King's Pass Lore Tablets Examined

[@guibeck8259]

Silksong gotta get released fast otherwise we'll have a 20 min video about each dream warrior

[@fletchhead]

Don't give him ideas!

[@DoomerSlice]

I would like to see a 20 minute video about Gorb.

[@headcrabA]

@@fletchhead No! Give him MORE ideas!

[@fletchhead]

@@headcrabA "How good of a Waifu is Hornet actually?"

[@tinchosabala]

Wouldn’t be so bad.

[@purpleblah2]

If I were such a weaboo I had swirly anime eyes IRL, I would also wear a mask to hide my shame.

[@Snetzelsnetzalsnetzul]

Chairman Meow this made me laugh too much than it should have

[@awesomesauce_3516]

Chairman Meow Aren’t you Magnus’s cat?

[@awesomesauce_3516]

AztecFitnessGodOfGains ???

[@blendintothebackground3545]

*Nagito Komeada, on the Nintendo DS*

[@m.s.e.advanced2842]

I just saw Mossbag's new upload and honestly *it changed my life*

[@nathandeleau5100]

I liked your comment and honestly...it changed my life.

[@uwo5744]

i died and honestly it changed my life

[@Pine2142]

I changed my life and honestly it changed my life

[@johnheimster3508]

*Gorb* changed my life

[@nathandeleau5100]

@@Pine2142 I changed the letters around in my life and honestly...it changed my life.

[@statical9851]

Also i'd really like it if you made videos less on dumb speculation and more on important things like why bretta can blush even if bugs don't have blood

[@coltonmason4623]

I mean, hemolymph is similar to blood

[@raquelchairez7334]

Statical that is so valid

[@matti.8465]

Void.

[@r3ll282]

@@matti.8465 hornet is void

[@colinlee2904]

Blushing=red Red=nightmare essence Bretta is NKG confirmed

[@Dittachu]

"higher beings, these words are for you alone" "I thought you'd be taller"

[@kingcole5977]

"higher beings, tell us of your suppliers, tell us of where you get your *BATH* *SALTS* to achieve such a high"

[@Jester4460]

@Akivaq he has a very thin hair

[@theonewhoasked513]

"How's the weather up there?"

[@bbk8168]

Mossbag: Does he want me to pay taxes or something? onscreen: “No cost too great.” -pk

[@PancakeBoyyy27]

Well, you kinda have to pay 3000 or so geo to the Pale King, I think it's safe to say he expects you to pay taxes

[@epicosity1224]

Is the Pale King a liberal???

[@ragingmonkeycritic]

You just opened my eyes, this the pale kings initials are PK. Where else have we seen pk. Ness's spells. It was there the whole time Ness=Pale King

[@AshenDust_]

Raging Monkey Critic PK Buzzsaw

[@mousesteam7882]

​@@epicosity1224He was pro imagination, and tried to stop disease

[@awesomepocalypse3203]

What if focus is used in a more literal sense of focusing on a goal for example although void has a mind the void tendrils lash out without any goal or focus but when the void becomes the shade lord it is focused on obtaining a goal of killing the radiance. For soul you are “focusing on the objective of healing your wounds or the snail shamans having spiral focuses to vest spells. Just a thought

[@lemmonboy6459]

Awesomepocalypse Just Like DARK SOULS

[@serraramayfield9230]

@@lemmonboy6459 not really

[@ShycoWar]

0:55 Shoutouts to mossbag for being such a boss, he dislikes his own videos.

[@scapeist5019]

"That video" refers to MatPat's video, not mossbag's video

[@deathbyseatoast8854]

SCapeIst Uh? You sure about that? Im pretty sure that was mossbags debunking video.

[@thensity6594]

The title shows it’s his debunking video

[@scapeist5019]

@@thensity6594 I know

[@MC-zr7hl]

@@scapeist5019 I'm not convinced you do in fact know, because if you knew you wouldn't have said what you said...i think

[@originpulse4234]

Everyone: reads in-game tutorial “Oh, so that’s how I play the game.” mossbag: reads in-game tutorial *”This is clearly political deception to undermine other kingdoms in an attempt to lure gullible travelers to the false hope that is the land Hallownest, why couldn’t we see this before?”*

[@mossbag69]

Haha exactly!!

[@originpulse4234]

...he...spoke to me...I feel humbled to be in his presence...

[@swirltales6046]

haha American Dream go brrr

[@maxmelee1145]

How is this comment only in 3 comments

[@weirdz-j6k]

why does this comment only have 5 replies?

[@Rankurusu777]

You changed since PAX AU. It's like we dont even know you anymore. It's like your life has been changed.

[@attilaschweininger6867]

Mossbag got kidnapped and replaced with Moosebag.

[@Soter94]

Life Will Change starts playing.

[@myozx2112]

‘higher beings these words are for you alone’ rick and morty viewers: now this looks like a job for me (also i’m so happy ur back i was literally rewatching ur old vids today)

[@trevorpgamer1936]

MyOzx lol I love your moe profile pic

[@phantomlinx]

Same

[@matti.8465]

Petition to now start every youtube comment with "Higher beings, this words are for you alone"

[@gel-pen-gel-drinker]

Higher beings,these words are for you alone Bepis

[@Soter94]

Higher being, these words are for you alone Ok, LUL

[@klemmteastwood]

Higher beings, these words are for you alone: to make a long story short i put a whole bag of jellybeans up my ass

[@hiiistrex2838]

Higher beings, these words are for you alone. @Deserve Not Desire bruh u messed it up

[@randomthings8732]

Higher beings, these words are for you alone W Y R M

[@xBeninem]

Me about to go to sleep "Mossbag has uploaded a new video" Me: "I don't need sleep, I need answers"

[@An_ImaginaryFriend]

i was in the same situation too

[@isaaccruz7080]

Right here llol

[@thepencilcunts]

Hilarious and original comment

[@xBeninem]

@@thepencilcunts thank you

[@anthony-to6cb]

Mossbag: “I’m gonna speak nonsense” Me: he’s gonna speak 𝙜𝙖𝙢𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙤𝙧𝙮 :0

[@flip.flap.]

Wow, you burned that man like he was the Nightmare King

[@KingsBard]

oi be nice, he has some good theories

[@anthony-to6cb]

Kingofgames2k dw it was only a joke 😣 (and I was mostly referring to the HK one 😬)

[@DementedDuskull]

AnthonyyBxldos How did you do that font change?

[@anthony-to6cb]

Ties de Jong not really, this is in *asterisks* and this is from an 𝙖𝙥𝙥

[@dominatornh981]

I feel like Team Cherry just put some stuff in, and Mossbag’s adding it to some deep lore universe thing, and they’re just rolling along with it to seem smart.

[@DementedDuskull]

Illuminati Studios When everything in a piece of media is extremely vague and you're expected to piece it all together, that's how you know the creator was just throwing stuff in there. Oh hello Catghost and Petscop I didn't see you there.

[@nicolassigwalt2209]

@@DementedDuskull Murakami's the guy that basicaly shows you're wrong

[@nicolassigwalt2209]

In facts, mossbag's videos are very speculative, and Team Cherry said themself Hollow Knight had no lore established, which mean there isn't really an interpretation above the others. In my opinion, all of these things made sense when Team Cherry put them together, but I don't think they were to reflect about why are the tablets in the King's Pass. However, has Hollow Knight got "no lore", that means creating new lore is definitively not trash.

[@DementedDuskull]

Nicolas Sigwalt ... What?

[@nicolassigwalt2209]

@@DementedDuskull I tried

[@tinchosabala]

When playing Hollow Knight: I just read King’s Pass lore tablets, and honestly, it changed my life

[@indeepgaming4080]

I listened to all of Zotes precepts and honestly, it changed my life

[@peteralfano9217]

I like the imagine the whole "you shall achieve feats of which others can only dream" is the pale king throwing a bit of shade toward the radiance

[@samgomez9942]

Damn I like that. Also, throwing "shade"?

[@HerrscherPuppet]

MOSS DADDY I LOVE YOU SO MUCH!!!! Also are you ever going to make a lore video on the Hunter?

[@mossbag69]

Sure. That sounds easy.

[@cameronwallace8265]

@@mossbag69 famous last words.

[@alexsprague1824]

i hope im in the screenshot when he shows this in the video

[@prronce]

Alex Sprague same

[@themilkssiah]

Alex Sprague same

[@ValensRenvhaggel]

I clicked so fast that a tachyon particle felt jealousy

[@gogogorm]

Noice

[@dunkslammerornstein766]

Is that faster than light or no?

[@ValensRenvhaggel]

@@dunkslammerornstein766 yes... hyphotetically

[@imperfect_dan7519]

@@ValensRenvhaggel Not fast enough.....

[@crabhm5537]

I think when the final lore tablet mentions last and only civilization, the eternal kingdom, it means that Hallownest will be the only civilization left standing and will be eternal. But we all knew that was a fucking lie because of the radiance

[@claudialuquepazos2934]

Unless you count its remains and the few remaining bugs

[@yaminoroy]

>"I should sleep, theres work tomorrow" Mossbag: "nope"

[@trevsoda]

I clicked at a moderately more lively pace than my usual clicking speed

[@rodrigomateodelgadodelacru8154]

"out there,speculative,nonsense" so you are learning the matpat way

[@anthony-to6cb]

Us: waiting for Silksong news Mossbag: lOrE TaBleT SpeCuLaTioN

[@MC-zr7hl]

Hey I'll take what I can get lol

[@lemmonboy6459]

Got damn it, I was trying to get through No Nut November, and then you upload Lore. Heck you mossbag.

[@mechadragon1443]

Join use brother for hentai is our place of belonging

[@nikolapetric7089]

I shaved myself because of this video

[@jaredtherock5692]

"The last and only civilization" could be referring to a belief that the Pale King views other lands as Savage compared to his own kingdom. Also, we are still unsure of Silksong being a prequel or a sequel, right?

[@Josuh]

yeah

[@patrickrandolph132]

6:40 One of Zote's presepts (presept 40 to be exact) says obay no law but your own. He is clearly an anarchist

[@whereislamp3912]

Omg i was so scared you weren't gonna upload until silksong came out hoolly i clicked as soon as i got the notif

[@mdj3638]

"Dont assume that I'm right" This is now fact.

[@MC-zr7hl]

I laughed when I first heard that because I thought it was a joke because I figured that most people would assume he's wrong or at least remain neutral until convinced by whatever argument he was about to make and I figured he would think the same thing but now idk maybe he really does think everybody just automatically assumes he's right no matter what he's talking about lol

[@otherwiseaaron]

Maybe he is saying “last civilization” to suggest that other kingdoms, though clearly civilizations, are not civilized compared to Hallownest. Like he is downgrading other civilizations because they are “not as great as his.” It is clear that the Pale King is not the most reliable narrator.

[@beachloop1537]

15:40 One thing you are forgetting Mossbag. These civilizations could have been created after the Pale King's demise, and Hallownest had fallen to the infection. By spreading elsewhere, bugs were able to escape The Radiance's last influences (the infection), and built new civilizations modeling Hallownest in many ways.

[@Anonymous-Shade]

Personally, I do believe he put those there for the vessels. If a higher being and another higher being have a child, it's safe to assume that child would be a Higher Being as well. Just add void and you have vessels. Perhaps he realized his mistake or knew the Hollow Knight would be flawed, only to put those there for the real Hollow Knight (the Knight) when they return to Hallownest. The lore tablets do talk a lot about how they can only "produce ones such as you" and such. Hallownest couldn't possibly be the only place with Higher Beings (cough cough, Pharloom) and the vessels were made in Hallownest. As for the Mask Maker idea, I don't really think a face means to exist. I think it means you need an Identity to exist. Something people can recognize you by and some bugs, as he says, does not have that trait. The Pale King wants the vessels to take off their masks to, perhaps, fight the Radiance with Darkness vs Light. As for the last lore tablet, I'm not entirely sure what to make of it. Maybe he didn't want the vessels to be all too curious and wander off to other kingdoms. Only to stay in Hallownest. Who knows? That's my take on it, anyway.

[@BigNutster]

Is it possible the Pale King genuinely believed Hallownest was the only kingdom?

[@Anonymous-Shade]

@@BigNutster It is entirely possible. But from how a kingdom generally works, goods come in and out all the time. That's how you'd make an economy. There had to be another kingdom to trade with. (Then again, there is the Moss Tribe, the Weaver Tribe, and the Mantis Tribe)

[@BigNutster]

Anonymous 「【Shade】」 I agree that it’s probably unlikely that the Pale King thought Hallownest was the only civilization. Are there any mentions of trade with other kingdoms or characters confirmed to be from other kingdoms that are also confirmed to be alive during the Pale King’s life? Also, how likely is it that the other higher beings would believe Hallownest is the only kingdom?

[@Anonymous-Shade]

@@BigNutster Ze'mer, or the Grey Mourner. She apparently comes from another kingdom she calls "Lands Serene" which is where the Delicate Flowers are from. Besides that, I don't recall any other instance. As I said before, there probably was with no real archive or evidence. It's simply common logic

[@mirrormimi]

I wonder if Mossbag feels weirder about (lightheartedly) making fun of William and Ari now that he's met them.

[@goldenex9741]

I really appreciate people who go through these kinds of lengths to make compelling videos about the lore of games that are more cryptic than the Da Vinci Code and makes me appreciate it more. Also, I appreciate this channel for doing a good job of it too. I wonder if the great "mossbag" will do other lore videos about other games than Hollow Knight. Of course, I await for the Silksong release and I would be watching this channel as closely as the godtuners would. If ever you decide to make lore videos of other games with confusing yet compelling lore, I am most curious on your take of the game "Blasphemous". Cheers to this channel!

[@woomyiism]

6:07 can't believe Team Cherry used the words "Amongst Us" in a lore tablet, I'm never reading lore tablets again and I am going to become illiterate in order to make sure I don't accidentally read any

[@CoffeeWyrm]

The interpretation that "higher beings" is anyone who managed to find a way above their base instincts is something I never thought of, but makes quite a bit of sense in hindsight. Also, I thought the fungi were born by the dream of Unn, and that blessing is where they drew intelligence from?

[@philltheotherguy1868]

Coffee Coffee iirc it’s the moss people who were created by unn, not the mushrooms. The Hunter claims that mushroom people were created by the infection.

[@CoffeeWyrm]

@@philltheotherguy1868 I mean, given Mr. Mushroom that doesn't seem likely, or why the Mushrooms don't exhibit the typical signs of Infection. The only mention I could find for their creation was "something queer in the air has caused these mushrooms to grow hearts, minds, and even faces!" but that's vague at best and also doesn't fit with the Radiance's MO, since they're still individual creatures. Honestly, the Mushrooms seem like one of the only creatures who are completely immune, or just don't show any symptoms for, the Infection.

[@themockingdragon135]

@@CoffeeWyrm as best as I can tell Mr. Mushroom is separate from the Mushroom tribe, but somehow related. Maybe he's like a prophet or something? But you're right in thinking that the Mushroom tribe were not spawned of the infection, at least some of their lore tablets (readable and noticeable when wearing fungal spores charm) clearly refer to a time before the infection. But I don't think they're immune to the infection, as the Shrumal warriors and ogres have attacks which are bright orange, infection coloured. The only creatures in all of Hallownest that are definitely able to resist the infection at will besides other godly creatures are the Mantises. And before you mention the mantis traitors, they're only infected because they were infected willingly.

[@friedkeenan]

I always figured the "last and only civilization" thing was because the Pale King was so confident that Hallownest would last forever that in the future all other civilizations would crumble, leaving only Hallownest

[@ericbao7740]

I was editing mossbag's captions and I just see, "The owner already provided CC for this video." and then I broke.

[@mossbag69]

Sorry! Just so you know, I will always provide English captions for my own scripted videos.

[@ericbao7740]

@@mossbag69 ok thanks!

[@LilyTheMentallyInsane]

I looked at the king’s pass lore tablets and honestly, it changed my life.

[@Rob-vj6ew]

A mossbag video in this period wut....amazing

[@thesymbiotenation.4552]

We can bet that when SilkSong comes out, mossbag will have a literal goldmine of theories and content about it!

[@drdca8263]

Not literal

[@ZachPlum]

If Silksong comes out during his lifetime

[@palchumfriend4887]

Im more curious about that “Born of God and Meme” playlist

[@twatwaffle2593]

It's mostly animatics of the hollow knight characters over audio of other things.

[@trevorpgamer1936]

Nova X37149 still it has some good memes

[@crimsonzero3165]

@@trevorpgamer1936 yah

[@twatwaffle2593]

I think the stuff at the end being boring skewed the rest of it

[@Ismael-kc3ry]

Another possibility is that it all has to do with the winds in the cliffs. Quirrel talks about how the wind “clouds his mind.” So it sounds like the wind makes it hard for him to focus, which is why faceless bugs outside Hallownest are mindless.

[@Rebelnightwolfe]

You could have used the following bugs animations for these words: Deep. (Deepling) Hard. (Garpede) Throbbing. (Dead Moss Prophet) :)

[@2yoyoyo1Unplugged]

Can you make a lore video on the different parts of the City of Tears and what you think different areas were for? Like analyze the level design and backgrounds and stuff to put together how the City worked? Maybe analyze the caste system if you can? Could work into a broader analysis video on how the regions of Hallownest interacted, for example how Forgotten Crossroads functioned and who lived there, where the lower class of the City lived, who or what lived in Greenpath, to what extent the Fungal Wasted were colonized or used by the Kingdom, etc. I know it’s a big ask, but I feel like you’d make a legendary video just giving your two cents on it. If you do it make sure you meme this comment into the video anyway bapanada BEEYOTCH

[@MC-zr7hl]

That would be awesome. Idk if we have enough information to speculate all that much on that topic but it would be fun to watch him try lol

[@2yoyoyo1Unplugged]

M C spread the word then

[@ChadtronicFan]

Mossbag talk about this or I'll send a pipe bomb to your mailbox

[@theworstandordinaryusername]

18:21 - "Mantises...already had the intelligence" They literally have masks that are even similar to the ancient mask

[@mrgs555]

0:57 "why shrek forever after is an underrated gem" is marked as watched.... a man of culture i see

[@andrew_cunningham]

I thought there was nothing left to pick over in this game but somehow this was one of my favourite episodes yet. Digging down into vague yet repeatedly used terms seems like a surprisingly productive way to get inside the writers' heads with cryptic stories like this. Someone with an English degree could probably put a name to this approach... I'll just have to keep thinking of it as "Big Brain Analysis".

[@mariapazgonzalezlesme]

Ah yes, the sight and melody of Hollow Knight's Lore. It fills the void from within my soul. Ba dam tusss.

[@paulh3892]

I love how the story is told in this game! Little pieces of the story are taken in from dialogue, signs, as well as implied by corpses of a bygone era. Hollow Knight always leaves me hungry to learn a little more about the places and the bugs that inhabit them. Great video as always! Looking forward to Silksong!!

[@funnyman9308]

When you’re at a family gathering and excuse yourself to watch a mossbag video

[@batscove]

"is he expecting me to pay taxes or something" *shows the no cost to great dialogue*

[@cdevans97]

Mossbag More like Mossf riend who I cherish

[@eggomyweggo6576]

At 16:10 it’s also possible the language was simply lost to time and couldn’t be understood by the bug. To us the players it appears as English but the in universe text on the slabs could be a unique bug language that has been forgotten

[@limabean536]

I know it’s a bit of a stretch, but have you thought of redoing the first video with your current knowledge of Hollow Knight? I saw you mention it on your Twitter but kinda skimmed over it. Also, Epstein didn’t kill himself.

[@ElyssaiscsPowellesc]

"This C H O N K Y bug corpse"

[@isleaguegood984]

Honestly it changed my life

[@zatmaggot4909]

2:24 I doubt anyone will see this, but it actually could be true that the game is speaking to players. In the secret backer area the moth treats the messages of the backers as being very important. "Utterings from another world" he says.

[@clink_erton]

0:55 - My playlist made it into a vid, time to party. _* proceeds to dance *_

[@ebb4128]

* hops onto screen from off screen* b o o g i e t i m e

[@clubsandwich559]

7:56 uh-oh. The word/name Aba appears in the Teacher's Archives' tablets as well. You marked it as a gibberish word, but the appearance of it in the Soul Sanctum says otherwise.

[@eeofication]

My interpretation was that the tablets were The Pale Kings last ditch effort to save Hallownest. I think it's possible that he knew the Pure Vessel was impure thus "wrote" those tablets in order to teach the other vessels. You literally hear a strange breath when you "read" them, and I think The Pale King "wrote" the tablets with his last breath in the royal throne room.

[@Zhongler69]

Well I was about to go to sleep but obviously watching this is more important

[@rachmatzulfiqar]

me : "i have no idea what mossbag is talking about in this video" team cherry : "neither do we" but i still love the video, it sparks my curiousity for silksong

[@PerroTrotavidas]

A new mossbag video! Wonderful! Now I got something to rewatch like 12 times in two months while I wait for more. FATHER I CARVE LORE EVEN THO YOU TALKED PRETTY MUCH ABOUT EVERYTHING IN HOLLOW KNIGHT ALREADY

[@RTDelete]

The mask theory fits a lot of things quite nicely, such as Quirrel's whole mask and memory thing

[@jamesbrooks4912]

The players are higher beings. Thank you for coming to my TED talk.

[@milk_choc7889]

But... why would they call us Higher Beings in this one instance and in every other instance, refer to godly beings?

[@jamesbrooks4912]

@@milk_choc7889 yeah that never happens

[@dominatornh981]

I thought Mossbag was just going to go into hibernation until Silksong, but apparently not.

[@pur0we0n212]

I was just having marathon with your theories videos, so yeah this is just perfect

[@st01c64]

8:41 My Theory is that the description “Void Given Focus”, is referring to the manifestation of the Shade Lord, through the *focus* of the Godseekers and Knight.

[@randomsandwichian]

I saw this video, and honestly, it changed my life. I heard the lore suggested here, and honestly, it changed my life. And I read all the comments written by you guys, and honestly, it changed my life. And [ insert another unparalleled enlightening moment here ], and honestly, it changed my life. And I was late to write this comment, and honestly, it changed my life.

[@smashgeartv1412]

My take on the whole mask thing is that the knight uses the masks to hide his true form (Void), as when all of your masks break, the void inside the knight spills out all over the place, as there is no longer anything to contain the knights true form in it's shell

[@earthboundkid1]

I think it is clear that Focus is like a key metaphysical force in how the universe as a whole works. One thing you missed is I think that is hinted at in the cut content. Soul is a naturally occurring thing in the universe. The Radiance is a force of nature one of the cut lore reason why the Pale King and Radiance had a "rivalry" is because the Pale King was not only stealing soul for his own use but misusing soul and twisting it in unnatural ways. I think it is clear that masks help with the act of focusing. My mini theory is Mask marker some how helped the dreamers make the temple of the black egg somehow. What is driving me up the wall (besides the lack of Silksong news/updates) is, is there any bug who is in Hollownest at the time we are playing who was granted a Higher Mind by the Pale King and still has one? That is to say. It is really really really hard to tell if say Breatta or Sly were granted a Higher Mind by the Pale King's beacon or not. Maybe Eternal Emilitia still has a Higher Mind? Who knows she does seem kinda crazy. If Sly and Bretta naturally had Higher minds like Cornifer seems to have then does that mean that the Radiance's infection can effect any bug not just the one's the Pale King gave Beacon to? When the pale king vanished did his beacon vanish as well or is the Beacon something baked into the creation of Hollowest itself, that the Radiance is just fucking with? Again it it hard to say because the God Seeker came to Hollownest drawn to the kingdom by The Pale Kings after glow, whatever that means.

[@beehappy120]

FINALLY, the people on r/hollowknightmemes have some material to work with again!

[@bloxxerhunt1566]

I think the fact other intelligent bugs reside in Hallownest really does show your interpretation of focus might be right. It's implied in the game that bugs with stable psiques are immune to the plague, and able to resist the Radiance. Hence why bees and the Mantis Tribe aren't infected, even long after the kingdom has fallen. Neither do any of the higher beings seem to be, as all of them seem to remain sentient after the plague has struck and inevitably got to their lands. I think what William means when he says "higher beings are bugs that exist in Hallownest above all others" is that higher beings are bugs capable of rejecting their instincts in favor of reason, an ability Hallownest grants to whoever resides there, and that "above all others" mean they have this ability regardless of Hallownest grants it to them or not. That would also explain how bugs such as Zote and Bretta are able to get to Hallownest despite it being a "hard path", since the both of them are clearly intelligent bugs and "hard" might just mean mentally taxing. Something else that supports that theory is that there is a very clear interaction between soul and essence. For starters, the Radiance, which is made of essence, started the plague, which enters and warps the mind of bugs and lets her control them. Perhaps that happens to the average bug in Hallownest because instead of them having the ability to focus, focus is an ability granted by the Kingdom, which means they'd have "weaker" minds, corrupted more easily, while intelligent tribes and individual bugs that were there before the Pale King could keep the plague out of their minds. That would also explain why the Soul Master and his followers saw focus as a way to escape the plague, as strengthening their minds would grant them the ability to keep the Radiance out. Dream nailing also gives soul, and you can gain essence from killing bugs (that are animated by soul), which both make sense if soul and essence are directly correlated. There is also the dialogue with Quirrel in the Crystal Peak, where he says that "The crystal ore is said to contain a sort of energy, not as powerful as the soul the city dwellers harnessed but far less lethal.". That implies a similarity between the two, as crystals are known to harness essence, which infects Myla after she's dug down enough and the crystals start glowing. In the store description of Quick Focus Salubra also says "I've heard that crystals help you to "focus"", further indicating a relation between essence and the focusing of soul. Higher beings, which according to my theory would be able to focus their souls even outside Hallownest, seem to have the ability to distort essence in some way. Grimm's nightmares have red essence, Unn has green essence, the Godseeker and Pale King both placed entire realms within dreams. Even the Soul Master, which is a makeshift "higher being" by my definition, has an unique setting to his dream boss arena. So to me it seems that higher beings have the ability to control their minds, and that the lore tablets referring to them are merely aimed at bugs that are able to think. Specially considering that there's a clear power disparity between higher beings, and they aren't all made equal, as the Godseeker is blown away by the strength of the Pale King's power, and the Pale King was able to cast spells to seal the Radiance away, both inside the Hollow Knight and out of the White Palace. Clearly the Pale King must be particularly strong even between higher beings. I also think you overthought Ellina here. She's a wanderer after all, and might simply just speak a different language than the ones written in the tablets. Lemm says explicitly that it's hard to decipher all the different languages of bugs that travel to Hallownest. In conclusion, I do think your interpretation of focusing the soul and the mind is in fact right.

[@sir.squigglestheawesome]

OH HELL YEAH!! 54 SECONDS WOO AGO THIS VIDEO WAS POSTED!! AND now i can loop for another few months until the next...

[@zompowerful]

I genuinely enjoy the amount of thought and editing that mossbag puts into his videos. I dub thee King of Lore & Speculation.

[@fieldrequired283]

To me, "the last and only civilization" was a testament to the Pale King's hubris. Hallownest was supposed to stand eternally, so eventually, it *would* be the last and only civilization, as time eventually claimed all the others. Of course, things didn't quite pan out that way. The tablet ends up being bitingly ironic, in much the same way as Ozymandias's boastful pedestal inscription in the featureless desert.

[@sinom]

Literally wanted to comment "it's been a while"... What you said the beginning of video changed my -life- comment

[@JawnGG]

With a life this changed, I think you need to become MossBAG. Think about it.

[@X-Vidar]

The bit about about the king deifying his subjects by calling them higher beings is something I thought about a long time ago and that I think makes a lot of sense. I think the pure focus is not something that you use soul to achieve, but rather the opposite: having the pure focus gives you unparreled mastery over soul. I think "focus" in general is the basis of magic and soul manipulation: the "focusing" animation plays out before you cast every spell, it's something the knight knows naturally without anyone teaching them, and in terms of gameplay it requires only to press a button while other spells are button+direction. "The mind still limits us so", I think this means that achieving pure focus means being able to focus without thinking: I think higher beings can do this naturally, and the vessels while not "true" higher beings may be facilitated by the fact that they have (almost) no mind. The way I see higher beings they are opposite to the void, they sre many and represent all the different forms life can take, void is one entity and represents the inevitability of death; what better defining characteristic for these "life deities" than being able to control souls? I love your speculation about the tablets being directed at traveling bugs that achieved higher thought with masks, and there's an old idea of mine that might explain why Ellina can't read them. Basically, the citizens of the city of tears are described as using soul for all sorts of tasks, what if they don't do so through magical tools but rather because they have all some level of magical capabilities? We know that hallownest had a huge class divide, and I believe only nobles and maybe warriors would be considered "citizens", and it would make sense from the pale king's perspective to tie the higher classes to him even more strongly by giving them this power. If only some bugs had minds and souls developed enough to be "higher beings" then maybe Ellina can't read the tablets because she's at the level of a commoner. This might also explain eternal emilitia, who is certainly not truly immortal but still ridiculosly long lived, what if she was exiled because she was making her own experiments to increase her mastery over soul and that increased her longevity? If soul mastery is related to longevity then that could also explain why there are plenty of characters from before the fall of hallownest still alive despite elderbug being born much after and being extremely old. For the godseeker you have to consider that soul and essence are very closely linked, just look at a charm like dream catcher or at the dream nail itself, they give you soul; the way I see it essence is just another, crystallized form soul can take Edit: ah, and I also have a speculation about the mask maker's eyes, my idea is that he's actually the one that created the masks the vessels wear, and that he got the swirly eyes by working for so long in proximity with the void

[@NotZedMain]

i want you to talk about the things that changed your life

[@fryderyksadocha8044]

If he will make video it will *honestly change my life*

[@NotZedMain]

@@fryderyksadocha8044 i want to be changed too

[@pikalad]

I see a mossbag video, I click like. A compelling video. I don't agree with all your theories, but i appreciate you using all available material from Hallow Knight and even showing the theories that can debunk your argument. Great to have you back mossbag!

[@w00tyd00d]

0:55 Mossbag disliking his own video lol

[@Estra_Estra]

If anyone sees this, Nosk's description in Godhome is "everchanging god of the faceless", everchanging because it's a shape-shifter, that's how it catchers its prey, of the faceless because it likely has no original face, it's kinda like The Thing, that's all I assumed at first, and I think it's probably still the case, but what the fuck could it mean actually? It copies the faces of others, what does that mean? It somehow gets them from people's memories, is that relevant? It's not that dumb considering its main tactic to luring prey and the closing doors behind you seem pretty ominous and not something a complete numbskull would do (I know doors closing before you aren't rare at all in this game, but like 5), yet it's still a savage creature from Deepnest overcome by infection.

[@speedwagon9274]

My head canon theory about the Grimm troupe Is that it is a metaphor for fighting Karen in court for the kid

[@silas9673]

You feckin got me to get this game and now I’ve beaten it with steel soul. Thanks mate

[@birdsforbrains2]

Confession: my crackpot theory for the lore tablets was that they were intended for us, the players. It seems like Ellina wasn't able to read the lore tablet (at least that's how I interpreted it). Besides the one instructing the knight on how to focus soul, each one feels very... meta. Why would the knight need to know that the abyss contains something shameful (to paraphrase), if it would know this already? Besides the higher beings we know of: grimm, mothra (who wouldn't be reading them anyway) and the pale king and queen (who would already know the information on them), who else would read them? We know the knight, its siblings and the hollow knight are meant to be vessels that can contain higher beings. What if in a way, the knight's containing us? The white lady said that the knight was not tarnished. If it was truly hollow, why would it make such seemingly unnecessary choices like choosing to sit to watch the lake with quirrel or sitting to listen to Marissa the singer? They don't progress any sort of quest, they're just... choices the knight is free to make, so why would the knight choose to go out of its way to do these if it doesn't have any desires (because of the whole hollowness thing)? I could also be 110% wrong and an idiot for even thinking any of this but what fun would hollow knight be if we didn't obsessively speculate over tiny things like who Lord Fool was, how Hornet got her name, or how zote became such a raging sex god

[@dipsfriesinchocolate5063]

Wouldn't the Knight actually *not* know that? Because they lost their memories after leaving Hallownest, didn't they? They were simply "called" to the kingdom, but not truly knowing, or remembering, about what it hid. They were basically a newcomer to Hallownest throughout the game. Although this still doesn't explain that tablet's purpose.

[@CutMeSomeSlackTheVII]

ugh i am so tired of meta stuff in games like basically everygame has some sort of meta in it its just exhausting

[@Edgeperor]

Team Cherry don’t seem like the kind of people to put “meta” stuff in their games

[@fernandomendes2297]

Holy f*ck I missed this type of video. Your beautiful voice explaining the lore of the game with the soundtrack from Hollow Knight. Just because of this video I am going back to your 30 - 40 min videos . I love Hollow Knight and Mossbag

[@fabianlopez8648]

Gorb probably lost his mind wen he traveled to the howling cliffs tat is probably why he is chidlish

[@fabianlopez8648]

G O R B

[@shroomoid9403]

Ascend

[@Estra_Estra]

Why is there a legitimately good Gorb theory, what the fuck

[@Clawdragoons]

Look at the map - King's Pass is one of the uppermost areas you can travel to, and is located significantly higher up than any of the inhabited areas of the game. Any creature physically present to read the tablets must therefore be, in a very literal sense, a "higher" being. Clearly this is the intended reading of the lore tablets. I am a lore genius, praise me.

[@statical9851]

my theory is that they just forgot these tablets were in the game

[@Lava-yr3hp]

mossbag upload PRAISE THE SUN

[@hornetsentinel]

*walks into hallownest pale king: faces! faces for everyone!

[@daemonas]

Are we going to ignore how the higher beings line can be explained using the line right after? "Your great strength marks you amongst us." Amongst who, well the higher beings.

[@sirpufflington8116]

This mans be uploading Hollow Knight theories years after it was released

[@why3994]

what is this... A new video from mossbag? Honestly, it changed my life

[@TheXell]

Please remember to let the Ads play for mossdaddy.

[@fuze7885]

your video attracted my cat thank you for blessing me this way

[@krispjenkinsons8589]

mossbag : upload new vid Me : welp, time to make a billion account to like this video

[@arilizart9375]

“Dont just assume I’m right” Mr mossbag you could tell me that the knight is made of void lasagna and I would still devote my soul to you