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So it’s been about 3000 years since Team
Cherry gave us a blog update about Silksong.
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It almost seemed like Silksong was just some
shared fever dream we all hallucinated for
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over the past year.
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I was about to nuke the channel and become
a foster parent.
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But luckily, the Hollow Knight community has
been tossed a succulent bone by a most unlikely
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ally, Leth.
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In case you didn’t know, Matthew Griffen,
AKA Leth, has begun providing us with Silksong
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updates in a most unusual way.
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Remember when I mentioned that theory that
Silksong was going to be released on June
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12th?
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Well, this resulted in another theory that
Team Cherry was going to make an announcement
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on May 29th, since Hollow Knight’s trailer
dropped two weeks before the game came out.
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Of course, nothing was announced on May 29th.
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But Leth did post a riddle in the Hollow Knight
Discord.
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He figured that giving our starving community
something to do would help ease the sting
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of Team Cherry’s deafening silence.
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The riddle didn’t reveal anything, but it
was just nice to be able to interact with
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Leth as people tried to piece together the
riddle’s meaning.
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But as it turns out, William and Ari really
liked what Leth was doing.
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So they started giving Leth content that could
actually be revealed from these riddles.
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These reveals happened every Monday for the
past four weeks.
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And Leth even gave me one part of one of these
riddles to post on my Twitter for people to
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find.
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Now, I’m not going to spend a lot of time
discussing these riddles.
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I would recommend looking at fireb0rn and
TacoTV’s channels if you want more details
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on what these riddles were and how they were
solved.
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They’ve done a good job documenting all
of this stuff.
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And I know I’ve talked about the Hollow
Knight Discord a lot on this channel, but
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I really do have to say that it’s a great
community.
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The people there deciphered Leth’s riddles
incredibly quickly, and they’ve done a ton
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of digging into Hollow Knight lore and Silksong
speculation.
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So yeah it’s a good group.
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For this video, we’re just going to focus
on what was actually revealed and what stupid
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nonsense we can speculate from it.
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First up we have this character, commonly
referred to as the Huntress.
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Basically Leth would post a zip file along
with a riddle.
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The answer to the riddle would be the password
needed to open the zip file.
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The answer to this zip file was Huntress,
hence the name.
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Inside the file is a character portrait, a
short animated gif, as well as a few lines
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of dialogue and a brief description.
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The Huntress appears to have set up camp in
this small alcove possibly somewhere near
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Bonebottom.
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We can also see that bags have been strung
up in the room.
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Also, notice how these objects are slowly
swaying in the room.
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It’s a pretty neat detail that wasn’t
really used for hanging objects in Hollow
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Knight.
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The Huntress begins by noticing that Hornet
is carrying the “organs of others”, and
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asks if she would be willing to offer these
organs or even her own organs as “birth-meal”
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for her brood.
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The Huntress is described as a towering old
predator, waiting for the arrival of her children.
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She scorns the Citadel above and the hapless
pilgrims who are ascending towards it.
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Now we’ve all met people like this in real
life, asking to feed our organs to their young.
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In this instance, Hornet might be able to
give this character some kind of collectable
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taken from other enemies.
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We know that quests will play a big role in
Silksong, so we might see a lot more of these
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types of items.
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But as of right now, the only items we have
seen enemies drop are rosaries and shell shards.
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She also says Hornet could offer up her own
organs, but I doubt she would agree to that.
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One interesting note about this character
is that she looks vaguely like the creatures
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we saw in one of the images Team Cherry gave
us for the Forest of Bones back when it was
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going to be in Hollow Knight.
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Could these hideous freaks of nature be her
children?
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The Huntress is also quite aware of what is
going on in Pharloom and she doesn’t appear
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to be a fan.
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She holds a disdain for the Citadel, which
we saw a brief glimpse of in the trailer.
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This area is likely controlled by the bell
cult, and appears to be the destination of
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many bugs travelling through Pharloom.
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So the Citadel probably isn’t a great place,
but then again, this lady wants our organs,
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so maybe we shouldn’t value her opinion.
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One final point, the HUD in this gif appears
a bit odd.
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For some reason, the right end of the spool
is missing, and the silk itself is thicker.
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This might just be a buggy UI issue, since
the game is still in development after all.
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Or it could be possible that the silk spool
itself can break, similar to how the soul
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vessel in Hollow Knight breaks.
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However, this bobbin symbol in the corner
is not lit up either, which we have seen is
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supposed to light up once you have a full
spool of silk.
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We even see it light up in a later reveal
as well.
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So I wouldn’t be surprised if this UI was
still buggy.
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The next character revealed appears to be
named Grindle.
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Grindle is a snitchbug that can be found locked
up in a cell somewhere in what I assume is
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the gilded city.
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Once freed, he will offer Hornet information
in exchange for rosaries, but his intell is
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apparently not very good.
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So chances are he’s going to give us bunk
lore, because god forbid we have a character
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that gives real lore.
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From his dialogue, we know that Grindle has
been locked up for a while.
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We also know that Grindle plans to take advantage
of Pharloom’s ailing state, though there
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is no more detail on what exactly is happening
to Pharloom.
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We know that it is haunted by silk and song,
but the exact details on that still remain
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pretty hazy.
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Grindle is described as being a snitchbug,
which isn’t a real thing according to Google,
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but his head has a similar design to the enemy
we saw in the Silksong reveal trailer, indicating
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that we might see more of this species of
bug throughout the game.
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There are quite a few other details in the
provided gif that we should talk about.
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First of all, we actually see another prisoner
in this area.
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This bug looks similar to some of the other
enemies we have seen in trailers, except this
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guy isn’t wearing a headdress.
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Perhaps he is a defector from the cult, or
maybe they just removed his bedsheet as punishment.
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They let him keep his bell staff though, so
that’s nice.
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We also see that in Grindle’s cell there
is a work bench covered in throwing daggers.
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Not sure what weapons like those would be
doing in a jail cell.
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Was Grindle about to shiv some bitch?
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Regardless this might be the location where
Hornet obtains the throwing dagger tool.
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Finally, there is another additional HUD element
that we haven’t seen before.
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There appears to be a little green bead on
the end of Hornet’s silk spool.
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This might be the result of some kind of tool
Hornet has equipped, but I’m not sure what
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it would do.
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We can see in the tool menu in the reveal
trailer that some green object appears next
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to a Weaver-type tool and some kind of device
that looks like it could weave silk.
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I’ve mentioned before that there appear
to be different classes of tools in Silksong:
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red, blue and yellow.
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My guess is these blue tools will be related
to modifying Hornet’s silkspool in some
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way.
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We can also see that the right side of the
spool is missing in this gif as well, so the
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bead might be related to that in some way.
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The third reveal we got from Leth was for
a caravan of fleas.
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Now, we have actually seen these fleas before
in the Silksong E3 demo.
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They appear to operate like the grubs of Hollow
Knight, getting stuck in different areas and
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needing rescued.
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According to their dialogue, we can tell that
the caravan is not from Pharloom, and that
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they have but a single, humble wish.
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The caravan didn’t realize how dangerous
Pharloom was, however, and instead of watching
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their kids like responsible ass adult fleas,
they let their children get lost all throughout
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the kingdom.
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These fleas are said to carry bountiful food,
powerful drinks and surprising amenities.
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So these characters probably give Hornet these
different foods as reward for returning their
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fleas.
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The fact that these are foods and drinks makes
me think these are perishable items, which
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wasn’t a super prevalent mechanic in Hollow
Knight.
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It will be interesting to see how exactly
that will work in Silksong if this is the
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case.
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These fleas appear to be making a pilgrimage
to the Shining Citadel at the top of Pharloom,
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which is a very common theme throughout this
game.
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Of course, we have characters like the Huntress
who distrust the Citadel and all it stands
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for, but a lot of other characters seem interested
in making it there.
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There’s a pretty interesting parallel to
this in Hallownest.
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Bugs would make pilgrimages to Hallownest
to see the Pale King’s kingdom as well.
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There’s even a path in Hallownest called
the Pilgrim’s Way.
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And while the Pale King is a morally dubious
character, it’s not like his promise to
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pilgrims was some completely malicious lie.
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So it will be interesting to see what exactly
it is these pilgrims are expecting at the
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citadel, and what it is they actually get.
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Looking at the HUD, we can see that Hornet’s
spool can in fact be increased in length.
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I don’t think anyone doubted this would
be the case, but it’s nice to have this
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confirmed.
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Also, we can see that one of Hornet’s health
masks has another mask placed on top of it.
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This might be like lifeblood, giving you extra
health, but honestly, that seems a bit redundant.
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This mask has a crack on it, which might imply
that it can take multiple hits before it breaks
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completely, similar to the Balder Shell charm
that everyone forgot exists.
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And now we come to the final reveal of Leth’s
riddle madness, Seth.
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Seth is a boss fight that appears to occur
somewhat late in the game.
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Seth guards a secret located at the base of
the Citadel, and he attacks anyone who gets
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too close, including the bell cultists.
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There appears to be something a bit unnatural
about this character.
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He is described as being ancient, and has
somehow been imbued with stamina and strength
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beyond a normal bug.
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We do have a hint about what the source of
this strength might be.
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Team Cherry provided us with one line of dialogue
from Seth that simply reads “The Voice…
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has chosen me.”
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But this isn’t the first time we’ve heard
about this voice.
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Another character, Trobbio, has been described
as being Master of the Stage, the Brush and
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the Voice.
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And Trobbio and Seth have somewhat similar
designs.
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From one of the provided gifs, we can see
that this feathery thing is actually some
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kind of cloak, which means Trobbio’s might
be as well, and honestly, I really don’t want to imagine
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what he looks like without it.
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The connections between Seth and Trobbio are
interesting, but they don’t really make
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sense.
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Seth is this hardened warrior protecting some
ancient secret, while Trobbio appears to be
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some performer who is obsessed with fame.
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Not really sure what to make of that.
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Perhaps the Voice is a more nebulous element
that has a broader context we just aren’t
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aware of yet.
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Looking at the two gifs, we can see that Seth
appears in Greymoor as a passive NPC.
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But we also see him in a boss fight with Hornet,
which appears to be a different location.
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We know that this is the base of the Citadel,
since it features the tangled roots mentioned
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in Team Cherry’s description.
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We also see what appears to be some kind of
snow falling from above, similar to the ash
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we saw in Kingdom’s Edge in Hollow Knight.
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So does this mean Pharloom also contains some
kind of Wyrm in it, similar to the Pale King?
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Well, not so fast.
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Another theory for what those might be are
flower petals.
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We have seen at least one area in Pharloom
filled with petals, and there is another argument
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for this.
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Leth actually locked this reveal behind two
passwords, which were “protector” and
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“bloom”.
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The former password obviously refers to Seth,
while the latter could imply that what we
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are seeing here is related to plant life.
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We also have those roots in this area too,
indicating that plants and trees are growing
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somewhere nearby.
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The boss fight itself looks awesome.
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Seth is fast, and utilizes his cymbal as both
a shield and a frisbee.
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Another small detail about this fight is that
we can see Hornet perform some kind of aerial
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move where her dress puffs up.
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This seems to stall her fall speed like some
sort of glide mechanic.
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We know that Hornet’s cloak is an actual
item in Hornet’s inventory, so it seems
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like the cloak itself can be upgraded.
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Seth is a character designed by Seth Goldman,
a Hollow Knight fan who got to meet Team Cherry
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through a program called the Marty Lyons Foundation,
which grants wishes to children with life-threatening
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illnesses.
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Unfortunately, Seth passed away earlier this
year, but his character will live on in Silksong.
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And I’m sure the Hollow Knight community
will remember him for years to come.
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And that’s about it for Silksong news.
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We’ve received a few glimpses of what new
abilities Hornet will gain throughout her
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quest.
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And we also met a new cast of colorful characters,
including a thief, a band of fleas, a guy
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who hears voices and a girl who wants our
organs.
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I’m excited to see what else Team Cherry
has in store for us.
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Maybe a ladybug that commits tax fraud, or
a grasshopper that wields a mace, or maybe
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even Jeff Bezos.