How Hollow Knight Changed Me...

Metatube

Hollow Knight is a video game, I'm 70% sure  Discord: https://discord.gg/sk2R2ET Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/45thDragoon 2nd channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCaLsv7BZosqy-zPJ5LX3TCQ UCVEUCWGFB_-ojubEDjts2nA  Music:  FInale:  🎵 Music licensed from Lickd. The biggest mainstream and stock music platform for content creators. Fight by Motörhead, https://lickd.lnk.to/md74ilID License ID: xOR5r7LXDrm If you want to use music from famous artists, try Lickd to get track credits and unlimited stock music: https://go.lickd.co/Referral-Offer  star wars: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t3zQ9MjT-xQ&ab_channel=KingdomPowerMusic  Hollow Knight OST - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IWZktANV-D8&ab_channel=Knightofcritsandmemes force of will : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CsrsR_sC2jE&ab_channel=TrapMusicHDTV Fast Piano: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4L_KloTec7U  Song: RageSound - Vortex (No Copyright Music) Music provided by Tunetank. Free Download:  https://bit.ly/3gfUxkP Video Link: https://youtu.be/7XsjoMXiQQs  Epic Battle: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9gBTKiVqprE Solo Cello: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yMRDC_nFFaQ Medieval: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eZ_r1H9vHkI Synth Horror: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zuw_O5MU5CE Tocatta: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ho9rZjlsyYY Vivaldi: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JkJ4Semwdzk Olympus: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BnmglWHoVrk God shattering star: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bMfvZmhqW0A Destati: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ig7mHOeiw8U  16 bit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pXBuKsnOZSM 8-bit cool: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mRN_T6JkH-c&list=PLwJjxqYuirCLkq42mGw4XKGQlpZSfxsYd Paganini: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cwBAQA6C5us

Transcript

00:00In this video, I call Hollow Knight a hard game, but that was before I had the realization.

00:08I've been challenged to beat Hollow Knight without using the wiki. The first thing I realized was

00:12there's no fall damage, so my feet must be strong. But I take damage by jumping on enemies, so my

00:16feet aren't strong. But I zoomed in and I don't even have feet, so I don't know what creature

00:21I am and I can't check the wiki. And I don't know if I should go left or right because I

00:25can't check the wiki. But I want to prove I can do anything and have no limits,

00:28so I'm making my own wiki. I learned that I have a sword that can break down walls.

00:33My first wiki entry is complete. The door led to the town of Dirtmouth. It's called that because

00:38there's a well in the center and wells are just mouths for the ground. Within the well are flying

00:42enemies and a green area with a sign that says, there's a city where all wishes shall be granted

00:47and all truths revealed. That's a big promise. But blocking the path is a lava spitting armadillo.

00:53His shell is too hard for my sword. Maybe this is a deep metaphor reflecting the inability to

01:00physically force your way to your dreams. Or I just need a bigger sword. So I kept exploring

01:04and this guy sold me a map. By looking at it, I think this is the boss room. Before fighting the

01:08first boss, I parkoured over some worms and ran over an acid lake to free a caterpillar from a jar.

01:13I assume that the caterpillar will become the final boss of the game. On the way, I got locked

01:17in this room until I kill all of the enemies. And I'm still learning the controls, so I got hit a lot.

01:22But every time I hit an enemy, I take some of their soul. After three hits, I consume soul to

01:27heal one health. But I can't move during the heal. Jump attack, I win! I found a giant elevator and

01:32it's locked. My sword does not break through it. I'm already lost. But I did find a mini-boss. She

01:40hits herself against the wall and explodes in orange. I kept searching and found a ledge that's

01:44too high up to reach. But, but I have no limits. There's a house down here and inside was a bug

01:49with orange in its eyes, like it was controlling him. I feel like this is important, so I'm adding

01:53it to the wiki. I found a tram and it's not working. Why do I have limits? And then finally,

01:59I found the boss. Nope, this is the fast travel system. Wait, I found something. It's called the

02:03Temple of the Black Egg. I found a fellow adventurer. His name is Quirrell. And in our

02:08first conversation, he calls me short. I'm actually six foot in real life. Anyway, he tells me the

02:14Black Egg is locked and I can't go in. I have so many limits in this game. I've completed a

02:19full circle of the well and didn't find the boss. But that's because I can't see where I am on the

02:23map. Until now. I bought a compass from the map maker's wife and I can now track where I am.

02:29I used it to finally reach the first boss of the game, the False Knight. He has a giant mace and

02:34I have to jump over his attacks. Or don't. Come on, sword. Reclaim your status as being good.

02:39That looks like it hurt. I kept hitting him until he fell down. His helmet came off. My sword and

02:43his face were a deep metaphor for the way I spread butter. He summoned meteors. They missed,

02:48just like the ones in real life. In seven years, we'll know if that aged poorly or not. But I wanted

02:53to heal my damage, so I focused the souls, which means I wasn't moving to dodge. So I got hit. So

02:58I healed and lost one health. Like working out while eating cake. Did I mention I'm trying to

03:03beat this entire game without dying once to prove that I have no limits? I ran to heal and he broke

03:09the floor. He looked at me with sadness, begging for mercy. I was rewarded with a bunch of gold and

03:15a secret chamber that led to a shaman. She said she has a gift for me. Note to self, don't accept

03:20gifts from shaman. Wait, I learned an ability. I can consume souls to kamehameha. I can use that

03:25against the armadillo. I am now in green path. Found another caterpillar. I think this will

03:32make the final boss even harder. Then I found a bench. This is a save point. If I die, I'll

03:37respawn here. Not that I will die. I was searching for new enemies to kill when I saw someone on the

03:42edge of the screen, and they just ran away. I'm obviously supposed to follow her, but that's what

03:47the game wants me to think. I violently refused and went the other way, and found this guy. He's

03:52in trouble, and I was taught that being a silent bystander is just as bad as doing the crime. But

03:57at least most criminals are only doing it for money. The bystander gets no rewards, so they're

04:01actually worse. So I went in and helped this guy, then learned that I can hit downwards. The slam

04:07dunk technique is working. She summoned creatures from thin air. This is perpetual energy. Why are

04:12you eating people instead of running a tech company? FUS RO DAH! Again, it exploded in orange. I freed

04:18another caterpillar. The final boss grows stronger. And found another stagway. I rode him back to

04:23Dirtmouth, and that ant I saved runs the local store. He offered to sell me rancid eggs. I'm all

04:29good, man. I found a room with an armored beast and spikes. I can make it! Okay, it turns out I

04:33have many limits. Don't ask me why I tried this twice. Finally, I went back to the person who

04:39ran away before. I know what you are. I know what you try to do. But I don't even know who I am.

04:44Wait, she must have read the wiki. That's cheating! Her name is Hornet, and she stabs me with a needle

04:49unless I dodge. And colliding with her deals damage to me, but not her. My feet must be very weak.

04:55Come on, I'm not dying once this playthrough. I can do this! I have no limits!

05:00Standing still was not the move. The good news is, when you die, you drop a shade of yourself,

05:05and if you kill it, you get your money back. Which means, I didn't really die, you only really die

05:10if you die again before getting your shade. It literally says that in the wiki. She jumped right

05:15in front of me. I got more aggressive, hitting her every possible opportunity. I win! Wait,

05:19she just left. That's not fair. Wait, there's an item here. Mothwing Cloak. By pressing C,

05:25I can now dash! I HAVE NO LIMITS, HELL YEAH! Then some visions came before me. Would it

05:31seek to break the seals? They cannot be undone. They must be undone. I think I must undo the

05:37seals, which must be what are locking the black egg. It's time for episode one of-

05:42Where do I go? What do I do? Where am I? Wait, what's this? It's the caterpillars,

05:47and an old one. He's giving me money for rescuing his children. Oh, I see,

05:51the caterpillars aren't the final boss. The caterpillar father is the final boss!

05:58Beating the boss also gave me a new charm. Charms can be equipped at benches,

06:02and they give me buffs like knocking back enemies further, or generating more soul.

06:06I met Tizo. He tells me there's a grand coliseum underground, which sounds good,

06:11but right now I'm looking for the seals to break, and the next boss, and the final boss,

06:14and now a coliseum. I am lost, so I wandered into Fog Canyon. I can hear the map maker,

06:20but he's behind this black wall that's invincible. I actually have many limits.

06:24Usually in this game, if you see an enemy, you should kill it. But when I kill a jellyfish,

06:28they fire homing explosions that do 2 damage. So we can be friends.

06:32I found the Queen's Station. Quirrell is here. He is beating me at speedrunning this game.

06:37He tells me I'm not ready for the next boss. I have to get a stronger nail first.

06:41So I learned that my sword is actually a nail, and it can get stronger. Then I found the fungal

06:46waste that can reach the map maker here. This is what he discovered. That thing looks like a boss.

06:51I will go there right away. All good games have a bouncy mushroom mechanic. And on my way to the

06:56boss, I ended up in the wrong place, and found someone called a leg eater. If you eat my legs,

07:01people will call me even shorter. Okay, no, he just sells charms. But his charms break when I die.

07:07But since I never die, I bought a charm that makes me deal more damage.

07:11Two attacks and they're dead now. The good news is I found a bench to rest at.

07:14The bad news is I am yet again completely lost and in the wrong place.

07:18This time, I'll go right to the statue. Unless there's an alluring tunnel guarded by a praying

07:23mantis. I had no choice in this. I have discovered Mantis Village. The mantis are gentlemanly. He

07:29swings, then I swing. We repeat until someone dies. I went further and found an item. The

07:34mantis claw. I can now wall jump. I have no limits. Wait, this just means the parkour is

07:40going to get harder. I hit a switch, the world rumbled, and a giant hole in the ground opened.

07:44I wall jumped all over the place and found what is definitely a boss room. But I was told I need

07:49a stronger nail before fighting it. So this time, I will go to this thing on the map. Right now,

07:54straight away. So I went to Anor Londo. A few mushroom jumps and I'm close. Here,

07:59if I cross this, I can get to it. Wait, the acid kills me, so I need the wall jump to get here.

08:04I needed the mantis claw. Therefore, I have played this game in perfect order. My wiki

08:10is going to be the perfect guide. Using the dash and wall jump is fun, but platforming is really

08:15hard. Eventually, I made it and it's not a boss. It's a statue that opens a gate, which closes

08:20behind me. I found myself in a glass building. I looked out of the rain and contemplated life.

08:26Yesterday, I got a mean comment. Do I have to delete my channel? Wait, now what do I do? I made

08:32it outside to the City of Tears. I practiced my slam dunk technique and kept exploring. At the

08:37far end, I found a blacksmith, confirming to me that this game is just 2D Dark Souls. The currency

08:42in this game is called Geo. All enemies drop it on death. And for 250 Geo, the blacksmith upgraded

08:48my nail, so I deal more damage. I can finally confirm the wiki's longest held mystery. Sword

08:54does equal good. I am ready for the boss. But before I could fight the Mantis Lords,

08:59a cutscene started. A fountain of black rain. A great statue. Then, Hornet is back, but she isn't

09:05attacking me this time. She explains this is the statue of someone who made a great sacrifice to

09:10keep the Kingdom of Hollow Nests safe. And I need to seek the Grave of Ash to understand more.

09:16The statue reads, Memorial to the Hollow Knight. I thought I was the Hollow Knight,

09:21but this guy is the Hollow Knight? Then who am I? And my map had a new symbol on it. Wait,

09:26it's that room, the Temple of the Black Egg. Inside that egg is the Hollow Knight. And by

09:31looking at that, I can tell that's the final boss. I'm not the Hollow Knight. I have to

09:36kill the Hollow Knight. Oh damn, that means the Caterpillar Father isn't the final boss.

09:40I was really certain about that. This is definitely a boss room. This is not where

09:45I'm supposed to be. Screw it. Face me, Soul Master. Damn, he knows the slam dunk technique.

09:50And he launches orange at me. Anything but the orange. I can dash over him,

09:54but hitting him is hard. He's too fast. Well, that's difficult. Wait, I got him. He got me.

09:58I ran in circles until I finally found another way out, and made it to the Mantis Lords,

10:02the third boss fight. It starts with the leader. He dashes and throws boomerangs at me. I survived

10:07a while, but didn't really do any damage before dying. Now I have to run from the closest bench,

10:12past a bunch of enemies, trying not to take damage before I reach the boss. It's my least

10:16favorite part of Dark Sou- I mean, Hollow Knight. I got more aggressive, hitting him whenever I

10:20could. Sometimes I forget which button is attack and which is dash, so I dash directly into them.

10:25My face is as strong as my feet. Did you know Praying Mantis live for less than a year? Well,

10:30this one lives for LESS THAN A DAY. Now I have to face the other two at the same time.

10:35That was embarrassing. I have to prove I have no limits, that I'm actually seven feet tall

10:40in real life. If he perches high, it's an overhead throw. Low and I can jump. If he

10:45leans back, it's a dash. I can predict his attacks. For the double attack, I can stand

10:49in the middle. This is starting to get really fun. Unless I die, then this game sucks. I got one,

10:53BADABING. Afterward, they all bow to me. Beating them opened a new area, Deepnest. It's dark,

10:59giant worms, and I am a platforming master who does not have limits, dammit. I'm predicting

11:04right now, I'm going to struggle with the platforming more than the boss fights in this game.

11:09Wall jumping is so hard. As long as I get the souls back, I don't really die. Come on. Wait,

11:13the soul isn't at the start of the room. I have to make it to the end of the parkour. One more

11:17jump. Now I'm under it. No, I can survive. I died. For real. Not to an enemy, but to

11:24platforming. And I lost 1500 geo. It's fine, I can die once in the game. I'll still win.

11:34A wise man once said, if you have one health, it is enough. He was fucking wrong. I got further.

11:39I perfected the slam attack, and all of this gave me a soul shard. Three of those,

11:44and I can store more soul for more Hadoukens. Anyway, I want to go fight the final boss. How

11:48do I get out of here? Well, I found an enemy that spits out other enemies. More perpetual

11:53energy scientists that won't share it with the world. Behind them was a broken down tram. The

11:57good news is I found a tram pass. I can use the tram now. The bad news is I cannot make it out

12:02of here alive, but I'm less stressed about it since I've died before. I found a stag station

12:07and went back to the top of the well. I went to the temple of the black egg. This is the final

12:11boss. I think. It could be the caterpillar. I'm not entirely convinced otherwise. On the front

12:16are three masks. I have to find them. So I went to the tram, and it took me to a new area. It's

12:21dark and quiet, and I found statues of the three masked beings. To protect the vessel, the dreamers

12:28lay sleeping. Through their devotion, Hallownest lasts eternal. So these are the dreamers who are

12:33guarding the black egg, which sealed the Hollow Knight within it, and that somehow saved the

12:37kingdom. And I want to open the egg, which will probably doom the kingdom. I'm a bad person,

12:42but at least I'm not a silent bystander. The statue seemed to come alive and transport me

12:48to the dream realm. I followed along and was given the dream nail, cut through the veil between dreams

12:55and waking. I woke up next to the seer, who says if I collect a hundred essence with my dream nail,

13:01she'll give me a reward. Essence comes from fighting the ghosts of warriors. I found the

13:06grave of a warrior who betrayed the king. The warrior challenged me. He has flying swords that

13:10throws at me. Defeating him gave me a hundred essence. I checked my map, and I can now see the

13:15location of the three dreamers. I assume those are three boss fights before I can fight the Hollow

13:20Knight. But first, I went back to the City of Tears to fight the Soul Master. On the way, I found a

13:25charm called Dream Shield. It's a shield that circles around me and blocks projectiles and

13:29deals damage to enemies. I started the fight. My shield blocked the orange. I walked directly

13:34into him. The shield is dealing damage while I dodge. I learned the timing of the slam. I hit

13:38him more. He was going for a slam attack, and my shield hit him. Soul Master? More like Soul

13:43Bar- oh, he is not dead. He slammed the ground. We got a phase two boss fight! He's attacking

13:48faster. I'm on one health. I dodged under the orange and hit him. I win for real this time,

13:53and it unlocked a new ability, Desolate Dive. I slammed through the glass floor and got to the

13:58bottom. Wait, this door is locked. I can't get out. Where am I going? What am I supposed to do?

14:03There aren't any more glass floors. I really had no idea where to go. Above me is a chest that has

14:09Geo. There's the boss room, and just this locked door. I searched for 20 minutes. This is usually

14:16when I would check the wiki. I cannot understate how lost I am. Guys, look at that. The floor here,

14:25I had a couple particles when I walked past it. That is a shaky floor that I can destroy!

14:30SLAM DUNK! I made it to the other side and opened the door. That was the hardest part of the game so

14:36far. I left the City of Tears and caught a ride on the stag. I found a place I could ground slam.

14:41I have no limits. I am inside Crystal Peak, a mountain that climbs above Hallownest. There's

14:47a lot of parkour here, which everyone knows is my favorite part of the game, but this is the

14:52worst enemy in the game. They shoot crystals that stay on the ground and hurt me. I'm down to 1

14:57health, but I am determined to complete this parkour to save the caterpillar. I swear they're

15:01the final boss. Behold my secret technique, jumping in the corner. I am back to 1 health. Luckily,

15:06there is a sign of a bench here. Oh, someone's on the bench. We can share. Nope, new boss fight,

15:11Crystal Guardian. He killed me instantly. The closest other bench is down here. I gotta climb

15:16up all of this while fighting 2 crystal shooters to get back to the bench with 2 health left,

15:22then lose 1 by colliding with my shadow. He shoots the lasers from the ceiling and his hand. I can do

15:27this. I press dash instead of attack. Spawn at the bench, get lasered, and try again. I use my spell,

15:33wall jump to attack, and let him know that SWORD IS GOOD. He dropped a lot of money and I got the

15:38bench to myself. Why does every video game have a screen like this? I kept climbing and ran into

15:43Quirrell again. He says, there's an air of strength about you. I suspect it would be quite

15:49intimidating if not for your small stature. I'm like actually 8 feet tall in real life, Quirrell.

15:54I found a very suspicious bridge and there was a beating heart inside this bug, so I took it for

15:59myself. I obtained the Crystal Heart, which lets me do this. I can dash in one direction for as long

16:06as it takes to hit the other side. I used it to leave the crystal peak. I visited Sly and bought

16:11a few mask fragments. I now have 6 health. I have no limits. I went riding with Balthazar. Yes,

16:17I named him. I looked at the map for secret areas that would lead to the dreamers. Of course,

16:21the spiked parkour area. This time, I have the crystal dash. I still died, but I can do this now.

16:28Jump over it. That is so hard. Then I died at the start. I have to jump the perfect height.

16:33Each time I hit a spike, I lose 1 health and go back to the start. Unless I lose all my health,

16:37then I go back to the bench. Okay, I made it to the second wall. I used another dash and get across.

16:42Timed this perfectly. I did it. Alright. Okay, I made it to the wall jump. Next section. Okay,

16:49I can't crystal dash here. With 1 health, I have to slam dunk all of these in a row,

16:54and I made it. Surely this is the end. I'm going from the wall. It worked!

16:58Okay. I had a quarter of a second to see those spikes and cancel my dash part way through,

17:04which I didn't even know you could do. I kept trying and couldn't get back to that section.

17:08My mental state can be described by this clip. I was sad, so I started mindlessly scrolling on my

17:17phone. I was ready to give up. And then I saw a reel. Some people dream, some people wish,

17:24some people dream, some people wish. And then there are those who rip success from the hands

17:30of fate by pure force of will. I am motivated. I will win this parkour. I will defeat the

17:37caterpillar final boss. I will rip what I want from the hands of fate. Nothing can stop me.

17:42This is my force of will. I stopped the final dash. I have made it. And here was a bench.

17:48Next, I'll be making a three-hour philosophy video discussing if Instagram motivating me more

17:54than my internal desires is a bad thing. I don't see a dreamer here, but instead was

17:58Nail Master Shio, a past adventurer turned painter. He showed me a new way of attacking.

18:04I just have to hold X down. It's not working. Like, at all. I don't know what to do.

18:10Spoilers from future Dragoon. I never figured out how this works. Ever. So,

18:15all that parkour was pointless. Anyway, I gotta find another way to the dreamers.

18:20This one is close, but I can't get past the black wall. Me and Balthazar are on an adventure.

18:24I am lost. It's really dark here. If I move really slowly and carefully,

18:29then I'll fall to my death and get attacked by things I can't see. Wait, there's light. A door

18:33led to Galleon. Hey man, do you have a torch I can borrow? Nope, he flattened me with a giant ball.

18:37He floats around while his scythe spins in me. I have to jump to attack him. I dealt more damage

18:42and now he has two orange balls also bouncing around. I am dodging four things at once while

18:46trying to attack. If I have one health, it is enough. I killed Galleon, which gave me 200

18:51essence. I can get a reward from the seer now. But first, I kept exploring Deepnest. By the way,

18:56if you have arachnophobia, it must suck to be you. Also, skip the next three minutes.

19:02I killed enemies and then spiders crawled into their corpses and became this monstrosity.

19:06I eventually found the distant village. Here there is a giant egg that I can enter.

19:10The dreamer boss must be inside. But first, I found a stagway station and I went back to the

19:15seer for my rewards. She gave me pale ore. I can use that to upgrade my nail further at the

19:20blacksmith. I should do that before the fight. Also, near the seer, I found a tomb that was shaky.

19:25Don't ask why I was walking on tombs. SEISMIC TOSS! And at the bottom was the king's station.

19:31I want to meet this king and queen. They seem important. Why aren't they trying to stop me from

19:36opening the black egg? I don't think they'd want me to do that. I ran back to the blacksmith to get

19:40even more powerful and surpass my limit. Oh, he's charging 800 geo. I am limited by money again.

19:46Then I saw a sign that I had no idea what it led to. So I had to follow it and completely forgot

19:50about what I was already doing. And this is the well from Dark Souls 2. It's a pit with a ton of

19:55spikes that I have to get down without dying. I went further and there was a black aura emanating.

20:00I guess it's better than orange. Orange is bad. Black is suspicious. Don't take that out of

20:06context. I did not expect a train to be here, but I unlocked a new station. I could leave and go get

20:11the stronger nail to fight the dreamer, but I can't not explore the ancient basin. Oh damn,

20:16it's been forever since I've seen the map maker. I was just used to not knowing where I am,

20:20but his map shows me that nearby is the palace grounds. The king and queen will be there.

20:26I want to know why they haven't arrested me yet. The palace is to the right. So I blasted as far

20:30to the left as possible. The orange started coming back and I found another boss. Huh,

20:35he looks a lot like me. He's called Broken Vessel. If he's a broken vessel, am I a fine

20:41working vessel? People who know the real lore will be watching this video, and they're all

20:46going to be happy and not annoyed because I'm getting it all right. I'm glad I have a dash

20:50for the bosses now. I don't even know how I beat the first boss without it. I can usually land next

20:54to him and get a few hits in. It's going well, but whenever you take damage, the game freezes

20:58for a second for dramatic effect. It always messes me up a bit. The nearest bench is one crystal

21:02blast away from the boss. Wait, if he's just like me, how would I convince myself to give up?

21:08If you let me win, I'll do the seven horses achievement for you. I win! Wait, I don't want

21:13to do that. Just beyond the boss was a shrine, and I found the Monarch Wings. I have a double

21:18jump! I've never even heard of a limit! Men only want one thing, and it's a fucking double jump.

21:24Oh look, a place I can only get to via double jumping. I wonder what treasure awaits me. It

21:29was a caterpillar. I still don't trust you. It's time I go to the palace ground to talk to this

21:33king and queen. There was a massive bridge, and then ruins, and a single corpse. The palace is

21:40gone. Well, it makes sense that no one's trying to stop me. I've forgotten what I was supposed

21:44to be doing. Now I'm just exploring sewers. Oh, I was upgrading my nail to fight the dreamer. I

21:49paid the blacksmith so I can deal more damage. Sword is great! I can now finally fight the first

21:56dreamer. But instead, I went to Crystal Peak because there's a really interesting spot I can

22:00double jump to. After climbing and fighting, I made it to Hallownest's Crown. Now that I'm on

22:06the top of the world, there's only one thing to do. Go flying! Oh, I just fell down. That's a shame.

22:12Okay, for real this time, I'm going to fight the dreamer. I went inside, and in the giant egg,

22:17there was a bench and just regular people. I'll sit down. Oh, I can't leave. I'm stuck. I think

22:24this was a bad idea. This is not an ideal situation. However, we can use this as a

22:29learning opportunity. If you're going to kidnap someone, don't leave their sword in their hand.

22:35It's a complete maze in here, but at this point, I actually prefer being lost to knowing where I am.

22:39I found the dreamer sleeping. I have to enter his dream to beat him. The screen flashed,

22:45and I found myself in the dream realm again. There he is. Uh, the fight isn't starting. What

22:50if I hit him? He seems to take damage. Come at me! You'll never defeat me! Oh, I win. So,

22:55the dreamers aren't boss fights. I just have to find them, and they want to be released. They

22:59want me to go into the black egg and fight the Hollow Knight. His mask vanished. One down, two to

23:06go. I rode Balthazar towards where I think the second dreamer is, but then I got lost and ended

23:13up in a beautiful pool. I ran into Teezo again. He reminds me that I still haven't found the

23:18Coliseum, and I haven't found the other dreamers, and I haven't finished Cookie Clicker, and I'm

23:23short. I'm actually ten feet tall in real life! The boss is right below me, but there's no path

23:27there. The whole kingdom seems to be filled with more orange than before. I got so lost that I

23:32found the right way to go. It led to a new boss room. They're all sleeping until they're possessed

23:37by the orange. It's time to fight the Watcher Knights. He has rollout. He has body slam. He has

23:42slash. This is definitely a Pokémon. Now there are two of them. If they both do the same move,

23:47it's easy to dodge. If one bounces and one rolls, it's impossible to dodge. I tried using Hyper Beam,

23:52and it backfired. There's six knights in total, and I have to fight two at a time, so I have to

23:57keep my eyes on two different things at once. I do have two eyes, so maybe I can do that. I died and

24:03ran back, but the boss is two elevator rides away from the bench, so there's a lot of waiting in

24:08between. Gives me more time to reflect on my life. I should stop inflating my height in real life. I

24:14attacked right away, and I can confirm that my eyes can only look at one place at a time. This

24:19game has a lot of bugs in it, and bugs have tons of eyes. Maybe only bugs are supposed to play this

24:24game. Alright, I need to change charms. This reduces the amount of soul needed to cast my

24:29spell, and this gives me soul whenever I take damage. I've become the mage class. I built up

24:34my soul on the first one, then use the spells to hit both at once. I have a new technique! I hit

24:39the lever when I get to the top of the elevator so that next time it's waiting at the bottom for

24:43me. I have no new techniques at beating the boss, only in transportation. I've learned the patterns,

24:47I stacked them together, I used the spell. As Harry Potter once said, I'm a wizard,

24:52motherfucker. I win. My reward was a lot of money, and a very long elevator ride that gave me more

24:58time to think about my life. I haven't complained about Keishin far too long. I reached the top,

25:03and found the dreamer. Once again, I beat the hell out of him and absorbed his soul,

25:08which leaves only one more dreamer before I can face the final boss. But to get to the last dreamer,

25:13I have to get past that black barrier. How do I do that? Wait, I think I found a boss. He's called

25:18Dung Defender. He throws poop at me, and then dives toward me. How on earth can he see where

25:24I am while he's spinning like that? Everyone has really good eyes in this game. I'm meant to have

25:28no limits. The poop boss is not going to be my limit. I got in his face and performed unconsensual

25:34facial surgery with my nail. My shield got the last hit. I went deeper into the sewers and found

25:39Isma's Tear. It makes me immune to acidic waters, something that does not help me get past the black

25:45barrier. But after checking everywhere on the map, I found at the very bottom of King's Station,

25:50there's a flooded stagway station, and you can go underneath this wall to a new area called

25:55Kingdom's Edge. And to progress, I need to swim through acid. This is where I'm supposed to go.

26:01There's a long climb here. I embraced my inner Alex Honnold and soared to the top of the peak,

26:06and there I met a large creature that said, oh, tiny thing. You don't even know me. I'm like 17

26:12foot tall in real life. The ashen place is Grave of Worm. Wait, the grave of ash. I finally made

26:19it. He told me that this kingdom was created when an ancient worm came here to die. Its power created

26:26all life in the kingdom of Hallownest. I found a cave with exploding birds. Oh, that looks cool.

26:31Wait, this is it. It's the Colosseum. Teasel, I finally made it. I guess I'm fighting for my life

26:36now. It started with two knights and waves of enemies kept coming. The arena also constantly

26:41changes. I can't overemphasize how good the slam dunk attack is. It works in every situation because

26:47most bugs lack the neck it takes to look upwards. The crystal dash, however, is not an attack move.

26:53They lowered the roof and sent me flies, and then two of the very first miniboss in the game.

26:57Without dashes, I would die here, but instead I won first try and got showered with geo. Apparently,

27:03there are two harder versions of the Colosseum I can try, but I just want to get past the black

27:08wall, so I left and kept exploring the grave of ash. But really, I'm here just for the caterpillars,

27:13of course. Oh, there's a sign for a bench, but it's damaged. It's surely pointing at the ceiling.

27:17I hit the roof and nothing happened. Is this just a lie? Whatever, I kept going. In the next room,

27:23I found Hornet, and she just ran away. The last time she did that, it led to a boss fight. I really

27:29want to know where this bench is. I hit everything, and I have no idea where it is. Yeah, this is

27:33definitely a boss room. She spoke to me. So, you'd pursue the deeper truth. Yes, I have no limits.

27:39The wind bellowed. She says I have to prove my strength, and she will teach me the truth of the

27:44kingdom. This is the greatest information opportunity for my wiki. She started dashing at

27:48me. It seems like the same fight we had in Greenpath, but this time the wind makes it really

27:53hard to see where she is or where I am, because we're both white. I have more damage than last

27:57time, so this should be easy. It was not easy, and I respawned really, really far away. I gotta climb

28:04up all of that. It would be really nice if there were a bench somewhere nearby. Why is this sign

28:09even here? If I just win this time, it won't matter. I can go forward. I remember her patterns.

28:14It's going a bit better this time, but she has a new move. She throws threads around the screen

28:18with spikes in the air. I can attack to break them, but tracking her movement and the spikes

28:23at the same time would require that I can see in multiple directions. This game is made for bugs.

28:29Give me the bench. Give me the bench. I don't think benches are even real. I must have hallucinated

28:34them. I can't tell if she's faster than Greenpath, or I've gotten worse, but I'm struggling. Benches

28:39are mythical creatures made up by Big Bench to sell more cushions.

28:45It was there the whole time? Did I not hit that spot before? What? Well, now I have a closer spawn

28:52point, so I can run to my death even quicker now. I need a new strategy though, so I looked through

28:57all of my charms. I want to keep the shield. It's amazing. And then I saw I had something

29:02called Glowing Worm. It consumes my soul to summon minions. Look at this little guy. He will fight

29:08for me. I have unlocked the summoner class. Now when I hit her, I generate soul, and then every

29:13few seconds, it turns into a little version of myself that flies and attacks Hornet. I believe

29:18in myself. I can win. I died again, and again, and again. I can't beat this, and I started scrolling

29:27on my phone again. You might expect me to stumble across a different motivational video that gives

29:33me the energy to keep going, but no, not at all. I found the same video. Hands of fate, I will break

29:42you. I'm pretty sure listening to a consistent drum beat makes me 200% better at all life

29:47endeavors. And so, I won. And Hornet said, you could do it. If you had the will, then do it.

29:54Burn that mark upon your shell and claim yourself as king. I entered the corpse of the ancient worm

30:00that created the kingdom, and inside I found the king's brand. The old king is dead. Long live the

30:07king. Me. But more importantly, how do I get past the black barrier? I looked in the city of tears

30:14and found nothing. I found an elder in Dirtmouth and asked for his advice, and he said, you're short.

30:20You shut the hell up. I'm 26 feet tall. Malthazar didn't know either. Let me in. I looked all over

30:26the map for places I haven't been. This game is bigger than I thought it was. I went to the bottom

30:30of the ancient basin. Wait, there's a door. That's the mark. The king's brand. The door opened for me,

30:36and inside was a giant pit. It goes down a long way, with enemies and spikes. After a while,

30:42I reached the bottom and found it's called the Abyss. There are dark tentacle monsters here.

30:46I approached a large tower. Climbing it, I found ghosts, and they look a lot like me. Is this what

30:52I am under the mask? Led me across the water to a dark cave. Inside was the strangest thing I've

30:58seen in the game. So I jumped right into the black liquid. Oh god. Wait, I got Shade Cloak. Use the

31:04cloak to dash through enemies and their attacks without taking damage. I can turn black and dash

31:09through things. Does this mean I can dash through the black barrier? Whatever trauma my character

31:14just went through was worth it. I climbed back up the Abyss. Waiting at the top was Hornet. She says

31:19I faced the place of my birth, so I was born in the Abyss. The wiki is getting juicy. This will

31:25be a bestseller. In fact, Hornet told me a lot more of the lore. Many years ago, a plague infected

31:31the kingdom, and the king and queen made children called Vessels to contain the plague. The Hollow

31:37Knight was the most powerful vessel. He took the plague inside the black egg to seal them both for

31:42eternity. However, the Hollow Knight was impure. The plague started leaking out of the egg, and

31:47now I have to stop it. Because the plague is the orange. My wiki was right all along. This means me,

31:55the Hollow Knight, and Hornet are all siblings, and my job is to do what the Hollow Knight could

32:00not. Seal the plague forever. But more important than all of that, WE MEET AGAIN. I can finally

32:08buy a map of Fog Canyon. Time for a boss fight. The final dreamer is inside that building. I went

32:14inside, and the boss guarding him is a giant jellyfish called Umu. There are some redundant

32:19letters there. He chases me with lightning spells. Just when I thought I was going to die,

32:23out of nowhere, QUIRREL SHOWED UP AND ATTACKED WITH ME. I, genuinely, never once considered

32:29teamwork to be an option. That might say something about me. We found the dreamer asleep in a vat of

32:33acid. Biohacking has gone too far. For the third time, I entered the dreamscape and beat the hell

32:39out of a dreamer. The black egg is finally open. I am ready for the final boss. I took Balthazar

32:48back to Dirtmouth, but this is an emotional ride. If I win this fight, I will be sealed within the

32:53black egg for eternity to keep everyone else safe. I'll never see him again. It's dark in the egg. I

32:58can see the orange. This is just really, really cool. That's him, the Hollow Knight, Chain. My

33:04brother who sacrificed himself but wasn't strong enough for it to work. I will replace you.

33:09FINAL BOSS FIGHT. I'm about to beat this game without using the wiki. He launched at me. I

33:15jumped over and slam dunked. He seems kinda slow, strangely. Almost limping. I'm getting some insane

33:20combos on him. He screamed. Wait, am I already in phase 2? Yep, he has new attacks. Fire and

33:25more plague. Wait, what's happening? He's stabbing himself. Then he was overtaken by the orange. Why

33:30are you hitting yourself? This is supposed to be a hard fight. Fight me, please! He's not even

33:35trying. I feel kinda bad. Did I win? Was that it? I beat the game? Really?

33:45After this, I was sad. I did not get the difficult fight I wanted. To drown in my sadness,

33:52I wanted to listen to sad music. So I went to the Guts theme. And that's when I read the story of

33:57Guts956. My fiancé was recently diagnosed with sinus cancer. My best friend committed suicide.

34:05My parents are kicking me out of my house. And I'm probably going to lose my job. But when I

34:09listen to this song, it reminds me to keep going. Fight on, strugglers. Edit. Thank you for all the

34:15kind, loving support. We will all get through this rough life together. Edit 2. My job is secure.

34:21My fiancé is improving. Edit 3. Thank you all. Keep up the fight, strugglers. Share your dreams.

34:27We're all in this together. Edit 4. Go through that obstacle head on and don't look back. Edit 5.

34:33I feel everything slipping away from me. But I'll never give up on the things and people that need

34:38me. Never lose sight of your dream. Final edit. I right now feeling lost. Defy death. No matter how

34:45hard you get hit, I will never give up my hope of one day finding peace. Fight until we don't need

34:51to fight anymore. New final edit. Boys, I did it. I've gotten the biggest outpouring of support and

34:57love that I've ever received. I just closed on a new apartment for me and my wonderful now wife,

35:03who is completely healthy. I'm finally happy. I love you all. This is my final update on my

35:09incredible journey. I hope that everyone here finds their home, their happiness, their better

35:14days. Goodnight everyone. Struggle on and never stop fighting. Back to the struggle. She left me.

35:22Regardless of the pain I feel emotionally, I will never give up. Again and again, I will push until

35:28every last ounce of my being is spent. For this is the path of one who defies fate. Keep fighting.

35:35This comment gave me a realization. Video games are not hard. Life is hard. Hollow Knight parkour

35:44is not hard. Losing your wife is hard. I also found out that the Hollow Knight is not the final boss.

35:52I know I said I wouldn't use the wiki, but I had to google one thing and found out that the Radiance

35:59is the secret final boss of Hollow Knight. I'm sure it's much, much harder than the Hollow Knight,

36:05but it won't be as difficult as, well, life. So I went back to my save file before I beat the Hollow

36:10Knight and went looking for the Radiance. I still want to finish the game. Even this commenter in his

36:16life said to always keep fighting, so I will. Even if a game can't be as hard as life, I will keep

36:22fighting. The only place I could think of fighting tougher enemies was the Coliseum, so I entered the

36:27final challenge. Ten waves in and I'm platforming around flying enemies. These orange guys who can

36:32shoot are the most annoying things. I mean, they aren't annoying. Video games are easy. Wall jumping

36:37is the most annoying mechanic in the game. I died. I went back in and tried again, and this time I

36:42died way earlier. It's still not hard, but losing 10 minutes of progress and having to do it all

36:48over again feels similar to the motion of anger, but I can't get angry at a game because they aren't

36:53difficult. I'm back to the flying phase. This time I'm starting on three health instead of four,

36:58and I can't heal, so that didn't work at all. Finally faced the final boss of the arena.

37:02Radiant! Nope, it's God Tamer, not Radiance. It's an ant that rides a big bug. He rolls off and

37:08bounces off the wall, and I died. Trying to not get angry has made me so much angrier than I've

37:14been before. After this, I threw myself into the abyss. I went all the way back to my birthplace

37:20and sat in a pool of void and misery. I'm staying here until... until I admit that my wiki is not

37:26comprehensive, and I need help. Okay, fine. I looked up how to fight Radiance. The answer is,

37:33to fight Radiance, I have to first kill the Hollow Knight while holding the Void Heart.

37:38The Void Heart is made of the King's Soul, which is split into two halves. One half in the Queen's

37:44Gardens, and the other one in a hidden area only accessible through the Dream Realm that requires

37:491800 Essence to unlock. I was not going to figure that out myself. I'm going to the Queen's Gardens

37:55to get the first half of the King's Soul. It's an area of Spike Parkour, my favorite. I killed two

38:00Mantises and found the Traitor Lord. The only way to dodge his attacks is dashing through him. It's

38:05a good fight to practice my timing. I beat him, and behind him was this thing. Inside was the White

38:11Lady. This is the Queen of Hallownest. This is my mother, who is still alive?! She gave me one half

38:18of the King's Soul and told me to defeat Radiance. Now to get the other half, I need 1800 Essence for

38:25the Dream Nail. Fighting Dream Bosses. The first I found was Marmu. This fight is like that ping pong

38:29bat that has a ball tape to it. The next Dream Boss is actually the first boss in the entire game.

38:34Can go inside his dreams to fight a more powerful version, that deals 2 damage per hit, moves faster

38:39and has more attacks. I was in a loop of looking up the location of Ghost Battles on the wiki,

38:43fighting them, and questioning if I'm allowed to find this difficult or not. I returned to

38:48the Seer with 1800 Essence and got the Awoken Dream Nail. And you remember the single corpse

38:53in the Palace Grounds? I can use the Dream Nail to enter his memories of the Palace before it fell.

38:59I can finally enter the Palace. And at the top is the other half of the King's Soul.

39:04There are enemies here that I have to use to parkour inside. Must be a safety feature.

39:08Wait, there's more parkour. They only let in the strong people I guess.

39:13The entire castle is one giant parkour challenge. Good, because video game parkour isn't as hard

39:18as real life. It's harder. Why does every video game have a screen that looks like this? At least

39:23when I get here, I respawn on whatever platform I recently landed on. Who were they trying to keep

39:27out of this castle? I did it. That's the first of four parkour challenges in this palace. Each

39:32harder than the last. Eventually I made it to the final section. Hit the bug, then dash across,

39:37then get across the saw. Now jump over the saw so you can crystal dash across to the spikes that

39:41come out of the wall. The only way to stop and think is to use crystal dash. But I'm going to

39:45die when I release it. I'm just trying to learn the patterns. The timing is precise, but I did it.

39:50Now I can't see what's next, so I have to cancel the crystal dash midway, then hit down to bounce

39:55off the enemies, then there's more spikes and dashes. Until finally, I enter the peak of the

39:59castle. And on the throne was the king. He's dead, just a skeleton. But he dropped the second half of

40:06the king's soul. I was not going to get this without using the wiki, because now with the

40:10king's soul, I have to jump down into the abyss again, where the ground breaks open in a certain

40:15place and at the bottom I see my own reflection. So I have to stab myself in the face and die.

40:21But then I rise. I emerge from the bones of the vessels and began the climb. No cost too great.

40:28No will to break. No voice to cry suffering. Born of god and void. The king and queen are

40:35beings of light which are corruptible by the plague. But the abyss imbued me with void.

40:41I am light and void combined, so I am capable of containing the orange plague. The plague was

40:47created by radiance to wipe out life in Hallownest, and I must fight her. You shall seal the blinding

40:54light that plagues their dreams. You are the vessel. You are the Hollow Knight. I fucking knew it! I am

41:02the Hollow Knight, and I am 76 feet tall in real life! My heart is now void, and I return to the

41:08black egg, ready to replace the old Hollow Knight. Like last time, he was slow. He started stabbing

41:14himself, like he knows he did not do his job. He is sacrificing himself, so I have a chance to defeat

41:20radiance. Then, a needle came out of nowhere. Hornet helped me, letting me use the dream now.

41:26Inside the dreams of the Hollow Knight, I can face the plague itself. I can face...

41:33the radiance! Alright, time to learn a new fight. It's sending swords down at me, and it's so high

41:38up, I can barely reach it. Oh, and its attacks deal two damage, cool. I can heal. That's not

41:43dodgeable. Wait, I can go through it. D'argh! I hit it once! This wouldn't be so bad if his attacks

41:48weren't the same color as the background. Why do they keep doing that? Oh, homing fireballs are fun,

41:54especially when you can barely see them. And radiance keeps teleporting over the screen,

41:57so I can't hit her. I died, and to get back to her, I have to beat the Hollow Knight all over again.

42:03I'm back, and I hit her a few times before I get lost and can't dodge anything. There's often two

42:07attacks at the same time. If you look here, this fireball spawned at the exact place I was going,

42:13and I could barely see it. But I'm not going to say this fight is unfair. I just haven't prepared

42:18yet. First, I threw myself back down the abyss, and at the opposite end of the birthplace is a

42:23room of screaming statues where I can unlock the Abyssal Shriek, a spell that hits enemies above

42:28me. Very useful for radiance. To upgrade my nail, I need the final Pale Ore given by the Caterpillar

42:35Father, who, I guess I should admit, is not the final boss of the game. That's really sad. I have

42:41to update the wiki. Once I rescue 31 caterpillars, he will give me a Pale Ore, and I've only got 20

42:46so far. But I can go to the Tower of Love to fight the Collector. He is the one who trapped them in

42:52all the jars. Above his room, I find three caterpillars and a map that shows all the

42:56others on the entire game. So for the next while, I just went around freeing them. Balthazar took me

43:01all over the map. The parkour in this game will never end. I went back to the caterpillars,

43:06and I finally had enough to get the last Pale Ore. I got the Nailsmith to craft me the ultimate blade.

43:12It is done. But with the perfect nail crafted, the Nailsmith has no purpose left in his life.

43:18He has achieved everything he wanted. He wants to be killed by his perfect weapon.

43:23Can I really do this? I wonder if when I achieve my final goal, I'll want to die.

43:29Well, here we go. I got an achievement for that, but I feel bad. It's time. I have everything I

43:34need. The only thing left to do is get good. Before finding Radiance, I have to kill the

43:40Hollow Knight again. And now, this is my first final attempt. I forgot to scream at the start,

43:45but I can use my stronger nail. And I'm already half health because every attack does 2 damage.

43:50Then I dash just the wrong way. I'm going to blame Terraria. In Terraria, if I quickly change

43:56direction then dash, it always works. In Hollow Knight, there's a slight delay. I have to be going

44:01the other direction for a bit longer. It's that or I'm just bad. But actually, I have no limits.

44:06And actually, I'm 6,000 feet tall in real life. The earth is round and I can see the curvature.

44:11I kept screaming at Radiance. She's constantly teleporting. I can usually heal after the light

44:16beams. But if I use my dash too early, I don't have it for the giant beam. I know I said games

44:21aren't hard. But maybe life is hard, and games are hard, and being drafted into war is also hard,

44:26and we don't have to compare our hardships. And I don't think this is that deep. I think I've just

44:30unlocked basic empathy. I'm not chasing her anymore. If I just stay in a safe spot, she'll

44:35teleport here eventually. I can do this slowly. I finally dealt enough damage to get her to the end

44:40of phase one. Radiance stays in the center and swords endlessly fall. I should be able to dodge

44:45all of it and get more soul for the second phase. Here we go. Now I have to do all of that again,

44:50but there's platforms instead of ground. More parkour! This is stressful, but I can do it.

44:55For the sake of the commenter, for the sake of Balthazar, I must defy fate. I dodged and

45:00attacked at every chance I had. I did very subtle dodges. I screamed in her face, and I dealt enough

45:06damage to make Radiance run away. This is her final phase. All I have to do is climb up the

45:11platforms, dodging her light beams. The shadows of my brethren are here to support me. She is on

45:17one health. I just have to hit her once, and it's over. Radiance, remember this. I am three billion

45:24feet tall in real life, and I beat you. I was so close. I checked to see if there were any tips

45:34on the wiki for beating her, and all I found is that Radiance is a giant moth. Wait, really?

45:40She is a moth, and if I do some research, caterpillars turn into moths. This means the

45:48caterpillar father is not the final boss. The final boss of this game is the caterpillar mother,

45:56Radiance! I knew it all along! I went back in with renewed determination, with pure force of will,

46:03with fire in my heart. I died. Why is this causing me so much pain and frustration? The commenter

46:10was going through more pain, and all he said was, keep fighting, strugglers. Never stop fighting.

46:16He's right. It doesn't matter how long this takes. It only matters that I fight. I screamed loud

46:24enough to awake my ancestors. I dimmed my brightness so the moth loses power. Keep fighting,

46:38always keep fighting. Rip success from the hands of fate by pure force of will,

46:43no matter how hard it gets. No matter if you're at war or you're playing video games,

46:47fight. I am the Hollow Knight. Radiance, hear me. I am a Google Plex feat tool in real life,

46:55and you will face retribution. Fight! To use the laser attack, I stood under her and swung my nail.

47:04I did enough damage. Now, the climb begins. Fight! Stand and fight! Stand and fight! Stand and fight!

47:14Make it right! Stand and fight! You must fight! Fight, you motherfucker!

47:27The void emerged from me, and I slapped the hell out of Radiance,

47:31killing her. Inside the egg, Hornet awoke to find a broken skull. Like the Nailsmith,

47:38I have achieved my ultimate goal. I no longer have a purpose to be here.

Category

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