Wow this is detective work! So far the most solid theory I have heard connecting the dots. What I find fascinating, is what people of Sumeru called Khaenrians... Like you mentioned, the name Khaenriah in Arabic means Betrayer of the Winds, but the people of Sumeru called them "Dahri" which could means atheists, but specifically Dahr means ithe infinite stretch of time, or time immemorial... And a Dahri only believe in time as the cause of creation not gods. So when you said Vedrfolnir holds a twisted reverence for Istaroth, it makes sense, and if time is the only god you acknowledge, being the "wind witherer" definitely makes you a sinner.
I totally forgot about the Dahri meaning! That's a really good catch, I just found this quote related to it from the Koran where "the miscreants" (dahri) say: “What is there but our life in this world? We die and we live. Only time (al-dahr) can cause our death.” I wonder if killing/stealing the powers of Istaroth was a way for them to avoid death? It could even tie into the whole immortality thing that Khaenri'ahns have going on.
If King Irmin actually sacrificed his whole nation for powers meanwhile the last Khaneriah Dynasty was called "Eclipse", it even sounds like a unintended Berserk reference.
I was discussing this with a friend and we wondered how Dainsleif resisted the temptation the sinners fell to, we came up with him maybe having a special part of Irminsul within him which is the "it" he referred to during the Chasm quest, explaining his title of bough keeper as he literally has the bough (or branch) within him. I'd love to hear any other ideas though as I'm sure there's more!
I'm confusing. Isn't Enkanomiya existed long before the fallen of Khaeriah? If that's the case, how did Aberaku knows about the 5 sinners? I mean the 5 sinners hadn't existed at his time yet, had they?
@@MinhTran-fm5oy I also wondering how, since they pointed out that the prophecy of Fontaine that recorded in the stone slate are from the visionary. The first possibility is that the 5 have the ability to time travel to the past. The other way is they manipulated the memory inside the Irminsul and recorded themselves like how the wanderer erase himself. If we can erase something then maybe we can also add something in there.
@@MinhTran-fm5oy Ah I should have made that a little clearer sorry! Since Aberaku was a sage of Istaroth and the book mentions omens, I think he could have forseen their arrival in the future or as Not_A_Friend0777 said, time travel stuff could be going on if they have Istaroth's powers which could explain the stone slate from Fontaine containing the prophecy. Hope that explains my thoughts but let me know if it doesn't!
My Name For Now has theory, that Dain working together with Istaroth. Maybe Istaroth can give him some protection from abyss. Also how Dain knows everything what nobody knows or knows very few people? I think he has access to Irminsul. If yes, then who gave him access? This person should be with very high authority. Istaroth as one of shades could be this person.
Also I would like to point out that Kaeya is extremely sus and that his story about his Grandfather couldve been a way for him to tell us what was going to happen without really saying anything... u know... in the way of a fairytale... to bypass irminsul. Maybe he can see the futur ? After all Yae Miko, through her Birthday letters spoiled 3.0 and 4.0 also... And shes a priestess... 🤔 Anyway, all of that to day that Kaeya was likely talking about events that happened to us after his quest. Abyssal dragon could be Childe (Fool Legacy) The silver hair banshee (particular type of witch) could be La Signora And the Hydra being most likely Osial
Ahh I didn't think of the whole allegory to avoid Irminsul erasure sort of thing, that'd be really interesting. I could see that being the case but for some reason I just can't imagine anyone but Paimon/Istaroth (if they're the same) being the silver haired banshee with her voice haha, Signora's hair is platinum blonde though so she could be described that way too. Thanks for the thought-provoking comment! Looking forward to Yae's birthday in a few weeks now!
@@TheLaughingManLore Yes, so much yes! I didn't know about the ritual and I had a suspicion Pierro was Irmin in disguise for a while, but now it makes even more sense. Unlike Dain's, his mask covers his eye, so he could be either missing an eye or have a red eye with special powers. Also, why was he a sage if he wasn't up to par with the rest of them? Very sus.
@@qbanarik3465 Yeah him being a royal mage but not being listened to by the king or the sages always stood out to me as a bit strange, surely they don't give that title to just anyone. In most fantasy stories the royal mages are usually the king's advisors and doing some dark magic kinda stuff so that'd fit with the five sinners. Arlecchino lying about being from Fontaine set a precedent too - characters will lie if it benefits them and if anyone else in the game would do that, I'd bet on Pierro.
Not sure if this is foreshadowing or misdirection but in clorinde's storyquest an entity known as a "devorator" that influences people with weak wills from within. A certain abyss sibling is known to have a much weaker will than their traveller sibling. Maybe 500 years of being worn down by everything will do that to you, but it's a possible explanation for their sudden shift after visiting verdofnir's speaking stone.
Nice find! I haven't done her quest yet but that word apparently means something like "devourer" which would fit with what I'd imagine the black serpent would be like as the abyss seems to devour and convert things. Interestingly, the Dusk Leviathan/Aeon Oroboros from HSR is known as the voracity because of it devouring everything, maybe they're using a similar concept.
It's crazy isn't it! I haven't found anyone that knows much about DnD to discuss it with but the amount of similarities blew my mind as I was reading about Netheril.
@@TheLaughingManLore I read up on Netheril after running the Icewind Dale campaign because it garnered my interest. I was planning a campaign loosely based on Bloodborne and I chose the lost Netheril city as the location of it. Then when I started reading the Genshin lore it kept nagging at me until I finally put two and two together 😅
WAIT... i never thought about this, but i never realised the corrupted venti statue might mean theres 100% a portion of the monstadt map that we were supposed to visit in the beginning but couldnt because it was...uprooted? is that even possible? honestly i feel a little stupid for never thinking about this before 😭 maybe that part of the map fell into the dark sea like enkanomiya or smth? its so interesting to think about, i hope it makes sense
Great take on what could have happened in the cataclysm, basing it a little on faerun's netheril is cool in it's own way, even if this ISNT the story it makes me wish that you were right about this just because of how cool it is. Paimon definitely looks like a disempowered entity the question has always been who. Why not a disempowered istaroth?
Thanks! Yeah it'd be a really interesting way to take the story wouldn't it? I was shocked at the similarities between the Forgotten Realms and Genshin, started off with noticing they have a Mount Celestia ruled by 3 high gods and having 7 tome archons beneath them and then read up on Netheril and Abeir, I'm sure Genshin's writers must've used it as some inspiration.
im pretty convinced that pierro is one of the sinners. the story has been setting up these sinners for a while with motivations that seem to be ways to defy celestia. we have gold with her created beings, vedrfolnir with the abyss order, and surtalogi with skirk. and it definitely seems like the fatui have been working on their own plan collecting gnoses. and pierro is also a khanrieahn? it just fits too well
I think it has to be with being careful and not wanting to accidentally awaken the Heaven Principles as I think even if he's not one of the sinners, he's probably still on-par or stronger than most archons but needs more power before he can defeat Celestia.
@@masterkingkong1918 Oh yeah it doesn't seem like he is unless he's lying to people about it - it's just a possibility I thought of after Arlecchino lied to us about being from Fontaine.
i was very happy when i learned Dainslef was realted to Veldofonir, Cause i said i think Dainslef could be related to someone from the abyss, I just had a weird feeling, but i had no idea itd be one of the five sinners. My feelings on Dainslef are the same as Pierro, He knows too much and tells us very little he doesnt want us to know. One cant lie if they dont speak but vague truths. As far as the five sinners of Khanrieah i definitely think they had someone set them up with this information.
Wow this is detective work! So far the most solid theory I have heard connecting the dots.
What I find fascinating, is what people of Sumeru called Khaenrians...
Like you mentioned, the name Khaenriah in Arabic means Betrayer of the Winds, but the people of Sumeru called them "Dahri" which could means atheists, but specifically Dahr means ithe infinite stretch of time, or time immemorial... And a Dahri only believe in time as the cause of creation not gods.
So when you said Vedrfolnir holds a twisted reverence for Istaroth, it makes sense, and if time is the only god you acknowledge, being the "wind witherer" definitely makes you a sinner.
I totally forgot about the Dahri meaning! That's a really good catch, I just found this quote related to it from the Koran where "the miscreants" (dahri) say:
“What is there but our life in this world? We die and we live. Only time (al-dahr) can cause our death.”
I wonder if killing/stealing the powers of Istaroth was a way for them to avoid death? It could even tie into the whole immortality thing that Khaenri'ahns have going on.
@@TheLaughingManLorehere after 5.3 reading this and it makes a lot of sense!
If King Irmin actually sacrificed his whole nation for powers meanwhile the last Khaneriah Dynasty was called "Eclipse", it even sounds like a unintended Berserk reference.
I didn't think of that but it really does, I'm sure the writers are fans of Berserk so I can see them being inspired by that event.
@@TheLaughingManLore Irmin did nothing wrong, man.
@@inthenameofcontractlendmem983 haha that took me a second, thanks for the laugh!
I was discussing this with a friend and we wondered how Dainsleif resisted the temptation the sinners fell to, we came up with him maybe having a special part of Irminsul within him which is the "it" he referred to during the Chasm quest, explaining his title of bough keeper as he literally has the bough (or branch) within him. I'd love to hear any other ideas though as I'm sure there's more!
I'm confusing. Isn't Enkanomiya existed long before the fallen of Khaeriah? If that's the case, how did Aberaku knows about the 5 sinners? I mean the 5 sinners hadn't existed at his time yet, had they?
@@MinhTran-fm5oy I also wondering how, since they pointed out that the prophecy of Fontaine that recorded in the stone slate are from the visionary. The first possibility is that the 5 have the ability to time travel to the past. The other way is they manipulated the memory inside the Irminsul and recorded themselves like how the wanderer erase himself. If we can erase something then maybe we can also add something in there.
Such great theory ❤
@@MinhTran-fm5oy Ah I should have made that a little clearer sorry! Since Aberaku was a sage of Istaroth and the book mentions omens, I think he could have forseen their arrival in the future or as Not_A_Friend0777 said, time travel stuff could be going on if they have Istaroth's powers which could explain the stone slate from Fontaine containing the prophecy. Hope that explains my thoughts but let me know if it doesn't!
My Name For Now has theory, that Dain working together with Istaroth. Maybe Istaroth can give him some protection from abyss. Also how Dain knows everything what nobody knows or knows very few people? I think he has access to Irminsul. If yes, then who gave him access? This person should be with very high authority. Istaroth as one of shades could be this person.
Rächer of solnari = in the Original chinese text is called "Person who hunts the Moon"
You theory about ritual means that Pierro could be King Irmin. If he is, then this will be great twist in story.
Also I would like to point out that Kaeya is extremely sus and that his story about his Grandfather couldve been a way for him to tell us what was going to happen without really saying anything... u know... in the way of a fairytale... to bypass irminsul. Maybe he can see the futur ? After all Yae Miko, through her Birthday letters spoiled 3.0 and 4.0 also...
And shes a priestess... 🤔
Anyway, all of that to day that Kaeya was likely talking about events that happened to us after his quest.
Abyssal dragon could be Childe (Fool Legacy)
The silver hair banshee (particular type of witch) could be La Signora
And the Hydra being most likely Osial
Ahh I didn't think of the whole allegory to avoid Irminsul erasure sort of thing, that'd be really interesting. I could see that being the case but for some reason I just can't imagine anyone but Paimon/Istaroth (if they're the same) being the silver haired banshee with her voice haha, Signora's hair is platinum blonde though so she could be described that way too. Thanks for the thought-provoking comment!
Looking forward to Yae's birthday in a few weeks now!
Wasn't expecting the Netheril mention or connection
I feel like you are severely onto something here. Excellent video !
Uuuu the substitute king ritual has such a flag on it! And then Pierro being Irmin hmmm that's really intriguing idea 🤔
Right! I've been sitting on the substitute king ritual for so long so I'm happy to finally share it as it'd be such a good twist!
@@TheLaughingManLore Yeah it really sounds like something they would pull off as there's so much considences and similarities with the game lore. 😁
@@TheLaughingManLore Yes, so much yes! I didn't know about the ritual and I had a suspicion Pierro was Irmin in disguise for a while, but now it makes even more sense. Unlike Dain's, his mask covers his eye, so he could be either missing an eye or have a red eye with special powers. Also, why was he a sage if he wasn't up to par with the rest of them? Very sus.
@@qbanarik3465 Yeah him being a royal mage but not being listened to by the king or the sages always stood out to me as a bit strange, surely they don't give that title to just anyone. In most fantasy stories the royal mages are usually the king's advisors and doing some dark magic kinda stuff so that'd fit with the five sinners. Arlecchino lying about being from Fontaine set a precedent too - characters will lie if it benefits them and if anyone else in the game would do that, I'd bet on Pierro.
this is a very good video, one of the best theory videos I've seen.
Not sure if this is foreshadowing or misdirection but in clorinde's storyquest an entity known as a "devorator" that influences people with weak wills from within. A certain abyss sibling is known to have a much weaker will than their traveller sibling. Maybe 500 years of being worn down by everything will do that to you, but it's a possible explanation for their sudden shift after visiting verdofnir's speaking stone.
Nice find! I haven't done her quest yet but that word apparently means something like "devourer" which would fit with what I'd imagine the black serpent would be like as the abyss seems to devour and convert things. Interestingly, the Dusk Leviathan/Aeon Oroboros from HSR is known as the voracity because of it devouring everything, maybe they're using a similar concept.
I'm glad I'm not the only one who drew parallels to Netheril
It's crazy isn't it! I haven't found anyone that knows much about DnD to discuss it with but the amount of similarities blew my mind as I was reading about Netheril.
@@TheLaughingManLore I read up on Netheril after running the Icewind Dale campaign because it garnered my interest. I was planning a campaign loosely based on Bloodborne and I chose the lost Netheril city as the location of it. Then when I started reading the Genshin lore it kept nagging at me until I finally put two and two together 😅
WAIT... i never thought about this, but i never realised the corrupted venti statue might mean theres 100% a portion of the monstadt map that we were supposed to visit in the beginning but couldnt because it was...uprooted? is that even possible?
honestly i feel a little stupid for never thinking about this before 😭 maybe that part of the map fell into the dark sea like enkanomiya or smth? its so interesting to think about, i hope it makes sense
My hypothesis is that Pierro is "The Wise" of the five sinners, it would make sense why after the fact he became "The Fool" or "Fatui"
But pierro is the only one who actuly tskesxresponsabilaty and blame inthe mocking mask makes me thing ''the wise '' is the sage pierro lost to
Great take on what could have happened in the cataclysm, basing it a little on faerun's netheril is cool in it's own way, even if this ISNT the story it makes me wish that you were right about this just because of how cool it is. Paimon definitely looks like a disempowered entity the question has always been who. Why not a disempowered istaroth?
Thanks! Yeah it'd be a really interesting way to take the story wouldn't it? I was shocked at the similarities between the Forgotten Realms and Genshin, started off with noticing they have a Mount Celestia ruled by 3 high gods and having 7 tome archons beneath them and then read up on Netheril and Abeir, I'm sure Genshin's writers must've used it as some inspiration.
@@TheLaughingManLore They were inspired by a lot of stuff, masses of myths and stories from all over . Imaginings and beliefs all looked at.
im pretty convinced that pierro is one of the sinners. the story has been setting up these sinners for a while with motivations that seem to be ways to defy celestia. we have gold with her created beings, vedrfolnir with the abyss order, and surtalogi with skirk. and it definitely seems like the fatui have been working on their own plan collecting gnoses. and pierro is also a khanrieahn? it just fits too well
💙💙💙💙
Istaroth being paimon doesn't add up to me but we'll see what happens.
Been saying it for a while Pierro is The King… and Capitano is Varka…we’ll see if I’m right…
Well, Capitano part didn't age well.
upcoming weekly boss natlan?
That would be kind of amazing if we got to fight a Sinner, imagine how good it'd be with backup from Mavuika/Capitano.
but when pierro is one of the sinners why he dont clap the archon because the sinner are stronger than archons with their world destroying power
I think it has to be with being careful and not wanting to accidentally awaken the Heaven Principles as I think even if he's not one of the sinners, he's probably still on-par or stronger than most archons but needs more power before he can defeat Celestia.
@@TheLaughingManLoreyes i know but i dont think hes one of the sinners because he was a royal mage and was maybe under dainsleif
@@masterkingkong1918 Oh yeah it doesn't seem like he is unless he's lying to people about it - it's just a possibility I thought of after Arlecchino lied to us about being from Fontaine.
PAIMON IS ISTAROTH
i was very happy when i learned Dainslef was realted to Veldofonir, Cause i said i think Dainslef could be related to someone from the abyss, I just had a weird feeling, but i had no idea itd be one of the five sinners. My feelings on Dainslef are the same as Pierro, He knows too much and tells us very little he doesnt want us to know. One cant lie if they dont speak but vague truths.
As far as the five sinners of Khanrieah i definitely think they had someone set them up with this information.