Hoyoverse literally saw everyone going nuts over Arlecchino in Winter Nights Lazzo and said "yeah we're gonna make the peak morally gray anime protag out of this drip marketing." And so they decided she deserved an entire short anime special. The dark arc of genshin with Fontaine is bringing out the best writing bringing up these kinds of topics, and im all here for it. No more digging through books and npc dialogue for the bleakness, fantasy France says we're now old enough to ride the trauma tube sadness escalator.
Hi Marco, so the friend didn't betray Arlecchino. It was actually spoiled at the start of the video. Despite the cute graphics and the homey music, Mother was talking about a death game she's cultivating among her children
And there is a little two-faced medical bat with an evil grin on its face. And during the animation there is a WAY too big focus on syringes laying around everywhere. So it's not just a children/teenager battle royal she is cultivating, but i strongly think child experimentation too. And the Battle Royal is just a means to an end who rises as the most successful experiment...
@@MrFox-xr9ccYes, I think you are completely right. She gives me a very strong reference to Cocolia from HI3, but worse is that she never has a bit love to her child, even her true, biological daughter.
Just to add few info. Clerve is the biological daughter of the previous Mother of the House of the Heart or you can say the previous director. Clerve suffered from abuse from her actual mother as you can see the injuries when they were kids because of being weak and Innocent, as the mother say "How Grotesque" she implied that she should have killed her own daughter in the first place aside from witnessing her downfall, there's a theory that Arle/Peruere can't deal the final blow against Clerve so Clerve decided to jump in the sword to kill herself and make Arle the new "King". Genshin is getting their dark season and I'm here for it. To add: "Thank you everyone for sharing your thoughts about this" 😊
@@billystokes3917 it is as she falls to the ground you see her hand by her side in the water reflection. not to mention at that close distance the area where she was hit wouldnt make any sense as that close to arle would not result in a sword going straight as thats simply not how arms work. as well as her wound is bloody while arles sword is spotless.
The children choir/hymn part really felt like the rest of the orphans pushing Arlecchino/Peruere to help her defeat "Mother". It felt a little like in the Inazuma quest where we (MC) listen to the wishes of the people/their visions and ambitions in order to fight the Shogun. As if the other children in the House of the Hearth were urging her onwards and giving her strength, like a whole "power of friendship" protagonist moment in a way. I really love it honestly, it makes Arlecchino's love for the House of the Hearth/the orphans seem so much more justified and gives it a whole new meaning. Replacing the seemingly sweet and caring "Mother" who was actually psychotically pitting the children against each other and experimenting on them, with the seemingly 'cold and unfeeling' "Father" who actually genuinely cares for the orphans after being one herself. In short - god, i'm gonna be so broke after 4.6
the animation starts with will o wisps wandering around becoming children. the European meaning for it is that those are dead wandering children with no family.
So, To give a clear explenation to what happened. The Original Knave, who's title was "Mother" was the owner of the House of the Heart. Peruere (Arlecchino) was one of the children. "Mother" acted very nicely and gentle. The story at the beginning is the ritual to become "King", while we don't have an explanation, it seems to be different from becoming the next owner of the Orphanage. But it works as follows: Every kid will be taught and raised to become fighters, then they will fight to the death and the winner will be crowned as "King". This is an English translation thing, but when Clervie (Pink Haired girl) is all bandaged up Peruere asks "Do mothers normally argue with their daughters" The actual translation should've been something along the lines of "Do biological mothers normally act like this with their daughters" Which confirms to us that Clervie is the previous Knave's biological daughter. Clervie ignores the question for obvious reasons, and then makes that beautiful promise to Peruere. Then we skip to the end of the Ritual. Clervie appears to be stabbed by Peruere's blade, but her words and the pose they're in makes it seem like something else is happening. It's highly implied that Clervie actually purposefully ended her own life to make Peruere win and become "King" her saying "I'm sorry (cuz she couldn't keep their promise) Thank you (likely because she's free from her "Mother") " and the weird angle of the sword are a clear sign that this is the case. At that point it should've been over. Peruere won, so she would be crowned as the new "King" but of course, she wasn't happy with that outcome, so she decided to kill the current Knave, "Mother". Another thing to note is that right before their battle, when "Mother" talks about the flower, it's implied she's referring to her daughter, which makes her an shitter individual. During the fight you can actually see how powerful Peruere is, as every one of her steps and attacks break the ground, and "Mother" is clearly struggling, until she gets a good hit in. Then, Peruere sees the flower, and decides to fully embrace the Curse's power, making quick work with "Mother". Another translation mishap, but again nothing super context changing but instead of "My Awnser is no" the actual line in CN-JP is something along the lines of "You're not good enough" likely refering to "Mother" saying she would guide her to become the one true "King". After that Arle gets arrested for killing a Harbinger, but soon gets to take her place. At the end when we see her meet that orphan kid (who i believe is just some random kid, nobody specific) she says "I will be a strict, unemotional Father" , This is likely due to her view of "Mother". "Mother" acted gentle, and nicely, she was sweet and kind when in reality she was an awful and spiteful person, who hated her own daughter. Arlecchino didn't want to become like her, so instead she decided to act strict and unemotional, when in reality she probably truly cares about all the Children of the Ophanage, and assumed the title of "Father" to not be connected to "Mother". One last thing, in the 4.6 Livestream we hear Arlecchino say "I want you to become the new King of the House of the Heart" refering to Lyney. I believe they're messing with us. The ritual is likely different and would involve protecting your loved ones and working togheter instead of killing each other ruthelessly. This is the end of my Ted Talk, thanks for reading
I have a question (because I don't know any Chinese language); how do we know for sure that Clervie is the Mother's bio-daughter? When she asks whether mothers fight their biological children, could she not just be comparing their abusive situation with the hypothetical situation of living with one's birth family? I don't mean to suggest you're mistaken; I just want to know why it should be read one way over the other.
@@Fraink5 i can give the jp example aswell. In jp it's little easier to interpret as Peruere says "Hontou no Okasama" which would translate to "Real Mothers"
the choir with children voices representing the children of the House of the Hearth putting all their hopes and dreams on Peruere and now I can't stop tearing up that part
I mean a musical artist being able to understand musical foreshadowing (hoyo are the only people who do this I've never seen other media pull it off so well) isn't that surprising lol
Im just a normal person but when a character is too sweet and kind, they have already seal their fate. Moral : be a douchebag if you ever happen to be a side character
That's something I love about Genshin Impact's use of music. When Arlecchino defeated "mother" the amount of weight in the song truly made her feel like the main character. And with La Signora's battle theme is actually quite romantic. It makes the final boss feel like they are the protagonist.
It is assumed that the House was raised so that there would be a fight to the death, and the one left standing would be "King." Peruere resented that, and so became the "Father."
It's more that she's rejecting being a "Mother" because Crucabena displayed this outward appearance of loving and caring for her children, but was actually extremely cruel. Peruere is the opposite - she's strict and cold on the outside, but truly deeply cares for her children.
But I have played a secret side quest regarding a friendly Cicin Mage working undercover as a shrine maiden in Mt. Yougou, where they say Arlecchino sends killers to deserters like that friendly Cicin Mage...
I agree with you. There is a core of cruelty to what Arle is doing (whether out of duty or otherwise) including raising children into mini intelligence agents and fatui operatives, ready to lay down their lives for "Father". This coexists with the fact that she does care for her children. Like her vengeance in the recent character teaser.It is a twisted sort of affection and protectiveness. but it's there. The two truths coexist. @@claidheamhsoluis3044
I really like that Marco touches upon the Fatui being the protagonists and not the antagonists around 15:00, because that was also the feeling I got when I played during the Sumeru and Fontaine arcs. I don't have the words to verbalise what the music made me feel, but Marco put it so splendidly. I 'm really looking forward to seeing how it all plays out in Natlan and Snezhnaya.
Hi Marco! It's been awhile since i commented in one of your video! You pretty much nailed almost everything. I'd like to answer some of your questions. As to why Arlecchino seems to 'betray' her friend is stated at the beginning of the short animation: House of the Hearth under previous Knave was a kin to a battle royale for the kids she took. It seems to me only 'the strongest' is worthy in Mother's eyes. - Mother seems to be portryaed as this soft and caring parent while as Arlecchino grew older it became apparent Mother is cruel. - Clairve is Mother's biological daughter. This was made clear in JP/CN language when Arlecchino asked her friend about 'do mother argue with their daughter?' - Clairve was wearing Lumidouce bell flower pendant. Which in Fontaine represent parting and hope for reunion. - Mother mentioned how she 'should have pruned the flower sooner' indicating she should've 'eliminated' her own daughter bcs she was 'kind' and 'innocent'. Calling it traits that are useless. I'm assuming Clairve hated the idea of fighting Arlecchino and i don't think she had the intetion to do so. I personally think Clairve sacrifice herself to make Arlecchino a 'King'. When they showed Arlecchino and Clairve toether there's this lyrics about 'not chained by fate'. I think Clairve believed in Arlecchino to change House of the Hearth for the better.
Which explains why Arlecchino told kids she will be 'strict and unfeeling' Father. From Arlecchino trailer in Livestream, it seems to me the battle that will take place was only for Lyney, Lynette and Freminet against herself. This in itself is already different than the battle royale which previous Knave held. Other children raised under Arlecchino's House of Hearth became foot soldiers for the Fatui, is it good? No. But at least they have a resemblance of 'family'.
@@benafleck7310it's part of her lore. The curse on her hand really lined up with her kit. Also I think her kit is pretty good. Not op like neuvi but definitely enjoyable.
@@benafleck7310Furina was said to be mid before she got released too, while Xianyun was shafted on hard. Neuvi was "worse" than Childe cos low hydro application. Wait for her officially before judging ya.
@@PhuongHoang-cj9jzIf a character doesnt powercreep another character, people call them mid, it's inevitable. Although some people also called neuvillette mid or bad without c1 pre-release
@@I.disagree yeah, this game is super casual and noncompetitve anyway. As long as a character has good gameplay and is stylish then it's a good character. I couldn't care less about number.
I like while the mother used love and care to manipulate and use them as a tool Arlecchino chooses to be strict instead because she cares and wants the children to be able to withstand and fight the injustices of the world
I really liked your whole analysis at 3:07 it was wonderful! I am always able to appreciate Genshin's music just as much and even more every time I watch your videos!
11:54 it seems she makes the kids refer to her as “Father” to distance herself from her “Mother”…it’s like when someone as an adult refers to their abusive parents by their first name, instead of mom or dad to distance themselves from them…
"the house of hearth is place of safety" Marco says it while the caption says "you will defeat all your brothers and sisters to become King" I know he was talking about music theme but damn this both funny and odd timing Also in the Snezhnaya scene it was Jester (in the middle) not Arlecchino. Jester is the first in command/leader and he delivers Tsaritsa (Cryo Archon) order and "promotion" of NEW Arrlecchino (Knave) since previous one got killed. New Arlecchino decided to become "Father" instead of "Mother" since she didn't want to do the same as "Mother" aka give kids false warmth, happiness, etc. and then just betray them, force them into that bloody battle royale, etc. just like what had to experience. Better to be strict emotionless "father" (that actually cares about kids but don't want to show them) than fake nice "mother"
There are two groups that are marketed very heavily, The Harbingers and The Archons(except the early archons sadly..with time their production quality is increasing thus making it seem like the new harbingers and archons are more important than the older ones..except Morax and Venti know the most about Teyvat's history, so they will be much more relevant than some of the new ones).
P.S. if u notice all archons have mostly support and subdps traits while all harbingers are main dps with no off-field support trait. Its almost like the harbingers are meant to be the protagonists that will fight the war while archons support them from behind
@@apoorvjoshi2383 support and subdps, but they are still the major player to the team, bringing some of the most unique and busted skillset, or in case of Furina, highly versatile and fulfill 2 extremely different support spectrum with ease. i feel like this is an important aspect to them too
5:09 pretty sure she offed herself the shot right before is kind of a common way to depict that in anime and manga without fully showing it, and we dont see her hands so she is likely holding the sword hilt.
I find it really interesting that in the moment the mother says "let your mother guide you and become the one true king" the lyrics of the music land on "I wont be tainted by fate"
When I heard this I couldn't help but think of An American Tale when she pushed open the window. The notes were made me think of "Somewhere Out There".
I'm not the best at discerning lyrics in choral music, but I'm pretty sure that when the children's choir starts singing, it's in Latin, which adds another layer of power to that part of the music.
Is really cool Marcos work, sometimes we are having so much feelings listening the music, but by dont undertanding the tecnical part we can't describe, and Marco explain for us, im the end i completely understand my feelings about the music and start vibing much more
I love your videos Marco! I am such a fan of Hoyoverse’s music and animations, and always look forward to it. But every time a new video gets released, I know that you will always cover it. Watching your videos gave more depth in the music choice and let me appreciate the music more. I think some viewers also share similar sentiments, and we hope that you keep up the quality of your content! ❤
The fact, yet again, that Marco predicted 2 seconds in advance of what was about to happen stunned me. 😀 But hearing the connotation behind the notes which can tell a far deeper story than words sometimes can is impressive. Man, wish music lessons in school were as good as Marco's analytical deduction. 🎹
Loved your breakdown! This trailer was awesome, there were so many cool details, and the music was great! The music and Pierro's voice when she got appointed as a Harbinger gave me chills when I first watched it.
Amazing breakdown like always. I can't stop listening to this song on spotify. I really love how songs adds to the emotions we feel. I had chills the whole time. Truly beautiful!
Thank you for another amazing video! It's honestly fascinating how you can predict what's gonna happen to characters just from music alone... 13:32 you said "Tsaritsa" like a native speaker, it threw me off a bit 😅
To add to all this brilliant musical analysis on a more visual aspect, notice how the cross is a constant re-occurance throughout the whole animation. At the start with the spider funeral, but all through the fight too with multiple crossing swords and after effects. This quite obviously references to divine self-sacrifice to cleanse sins, but it's also what is used to mark a target. Notice how the Dottore rabbit-vampire has one. Oh Peruere has a bone to pick with him, I'm pretty sure. And she probably won't hesitate to sacrifice herself when the time comes.
From my thoughts as well when the children join in the chorus, it's showing how, as stated in the opening story book, they made all these children fight each other to the death for one to emerge as king, and Arlecchino is holding them all with her there. They are singing for justice, for retribution and she is fighting for all her fallen siblings.
Just as always, i absolutely loved your video! 🧡 As for protagonist-not antagonist, the point is that antagonists are protagonists whose stories weren't explained. Something bad is not born, it's created. And there aren't true evil characters in genshin (well, bar Dottore, he is his own warning). Its all gray area.. and after Fontaine, Celestia has a lot to answer for too. I personally think that eventually we (as protagonist) will end up siding with the fatui and abyss. Just.. feels like everything is coming down to it, given how steadily dark Genshin gets with every step By the way, from the scene where Arch friend is impaled on her sword, i think its more like the friend impaled herself. If you look carefully, you would notice that Arch wasn't even holding the blade and was shocked. And.. if so, its all so f$cked up 😢 we are truly coming down to honkai, eh?
To side with the Fatui and Abyss is an interesting thing to say, because the one thing we know for sure about the Fatui is that they are actively fighting against the Abyss. I mean it's possible we'll have to bring every faction together to oppose Celestia, but at the moment the Fatui consider themselves enemies of the Abyss.
@@bookswithike3256 do they, truly?.. though, i think there are much more to the abyss that we know. I mean, there's the hex circle of the mages, then fallen Khaenrians that assumingly formed the abyss order.. and maybe some more. The same situation might apply to celestia (would be rather ironic if they are fighting each other up there). But yeah, in the face of common enemy that is simply too strong to beat alone they will simply gang up together, destroy celestia likely and only then will go on solving their issues. That's rather common politically wise even in our world. Everyone always ganged up on a strong enemy, before going for each others throats 😅 n$zi Germany would be a good example about what happens when you acquire a little to many enemies to the point that even with issues between each other everyone damn ganged up on bastards because they have had enough of their cruelty Ah well, only time will tell
For reference, the woman is Crucabena, the previous Knave, the harbinger in charge of the House of the Hearth, the recruitment/indoctrination wing of the Fatui in Fontaine. Crucabena's MO seemed to be fake motherly love, manipulating the orphans using it. As the new Knave, Peruere is also now in charge of the house. Rather than pretending to be doting to manipulate the children, she pretends to be unloving and cold. It's hard to tell just how much of it is a facade, but she definitely has love and emotion in her voice when at the grave of one of the deceased orphans during her character teaser
Marco doing the cat "huh" meme sound really caught me off guard. Great analysis! Personally that part of the trailer (blwoing up the building and the music going sky high) really gave me chills.
On your point about the Harbingers being the main characters of Genshin (And the Archons as well, in my opinion) is that, by the "mechanics" of the world regarding visions, most of the allogenes/vision bearers are already reasonably "realized" characters, most of them have strong goals and will because that's whats needed for someone to get a vision, they already fought and beat their inner demons; and this is why both the Harbingers and the Archons tend to have a stronger narrative focus, as the Archons didn't have to prove themselves in the same way and the Harbingers are all broken and twisted people who have taken upon "delusions" to guide their vision
a little detail as well that I'm not sure if you noticed, but when the blades first clash as Arlecchino jumps at mother, you can hear a variation on the Fatui Harbinger motif played on strings I think (motif? theme? not sure of the right word but the notes are lower here, in la signora's theme they're sung by male voices in an opera style) that can be heard in every other fatui boss's theme
An additional visual note many don't seem to remark on: Before Clerve threw herself on Arle's sword(?), the scene was of her describing Schneznya as a place where 'The sky dances with colors', and when she suggests going there together, she has almost the same shocked expression as she does when the Tsaritsa's ice crystal draws her eye back out the window, to the aurora borealis. To the hope she once had, and the... If not innocence, the ability to still appreciate the world to some extent. That, despite the way her steeling herself to the depressing extent that she did, she can still be caught off guard by the beauty in the world. And most tellingly; The Tsaritsa's ice led her to that renewed faith, effectively hinting that Arle would come to replace her faith and care for her best friend to similar sentiments towards the Tsaritsa.
When you were talking about the house of the hearth being all warm and welcoming etc you completely missed the part where it said they'd be forced to fight against each other until one's left standing to become king lol
i have some opinion that in 7:53 , i feel the choir is represent the fight,, like, the back choir is mother, and the the lead vocal is arlechino (alone), fighting. and in 8:10 , arlechino is like trying to fightback but the "pham pham pham chan chan chan" thing before it go silent is showing us that mother is so strong and going to throw, and defeat her., and then after the motivation scene (tye flower), precisely at 9:36 the choir is changed to the childrens, after remembering her best friend, her brother and sisters, like whom she fight for is giving her power, is, just freaking amazing. sori for bad english 🙇
15:05 I’d say it goes for the harbingers, and also the archons, in my opinion. Generally the characters that are most important to the main story, which is pretty much harbingers and archons
5:56 "I should have pruned this flower long ago... how grotesque." I think Mother is trying to say the other children are the wilted flowers that should have been cut long ago... 9:11 We see the wilted flower surrounded by young blooming flowers, I get the feeling that it is guarding them with all it's might against the crumbling infrastructure. Any stray brick could crush all of them but it is burning its life away to protect them. This is Arlechno, A grotesque wilted thing doing all it can to protect all that is beautiful around it. EDIT: We have seen this story played out over and over with Mihoyo. Someone fighting for what is beautiful against all odds. We have seen these characters time and time again sacrifice themselves for others. Kiana, Mei, Fu Hua, Elisia. We have seen this story play out and we know they DON'T need to sacrifice themselves, but is that the case With Arlechino? Can she or someone else break the curse?
it's interesting, spotting the difference between og house of hearth leader and arle. peruere was essentially raised by a "caring" mother, only for that same person to turn out to be extremely cold and uncaring, even abusive, to the children under her care [clerve for instance] -- so in turn she strives to be this strict, unfeeling father while still retaining this vast amount of care for her children. it makes it seem like she doesn't wish to become like her predecessor, which makes things interesting since we know three of her children will be fighting her this upcoming update -- possibly even becoming the "king" in her place
One thing to note is that I think the Lumidouce Bells represent the dead children of the hearth and the child chorus all the souls of her siblings cheering for the death of the "mother."
Actually since Signora's battle theme, Harbingers are considered as the tragic heroes of their own story. My guess is that in the end game, we join force with them before going to Celestia.
It would be awesome if you could find time to have a collab discussion with some of the lore theorist analyst content creators. Your insight into what music tries to convey could be interesting in contrast to what cold-calculated lore we already have outside of the current cinematic. I would be interested in what sort of conclusion you could make.
I think the choir with the children voice represents the kids that died under "Mother" cruelty as they fought each other to death. They spoke through Arlecchino and Arlecchino took revenge for them. Arlecchino looking at the light on the sky at the end because it was her promise to the pink hair girl that they would grow up and go see it together. But only Arlec gets to see it
I'm just now noticing the choir at 5:41 has this epic/ominous vibe kinda reminiscent of Overture of Storms which is the one thing that absolutely hooked me into the game for good. I went into this game thinking "Ah, another chinese game, probably trash as all Chinese mobile games tend to be" and boy, was I blown away and was I happy to be wrong. That intro and specially Overture of Storms single-handedly sold me the idea that "This is a high quality production you're playing, we're kinda serious here."
Mother was warm and caring on the surface but ruthless and cruel. By calling herself a strict and unfeeling Father, she’s basically saying that’s what others gonna see, not how she plans to treat the children - she rejects every bit of what Mother represents.
_Hes slowly turning into a Genshin lore theorist, we have him now boys._
All according to keikaku as they say. xD
When he'll turn into a Honkai lore theorist?
@@viviansytsui Translator's notes: "Keikaku" means plan.
@@skelebro9999 clearly you haven’t delved deep enough into the rabbit hole if you think those two are different things.
@@arianotes6238heh classic.
Hoyoverse literally saw everyone going nuts over Arlecchino in Winter Nights Lazzo and said "yeah we're gonna make the peak morally gray anime protag out of this drip marketing." And so they decided she deserved an entire short anime special.
The dark arc of genshin with Fontaine is bringing out the best writing bringing up these kinds of topics, and im all here for it. No more digging through books and npc dialogue for the bleakness, fantasy France says we're now old enough to ride the trauma tube sadness escalator.
"Fantasy France" is a funny combination of words
Hoyo-mix have released the OST and its called Emberfire for those who want to listen to the masterpiece itself
@@UrLastSurprise i have faith in Tnbee to do this Job for us
nah i don't want trauma 😂
Thank you so much! I was hoping they’d release it soon
@@Caster_- Well.....
@@jricksan9116 AYES he did It already
Hi Marco, so the friend didn't betray Arlecchino. It was actually spoiled at the start of the video. Despite the cute graphics and the homey music, Mother was talking about a death game she's cultivating among her children
I've seen too many people miss that detail.
Ah missed it listening to the music!
And there is a little two-faced medical bat with an evil grin on its face.
And during the animation there is a WAY too big focus on syringes laying around everywhere.
So it's not just a children/teenager battle royal she is cultivating, but i strongly think child experimentation too.
And the Battle Royal is just a means to an end who rises as the most successful experiment...
terribly f-d up, reminds me of the whole alice game from rozen maiden
@@MrFox-xr9ccYes, I think you are completely right. She gives me a very strong reference to Cocolia from HI3, but worse is that she never has a bit love to her child, even her true, biological daughter.
Just to add few info. Clerve is the biological daughter of the previous Mother of the House of the Heart or you can say the previous director. Clerve suffered from abuse from her actual mother as you can see the injuries when they were kids because of being weak and Innocent, as the mother say "How Grotesque" she implied that she should have killed her own daughter in the first place aside from witnessing her downfall, there's a theory that Arle/Peruere can't deal the final blow against Clerve so Clerve decided to jump in the sword to kill herself and make Arle the new "King". Genshin is getting their dark season and I'm here for it.
To add: "Thank you everyone for sharing your thoughts about this" 😊
The Flower that the Mother is holding symbolizes the pendant on Clerve's necklace or it symbolizes Clerve.
if you look closely arle was holding her sword down by her side clerve was not killed by arle but probably an ice shard from "mother"
@@MrBentalton777Is that not after Clerve falls to the ground? Cuz if it is, Arlecchino's sword could've just been pulled down with her.
@@billystokes3917 it is as she falls to the ground you see her hand by her side in the water reflection. not to mention at that close distance the area where she was hit wouldnt make any sense as that close to arle would not result in a sword going straight as thats simply not how arms work. as well as her wound is bloody while arles sword is spotless.
@@MrBentalton777 Looking back at it, you're right. Nice catch 👍👍
The children choir/hymn part really felt like the rest of the orphans pushing Arlecchino/Peruere to help her defeat "Mother". It felt a little like in the Inazuma quest where we (MC) listen to the wishes of the people/their visions and ambitions in order to fight the Shogun. As if the other children in the House of the Hearth were urging her onwards and giving her strength, like a whole "power of friendship" protagonist moment in a way. I really love it honestly, it makes Arlecchino's love for the House of the Hearth/the orphans seem so much more justified and gives it a whole new meaning. Replacing the seemingly sweet and caring "Mother" who was actually psychotically pitting the children against each other and experimenting on them, with the seemingly 'cold and unfeeling' "Father" who actually genuinely cares for the orphans after being one herself.
In short - god, i'm gonna be so broke after 4.6
Marco is great, not even 15 seconds in and he is already spot on.
the music just speaks to him in ways I can only imagine
So glad I found his channel about a year ago
he's the top Genshin theorist without even trying 😂
love it when he said "obviously this friend of hers is gonna die tragically...oh, I called it" lmao
the animation starts with will o wisps wandering around becoming children. the European meaning for it is that those are dead wandering children with no family.
Man, she put her own child in the 'orphanage' and when her own kid dies, she thinks she should've just killed her sooner. Sheesh.
Arlecchino was so pissed she went straight for the kill
So, To give a clear explenation to what happened.
The Original Knave, who's title was "Mother" was the owner of the House of the Heart. Peruere (Arlecchino) was one of the children. "Mother" acted very nicely and gentle. The story at the beginning is the ritual to become "King", while we don't have an explanation, it seems to be different from becoming the next owner of the Orphanage. But it works as follows: Every kid will be taught and raised to become fighters, then they will fight to the death and the winner will be crowned as "King".
This is an English translation thing, but when Clervie (Pink Haired girl) is all bandaged up Peruere asks "Do mothers normally argue with their daughters" The actual translation should've been something along the lines of "Do biological mothers normally act like this with their daughters" Which confirms to us that Clervie is the previous Knave's biological daughter. Clervie ignores the question for obvious reasons, and then makes that beautiful promise to Peruere.
Then we skip to the end of the Ritual. Clervie appears to be stabbed by Peruere's blade, but her words and the pose they're in makes it seem like something else is happening. It's highly implied that Clervie actually purposefully ended her own life to make Peruere win and become "King" her saying "I'm sorry (cuz she couldn't keep their promise) Thank you (likely because she's free from her "Mother") " and the weird angle of the sword are a clear sign that this is the case.
At that point it should've been over. Peruere won, so she would be crowned as the new "King" but of course, she wasn't happy with that outcome, so she decided to kill the current Knave, "Mother".
Another thing to note is that right before their battle, when "Mother" talks about the flower, it's implied she's referring to her daughter, which makes her an shitter individual.
During the fight you can actually see how powerful Peruere is, as every one of her steps and attacks break the ground, and "Mother" is clearly struggling, until she gets a good hit in.
Then, Peruere sees the flower, and decides to fully embrace the Curse's power, making quick work with "Mother". Another translation mishap, but again nothing super context changing but instead of "My Awnser is no" the actual line in CN-JP is something along the lines of "You're not good enough" likely refering to "Mother" saying she would guide her to become the one true "King".
After that Arle gets arrested for killing a Harbinger, but soon gets to take her place.
At the end when we see her meet that orphan kid (who i believe is just some random kid, nobody specific) she says "I will be a strict, unemotional Father" , This is likely due to her view of "Mother". "Mother" acted gentle, and nicely, she was sweet and kind when in reality she was an awful and spiteful person, who hated her own daughter. Arlecchino didn't want to become like her, so instead she decided to act strict and unemotional, when in reality she probably truly cares about all the Children of the Ophanage, and assumed the title of "Father" to not be connected to "Mother".
One last thing, in the 4.6 Livestream we hear Arlecchino say "I want you to become the new King of the House of the Heart" refering to Lyney.
I believe they're messing with us. The ritual is likely different and would involve protecting your loved ones and working togheter instead of killing each other ruthelessly.
This is the end of my Ted Talk, thanks for reading
I’d like to say for the “my answer is no”, better translation could be “you don’t worth it”
I have a question (because I don't know any Chinese language); how do we know for sure that Clervie is the Mother's bio-daughter? When she asks whether mothers fight their biological children, could she not just be comparing their abusive situation with the hypothetical situation of living with one's birth family? I don't mean to suggest you're mistaken; I just want to know why it should be read one way over the other.
Lmfao, actually, I can understand Japanese, so I just rewatched the video and answered my own question. Sorry for the bother! 😅
@@Fraink5 i can give the jp example aswell. In jp it's little easier to interpret as Peruere says "Hontou no Okasama" which would translate to "Real Mothers"
Another note that the child that Arle recruited at the end is most likely the injured (and later died) Snezhevna from today’s video.
the choir with children voices representing the children of the House of the Hearth putting all their hopes and dreams on Peruere and now I can't stop tearing up that part
And presumably the main female vocal rising up represents Arlecchino herself
@@Alex_Deam *cries even harder*
I love the way you just predict everything as you watch it 💀
I mean a musical artist being able to understand musical foreshadowing
(hoyo are the only people who do this I've never seen other media pull it off so well) isn't that surprising lol
Knowing hoyo mix i mean yes
Im just a normal person but when a character is too sweet and kind, they have already seal their fate.
Moral : be a douchebag if you ever happen to be a side character
I love the analysis of how the Harbringer being the protagonist of their own story
That's something I love about Genshin Impact's use of music. When Arlecchino defeated "mother" the amount of weight in the song truly made her feel like the main character. And with La Signora's battle theme is actually quite romantic. It makes the final boss feel like they are the protagonist.
It is assumed that the House was raised so that there would be a fight to the death, and the one left standing would be "King." Peruere resented that, and so became the "Father."
It's more that she's rejecting being a "Mother" because Crucabena displayed this outward appearance of loving and caring for her children, but was actually extremely cruel. Peruere is the opposite - she's strict and cold on the outside, but truly deeply cares for her children.
@@bookswithike3256 This
But I have played a secret side quest regarding a friendly Cicin Mage working undercover as a shrine maiden in Mt. Yougou, where they say Arlecchino sends killers to deserters like that friendly Cicin Mage...
@@claidheamhsoluis3044 wasn't she talking about the previous administrator of the house ?
I agree with you. There is a core of cruelty to what Arle is doing (whether out of duty or otherwise) including raising children into mini intelligence agents and fatui operatives, ready to lay down their lives for "Father". This coexists with the fact that she does care for her children. Like her vengeance in the recent character teaser.It is a twisted sort of affection and protectiveness. but it's there. The two truths coexist. @@claidheamhsoluis3044
The song is also already releasew btw.
It's titled "Emberfire", on Hoyo-mix channel.
it says not available
The song "Emberfire" slapped my heart to be crying with warmth beautiful scene 🥲👍🏻
Thank you for dropping the name of the song! I've been wondering, it's gorgeous.
I really like that Marco touches upon the Fatui being the protagonists and not the antagonists around 15:00, because that was also the feeling I got when I played during the Sumeru and Fontaine arcs. I don't have the words to verbalise what the music made me feel, but Marco put it so splendidly. I 'm really looking forward to seeing how it all plays out in Natlan and Snezhnaya.
I always praise his insights. Today Imma praise his wide eyed reaction to that kick 😂
😂
Hi Marco!
It's been awhile since i commented in one of your video! You pretty much nailed almost everything.
I'd like to answer some of your questions. As to why Arlecchino seems to 'betray' her friend is stated at the beginning of the short animation: House of the Hearth under previous Knave was a kin to a battle royale for the kids she took. It seems to me only 'the strongest' is worthy in Mother's eyes.
- Mother seems to be portryaed as this soft and caring parent while as Arlecchino grew older it became apparent Mother is cruel.
- Clairve is Mother's biological daughter. This was made clear in JP/CN language when Arlecchino asked her friend about 'do mother argue with their daughter?'
- Clairve was wearing Lumidouce bell flower pendant. Which in Fontaine represent parting and hope for reunion.
- Mother mentioned how she 'should have pruned the flower sooner' indicating she should've 'eliminated' her own daughter bcs she was 'kind' and 'innocent'. Calling it traits that are useless.
I'm assuming Clairve hated the idea of fighting Arlecchino and i don't think she had the intetion to do so. I personally think Clairve sacrifice herself to make Arlecchino a 'King'.
When they showed Arlecchino and Clairve toether there's this lyrics about 'not chained by fate'. I think Clairve believed in Arlecchino to change House of the Hearth for the better.
Which explains why Arlecchino told kids she will be 'strict and unfeeling' Father. From Arlecchino trailer in Livestream, it seems to me the battle that will take place was only for Lyney, Lynette and Freminet against herself.
This in itself is already different than the battle royale which previous Knave held. Other children raised under Arlecchino's House of Hearth became foot soldiers for the Fatui, is it good? No. But at least they have a resemblance of 'family'.
4:47 the prediction at the exact instant lol
The music for this video is honestly godlike. It really elevates everything to another level
And I’m pretty sure we’re also getting an Arlecchino Character Teaser tonight! Hoyo really loves Arle!
idk why they made her mid with that BOL thing no hate no nothing i saved 150 wishes for her its just idk what happened
@@benafleck7310it's part of her lore. The curse on her hand really lined up with her kit. Also I think her kit is pretty good. Not op like neuvi but definitely enjoyable.
@@benafleck7310Furina was said to be mid before she got released too, while Xianyun was shafted on hard. Neuvi was "worse" than Childe cos low hydro application.
Wait for her officially before judging ya.
@@PhuongHoang-cj9jzIf a character doesnt powercreep another character, people call them mid, it's inevitable.
Although some people also called neuvillette mid or bad without c1 pre-release
@@I.disagree yeah, this game is super casual and noncompetitve anyway. As long as a character has good gameplay and is stylish then it's a good character. I couldn't care less about number.
I like while the mother used love and care to manipulate and use them as a tool Arlecchino chooses to be strict instead because she cares and wants the children to be able to withstand and fight the injustices of the world
I really liked your whole analysis at 3:07 it was wonderful! I am always able to appreciate Genshin's music just as much and even more every time I watch your videos!
Oh btw the "Mother's" name is Crucabena, Gallic equivalent of the Welsh enchantress Ceridwen.
11:54 it seems she makes the kids refer to her as “Father” to distance herself from her “Mother”…it’s like when someone as an adult refers to their abusive parents by their first name, instead of mom or dad to distance themselves from them…
"the house of hearth is place of safety" Marco says it while the caption says "you will defeat all your brothers and sisters to become King"
I know he was talking about music theme but damn this both funny and odd timing
Also in the Snezhnaya scene it was Jester (in the middle) not Arlecchino. Jester is the first in command/leader and he delivers Tsaritsa (Cryo Archon) order and "promotion" of NEW Arrlecchino (Knave) since previous one got killed.
New Arlecchino decided to become "Father" instead of "Mother" since she didn't want to do the same as "Mother" aka give kids false warmth, happiness, etc. and then just betray them, force them into that bloody battle royale, etc. just like what had to experience. Better to be strict emotionless "father" (that actually cares about kids but don't want to show them) than fake nice "mother"
He just mistaken signora behind with arlecchino but he realized it and rectified a second later
There are two groups that are marketed very heavily, The Harbingers and The Archons(except the early archons sadly..with time their production quality is increasing thus making it seem like the new harbingers and archons are more important than the older ones..except Morax and Venti know the most about Teyvat's history, so they will be much more relevant than some of the new ones).
P.S. if u notice all archons have mostly support and subdps traits while all harbingers are main dps with no off-field support trait. Its almost like the harbingers are meant to be the protagonists that will fight the war while archons support them from behind
@@apoorvjoshi2383 support and subdps, but they are still the major player to the team, bringing some of the most unique and busted skillset, or in case of Furina, highly versatile and fulfill 2 extremely different support spectrum with ease. i feel like this is an important aspect to them too
5:09 pretty sure she offed herself the shot right before is kind of a common way to depict that in anime and manga without fully showing it, and we dont see her hands so she is likely holding the sword hilt.
I find it really interesting that in the moment the mother says "let your mother guide you and become the one true king" the lyrics of the music land on "I wont be tainted by fate"
When I heard this I couldn't help but think of An American Tale when she pushed open the window. The notes were made me think of "Somewhere Out There".
I'm not the best at discerning lyrics in choral music, but I'm pretty sure that when the children's choir starts singing, it's in Latin, which adds another layer of power to that part of the music.
Never knew a god damn nursery rhyme esque song would go so well with a fight scene
Is really cool Marcos work, sometimes we are having so much feelings listening the music, but by dont undertanding the tecnical part we can't describe, and Marco explain for us, im the end i completely understand my feelings about the music and start vibing much more
The previous Director made children fight each other to death, thats why she later changes the system sicne it ruined her friends
The wide eyes when Crucabena hits the ceiling just got me. XD Mostly he's concentrating, then just like a silent *whoa*
I'm always so fascinated by how well u are reading through songs like this, damn
I love your videos Marco! I am such a fan of Hoyoverse’s music and animations, and always look forward to it. But every time a new video gets released, I know that you will always cover it. Watching your videos gave more depth in the music choice and let me appreciate the music more. I think some viewers also share similar sentiments, and we hope that you keep up the quality of your content! ❤
Happy to hear that!
happy/hopeful music when things get dark really tugs at the heart strings - even more so when it's not dark yet but you know it's going to end up so
love seeing you excited at the end of Hoyo's video 💜
Props to Arle for keeping the same Hairstyle since she was a kid, til now when she's an adult.
She has long hair now though.
The fact, yet again, that Marco predicted 2 seconds in advance of what was about to happen stunned me. 😀
But hearing the connotation behind the notes which can tell a far deeper story than words sometimes can is impressive. Man, wish music lessons in school were as good as Marco's analytical deduction. 🎹
watching this while focusing mostly on the music really hit a note that it didn't on first watch. Can't help but fight back tears. Dang.
I luv how u explain the music segments and how it enhanced the story-telling in the video ❤
The song was sang for curleyg they just did’t add on it “Hoyo-Mix” was muzic officals only😢
Loved your breakdown! This trailer was awesome, there were so many cool details, and the music was great! The music and Pierro's voice when she got appointed as a Harbinger gave me chills when I first watched it.
Amazing breakdown like always. I can't stop listening to this song on spotify. I really love how songs adds to the emotions we feel. I had chills the whole time. Truly beautiful!
Thank you for another amazing video! It's honestly fascinating how you can predict what's gonna happen to characters just from music alone...
13:32 you said "Tsaritsa" like a native speaker, it threw me off a bit 😅
Waiting for you to listen to "emberfire", after checking the lyrics it feels like it's was sing by Arlecchino's friend. So beautiful and so meaningful
I have no formal music training but I love listening to your analysis
To add to all this brilliant musical analysis on a more visual aspect, notice how the cross is a constant re-occurance throughout the whole animation. At the start with the spider funeral, but all through the fight too with multiple crossing swords and after effects. This quite obviously references to divine self-sacrifice to cleanse sins, but it's also what is used to mark a target. Notice how the Dottore rabbit-vampire has one. Oh Peruere has a bone to pick with him, I'm pretty sure. And she probably won't hesitate to sacrifice herself when the time comes.
From my thoughts as well when the children join in the chorus, it's showing how, as stated in the opening story book, they made all these children fight each other to the death for one to emerge as king, and Arlecchino is holding them all with her there. They are singing for justice, for retribution and she is fighting for all her fallen siblings.
Just as always, i absolutely loved your video! 🧡 As for protagonist-not antagonist, the point is that antagonists are protagonists whose stories weren't explained. Something bad is not born, it's created. And there aren't true evil characters in genshin (well, bar Dottore, he is his own warning). Its all gray area.. and after Fontaine, Celestia has a lot to answer for too. I personally think that eventually we (as protagonist) will end up siding with the fatui and abyss. Just.. feels like everything is coming down to it, given how steadily dark Genshin gets with every step
By the way, from the scene where Arch friend is impaled on her sword, i think its more like the friend impaled herself. If you look carefully, you would notice that Arch wasn't even holding the blade and was shocked. And.. if so, its all so f$cked up 😢 we are truly coming down to honkai, eh?
To side with the Fatui and Abyss is an interesting thing to say, because the one thing we know for sure about the Fatui is that they are actively fighting against the Abyss. I mean it's possible we'll have to bring every faction together to oppose Celestia, but at the moment the Fatui consider themselves enemies of the Abyss.
@@bookswithike3256 do they, truly?.. though, i think there are much more to the abyss that we know. I mean, there's the hex circle of the mages, then fallen Khaenrians that assumingly formed the abyss order.. and maybe some more. The same situation might apply to celestia (would be rather ironic if they are fighting each other up there). But yeah, in the face of common enemy that is simply too strong to beat alone they will simply gang up together, destroy celestia likely and only then will go on solving their issues. That's rather common politically wise even in our world. Everyone always ganged up on a strong enemy, before going for each others throats 😅 n$zi Germany would be a good example about what happens when you acquire a little to many enemies to the point that even with issues between each other everyone damn ganged up on bastards because they have had enough of their cruelty
Ah well, only time will tell
For reference, the woman is Crucabena, the previous Knave, the harbinger in charge of the House of the Hearth, the recruitment/indoctrination wing of the Fatui in Fontaine. Crucabena's MO seemed to be fake motherly love, manipulating the orphans using it. As the new Knave, Peruere is also now in charge of the house. Rather than pretending to be doting to manipulate the children, she pretends to be unloving and cold. It's hard to tell just how much of it is a facade, but she definitely has love and emotion in her voice when at the grave of one of the deceased orphans during her character teaser
Marco doing the cat "huh" meme sound really caught me off guard. Great analysis! Personally that part of the trailer (blwoing up the building and the music going sky high) really gave me chills.
On your point about the Harbingers being the main characters of Genshin (And the Archons as well, in my opinion) is that, by the "mechanics" of the world regarding visions, most of the allogenes/vision bearers are already reasonably "realized" characters, most of them have strong goals and will because that's whats needed for someone to get a vision, they already fought and beat their inner demons; and this is why both the Harbingers and the Archons tend to have a stronger narrative focus, as the Archons didn't have to prove themselves in the same way and the Harbingers are all broken and twisted people who have taken upon "delusions" to guide their vision
a little detail as well that I'm not sure if you noticed, but when the blades first clash as Arlecchino jumps at mother, you can hear a variation on the Fatui Harbinger motif played on strings I think (motif? theme? not sure of the right word but the notes are lower here, in la signora's theme they're sung by male voices in an opera style) that can be heard in every other fatui boss's theme
Yeah, I wish I lived in the House of the Hearth, it looks so warm and cozy. Surely I'll be safe there.
Marco!!!! They already uploaded the song to Spotify!!!!!!!
An additional visual note many don't seem to remark on:
Before Clerve threw herself on Arle's sword(?), the scene was of her describing Schneznya as a place where 'The sky dances with colors', and when she suggests going there together, she has almost the same shocked expression as she does when the Tsaritsa's ice crystal draws her eye back out the window, to the aurora borealis.
To the hope she once had, and the... If not innocence, the ability to still appreciate the world to some extent. That, despite the way her steeling herself to the depressing extent that she did, she can still be caught off guard by the beauty in the world.
And most tellingly; The Tsaritsa's ice led her to that renewed faith, effectively hinting that Arle would come to replace her faith and care for her best friend to similar sentiments towards the Tsaritsa.
Hoyo outdone themselves this time as well, glad they’re jumping into making animated pieces for characters at last
When you were talking about the house of the hearth being all warm and welcoming etc you completely missed the part where it said they'd be forced to fight against each other until one's left standing to become king lol
Oh well
i have some opinion that in 7:53 , i feel the choir is represent the fight,, like, the back choir is mother, and the the lead vocal is arlechino (alone), fighting. and in 8:10 , arlechino is like trying to fightback but the "pham pham pham chan chan chan" thing before it go silent is showing us that mother is so strong and going to throw, and defeat her., and then after the motivation scene (tye flower), precisely at 9:36 the choir is changed to the childrens, after remembering her best friend, her brother and sisters, like whom she fight for is giving her power, is, just freaking amazing.
sori for bad english 🙇
15:05 I’d say it goes for the harbingers, and also the archons, in my opinion. Generally the characters that are most important to the main story, which is pretty much harbingers and archons
5:56 "I should have pruned this flower long ago... how grotesque." I think Mother is trying to say the other children are the wilted flowers that should have been cut long ago... 9:11 We see the wilted flower surrounded by young blooming flowers, I get the feeling that it is guarding them with all it's might against the crumbling infrastructure. Any stray brick could crush all of them but it is burning its life away to protect them.
This is Arlechno, A grotesque wilted thing doing all it can to protect all that is beautiful around it.
EDIT: We have seen this story played out over and over with Mihoyo. Someone fighting for what is beautiful against all odds. We have seen these characters time and time again sacrifice themselves for others. Kiana, Mei, Fu Hua, Elisia. We have seen this story play out and we know they DON'T need to sacrifice themselves, but is that the case With Arlechino? Can she or someone else break the curse?
thank you Marco for doing this for us. Your thoughts and opinion is very interesting to watch
''obviously this friend of hers is gonna die tragi- '' hoyo didnt even give marco time to finish his sentence HAHAHA
hoyo: sayless i gotchu
always love your analysis on music, also your character Dvorak makes a return soon.
Hey Marko, i just stumpled upon:
【超学生】Innocent Tyrant
It completely flashed me and i never heard this kind of vocals EVER before
it's interesting, spotting the difference between og house of hearth leader and arle.
peruere was essentially raised by a "caring" mother, only for that same person to turn out to be extremely cold and uncaring, even abusive, to the children under her care [clerve for instance] -- so in turn she strives to be this strict, unfeeling father while still retaining this vast amount of care for her children. it makes it seem like she doesn't wish to become like her predecessor, which makes things interesting since we know three of her children will be fighting her this upcoming update -- possibly even becoming the "king" in her place
2:15 don't call me out like that XD
At this pont marco able to decipher all future genshin story just by music itself 😂
A “Father” is born
I love learning more about her story ❤🤍
One thing to note is that I think the Lumidouce Bells represent the dead children of the hearth and the child chorus all the souls of her siblings cheering for the death of the "mother."
9:38 for me the choir of little kids is like all her orphan siblings who died
I'm so happy because Dvorak is back!
Great video as always Marco
can't wait react to the song (Emberfire) and lyrics.
i know nothing about genshin and this is amazing story telling
It would be cool to see another blasphemous reaction. That game has so many great tracks, the sequel as well.
Noted
I would love to see his reaction to the HSR concert!! 😭
If you didn't know the official song without the animation also came out on the hoyomix chanel
Actually since Signora's battle theme, Harbingers are considered as the tragic heroes of their own story. My guess is that in the end game, we join force with them before going to Celestia.
It would be awesome if you could find time to have a collab discussion with some of the lore theorist analyst content creators. Your insight into what music tries to convey could be interesting in contrast to what cold-calculated lore we already have outside of the current cinematic. I would be interested in what sort of conclusion you could make.
I think the choir with the children voice represents the kids that died under "Mother" cruelty as they fought each other to death. They spoke through Arlecchino and Arlecchino took revenge for them.
Arlecchino looking at the light on the sky at the end because it was her promise to the pink hair girl that they would grow up and go see it together. But only Arlec gets to see it
marco brother at the very beggining it is narrated that they fight each other to become king.
I'm just now noticing the choir at 5:41 has this epic/ominous vibe kinda reminiscent of Overture of Storms which is the one thing that absolutely hooked me into the game for good.
I went into this game thinking "Ah, another chinese game, probably trash as all Chinese mobile games tend to be" and boy, was I blown away and was I happy to be wrong. That intro and specially Overture of Storms single-handedly sold me the idea that "This is a high quality production you're playing, we're kinda serious here."
Mother was warm and caring on the surface but ruthless and cruel. By calling herself a strict and unfeeling Father, she’s basically saying that’s what others gonna see, not how she plans to treat the children - she rejects every bit of what Mother represents.
Alrrecino is the disney princess we could've had.
I was excited to see your reactuon to this the second this video was announced
I really loved how the music was according to the storytelling in this video. Awesome!
"like a church religious thing" (sic) i'd liken it more to illuminati myself~ but i adore this character vid
Hi Marco. Splendid reaction. Very want to see your view of future Arlecchino boss theme. Best Regards.
Very soon ❤️
I'd also like to think that the chrous after she gets up is all the other children urging her on
A lot sadder when you realise her friend let herself die. The only way for her to be free.
Only reason i miss this game is I can't hear banger music. They rarely miss with music, atleast for me.
almost at 300k WE MOVIN
That was amazing love seeing how you doing your videos.
BTW you should react to PGR Moonlit Occultation, it would guarantee blow your mind
Wait to listening to Arlechinno's theme, you are going to go NUTS
Might as well review Emberfire(the full ost)
Nah but it’s pretty
@@MarcoMeatball okay 😭