What even are the Snail Shamans?
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 16 มิ.ย. 2024
- What's this!? A Hollow Knight lore video in the year 2021? Could it be?! Uh, yeah! Of course it is! Don't act so surprised. Let's learn about the Snail Shamans! I have barely talked about them in my videos, but there actually is quite a bit to discuss. Enjoy!
I mention another Hollow Knight TH-camr in this video, @Ccmaci . Check him out here:
/ @ccmaci
Check out my Discord server, mossbag & friends!
/ discord
Please follow me on Twitter. I equate my self worth to my follower count:
/ mossbag69
Special thanks to Serena, Katie & 56 for creating the Debug mod. Very useful!
Link to script/list of songs:
mossbag69.blogspot.com/2021/1...
Translate this video into another language using Amara:
amara.org/en/videos/eU14DTinQ...
Video Chapters:
00:00 Spoiler Warning
00:07 Introduction
01:26 What is Soul?
03:06 Shamans and Soul
05:33 “Soul Attuned”
07:21 “Spiral Focus”
09:55 “Shunned Power”
11:36 An important question
12:15 Ball Analysis
15:44 Other evidence for Void origins
17:10 If they are Void, where did they come from, smarty pants?
18:18 Connection to Pharloom
19:11 Shaman "Relations" ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
21:14 Ancestry Connection
22:15 Conclusion - เกม
I changed the title and thumbnail to try and appease the algorithm and now a bunch of the comments you might read about the title don't make sense. Apologizes.
what was the old title?
@@leiagabriele980 "I called the Snail Shaman at 3AM GONE SEXUAL". I thought it would work
@@mossbag69 I don’t see how it didn’t it would’ve got me
@@leiagabriele980 old title was "Why are the Snail Shamans?"
@@kww0121 You ruined everything.
reasons why snail shamans are void: part 1:
1.
massive balls
stay tuned for part 2
thank you Daily Silksong News
this comment was a wild ride with each word, starting with your name
True
balls wide
They're survivors from the Snail Village after Team Cherry wiped it from existence.
You could say they're the SOUL survivors...
@@J.R.Unbound dang
@@J.R.Unbound WHEEZE
@@J.R.Unbound
Soul survivors!
Born with second sight
Haunted shamans!
Cried into the night
(Parody of Blue Öyster Cult’s Sole Survivor)
@@J.R.Unbound I would like but 69
2019 mossbag: debunks other people's theories
2021 mossbag: debunking himself
@Jimmy Jim So his battles shall no longer be legendary?
@@tarriestkn1ght no he upgraded to mythic and divine
Here's my thought: Bretta has seen the Knight move and act, and saw its void nature. Zote, on the other hand, much resembles the Knight, but she has never seen Zote fight. So she attributed the Knight's characteristics to GPZ in her dream, just like one of those people who think Zote is a vessel.
Damn, that actually pretty smart
Zote is a vessel
@@CharlieQuartz no way
I like how you claim "she has never seen Zote fight" while AFAIK nothing proves it, yet nobody contests this.
@@musaran2 If she had seen Zote fight, she wouldn't be worshipping him, obviously. The dude can't even deal damage.
This is less of a "clearly stated in game" and more of a "common sense dictates" thing.
Acording do history class what made Australia lose the emu war was that they were not able to focus Vegemite to heal.
Eita
As an Australian, I can confirm this is true
Pfft
É mentira, eu era a aula de história
The snail shamans probably come from somewhere much darker than the void. Probably new jersey
LMAO
I mean... Fair...
**starts crying**
@@ShamesBond1984 Wyoming *is* void
18:00 I think the phrase "never thought to look" would suggest that the snail shamans were fully aware of the abyss, and thought they knew everything about it so they didn't feel the need to search there
Think they know of the ancient civilization and saw their down fall so they avoided it not wanting to meet the same end
Tho it could mean that they just didnt think there was a abyss down there and they never thought to search there for anything at all. Anyways it shows that they were of a kind that did look activelly and countiously for power in some way
@@torenmulrine9714I’m in the same boat. Maybe the ancients made them or something like that.
Also, void beings being able to manipulate soul makes sense. Since ya know the Knight and the Hollow knight both do that.
my personal take is that they were tied to the ancient civilization that worshipped the void and could be a tribe that flourished back then (sort of sanctum of souls or a mantis tribe kind of thingy) and with that ancient civilization possibly being consumed by void they marked the abyss as a taboo and that's what the line "never thought to look" would indicate
so they came from the void but their origin became a taboo and then they were just chilling in their mounds not being able to leave because they know what void given proper form could do to kingdoms
Zote is literally referred to as "The Grey Prince". Clearly he cant be auth left, he is obv a post-bug monarchist
He's referred to as the Grey Prince by someone else. Other people's views of someone don't change who they truly are.
@@ixelhaine I wouldn't be so sure about that, princes only believe they are princes because people told them that their whole lives
Zote is really the strongest bug in hallow nest. But he just enjoys using only 0.001% of his power.
@@mrfrog0913 to the point where he can die to the Vengefly King?
@@Xaero13 kings beat princes. It's simple royalty power rankings.
I think the main difference between dream ghosts & soul ghosts is that dream ghosts are a manifestation of a bug's memories, while the soul is their literal life force
dream warriors also give soul when hit. maybe what turns memories into ?sentient? ghost like figures is soul. remembered souls. soul ghosts presumably do not have essence. pale king beiing a soul based creature he got whispers, too.
edit:
also seer might have turned into something like radiance. radiance is literally a radiance. so maybe that is what she looks like in physical world? a very strong light from a point in space? maybe seer is an essence absed creature now just like radiance and she looks like a light source at a point of space in physical world.
@@ismetcancelik5052 also i think the seer says that dreams are between body and soul, so maybe essence is the memories of bugs being imprinted upon their souls or something
I agree, I think soul is comparable to philosopher's stones in FMAB. It's pure life force energy mixed together to the point where you can't really distinguish individual personalities.
An interesting difference is that essence ghosts do have an existing form that's invisible without a dream nail, while soul-related ghosts don't actually get a form-- Maybe there's some kind of soul-attuned equivalent to the dream nail or maybe that's just a key difference between the two.
Would it be plausible to assume that these two powers are the two forces that conjure life in hollowness, and that void is some separate force witch can do the same.
19:43 "do the nasty" **shows a snail doing taxes**
Void beings are tax evaders, that's canon now
based
Yes
The _Tax_ Collector wants a word with you
Yoshi is void
You don’t have to pay taxes if you died in the abyss
I took "shunned power" to mean that the snail shamans shunned their own power.
That they have this soul power, but don't actually use it for anything and instead stay sequestered inside their mounds for some reason. Like you said, that one couldn't even clean out their mound.
Who knows, maybe their use and pursuit of soul is what killed them all off and so now the remaining ones stay in their mounds and refuse to use their power anymore.
Maybe they only allow themselves to pass their power on to other beings now, which is why the first Snail Shaman is happy to give the Knight the Vengeful Spirit spell, but couldn't clear out their mound on their own.
Yeah, like they’re trying to avoid the same fates as the bugs in the Soul Sanctum.
I think the white liquid appearance of soul comes from hemolymph, the goop bugs use instead of blood in their bodies, this would explain why you only gain it from harming others, and would make soul a sort of blood magic.
Sure I'm late but...
Hot springs are now blood springs?
@@icepunch7676 Nah I think the hot springs are just water, bugs create new hemolymph by combining the water in their body with nutrients from their food, so I imagine they're just converting the water, they do probably drink it though, so still gross.
@@icepunch7676 bathe in the blood of your enemies
Interesting
Ngl I thought it had a chance to be something else white and sticky
They always ask "who are the snail shamans?" But not "how are the snail shamans?"
*dead, they're dead.*
nnnoOOOOOOOOO
NNNNoooOOooOOOoooOOo
Yes.
Now watch me while now watchmwe nay nay
At least the lore community can agree that James corden is void. That's reassuring tbh.
I feel like that's insulting to the Void
@@exzyyd392 it is
Big, Black Balls HD
While it may be accepted, the fact that it is canon is frankly quite insulting to the tonal differences of void
Void of fucking talent, aye.
It came to me suddenly that two kinds of ghosts actually makes sense. Consider this: dream apparitions are conscious, they are comprised of memories and dreams, but soul ones are shapeless and abstract, possesing only power and distant echo of a voice. To me, they represent powers of memory and will respectfully
Basically ego and anima
When you were talking about the connection between soul and faces/masks, I thought you would mention that the snail shamans focus (his staff) has a face/mask of its own, and that is where the soul seems to coalesce. The fact that the shamans, those who understand the most about soul, use masks as their focus lends much credibility to your theory
I don't agree, it's not a mask, it's a skull.
At this point Silksong "spoilers" may as well be wild speculation
i mean yeah, you can't really spoil a game that isn't released and has not had news in months, unless someone's uncle _does_ work at Team Cherry and the final boss is, in fact, "Zote the Radiant" lol
Wdym I have a spoiler that it's releasing 14 yrs ago
@@yitraboom aw man, Hollow Knight Silksong is my favorite Wii game lol (was that 14 years ago? i think so)
@@Vee_Sheep yeah that sounds right, my uncle works at Nintendo, he told me
@@k.-flynn
Actually they decided to go with an old console and picked the Nintendo 64
I'm just guessing team Cherry is either hysterically laughing in their office watching this or just agreeing to this because they don't know what the shamans are either.
200% chance it is the latter.
@@andrew_cunningham Agreed. I bet Team Cherry does have a lot of lore mapped out in their head. Still, I am sure a fair number of things exist without much of a reason.
It’s my opinion team cherry accepts most fanon lore as canon
Snail good spoopy shaman gud. Gud.
I just hope they watch ALL videos on Hollow Knight lore. And I mean really all of them no excuses
I think this whole thing could've been easier, you just need to consider more the aerodynamics of an elefant, it's almost crucial when deeply understanding snail reproduction behavior
I've got the sneaking suspicion that what the mask maker is referring to is that: in order to make use of soul you first have to have a sense of self, your essence, a mask after all is both a way to obscure an identity and inhabit a new one.
This would also explain why hallownest is so special and why the pale king was so picky about the idea of soul manipulation as it seems like whenever someone tries to pursue elevation through soul they often risk losing their sense of self and by proxy become a deformed soul infused creatures instead.
Who knew absorbing the life essence of something else with a mind was a bad idea? Almost as if you are introducing your mind, or "self" to other selves.
so a mask would be like a sort of line of defense, keeping your true self separate from the soul of others.
this would make sense given the vagueness of the mask maker's line " mask, a face, does it need one, does it not? to define, to focu, to exist" implying that there's a bit of unsureness, or debate, around the subject of whether masks are truly needed to "focus"
in the case of the knight and the hollow knight, it's possible that masks are their preferred method, or it's possible that they have no self to protect, and therefore require no defense against their souls melding with that they collect.
for the snail shamans, they seem to use their spiral shell rather than a mask, given the phrase "spiral focus" it would seem this is just one of many methods of focusing that are possible. im gonna go into wild speculation and say that the circular motion of the snail shaman's staff when he's summoning vengeful spirit is an example of this spiral focus, perhaps not just a way of closing their original self off from the onslaught of soul as a mask would do, but instead a way of directing the flow of soul somehow
and then lastly there's those gems on the sanctum scholar's foreheads. i'm not entirely sure exactly what those were intended to accomplish. the scholars were probably aware of the king's insistence that hallownest residents not wear masks, whether they understood this had to do with focusing soul or not is debatable, but since they worked in direct opposition to the king on the front of trying to manipulate soul at all, i wouldn't doubt that if they thought masks were the best method to accomplish their goals, they would've. it's possible that since masks divide the user of soul from the soul they manipulate, they deliberately avoided using masks at all, since their ultimate goal was to use soul to beat the infection, and they probably didn't think they had much of a chance of doing that if they didn't invoke any effects on themselves. it's also possible that they thought any sort of mask would make the focus "impure" since they wanted to attain a "pure focus" whatever that means.
whatever it is they wanted, it's clear that the gems did not save them from the corrupting effects of the souls of others
oh and then there's also the crystals in the crystal peak which also seem to focus soul, though they seem to do it in a more refractory way, given their nature as crystals, so it's more like they just shine blaing hot soul out of themselves indiscriminantely. i'd really like to say the gems on the scholar's foreheads were made out of the crystals in the crystal peak but there's zero evidence to suggest this.
It’s simple: snails are Shamans in the Australian underground
*"oh yeah, it's all coming together"*
Aussie here. Can confirm.
Crocodile Dundee: the sequel
Can’t wait for the video about the Arthur magic system
Arthur lore deep dive please mossbag
Mfw early access. Check your privileges shinger
Pls mossbag do an Arthur video.
Maase
Ini adalah kontrol
I think they might be descendants of the void civilization. Chances are that with the existence of the abyss and void being erased or forgotten from history, the snail shamans eventually forgot their roots
I'm pretty sure the third uncle is actually the snail shaman we find trapped in the Soul Sanctum. I mean, according to the dialogue we get after getting desolate dive, that third uncle used to have that power, so how does the Soul Master have it? Considering how they had a snail shaman captive, I wouldn't be surprised if the Soul Master somehow found a way to steal that power for himself. That snail shaman also screams before exploding, which could mean he also has a "ferocious temper"...?
On a different note, I thought they could be bound to their mounds by some sort of spell or something. Perhaps the Pale King had something to do with that. But maybe not, who knows, really. The fact they're so mysterious and obscure and somehow absent from the entire history of Hallownest almost makes me think they could actually be remnants from the Ancient Civilization, if not straight out void. xD
Maybe shellwood is just... tree bark. The "shell" of wood. Small and thin enough to be manipulated by bugs and crafted into planks & stuff.
Or Shellwood is just the name of a type of wood, named shellwood cuz its good for building stuff
Here is a funky question for all of us: How big are Hollow Knight characters, compared to humans? We have no point of referense in game, everything is made relative to Hallownest citysens... And even names like "bugs", "nails" and "needles" could be just names for objects, different than ours... It is truly unknowable...
So, what am I trying to say? Hornet could be 6,11 and stomp me like a pepsi can...
Where would they get the trees tho
@@arseniyarsenicum7518 This is exactly why I measure character heights in Vessels
Also if Hornet was 6'11 then that'd make characters like pv, soul tyrant and god seeker like 21ft tall or around 7 meters, which is probably one of the most terrifying things I've ever visualized
@@skytrizz probably in some off screen area
STOP DRINKING SPIRITUAL MILK DAMMIT
No
mmm nirvana juice
But it tasty
1:14 moments before disaster
Now my mind has been opened, and I am aware that I need an entire video speculating about what various items and substances throughout Hollow Knight taste like. Isma's Tear, Rancid Eggs, Leg Eater (R.I.P.), and more all need answers.
Isma's Tear gives me "minty hard candy that manifests in your grandma's house every time you visit" vibes
Rancid Eggs are very clearly shown as being an acquired taste, so it's probably within the bearable range of awful tastes (like black licorish and bog standard yellow beer... perhaps it tastes like both)
and Leg Eater is probably crunchy and seasoned with whatever the Fungal Wastes tastes/smells like
of course, we're just scratching the surface here, and heaven knows mossbag is starting to struggle making HK content while Silksong is still ambiguously close/far away lmao (i don't blame the poor guy, tbh)
I imagine rancid eggs tasting like cream of chicken soup that's gone bad
Don't ask how I know what that tastes like
I think rancid eggs probably taste like rotten eggs.
@@Vee_Sheep Personally I get more "sour lime hard candy" vibes from Isma's Tear.
“my theory is that I have no fucking idea”
too real
Can’t wait for the next vid on what Isma’s tear tastes like
Piss
Piss because it's the piss to Ogrim's shit. A match made in heaven you see
@@kalamies. ok, this made me laugh more than it should've
its legit described as a “tear fruit” so… saltwater
edit: yep heres the inventory description “Fruit formed from a single hardened tear”
@@wolfieolfie nah man piss it’s her piss
The Snails may be Void-infused. They're not necessarily actually *made* from Void, but they derive their powers and appearance from it. We do see where Void seeps into Deepnest in the Sharp Shadow area, and it's possible that Void can be spread by bugs, as shown by the dead Husk Dandy in the Queen's Gardens. It's possible that the Snails would expose themselves to the Void where they were able to access it outside of the Ancient Basin and Abyss and take on its properties, turning themselves into Vessels of a sort.
Silksong news be damned, even this many years from the release of the original game you still manage to create these interesting and thoughtful lore videos. Keep 'em coming!
Wouldn't be suprised if cut dialogue shows up of a snail shaman being like
"haha i'm just like you, void in a shell :DDDDD"
and than the GitS theme was supposed to play but they couldn't afford the licsense
Inb4 Hornet's cut dialogue that says she's void
Everyone asking “why are at snail shamans?” but no one asks “how are the snail shamans?”
@Calin Paul Gherlan same
True
Dead mostly
Dead
@Calin Paul Gherlan He saw the video, and commented while it was unlisted. He didnt beat you, he had a head start. :)
Tangential-ish, but I think shellwood is meant to be bark, which (assuming they're bug sized) would be easier to harvest and would peel off the tree like a shell. The regular planks seen in game don't look like they've been carved from random corpses and the texture and color look like just normal wood. Obviously Zote chose such a material for his blade to ensure he didn't slay his foes in a single strike and deprive himself of the challenge of battle.
but zote does kill in one hit, that’s precept 15
I think the reason that the snails could use soul, was because they are, to some degree, made of void. This is why they don’t end up like those we find in the soul sanctum, & why we can use the same spells.
The more I learn about the details in Hollow Knight, the more I fall in love with it
My love for hollow knight has Already reached the maximum i don't know if i can love it more
It's been 4 years, Hollow Knight. You still owe me more details
Bapanada Stizzl!
@@fallen_1277 Bapanada!
@@Stizzl For that reply you just gained a new subscriber
The ball analysis was the most powerful and meaningful thing I’ve ever heard
Don't forget Jiji, a snail who knows pretty much about void. Another thing is the fact that the ancient basin and other deep ancient places like seems to be made of snail's shells
“Spiritual milk” will haunt my dreams tonight, thanks
Thank you for shouting out my channel!
Now it's time to work on my next lore video: "How many Shells are in the Ancestral Mound?"
Better Question: How many Bugs (dead & alive) are you encountering in the Game???
How many corpses in souls sanctum when
How many snail shamans can fit in one sarcophagus
How many dead children No Eyes
How many vessels did the Pale King sacrifice for the Hollow Knight?
I think you should do a video about the philosophical debate of killing the nailsmith
hmm
Shade Soul his ass into outer space
@@SamueL-td7fb sharp shadow*
@@SamueL-td7fb no, this is racist, I win bye bye
@@SamueL-td7fb Or perhaps kill him with the defender's crest
I like to imagine Brooding Mawlek ate the mask shard, and The Gray Mourner just left it as a reward after teleporting away
One thing I think might point out, with grey mourner and brooding mawlek is that they both seem to have deep feelings of sorrow, mostly at being alone, for this I speak of mawlek's journal entry, where the hunter wonders at why it cries out. I think that deep sorrow might lead to the soul transforming into a sort of catalyst to strengthen constitution of those the come across it, although it might seem reaching. This is probably even more reaching, but once you free 5 grubs, doesn't grubfather also spit out a mask shard fragment, which means, maybe there is a way of removing the catalyst from them living bugs if their sorrow is actively put an end to. Obviously, I would think it would have to be a very deep feeling of sorrow for this change to soul to happen, which is why unless the fragment is off of a normal path, it's usually guarded or on a sort of alter to hold it.
“The sexual reproductive habits of actual snails”
*PTSD of old DnD articles detailing snail monster sex intensifies*
Thats hilarious XD
Wait what
@@Someone-sq8im oh yeah. There's more than a few types of monsters based on snails, and in old Dnd books and Dragon magazines they would pad out the pages by detailing the "mating habits" of the animals they were based on, AND IT WOULDN'T ACTUALLY BE CREATIVE. It'd just be stuff you could find these days on an ordinary wikipedia page xD
@@ekman2095 Younger me learned WAYYYY more about snail sex than he should have known at that age. Did you know that BOTH snails have penises and vaginas?!? They are the definition of "Yes, we're pregnant". If I have to suffer with this information so will everyone else!
@@warioskapelli3100 Not only that, they fight over who gets to carry the eggs. They sting each other while mating, and the stronger one gets the benefit of not needing to develop eggs for several weeks.
About 4:45 the ghost and soul difference: In indigenous shamanistic beliefs of Siberia and Mongolia a persons 'soul' is made up of multiple parts. One is a sülde (spirit), it gives a person their identity (essence if you like) and is what remains as a spirit after death. The other is the khiimori (~windhorse), this is a source of power and is believed to be depleted and replenished when people do things, especially things concerning the supernatural (e.g. spirits, magic).
To me the ghosts are comparable to the sülde and soul is comparable to khiimori.
The concept of physical and spiritual souls exists in numerous mythologies including egyptian finnish and hindu. It however is as far as Im aware absent from both judeochristian and celtic and saxon mythologies, explaining the unfamiliarity of the concept to a general western audience.
It reminds of Plato’s Theory of Forms where he states that there are three worlds layered atop one another: the material world, the world of the mind (which could be essence and dreams) and the layer of Idea (which could be soul) which is the underlying layer that the other two are built upon
@@ineednochannelyoutube5384 Hi! Actually it is present in Christianity as well! Though the terms are switched. The word translated as "spirit" in the Bible is either Ruach (hebrew) or Pneuma (greek) which both also mean literal breath or "breath of life" and represent a life force. Upon one's (physical) death, it returns back to God.
Soul (nephesh or psyche) sets a person as an individual being. It can either mean the being as a whole, or its inner being (the word psychology has the same root) - consciousness, mind, will, dreams and emotions. It lives on after the body dies, but there are some speculations about what happens to it next and whether it can die too eventually. I immediately thought of this watching this video and then find people from different background talking about very similar concepts!
I think that the snail shamans were around in the times of the void-worshipping people. I think that they were normal snails (explaining the relatives bit) that tried to consume void to gain more power. It was probably some sort of ritual thing. Consuming void made them powerful, but not hollow or completely made of void.
Thanks for the shout-out, man. I appreciate that.
If silksong isn't out before my funeral, I ain't dying.
Also, who's to say the snail shamans weren't part of the ancient civilization? Maybe they were worshipped or created (orr both) by ancient bugs.
It's coming out in February 2022, when is your funeral?
I'll personally see to it that you won't die. Just sign this contract, just don't read the small letters.
As though you could die anyway. You're immune to all forms of damage!
Whatever you say, Emilitia.
Bapanada …
I can't believe Team Cherry named the Soul Eater charm after James Corden
Something I want to quickly point out: I don't think Brooding Mawlek and Ze'mer explode into Mask Shards, I think they just leave them behind and masks just have their own sprite instead the small bright ball like when you break Bluggsac. Brooding Mawlek likely consumed one (from all we know it might have stolen one from Sly) and Ze'mer probably held onto it because it had some sort of a value attached to it - Sly wouldn't be holding onto them if they weren't.
Regarding the "snail void?!?" question: I don't think they are void beings, I think they become corrupted or influenced or they absorb Void throughout their lives to strengthen their spells, and it seems to bite them in the ass.
The Shade Soul Shaman seems to be captured for testing, probably to extract the spell somehow (as it is plausible that another Shaman had his spell either stolen by Soul Master or gave it away willingly, the Shaman in Ancestral Mound specifically uses past tense (his uncle used to possess similar ability) which he doesn't do for anyone else) and hidden away in Soul Sanctum (how does Sly tie into this since he has the key from the place?). Another possibility is that the Shaman was captured and intentionally contaminated with Void particles, although I have no backing for this one.
The Shaman holding Descending Dark is encased in crystals probably to either stop her from moving or keep her preserved, either by herself or the workers or maybe even the Mound itself - the combination of the Soul they normally utilise and Void seemed to have made them pretty volatile and unstable as they literally explode.
Abyss Shriek is, according to Snail Shaman, not a creation of his kind. He doesn't even leave it vague like with Shade Soul. I have nothing for that one apart from "maybe he didn't know" or the bodies and minds of the Shamans themselves or the Souls they used to create the spell (the ones whose cries will be heard again) became so warped and tainted by the Void (likely because of the proximity to its source) that he no longer recognises them as his own kind or his kind's creations. That room was set up by someone, it didn't come to be on its own.
20:53 this dog just brightened my day
"We can only make educated guesses on what soul tastes like"
Shows rocks, milk, a house...
Bottom left corner...
@@noahstobbe9814 oh god
@@ikerrad2804 yum
@@noahstobbe9814 delectable
@@kellenbrewer2798 For a second i thought that was [FREE-GRADE] DELECTABLE [[PIPIS]]
3:48 It's comforting that not even Mossbag knows everything.
True
Doesn’t know everything *yet*
I have a kinda crackpot theory that the snail shamans are all that is left of the ancient civilization. They might not BE void, but they worship it. It would also connect to the ancient civilization’s totems that contain soul. The snail shamans would’ve made them. It also explains all the swirly shell rock things that you can find in the ancient basin. They’re snail shells.
That particular snail shaman that doesn’t recognize Shriek might’ve been born after the Abyss was sealed, or had simply never gone there.
Edit: also, I think it’s possible that the ancient civilization never went into the Abyss at all, or very little. They simply worshipped the void from afar
I like how "do the nasty" is someone using a calculator XD
congratulations, you found the funny.
The amount of hollow knight lore we have left to explore and analyze is truly expansive and never ending
Haha
like my
Yeah like…this game is from almost five years old and it’s still full of things to analyse. I really love it
@@tenmoki magnum
Dong
The Seer turning into the Lumifly could be similar to a form of reincarnation. The Seer was well aware of the Radiance and the Radiance being the God of light may allow those who believe in her a chance to be a creature that can create and always be around light. That or the exact opposite reason, being a creature of light that the Radiance can control and use so that she can see the outside world while she is in the dream world
I know its been 5mo since the comment, but if seer believed in the radience, why would she help the knight fight it?
@@estevaomarreymendonca2469 The Seer could have rejected the Radiance after seeing the horrible things the god did or became a follower of the Pale King
@@lazyninja1793
According to the Wanderer’s Journal, the seer is helping the knight rebel against the radiance because they caused the infection. As mossbag brought up in his video on the book, I’m not sure how the in-universe author knows more than us on that matter but the point still stands.
17:56 this could also just be referring to the specific room and statues that you obtain Abyss Shriek in
I am new to all this lore stuff and I just think it's beautiful how much information this game has and how much you know! That must have taken so long to find AND memorize all these details!
When it comes to the difference between Soul and Essence, I think Essence is related to the mind, what holds memories and dreams, where as Soul could be more of a life force that animates the bodies.
Edit: Okay I'm thinking even more about this now. The Hollow Knight and Broken Vessel give off Soul, while the shades and the Collector don't, which means the 'living' vessels that have a shell are still some kind of alive. And maybe that was the point? Like, the Pale King didn't use Kings Moulds to trap the Radiance, and maybe that's because that wouldn't work, that the Radiance could only be sealed within a semi-living creature (???) which is why the King made this throw-babies-down-the-pit plan in the first place (????????) So maybe the vessels do have souls as in they are living, but they don't have essence because they have no mind to think??
Editedit: Wait that doesn't make sense either, the Broken Vessel does have Essence. Uuuuhhh......
That still theoretically makes sense, as every vessel would be classed as ‘hollow’ if all of them had no mind - no essence. Clearly, the Broken Vessel was a defective vessel, a vessel that wasn’t truly hollow, potentially explaining why it gives off essence. The HK had thoughts, which is why it was able to be taken over by The Radiance and why it has essence particles in the ‘True Ending’ before you fight The Radiance. So, i think the theory is still intact.
I've never seen so many twists!
@@sneefsnoof This makes sense to me. I also tought so.ethong similar was the case.
Maybe the soul from broken vessel is actually from the lightseeds possessing it and that those also contain the essence so your theory is still accurate
Obviously King's Moulds are moved by the power of the King's telepathical orders and the Collector is basically reincarnated King.
Top 10 Unanswered Questions
What does soul taste like?
Orange juice with white food coloring
Love that u take the time to seperate your vids into timestamped chapters! So convenient and satisfying!
if you consider that soul and void have some sort of synergy, but are inherently seperate, then you can interpret the knight using the shaman's bodies as a sort of catalyst between the spells and his own void
14:05 I've always interpreted this as Brooding Mawlek eating another vessel, whose mask then had partially persevered, and Grey Mourner being a memory/will of a person, with only some of her mask holding the soul and the memory/will to complete the final task together, signifying the reason why she can't just go through the Hallownest to visit Traitor's Daughter grave (the mask would immediately shatter on hit and, unlike Ghost, Grey Mourner doesn't have the ability to revive... unless you play Steel Soul), and so when you pass on the delicate flower, they explode into soul, leaving behind a mask shard that you then use as yours.
fantastic video, as always great discussions at length about interesting lore, theories and ideas within the world of Hollow Knight!!
So mawlek is probably from ancient basin, due to similer looking enemies there.
And corrupted kin, a boss in ancient basin, is missing about 1/4 part of its mask. Wild
@@foiledagain1914 0-0 That makes so much sense-
@@foiledagain1914 While the Mawlek species does seem to have originated from the Ancient basin.
The Brooding Mawlek we fight specifically comes from the Forgotten crossroads. The area and overall arena we fight it in is a dead Mawlek nest if you look at the details
14:16 i think it actually ate the mask shard, that's why tearing they apart frees the shard, the BM death animation is the only one (that i remember) which an enemy splits in half
“I think, therefore I am.”
- the snail shamans
I like the style of these videos, with jokes that are spelled with perfectly serious voice, like nothing wrong happens, or even just appear only as brief image, without any words. Also when the video ends - it just ends. It just stops right there.
This style of yours is both respect-arousing, and hilarious :D
For GPZ, the void-like balls could be Bretta mixing up the Knight and Zote or making Zote like the Knight subconsciously
I was gonna comment about this as well. At least I know that someone else has thought about this
But that would again imply that Bretta knows what void is in the first place
Specter Knight
Not necessarily, it could be that Bretta just saw the Knight leaking those particles and thought they were cool
"My theory is I have no fucking idea"
Mossbag, this is the third week in a row you've shown this theory in class
god i love your lore videos, they're incredibly informative and funny at the same time
The theory I cooked up on the snail shamans around a year ago was that they are the descendants of Void entities created by the Ancient Kingdom to combat Radiance.
It might first look like it doesn't make a lot of sense that Void creatures could reproduce, but at the same time we ever only see either very simple Void creatures, like the Void tendrils in the Abyss, or very primitive ones created by the Pale king (and in the case of the vessels, also the Pale lady) through experimentation and trial and error. We're basing the abilities of Void creatures pretty much entirely on a very limited selection of them, most of whom were far from perfect. It wouldn't be too far fetched to think that more advanced Void entities could reproduce and be in effect like any other lifeforms.
Another thing that made me think the Snail Shamans might be connected to the Ancient Kingdom was their apparent age as a race in Hallownest and their connection to Soul. It's heavily implied that the Snail Shamans have been around the area for a very, very long time. As such, it could have been that they began around the time of the Ancient Kingdom. Additionally, Snail Shamans show quite deep understanding of the Soul, something the Ancient Kingdom was good at as well.
So why do they not know about the Abyss? Well, the Snail Shaman merely didn't seem to have thought of going there, but this doesn't mean it didn't know of its existence. After all the shaman somehow still does know, at least to some extent, what Void is and recognizes you as a 'shadow'. At the same time it's entirely possible that the Snail Shamans had just forgotten a lot about the Abyss and the Void throughout the generations, as Abyss is implied to have been hidden or inaccessible until the Pale King rediscovered it. What little they did know about it was passed down knowledge from their ancestors.
Finally, Radiance calls the Knight, an entity created relatively lately, her "Ancient enemy". Whenever the word 'ancient' is used in the game, it's always about the Ancient Kingdom. I mean, it's in their name. As such this quote must be about the Void inside the Knight, not the Knight itself or it being a Vessel.
So these connections and ideas led me to create a headcanon that long ago the Ancient Kingdom and the Radiance somehow got into a war. During this war, the Kingdom created Void Entities as warriors and weapons, one of which were the ancestors of the Snail Shamans, advanced Void entities capable of reproduction (for easy 'mass production') to whom the bugs of the Ancient Kingdom implanted their knowledge of Soul so the Shamans could use it to fight. However, the Ancient Kingdom still fell to ruin, and the Snail Shamans, now without owners or purpose, spread out across Hallownest and began their own culture. In the beginning the shamans were still violent and aggressive, they had been made for war after all. This is why prior Snail Shamans used to take the Soul of others. However, after a while, with no war to fight, the Snail Shamans became more peaceful until they realized they could use large burial areas to siphon off Soul without harming anyone. This lead to the current lifestyle of the shamans, and for the longest time they lived like that. During the many generations the race slowly began to lose their history; after all, the Snail Shamans seem to be one of the only races in Hallownest that don't have a written language, unlike the moths, the mosskin, the mantises and the different races of Deepnest. So by the time the Knight comes around, the Shaman knows something about you and Void, but far from a lot. To it, the Abyss is likely just a legend barely heard of.
_But if the Snail Shamans are going to get any lore in Silksong there's a good chance this entire theory will become invalid. Not like I expect it to be correct._
Agreed about the most. Its also possible that there are no actual void creature and there never been. Maybe the ancient civilization just knew how to contain and use it.
I agree that it could be possible there are more advanced forms of void out there and we only know about the ones in Hollow Nest. It would be like basing knowledge of Metroids on the Mocktroids of Super Metroid.
I also agree that all this speculation might be just wrong
Makes sense.
It would also mean they are not snails at all, merely using snail shells to hold themselves.
Isn't the Knight a shell too, holding it's own Soul *and* Void?
Are shamans where the Pale King got the idea of attempting to combine these?
Would that be after moulding Void, and obtaining only mindless creatures?
Thats a lot of words ,but sadly I can't read
For the hunters thing it is possible that he is mistaking it for fresh meat tasting nicer then old meat
Great video as always! I can never get enough of HK lore❤
I loved your editing and graphics is in this video!
Maybe the spiral focus is a mindset that Snail shamans are more naturally attuned to, they can understand it better because they physically possess spirals.
Spirals can be interpreted in two ways. Limitless potential spiraling and permeating out of a single point of origin. Drawing a spiral from the center first, Then expanding it.
Or
Limitless power slowly declining and falling into itself in a singular point.
When it comes to the first interpretation. Soul has been shown to give bugs amazing capabilities from healing abilities to combative purposes. Perhaps the spiral going outwards is a representation of Soul being released from the body, Drawn from within to accomplish feats like no other (limitless potential from a singular point to draw from)
Conversely, The other interpretation of the spiral. The limitless potential of the soul being sucked into the end point of the spiral, Can be seen as how the Shamans understand the Absorption of the soul. To take the divine, Powerful force from around oneself and absorb it into the self for your own use.
The spiral is like a representation of the bugs relationship with soul, It’s like breathing. Soul goes in, Soul comes out. But instead of being a simple “in and out” it’s more powerful, and thus EXPANDS out and COLLAPSES in. this could be why when you blast soul, There’s a flash of light alongside the soul attack, and when you focus, It draws in particles.
Maybe The Snail shamans are like the Mantis tribe. In the same vein of the Mantis tribe staving off infection due to their culture making them naturally immune (unless otherwise accepting). The Culture of the snail shamans gives them that natural understanding of soul and thus could a natural predisposition towards it.
Or maybe they use wayward Compass
Maybe they’re just Gurren Lagaan fans
Pretty sure healing requires the true focus exclusive to the kin of the pale king
I would like to mention that when the knight absorbs the shadows from the upgrades, they flash with their void tendrils for a bit, as well as when actually casting shade soul and shriek. The same ones in the dream no more ending, implying that this shadow is probably connected to void.
I also like to think the snail shaman saying "your essence has melded with the spell", he means void, since that is pretty much what the knights essence is
Yeah, that's how I understood it as well. It's just such a problem that the word essence has already been used to mean something entirely different, so it's a game of "are they talking about the stuff named essence or the abstract concept of someones essence?"
after obtaining the abyss shriek, the snail shaman says that the abyss shriek is not something the shamans could do, he says „ its not within the skill of us snails to do such a thing.“ which probably referrs to the void part of abyss shriek because they can definitely manipulate soul and the howling wraiths spell is obtained from a shaman. So, since the shamans could use the howling wraiths, which is made of pure soul, but they cant use abyss shriek, which the only difference from wraiths is that it is also partly made of void, i guess it is the manipulation of the Void that the shamans cant do, which they definitely could if they were void creatures
I never thought I would be linked to a deep look video while watching a mossbag video. I’m glad mossbag has good taste.
I like to think they are like descendants of the ancient civilization, so far descended that along the line they realized the power of soul and began repressing the void within themselves, until eventually they forgot about their past
I always thought they were the remains of the ancient civilisation, judging by the weird skills they posses. They live in >mounds
Void is foreign to them, as said by the one we know. The AC bugs also look way different.
@@AJ-uf4sh it could be forgotten knowledge. Especially after the King sealed the entrance to the Abyss, I could see the snails slowly forgetting their origin. Either that or ancient snails might have been interested in the ancient civilization and their stories about void and did research on them.
What if the snail shells act as a naturally occurring equivalent to the contraptions that give void constructs their form and purpose? Like, each unique snail shell confers a distinct personality and set of traits? This way the snails wouldn't need to know about the void or the abyss, and the void that composes their bodies is just what they are.
@@baenstar It isn't... If they were void, they would be genderless like the Vessels, which they're clearly not. They're all related to each other (third aunt, fourth uncle or whatever).
@@matticus1980 Black=/=void. We only get void spells from them because as Snail Shaman puts it, the Knight's 'essence has melded with the spell, transformed by a powerful source'.
man i just want to tell u ive been watching ur vids just as like background noise i love your voice and dont get me wrong im into hk but maaaaaan your voice is carrying every vid for me its so soothing
Nice video! I've always been curious about the snail shamans. My read on them after my first few playthroughs were that they weren't void, but they were aware of it. As with many other groups, I assumed they banished/dispersed by the Pale King and his buddies. Whatever they were, they are now a scattered, lost and mostly dead, bunch of bugs.
4:24 You MONSTER!
good job on those spiral line animations for the shell and charms, really well done!
Thanks! I'm starting to learn After Effects a bit more
yesss! so satisfying to watch!
I love how objective mossbag is in these videos. Points out all sorts of possible connections and explanations but well acknowledges they may just be coincidences and not intended.
So good to see him point something out, think to myself, "yeah that's neat but I don't think it means anything", and then hear him say "it's neat but it probably doesn't mean anything".
Finally man, the wait was totally worth it
Edit: The thing that you included in this vid (writing the descriptions on screen saying where they came from is perfect man
I can totally see team cherry watching this and having no clue what he's talking about :)
I suspect the difference between "essence ghosts" and "Soul ghosts" is a matter of consciousness and adaptability. Essence ghosts are the lingering memories of bugs, able to think and speak, but unable to change as they are just the memories, not the actual bug's "spirit" for lack of a proper term. Soul ghosts on the other hand are the "energy" of the bug, the stuff that makes up their spirit. It whispers, not because it is actively trying to speak with you, but because it is full of the core emotions of the spirits that make it up and so communicate a broad "feeling" rather than a specific message. For example the Vengeful Spirit is made up of some amount of soul ghosts that are "full of vengeful desire". Each individual bug no longer has a sense of self, and now all they can do is "feel a desire for vengeance" that fuels the spell. On a broader level though, soul is also the "life energy" of the world that animates bugs, the shamans collected the lingering remains of soul energy from dead bodies, while the Soul sanctum residents began to break down because their bodies could not maintain their own form due to all the energy inside of them.
Life force vs memories
Super late but @mossbag you could consider this.
Soul for shamans is operated outside the body. Using knowledge. So outside the mounds which soul density is less they need to store it. Thus to become more proficient they take in void that allows them to harness it in their body.
The soul masters that forcefully use soul get bloated and insane from the thoughts of the vengeful spirits and whatnot.
And that also makes a nice plot of why the higher beings are such. Brings that naturally have a large enough soul to use only their own without a need to use of outside forces to harness the energy.
The hollow is made out of void, is naturally gifted to use soul arts (as before meeting any spell related stuff it can use soul to heal) and by coming into contact with others you devour soul energy. This ability of the abyss is the reason only hollow children can seal the radiance, and need to be without will to not get influenced. A higher being having such a strong soul that anyone that tried to harness/trap needs to contest will against will. At the same time all abyss made characters don't generate soul collector, shades in abyss ect. So you can instantly find out who are made of abyss or not by having said fact.
In silksong hornet does not have soul but silk cause no bugs that are not made out of abyss or live in a soul dense environment, can use it without turning insane.
It fits well it explains multiple mechanics and also why the pale king had to find a hollow Vessel made out of abyss, why the mechanics work as such, helps clean up what is made out of abyss or not. How the pale king died by the abyss invasion in the palace as only the abyss is know to be able to kill other higher beings (No other force has been known to kill them.) As the abyss naturally gets drawn to higher beings with massive soul energy as it tried to balance it's lack of soul, thus the natural predator of the higher beings. Why the queen is sealed (suppressing her soul radiance to not attract the abyss) why it's the black egg. How did the radiance break out of the seal, the will gave way to a stronger one ect.
The more you dive into this the more everything fits, if you can examine in more detailed the prospect it might dig out lots of logical leaps and theories.
Hope you read it as late as I am haha might inspire another lore video.
And yes I am loving your lore videos as well as the rest of your content keep it up
pog, mossbag trimestral hollow knight video about some random stuff while we wait for silksong
Ah I was actually kinda waiting for this. Thank you again mossbag, for all these lore videos, I always enjoy them.
VIDEO IDEA: In what order the player uncovers the lore and story throughout their journey.
I’ve always been just as interested in the story itself as in how it’s told and in which order
anybody else just rewatch moss content every once in a while
mossfather has gifted us another lore video
Have you ever tought that Lurien might be a kingsmould?
When you beat him up in the dreamer thing, he shows a void like body. He also is really loyal to the PK, and that would explain the vitruvian grub like drawings in the spire.
The Vitruvian Grub is in Collector's place, not the spire, and I don't see the connection to void unless you mean his black body, I think that's just that, a body. He's just loyal like Ogrim; I mean, he is his king.
@@werisekk3 basically every character has a black body anyway
Regarding that part you mentioned about soul and spiral, the scholars who shoot soul always spin it around themselves after summoning it from their head
Wouldn't it be funny if it was because it's like stirring dough, you literally have to do it or it just won't bunch up enough to be of tangible use.
It's my speculation that soul is having thoughts and emotions, the hollow knight being an impure vessel, and the broken vessel being animated by infection
When you already scraped the bottom of the barrel so you got a pickaxe and shovel to go deeper.