I’ve been listening to the Silksong soundtrack and I was trying to figure out why it felt both familiar and slightly offputting and I realized that the primary motif of the entire game is the Dies Irae.

The opening is just the Dies Irae over and over with small permutations and different harmonics in the background. And it shows up repeatedly throughout the entire game.

What a concept. It fits so well with the story, too. The day of wrath.

If you pay close attention to the lore and story of the original game, Hollow Knight, it becomes pretty clear that the theme of the game is closure, and endings. But I’ve been learning bits and pieces about Silksong as I play (I’m still in Act 1) and the more I play the more I’m convinced the dominant theme of that one is judgment. Not justice or vengeance. Neither of those things fit—it has a sense of inevitability to it—a wicked thing hides for years, entrenched, seemingly invincible, but even as it cements its hold, it lays the conditions for its demise, and the game is about watching it unravel.

It makes thematic sense. Webs, unraveling. IYKYK. If you’re a gamer and you want something to think on, you should play it.