Chapter Summaries

Lin Jin approved the Snail Shaman’s plan to use a fire fueled by war’s resentment against the Void and sent the Little Knight for a month of accelerated training. A month later, the Little Knight carried the fuel into the Glass Mine and jumped through the rift into the Abyss.

• The Snail Shaman crafted a cloth covered in runes from ashes made of war-touched objects, explaining that its resentment-fueled fire could burn bodies, souls, and even trouble the Void.
• The Snail Shaman proposed using the Little Knight to carry the fuel past the Undead blockade, and Lin Jin agreed to give him a month to train it.
• Lin Jin made every resource in the Flame Capital available to the Snail Shaman and warned him against making the situation worse.
• One month later, the Little Knight reached the depths of the Glass Mine, avoiding the use of Soulfire near the fuel it carried.
• The Little Knight jumped into the rift that led to the Abyss.

The Little Knight reached the Ancient Ruins and confronted the Void Jester at the Forbidden Gate, where the Jester revealed his desire to destroy the land in revenge. As the Jester prepared to fight in earnest, the Little Knight silently raised its Bone Nail to answer him.

• The Little Knight broke through the Scar Trail into the Ancient Ruins and saw corpses rising under the Void’s influence.
• The Little Knight made its way toward the Forbidden Gate, where the Void Jester waited and spoke to the Void beyond it.
• The Void Jester noticed the Little Knight and introduced himself as a worshipper of the Void who had orchestrated the Void War.
• The Void Jester attacked the Little Knight, caught its Bone Nail, and hurled it into a building wall.
• The Void Jester blamed the land and its people for his family’s suffering and declared that the land did not deserve redemption.
• The Little Knight remained silent and prepared to fight as the Void Jester’s body began to radiate dark energy.

The Little Knight lured the Void Jester away from the Forbidden Gate and tried to ignite the fuel, but the Jester’s Centipede Beast trapped it before it could escape. Gron-Nastak arrived and hurled the fuel-bearing spear into the gate, setting it ablaze and leaving the Little Knight and Gron ready to fight the enraged Jester together.

• The Little Knight evaded the Void Jester’s attacks and led him in a chase toward the Forbidden Gate, hoping to reach it and ignite the fuel.
• The Void Jester transformed into black mist to catch the Little Knight, but the Little Knight brought down collapsing buildings on him and continued toward the gate.
• The Void Jester summoned the ancient Centipede Beast, which knocked the Little Knight down and pinned it in its jaws as the Jester prepared to sacrifice it with a dagger.
• A voice from behind the Void Jester demanded that he leave their world, and a blazing spear struck the Forbidden Gate with the lost fuel attached.
• Gron-Nastak revealed himself, and the flames from his spear drove back the Void as the Little Knight escaped the Centipede Beast and joined him.
• Gron-Nastak asked whether the Little Knight could still fight, and the two prepared to face the furious Void Jester together.

Gron fought the Void Jester after the Black Flame spread through the Forbidden Gate and severed the Void’s connection to the world. Though Gron struck a mortal blow, the Void Jester survived, and Lin Jin, the Sunfire God, descended through the flames to confront him.

• The Black Flame consumed the Forbidden Gate and spread into the Sea of the Unlight, severing the Void’s connection to the world.
• Gron confronted the Void Jester and called the Little Knight back, choosing to fight the mastermind alone.
• Gron evaded the Void Jester’s attacks and pierced his throat with Fireflow Cloud, but the Void Jester unleashed an Abyss Shriek before he could die.
• The Little Knight guarded the badly injured Gron as the Void Jester’s wounds began to heal and he claimed the Void kept him alive.
• Lin Jin appeared as a figure formed from the flames and told the Void Jester that he was on his last legs.

Lin Jin confronted the Void Jester at the Forbidden Gate and drove him back, ending the first Void War while warning that Void would return. As the Flame Capital struggled with its losses and scarce resources, Lin Jin appeared before the clan chiefs and promised he knew ways to suppress Void.

• Lin Jin manifested in the Ancient Ruins, faced the Void Jester, and kept him from advancing until the flames blocked the Forbidden Gate.
• The Void Jester withdrew through the gate, and the first Void War ended with the threat of Void merely delayed.
• The exhausted army returned to Ashen City, where the Flame Capital began treating the wounded, cremating the dead, and reckoning with severe losses.
• The clan chiefs met without Gron or Mortas, whose place was taken by the new Mantis Lord, and Aemon warned that the Flame Capital lacked resources for another campaign.
• Lin Jin appeared as a projection from a candlestick and told the clan chiefs that he knew ways to suppress Void.

Lin Jin reassured the Flame Capital’s leaders that the Void could be opposed through an alliance, then organized a diplomatic mission to Hallownest. With the Sky Explorer, Mortas’s Hunter Clan, Isara, and Aemon assigned to the journey, Hornet agreed to guide them home.

• Lin Jin appeared in a small, weakened form, but assured his worried followers that the Void could be defeated by joining forces with others.
• Lin Jin persuaded the clan chiefs that an alliance was the surest way to fight the Void and that cooperation mattered more than pride or individual strength.
• Lin Jin assigned Raily’s Sky Explorer to transport the mission and asked Mortas to demonstrate the Hunter Clan’s strength.
• Lin Jin put Isara and Aemon in charge of the diplomatic mission to Hallownest.
• Lin Jin revealed that the Little Knight came from Hallownest, named her Hornet, and asked her to guide the group there.

More than a month after the Void War, Lin Jin visited the source of Lifeblood beneath Thunderfall Cliff and received a powerful gift from the ancient Blue Horseshoe Crab. He learned that his predecessor Rongdo had been one of the earliest Higher Beings, then asked the Blue Horseshoe Crab to protect the Flame Capital while he was away.

• As the Flame Capital prepared for diplomacy with Hallownest, Lin Jin recovered from the war and went to Misty Lake to investigate the Lifeblood Vines.
• Lin Jin descended to the bottom of Thunderfall Cliff and called out to the being he suspected was the source of Lifeblood.
• A giant Blue Horseshoe Crab emerged, admitted that fragments of his body had caused the Lifeblood calamity, and apologized to Lin Jin.
• The Blue Horseshoe Crab gave Lin Jin a Lifeblood sac filled with accumulated essence, greatly increasing Lin Jin's strength.
• The Blue Horseshoe Crab told Lin Jin that Rongdo had been the world's first flame and an ancient Higher Being, while Lin Jin was only a little spark.
• Lin Jin asked the Blue Horseshoe Crab to protect the Flame Capital while he went away to handle an important matter.

Lin Jin persuaded the Blue Horseshoe Crab to protect the land from the Void while he prepared to travel to Hallownest. More than three months after the war, Lin Jin and a Flame Capital delegation departed aboard the airship Sky Explorer to seek allies.

• Lin Jin warned the Blue Horseshoe Crab that the Void had become a deliberate threat guided by a Bug Traitor, and argued that it endangered all life.
• The Blue Horseshoe Crab agreed to help suppress the Void and protect the land while Lin Jin was away.
• Lin Jin finished preparing for his journey to Hallownest, with the Blue Horseshoe Crab guarding the home front.
• On March 3, year 2 of the New Calendar, the Flame Capital prepared the Sky Explorer and assembled a diplomatic delegation led by High Pontiff Isara and Aemon-Pierce.
• The delegation departed for Hallownest to seek allies against the Void as Gron prayed from behind the patient ward's glass.

Wyrm reviewed reports of the spreading Infection, then comforted the White Lady over the sacrifices made to contain it. A powerful vision revealed two possible futures involving an incoming guest and Radiance, and Wyrm prepared to meet the approaching Airship.

• Wyrm discarded reports as the Infection continued to spread and reaffirmed his plan to rely on the Hollow Knight.
• Wyrm visited the White Lady in the Nursery, where she confessed her guilt over sacrificing their children to the Abyss.
• Wyrm promised the White Lady there would be no more sacrifices, and she forgave him for what had happened with Beast Herrah.
• Wyrm experienced a vivid vision of an incoming Airship, Flame Followers, and two possible outcomes involving Radiance and another god.
• Wyrm told the White Lady to prepare for an honored guest and went to arrange Hallownest's response to the Airship.

The Sky Explorer crossed a deadly sandstorm as Flame’s leaders prepared to seek aid from Hallownest, while Lin Jin searched for a way to persuade the Pale King. With three days left before arrival, Lin Jin found an opening in his preparations and decided to face the dark clouds bearing down on the city.

• The Sky Explorer weathered the Wilderness sandstorm and continued toward Hallownest.
• During a meeting, the Mantis Hunter warned that Hallownest might be protected by one or more gods, and the group debated how humbly to approach it as Flame’s safeguard weakened.
• Isara rallied the dispirited delegation by praising the Sunfire God, and the bugs renewed their faith in him.
• Lin Jin considered the Pale King’s willingness to pay any price to preserve his Kingdom and searched his memories for a negotiating advantage.
• Hornet reported that the Sky Explorer would reach its destination in roughly three days, and Lin Jin resolved to let the dark clouds come.

Isara and her companions arrived in pre-infection Dirtmouth aboard the Sky Explorer, alarming the townsfolk and prompting a standoff with Hallownest’s soldiers. Isara said they had come from the Flame Capital to discuss an alliance, and Ze’mer arrived to ask her for more details.

• Miners complained that the King had sealed Crystal Peak and left them without work.
• The Sky Explorer descended onto Dirtmouth’s stone bridge, frightening miners and townsfolk.
• Isara emerged with Aemon and twenty armed Walkers and assured the locals that they meant no harm.
• Dirtmouth’s mayor asked why the visitors had come, and Isara said they wanted to discuss an alliance.
• Husk Sentinels arrived and faced off against the Walkers.
• Ze’mer appeared and asked Isara to explain the proposed alliance in greater detail.

Isara’s delegation reached its first contact with Hallownest without violence, and Ze’mer agreed to bring them before the King. Meanwhile, Lin Jin slipped away from the group in his Nox avatar and continued toward a destination in Hallownest, despite his body’s heat drawing wary looks.

• The Walkers and Hallownest’s guards raised their weapons when Ze’mer’s presence alarmed both sides, but Isara ordered her soldiers to stand down.
• Ze’mer and Isara eased the tension, discussed the delegation’s purpose, and Ze’mer offered to take them to the King.
• Aemon secretly sketched Ze’mer as the delegation followed her, while news of the visitors spread through Dirtmouth and Hallownest.
• Lin Jin used the sudden temperature shift during the standoff to slip away unnoticed in his Nox avatar.
• Lin Jin reflected that his avatar’s high body temperature made nearby bugs wary, then headed toward his chosen destination.

Lin Jin traveled to the City of Tears to assess Hallownest and consider how to prevent the Radiance’s Infection and the Void God’s birth. After an explosion near the Tower of Love, he rescued Marissa from the water and was taken with her to give a statement, leaving him entangled in a possible attack investigation.

• Lin Jin rode the stag to the City of Tears and worried that he lacked the power to stop the Radiance or prevent the Void God from emerging.
• Lin Jin explored the city, bought Charms and accessories as gifts, and admired its order and beauty.
• An explosion at a building near the Tower of Love sent Marissa tumbling into a stream, and Lin Jin jumped in to save her.
• Lin Jin revived Marissa after pulling her from the water, and guards identified her as the famous singer.
• Lin Jin told the guards that Marissa had fallen from the damaged building, then accompanied them to give a statement.

Lurien learned that the Soul Sanctum was likely connected to the disappearances and decided to report it to the King. At St. Tears Hospital, Marissa met her rescuer, Lin Jin, who gave her his lucky charm before leaving under the name Nox.

• Lurien considered the Dreamers and Hallownest’s problems while waiting for urgent news about the disappearances.
• The guard captain told Lurien that a Soul Sanctum disciple had attacked Marissa and that similar soul traces had been found in missing bugs’ homes.
• Lurien ordered guards to protect Marissa and her rescuer, then vowed to report the Soul Sanctum to the King.
• Lin Jin visited Marissa in the hospital, gave her his glowing charm, and introduced himself as Nox before leaving.
• Marissa held the charm through her pain and fell asleep without being troubled by dreams.

Lin Jin commissioned the Nailsmith to forge a Bone Nail from rare ores, then set out to approach Hallownest's rulers about an alliance and the Infection. At the Pale Court, Hornet and Helia sat through a meeting as Hornet reflected on the rising Infection and Hallownest's visiting delegation from the Flame Capital.

• Lin Jin visited the Nailsmith and offered Geo and rare ores from the Flame Capital in exchange for a Bone Nail.
• The Nailsmith enthusiastically began forging the weapon, while a young child watched and vowed to forge a perfect Bone Nail someday.
• Lin Jin planned to contact Unn and Beast Herrah before speaking to the Pale King about the flaws in his plan.
• At the Pale Court, Hornet and Helia attended a meeting where the rulers discussed the rising number of Infection cases and Vespa's participation in the Dreamer Plan.
• Hornet recalled that the Pale King had ignored the Flame Capital's alliance proposal, though she and Helia had visited its delegation.

Hornet left the palace to visit Teacher Monomon’s archives in search of a way to fight the Infection, unaware that Helia was following her. In Greenpath, the Moss Knight recognized Lin Jin as Unn’s prophesied “Burner” and brought him to meet the goddess.

• Hornet asked Herrah to visit Teacher Monomon’s archives before returning home, while Helia secretly followed her.
• Unn’s Moss Knight found Lin Jin in Greenpath, felt the unnatural heat radiating from him, and identified him as the Burner.
• Lin Jin told the Moss Knight his name was Nox, then followed him through Greenpath as Mosskin gathered behind them.
• At the Lake of Unn, the Moss Knight presented the Burner, and Unn rose from the water before Lin Jin.

Lin Jin gained Unn’s approval and built a campfire that hid nearby Mosskin from Radiance’s influence, buying them temporary protection from infection. Meanwhile, the void created a mysterious book that Hornet found, setting events on a course toward the Void God’s birth.

• Unn connected with Lin Jin’s mind, saw his memories of the infection’s devastation, and approved his mission as long as he protected the greenery.
• Unn’s recognition marked Lin Jin’s mask, and he gathered firewood, a sword, and an open space to build a campfire for the Mosskin Tribe.
• Lin Jin’s campfire hid nearby Mosskin from Radiance, clearing infection signs from their eyes and giving them temporary protection while they rested beside it.
• Unn sensed that Lin Jin’s presence restored her strength and decided to wait and see whether he could change Hallownest’s fate.
• In the Abyss, the void created a grayish-white book bearing a flame symbol, and Hornet found it in Hallownest’s archives and picked it up.

The Wyrm led an assault on the Soul Sanctum after Lurien uncovered evidence linking Aldren to the disappearances. He reached Aldren just as the Soul Master absorbed his Acolytes’ souls and transformed under the Infection.

• The Wyrm received Lurien’s report that Marissa’s attack and the missing persons evidence pointed to Aldren and the Soul Sanctum.
• The Wyrm arrived at the Soul Hall, broke Aldren’s Soul Barrier, and ordered the infected members of the Sanctum eliminated.
• The Wyrm and his forces fought their way through the Soul Sanctum, killing its Soul Apprentices, Soul Twisters, Acolytes, and Soul Warriors.
• The Wyrm reached Aldren, who completed a spell that transformed twelve Acolytes into soul energy and absorbed it.
• The Wyrm confronted the swollen, Infection-eyed Aldren and declared that his time was up.

Wyrm defeated the Soul Sanctum’s forces, but Aldren escaped, leaving Hallownest to reckon with the aftermath of the forbidden experiments. A traveler named Nox’s infection-protecting Charm offered hope, while the Hollow Knight recognized something familiar in Nox’s portrait.

• Wyrm shattered Aldren’s mask and drove him through the Soul Sanctum, but Aldren teleported away beyond the City of Tears.
• Wyrm and the Hollow Knight secured the Soul Sanctum, where they found hundreds of bugs whose souls had been stolen, and Wyrm ordered his forces to kill the remaining infected followers.
• Lurien showed Wyrm a Charm that could protect its bearer from infection and explained that an unfamiliar traveler had given it to Marissa.
• Wyrm learned that the traveler was called Nox, ordered Lurien to make copies of the Charm, and visited Marissa to see her portrait of Nox.
• The Hollow Knight memorized Nox’s portrait and privately thought of the word “kin.”

Lin Jin chose to travel to the Ancient Basin on his way to meet Herrah, while Hornet and Helia discovered a forbidden book that described the Void, Radiance, and Grimm. The sisters decided to seek their mothers’ help to convince their father that Hornet’s eldest brother was not hollow and to stop the Vessel plan.

• Lin Jin chose the route through the Ancient Basin so he could avoid meeting Herrah before finding proof about the Vessels.
• Hornet found Helia in her hiding place and showed her the mysterious book she had taken from the Forbidden Area.
• Hornet and Helia read the book’s account of life fleeing the Void, Radiance and Grimm’s conflict, and the spread of life across the land.
• Hornet realized the book suggested her eldest brother was not hollow and that her father’s plan was doomed to fail.
• Helia urged Hornet to show their father the book, but Hornet decided they should first seek help from their mothers.
• Hornet and Helia left to stop the Vessel plan, uncertain whether the book’s Burner was already in Hallownest.