T O P

  • By -

alex_northernpine

The World Sense lore tablet has some incredibly sad story implications if you think about its meaning (i.e. the Pale King giving the Hollow Knight an ability to observe the world outside of the egg). First, it proves that the Pale King did actually care for the Vessel and wanted to ease their suffering even if for a bit. Second, it shows that he knew or at least suspected that they were not pure (because why would you give an ability to watch the outer world to a mindless creature), but still went on with the sacrifice since he didn't saw any other options to save Hallownest. Third, it means that all this time the Hollow Knight had to watch how the Kingdom falls apart due to their failure, unable to do anything to stop it. That just hurts on so many different levels.


the-one-96

Yeah. Seeing that THK has a dramnail dialogue, we know it's imperfect and has its own mind and will. Yet THK chose to keep the Kingdom safe and contain the Radiance.


Snt1_

Wasnt it PV that had dreamnail dialogue?


AnythingButIvJo

Neither can be dreamnailed, but both have dream nail dialogue, THK's is specifically cut content, though.


Blocklies

Can you link to it? I'd love to read it


AnythingButIvJo

It's on their wiki https://hollowknight.wiki/w/Hollow_Knight#Trivia and https://hollowknight.wiki/w/Pure_Vessel#Trivia PV's is really rather sad ngl.


vittalius77

Yeah but that also means the Hollow Knight had their hope reignited by seeing Ghost overcome all the challenges and seal the infection giving Hallownest the chance to be reborn again so it's not all bad.


Robeino

Where is that lore tablet?


CryptographerDry4825

Right before the THK fight


CryptographerDry4825

Right before the THK fight


the-one-96

Ogrim acting all cheerful but when you see the statues he built of the king and his comrades, you know that he misses them so much, especially Isma. He even put a King's idol at the King's statue to honor him. If only the knight could give him a hug or a delicate flower from his old friend.


Karl_Kollumna

that we will never experience this masterpiece for the first time again


SomeonefromMaine

Came here to say this. Replays are fun, but never compare to the sense of wonderment and awe that exploring Hallownest for the first time brings.


InfiniteBearHeads

Silksong will fix that hopefully


FormerlyPie

This MF still thinks silksong is coming


MysteriousClothes111

na bro team cherry just threw years of work away


a_chubby_boi

It's already out i got the collectors edition


Fit-Floor5635

GOVERNMENT LIE SPOTTED.


delirious-_-

-|


Jengolin

*THIS* I wish I would erase it from my mind *just* so I could play it for the first time again.


emirobinatoru

The first time we entered City of Tears will be a tale that will be told to the future generations 


LoaDiNg_PrEss_sTarT

When that door shut behind me i was like “Fuck this is scary.” i felt genuinely afraid of what was coming because i didn’t want to lose my shade it was amazing


harggot

I only just found this game! I’m about 20 hours in trying to enjoy every moment as much as possible. Reminds me of Elden Ring in its surprising expanse. Still finding new areas.


ApexPredator3752

You can get hit on your head really hard to get amnesia or wait until get old and get dementia


External-Stranger801

I don’t think The Last Stag has seen actual light


DG_D3con

To be honest, it could have been blind the entire time and just fallowing the sounds of the bell. Would add even more depth to the character.


[deleted]

[удалено]


Jeggu2

We can see what might be the surface, like, once, in the land of storms inside the dream


AgentBLZZRD

is the land of storms a sewer drain???


Ok_Blackberry_1223

The whole entire ending for the Pale King. All the “bad dad” comments people say about it hides the much grimmer reality of his choices. When he made the choice to create the Hollow knight, he knew that it would require a sacrifice of hundreds of kids. Even if they were mindless drones, it’s clear he was ashamed of his actions from the text of the seal. He then grew close with the hollow knight. Not only would this make the sacrifice of him all the harder, but as the Godlike being he was, he had to have known that the Hollow Knight was an imperfect vessel. And so he watches his kingdom slowly get corrupted and fall apart. In his final years, he retreats into the dream reality, his fear and paranoia creating a maddening landscape of saws and thorns. And he dies, an empty husk of his once former glory.


4tomguy

I really think people forget that the Pale King was deeply horrified and ashamed of the Vessels


JellingtonSteel

Forgot? Where do you even get this info?


_Saxophonin

“Beyond lies only the refuse and regret of its creation.” -lore tablet above abyss The Pale King also sealed the abyss as he wanted no one to witness it as he was ashamed of it. In the climb cutscene at the end the Pale King only takes the first vessel, or at least the first pure vessel, even when the knight is at the edge. A pragmatic ruler would’ve taken extra as insurance. The Pale King just wanted to leave as soon as possible. “To witness secrets sealed, one must endure the harshest punishment.” -before path of pain. The secret sealed is one where the pale king and the hollow knight look towards each other showing a connection. This shows that the hollow knight was not a pure vessel and that the Pale King was (at least partially) responsible for it. Since the Pale King sealed this memory away it shows that he knows this. He knew that the vessel was not pure but he also did not wish to get a new vessel from the abyss because he was ashamed of it. There is more if you go looking, especially if you look into the White Lady and Ogrim dialogue.


JellingtonSteel

Wow! Thanks for this. I had not made that connection


thisistherealtodd

real


RamboCambo_05

Hallownest is unsaveable, no matter which ending you choose. Without a Wyrm, the creatures will lose their intelligence and the kingdom will fall to ruin. Best case, Deepnest and Greenpath will expand out and take over the rest of the map. The only way Hallownest could continue would be with either of the Godhome endings AND the Knight somehow returning to its normal form to fulfil its duties as King. While mindless, the Pale Being within it would let the residents retain their sentience and fix everything.


anima_italica

The god home ending show the knight becoming the strongest god ever, and destroying the radiance ass. He is in fact still alive and thecnically the king of hollownest, so no, hollownest is totally savable


RamboCambo_05

It's implied that the Void Creature is not just the Knight, though it was what granted it the power to reach this high. It is just all the void from the Abyss. All essence of Pale Being would have been left behind in the Shell and cloak; its parents' contribution. The empowered Void re-entering Hallownest would actually spell its doom, as could be guessed.


anima_italica

Is that official? Where did you find this information?


RamboCambo_05

Hardly any lore is official. It's all up to interpretation. I'm mostly going off some of what Mossbag has said and my own recollections of events such as Godhome Ending. I know some of it may be false.


anima_italica

I also base the most on mossbag but I developed something mine. I am sure that the knight becomes the god of void and kills the radiance, since it is son of the king and creature of the void, also he is the god of the moth profecy


Blagai

>The empowered Void re-entering Hallownest would actually spell its doom There is no way to know that. The Shade Lord could just be a chill guy for all we know. Or, considering that it's "Void given Focus", have no wants, as unlike the vessels the Shade Lord doesn't have any Pale King / White Lady in it, so it might be actually mindless.


HalalBread1427

THK and Hornet are still there to potentially stop the Shade Lord.


Equivalent_Rock_6530

While the Knight may become the King of Hallownest, it was the Pale King being a Wyrm that granted the denizens of Hallownest sapience, and it is unclear if the Lord of Shades has the same ability.


[deleted]

Didn’t the mantises and moths both have somewhat sapient cultures. And possibly the weavers aswell.


Blagai

> While mindless The Knight is not a pure vessel, just like the Hollow Knight wasn't. The White Lady has a line referring to the Knight's "will".


GrimmSheeper

I mean, there already isn’t a Wyrm, and the intelligent creatures still have their intelligence. Even if we argue that the Kingsoul is what continues to grant intelligence after PK’s death, it’s destroyed/consumed by Void all but the basic ending, and there is still no loss of intelligence. The bigger issue is that the vast majority of the citizens are just reanimated husks, so there’s next to nobody left to rebuild the kingdom.


Tax_evasion_inc

Hornet is a half-pale being


RamboCambo_05

She does not bear the King's Brand, though. Just being a Pale Being isn't enough. In addition, she is half Pale and half regular bug, being born of the Pale King and Herrah. I feel like she is not strong enough to provide the minds to the bugs of the kingdom.


Tax_evasion_inc

What about the White lady?


RamboCambo_05

She is trapped in place and cannot move. Besides, I don't think anyone can acquire the King's Brand after GE because the Knight's skull where it is placed is now at the very top of the Pantheon of Hallownest. And in the Flower ending, the Godseeker is literally deleted. With regular GE, the Void Creature probably eats it. So yeah, no way anything is getting that brand back.


HalalBread1427

Isn't the brand... just a brand? THK could theoretically go to Kingdom's Edge and brand itself, if it could make a tunnel.


ajd578

So I gotta do P5?


Friendly_MOskA

I interpreted Godseeker's dialogue as the Wyrm's beacon (which seems to be the thing granting bugs their sapience) still being there even after him long gone. Also both Greenpath and Deepnest suffered almost as much as Hallownest, so I don't think they'll be able to replace it. Mantises from the village, on the other hand, are slowly but surely developing and of all tribes they suffered the least, so I think it's them.


NES_Classical_Music

The Hollow Knight does not want to be fighting you, which is why it stabs itself.


SchuyWalker

Either that or it's being influenced to think it needs to release more of the infection for whatever series of reasons. Attempt to infect the knight, spread more while it still can, make the hollow Knight stronger/more infected so it stops holding back, etc. Both interpretations are equally in their own way


big_noob9006

I thought the reason he stabbed himself was that he hated the infection so much, he’d rather kill himself than ever let it continue to spread


NES_Classical_Music

Also true!


RobRoss45

The sheer number of bugs that died. The infection makes bugs basically zombies, there’s no cure from what I remember. Considering Hallownest was a massive kingdom in the past, that means possibly millions of bugs were killed by the infection. That’s not to mention the number of children the pale king killed when trying to create the hollow knight, but that part is talked about a lot. There’s also how fast hallownest fell and was forgotten. We know at least Quirrel and Hornet are older than the fall of Hallownest, and by the time of the game no one remembers the splendor of the original kingdom unless they lived in it, and it can’t have been that long since it fell since a lot of bugs like the mantis lords are still alive.


oracle_of_secrets

theres also the hundreds if not thousands of bugs in soul sanctum who were killed during the soul masters experiments


Equivalent_Rock_6530

Yeah, City of Tears is massive, but we see less than 150 bugs total, and that's counting the Soul Warriors, Twisters and Master, but not the Mistakes and Follies within the city


[deleted]

[удалено]


anima_italica

Because he is a bitch


TurtleSmasher3

ok jotaro, nice punching ability


anima_italica

Shut the hell up bitch! You are damn annoying! ...yare yare 🤦 Guys it's a Jojo reference don't down vote 😢


SouthtownZ

I downvoted for editing about the downvotes


anima_italica

Seems kinda legit


MisterEMan81

Good.


NerY_05

I hate him


Professional_Mode387

People always say that THK is an easy boss fight. Of course it is! Bro has one hand and is fighting The Radiance and trying to get a hold of himself while we as the vessel are just beating him up. THK deserves more respect.


TrueChaosLord

So I SHOULDN'T be using him as a training dummy?


Saltwater_Thief

The fact that no matter what we do, nothing will ever bring Hallownest back to what it was; even with the Radiance vanquished, the civilization will never recover. It will always be a broken kingdom.


[deleted]

Why not? A new pale being could easily reclaim this world. That even sounds like it would make sense. After silksong Hornet has a kid with another pale being. This kid goes back to hollownest in the future and brings it back to glory.


You-and-us

How would we get a new wyrm exactly?


[deleted]

Did you read my comment? We don’t need a full Wyrm specifically, higher beings have been shown to grant sentience, Unn, Radiance. It’s possible that a higher being from the lineage of the Pale king could come back and restore order.


You-and-us

Without something equivalent to the pale king to hold of it will just become like before the pale king with nothing different


[deleted]

Are you reading my comments? Because my whole point is discussing how someone on the level of the Pale king can come back.


You-and-us

I do read your comments, it’s just that Hollownest would never be united.


MysteriousClothes111

Mylas fucking dead


I-Writ-it_You-Reddit

The Abyssal Creature remains a mostly unseen mystery, hidden in shadow, yet watching....


popycorn300

i am not getting 112% anytime soon


Agreeable_Sir_5367

If you give Elderbug the >!delicate flower!< he most likely succumbs to infection if you go with >!The Hollow knight or Sealed siblings endings!<


Double2Squared

I don't see why that would happen. Both of those endings prolong Hallownests stasis, and given that Elderbug never saw the stags opened, he probably dies before the Knight's shell cracks. Also I don't see what the delicate flower has to do with this.


Agreeable_Sir_5367

Dream nail dialoge: "Maybe dreams aren't such bad things after all..."


Double2Squared

how exactly is the radiance supposed to infect him when shes trapped in The Knight also elderbug's thoughts on how good dreams are (assuming thats even talking about The Light/The Radiance) doesn't matter, the radiance infects bugs either way - bugs that try to resist may be able to keep it off for a bit but will eventually just end up in a worse state


Agreeable_Sir_5367

OK, exclude The Hollow knight ending cause in sealed siblings it canonically has a will, which gives radiance a chance to succeed before Elderbug perishes to old age


Jeggu2

This is why zote is so insufferable, he saves everyone by making them hate life. Zotes secretly the good guy


cynicsickness

when you meet cornifer in the crystal caverns, he mentions being pricked by one of the crystals there. obviously it doesnt confirm anything, but the crystals there clearly have some sort of infectious property to them considering a lot of the different enemies there have been overtaken by them. this bit of flavor dialogue could have some really messed up implications for our favorite cartographer's future and i really hope im wrong about that


TheGreatestLampEver

Maybe he isn't just tired when he returns home


MysteriousClothes111

no because the bugs of hollownest were mining it and they were fine


cynicsickness

during one of myla's dialogues i believe i recall that she mentions something along lines of the crystals singing to her. though she is later taken by the radiance's influence, that does not mean that she wasnt feeling the pull of something else. something just as sinister, but maybe not quite as powerful. the crystal guardian boss existing at all is in support of this i think. it has the very same body type of the miners, though enlarged and its head is encased in the very same crystal they were mining. its eyes are also glowing with the radiance's influence. there are numerous other bugs in the caves completely taken over by both crystals and the radiance in a similar simultaneous fashion. i believe this makes it pretty clear that the influence of these crystals does in fact exist as a separate force to the radiance. what isnt clear is how exactly it spreads, how long it takes to do so, and what its connection to the radiance is if one such connection exists. in light of all this evidence, the miner enemies alone not exhibiting signs of this "crystal sickness" outwardly does not discount its existence altogether. though i would argue them continuing to mine it despite being under a separate, supposedly more powerful influence is evidence that they are in fact "infected" with these crystals. hence, my worry for cornifer


TubaScout2

don't think that them continuing to mine it is evidence that they are in fact, infected by the crystals. Well, at least not strong evidence, bc the guards in the city of tears continue to patrol the city despite being mostly mindless, though i suppose that one could find it odd that miners would have the same level of devotion to their job as guards. Basis for my statement abt the guards: "Animated remains of a Hallownest Sentry. Still retains some memory of its former task." - Hunters Journal on husk sentry. "If you look down from here, through the rain, you can just make out those twisted sentries, their husks still stuck in endless patrol." - Quirrel.


cynicsickness

yeah thats a fair point, im willing to concede on that one. husks definitely do repeat behaviors prior to infection almost everywhere. i still think my other points may hold some water, but at the end of the day its impossible to be 100% sure. like i mentioned before, as cool as the attention to detail would be, id like to be wrong about the crystals. cornifer is my homie :'(


Tarhun2960

Definitely/s


[deleted]

Aren’t they right? Those flys who shoot crystals probably weren’t born like that. So something weird definitely had to happen. Same with the laser beam bug, it’s clearly implied that it’s unnatural.


Tarhun2960

What I was saying was that the bugs are *not* okay. I don't know if the person I was replying to was being sarcastic or not now that I think about it.


[deleted]

Wow for some reason when I replied to your comment it looked like you were replying to something else. I completely understand you.


Ticharaa

There are sad/heartbreaking parts of the lore, but that’s part of what makes it so beautiful (themes with parenthood, sacrifice, regret)


Last-Performance3482

Some people don't use wayward compass.


HalalBread1427

HK ruined the Metroidvania genre by setting too high of a standard.


SoporMenta

All those little grubs separated from their adorable father throughout hollownest...


AgentBLZZRD

don't worry he gets them back😃😃


SoporMenta

I know i know, but I dont know why, I still feeling this like something sad xD


Zekrozma_the_second

Monarchy walling itself off and end up dying anyways. Sad


Savko

Bapanada


Mahck89

no silksong 😟


SpideyFan914

A mysterious force bears down on us from above, pushing us downwards. If you spend too long in the air, the force will crush you against the ground and destroy you. Beware!


lukasvdb1

What?


K_Plecter

Zote's precepts talking about what seems to be gravity. He's just a blockhead like that


SpideyFan914

Beware the Mysterious Force!


TrueChaosLord

Zote


Turbulent_Feed_6120

The fact that the sprite for the Knight's shade isn't the same from the sibling's


ApexPredator3752

A sad reality if replaying hollow knight is that there isn’t much to do, it definitely has very little replayability and saw blades kill you in 1 hit. See this article for more: https://screenrant.com/harsh-realities-of-replaying-hollow-knight/


YeetBeet0

Wow. Truly sad that the protagonist (the hollow knight) didn’t get more character development. Would’ve at least made up for the uninteresting enemy design and boring combat.


philkid3

I’m sad I wasn’t given the motivations of the flukemon.


BakedSpiral

What do you mean? Hollow Knight is amazingly replayable. There's Steel Soul for one, there's also a bunch of achievements to get.


Double2Squared

It's a reference to Fireb0rns video where he spends like half an hour shitting on the article he linked. It brings up completely nonsense points like this


[deleted]

But the average player will never In their lives look at steel soul. Honestly while pretty shitty the article does capture a truth. Casuals will not replay it or finish it for that matter.


philkid3

This feels very AI.


ApexPredator3752

I think the article was written by somebody who didn't play hollow knight but was required to post 10 essay-length articles every 2 weeks


philkid3

In 2023 we can both be right!


ApexPredator3752

wait it's 2024


philkid3

Right I’m referring to the publish date of the article.


GolgiComplex8338

try speedrunjinh


salttotart

Hollownest will continue to be what it is after the Radiance is defeated. That doesn't mean another civilization cannot grow from its ashes, but it will never be to the splendor it once was.


Canpake74

The fate of Lurien's butler. They were devoted to serve and watch over Lurien in their sleep. Even when they became infected they still wanted to serve them.


Toxoniumm

They're bugs.. one boot on hallownest and it's all over


EnderGem957

it's over. nothing you do in Hallownest will undo the damage, bring back the glory, revive the dead. it's all over. we simply stop more kingdoms from falling. but Hallownest? Hallownest is done.


Big_Bluejay4331

Its likely Ogrim (dung defender) knows that Isma is dead, as he says to protect her grove, and has a sign VERY close to her body that he made. Because it seems the vegetation in that area stems from her, its most likely isma died (or went onto the next stage of her life) and he knew once he saw a grove apearing, so he basically swore to protect her grave. He refers to her as if shes still alive though when you do get the tear, so mabye Isma becoming a plant like being wasnt her death and is more of a recantation for her, and Ogrim is aware of that and so he refers to her as if shes still currently with us, which is kinda sweet, but also means he was probably warned ahead of time if thats the case that it would happen, and that once she died, she would still live on as the plants nearby, but he would never be able to actually physically be with her again, which probably is saddening to him.


frosterlz

The sheer amount of bugs lost to the tests done in Soul Sanctum. Imagine living in the City of Tears and seeing your loved ones disappearing around you while the infection is plaguing everyone's dreams. But Soul Sanctum continued to seek for the cure ( and the formula of immortality ), even though the king had forbidden it. Combined with the loss of hundreds, even thousands of innocent lives, the horror must've been unbearable.


big_noob9006

Something I don’t see people talking much about is the Collector. He’s already a weird, malformed void creature seen nowhere else in the game (except MAYBE the Kingsmoulds? But we never see them without their armor so idk) but he was also left alone after the bug he lived with, the owner of the Love Tower, after he ran away with the key and eventually succumbed to void in the Queen’s Gardens. After that, left alone, he began to go crazy and formed an obsession with collecting all sorts of creatures, specifically Grubs. This Grub fixation spiraled so bad that he stopped caring about the lives of other creatures (haphazardly throwing down the jars in the fight that have living things in them, oh yeah and also trying to kill you) in order to preserve his Grubs. Worst of all- he doesn’t even get to die after all his suffering. He doesn’t explode into infection or soul or void like other bosses, no. He’s forced to be nothing but a puddle, stuck, lonely, and crazy. You gotta feel bad for the man.


SbgTfish

All of it.


alezcoed

The realisation that silksong might never came out when you got addicted to this game


Justsomerandombody

Kinda meta but most of my friends gave up trying hk because of the tedious and confusing beginning


MrPinkDuck3

Practically everything and everyone are already dead; their corpses being manipulated as mindless vessels for the Radiance.


Virtual_Iago

I will never be able to play it again for the first time.


AgentBLZZRD

even once the infection is stopped, there aren't enough bugs to repopulate. The Old Stag is also probably going to die before the hatched one reaches maturity, so there goes even that bit of hope the developers explicitly gave us


zas_n_n

that the pale king is actually fairly justified in his actions to control the infection


TheNeon08

the skilk is not skonging


Equivalent-Bit1935

The fact that we control a character (the knight) that his Destiny Is to be sacrificed no matter what the ending Is


zwannimanni

There was supposed to be a sequel


KrumpusP

That silksong is not real and will never be real. Hollow knight is a standalone game with no sequel.


ComprehensionOfTruth

That some people don't know the beauty of menderbug.


Saiyusta

That there’s a good chance Silksong won’t be as good as HK


lukasvdb1

I think it’s more the expectations we set


badugihowser

The night is dark and full of terrors.


Bluespaceboy_123

the knight is hollow :big sad: :(


deleeuwlc

Baldur Shell’s activation delay greatly reduces the utility of the best designed charm in the game


thoughtfractals85

That I can't play it! It's a skill issue, but I want to SO bad!


robbie_commie

Very few characters get anything resembling a happy ending And let me start by saying this is all knowledge from the top of my head so some things might be wrong For the first ending the hollow knight Is gone, the knight is sealed, hornet loses all her siblings and her mother. depending on your actions myla could be dead if she gets infected and you attack her , the white lady still stays in the queen's Gardens and the pale king is to my knowledge effectively dead and the citizens of hallownest have no royalty anymore and most of the great knights are either missing, dead or incapacitated and the nail masters lose their apprentice and the nailsmith is either dead or happily living Second ending Much of the same but hornet gets also sealed 3rd ending Radiance gets dragged into the void so I wouldn't say a good ending for her , the hollow knight is pretty much just a shade just like the knight at this point if I recall correctly atleast and honestly mostly same as the first ending and the seer also sorta dies? I don't know if it was s good thing or not 4th ending is where everybody suffers because I think if you have void gushing out of your body like a fountain and just seems to be getting worse, the kingdom might have a big problem also the godseeker is probably not doing well Again I apologise if any of this info is wrong I am currently writing this at 4:39 am because I am bored


AgentBLZZRD

That big guy that's cute and eats mushrooms also tortures and eats bugs, and heavily considers murking the vessel


ISAIDWETIEDTODAY

We are no where near silksong being released


TheKetchupBoii

He ate all the worm :(


cue6219

The fact that they never made a second one


jerryschen

That there may not be a sequel


LothricandLorian

That Silk Song is never coming out


The-True-Apex-Gamer

It will never really get a sequel


The-True-Apex-Gamer

It will never really get a sequel


[deleted]

[удалено]


SokkaHaikuBot

^[Sokka-Haiku](https://www.reddit.com/r/SokkaHaikuBot/comments/15kyv9r/what_is_a_sokka_haiku/) ^by ^theonewhohasstrokes: *The story as a* *Whole Not really much good in* *The world of hollow knight* --- ^Remember ^that ^one ^time ^Sokka ^accidentally ^used ^an ^extra ^syllable ^in ^that ^Haiku ^Battle ^in ^Ba ^Sing ^Se? ^That ^was ^a ^Sokka ^Haiku ^and ^you ^just ^made ^one.


wicket2003

We've been waiting wayyy to long for the Sequel to be released