White Palace | Hollow Knight Wiki

White Palace Walkthrough

Getting into the White Palace

The journey continues as players will set forth into the White Palace. And to do this, you'll need to enter the Dream World by dream nailing the corpse of a knight at the Palace Grounds which is located at the Ancient Basin. However, you'll need to acquire the Awoken Dream Nail to enter.

To acquire the Awoken Dream Nail, you'll have to collect 1,800 Essence from defeating Warrior Dreams, dream bosses variants, and by extracting a few Essence from Whispering Root Trees. Once you have the sufficient amount, head back to Seer and speak to it to upgrade the Dream Nail into the Awoken Dream Nail - upon upgrading it, you can head back to the Palace Grounds at the Ancient Basin and dream nail the knight with the Awoken Dream Nail which will respectively take you into the White Palace via the Dream World.

The White Palace

The White Palace is a difficult area that requires precise platforming and patience. It has three main sections that have Benches in between each one, and each section has a lever that you'll have to reach in order to gain access into the next section. Upon entering, you'll find a bench that you can sit on to rest, and not far from it is a lift but the gates around it are locked - continue heading east from the first bench until you reach a mini-arena where you'll face 1x Kingsmould, you'll have to defeat it for the gates to re-open.

After killing it, exit to the right side of the gate, climb up, then head left where you'll find a lever. Hit it then retrace your steps back to where the locked gates were. Hop onto the platform which will take you up to a higher level that has spikes on a few platforms, simply follow the path until you reach the entrance that will lead you into the second section.

Upon entering the second section, climb up the passageway where you'll hear bugs that are talking. These are the Royal Retainers, they are weak and can be killed with just one strike with The Nail. From here, you'll want to reach the top right corner of the section and into the next segment where you'll find the lever. However, It is blocked by the gates and you'll have to continue heading east where you'll come across a room that has circular saw blades moving horizontally.

Once you've made it across, you'll find yourself in another room that has the same circular saw blades, only this time, it is moving vertically. In order to reach the top, you'll have to simultaneously climb up the wall, then dash towards the other end to avoid getting hit by the blades, just be careful when you're about midway to the top since you'll come across a wall that has spikes and the movement of the saw blades will be different. To get to the top, you'll have to cling onto the wall then double jump in between the blades to avoid getting hit - upon reaching the top, head west towards the next segment where you'll find more saw blades surrounding the room.

Now, timing and precision are important to avoid getting hit by the blades and the spikes that you'll have to pass through. You'll have to head at the bottom part of the room where you'll come across a spiked area to work your way around to reach the west side of the room. Upon reaching the west side, you should find the exit that will take you into the next room where you'll find a lever at the bottom part. You'll have to do some platforming again while heading down to avoid getting hit by the blades.

Upon reaching the bottom, you'll encounter 2x Royal Retainer and a lever that unlocks the gates of the main switch for the lift. Hit the switch, then continue to your left where you'll find yourself back to where the main switch is, flip the lever then head back outside and head to the southwestern side of the room to reach the second lever to open the gates for the lift. You'll come across yet another platforming section that have circular saw blades, simply follow the path via the platforms until you reach the second main switch. Flip it then continue following the path that will take you back to the lift, ride it to reach the third section of the palace.

For the third section, you'll find yourself in a room that has circular saw blades and multiple Wingmould enemies. Behind a breakable wall on your left is the entrance to the Path of Pain - an optional and particularly hard area. There are fewer spots to rest here and the platforming is more brutal. Make sure you have any and all healing Charms equipped before you proceed. The walls in the Path of Pain are laid with thorns, which you can NOT pogo off. You can still use saw blades and spikes for pogoing. See the Path of Pain page for more details.

Note that beating this area isn't required for the true ending. If you succeed, you will reach a small room where a cutscene will play, revealing some additional information about the story. After it ends, you will be teleported back to the entrance, and the Path of Pain will be sealed off forever.

Continuing up the main area, pogo off the Wingmoulds and climb up into a large room. You'll find a bench that you can use before entering the next portion at the top.

The next portion will be a long path that you'll have to go through in order to reach the switch that unlocks a gate. And you'll have to pass through more circular saw blades and spiked metals that emerge from walls, ceilings, and platforms. Simply follow the path to the top until you reach the throne room of The Pale King.

Upon arriving at the throne room, you'll find the corpse of The Pale King. Hit its corpse a few times until the other half of the Kingsoul charm gets knocked out of the corpse. Collect the other half to form the Kingsoul charm, then head back to The Abyss.

The Birthplace

Once you've acquired the Kingsoul charm, travel back to the bottom of The Abyss. But before heading into the bottom, make sure to equip the Kingsoul charm. Now, head to the west bottom part of The Abyss where you'll notice the ground will start to shake and then open up a path that will take you further into the abyss. You'll encounter more Siblings as you traverse the area. They can be killed, but they do not give soul or Geo upon death. Beware of getting swarmed, as there's quite a few of them.

Simply head to the bottom part then go east until you reach the end where you'll find a large black broken egg. Strike it with the Awoken Dream Nail to enter the birthplace and use the platforms to reach the top where you'll find the King and the Hollow Knight. A cutscene will play and the Kingsoul charm will change into the Void Heart charm.

Up next is the Temple of the Black Egg.

Video

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Map

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Trivia & Notes:

What happens if I sit on the throne at the White Palace?

• There is nothing special that happens when you sit on the Throne of the Pale King aside from being able to take a nice screenshot. Do note that once you collect the fragment of the Kingsoul, you will automatically be teleported out of the palace and while you can return, the option to sit on the throne will no longer be available.