Seals are an element that appears frequently in Hollow Knight, so I wanted to take a closer look at each individual seal as well as what all seals appear to have in common.
I always appreciated how the seals in Hollow Knight had shapes and markings in them. Sealing spells typically have these sorts of markings. The more markings in the seal, the more potent the seal. It seems Team Cherry even took that into consideration while designing the seals of Hollow Knight.
my brain kept thinking "the animal?" every time seal was said because I am such a fan of those creatures. 6:15 at the very top of the path of pain seal it looks like a door, and then below it, a keyhole (or representative of a lock), not sure if it was 100% intentional but it would be a cool extra detail ! I am going to be assigning so many interpretations to these
My guess is that seals help to preserve the physical integrity of objects and people they're placed over. Minor seals just help things last longer by reducing how quickly they wear down and erode away, but major seals prevent things and people from being damaged when struck by physical or magical attacks, while even more powerful seals deflect attacks entirely like shields.
I personally think that most of the seals we see are made of weaver silk, at least primarily. The only exceptions to this are the one on the shade beast (most likely void) the one on the white palace kingsmould, (dream essence) the one on Grimm (nightmare essence) and the one on the weird-ass contraption in Grimm’s attic (also probably nightmare essence) My reasoning is thus: Firstly there’s just…the general visual design. All of the other seals I didn’t just mention look as if they’re made of the same material as the one in Weaver’s Den, which…I really don’t see being made of anything other than their silk. Secondly, all of these seals are placed in places with decently strong connections to The Weavers. Obviously they were close to the citizens of Deepnest, hence the one on the trilobite shrine, and given their clear presence in Pharloom and how important silk seems to be there, the one on Hornet’s cage and the one on the bell in the Deep Docks are no-brainers. As for every other remaining seal…well, they’re all put on things that have some level of relevance to The Pale King’s plan. (I.e. The Black Egg, The Hollow Knight and its chains, The Dreamers, The Dreamer Statues, The White Lady, The Abyss Door, and The King’s Brand). Now, we know that The Pale King definitely had access to Weaver silk, as evidenced by its presence in The White Palace workshop and the hidden station. This makes me think that through some means, (most likely his deal with Herrah since she was closely connected to The Weavers, or maybe even a Weaver herself), The Pale King came into possession of Weaver Silk, and used it to construct the seals that would be placed on all of those relevant things I just mentioned, with the Weavers themselves at the very least developing that one seal with The Hollow Knight’s head on it we see in The Path of Pain and THK’s boss battle. Now, obviously these seals have some very strong connection to soul, most clearly evidenced by how The Abyss door explodes into soul after you get the King’s Brand. So…how does that jive with my idea that all of these seals are made of Weaver silk? Well, in my opinion…soul and silk are literally just the same thing, it’s just that their concentrated in a slightly different way. My reasoning is thus: A: Midwife tells us that one of the things Weavers made with their silk was “spells” and the only other thing we know can make spells is soul. (I know Void also has its spells but in my opinion that’s more like it’s…layering itself on top of the soul? It’s a whole thing…) and B: Much more notably, silk is what Hornet uses to heal herself in Silksong. Now, the canonical explanation for healing in Hollow Knight is that the knight is focusing soul to repair their various masks, which also seem to be some kind of solidified form of soul. And while the masks in Silksong have a slightly different shape and pattern to them…the animation when Hornet gets them is damn near identical to the one in Hollow Knight. The mask shard explodes into soul and seeps its way inside of her. So the only way that Hornet can be repairing her masks with silk…is if silk and soul are the same thing. And if that’s the case, it allows all of these seals to be made of Weaver silk while still explaining the very clear soul connections. Now, I am aware that this opens a whole can of worms. Like…how exactly are the Weavers concentrating soul into silk, and is it ethically ambiguous? What other things count as some variant of soul? If we run with the idea that the citadel is using silk to control the bugs of Pharloom like puppets…does that mean the silk is seeping into their insides to mess around with their soul? And if Weavers produce their silk in the same way real spiders do…does that imply some level of self-sacrifice? Well…all of those are questions for another time. Anyways uh…yeah! That’s why I think most seals are made of weaver silk and thank you to anyone who read this :).
Makes me think about the mention of the Weavers in the Teacher's Archives. Maybe Vessels/the Hollow Knight a have Seal inside them, too? Or was it just that the Pale King asked for their help in researching the Seals for his plan?
I think the Weavers are from Pharloom. I’m not sure there’s enough to go on to make a video about that now, but of course there will be when Silksong comes out!
Hornet says that she can withstand to be inside the Black Egg for a short period of time. She presumably watches from a distance, and then once the Knight has weakened the Hollow Knight enough, Hornet is able to use her silk to temporarily restrain thk so that the Knight can use the dream nail and enter the fight with the Radiance
I always appreciated how the seals in Hollow Knight had shapes and markings in them. Sealing spells typically have these sorts of markings. The more markings in the seal, the more potent the seal. It seems Team Cherry even took that into consideration while designing the seals of Hollow Knight.
It is interesting how Nightmare essence is such a contrast from normal essence that seals made from nightmare essence are a deep scarlet.
my brain kept thinking "the animal?" every time seal was said because I am such a fan of those creatures. 6:15 at the very top of the path of pain seal it looks like a door, and then below it, a keyhole (or representative of a lock), not sure if it was 100% intentional but it would be a cool extra detail ! I am going to be assigning so many interpretations to these
My guess is that seals help to preserve the physical integrity of objects and people they're placed over. Minor seals just help things last longer by reducing how quickly they wear down and erode away, but major seals prevent things and people from being damaged when struck by physical or magical attacks, while even more powerful seals deflect attacks entirely like shields.
This was an awesome video! Seals have always interested me in Hollow Knight so thank you for covering them!
I personally think that most of the seals we see are made of weaver silk, at least primarily. The only exceptions to this are the one on the shade beast (most likely void) the one on the white palace kingsmould, (dream essence) the one on Grimm (nightmare essence) and the one on the weird-ass contraption in Grimm’s attic (also probably nightmare essence)
My reasoning is thus: Firstly there’s just…the general visual design. All of the other seals I didn’t just mention look as if they’re made of the same material as the one in Weaver’s Den, which…I really don’t see being made of anything other than their silk.
Secondly, all of these seals are placed in places with decently strong connections to The Weavers. Obviously they were close to the citizens of Deepnest, hence the one on the trilobite shrine, and given their clear presence in Pharloom and how important silk seems to be there, the one on Hornet’s cage and the one on the bell in the Deep Docks are no-brainers.
As for every other remaining seal…well, they’re all put on things that have some level of relevance to The Pale King’s plan. (I.e. The Black Egg, The Hollow Knight and its chains, The Dreamers, The Dreamer Statues, The White Lady, The Abyss Door, and The King’s Brand). Now, we know that The Pale King definitely had access to Weaver silk, as evidenced by its presence in The White Palace workshop and the hidden station. This makes me think that through some means, (most likely his deal with Herrah since she was closely connected to The Weavers, or maybe even a Weaver herself), The Pale King came into possession of Weaver Silk, and used it to construct the seals that would be placed on all of those relevant things I just mentioned, with the Weavers themselves at the very least developing that one seal with The Hollow Knight’s head on it we see in The Path of Pain and THK’s boss battle.
Now, obviously these seals have some very strong connection to soul, most clearly evidenced by how The Abyss door explodes into soul after you get the King’s Brand. So…how does that jive with my idea that all of these seals are made of Weaver silk? Well, in my opinion…soul and silk are literally just the same thing, it’s just that their concentrated in a slightly different way. My reasoning is thus:
A: Midwife tells us that one of the things Weavers made with their silk was “spells” and the only other thing we know can make spells is soul. (I know Void also has its spells but in my opinion that’s more like it’s…layering itself on top of the soul? It’s a whole thing…)
and B: Much more notably, silk is what Hornet uses to heal herself in Silksong. Now, the canonical explanation for healing in Hollow Knight is that the knight is focusing soul to repair their various masks, which also seem to be some kind of solidified form of soul. And while the masks in Silksong have a slightly different shape and pattern to them…the animation when Hornet gets them is damn near identical to the one in Hollow Knight. The mask shard explodes into soul and seeps its way inside of her. So the only way that Hornet can be repairing her masks with silk…is if silk and soul are the same thing. And if that’s the case, it allows all of these seals to be made of Weaver silk while still explaining the very clear soul connections.
Now, I am aware that this opens a whole can of worms. Like…how exactly are the Weavers concentrating soul into silk, and is it ethically ambiguous? What other things count as some variant of soul? If we run with the idea that the citadel is using silk to control the bugs of Pharloom like puppets…does that mean the silk is seeping into their insides to mess around with their soul? And if Weavers produce their silk in the same way real spiders do…does that imply some level of self-sacrifice? Well…all of those are questions for another time.
Anyways uh…yeah! That’s why I think most seals are made of weaver silk and thank you to anyone who read this :).
Makes me think about the mention of the Weavers in the Teacher's Archives. Maybe Vessels/the Hollow Knight a have Seal inside them, too? Or was it just that the Pale King asked for their help in researching the Seals for his plan?
i think it is an interesting, and likely true take! your next lore video should be about where the weavers originate from (if you haven't already)!
I think the Weavers are from Pharloom. I’m not sure there’s enough to go on to make a video about that now, but of course there will be when Silksong comes out!
jahahahhaha good joke" when silksong comes out"( crying in blue essence)
Interesting how weavers' seal is nearly identical to the seal of binding. What were they trying to protect?
Most likely knowledge, given how the weavers seem to be more on the secretive side.
Now talk about the lore of sea lions in Hollow Knight!
(joke)
Neither the sea nor lions make any appearance in the game
@@lifebloodcore2106 darn.
Very interesting video!
Great video!
Brooo how can hornet help u when u beat the hollow knight pls reply
Hornet says that she can withstand to be inside the Black Egg for a short period of time. She presumably watches from a distance, and then once the Knight has weakened the Hollow Knight enough, Hornet is able to use her silk to temporarily restrain thk so that the Knight can use the dream nail and enter the fight with the Radiance
@@lifebloodcore2106 ty ty ty tysm I brat the game ty 💓
@@lifebloodcore2106 I mean beat the game ty