The big lore thread (SPOILERS)

[Nano]

So

Obviously the lore of this game is told in fragments and a lot of it seems left for the players to piece for themselves. Obviously the Higher Being fights the infection born from the decaying body of the Wyrm, but there seems to be a lot more going on than that. This thread is of everyone to discuss these things if they want to.

I'll start things of with a summary of what I pieced out. Keep in mind this is all my imperfect interpretation and I don't claim for it to be the truth. I just want to start the conversation.

Generally speaking, there seems to be several forces at play in the world

The White / The Soul

The Soul is the mysterious force the bugs of Harrownest know how to wield. It seems to grow in the veins of the world, and select beings are imbued with large amounts of it, like the White King and the White Lady. It's not entirely understood, and misuse of it has extremely averse effects, as can be seen by taking a look at the Follies and the Mistakes.

The Soul Sanctum denizens studied it and imbued themselves with it in a quest for eternal life, but the King frowned upon such experiments and apparently the Soul Master was cast off by the king.

Not much else is known about the Soul except that it is the force that is used to enslave the Siblings, and force them to do the King's bidding.

The Black / The Void

The black thing that creeps in the bowels of the earth. It seems to be alive, and Siblings made of the stuff are the true form of the Higher Being and the Hollow Knight. It's hard to say if the corpses in the abyss were there originally or if they are the results of the King's experimentation, but it seems safe to assume it's a force that comes from death.

As can be garnered from the description of the Wingmould and some other story hints, the King was a master of using the stuff. A bit ironic for someone called the White King, that his greatest creations were made of Void. Whatever it is, it's a force able to kill even the remnants of the Wyrm, a feat the Soul could not perform. Maybe, in a way, it is Death itself, taking arms against a creature trying to make a mockery of them.

That theory seems confirmed by the acts of the player in regards of the Kingsoul. The abyss is a "place of birth", maybe for the phantoms of the void, and one could say turning the Kingsoul into the Void soul is a way for the King to finally die, and his powers to be passed on to the Higher Being, his herald or ghost.

Overall not much is known about the Void except that it is that, void. Siblings have no will, the Hollow Knight was hollow precisely because he was made of the stuff, and was made so because he needed to be a vessel for the Wyrm. Even the Higher Being is aimless and lost without his mask, a thing probably crafted precisely to give it the purpose the King wanted to give it (see the Mask Maker in deepnest : masks can change the mind of a bug, turning them into someone else). Without his mask, that is, dead, the Higher Being is a mindless ghost with no purpose. Only at the end can it finally transcend its condition, unite the Void, and strike with purpose at the Radiance.

It also stands to reason to assume the Black Egg is made of the stuff.

The Orange / The Wyrm

The Wyrm, aka the infection, was once a powerfull creature that died somewhere close to Kingdom's Edge. Its body turned to ashes, but its essence, refusing to die, turned into something else, something terrible that sought life at all cost, corrupting every organism within its reach.

Most of it was contained within the Hollow Knight, but its starting to leak and the seal to weaken, and this is the start of our adventure.

We know people consumed by the Wyrm lose theird minds, and seem united in a single, sprawling hivemind that has no care for their individual safety and cares only about spreading and defending its territory.

In the Dream World, the infection is a bright, shining god, the Radiance. Maybe this is how it sees itself, or maybe this is its future. Other dream selves tended to be more ferocious, more accomplished versions of their original selves, so maybe one can assume that is what the infection aspires to be.

Nevertheless, the infection is without a doubt the closest thing this world has to eternal life. It is a boundless parasite that can latch itself to anything and take them over, even beings made entirely of void.

The Blue / The lifeblood

I couldn't figure anything about this out. All I know is that it is a force that make shells stronger, and that Joni, who seems to be strongly connected to it, was considered an heretic.

Maybe it was, in its time, a force analog to the Soul. Its properties seems to be focused on strenghtening the body. So, body and soul, blue and white ? Possibly, but there is nothing to support that.

That is it for today, I'm off to find more information, you guys should post your own thoughts on the matter.

[Mister Veeg]

I figured the wyrm became the pale king, given the location of the King's Brand, and the whole infection/vessel/etc plot was an immortality bid gone terribly wrong (or right, from the Pale King/Radiance's perspective: the stone before the abyss has it listed as "my ascended vessel", after all, and the whole 'no price too great, no will to break' speech during the little flashback comes off as somewhat evil, y'know?)

Granted, the seer's speech at 2400 essence gives the idea that radiance and the wyrm are two separate things.

Will have to replay and take more notes. Probably a dialogue or two I've forgotten.

[b_lay]

Originally posted by Space King Veeg:

I figured the wyrm became the pale king, given the location of the King's Brand, and the whole infection/vessel/etc plot was an immortality bid gone terribly wrong (or right, from the Pale King/Radiance's perspective: the stone before the abyss has it listed as "my ascended vessel", after all, and the whole 'no price too great, no will to break' speech during the little flashback comes off as somewhat evil, y'know?)

Granted, the seer's speech at 2400 essence gives the idea that radiance and the wyrm are two separate things.

Will have to replay and take more notes. Probably a dialogue or two I've forgotten.

The developers actually confirmed on Twitch that Radiance is a female.

[Kein Zantezuken]

Bumping this thread with some info:

https://i.imgur.com/3MtTnIm.png

You can reveal Mask Maker face and get some lore info from him using Dive in there.


it also worth to note that White Lady referred to Hornet (by mentioning our encounter with her) as Gendered Child. Now, here is an interesting tidbit - when developers were asked if MC is a he or she they specifically said the gender of MC is is not disclosed on a reason.

Now, Hornet herself says that while she shares the same origin with Little Shadow (MC) - she is different in this regards. She posses will and mind of her own (i.e personality). She is not "Hollow". I assume that's what they meant by "Higher Beings" - a sucessfull creation that has a gender and can continue lifeline.

She also, apparently, a Princess to the Kingdom.

[Serpit]

Originally posted by Space King Veeg:

Granted, the seer's speech at 2400 essence gives the idea that radiance and the wyrm are two separate things.

Did it? I interpreted it as there being an Old Light that existed before the Wyrm came, and a New Light, the Radiance, that supplanted it, until the Old Light was all but forgotten. Her speech also seems to hint at either the Wyrm becoming the King or the King taking the power of the Wyrm to create Hallownest, since "the kingdom was born of this betrayal" or something like that.

Also, the research notes in Monomon's archive, scrambled as they may be, confirm the existence of an old light and a wyrm's light as separate entities.

[Kein Zantezuken]

Originally posted by andrea.gazz7:

Originally posted by Space King Veeg:

I figured the wyrm became the pale king, given the location of the King's Brand, and the whole infection/vessel/etc plot was an immortality bid gone terribly wrong (or right, from the Pale King/Radiance's perspective: the stone before the abyss has it listed as "my ascended vessel", after all, and the whole 'no price too great, no will to break' speech during the little flashback comes off as somewhat evil, y'know?)

Granted, the seer's speech at 2400 essence gives the idea that radiance and the wyrm are two separate things.

Will have to replay and take more notes. Probably a dialogue or two I've forgotten.

The developers actually confirmed on Twitch that Radiance is a female.

Source?

[Serpit]

Originally posted by Kein Zantezuken:

Bumping this thread with some info:

https://i.imgur.com/3MtTnIm.png

You can reveal Mask Maker face and get some lore info from him using Dive in there.


it also worth to note that White Lady referred to Hornet (by mentioning our encounter with her) as Gendered Child. Now, here is an interesting tidbit - when developers were asked if MC is a he or she they specifically said the gender of MC is is not disclosed on a reason.

Now, Hornet herself says that while she shares the same origin with Little Shadow (MC) - she is different in this regards. She posses will and mind of her own (i.e personality). She is not "Hollow". I assume that's what they meant by "Higher Beings" - a sucessfull creation that has a gender and can continue lifeline.

She also, apparently, a Princess to the Kingdom.

I'm still trying to make sense of the White Lady's dialogue. Right after she refers to Hornet as such, she mentions that she does not begrudge the Wyrm his "dalliance". She also calls him her "beloved Wyrm". So I would say it's safe to assume that the White Lady and the Wyrm had some sort of relationship that resulted in the creation of another being - potentially the King? The Kingsoul "symbolizes the union of higher beings", which would refer to the union of Wyrm and White Lady.

Now, she mentions Hornet's mother, but does not disclose her identity. However, given the line about the Wyrm's dalliance, I would assume that he fills the role of Hornet's "father", however that happened, and that's why she's special.

Also, at some point, we get the ominous line "Heart of Wyrm. Heart of Root. Soul of Void." or something like that. Whether that refers to our character, the king, Hornet or something else, it also implies that the Wyrm and the White Lady (the root) together gave birth to something.

What I'm most curious about right now is the identity of the Queen. Herrah is referred to as a queen, but I doubt she's THE Queen. The White Lady sits in the Queen's Garden, but the Queen is also referred to as being dead. Was she, perhaps, Hornet's mother? Which would explain her status as "princess".

[Kein Zantezuken]

Well, in all honesty it might make no sense on purpose:
https://www.twitch.tv/videos/124334281

Thee was a question about story and they literally said: if you have a good story for HK we will accept it.
It might mean actual story does not exist - just the setting and scattered around lore pieces.

[Dread Arkive]

Originally posted by Serpit:

Originally posted by Kein Zantezuken:

What I'm most curious about right now is the identity of the Queen. Herrah is referred to as a queen, but I doubt she's THE Queen. The White Lady sits in the Queen's Garden, but the Queen is also referred to as being dead. Was she, perhaps, Hornet's mother? Which would explain her status as "princess".

Pretty sure the Queen is the one lying dead at the entrance to the White Lady's area.

[Nomenanza]

Hornet's mother is the Beast actually (the dreamer you find in the Beast's Den).
In my playthrough I left the Beast as a final dreamer to slay, and after killing her Hornet was sitting near her bed.
The dialogue if you strike her with the Dreamnail is such: "Mother.... Forgive my incaction... but another path may be possible..."
If you just talk to her she basically says that we don't choose our parents and asks you to leave her alone to pay her respects.

[Kein Zantezuken]

The name is Herrah, not Beast, Herrah the Weaver Queen.

[Nomenanza]

Originally posted by Kein Zantezuken:

The name is Herrah, not Beast, Herrah the Weaver Queen.

Source?
Also, I can confirm that the devs said that Radience is a female, I was present during that stream with the developers in chat. Can link the VOD if you are interested.

[Serpit]

Originally posted by Nomenanza:

Hornet's mother is the Beast actually (the dreamer you find in the Beast's Den).
In my playthrough I left the Beast as a final dreamer to slay, and after killing her Hornet was sitting near her bed.
The dialogue if you strike her with the Dreamnail is such: "Mother.... Forgive my incaction... but another path may be possible..."
If you just talk to her she basically says that we don't choose our parents and asks you to leave her alone to pay her respects.

That's interesting, thank you!

Originally posted by Dread Arkive:

Pretty sure the Queen is the one lying dead at the entrance to the White Lady's area.

Nah, that's apparently one of the kingdom's legendary knights, according to this pic: http://i.imgur.com/6uP3ljh.jpg

Originally posted by Nomenanza:

Originally posted by Kein Zantezuken:

The name is Herrah, not Beast, Herrah the Weaver Queen.

Source?
Also, I can confirm that the devs said that Radience is a female, I was present during that stream with the developers in chat. Can link the VOD if you are interested.

Please do!

[Nomenanza]

Originally posted by Serpit:

Please do!

https://www.twitch.tv/videos/125363508

12:42:20 and then pay attention to the chat.

[Nano]

Originally posted by Nomenanza:

Nah, that's apparently one of the kingdom's legendary knights, according to this pic: http://i.imgur.com/6uP3ljh.jpg

WAIT
Ironman mode has unique content ? What the hell ?
Is that information still current ?

[Kein Zantezuken]

Originally posted by Nomenanza:

Originally posted by Kein Zantezuken:

The name is Herrah, not Beast, Herrah the Weaver Queen.

Source?

The name "Herrah" is mentioned in the plaque on the Dreamer's monument in Resting Grounds.
If you talk to Midwife, she spills out that "long ago a Queen of the tribe that lives here made a terrible bargain".
Herrah is the Queen she is also the Weaver Queen (she is spider-kin too).

The Spider Guards in Weaver's Den also mention Princess and I think she is the spider lady thing that runs away when you are about to leave Nest.