The Marrow

Crumbling roads built upon the shells of ancient bugs. All of Pharloom rests upon these fragile foundations.

The Marrow is an area in Hollow Knight: Silksong. Its now-crumbling roads are built upon the bones of ancient bugs long gone.

Description

The Marrow is located deep in the lowlands of Pharloom. Composed entirely of bone and the ancient shells of long-dead bugs, the Marrow forms the fragile foundation upon which the rest of the kingdom is built. The area is inhabited by Skull Scuttlers, which use the old skulls as protection. The Marrow is also home to Flintbeetles, explosive creatures that hold Flintgems required for the Volatile Flintbeetles wish.

Being one of the first areas Hornet travels through, the Marrow is important on her journey. The Bell Beast is encountered here stuck in Silk, and can be fought after binding the Silkspear in Bone Bottom. Defeating and taming the Bell Beast allows Hornet to unlock a useful fast travel system.

Hornet can find a few useful tools, such as the Straight Pin, and meet new NPCs for the first time, such as Sherma and Shakra.

To the east is the entrance to Hunter's March, guarded by a Skarrgard, an early-game mini-boss. A nearby prison cell contains Grindle, who Hornet can choose to free. Following the defeat of Widow, Loddie takes up residence in the area, offering a pin-throwing minigame in exchange for several rewards.

History

Not much is known about the ancient past of Pharloom, but it is evident that the Marrow is made almost entirely out of the shells and bones of ancient bugs. Fossilisation, similar to what is found in the Forgotten Crossroads in Hallownest, over generations formed into the solid foundations of the land.^[1]^[2]

Similar skeletal structures can be found all over the lowlands of Pharloom, from Bone Bottom to the Far Fields, suggesting that the land was inhabited by massive creatures in the past.^[3]^[4]^[5]

Following the construction of the Citadel, intricate roads and Bellshrines were built through the land to make it easier for pilgrims to travel. Many pilgrims start their journey in the Marrow, and have to ascend through the kingdom as part of their holy pilgrimage.

How to Access

The Marrow can initially be entered by going east of Bone Bottom, which marks the edge of the Mosslands.

Area Features

Characters

Grindle
Loddie
Shakra
Sherma
Flea Caravan
Nuu (after defeating the Skull Tyrant)
Garmond and Zaza (Act 3 only)
Flick the Fixer (Act 3 only)

Enemies

Skull Scuttler
Skull Brute
Kilik
Beastfly
Caranid
Flintbeetle (during the Volatile Flintbeetles wish)
Pilgrim Groveller
Pilgrim Pouncer
Winged Pilgrim
Elder Pilgrim
Pilgrim Guide
Smelt Shoveller
Flintstone Flyer
Shardillard
Void Mass (Act 3 only)

Bosses

	Straight Pin
	Silk Heart dropped by the Bell Beast
	Tool Pouch given by Loddie after beating his first challenge
	Memory Locket x 1
	Craftmetal x 1
	Flea x 1
	Heavy Rosary Necklace x 1 given by Loddie after beating his second challenge
	Frayed Rosary String x 1
	Flintgem dropped by Flintbeetles during the Volatile Flintbeetles wish
	Crown Fragment dropped by the Skull Tyrant
	Memory Locket x 1 if Volatile Flintbeetles is not completed by Act 3
	Beast Shard x 1 dropped by the Skull Tyrant in Act 3

Text	Tablet	Location
Pilgrim You are blessed to walk the foundations of Pharloom. Humble yourself before the shells of those who gave their lives to hold our kingdom's weight.
In the air. The water. Everywhere. Inside their shells. Twisted inside. Guts. Tightest around heart. Pulsing rhythm. Sick. Alive. Dead? Something worse. Deeper. Must look deeper.

Arena	Location

Enemy gauntlet at the entrance to the Marrow.
Reward	Theme
Access to the rest of the Marrow	Boneforest Action
Waves
Beastfly, right	Charges out of the wall and travels across half the arena.
Skull Scuttler, left Skull Scuttler, right
Beastfly x2, top left and right	Both enemies charge out of either wall and bonk into each other in the centre.
Skull Brute, right

Arena	Location

Enemy gauntlet northeast of the Marrow's Bellway. Requires Cling Grip.
Reward	Theme
Memory Locket	Generic Enemy Battle A
Waves
Elder Pilgrim, centre right
Pilgrim Groveller, left Winged Pilgrim, right	Pilgrim Groveller drops out of a sack and waits a moment before reviving.
Pilgrim Groveller, centre Pilgrim Pouncer, centre left	Pilgrim Pouncer drops out of a sack shortly after previous enemy.

Special Rooms

Survivor's Camp

After the start of Act 3, the survivors of Bone Bottom move to the central room where the Flea Caravan used to be and set up the Survivor's Camp. If the Volatile Flintbeetles wish is not completed by Act 3, the Memory Locket it rewards is instead found here.

The Survivor's Camp Supplies delivery wish can be delivered here to Flick the Fixer.

Creation and Development

The Marrow is one of the earliest Silksong areas to be worked on; in the August 2017 map, the first known in-game development map, it is the main area that is comparatively the most complete.^[6] Throughout development, it remained generally the same, with only a few notable changes, the most notable being that the Skarr were planned to invade the Marrow at some point in the game, according to an unused save profile flag.^[7] The Learned Pilgrim NPC, cut late into development, would have also appeared in the Marrow.

The Marrow is based on the cut Hollow Knight area, Forest of Bones. Internally, it is often called Boneforest.^[7] William Pellen has stated that the idea of Silksong starting in a fiery area was an idea from the beginning, "partly because [they] had started [working on the Forest of Bones] for Hollow Knight", which he called "a nice environment".^[8]

The area was showcased in the February 2019 Silksong reveal trailer,^[9] and it was the location used for the game's key art released alongside the announcement. In a June 2019 blog post, a screenshot of Shakra's room in the Marrow was shown, with its minor differences implying that she may have been skippable, as her platform could have been fully walked under.^[10] Footage of the Marrow Skull Tyrant's battle was included in the June 2022 Xbox Game Pass Reveal Trailer, showcasing him in a differently shaped arena.^[11]

Pre-release screenshot
Pre-release screenshot

Gallery

Bell Beast arena
Bellshrine
Bridge east of the Bellshrine
Lower central area
Upper area with giant skull
Upper eastern area
Entrance to Hunter's March
Prison bench
Grindle's cell
Moving platform over lava
Entrance to the Deep Docks
Loddie room
Skull Tyrant arena
Survivor's Camp (Act 3)

Update History

1.0.28497 (Patch 1): Slight increase in pea pod collider scale.

Names in Other Languages

Language	Name	Meaning/Explanation

Brazilian Portuguese	A Medula	The Marrow
French	L'Antre	The Cave
German	Tal der Knochen	Valley of Bones
Italian	L'Antro	The Den
Japanese	脊髄の道 Sekizui no michi	Spinal Cord Path
Korean	골수 Golsu	Marrow
Russian	Костяк Kostjak	Backbone or Skeleton
Simplified Chinese	髓骨洞窟 Suǐgǔ dòngkū^?	Marrow Bone Cave
Traditional Chinese	骨髓地基 Gǔsuǐ dìjī^?	Marrow Foundation
Spanish	La Médula	The Marrow
Internal name	`PATH_OF_BONE` `BONEFOREST`