1 00:00:20,789 --> 00:00:23,980 Ladies and gentlemen, Zote the Mighty. 2 00:00:23,980 --> 00:00:27,699 Arguably one of the most complex and developed characters in all of Hollow Knight. 3 00:00:27,699 --> 00:00:34,710 In fact, Zote has more dialogue than any character in the game with over 2600 words of dialogue, 4 00:00:34,710 --> 00:00:37,870 much more than Seer, Lemm or Elderbug. 5 00:00:37,870 --> 00:00:42,690 But despite all of this dialogue, Zote is still one of the biggest mysteries in Hallownest. 6 00:00:42,690 --> 00:00:47,899 Debates over his origins and impact on the story have torn apart friends, families and 7 00:00:47,899 --> 00:00:48,990 redditors alike. 8 00:00:48,990 --> 00:00:51,280 There are so many questions. 9 00:00:51,280 --> 00:00:52,900 Where did Zote come from? 10 00:00:52,900 --> 00:00:53,900 Where is he going? 11 00:00:53,900 --> 00:00:55,729 Who are his parents? 12 00:00:55,729 --> 00:00:57,770 Where was Zote on 9/11? 13 00:00:57,770 --> 00:00:59,790 Why won’t he submit to a polygraph test? 14 00:00:59,790 --> 00:01:00,790 Is he hittin’ thank? 15 00:01:00,790 --> 00:01:04,430 Well, today, we’re going to get to the bottom of these mysteries. 16 00:01:04,430 --> 00:01:08,290 Because what the fuck else would we be doing with our lives? 17 00:01:08,290 --> 00:01:10,360 Zote shows up in the game pretty early. 18 00:01:10,360 --> 00:01:14,690 He is established as a comic relief character, constantly needing the Knight’s help to 19 00:01:14,690 --> 00:01:18,810 save him while also proclaiming that he is a Knight of great renown. 20 00:01:18,810 --> 00:01:23,240 Eventually the Knight fights Zote in the Coliseum of Fools and it’s fucking pathetic. 21 00:01:23,240 --> 00:01:26,010 It’s like shooting a fucking dog, jesus christ. 22 00:01:26,010 --> 00:01:31,490 So yeah, Zote’s a joke, and yet there’s one thing about him that causes a total shit 23 00:01:31,490 --> 00:01:34,330 storm for those of us trying to understand the game’s lore. 24 00:01:34,330 --> 00:01:39,010 Zote looks an awful lot like the Knight, more so than any other NPC in the game. 25 00:01:39,010 --> 00:01:40,160 This is kind of a big deal. 26 00:01:40,160 --> 00:01:44,060 If you don’t know why this is important, I’ll give you a quick run down. 27 00:01:44,060 --> 00:01:48,370 The Knight is basically one of several hundred failed test tube babies created by the King 28 00:01:48,370 --> 00:01:52,240 and Queen of Hallownest in order to stop Mothra from taking over the world, who were then 29 00:01:52,240 --> 00:01:55,150 locked away in the basement because they had too much thought. 30 00:01:55,150 --> 00:02:00,240 So the fact that the Knight has several siblings mixed with its uncanny resemblance to Zote, 31 00:02:00,240 --> 00:02:02,120 has led to some interesting theories. 32 00:02:02,120 --> 00:02:07,080 And the idea that Zote is one of these failed Vessels has been posited by some. 33 00:02:07,080 --> 00:02:10,860 If you go to the Hollow Knight Wiki page, which is where all Hollow Knight lore whores 34 00:02:10,860 --> 00:02:14,760 go to get their information, you can see that a few users have posted the idea. 35 00:02:14,760 --> 00:02:16,680 So I’m not making this shit up. 36 00:02:16,680 --> 00:02:19,390 So yeah, that’s the big question. 37 00:02:19,390 --> 00:02:23,250 Some people think that Zote is one of the Pale King’s failed Vessels who escaped. 38 00:02:23,250 --> 00:02:27,490 And the others say that Zote is completely unrelated to the Pale King’s experiments. 39 00:02:27,490 --> 00:02:28,900 So what’s my shitty opinion? 40 00:02:28,900 --> 00:02:33,669 Well, I think that Zote is probably unrelated to anything involving the Pale King. 41 00:02:33,669 --> 00:02:37,040 The idea that Zote came from the Abyss just doesn’t hold water when we look at all of 42 00:02:37,040 --> 00:02:38,040 his dialogue. 43 00:02:38,040 --> 00:02:42,029 But, in case you didn’t know, I’m the kind of person who pretends to hear both sides 44 00:02:42,029 --> 00:02:46,190 of an argument before continuing to cling to their biased decision, so let’s hear 45 00:02:46,190 --> 00:02:49,090 the evidence for why Zote is a sibling. 46 00:02:49,090 --> 00:02:53,439 Now remember when I said that Zote has the most dialogue out of any NPC in the game? 47 00:02:53,439 --> 00:02:59,050 Well, while that is true, most of his dialogue is completely irrelevant to anything important. 48 00:02:59,050 --> 00:03:03,239 After finishing his sidequests, Zote winds up in Dirtmouth teaching Bretta his Fifty-seven 49 00:03:03,239 --> 00:03:04,499 Precepts. 50 00:03:04,499 --> 00:03:09,220 And most of these Precepts are either common sense or just plain bad advice. 51 00:03:09,220 --> 00:03:13,029 Like Precept Forty-four that says you can’t breathe water. 52 00:03:13,029 --> 00:03:17,439 Or Precept Nineteen that says only to attempt something if you know you will succeed. 53 00:03:17,440 --> 00:03:22,300 Or Precept Thirty-eight that talks about a mysterious force. 54 00:03:22,680 --> 00:03:23,180 Wait, what?! 55 00:03:23,480 --> 00:03:25,360 [X-Files theme intensifies] 56 00:03:30,040 --> 00:03:33,540 But within Zote’s dialogue, we do see a theme begin to emerge. 57 00:03:33,540 --> 00:03:36,080 Basically, Zote has daddy issues. 58 00:03:36,080 --> 00:03:40,320 During the fight in the Colosseum, Zote has Dream Nail dialogue that reads as follows. 59 00:03:40,329 --> 00:03:43,969 “I’ll kill a thousand more...Will that be enough, father?”. 60 00:03:43,969 --> 00:03:46,900 Zote mentions the word “Father” again in Precept Fifty-Two. 61 00:03:46,900 --> 00:03:51,010 The precept is titled “Beware the Jealousy of Fathers”. 62 00:03:51,010 --> 00:03:55,069 Zote explains in the precept that fathers believe that their children must “serve” 63 00:03:55,069 --> 00:03:58,629 them, and that fathers should be either vanquished or abandoned. 64 00:03:58,629 --> 00:04:01,719 The use of the word “serve” here is interesting. 65 00:04:01,719 --> 00:04:05,469 This word appears when the Knight dream nails the molds that were used to make the Pale 66 00:04:05,469 --> 00:04:07,920 King’s void constructs. 67 00:04:07,920 --> 00:04:13,099 Zote also mentions that mothers will always betray you, in Precept Eleven, which is titled 68 00:04:13,099 --> 00:04:15,430 “Mothers Will Always Betray You”. 69 00:04:15,430 --> 00:04:19,549 And we know that the White Lady isn’t exactly proud of her participation in the creation 70 00:04:19,549 --> 00:04:23,740 of the Vessels, maybe because she also views it as a betrayal. 71 00:04:23,740 --> 00:04:26,960 Geez, sounds like Zote had a really bad father. 72 00:04:26,960 --> 00:04:29,280 Hey, you know who was a bad father? 73 00:04:29,280 --> 00:04:30,280 The Pale King! 74 00:04:30,280 --> 00:04:32,620 Zote is the Pale King’s son confirmed! 75 00:04:32,620 --> 00:04:35,070 Well, not so fast. 76 00:04:35,070 --> 00:04:37,410 What about the fact that Zote has a personality? 77 00:04:37,410 --> 00:04:40,910 Aren’t vessels supposed to be completely void of mind or thought? 78 00:04:40,910 --> 00:04:42,290 Isn’t that the whole point? 79 00:04:42,290 --> 00:04:45,230 There are two explanations for this. 80 00:04:45,230 --> 00:04:49,490 The first is that it is possible for siblings to have personalities and voices, since we 81 00:04:49,490 --> 00:04:51,530 know that Hornet is a sibling. 82 00:04:51,530 --> 00:04:55,880 The second argument is that maybe Zote was one of the really early experiments, so the 83 00:04:55,880 --> 00:04:58,520 Pale King didn’t know how to make Vessels that were empty. 84 00:04:58,520 --> 00:05:02,740 So in other words, Zote is just a really fucked up experiment. 85 00:05:02,740 --> 00:05:06,110 Since we don’t know much about the finer details of the Pale King’s experiments, 86 00:05:06,110 --> 00:05:11,300 it’s hard to argue the second point, but the Hornet explanation is on shaky ground. 87 00:05:11,300 --> 00:05:14,970 Hornet was not created with the intention to be used as a Vessel. 88 00:05:14,970 --> 00:05:19,130 She was a gift to Herrah from the Pale King in exchange for her help with combating the 89 00:05:19,130 --> 00:05:20,570 infection. 90 00:05:20,570 --> 00:05:24,070 And no reason is given to explain why Zote would have been created differently from the 91 00:05:24,070 --> 00:05:26,160 rest of the Siblings. 92 00:05:26,160 --> 00:05:29,280 Precept Twenty-Two also fits in nicely with narrative. 93 00:05:29,280 --> 00:05:32,500 Zote mentions that he left his birthplace as soon as he could. 94 00:05:32,500 --> 00:05:36,270 He says not to linger there, since there’s nothing worth staying for. 95 00:05:36,270 --> 00:05:40,030 And I’ll admit, the Abyss doesn’t sound like a very nice place to stay. 96 00:05:40,030 --> 00:05:42,400 There’s also this dialogue from Zote. 97 00:05:42,400 --> 00:05:47,260 He mentions that Dirtmouth is dreary and ghastly, and that it reminds him of “home”. 98 00:05:47,260 --> 00:05:51,260 I think you could interpret this dialogue either way, but I’ll share it here since 99 00:05:51,260 --> 00:05:52,850 it seems relevant. 100 00:05:52,850 --> 00:05:57,010 If this was all the information we had to decide if Zote was a child of the Pale King, 101 00:05:57,010 --> 00:06:00,530 then this theory would actually be pretty plausible. 102 00:06:00,530 --> 00:06:04,480 But once we look at some of Zote’s other dialogue, it becomes difficult to justify 103 00:06:04,480 --> 00:06:05,810 this theory. 104 00:06:05,810 --> 00:06:09,860 Before I get into what I think the biggest issue here is, I’d like to mention a few 105 00:06:09,860 --> 00:06:10,920 things. 106 00:06:10,920 --> 00:06:15,010 The Hunter’s Journal entry for the Broken Vessel mentions that it looks similar to the 107 00:06:15,010 --> 00:06:16,010 bugs of Hallownest. 108 00:06:16,010 --> 00:06:20,210 So, it sounds like the Vessels themselves might not be very unique in terms of their 109 00:06:20,210 --> 00:06:21,300 appearance. 110 00:06:21,300 --> 00:06:24,890 Bugs like Elderbug are probably what the Hunter is referring to. 111 00:06:24,890 --> 00:06:30,510 Elderbug has a shell with features similar to Zote, the most notable one being his mouth. 112 00:06:30,510 --> 00:06:35,480 The Knight, Hornet and the other siblings don’t have mouths, even though Hornet can 113 00:06:35,480 --> 00:06:37,220 still talk? 114 00:06:37,220 --> 00:06:38,020 [X-Files theme intensifies as mossbag realizes that calling Hornet a Vessel doesn’t actually make sense] 115 00:06:38,030 --> 00:06:42,430 So maybe Zote and Elderbug are the same species, and their resemblance to the Siblings is just 116 00:06:42,430 --> 00:06:43,480 a coincidence. 117 00:06:43,480 --> 00:06:47,850 Anyways, here’s the one big problem with Zote being a Sibling who was made from the 118 00:06:47,850 --> 00:06:48,850 Void. 119 00:06:48,850 --> 00:06:52,940 If the player character dream nails Zote once he moves back to Dirtmouth, Zote mentions 120 00:06:52,940 --> 00:06:55,240 that he “came to this kingdom”. 121 00:06:55,240 --> 00:06:59,930 So Zote is not originally from Hallownest, or at least he doesn’t remember being from 122 00:06:59,930 --> 00:07:01,340 Hallownest. 123 00:07:01,340 --> 00:07:04,780 At this point, we’re going to have to talk about the lands beyond Hallownest. 124 00:07:04,780 --> 00:07:10,180 The problem is, we basically know jackshit about the lands beyond Hallownest. 125 00:07:10,180 --> 00:07:13,960 While the player is never able to leave Hallownest during the game, we do get a glimpse into 126 00:07:13,960 --> 00:07:18,020 the outside world, thanks to the Quirrel comic that Team Cherry released to their Kickstarter 127 00:07:18,020 --> 00:07:19,170 backers. 128 00:07:19,170 --> 00:07:23,710 This comic follows Quirrel as he makes his way from the wilderness back into Hallownest. 129 00:07:23,710 --> 00:07:28,330 The comic starts off by establishing that the bugs of the wilderness do not have minds. 130 00:07:28,330 --> 00:07:32,710 They shed their thoughts and chose to rely on instincts as a way to survive. 131 00:07:32,710 --> 00:07:35,940 This jives pretty nicely with the lore tablet that can be found at Howling Cliffs. 132 00:07:35,940 --> 00:07:41,410 During his journey, Quirrel comes across Boon another bug who is able to communicate through 133 00:07:41,410 --> 00:07:42,410 speech. 134 00:07:42,410 --> 00:07:44,731 Quirrel eventually makes it to Hallownest where he is confronted by Hornet. 135 00:07:44,731 --> 00:07:50,000 Hornet tried to murder his ass, but discovers that Quirrel has some pretty serious plot 136 00:07:50,000 --> 00:07:53,390 armor and decides to let him pass into Hallownest. 137 00:07:53,390 --> 00:07:58,720 So what’s going on with this guy? Quirrel was once an assistant to Monomon the Teacher. 138 00:07:58,720 --> 00:08:03,090 Quirrel lived in Hallownest, but eventually left the kingdom for unknown reasons. 139 00:08:03,090 --> 00:08:07,110 But in this comic, as well as during most of the game, Quirrel shows no recollection 140 00:08:07,110 --> 00:08:09,520 of his previous time within the kingdom. 141 00:08:09,520 --> 00:08:11,710 Why was Quirrel’s memory forgotten? 142 00:08:11,710 --> 00:08:15,620 Is it because the sands of the wilderness clouded his mind for so long that it took 143 00:08:15,620 --> 00:08:17,300 him a while to remember? 144 00:08:17,300 --> 00:08:21,470 Does leaving Hallownest cause bugs to lose any memories of life inside the kingdom? 145 00:08:21,470 --> 00:08:25,060 Is Quirrel’s memory loss entirely unrelated to leaving Hallownest? 146 00:08:25,060 --> 00:08:29,010 Well, to better understand this, let’s look at the other bugs who travel to Hallownest 147 00:08:29,010 --> 00:08:30,230 during the game. 148 00:08:30,230 --> 00:08:34,990 Aside from Quirrel and Zote, Tiso, Cloth, Cornifer and Iselda all seem to have ventured 149 00:08:34,990 --> 00:08:37,440 to Hallownest from some other location. 150 00:08:37,440 --> 00:08:40,539 All of these characters seem to have all of their memories intact. 151 00:08:40,539 --> 00:08:44,930 They never suddenly remember things long forgotten, and what they do remember seems to imply that 152 00:08:44,930 --> 00:08:48,480 they have never lost their memories the same way that Quirrel did. 153 00:08:48,480 --> 00:08:52,510 Cloth and Tiso are two other Kickstarter backer characters that the player can interact with 154 00:08:52,510 --> 00:08:53,730 during the game. 155 00:08:53,730 --> 00:08:57,149 Admitly neither character outright claims that they are from beyond Hallownest, but 156 00:08:57,149 --> 00:08:59,189 it’s heavily implied. 157 00:08:59,189 --> 00:09:04,390 Cloth is a cicada-type warrior with a big club who is on a quest to find Nola, a character 158 00:09:04,390 --> 00:09:06,500 that she mentions throughout the game. 159 00:09:06,500 --> 00:09:10,200 Cloth was designed by a Kickstarter backer named Noah Sturtridge. 160 00:09:10,200 --> 00:09:15,160 She was originally a male character named Burlap, who wore a burlap sack on his head. 161 00:09:15,160 --> 00:09:19,069 Team Cherry changed Burlap’s name after they realized that burlap doesn’t exist 162 00:09:19,069 --> 00:09:20,750 in Hallownest. 163 00:09:20,750 --> 00:09:22,290 Not sure why they changed his gender though. 164 00:09:22,290 --> 00:09:25,850 I guess it’s just Team Cherry trying to shove more of their progressive agenda down 165 00:09:25,850 --> 00:09:26,850 our throats. 166 00:09:26,850 --> 00:09:31,540 Tiso was created by Tiso Spencer, and his design is pretty close to what made it into 167 00:09:31,540 --> 00:09:33,120 the final game. 168 00:09:33,120 --> 00:09:36,879 In the Team Cherry post that revealed Tiso, it was mentioned that his story would have 169 00:09:36,879 --> 00:09:42,050 an interesting conclusion, and well… he dies offscreen. 170 00:09:42,050 --> 00:09:46,019 Tiso travels to Hallownest because he wants to fight in the Colosseum of Fools, which 171 00:09:46,019 --> 00:09:47,570 he has heard rumors about. 172 00:09:47,570 --> 00:09:51,620 Tiso’s knowledge of the Colosseum of Fools and Cloth’s memory of her friend shows that 173 00:09:51,620 --> 00:09:54,670 these characters still have their memories. 174 00:09:54,670 --> 00:09:56,809 Then there’s Iselda and Cornifer. 175 00:09:56,809 --> 00:10:00,449 Cornifer mentions that he moved to Dirtmouth as soon as he could, after he had heard about 176 00:10:00,449 --> 00:10:02,279 the Kingdom of Hallownest. 177 00:10:02,279 --> 00:10:06,339 You know, this being Cornifer’s kingdom to map does explain why the map of Hallownest 178 00:10:06,339 --> 00:10:09,769 he draws is so fucking shitty, but that’s beside the point. 179 00:10:09,769 --> 00:10:14,940 Iselda also mentions that she used to be a fighter, but gave it up to be with Corny. 180 00:10:14,940 --> 00:10:18,199 But this dialogue might be hinting at a future Iselda boss fight. 181 00:10:18,199 --> 00:10:22,999 But anyway, the point is, these two bugs must have lived somewhere beyond Hallownest before 182 00:10:22,999 --> 00:10:23,999 the start of the game 183 00:10:23,999 --> 00:10:27,579 So yeah, there are examples of intelligent bugs beyond Hallownest. 184 00:10:27,579 --> 00:10:33,259 As for Quirrel, the best we can say is that he originated from Hallownest, lost his memory 185 00:10:33,259 --> 00:10:36,850 and his time back in Hallownest helped him recover his memory. 186 00:10:36,850 --> 00:10:38,709 So, where does that leave Zote? 187 00:10:38,709 --> 00:10:41,930 Is he like Quirrel, or is he like the others? 188 00:10:41,930 --> 00:10:46,399 If he was from Hallownest before and lost his memory, why does he not remember anything 189 00:10:46,399 --> 00:10:48,449 about Hallownest during his quest? 190 00:10:48,449 --> 00:10:51,449 Is it because he’s not as inquisitive as Quirrel? 191 00:10:51,449 --> 00:10:55,689 Maybe, but doesn’t it seem more likely that Zote is just from a different part of the 192 00:10:55,689 --> 00:10:56,689 world? 193 00:10:56,689 --> 00:11:00,899 Zote has specific memories about his past, just like Iselda and the other travelers. 194 00:11:00,899 --> 00:11:05,810 There isn’t any evidence that Zote has lost his memories, and he doesn’t act like he 195 00:11:05,810 --> 00:11:08,100 has ever been to Hallownest before. 196 00:11:08,100 --> 00:11:13,490 So yeah, this “I came to this kingdom” comment is the nail in the coffin for me. 197 00:11:13,490 --> 00:11:17,839 So why include all this dialogue about Zote’s father if there’s no connection between 198 00:11:17,839 --> 00:11:18,839 Zote and the Pale King? 199 00:11:18,839 --> 00:11:22,439 Does Team Cherry just like getting their jimmies off to pissing of their fans and making them 200 00:11:22,439 --> 00:11:23,730 confused as hell? 201 00:11:23,730 --> 00:11:28,279 Well, it might have been included as just another way to contrast Zote and the Knight. 202 00:11:28,279 --> 00:11:31,300 While they both have fathers who probably aren’t going to be getting any “World’s 203 00:11:31,300 --> 00:11:36,470 Best Dad” mugs at Christmas,the Knight continues with its quest regardless, while Zote rejects 204 00:11:36,470 --> 00:11:39,089 his family and lives a life of self absorption. 205 00:11:39,089 --> 00:11:43,199 So yeah, I think that pretty much sums up what we know about Zote. 206 00:11:43,199 --> 00:11:47,559 If I missed anything, which I definitely did, someone will eventually come along and set 207 00:11:47,559 --> 00:11:50,379 the record straight in the comments, so go check those out. 208 00:11:50,379 --> 00:11:53,869 And like I said before this is just my interpretation of the evidence. 209 00:11:53,869 --> 00:11:57,329 It’s definitely one of those things in the Hollow Knight lore that Team Cherry could 210 00:11:57,329 --> 00:12:01,120 definitely change by adding more stuff in through a content pack. 211 00:12:01,120 --> 00:12:05,800 And who knows, maybe one day we’ll get a Zote DLC, and my life will finally have meaning 212 00:12:05,800 --> 00:12:06,300 again.