What Happens AFTER Each Ending in Hollow Knight?

A lot of people have discussed what happens during each Hollow Knight ending, but I don't see as many discussions of what could potentially happen afterward, so I made my own speculations into a video. I discuss things such as whether the Knight can contain the Radiance, how Hornet could possibly survive being locked inside the Black Egg, and why fans consider Dream No More to be the “true ending”.
Intro 0:00
The Hollow Knight 0:59
Sealed Siblings 3:50
Dream No More 6:32
Embrace the Void 10:35
Delicate Flower 13:51
Outro 16:51

[@Deathy75]

Turns out on the god seekers dlc the little ghost became a literal god

[@DanzTheGB]

Epic

[@crystallizedmint5462]

Shade lord: I'm FrEe! Shade lord touchs a flower: Frick

[@dominicrojasbarillas6972]

I find the tragic ending of the Hollow Knight on Embrace the Void curious. Let's think for a moment, Hollow was born to die. He has no emotions, desire or purpose, he can barely feel anything. He is just a soldier waiting to receive an order, a machine at the service of his master. A being of his class could not interact with the outside world, it would be the equivalent of a statue that follows others with its eyes. He would constantly need a guide to know what to do, a person to act on his behalf, a function that the Pale King surely fulfilled during his time in Hallownest. However, his father, his only anchor to reality, is gone, as is the whole world of him. His purpose no longer exists, but he is still there. He doesn't know how to interact with others, he doesn't even have a voice to express himself, he could even experience loneliness and fear of not knowing what to do for the first time. He is a soldier without a war to fight. Many have taken as Headcanon that Hollow got to know Hornet in her youth or that he would recognize her as a descendant of the Pale King, and you know what? I like this. The most likely scenario is that Hollow crawled towards Hornet and after sticking his sword into the ground he would bow waiting for any order. A more fanciful but nice one is that, if he got to know the lifestyle of the Hallownest people, he would hug Hornet tremblingly, even though it would already involve him having emotions. Whatever the case, one thing prevails: faced with a familiar figure, a spark of hope that survived from his former world, he clings to the only family he has.

[@codyleroy7]

The hug part wouldn’t even contradict lore, it’s shown that The Hollow Knight can feel emotions.

[@zachnewby4739]

Embrace the Void just screams the "Die a hero or live long enough to become the villain" quote to me.

[@TheAncientTabletOfLore]

Finally someone talks about what comes after I been searching for a video like this!!!

[@Alykoghosrt]

13:11 Limbless Herrah Made Me Laugh More That I Should've.

[@Zcoolestgaming]

herrah the fluke

[@riddlebrooke68]

I like to think that the ‘Embrace the void’ ending, the shade lord is still the knight, memories and all. Quote the shade lord statue in the hall of god’s ‘Void given focus’ which I think means knight genuinely did exactly that and they became a GOD OF THE VOID. The next thing, the knight gave the delicate flower to elder bug (Unless you didn’t. And to that I say: YOU MONSTER!) which I think mean the knight has feelings. And the ‘The Hollow Knight’ ending gives you the Infected title screen background seems just to support what I think. You still with me? Ok, cool. So believe that the knight is also kind of a kid. So what I’m trying to say is, I think the shade lord is literally a child given THE POWER OF GOD! AND H E DOUBLE HOCKEY STICKS, THEY BE ABIT MAD FOR A FEW MINUTES BECAUSE OF WHAT THEY HAD TO DEAL WITH IN THE PANTHEON OF HOLLOW NEST. I think John Mulaney say’s it better than me ‘It like there a horse, is lose in a hospital. After a wile, I think everything will be ok. BUT I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT IS GOING TO HAPPEN NEXT!’

[@Darth_Bateman]

Good, children are lit. Adults are cringe. How do you do, fellow kids?

[@riddlebrooke68]

@@Darth_Bateman don’t. Just don’t.

[@Darth_Bateman]

@@riddlebrooke68 I don't negotiate with adults.

[@chaosthebifurry1116]

It has 6 actually, there is a joke ending if you interact with a mushroom npc in every places in a certain order

[@BreathingBlack]

technically that's just an epilogue since it plays after any of the actual endings. If it didn't require getting the other endings to see the cutscene it would be an ending, but you can't see it without getting an ending.

[@sanjiscigarette]

i think after the dream no more and the delicate flower endings the hollow knight takes over the rule of hallownest for their father seeing as their the only one left that is able to rule the kingdom reliably. (hornet was kidnapped by the people of farloom) i think all the endings rely on having thk being free or not to have a good outcome.

[@n1tro72]

the hollow knight is gone on the dream no more ending

[@gamingkids8262]

1:35 I HAVE NEVER SEEN THE INFECTION MAKE A RADIANCE LIGHT

[@Mariomm_marti]

Hey, incredible video. I liked it a lot :) I was looking for something like theories of how Hallownest progressed after each ending (what happened in Deepnest, was The Knight considered a union deity for everybody -- like moths, snail shamans, etc., did The Knight survive by taking a new vessel or something like that, etc). It would be interesting to know that kind of things. Thank you for this content :)

[@vuelle9816]

I think the reason why the godseeker vanished at the end of the delicate flower ending is because the shade lord had consumed the entire physical form (dream form too?) of godseeker. Basically, the delicate flower absorbed all of the shade lord, which included the body of the godseeker that the shade lord had *just* consumed

[@MrGuy125]

The knight will fail to contain the radiance because of a few things in the birthplace cutscene while the knight is hanging off the ledge it sticks out its hand for help to the hollow knight showing it has a mind and if thats not evidence enough the many actions you can do in the game like sitting with quirrel or listening to that one ghosts song shows that the knight has a mind and can feel to a certain extent and thats the nail in the coffin for hollownest

[@priestofronaldalt]

I don't think it can. I always thought of the vessels somewhat like robots. They can think, but not freely, only to overcome obstacles in their path. Their interactions with other bugs is no more than them gathering information. Even in that cutscene, it makes sense. The knight is simply attempting to preserve its own life so it can compete its goal

[@ajamid0145]

In 13:16 it looks like herrah doesn’t have legs lol

[@CoralReaper707]

15:20 Dude, if the delicate flower could actually seal the radiance, I would've been so f@cking mad at the pale king for mudering thousands of kids when a frail little plant could've potentially sealed her just fine.

[@aydenrozzelle7691]

I believe the knight isn't pure (pure meaning without thought/mind). After getting the first ending you get a title screen of infection signifying that infection returns. Also if the knight had no mind, what did the godseekers attune to. Also I believe if the knight was pure, it wouldn't have a shade. A shade is simply its ghost drenched in void. Ghosts being regrets embodied. And to regret means to have a mind.

[@bethmassey3299]

And the void heart description says something about the bearer's will

[@Grubbergrubling]

If the knight didn't have a shade, it wouldn't be void. Also, the godseekers weren't attuning themselves to the knight. In p5 the godseeker is trying to attune to the various gods in hallownest. Such as, the white lady, unn, the pale king. Not us

[@aydenrozzelle7691]

@@Grubbergrubling I suggested that the shades are simply the ghost of the PK's children corrupted by void. And like all ghost, which are lingering dreams of bugs, this must mean the shades are lingering dreams as well. And it's stated that a pure vessel cannot dream. Also, when defeating ABSRAD on radiant in the hall of gods, the knight statue turns into the shade lord. Reading: Void given focus. Clearly signifying that the knight turns into the shade lord due to the attunement of the godseekers. The knight must have a mind to be attuned with.

[@Grubbergrubling]

@@aydenrozzelle7691 the shades are the vessels though? The shell just contains the shade. What your saying Implies that they’re dead the second the egg is corrupted and I’m pretty sure your right. This doesn’t mean that their “ghost” was corrupted though? (If they even have one) It means the void replaced whatever was inside the shell while it was in the egg (or maybe it was just the shell that was there nothing else. idk I’m not very educated on the vessel creation process) also if they were ghost corrupted by void, how exactly would lost kins ghost work? the reason why we leave a shade behind is because the shell broke releasing the void inside of it. Anyways that’s all I have to say I’ll make a counter argument for the godseeker one after if do some research rq. Cool theory tho

[@aydenrozzelle7691]

In the First ending the Hollow Knight is the one attuning to this seal and reforming it, from the dream realm. And without a body to get to its unlikely the seal will be broken.

[@Fake.peppino.spaghetti]

I believe that God seeker was excepting the power of void with open arms

[@Fuckyoutubefordeleteingmymain]

*Accepting*

[@ChunkyChungus]

Does the Shade Lord even have a bad intention? Thats the real question in asking myself. The Shade Lord technically already existed outside the Godhome in the Abyss right? And the Knight just called it (I guess) to defeat the Radiance. Perhaps the Knight became one with the Shade Lord or became it itself and just returned to the Abyss.

[@BinknotLink]

no the knight just transformed into the shade lord

[@Aqua_Hoshino929]

I feel like in silksong we will return to hallownest and see dirt mouth being terrorized by the shade lord and the dreamers the mantises and the hollow knight and the dreamers guardians will fight the shade lord but to no avail and hornet (And probably lace) will team up with the dreamers the mantises the hollow knight and the dreamer guardians to hold down the shade lord and use the delicate flower to capture it like a pokemon and probably ogrim and ze'mer but idk if they are strong enough to Fight and probably the grimmchild will grow up into a new grimm and most likely join the shade lords side because the shad lord in its knight form raised the grimmchild after all and probably Zote who will get smacked in the face with void tendrils. Edit: sorry if its very long but i think you can read it all

[@abhikergaming7783]

I'l just say it I am very comfused on why the mantises or the hollow knight would be on the side of evil

[@kalindulev6208]

I think after godseeker dlc ending with the flower white lady, hornet dreamers and possible the hollow knight are gonna rebuild Hallownest.

[@furryoftheyear]

i like to think that after the embrace the void ending w/ the delicate flower, thk and hornet just hang out and have silly moments together. but that's probably not true, it's just nice to think about them getting a happy ending

[@crystallizedmint5462]

Imagen being a superpower mind eating moth goddess thing, and you get defeated by a vessel that's an 1in tall

[@mwiner1]

It’s possible the flower just teleported bothe the Shade lord and God seeker

[@guffthebir72]

13:15 so hornet gets a brother and a mum in this ending?

[@NameTaag0019]

I like to believe that HK and Hornet went to play UNO after the Godseeker endings

[@Wezryx]

You would need like the radiant equivalent of a vessel to contain, the shade Lord I would think. 14:33

[@Ordinarylistener_.]

⠀It seems to me that Team Cherry put themselves in the unenviable position of saying that all endings are canon. This creates a lot of problems for the future of Hollow Knight: Silksong. In the second ending of the original game, Hornet ends up sealed in the Black Egg, losing consciousness or even dying. Then how will she end up outside the Temple in the second part? Who freed her and how, if to enter the Temple you need to break the seal, and the seal is in the Temple itself? I hope they explain to us how events take place after the original game in Silksong.

[@devilsblade2543]

To be fair, Team Cherry might have changed their minds about this since the ama since it was before even content pack 2, and some of the things they said in that ama were since not true anymore.

[@michaelmcdowell4544]

I have bought hollow knight on Christmas and since then, I have now defeated the radiance, (the "dream no more" ending was first) so I think I can speculate on a few things. so here are my personal theories. Number #1: "The Hollow Knight" personally I believe that this ending implies the knight never became whole, never became it's full potential, as a result of this I think of the knight in this ending as an empty minded machine simply filling it's goal, since in this ending it does not find the void heart, or possibly even the king soul, in total I think the infection is sealed forever, however the damage has already been done, the infection has been released and unless hornet and others is willingly to destroy all remains of this curse, I'm afraid it's too late. Number #2: "Sealed Siblings" I think this ending shows the knight is still prone to it's mission, although with emotion, in this ending it must at least have the void heart. I believe this is a mix of the knight trying to understand it's existence and forming an jealousy of the hollow knight, as an result instead of taking the words of hornet it takes the words of the king himself, becoming the true hollow knight, I believe that while yes the infection is sealed hornet will try to free herself, by leading other surviving vessels into the blackegg (kind of like monomon) to free herself and defy the king and destroy the radiance. Number #3: "Dream No More" I'll explain the rest later if yall wanna hear it although I bet not lmao

[@PabloReiVi]

You can explain. I like the idea of the hero becoming the villain in Embrace the Void ending and I am searching for every intel I can about what happens next.

[@michaelmcdowell4544]

@@PabloReiVi Alright sir, well for the third ending. Number #3 "Dream No More" I speculate this is when the knight isn't an kin of the pale king anymore, no longer a vessel, not even a hollow knight, but the void. it is shown that the knight is made from void, and with the void heart the knight unifies with it, I believe the reason why the void heart charm doesn't cost any charm slots is because it isn't an item, it's an part of the knight. And now the knight doesn't carry the burden of the pale king, so it goes off to defeat an ancient enemy of the darkness, the light itself. I believe that this is done by the knight because dream no more doesn't entail a world of void, a world of light, or a world under any rule, as seen by the grimm troupe the dreams and nightmares weigh heavily on the world, so the knight to free the burden of everything truly makes all dreams no more, no more void, no more radiance, the knight sacrifices itself to become the apex of it's form, just to save the world, but why? well it could be to many reasons, but I think the clear singular reason is hornet. Another kin born to strings to hold the burden of hollownest, I believe the knight cares for hornet because at the end the knight has control of the void and clearly keeps hornets body safe, I believe the knight is causing this because without the void heart charm the void will attack anything. The knight was born for a reason, to keep hollownest eternal, but hollownest is now nothing more then rubble held by dreams, and to truly make hollownest eternal the knight had to separate the dream and the land, the knight sacrifices itself to leave the people/hornet to carry on the true ever lasting dream of hollownest.

[@heianwood6119]

A slight correction: during both hornet endings she appears right before hk would stab himself for the first time. But yea he most likely abandoned his shell to give radiance a red (orange?) smile

[@don_kixotejoga]

My friend told me a theory:the Radiance survived after the Dream no More ending,and was finally finished and killed in Embrace the Void. Basically 2 endings. I dunno if that makes sense,just sharing

[@PabloReiVi]

Well if it have two endings, why on the Embrace the Void ending, the cocoon stills there? Since it got destroyed on the Dream no More ending

[@don_kixotejoga]

Cocoon?

[@PabloReiVi]

@@don_kixotejoga The big black egg wich the Hollow Knight is trapped in

[@don_kixotejoga]

@@PabloReiVi oh,yea...theory busted But it would be pretty cool if it was true

[@crystallizedmint5462]

Hornet after embrace the void: Ah brother why are you still here

[@crystallizedmint5462]

Then why the heck do we have to fight the radiance if she just gets obliterated in the first two endings

[@priestofronaldalt]

I've always thought that the delicate flower ending result in the godseeker mode. In the mode the Godseeker appears afraid if not in awe of you and you can't leave. I always the flower trapped the void lord and the godseeker in their pocket of the dream world and considering hornet seems to experience the Godhome in a dream makes me think that at least in the moment, the lord of shades only appears in the dreams of the denizens of hollownest seeking to fight them

[@Maskiocj13]

I hope the 4th ending is canon I hope shade lord is chill and dreamers isnt dead hollow knight is for sure alive quirell probbaly also

[@venti2569]

I have very little understanding of the lore so pls dont scream at me lmao I womder if they delicate flower was made specifically to get rid of the void which is why it starts disintegrating at the end

[@Maskiocj13]

Think about this we see Hollow knight void form in his mind i dont believe hollow knight is dead

[@immagical7036]

Is it just me or does the narrator’s voice sound like a pitch shifted Dragonsheep studios??

[@Thomasaurus2014]

Wats up with you,r void

[@noway2831]

Imho the Embrace the Void ending is functionally similar to the Dream no More ending other than THK not being killed. Not sure why THK would fight Hornet (its half sister) after the Radiance was consumed. In both endings the Void Entity consumes the dream realm. I don't think the Void Entity is a villain in this story and I don't think it is absorbed by the flower in that ending either, perhaps the godseeker is just spared and teleported somewhere else (what does the flower do other than travel obnoxiously long distances)

[@homelander746]

Nah bruh that void entity was the knight "Ascend the Pantheon of Hallownest and take your place at its peak".

[@darkprelate]

I wholeheartedly agree with you - the Void has no ambitions for Hallownest, only willing to defeat the Light because it usurps the Void, and it's a little silly to expect a flower to ABSORB a godly entity that defeated another literal god. More likely just sparing the godseeker, the little ghost's kindness to its unintended victim.

[@infamous_baba1154]

Aftere that is silksong

[@gameplaywithzain2409]

to be honest, you didn't said anything about what happens after the endings, you literally just told about the lore and what happens in the ending, not after the ending. atleast title the video correctly or make video understandable, 17 minutes wasted