You brave enough to dive into mask lore?
Is it mask or face upon the creature? In Hallownest, a difficult thing it can be to decipher.
For reasons we'll see soon, this dichotomy is actually not a literal one, but rather about the specific situation of the bugs of Hallownest: a Kingdom under the mantle of the Wyrm's Beacon, fragile sapience, fragile new identity, only within its borders
It is basically saying that it is difficult to say which bugs were born sapient, and which bugs were gifted by the beacon
This duality is also separately relevant in its context as said by an inhabitant of Deepnest, where most creatures conceal themselves behind false faces, and is home to a truly faceless being, Nosk
Notice how the mask of devouts and midwife seem to be part of their body
It seems like with a number of creatures, Weavers' natural "bone mask" hides a different, actual face beneath, like if you had a different layer of skin underneath your skin
However, I wouldn't be sure every case of bone mask has something beneath, or that regular faces aren't referred to as masks as well
A wonderful thing to have, a face. Not a thing with which we all are blessed.
Here we can start to see the conflation of face and mask; face may be literal, but more than anything it is a metaphor for identity, sapient or otherwise
For this kingdom's faceless, I shall provide.
We know so very little for what a faceless actually is, only real examples being nosk and styx (skynx is most likely a nosk)
...wait, is nosk a combination of "no" and "mask"? No mask, Nosk
Anyways, I wonder if Widow counts as faceless, if this refers to those who have lost their natural mask or their identity itself, or wish to get rid of it
A mask! A face! Does it need one? Does it not? To define. To focus. To exist.
More explicit conflation of mask and face, and their relation to identity
It becomes curious that Grand Mother Silk has no face or mask, and she talks in plural, in the royal We and Our, although I wouldn't say she lacks a defined identity
…Does it know of the face that hides beneath? Such remarkable contrast the Wyrm conceived….
Vessel and shade, the assimilated identity of pale child, and the underlying identity as void given form
Kinda like how Astro Boy has the memories of a dead child but isn't necessarily the same child
The knight breaking its shell, its mask, before beating the shit out of Radiance (who's face has just been ripped open right before, signifying the last of her defenses being torn through) is a thematically heavy visual, casting away the "vessel to seal the light" identity imposed by the Pale King to evolve into something greater, something above and beyond, molting giving way to metamorphosis, or like a creature cracking open its egg to truly come into the world
Ghost of Hallownest, you possess the strength to enact an end of your choosing. Would you supplant our birth-cursed sibling, or would you transcend it?
This metamorphosis happens the moment voidheart manifests, but one would argue it is only fully embraced in this final moment of self-assertion
On a similar vein there's the crack in the Hollow Knight's mask, which is the only damage reflected in the shade, because it's a fracture of the mind, of identity being torn through by Radiance's influence
It sees the face beneath! Or could it be just another mask? Truth in Hallownest is always buried deep. How many layers will it pry through?
This is just referencing the fact that people can have multiple personas, or multiple layers of separation, like all those jokes about hiding behind 50 layers of irony; it is also a reference to how the game doesn't give away all its lore easily (and also perhaps, besides all this, a meta reference to the several masks comprising one's health bar)
To change a face; to conceal it fully within another... A powerful protection that is, but one with sad consequence. The original mind is destroyed, though those of striking will may still retain a sliver of that concealed self.
The meta of separating yourself from social interactions through a crafted persona aside, this dialogue is in reference to Quirrel and Brumm, and perhaps the Grimm Troupe in general, although it could be applied to other things as well
Faces I grant to all who'd request. Not task for I, but aid, gift to a world deserving.
One final assertion that face and mask are the same thing
Now, to silksong
A mask to hide... A mask to be... Fresh faces for all... A land defined... What greater gift?
Yep, still face
A visitor! Grand you are. But you have already a mask. Already a face. It is for those without that I must carve.
Unlike the Hallownest one, this one only serves those who are faceless
A delivery deadly, dangerous, fiercably cold, for old bug up there that does need it much-much! Serves us all he does, so we serve back.
Yet he seemingly serves enough bugs to be recognized for his help
A fine face, yours. Not of my work. Not of this kingdom's craft. Not now at least. But the deeper form. Distant relationship. Some form of Pharloom and our old, legged, stewards. Now! To work. To work! The masks are needed.
"Not of my work" at first glance would have insane implications, until you consider it's followed by "not of this kingdom's craft": he is basically saying that it is not a mask crafted by him, and also, separately, not being the face of someone born in Pharloom; to put a weird example, this is like saying "I did not dye your hair, nor do I know anyone born with that tone of blonde living around"
I will get later to that "not now"
"But the deeper form", I wonder if this is about the underlying inheritance from her mother, or if literally about a face beneath; I personally think it's the former
-Hornet: Maker, I bring a delivery from Bellhart below, lacquer for your long work. -Good! Good! To seal. To protect. May Pharloom's fresh faces gleam bright.
This pale lacquer got me thinking things that I'd rather be its own post, but it is curious that this is specifically what is used to seal bone masks
-Ahh. Old One. Your kind should know it's rude to expose me such. Unmasked, the task becomes heavy. -Hornet: I had the desire to hear you lucid, Maker, though you may protest.
This goes well with the previous discussion of fully concealing a face beneath another, supress an identity underneath a new one
No matter the state of these lands, you should well know the necessity of my service.
Having a face is nice and all, but other than the individual suffering from having no identity, I wonder what consequences could there be; would they all be like Nosk, hungry for a face?
-Hornet: You have the sight, Maker. Tell me what you see in me? -Your mask… It reads clear enough, Old One. Watcher, hunter, monarch even, though you may reject that station. -A complex visage, perhaps, yet still to my sight it looks unresolved. -Hornet: If you see a transitional state, it is one I have accepted. My mask has remained defined through lifetimes uncounted. -Aye. Rigid I'm sure, but your kind rarely develop evenly, and the lifetime of bugs are poor measure for one like you. -Could be there's more growth awaiting you yet…
This is where the truly juicy stuff starts
First, the sight
The face revealed might confirm the first mask maker was in fact wearing another mask, or perhaps this could be a glimpse of what the faceless look like
Spiralling eyes, makes me wonder if it's related to the spiralling nature of soul
It is clear that this sight allows the mask maker to read the crest, the nature of a bug's soul, through their mask
-One not without cost. My sight perceives a bug only through the imprint upon their soul. -Hornet: You speak of their crest? That signifier of a bug's essence and their invisible yoke born through a lifetime.
This is why he said "not now at least" earlier, if a mask changes to reflect one's crest, then it changes to reflect one's lived experiences, and thus the experiences from living in Pharloom can accumulate until it can be claimed to now be "of Pharloom's craft"
well, it also means another thing
The only time Hornet's mask changes is the time she binds an identity so unfathomable that her own self is compromised, changed irreparably
This so called sight is very reminiscent of hand reading, studying the unique crevices and markings of one's palms
And would you look at this
Ancient masks are literally engraved with marks reminiscent of runes; crest themselves are depicted in a similar fashion
Let it be words or images or spells, runes fundamentally depict meaning, and we can see such engravings form naturally in pale ore, a material that absorbs soul with ease
Similarly, while normally its main medium is blood pumped by a heart, a bug's soul circulates regularly through its shell, to the point that shamans eagerly use shell and bone to channel their magic; like muscle memory, or neural pathways, soul seems to leave an imprint of the bug's life, crevices as unique as a human's fingerprint
This is how Broken Vessel still had its combat skills upon being reanimated by lifeseeds, and later develop a dream of Lost Kin (albeit tainted by infection): the corrupted soul of the infection ran through these crevices, as if running through the runes of a spell, like electricity running through a motherboard, reanimating these memories
(Void should also be able to move through and develop these paths, as it can behave exactly like soul, as seen by shadow spells; this also explains how the shade can surface without breaking the shell)
Tldr:
most bugs are born with faces, some with bone masks (which are still considered faces)
mask makers make artificial masks out of bone (and perhaps pale ore in the past) for those who are born without either
Each bug's mask is uniquely marked with crevices formed by the circulation of soul, signifying their essence and lived experiences
It is possible to suppress an identity by concealing it fully beneath a new mask; this likely works by the new mask's crevices overriding the old one's
