A locked tower in City of Tears that hides the Collector boss. Love Key from a Husk Dandy corpse in Queen’s Gardens opens the door, drops Collector’s Map on victory.
The Tower of Love is one of Hollow Knight’s most lore-dense sub-areas. Per the wiki, the locked structure in City of Tears hides The Collector, a Void creature that preserves Hallownest’s bugs (especially Grubs) in glass jars; the tower has only 3 Grubs inside despite the Collector mapping every Grub location in the kingdom.
According to the wiki, the door opens with the Love Key. The key sits on a Husk Dandy corpse deep in Queen’s Gardens above the Fungal Wastes connector; retrieving it requires Isma’s Tear to swim through the acid pool guarding the chamber. The chain from Love Key to Isma’s Tear to King’s Brand is one of the longest item gates in the game.
The wiki notes the Collector fight rewards a unique item: the Collector’s Map. The map pins every remaining Grub location across Hallownest, which the Knight can then redeem with Grubfather for rewards. The drop is the in-world reward for breaking the Collector’s preservation work.
This guide covers the Love Key retrieval route through Queen’s Gardens, the City of Tears tower location, the Collector boss mechanics (no direct damage but spawns jar-bug enemies), the Collector’s Map drop and Grubfather chain, and the Colosseum of Fools cameo where the Collector reappears.
Locked Collector tower; in City of Tears, gated by the Love Key.
Love Key from a Husk Dandy corpse in Queen’s Gardens; needs Isma’s Tear.
The Collector Void creature that spawns jar-bug enemies.
Collector’s Map pins every remaining Grub in Hallownest.Per the wiki, the Tower of Love is a locked side structure in City of Tears. The exterior looks like an ordinary spire from the City’s skyline; the locked door at the base is the only visible interior gate.
According to the wiki, the tower exists for one purpose: housing the Collector and his glass-jar bug collection. The wiki specifies: "Dark figure locked inside the Tower of Love. Preserves Hallownest’s creatures in glass jars with particular attention given to Grubs."
The wiki notes the locked nature is part of the tower’s lore. Whoever sealed the Collector inside is not explicitly named, but the Love Key’s owner (a Hallownest aristocrat found dead in Queen’s Gardens) implies a court connection. The court preserved the Collector behind one of the most-gated doors in Hallownest.
Per the wiki, the Love Key sits on the corpse of a large Husk Dandy in the southeast of Queen’s Gardens, above the path to the Fungal Wastes. The corpse is one of the most-lore-rich Dream Nail targets in the game; reading it returns the phrase "Too long... spent together. We become as one..."
Per the wiki, the Love Key is guarded by an acid pool. Without Isma’s Tear, the pool kills the Knight on contact; the Tear is a hard prerequisite.
According to the wiki, the Love Key chamber sits in the southeast of the region, above the corridor that leads to Fungal Wastes. The route requires Monarch Wings for vertical traversal and a careful platforming pass.Players running the long-gate chain often forget that the Tower of Love door is in City of Tears, not Queen’s Gardens. Per the wiki, the two regions are connected via the City of Tears Pleasure House corridor; backtrack to the City before approaching the locked tower with the key in inventory.
Per the wiki, the Tower of Love sits in the northeast quadrant of City of Tears. The base door is at street level; the tower itself extends multiple screens upward into the City skybox but only the door is interactive.
According to the wiki, the route from the standard City of Tears bench involves a short walk east past several Husk Sentries and one Mantis Petra patrol. The door uses a unique pink-tinted lock animation when the Love Key is consumed; once open, the door stays open for the rest of the save.
The wiki notes the tower interior is a single vertical shaft. The Knight climbs using Mantis Claw and Monarch Wings; jars line the walls of the shaft, each containing a preserved bug or Grub. The Collector arena sits at the top of the shaft.
Per the wiki, the Collector is a Void creature with a unique fight design: he deals no direct damage. Instead, he throws glass jars across the arena; broken jars spawn standard Hallownest enemies (Husks, Grubs, Mantis Petras) that fight the Knight in his place.
According to the wiki, the jar-spawn rotation is the central threat. Each jar releases 1-3 enemies on break; the Collector throws 2-4 jars per arena lap, which means sustained pressure of 6-12 enemies onscreen at peak. The fight rewards spell-build AOE damage over single-target nail engagement.
| Stat | Value |
|---|---|
| HP | ~600 (silent stagger at 14 hits) |
| Direct damage | None (nail is shellwood) |
| Threat | Glass jar spawns (Husks, Grubs, Petras) |
| SOUL gain | None on Collector hits (weaverling/Dream Nail only) |
| Stagger | 14 hits, ~<2s per hit window |
| Reward | Collector’s Map |
The wiki specifies a SOUL-economy quirk: the Collector himself does not give SOUL on hit. The Knight only gains SOUL from the spawned enemies, or from Dream Nail strikes on the Collector. Spell-build runs sometimes equip Grubsong (SOUL-on-damage-taken) to offset the SOUL drought.
Per the wiki, the Collector’s Map drops on the Collector kill. The map pins every remaining Grub location across Hallownest; players who freed Grubs before the fight see fewer pins, while players who saved the Collector visit for last see the full map.
According to the wiki, the map feeds into the Grubfather rescue quest. Each freed Grub triggers Grubfather to spit out a reward (Geo, Mask Shards, Rancid Eggs, Pale Ore, charms). With 46 Grubs in the kingdom, the total rewards list includes one Pale Ore (31 Grubs threshold) plus multiple Mask Shards.
The wiki notes the Collector has only 3 Grubs preserved in his tower despite mapping all 46. The discrepancy is one of the game’s deliberate lore hooks; the Collector preserves "with particular attention to Grubs," yet his physical collection is tiny compared to what the map reveals.
Per the wiki, if the Knight rescues a specific bug from two separate jar drops in the Colosseum of Fools, the Collector appears in the Colosseum resting area after the Trial of the Conqueror. He brags that his capture was "part of his plan."
According to the wiki, the Collector then becomes the final boss of the Trial of the Conqueror in the Colosseum. The cameo fight has a unique rule: the Collector deals no damage because "his nail is made of shellwood." Players attack him until his HP hits zero; he is "quite inept in combat and regularly messes up his jumps."
The wiki specifies the Colosseum-cameo Collector fight is the easiest boss in the game. Beating him grants the Rivalry achievement, completing the Collector arc in two encounters (Tower of Love + Colosseum Conqueror).
Per the wiki, the Collector is a Void creature, the same species class as the Knight and the Hollow Knight. The lore positions him as another discarded Vessel that survived and developed a different fixation: preservation through capture rather than service to the Pale King.
According to the wiki, the Love Key’s previous owner is "a Hallownest aristocrat bug that can be found dead deep within the Queen’s Gardens." The aristocrat is the Husk Dandy with the Love Key; the Dream Nail line ("Too long... spent together. We become as one...") implies a romantic attachment that ended in mutual fate.
The wiki notes the Collector "displays a joyous demeanour" despite imprisoning his subjects. The tonal mismatch is deliberate: he is not malicious, he is obsessive. The fight design (no direct damage from him; the jars do the work) reinforces the read; the Collector is a passive preservationist, not an aggressor.
The Tower of Love ties to The Collector boss inside, the Love Key in Queen’s Gardens, Isma’s Tear that gates the key chamber, Grubfather for the map redemption chain, and the 46-Grub kingdom-wide rescue arc. These spokes pick up the threads.
Game data and screenshots adapted from hollowknight.fandom.com, used under CC BY-SA 3.0. Original content remains the property of the wiki contributors and Team Cherry.