopping the Zealot before he pulls the lever. The most reliable method is to place an Attachable Mine beside the lever before Leon advances across the bridge.
The explosion interrupts or kills the Zealot when he appears. The bridge remains raised, allowing Leon and Ashley to cross directly to the Goat Head without fighting the enemies below.
Where Is the Gallery Bridge Fight?
The Gallery bridge encounter takes place in Chapter 9, while Leon and Ashley are collecting the three statue heads inside the Castle’s Grand Hall.
The Goat Head sits beyond a narrow bridge in the Gallery. When Leon moves far enough across the bridge, a Zealot appears beside a lever and lowers the walkway.
Leon then falls into the lower section of the Gallery and must fight several Zealots before reaching the lever that raises the bridge again.
Preventing the first Zealot from using the lever skips this entire sequence.
How to Perform the Gallery Bridge Skip
Stop before stepping onto the red-carpeted bridge and look towards the lever on the opposite side.
Equip the Bolt Thrower and attach a mine to a bolt. Fire the Attachable Mine at the wall beside the lever, close to the position where the Zealot appears.
Once the mine is in place:
- Walk forward onto the bridge.
- Continue until the Zealot appears.
- The mine should detonate as he moves towards the lever.
- Run across the bridge while the Zealot is staggered or defeated.
- Kill him quickly if he survives the explosion.
- Collect the Goat Head and return across the still-raised bridge.
The mine does not always kill the Zealot outright. The skip succeeds as long as the explosion prevents him from completing the lever animation.
In my experience, the Attachable Mine is the safest version of the skip because it can be positioned before the encounter begins. It removes most of the timing required by a thrown grenade.
Players who need additional mines can craft them through Resident Evil 4 Remake’s ammo crafting system. The Attachable Mines recipe produces four mines from one Resources (S) and eight units of Gunpowder.
Can You Use a Grenade Instead?
A Hand Grenade can also perform the Gallery bridge skip.
Aim towards the area behind or beside the lever, throw the grenade and immediately run onto the bridge. The explosion must hit the Zealot before he finishes lowering the walkway.
This method avoids carrying the Bolt Thrower, but the timing is less forgiving. Throwing too early may waste the grenade, while throwing too late allows the lever animation to complete.
A Heavy Grenade also works, although using one here is unnecessary unless no other suitable explosive is available.
Does a Flash Grenade Work?
A Flash Grenade can interrupt the Zealot long enough for Leon to cross the bridge and kill him before he reaches the lever.
The Flash Grenade does not need to kill the target. Its purpose is to stagger the Zealot and prevent him from completing the bridge-lowering sequence.
Throw the Flash Grenade towards the lever immediately before advancing far enough to trigger the encounter. Then sprint across the bridge and eliminate the stunned Zealot.
What Happens If the Bridge Drops?
The skip has failed if the Zealot completes the lever animation and the bridge begins to descend.
Leon must then clear the Gallery encounter normally, climb back to the upper level and use the lever to restore the bridge.
Reloading the latest autosave is usually faster when practising the skip. The checkpoint places Leon close enough to attempt the setup again without replaying a large part of Chapter 9.
This Gallery shortcut is particularly useful during Professional runs and timed playthroughs because it saves ammunition, removes a dangerous group encounter and provides direct access to the Goat Head.
Another Castle encounter can be bypassed through a different environmental strategy, as explained in our guide to skipping the Garrador fight in Resident Evil 4 Remake.
Resident Evil 4 Remake Gallery Bridge Skip Video
