The Maned Dragon

I'm sure this question has crossed many people's minds when they've played Hollow Knight: why is Herrah a dreamer? Monomon and Lurien were both followers of the Pale King and probably volunteered eagerly for the position; Monomon to preserve the kingdom's diversity, and Lurien because he would do anything in service to his king, but Herrah? She is a foreign queen, furthermore, she did not volunteer willingly for the position, but had to be persuaded through a deal. Well to start with, let's look at Deepnest.

Deepnest is not a friendly place

The first sign of Hallownest's tumultuous relationship with Deepnest is the failed tramway. Granted, this project may have failed due to aggression from the region's wildlife and not the actions of the Distant Village, as we already know Hallownest had a deal in place with the Mantis village to keep those away:

The truce remains. Our vigil holds. The beasts are kept at bay.

- Mantis lore tablet

But it reflects well the attitude the Distant Village likely had about the expansionist empire at their door.

To start with, those creepy puppets who tell you to rest on the bench in the Beast's Den. They look like upper-class Hallownest bugs, which is odd, because why would the denizens of Deepnest even know what they look like, given their isolation, and why would any bugs wearing these robes ever step foot in such a dangerous place? Here's my theory, they are the shells of real Hallownest bugs, as we can find the webbed remains of similar bugs who've been deceived by this ruse in the other building:

…Not friends…

Furthermore, they are the shells of diplomats sent by Hallownest to negotiate with the bugs of the Village, which would explain their upper-class fashion. That didn't turn out so well though, did it?

Even if they aren't the actual shells of Hallownest's representatives, the way they're used is already damning enough.

Ah, but the weavers are now infected, which is why they have become so aggressive. While it is true that the infection increases the aggression of its host, it isn't really known to make its hosts more clever, in fact, quite the opposite:

For quiet retreat did I climb up here, away from spitting creatures. Ormmph… Yes. High up. Away from simple minds, lost to light. Theirs is a different kind of unity. Rejection of the Wyrm's attempt at order. I resist the light's allure. Union it may offer, but also a mind bereft of thought… To instinct alone a bug is reduced…Hrrm…

- Bardoon

And that, was quite a clever trap. Probably too clever for an infected mind, especially given how clearly those puppets speak. Moreover, we do see an uninfected weaver in their hidden den, so we know not all of them have fallen to the infection.

If there needs to be more evidence that this is behavior we should expect from intelligent Deepnest bugs, we only need look to the Midwife. She is an uninfected servant of the Nest, who despite claiming to be a friend, will always try to eat the Knight at the end of her dialogue. This is probably how the Nest has acted for most of its existence, and again following Hallownest's fall, but something happened in-between…

Something changed

In the later months or years of Hallownest, bugs stopped using stone tablets:

In its declining age, this city switched from stone to parchment woven of spider's silk. It's a small tragedy, but the moisture in these towers has rendered most of those texts illegible.

- Relic Seeker Lemm

We can see spools of silk in the weaver's den, Deepnest stag station, and the hidden station at the palace grounds, so almost certainly this new silk came from the weavers.

Furthermore, we know the Nest worked alongside the Pale King with his vessel plan, as we can find a prototype of the seal that was used to bind the Hollow Knight within their hidden den.

So what changed? An acknowledgement of a shared threat, bringing both communities together? I don't think so. Before the Pale King arrived in what would become Hallownest, all tribes in the area seemed content to stay within their boundaries:

No bug has ever laid claim to this whole. Even the beasts knew their limits and bound their realm at Nest's edge.

And it is only upon pushing those boundaries that collapse becomes inevitable:

It is the ancient caste that made attempt at such vast rule. Hallownest's ruin reflects well those fared attempts.

- Both quotes from Mask Maker

The Radiance and the moth tribe coexisted with the other tribes and gods around them for an unknown period of time before Hallownest started expanding into their lands. Besides the Hive which shut its doors to the outside world, the Nest was the last frontier Hallownest really had left to conquer. Given their isolation from the kingdom, the Nest would have every reason to believe the Radiance was not their problem, and if she returned, Hallownest might fall but the Nest would keep going on all the same.

Although, if weavers were happening to become infected at this time, their general hostile and isolationist attitude would make it unlikely for them to seek or accept the aid of Hallownest of all places.

No, the reason Deepnest suddenly got friendly with Hallownest was because of The Bargain tm.

Why the bargain was genius

We don't have definitive proof of who came up with the deal. There is dialogue from Herrah which states that it was the Pale King, but because this dialogue is unused, it of course cannot be used as evidence:

Wyrm, your attempt may prove futile, but your offer I could not refuse.

That said, it was probably still the Pale King's idea. To start with, let's look at the Midwife's dialogue:

That village above here, home to a sad creature. Hers is a tale of tragic exchange. Cost her and her people greatly, though I suspect she bore no regret in making it.

This deal cost not only Herrah, but her people greatly as well. It was not a deal made lightly, but seemingly one she couldn't refuse. We know that she once had a husband, as the mushrooms mention him in one of their lore tablets:

This border bounds the twisting, scratching things. Their dead sire, once of honoured caste. Their sealed mother, but the common beast. No peace with them we make.

He was of "honoured caste", we don't know what this means, but as Herrah is a queen and yet still described as a "beast", he must have been a notable creature, likely a higher being of some sort.

Herrah it seems married well above her station, but as a now widowed mortal queen she was in need of an heir, and not just any heir, an heir of appropriate caste. In this deal she'd lose her autonomy, and never get to see her child grow up. What does the Pale King get?

He gets everything.

The Queen of the Nest is now out of action, and his own blood sits upon its throne, but as Hornet is too young to rule, the Nest is essentially leaderless. Furthermore his own queen is either raising Hornet, or at least has a strong influence on her, as she was close enough to the princess to develop a bond:

It faced the Gendered Child? She's a fierce foe, strong in mind and body, striking reflection of her mother, though the two were permitted little time together. I never begrudged the Wyrm's dalliance as bargain. In fact, I feel some affection for the creature birthed.

Hallownest now firmly has its claws in the Nest and its future, making the Nest a vassal of the kingdom, and this manifested in cooperation and trade.

So why did the Pale King chose Herrah and not one of his own subjects? Because it let him execute his plan to save Hallownest and conquer his final rival in a single move. Oh, and it would have been a perfect victory, if it wasn't for that dang impurity in the Vessel.

I'm sure I'm not the first person to come up with this idea, but I need to get it off my chest. When the Mask Maker talks about the "ancient caste" I believe most people interpret this to be in reference to the void civilization, but this is actually one of the least likely interpretations, and I'm going to explain why.

To start with Mask Maker never talks about the void civilization at any other time, most of their dialogue is either referring to vessels, masks or the Pale King. The only character who ever talks about the void civilization is Lemm. Secondly is the way the dialogue is structured. Here's the full quote:

I see another takes mantle of king? Then grim responsibility that shall bestow. No bug has ever laid claim to this whole. Even the beasts knew their limits and bound their realm at Nest's edge. It is the ancient caste that made attempt at such vast rule. Hallownest's ruin reflects well those fared attempts.

This dialogue is triggered by unmasking them while having the King's Brand. To start with, the Mask Maker notes the connotation of the brand and the responsibility that position brings. In the next line, the Mask Maker is most likely referring to Deepnest, in which case the "beasts" in question refer to the weavers and other bugs that are a part of the distant village. Mask Maker probably brings up Deepnest here because they are within this zone, and also because the bugs of the Nest seem to have been a very proud people, as the Midwife describes them as "the most intelligent species". Despite their supposed arrogance, the weavers knew their limits. The last line is the important one, if we interpret "ancient caste" to mean "void civilization" it brings up three problems. Firstly, it contradicts itself - if only the void civilization attempted such vast rule ("No bug has ever laid claim to this whole"), then Hallownest's existence immediately disproves what Mask Maker just said. Secondly, why is "fared attempts" plural? How many times did the void civilization specifically try to rise up and fail? What evidence do we have for this, when only one other character in the game even mentions them. Thirdly, it doesn't flow well with the rest of the quote. The void civilization gets brought up basically out of nowhere as the primary focus, and Hallownest is used as an example to explain what happened to it. How are these two civilizations relevant enough to each other and the subject matter to justify changing the focus so drastically between sentences?

Okay so I don't think they're talking about the void civilization, so what else could they mean? Wyms. Mask Maker is talking about WYRMS! As soon as you read the line as being about wyrms, all those problems go away - a wyrm built Hallownest, wyrms tried multiple times to build kingdoms, but in their over-ambition, their kingdoms always fell. This corroborates the dialogue of Mister Mushroom where he tells us just that:

…Wyrms pull bugs into their thrall, Till ages pass and kingdoms fall,

And moreover, it makes better sense with the rest of the context of the quote, which is triggered by the brand of the Pale Wyrm. So why am I so excited about this? Because "caste" is used in another place:

This border bounds the twisting, scratching things. Their dead sire, once of honoured caste. Their sealed mother, but the common beast. No peace with them we make.

This is a lore tablet in Fungal Wastes made by the shroomal tribe where they talk about the rulers of Deepnest. We can guess from Mask Maker's dialogue that the beast caste is referring to weavers, so Herrah as a spider makes sense to be referred to as such as well. But her dead king? He was of "honoured caste". What does honoured caste mean? I've speculated for a long time that it might be a broad term for "higher being", but now that I know that "ancient caste" most likely means "wyrms" I'm much more intrigued by it, because what if all higher beings are split into different castes? What if the honoured caste is another kind of higher being distinct from wyrms? And most likely, something related to Pharloom. I suppose we will just have to wait for Silksong to find out…

Potential rebuttal

"But Draggy, of course the void civilization has vast rule, you can find their soul totems everywhere!" This is true, but we don't really know the context of why they are there. If you will indulge a theory for a moment, these totems have been around for a very long time, so why do they still hold charge? Well, we know that soul is found in the air:

Naturally formed within a crystal over a long period. Draws in SOUL from the surrounding air.

Deep Focus charm description

A toast to you, my kin forlorn For kingdom's sake, from darkness born No cost too great, please understand Why your fate was my command.

My world is burning, don't you see? That ancient grudge returns for me My people walk in dreaming haze Behind their eyes her wrathful blaze.

Empty stares, I see them all A sacrifice to stop the fall Can they still hear my voice? Their sombre end, I had no choice.

Minds regressed, their fangs are bared To instinct fallen, none are spared Through my streets they roam as beasts Homes are broken, madness feasts.

Hope at last, one rose from dark Kingdom's saviour, Wyrm and bark My child, please know your lot is pain A gift to all, so we remain.

Ambition bloomed in scholar's dream Promise whispered, a mind pristine Countless slain to cure the blight They served her will and thought it right.

Bargain made, three bugs to sleep New heir born she could not keep Watcher serves his King in rest Teacher did what she thought best.

Seal the doors, lock the gate Rest their souls, oh cruellest fate Thousands gone, my deepest fears The rain reflects a city in tears.

Raised for strength, you grew so fair Trained by greatest knights, my heir Mastered art of spell with speed Your shoulders bear a weighty need.

Even death won't grant them rest Tortured groans sound through the nest By sweetened mist rise husks reborn She'll not allow us chance to mourn.

Raise your nail, my soul and kin Don your armour, my greatest sin Eternal, unchanging, no voice or will Thanks to my curse, your mind is still.

Charged with fate, you seal the light To end her hate, and bind her spite Enshrined by minds of dreaming three Forfeit lives for eternity

Though vessels being hollow obviously lack the organs to do so naturally, I don't think it would be completely outside the realm of possibility for them to be able to reproduce. Vessels are innate soul users, the Knight is able to focus its soul to heal without any apparent training, and learn spells quickly. This is probably a hereditary trait as its parents are both "higher beings" or gods. Though we don't know much about the powers of the White Lady (unless it's growing particularly lush gardens, or producing copious amounts of offspring) we do know the Pale King has particular power over the mind, as well as some power over dream, as he's able to pull the entire White Palace into the dream realm when his plan to contain the Radiance fails; he was also almost certainly the one to teach the Pure Vessel spellwork, as its spells strongly resemble the bladed elements found within the palace with added pure nail markings.

The specific powers shown by the parents of the vessels is irrelevant however, as the magic system of Hollow Knight is a soft one, with no clearly defined rules as to what can and cannot be done using soul, essence or any other substance associated with supernatural power. So then how do we know where the limits lie? Thankfully we don't need to speculate if procreation is within these limits, because the game has already answered this question. The Glowing Womb charm found by the corpse of a dead aspid mother converts soul directly into vessel-aspid hybrid offspring. From Salubra we know that this charm, like most others, was created from a dying wish.

Few ways a charm appears but mainly it's from final wish, a dying bug's potent desire crystallised into these gorgeous, powerful trinkets.

And is literally made from the soul of the bug who died.

Just think of all the little bug souls that went into creating your collection! It's like a crowd of strangers in your pouch, or purse, or...err....wherever it is you keep them.

So this is basically a soul spell, crystalised into a charm, and it was made from the desire of a beast no less. The hatchlings from the charm are temporary and disappear as soon as the charm is unequipped, but what if a being of greater power were to focus their soul into making something a bit more permanent?

I’ve been thinking about Ccmaci's video about vessel cloaks, and though the video is well researched, I disagree with the lines of logical deduction used which focus on things such as the way the cloaks are drawn, a questionable interpretation of a cryptic lore tablet, and claims about parental inheritance with no supporting evidence. I want to offer a simpler alternative explanation for why the vessels have cloaks, and i'm going to go through the evidence for that here by way of a basic set of questions.

Are the cloaks a part of the vessel's bodies?

Several vessel bodies found on platforms within the Abyss have cloaks.

 As do bodies seen in the background of the Birthplace. 

Which contains potentially millions of vessels. As other evidence points to the vessels having been born and died here, it is very unlikely that they'd all be individually given cloaks, which makes even less sense in a kingdom where most denizens wore nothing at all, as can be clearly seen throughout the game.

Cloak is okay. Otherwise the bugs wear no clothes.

- Developer notes

We can conclude that the cloaks were most likely a physical part of the vessel's bodies.

Are there any other bugs who's cloaks are a physical part of their bodies?

Yes, the moths. The Seer

Thistlewind

And Markoth.

All wear cloaks, and in their cases their cloaks are actually wings.

Just to make the connection even more clear, the Mothwing Cloak is one of the earliest items the Knight can acquire, though this cloak is only threaded with moth wing “strands”.

Do either of the vessel's parents possess wings?

The Hallownest Seal, symbolizing the authority of the Pale King and his Knights depicts six wings.

Like those of the notably named “monarchflys” and the item collected from them.

This would connect the wings to the king, but did the Pale King actually have wings? It seems the answer to that is yes, though they are only ever shown on the king himself on his silhouette in the background of Ogrim's dream.

Other times the Pale King is seen he is not shown to have wings, but is rather wrapped in a long, white robe. 

Hmmm...

So is there any evidence that the cloaks of the vessels are wings?

Yes! When the Knight collects the Monarch Wings its cloak extends and transforms into a set of six wings.

Just like the Hallownest Seal, Monarchflys and the Pale King himself, but that's just the power of the item, right? Well, this is what the description of the item says:

Wings of ethereal matter that shimmer in the darkness.

And this is in the prompt upon picking the wings up:

Use these ethereal wings to sail above enemies and discover new paths.

The use of the world "ethereal" here would suggest something otherworldly, magical and/or not quite physical, just like the monarchfly’s themselves appear to be, and we do indeed see wings of white light behind the Knight when it performs a double jump.

However, less noticeable is that its cloak also transforms into wings during this action.