After three years of waiting, Hollow Knight: Silksong is finally within sight. Though it still doesn't have an official release date, Hollow Knight: Silksong was shown at Xbox and Bethesda's recent showcase, where it was stated that all games shown were set to release within the next 12 months, suggesting that Silksong is, at most, a year away. Before players finally dive into the highly-anticipated sequel, they may want a refresher course on Hollow Knight's world. Hollow Knight: Silksong takes place in a new kingdom called Pharloom, but little is known about it so far; still, it seems likely that Hallownest's turmoil will impact Pharloom significantly.
Named Hallownest, Hollow Knight's underground kingdom is a little decrepit by the time players venture into its depths. Though the streetlamps are still glowing, the streets themselves have been abandoned, with only a handful of bug citizens left to patrol the city. Hallownest wasn't always so dark and dangerous; it was once a thriving kingdom, with a fully-fledged society, leaders, religions, and an economy.
The History of Hallownest
Located in the middle of a wasteland, Hallownest is buried deep underneath ground, and covers a vast system of tunnels and caves. Before the sentient bugs would inhabit the land and make it their own, an ancient civilization lived within the tunnels. These inhabitants worshipped an otherworldly force known as the Void, which was said to lie at the very bottom of the Abyss.
As is the case in any fiction, where this is darkness, there must also be light, and the Void's counterpart was the Radiance, a god-like being who is said to have control over the Dream Realm. The Radiance used its power to create sentient life, who formed tribes that worshipped her, including the Moth tribe, and the Mantis tribe.
At some point, the ancient civilization disappeared, and a Wrym arrived in the kingdom. Upon dying, the Wrym shed its form and was reborn as the Pale King, who took on the appearance of the bugs that now inhabited the tunnels. Though not as powerful as the Radiance, the Pale King harnessed similar light-based powers, and gave a portion of the bugs sentience. With a society now created, the Pale King officially founded Hallownest, and ruled as its leader, taking a Queen, the White Lady.
For the next few years, the Pale King set about annexing the rest of the connecting tunnels, expecting other species of bugs to join and worship him just as his own subjects did. While some tribes joined him willingly, some were harder to persuade, and their land had to be taken by force. In the end, Hallownest become a vast stretch of land, encapsulating most of the bug tribes, and assimilating them into the same society. Ruling from his royal palace, located at the deepest point of Hallownest, the Pale King lead his kingdom to greatness, with his Five Great Knights ensuring that the peace was upheld.
The Fall of Hallownest
With the Pale King assimilating most of the other bug species into his kingdom, and being forced to worship him, the Radiance was all but forgotten, even though symbols of her religion remained throughout Hallownest. Being unable to take back her influence with force, the Radiance used the Dream Realm to try and gain back supporters, but the citizens of Hallownest resisted. The energy created by this lead to a plague simply known as the Infection, which began to affect Hallownest's people.
In an attempt to stop the spread of the Infection, the Pale King found the Radiance, and overcame its power, locking it away in a Vessel. These Vessels were the Pale King's own children, born in the Abyss so that they'd be powerful enough to keep the Radiance at bay. After searching for the right Vessel, the Pale King finally found a suitable candidate, the Hollow Knight. The goal was to seal the Vessel away in the Temple of the Black Egg, but this was located in Deepnest, which had refused to join the Pale King years ago.
To grant the Pale King's request, the queen of Deepnest, Herrah the Beast, asked him to provide her with a child. The Pale King agreed, and Hornet was born. The Hollow Knight, containing The Radiance, was sealed away, with three Dreamers tasked with guarding the tomb for eternity. However, the Hollow Knight wasn't as pure as the Pale King believed, and The Radiance was able to break free, and restart the Infection.
Eventually, Hallownest fell to ruin, with the vast majority of its inhabitants becoming infected. The Pale King abandoned his people, and fled Hallownest. Soon after, the Radiance was able to break free completely from the Hollow Knight, infecting them in the process. With Hallownest left a lifeless husk of its former self, the Knight makes his return to the city.
Hollow Knight: Silksong is expected to launch for Nintendo Switch, PC, and Xbox within the next 12 months.