Let's Overanalyze Mask Maker

There is a certain character I have avoided
talking about on this channel.

A character with lore so deep and so complex
that no one has been able to decipher their

dialogue in a way that makes coherent sense.

I am of course talking about, none other than
Menderbug.

I am really at a loss on how to tackle this
guy.

So instead I’m going to pass the buck, and
talk about another character, the Mask Maker.

The Mask Maker is an NPC found in Deepnest.

They are voiced by Ari Gibson, and, oddly
enough, they spend their time making masks.

Since pretty much everything Mask Maker says
is cryptic, we’re going to go through every

line and decipher it the best we can.

So buckle up boys and girls, because it’s
time for some deep speculation.

The first line from Mask Maker brings up the
question of masks in Hallownest, saying it’s

hard to tell who is and who isn’t wearing
a mask.

Well, the Dreamers are definitely wearing
masks.

If we can’t agree on that then this is going
to be a long video.

Same for the members of the Grimm Troupe.

We even get to see Brumm character with and
without his mask.

The Godseekers appear to be wearing masks
as well.

And then there’s the bugs in the Colosseum
of Fools.

They look like they might be wearing masks
too.

Out of all the faces in the game, these are
probably the closest ones to what the Mask

Maker actually creates.

Unfortunately, this is all visual, so there’s
no text to confirm this 100%.

There are a bunch of characters we could talk
about that might also be wearing masks, but

whether or not we agree on those, there are
definitely creatures in Hallownest that don’t

wear masks.

And I’d say that would be the majority of
them.

At the very least, the masks that the Mask
Maker is making aren’t being worn by many

of the bugs we see in Hallownest.

The Mask Maker’s next line tells us that
not everyone is born with a face.

So for those people, the Mask Maker will provide
masks.

They then imply that a face is needed for
one to “define”, “focus” and “exist”.

My interpretation of this dialogue is that
a “face” is a metaphor for a being that

has sentience.

The bugs in Hallownest are incredibly diverse,
meaning that some bugs might not be as capable

at higher thought than others.

An example of this would be the spiders in
Deepnest.

Midwife calls them the most intelligent species,
or in other words, more intelligent than other

enemies in the game.

So my theory is that some of these bugs with
weaker minds need masks in order to have greater

control of themselves.

Honestly, I feel like this is pretty speculative,
but it’s really hard to make sense of this

weirdo.

At one point the Mask Maker says:

“Faces I grant to all who'd request.”

So if you need a face to exist, how do you
request a face in the first place?

What the fuck, Team Cherry?

You’re destroying my brain here.

Anyway, masks give bugs sentience.

While I don’t have much proof outside of
this dialogue, it does seem to line up with

what happens with the Pale King.

From the lore tablet in the White Palace throne
room, we know that the Pale King became a

beacon for the bugs of Hallownest, resulting
in an expansion of their minds.

So in other words, the Pale King was able
to achieve the same effect as the masks without

making his subjects wear them.

Regardless of whether this is true or not,
it does seem like the Mask Maker is entirely

unrelated to the Pale King in any way.

The Mask Maker lives in Deepnest, outside
of the Pale King’s domain, and the Mask

Maker has knowledge of events that happened
before the Pale King’s rule.

The need for masks was probably much greater
in the time before Hallownest, so it makes

sense that a being like the Mask Maker would
have popped up during that time.

Now you might be questioning how the Mask
Maker could have been alive for so long, but

remember, time in Hallownest is weird as fuck.

According to the Elderbug, the Stag Stations
were closed before he was even born.

So if we assume that the Stag Stations didn’t
close until the fall of Hallownest, that means

that Hornet is actually older than Elderbug.

Let’s dive deep into that Quirrel comic
Team Cherry released.

It gives us an idea about what life outside
of a kingdom looks like.

Featured in the comic is a character named
Boon.

Boon speaks with few words, and the structure
of his sentences are strange.

Contrast that with Tuk, a bug we meet in the
Royal Waterways.

These bugs are pretty similar looking, implying
that they are the same species, but Tuk is

much more articulate in his dialogue.

This is probably due to the effects of the
Pale King.

The lore tablet in the Howling Cliffs agrees
with this, telling us that entering the lands

beyond Hallownest results in the loss of the
mind granted by the kingdom.

There is also the corpse at the edge of Howling
Cliffs that says:

“No king, no mind, release”.

Now you could argue that Boon is just a man
of few words, but the dude talks in the third

person.

That’s always a sign that something is wrong
upstairs.

And then the question of Quirrel comes up.

He doesn’t lose his mind outside of Hallownest,
just his memory.

So what causes this?

Well, he does have Monomon’s mask, and maybe
his face is also a mask as well.

Or maybe Quirrel just has a mind of his own
and doesn’t need anything to keep his sentience.

I do think his time outside of Hallownest
is what made Quirrel lose his memory, but

his mind remained intact.

So yeah, this shit is really confusing, and
I don’t have a definitive answer, but this

is the most coherent case I think can be made.

I think that masks are somehow tied to granting
bugs sentience which is why the Mask Maker

feels obligated to create them.

So the Mask Maker is apparently hooked on
their own goods, because the mask they are

wearing can change whenever you enter the
room.

It’s a pretty neat detail, but more importantly
you can use Desolate Dive to knock their mask

completely off.

This gives us a better look at the Mask Maker’s
eyes, revealing one of the worst cases of

glaucoma I have ever seen.

We’ll get to the weird eye thing in a minute,
but more importantly, knocking the Mask Maker’s

mask off gives us additional dialogue.

The Mask Maker tells us that they might just
be wearing another mask underneath this one

like they are some sort of clever Scooby Doo
villain.

Then the Mask Maker tells us that truth in
Hallownest is always buried deep.

Yeah…no shit.

The Mask Maker then says the following:

“To change a face; to conceal it fully within
another...

A powerful protection that is, but one with
sad consequence.

The original mind is destroyed, though those
of striking will may still retain a sliver

of that concealed self.”

My view surrounding this dialogue is that
it is relating to the relationship between

the shell and the shade of the Knight.

The face of the shade is being concealed within
the face of the shell.

This results in the shade being protected,
but at the cost of the being that once inhabited

the shell.

The original mind might be referring to the
mind of the Vessel that died, which the concealed

self is the shade concealed inside the shell.

This theory makes more sense when we look
at the Mask Maker’s Dream Nail dialogue.

They refer to the shade as the face that hides
beneath.

At this point, I should probably bring up
the idea that the Void might have a mind.

Basically, the Void is capable of doing things.

The best example is when it calls out to the
bug in the lighthouse, telling it to turn

off the light.

Another argument for this is that Team Cherry
removed a line of dialogue that read “Void

given mind” from the latest DLC.

The reason they removed this is because Void
already has a mind, the argument goes.

So in this interpretation, “original mind”
would be referring to the mind of the shade.

It’s an interesting idea, but I don’t
really know if there is enough evidence for

it.

Another theory is that the dialogue is referring
to how Quirrel’s mind was destroyed by wearing

Monomon’s mask.

This kind of fits, but I have two problems
with it.

First off, I think Quirrel’s memory loss
has more to do with leaving Hallownest.

Second, Quirrel’s mind wasn’t destroyed,
he just lost his memory.

It is possible, but I’m not convinced.

If you talk to the Mask Maker after getting
the King’s Brand, they will talk about the

“ancient caste” that once tried and failed
to rule over all of Hallownest.

We don’t know much about the ancient civilization
that existed before Hallownest.

From Relic Seeker Lemm, we know that this
civilization created the Arcane Eggs and the

Soul Totems, and that they worshiped the void.

I could go into more detail on this, pouring
over every little bit of information we have

about this civilization, but I have too much
of a life for that shit.

As for right now, this line of dialogue tells
us that the Mask Maker is knowledgeable about

past events, either because they were told
about these events or because they were alive

during those events.

Like I said earlier, I think it’s the latter.

The Mask Maker’s next dialogue can be triggered
by acquiring the Shade Cloak.

The Mask Maker will talk about the Wyrm’s
great shame, and the creation of the vessels.

They then mention that the stasis of Hallownest
is the Pale King’s legacy.

When the Pale King sealed the Radiance inside
of the Hollow Knight, he did so as an attempt

to keep Hallownest in an eternal stasis.

This is spelled out in the lore tablet in
the King’s workshop.

The tablet explains that Pale King hoped to
use the Void to “deny Time”.

Hallownest was placed in a sort of stasis
by the Pale King placing the Radiance inside

of the Hollow Knight.

By doing this, the Pale King hoped to keep
the Hallownest lasting eternal.

This lines up with a lot of dialogue we can
find in the game.

Seer tells us that the kingdom is in a slumber.

Both Hornet and Vespa mention that there was
attempt at perpetuation.

The statues in the City of Tears and in the
Resting Grounds mention that Hallownest will

last eternal thanks to their sacrifices.

The lore tablet in the White Palace throne
room says:

“Eternity in promise and charge in progeny
cursed.”

Or in other words, Hallownest can last eternal
because the Pale King used his children to

create a Vessel.

Monomon describes the world as:

“A world forever unchanging.”

The developers notes also lay this out plainly.

Finally, the Radiance’s line “DAWN SHALL
BREAK” is a reference to ending the long

night that Hallownest is trapped in.

Of course, time still moves in Hallownest,
but you know, it’s like, a metaphorical

thing.

Like when you say “break a leg” or “I
don’t have any STDs.”

In their last line, the Mask Maker explains
that they make masks as a gift to a world

deserving.

What a nice fellla.

Anyway that’s it for dialogue, but there
is more going on here that we need to talk

about.

There is a clear connection between the Mask
Maker and the Void.

The most obvious example is the Mask Maker’s
eyes.

It appears as though there’s void swirling
around in there.

There are also black streaks coming from their
eyes, similar to the bugs found in the Ancient

Basin.

There are also black particles floating around
in the room: a dead giveaway that Void is

around.

There’s one other aspect worth mentioning.

The files for the artwork in the Mask Maker’s
room use the phrase “Egg Chamber”.

You can see the egg shape a bit from the outside
of the room.

There’s also a bunch of chains and scaffolding,
but I don’t really know what that’s about.

My guess is the egg is similar to the egg
inside of the Temple of the Black Egg, which

was used to contain the Hollow Knight.

Hornet explains that the egg is used to sustain
the Void beings, and that its bindings would

drain her if she were inside.

In the Dream No More ending, the entire egg
begins to dematerialize, and we see pools

of Void seep out of the temple, so it seems
like the egg itself is made of Void.

So, is the egg chamber that the Mask Maker
is inside of also made of Void?

This would explain the particles, and maybe
the Mask Maker is an example of a creature

being drained by the egg.

I’m guessing that the process happening
to the Mask Maker is similar to what happened

to the bugs in the Ancient Basin.

An exposure to Void is causing the Mask Maker
to become filled with void.

This theory of mine does leave us with a few
questions.

Why does the Mask Maker not seem to care?

Isn’t getting consumed by the Void a bad
thing?

Well, maybe not.

No Eyes also seems to be accepting of the
Void, and she seems like a pretty reasonable

woman.

Is the Mask Maker trapped in the egg?

Did someone put them in there, or are they
there by choice?

They don’t seem to have any interest in
leaving.

Does wearing a mask help them survive the
Void?

Regardless, I think this egg chamber is the
reason we are seeing the influence of Void

around the Mask Maker.

And that’s all I can think to say about
the Mask Maker.

To sum up my speculations, the Mask Maker
creates masks to help other creatures become

more sentient.

They probably predate Hallownest and the Pale
King’s rule, and they live inside of a Void

egg similar to the egg found in the Temple
of the Black Egg.

I’m not sure if this video really provided
many answers so much as it just raised more

questions.

This Hollow Knight lore shit is getting too
complicated.

I think I’ll switch over to Fortnite lore.