WEBVTT 00:00:20.789 --> 00:00:23.980 Ladies and gentlemen, Zote the Mighty. 00:00:23.980 --> 00:00:27.699 Arguably one of the most complex and developed characters in all of Hollow Knight. 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, 00:00:34.710 --> 00:00:37.870 much more than Seer, Lemm or Elderbug. 00:00:37.870 --> 00:00:42.690 But despite all of this dialogue, Zote is still one of the biggest mysteries in Hallownest. 00:00:42.690 --> 00:00:47.899 Debates over his origins and impact on the story have torn apart friends, families and 00:00:47.899 --> 00:00:48.990 redditors alike. 00:00:48.990 --> 00:00:51.280 There are so many questions. 00:00:51.280 --> 00:00:52.900 Where did Zote come from? 00:00:52.900 --> 00:00:53.900 Where is he going? 00:00:53.900 --> 00:00:55.729 Who are his parents? 00:00:55.729 --> 00:00:57.770 Where was Zote on 9/11? 00:00:57.770 --> 00:00:59.790 Why won’t he submit to a polygraph test? 00:00:59.790 --> 00:01:00.790 Is he hittin’ thank? 00:01:00.790 --> 00:01:04.430 Well, today, we’re going to get to the bottom of these mysteries. 00:01:04.430 --> 00:01:08.290 Because what the fuck else would we be doing with our lives? 00:01:08.290 --> 00:01:10.360 Zote shows up in the game pretty early. 00:01:10.360 --> 00:01:14.690 He is established as a comic relief character, constantly needing the Knight’s help to 00:01:14.690 --> 00:01:18.810 save him while also proclaiming that he is a Knight of great renown. 00:01:18.810 --> 00:01:23.240 Eventually the Knight fights Zote in the Coliseum of Fools and it’s fucking pathetic. 00:01:23.240 --> 00:01:26.010 It’s like shooting a fucking dog, jesus christ. 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 00:01:31.490 --> 00:01:34.330 storm for those of us trying to understand the game’s lore. 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. 00:01:39.010 --> 00:01:40.160 This is kind of a big deal. 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. 00:01:44.060 --> 00:01:48.370 The Knight is basically one of several hundred failed test tube babies created by the King 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 00:01:52.240 --> 00:01:55.150 locked away in the basement because they had too much thought. 00:01:55.150 --> 00:02:00.240 So the fact that the Knight has several siblings mixed with its uncanny resemblance to Zote, 00:02:00.240 --> 00:02:02.120 has led to some interesting theories. 00:02:02.120 --> 00:02:07.080 And the idea that Zote is one of these failed Vessels has been posited by some. 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 00:02:10.860 --> 00:02:14.760 go to get their information, you can see that a few users have posted the idea. 00:02:14.760 --> 00:02:16.680 So I’m not making this shit up. 00:02:16.680 --> 00:02:19.390 So yeah, that’s the big question. 00:02:19.390 --> 00:02:23.250 Some people think that Zote is one of the Pale King’s failed Vessels who escaped. 00:02:23.250 --> 00:02:27.490 And the others say that Zote is completely unrelated to the Pale King’s experiments. 00:02:27.490 --> 00:02:28.900 So what’s my shitty opinion? 00:02:28.900 --> 00:02:33.669 Well, I think that Zote is probably unrelated to anything involving the Pale King. 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 00:02:37.040 --> 00:02:38.040 his dialogue. 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 00:02:42.029 --> 00:02:46.190 of an argument before continuing to cling to their biased decision, so let’s hear 00:02:46.190 --> 00:02:49.090 the evidence for why Zote is a sibling. 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? 00:02:53.439 --> 00:02:59.050 Well, while that is true, most of his dialogue is completely irrelevant to anything important. 00:02:59.050 --> 00:03:03.239 After finishing his sidequests, Zote winds up in Dirtmouth teaching Bretta his Fifty-seven 00:03:03.239 --> 00:03:04.499 Precepts. 00:03:04.499 --> 00:03:09.220 And most of these Precepts are either common sense or just plain bad advice. 00:03:09.220 --> 00:03:13.029 Like Precept Forty-four that says you can’t breathe water. 00:03:13.029 --> 00:03:17.439 Or Precept Nineteen that says only to attempt something if you know you will succeed. 00:03:17.440 --> 00:03:22.300 Or Precept Thirty-eight that talks about a mysterious force. 00:03:22.680 --> 00:03:23.180 Wait, what?! 00:03:23.480 --> 00:03:25.360 [X-Files theme intensifies] 00:03:30.040 --> 00:03:33.540 But within Zote’s dialogue, we do see a theme begin to emerge. 00:03:33.540 --> 00:03:36.080 Basically, Zote has daddy issues. 00:03:36.080 --> 00:03:40.320 During the fight in the Colosseum, Zote has Dream Nail dialogue that reads as follows. 00:03:40.329 --> 00:03:43.969 “I’ll kill a thousand more...Will that be enough, father?”. 00:03:43.969 --> 00:03:46.900 Zote mentions the word “Father” again in Precept Fifty-Two. 00:03:46.900 --> 00:03:51.010 The precept is titled “Beware the Jealousy of Fathers”. 00:03:51.010 --> 00:03:55.069 Zote explains in the precept that fathers believe that their children must “serve” 00:03:55.069 --> 00:03:58.629 them, and that fathers should be either vanquished or abandoned. 00:03:58.629 --> 00:04:01.719 The use of the word “serve” here is interesting. 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 00:04:05.469 --> 00:04:07.920 King’s void constructs. 00:04:07.920 --> 00:04:13.099 Zote also mentions that mothers will always betray you, in Precept Eleven, which is titled 00:04:13.099 --> 00:04:15.430 “Mothers Will Always Betray You”. 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 00:04:19.549 --> 00:04:23.740 of the Vessels, maybe because she also views it as a betrayal. 00:04:23.740 --> 00:04:26.960 Geez, sounds like Zote had a really bad father. 00:04:26.960 --> 00:04:29.280 Hey, you know who was a bad father? 00:04:29.280 --> 00:04:30.280 The Pale King! 00:04:30.280 --> 00:04:32.620 Zote is the Pale King’s son confirmed! 00:04:32.620 --> 00:04:35.070 Well, not so fast. 00:04:35.070 --> 00:04:37.410 What about the fact that Zote has a personality? 00:04:37.410 --> 00:04:40.910 Aren’t vessels supposed to be completely void of mind or thought? 00:04:40.910 --> 00:04:42.290 Isn’t that the whole point? 00:04:42.290 --> 00:04:45.230 There are two explanations for this. 00:04:45.230 --> 00:04:49.490 The first is that it is possible for siblings to have personalities and voices, since we 00:04:49.490 --> 00:04:51.530 know that Hornet is a sibling. 00:04:51.530 --> 00:04:55.880 The second argument is that maybe Zote was one of the really early experiments, so the 00:04:55.880 --> 00:04:58.520 Pale King didn’t know how to make Vessels that were empty. 00:04:58.520 --> 00:05:02.740 So in other words, Zote is just a really fucked up experiment. 00:05:02.740 --> 00:05:06.110 Since we don’t know much about the finer details of the Pale King’s experiments, 00:05:06.110 --> 00:05:11.300 it’s hard to argue the second point, but the Hornet explanation is on shaky ground. 00:05:11.300 --> 00:05:14.970 Hornet was not created with the intention to be used as a Vessel. 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 00:05:19.130 --> 00:05:20.570 infection. 00:05:20.570 --> 00:05:24.070 And no reason is given to explain why Zote would have been created differently from the 00:05:24.070 --> 00:05:26.160 rest of the Siblings. 00:05:26.160 --> 00:05:29.280 Precept Twenty-Two also fits in nicely with narrative. 00:05:29.280 --> 00:05:32.500 Zote mentions that he left his birthplace as soon as he could. 00:05:32.500 --> 00:05:36.270 He says not to linger there, since there’s nothing worth staying for. 00:05:36.270 --> 00:05:40.030 And I’ll admit, the Abyss doesn’t sound like a very nice place to stay. 00:05:40.030 --> 00:05:42.400 There’s also this dialogue from Zote. 00:05:42.400 --> 00:05:47.260 He mentions that Dirtmouth is dreary and ghastly, and that it reminds him of “home”. 00:05:47.260 --> 00:05:51.260 I think you could interpret this dialogue either way, but I’ll share it here since 00:05:51.260 --> 00:05:52.850 it seems relevant. 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, 00:05:57.010 --> 00:06:00.530 then this theory would actually be pretty plausible. 00:06:00.530 --> 00:06:04.480 But once we look at some of Zote’s other dialogue, it becomes difficult to justify 00:06:04.480 --> 00:06:05.810 this theory. 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 00:06:09.860 --> 00:06:10.920 things. 00:06:10.920 --> 00:06:15.010 The Hunter’s Journal entry for the Broken Vessel mentions that it looks similar to the 00:06:15.010 --> 00:06:16.010 bugs of Hallownest. 00:06:16.010 --> 00:06:20.210 So, it sounds like the Vessels themselves might not be very unique in terms of their 00:06:20.210 --> 00:06:21.300 appearance. 00:06:21.300 --> 00:06:24.890 Bugs like Elderbug are probably what the Hunter is referring to. 00:06:24.890 --> 00:06:30.510 Elderbug has a shell with features similar to Zote, the most notable one being his mouth. 00:06:30.510 --> 00:06:35.480 The Knight, Hornet and the other siblings don’t have mouths, even though Hornet can 00:06:35.480 --> 00:06:37.220 still talk? 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] 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 00:06:42.430 --> 00:06:43.480 a coincidence. 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 00:06:47.850 --> 00:06:48.850 Void. 00:06:48.850 --> 00:06:52.940 If the player character dream nails Zote once he moves back to Dirtmouth, Zote mentions 00:06:52.940 --> 00:06:55.240 that he “came to this kingdom”. 00:06:55.240 --> 00:06:59.930 So Zote is not originally from Hallownest, or at least he doesn’t remember being from 00:06:59.930 --> 00:07:01.340 Hallownest. 00:07:01.340 --> 00:07:04.780 At this point, we’re going to have to talk about the lands beyond Hallownest. 00:07:04.780 --> 00:07:10.180 The problem is, we basically know jackshit about the lands beyond Hallownest. 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 00:07:13.960 --> 00:07:18.020 the outside world, thanks to the Quirrel comic that Team Cherry released to their Kickstarter 00:07:18.020 --> 00:07:19.170 backers. 00:07:19.170 --> 00:07:23.710 This comic follows Quirrel as he makes his way from the wilderness back into Hallownest. 00:07:23.710 --> 00:07:28.330 The comic starts off by establishing that the bugs of the wilderness do not have minds. 00:07:28.330 --> 00:07:32.710 They shed their thoughts and chose to rely on instincts as a way to survive. 00:07:32.710 --> 00:07:35.940 This jives pretty nicely with the lore tablet that can be found at Howling Cliffs. 00:07:35.940 --> 00:07:41.410 During his journey, Quirrel comes across Boon another bug who is able to communicate through 00:07:41.410 --> 00:07:42.410 speech. 00:07:42.410 --> 00:07:44.731 Quirrel eventually makes it to Hallownest where he is confronted by Hornet. 00:07:44.731 --> 00:07:50.000 Hornet tried to murder his ass, but discovers that Quirrel has some pretty serious plot 00:07:50.000 --> 00:07:53.390 armor and decides to let him pass into Hallownest. 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. 00:07:58.720 --> 00:08:03.090 Quirrel lived in Hallownest, but eventually left the kingdom for unknown reasons. 00:08:03.090 --> 00:08:07.110 But in this comic, as well as during most of the game, Quirrel shows no recollection 00:08:07.110 --> 00:08:09.520 of his previous time within the kingdom. 00:08:09.520 --> 00:08:11.710 Why was Quirrel’s memory forgotten? 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 00:08:15.620 --> 00:08:17.300 him a while to remember? 00:08:17.300 --> 00:08:21.470 Does leaving Hallownest cause bugs to lose any memories of life inside the kingdom? 00:08:21.470 --> 00:08:25.060 Is Quirrel’s memory loss entirely unrelated to leaving Hallownest? 00:08:25.060 --> 00:08:29.010 Well, to better understand this, let’s look at the other bugs who travel to Hallownest 00:08:29.010 --> 00:08:30.230 during the game. 00:08:30.230 --> 00:08:34.990 Aside from Quirrel and Zote, Tiso, Cloth, Cornifer and Iselda all seem to have ventured 00:08:34.990 --> 00:08:37.440 to Hallownest from some other location. 00:08:37.440 --> 00:08:40.539 All of these characters seem to have all of their memories intact. 00:08:40.539 --> 00:08:44.930 They never suddenly remember things long forgotten, and what they do remember seems to imply that 00:08:44.930 --> 00:08:48.480 they have never lost their memories the same way that Quirrel did. 00:08:48.480 --> 00:08:52.510 Cloth and Tiso are two other Kickstarter backer characters that the player can interact with 00:08:52.510 --> 00:08:53.730 during the game. 00:08:53.730 --> 00:08:57.149 Admitly neither character outright claims that they are from beyond Hallownest, but 00:08:57.149 --> 00:08:59.189 it’s heavily implied. 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 00:09:04.390 --> 00:09:06.500 that she mentions throughout the game. 00:09:06.500 --> 00:09:10.200 Cloth was designed by a Kickstarter backer named Noah Sturtridge. 00:09:10.200 --> 00:09:15.160 She was originally a male character named Burlap, who wore a burlap sack on his head. 00:09:15.160 --> 00:09:19.069 Team Cherry changed Burlap’s name after they realized that burlap doesn’t exist 00:09:19.069 --> 00:09:20.750 in Hallownest. 00:09:20.750 --> 00:09:22.290 Not sure why they changed his gender though. 00:09:22.290 --> 00:09:25.850 I guess it’s just Team Cherry trying to shove more of their progressive agenda down 00:09:25.850 --> 00:09:26.850 our throats. 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 00:09:31.540 --> 00:09:33.120 the final game. 00:09:33.120 --> 00:09:36.879 In the Team Cherry post that revealed Tiso, it was mentioned that his story would have 00:09:36.879 --> 00:09:42.050 an interesting conclusion, and well… he dies offscreen. 00:09:42.050 --> 00:09:46.019 Tiso travels to Hallownest because he wants to fight in the Colosseum of Fools, which 00:09:46.019 --> 00:09:47.570 he has heard rumors about. 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 00:09:51.620 --> 00:09:54.670 these characters still have their memories. 00:09:54.670 --> 00:09:56.809 Then there’s Iselda and Cornifer. 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 00:10:00.449 --> 00:10:02.279 the Kingdom of Hallownest. 00:10:02.279 --> 00:10:06.339 You know, this being Cornifer’s kingdom to map does explain why the map of Hallownest 00:10:06.339 --> 00:10:09.769 he draws is so fucking shitty, but that’s beside the point. 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. 00:10:14.940 --> 00:10:18.199 But this dialogue might be hinting at a future Iselda boss fight. 00:10:18.199 --> 00:10:22.999 But anyway, the point is, these two bugs must have lived somewhere beyond Hallownest before 00:10:22.999 --> 00:10:23.999 the start of the game 00:10:23.999 --> 00:10:27.579 So yeah, there are examples of intelligent bugs beyond Hallownest. 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 00:10:33.259 --> 00:10:36.850 and his time back in Hallownest helped him recover his memory. 00:10:36.850 --> 00:10:38.709 So, where does that leave Zote? 00:10:38.709 --> 00:10:41.930 Is he like Quirrel, or is he like the others? 00:10:41.930 --> 00:10:46.399 If he was from Hallownest before and lost his memory, why does he not remember anything 00:10:46.399 --> 00:10:48.449 about Hallownest during his quest? 00:10:48.449 --> 00:10:51.449 Is it because he’s not as inquisitive as Quirrel? 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 00:10:55.689 --> 00:10:56.689 world? 00:10:56.689 --> 00:11:00.899 Zote has specific memories about his past, just like Iselda and the other travelers. 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 00:11:05.810 --> 00:11:08.100 has ever been to Hallownest before. 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. 00:11:13.490 --> 00:11:17.839 So why include all this dialogue about Zote’s father if there’s no connection between 00:11:17.839 --> 00:11:18.839 Zote and the Pale King? 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 00:11:22.439 --> 00:11:23.730 confused as hell? 00:11:23.730 --> 00:11:28.279 Well, it might have been included as just another way to contrast Zote and the Knight. 00:11:28.279 --> 00:11:31.300 While they both have fathers who probably aren’t going to be getting any “World’s 00:11:31.300 --> 00:11:36.470 Best Dad” mugs at Christmas,the Knight continues with its quest regardless, while Zote rejects 00:11:36.470 --> 00:11:39.089 his family and lives a life of self absorption. 00:11:39.089 --> 00:11:43.199 So yeah, I think that pretty much sums up what we know about Zote. 00:11:43.199 --> 00:11:47.559 If I missed anything, which I definitely did, someone will eventually come along and set 00:11:47.559 --> 00:11:50.379 the record straight in the comments, so go check those out. 00:11:50.379 --> 00:11:53.869 And like I said before this is just my interpretation of the evidence. 00:11:53.869 --> 00:11:57.329 It’s definitely one of those things in the Hollow Knight lore that Team Cherry could 00:11:57.329 --> 00:12:01.120 definitely change by adding more stuff in through a content pack. 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 00:12:05.800 --> 00:12:06.300 again.