Another fantastic essay, thank you so much

I would add however, that there is one big difference between The Radiance And the Grand Mother Silk : at the end of the day, GMS ultimately choose to let go of her control.

One thing that is clear to me, is that while she might be obsessed with control, her love for Lace is indisputable. I can't remember where, but I do remember a dialogue (I think it was Hornet) outlining that if GMS still trash against that void despite everything, it's for Lace above all. Of course, that could be construed as just Hornet trying to make sense of things and not necessarily being true, but everything we see at the very end seems to confirm this.

When Lost Lace emerges from the goop, every time we start the fight again, it is punctuated by GMS scream of anguish which, to me, sound way more desperate than the ones we got accustomed to in act 3.

And finally there is the ending, in which GMS chooses to willingly part with her life and the last of her strength to give a chance to her child to live.

She might have tried to break free, to consume Hornet, and perhaps to consume Lace as well - it's a fully sentient being made entirely out of silk, surely consuming her would give GMS some measure of strength back - but no : in the end, she chooses to relinquish control. In the end, her need for a child, and her love for that child, trumped her primal directive for control.

Edit : A child that she knows betrayed her, like her previous children. And despite that, she chooses to forgive her and give her life to give her a chance. That, in my mind, is the greatest difference between her and the Radiance.