0:00:10.740,0:00:15.780
E3 has once again reared its ugly head upon[br]us, and Team Cherry has decided to grace us

0:00:15.780,0:00:20.750
with a playable demo for Hollow Knight: Silksong.[br]Unfortunately, William and Ari decided to

0:00:20.750,0:00:25.140
stay in Australia this year. Did last year’s[br]trip leave them permanently scarred from the

0:00:25.140,0:00:30.439
horrors of the L.A. transportation system?[br]Of course we can only speculate. But even

0:00:30.439,0:00:35.470
without William or Ari’s presence, we still[br]got a lot of info about Silksong to plow through.

0:00:35.470,0:00:39.749
Nintendo Treehouse did an excellent segment[br]on the game, and we also have a few off screen

0:00:39.749,0:00:46.620
videos to go through as well. But first let[br]me give my overall thoughts on E3 2019. *Farting

0:00:46.620,0:00:47.620
noise

0:00:47.620,0:00:52.929
So we have quite a few recording of Silksong[br]from E3. But this one by Harker is the only

0:00:52.929,0:00:57.999
video to actually give us a look at the title[br]screen for Silksong. And yeah, it’s fucking

0:00:57.999,0:01:02.139
awesome. I wish we had better footage of it,[br]but I guess nobody wanted to stare at the

0:01:02.139,0:01:06.820
title screen for 20 seconds like I would have.[br]Anyway, there are two zones available to play

0:01:06.820,0:01:12.500
in the demo, the Moss Grotto and the Deep[br]Docks. Both of these areas appear to be early

0:01:12.500,0:01:17.570
on in the game, located at the bottom of the[br]kingdom of Pharloom. That’s right, the name

0:01:17.570,0:01:24.040
of the Kingdom in Silksong is Pharloom. Like[br]Far as in “far from Hallownest”, and loom

0:01:24.040,0:01:28.700
as in “a frame or machine for interlacing[br]at right angles two or more sets of threads

0:01:28.700,0:01:33.400
or yarns to form a cloth”. Wouldn’t have[br]been my first choice for a name, but I guess

0:01:33.400,0:01:34.400
it’s okay.

0:01:34.400,0:01:41.061
That game starts off with a poem. Very classy.[br]All great media starts off with a poem. Like

0:01:41.061,0:01:46.730
my recent creepypasta, for example. Although[br]it pains me to call this a poem since it doesn’t

0:01:46.730,0:01:53.020
even rhyme. Maybe it’s slam poetry or something.[br]The poem is titled Pharloom’s Folly and

0:01:53.020,0:01:56.400
it was written by the Conductor Romino. It[br]reads:

0:01:56.400,0:02:02.670
They see your beauty, so frail and fine,[br]They see your peace, woven of faith and toil,

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They forget your heart, bound in slumber and[br]servitude,

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When you wake they shall see your truth,[br]A beast’s nature bare to all.

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So the author of this poem appears to be speaking[br]directly to Pharloom, or whoever or whatever

0:02:16.750,0:02:21.829
power Pharloom operates on. This could be[br]similar to the Elegy for Hallownest, which

0:02:21.829,0:02:26.319
was more or less speaking directly to the[br]Pale King. Pharloom’s Folly seems to tell

0:02:26.319,0:02:30.590
the story of how Pharloom’s people forgot[br]about the true nature of the heart of the

0:02:30.590,0:02:35.819
kingdom. The poem then warns about what will[br]happen when this nature is awoken. This awakening

0:02:35.819,0:02:41.029
might have already happened, as this poem[br]might have been written a long ass time ago.

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Digging deeper into this, the first two lines[br]go into detail about the citizens of Pharloom.

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It appears as though the citizens kept the[br]heart of Pharloom at peace through faith and

0:02:49.950,0:02:55.459
toil. If I were to wildly speculate, I might[br]be able to link this back to the bells. The

0:02:55.459,0:02:59.969
bells do seem tied to some sort of faith or[br]religion, and the bugs of Pharloom appear

0:02:59.969,0:03:03.109
to be endlessly toiling to create more of[br]them.

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The next line in the poem tells us what Pharloom’s[br]folly actually is. The citizens have forgotten

0:03:08.530,0:03:13.580
about the heart of the kingdom, as they have[br]kept this heart in slumber and servitude.

0:03:13.580,0:03:18.239
In other words, these bugs have kept something[br]bound for a really long time. They appear

0:03:18.239,0:03:22.530
to be doing this as a way to gain some kind[br]of service. But this has been going on for

0:03:22.530,0:03:27.010
so long that the citizens of Pharloom have[br]forgotten just what they are dealing with.

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In the last two lines it is explained that[br]once the heart of the kingdom awakens from

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its slumber, the citizens will finally see[br]its beast-like nature.

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I will be calling back to this poem a few[br]times so you might want to write it down on

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a sticky note or something. But for now, let’s[br]move on to the opening cutscene. Part of this

0:03:45.340,0:03:49.379
cutscene was already shown off in the reveal[br]trailer, but the new shots we got are not

0:03:49.379,0:03:54.170
only beautiful, but also really important.[br]It’s like Team Cherry cut all of the best

0:03:54.170,0:03:58.890
bits from the reveal trailer. What a tease![br]The first new detail we got was that this

0:03:58.890,0:04:03.840
cage is surrounded by what appears to be a[br]Seal of Binding. At least that’s what the

0:04:03.840,0:04:08.150
Treehouse hosts call it. “No, it seems like[br]there’s some sort of Seal of Binding as

0:04:08.150,0:04:12.889
well on this.” That’s right, these ladies[br]actually know a little bit of Hollow Knight

0:04:12.889,0:04:18.520
lore. In fact, they are even able to give[br]a few new tidbits of lore during the event.

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“These enemies seem to have some sort of[br]curse”

0:04:21.160,0:04:24.970
“I do believe that’s the Church Keeper…”

0:04:24.970,0:04:29.180
“I’ve been terrorized by fleas in my past.”

0:04:29.180,0:04:30.480
“It’s okay, Katie.”

0:04:30.480,0:04:34.390
Getting back to the Seal of Binding, this[br]explains why Hornet was never able to escape

0:04:34.390,0:04:39.930
the cage when she was first captured. Anyway,[br]we now get a shot of Hornet’s captors carrying

0:04:39.930,0:04:45.511
her through some sort of archway. This is[br]likely the proper entrance to Pharloom. This

0:04:45.511,0:04:50.420
next scene finally gives us a clue about how[br]Hornet escaped. This glowing white bug lands

0:04:50.420,0:04:55.770
on the cage, and destroys the Seal of Binding.[br]Now that’s OP as fuck. I don’t know why

0:04:55.770,0:05:00.460
Team Cherry keeps giving insane powers to[br]these tiny, white glowing objects. Actually,

0:05:00.460,0:05:05.970
you know what? That’s not a bad idea. I’m[br]gonna use that in my creepypasta.

0:05:05.970,0:05:09.970
After the Seal of Binding is destroyed, we[br]get that same scene of thread coming out of

0:05:09.970,0:05:15.070
Hornet as her expression changes. The threads[br]destroy the bridge and everyone falls into

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the darkness below. Now the big question here[br]is what exactly is happening to Hornet? Maybe

0:05:20.941,0:05:25.270
with the seals gone, Hornet’s abilities[br]came back to her, allowing her to unleash

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her thread and escape. I’ve theorized in[br]the past that the thread coming out of her

0:05:29.420,0:05:34.670
was the result of some power that Pharloom[br]has over those who enter it. And that’s

0:05:34.670,0:05:39.510
still possible, Hornet does seem pretty shocked[br]about what’s happening, implying that she

0:05:39.510,0:05:45.040
isn’t completely in control of the situation.[br]I don’t feel too strongly about either explanation,

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so I’ll leave it up to you to decide.

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And now we arrive at the Moss Grotto. Hornet’s[br]needle pierces into the ground and you have

0:05:52.630,0:05:57.870
to use the bind ability to get up. Binding[br]in Silksong requires Hornet to spend her entire

0:05:57.870,0:06:03.940
spool of thread in order to heal three masks[br]of damage. In the demo, the thread now has

0:06:03.940,0:06:09.830
8 notches instead of 12 like in the reveal[br]trailer. Binding appears to have replaced

0:06:09.830,0:06:14.900
focusing from Hollow Knight, and allows for[br]much faster gameplay. Instead of playing it

0:06:14.900,0:06:19.061
safe, waiting for a chance to spend a little[br]soul to heal, you are now encouraged to be

0:06:19.061,0:06:23.540
aggressive. Keep landing hit so that you can[br]heal a bunch of damage.

0:06:23.540,0:06:27.630
Now in one part of the demo, Hornet gets hit[br]at the end of her heal, and all three masks

0:06:27.630,0:06:32.750
disappear. This has led to some confusion[br]about how getting hit while healing works.

0:06:32.750,0:06:37.070
In this particular instance, I think it’s[br]just a glitch in the HUD. We can see Hornet

0:06:37.070,0:06:41.470
get hit two more times after this, but her[br]she never loses any masks. I think this is

0:06:41.470,0:06:45.180
because Hornet still has those masks, but[br]they just aren’t showing up on the HUD.

0:06:45.180,0:06:49.880
I’ll get more into movement later, but the[br]Bind ability is a good glimpse into what makes

0:06:49.880,0:06:55.220
Silksong different from Hollow Knight. People[br]compare Silksong to being like what Bloodborne

0:06:55.220,0:07:00.710
is to Dark Souls or what Spectre of Torment[br]is to Shovel Knight, or what Garfield Kart

0:07:00.710,0:07:05.350
is to Garfield and I’d say that those are[br]all pretty apt comparisons.

0:07:05.350,0:07:09.790
Getting into Moss Grotto proper, there are[br]a lot of cool details that I want to point

0:07:09.790,0:07:15.950
out. First of all, the moss underneath Hornet’s[br]feet actually reacts to being stepped on.

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You see, this is the small shit that gets[br]me really excited. Killing enemies in this

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area will get you shell shards. Shell shards[br]are described as being fossilised fragments

0:07:25.050,0:07:30.360
of shell and bone. This item can be used for[br]crafting tools, which we will see later on

0:07:30.360,0:07:35.080
in the next part of the demo. Shell shards[br]can also be found by breaking these weird

0:07:35.080,0:07:36.590
statues.

0:07:36.590,0:07:41.140
Now you didn’t hear this from me, but it[br]appears as though silk will be very important

0:07:41.140,0:07:45.780
in this game, seeing as there are many natural[br]silk reserves in the world, similar to soul

0:07:45.780,0:07:51.470
totems in Hollow Knight. In the Moss Grotto[br]we have these spider webs resting on vines.

0:07:51.470,0:07:56.450
I really hope each area in Silksong has different[br]designs like this. It helps each area feel

0:07:56.450,0:08:01.230
more distinct, instead of just finding Soul[br]Totems all over the map, including the Royal

0:08:01.230,0:08:03.210
Waterways for some reason.

0:08:03.210,0:08:09.950
In terms of enemies, we have this spikey moss[br]baby and this flying spikey moss baby. I’m

0:08:09.950,0:08:16.650
sure they have really cute names like mossbug[br]or winged mossbug or something dumb like that.

0:08:16.650,0:08:21.080
Moving on, we also have this little guy. He[br]kinda looks like a mix between a Tiktik and

0:08:21.080,0:08:26.220
Sonic the Hedgehog. But not only that, if[br]you go right instead of left at the beginning

0:08:26.220,0:08:30.740
of the demo, you can find this secret location.[br]Here, you’ll find a giant version of the

0:08:30.740,0:08:37.460
same bug. And if you hit it, it gets super[br]pissed. I have no idea how Team Cherry expected

0:08:37.460,0:08:42.090
anyone to fight that thing. I’m guessing[br]they just stuck it here as an easter egg and

0:08:42.090,0:08:46.770
will give it a big arena later. Or maybe this[br]is supposed to be some kind of ascended arena

0:08:46.770,0:08:48.170
or some shit.

0:08:48.170,0:08:52.320
Now during the treehouse event, the hosts[br]mention that the bugs of Pharloom are cursed

0:08:52.320,0:08:57.360
in a manner similar to the bugs of Hallownest.[br]We can already see in this area of the game

0:08:57.360,0:09:02.560
that enemies give off silk fibers when they[br]are hit. In one of my other Silksong speculation

0:09:02.560,0:09:06.940
videos, I talked about the different colored[br]particles that came off of different enemies.

0:09:06.940,0:09:12.800
But in this demo, some bugs have been changed.[br]But they still all give off silk, so that

0:09:12.800,0:09:17.420
appears to be the common thread between all[br]of these enemies. And just like with the infection

0:09:17.420,0:09:23.050
in Hollow Knight, this silk is probably tied[br]to why so many creatures are hostile to Hornet.

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At the end of the Moss Grotto area is the[br]Old Church subarea. There, Hornet must fight

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a boss called the Moss Mother. Now people[br]have been saying that this thing is actually

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my mother. Which makes this line much more awkward.

0:09:37.120,0:09:38.810
“It also looks like a total bitch.”

0:09:38.810,0:09:43.240
Moss Mother seems to be a sort of parallel[br]to the Gruz Mother, since that was also a

0:09:43.240,0:09:49.560
mother, and also lived in a church, and was[br]also was a total bitch. But maybe I’m wrong.

0:09:49.560,0:09:55.110
Maybe this boss might actually be pretty tough.[br]She definitely gave a lot of pro gamers trouble.

0:09:55.110,0:10:03.010
Here’s a reporter from Kotaku dying to her.[br]“Hubris there. Hubris,folks.”

0:10:03.010,0:10:08.630
After the battle, Hornet is knocked unconscious[br]when this silhouette does… nothing. And

0:10:08.630,0:10:13.430
then she starts laughing. For all she knows,[br]Hornet just had a heart attack! According

0:10:13.430,0:10:18.680
to Katie, the woman playing the game for the[br]Treehouse event, this NPC is the Church Keeper,

0:10:18.680,0:10:23.180
who might act as a guide for Hornet throughout[br]the game. We know from the Silksong reveal

0:10:23.180,0:10:28.360
trailer that the Church Keeper teaches Hornet[br]how to play her needle like a stringed instrument.

0:10:28.360,0:10:32.660
We still don’t see any of this in the demo,[br]so the utility of this ability still remains

0:10:32.660,0:10:34.220
up in the air.

0:10:34.220,0:10:38.220
Before we leave the Moss Grotto, I wanted[br]to call attention to these strange doors that

0:10:38.220,0:10:43.180
can be found on either side of the map. The[br]face designs appear to be based on the Weavers.

0:10:43.180,0:10:47.529
There is no way to open these doors in the[br]demo, so we’ll have to wait to see what

0:10:47.529,0:10:52.910
might be hidden behind them. More importantly,[br]this strengthens the argument that Pharloom

0:10:52.910,0:10:55.540
was the original home for the Weavers.

0:10:55.540,0:11:01.620
And now let’s move on to the second area[br]of the game, the Deep Docks. In this section,

0:11:01.620,0:11:06.770
Hornet gains more of her moveset. She gets[br]access to her tool by pressing R. She gets

0:11:06.770,0:11:12.360
her sprint, which is activated by holding[br]ZR. And she gets a skill move using the X

0:11:12.360,0:11:16.660
button. Looking at the footage that was recorded[br]on the show floor, it seems like Hornet is

0:11:16.660,0:11:21.800
a little difficult to control at first. When[br]using the downward strike in Silksong, Hornet

0:11:21.800,0:11:27.490
will lunge down diagonally, making spacing[br]a bit more complex than in Hollow Knight.

0:11:27.490,0:11:32.570
When sprinting Hornet can perform a long jump,[br]which is used to reach a mask shard. She is

0:11:32.570,0:11:37.650
also capable of grabbing ledges. And if you[br]press in the right joystick, she does a cute

0:11:37.650,0:11:47.030
little taunt. All of these movement abilities[br]give Silksong a larger emphasis on platforming.

0:11:47.030,0:11:51.810
Here in the Deep Docks, we see lever operated[br]platformers, a room filled with hot coals

0:11:51.810,0:11:56.630
that Hornet has to run on and a room with[br]lava falls that fucked up a ton of people

0:11:56.630,0:12:01.620
playing the demo. I’m really happy to see[br]this greater emphasis on platforming. The

0:12:01.620,0:12:05.130
biggest problem with Hollow Knight for me[br]was that it didn’t have enough areas like

0:12:05.130,0:12:06.260
the White Palace.

0:12:06.260,0:12:11.100
Let’s take a look at Hornet’s inventory.[br]So we have Hornet’s cloak, known as the

0:12:11.100,0:12:15.089
Hunter’s cloak, which confirms that Hornet[br]has pockets that allow her to store things

0:12:15.089,0:12:20.500
like giant ass buzzsaws so that’s good.[br]We have the needle which is described as being

0:12:20.500,0:12:23.720
perfectly balanced, as all things should be.

0:12:23.720,0:12:29.800
Next up, we have the Thread Spool. This item[br]tells us that silk thread is produced naturally

0:12:29.800,0:12:34.399
within Hornet’s shell. So how exactly does[br]hitting enemies cause Hornet to naturally

0:12:34.399,0:12:39.060
produce silk thread? Does it have to do with[br]the fact that these enemies release silk fibers

0:12:39.060,0:12:43.470
when they get hit? And then Hornet is taking[br]these fibers and turning them into thread?

0:12:43.470,0:12:48.440
Is this related to soul at all? Can Hornet[br]even manipulate soul? She is the daughter

0:12:48.440,0:12:52.220
of the Pale King, so it’s not an unbelievable[br]suggestion.

0:12:52.220,0:12:56.190
Hornet also has a tool kit, which is likely[br]what holds all of the weapons we saw in the

0:12:56.190,0:13:01.750
reveal trailer. There’s a description of[br]the mask shard, which says “Mask Pieces

0:13:01.750,0:13:07.040
2”. This is probably just placeholder text,[br]indicating that the player currently has two

0:13:07.040,0:13:11.710
masks shards, given that the player collects[br]one later and is shown to have three of them.

0:13:11.710,0:13:16.260
There’s also the description for the Mossberry,[br]which is an item that is mentioned in a quest

0:13:16.260,0:13:17.560
we saw in the reveal trailer.

0:13:17.560,0:13:22.890
Now let’s talk about Rosaries and Shell[br]Shards. Rosaries are the new currency found

0:13:22.890,0:13:28.791
in Silksong. They are described as being holy,[br]and having patterns etched into them. What

0:13:28.791,0:13:33.241
I like about this item is that none of the[br]enemies in the Moss Grotto drop them, which

0:13:33.241,0:13:38.150
makes sense, since these bugs have probably[br]never used currency living in the wilderness.

0:13:38.150,0:13:42.649
It never made sense that Primal Aspids would[br]be carrying Geo after all. What are they gonna

0:13:42.649,0:13:45.029
do with it? Go to a matinee?

0:13:45.029,0:13:49.050
Now there is an item that we don’t have[br]a screenshot of called the Rosary String.

0:13:49.050,0:13:54.550
But we do have a description of it from the[br]Nintendo Live Treehouse hosts. Basically they

0:13:54.550,0:13:58.830
state that Hornet will lose all of her rosaries[br]upon death. It’s unclear whether or not

0:13:58.830,0:14:04.470
she can retrieve them, but as of this demo,[br]she cannot. But they do go on to explain that

0:14:04.470,0:14:09.020
rosaries on a string won’t be lost. They[br]then mention that they kept breaking their

0:14:09.020,0:14:14.770
rosary strings to get the rosaries. So I think[br]Rosary Strings act like Boss Souls from Dark

0:14:14.770,0:14:20.260
Souls. It’s just a regular item, but you[br]can spend it to receive a certain amount of

0:14:20.260,0:14:21.260
currency.

0:14:21.260,0:14:25.660
Shell shards aren’t currency like rosaries,[br]and you don’t lose them when dying, but

0:14:25.660,0:14:30.930
they are still important collectables in Silksong.[br]In the Deep Docks demo, Hornet has access

0:14:30.930,0:14:37.040
to a tool described as a straight pin. When[br]Hornet uses a pin, this wheel decreases. The

0:14:37.040,0:14:42.200
one only way to replenish Hornet’s tool[br]is to sit at a bench. Hornet will then use

0:14:42.200,0:14:47.290
the shell shards to rebuild her tools. But[br]how exactly do you get a metal pin out of

0:14:47.290,0:14:53.149
bone and shell? Are these benches able to[br]transmute matter? In the demo, Hornet is only

0:14:53.149,0:14:58.150
able to hold 400 shell shards, meaning there[br]might be items in the game that increase how

0:14:58.150,0:14:59.750
many you can hold.

0:14:59.750,0:15:05.560
Since I brought up Hornet dying earlier, I[br]think it’s time we talk about… it. Now,

0:15:05.560,0:15:10.720
as you know, the debate about whether or not[br]Hornet is a void being has been raging on

0:15:10.720,0:15:15.980
for over two years now. For a long time now.[br]I have firmly believed that Hornet is not

0:15:15.980,0:15:19.590
a void being, and I even made an amazing video[br]about it.

0:15:19.590,0:15:25.370
But even after this video, there have been[br]people who have continued to believe a lie.

0:15:25.370,0:15:31.350
Vysuals, a Hollow Knight speedrunner, even[br]made a fool of himself at ADGQ this year sharing

0:15:31.350,0:15:34.350
his silly belief that Hornet is made of void.

0:15:34.350,0:15:35.350
“Is Hornet void?”

0:15:35.350,0:15:36.560
“Hornet is definitely void.”

0:15:36.560,0:15:42.360
I’m sorry, Visuals, but isn’t your job[br]to see as little of the game as possible?

0:15:42.360,0:15:44.620
Why should anybody trust you on lore?

0:15:44.620,0:15:49.730
But despite what anyone thought, we all knew[br]that the answer would finally arrive once

0:15:49.730,0:15:54.630
Hornet became a playable character. If Hornet[br]was a void being, similar to the Knight and

0:15:54.630,0:16:00.480
the other vessels, then she would leave a[br]shade behind upon death. And now, after years

0:16:00.480,0:16:03.000
of waiting, we finally have an answer.

0:16:15.200,0:16:21.140
HORNET IS NOT FUCKING VOID. WHENEVER SHE GETS[br]HIT, SHE SPILLS WHITE PARTICLES LIKELY REPRESENTING

0:16:21.140,0:16:25.851
SOUL. THIS IS DIFFERENT TO THE KNIGHT, WHO[br]ALWAYS SPILLED BLACK VOID PARTICLES. WHEN

0:16:25.851,0:16:30.311
HORNET IS AT ONE HEALTH, SOUL WILL LEAK FROM[br]HER BODY AND HEALTH METER, SIMILAR TO HOW

0:16:30.311,0:16:34.900
THE KNIGHT LEAKED VOID. WHEN HORNET DIES,[br]SHE EXPLODES INTO SOUL AND SILK UNTIL THE

0:16:34.900,0:16:39.630
SCREEN GOES DARK. UPON RETURNING TO THE PLACE[br]OF HER DEATH, HORNET IS GREETED WITH A COCOON

0:16:39.630,0:16:44.430
THAT REPLENISHES HER THREAD SPOOL. WHEN THE[br]KNIGHT DIES, ITS BODY CRUMBLES APART AS VOID

0:16:44.430,0:16:48.779
PARTICLES APPEAR. A SHADE IS LEFT BEHIND THAT[br]THE KNIGHT HAS TO DEFEAT IN ORDER TO REGAIN

0:16:48.779,0:16:54.180
ALL OF ITS SOUL METER. ALL OF THESE DETAILS[br]CLEARLY HINT AT HORNET NOT BEING RELATED TO

0:16:54.180,0:16:57.770
THE VOID.

0:16:57.770,0:17:02.490
But of course, we all knew it wouldn’t be[br]that easy. There are still those in the Hollow

0:17:02.490,0:17:07.980
Knight community who believe that Hornet is[br]still a void entity. How is that? Well, it

0:17:07.980,0:17:12.520
all has to do with how the screen goes black[br]after Hornet’s death. Some people believe

0:17:12.520,0:17:18.309
that this is void violently erupting from[br]Hornet’s body. Here’s my counter argument.

0:17:18.309,0:17:20.809
It’s just a screen transition.

0:17:20.809,0:17:26.299
You see, screen transitions are important[br]in video games. They give the game a chance

0:17:26.299,0:17:32.049
to load in new rooms, instances and other[br]shit without looking really weird. They are

0:17:32.049,0:17:37.309
also useful for setting the pace while storytelling.[br]Here’s an example from the popular cartoon

0:17:37.309,0:17:39.570
TV show, Ed, Edd n Eddy.

0:17:39.570,0:17:43.900
“End of first sequence and fade to black.”

0:17:43.900,0:17:49.000
You see the Eds weren’t being swallowed[br]up by void. They were just ending that scene.

0:17:49.000,0:17:53.640
Hell, even I use screen transitions sometimes.[br]Here, watch.

0:17:57.740,0:17:59.580
See how seamless that was? If

0:17:59.580,0:18:03.460
I had just hard cut to this image, it would[br]have been really weird.

0:18:03.460,0:18:04.812
Oh shit! Did you just

0:18:04.812,0:18:10.700
see that? Hornet and her captors just got[br]attacked by a whole cascade of void. Oh wait,

0:18:10.700,0:18:14.290
that was just a transition.

0:18:14.290,0:18:19.470
But maybe I’m being too harsh on Team Vornet.[br]Let’s look at this scene where Hornet gets

0:18:19.470,0:18:25.430
killed by the Moss Mother. Wow, that’s a[br]lotta void! There’s way more void there

0:18:25.430,0:18:30.010
than anything that ever erupted out of the[br]Knight. I bet there must be void all over

0:18:30.020,0:18:31.620
the Moss Mother’s lair now.

0:18:35.820,0:18:38.540
“Oh my god.

0:18:38.600,0:18:42.000
There’s VOID everywhere.

0:18:42.000,0:18:43.960
My[br]house is full of VOID!

0:18:43.960,0:18:46.120
He VOID everywhere!

0:18:46.120,0:18:48.760
Look what he did, he VOID all over the wall!”

0:18:48.760,0:18:53.860
Oh wait, there’s literally nothing here[br]but a silk cocoon. Now where did all of that

0:18:53.870,0:19:00.590
pesky void go? Ah, who cares? It just disappeared.[br]It’s not like Hornet has to come to term

0:19:00.590,0:19:05.660
with her regrets or anything. That was never[br]a part of Hollow Knight lore. /s

0:19:05.660,0:19:11.540
Now of course, all of Hollow Knight lore is[br]up to the reader’s own interpretation. That’s

0:19:11.540,0:19:18.150
the beauty of this kind of storytelling. However,[br]when an interpretation is countered by numerous

0:19:18.150,0:19:23.920
pieces of evidence found in the game, you[br]have to reevaluate your theory. If you still

0:19:23.920,0:19:28.900
think Hornet is void, let me give you a quick[br]rundown of all of the issues you have to resolve

0:19:28.900,0:19:30.630
with lore.

0:19:30.630,0:19:34.740
Why doesn’t Hornet leave a shade?[br]Why doesn’t Hornet leak void like the Knight

0:19:34.740,0:19:39.390
when at one health?[br]Why would Herrah sacrifice herself for brood,

0:19:39.390,0:19:40.390
if her child would be killed and hollowed[br]out by void?

0:19:40.390,0:19:43.540
Why does Hornet say “your birth” to the[br]Knight when talking about the Abyss? Why not

0:19:43.540,0:19:44.540
say “our birth”?[br]What is the purpose of putting void in Hornet

0:19:44.540,0:19:45.540
if she’s not meant to be a vessel for the[br]Radiance?

0:19:45.540,0:19:47.641
Why does Hornet say she lacks the crucial[br]emptiness of the Knight when we know that

0:19:47.641,0:19:48.641
“emptiness” is a phrase completely synonymous[br]with the void?

0:19:48.641,0:19:49.641
Why does Hornet have a gender?[br]Why does Hornet say the bindings of the Black

0:19:49.641,0:19:51.429
Egg would drain her if she’s a void being?[br]“How can my feet smell if they don’t have

0:19:51.429,0:19:52.710
a nose?”

0:19:52.710,0:19:57.030
If you think Hornet isn’t void, you have[br]the very difficult task of explaining why

0:19:57.030,0:20:05.540
the screen goes black when she dies. Hmmm…[br]Yeah, it’s a real toss up, isn’t it.

0:20:05.540,0:20:09.840
But hey, it’s not that big of a deal. Let’s[br]talk about what kind of characters can be

0:20:09.840,0:20:14.760
found in the Deep Docks. The enemies found[br]here have already been shown off in the reveal

0:20:14.760,0:20:21.100
trailer, aside from one. This guy uses a bell[br]cap as a form of defense, as well as a weapon

0:20:21.100,0:20:26.770
to charge forward with. As we can see in the[br]demo, bells act as a form of protection against

0:20:26.770,0:20:31.160
Hornet’s needle, requiring the player to[br]rethink how they approach these enemies.

0:20:31.160,0:20:34.900
But there are more than just enemies to be[br]found in this area. One new character is this

0:20:34.900,0:20:40.400
weird looking thing that the Treehouse host[br]calls a flea. Not sure what the fuck kind

0:20:40.400,0:20:45.300
of flea this is. These creatures appear to[br]be the replacement for the grubs from Hollow

0:20:45.300,0:20:51.190
Knight. According to the treehouse host, these[br]fleas came to Pharloom seeking enlightenment.

0:20:51.190,0:20:55.230
The Silksong website describes Hornet’s[br]journey to the top of Pharloom as a deadly

0:20:55.230,0:21:00.110
pilgrimage. So between all of that, and the[br]numerous amounts of religious imagery in the

0:21:00.110,0:21:04.820
game, we can see that Pharloom must offer[br]some kind of spiritual enlightenment. I don’t

0:21:04.820,0:21:09.679
think we can really know how this works yet,[br]but it seems very likely that bells are somehow

0:21:09.679,0:21:11.419
involved.

0:21:11.419,0:21:16.320
Speaking of which, Hornet meets a few new[br]NPCs in the Deep Docks, a large bug known

0:21:16.320,0:21:21.960
as Forge-Daughter and her assistant Ballow.[br]First of all, this gives us our first look

0:21:21.960,0:21:27.730
at how dialogue will work in Silksong. However,[br]Hornet doesn’t “Listen” like the Knight

0:21:27.730,0:21:34.110
does, she actually speaks. Dialogue from NPCs[br]will be indicated with the twine ball sigal,

0:21:34.110,0:21:38.920
while Hornet’s dialogue is indicated with[br]her face, as well as a Weaver face. Hornet

0:21:38.920,0:21:44.320
being able to talk will probably be one of[br]the biggest boons to loremasters such as myself.

0:21:44.320,0:21:48.270
Just from this conversation, we can see that[br]Hornet still remembers the weapons she used

0:21:48.270,0:21:50.900
to have before getting captured.

0:21:50.900,0:21:55.470
This whole issue of what happens when bugs[br]leave Hallownest has troubled me to my very

0:21:55.470,0:22:01.250
soul for quite some time now. Hornet is yet[br]another example that some bugs can maintain

0:22:01.250,0:22:07.280
their minds and memories even after leaving[br]Hallownest. Is the specific example due to

0:22:07.280,0:22:12.450
Hornet’s nature, or the Seal of Binding[br]protecting her? Regardless of the answer,

0:22:12.450,0:22:17.350
I do believe this question will be answered[br]by the very virtue of Silksong taking place

0:22:17.350,0:22:19.850
outside of Hallownest.

0:22:19.850,0:22:24.340
Getting back to Forge-Daughter, she appears[br]to be the NPC that will give Hornet access

0:22:24.340,0:22:30.130
to make new tools, weapons and accessories.[br]From what I can gather, it appears as though

0:22:30.130,0:22:33.830
Hornet will have to find the right supplies,[br]and then Forge-Daughter will turn them into

0:22:33.830,0:22:38.800
permanent items that Hornet can then replenish[br]using shell shards.

0:22:38.800,0:22:43.730
Forge-Daughter also describes her work as[br]“the ancient line and honoured role.”

0:22:43.730,0:22:47.770
Now the treehouse host mentions that the bugs[br]in this area appear to be gathering coal to

0:22:47.770,0:22:53.570
send up to the citadel high above in Pharloom.[br]So whatever this process is, it must have

0:22:53.570,0:22:58.540
been going on for a long time. It probably[br]even connects back to Pharloom’s Folly.

0:22:58.540,0:23:03.350
This could be related to the section mentioning[br]toil. This process does seem like it would

0:23:03.350,0:23:07.630
be very difficult, and I don’t think OSHA[br]would be too happy with this work environment

0:23:07.630,0:23:08.970
either.

0:23:08.970,0:23:12.730
Another important nugget of information that[br]Forge-Daughter gives us is that the other

0:23:12.730,0:23:18.150
bugs have indeed lost their senses. So this[br]whole silk thing is very similar to that of

0:23:18.150,0:23:23.960
the infection from Hollow Knight. But is it[br]a hivemind? Possibly, but we don’t have

0:23:23.960,0:23:26.230
the finer details quite yet.

0:23:26.230,0:23:31.120
In this part of the demo, we also find an[br]interesting lore tablet. This tablet appears

0:23:31.120,0:23:36.080
to be a list of instructions. When the bugs[br]hear certain bell tolls, they have to send

0:23:36.080,0:23:41.039
Smokerock and Sweetmelt. These are likely[br]materials similar to what this bellhead is

0:23:41.039,0:23:46.700
carrying in his fanny pack, and they might[br]even be what Hornet has to collect for Forge-Daughter.

0:23:46.700,0:23:50.770
What’s interesting about this lore tablet[br]though, is that these materials are measured

0:23:50.770,0:23:56.850
using measures and beats. Now, I’m not an[br]expert in music lore, but measures are used

0:23:56.850,0:24:02.559
to indicate a period of time in a song, while[br]beats are when the actual notes are played.

0:24:02.559,0:24:07.340
This further reinforces the importance of[br]song in this world. The last line these two

0:24:07.340,0:24:13.940
instructions reads “Mark of fealty, all[br]workers”. Is this referring to the “faith”

0:24:13.940,0:24:18.320
part of the “faith and toil” line from[br]Pharloom’s Folly? Or are the workers forced

0:24:18.320,0:24:23.090
to show fealty to the bugs up in Pharloom?[br]Are we going to see some kind of deep class

0:24:23.090,0:24:25.419
warfare commentary from Team Cherry?

0:24:25.419,0:24:30.049
Now let’s turn our attention to one of the[br]most exciting parts of the demo, the fight

0:24:30.049,0:24:35.010
with Lace. Lace’s dialogue in this section[br]is really entertaining. She sounds like such

0:24:35.010,0:24:40.730
a brat. And the fight itself looks incredibly[br]frantic. Lace’s moves come out quick, and

0:24:40.730,0:24:45.790
we can see here that Hornet has fewer invincibility[br]frames than the Knight. I really hope we get

0:24:45.790,0:24:49.980
some kind of boss rush for Silksong like we[br]did in Hollow Knight, because I have the feeling

0:24:49.980,0:24:52.640
these fights are going to be really fun.

0:24:52.640,0:24:56.900
Before the fight starts, we can see that Lace[br]appears to be conducting these glowing bugs

0:24:56.900,0:25:02.000
with her pin. This is a really important detail,[br]since a very similar bug is what removed the

0:25:02.000,0:25:07.410
Seal of Binding from Hornet’s cage. Lace[br]might even be aware of this, since she mentions

0:25:07.410,0:25:12.429
the cage that Hornet was trapped in. If this[br]is true, then it means that Lace might be

0:25:12.429,0:25:16.690
working against the bugs we saw carry Hornet[br]into Pharloom.

0:25:16.690,0:25:21.550
Lace tells Hornet that she will face suffering[br]as she continues her journey up through Pharloom,

0:25:21.550,0:25:27.430
offering to kill Hornet instead. How nice![br]Lace also keeps referring to Hornet as a “little

0:25:27.430,0:25:32.340
spider”, which is weird since Hornet and[br]Lace are the same size, so she should probably

0:25:32.340,0:25:37.370
just shut her mouth. But I think this tells[br]us why those bugs captured Hornet in the first

0:25:37.370,0:25:42.910
place. They want her because she is a spider.[br]The bugs of Pharloom might be capturing spiders

0:25:42.910,0:25:48.049
and using them to produce silk that the kingdom[br]uses. This is why we see a sleeping Weaver

0:25:48.049,0:25:53.160
in the reveal trailer, it's been captured[br]and forced to produce silk. All of this might

0:25:53.160,0:25:57.110
also tie back to Pharloom’s Folly, which[br]talks about a beast’s nature being revealed

0:25:57.110,0:26:02.840
after it is awakened. Hornet’s mother, Herrah,[br]is called the “Herrah the Beast”, so the

0:26:02.840,0:26:08.030
word beast might be synonymous with the word[br]spider. In other words, I think the bugs of

0:26:08.030,0:26:11.690
Pharloom imprison spiders and force them to[br]produce silk.

0:26:11.690,0:26:16.730
Lace, on the other hand, wants to keep these[br]spiders from being captured. That’s why

0:26:16.730,0:26:21.660
she wants to kill Hornet. She doesn’t want[br]Hornet falling into the hands of these bugs.

0:26:21.660,0:26:26.690
But this theory raises a few questions. Why[br]does Lace appear to be part of this bell cult

0:26:26.690,0:26:31.380
if she disagrees with their plan? Her design[br]appears to be tied back to them, given she

0:26:31.380,0:26:37.230
uses a pin similar to what other bugs in the[br]cult use. On top of that, Lace’s stupid

0:26:37.230,0:26:41.010
headdress appears to be based on the stupid[br]headdresses that other religious people wore

0:26:41.010,0:26:46.770
in the past such, as the cornette. So maybe[br]Lace has nothing to do with the bug that freed

0:26:46.770,0:26:51.820
Hornet. The Treehouse host did say that Lace[br]was part of a group that was trying to impede

0:26:51.820,0:26:54.890
Hornet’s journey, so there’s definitely[br]still more to her than what we know right

0:26:54.890,0:26:55.890
now.

0:26:55.890,0:27:00.090
A few other noteworthy details about this[br]fight. Lace gives off the same silk fibers

0:27:00.090,0:27:04.660
that other enemies give off when hit, implying[br]that she has also been targeted by whatever

0:27:04.660,0:27:09.880
is haunting Pharloom. However, Lace appears[br]to maintain her senses, given that she can

0:27:09.880,0:27:15.820
shittalk Hornet. On top of that, Hornet also[br]explodes into silk when she dies. So I think

0:27:15.820,0:27:19.660
it’s something that happens to everyone[br]in the kingdom, but it’s not clear how exactly

0:27:19.660,0:27:21.260
it affects them yet.

0:27:21.260,0:27:25.900
When staggered, Lace and the Moss Mother both[br]have this weird animation that shows up over

0:27:25.900,0:27:30.720
their heads. I’m not sure why this was added[br]to the game. I’ve never had a problem with

0:27:30.720,0:27:35.179
telling when a boss was staggered in Hollow[br]Knight, but maybe the bosses in Silksong get

0:27:35.179,0:27:40.570
so frantic, that it was necessary to add this[br]effect in. Also, this fight was in the reveal

0:27:40.570,0:27:45.250
trailer, and it appears as though they changed[br]the background. I think the background looks

0:27:45.250,0:27:48.790
a lot better with that giant statue covered[br]in moss.

0:27:48.790,0:27:54.010
After the fight, Hornet gains access to the[br]Wild Songshrine. In the shrine, there is a

0:27:54.010,0:27:59.539
giant bell covered in silk. After removing[br]the silk, a lever appears which winds up the

0:27:59.539,0:28:04.220
bell. Unfortunately, the Treehouse feed cuts[br]away right before the bell starts to ring.

0:28:04.220,0:28:09.809
I have no idea why Nintendo thought that was[br]a good idea, but it angers me so. Luckily

0:28:09.809,0:28:13.880
we still have footage of the bell ringing.[br]The most interesting detail here is that the

0:28:13.880,0:28:18.740
Seal of Binding on the bell is white instead[br]of the purple color we saw in the reveal trailer.

0:28:18.740,0:28:22.809
So I guess this means Grimace won’t be the[br]final boss of Silksong.

0:28:22.809,0:28:29.059
So the big question here is, who covered the[br]bell in silk? Was it these guys, or Lace and

0:28:29.059,0:28:35.130
her crew, or some other group that we haven’t[br]met yet? What does the bell even do? How does

0:28:35.130,0:28:39.830
Hornet know it’s a good idea to ring them?[br]Is this bell related to the lore tablet we

0:28:39.830,0:28:43.780
saw earlier? Is Taco Bell canon in this game?

0:28:43.780,0:28:48.190
And there you have it, that’s pretty much[br]everything we can pull from the demo. But

0:28:48.190,0:28:51.750
that doesn’t mean we’re done here yet.[br]We still have to talk about the footage shown

0:28:51.750,0:28:56.670
during the Nintendo E3 direct. Now there was[br]some really great stuff shown off in the Nintendo

0:28:56.670,0:29:00.060
Direct. So I’ll just list them real fast.

0:29:00.060,0:29:01.760
Gooigi.

0:29:01.760,0:29:04.380
5 seconds of Silksong footage.

0:29:04.380,0:29:09.340
And that’s about it. Unfortunately, half[br]of this footage we got for Silksong was old,

0:29:09.350,0:29:12.789
so we basically only got three seconds of[br]new footage.

0:29:12.789,0:29:16.809
The first new shot we have is of Hornet using[br]her aerial tricks to bounce off a bunch of

0:29:16.809,0:29:21.770
bells. This is yet another example of how[br]Silksong appears to be implementing more challenging

0:29:21.770,0:29:27.040
platforming into its world. The second shot[br]shows Hornet fighting these strange hooded

0:29:27.040,0:29:34.299
enemies. And I think these guys might be fucking[br]birds! Yeah, birds. First of all they appear

0:29:34.299,0:29:39.231
to have beaks peeking out from their hoods.[br]This guy is also flapping his wings, which

0:29:39.231,0:29:43.390
apparently is a thing that birds do. Also,[br]the silhouettes of these guys can be seen

0:29:43.390,0:29:48.809
in the Silksong reveal trailer. They appear[br]to be perching in a manner similar to birds.

0:29:48.809,0:29:53.130
Another explanation for the beaks coming from[br]the hoods might be that these guys are wearing

0:29:53.130,0:29:58.560
plague doctor masks. Now I’m not a history[br]major, but I am not aware of plague doctors

0:29:58.560,0:30:00.520
being able to fly either.

0:30:00.520,0:30:05.960
Now while William and Ari were both absent[br]from E3 this year, Matthew Griffin, or Leth,

0:30:05.960,0:30:10.460
was able to make an appearance. Leth is the[br]PR and marketing guy for Team Cherry, and

0:30:10.460,0:30:15.409
he apparently spent some time on the E3 show[br]floor talking to people who were demoing Silksong.

0:30:15.409,0:30:19.929
I’m not sure why Leth didn’t make an appearance[br]on the Nintendo Treehouse event. I guess he

0:30:19.929,0:30:25.669
was too busy eating burgers at IHOP or something.[br]Now I was not able to attend E3 this year

0:30:25.669,0:30:30.200
as I was too busy playing Fortnite, but I[br]was able to get a few people to talk to Leth

0:30:30.200,0:30:34.830
and try to coerce information out of him.[br]One of my informants sent me this message.

0:30:34.830,0:30:38.600
“Hey mossbag, your spies are terrible, man.[br]They’re terrible.”

0:30:38.600,0:30:44.830
I never heard from my informant again after[br]this message. Did Leth have them taken out?

0:30:44.830,0:30:46.910
Of course we can only speculate.

0:30:46.910,0:30:52.760
Let’s talk release date. All we got officially[br]is the dreaded “Coming Soon”. But during

0:30:52.760,0:30:57.880
the treehouse event, Sam mentioned that development[br]of Silksong is wrapping up, but how would

0:30:57.880,0:31:02.530
Sam know such information? Nintendo of America[br]released a list of what games were coming

0:31:02.530,0:31:07.549
out soon, and Silksong is nowhere to be found[br]on this list. Judging from what we saw in

0:31:07.549,0:31:12.810
the demo, there was a lot of stuff that wasn’t[br]developed. We didn’t see how crests work,

0:31:12.810,0:31:16.400
we didn’t see how the quest system works,[br]and the level layouts felt more like demo

0:31:16.400,0:31:21.730
areas than actual level designs for the game.[br]So I personally believe that the game still

0:31:21.730,0:31:27.280
has quite a way to go. But I’m not an expert[br]on game design or anything so believe what

0:31:27.280,0:31:29.240
you want, I suppose.

0:31:29.240,0:31:34.350
So how is Silksong looking after analyzing[br]this demo? Well honestly, I believe that this

0:31:34.350,0:31:38.620
game could be better than Hollow Knight. I[br]think the exploration and platforming will

0:31:38.620,0:31:43.870
be more challenging and varied. I think the[br]combat will be faster-paced and more engaging.

0:31:43.870,0:31:48.090
I think the story will have a greater presence,[br]while the underlying lore will continue to

0:31:48.090,0:31:52.440
be amazing. I think the art will be even better,[br]as we can see how Team Cherry is learning

0:31:52.440,0:31:58.330
how to integrate it with digital effects,[br]such as the swinging signs and krumping ground.

0:31:58.330,0:32:02.970
Of course the big question will be how Team[br]Cherry introduces side quests and item management

0:32:02.970,0:32:07.130
and how they’re going to keep them feeling[br]fresh and interesting without being boring.

0:32:07.130,0:32:11.660
As for interpreting what we know about the[br]story so far, I think Pharloom’s Folly acts

0:32:11.660,0:32:16.409
as a good backbone to figure out what happened[br]in this kingdom. Hallownest’s architecture

0:32:16.409,0:32:20.250
was typically embroidered with the symbol[br]of the Hallownest Seal, which appeared to

0:32:20.250,0:32:25.940
be some kind of depiction of the Pale King.[br]In Pharloom, the symbol is this ball of thread,

0:32:25.940,0:32:31.500
usually surrounded by a hook. I think this[br]symbolizes what Pharloom is all about. This

0:32:31.500,0:32:36.720
cult imprisons spiders, and puts them into[br]a life of servitude creating silk for the

0:32:36.720,0:32:41.820
kingdom. Somehow, this is all maintained through[br]faith and toil, which could be related to

0:32:41.820,0:32:46.900
the cult that has formed around bells. But[br]at some point, this slumber broke, or will

0:32:46.900,0:32:51.530
break, and the beasts, or spiders, are set[br]free.

0:32:51.530,0:32:56.419
But that’s just my interpretation, which[br]really doesn’t make sense, and it also doesn’t

0:32:56.419,0:33:00.520
explain why silk fibers are coming off of[br]everyone. So be sure to let me know what crazy

0:33:00.520,0:33:06.440
theories you guys can come up with in the[br]comments section. And that’s it. The video’s

0:33:06.440,0:33:12.680
done. You can stop making memes about me now.[br]I do have a life outside of Hollow Knight you know.

0:33:12.680,0:33:14.340
Now if you’ll excuse me.