Silksong Act 3 — how to unlock Silk and Soul (Sep 2025)

Hollow Knight: Silksong does roll credits at the end of Act 2, but there’s a full third act hiding behind a sidequest chain called Silk and Soul. If you’ve finished the “final” boss and nothing new happens, you’re missing one or two quiet prerequisites. Here’s the path to make the wish appear and start Act 3, with light spoilers and clear directions.

What actually unlocks Act 3

Act 3 begins only after you complete the Silk and Soul wish and then refight the Act 2 boss with a new option at the end. The challenge is getting Silk and Soul to show up. In practice, players consistently report three pillars:

• Finish the hub wishboards in Bone Bottom, Bellhart, and Songclave (nearly all posted wishes in each town).
• Relocate the Flea Caravan to its final campsite at the Pale Lake in Putrified Ducts (requires finding enough fleas and discovering the lake yourself).
• Progress the two “quiet gates” most commonly missed:
  • Shakra’s “Trail’s End”: buy every region map from the cartographer across Pharloom until her Bellhart wish appears, then complete it.
• “Final Audience” (Sentinel): assemble the three Cogheart pieces in the Cogwork Core to revive the Second Sentinel, then encounter her twice in the Citadel before the wish posts in Songclave.

Courier delivery runs are not required for Act 3. Optional, one-off NPC wishes also aren’t hard gates; focus on town boards and the two quests above. If the wish still doesn’t appear, pick up your Bellhome key in Bellhart (see below), rest at a bench, fast travel once, and check with the Caretaker in Songclave again.

Step-by-step: make Silk and Soul appear

1) Finish the hub wishboards

• Bone Bottom, Bellhart, Songclave: Clear the posted quests until none remain. Restoration and “build up the town” threads are part of the requirement.
• Two frequent gates (do these even if boards look empty):
  • Trail’s End (Shakra): You must have purchased the map items for all regions she covers; her final Bellhart wish appears once you’ve caught up on every missing map.

• Final Audience (Sentinel): Find the three Coghearts, repair the automaton in the Cogwork Core, then encounter the Sentinel twice in Choral/Citadel areas before her wish posts to Songclave.

2) Build your Bellhome in Bellhart

Once Bellhart’s board and restoration line are finished, speak to Pavo (the bell chief by the Bellway bench) to receive your Bellhome key. Visit the home once. Installing the Materium (from the Memorium) is optional for Act 3, but doing it won’t hurt other triggers.

3) Move the Flea Caravan to Pale Lake

This is the other major gate: the caravan must relocate multiple times and settle at the Pale Lake in Putrified Ducts. Here’s how to make that happen reliably:

• Find Pale Lake first: Reach Putrified Ducts to the right of the Memorium and above Bilewater, then head to the far eastern shoreline. When you step close enough, Hornet marks it as safe. That discovery flag must be set before the caravan agrees to move there.

• Beat Groal in Bilewater: This clears a path to the lake. Defeating Groal also lets you grab the Seeker’s Soul later (used in Silk and Soul).

• Rescue enough fleas: You don’t need all 30. A practical threshold is “more than half” (players commonly report 20–25). If you’re short, a flea NPC in Putrified Ducts will later sell pins for remaining locations once she joins the camp.

Return to the Fleamaster and exhaust dialog after discovering Pale Lake. The caravan should advance until it finally relocates to the lake (this typically takes three moves across the story). If they stall, you’re either under the flea threshold or haven’t flagged the lake discovery.

Where Silk and Soul actually shows up

Once the boards, Bellhome, and caravan are in place—and Trail’s End/Final Audience are done—talk to the Caretaker in Songclave. In some save states the quest appears on a board (Bellhart or Songclave) after that conversation; in others, the Caretaker assigns it directly. If nothing posts, rest at a bench and check again.

Completing Silk and Soul (minimal spoilers)

The wish asks for four components to assemble a trap. You can collect them in any order; two will only hand over their part once the wish is active.

• Seeker’s Soul: From Bilewater, continue upward toward Putrified Ducts. Defeat Groal in the lake arena, then loot the small house beyond the fight.
• Maiden’s Soul: Speak to the Maiden to the far right of Bone Bottom, just above the Moss Grotto line.
• Hermit’s Soul: From the Bellhart Bellway station room, break the false wall on the right and drop into the hidden pipe. Talk to the Hermit.
• Snare Setter: Go to Weavenest Atla (through the Needolin gate under Bone Bottom). From the bench area, climb up and find the small upper room with the tool on a table.

Return the four items to the Caretaker in Songclave to arm the plan.

Starting Act 3

Head back to the top of the Cradle and refight the Act 2 boss. Just before the arena there’s new dialog setting the stage; after the fight, you’ll get a second choice. Pick the option to play your Needolin rather than bind. You’ll see a different ending and return to the title screen. When you select your save, press the action button repeatedly to break the vines covering it—this loads the file into Act 3.

Fast checks if the quest won’t trigger

• Bellhart: Did you speak to Pavo and unlock the Bellhome after finishing its board?
• Songclave: Did Final Audience post only after seeing the Sentinel twice in Citadel encounters?
• Maps: Have you bought every region map from Shakra and completed Trail’s End in Bellhart?
• Caravan: Did you personally discover the Pale Lake in Putrified Ducts and then talk to the Fleamaster, with at least ~20 fleas rescued?
• Bilewater: Have you defeated Groal and opened the route toward the lake?
• Cradle: Have you defeated the Lace encounter at the summit in your current progression state?
• Refresh: Sit at a bench or fast travel once, then recheck the Songclave Caretaker and the Bellhart board.

What you don’t need for Act 3

• Courier delivery wishes (repeatable supply runs, Queen’s Egg, Liquid Lacquer) are not hard requirements for Silk and Soul.
• Every single optional NPC wish you can stumble into around Pharloom. Some rewards will relocate in Act 3 if you miss them, so you aren’t locked out of critical gear.
• All 30 fleas. You only need enough to move the caravan to Pale Lake (more than half is sufficient).

Why players get stuck here

Silksong ties its true endgame to town-building and a moving refugee camp. If you skip detours, the board dries up, the Caretaker has nothing new to offer, and the caravan won’t budge. The triggers are also layered: Shakra’s maps gate Trail’s End, the Sentinel needs two free-roam encounters before Final Audience appears, and the caravan won’t move to a place you haven’t personally scouted. That mix makes it easy to be “one task short.”

At a glance: your Act 3 unlock list

• Clear the boards in Bone Bottom, Bellhart, and Songclave.
• Complete Trail’s End (buy all maps) and Final Audience (repair Sentinel + meet her twice).
• Speak to Pavo and unlock the Bellhome.
• Beat Groal in Bilewater; discover Pale Lake in Putrified Ducts; rescue ~20–25 fleas and move the caravan until it settles at the lake.
• Talk to the Songclave Caretaker until Silk and Soul appears/activates.
• Collect: Seeker’s Soul (Bilewater), Maiden’s Soul (right of Bone Bottom), Hermit’s Soul (pipe under Bellhart Bellway), Snare Setter (Weavenest Atla).
• Refight the Act 2 boss and play Needolin at the end to roll into Act 3 on reload.

Once you’re in, expect new zones, boss routes, and a fresh movement gate—plus a handful of optional arenas that rival the main path. If you’ve been putting off tool upgrades or map cleanup, do them now; Act 3 assumes you’ve finished most of Pharloom.