The Relationship Between the Knight and Their Shade - Hollow Knight Lore

I always thought the lore relating to the Knight's shade and its interactions with the Knight was pretty interesting, so I delve into it in this video.

[@pilk1258]

I find the idea of beings at their peak power in Godhome as it means that the peak of the Shadelord is so strong it can not only defeat a higher being but also pierce through realms.

[@leilaclarridge5807]

Now the question would be how does the Knight respawn at the bench? The reason that I came up with is that Void seems to have a weird relationship with the flow of time, as suggested by the lore tablet in the White Palace workshop which says it can “deny time”, and how Hallownest is referred to being in a sort of stasis by some characters and how characters from outside of the kingdom treat it as some long forgotten and ancient ruin while characters from Hallownest, like Hornet, have remained young. My guess is that because Void is seemingly disconnected from time, it allows beings that are closely attuned to it to manipulate time to some small degree. For the Hollow Knight, their sealing caused time to stop in Hallownest’s underground, while the Knight can travel backwards in time a short distance to evade death. Why a Shade is left is that it probably acts as a sort of anchor, allowing the Knight to return to the time they died and regain their Shade. If this confuses you, then trust me, it confuses me even more. This is the kind of theory that would need serious ironing out before I can think about it without getting an aneurysm.

[@donanderson1020]

With the question about why the shade doesn't wander around I'd ask the same question as to why the abyss shades don't wander-they're bound to the location where, for lack of a better way to describe it, regret occurred. Jiji is in tune with these regrets and how to manipulate regret, I think, which is why she is able to summon the shade to a new location and thus unbind it from its old location I didn't really think this comment through very much so it's just my first idea, but very interesting little video nonetheless

[@lifebloodcore2106]

The sibling shades do move around the room they’re in without being prompted to do so (i.e. seeing the knight) tho. That’s what I was talking about. The shade just stays completely still. But you are right about them being bound to a certain place, seeing as the shade will only follow the knight so far before going back to its spawn point

[@aydenrozzelle7691]

As we see with lost kin, a vessel can survive of their dream essence alone. Though this will mean the knight is not pure (which Ive already suspected). So when the knight comes back through video game logic. He somehow regrows his shell, and by reflecting on himself at the bench and heals.

[@LordoftheNightWolves]

Jiji and The Hunter in his journal refer to the shade as a stain of regret left on the world. They both are speaking in metaphorically as they don't completely know the physical manifestations of the knight's stain. After killing the shade Jiji summoned she addresses the knight's aggressive method of dealing with its regrets.

[@aydenrozzelle7691]

I think the reason the shade is destroyed when dreamnailed is due to it being put to rest through reflection. Much like we can dream nail bosses like lost kin and into their minds and help them reflect we can do so with the shade. Allowing it to accept the truth return to its shell.

[@aydenrozzelle7691]

When dying a second time your soul meter is destroyed completely. With too much regret to bear your essence turns to void. Into another shade. And magically you grow another shell. Maybe due the knight being part root (this root growing in areas with large amounts of soul). Another shell grows from the soul we see drip off benches.

[@theultimatefusion7265]

My youtube had a bug tf. Pretend there wasn't no answer here.

[@spectrethefox5450]

I personally think of the Knight's deaths as non-canon, but there' are definitely some very interesting details to spot if you look at it otherwise. Thanks for pointing those out! I especially like the theory that the Knight missing exactly 1/3rd of their soul vessel is in reference to how they're missing 1/3rd of their origin.

[@archdruidbookwalter951]

I think there's more to the Dream Nail's ability to instantly kill the shade than it just being very powerful, because normally it's completely harmless when used as a weapon. Using it on NPCs only causes you to read their thoughts, with such a subtlety that most of them do not even notice the blow. The only time the Dream Nail's functionality is similar to what is seen when it kills the shade is when it absorbs essence ghosts, perhaps indicating that vessel shades are close enough to dream ghosts that the dream nail is able to deconstruct them all the same. It just can't absorb them. Another potential reason for why the dream nail can do this has to do with the specific type of power that the dream nail uses, that of Essence. Essence is the power of dreams and the mind, but it is also shown to be used by higher beings as a more general source of power. The lore tablets in the White Palace, and one of the Radiance's thoughts when dream-nailed, both indicate some sort of hostility between the Void and the higher beings. The reason for this is not explained, but it could be that as Void is magic made from darkness, Essence is the opposite of that; the magic of light. This would explain why both the Radiance and the Pale King glow with light. The reason the dream nail is so destructive to the Void then would be because the magic it uses is naturally hostile to the Void, and so when it touches the shade, it reacts violently.

[@josepholson324]

I think broken vessel is a special case, they were already dead when the radience puppeted them.

[@gerardomaximilianorodriguezmed]

because when we approach the shadow of the knight it starts to sound like a music box

[@abdulrahmanwaleed6363]

Good video u need recognition

[@Pier77Tampa]

Love it, very interesting. I wonder if the Knight’s enemies already do contain the void heart since Shade doesn’t attack them, while the Knight needs to acquire it. If so, why doesn’t he have it in the first place? Is he like a Pure Knight without regrets?

[@sonicx2.0577]

If you lose against the collector, the shade would be lock like a grub???

[@Incognit__]

I think the shade is the knight because the knight died when the pale king put the kids on the void and the soul stell mode it’s the cannon mode because when you die the shade scapes and you don’t revive because you only revive in the bench for gameplay because it didn’t make sense and the knight done may have more than 1 shade, also when you die after you died is for gameplay that the shade disappears because it don’t may disappear if you think it the second shade don’t may exist because the knight lost the void part so the first shade may still there and the second don’t make any sense.

[@MisterCuervo74]

Tienes que añadirle subtitulos en español a todos tus videos de preguntas y lore de Hollow Knight :(

[@lifebloodcore2106]

Es cierto que yo hablo español de nivel intermedio, pero traducir todos mis videos requeriría mucho tiempo que no tengo porque no hago KZbin en tiempo completo

[@MisterCuervo74]

@@lifebloodcore2106 Ah ok, de todas formas está el traductor de google para traducir tus lineas de diálogo xD

[@lifebloodcore2106]

@@MisterCuervo74 Sí hay traductor de google, pero tengo muchos videos y muchos más planeado.

[@MisterCuervo74]

@@lifebloodcore2106 Bueno, a llorar en el abismo entonces xd

[@lifebloodcore2106]

@@MisterCuervo74 ¡Lo siento!

[@aydenrozzelle7691]

The shade is the soul of the knight. When in the egg they were dropped into the abyss for their body and spirit to be tainted by void.

[@aydenrozzelle7691]

@lifeblood Thats basically what I said. The children of gods thrown into the abyss while in the egg. Deformed by void. Dying and being born again. Born twice from gods and void.

[@aydenrozzelle7691]

@lifeblood The knight was born again through void. Its essence will always be attached to void. Unlike normal bugs, (un-pure) vessels can pull "soul" from the abyss. A mind required. Soul gathered on the bench reforms it shell. Void pulled. Born again at the place they last reflected. Similar to the knight's egg. The pure vessel cannot do this, it has no mind. No essence connected to the void to pull from. So, it simply collapses at the end.

[@aydenrozzelle7691]

@lifeblood what...we see eggs attached to void tentacles. They obviously were tainted while in the egg. As seen with the husk dandy within the queens gardens (the love key bug). To much time around void can deform your body and mind to become possessed.

[@aydenrozzelle7691]

@lifeblood You do understand what I mean by tainted, right? Like the godseeker the void took over them inside and out. So yes, the vessels don't just contain void. Their very essence is void. Like the soul scholars in which un-pure soul deformed them, creating the mistakes and follies. Void did the same for un-pure children of the pale king.

[@aydenrozzelle7691]

@lifeblood So if the pale king simply put the eggs behind a seal of binding beforehand. It would destroy their mind. Making them pure. In fact, that seems to be what he did, at least 2 times. With the egg in the black egg and the one next to the throne room.