Hollow Knight Wanderer's Journal Book Analysis Script

Did you know that books are still a thing? Like people not only still read books but actually make books too? Shocking I know. I didn’t realize this until Fangamer announced a whole new Hollow Knight Wanderer’s Journal that would be released alongside the new physical Collector’s Edition of the game. This journal is written from the perspective of a new character, a ladybug named Ellina. On their website, Team Cherry explained that this new book would be an epic tome of exploration, investigation and lore. Team Cherry has also worked closely with the authors, Kari Fry and Ryan Novak, to ensure that everything in the book would be totally accurate.

Well, Kari and Ryan were incredibly generous and sent me an advanced copy of the new journal. They also sent me a packet of hot dogs for some reason… Thanks?  Kari Fry’s artwork really does justice to Ari Gibson’s ingame sprites. I mean just look at this drawing of Flukemarm. That Hall of Gods description is starting to make more sense now. And all of this artwork is accompanied by Ryan’s descriptions of all of the various friends and foes found in Hollow Knight. And the amount of lore in this book is staggering.

First of all, this book does a good job at covering most of the lore in the game. There isn’t much on the endgame bosses, but book does go through each area, discussing most of the bosses and enemies, as well as theorizing about numerous miscellaneous background objects. If you’re new to Hollow Knight lore, this is a great read. But even lore experts like myself can find a few new tidbits of lore.

So this book introduces a lot of small pieces of information. For example, sleeping under Whispering Roots can give bugs vivid dreams. This book also tell us that Leg Eater is confirmed blind. But at the same time, this book also gives us information on big events like the timeline of the infection’s spread through Hallownest. I will go through this new information chronically from where it is in the book, for the most part. But I will jump around a bit too, where needed. I’m also going to skip that random chapter on the manatees. Not sure why that was even in there.

First up, we have an explanation for the hot springs. According to Ellina, these springs are the result of heat seeping up to the surface through underground vents. Of all the ways that the Knight can collect soul in the game, the hot springs have always been the strangest to me. According to Ellina, the hot springs restore the body and soul, but I always thought the Knight had to pull soul from somewhere else. Maybe there is soul in the water, sort of like how there is soul in the air, according to the Deep Focus charm. So I guess by sitting in the water, the Knight absorbs the soul through osmosis or something.

The journal makes a note of these strange plants, calling them Pale Ferns. Now any time something is called “pale” we immediately have to think of the Pale Beings. In the Kingdom’s Edge, we can see something similar to the pale ferns growing out of the ground. There are also these strange vines that expand outwards. These seem to be sprouting out from where the Wyrm’s corpse can be found. As for why anything like this would be growing in Forgotten Crossroads, I have no idea. Is this from the White Lady? Ellina seems to think that it’s just natural, so maybe that’s the case.

The journal mentions that the Temple of the Black Egg was fashioned from the shell of an ancient bug. Now if that’s the case, then this thing was fucking massive. How does a creature that big even exist? Well, I guess the characters in the game are bugs, and humans are canonically at least 5 times bigger than bugs. So I guess it’s not that big of a deal. What is a big deal is how exactly they got the Black Egg through that door! Another ancient bug mentioned in the journal is the one found at the top of Kingdom’s Edge. Some people have been saying this corpse is the corpse of a Wyrm. But we don’t know exactly what kind of creature this was. Maybe it was just a worm with an “O” instead of a “Y”.

Have you ever wondered why the Grubfather has all of this random shit in his burrow? Like seriously, mask shards, pale ore, pokemon dildos from Etsy.com. Well, apparently this is a common practice among grubs. They like to collect shiny things and hide them in their burrows. What I find more interesting is that Ellina was apparently finding these grubs and choosing not to free them. What an asshole!

Next up, apparently Alubas are said to be attracted to the resting places of powerful beings. Now this kinda makes sense. We see one near the White Lady’s… cocoon thing. And we also see one at the Lake of Unn. But we also see them in the background of Marmu’s arena. So you’re telling me this oversized kickball of a boss is supposed to be as powerful as the White Lady. I suppose it’s possible. Wait, does these mean benches are powerful beings too?

Now I think it’s time we get into a meatier topic. The timeline for the infection that afflicted Hallownest and the surrounding areas has always been incredibly vague. But in this book, we are actually given a few hints about how things might have progressed. There are two sentences stating that the Fungal Wastes have only recently become impacted by the infection. Ellina also claims that Deepnest has only recently been hit by the infection and that the Weavers had only recently left the Kingdom. She also claims that the doors to the City of Tears were closed in an attempt to keep the infection from spreading into the capital.

The first outbreak of the infection ended with the sealing with the Hollow Knight inside the Black Egg. According to the Dung Defender, despite this effort, Hallownest was eventually brought low, implying that the infection was still somehow influencing the kingdom. From the Hunter’s Journal entry for the Lightseed, it appears as though the infection had been seeping down into the Ancient Basin for quite some time, implying that there was infection coming from somewhere up above.

There is a line from Midwife that hints at Deepnest’s infection happening shortly before the events of the game. She says that few would seek her services in recent times due to the infection. As for the Weavers having left Hallownest recently, there is still one Weaver hanging around, but I don’t know if that really proves anything. We can see that young Weavers did end up getting infected, so maybe the Weavers left before the sickness could claim the adults.

Now this is where things get weird. Ellina states that the Hive is unmarred by the spread of the infection. This can’t be true. There are several reasons to believe that the Hive was hit by the infection. First of all, all of the enemies explode with that same orange particle effect that regular enemies do. And don’t say that shit is honey. Honey does not take on a gaseous form. If it did, I’d been smoking it right now. Characters like the mantises and Dung Defender give off white particles when hit because they aren’t infected. The bees do not do this. Second, the Whispering Root in the Hive uses the phrase “Light Familiar”. And light is usually connected to the Radiance. Third, the Hive Husk, which can only be found inside of the Hive has the same orange tint in its eyes, which confirms that the infection has at least reached some of the bugs in the Hive. And finally, we have Team Cherry confirming that the Hive was infected in a Reddit AMA after the death of Queen Vespa.

So why does this passage say that the Hive was unmarred by the spread of the infection? Well, there are two possibilities. The first possibility is that I actually know the lore better than Team Cherry. This is entirely possible, I am pretty smart. I watch Rick and Morty. The other possibility, which I think is more likely, is that Team Cherry knowingly left this in the book. We have evidence that Team Cherry has altered some of the wording on these very pages, so I don’t think they overlooked this.

But why would Team Cherry do that, you ask? Well, this book is written by a character in the world of Hallownest, which means that she is looking at the world through her own limited perspective. Let’s be real. Of course, Team Cherry wouldn’t hand us a whole smorgasbord of mouth watering new lore on a silver platter. At least not without making us work for it. I don’t think everything we find in this book should be taken as canon, as some of these claims are just Ellina’s musing about Hallownest. Maybe Team Cherry should have put an asterisk next to that “totally accurate” remark. But that doesn’t mean we should throw this whole book away. As far as I can tell, this is the only blatantly wrong statement in the book, and it still offers interesting insight into the lore, simple things that I had never even thought of. So while the book might have at least one lore inaccuracy, I still think we can glean some information from it.

Well, with that out of the way, let’s move onto the Crystal Peak. Now this is an area of the game that I’ve neglected in my videos, but honestly, there is a lot to talk about here. The biggest question regarding this area revolves around the crystals. Basically there is a strong connection between these Crystals and the Radiance. First, the journal entry for the Crystallised Husks mentions that there is a hidden power within the crystals. They can be used to fire searing beams of light and they also apparently sing. This is also mentioned my Myla who claims that she can hear the crystals singing and that she can almost make it out. And we all know what happened to her after that.

The journal entry for the Crystal Guardian also mentions that it can only see light inside of its crystal prison, and that it shoots blazing beams of light. The word “blazing” is only used three other times in the entire game, and each instance refers to the Radiance. And during the Enraged Guardian fight, we can see that it has Dream Nail Dialogue that is written in all caps. This appears to be the Radiance’s voice, since her Dream Nail dialogue is also in all caps. A lot of the dream nail dialogue for the enemies in this area reference light. And the Whispering Root mentions something about a refracted light. Now, we have Ellina saying that the this refracted light is mesmerising. So I think we can safely say at this point that the crystals in the Crystal Peak are somehow connected to the Radiance’s light. It’s not clear whether the energy found inside these crystals are from the Radiance’s light or some other source. The Deep Focus charm implies that crystals might be able to draw in soul somehow. I’d recommend you check out this lore doc from Metal if you want to read more about this theory.

But what does the Crystal Peak have to do with the Radiance? Well, it all has to do with Hallownest’s Crown. This is one of the more interesting pages in the book. Ellina describes the glyphs in this area as giving off a radiant light. She says the glyphs were likely from a civilization that predates Hallownest. She mentions how some of the glyphs seem to display winged creatures, which… uhh… sure. She also theorizes that these glyphs were made because this civilization wanted to be remembered by future civilizations.

Now there is a lot to break down here. These glyphs remind me of Seals of Bindings, and we know that these seals can be used to preserve something of great importance. So I guess it makes sense that it could be used to preserve the memory of a people. The Seer talks a lot about the importance of being remembered. The Radiance also mentions that she will not be forgotten. The moth race was known for tending graves after all. And when the Pale King arrived, the Seer explains that the moths sealed the Radiance away by forgetting about her. So, being remembered is a big part of the moth tribe’s tradition.

So this statue was possibly built by the moths before the Pale King arrived. There’s also a developer’s note that says this lingering statue is what lead to the outbreak of the infection. The fact that it is lingering implies it was built before the Pale King’s arrival. However, the statue itself contains a Pale Ore, and is resting atop a cliff that features a design common in Hallownest’s architecture. So maybe this monument was made after the Radiance was sealed away, and those hushed whispers of faith that Seer talks about are referring to the same people who built this monument in secret.

Ellina claims that the Seer is helping the Knight to strike back against the Radiance for causing the infection. But in the game, all that is ever stated is that the Seer is looking for the “Wielder”, a figure her people have been dreaming about for a long time. Not sure how Ellina would know more than us on this matter. I guess she can actually talk unlike the Knight. So maybe she just straight up asked her.

Now this next bit is something that makes so much sense I can’t believe I never noticed it before. In the Cast-Off Shell where the King’s Brand is found, there is this strange object. Ellina theorizes that it might be some sort of egg. And looking at it now, I can’t believe I missed this. This was probably what the Pale King hatched out of after molting his Wyrm form. If this is true, then this puts to rest the whole idea that the Pale King took on a third form after his death in the White Palace, since there’s no broken egg anywhere near him.

Ellina also mentions that Arcane Eggs are jet black. Which I guess makes it even more likely that they are made of void. I know I’ve said before that black doesn’t equal Void. But shut up.

Another small detail we got was an explanation for what these things are. Ellina believes that they were used to extract soul from bugs and inject them into other bugs. That could explain why the room is filled with Follys and Mistakes, which were the results of experiments with souls gone wrong. The machine itself also contains the Spell Twister charm, which reflects the desires of the Soul Sanctum for mastery over soul.

The journal also says that the Blue Lake is filled with blue-hued minerals, explaining why the lake is a perfect place for Quirrel to drown himself. We also get confirmation that Bardoon is a caterpillar. Not sure that was in question, but it’s not confirmed anywhere else. We also learn that the Fog Canyon was once a part of Greenpath. This isn’t stated anywhere in the game from what I can tell, but it is alluded to with Greenpath music lightly playing in the Fog Canyon region of the world map.

Ellina also takes a stroll into the Abyss, and somehow survives. She gives us a very interesting description for these strange egg-looking objects, claiming that they are colorless. She also says that it seems like they were broken from within by a powerful force. The comment that stands out most to me is the claim that the eggs are colorless. I always thought these eggs were just completely black.

Ellina almost makes note of the Sea of Void, saying it acts with a mind of its own. So if the sea acts with a singular mind, then that means the Sea of Void isn’t full of a bunch of individual void tendrils, but instead is the collective mind of the void itself. That kinda weakens my theory that the void tendrils were created by the Ancient Civilization. But at the same time, Ellina also calls the void murky water. What the fuck kind of water has she been drinking?!

Ellina also claims that the Abyss Lighthouse was built atop a natural spire. It certainly does look like they just stuck the lighthouse part onto a pre-existing structure. But does that mean that this thing formed naturally? This design is the same that we see in the background of the main room in the Abyss where the Vessel shells are. Also, underneath that, we can see a pattern very similar to the one where the Void Tendril entry can be found. If all of this is naturally occuring, it would tie into Elderbug’s comment about the rocks down in the Ancient Basin possessing a will of their own.

There is one strange detail regarding how Ellina interacts with the lore tablet right outside of the Abyss. Basically, Ellina says that she is unable to decipher the tablet. Now these tablets are very unique in that they say “Higher Beings, these words are for you alone.” From dev notes, AMAs, and the Kingsoul description, it seems as though Higher Beings is a phrase reserved for characters like the Pale King, the Radiance, and the White Lady. But it seems a bit odd to me that these tablets would only exist for the benefit of like three people.

There are a total of five lore tablets that use the phrase Higher Beings. One in the Howling Cliffs, three in the King’s Pass and one in the Ancient Basin. It isn’t really clear who these tablets were made for, but there is a clue in the second lore tablet in the King’s Pass. The tablet says “Let all bask in your majesty, for only this kingdom could produce ones such as you.” So according to this lore tablet, Hallownest somehow produces Higher Beings. I don’t think the Pale King was making god-like creatures, since he seemed to be interested in ruling Hallownest unopposed. This has lead me to believe that the phrase “Higher Beings” is referring to bugs that the Pale King has granted higher thought to through his beacon.

So what does this mean for Ellina? Why can’t she read the tablets? I’m pretty sure she’s an intelligent bug. She probably even watches Rick and Morty. Maybe this tablet can only be read by bugs that were specifically granted higher thought through the Pale King’s beacon. So bugs like Ellina, Tiso, Cloth, Zote and Cornifer would be unable to read it, since their intelligence is not native to Hallownest. I’m pretty shakey on this though, so feel free to tear my reasoning to shreds.

And that’s about it for new content. There are quite a few things to think about with this new book. It adds a little bit of information to the world of Hallownest, giving us more thoughtful descriptions of background objects and environments. No one in game says shit about Hallownest’s Crown, so it’s nice to hear at least one bug’s perspective on it. I do wish Ellina would have told us a little bit more about her own past. She kinda lacks the backstory we see in other travelers such as Zote, Cloth and Tiso. But I guess she’s just trying to be objective. I’m sure people wouldn’t be to happy if I started talking about my first marriage in the middle of my analytical lore videos.

Now like I mentioned before, it appears as though there is a mistake in this book. And it’s entirely possible that Team Cherry left the mistake in the book, since Ellina is an character from the world of Hallownest who doesn’t have all of the information. This means we have to take her claims with an air of caution. Despite this, most of the information in this book seems pretty reasonable. For the most part, Ellina phrases a lot of things as possibilities, with the claim about the Hive being the only objective claim I think is downright false.

Regardless, it’s great to be able to hold a physical book about Hollow Knight in my hands. And it looks great on any bookshelf too! Of course, there is one final piece of lore to discuss. Team Cherry has finally listened to our cries and given us confirmation of one of the most heated debates in Hollow Knight lore discussion. That’s right, pickles are finally canon! Just like in Rick and Morty!

Songs:

Fungal Wastes

Greenpath

X Files theme

Queen’s Garden

Kingdom’s Edge

Crystal Peak (Base)

Resting Grounds

Dirtmouth

Broken Vessel

Godhome

The White Lady