"Hornet's Cloak Removal in Silksong Sparks Fan Theories"

IGN recently unveiled that Hollow Knight: Silksong will be playable at an Australian museum starting in September 2025, and alongside this exciting news, they shared a sprite sheet from the highly anticipated game. As expected, the internet had a field day with the reveal.

One Reddit user asked in a thread analyzing the exclusive sheet, "In what situation [is] making a sprite of naked Hornet necessary?" The sprite sheet features numerous images of Silksong's protagonist, Hornet, in various battle-ready and relaxed poses. However, one particular image that caught everyone's attention shows Hornet casually carrying her cloak under one arm. You can see this in the close-up below or on the original sheet on the right-hand side, directly beneath the topmost ring:

A close-up of the controversial sprite, located on the right-hand side of the original image. One redditor commented, "What kind of situation in-game calls for her to remove her cloak and hold it like she's an exhausted dad returning from work? This is cursed."

Another user posited, "Is this real???? There’s no way this is a sprite that is going to be in Silksong. Is that just what she looks like????" Meanwhile, another shouted, "IN WHAT KIND OF SITUATION WOULD THEY EVEN NEED THIS SPRITE?"

The discussion quickly took a more playful turn. One respondent asserted, "So, we don't have to bother making a mod," while another said, "We're going straight to ESRB 18+ for this one." A thread OP chastized, "HORNET PUT YOUR CLOAK BACK ON THAT'S SO INDECENT WHAT THE HELL," to which someone replied, "This looks so wrong," and "this is completely unnecessary." Another user announced, "I do not like this."

While the most plausible explanation might be that players will have the option to upgrade or change Hornet's cloak, for now, fans are free to let their imaginations run wild.

Hollow Knight: Silksong 2025 Screenshots

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Team Cherry’s sequel, Hollow Knight: Silksong, remains one of the most eagerly awaited games globally, consistently topping Steam's wishlist charts. The game made a brief appearance at Nintendo’s Switch 2 Direct last month, and soon after, Team Cherry confirmed a 2025 release window, much to the delight of its patient fanbase. With the announcement that Silksong will be playable at Australia’s national museum of screen culture, ACMI, starting September 18, speculation is rife that the game might launch around August, though nothing has been confirmed yet.

Silksong will be part of a video game exhibition called Game Worlds at the Melbourne museum, which will also feature displays exploring the game’s design and artistic direction.