Talk:Radiance/@comment-25403644-20180905073032/@comment-1500935-20180905171825

Yes, the Pale King more or less forced his ideology to extend Hallownest's borders. Some truce were made with the followers of Unn (the greenkins in Greenpath), the Mantis Tribe (who only believe in battle and honor) and the Deepnest (led by Herrah's probably godly and dead husband) before the Infection. A wall was however built to separate the kingdom from the Hive, who believed in the Radiance (my guess since the whispering roots speak of "light familiar").

Actually, I think the Radiance died before the kingdom's birth, maybe against the original Wyrm who invaded her territory. What's left of her is her powerful essence rooted in dreams rather than a physical body, like the dream ghosts. Like other ghosts, she doesn't really have a mind of her own, and is fixated on the idea of being remembered. Because of that, her essence seeps into the dreams of bugs, affecting their mind. But the bugs unconsciously fought it, which according to the Hunter is what led to the Infection. So I'm thinking the Infection wasn't the Radiance's thoughtful intention.

I can hypothesize on what led to the physical infection of the world. Perhaps her essence was taking physical form, just as the ghost bosses are affected by physical attacks but cannot form a complete body. Those ghosts however were remembered, while the Pale King tried to erase all memories of the Radiance. Hence what formed wasn't the Radiance's shape, but those orange bulbs. I have no explanation however as to how the Pale King was able to contain all of the Radiance's essence inside the Hollow Knight. Perhaps something to do with the void entities being able to absorb soul and essence with their Focus ability.