Hollow Knight Wanderer's Journal Book Analysis

bubala jano

did you know that books are still a
thing like people not only still read

books but actually make books too
shocking I know

I didn't realize this until fangamer
announced a whole new holo night

Wanderers journal that would be released
alongside the new physical collector's

edition of the game this journal is
written from the perspective of a new

character a ladybug named Elena on their
website team cherry explained that this

new book would be an epic tome of
exploration investigation and lore team

cherry has also worked closely with the
authors Kari Fry and Ryan Novak to

ensure that everything the book would be
totally accurate well Kari and Ryan were

incredibly generous and sent me an
advance copy of the new journal they

also sent me a packet of hot dogs for
some reason thanks Kerry Fry's artwork

really does justice to re Gibson's
in-game sprites I mean just look at this

drawing of fluke marm that Hall of God's
description is starting to make more

sense now and all of this artwork is
accompanied by Ryan's descriptions of

all of the varies friends and foes found
in holo night and the amount of lore in

this book is staggering first of all
this book does a good job at covering

most of the lore in the game there isn't
much on the end game bosses but the book

does go through each area discussing
most of the bosses and enemies as well

as theorizing about numerous
miscellaneous background objects if

you're new to hollow Knight lore this is
a great read but even lore experts like

myself can find a few new tidbits of
lore so this book introduces a lot of

small pieces of information for example
sleeping under whispering roots can give

bugs vivid dreams this book also tells
us that leg eater is confirmed blind but

at the same time this book also gives us
information on big events like the

timeline of the infection spread through
hallow nest I will go through this new

information chronologically from where
it is in the book for the most part but

I will jump around a bit to where needed
I'm also going to skip that random

chapter on the manatees not sure why
that was even in there first up we have

an explanation for the hot springs
according to Alan uh these Springs are

the result of heat seeping up to the
surface through underground vents

of all the ways that the knight can
collect soul in the game the hotsprings

have always been the strangest to me
according to Ellen ah the hot springs

restore the body and soul but I always
thought the knight had to pull soul from

somewhere else maybe there is soul in
the water sort of like how there is soul

in the air according to the deep focused
charm so I guess by sitting in the water

of the night absorbs the soul through
osmosis or something the journal makes a

note of these strange plants calling
them pale ferns now anytime something is

called pale we immediately have to think
of the pale beings in the kingdoms edge

we can see something similar to the pale
ferns growing out of the ground there

are also these strange vines that expand
outwards these seem to be sprouting from

where the worms corpse can be found as
for why anything like this would be

growing in forgotten crossroads I have
no idea is this from the white lady I

only seem to think that it's just
natural so maybe that's the case the

journal mentions that the temple of the
black egg was fashioned from the shell

of an ancient bug now if that's the case
then this thing was fucking massive how

does a creature that big even exist well
I guess the characters in the game are

bugs and humans are canonically at least
five times bigger than bugs so I guess

it's not that big of a deal what is a
big deal is how exactly they got the

black egg through that door another
ancient bug mentioned in the journal is

the one found at the top of kingdoms
edge some people have been saying that

this corpse is the corpse of a worm but
we don't know exactly what kind of

creature this was maybe it was just a
worm but with an O instead of a why have

you ever wondered why the grub father
has all this random shit in his burrow

like seriously masks shards pill or
Pokemon dildos from etsy.com well

apparently this is a common practice
among grubs they like to collect shiny

things and hide them in their burrows
what I find more interesting is that

Alona was apparently finding these grubs
and choosing not to free them what an

asshole
next up apparently all buzz are said to

be attracted to the resting places of
powerful beings now this kind of makes

sense we see one near the white lady's
cocoon thing and we also see one at the

lake of on but we also see them in the
back

crown of mar musa rena so you're telling
me this oversized kickball of a boss is

supposed to be as powerful as the white
lady i suppose it's possible wait does

this mean benches or powerful beams too
now I think it's time we get into a

meteor topic the timeline for the
infection that afflicted how nest and

the surrounding areas has always been
incredibly vague but in this book we are

actually given a few hints about how
things might have progressed there are

two sentences stating that the fungal
wastes have only recently become

impacted by the infection Elena also
claims that deep nest has only recently

been hit by the infection and that the
weavers had only recently left the

kingdom she also claims that the doors
to the city of tears were closed in an

attempt to keep the infection from
spreading into the capital the first

outbreak of the infection ended with the
ceiling of the hall night inside the

black egg according to the dung defender
despite this effort Halla nest was

eventually brought low implying that the
infection was still somehow influencing

the kingdom from the hunters journal
entry for the light seed it appears as

though the infection had been seeping
down into the ancient basin for quite

some time implying that there was
infection coming from somewhere up above

there is a line from midwife that hints
at deep nest infection happening shortly

before the events of the game
she says that few would seek her

services in recent times due to the
infection as for the weavers having left

holliness recently there is still one
Weaver hanging around but I don't know

if that really proves anything we can
see that young Weaver's did end up

getting infected
so maybe the weavers left before the

sickness could claim the adults now this
is where things get weird

ellen:oh states that the hive is
unmarked by the spread of the infection

this can't be true there are several
reasons to believe that the hive was hit

by the infection first of all all of the
enemies explode with that same orange

particle effect that regular enemies do
and don't say that shit is honey honey

doesn't take on a gaseous form if it did
I'd be smoking it right now

characters like the mantises and dung
defender give off white particles when

hit because they aren't infected the
bees do not do this second the

whispering route in the hive uses the
phrase light familiar and light is

usually
to the radiance third the hive husk

which can only be found inside of the
hive has the same orange tint in its

eyes which confirmed to the infection
has at least reached some of the bugs in

the hive and finally we have team Kerry
confirming that the hive was infected in

a reddit AMA after the death of Queen
Vespa so why does this passage say that

the hive was unmarked by the spread of
the infection while there are two

possibilities the first possibility is
that I actually know the lore better

than team cherry this is entirely
possible I am pretty smart i watch Rick

and Morty the other possibility which i
think is more likely is the team cherry

knowingly left us in the book we have
evidence that team cherry has altered

some of the wording on these very pages
so I don't think they overlooked this

but why would team cherry do that you
ask well this book is written by

character in the world of how honest
which means that she is looking at the

world through her own limited
perspective let's be real of course team

cherry wouldn't hand us a whole
smorgasbord of mouth-watering new lore

on a silver platter at least not without
making us work for it I don't think

everything we find this book should be
taken as canon as some of these claims

are just elinoz musings about how oddest
maybe team cherry should have put an

asterisk next to that totally accurate
remark but that doesn't mean we should

throw this whole book away as far as I
can tell this is the only blatantly

wrong statement in the book and it still
offers interesting insight into the lore

simple things that I had never even
thought of so while this book might have

at least one lore inaccuracy I still
think we can glean some information from

it well with that out of the way let's
move on to the crystal peak now this is

an area of the game that I've neglected
in my videos but honestly there's a lot

to talk about here the biggest question
regarding this area revolves around the

crystals basically there's a strong
connection between these crystals and

the radiance first the journal entry for
the crystal eyes husks mentions that

there's a hidden power within the
crystals they can be used to fire

searing beams of light and they also
apparently sing this is also mentioned

by milla who claims that she can hear
the crystals singing and then

she can almost make it out and we all
know what happens to her after that the

journal entry for the crystal guardian
also mentions that it can only see light

inside of its crystal prison and that it
shoots blazing beams of light the word

blazing has only used three other times
in the entire game and each instance

refers to the radiance and during the
enraged Guardian fight we can see that

it has dream nail dialogue that is
written in all caps this appears to be

the radiances voice since her dream no
dialogue is also in all caps a lot of

the dream no dialogue for the enemies in
this area reference light and the

whispering route mentioned something
about a refracted light and now we have

L&S saying that this refracted light is
mesmerizing so I think we can safely say

at this point that the crystals in the
crystal peak are somehow connected to

the radiance is light it's not clear
whether the energy found inside these

crystals are from the reigns's light or
some other source the deep focus charm

implies that crystals might be able to
draw in soul somehow I'd recommend you

check out this lore doc from metal if
you want to read more about this theory

but what does the crystal peek have to
do with the radiance well it all has to

do with hallow nests crowd this is one
of the most interesting pages in the

book
Elna describes the glyphs in this area

is giving off a radiant light
she says the glyphs were likely from a

civilization that predates how honest
she mentions how some of the glyphs seem

to display winged creatures which sure
she also theorizes that these glyphs

were made because the civilization
wanted to be remembered by future

civilizations now there is a lot to
break down here these glyphs remind me

of seals of binding and we know that
these seals can be used to preserve

something of great importance so I guess
it makes sense that it could be used to

preserve the memory of a people the seer
talks a lot about the importance of

being remembered the radiance also
mentions that she will not be forgotten

the moth race was known for tending
graves after all and when the pale King

arrived the seer explains that the moths
sealed the radiance away by forgetting

about her so being remembered is a big
part of

both tribes tradition so this statue was
possibly built by the moths before the

pale King arrived there's also a
developers note that says this lingering

statue is what led to the outbreak of
the infection the fact that this is

lingering implies that it was built
before the pale Kings arrival however

the statue itself contains a pale or and
is resting atop a cliff that features a

design common in Halla nests
architecture so maybe this monument was

made after the radiance was sealed away
and those hushed whispers of faith that

seer talks about are referring to the
same people who built this monument in

secret ellen:oh claims that the seer is
helping the knight to strike back

against the radiance for causing the
infection but in the game all that is

ever stated is that the seer is looking
for the wielder a figure her people have

been dreaming about for a long time not
sure how Alona would know more than us

on this matter I guess she can actually
talk unlike the knight so maybe she just

straight-up asked her now this next bit
is something that makes so much sense I

can't believe I never noticed it before
in the cast off shell where the Kings

brain is found there is this strange
object

Helena theorized is that it might be
some sort of egg and looking at it now I

can't believe I missed this this was
probably what The Pale King hatched out

of after molting his worm form if this
is true then this puts to rest the whole

idea that the pale King took on a third
form after his death in the white palace

since there's no broken egg anywhere
near him Elna also mentions that arcane

eggs are jet-black
which I guess makes it even more likely

that they are made of void I know I've
said before that black doesn't equal

void but shut up another small detail we
got was an explanation for what these

things are Elna believes that they were
used to extract soul from bugs and

inject them into other bugs that could
explain why the room is filled with

follies and mistakes which were the
results of experiments with soul gone

wrong the machine itself also contains
the spell twister charm which reflects

the desires of the soul sanctum for
mastery over Souls the journal also says

that the Blue Lake is filled with
blue-hued minerals explaining why the

lake is a perfect place for quarrel
drown himself we also get confirmation

that bar Doon is a caterpillar not sure
that was in question but it's not

confirmed anywhere else
we also learned the fog Canyon was once

a part of green path
this isn't stated anywhere in the game

from what I can tell but it is alluded
to with green path music lightly playing

in the fog Caden region of the world map
Alana also takes a stroll into the abyss

and somehow survives she gives us a very
interesting description for these

strange egg looking objects claiming
that they are colorless she also says

that it seems they were broken from
within by a powerful force the comet

that stands out most of me is the claim
that the eggs are colorless I always

thought these eggs were just completely
black Elin also makes note of the sea

avoid saying in acts with a mind of its
own so if the sea acts with a singular

mind then that means that the sea avoid
isn't full of a bunch of individual void

tendrils but instead is the collective
mind of the void itself that kind of

weakens my theory that the void tendrils
were created by the ancient civilization

but at the same time Ellen also calls
the void murky water what the fuck kind

of water has she been drinking
Elna also claims that the abyss

lighthouse was built atop a natural
spire it certainly does look like they

just stuck the lighthouse part onto a
pre-existing structure but does that

mean that this thing formed naturally
this design is the same that we see in

the background of the main room in the
abyss where the vessel shells are also

underneath that we can see a pattern
very similar to the one where the void

tendril entry can be found if all of
this is naturally occurring it would tie

in to elder bugs common about the rocks
down in the ancient basin possessing a

will of their own
there is one strange detail regarding

how Elaina interacts with the lore
tablet right outside of the abyss

basically Elna says that she is unable
to decipher the tablet now these tablets

are very unique in that they say higher
beings these words are for you alone

from dev notes ama's and the king cell
description it seems as though higher

beings is a phrase reserved for
characters like the pale king the

radiance and the white lady but it seems
a bit odd to me that these tablets would

only exist
for the benefit of like three people

there are a total of five lore tablets
that use the phrase higher beings one in

the howling cliffs three in the Kings
pass and one in the ancient basin it

isn't really clear who these tablets
were made for but there is a clue when

the second lore tablet in the Kings pass
the tablet says let all bask in your

majesty for only this kingdom could
produce one such as you so according to

this lore tablet how unless somehow
produces higher beings I don't think the

pale King was making godlike creatures
since he seemed to be interested in

ruling how honest unopposed this has led
me to believe that the phrase higher

beings is referring to bugs that the
pale King has granted higher thought to

through his beacon so what does this
mean for Ellen ah why can't she read the

tablets I'm pretty sure she's an
intelligent bug she probably even

watches Rick and Morty maybe this tablet
can only be read by bugs that were

specifically granted higher thought
through the pale Kings beacon so bugs

like Alana tea so cloth though and corna
fur would be unable to read it since

their intelligence is not native to howl
honest I'm pretty shaky on this though

so feel free to tear my reasoning to
shreds and that's about it for new

content there are quite a few things to
think about with this new book it adds a

little bit of information to the world
of how honest giving us more thoughtful

descriptions of background objects and
environments no one in game says shit

about holliness crown so it's nice to
hear at least one bugs perspective on it

I do wish Eleanor would have told us a
little bit more about her own past she

kind of lacks the backstory we see an
other traveller such as Oh cloth and tea

so but I guess she's just trying to be
objective I'm sure people wouldn't be

too happy if I started talking about my
first marriage in the middle of my

analytical lore video now like I
mentioned before it appears as though

there is a mistake in this book and it's
entirely possible the team chair left

the mistake in the book since Alana is a
character from the world of how honest

who doesn't have all of the information
this means we have to take her claims

with an air of caution despite this most
of the information in this book seems

pretty reasonable for the most part
enough raises a lot of things as poss

abilities with a claim about the hive
being the only objective claim that I

think is downright false
regardless it's great to be able to hold

a physical book about Halle Knight in my
hands and it looks great on any

bookshelf - of course there is one final
piece of lore to discuss team cherry has

finally listened to our cries and given
us confirmation of one of the most

heated debates in Halle Knight lore
discussion that's right

pickles are finally canon just like in
Rick and Morty