Hollow Knight: Silksong Trailer Analysis

okay let's all take a deep breath so the
hornet dlc the team

telling us about for so long isn't
actually a dlc it's a full fuckin sequel

with a bunch of bosses new areas new
enemies new mechanics and hilarious new

voice lines remember when William said
hollow night - wouldn't come out for

another ten years well turns out he was
lying right to our faces I can't believe

I trusted you William never again no
yeah

team cherry has dropped a trail of
revealing hollow Knights silks on a

proper sequel to haul night that
honestly looks better you can really

tell the team Cherie is putting the
knowledge they gained making the first

game to use this trailer is filled to
the brim with shit that needs discussing

so let's dive right in the trailer
starts off with these tiny bugs carrying

Hornet in some kind of cage across the
plains beyond how honest this already

raises a ton of questions first of all
what happened to Hornet in the god

master DLC endings how exactly do we go
from Hornet running into the whole night

to Hornet being captured by a bunch of
Representatives of the Lollipop Guild I

feel like we missed the step somewhere
along the way my second problem with

this scene is how exactly did these puny
ass bugs capture the demigod that is

Hornet did they trick her into the cage
with bait or something and can she just

escape whenever she wants this didn't
look very hard to do why wait until now

and so Hornet finds herself in a whole
new Kingdom to explore it is a land

haunted by silken song full of mysteries
and secrets that will help Hornet

uncover more about her past and her
ultimate fate Hornet must descend to the

peak of this new Kingdom to reach a
shining Citadel and do something we

haven't gotten that far yet along the
way Hornet must face against beasts

hunters assassins Kings monsters Walmart
greeters and Knights so what new Lance

can we expect Hornet to decimate through
on her new journey good question me

let's find out

first off we have the mossy grotto now
we don't officially know the names of

any of these places the names I'm using
come from teen Cherry's blog post so

they're more of just placeholders for
now this area reminds me of green path

but even then it is much brighter than
green path ever was this area might also

be the starting point of the game since
it looks like this is where Hornet

eventually escapes from her cage the
enemies in this area are pretty generic

I don't know if these guys are slugs or
what there's also this guy who runs

along the ceiling spitting shit Hornet
it also looks like that one cut enemy

from the original game has been added
back in still no blundering Auber list

though the mossy grotto also features an
NPC most likely named druid of the Moss

temple according to team cherry there is
going to be a more formalized questing

system and silk song compared to hollow
knight in silk song there these quest

boards that give the player a variety of
quests to explore there also appears to

be at least four different types of
quests in silk song gather Wayfarer hunt

and grand hunt gather has probably just
give this person these elements hunts

are likely just combat events where you
have to find and kill certain enemies

unfortunately we never get a description
for a wayfarer quest but I do have an

idea about what they are in this clip we
are introduced to two npcs named garment

and zaza as they ram into a bunch of
enemies with a horn instrument so I

think Wayfarer quests will involve
Hornet escorting nbc's across the world

map similar to what is happening here
also the symbol for wayfarer quests is

of a harp a musical instrument and
garmin and Zaher Zaher are using a

musical instrument even if they are
using it as an instrument of torture

speaking of instruments another NPC we
meet in the mossy grotto is this singing

shaman like character in this clip we
can see in Hornet is actually strumming

on her needle while the shaman sings so
it seems like music will play a big part

in this game which shouldn't be a
surprise considering the game is called

silk song we also see a boss from the
mossy grotto that looks like some kind

of moss covered bee it also looks like a
total bitch which supports the idea that

this is a star
in the game the last area we see related

to the mossy grotto is this tiny village
that seems to be on the border now one

big question for this game is how
exactly does mosque grow deep

underground in hollow night green path
was made lush by on the sexy slug

monster lived in a nearby lake of acid
so what's going on does unhak uh zijn or

something like button getting back to
this village it looks like the area

connected to the mossy grotto has a bone
aesthetic going on sound familiar

team cherry has finally answered our
prayers and given us the forest of Bones

or possibly bone bottom but that names
lame so I'm not gonna use it regardless

of what you call it it looks amazing can
we just take a second to appreciate how

beautiful this game is it just oozes
Beauty out of every single frame it's a

fucking masterpiece anyway I'm going to
count a large number of areas as being

in the forest of Bones pretty much
anything with bones or lava

I'm guessing this area will be broken up
in the final game but for now I'm just

gonna cast a wide net
let's talk enemies the most simple

enemies in this area appear to be the
black bugs that wear skulls on their

heads not much really to say about these
boneheads so let's just move on to the

ants now I think the ants are positioned
in the northern part of the forest of

bones because they don't seem to be very
close to the lava the ants do have the

bone aesthetic though wearing skulls on
their heads and building structures out

of bones there's also a boss fight
against what might be the queen ant

another NPC we meet in the forest of
Bones is Sherma not much to say about

this guy except that he appears to have
his own instrument as well one of the

coolest bosses in the trailer also shows
up in the forest of Bones someone

speculated that it's some kind of robot
or autonomous being and I think that's

possible it does vibrate a bit like it's
a piece of machinery

as for who built this thing I think the
likely candidates are these guys

I'm going to call these bugs Bell heads
because they wear bells on their heads

now I don't keep up with Australian
fashion but maybe this is where team

cherry got their inspiration these bugs
appear to work very closely with lava

placing it into these strange containers
we can see this bell Smith chiseling

away at the contents of one of the
containers we see these containers again

in another room filled with furnaces and
bells and now I think it's time we

talked about the bells there are bells
everywhere in this game several other

characters can be seen carrying scepters
that have bells on them this symbol

representing a bell can be seen all over
the place one room is even completely

encapsulated in bells bugs wear bells on
their heads bugs live at fucking Bell

houses and of course there's the most
important bell of all the Bell right

here next to the subscription button be
sure to ring them actually no the most

important Bell is right here at the end
of the trailer it's so important it even

has a seal of binding on it so we've
established that there a metric shit-ton

of bells in this game and I think that
the Bell heads in the forest of bones

are a part of the production of all of
these bells but do they really need to

make so many I think the market is
becoming saturated after all you don't

want your product lifecycle to look like
this that's what we in the money

business call a bubble it's much better
if your lifecycle looks like this bell

curve here wait fuck I think there are
at least two different gilded cities in

silk song there is this town that has
giant Bell houses and a larger city that

has giant buildings in the background we
also see some kind of clock tower like

building reminiscent of Castlevania 3 as
well as this room with furnaces and

giant piles of discarded bells the main
enemy types we see here are these weird

cultists like bugs they cover their
faces with cloth marked with bell

symbols and they carry hooked weapons
now I could go into some crazy lore

speculation as to why these bugs are
obsessed with bells but let's save that

for when we finished talking about
everything in this trailer there are a

few friendly NPC's in these cities such
as a shopkeeper

and this street performer or beggar or
whatever the fuck she is

there is no geo in this game instead of
Hornet collects rosaries now why are

these bugs carrying rosaries what the
fuck is this Mardi Gras in terms of

bosses we have this night scene battling
Hornet in a darkened room if we brighten

the image and then zoom and enhance we
can see the bell symbol on the Knights

chest and then there's this guy I think
he's somewhere in one of the gilded

cities based on the objects in the
background but I'm not sure this bug has

heart-shaped antennae a big fluffy
plumage and his floor shoots out fucking

confetti or some shit but a baller
someone speculated that he is related to

the grim troupe somehow but I don't
think the similar color scheme is

intentional just outside one of these
Bell cities Hornet encounters another

Ally chakra she has a little bit of an
elder hue vibe but judging by the

scrolls on her back it seems possible
that chakra is this game's corner for

another NPC we might meet here is this
decapod looking motherfucker they show

up twice in the trailer once is a boss
and then again as a fast travel system

obviously the bail system found in Halla
nest wouldn't really work here so it's

no surprise that we don't see any stags
in this game I do think it's funny

though the night becomes good friends
with the last stag but Hornet just beats

their transportation into submission

this seems like a good point to segue
into talking about how Hornet plays I

know this video is a bit of a roller
coaster isn't it

Hornet is fast as fuck like look at this
clip how the fuck does she do that

Hornet has a regular walk run and sprint
speed we don't know how sprinting is

triggered but walking occurs in villages
Hornet also has this really cool spider

crawl that gives her height and mobility
horny can wall jump ledge grab use her

lunge ability both on the ground and in
the air and she also has an air -

whenever Hornet deals damage she gains
silk that fills up her spool in the

trailer a lot of enemies give off silk
when hit I'm guessing there's some big

law reason for this but let's ignore
that for now spending silk affords

Hornet a number of different abilities
the spool can hold 12 notches of silk

and most of the moves used in this
trailer cost 4 notches first off Hornet

has her grapple move that pulls her into
enemies what's cool about this move is

that hitting an enemy gives Hornet more
silk allowing her to do it again Hornet

can throw her Neal and enemies as well
as use her Gaza mere storm and parry

abilities Hornet also has a heal ability
we only see at once and Hornet spends

all 12 of our notches of silk to heal
herself from two masts up to 5 she can

perform the move wall in the air and it
has very short starting and ending lag

we don't know if this move requires an
entire charge of spool or even how many

masks of health it can heal when Hornet
spool is completely full you'll see this

bobbin light up which makes me think
that some moves require this to be full

in order to use them while we're here
let's talk about silk psalms replacement

for the charms in hollow Knight tools so
because Hornet isn't a mindless dumbass

like the knight she is able to craft
weapons traps and mechanisms these tools

are equipped on the Hornet at a bench
instead of using notches Hornet has

crests a crest has slots for different
types of tools presumably weapons traps

and mechanisms it appears as though
there are different crests that Hornet

can use allowing her to use different
amounts of each of these types of

weapons so for example there might be a
crest that gives you two traps law

one weapon slaw and no mechanism slots
the trailer shows off a few of these

tools the first of which being a spiked
ball similar to what Horner used against

the night in the Hornet to fight the
next item is called a pimp pillow which

is basically just a bomb the description
mentions that pin pillows can harm

friends this is likely referring to
allies you have to escort during

Wayfarer quests such as Garmin and zaza
we also have the lovely companion tool

hopefully we'll see at least two more of
these there is the throwing dagger

there's also the throwing dagger but
three of them there's the classic

stabbing yourself violently in the chest
with a lifeblood syringe and of course

it wouldn't be a fucking team cherry
game without a buzzsaw

good job William I never doubted you
anyway let's get back to talking about

the bazillion different areas in the
game because I'm still not done talking

about those yet so the misty Moor
appears to be this really damp rundown

area of the game we see a graveyard in
this area as well as a town on a

waterfront in this town is an NPC that
looks like relic seeker LEM hiding

underneath a pile of poop or is it a
seashell probably a seashell

unfortunately we don't know if there are
any eggs in this game to sell to them we

also see a new enemy group in this area
I feel like these guys might actually be

back or content in their latest video
team cherry challenged us to guess what

parts of the new trailer were backer
content from the hollow Knight

Kickstarter and in their latest blog
post team cherry mentioned the backer

content again saying get ready to dance
with operatic Queens battle mysterious

assassins scale a soaring warlords tower
and that's just a start for operatic

Queens I think Team cherries are friend
to the queen ant we saw earlier

assassins probably refers to steel
assassins sharp who has been revealed in

previous blog updates as for the
warlords tower I think team cherry is

referring to this area one of the
rewards for backing hollow Knight was to

design a dungeon with its own boss and
enemies I think this area is actually

the warlords Tower

so coral forest is just a better version
of fog Canyon

not a single jellyfish in sight and I
couldn't be happier we don't see much of

coral forest but we do see one boss and
he can somehow summon coral into the

arena at will not sure how that works
but okay and of course we have this guy

so this will require a bit of explaining
in hallow night there is a cave east of

dirt mouth depending on whether you are
playing on normal mode or steel sole

mode you'll either encounter confessor
Gigi or steel sole Jin both Gigi and Jin

make references to their masters if you
talk to Gigi after covering your shade

after getting the void heart Gigi will
say that her masters would be impressed

Gigi also has the ability to conjure up
the shade from anywhere in hala nest

implying that she has some form of
control over the void it would only make

sense that these Masters taught Jill
disability after acquiring the King's

brand steel soul Jin will tell the night
that she could not bow for her masters

minds or other and that they did not
seek order like the king after acquiring

the void heart Jin will tell the knight
that it has become different like her

masters so from this we can tell that
these masters have some sort of intimate

relationship with the void given the
theme of steel and the obvious

similarities in design it appears as
though these masters are also connected

to these new enemies found in silk song
steel assassin sharp this enemies seen

in the coral forest and another
character we haven't seen yet are all

hunters presumably sent out by these
masters in order to eliminate Hornet we

really don't know what motivates the
Masters we don't know why they sent Gigi

and Jin to help the knight in hollow
Knight and we don't know why they want

Hornet killed after she was taken to a
different Kingdom all we know is that

they don't seek order hopefully that
helps clear up what we know about the

steel hunters we'll be seeing in silk
song now in regards to the shining

citadel I'm not sure if we actually see
it in the trailer but there is one more

area from the trailer I haven't
mentioned

so we only get two shots of this really
dark area one with a fight with a boss

called lace and another with a weaver
standing in some sort of shrine

surrounded by silk let's talk about the
weavers first so the weavers were

somehow involved in the events of hallow
night to what extent we don't know what

we do know is that the weavers
eventually left Hallam s to return to

their original home except for one that
appears to have stayed behind the

weavers were capable of performing songs
with the song of farewell being

mentioned in the Weaver song charm
according to midwife the weavers crafted

stories shields and spells on their
looms we know that the weavers are

somehow connected to this new kingdom
given one of the tools see in the menu

and this subtle hint right here it seems
likely that this kingdom is the Weaver's

home that they return to after leaving
Hal honest it seems like the weavers

might be the reason why Hornet was
captured seeing as no one else would

probably even know about Hornet other
than them

moving on to lace lace is the only boss
in the trailer that Hornet fights twice

once in the force two bones and another
time in this dark room filled with white

roses and silk what is interesting about
lace is that we don't know who she is

connected to she carries a hooked weapon
similar to what the Bell worshipers have

but there are also several other
characters with such a weapon so it

might mean nothing given the name lace
it seems like she might be connected to

the Weaver somehow maybe she acts as
their guardian similar to Hornet was a

guardian in hollow Knight in other words
she might not be a true antagonist but

those eyes are pretty evil looking so
the jury is out on this one

now I know what you're thinking holy
shit

mas bag is incredibly smart and handsome
but there's no way in hell he'll be able

to make sense of any of this lore
it's literally impossible I mean first

of all you have a bell worshipping cult
that seems to be in control of much of

the kingdom you also have the Masters
and their army of trained assassins

whose motives are shrouded in mystery
and then of course there are the weavers

and they're incredibly vague powers and
goals this whole thing is just way too

vague to make any sense out of now I
can't blame you for thinking this in

fact you're probably right I will most
likely get nothing right in this section

it'll be fun for me to come back after
the game comes out and see how wrong I

was
all right so this new Kingdom is haunted

by silken song but what the fuck does
that mean

we can see that some enemies give off
silk when they are struck by Hornet is

this silk actually attaching on to these
bugs does the silk just manifest itself

on them what if this silk literally
controls these bugs like puppets making

them hostile enemies if you look at the
giant monster in the forest of Bones

during its roar animation you will see
these lines coming down at each of the

appendages this effect does disappear
but what if this is team cherries subtle

way of telling us something those lines
were programmed into the game to look

that way and remember this entire game
is about travelling upwards when you

control a puppet you stand above it so
whoever is at the top of the kingdom

might be literally pulling the strings
of all of these bugs now this haunted by

song line is really interesting does
this mean they are haunted by the bells

that everyone is obsessed with well I
don't think this line is referring to

bells at all no I think there is literal
music that is plaguing these bugs the

mass production of bells was a way to
try and fight against this if you wring

enough bells you essentially are able to
drown out the song you are listening to

so in other words the bugs of this
kingdom were attacked by the power of

some song and their plan to fight it was
the thing is these bells are used by

several bugs in the kingdom not just the
crazy cultish ones so I think there must

be a good reason for why they are being
used the bugs that captured Hornet in

the beginning are doing so because they
need her help to stop the torment of the

silken song plaguing the kingdom I don't
think they are actually bad it's just

that most of them have fallen victim to
this curse The Wanderers Hornet meets

carry instruments with them has another
way to drown out the song that haunts

over the kingdom as for the bugs that
are hostile this is simply because

they're not able to escape the song and
become trapped so who's responsible for

all this I don't think we can know that
yet the giant Bell in the trailer is

protected by a seal of binding except it
is purple instead of the usual white and

when most enemies get hit in this game
they bleed purple blood so I'm going to

go out on a limb and say that the
antagonist of this game will be related

to the color purple in some way another
possible culprit is of course the

weavers but I'm pretty sure the weavers
are supposed to be good guys I think

it's possible that the weavers might
actually have been captured by this

being and forced to create the silken
song used to control this kingdom the

lone Weaver in hallo nest is the only
one not captured and was able to tell

other bugs about Hornets so that she
could be captured and brought in to help

now again this is all baseless
speculation I'm basically writing

fanfiction at this point so don't treat
my word here as gospel by any means so

all that's left to talk about are the
masters and their steel hunters why do

they care about what Hornet is doing
here in this new Kingdom what stakes do

they have well remember where Hornet is
going a shining Citadel the key word

here is shining light the power to
oppose darkness or the void remember

that god master ending where the flower
the god seeker was holding was able to

counteract against the shade Lord well
in this trailer we see an entire field

of white roses growing in the light
presumably shining down from the Citadel

the flowers are even growing on the pipe
in the background

I think the Masters are afraid that
Hornet will find resources needed to

combat the void if she ever reaches the
shining Citadel now that's about it for

the trailer analysis
but there are still questions regarding

how this game connects back to holland
i'ts multiple endings

I think silk song will have different
content in it depending on which endings

you have finished with Halle Knight
whether that is just different dialogue

or a few extra bosses I don't know but I
do think team cherry will make sure that

each ending of Halle night still makes
sense with the events of silk song also

we don't have an explanation for the
trilobite statue in deep nest team

cherry has said that this game will give
us more information about Hornets past

and fate so hopefully we will finally
get an answer to this thing so yeah

thanks for watching guys this trailer
has me hyped as hell and I can't wait to

talk with you about all the new lore we
will be getting in this game I'd like to

end on one last piece of very important
news team cherry finally put Jack on

their website congratulations jack