How to beat Unravelled in Silksong

The Unravelled boss in Silksong is a tough fight found hidden away deep in Whiteward, and is only accessible once you have your hands on both the Clawline ability and the Surgeon's Key. He's entirely optional and easy to miss, but you'll want to go out of your way to find and beat him if you wish to collect all of Silksong's Silk Hearts.

Starting with a brief gauntlet of Dreg Husk enemies before fighting you himself, the Unravelled utilises a lot of Silk-related moves that you'll need to be aware of in order to beat him. To help you out with that, here's how to beat Unravelled in Silksong (including where to find the Surgeon's Key and his arena).

On this page:

• Where to find Unravelled
• How to get the Surgeon's Key
• How to beat Unravelled

Where to find Unravelled in Silksong

The Unravelled boss in Silksong is hidden away in Whiteward behind the ornate lock that you're likely to have inspected while exploring the area, though we have labelled their location on the map below.

This lock requires the Surgeon's Key, which is tucked away in Whiteward and only accessible once you have unlocked the Clawline ability from The Underworks.

How to get the Surgeon's Key in Silksong

To get your hands on the Surgeon's Key in Silksong, you must first make sure that you have the Clawline ability from The Underworks unlocked, as this allows you to attach yourself to the various Clawline discs found around Pharloom.

With that done, make your way to Whiteward and go into the room on the bottom floor that contains all the Mortician enemies. From here, head upwards into the room where you will have likely found the Injector Band Tool; this is also where you rescue Sherma during the Balm for the Wounded Wish.

You can then head into a passage further up from this by jumping up from where you entered the room.

At the end of this passage, you'll run into a disc that you can Clawline onto. Doing so sees a corpse dropped into the room that happens to be holding the Surgeon's Key.

Grab the Surgeon's Key and flee the room quickly as a Dreg Husk will spawn upon picking the key up.

You can now head to the ornate lock and unlock it to face the Unravelled boss finally. Don't forget to rest at the Whiteward Bench before attempting them if you haven't already.

How to beat Unravelled in Silksong

The Unravelled boss fight in Silksong isn't the worst boss fight ever, but it is a very long one. In fact, aside from the particularly annoying Dregwheel enemies that can spawn between phases, this boss is quite mild when compared to some of Pharloom's other threats. That said, your main issue with this fight will be maintaining your patience, as the Unravelled has three phases to get through, including waves of enemies between each phase… Fun! Oh, and let's not neglect the fact that the Unravelled has an egregiously large hit box… good luck avoiding it.

So you know what to expect, here's how the fight against the Unravelled goes down:

• Fight two waves of enemies - one Dreg Husk, then another Dreg Husk and Dregwheel.
• Boss first phase - boss has just two attacks at this point.
• Fight one wave of enemies - two Dregwheels.
• Boss second phase - new attack introduced and upgraded projectile attack.
• Fight two waves of enemies - one Dreg Husk and Dregwheel, then another Dregwheel.
• Boss third and final phase - same attacks as second phase but faster.

As you can see, the Unravelled fight has three phases, but between each phase, you'll need to take down some troubling Dreg Husk and Dregwheel enemies. I personally found Thread Storm to be the quickest way of taking these down without taking too much damage from them. If one Thread Storm doesn't do the trick, then two definitely will.

This means saving your Silk for these waves, which isn't always guaranteed. In those instances, I found using Clawline to take care of the Dreg Husks – allowing me to deal a little damage and safely pogo off the top of them – was my best bet, or simply attacking them from beneath them. As for Dregwheels, well, they're a huge pain in the arse, but you can dodge them while attacking by simply dashing from side to side.

What about the Unravelled's attacks? Well, fortunately, this huge boss only has two attacks to begin with, with a third attack being introduced during his second phase. These are as follows:

• Charge Attack: The Unravelled will emerge from the floor at one end of the arena, before charging over to the other side. Double jump or Clawline over him and then attack him quickly; you'll likely only manage to fit one hit in, but if you're quick or use Flea Brew, you can squeeze in two. Alternatively, use Thread Storm on him before he disappears.
• Husk Projectiles: The Unravelled will emerge from the floor at one of the arena, before spitting two Husks from its mouth. The first is sent out low – on floor level – while the second is sent out at jumping height. You can jump and dash to avoid these but be careful to not jump directly into them. During Unravelled's second and third phase, he fires out three Husks instead of two when using this attack.
• Spears (second/third phase only): After beating the second wave of enemies and starting the Unravelled's second phase, he'll begin to summon spears around the arena that can track Hornet exceptionally well. Watch for the white threads of light appearing from the ground as this means a spear is about to emerge. It will then follow Hornet and stop before plunging itself into the ground. You'll need to carefully weave between these while simultaneously avoiding the Unravelled's charge attack and projectiles.

One thing to note is that you sadly cannot pogo off the top of the Unravelled, as its large shield hat will simply deflect the attack. As a result, the upgraded Hunter Crest is one of the better Crests to take into this fight with you, but which Crest you use here doesn't ultimately matter too much.

One way to make light work of this fight, as per usual, is by using offensive Tools, especially if you've spent some time seeking out all Crafting Kit and Tool Pouch upgrades to increase the amount of Tools you can carry and the damage that they do. The Tacks Tool in particular, which scatters pins along the floor, is particularly good against the Unravelled because he isn't a flying enemy.

On top of that, two of the best Tools in the game – Sting Shard and Flintslate – are also super viable here. Pair these red offensive Tools with a blue support Tool such as the Pollip Pouch – which imbues all Tools with poison – and you'll be doing even more damage. Let's not forget the blue Memory Crystal Tool either, which leaves behind a shadow whenever Hornet takes damage; if enemies interact with this shadow, it'll explode, sending out damaging needles. Anything that increases our damage here is great, as you ultimately don't get to hit the Unravelled as often as you might like.

If you don't have the above Tools, I highly recommend spending some time getting your hands on them, as Tools are an incredibly useful resource to have to hand during any boss fight in Silksong.

Aside from using Tools in your favour, the Thread Storm Skill is very helpful here, especially for dealing with the waves of enemies between bosses or quickly countering Unravelled's projectile attack. Though, you can consider using Silkspear instead, as this allows you to keep your distance from the boss and quickly avoid his charge attacks where needed.

Your main opportunities to attack are as soon as Unravelled emerges from the ground, but be prepared to dash away – and even jump or Clawline over the boss – as soon as this happens, as it's very likely he's about to charge across the arena or begin firing projectiles. Your next opportunity to attack is immediately after the boss performs a charge attack and before he disappears into the ground.

Opportunities to attack are even harder to come by once Unravelled enters his second and third phases, which see him favour using his spears rather than attacking you himself. In his third phase, he seems to appear much less than he did during previous phases, which means you'll be spending a lot of time weaving between spears and waiting for him to emerge.

Something important to note during Unravelled's third phase is that, rather than being limited to emerging from the ground on either side of the arena, he can now emerge from the middle of the arena. So, not only should you be keeping an eye on the threads of light that the spears produce, you need to keep an eye on any rumbling smoke appearing from the ground as that's your sign that the Unravelled is about to jump out from there.

All in all, this fight is a test of your patience rather than your skill, but of course, skilful use of Tools and Clawline will make this fight much shorter. You'll be spending most of your time dodging spears and jumping over the boss, waiting around for the opportunity to get a hit in, and that's often where Tools come in clutch.

Upon beating the Unravelled in Silksong, you'll be able to complete a brief platforming section to then receive one of three Silk Hearts that can be found in Pharloom, so the fight is well worth seeing through to the end.

For more on Hollow Knight: Silksong, make sure you're picking up all lost Fleas found throughout Pharloom. On top of that, here are all Needle upgrades, all Mask Shard locations and all Spool Fragment locations to make sure you're keeping on top of your upgrades.