#''This ashen place is grave of Wyrm. Once told it came to die. But what is death for that ancient being? More transformation methinks.''

[imminent-danger-came]

Was listening to the Hollow Knight soundtrack and Sealed Vessel sounds like Macaque and Wukong and/or whatever the hell happens to MK in season 5. Sick to my stomach

You can't do this to me

#thinking of MK as the Hollow Knight. TERRIBLE. #Would MK be the Hollow Knight or the Ghost? Idk #Either way I need MK to be a fucked up creation of the heavens (ft. SWK) in some capacity. I need it desperately #I am now in a rabbit hole of reading Hollow Knight dialogue this is a bad place for me to be #''Have you met them my former fellows? That's them outside their bodies shambling around all mindless and empty. #And I'm still alive to witness their pathetic demise. Ahhh. I'm just so happy. Fate can be a wonderful thing.'' LIKE HELLO #''This ashen place is grave of Wyrm. Once told it came to die. But what is death for that ancient being? More transformation methinks.'' #Don't get me thinking about the Pale King. Though I never did actually finish hollow knight #I literally just had to beat radiance. And I didn't do it #Smh #Though 'Sealed Vessel' being a song during the SWK V Macaque fight of old. OUCH #It's a tragic song. A fated fight. #Something dramatic and painful #asks #lmk #lego monkie kid #hollow knight #hk

[hollow-knight-hope]

okay... this is a completely unlikely theory but hear me out...

i noticed that there are glowing white roots throughout the Kingdoms Edge, which somewhat reminded me of the White Lady’s roots. considering the location and the proximity to the cast-off shell of the Pale King, it makes me wonder if the White Lady is also from a far away realm besides Hallownest, and arrived in a similar manner to the Pale King. 

then I kinda went off on a whole other “what if” concept, inspired by this awesome post. I loved this theory that the White Lady is some sort of fungus, but imagine if she was a species of cordyceps? some of the species of real life cordyceps actually resemble the roots of the White Lady pretty closely. **TW for bug death/disturbing imagery but here is an image of parasitic cordyceps in a tarantula.**

we aren’t really given a reason for why the Pale King “died” as a Wyrm. so just imagine if the Wyrm was actually in a power struggle with a sentient species of cordyceps, and eventually succumbed to the parasite at the edge of what would become Hallownest. 

as stated by Bardoon, "This ashen place is grave of Wyrm. Once told, it came to die. But what is death for that ancient being? More transformation methinks.”

i think this would be a cooler backstory because it ties into Hollow Knight’s themes of power and transformation, and it would better explain how the Pale King and White Lady shared a connection. they would have been reborn from the same corpse, the Pale King emerging from the cast-off shell and the White Lady being born from the ascocarp of the fungus that killed him.

a likely theory? not really. an idea for a terrifying au? maybe!

#hollow knight #hollow knight spoilers #tw for the links they show real infected bugs #hollow knight lore

[chocosnowflake0]

" This ashen place is grave of Wyrm. Once told, it came to die. But what is death for that ancient being? More transformation methinks. "

Re-born Pale King & re-born Nightmare King Grimm ❤ they're still lil'bappies yet PK looks kinda menacing

#pale king #hollow knight pale king #hollow knight nightmare king #nightmare king grimm #hollow knight #the hollow knight #hotcocoasan #myart

[rukafais]

honestly it’s such a waste of potential for both comedy and seriousness if you treat the Pale King exactly like he was a normal bug, and not something that explicitly was not a bug and just took on a buglike form

he wasn’t an exceptional bug who became a monarch, he was a god crammed in a smaller and more relatable shell

“This ashen place is grave of Wyrm. Once told, it came to die. But what is death for that ancient being? More transformation methinks.”

“But another light appeared in our world... A wyrm that took the form of a king.”

“No bug has ever laid claim to this whole. Even the beasts knew their limits and bound their realm at Nest's edge.

It is the ancient caste that made attempt at such vast rule. Hallownest's ruin reflects well those fared attempts.”

“Holy charm symbolising a union between higher beings. The bearer will slowly absorb the limitless SOUL contained within.”

#like no matter how you spin it #he wasn't a normal mortal bug #that is textual #it's not subtext it is LITERAL TEXT #spoilers // #chatter

[georgia-starlive]

[rukafais]

Since you seem to have the Good Good Lore on PK, can I ask is there a place you can recommend to read up on it/get a handle for his character? Is it best to just go through/watch through the game or is there a little lore library out there somewhere? He's an incredibly fascinating character and I'd love to learn more about him.

Oh boy THIS IS A..COMPLICATED QUESTION FOR WHICH I DON’T HAVE A VERY GOOD ANSWER because my own interpretation is extrapolation based on me playing the game a billion times and:

- cross-referencing lore tablets with dialogue with what little we get of him in the game (both his actual appearances and the white palace) and

- the overarching implications of his actions in Hallownest (the repeated symbols of his rule everywhere, etc)

- what’s implied by what he leaves out

The wiki has a page with their own interpretation, I personally do not read it because I want to form my own conclusions, but the wiki does have all the text in the game so going there for a refresher if you can’t remember what someone said is always good

buuut here’s what I started with, text-wise, i’m putting it behind a readmore cos i cited…a lot, lmao

“They say the old King died long ago, but his influence echoes around us still. A creature like that… what did he desire?”

- Kingsmould journal entry

“The bugs of Hallownest believed that their King created this world and everything in it. For what purpose, I wonder? Were his subjects companions, or toys, or children? Such a mind seems unknowable.”

- Wingmould journal entry

“Simple, weak creatures find strength by forming a hive and obeying a ruler. Such creatures become the arms and teeth and claws of their monarch.”

- Royal Retainer journal entry

“The old King of Hallownest… he must have been desperate to save his crumbling little world. The sacrifices he imposed on others… all for nothing.”

- The Hollow Knight journal entry

No blazing kin. Only one light shall shine against the dark.

The Wyrm becomes beacon, minds expanded, to yield, to devote.

Eternity in promise and charge in progeny cursed.”

- hidden lore tablet in the White Palace throne room

“Ohrm… Tiny thing. You climb high. Seek then knowledge of these lands?

This ashen place is grave of Wyrm. Once told, it came to die. But what is death for that ancient being? More transformation methinks.

This failed kingdom is product of the being spawned from that event.”

“This falling ash is moult. The Wyrm’s corpse decaying. Endless. Rmm… Serene. Sad.With its like gone, the world is smaller.“

“Don’t mistake. I am not a wyrm… Ohrm… Too small, I am. Too many limbs. No foresight like those old things.“

- Bardoon (NPC in Kingdom’s Edge) dialogue

“But another light appeared in our world… A wyrm that took the form of a king.

How fickle my ancestors must have been. They forsook the light that spawned them. Turned their backs to it… Forgot it even.”

- Seer ascension dialogue (2400 Essence needed)

“I see another takes mantle of king? Then grim responsibility that shall bestow.

No bug has ever laid claim to this whole. Even the beasts knew their limits and bound their realm at Nest’s edge.

It is the ancient caste that made attempt at such vast rule. Hallownest’s ruin reflects well those fared attempts.” (unmask, needs King’s Brand)

- Mask Maker dialogue

“Little one, we stand in the King’s Station! Named of course for the King of Hallownest, he who ordered the building of the stagways and stations.

The King never rode the stagways himself, but I’ve heard he was a glorious bug to behold, bright and radiant in visage, so much so it hurt to look at him.”

- Last Stag dialogue (King’s Station)

“Hallownest’s king was an elusive figure, deified by the citizens. With the king rarely seen, worship was offered through these idols.”

“If you look closely, each of these idols is subtly different. There are fine engravings about them that take some time to decipher.I suspect each was tailored to the owner. A personalised symbol of the king’s omnipotence.“

“I’ve often wondered the true visage of the king. Depictions are of an imposing, gleaming figure and a fiercely horned crown.I suspect there’s much embellishment in the imagery though. A ruler seeking worship tends to hide their blemishes. It’d do no good to appear a common bug.”

- Relic Seeker Lemm dialogue (selling King’s Idols)

“…Return to us……Missing monarch, we need you now…” (by fountain)

“..Where have you gone?…Dear King…” (Palace Grounds)

“…My King… All for us…

… We will wait… King…

…King… Your troubles… Let us…

Your light… Magnificent and true…“ (White Palace dream)

- Royal Retainer dream nail dialogue

“No cost too great.

No mind to think.

No will to break.

No voice to cry suffering.

Born of God and Void.

You shall seal the blinding light that plagues their dreams.

You are the Vessel.

You are the Hollow Knight.”

- Pale King dialogue, Abyss flashback (Kingsoul needed)

“Higher beings, these words are for you alone.

Our pure Vessel has ascended.

Beyond lies only the refuse and regret of its creation.

We shall enter that place no longer.”

- lore tablet outside Abyss entrance

“A true servant gives all for the Kingdom.

Let Hallownest’s Pale King relieve you of your burden.”

- hidden fountain in Ancient Basin

#rukamemes #chatter #spoilers // #god this got long #SORRY THERES A LOT #cappurrccino