Colosseum of Fools Lore Examined 

Correction at 1:24. According to Ari, the Colosseum stretch goal was reached through PayPal donations after the Kickstarter ended. So it technically was funded. So don't get your hopes up for Abyss expansion and playable Zote.

If you think about it differently, maybe Team Cherry understood how incredible lobsters are and changed the God Tamer fight so that you wouldn't have to slay such a divine creature.

silksong being delayed until December implies it would come out in 2020

I think the "extravagance" in the Hunter's Journal refers to going through the trouble of crafting tiny masks and putting them on tiny bugs, not that the masks themselves are particularly extravagant

Lord Fool is just you the player waiting for Silk Song

So those spectator bugs paid their entry to the colosseum and have to pay once the Knight wins ? Looks like a scam if you want my opinion.

When someone still thinks Hornet is void in 2020: *You’re not a fool, you’re the entire colosseum.*

"Silk song could be delayed until december" a relic from the past, a one with hope..

0:20 ah yes, when we all thought silksong is only delayed until december

Why Zote can't get infected by his dreams: he's just built different.

I love how there is a "zote is void" theory in between the colosseum theories

Theory about the shade room: In hallownest we find plenty of vessels that seem to have escaped the void and seem to have roamed hallownest. It could be that the fools capture the vessels to fight in the arena and capture their shades after to use them again (as many times as they can). We could see that zote had been captured so he could fight in the arena but most warriors seem to fight because they wanted to be there. Zote might have been mistakes for a vessel and captured for that same reason. Its a shot in the dark but I found it worth mentioning.

When it comes to the infection, I believe since the radiance is in the dream world, you can only be infected when sleeping. When you stop Bretta and Sly from being infected they are sleeping. Myla, before showing signs of infection, says she works without sleeping. And Cornifer only sleeps in Dirtmouth.

I feel robbed knowing a lobster could've been in the game

Cloth is obviously not affected by the infection because she’s wearing her mask

"Silksong could be delayed until december" 😭

For reference a “Wyrm” is a type of dragon with no legs or wings, so I think the lord fool could be a wyrm easily, team cherry probably chose to call it wyrm because a worm is related to the insect kingdom and a wyrm is a mythical powerful being.

The Hunter doesn't need lore because he's looking for the lore just like we are

The godseekers have a room full of zotes of all types. This means zote’s entire family are gods.

5:55 Mossbag has the footage of this specific precept. He had to have repeatedly talked to Zote until either he had this specific one, or he just got footage of every single one. Dedication like this is what gets us this amazing content

"Why didn't he try to make his own kingdom, or take over Hallownest?" Well, there's still the ever confusing "Battle of Blackwyrm" that the White Defender's journal entry speaks of. It's quite possible that a wyrm did try to take over Hallownest, but the Five Great Knights managed to best it. Perhaps, under the Pale King's instructions, they didn't kill it for fear of it being reborn like the Pale King, and instead chained it up in the outskirts of the kingdom. As to how that eventually led to Lord Fool coming out of the Wyrm and starting a Coliseum without the Pale King shutting it down, eh. Who knows

I think it's good to point to the fact that the god tamer shows emotion when you kill her pet, which implies that or she has a greater will than simple bugs (boring answer) or you may actually be right with your theory, thank you for joining me in my Ted talk

Moss bag: says that the creature corpse that comprises the coliseum possibly has large claws for crawling. Also Mossbag: Complains about Team Cherry not canonising Lobsters.

"I don't want to think about the implication of bugs breeding other bugs." You do know that ants keep other bugs as livestock, right?

8:38 I always assumed that group of dream nail lines was specifically for non-sentient creatures like maskflies, moss crawlers etc. The way it's worded sounds more like the base instincts of an animal rather than a mind deluded by the Radiance. The regular husk type enemies have dream nail diaolige with a lot more mind, if that makes any sense.

The true fools are those who say that hornet is void.

"You are not a fool, you are, the entire colosseum"

"Silksong could be delayed until like- December and I would still have stuff to talk about" mossbag, three years later:

Obviously Team Cherry knows how dangerous it is to allow someone to control the speed at which lobsters die

"If Lord Fool was a Wyrm why it doesn't want to create kingdom or take over Hallownest?" Because he was a FOOL

“Silksong could be delayed until December” Maybe it’s next December....

team cherry's gonna see this and think "yeah, that sounds plausible, it's canon now"

The Abyss was a stretch goal we never did reach, though we'd really love to explore it! What you see in the game is actually just the Abyss Shore. The expansion would've taken players down into the lake of void, to explore the twisted space within wait a second WHAT

Sorry, mossgoofyhead but at 8:04 he clearly is about to join an avant-garde dark jazz band. I know musical genres are complex and often confusing but you shouldn't have messed up on this one At least a confusion with a french classical neo-wind quartet would have been understandable, but alternative cultic punk rock? Really?

“Silksong could be delayed until December” yeah well about that

Something worth noting (Nearly 2 years late) is that the drawing of the Colosseum at 13:04 makes the arms/pincers look more like a set of mandibles, Which would be much more consistent with what we assume Wyrms are like.

mossbag's rambling is what's keeping me sane till Silksong comes out

Lobsters are great and all, but I don't think they deserve to be canonized until we see them perform at least a couple of miracles

"silk song could be delayed till December and I would still have content"

i think the void abyss seems to be an ever present layer deep in the planet that hollow knight takes place in. akin to digging too deep in Dwarf Fortress, if a civilization digs down too far they can encounter this primordial void.

So about the wyrm theory: 1) Claws: Bardoon specifies that he has "Too many limbs," instead of just saying that he has limbs at all. Now Bardoon has at least 8, which would mean that Wyrms have at most 6. It is entirely possible that the digging claws that the Colosseum bug/wyrm has are the only limbs that it actually possesses. It is also entirely possible that the Cast-off shell, i.e the Pale King has them as well, but that they are just buried in the ground and are thus not visible. 2) Eyes: It's entirely possible that genetic differences between Wyrms cause different head shapes, like how each vessel has differently-shaped horns. 3) Butthole: Also, it's entirely possible that over the years, the back of the Colosseum Bug/Wyrm simply decayed to where it just fell off. It's also probable that this was a deliberate action by the Lord Fool, the Colosseum Bug/Wyrm's reincarnation. Either way, the back of the Colosseum is likely not the true back end of the Colosseum Bug/Wyrm. 4) Battle of the Blackwyrm / Deliberate action: Ogrim's journal entry references a 'Battle of the Blackwyrm' that happened sometime in Hallownest's history. This theory states that the Lord Fool once tried to take over Hallownest for himself, with this invasion being swiftly handled by the Five Great Knights. One version of the theory states that the Lord Fool was killed here, with the Colosseum being constructed as a mockery to the Lord Fool. A second version of the theory states that the Lord Fool then surrendered, building the Colosseum out of his previous form as a form of entertainment for the bugs of Hallownest before dying of an unknown cause. Either way, the building of the Colosseum is likely why we don't see the egg that the Lord Fool came from. P.S: 5) The Shade Trap: I have no explanation for the shade trap. The most likely theory I have for it that coincides with the Wyrm theory is that the Hollow Knight was trained at the Colosseum, and was built as a fail-safe in case it died in combat. Conclusion: it's still entirely possible that the Colosseum bug / Lord Fool is a Wyrm.

“I wonder what productive things I will be doing today...”, proceeds to fill a petition for getting lobsters in a video game.

"it can be delayed until december" famous last words

I've always thought the bug at 10:10 committed suicide- that it specifically went to the edge of the kingdom, to be free from the king and the mind and be "released"

good news: in silksong there are seashells so lobster lancer could come back

I have a headcanon that I think is cool, that the Lord Fool was killed by a vessel. Specifically, a vessel's shade. They died in the arena, and then the shade came out and killed the Lord Fool. That's why his eyes have void tears. Maybe that's why they have a room specifically designated to trap shades now.

“Silk song could be delayed until likeeee December” :(

My main theory is that the giant corpse the coliseum is based in is what's referred to as a "black Wyrm", and that at some point, the Lord Fool DID have plans to try and conquer some or most of Hallownest, but the five Great Knights basically put a stop to it, and so the name "Battle of the Black Wyrm" was used to refer to that specific battle.

I’m still sure that the Colosseum creature is a wyrm. It would be weird for TC to have the Lord fool’s corpse on its throne, almost exactly situated like the pale king. There has to be some sort of parallel there.

The extravagance refers to the creation of a mask for a lesser bug

If I head to guess why certain bugs fell to infection when other's didn't, it might be down a combination of exposure, support structures and engagement. The infection is tied to dreams and idle minds divorced from people to help keep one grounded could make someone vulnerable. Cornifer spends a lot of time down in hallownest alone, but he could be making frequent visits back to the surface and is also engaged in a relatively engaging mental task: the plotting and making of maps. Lovebug and What's his face on the other hand are alone and seem to be mostly pottering about doing nothing until you save them. Easy for the mind to wander when you're all alone with nothing and no one to distract you. Same principle for the minerbug, a long, draw-out repetitive task gives lots of space for the infection to worm its way in. The colosseum of fools has a big bloody spectacle to focus on, either watching or participating, which might help insulate them from truly falling to the infection. We also don't know just how quickly someone goes from "Hmm weird feeling" to "eat, EAT", so it's possible they're just keeping on warriors in the early stages of the infection and tossing out anyone who loses their wits.

The idea that THK was trained in the colo is really neat. It could maybe also explain why the Lord fool seems to have died from void exposure (he seems to have void leaking from his eyes like others who died from it). Just a thought :)

Those claws would have been for more than attracting mates.

About 13:34 -- the Shade Trap Something that I noticed, which you do not point out in the video, is the fact that the Fool King's eyes bear the tell-tale sign of Void. It's not entirely in focus, but he bears the Void-tears that other characters killed by Void exhibit -- the guy in the Lighthouse, the highborn bug in the Queen's Garden with the key to the Love Tower, and that one Ghost Bug from the Stone Temple. It also appears that it's not just the Shade Trap itself that has ties to the ancient Void worshipping civilization predating Hallownest. The entire floor of the Colosseum's lower level uses the same pavers as the Ancient Basin.

Little did we know how significant this lobster would become

Silksong comes out when my flight takes place: my flight has been delayed 7 times so far and looking to be more update: its been delayed thrice more since, and pulled back once. I have no idea whats going on. update: it has been delayed three to four more times since the last comment, it is now nov. 26th update: delayed twice more since, now its on the 11th of december update: I finally managed to leave on the 26th of december (the same day we got news on the magazine... coincidence?)

At 6:07 the stab chords of the music sync up with his pogoing almost perfectly

I wonder if the King of Fools is like a lesser version of the Pale King. Being a worm who tranformed and his carcass became what the Colleseum of Fools is now. He died on his throne and was okay with it being built as an arena cause he may also crave fighting.

Yay more smut, funny enough I'm in that area again right now

5:35 "Ok is nobody going to talk about the vore fetish part???"

Actually, the Colosseum is a place to relax, forget about rules or lore and just obliterate whatever shit pops to your face.

“silksong could be delayed until December” haha yeah

I find the idea of gigant bugs watching and making bets on smol bugs fighing to their death the funniest shit ever

Guys, I if this petition gets signed, I think there’s a fifty percent chance that red lobster may become a new location in hollow knight silksong, let’s make it happen!

poor lobsters :c there was also a crab character (mentioned in cut content video) who didn't make it either... team cherry, what do you have against crustaceans?

0:29 Hah... December... *two years later*

6:07 perfect timing with the song

I think the most likely reason for the void trap is that the Hollow Knight trained there. The King and the Lord Fool struck a deal in which the colosseum would remain in operation under the condition that they train his vessel. If we want to take this further, we can guess that The Lord Fool was killed by an outburst from the Hollow Knight. This would explain his bleeding eyes, despite the lack of other void in the area.

YESSSS DEPRESSED MAN TALKING ABOUT BUGS HAS GRACED US WITH AN UPLOAD

„Silksong could be delayed until… december And i’d still have plenty to talk about“ Colosseum of fools lore examined 3 years ago

0:18 cries in christmas eve* hopefully well get it for christmas! merry christmas everyone!

I'll never get tired of this guy's humor

My theory is that the colosseum was in fact a wyrm. Ogrim (I think) talks about the battle of the Blackwyrm, which may very well be the battle this wyrm was slain in. It could've originally been a training arena for the kingsmoulds and other void constructs, and ultimately for the hollow knight. Also, if this was the Blackwyrm, it seems likely that it would originate from the abyss. In that case the shade trap could have been constructed around/based on the egg the Lord Fool reincarnated in.

Ha! “Till December”. Such an innocent, pure, vessel

He calls the part seen next to the giant corpse a “claw” when in the map artwork, its clearly a mandible, could still be some kind of wyrm/worm

"I don't even want to think about the implications of bugs forcing other bugs to breed" Yeah, it'd be like mammals forcing other mammals to breed. I'm so glad nobody does that, am I right?

9:16 Holy shit I never realized what that dialogue meant. That’s fucking metal.

"Silksong could be delayed until December"... uhm...

Ok can we just appreciate that at 6:08 the nail strikes match perfectly with the beats to the mantis lords theme?

Theory: the trilobite in the trilobite shrine is the fast travel creature in silksong

I remember seeing the two hot spring bugs before I got the dream nail. Then they disappeared, and I haven't seen them since, and this is the first time I've ever seen them mentioned. Thanks for reassuring me that I'm not going insane.

Mossbag: silk song could delay till December and I’d still have stuff to talk about Me: *laughs in sad*

*silksong could be delayed untill december* im so sorry for your loss

11:40 - these "little claws" look more like mandibles to me (similar to a garpede), especially in the drawing shown at 13:02

Colosseum of Fools? More like uhm uhhhhhhhhhh more uhmmmm uhhhh Colos- no no that’s not funny uh more like colosseum of lame bugs! Yeah yeah that was funnier haha.

"Silksong could be delayed until... december" Me almost 3 years later: Hahaha, what a fool

“Delayed ‘till December!” Ha ha, same! It’s been 2 years…

Maybe the shade trap has something to deal with what possibly looks like void-ish traces on the Lord Fool around the eyes? And they possibly used it to trap and contain Void, but then it would only serve to explain how the Lord Fool could have died without explaining how all the audience bugs are still alive

What's interesting to me is that the lord fools head is shaped similarly to the head of creature the Colosseum is in just like the pale king is to the wyrm it came from, so that's something to think about

6:06 matching the downswings to the music was genius

4:21 I'm glad you said something because I was thinking the same thing

I always thought that the warriors of the coliseum of the fools had let themselves be infected to become stronger, I thought there was a period of time between being infected and being completely corrupted by the infection, that is, they fight between that period and, after being completely consumed by the infection they were killed and thrown out of the coliseum, I don't know if it was possible to understand very well

Moss bag is like pale king who showed light to common bug, however be aware of game theory the moth god.

6:09 the sync there with the music is so good

I think that every single vessel had passed through the colosseum and the hollow knight was the only one who didn't die. Maybe when a vessel can't complet the colosseum his shade is trapped in the shade trap and it is taken back to the abyss to be a part of the void and another one have to take the test. Maybe this was the deal between the pale king and the fool lord, one has a place to train his vessels and the other one has good warriors for the colosseum to earn geo. I think that when the radience took the control of the hk the void killed both pale king and fool lord for what they did (Sorry if I had grammar mistakes, I did my Best)

Ok so more evidence against the Wyrm theory: From what I remember the colosseum takes up about as much length on the map as Bardoon, not counting the fact that Bardoon curls up in the background or anything. Bardoon mentions that he’s too small to be a Wyrm, so it would be weird for the Colosseum bug to be a Wyrm and still be shorter than him. The Wanderer’s Journal also tells us that the Colosseum is built in a bug. I don’t know if Wyrms can be considered bugs but we do have the line “Wyrms pull bug into their thrall” which sets apart the two. It’s also strange that there’s no mention of another Wyrm. All in all it’s kind of a stretch to say that this thing could be a Wyrm.

man those are truly ched hours here :feelspkman:

Oh heck! I love those theories surrounding the "shade trap" room! 😃

mossbag is the perfect channel to just sit down, get a crap ton of snacks, and binge the entire thing

mossbag: explains all the lore of the Colosseum of Fools Me: who can't get past the first level