Shrine Guardian Seth is both a boss and a wandering NPC in Hollow Knight: Silksong, a fast, disciplined duelist who guards a hidden shrine beneath the Citadel. He was first hinted at via a community riddle challenge shared by Team Cherry’s community lead Matthew “Leth” Griffin on the official Hollow Knight Discord, with the solution unveiling the line: “The Voice… has chosen me.” Silksong’s broader context and media are collected on the game’s official site, and Griffin’s posts can be found on his social account.

Where Seth fits in Pharloom

Seth stands watch over the Shellwood Shrine at the base of the Citadel, described in-game as an eternal protector who confronts any intruder with precision and speed. He fights with a gilded pin and a cymbal-like shield, alternating between measured counters and sudden blitzes. The arena is littered with bodies from the Citadel’s caste — a quiet signal that this guardian has turned back more than a few challengers.

How to reach the first encounter

The fight is hidden behind a secret in the Grand Gate: there’s a breakable wall within the elevator shaft that leads into a secluded Shellwood chamber. Hornet enters a quiet grove, the shrine ahead, and Seth awaiting a formal duel. If you discover Shellwood early and don’t see an entrance: return to the Grand Gate, ride the lift, and probe the walls — the entry point is tucked away rather than marked.

The duel: moveset and timing cues

Seth’s kit revolves around two tools — the pin (offense, spacing) and the cymbal (defense, gap-closing). He frequently shifts guard to face Hornet, blocking attacks from the front or above depending on your position. Plan to bait, sidestep, and punish; his animations are legible, but the windows are tight.

  • Pin Combo: A short hop back into a three-hit slashing string. If a hit lands, he adds a follow-up — treat any early hit as a two-mask threat. Best responses: stay grounded, dash through the first slash, tag him once or twice, then disengage before the third.
  • Pin Whirlwind: A forward swipe into a backward, circular spin. The spin replaces the third hit of Pin Combo at times. Do not jump into the arc; a short dash away often avoids both phases.
  • Cymbal Toss (ground): A straight throw across the arena; Seth teleports to catch it. Keep him on-screen, step under the flight path after it passes, and stab the recovery. If you run away, he’ll punish by reappearing behind you.
  • Aerial Cymbal Toss: A diagonal throw from midair that bounces upward; Seth blinks to the cymbal before dropping. Wait for the bounce, slide to the safe side, then counter as he falls.
  • Cymbal Crash: A midair shield dive that creates a circular shockwave on impact. The shockwave is wide; hop straight up or dash through — then be ready for the inevitable follow-up.
  • Follow Through: A lunging pin stab that often chains after Cymbal Crash or either Toss. If it connects, he stabs again. The safest punish is to sidestep the lunge and poke his recovery.

Midfight, Seth staggers and lets out a scream; from here he strings multiple teleporting Cymbal Crashes into a final lunge (a “Crash Combo”). Read the cadence: the third crash is your cue to prepare for the Follow Through and score a clean punish.

Tips that consistently help:

  • Keep him in frame. Off-screen teleports into shield catches are the most common source of avoidable hits.
  • Favor vertical evasion. Short, vertical hops beat wide sweeps and minimize how often Seth corners you.
  • Attack after, not during. His guard is strong front-on; most safe damage comes on recovery frames.

What changes after you win

Defeating Seth opens the Shellwood Shrine and sets him on a wandering path. He later turns up in Greymoor, then in Shellwood and the Grand Gate as a traveler who doesn’t recognize Hornet — his dialogue suggests a fresh start after the shrine is fulfilled. When the Flea Festival is underway, he shows up again as a kind of local legend: he holds the top score across all three Flea mini-games. If you speak with him along the way and then beat his posted scores, you receive a special memento tied to his role as a guardian.

Why this boss matters

Seth is a tribute character developed collaboratively with a young fan, Seth Goldman, whose wish to meet the team led to design input on a Silksong warrior bearing his name. Community riddle-solving in 2020 revealed teaser lines and passwords — “protector” and “bloom” — that pointed fans toward him long before release. In-game, Team Cherry framed the duel as a fair challenge with clear warnings, a measured moveset, and a quiet aftermath that lets the character live on in Pharloom as more than a single fight.

Riddle origins (and where the clues pointed)

The community reveal involved two layered puzzles. The first nudged players toward a trio of screenshots and descriptive copy on the official site, then into counting and selection steps that surfaced the word “protector.” The second wove together well-known charms and shop counts from Hollow Knight, translating into the word “bloom.” Solved together, the pair of passwords unlocked Seth’s flavor text — including that signature line about the Voice’s choice — and confirmed he’d be a fast, relentless guardian stationed beneath the Citadel. Griffin hosted and amplified the scavenger hunt via his social feed.

Frequently asked details

  • Is Seth required? He’s a meaningful encounter tied to the Shellwood Shrine and later interactions. Depending on your route, some late-game paths can substitute other objectives, but if you find the shrine via the Grand Gate secret, the duel is the gatekeeper.
  • How much damage does he deal? Several chained sequences are effectively “two-mask” threats (for example, early hits in Pin Combo or Follow Through). Treat any combo start as a potential two-hit string.
  • Does he reappear post-fight? Yes — he travels and can be spoken to in multiple regions. When the Flea Festival is active, expect him there as the mini-games’ high-score setter.

What to practice before you go

  • Short-hop timing to clear circular shockwaves without losing position.
  • Dash-through spacing on linear lunges, into one- or two-hit punishes.
  • Patience against front-facing guard; most greed gets clipped by a shield catch.

Why it matters: few bosses in Silksong communicate so much with so little — a formal posture at the shrine, measured warnings in the flavor text, no tricks beyond absolute fundamentals. Beat him once and he steps into Pharloom as another traveler with history, not a wall on your way to one.