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It’s safe to say that anticipation for Team Cherry’s follow-up to Hollow Knight, Hollow Knight: Silksong, is continuing to build despite the continuedlack of a confirmed release window.Everything that the team has shown so far indicates that the sequel is at least going to be a worthy successor, but there are still plenty of unknowns.
Fans still don’t know what, if anything, from the first game will make a return aside from Hornet herself. There’s something to be said for a completely clean slate in terms of story and design, but there are at least a few ideas from the original that would only improve the experience should Team Cherry decide to iterate on them in this game. If nothing else, seeing these again in Silksong would be a real delight for existing fans.
The Knight
Hollow Knight: Silksong seems to be Hornet’s story, but some mention of the first game’s hero would be appreciated. A lot about the The Knight is left unsaid in the original game, with most of it left up to the player’s interpretation. That worked well in the original, but now that Hornet is the star of the show, it’d be interesting to hear her version of events and learn about her perspective on what exactly happened in Hallownest.
Hornet didn’t witness everything, so her recollection will by definition be incomplete. Still, even a limited idea of how things turned out would be a major boon for those fans who’ve spent the last several years speculating about which ending was canon and what the implications were.
According to the lore, the Wyrms are immortal, godlike beings that shape that shape reality around them and seek to dominate all lower lifeforms in one way or another. While some, like The Pale King, seem to be benevolent, whether or not they truly are is still largely up for debate. Going by what’s revealed in Hollow Knight, it’s likely that the rise and fall of Hallownest was almost entirely the result of The Pale King’s desire to dominate the area and the conflict with The Radiance that resulted from it.
There’s still a lot that’s unknown about these kinds of entities, and Hollow Knight: Silksong would be a great opportunity to get more information. One example is the development of minds/soul in Hallownest. The stone slab at the entrance to Hallownest claims that its citizens' minds are an intentional gift of the Pale King, but is that true? This entity is implied to be dead, so shouldn’t the minds it gave the bugs have died with it? Or perhaps the gaining of a mind is just a natural result of being in close proximity to a wyrm, and the Pale King just pretended it was a gift to indebt the bugs to it and cement its status as a god-king.
Can kingdoms and minds only arise if a wyrm is nearby or was Hallownest a special case? Hopefully Hornet’s journey through the kingdom of Pharloom will answer some of these lingering questions about wyrms and the effects they have upon bugs and the lands they inhabit.
The Dream Realm
Even though the Dream Realm is a supremely important part of the world of Hollow Knight, its nature and the manner in which it interacts with the “real” world is still difficult to understand. It’s understood that the two worlds are connected and can affect each other, but the extent of this connection still isn’t clear. What is clear is that while all bugs have a connection to the dream realm (which is how the Radiance was able to infect them), most are incapable of interacting with it directly.
Wyrms seem to have the most access to it, as they can either live in it entirely, as the Radiance did, or have some sort of simultaneous existence in both realms like the Pale King. Normal bugs can only access it by being pulled into it by a wyrm or some other, powerful entity that’s already there. Then there are special cases like the Knight, who thanks to a combination of its lineage and the Dream Nail, too can intentionally enter under the right circumstances.
Hornet shares a similar lineage to The Knight, but has not yet demonstrated the ability to intentionally enter the Dream Realm. Should she gain that ability in Pharloom, it’d make for a great opportunity to learn more about the exact nature of the realm and how it interacts with so-called reality. Is it a true plane of existence or merely another by-product of the presence of a wyrm like The Radiance or the Pale King? Hopefully answers will be forthcoming soon.
The Nightmare Realm
Even more mysterious than the Dream Realm is the Nightmare Realm, information for which comes only through hint and insinuation from members of the Grimm Troupe. It’s heavily implied that the Nightmare Realm didn’t always exist and came about as the result of something splitting the original Dream Realm into two completely separate parts. Who exactly sundered the realm and why is still entirely unknown, as is what the difference is between the two.
Theory has it that the Nightmare Realm is sustained by The Nightmare’s Heart, which is in turn sustained by Grimm and the Grimm Troupe, but that makes it seem altogether too fragile. Does a plane of existence really need to be sustained by something? And if it does, could such a power, one that needed to be contained within its own reality, really be destroyed so easily?
There seems to be more to the Nightmare Realm than what’s shown in the Grimm Troupe storyline. That is, it seems to be more essential and important than just serving as the home of one powerful entity. So, its potential return in Hollow Knight: Silksong would make for a great opportunity to give fans more information to chew on.
Path of Pain (2.0)
Within Hollow Knight’s story, the Path of Pain was what it was because of the nature of The Pale King and the terrible secret it desperately wished to hide. Outside of the story, though, it was a chance for both gamers and Team Cherry to push both their skills and Hollow Knight’s platforming move set to their limits. It was a fantastically-difficult piece of platforming that showcased the Knight’s agility and prowess with its Nail. That said, though, what players could accomplish as the Knight is likely going to be nothing compared to what they’ll be able to achieve as Hornet.
From the very first clips shown of Hornet in action, it’s been clear that she is way more agile than the Knight ever was, being capable of tethering, clambering and some serious acrobatics. Her move set is one that’s just begging to be put to the test and another Path of Pain-like challenge would be just the thing to do it. One shudders to think what kind of platforming terror Team Cherry would have to dream up in order to push Hornet to her limit, but it’d be a challenge worth talking about long after one either conquers it or gives up trying.
Again, none of these features or concepts need to be included in order for Hollow Knight: Silksong to be a fantastic sequel. In fact, there’s actually a strong argument for it to be something almost entirely separate from its predecessor. Still, getting more information and more interaction with some of the original’s most intriguing (or infamous) concepts could only help the game rather than hurt it.
Considering Hornet’s heritage and the new kingdom she’ll be exploring, this is a prime chance to flesh these things out and help fans get a better handle on how the world of Hollow Knight works. Regardless of what Team Cherry decides to do (or not do) with these ideas, just getting to explore this world again will be enough; hopefully sooner rather than later.
