Game Theory - Is Silksong ACTUALLY Too Hard?

Episode Date: October 23, 2025

After 8 and a half years of waiting, Hollow Knight: Silksong is FINALLY here! However, people feel that the game’s difficulty is WAY too hard and honestly…I have to agree. But, there’s Join Game Theory Host Tom in today’s episode, to explore how Hornet ties into the deeper lore of this game and figuring out where things could go in the future!

Is Silk Song too difficult? Yes. And there's a very good reason as to why the law. Let me show you. Hello internet! Welcome to Game Theory. Rest your weary soul. Because after eight and a half years of waiting, the sequel to 2017's indie darling Holo Night is here. To say that Hollow Night Silk Song is all people have been talking about would be an absolute understatement. Indie developers moved their release dates so it wouldn't compete with Silk Song. Every game store crashed on release day and there has been video after video talking about how freaking hard this thing is. I was fortunate enough to get to play the demo early at Pax West.

Big shout out to Nintendo for hooking me up. And I have to agree, this thing is tough. But now that the game has been out for a bit and I've had a chance to dig in a little deeper, I realized it has to be this way. Not because that's what makes a good game and not because it gives everyone in your chat a chance to yell. Get there! It's because of the game. other reason people love talking about this franchise.

The thing we all crave, sweet, juicy lore. Hollow Knight is well known for its deep and complex law. And this game's difficulty, as well as all the in-game dialogue, cutscenes, and even poetry, tells us a lot about the world of Holo Night and the real story that lies beneath. That Hornet, the character we've been playing as throughout the game, is actually the pale king. I'm kidding! I'm kidding!

Please put down the pitchforks. Who Hornet is does also tie into the deeper law of this game, and they are actually the key to figuring out where things could go in the future. Grab your silk spools theorists, because we're going to need it to weave together the hidden law of Hollow Knight Silk Song. I'm sure many of you are familiar with the story of Hollow Night, but it has been eight years, so it's probably worth a little refresher just so we're all up to speed. In Hollow Night, we explore a kingdom containing many different lands and bugs within it. However, one day, long before the game begins, these lands are usurped by a higher being known as the Pale King, who wishes to rule over and unify the land. Even the tribes who worship the higher being known as the Radiants turn their backs to worship this new Pale King,

sealing the Radiance away. Unfortunately, the Radiance fight back, causing an infection to break out, taking control of the bugs in the kingdom, and gets them to worship the Radiance like they used to, leading the kingdom to fall into ruin. Years later, one of the king's descendants, the knight, comes to bring peace back to the land, ridding it of the hostile takeover of the radiance. That is a gross oversimplification of the story. If I went into more detail, honestly, I would be here all day. The story is just that dense.

So I highly recommend that you go and check out fellow YouTubers like Mossbag if you want a more detailed breakdown. These guys have been studying every detail for years, so they absolutely know what they're talking about. But now there's the new story of Silk Song. In Silk Song, we explore a kingdom containing many different lands and bugs within it. However, one day, long before the game begins, these lands are usurped by a higher being known as Grandmother Silk, who wishes to rule over and unify the land. Eventually, the tribe that worshiped Grandmother Silk turned their backs on her,

sealing her away. Unfortunately, Grandmother Silk fights back. Through her silk, she takes control of the bugs in the kingdom, driving them mad and gets them to worship Grandmother's, Silk like they used to, leading the kingdom to fall into ruin. Years later, one of the king's descendants, Hornet, comes to bring peace back to the land, ridding it of the hostile takeover of Grandmother Silk. Again, another grossly simplified version of the story, and again, I highly recommend

you go and check out other YouTubers like the Lourgarians for a more detailed rundown. But this should be enough to get us going today, because from what Little Life said, you might have noticed that both these games' overall plots seem awfully familiar and you'd be right. And that's on purpose. By having both Hollow Night and Silk Song tell these parallel stories, it allows the differences that do show up to stand out way more. And those things combined help paint a much larger picture of the themes and symbolisms that surround this world. In Hollow Night, the ruined land, Hallowness already had a higher being before the arrival of the Pale King, the Radiance. When the Pale King

took over, the Radiance was largely forgotten and so became angry, infecting the world and the bugs within it. On the other hand, Silk Song's kingdom usurper and infection bringer are one and the same. Grandmother Silk is a higher being that takes over Falun, but her creations, the weavers, soon learn that this ruler isn't all it's cracked up to be, and so put her to sleep. Now, Desperate to be awakened, Grandmother Silk begins using her silk to take over the minds of the people of Farloom. Both kingdoms are taken over by an outside force and end up in complete ruin. The similarities are obvious. It shows us the cyclical nature of this world. Something will always take over and end up leading it to its inevitable destruction one way or another.

But the difference here is the type of rule these kingdoms are led with. In Holo Night, it's plainly obvious. It's all about a king coming and taking over the land and replacing the god of that land. Some people immediately recognize their rule while others initially reject it. But the king thought that what he was doing was for the greater good of the people, unifying the land, using the dark substance known as void, becoming their new king replacing their god. And that led to their downfall. We see this kind of thing happening all throughout history and mythology.

Monarchies take over by force, establish themselves over the old ways, but in doing so, cause great destruction in the long term. In Mesopotamian legend, for example, there's the curse of Agade. The new king, Naram Sin, declared himself a living god and destroyed the temple of their god, Enlil. His success and his arrogance then continued to grow. Until one day, Enl struck back. They summoned a people who were recognized as monsters and savages. and they destroyed everything, causing the collapse of the entire empire.

And of course, I'd be remiss if I didn't at least reference the history of my home country and the amount of destruction they caused taking over various countries, only to leave them worse off. That is the story and theme of Holo Night. It's about the problems that occur thanks to the rule of monarchy. Silk Song is also about something taking over and ruling the kingdom, ending in the exact same way. But the thing doing the ruling is different. Throughout the game, we use rosaries as a currency to buy items, tools and even rest benches. Rosaries in the real world, however, aren't currency.

They are a string of beads used by the Catholic Church for prayer and meditation. You also encounter other bugs, all embarking on a pilgrimage to a place called the Citadel. As we've talked about in recent theories, a pilgrimage is a journey to a holy place. Many religious people will take a pilgrimage to a place of spiritual significance in the hopes that they will be transformed and encounter God. There's even a literal confession booth where Hornet can confess her sins, just like in a lot of Catholic churches. Now, you might think that Catholicism is just a branch of the Christian faith, but that wasn't always the case. During the 6th century, Christianity began to spread across Europe, replacing German paganism. A few centuries later, Catholicism was the dominant force within Europe, and society was oriented around the church to the point where the church demanded that it have full control.

They wanted authority, not just over spiritual things, but also over the rulers and kingdoms of Europe. To the point where the powerful states were established, places like central Italy, where the Pope directly ruled the territory. No king, no president. The Pope was the boss. While this started out with the best intentions, the popes wanted everyone's priorities to be fixed on God. They slowly became corrupted by their own power. For example, they began asking people to pay for spiritual benefits, like condoesion. confessing your sins in order to get into heaven. You even got a freaking certificate to confirm that your sins have been forgiven and you wouldn't be punished for them in the afterlife.

Catholicism also has many pilgrimages to holy sites where people could trek to places like the Vatican in Rome, where the Pope resides. Now, look again at Farlum. At the start of the game, we are shown a poem called Farlum's Folly. This poem is absolutely talking about grandmother's silk. They see your beauty so frail and fine. They see your peace woven of faith and toil. is about when Grandmother Silk first arrived, a beautiful, majestic being who seemed to be good, but by the time we get to Falun, she's asleep in her cocoon, bound in slumber.

And once Hornet finally awakens her, we see her true nature, a monster who wants control. But notice how each of these lines have a comma right in the middle of it? That is called a seizura, and it was most commonly used in a style of poetry that is largely associated with the Anglo-Saxons around the 6th century, right before Catholicism took over. It's symbolic of how Falun lived prior to the religion of Grandmother Silk. Then there's the Citadel, the place that all of these pilgrims are travelling to. It is the epicentre of the kingdom. It's where Grandmother Silk and her weavers reside, just like the Vatican.

And once again, the salvation this place offers isn't free. You have to pay to use rest benches. The confession booths can only be used if Hornet can cough up enough rosaries. And then there's the area where you can find an NPC called Lone, working ceaselessly in the hopes that his hard work will earn him a reward from the bugs of the citadel. Run on the treadmill for a little bit yourself, and all you get is a single rosary bead. Although sometimes you don't even get that. Sometimes it's just dust.

That is one of the reasons this game is so hard. It is to make you feel for the citizens of this world and the horrible religious rule they live under. In most video games, you'd expect some kind of reward once you complete a hard challenge. But when you finally get to the top of a difficult segment or you beat one of the game's many bosses, there's nothing. No special drops, no new ability, nothing. The most you can hope to find is a bench to rest at. But lo and behold, you have to pay for the privilege. Life under this society is pain.

You have to work hard only to receive nothing for it. The salvation these bugs desire comes from a religion that requires you to earn your way into heaven. And even then, most of it is just a lie, sold to them to better the ruling class. And thanks to the game's difficulty, we get to feel it firsthand. Thankfully, we're being given a message of hope. Both of these corrupt theocracies began to shatter thanks to a single person. For Catholicism, it was Martin Luther, who saw that paying for forgiveness was wrong, and so began the Protestant Reformation.

For Falun, it's Hornet, challenging the reign over this kingdom and taking it down in order to restore freedom to the people. Whatever the ruling force is, a monarchy, a theocracy, or anything else, While they will become corrupt and while things will feel like they're falling apart, ultimately they will fail. All it takes is for us to stand up and fight for what is right. And that's a message I think we can all appreciate right now. But speaking of one person,

there's a bunch of themes and symbolism surrounding Hornets specifically in this game that also deepened the law and add to these discussions. We met Hornet in the original Hollow Night, initially as a boss who we fought a few times throughout the game. She is the daughter of the Pale King and a week, called Hera the Beast, making her the half-sister of the night we play as in that game. But she isn't fighting us out of spite or jealousy. She fights us to test us, to see if we're strong enough to do what she cannot save the kingdom. Despite being the daughter of the king,

she is not able to stop the infection in Hallowness. There is a logical reason for this. The radiance and its infection can only really be stopped by a creature of the void, the opposing godlike force to the Radiance. But while that may be true, it doesn't It doesn't mean Hornet doesn't feel like she's letting her people down. In one of the endings of Silk Song, she's told to just let the kingdom of Falun come down. But she refuses saying, quote, I have already stood the Sentinel for one dying land. That role I will never play again.

She felt like she wasn't strong enough to stop the infection. She wasn't what her kingdom needed her to be. Now we get to play as her. And despite her denying that she is a pilgrim to many of the characters, she does wish to change this. that part of herself. That is what's driving her. And from her time with the knight, through her journey to the top of the citadel, she clearly does. When Hornet sees the knight in the original game, she calls them a ghost. They're nothing but an empty vessel. And there is no way! Something born of the void is capable of saving the kingdom of Hallowness. But of course, Hornet is proven

wrong. The knight is more than what their origin defines them to be. In Silk Song, Hornet then meets lace, a creature made entirely out of thread by Grandmother Silk. Much like the night, she too is not a real person. But even though Lace believes she does not have life, Ornett tells her that she is just as real as any bug. She even attempts to save Lace from the void in one of the endings. Her perspective has clearly shifted. In another one of the endings, you get to the top of the Citadel and defeat Grandmother Silk. Suddenly, your life bar turns into the face of a weaver, you rest in a cocoon, gaining multiple limbs, transforming into fully Weaver, taking over for Grandmother Silk, similar to the basic ending in Holo Night,

where you defeat the Hollow Night and then take their place. In the story of Holo Night, that was originally thought to be the best plan, the solution to the problem. But we know that wasn't the case. And during Silk Song, we see that Hornet has learnt this too. When talking to the caretaker, he asks if Hornet will take over as Queen. She admits she kind of wants to do that, but knows that doing so wouldn't truly free the people of Farloom, which leads to the other ending that some people are claiming to be the true ending. Hornets has become stronger and refuses to be part of the cycle, and so sends Grandmother Silk to the Void in order to defeat her.

Hornet refuses to let another kingdom fall into disarray. This is a redeeming moment for her, being able to do what she couldn't do for her homeland. And we see this change physically manifesting in Hornet's cocoons. When you die in Silk Song, you can go back to where you died and there will be a silk cocoon, similar to the shade in HoloNice. If you break it open, you will see a black, bubbly silhouette of Hornet that will fall to the ground. Based on how it looks and behaves, it seems like this black silhouette is void,

the dark substance that the pale king used to create the night in the first game. But before you start typing in the comments, but Hornet isn't a void being. I know. I'm not saying she is. Just hear me out. Take a look at the description of the shade in Hollow Nights. Each of us leaves an imprint of something when we die, a stain on this world. The void being there isn't because you're a void being,

but because when anyone dies, they leave a stain on this world, a mark of past regrets. When Hornet dies, she too is leaving a regret. That she wasn't strong enough to save Falun, like she wasn't strong enough to save her home. But notice what happens when we go back to collect our silk. The black stain left behind. falls to the ground.

Hornet doesn't reabsorb it like the knight does. She's not holding onto her past. She's trying to move on, to overcome, to not dwell on past mistakes in order that she can be what she needs to be. And that is the other reason why this game has to be so difficult. In order to be strong enough to really save the kingdom, she needs to, in her own words, every death is a lesson learned,

allowing her to slowly shed her sense of inadequacy, and weakness. The game being difficult also causes us to take breaks and explore more areas of the map. We talk to other characters, learn their stories and learn more about who Hornet is and her connections to the land and grandmother Silk. By getting to know the bugs of Falunum and by letting go of her past regrets, that is what gives Hornet the confidence to break the cycle and save Farloom. If you were able to just speed through without any difficulty, Hornet wouldn't meet anyone. Learn anything about herself or be able to let go of her plan. past failures. Ultimately, she wouldn't learn anything. And that's what would lead her to just

repeating the cycle and taking over. Because it would be all she would feel strong enough to do. Like I said earlier, the story of Hollow Night is that these rulers can't save you. Only you can save yourself. You have to grow, to push yourself and even die to your past self in order to become who you were meant to be and overcome the cyclical nature of the world. And with those Themes in hand, I think I have a pretty good idea of where this series could go in the future with Hollow Night 3, which I'm sure is coming out in like 2052. Of course, the night grows stronger throughout Hollow Night in order to overcome the Radiance. But what was most exciting was watching Hornet, a mini boss from Hollow Night, a descendant of royalty, learned some valuable lessons from the Knight that then put her on a journey of self-discovery and growth in Silk Song.

So in the next game, I believe we're likely going to see the same thing with a recurring miniboss from Silk Song, the one who, in the end, Hornet saves and they become an ally, just like Hornet did with the knight. Lace. Think about it. Lace is a thought-out character with a backstory like Hornet was. The story ends with Lace surviving like Hornet did in Hollow Night. Lace is also desolate by the end of the game, angry at her mother for making her being down on herself for not being a real being. Only one made of thread. But now Hornet has saved her, convincing her that she's more than that. Therefore, I think it's likely that Lace is going to venture to a new world to learn more about herself

and go through similar character growth like Hornet did in this game. And as far as what threat she will be facing, well, we've already talked about how the themes of each of these games have been centered around the kind of rule, be it a monarchy or a theocracy, and how eventually it becomes corrupt and falls apart, reflecting history. So, what's the next kind of rule that in history comes after the classic monarchy, empire or theocracy that was full of corruption? It's something known as a merchant republic. Now, while the word republic sounds promising, it's really more of an aristocratic oligarchy run by a small group of nobility and merchants.

We saw it in Venice between 679 to 1797 AD. There was an elected leader, the Doge, but while at first they were elected to lead, Over time, they became more of a figurehead, a puppet, someone to be manipulated and controlled by the wealthy, which would tie in nicely to Lace's journey. She is technically royalty, the daughter of Grandmother's Silt, and so may be invited into the inner circle, where she could be offered to become part of the system, allowing the cycle to continue repeating, just like we saw as options for Hornet and the Knight. But for the true path, there would be another story of growth.

Just like the Doge, Lace came from a kingdom where she and the Weavers were literally puppets to grandmother's silk, controlled by her silk. The Doge would also reflect how her mother was originally the powerful one, but eventually was silenced by those who were meant to serve her. Lace would relate to this elected leader. Maybe it's the higher being of this world, or more likely a child of said higher being, created in order to fill this role of the figurehead. But as Lace goes through the game and grows into realizing that she, she is her own person with a reason to live like Hornet told her, she would help this leader and the people of this kingdom to realize that the same is true for them. Plus, a society about merchants means Team Cherry can keep making the games more difficult by forcing me to pay even more for everything, including rest benches. Maybe I shouldn't be giving them ideas, but hey, that's just a theory. A game theory. Thanks for watching.