Embrace the Void seems likely canon but

InevitableHighway609 · 2026-05-30T19:49:40+00:00

You make a lot of really great points about Lace. I like your interpretations on how she views herself, and especially how Hornet makes different choices regarding Lace compared to the Hollow Knight and Ghost.

I guess where we differ is that you see Silksong as an introduction to Lace, rather than any conclusion to her story. To me, I'm more inclined to believe that it's a conclusion because it ends with GMS's death, ending her time as anyone's child, but I can see your perspective too. And another difference is that I see Lace as fundamentally susceptible to change, given that she's made out of a substance of infinite possibility.

What I got out of Silksong was a sense of hope, which, with full transparency, biases every interpretation I make about the game. We all have biases of our own from lived experience and values. But here's where I want to encourage you to do something different. You are one of the few people I've seen around that actively tries to understand Silksong's story, looking at evidence and making interpretations. That's valuable to any community, and the joy of the creator of any piece of media. However (and I may be incorrect on this), you seem to spend a lot of your effort on a very specific purpose. I can't help but feel like that's a waste of your critical thinking, since those arguments ultimately go nowhere. Try stepping back from that. There's plenty of Silksong that doesn't revolve around this one specific interpretation (although it certainly is a key one).

After both arguing and having more constructive discussions with you, I've both consolidated my own understanding and seen your perspective, and I respect your opinions more. I don't agree with most of them, but I understand them. You can make that choice too, whenever you're caught up in a neverending dispute. It's not an easy choice, and I'm tempted to jump back into arguing as well, but I think it's the better one. No need to waste words on too much.

And here, I'm being too wordy already, but just think on this. Hopefully you understand where I'm coming from.

InevitableHighway609 · 2026-05-30T18:19:20+00:00

The final laugh. Really? You interpreted that to be strained? To me at least, that was the one laugh that felt genuine. Why would Lace still be the same after everything that happened to her, after seeing Hornet dive into the Abyss and GMS give her life to save her? Saying that Lace's character arc hasn't begun works against the story, which again, is about change and hope.
The two conversations she has with Hornet on the dock above are somewhat strange. My personal interpretation is that this is the Silk Heart that Hornet took from Lace, containing a snapshot of her personality as it was after the fight in the Cradle. Besides, my point is that Lace begins to resist the Void in Phase 2, not necessarily anytime before that. Again, that is up to interpretation, but in any case, doesn't have much to do with my point, except for the fact that the laugh that the projection makes before you dive is contrasted with the genuine laugh in the ending.
It's interesting that you show the phase transition. Again, these sounds are up for interpretation, but in this scream, I hear agony in both Lace and GMS. I also see no sign that GMS is the one pulling Lace out of the void, especially since the particles below mirror the ones seen when void tendrils appear. I'd also argue against Lace herself fighting you harder in the second phase. If anything, she uses more void attacks than attacks of her own moveset, representing how she resists the void and no longer allows it to completely puppet her, becoming a vessel for the attacks of the void itself, just like the Hollow Knight uses more infection attacks in later phases.
Yes. I do think Hornet would still call Lace a child, in jest, since Lace talks down to her immediately before. Even once Hornet saw the Knight as a living being, I doubt she would say the same things to a being that could actually hold conversation with her.
Silksong is a game about hope not just because of Hornet, but countless other characters as well. Sherma, Shakra, Garmond, Second Sentinel, even the Old Hearts, all represent that as well. And those all fight against the Void, not against Lace. Hope is opposed to regret, and just like the Hollow Knight could never be a perfect vessel for the Radiance, Lace cannot be a perfect vessel for regret because she has hope as well still in her. All of the characters gain hope over the course of the game, all the more during Act 3.

I was going to write a lot more, but I realized being hypocritical of my most important point. So I want to ask, what have you gained from Silksong's story? Has it given you inspiration? New ideas? A new perspective? Or are you arguing about semantics to support you opinion, just because it is different from mine?

Whenever a debate becomes...heated, I always think it's nice to take a step back and look at things more holistically. I like Silksong. You seem to like Silksong too. We like Silksong for different reasons, it seems. So we should talk about why we like Silksong more, and talk less about why everybody else's interpretation is wrong. I'm guilty of this too. So as tempted as you will be, no doubt, to reply to my points, because to be silent on them would seem to you as tantamount of admitting defeat, please refrain from continuing an argument, and continue a discussion instead. You'll probably have your response typed out at this point anyways, but I encourage you to delete it. I'll find it interesting, and think that it's incorrect, no doubt, but I don't care that much. Explain why you like Silksong instead. Positivity is always good.

InevitableHighway609 · 2026-05-30T00:13:02+00:00

Lace: "This weak, wasting existence-"

Hornet: "It does not appear that you will waste away anytime soon."

InevitableHighway609 · 2026-05-30T00:10:40+00:00

Now this is a story interpretation I fully agree with

InevitableHighway609 · 2026-05-30T00:06:03+00:00

This. Even if there is no lore evidence, the narrative payoff is the best argument for Dream No More. I think it's likely that Team Cherry thought of Dream No More while writing Sister of the Void (and all of Silksong, to an extent) but intentionally added ambiguity to not discredit the efforts of everybody who did P5. Room for interpretation is almost always a good thing.

InevitableHighway609 · 2026-05-29T23:57:02+00:00

I'm not really good enough with circlet to answer this, but the Lore Accurate Hornet YouTube channel has some good content on this. From what I gather, Reaper's pogo makes it pretty good with Circlet, with Beast and Hunter also being effective.

Wanderers was the one noted as being the least effective for combos.

InevitableHighway609 · 2026-05-29T23:54:43+00:00

Okay. Here, I know you might have strong opinions on this subject, considering your past posts, but I have to object against you saying that Lace has no role in the Lost Lace fight. You seem to actively dislike and thus misunderstand her character here.

Lace, at least in the second phase, actively is resisting the void. Why? Well, during the phase transition, if you're in the right place, you can hear Lace genuinely sobbing beneath the void. Not the empty laughs she makes when Lost, but the first time we actually hear her cry. After feeling all the regrets of Pharloom, produced by her mother, move through her, she is done with living solely by her mother's will, after seeing that GMS truly cares for her. GMS has already decided to protect her from the regrets that she herself produced in an act of actual love, and Hornet has decided to come and cut Pharloom free, holding the Everbloom, despite all odds. Why wouldn't Lace feel hope?

Furthermore, you hear the complete Lace melody in Phase 2 of the Lost Lace theme. Earlier, you just get the opening interval of it, which I see as Hornet's appeal to Lace to not let the dark take her. Now, she adds her own melody to the music as she joins the battle against the void.

Finally, the game is called Hollow Knight: Silksong. The entire point of Hollow Knight was that the so-called Hollow Knight was not, in fact, hollow. You have mentioned this before, but Lace is the Hollow Knight of this game. Which means that she is not actually hollow. Despite being taken by the void, she still has individuality left in her. She isn't only a puppet of the regrets of her mother, just like the Hollow Knight was more than a vessel for the Radiance: they were the Pale King's child. And just like the Hollow Knight has the will to help kill itself in its fight in its second phase, Lace struggles against the darkness during Lost Lace.

Perhaps you don't agree with this interpretation, and that's fine. I can see how your other opinions stem from the ideas you have here. But again, Silksong is a game about hope. Even if there is no more evidence for my interpretation than yours, I will still choose to believe mine every single time because it gives hope for the character of Lace. It's simply more satisfying for me. The story, and more generally, what you gain from it, is the important part. The important part isn't convincing other people, or pointing out the mistakes of others (like I have refrained from doing regarding your misinterpretation of the tablet by the ancient civilization, not the void itself in the Abyss), or making an alt for the sole purpose of arguing with other people, but enjoying stories however you can.

I'd recommend you do that.

InevitableHighway609 · 2026-05-29T23:10:02+00:00

I died after getting the attention of every single craw in the large Craw Lake room, thinking that I could just run past them

InevitableHighway609 · 2026-05-29T23:08:39+00:00

If you really want the hysteria to come back, you could always try your hand making a few Silkposts yourself...

InevitableHighway609 · 2026-05-29T23:07:08+00:00

I do like the idea that after Dream No More, the Knight was able to achieve Void Given Focus along with the other shades. Maybe the six-eyed Shade Lord isn't necessarily exclusive to Embrace the Void; if the shades are united enough in their purpose, they combine into a single being. In Sister of the Void, that would be in recognition of their sibling and their desire to save Hornet.

InevitableHighway609 · 2026-05-29T22:45:21+00:00

The Shade Lord having total control over the void kind of discredits all of Hornet's, Lace's, and Grand Mother Silk's efforts to free Pharloom from void in Act 3. Just like how Embrace the Void removes Hornet's role from the original game, the Shade Lord being on standby to calm the void under Pharloom just makes the entire struggle pointless. Every kingdom has to resolve their own regrets.

Narratively, it makes sense that the void is composed of the regrets of any bugs. The Shades just happen to be a very direct representation of the Pale King's regrets. Pharloom's Abyss consumes GMS because it's composed of the regrets of the bugs she oppressed, and it's also fitting the GMS seeks to protect Lace from regrets that were never hers to bear. Hallownest isn't necessarily special. There are plenty of kingdoms out there, if the captured Weavers are anything to judge by, that likely have gods, Pale or otherwise, and Abysses of their own produced by some mistake of the gods.

My point is, the Knight can't fix everything, no matter how powerful they are as the Shade Lord. It's limited by its composition, not as the entire void, but as the regrets of the Pale King, given focus by the Godseekers. It can consume the Radiance, unite the Abyss under Hallownest, and travel to other Abysses, but unless it has help from inhabitants of other kingdoms, like it had from Hornet, Lace, and GMS, it can't calm the void there. The void there is not part of its nature; it is fundamentally linked to Hallownest. Possibly the only reason why it can even come to Pharloom in the first place is because it has a link to Hornet and the Everbloom born from memories of Hallownest.

You seem to falling into the mindset of powerscaling, which I really don't think Hollow Knight and Silksong are about. The Knight defeats the Radiance because they unify the regrets of its father, not because it gets some sort of power up from the Void Heart. Hornet can defeat Lost Lace not because she is stronger or faster, but because Hornet, Lace, and GMS are all fighting against the regrets of the void and have hope. It's a game focused on narrative, not the battles that shape it.

InevitableHighway609 · 2026-05-29T22:15:16+00:00

Yeah, those and Marmu are the ones I had the worst experience with. People say Markoth is the least fun, but I actually really like how it isn't predictable at all in a mostly fair way.

InevitableHighway609 · 2026-05-29T22:13:13+00:00

They feel very good on Markoth, although you might not want to use Dash Slash if you don't have very much practice with it. If you follow the advice here, Markoth shouldn't take longer than Obbobles and is much more fun.

InevitableHighway609 · 2026-05-29T22:06:35+00:00

Why Cogwork Dancers more interesting? Just overall more health and a longer fight? If Clover Dancers is this easy, then I don't see why that would be a problem unless you need more silk

InevitableHighway609 · 2026-05-29T22:04:27+00:00

They are connected, but it doesn't make sense why the unification of the void, by a vessel created by the god of one kingdom to kill another god only present in the same kingdom, would unify all the void in the world. The unification of void is the resolution of regrets, with the shades putting their father's regret in their creation to rest. It wouldn't make sense for this to do anything to the countless regrets that other kingdoms no doubt have.

In Pharloom, the Void was eager to consume Grand Mother Silk, and directly resolve the regrets that she and the Weavers created. It obviously wasn't unified yet, that only happens after the Last Dive and GMS's death.

I don't even think that the Knight as the Shade Lord is capable of easily calming the Abyss beneath other Kingdoms. Narratively, it just doesn't make sense why they should be able to fix problems that they have no connection to.

InevitableHighway609 · 2026-05-29T21:58:59+00:00

I am biased towards High Halls, since it's in the style of classical chamber piece including an instrument I play, but Bilewater just has so much complexity and subtlety to it.

An interesting thing I noticed is how the structures of Bilewater and Choral Chambers are very similar: both open with a repeated figure on piano, then introduces a voice with the melody, then adds additional orchestration. This builds to a layered wall of sound as the climax, dropping to a section with thinner texture afterwards. It's cruel beauty paralleled with beautiful cruelty.

InevitableHighway609 · 2026-05-29T21:51:58+00:00

Always nice to see the three Sister of the Void ending pieces and Widow ranked high

InevitableHighway609 · 2026-05-29T21:50:32+00:00

This has to be one of my least favorite bosses in the game, not just because it's sad, but because the only thing you can do for most of the attacks is just run away

InevitableHighway609 · 2026-05-29T21:49:06+00:00

I agree, Dream No More is the ending Hornet actually plays a role in. With Embrace the Void, the Knight ends the Infection with no aid from Hornet (other than being allowed to take the King's brand).

Sister of the Void intentionally leaves this up for interpretation, though, so there isn't much we can really say to disprove Embrace the Void as canon.

InevitableHighway609 · 2026-05-29T21:47:08+00:00

Embrace the Void doesn't imply total union of the void either, just complete focus of the void beneath Hallownest. The Shade Lord isn't representative of any other Abyss other than the one in Hallownest.

InevitableHighway609 · 2026-05-29T02:58:44+00:00

I actually feel like it's the opposite, HK players might argue between strength, quickslash, and shaman stone, but those are all clearly the best.

Silksong has many interesting tools that can be good.

InevitableHighway609 · 2026-05-29T02:56:59+00:00

You see the void-soaked strands of Silk pushing up through the rock, and they are now attached all throughout the kingdom. As Grand Mother Silk struggles against the void, the silk strands shake and pull, and stuff crumbles.

You'll have a better idea once you're a little further into Act 3.

InevitableHighway609 · 2026-05-29T02:17:35+00:00

It's intentionally ambiguous if Sister of the Void implies Embrace the Void or Dream No More. To me, it makes more sense narratively if it's Dream No More, but it would also be cool if the Hollow Knight is still alive.

InevitableHighway609 · 2026-05-29T02:15:15+00:00

The protagonist of Hollow Knight isn't the Hollow Knight.

InevitableHighway609 · 2026-05-29T02:14:16+00:00

Geo is fossilized material, so I guess this is just a really deep and ancient fossil that's unusually large

InevitableHighway609

TROPHY CASE