Hornet’s compassion is the heart of Silksong

In the first Hollow Knight, players meet Myla the mining bug in the game's early hours. She’s fruitlessly chipping away at the base of the Crystal Peaks, humming a looping melody. You can talk to her, but that's all. When you return later in the game, she has succumbed to contagion. Her eyes are glowing, her melody is mournful, and she attacks you. If you defend yourself, you slay her. Traumatized fans were wary, then, encountering Sherma in Hollow Knight: Silksong. He too sings a tune in front of a walled area while tapping little instruments together. But as Hornet, players speak with him and then open the gate. Even though Hornet knows she opened the gate herself, she lets Sherma believe it was opened by his song in an act of divine intervention. Ghost can’t do anything for Myla. Hornet would do anything for Sherma.

This is the core difference in Hollow Knight and its sequel. The nameless main character of the first game — whom Hornet called “Ghost” — was a silent vessel, purpose-built to contain the infection consuming Hallownest. Silksong’s Hornet is agentic, has a deep personal history, and makes the choice to fight for the bugs suffering at the hands of the Citadel, even at great personal cost. In an industry where sequels with female leads often feel like the same game but with different pronouns, Silksong is something refreshingly new. Hornet drives the story of Silksong forward, centering a hero motivated by a second chance at a better life for the citizens of a dying empire.