How to Find the Renegade Key in Hollow Knight: Silksong — Location Guide

In Hollow Knight: Silksong, there are items that can’t be obtained simply by skipping locations and following the main story. One such item is the Renegade Key, which grants access to an interesting secret — a battle with a hidden boss named the First Sinner. In this guide, we’ll tell you where to find this key.

The First Sinner is an optional but very powerful boss in Hollow Knight: Silksong. At the same time, it’s quite easy to miss if you don’t thoroughly explore the game map. If you’re ready to face the superboss, you’ll first need to find the Renegade Key.

First, players will need to escape from the secret prison zone called the Slab. This is where the Renegade Key, which opens the boss’s chamber, is kept. You can find it in a hidden location called the Rotten Canals. If you haven’t unlocked this area yet, be sure to check out this guide.

Head to the southern part of the Rotten Canals until you’re above the Bile Waters. From there, go west to a long, dark corridor. There, Hornet will be ambushed by a huge green slug.

After the fight, a tongue-creature will appear and grab you. It’s important not to resist, as it will lift Hornet up—to an area that’s impossible to reach by jumping. Once free, move left, to the western part of the tunnel. There you’ll find a glowing key and the dead body of a tongue-monster. This is the Renegade Key.

This item is used in the Slab—a special hidden area Hornet can access in Act One if she’s captured in a cage by a monster found in the Thicket. It’s important that Hornet is caught in a cage for the required events to happen. After being imprisoned, you’ll have to escape, retrieve your equipment, and find two themed keys, but you won’t find the Renegade Key inside—you have to get it elsewhere.

The key you obtain can be used in two places.

The Locked Door at the Bell

Climb up from the Bell Beast and move right. Behind the gate you’ll find the Hall of Executions. In this same area, there’s a hidden passage: in the wall to the right of the tall shaft, there’s a breakable section, behind which is the Memory Medallion. Opening the door also creates a convenient shortcut through the Slab.

In this same underground area is the passage to the First Sinner’s chamber, locked by the Heretic’s Key. Inside is a chained cage. Break the chains, and after interacting with the character, the battle will begin. This is an extremely dynamic and brutal boss: he is faster and more varied than any opponent at this stage of the game, so unprepared players may find the fight overwhelming.

The Upper Door in the Central Part of the Slab

Located right next to where Hornet was sitting upon awakening. It’s to the right, at the top of the shaft. Behind it is a challenging platforming section. Here you’ll need to press a button to set spiked balls on rails in motion, bounce off them, and gradually climb higher.

The reward for completing the challenge is quite good. You’ll receive a mask fragment (1/4), increasing Hornet’s health supply.