Hole Knight: Silksong‘s story continues Staff Cherry’s narrative fashion from its first sport, tucking bits of historical past and character growth right here and there. Whenever you piece all of it collectively, you are left a bit astounded over how one thing that started off so easy ended up being so necessary ultimately. Like the remainder of Silksong, virtually each a part of the story is healthier and extra bold than its predecessor, with a robust central thought and a outstanding twist.
“Nearly” is the important thing phrase, although. There’s only one huge downside: Staff Cherry cannot determine if the primary character is Hornet or the participant.
[Ed. note: The piece contains heavy spoilers for Silksong’s standard and true ending.]
Silksong begins with Hornet in a cage. The Weavers of Pharloom captured her on the bidding of Grand Mom Silk, the native god from whom Hornet is partly descended, however Hornet escapes and winds up with a bunch of nobodies beginning a pilgrimage. Hornet travels from the hellish depths amid the piles of bone and corpses and progressively makes her manner as much as the Citadel, the place Pharloom’s corrupt non secular caste lives. Alongside the best way, she bears witness to the cruelty and struggling the exploited lots endure within the identify of so-called religion — the employees who give their lives so the Citadel bugs can reside in consolation, the dissenters and “sinners” imprisoned for daring to assume otherwise, and so forth.
Lace, one other Weaver born from Grand Mom Silk’s personal silk (learn: soul in Silksong-speak) can be ascending to the Citadel and plans to awaken her mom, take revenge on the ministers and choristers who imprisoned Mom Silk, and… effectively, that is about so far as the plan goes, actually. Hornet occurs, and in the usual ending, takes over from Mom Silk. Within the true ending, Hornet imprisons Mom Silk, finally ends up battling the Void (a recurring villainous entity of types from Hole Knight), and frees Lace from the Void earlier than Mom Silk sacrifices herself in order that they each can stroll free.
Silksong is a pilgrimage story. “No shit,” I hear you say, however I do not imply the apparent “everybody’s gone to the Citadel” a part of it. I imply that it is modeled after medieval pilgrimages and morality performs (tales about human struggles to be virtuous), with a Reformation-style critique of organized faith thrown in. Hornet’s journey — by a hellish underworld, to a center layer full of individuals making the very best of a nasty scenario, then ascending to the Citadel —parallels Dante’s The Divine Comedy. That piece of Renaissance literature follows a fictional model of Dante by hell, purgatory, and heaven on a pilgrimage of religious transformation and enlightenment, which is principally Silksong in a nutshell.
You would even make some robust connections to the Stations of the Cross, albeit out of order. Hornet is arrested and divested of the whole lot, even her garments; the Final Decide passes judgment on her; she faces a tortuous journey from the depths of Pharloom to her future; and for those who make it to Act 3, she’s entombed within the abyss for a time.
In different phrases, Silksong undoubtedly desires you to consider faith, spirituality, and transformation if you’re taking part in. All of that’s crucial for understanding the sport’s remaining act. For those who dig into Hole Knight and Silksong lore in regards to the Weavers, the gist of all of it is that the faith and lifestyle Mom Silk as soon as championed has turned poisonous. Her youngsters deserted her teachings, and a caste of self-interested ministers seized management of the Citadel, utilizing its teachings for their very own benefit. (Martin Luther would’ve liked Silksong.)
Hornet, as a part-Weaver descendant of Grand Mom Silk, was destined — pre-ordained, for those who like — to observe the need of her “mom” whether or not she wished to or not. Because of her actual mom, Herrah, Hornet was raised exterior of all of the Weaver drama and taught to reside for herself, therefore why Mom Silk captures Hornet in the beginning of the sport to make her reside as much as her Weaver-ly tasks (doing what Mom Silk calls for).
If Hornet defeats Mom Silk in Act 2’s normal ending, she absorbs the deity’s spirit and turns into a brand new god. The truth that this is not the nice or true ending makes it plain that Pharloom’s troubles would persist on this situation. Hornet simply swapped one corrupt deity for an additional. For those who remedy everybody’s issues in Pharloom, although, you unlock Act 3 and a real finale.
Like all good pilgrimage, this one ends with revelation and newfound goal, although of a form that may’ve made Good Medieval Christians wide-eyed with shock. Hornet’s discovery is that she will now reside freed from the Weaver taint in her blood, and select a life she desires with out Mom Silk’s affect. Lace, reminded that love is healthier than energy and free of her single-minded selfishness by Hornet, will, presumably, rebuild Pharloom in a picture that is higher than Mom Silk’s. Faith is useless within the true ending. Everybody can reside freely.
As a wrap-up to the pilgrimage story, it is an distinctive little bit of meta-storytelling that completely matches the traditions Silksong attracts on. It is telling gamers that the one method to change the world for the higher is to look after the folks round you. I can not consider many different video games that use that ingredient of interactivity to ship their major message in such a manner, and Staff Cherry deserves loads of credit score for such a considerate use of the medium.
For as well-crafted as Silksong‘s remaining message is, although, Staff Cherry struggled to assist it all through the sport and, extra importantly, to hyperlink it to the journey’s most necessary half: Hornet.
The message could be for you and me, however the story is about Hornet. When your narrative has a major character who talks and thinks independently of the participant, they have to be the primary focus, and their actions and progress are the way you convey your message to the participant. Even allegorical works like The Pilgrim’s Progress usually take nice pains to ensure you know precisely who the primary character is and what they symbolize, so you do not miss the purpose of what occurs to them ultimately — the Seventeenth-century equal of wanting on the digital camera and explaining the subtext utilizing solely one-syllable phrases.
Hornet is not studying or altering on her journey. She has no goal aside from attempting to get dwelling. The battle between free will and destiny solely exhibits up in that Act 2 boss combat and a few hidden lore. For those who tick all of the packing containers to unlock Silksong’s Act 3, the Songclave Caretaker remarks on how compassionate Hornet has been to the folks of Pharloom, however he is speaking to you, not her.
That might’ve been high-quality in Hole Knight, because you and the Knight are interchangeable. He is a literal shell so that you can fill. Hornet is her personal particular person, although, a pushed hunter with a single goal. For those who make her select one thing she would not wish to do usually, like going out of her manner to assist wimpy bugs, there ought to at the very least be some ingredient of friction. You’d anticipate her to complain about it, to be gruff and ugly, or to do one thing. It might simply be so simple as having her grumble about donating rosary beads the primary time she accepts such a request after which, later within the sport when she donates extra, hoping it does the poor bugs some good.
When she’s first requested to assist out Pharloom’s wimpy bugs, she responds with indifference. She presents it as a low precedence that possibly she’ll get to if she has time. Even for those who do select to assist them as a participant, Hornet develops no explicit attachment to any of them throughout the story. There is no transformation, no distinction in perspective. Nothing. It is outstanding that the participant would present a lot care and a focus for the lowly bugs of Pharloom, positive, however not for Hornet. Silksong provides us no motive to assume it could be.
Hornet’s interactions with characters just like the Caretaker have been the right method to develop her character, for Silksong‘s themes to have the affect they deserve with out the primary story having to discover them. Most of those find yourself simply being decorative, although, simply right here to fill house. That downside is born as a lot from the best way Hornet is written as it’s with the haphazard function Silksong’s different characters play. Garmond is basically King Pellinore from T.H. White’s Arthurian basic The As soon as and Future King: a doddering, lovable outdated so-and-so who’s keen on duel and appears good within the background, however performs no very important function in proceedings. A few of them are evocative, just like the Moss Druid and Huntress, who each embody perception techniques and existence exterior the Citadel’s norms. However although that idea matches so effectively with Silksong‘s themes, it goes nowhere.
Other than Lace and Sherma, one of many solely characters whose story runs by all three acts is The Inexperienced Prince, due to the story of his useless lover. It is a robust story, even when it does lean too closely into the “bury your gays” trope. (Queer romances do not have to finish in tragedy, Staff Cherry!) However regardless of the pair being wrapped up in Pharloom’s historical past, the narrative thread is so disconnected from the whole lot else that for those who take away it from Silksong, it has no impact on Hornet’s story or the central message.
The seemingly haphazard manner Silksong decides who will get essentially the most consideration within the sport makes the facet tales really feel incomplete and tacked on, however the largest misstep is that they solid Hornet as a passive participant in virtually each case. The few occasions she does converse as much as encourage change of any type or categorical an opinion, the observations she makes are terribly bland, like when she primarily tells Sherma “Hey child, actions converse louder than phrases” as soon as the outstanding little man makes it previous the Final Decide. Hell, even the prospect for her to make extra of these on-the-nose remarks about oppression and free will would’ve at the very least linked her extra carefully to Silksong‘s themes. As an alternative, she’s simply alongside for the experience — within the passenger seat of her personal story.
For all my points with Silksong‘s confusion over methods to deal with its personal themes, I nonetheless respect what Staff Cherry did right here. Few different video games synthesize so many influences and find yourself with a set of themes so robust and multilayered that they are actually constructed into the in-game map. If Staff Cherry’s subsequent undertaking is even greater and higher than what got here earlier than, I simply hope these enhancements embrace the basics of its storytelling, too.
