0:00:10.809,0:00:15.660
I recently posted a poll here on YouTube asking[br]whether or not Hornet was made of Void.

0:00:15.660,0:00:17.810
And 60% of you said “yes”.

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So today, I am going to explain why 60% of[br]you are completely fucking wrong.

0:00:21.980,0:00:24.910
Now, I don’t blame anybody for thinking[br]this.

0:00:24.910,0:00:28.710
In fact, in my Zote video, I flat out said[br]that Hornet was made of Void.

0:00:28.710,0:00:32.830
Let this be a reminder that any Hollow Knight[br]lore video you watch on YouTube is probably

0:00:32.830,0:00:36.520
going to have missing evidence or a few flawed[br]conclusions.

0:00:36.520,0:00:38.570
This shit can get fucking confusing.

0:00:38.570,0:00:41.040
So please don’t take anything I say as gospel.

0:00:41.040,0:00:47.839
That being said, Hornet is 100%, definitely,[br]irrefutably not made of Void.

0:00:47.839,0:00:51.600
This issue has caused so much debate that[br]it’s starting to turn into a meme.

0:00:51.600,0:00:55.890
So just call me “Pewdiepie” because it’s[br]time for this meme to die.

0:00:55.890,0:01:00.430
Let’s start off with the most obvious observation[br]that might lead one to think that Hornet is

0:01:00.430,0:01:01.430
made of Void.

0:01:01.430,0:01:02.540
She’s black.

0:01:02.540,0:01:03.400
“THAT’S RACIST!”

0:01:03.400,0:01:06.620
But this doesn’t actually prove much of[br]anything.

0:01:06.620,0:01:10.740
Several characters in Hallownest have black[br]portions of their bodies, so to just say that

0:01:10.740,0:01:13.549
they are all made of Void might be a bit drastic.

0:01:13.549,0:01:16.010
We need more concrete proof.

0:01:16.010,0:01:20.310
Another characteristic worth pointing out[br]is that Hornet’s shell does not have a mouth.

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This is a feature she shares with the Vessels,[br]beings we know are composed of Void.

0:01:24.770,0:01:30.009
But while their shells do share this design,[br]it isn’t because of a relation to the Void,

0:01:30.009,0:01:34.249
but a relation to the Pale King, who is also[br]lacking a mouth.

0:01:34.249,0:01:39.249
Hornet, the Knight, the Hollow Knight and[br]the Vessels are all children of the Pale King.

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Yeah, this guy fucks.

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But there’s a lot to unpack here, so I’m[br]just going to start off by explaining why

0:01:44.659,0:01:47.579
Hornet is the Pale King’s biological daughter.

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In Deepnest, Hornet tells us that Herrah is[br]her mother.

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She says:

0:01:51.950,0:01:55.600
“We do not choose our mothers, or the circumstance[br]into which we are born.

0:01:55.600,0:01:59.869
Despite all the ills of this world, I'm thankful[br]for the life she granted me.”

0:01:59.869,0:02:04.789
The phrase “life she granted me” shows[br]that Herrah was directly involved with Hornet’s

0:02:04.789,0:02:05.789
birth.

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There is more evidence for this thanks to[br]Midwife, in that her name is literally Midwife.

0:02:10.660,0:02:14.260
A midwife is someone who helps a mother through[br]childbirth.

0:02:14.260,0:02:18.580
So it’s safe to say that Midwife was Herrah’s[br]actual midwife during Hornet’s birth.

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It’s a little on the nose for Team Cherry,[br]but I’m not going to complain.

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In fact I wish more characters had names more[br]closely tied to their character arcs.

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The White Lady also has dialogue confirming[br]Hornet’s origins.

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She says that Hornet has the striking reflection[br]of her mother.

0:02:32.900,0:02:37.680
Hornet and Herrah do share the same shape[br]for their heads, showing a connection, but

0:02:37.680,0:02:39.650
“striking reflection” might be a bit of[br]a stretch.

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You gotta remember that the White Lady is[br]blind.

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The White Lady also points us to who Hornet’s[br]father is.

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She says:

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“I never begrudged the Wyrm's dalliance[br]as bargain.

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In fact, I feel some affection for the creature[br]birthed.”

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The White Lady’s dialogue here is a bit[br]archaic.

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She is basically saying she was okay being[br]cucked by the Pale King, and that she has

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affection for Hornet despite Hornet not being[br]her own child.

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The word “dalliance” here is what proves[br]all of this.

0:03:06.170,0:03:10.829
A dalliance means “a casual romantic or[br]sexual relationship”.

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And I doubt that the Pale King was having[br]a romantic relationship with Herrah, since

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he’s like a fucking God and she is just[br]a common beast.

0:03:18.040,0:03:22.590
I don’t know if you’ve ever read any Greek[br]mythology, but let’s just say Zeus wasn’t

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exactly taking any of the humans out to Olive[br]Garden.

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There is also this line from Midwife that[br]emphasizes Hornet’s connection to the Pale

0:03:29.030,0:03:30.050
King.

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When talking about Hornet, she says:

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“Pale gift to the Nest and the Beast, fair[br]trade for sacrifice made.”

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She calls Hornet “pale”, a word usually[br]tied to the Pale King, or sometimes just Higher

0:03:42.489,0:03:43.970
Beings in general.

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The Pale Ore is used to forge strong weapons.

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Also, in a Reddit AMA, Ari Gibson said that[br]the Pale Ores are related to the Pale Beings.

0:03:52.670,0:03:55.010
Godseeker refers to the White Lady as “pale[br]mother”.

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There is also the delicate flower.

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It is described as having a pale glow, but[br]we don’t know if it is tied to the Pale

0:04:01.030,0:04:02.530
King in any way.

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Regardless, this pale attribute Hornet has,[br]along with her visual similarities, all point

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to her being the biological child of the Pale[br]King.

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I think some of the confusion here is that[br]Hornet is constantly referred to as a gift.

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This sort of implies that Hornet was given[br]to Herrah after she was already created.

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But I think this is just saying that the Pale[br]King’s gift is… you know… his dick.

0:04:26.310,0:04:29.699
Going back to the White Lady’s line “I[br]never begrudged the Wyrm’s dalliance as

0:04:29.699,0:04:30.860
bargain.”

0:04:30.860,0:04:35.100
The phrasing here implies that it was the[br]dalliance that was bargained, not the actual

0:04:35.100,0:04:36.600
child.

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So in other words, the Pale King was offering[br]sexual activity in exchange for payment in

0:04:40.930,0:04:42.940
the form of Herrah’s help.

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Unfortunately, whenever one topic of Hollow[br]Knight lore comes up, it ends up being tied

0:04:46.940,0:04:48.810
to another topic.

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In this case, since we’re talking about[br]Hornet’s birth, it would be worth talking

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about how the Vessels were created.

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So let’s turn our attention to the other[br]side of the Pale King’s family tree: the

0:04:58.410,0:05:01.240
family he created with a literal tree.

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We know that the Vessels, or at least the[br]creatures that became the Vessels, were born

0:05:05.810,0:05:07.370
in the Abyss.

0:05:07.370,0:05:10.680
We have the Pale King’s dialogue where he[br]says that the Hollow Knight was “Born of

0:05:10.680,0:05:12.340
God and Void”.

0:05:12.340,0:05:16.090
Hornet calls the Hollow Knight “our birth[br]cursed sibling".

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Note that Hornet says “our” here because[br]she shares a relation to the Vessels through

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the Pale King.

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It doesn’t have anything to do with Void.

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The lore tablet in the Pale King’s throne[br]room also mentions a cursed progeny, or a

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cursed offspring.

0:05:29.080,0:05:33.300
The Kingsoul charm description says it opens[br]the way to a birthplace, which is located

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in the Abyss.

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Finally we also have the words of the White[br]Lady.

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If you talk to her while wearing the Kingsoul[br]she will say:

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“If its curiosity wills it, it should seek[br]out that place.

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That place where it was born, where it died,[br]where it began...”

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She then also calls the Knight her spawn when[br]talking about Grimm.

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And then there is also her dialogue where[br]she admits her shame in participating in a

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deed and implying that this deed had to do[br]with propagating herself, or in other words,

0:06:02.330,0:06:03.330
breeding.

0:06:03.330,0:06:06.740
From the lore tablet in the Ancient Basin,[br]it seems pretty obvious that this shameful

0:06:06.740,0:06:09.740
deed was the creation of the Vessels.

0:06:09.740,0:06:13.099
All of this evidence proves that the Pale[br]King’s and White Lady’s children were

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born in the darkness, but the White Lady also[br]says that the Abyss is where they died.

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Also, Hornet calls the Knight “ghost”[br]multiple times throughout the game.

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This “death” probably occurred when the[br]Void became a part of the Vessel’s bodies.

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But how did this happen?

0:06:29.080,0:06:34.199
There are several eggs in the Abyss, one of[br]which is completely black with void tentacles

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connected to it.

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Did the Void fuse into the egg before birth?

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Or did the Void enter the bodies after they[br]were born?

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Or maybe after they died.

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I don’t think it matters too much how this[br]happened, just that it did happen.

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There is evidence to support the idea that[br]Void is capable of combining with living creatures.

0:06:53.300,0:06:56.410
We have the royal husk in the Queen’s Garden.

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Its Dream Nail dialogue reads:

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“Too long spent together.

0:06:59.810,0:07:01.750
We become as one.”

0:07:01.750,0:07:06.449
This bug is found holding the Love Key, which[br]is used to enter the Tower of Lover, where

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the Collector is located.

0:07:08.170,0:07:11.710
I think this Dream Nail dialogue is saying[br]that this husk gazed into the Collector so

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long that the Void within the Collector gazed[br]back into him, resulting in the Void we see

0:07:16.789,0:07:18.789
around the husk’s corpse.

0:07:18.789,0:07:23.630
So what does this tell us other than that[br]Team Cherry are big fans of Nietzsche?

0:07:23.630,0:07:27.830
Well the phrase “become as one” hints[br]at the possibility for living creatures and

0:07:27.830,0:07:30.150
Void to combine in some way.

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Now let’s take a minute to talk about the[br]idea that the Vessels are the artificial creations

0:07:34.940,0:07:36.490
of the Pale King.

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We know that the Pale King is capable of making[br]such things, given the Kingsmoulds and the

0:07:40.740,0:07:42.150
Wingsmoulds.

0:07:42.150,0:07:46.350
But for the Vessels to be constructs, we have[br]to completely ignore all of the evidence I

0:07:46.350,0:07:50.830
just presented, and there is more evidence[br]to counter this view.

0:07:50.830,0:07:54.729
Why is there so much regret involved in the[br]creation of the Vessels if they were just

0:07:54.729,0:07:56.110
constructs?

0:07:56.110,0:07:59.180
Why all the mentions of children and progeny?

0:07:59.180,0:08:03.460
If the Pale King built these things in his[br]workshop, where did the shells come from?

0:08:03.460,0:08:06.069
There isn’t any explanation for how they[br]got made.

0:08:06.069,0:08:10.919
Also, the Dung Defender was surprised to see[br]the Knight, proving that he thought only one

0:08:10.919,0:08:13.770
Vessel existed, the Hollow Knight.

0:08:13.770,0:08:18.030
This is just speculation, but judging from[br]the thousands of shells found in the Abyss,

0:08:18.030,0:08:22.240
it seems unlikely that the Pale King would[br]have been able to create all of these Vessels

0:08:22.240,0:08:26.270
and transport them to the Abyss without one[br]of the most loyal members of his Pale Court

0:08:26.270,0:08:27.520
finding out.

0:08:27.520,0:08:32.320
Alright, let’s summarize the nature of the[br]Vessels and why Hornet is most likely not

0:08:32.320,0:08:33.610
one of them.

0:08:33.610,0:08:37.070
The Vessels are the spawn of the Pale King[br]and the White Lady.

0:08:37.070,0:08:41.200
The eggs they were born from were placed in[br]the Abyss, resulting in their bodies becoming

0:08:41.200,0:08:44.099
hollowed out and replaced by the Void.

0:08:44.099,0:08:48.290
They consist of an outer shell created by[br]the Pale King and the White Lady, as well

0:08:48.290,0:08:51.180
as an inner shade, composed of Void.

0:08:51.180,0:08:53.769
Hench the phrase “Born of God and Void”.

0:08:53.769,0:08:58.480
So the creation of all of the Pale King’s[br]offspring involved the act of dirty, possibly

0:08:58.480,0:09:00.110
kinky, bug sex.

0:09:00.110,0:09:04.450
The Pale King didn’t artificially create[br]any of his children, so he doesn’t actually

0:09:04.450,0:09:07.430
need Void in order to create a child.

0:09:07.430,0:09:10.020
So why would Hornet have any Void in her?

0:09:10.020,0:09:13.660
There is no need to drop an egg of Hornet[br]into the Abyss, since she was not going to

0:09:13.660,0:09:15.410
be used as a Vessel.

0:09:15.410,0:09:19.000
The fact that she is the only child of the[br]Pale King not to be placed in the Abyss is

0:09:19.000,0:09:21.580
what grants her the name “the Gendered Child”.

0:09:21.580,0:09:26.010
When the Vessels were consumed by the Void[br]and turned into “ghosts” as Hornet puts

0:09:26.010,0:09:28.209
it, they lost their gender.

0:09:28.209,0:09:32.720
On top of that, there is strong evidence to[br]support the idea that Hornet was born in Deepnest,

0:09:32.720,0:09:34.220
not the Abyss.

0:09:34.220,0:09:37.850
When talking to Hornet at the top of the Abyss[br]she says this:

0:09:37.850,0:09:38.850
“Ghost.

0:09:38.850,0:09:41.579
I see you've faced the place of your birth...”

0:09:41.579,0:09:44.880
Notice that Hornet says “your birth”,[br]not “our birth”.

0:09:44.880,0:09:49.080
And, like I mentioned earlier we have the[br]guy from “Spirited Away” which implies

0:09:49.080,0:09:50.460
Hornet was born in Deepnest.

0:09:50.460,0:09:55.339
Now let’s jump into one of the most interesting[br]lines used by both sides of the Hornet is

0:09:55.339,0:09:56.980
Void debate.

0:09:56.980,0:09:57.980
Hornet says:

0:09:57.980,0:10:02.760
“Though our strength is born of similar[br]source, that part of you, that crucial emptiness,

0:10:02.760,0:10:04.940
I do not share.”

0:10:04.940,0:10:08.930
So if you were to argue that Hornet is Void,[br]you would say that the “similar source”

0:10:08.930,0:10:14.420
is the Void but that the “crucial emptiness”[br]is being a truly hollow Vessel.

0:10:14.420,0:10:19.180
We have evidence that creatures made of Void[br]have the potential to have thoughts and feelings,

0:10:19.180,0:10:22.579
from both the Collector and the fact that[br]the Hollow Knight was imperfect.

0:10:22.579,0:10:26.399
But this line can also be interpreted where[br]the “similar source” is the power of the

0:10:26.399,0:10:30.790
Pale King and the “crucial emptiness”[br]is the Void itself.

0:10:30.790,0:10:34.470
The Pale King’s offspring all share the[br]benefit of his power.

0:10:34.470,0:10:38.100
Both Hornet and the Knight are referred to[br]as being “pale”, and the Hollow Knight

0:10:38.100,0:10:40.630
is described as having a “holy shell”.

0:10:40.630,0:10:44.990
Hornet is also one of the few bugs who realizes[br]she is in a dream in Godhome.

0:10:44.990,0:10:48.360
The only other bug that can do this is Grimm,[br]a Higher Being.

0:10:48.360,0:10:52.800
As for the “crucial emptiness” line, the[br]word “emptiness” is used a couple of times

0:10:52.800,0:10:56.350
in the game and are used to refer to the Void[br]itself.

0:10:56.350,0:11:01.579
The Void Heart is described as an emptiness[br]by both the game menu and the White Lady.

0:11:01.579,0:11:05.250
There is also the Hunter’s Journal entry[br]for the Siblings, which mentions that the

0:11:05.250,0:11:08.589
Abyss contains a “pervasive empiness”.

0:11:08.589,0:11:10.100
In the next line, Hornet says:

0:11:10.100,0:11:13.500
“Funny then, that such darkness gives me[br]hope.”

0:11:13.500,0:11:15.420
When Dream Nailed Hornet also says:

0:11:15.420,0:11:18.320
“It faced the void, and ascends unscathed...

0:11:18.320,0:11:21.240
Could it unite such vast darkness?...”

0:11:21.240,0:11:25.810
So Hornet is specifically referring to the[br]Void when using the word “darkness”, since

0:11:25.810,0:11:28.500
the Void is what is united in the Dream No[br]More ending.

0:11:28.500,0:11:33.589
The encounter the Knight has with Hornet at[br]the Temple of the Black Egg also implies that

0:11:33.589,0:11:35.610
Hornet is not made of Void.

0:11:35.610,0:11:36.610
She says:

0:11:36.610,0:11:38.500
“I won't be joining you in this.

0:11:38.500,0:11:41.010
That space is built to sustain your likes.

0:11:41.010,0:11:44.070
Its bindings would drain me were I to join.”

0:11:44.070,0:11:46.170
This line clearly separates Hornet from the[br]Knight.

0:11:46.170,0:11:50.340
And this line makes sense when we consider[br]that the Knight contains Void inside of it,

0:11:50.340,0:11:52.149
while Hornet does not.

0:11:52.149,0:11:56.740
Void is the only significant quality that[br]separates the nature of the two beings.

0:11:56.740,0:12:00.839
Alright, so now I’d like to go through some[br]of the arguments posted in my poll.

0:12:00.839,0:12:05.670
A lot of people were mentioning the fact that[br]Hornet gives the Knight soul when she is hit.

0:12:05.670,0:12:07.410
This doesn’t prove anything.

0:12:07.410,0:12:10.850
The Pure Vessel gives off soul despite having[br]Void inside of it.

0:12:10.850,0:12:14.620
The only beings that don’t give off soul[br]are the siblings and the Collector.

0:12:14.620,0:12:17.550
These enemies are composed entirely of Void.

0:12:17.550,0:12:21.120
The Vessels have shells, which is a possible[br]explanation as to why they still give off

0:12:21.120,0:12:22.200
soul.

0:12:22.200,0:12:27.180
The Sealed Sibling achievement seems to imply[br]that Hornet is a sibling to the Vessels.

0:12:27.180,0:12:30.820
This is true, but it isn’t the Void that[br]makes her a sibling, it’s her shared relation

0:12:30.820,0:12:32.020
to the Pale King.

0:12:32.020,0:12:37.990
There is this idea that Hornet has some Void[br]in her, but not as much as the Vessels.

0:12:37.990,0:12:40.480
There isn’t any evidence to support this.

0:12:40.480,0:12:44.540
The Vessels themselves are an outer organic[br]shell with an inner Void.

0:12:44.540,0:12:48.279
There is no explanation how Hornet could only[br]be part inner Void?

0:12:48.279,0:12:52.310
There is an argument that Hornet is a defective[br]Vessel.

0:12:52.310,0:12:56.350
The only defective Vessel we know about is[br]the Hollow Knight, and its defect was not

0:12:56.350,0:12:58.980
noticeable at all until later.

0:12:58.980,0:13:03.540
So we really don’t know how extreme a defective[br]Vessel can get.

0:13:03.540,0:13:04.680
So there you have it.

0:13:04.680,0:13:08.480
Undeniable proof that Hornet is not made of[br]Void.

0:13:08.480,0:13:12.480
But I know that there a few holdouts who still[br]refuse to believe me.

0:13:12.480,0:13:14.170
And that’s just fine.

0:13:14.170,0:13:16.100
You are allowed to believe whatever you want.

0:13:16.100,0:13:20.040
While we’re at it, let’s pretend that[br]the Tooth Fairy is real too,

0:13:20.040,0:13:21.940
or that Santa Claus exists,

0:13:21.940,0:13:24.160
or that the Earth is actually[br]round.