Kingdom's Edge

From Hollow Knight Wiki

Kingdom's Edge is the easternmost area of Hallownest, located next to the City of Tears. Its desolate cliffs are pummelled by a constant white ash-fall.[1]

This ashen place is grave of Wyrm. Once told, it came to die. But what is death for that ancient being? More transformation methinks.

This failed kingdom is product of the being spawned from that event.

–  Bardoon

Description

 
The central cliff

The cliff range of Kingdom's Edge is characterised by its strong winds and ash that blankets the caverns. There is little vegetation except for large white roots that protrude from the walls and colourless plants that grow on numerous surfaces. The rest of the cavern walls consist of rocks and fossilised shells.

The central part of the area contains the largest cliff from which the corpses of warriors from the Colosseum of Fools are thrown down. At the bottom of this cliff lies a pit of acid. East of this area the Warrior Dream Markoth can be found, hidden behind a Shade Gate. Nailmaster Oro is located south-east of him. He sells the Dash Slash Nail Art. A breakable floor below him leads to the Quick Slash Charm and the largest Geo deposit in Hallownest.

Hornet is fought near the Cast-Off Shell in the very east of Kingdom's Edge. The King's Brand can be found in this sub-area. Bardoon is located in the north part of the area near the central cliff. Further north is the entrance to the Colosseum of Fools. In the south-west is the entrance to the Hive and access to a Tram.

Lore

 
Wyrm's shell

Kingdom's Edge is the area where the Pale King arrived as a large Wyrm before the kingdom was founded.[1] He shed his shell in the east part of Kingdom's Edge and transformed into his smaller form.[2] His decaying corpse became responsible for the ash falling on Kingdom's Edge, which is actually moult.[3] Once the kingdom was established and the City of Tears was built, the city inhabitants seemed hesitant to built further into Kingdom's Edge, apparently kept at bay by something.[4]

At some point the Colosseum of Fools was set up in the carved-out corpse of an ancient bug which died on one of the cliffs.[1] It drew warriors from all corners to compete in its arena.[5]

How to access

 
Access point in King's Station

The area can be accessed in two different ways. The first way is by using the entrance in King's Station in the City of Tears. The ruined Stagway at the very bottom of this station contains water which can be swum in to reach a hidden area. This eventually leads to the central cliff of Kingdom's Edge. The other way is by taking the Tram from either Deepnest or Ancient Basin and going upwards to reach a breakable wall which leads to the bottom of the central cliff.

Sub-area: Cast-Off Shell

The decaying shell of the Pale King's Wyrm form which is causing the perpetual ash blanketing Kingdom's Edge.[3] Hornet can be fought here, guarding access to the King's Brand. This brand can be found at the end of the Wyrm's carcass inside a pale, broken egg.[1]

Special Rooms

Giant Geo Deposit

 

Near the Nailmaster's Hut is the entrance to a downward passage that goes far beyond the Kingdom's Edge. The chasm crosses three environments that respectively take traits from the Kingdom's Edge, the Forgotten Crossroads and then finally Ancient Basin, but is only occupied by three lone Hoppers. At the bottom is the largest Geo deposit to be found in Hallownest, containing   420. Hidden midway in the Kingdom's Edge area is a small room overgrown with mushrooms and hinted at by spores. It contains a single Lore Tablet which hints at the Passing of the Age quest.

Gallery

Trivia

  • Early in development, Kingdom's Edge was part of Deepnest. Deepnest was split in two after the removal of the Forest of Bones area. The east part was moved to the bottom right of the map and eventually became Kingdom's Edge.[6] This can still be seen in Kingdom's Edge's file names, which start with "Deepnest_East".

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Wanderer's Journal, p. 110, p. 111, p. 116.
  2. Bardoon: "This ashen place is grave of Wyrm. Once told, it came to die. But what is death for that ancient being? More transformation methinks."
  3. 3.0 3.1 Bardoon: "This falling ash is moult. The Wyrm's corpse decaying."
  4. Cornifer: "Judging by this wall, the city's folk seemed hesitant to build further into these caverns. I wonder what kept them at bay?"
  5. Official manual: "The kingdom once drew the strongest warriors from all corners (…) to compete in the Colosseum of Fools"
  6. Team Cherry Mixer livestream.