The Pale King is a Misunderstood Character in Hollow Knight
The Pale King is the monarch of Hallownest, considered responsible for the series of events that occur in Hollow Knight. He is known to have carried out awful actions during his reign. He is said to have performed things such as cheating on his wife and killing thousands upon thousands of his own children. These reasons cause the fandom to impose a rather negative connotation upon his character, even claiming a spot on the Villains Wiki. There is no doubt that the things he did are things to look down upon. However, the huge gap that causes so much controversy over this character is the fact that we as the player never interacted with him in game. The player never experienced him first hand. So, the reasoning on why he did such horrific things are strictly up to the interpretation of the players. The King's actions alone have bestowed a bad image on him, yet no one ever looked at the why.
Doing bad things or going through with bad actions does not necessarily make you a bad person. They differ in meaning. It is common to do wrong things for the right reasons. There are two sides of the spectrum that have caused much debate over The Pale King. He can be described as a heartless tyrant that overtook the kingdom from the Radiance simply for the reason of being worshiped, sacrificing what he did for his own gain. Or, he could be seen as a rather heartfelt character that genuinely wanted what was best for the bugs of Hallownest. The majority of the fandom leans toward the first option. Yet, after looking more closely on what he sacrificed and trying to find why, the latter option seems much more reasonable and understandable.
Before The Pale King's arrival in Hallownest, most of the residents were mindless bugs who did not experience "higher thought". Upon his arrival to Hallownest, he was said to give the bugs the ability to think, bestowing knowledge on them. A huge misconception is that he brainwashed them into worshiping him, however this is not true. He also did not take territory that was not offered to him. An example of this is how he let the Mantis Tribe retain their independence as their end of the bargain between them. The citizens of Greenpath, Fungal Wastes, and the moths all accepted the king's rule. He was the ruler, but he did not try to act better than the others by taking the land that wasn't given to him. This differs from the Radiance, trying to overtake all of Hallownest forcefully.
To keep the infection from spreading, the king had the intention to create a perfectly hollow vessel, with no thoughts or emotions of any kind. It would then be used to contain the Radiance, as the infection would have had nothing in its head to corrupt. This caused the creations and deaths of an uncountably high number of vessels, birthed from the Pale King and White Lady. It is found out in Hollow Knight that the White Lady locked herself away in her gardens to put an end to the making of these vessels. This shows that she was not comfortable with this event, as she purposefully put an end to it. She also states that she never lost her love for the Pale King. Because of this, it is easy to infer that the king also did not enjoy having to experience the deaths of his children.
To keep the Radiance at bay even further, the Pale King intended to have the black egg temple sealed an extra layer by three dreamers. Whilst Monomon and Lurien easily agreed, Herrah was never fond of the king's rule and sought a bargain. In return for her seal, she demanded a child with the Pale King. He agreed, and Hornet was born. Again, the White Lady states that "[she] never begrudged the Wyrm's dalliance as bargain." It would be likely that if the Pale King was an asshole about it, she would have had a different reaction than she did. The Pale King- most likely- was not for this sexual engagement. He still loved the White Lady, and cheating on her was a tough thing for him to do.
The King's motto reads, "No Cost Too Great." This is huge in terms of why, because of its vagueness. The big question is, what is he referring to? What are all of the sacrifices for? What is the reasoning? Well, as the community of Hollow Knight has shown, it could either be for his own place as king, or for the safety of Hallownest. There is only one correct option. This is proven since the king dies on his throne, giving up his own life for Hallownest. It would be pointless to make all of those sacrifices for your position of hierarchy, just to die in the end. The Pale King made such sacrifices all for the bugs of Hallownest.
A trend that occurs in every sacrifice was that they all impacted the King in some way. They would all hurt him personally. Cheating on the wife he loved, letting his children die to the void, and even losing his own life. Yet, he never sacrificed the bugs themselves, such as Soul Master did. Through Soul Master's dialogue, it is found out that the king was against his plan of action, killing innocent bugs for their souls to be conjured and experimented with. The Pale King cared about the bugs, and took huge measures to keep them safe from the infection. It was never about him as ruler.
The Pale King was a selfless monarch who put Hallownest before himself and should not be considered a villain. While this is the conclusion that seems to be the most sensible, no theories are completely canon. The gap of never actually experiencing the Pale King while he was alive confirms this. This is what has been interpreted out of his actions, and should be taken as a strong opinion.
I shall now bid you adieu. Thank you for reading, and have a good rest of your day.