Hollow Knight is arguably one of the most successful indie games to release in the past few years, with its combination of a unique setting, compelling characters, and story arcs alongside a combat system that was punishing enough for Dark Souls fans to love. Hollow Knight also has incredibly deep lore that branches from the beginning of the game, and even before that starting point in time, back when an ancient Wyrm became the Pale King by shedding its shell. This event was followed by the Pale King, a higher being, granting wisdom to many of the bugs of Hallownest, who in return started worshipping him as a god under the promise that the kingdom would be eternal, and this rapidly expanded to many species of bugs.
This chain of events set in motion another series of happenings that determined the eventual downfall of the kingdom of Hallownest, and it all started with the Moths renouncing their faith in their actual creator, the Radiance, believing that in truth it was the Pale King all along. Much like the Pale King wanted to be adored, the Radiance too wanted her share of glory, and she wanted the bugs to remember her and to start revering her once more. To accomplish this, she involuntarily winded up causing the Infection, which exterminated thousands of bugs with its physical and mental manifestations, setting the story in motion for Hollow Knight.
The Backstory of Hallownest and the Ties With Hornet, Silksong's Protagonist
With the Infection spreading, the Pale King came up with an idea to stop the disease by using a Vessel to seal the Radiance away for good. The Vessels, however, were the offspring of the Pale King himself and the White Lady, and they were born in a place called the Abyss deep down in Hallownest. This is where an ancient civilization thrived, worshipping the Void, a substance that is akin to darkness and opposite the light of higher beings like the Pale King and the Radiance.
Vessels were not naturally born as such, but rather transformed into beings of Void and godhood alike, coming to life by the droves as the Pale King kept searching for a Vessel that was pure enough to contain the Radiance. One of these siblings was deemed worthy of that title, and their name was the Hollow Knight. However, the Hollow Knight was not truly pure because an idea was instilled into them, and some fans attribute this to the fact that their siblings fled the Abyss, while another theory is that this has to do with how the Pale King regarded his children as objects but actually raised the Hollow Knight.
Because of this, the Hollow Knight was not pure enough to contain the Radiance, and eventually, the kingdom paid the price of the Pale King's hubris. Regardless, the Hollow Knight eventually was sealed within the Temple of the Black Egg with the help of three bugs who became Dreamers, beings eternally sleeping to apply seals to the Black Egg so that the Hollow Knight couldn't break free and doom the kingdom. Of the three Dreamers, Herrah offered the Pale King an ultimatum, which consisted of them being sexually involved.
The Pale King accepted, and out of this union another bug was born, and she is Hornet. This means that the Knight, who was born as a Vessel filled with Void to the Pale King and the White Lady, is indeed Hornet's sibling because both share the same father. Whether Hollow Knight: Silksong will further build on that remains to be seen, but it did have a great impact on the emotional payload of the first game.
Hollow Knight: Silksong is in development for PC and Switch.