Hollow Knight: Silksong

1. About

You play as a character called Hornet, after being captured you find yourself in an unfimiliar place called Pharloom with a curse haunting all of its residents. You are tasked with going to the Citadel and killing the one who cursed these lands. On the way you meet friends, enemies, secrets and monsters. Hornet is a tall red cloaked figure with black skin and a crescent moon shaped mask, with a long needle as a weapon, but the more you travel, the more items you'll get to aid you on your journey like:

  • You gain the ability to run and dash.
  • You gain the ability to climb walls and glide.
  • You gain the ability to play music on your needle (needolin).

PS This game is split into three parts,
Act 1: The climb to the Citadel,
Act 2: Going to the cradle and killing the Grand Mother Silk,
Act 3: Going into the Abyss and fighting the Lost Lace.

2. The World Of Pharloom

The world of Pharloom is a vast and colorful place where the story of Hollow Knight: Silksong takes place. The many areas of Pharloom include:

  • The Moss Grotto : The starting area where you are taught the basics.
  • The City Bellhart : A city filled with pilgrims and residents.
  • The Citadel : The remains of a once beautiful but horrid city.
  • The Abyss : An area filled with darkness and void.

There are many more areas to explore in the world of Pharloom and many secrets to be found but I won't name them all, the rest is for you to find and discover.

3. The Enemies

There are many enemies that Hornet encounters in the different regions of Pharloom and they all fall into three categories:

  • Normal enemies: They commonly have one or more attacks and go down quite easily and spawn more than one unlike bosses. Normal enemies include mossgrub, brushflit, ductsucker and more are a great example on normal enemies.
  • Mini Bosses: They are often like Bosses but they don't have different phases, and they aren't normal enemies because they don't respawn. Mini Bosses like the Skarrgard and the Craggler are amazing examples.
  • Bosses: They commonly have two or more phases and often are more challenging than normal enemies, dealing usually double damage. Bosses like Lace, The fourth chorus, Sister splinter and more are a good example.

Remember: not all Normal enemies are easy (like the Gargant gloom), and not all bosses are hard (like the moss mother).

4. NPCs (Non Playable Characters)

There are many NPCs in Pharloom and all of them fall into one or more categories:

  • Story NPCs: They often help Hornet on her quest and are a pivotal role to the story, Story NPCs like The snail shamans (Helps you in Act 3) and Ballow (Helps you go into the abyss in Act 3) are amazing examples
  • Quest NPCs: They give you quests that often have amazing rewards like tools, trinkets or even a mask shard. Quest NPCs like The Loyal Mergwin (Great Taste of Pharloom) and Huntress (Broodfest) are a great example.
  • Merchant NPCs: They sell tools and trinkets to aid Hornet on her journey. Merchants like Shakra (Sells maps) and Pebb (The first shopkeeper you encounter) are a good example.
  • Traveler NPCs: They are often found in more than one place. Travelers like Sherma and even Shakra are a great example

Extra: A Hollow Knight fan with cancer made his own character, and Team Cherry saw it, so when Hollow Knight: Silksong was released fans could see his character in the game as Shrine guardian Seth (Sadly the fan passed away before he could see it).

5. The Endings

There are many endings within the world of Pharloom, some good, some bad and even a secret ending. We will be talking about what happens in the endings and how to get them:

Weaver Queen Ending:

After Hornet completes her mission and gets to the cradle, the thing cursing these lands shows itself, Grand Mother Silk. After a long fought battle Hornet defeats Grand Mother Silk and takes her power, taking her place as weaver queen. After taking her place you see more threads come from the cradle, as we see Hornet engulfed/covered in silk.

Twisted Child Ending:

If you go to Bilewater and get the twisted bud and bring it to Greyroot you become cursed, while being cursed you have two options, either bring it to Yarnabe to get the curse removed and a new crest, or beat the game. If you beat the game while cursed instead of taking her place as weaver queen, roots come from your body as you, Grand Mother Silk and the cradle are covered in roots and in the middle of the roots is an egg that starts to crack as the screen goes dark.

Snared Silk Ending:

After completing the quest “Steel soul” and making a soul snare in the process, if you beat Grand Mother Silk you now have the option to play your needolin, as you play it the trap activates and the void swallows her whole, but as she is being dragged into the abyss she tries to take you with her, but at the last moment you're saved by Lace, Grand Mother Silk goes into the void but Lace goes with them, while the threads that cursed these lands are gone they are replaced with black void tendrils.(This unlock Act 3)

Sister of the Void Ending:

After defeating the lost lace(found in Act 3) you grab lace and with the help of Grand Mother Silk you use your silksoar ability (that you got in Act 3) and start flying out of there, but it was not enough to get out of the abyss and you fall back down, until you see a familiar face, The knight along with all your siblings help carry you out of the abyss. After everything that has happened you and Lace share a silent moment together, sitting in peace and quiet as all the void tendrils disappear.

Extra:

If you find and talk to Mister Mushroom in a certain order and beat the game you will get a secret cutscene. It shows the surface and Mister Mushroom is seen flying into the sky, then the screen goes black and the words to be continued appear on screen.