Hollow Knight Silksong fans finally have cause for celebration, as it looks like the game will in fact materialize in the near future. At least, Silksong will be playable at Gamescom this year, and it's slated for a release sometime before the end of 2025. Finally, after so many years in the dark, audience will get a chance to consume Team Cherry's enigmatic follow-up.
But although Hollow Knight Silksong is ostensibly ramping up its marketing and pre-release efforts, the content of the game is still something of a mystery. It will follow Hornet, a supporting character from the first Hollow Knight and the sibling of that game's protagonist. Hornet will ostensibly support a different, more acrobatic playstyle than The Knight, though her personality and background are perhaps the most ripe with potential, as they could conceivably usher in a radically different story. How Hornet's solo adventure factors into the broader, established world of Hollow Knight is just as interesting.
Hollow Knight Silksong Should Bring Back the Grimm Troupe
The Grimm Troupe are a band of performing bugs who live as servants to the Nightmare's Heart, an ancient, eldritch being who requires the Troupe to raise and nourish a Grimmchild before defeating the Nightmare King, a process that sustains the Nightmare Heart. This strange and ethereal ritual allows for the proliferation of the nightmare realm, and from a narrative perspective, the Grimm Troupe greatly help flesh out Hollow Knight's mythology.
As one might expect, the player themselves can influence the mission of the Grimm Troupe in Hollow Knight. After completing several requisite tasks, mostly centered on feeding the Grimmchild and preparing it for the final ritual, The Knight can either complete the ceremony by defeating the Nightmare King, or they can put an end to the cycle once and for all. Whatever the outcome, the Grimm Troupe will leave Dirthmouth, not to be seen again—unless they return in Silksong.
Silksong Grimm Troupe Scenario 1: The Tradition Continues
If Hollow Knight Silksong were to canonize any element from Hollow Knight, something like the Grimm Troupe arc seems like a likely candidate: it's side content that isn't essential to the main plot. Assuming this happens, Team Cherry will have to choose which player-controlled ending will wind up set in stone.
Alternatively, players could dictate how the Grimm Troupe questline ends, either through dialog options or some other in-game method.
If Hollow Knight Silksong follows the cooperation ending of the Grimm Troupe quest, then the cycle could simply repeat itself in Silksong, though ideally with a twist of some sort. Maybe Hornet could encounter the Troupe, but play a different role: Hornet is a more well-defined character, after all, so she may not even want to help these denizens, regardless of any potential reward. This could segue into a quest about stopping the Nightmare Ritual, or simply impacting it from afar rather than directly.
Silksong Grimm Troupe Scenario 2: The Cycle's End
The other, and potentially more interesting, choice would be to canonize the banishment scenario, having the Troupe leave Dirtmouth without fulfilling their life's purpose. More than that, the Nightmare Lantern is destroyed in this scenario, meaning that the Grimm Troupe may be forced to find new meaning in life, which has a lot of potential for obvious reasons.
One could argue that Team Cherry used the Grimm Troupe to pay homage to one of Hollow Knight's clearest inspirations: Dark Souls. The notion of an everlasting cycle, which one must enact all manner of dangerous and violent acts to sustain, is central to FromSoftware's iconic trilogy—the Grimm Troupe even use magic fire as a key component of their ritual, just like in Dark Souls. But unlike Dark Souls, the Grimm Troupe's story is seen from an outsider's perspective, and still has room to grow. Come Silksong, Team Cherry could bring it full circle.
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OpenCritic Reviews
- Top Critic Avg: 91 /100 Critics Rec: 97%
- Released
- September 4, 2025
- ESRB
- Everyone 10+ / Fantasy Violence, Mild Blood
- Developer(s)
- Team Cherry
- Publisher(s)
- Team Cherry
WHERE TO PLAY
Become the Princess Knight
As the lethal hunter Hornet, adventure through a kingdom ruled by silk and song! Captured and taken to this unfamiliar world, prepare to battle mighty foes and solve ancient mysteries as you ascend on a deadly pilgrimage to the kingdom’s peak.
Hollow Knight: Silksong is the epic sequel to Hollow Knight, the award winning action-adventure. Journey to all-new lands, discover new powers, battle vast hordes of bugs and beasts and uncover secrets tied to your nature and your past.
- Engine
- Unity
- Franchise
- Hollow Knight
- Platform(s)
- PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch 2, Nintendo Switch, PC
