Silksong’s Simple Keys and Locked Doors: A 2026 Gu
Hollow Knight: Silksong’s four Simple Keys unlock NPC storylines, routes, and Rosary caches across Acts 1-2.
In 2026, Hollow Knight: Silksong continues to be a labyrinthine metroidvania where backtracking is not a chore but a conversation with earlier failure. Among its most intriguing optional pursuits are the four Simple Keys, items scattered across the first two Acts. These keys do not advance the critical path; instead, they function like a locksmith’s skeleton key for the game’s hidden narratives, opening doors that yield NPC storylines, new routes, and substantial Rosary caches. For players who measure progress in map percentage and lore fragments, locating every Simple Key remains a rite of passage. The following account, compiled from community exploration and in-game discovery, details where each key rests and what each lock reveals.
The Four Simple Keys
Key
Location
Acquisition
Cost or Requirement
1
Bone Bottom Shop
Purchase from the shopkeeper beside the Wish Board
500 Rosaries
2
Sinner’s Road
Defeat the Roachkeeper after a climbing puzzle near the top
Access to Sinner’s Road above Halfway Home in Greymoor
3
Sands of Karak
Found on a bench beside a poor bug
Requires Hornet’s grappling hook in Act 2; reach via Blasted Steps west
4
Jubilana the Merchant
Purchase from Jubilana at the First Shrine in the Citadel
Complete Wish “The Wandering Merchant”; 650 Rosaries
The first key is the most straightforward, yet it demands patience. In Bone Bottom, the shopkeeper next to the Wish Board offers the Simple Key for 500 Rosaries. That price is a small fortune in the early hours, when every Rosary feels like a bead of sweat. Players who prioritize the key must delay other purchases, turning the shop into a study in opportunity cost.
The second key hides in Sinner’s Road, a vertical gauntlet above Halfway Home in Greymoor. After reaching the upper reaches and potentially repairing the bench, adventurers face a compact climbing puzzle. At its summit waits a Roachkeeper. Killing this foe drops the key, a reward that feels less like a drop and more like a toll collected by a hostile gatekeeper.
The third key resides in the Sands of Karak, a region unlocked after obtaining Hornet’s grappling hook in Act 2. Access comes through the Blasted Steps on the far west of the map. The Sands themselves are a traversal puzzle of staggering precision, a desert that behaves like a living combination lock. After encountering the elevator that returns to the Grand Gate’s entrance, players head east through a blocked-off door. Inside, a bench holds a poor bug and the key. The scene is quiet, almost mournful, as if the key were a relic left by someone who could not escape.
The fourth key requires narrative legwork. In the Citadel, next to the First Shrine, Jubilana the Merchant sells the final Simple Key for 650 Rosaries. Before she does, players must pick up the Wish “The Wandering Merchant” and track her down in the Citadel. Once that quest is complete, she relocates to the First Shrine. The key is expensive, but it is also a symbol of a relationship earned rather than a transaction forced.
The Four Doors They Unlock
Door
Location
Reward or Consequence
Deep Docks
Underground, lava-filled ruins
Access to a challenging area with stronger enemies and a boss
Sinner’s Road
Immediately south of the area’s bench
Frees the jailed Green Prince
Wormways
Northeastern side of Bone Bottom
Two routes: bottom path with worm vomit, or higher path with volatile earth; leads deeper into Wormways
High Hills
Just before the Gauntlet fight in the Citadel
A large cache of Rosaries rather than a new area or NPC
The first door most players encounter sits in Deep Docks, an underground ruin of lava and grating. After unlocking the fast travel point, the path heads east and down grates opened by levers. Continuing east over lava leads to a large locked door. The area beyond is no gentle tutorial; its boss and enemies are far stronger than what early-game travelers have faced. The door is a warning wrapped in a reward.
The second door lies in Sinner’s Road, immediately south of the bench. Using the Simple Key found in the same region opens the cell and frees the Green Prince. This is one of Silksong’s clearest examples of a key doing narrative work: the lock is not a barrier but a cage, and the reward is a character’s freedom.
The third do