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What is with the Dreamers' Houses?!?! Part 3.8 Lurien's Spire - Secret Room!

Onto to the secret room!

It is a very small room, making me wonder how Lurien walked into here. All three colors associated with the Watcher’s Spire are here, though the purple glow is dominant.

First things first, Lurien has his own Lore Tablets, which is very unique in the kingdom. No, seriously, he’s the only guy who has a lore tablet with no magic or science behind it. (Not to mention a private lore tablet, not a public notice.)

The only lore tablet we can read is Lurien’s last words, which I read for you in the last part. Here is it is repeated below. To quote Lurien’s last journel entry:

“Sleep beckons eternal and these words become my last. Though my gaze shall no longer fall upon this city, I will act forever in its protection. For King, for bug, for Hallownest, I head now to my rest.”

His last words tell of Lurien’s determination, dedication, and peace.

One interesting thing to note is that we only get to read Lurien’s thoughts, not the other Dreamers. We know nothing of Herrah’s thoughts, except for everything being done for Hornet. We read Monomon’s reports, but please forgive me for stating how those tanks merely report events happening like a science report, not giving us Monomon’s personal thoughts on the matter. Those come from Quirrel translating her actions to us.

I’ll be honest, this room infuriates me for one simple reason, every lore tablet and all the ‘wanderer’s’ journals lying here are clearly written by Lurien and contain his thoughts, but we are not allowed to read any of them…except for his last entry!!! The 1 Dreamer we know little about and we have an entire room with his diaries and we can’t read it!!!

Lemm would have a field day in here. Can you imagine the classified information or missing links Lurien has in here?

And don’t think “classified” and go “Oh! Pale King fanboy!” No. Look around. I can’t even find a single Hallownest crest here, much less Monarch Wings representing the Pale King.  (Except the chair. Maybe.) Take a look.

          If we move on, it is easy to notice how the lamp is out. This is the first time we’ve seen a lamp that was clearly supposed to give light, but there’s none. It’s almost as if either the bug inside the lamp died OR the Spire staff did not expect anyone to enter this room anymore.

Artist Aspidiske did a comic about that lamp, so I will let you read it. On the Last Day - Aspidiske - Hollow Knight (Video Games) [Archive of Our Own]

          Before I touch on the entrance to this secret room, allow me to remark on what’s bugging me. Lurien’s journals are just dumped on the ground.  All other journals in the Spire are at least on shelves, these are in piles. And I would like to know why as we haven’t seen Lurien being particularly organized or disorganized before.

          Now! The Entrance!

          The secret room to Lurien’s last thoughts is blocked by a statue of Lurien! Which is very weird once you stop to think about it.

          In game, you come across several statues in Hallownest. These statues tend to come in three categories: Items of worship (like the Pale King or the Radiance statue at Crystal Peak), statues of civilizations gone by (most often seen in the Queen’s Gardens), or memorials to dead people.

          And here’s Lurien with not one, but three statues to himself.

          Only one of the three statues breaks when you hit it, leading you to the secret room, which makes sense for finding secrets. But real life before Lurien went to dreaming…

It makes no sense for Lurien to have this statue when he was awake. The statue is pretty, but very unpractical for someone to use that hidden room. And this is Lurien we are talking about here. Out of the Dreamers, he is the only one who goes for both the beautiful and practical. And based on the section regarding the pillows, Lurien isn’t vain either, so he wouldn’t have a statue of himself, much less three!!!

          The statues, Lurien’s character, the dark lamp, and the journels have me thinking. What if Lurien was NOT the person who put the statue there, but rather his people put the statue up after he went into the Dreamer. Remember we already know that Weavers rearranged Herrah’s Den so it would be a shrine for her. So it is not much of a stretch to say Lurien’s people rearranged the Spire to honor Lurien after he passed into the Dreaming.

          If this is true, then the statue for Lurien is a memorial statue. It is still extermely rare as it has COLOR whereas the other statues have more stone or metal like colors. Lurien’s colored statue gaurds his last thoughts, preserving the Watcher’s last thoughts and allowing those in depersate need to read any of Lurien’s journels.

          Then this begs the question, what about the other two statues? I hereby argue that these statues are indeed of the Watcher but not Lurien. If the secret room has all of Lurien’s thoughts, with the last entry being his last thoughts, and the statue was put up after Lurien “died”, than the other two statues could have put up when the previous Watchers passed away. Yes, I agrue that those bottom two statues belong to the Watchers before Lurien.  And those statues also guard rooms with the previous Watchers’ thoughts. Yet we are prevented from accessing them lest the fans confuse those two Watchers with Lurien himself.

          If this theory is true, what does it say about Lurien? He is the third Watcher in a line. Firstly, the job of Watcher was not created for Lurien, but rather Lurien proved himself in such a way that the Pale King appointed him to the position. Secondly, Lurien is in a tradition. Did you notice how all the statues looked the same? They all have a simple blue robe and shared mask. Lurien isn’t just wearing the robes for fashion, he is honoring the Watchers who have come before him. Third, if all three Watchers are wearing such simple robes and mask,  they are hiding their individual identities. Whether it be so people of Hallownest can focus on the mask or so the Watchers’ can protect their families, I shall leave that up to the fans as there are 3 Watchers, leaving room for interpretation. Fourth, the inner character of the Watcher was always more important than the species of the Watcher.  Again, all three Watchers are wearing simple robes that hide which species they are. To this day, fans debate on what species Lurien is. Yet all along, we were looking at the wrong thing, myself included. Personal character and individual skill were the most important aspect of Lurien. And that character and skills made him the most powerful bug right under the Royal Couple.

So, what do you think? Please reblog and share your thoughts!

If you wish to read more of the Essay, click one of these links below.

Part 1.0: Herrah's Den : Here

Part 2.0: Monomon's Archives: Here

Part 3.0: Lurien's Spire: Here

Part 3.25: Lurien's Spire: Windows and Colors: Here

Part 3.5: Even More of Lurien's Spire. Here

Part 3.7: What is WRONG with Lurien's Spire?: Here

Part 3.8: Even, even More of Lurien's Spire: Secret Room (You are here)

Part 3.9 Watcher Knight Boss Room! Here

Part 4.0 What We Know We Don't Know About the Dreamers' Houses: Click Here

Link to essay on Ao3: Here

If you have thoughts you wish to share, please feel free to comment or reblog! Especially with the above observation!

Okay, this could actually make sense. Also explains how the White Lady could know everything going on in Hallownest.

Alright, here me out...

What if the White Lady is a fungus?

(also have this old artwork I never posted)

Lurien is Hornets cool artsy uncle.

What is included is authors noticing someone who has left kudos on a fanfic, but that doesn't comment until five chapters later. THANK YOU TO THAT PERSON FOR LETTING ME KNOW YOU ARE STILL READING!!!

AO3 Comments are SO SO SOOOOOOO important because you can only leave Kudos ONCE. You add to the hit count ONCE (every 24 hours).

So whenever someone updates their fic, the ONLY way an author knows who their regular readers are is if they comment on each chapter. And we WANT to know who's still reading.

Believe it or not, some of us think about the name that pops up constantly in the comments and go "omg I can't wait to see what they think of THIS SPECIFIC SCENE cuz I KNOW they'll say something about it!!!"

This little guy is so cute...we need to save him so Ghost and this little guy can have playdates in a saved Hallownest.

Who's hungry for friendship?

What is with the Dreamers' Houses?!?! Part 3.9 Ballroom and Resting

Now, Lurien's patriotic nature is quite famous in the community. Let us discuss a room that is not talked often about: Lurien's ballroom.

Also known as, the Boss room for the Watcher Knights. People scarcely remember that this boss room was a ballroom once just as often as they remember that Lurien canonically had 15 Watcher Knights, not just 6.

Could you imagine attending a ball here? The wide space surrounded by huge windows that allow you to see the whole City of Tears? Massive chandeliers that allow you to dance the night away till dawn? The drapes that offer a chance to prank a fellow guest…or sneak a kiss. If you want a closer look at the chandeliers, here is the best shot I got.

Goodness! Lurien could have taught Hornet or Hollow how to dance here!

 What does this ballroom tell us about Lurien's character?

For one, it hints that the Watcher duties included some social aspect. One does not need a ballroom unless the person has a formal event. (Unless you need to transform the room into an emergency kitchen and shelter. Though usually, I've seen it the other way around where someone transforms a commons to a dancefloor.)

While we do not know who would attend these social events hosted by the Watcher's Spire, all these events must have been fantastic by the sheer view alone. The host of the social events has a very good chance of being the Watcher himself, as he is the Keeper of the Spire. Though the possibility remains that someone could have rented his Spire or Lurien could have lent his ballroom to any committee or guild in need of it. We do not have any evidence of this, however, so this is just speculation.

What is certain is that Lurien had a ballroom and it had to been used at some point. The Watcher, hosting a grand formal event, is not exactly an image that appears often in the fandom. Usually, Lurien is portrayed as an introvert who retreats from society rather than invites society into his home. 

Yet there appears to be a place for Lurien to remain an introvert while hosting these grand balls. Behold the chart below.

Red arrow points to the ballroom (plus the above area where you get your reward of geo) while the green arrow points to the room with the three little watchers. Blue arrow points to Lurien's office.

Lurien has created a buffer zone between him, his work, and the ballroom. When Lurien is hosting a party and feeling overwhelmed by all the company, he can duck out into either the green arrow zone or use the zone to sneak into his office. Whereas when Lurien is too tired from his work, he can slip down the elevator to the green arrow zone or the ballroom for a dance. Again, if work came up at the ball, Lurien can pull the person aside into the green arrow zone and into his office if need be. Then, as soon as work was completed, Lurien can return to the ballroom after taking a breather in the green arrow zone.

Lurien knows himself and the duties required of him, whether it be his guardsman duties or his social duties, and so created a space for him to meet both duties while giving himself a breather room, literally.

Speaking of a breather, let us turn from the ballroom to the room which Lurien made to allow anyone to rest, the bench room.

This is personally my favorite bench in game, though the one in the Queen's Gardens is a close second. The soft sound of rain while surrounded by the glow of the lamps, all while Marissa's song echoes in the background. The whole room is beautiful, allowing you to take a breath not just from the brutality and decay outside, but for awe that Team Cherry creates in their game.

Unlike the other Dreamers, Lurien does not have a unique bench. The bench within his Spire is standard across the kingdom. While it does save Team Cherry time, I believe the standard bench speaks to Lurien's character as well. The standard Hallownestian bench is for anyone to sit, and so anyone and everyone is welcomed to rest at Lurien's Spire. Note the placement of the bench, directly underneath the bridge connecting the Watcher's Spire to the Commoner/Worker side of the City. Anyone from that side would immediately have a place to rest when they arrived or about to depart. As for the nobles, the room is so beautiful and costly adorned that they would have no reason to complain. Once again, the bench area’s predominantly colored purple, showing how anyone could rest there in beauty.

Sidenote: I find it interesting that the glass lamps Lurien used for this room were first and only seen on the Commoner/Worker side of the City. The nobles only have round spheres or crest-like ovoid.  

If you wish to read more of the Essay, click one of these links below.

Part 1.0: Herrah's Den : Here

Part 2.0: Monomon's Archives: Here

Part 3.0: Lurien's Spire: Here

Part 3.25: Lurien's Spire: Windows and Colors: Here

Part 3.5: Even More of Lurien's Spire. Here

Part 3.7: What is WRONG with Lurien's Spire?: Here

Part 3.8: Even, even More of Lurien's Spire: Secret Room: Click here

Part 4.0 What We Know We Don't Know About the Dreamers' Houses: Click Here

Link to essay on Ao3: Here

If you have thoughts you wish to share, please feel free to comment or reblog! Artists! How does the idea of Lurien teaching Hornet how to dance sound?

Would you eat a purple carrot?

Considering purple carrots are a real thing, I'll try it.

Just as long as it's cooked first. But I'll do that to an orange carrot. 🥕

I have to draw a lot of gold and metal for my work, but wasn't happy with any of the metal tutorials i could find around. I prefer really specific instruction, so after some research i put together what i think works as a generalist's guide/tutorial. Not perfectly accurate, but i hope it's helpful!

Some of my writer’s block cures:

Handwrite. (If you already are, write in a different coloured pen.)

Write outside or at a different location.

Read.

Look up some writing prompts.

Take a break. Do something different. Comeback to it later.

Write something else. (A different WIP, a poem, a quick short story, etc.)

Find inspiring writing music playlists on YouTube. (Themed music, POV playlists, ambient music, etc.)

Do some character or story prompts/questions to get a better idea of who or what you’re writing.

Word sprints. Set a timer and write as much as you can. Not a lot of time to overthink things.

Set your own goals and deadlines.

Write another scene from your WIP. (You don’t have to write in order.) Write a scene you want to write, or the ending. (You can change it or scrap it if it doesn’t fit into your story later.)

Write a scene for your WIP that you will never post/add to your story. A prologue, a different P.O.V., how your characters would react in a situation that’s not in your story, a flashback, etc.

Write down a bunch of ideas. Things that could happen, thing that will never happen, good things, bad things.

Change the weather (in the story of course.)

Feel free to add your own.

ArtFight!

Artfight Attack!

Mizuno belongs to @kanayamaryam999 while the Felis Cactus belongs to @livyamel.

Please go check them out!

This is @kanayamaryam999's DeviantArt: Here.

This is @LivyMel's DeviantArt: Here.