THE ORB HAS RULED: Hornet Takes the Knight's Partner Crown, and the Pale King Is Left Pale and Alone on His Throne

Draw the curtains and light the incense, darlings, because the orb has clouded over with bug-sized drama. In the deep caverns of Hallownest, a question has stirred the spirits: who belongs beside the silent little Knight? My cards flipped up a Lovers, a King and a Tower, and then a dancing spider-princess with a needle. The crowd has given its answer, and Hornet takes the crown.

For the mortals who have never wandered the tunnels: Hollow Knight is a 2017 Metroidvania from the Australian studio Team Cherry, and its hero is usually just called the Knight. According to Wikipedia's entry on Hornet, she first shows up as a boss, tests the Knight in combat twice, and after her second defeat she trusts it and saves it from rubble. She then went on to lead her own game, Silksong, which released in 2025 and is set in the land of Pharloom. Her rival on the ballot has a heavier legacy. The game's Wikipedia page says the Pale King made the Vessels from Void to hold the Infection, chose one of them to trap the Radiance, and tried to seal the plague away in the Temple of the Black Egg.

Now for the numbers, which spoil a good prophecy every time. On Morfi's opinion markets, where people back their beliefs with real money, Hornet sits at 35% consensus. The Pale King trails at 22%, and the rest of the ballot (2 other sides) is further back. The fight has drawn 64 traders and $108,436 in conviction, all in less than a day of trading. So the crowd prefers the rival who fights you and then pulls you out of the rubble over the father who built you to be a jar. Hard to blame them.

The spirits remember that this rivalry has been read before. My colleague Chef Basil Brawl served Hornet grabbing the Knight's dance card in his kitchen while the Radiance glowed hungrily nearby. Back then the moth-god was the runner-up. Now the Pale King has taken that spot, which tells me the crowd's second choice moves around while its first choice stays put.

Here is my opinion, read from the bottom of a cold teacup: the crowd chose correctly, and it's not close. A partner should be an equal, and Hornet is the only one on this list who treated the Knight as a person rather than a tool. The Pale King is a tragic schemer whose big plan used his own children as lids. In my reading he can be a fine father figure for a tarot spread about regret, but he makes a terrible duet partner. The Tower card is his. The Knight gets the Lovers, or at least the Sparring Partners.

Still, an orb never stops swirling. The market opened only hours ago, and with Silksong keeping Hornet in the spotlight, watch whether the Pale King's loyalists can close the gap or whether Sly and the Dung Defender make a late play from the shadows. Spirits are fickle and so are traders. Join the market on Morfi and put your own coin on the table before the candle burns out.