The Fate of the Pale King

We have talked about the Pale King a lot on
this channel, but today he’s going to get

his very own video.

But we’re not going to talk about how he
had sex with a tree, or how he killed millions

of his own children, or that time he built
a shitty tramway that only goes about ten

feet.

No, instead we are going to talk about the
fate of the Pale King.

The Grey Mourner in the Resting Grounds implies
that the Pale King fled from his kingdom.

This lines up with what is written in the
game’s manual, which mentions what happened

to the Pale King as Hallownest fell to ruins.

It explains that he abandoned his subjects
and went into hiding.

Anyone hoping to find the Pale King would
face a journey perilous beyond imagining.

And well…

♫Frolic by Luciano Michelini♫

This fucking joke got my video claimed 😭

The exact timeline of when all of this happened
is a bit hazy.

There are corpses in the Ancient Basin of
bugs begging for the Pale King to return,

so the infection hadn’t completely taken
over when he left.

At some point the gates to the City of Tears
were closed, possibly as a way to try and

keep the infection out.

This could explain why some of the bugs in
the City of Tears resorted to cannibalism.

Relic Seeker Lemm tells us that before the
city collapsed the bugs took to writing on

spider silk instead of stone tablets, but
that the moisture in some of the towers has

ruined most of these writings.

So in other words, these bugs are complete
morons and we have no writings from when the

city fell.

Relic Seeker Lemm mentions that he has found
no mention of the Hollow Knight beyond the

statue in City of Tears.

So, as far as we can tell, the King went into
hiding sometime while all of this was going

down, and that some of his subjects still
retained their control over the Radiance.

Of course, we know where the Pale King went.

His corpse can be found inside of the White
Palace found inside of a Kingsmould.

This opens a whole new can of worms that we
have to discuss.

There is this idea that the White Palace hidden
inside of the Kingsmould is just a memory

and not the real White Palace.

I have mentioned this idea a couple of times
in my other videos, but I don’t believe

it to be correct at all.

First of all, if this one is just a dream,
then what happened to the real White Palace?

Relic Seeker Lemm tells us that the palace
seems to have just vanished.

Does this mean there is a second White Palace
somewhere that we haven’t seen yet?

Did I just happen to miss it behind a breakable
wall in Greenpath?

This argument makes less sense than just saying
the one in the dream is the real one.

When we try to Dream Nail the Kingsmould without
the Awakened Dream nail, we can see that there

is some kind of barrier over it.

This is the same barrier we see over the three
Dreamers.

Seems like someone was intentionally trying
to block this dream off from the outside world.

This only makes sense if it’s a real place
and not just some random memory.

The Pale King in the White Palace drops the
Kingsoul, which the White Lady recognizes

as being connected to the real Pale King.

Why would the real Pale King be hiding in
a random memory and not the real White Palace?

The White Palace itself contains a memory
sealed away in the Path of Pain.

Why would a memory be sealed inside another
memory?

What is this, Inception... but with bugs?

Anyway, why would a Kingsmould even have this
memory from the Pale King in the first place?

Doesn’t really seem like something the Pale
King would just mention during a casual game

of Dominos or something.

Dying in the White Palace counts as a real
death, which I think anchors the White Palace

to reality in some way.

And we also know that the Pale King was able
to somehow place the Radiance inside of the

Hollow Knight.

So why can’t he place the White Palace inside
of the Kingsmould?

It seems to me like the King definitely had
the capability to put his palace in the Dream

world.

But that’s enough of arguing with actual
evidence, it’s time to start speculating

about some of the more obscure matters surrounding
the Pale King.

The Pale King’s corpse is found hunched
over on his throne in the White Palace.

Now I am not a biologist, but I’m pretty
sure things don’t just die for no reason.

I guess the conservative view towards the
Pale King’s death would be to say that he

just withered away.

The White Lady describes Hallownest’s ruin
as lasting far longer than the existence of

the kingdom, so the Pale King has probably
been there a long time.

But I think I have an explanation that makes
at least some sense.

The Void.

Let’s start by establishing that the Void
and the Pale King are enemies.

The lore tablet in the King’s Workshop reads:

“VOID, yours is the power opposed.”

In this line, I believe that the Pale King
is saying that the Void is a force opposed

to himself.

The Pale King is described as a pale light,
akin to the Radiance.

We see that the Radiance and the Void aren’t
exactly pen pals, from both her Dream Nail

dialogue and the fact that the Void completely
fucks her up.

So it would make sense that the Void was also
enemies with the Pale King.

Or it might be that the Void opposes any sort
of life in general, as it appears as though

some bugs have been killed by the void.

Regardless, I think it’s safe to say that
the void has the potential to kill the Pale

King.

Okay, cool.

But that doesn’t really matter if we can’t
place void in the throne room with the Pale

King.

[Saved by the Bell credits plays to indicate
that the video is over]

But we can!

Look at those black balls floating around!

That’s void, people!

Well, maybe.

In my Mask Maker video, I mentioned that there
are black balls floating around, stating that

I thought they were evidence of void.

In the Ancient Basin and the Abyss, there
are little black balls floating around everywhere

to imply the presence of void.

But someone has since pointed out to me that
these black balls found in the Mask Maker’s

room can be seen in several other rooms.

It’s in the Stag Station in Dirtmouth, as
well as several indoor rooms found in the

game.

So I don’t think the particles in the Mask
Maker’s room are a very reliable piece of

evidence.

But things are a little different with the
Pale King’s throne room.

First of all, the throne room is dark.

So dark that the Knight pulls out the Lumafly
Lantern.

This is very peculiar for sure.

The only other area in the White Palace I
can find that is this dark is the hallway

to the King’s Workshop where he worked on
the void constructs.

Whether or not this means there is void in
the room is up in the air.

You don’t need the lantern for the Abyss,
so it might be a moot point.

Second, the black balls in this room are actually
a little different from the ones we see in

other parts of Hallownest.

The black dust balls fade in and out of existence,
where as void balls grow and shrink.

Now just look at the balls in the throne room.

That’s textbook shrinkage people!

[Seinfeld credits play because I made a reference
to a popular joke from the show and also because it’s a running gag throughout this video]

On top of that these void balls can be much
larger than the dust balls.

After intensely studying balls for about twenty
minutes, I can conclude that these particles

in the throne room are in fact void.

If that isn’t enough proof, there are also
pillars of black smoke in the room.

This is yet another effect that is only found
near void.

Hopefully my speculation hasn’t lost you
yet, because this is where shit gets good.

If there is indeed void in the throne room,
then where did it come from?

Well, I have a few theories, two of which
revolve around Kingsmoulds found in the game.

We see a grand total of eleven Kingsmoulds
in the White Palace.

There is one standing guard at the entrance,
another one shortly afterwards, two guarding

the memory in the Path of Pain, and then seven
corpses outside of the throne room.

It seems a bit strange that the Kingsmoulds
found near the Pale King are dead, but not

the ones that are further away.

It might be that the void within the Kingsmoulds
was able to escape its confinements.

The Pale King’s presence drew the void within
these Kingsmould to him, and that’s why

it escaped from these Kingsmoulds and not
the other ones.

But there are a few issues with this theory.

Did the Pale King not realize that this could
happen?

We sort of have to concede that the Pale King
is an idiot for this theory to work.

And while he might be kind of an asshole,
I don’t think he’s an idiot.

On top of that, the Kingsmould corpses have
pool of Void around them, so is the Void even

moving into the throne room?

Or does it just do nothing?

So that’s one possible theory.

Not exactly air tight, but I think it’s
plausible.

However, there is one more Kingsmould we need
to talk about: the corpse found in the Ancient

Basin.

Like I said earlier, this Kingsmould was used
by the Pale King to hide himself and his castle.

But this corpse looks quite different from
the corpses found in the throne room.

This Kingsmould has giant void tendrils connected
to it.

It seems to me that this is way more void
than you would get from one Kingsmould.

I think these tendrils are seeping into the
Kingsmould.

In other words, the void from the Abyss actually
made its way into the dream inside of the

Kingsmould and reached the Pale King.

Now that’s dedication, I must say.

This theory also grants more significance
to the lighthouse keeper in the Abyss.

When we first reach the Abyss, the light in
the lighthouse is turned off.

Inside, we see the corpse of one of the Pale
King’s followers.

Their Dream Nail dialogue reads:

“...Turn it off?… Cannot...

My King. I’m sorry… The sea calls...”

I think this dialogue is showing us that the
lighthouse keeper was influenced by the void

to turn off the light, and then apologized
to the King for doing so.

The Pale King knew the Void was dangerous,
hence why he had the lighthouses built.

But his servant failed to keep the void at
bay, allowing the void to move upwards towards

the Palace Grounds and reach the Kingsmould
containing the White Palace.

We can see that the void is capable of doing
this.

There are void tendrils that reach all the
way into Deepnest, where the Sharp Shadow

charm can be found.

And then there’s the fact that void particles
can be seen as high up in the kingdom as the

elevator at the top of the Ancient Basin.

Okay, so what are the problems with this theory?

Well, the mind of the Kingmould was locked
behind a shield, so is it really possible

that the void could get past it?

During the two Radiance battles we can see
that the void is able of entering the Dream

world, but we don’t know how much more difficult
it would be for the Void to get into the Kingsmould.

What exactly would it look like for the Void
to enter this dream?

Did it go through the front door?

Or can it just appear wherever it wants?

If void did come in this way, why wouldn’t
it attack the Royal Retainers?

This theory also doesn’t explain what’s
going on with the Kingsmoulds in the White

Palace and why only some of them are dead.

So yeah, both of these theories are incredibly
speculative and should definitely be taken

with a grain of salt, but I do think there
has to be some reason for why there are void

particles in the throne room.

It’s worth mentioning that the lore tablet
in the throne room might be connected to all

of this.

There are a few of these egg looking tablets
found in Hallownest.

Most of them feature this strange symbol that
flashes on the screen.

These tablets were likely created by the Pale
King.

There is a certain sound effect that plays
when reading these tablets.

[Pale King ASMR]

We can hear a longer version of this sound
during the birthplace cutscene in the Abyss

when the Pale King is talking to the Hollow
Knight.

[Pale King ASMR intensifies]

[Weird-as-fuck breathing]

This voice clip is weird as fuck.

We can hear a man’s voice, which is probably
the Pale King, but then there is that strange

breathing that sounds like a female voice.

I assume this is the White Lady, so maybe
she was also present when the Pale King chose

the Hollow Knight.

This strange whispering can also be heard
in the Pale King’s workshop.

This is the same sound you can hear while
standing near a lore tablet, but in the workshop,

it’s much louder.

[Relaxing, isn’t it?]

Anyway, the tablet in the throne room is a
little different.

Not only is the egg different from the other
ones, but there is no voice that plays when

you interact with it.

Did the Pale King write this tablet?

I don’t know who else would have written
it, honestly.

But I am getting super off topic.

My point is that this egg is reminiscent of
the Black Egg in the Forgotten Crossroads

as well as the black eggs in the Abyss.

First of all, they’re black.

Second, the floor in this part of the room
uses the same effect as the floor in the Black

Egg.

This might be hinting at this egg actually
containing void in some form, which would

possibly explain why there is void in the
room.

But at the same time, I really doubt this
would kill the Pale King, since there seem

to be bindings in this area.

And like I said, the Pale King wouldn’t
do something that stupid.

You know, other than building that worthless
tram in Crossroads.

So there are the possible explanations I can
find for why there might be void in the throne

room.

Personally I like the idea that the void came
up from the Abyss lake, but it’s all pretty

speculative.

The thing is, I tend to use text and dialogue
to argue about lore, so I’m a little out

of my element here, but I do think it’s
worth talking about any possible visual clues

we have about lore, even if it is way more
up to interpretation.

It’s kinda like an optical illusion.

I might see a duck, you might see a rabbit,
and some people might stare really hard and

see something that isn’t even there.

Now one issue with the idea that the Pale
King was killed by void is that there doesn’t

seem to be any indication of this on his corpse.

There aren’t any Void tendrils connected
to him, and his eyes don’t have the void

streaks.

It’s worth pointing out that some characters
have the streaks that really don’t seem

to be connected to the void at all though.

And there is artwork of some Vessels that
have the streaks while most don’t.

So maybe there doesn’t need to be tendrils
and void streaks.

The corpse of the Pale King is a hollow shell.

We can’t strike any of the other bugs we
see that were affected by the void, but it

would make sense that the void hollowed him
out.

So maybe this is an indication of the King’s
fate?

Another problem with the idea that the Pale
King was consumed by the void is that the

Kingsoul wasn’t affected.

It seems like charms might be able to be corrupted
by the void, given the Sharp Shadow charm.

But we don’t really know any of that for
sure, so I don’t think this is a huge strike

against the idea.

Alright, so what if void didn’t kill the
Pale King?

Are there any other explanations we can find
other than he just withered away?

One idea is that the Pale King sacrificed
himself to create the Kingsoul, since Salubra

tells us that charms can be created from a
bug’s dying wish.

The main problem with this theory is that
the Kingsoul is said to be born from a union

between two Higher Beings, implying that the
charm has existed for a while.

After all, the Pale King only has half of
the Kingsoul.

The other half is in possession of the White
Lady.

The charm had to have existed in the past
for this to make any sense.

Another theory is that the Pale King actually
transformed into a new being, leaving behind

his hollow shell.

Bardoon mentions that a Wyrm doesn’t die,
but instead transforms.

But we don’t know if that can happen again
or not.

Does the Pale King get three lives, five lives,
nine lives?

In my opinion, this theory kind of undercuts
the Pale King’s Dream Nail dialogue:

“No cost too great.”

And if there is a seal over the Kingsmould,
would the Pale King even be able to escape

the White Palace?

On the other hand, this would give us the
opportunity to actually meet the Pale King

in the Hornet DLC should it actually be a
sequel.

That is going to be a bit of an awkward family
reunion, seeing as Hornet is the Pale King’s

bastard child and that one of his other children
murdered her mom in her sleep.

So yeah… what was the point of this video?

Let’s see…

The Pale King most likely went into hiding
during the infection by placing his White

Palace inside of the mind of a Kingsmould.

There he either withered away, committed die,
transformed into a new being, was killed by

the void, or something completely random that
Team Cherry decides to add in with the Hornet

DLC.

There is strong evidence that there is in
fact void in the room because balls.

This void might have come from the Kingsmoulds
in the throne room, or from the void seeping

in from the Ancient Basin.

There is also the possibility that the void
particles are coming from the lore tablet

in the far right corner of the room.

And that’s about it.

Until Team Cherry prints off a death certificate
or a coroner’s report, this is the best

I can do.

There is one last point I couldn’t fit anywhere.

Apparently the Pale King covered a bunch of
furniture in white sheets.

There really isn’t any way for us to know
when this happened or why this happened.

Was it a part of putting the palace in the
Dream world?

Are they repainting the ceiling?

Did Team Cherry just not want to draw a bunch
of shit so they put sheets over them?

In fact, what kind of furniture does the Pale
King even have under there?

I mean, this one is clearly a fucking tombstone.

This one looks like a pig from Minecraft.

And I think this one might be a Festivus Pole?

[Seinfeld credits because you should always
finish your video with a callback]

You know, William and Ari have released four
goddamn DLCs and they can’t even bother

to answer this very important question?

It’s ridiculous.

It’s like they don’t even care about the
lore.

I’m uninstalling the piece of shit.