Cut Content (Silksong)
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ACMI, an Australian museum in Melbourne, is currently hosting the "Game Worlds" exhibit, which showcases Silksong development materials. Many of these are undocumented, would allow us to understand and discover cut content, and the exhibit ends on 29 March 2026! Please view this document for more information on how to submit and capture these images if you are able to attend the event.
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This page contains a list of cut content for Hollow Knight: Silksong. Before the release of the game, some content was announced or shown that ultimately did not make it into the final release. Some cut content was never announced but can instead be found in the game's files. This page contains the gallery, and information on more minor types of cut content; view the pages linked in the navbar for information on other types of cut content.
Audio
Music
| Name | Notes | Preview |
|---|---|---|
| H110 Boss Defeat-09 | Unused "boss defeated" fanfare, similar to the one used in demos,[1] but with different instrumentation. | |
| Peak harps main needolin melody | Unused Needolin melody, possibly an alternative version of the song to summon Fayforn. | |
| Coral Gorge Main | Later re-arranged with different instrumentation and used for the Flea Caravan and Fleatopia.
See: "Fleatopia" in Soundtrack (Silksong) § Original Soundtrack |
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| Coral Gorge Sub | See: "Fleatopia" in Soundtrack (Silksong) § Original Soundtrack | |
| Placeholder Battle Theme | Used in the 2019 demo for the Moss Mother battle.[1] Completely removed from the final game and replaced with Strive. Allegedly an unfinished likely placeholder theme; there was also allegedly a second placeholder theme that was never revealed.[2][3] |
Cinematics
Slab_Cinematic
Unused cutscene depicting Hornet waking up inside the cell in The Slab after being captured. Unlike other video files in the game, this cinematic does not have any matching audio files. According to the file's metadata, it was last edited on July 31st, 2025, which implies that it was added very close to the release date, therefore, it likely went unused due to time constraints.
Ending B: "Strung to Serve"
A cut cinematic can be found in the game's files, indentified in the script as "Ending_B" with the name "Strung to Serve"[4], along with an unused achievement icon. The ending shows a character with characteristics of both Grand Mother Silk and Hornet, haunting the citizens of Pharloom with Silk.
Coding for activating this ending in the final battle references whether certain "tuning forks" were active, which were seemingly related to the Bell Shrines scattered across Pharloom.
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Pre-release Grand Gate without the Bellshrine locks
Submersible Travel
An unused cutscene only known to be in the files of the Nintendo Switch and PS4 Silksong ports. The cutscene in the PS4 port is higher quality, being at 1080p instead of 720p. The scene depicts a between-room travel cutscene of a submersible travelling through water. This scene was likely used for the cut Pharloom Bay area. The files date the cutscene to December 2020.
Wishes
Four cut wishes are shown in the reveal trailer, alongside "Mossberry Brew" which was reworked into Berry Picking[5]. Text for the unused wishes "Coral Curative" and "Shining Cogs" is hidden in the game's script,[4] and a default wish named "Beasts of Bone" is used as a placeholder for empty wish UIs, which are only visible when using modding tools.
The existence of two other cut wishes is revealed by the cut NPCs Learned Pilgrim and Bugpipers, though very little is known about them.
| Wish | Type | NPC | Description | Objective |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mossberry Brew[5] | Gather | Druid of the Moss Temple | Sweetness! Sourness! Bitterness! I need it all with hastiness! Cruel world, will you not provide me with the fruits I desire? | — |
| Madness of the Pilgrims[5] | Hunt | Grunby of Bonebottom | My family curse has struck again! Strange singing pilgrims have surrounded my old home, violently attacking me whenever I approach. Please, let this plague be lifted! | — |
| Haunted Gallery[5] | Wayfarer | — | — | — |
| Glimmering Pearls[5] | Gather | — | — | — |
| Plumed Rhino[5] | Grand Hunt | — | — | — |
| Coral Curative[4] | Hunt | Residents of Bellhart | Our medicines are in short supply and pilgrims often arrive here injured. We can prepare a soothing salve from the ground shells of coral creatures, if we only had some... Hunt coral-shelled creatures and collect Coral Crust from their bodies. |
Turn in the Coral Crust to the Bellhart wishwall and collect the reward. |
| Shining Cogs[4] | Hunt | — | Hunt Cogworks in Cogwork Core and collect Shining Cogs. | Turn in the Shining Cogs to Songclave's wishwall and collect the reward. |
| Beasts of Bone | Wayfarer | — | — | — |
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Early Wishwall seen in reveal trailer
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Wishwall menu screenshot from reveal trailer
Game Mechanics
Various mechanics and behaviours of in-game NPCs, enemies, or items were reworked or removed over Silksong's development.
Enemies
- Judges have disabled behaviour labelled
Proclaim Innocent, in which they will not attack Hornet if she has never killed an enemy before (Last Judge does not have this behaviour). - Last Judge has a Black-Threading Multiplier of 2x though this can never been seen in-game as she is a requirement for Act 3. Last Judge also has references to dropping a Silk Heart at some point.
- Forebrothers Signis & Gron also have unused code suggesting they may have dropped a Silk Heart.
- The Fourth Chorus's arena has an unused Silk Heart that points towards
Memory_Silk_Heart_SongGolem; "Song Golem" is the boss' internal name.[6] - 2 versions of the Winged Pilgrim are set up to spawn fighting Shakra in Greymoor directly east of Bellhart in Act 3, both having 5x Black-Threading multipliers compared to the Winged Pilgrim's normal multiplier of 4x. One version has the standard Winged Pilgrim HP of 20 while the other has a lower HP of 15.
Items
- There are references in the code to the Needolin being obtained in Weavenest Atla.
- Upgrading Crests originally would have used an "experience" system where interacting with each Crest's unique function would slowly level up that specific crest and unlock its slots in place of Memory Lockets. According to Team Cherry, this mechanic was cut as it was difficult to explain using the UI and allowed for players to grind to unlock every slot right away.[7]
Attunement (Memory Font)
Attunement is a mostly cut mechanic that would upgrade the effects of the Needolin. To do so, Hornet would have to find a room with a fountain referred to as a weaver_font and then use the Needolin on it. Doing so will activate a timer challenge requiring Hornet to collect memory orbs scattered about the room (nearly identical to those in Lost Verdania). After collecting all orbs, Hornet can then use the Needolin in another location in the room, which will create Needolin memories of Weavers and give the prompt, !!UI/ATTUNEMENT_INCREASED!!. The rooms featuring leftover code for this mechanic are greymoor_15b, library_11b, dock_11, and weave_08. In the old April 2021 ACMI map, what appears to be a Weaver Font can be found in a cut room from dock_11.
Increasing Attunement would reduce the time required to trigger all Needolin effects, including stunning enemies and bosses. Spider Strings, labelled internally as, T_attunement_charm, still increases Attunement level by 1, despite the overall mechanic being cut.
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Attunement Weaver memories in dock_11
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Possible Weaver font in dock_11
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weaver_font
_0002_base -
weaver_font_0000_dish
Crafting
William Pellen stated in a November 2025 interview that there were "ideas around crafting" that were "shaved off" during development.[7] In EDGE Magazine's February 2021 issue, Ari Gibson stated "Part of the fun of her toolset, particularly her offensive toolset, is that Hornet can develop new tools based on the stuff that she encounters in the world. You might meet an enemy throwing a pin at you like a javelin, for instance, and Hornet will pick up on the idea for herself — even adding a personal touch."[8] This cannot be done in the final build of Silksong, and may be one of the "ideas" mentioned by Pellen.
NPCs
- Shakra has code to appear fighting Black-Threaded enemies to the east of Bellhart in Greymoor, similar to how she fights to the west in Shellwood.
Holy Bench
Holy Benches are a cut mechanic first mentioned in the 2021 EDGE Magazine, they are benches surrounded by bells and would rise out of the floor automatically when approached. They also had built-in stations to create Rosary Strings.[8] These benches still exist in-game but only act as toll benches - requiring Rosaries to activate and have no additional special functions.
Furthermore, according to Team Cherry, Holy Benches were going to have a "resource" mechanic to "awaken" each bench. This mechanic was ultimately cut as it was deemed too complex."[7]
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Unactivated Holy Bench in the Silksong reveal trailer
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Toll bench in Blasted Steps
Game Modes
Silk Soul
A mode set to drastically change the game, ultimately replaced by Steel Soul Mode. In February 2019, comparing the mode to Steel Soul, Ari Gibson said: "We're gonna try and take that, and just go a step further and mix it up a little bit, and give you something that potentially can last a little longer". He later said that the mode was unimplemented as of then, implying it may have been cut before much work was done.[9]
Old revisions of the Silksong Steam page described the mode with "Challenge Silk Soul mode! Once you conquer the kingdom, test your skills in an all-new mode that spins the game into a unique, challenging experience".[10]
In a later interview Team Cherry stated the following about Silk Soul mode's removal: "There are a bunch of intended base mechanics in Silksong around the benches, the bell shrines and whatnot, that didn’t wind up eventuating. I think the game is better for it but as a result of that, that Silksong mode died with those changes."[7]
Gods & Glory
Likely leftovers from Hollow Knight's Godseeker Mode. CP3 means Content Pack 3 (Godmaster) which was originally known as Gods & Glory.[11]
Gallery
- Main article: Cut Content (Silksong)/Gallery
Trivia
- April 2021 is a notable month for Silksong's development, as at that time, the map was seemingly nearly complete. During the following months, there were major reworks, which is when most of the cuts occurred.
- In early 2023, the map reached a state nearly identical to its current one. This aligns with Leth's comment in May 2023 that the game had "gotten quite big, so we want to take the time to make the game as good as we can",[12] implying that Team Cherry began focusing on polish around that time. This also aligns with William Pellen's claim in August 2025 that the last "year or two" of development was focused on polish.[13]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Silksong boss fights demo version on YouTube
- ↑ Comment by track recreator on YouTube
- ↑ Post about them meeting Team Cherry on Reddit
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 Hollow Knight: Silksong full text on Google Docs
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 Hollow Knight: Silksong Reveal Trailer
- ↑ Message showcasing this on Discord
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 The Makers of 'Silksong' Aren't Done Just Yet on Bloomberg
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Edge Magazine February 2021 Edition p. 57.
- ↑ Hollow Knight: Silksong - Details from Team Cherry on YouTube
- ↑ Silksong Steam page archive from February 17, 2019
- ↑ Team Cherry Blog post of April 20th, 2018
- ↑ Matthew Griffin on Twitter: "We're excited by how the game is shaping up, and it's gotten quite big, so we want to take the time to make the game as good as we can."
- ↑ Why 'Silksong' Took Seven Years to Make on Bloomberg