Highlights
- Team Cherry remains tight-lipped on Hollow Knight: Silksong, leading fans to speculate about a potential tragic twist in the upcoming game.
- Silksong distinguishes itself from Hollow Knight with its subtitle and focus on Hornet, hinting at deeper narrative and gameplay implications.
- The subtitle “Silksong” may foreshadow a tragic ending for Hornet, mirroring the themes of death and decay from the original Hollow Knight game.
Even if Team Cherry has gone quiet with news about Hollow Knight: Silksong, it hasn’t stopped speculation from picking apart what little is known about the game to reveal a possible tragic twist hiding in the open. Since any updates surrounding Hollow Knight: Silksong only seem to confirm that the game isn’t stuck in development limbo, ranging from an updated Steam page to an official age rating, eager fans are left without much to go on when it comes to the game’s story, its villains, and so much more. However, despite many theories surrounding Silksong‘s characters, locations, and mechanics, one overlooked detail could hold a missing clue.
In what could be the first signs of an official franchise for Team Cherry, Hollow Knight: Silksong differentiates itself from the first Hollow Knight game with its subtitle. Thanks to this and its protagonist, Hornet, being lifted directly from Hollow Knight, it’s arguably not surprising that fans have explored the potential connections between the two games and how this might impact Silksong. But this focus on the two games as a pair has pulled attention away from the face value of the sequel’s name, as Team Cherry’s choice of “Silksong” could foreshadow much more about the upcoming game than players may have yet realized.
Why Hollow Knight’s Most Hated Area Should Actually Inspire a Silksong Location
One Hollow Knight area was built to be a bad time, but Silksong would be a lesser game if it didn’t include something like it.
The Potential Meaning Behind Hollow Knight: Silksong’s Subtitle
When Silksong was first announced, it was clear that the new game would serve the unique role of both sequel and spiritual successor, continuing the adventure of the enigmatic rival-turned-ally Hornet based on Hollow Knight‘s missing stretch goal for a second playable character. Combined with early trailers and in-game footage, Silksong established its own identity with fast-paced gameplay, vibrant visuals, and a starker tone to Hollow Knight‘s melancholic story. By extension, the sequel’s subtitle “Silksong” appeared to reflect this shift in focus to Hornet, as it tied into her spider heritage, needle-and-thread weapon, and silk-based combat and crafting mechanics.
Hollow Knight: Silksong’s Subtitle Could Foreshadow Its Story
However, this surface-level reading of Silksong‘s subtitle might be missing some other obvious clues about what to expect from the upcoming sequel, especially when considering the first Hollow Knight, its story, and the variety of endings players could have received. For example, one of the first game’s subtler twists was the revelation that, despite the assumption that players took the titular Knight role, this was actually referring to one of Hollow Knight‘s final bosses whom the player’s protagonist may wind up replacing in certain endings. Moreover, in another Hollow Knight ending, even Hornet herself can meet a similar fate entombed alongside the player’s Knight.
Hollow Knight: Silksong Might End Tragically for Hornet
But while Silksong will likely canonize one of Hollow Knight‘s “good” endings where at least Hornet survived the final boss, knowing that Team Cherry is fully prepared to give players dark and tragic stories could put the sequel’s subtitle in a new light. Since the fate of Hollow Knight‘s Knight hasn’t yet been confirmed and Hornet appears to be Silksong‘s only protagonist, it seems entirely possible that the Knight remains sealed away with the Radiance. Therefore, Hornet could be headed for her own tragic ending as a parallel to Hollow Knight, as the word “Silksong” seems to suggest when broken down.
Based on Team Cherry’s site which refers to Pharloom as “haunted by silk and song,” Silksong‘s subtitle could just be a catchy portmanteau that reflects the sequel’s design, narrative, and tone. Yet the introduction of music to Hornet’s existing silk imagery could evoke the idea of a swan song, as this would continue the original themes of Hollow Knight of death, defeat, and decay. As a part of the expanding Hollow Knight story and franchise, Silksong‘s subtitle might foreshadow a futile tale of yet another fated kingdom where this time around, the player might witness its downfall in real-time through Hornet’s own swan song.
Hollow Knight: Silksong
- Developer(s)
- Team Cherry
- Publisher(s)
- Team Cherry
- Genre(s)
- Metroidvania
