@@Josh-qt5zi Thats what I was thinking too! Ar first I thought the stellaron hunters are like our fatui harbingers but that seems more fitting for the Ten Stonehearts
@@tripedal2063 in hsr I keep find alot of refer to Franz Kafka work here the highlight the astral express is an nod to on the tram,Penacony got it name from into the Penal colony,the Ipc are likey an nod to the business man and so on
I think Amber claiming that the story book taught her how to fly more than the written flying manual is also a good early moment that was really showing us the power of the abstract idea versus the rigid and sterile facts. So that is one that seemed kinda like a sappy story that may now hold more importance if your last theory is true. Love the theory and will definitely be thinking back on more of the past quests with it in mind 😊
I don't know if someone mentioned it before but Venti has a lot of Similarities to a lot fairy tale princesses, he can talk to animals like snow white, he changed his form to a human like the little mermaid, he sees the beauty with in a monster like beauty and the beast, he sleeps for hundreds of years like sleeping beauty. I just find it super charming that he has these small References
He has magic hands and hairs too!! We can say he may be Also cursed, as he was holding a gnosis and skirk said they were cursed Can we say he was kidnapped and enslaved during the decarabian period or shortly by la signora ?? So he basically is the ultimate Disney princess ✨✨
@@darkomiku8902 And on a smaller, yet wider, scale... All of her moves are digitized rather than being actual natural things like Dendro typically represents.
Nahida is the youngest Archon and an allegory for a database. Zhongli is the oldest Archon and Hu Tao, a character that wanders between life and death thus may have a glimpse of what’s waiting after your plot line runs it’s course, called him “a walking Encyclopedia” as in the book that held general knowledge of everything before computers came along. I’m gonna go mad looking back to all the comments from certain characters.
Oh, Oh! The reason the first area of Simulanka has animals instead of humans is because they're an allegory of the dragons/vishaps who lived in Teyvat before humans came! The last two areas reflect the world after the Primordial One and Susty arrived and colonised it!
Hey, Do you think that at some point in the history of Genshin Impact they give us "that" world (And that one of the regions of this is Simulanka...??)?🥹🥹
Remember that the one summer event, we got a "phone" from Alice that was described sort of like some technology from another world or something. Fits with your idea on the Hexenzirkel existing outside of the world of Teyvat.
I think Dainleif might be the prime candidate to be the main character of genshin story since Warderer is wearing an sword and Dainleif is nickname the twilight sword
@nicolas._.2294 hard one, and honestly not sure but if I have to guess, it probably Paimon considering the parallel of them begin the twin companion.Dainleif is the abssy sibling companion,Paimon is the traveller companion
@@Josh-qt5zi I was thinking about paimon and dain parallels after rewatching the road not taken animation, and the fact that they both have such a similar cape and the role of guiding the twins. I wonder what the consequence of them both having the role of "guide" will be. Lumine considers dain a betrayer, and if paimon's role is the same role as dain, I wonder if she'll betray traveler too
@blue7609 they even wearing opposite colours clothes plus they hair colour is similar to Otto and Kiana,I thinking Dainleif is likey an opposite to hi3 Otto
the idea that the traveler is just reading an overly complicated and complex book, only to be so immersed into it and ended up writing a fanfic about it is hilariously smart
Actually each one is an Act BUT we are still in the Teyvat chapter so after all the stuff with Celestia comes to an end and we arrive at the field of flowers it will be on to the next chapter of the book ...
Wild speculation: Khaenri'ah is the cover of the 'book'. It just fits with its slightly out of time/rules nature, more interaction with beings from beyond but still seemingly bound to teyvat. In the world tree model it would make sense as both the roots and branches as it wraps around.... And even wilder "the eclipse is swallowed by the crimson moon" so the crimson moon dynasty is the book sleeve *reaching*
wait wait waittt omg you cooked here! I remember also that Khaenri'ah is located at the bottom of the Sumeru dessert, and if we assume Teyvat is one kind of a big fairytale book, we opened the book to go inside of Teyvat, doesn't this also mean that Khaenriah is now located at the bottom of the book (world)? This makes me remember that our abyss twins said that the first country they went into was Khaenriah, does that mean that our twin read the front cover first and then went inside the book, while we just skipped the front cover to read the book from prologue (mondstadt) all towards the end and read the cover (Khaenri'ah) later which is the back cover? If so, I think the conclusion of our journey might've been very different from our twins because the Front cover and the Back cover don't usually contain the same thing! (also if we refer to the modern book, the back cover contains more information about the book than the front cover itself) Oh my god, so many possibilities!
@@denna40charlotte66 thank you, haha it started as a wild statement that just felt right and then the more I lay awake thinking about it the more it worked just structure wise and thematically. That is soooo re the desert and the twin!!! This Ashikai theory really may have blown teyvat wide open. After playing Star rail this weird world format seems correct, It also explains those those random pieces of paper littering the domains (as they are kind of outside the book spaces between pages), the recording in stone comment by Zhongli, the narrative needing a point of view. My big question is who is the writer and did they pull a princess Tutu and enter their own story to become immortal.
Oh wait does this make Spiral Abyss the spine of the book. The "moment of syzygy" where the back and front cover meet. Are the three moon sisters rulers of the front, back and spine.
I think a really powerful moment I had was, if my memory is correct, from the quote that "the feelings and emotions felt in fiction can become the reader's reality" was in the one Fontaine event with Freminet in Thelxie's Fantastic Adventures. I think this is one other example of hints that books are mediums of storytelling and that maybe all the emotions and experiences we, as players (readers), in Genshin are real. Just a food for thought.
Considering Ashikai's previous theories of making dream/storybook Teyvat into reality is the original objective of the Primordial One, it's a risky task, as a screw up/editing the story the wrong way equates to the samsara into another revision of the book/dream. With Rene's World Formula hinting the current cycle is the last, the chosen traveller is the final chance to revise the story of the World, while ensuring it will be the actual reality by rewriting the right way.
What you mentioned about Mondstadt foreshadowing future things and the possibility of Teyvat being a book kinda makes me think about that one line in A Drunkard's Tale. "What you humans call wine, we wolves call the abyss." Idk why, it's just the imagery of Teyvat being a book lying on a shelf somewhere with a spilled glass of wine soiling the pages. And that being the all-consuming power of the abyss. Harmful to anyone safe for a few (Childe (a russian themed guy who's immune to alcohol)) is somehow funny.
@@TanyaKory Makes sense.. some "water dmg" (or wine etc.) can make a book or parts of it unreadable when it messes with the ink, unable to restore the words aka beings of teyvat
@@alexprus7953 taking into account Ashikai previous theories, the written story represents order (Imaginary), while the unreadable section of the story represents chaos (Quantum). When the traveller purifies the abyssal corruption, it's akin to rewriting the story in the correct order after the mess was made.
The library theory is blowing my mind cuz like that could literally be how the twins travel to different worlds; through different books and the story of Teyvat is just one book in the whole library 😱
When translating to Honkai terms, a book is a civilization/planet/world, the library is the Imaginary Tree within the Sea of Quanta. Though for Teyvat's case, it's more of bringing a fictional story/world back to reality, though the 4th samsara/revision is the final chance to set things right, as predicted by Rene's world formula.
This video kind of reminded me why I've never gotten burn out of the game yet. Whenever I am not enjoying playing the game I just take a step back and watch/read what other theorists are saying. Since, the world building depth of this game has a lot to chew on from different angles, you can always find new things to think about and I love that.
with each new patch lore i become more and more convinced that he whole of tevyat is just a huge theater production.(not mad, i am a theater kid afterall)
@Sinder-StinkyLlama I also believe everything in hsr is just an one climactic movie considering the Stellarons hunter the game Hexenzirkel equality is moive producing motif and Finality in the first myriad is expectedly like old moive scene black scene the word Fin
Relating the fairytale of Simulanka to Nahida's fairytale as a form of backup is really a huge mind-blowing thing. Damn. You make me want to eead back Nahida's quest
ive noticed all the storybook references and archetypal characters from mondstadt before but i always looked at it from a videogame perspective. of course the tutorial region from the new big gacha game is gonna be based on a lot of fantasy tropes! its an easy way to ease potential new players into the world. so interesting to see that this may actually be lore relevant lol
@docedeleite16 the second region Liyue is loosely based on journey to the west,Inazuma is likey take inspiration from Inuyasha also one the stand out place is the Yae publishing house which make light novel,sorry I can't get much out of Sumeru,but Fontaine take inspiration from musical and Broadway shows
@@Josh-qt5zi Sumeru is middle east stories. Ali Baba, the one thousand and one night, Aladdin and the magic lamp, etc. Though I must confess, those are mostly in the desert region. Not sure what the forest region is, as I can't think of a parallel for the Aranara other than traditional European fairies or brownies, which doesn't really fit the region.
Putting that scene where Venti gibes SOME kinda power to Dvalin in when talking about secrets hidden in the beginning... I Have Been Screaming About It since Neuvillette, really. Something is up with it and I don't know what but it is very, very, very, Very Important! "Is this the power of the Anemo Archon?" could be 'is this what your true power feela like' which would be a little odd as Dvalin should possibly know that already... Or it could mean that, not Venti's power, but the Anemo Archon's power was Transferred. To. Dvalin. In the prologue!
@user-kp6hq8jw5pi think venti only gives power to dvalin, while focalors gives the power AND the authority to neuvilette cuz well, venti is still the archon while focalors isnt. So yeah its a two diff matters. But i also agree thats very important event
@@monikaaaax3I have this feeling we won’t get his second story quest until Snehznaya 😭 I think it’s that important and pivotal to the story that it won’t be until late game
@user-kp6hq8jw5p Destroying the throne and extracting authority of the gnosis I believe are functionally the same thing. This being said, Focalors has been building up power for 500 years. Venti typically snoozes for that long at a time. Considering that I'd classify Venti's worship as significantly greater than Focalors' given that he's got an actual church that is the main building Monstadt (not the knights of Favonius HQ). Focalors built up the people's belief in justice with trials. The people in Monstadt believe in freedom extremely fervently. Venti certainly wasn't spending that power while sleeping. So he might just have a lot more than that amount of power saved up. Of course, Focalors also had to die to destroy the hydro throne and Venti isn't dead. I'd been considering the thing about Venti transferring power to Dvalin since ages ago. Especially due to the timing, like he knew he was going to lose the gnosis anyway. If I had to guess, what he did has some similarities but isn't quite the same. Otherwise it'd be a bit too casual a one upping.
21:09 All the worlds a stage? Let MY name echo in song? If the theory of the entire story being a stageplay/story in a book, who is the one character who has been acting all her life and has finally left the stage? Who is the one character that is now leading and directing her own plays? Who is the one character whose vision literally brought story book characters to life? WHO I ASK YOU is the character whose ult animation is literally opening a story book?! Thats right! Our nations national icon, Fontaines biggest celebrity, O̶n̶e̶ ̶o̶f̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶s̶e̶v̶e̶n̶ ̶a̶r̶c̶h̶o̶n̶s̶ ̶o̶f̶ ̶T̶e̶v̶y̶a̶t̶, The Regina of all waters, kindreds, peoples and laws: Furina De Fontaine!!! (I'm coping, I don't want to leave her)
LET ME COOK CHAT, Furinas 2nd Story Quest will be about us now exiting the stage in a meta sense! Discovering the different plays outside our own! TRUE AND REAL
You may be joking but thinking about it there's actually a case to be made about Fontaine considering all the fairy-tale, fables, literary and operas references that exists. Furina with the obvious reference to the little mermaid, Ninianne and Vivianne with the Lady of the lake, Erinnyes with the Song of Roland and Mary-Ann with Alice in Wonderland. And Furina/Focalors was being the actor, audience and director in the demo and teaser. Add to that Focalors choosing to name her human self with a new name and h seemingly understanding the working of fates well enough to deceive it. It is definitely interesting to think about.
@@kieran1129 I just rewatched Act 5, and in the scene where Furina is talking to the Traveler about sharing her burder, she literally said "If Tevyat is, in its entirety, a show on a stage, then you're just a spectator, aren't you?" SHE LITERALLY KNOWS, THATS WHY SHES MY GOAT
Crazy theory, i think the theory that Traveler is basically the reader of the story book is very true, especially since as early as chapter 1 or 2 (i don't remember which), Zhongli said that Traveler's role is that of a witness, so now that makes even more sense with this theory. Not only this, but the Simulanka event foreshadowing that Traveler isn't the main character makes sense in this context but also makes things interesting. So the question now becomes...who IS the main character? I have two theories to this: 1) each chapter has their own set of characters and own set main character. Now it does get a bit confusing because i think some chapters get abstract as to who the main character is 2) Our SIBLING is the main character. I think this is why they are recorded in the Irminsul because Celestia wants them to take over the main role of the story, and why we are not, because our role is still simply the reader/witness/audience/observer. I think thats where it comes to the end where we help our sibling finish their goal and why our own "ending" is to find them, which would be at the end of journey.
There's still the Gnostic Hymn to consider though. I think the Gnostic Hymn is supposed to be a paraphrased story about the twins as it has to fit in some way.
Childe is the main character lmao, not only has he a protagonist energy (wanting to become stronger to protect the things he believes in, being named after a legendary hero), but also he seems like he's getting more and more important the more we know about him And he made this weird, almost meta?? comment during the Fontaine AQ: "Isn't it time for side characters like me to leave the stage?" ~~I don't know if I'm even joking anymore lol~~
i had this idea for a while now, but wouldnt it make sense if paimon is the main character? this would completly explain why she is the main one constantly talking, and not us as the traveler, maybe they were trying to hint at it form the very beggining like this? because there isnt really any other reason why the traveler doesnt have voice lines, if not for the fact that they have been portraying paimon as the main character of the book, and maybe thats why ppl dont really question her existence? maybe the chapter teyvat is written in favor of paimon?
If the Traveler is the reader who'll one day become the author, their sibling could be someone who decided to become a character. Step out of the audience and onto the stage.
THANK YOU! When my wife and I were playing through Simulanka, it was so obvious to us it was basically a reflection of Teyvat, and I haven't seen ANYONE talking about it. There's a lot you noticed that we didn't, but I think I can also add some more from my side! I don't think this helps a lot in discovering new secrets, but I believe Simulanka is referencing the story of Teyvat roughly before the Archon War. I think each of the 5* characters is one of the Descenders. 1) Navia, the King of Constellation Metropole, is the First Descender (who we believe to be the Primoridial One, the absolute ruler of mankind). A city related to the stars makes me think of Celestia or the Unified Civilization. This is the people who are bound by the destiny in the stars. 2) Nilou, the Fairy of the Forest of Blessings, is the Second Descender (who I believe to be the "Night Mother" from the "Land of the Night/Moonlit Forest"). She's the one who watches over the lands bordering Teyvat, where the creatures who live in it aren't bound by the stars. 3) Scara, the Hero of Simulanka, is the Third Descender. Not much to go on here, but it fits the timeline if you keep following me. 4) Durin, the Evil Dragon, is Nibelung, who appeared (again) out of nowhere and started attacking Simulanka/Teyvat. From what Neuvillette tells us, the first and second Descenders worked together to make the gnoses from the third's remains. So here's my take: The first 2 Descenders lived relatively peacefully side-by-side, each one ruling over their respective territories. Nibelung returned to Teyvat, and not long after him, the Hero/3rd Descender did as well - he was possibly chasing after the dragon. The 3 Descenders together managed to defeat a juiced-up Nibelung, mostly thanks to the Hero as seen in Simulanka. The 1st Descender "malfunctioned", whatever Neuvillette means, due to injuries in the battle. Then, the Hero (AKA Traveler from Afar) did... something with the Ancestral Seelie, causing whatever happened between the Moon Sisters and resulting on his death. Then the remaining 2 Descenders took this opportunity to make the gnoses from the 3rd, as Neuvillette mentioned. Now thinking about it, maybe the Descenders and the Moon Sisters are the same thing? Maybe the fight was between the 3 Descenders. I mean, if the 3 goddesses created Simulanka, and a Descender is the one with the power to shape the world (AKA the writer of the story), then maybe in Teyvat Descenders and Moon Sisters are the same. But I digress. Also, that side-quest in the Broken Sea? That's 100% Khaenri'ah. We know they were trying to bring Descenders to Teyvat, that process somehow involved wishes, and Khaenri'ah is also related to moons. And in the Broken Sea we take the lamp from the lighthouse, place it on a statue where people make WISHES, then it transforms into a MOON that signals the way for people coming to Simulanka from ANOTHER WORLD. This quest is surely foreshadowing how the Twins came to Teyvat/Khaenri'ah.
Oddly enough, I recently listened to some history of Alice in Wonderland as a story. Most notably, how the first drafts went by different titles and the story gradually changed adding different characters that would contribute to the story in different ways. It feels as though the story evolved during the time that Dodgeson wrote it and continues to evolve with other interpretations as directed by different storytellers.
13:36 If nobody got me, "Unreconciled Stars" got me. Seriously,that event is like an endless pit of loredrops,especially when we have more context for everything with time And yeah,they probably told us everything in the beginning,we were just lacking context. And the event in the Sumeru after Similanka kinda hints that the devs deliberately put lots of lore red herrings,so that we would be distracted by that hints instead of bigger picture
always love your videos! the fate segment made me think a little more of the paper frogs and potentially having control of their own fate (to an extent from the frog perspective)...the gameplay of the leapfrog where WE pull the magic thread and it determines the direction and how far they leap is in opposition to us travelling across the predetermined paths of the magic threads in the other 2 areas. makes me laugh bc when i first got to simulanka, i didn't catch the instructions for how to do the leapfrog mechanic so it took me forever to win in the race LOL.
I hope so. But I'm worried for Natlan's world quests. The livestream said they were making them shorter and making them part of the tribal chronicles thing rather than their own standalone quests.
@@bookswithike3256 depending on their overall design that could be a huge good thing. NZKZ was already quite close to the events of Fontaine's AQ and we even saw a character from that chain in Neuvi's SQ. So if Natlan has its WQ imbedded directly into stuff that's part of the AQ - imo that's a real good thing. My copium hope since a few years ago has been that WQs and AQ will influence each other and it has definitely seemed that we're inching closer to that being the case. From what I've read, the tribal stuff won't even be doable before finishing a part of the AQ, so maybe there's a noticeable connection. I'll still try doing as many WQs and exploration as I can w/o even interacting with the AQ.
OMG DID YALL SEE THE ARCHON QUEST ACT 2?? Mauvika and the travelers conversation was basically a one on one reflection of this theory!! Later in the artifacts room anyway
i’m autistic and on vacation far from home and it’s stressing me out so bad since i’m not in a place i’m familiar with, so i’ve been watching your videos on repeat since i got here since your channel is such a comfort for me. so i’m super excited to have some new content from you. thank you so much for the hard work you put into your videos/content. sending you much love!
@@asteraria1056 'Simulanka' is from the word simulacra (if i recall correctly) and its definition is 'a copy of reality represented in a false (story-like) form'. I looked it up for theory making purposes right after the quest
I was reminded of Zhongli’s second story quest ending, in which he says that he expects the traveler to be a witness to the history of the world or something like that
YEES!!! that's exactly what I said. I was kinda sad she didn't put it in the video. He said that he would keep trying to find new ways of writing Teyvant's history
6:50 I love how you're explaining how nahida preserved wanderer's past by using an analogy in the form of a fairytale, using analogy to connect it with computers
great theory. i think you're right about the hexenzirkel trying to write their own fate. also, since the three goddesses of simulanka and by proxy the moon sisters are references to the three fates of greek mythology, they might also be similar to the main trio from honkai impact 3rd. the three goddesses and the moon sisters, like the fates, represent the begining of things, the story the things follow, and then the end of things, like how mei is the herrscher of origin, bronya is the herrscher of truth, and kiana is the herrscher of finality. the trio from honkai impact 3rd represent the past the present and the future and went against the cocoon of finality, which was oppressing the world, and now the hexenzirkel represent the past the present and the future and is going against fate or irminsul or celestia which is oppressing the world. i don't think that teyvat is a fairytale, it might be a real world, but it's controlled in a similar way to a story.
This was your most Genshinly Impactfully on pointedly videoly for mei thus far. Thanks for what you dou, this helps enjoyment of this games ridonk depth and symbolism even more enjoyable.🤟🤟
Dear Ashikai, SPEACHLESS and MARVELOUS work in there, there are so much research, game memory, and writting skills in here, you are yourself an Andersdotter type witch! Thanks also for sharing us this content when we are unable to play the game! I'm on hyperfocus right now, and I am pleased to find your channel!
The part where you mention the abyss sibling telling us weve always had enough time gave me chills. I was a little confused at first, but at that moment everything snapped into place !
The tie to Venti caught me off guard. That's such a good point and really sells the whole thing, along with giving a believable answer for why Venti feels so important without being able to pinpoint why - I think this theory might be spot on. I've long since thought its possible that Alice is ACTUALLY from Alice in Wonderland (like the only character in genshin besides Alloy - lol - who is directly from another IP, and not just heavily references it, i.e. Wanderer with Evangelion) and she left her story and kept traveling to different worlds like how she isekai'd into wonderland. Its crazy that this theory almost supports that. Like of course she would think someone who can craft fairy tales skillfully is magical, its the truest form of creation since thats how she would have been created.
I've always personally seen the Hexenzirkel members as essentially a stand-in for the real life developers/writers or Genshin. It fits all the roles of guiding the player, literally being able to decide characters fate, etc. The main reason though is the whole aspect of Alice knowing about technology and culture of Earth. I can imagine a Genshin writer actually inserting themselves in to the game as a way to talk to the player, but done so in a way to actually serve the story not as just a random 4th wall break.
You are a fantastic writer and speaker! I just found your video and I loved every second, I only played the game for a few hours and I wanted to look up the story behind it! I am for sure subscribing and catching up on your videos :D
3:00 Im going to take a guess right now that the reason Alice was drawn to Anya was that she could potentially keep Irminsul history by turning the facts into fictional stories, thus preserving them from being altered whenever Irminsul changes things... If she's just a normal woman but has an incredible knack for writing stories, she could take everything the others tell her and turn that information into stories that can never be changed by Irminsul
man let her cook. absolutely a great video as fontaine ends and before natlan begins. i enjoyed the theories and how u connected the dots especially with the context of threads as leylines. atp ashikai vids are an obsession
miss ashikai i think this might be my favorite video you’ve ever put out! i’ve never been a fan of the time loop or dream theories of teyvat but teyvat being a story book that is also possibly a reflection of another world is so much more fun and creative i love it!
also remember René stating it was bad to gain a vision - which connects to a specific constellation in teyvat with a written fate according to our lovely astrologer :)
The only thing I'd like to add to this excellent theory and hypothesizing is that: Nahida proved that fairy tales can survive irminsul tampering, and allow people who have their memories altered to remember/see through the tampering. This then follows that Anya's story telling was so valuable to the hexenzirkel because her superior ability to write stories enabled the witches to experiment and tamper with irminsul while using Anya's stories to track the effects of those changes, as they would otherwise be unable to notice if anything had changed
This idea of Teyvat being a story or a play that reflects the real world reminds me of Plato’s Parable of the Cave: Imagine a group of people living inside a dark cave. They are chained in place and can’t move around, so they’re stuck just staring at the wall in front of them. There is light coming from outside the cave behind them, but all they can see are the shadows cast on the wall. They can see shadows of trees, rocks, other people etc. This is their entire world- how would they ever know that anything ever existed other than the shadows? Imagine if somehow one person broke free and managed to leave the cave. They see the trees, the rocks, the other people, in full light, seeing all the colour and definition. They finally see the world how it actually is, and not just in shadows. The idea of the people in Teyvat being actors on a stage is like them being stuck in a dark cave. Once the actors realise they’re in a play, they can go backstage, or in the audience. Once the people in the cave break their shackles, they can leave the cave
One of the best videos ever. Hexenzerkel videos are just crazy and I love them. And this is what happens when Ashi combined all the knowledge and gives us the truth of the world, potentially to be true. Goosebumps!!!! ❤
Your description of Mondstadt being a direct evocation of fairy tales and stories fits so well. Even the fact that the Mondstadt Archon quest is the **Prologue!** The "story" doesn't officially start till Chapter 1, when we move on to Liyue
Ur killing me Ashikai. I had all these thoughts, but you have the perfect way of saying it to make sense to a bigger audience. I love you so much, it scratches the good itch in my brain
At some point I really need the theorist community to catch onto the fact that Rhinedottir......a SINNER.......is making trips into Irminsul. Irminsul cannot give us information on what happened to our sibling. And has no records on us. Vedrfolnir.....known as THE SINNER.....enticed our sibling and Clothar to the Abyss. I think the Irminsul trips are more than just exploration for at least Rhine. I think she's either working as a double agent or the whole Hexenzirkel is on the Sinners' sides.
I think something that gets overlooked a lot, is that Venti claims to know every single song, from the past, and the future. Which means that, if it is something that will have a song written about, (which countless bards and poets we meet, as the traveller, promise to write about our adventures) then Venti already knows how it will end. He knows the future. I always wondered how, or perhaps if this was even just a lie. But near the end of your video, when you talk about his potential alliance with the Hexenzirkel, it makes a lot of sense how he might know. If he truthfully does know every song, then the Hexenzirkel members may have been the ones who taught him. (maybe his "sleep" for so long was because he was actually studying to memorise all the songs, and it just took a long time)
Also I firmly believe that the forest creatures vs metropole people are foreshadowing of Nathan people vs everyone else in teyvat, since it looks like people of Nathan actually have control over their own fate via their ancient names
Once again, you cooked ! I can't wait to find out how much of what you theorized is true, but regardless of the final outcome this video was a pleasure to watch
The fact that Keaya who is “Khaenriah prince”is the one who told us about the shakespeare reference and the fact that there is a god kinda hint us that the Khaenriah people acknowledge that the whole thing is a story in a book.
Hey @Ashikai, I believe what you said in the backstage makes so much sense. What's funny is that Venti also said "What? You don't remember me?" right when we meet him hinting that this is not our first time going into this "book" that is "teyvat'.
The story book theory makes perfect sense! To add food for thought, Wanderer being the main character (or one of many) makes sense, especially since we get to name him. We started a new story for him, or fate… in this case. (I named him Truth, and seeing this awesome video just cements I made the right choice)
There a map somewhere of all the teleport waypoints making cons of each character. I noticed for Xiao's some of the waypoints is where we meet him! Truly a reflection of the sky.
I think the so called "Exit" in Tevyat if this theory does prove to be true, is either the Gateway to Celestia (The Barbatos Statue by the Cathedral), or just taking a boat through the ocean beside the beach we started in. This perfectly analogizes with Simulanka's Bookmark and Boat Exit.
this would almost make sumeru archon quest act 1 almost *too* on the nose. like for example nilou being able to change the story or “control her fate” only after realising she was in a dream first
This is a beautiful video. In general, as someone who used to study genshin lore but no longer has the time to (since The Chasm dropped, sadly), your videos are a joy and scratch an unreachable itch. Again, wonderful video. Keep it up!
I wonder if unreconsiled stars was meant to be the truth from from the beginning that was with us all along. And the characters and their actions were representative of the ending of the game.
I cannot believe Unreconciled Stars was a limited time event, and that so much world lore is buried in books 😅 I think you’re on to something in saying that there’s a big truth within Unreconciled Stars that’s going to rear its head. It already did a little bit in Nahidas story quest
Another thing I thought about is that the dragon that sleeps under fonaine (melusine creator) was kind of like durin. I think there was a thing where it was trying to flap its tail and it caused horrible earthquakes or something. I love those ancient dragons, hopefully we see more of durin soon.
this is a lil out of left field but as someone obsessed with hsr, your quotes summarizing for Kaveh's post simulanka quest.... the one where Alhaitham "casted doubt" on Kaveh's inadvertently correct assumption about the end of the story to basically encourage Kaveh finish reading the story on his own. it reminds me a A LOT of Gallagher's role in Penacony. a History Fictionologist, crafted from [the stories of] dozens of loyal Family members, who directed the Express, Sunday, and in turn, the other faction reps (Aventurine, Acheron, Black Swan, Boothill, Firefly) to the "right answers". Gallagher's entire purpose was to invoke enough curiosity from the Express SPECIFICALLY so that they would find the truths of Penacony on their own terms. Inadvertently, they'd end up fulfilling Pom-Pom's desire to learn the faith of Mikhail's trio (the circling of the "murderer" of the story), with Gallagher pushing on the pursuit of truth despite (or perhaps because of) Gallagher's alignment with the Enigmata...... Gallagher could have easily told all the Factions the truth the moment they came to Penacony, but in crafting the fiction[story] of the Watchmaker's Legacy, he encouraged and essentially enabled the factions to acquire the proof and power needed to alter Penacony's fate. Case in point, most of 2.1 with Aven and Acheron learning the mechanics and weaknesses of the Dreamscape leading into 2.3 where Acheron, Black Swan, and Boothill shattered Ena's Dream using essentially the same method, just on a larger scale. man. Hoyo loves this lil theme of obscuring the truth to encourage people to seek reality for better outcomes hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
dainsleif could be the protagonist but i also feel like childe gives off massive main character energy, especially with his excursion in fontaine. i even felt that i was an audience member passively watching his way cooler adventure everytime we tuned in to him fighting the narwhal
I am a little late but. speaking of books the sacrificial fragments book which is the final of the sacrificial series has this line at the end "the god of the winds may move between the pages of a book, but in the end the merciless god of time will eat away at them until not a single legible word remains" Which means venti might have the availability to move between "books" or more like different stories
So does that mean that we as the player are witnessing a story of the Traveler witnessing a story...? Or is the Traveler and the player one and the same? Does that break the fourth wall, or make it inexistent if the first place? Is Simulanka a story three layers deep? You know, when Zhongli called the Traveler a "witness", I didn't expect it to be quite so literal...
Spoilers for Honkai inpact 3rd: It could also be, that "we" as the players are a bit like "Captain" in HI3. In the main story of that game, "we" as the player(Captain) exist as a higher dimensional being, witnesing the story of K423 (MC of HI3 who wee thing for a good chuncke of the game is Kiana Kaslana, but is reality K423 is Kianas clone) and the other characters. In that case I could see moree similarities between the games. Traveler could be/is the MC of Genshin, even if not of Teyvat.
One of the better videos lately that captivated me to the end. Something about how easy this is to understand and not a lot of real world references that gets convoluted. Nice balance.
Good Video as always. I still think that Mondstadt is modeled after Germany or at least a German Fairytail. The events are one of many examples. The Oktoberfest which was later changed to Weinlesefest(because of too much alkohol for a kids game :p) are both traditional old german Folk festival. Ofc I am a little bit biased because I am a german, but there are too many similarities in and around Mondstadt. Love your videos, big fan. 😊
Yeah i agree, Mondstadt takes a lot from medieval Europe with a focus on Germany while Fontaine is more 19th century europe with a focus on France (with its early history being more Gaulish/Celtic and Roman).
The take of Mondstadt being more based around a fairytale setting was so cool to hear, especially when it doesn’t take away from the idea of it being based on Germany! Many people know fairy tales from the Brothers Grimm tales, and while not the first iteration, it’s definitely one of the more well-known versions. And where were they from? Germany! In short, there’s not even a need for a debate, since both concepts are technically right!
I'm not sure if we all remember that user who discovered that the waypoints on Liyue could form the constellations belonging to the characters from that region. Since fate, lay lines and waypoints seem to be linked, it's quite interesting
ISTFG if this is all the devs just intricately telling me to touch grass and get out into the real world I'm going to hold a local protest with Da Wei's face right on my sign 😑 Edit: In Natlan looking for the mints 😑
I’m surprised it wasn’t mentioned at the end but one of the biggest things that point to “Tevat is a book and The Traveller is the reader” is that the Archon Quest’s the traveller goes through are literally called CHAPTERS
![[3.5] A First Look at the Hexenzirkel - Genshin Impact Lore & Theory](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/J4DMk5M3MP8/mqdefault.jpg)
![[3.5] A First Look at the Hexenzirkel - Genshin Impact Lore & Theory](/img/tr.png)
![[4.8] What Simulanka Tells Us About Natlan - A Genshin Impact Theory](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/vqBUhfArTOs/mqdefault.jpg)
![[5.1] Phlogiston and the Abyss - A Genshin Impact Theory](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/Z2p0gV-5J4Y/mqdefault.jpg)
![[4.4] Why do Adepti have visions?! - A Genshin Impact Theory](/img/n.gif)
The hexenzirkel just being a group of powerful women that enjoy worldbuilding and tea is so wholesome for me
The Hexenzirkel are genshin impact equality of the stellarons hunter
@@Josh-qt5zi Thats what I was thinking too! Ar first I thought the stellaron hunters are like our fatui harbingers but that seems more fitting for the Ten Stonehearts
@@tripedal2063 in hsr I keep find alot of refer to Franz Kafka work here the highlight the astral express is an nod to on the tram,Penacony got it name from into the Penal colony,the Ipc are likey an nod to the business man and so on
@@tripedal2063 the witches: let's go to war
Venti: let's spell tea☕️
they also enjoy the other kind of tea🤭
Dropping a theory right when maintenance start is such a great strategic move u wu
Not if you wanna catch EU players tbh
@@idk-sy3iu idk what you mean, I'm from EU and I'm here. its cuz of bad sleep schedule, but I'm here
@@idk-sy3iu you would be surprised how many of eu players dont have a life, believe me im one of them
@@idk-sy3iuIt may be midnight but I'd never miss an ashikai video
@@idk-sy3iuyep! Im waiting all night for the update ehe any ashikai vid is welcomed
I think Amber claiming that the story book taught her how to fly more than the written flying manual is also a good early moment that was really showing us the power of the abstract idea versus the rigid and sterile facts. So that is one that seemed kinda like a sappy story that may now hold more importance if your last theory is true.
Love the theory and will definitely be thinking back on more of the past quests with it in mind 😊
@@K0HAKU_97 is that the one with venti in his archon form???
@@hizoriko2922 Nah, the ones about birds. You still have it in your inventory when the game gets back up since it's a key quest item.
@@kiwisocks I just watched it again I think we are both right.
Bro..... Right there from the very start!
i also open up this book to play music while playing genshin on my phone😭😂
I don't know if someone mentioned it before but Venti has a lot of Similarities to a lot fairy tale princesses, he can talk to animals like snow white, he changed his form to a human like the little mermaid, he sees the beauty with in a monster like beauty and the beast, he sleeps for hundreds of years like sleeping beauty. I just find it super charming that he has these small References
Oh my...he is a princess
@@nicolas._.2294 👑 hu hu haaaaa
after this "getting out of the stage" thing I wonder if venti truly goes to sleep or just goes outside the book
@@setovessalius WAITTTT ,THAT IS SUCH A GOOD THEORY
He has magic hands and hairs too!!
We can say he may be Also cursed, as he was holding a gnosis and skirk said they were cursed
Can we say he was kidnapped and enslaved during the decarabian period or shortly by la signora ??
So he basically is the ultimate Disney princess ✨✨
Ashikai: "I'm not saying irmunsul is a computer."
Meanwhile Nahida's charged attack: Click and drag to delete all data within this box.
And her normal attacks jumps on keyboard 😅
@@darkomiku8902 And on a smaller, yet wider, scale... All of her moves are digitized rather than being actual natural things like Dendro typically represents.
Irminsul: *beep boop*
@@CageNightwind but what is her ult representing, cant get behind that one
Nahida is the youngest Archon and an allegory for a database.
Zhongli is the oldest Archon and Hu Tao, a character that wanders between life and death thus may have a glimpse of what’s waiting after your plot line runs it’s course, called him “a walking Encyclopedia” as in the book that held general knowledge of everything before computers came along.
I’m gonna go mad looking back to all the comments from certain characters.
Oh, Oh! The reason the first area of Simulanka has animals instead of humans is because they're an allegory of the dragons/vishaps who lived in Teyvat before humans came! The last two areas reflect the world after the Primordial One and Susty arrived and colonised it!
@@Paigeofmaces you cooked!! It makes a lot of sense :o!!
(EDITED: I'M SO SORRY FOR THE TYPO LMAOOOO)
@@x_xerax_xplease remove the c before the k cooked only has on c and I’m not saying what that looks like
@@DeltaDonsan AI NO, I'M SO SORRY AAAAAAAAAAAA I DIDN'T MEAN IT IN THAT WAY SORRY ENGLISH NOT MAIN LEANTUAGE AJDVAJVDA
Hey, Do you think that at some point in the history of Genshin Impact they give us "that" world (And that one of the regions of this is Simulanka...??)?🥹🥹
@@ririlavaca I hope so!
This video is Deshret-free
blasphemous
someone must have hacked the channel
I didn’t think it was possible…
Holy shit, are we sure this is ashikai?
Right i was waiting all the time
Remember that the one summer event, we got a "phone" from Alice that was described sort of like some technology from another world or something. Fits with your idea on the Hexenzirkel existing outside of the world of Teyvat.
There is a theory ahout alice knowing about planet earth
i mean the twins literally came from other worlds before they were "trapped" in Teyvat so it was already a given.
I think i heard somewhere that alice has been protecting teyvats border (in kfc collab wings i think?) So yeah they know, at least alice know
Alice also taught Barbara about idols from the real world iirc
she also literally had a takeout from kfc then gave us recipes for burgers
Maintenance theories are the best kinds of theories.
I predict that the whole hsr story is a moive and there put in a lot of reference to Franz Kafka works throughout the games
definition of truth
I think Dainleif might be the prime candidate to be the main character of genshin story since Warderer is wearing an sword and Dainleif is nickname the twilight sword
Well now, this is interesting, but this makes me wonder more, who is she, he is trying to save
@nicolas._.2294 hard one, and honestly not sure but if I have to guess, it probably Paimon considering the parallel of them begin the twin companion.Dainleif is the abssy sibling companion,Paimon is the traveller companion
@@Josh-qt5zi I was thinking about paimon and dain parallels after rewatching the road not taken animation, and the fact that they both have such a similar cape and the role of guiding the twins. I wonder what the consequence of them both having the role of "guide" will be. Lumine considers dain a betrayer, and if paimon's role is the same role as dain, I wonder if she'll betray traveler too
@blue7609 they even wearing opposite colours clothes plus they hair colour is similar to Otto and Kiana,I thinking Dainleif is likey an opposite to hi3 Otto
Paimon is Mini Durin parallel confirmed... so who was og Paimon? CONSUMER OF WORLDS
the idea that the traveler is just reading an overly complicated and complex book, only to be so immersed into it and ended up writing a fanfic about it is hilariously smart
Sounds just like what happened in Omniscient reader's viewpoint
I saw that movie. "The never ending story"
“Bruhh that ending sucked.” *writes fanfiction*
@@The1andonlysharpshooter BNHA in a nutshell
@@Shush7717 I was looking for a comment about ORV. Eerily similar concept
The story theory makes sense when you remember that each region is called a chapter with Mondstat as the Prolouge
WAIT, I HADN’T THOUGHT OF THAT
And Acts
Actually each one is an Act BUT we are still in the Teyvat chapter so after all the stuff with Celestia comes to an end and we arrive at the field of flowers it will be on to the next chapter of the book ...
All except Khaenri’ah that is distorted as if the name was glitched, meaning they abandoned the plot line.
@@MorbidEel Well, ACTUALLY actually, each nation is *indeed* considered a Chapter in the archive, with each Chapter being divided into several Acts.
God, she cooked with this theory.
I can't wait for Natlan to see how it complements or changes this
Wild speculation: Khaenri'ah is the cover of the 'book'. It just fits with its slightly out of time/rules nature, more interaction with beings from beyond but still seemingly bound to teyvat. In the world tree model it would make sense as both the roots and branches as it wraps around.... And even wilder "the eclipse is swallowed by the crimson moon" so the crimson moon dynasty is the book sleeve *reaching*
YOU’RE MAYBE ONTO SOMETHING HERE???
wait wait waittt omg you cooked here! I remember also that Khaenri'ah is located at the bottom of the Sumeru dessert, and if we assume Teyvat is one kind of a big fairytale book, we opened the book to go inside of Teyvat, doesn't this also mean that Khaenriah is now located at the bottom of the book (world)?
This makes me remember that our abyss twins said that the first country they went into was Khaenriah, does that mean that our twin read the front cover first and then went inside the book, while we just skipped the front cover to read the book from prologue (mondstadt) all towards the end and read the cover (Khaenri'ah) later which is the back cover? If so, I think the conclusion of our journey might've been very different from our twins because the Front cover and the Back cover don't usually contain the same thing! (also if we refer to the modern book, the back cover contains more information about the book than the front cover itself)
Oh my god, so many possibilities!
@@denna40charlotte66 thank you, haha it started as a wild statement that just felt right and then the more I lay awake thinking about it the more it worked just structure wise and thematically.
That is soooo re the desert and the twin!!!
This Ashikai theory really may have blown teyvat wide open. After playing Star rail this weird world format seems correct, It also explains those those random pieces of paper littering the domains (as they are kind of outside the book spaces between pages), the recording in stone comment by Zhongli, the narrative needing a point of view. My big question is who is the writer and did they pull a princess Tutu and enter their own story to become immortal.
Oh wait does this make Spiral Abyss the spine of the book. The "moment of syzygy" where the back and front cover meet. Are the three moon sisters rulers of the front, back and spine.
OH MY GOD 🤯🤯🤯🤯
I think a really powerful moment I had was, if my memory is correct, from the quote that "the feelings and emotions felt in fiction can become the reader's reality" was in the one Fontaine event with Freminet in Thelxie's Fantastic Adventures. I think this is one other example of hints that books are mediums of storytelling and that maybe all the emotions and experiences we, as players (readers), in Genshin are real. Just a food for thought.
Considering Ashikai's previous theories of making dream/storybook Teyvat into reality is the original objective of the Primordial One, it's a risky task, as a screw up/editing the story the wrong way equates to the samsara into another revision of the book/dream. With Rene's World Formula hinting the current cycle is the last, the chosen traveller is the final chance to revise the story of the World, while ensuring it will be the actual reality by rewriting the right way.
What you mentioned about Mondstadt foreshadowing future things and the possibility of Teyvat being a book kinda makes me think about that one line in A Drunkard's Tale.
"What you humans call wine, we wolves call the abyss."
Idk why, it's just the imagery of Teyvat being a book lying on a shelf somewhere with a spilled glass of wine soiling the pages. And that being the all-consuming power of the abyss. Harmful to anyone safe for a few (Childe (a russian themed guy who's immune to alcohol)) is somehow funny.
Omg is that what this abyssal corruption is? Just vine, tea, coffee spilled on a book?
@@TanyaKory Makes sense.. some "water dmg" (or wine etc.) can make a book or parts of it unreadable when it messes with the ink, unable to restore the words aka beings of teyvat
So when Traveler purifies the abyssal corruption, are they washing the book? Using the magical power of bleach 😂
@@alexprus7953 taking into account Ashikai previous theories, the written story represents order (Imaginary), while the unreadable section of the story represents chaos (Quantum). When the traveller purifies the abyssal corruption, it's akin to rewriting the story in the correct order after the mess was made.
The library theory is blowing my mind cuz like that could literally be how the twins travel to different worlds; through different books and the story of Teyvat is just one book in the whole library 😱
When translating to Honkai terms, a book is a civilization/planet/world, the library is the Imaginary Tree within the Sea of Quanta. Though for Teyvat's case, it's more of bringing a fictional story/world back to reality, though the 4th samsara/revision is the final chance to set things right, as predicted by Rene's world formula.
This video kind of reminded me why I've never gotten burn out of the game yet. Whenever I am not enjoying playing the game I just take a step back and watch/read what other theorists are saying. Since, the world building depth of this game has a lot to chew on from different angles, you can always find new things to think about and I love that.
You soooooo cooked. Still can’t believe that there wasn’t a SINGLE Deshret mention tho
@@LCG0809 deshret was the first name circled In the book .... And he was the murderer ......
Ngl getting deshretbaited everyday is fun
Ashikai was full on crying and hyperventilating while writing the script and forcing herself not to mention Deshret 🤣
how to conclude fontaine with a bang
with each new patch lore i become more and more convinced that he whole of tevyat is just a huge theater production.(not mad, i am a theater kid afterall)
@Sinder-StinkyLlama I also believe everything in hsr is just an one climactic movie considering the Stellarons hunter the game Hexenzirkel equality is moive producing motif and Finality in the first myriad is expectedly like old moive scene black scene the word Fin
Relating the fairytale of Simulanka to Nahida's fairytale as a form of backup is really a huge mind-blowing thing. Damn. You make me want to eead back Nahida's quest
ive noticed all the storybook references and archetypal characters from mondstadt before but i always looked at it from a videogame perspective. of course the tutorial region from the new big gacha game is gonna be based on a lot of fantasy tropes! its an easy way to ease potential new players into the world. so interesting to see that this may actually be lore relevant lol
@docedeleite16 the second region Liyue is loosely based on journey to the west,Inazuma is likey take inspiration from Inuyasha also one the stand out place is the Yae publishing house which make light novel,sorry I can't get much out of Sumeru,but Fontaine take inspiration from musical and Broadway shows
@@Josh-qt5zi Sumeru is middle east stories. Ali Baba, the one thousand and one night, Aladdin and the magic lamp, etc. Though I must confess, those are mostly in the desert region. Not sure what the forest region is, as I can't think of a parallel for the Aranara other than traditional European fairies or brownies, which doesn't really fit the region.
so would that make fontaine political/noir drama intermixed with biblical event?
@@Shinteo5 Sumeru forest is more Indian/Hindu themed, so the stories might be more related to that, idk
@@Reydriel Makes sense. Though the Indian epics that I can remember doesn't seems to apply there. But to be fair, I really only know the Ramayana.
Putting that scene where Venti gibes SOME kinda power to Dvalin in when talking about secrets hidden in the beginning...
I Have Been Screaming About It since Neuvillette, really. Something is up with it and I don't know what but it is very, very, very, Very Important!
"Is this the power of the Anemo Archon?" could be 'is this what your true power feela like' which would be a little odd as Dvalin should possibly know that already... Or it could mean that, not Venti's power, but the Anemo Archon's power was Transferred. To. Dvalin.
In the prologue!
we desperately need venti's 2nd story quest
@user-kp6hq8jw5pi think venti only gives power to dvalin, while focalors gives the power AND the authority to neuvilette cuz well, venti is still the archon while focalors isnt. So yeah its a two diff matters. But i also agree thats very important event
@@monikaaaax3I have this feeling we won’t get his second story quest until Snehznaya 😭 I think it’s that important and pivotal to the story that it won’t be until late game
@@feegee221 either that or until we get the mondstatd expansion
@user-kp6hq8jw5p Destroying the throne and extracting authority of the gnosis I believe are functionally the same thing. This being said, Focalors has been building up power for 500 years. Venti typically snoozes for that long at a time. Considering that I'd classify Venti's worship as significantly greater than Focalors' given that he's got an actual church that is the main building Monstadt (not the knights of Favonius HQ). Focalors built up the people's belief in justice with trials. The people in Monstadt believe in freedom extremely fervently. Venti certainly wasn't spending that power while sleeping. So he might just have a lot more than that amount of power saved up. Of course, Focalors also had to die to destroy the hydro throne and Venti isn't dead.
I'd been considering the thing about Venti transferring power to Dvalin since ages ago. Especially due to the timing, like he knew he was going to lose the gnosis anyway. If I had to guess, what he did has some similarities but isn't quite the same. Otherwise it'd be a bit too casual a one upping.
21:09 All the worlds a stage? Let MY name echo in song? If the theory of the entire story being a stageplay/story in a book, who is the one character who has been acting all her life and has finally left the stage? Who is the one character that is now leading and directing her own plays? Who is the one character whose vision literally brought story book characters to life? WHO I ASK YOU is the character whose ult animation is literally opening a story book?! Thats right! Our nations national icon, Fontaines biggest celebrity, O̶n̶e̶ ̶o̶f̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶s̶e̶v̶e̶n̶ ̶a̶r̶c̶h̶o̶n̶s̶ ̶o̶f̶ ̶T̶e̶v̶y̶a̶t̶, The Regina of all waters, kindreds, peoples and laws: Furina De Fontaine!!! (I'm coping, I don't want to leave her)
LET ME COOK CHAT, Furinas 2nd Story Quest will be about us now exiting the stage in a meta sense! Discovering the different plays outside our own! TRUE AND REAL
You may be joking but thinking about it there's actually a case to be made about Fontaine considering all the fairy-tale, fables, literary and operas references that exists. Furina with the obvious reference to the little mermaid, Ninianne and Vivianne with the Lady of the lake, Erinnyes with the Song of Roland and Mary-Ann with Alice in Wonderland.
And Furina/Focalors was being the actor, audience and director in the demo and teaser. Add to that Focalors choosing to name her human self with a new name and h seemingly understanding the working of fates well enough to deceive it. It is definitely interesting to think about.
@@kieran1129 I just rewatched Act 5, and in the scene where Furina is talking to the Traveler about sharing her burder, she literally said "If Tevyat is, in its entirety, a show on a stage, then you're just a spectator, aren't you?" SHE LITERALLY KNOWS, THATS WHY SHES MY GOAT
Crazy theory, i think the theory that Traveler is basically the reader of the story book is very true, especially since as early as chapter 1 or 2 (i don't remember which), Zhongli said that Traveler's role is that of a witness, so now that makes even more sense with this theory.
Not only this, but the Simulanka event foreshadowing that Traveler isn't the main character makes sense in this context but also makes things interesting. So the question now becomes...who IS the main character?
I have two theories to this:
1) each chapter has their own set of characters and own set main character. Now it does get a bit confusing because i think some chapters get abstract as to who the main character is
2) Our SIBLING is the main character. I think this is why they are recorded in the Irminsul because Celestia wants them to take over the main role of the story, and why we are not, because our role is still simply the reader/witness/audience/observer. I think thats where it comes to the end where we help our sibling finish their goal and why our own "ending" is to find them, which would be at the end of journey.
There's still the Gnostic Hymn to consider though. I think the Gnostic Hymn is supposed to be a paraphrased story about the twins as it has to fit in some way.
Childe is the main character lmao, not only has he a protagonist energy (wanting to become stronger to protect the things he believes in, being named after a legendary hero), but also he seems like he's getting more and more important the more we know about him
And he made this weird, almost meta?? comment during the Fontaine AQ: "Isn't it time for side characters like me to leave the stage?"
~~I don't know if I'm even joking anymore lol~~
simulanka said the traveler isn't the hero not the main character @@Scorpion_Braid
i had this idea for a while now, but wouldnt it make sense if paimon is the main character? this would completly explain why she is the main one constantly talking, and not us as the traveler, maybe they were trying to hint at it form the very beggining like this? because there isnt really any other reason why the traveler doesnt have voice lines, if not for the fact that they have been portraying paimon as the main character of the book, and maybe thats why ppl dont really question her existence? maybe the chapter teyvat is written in favor of paimon?
If the Traveler is the reader who'll one day become the author, their sibling could be someone who decided to become a character. Step out of the audience and onto the stage.
The church is a castle and Venti is the QUEEN👑👑
Holy foreshadowing 🫠🫠🫠🫠💀🫡🫡🫡🫡🫡
When I see a notification for an Ashikai video my eyes light up🤩😅. And this one in particular seems really interesting
THANK YOU! When my wife and I were playing through Simulanka, it was so obvious to us it was basically a reflection of Teyvat, and I haven't seen ANYONE talking about it. There's a lot you noticed that we didn't, but I think I can also add some more from my side!
I don't think this helps a lot in discovering new secrets, but I believe Simulanka is referencing the story of Teyvat roughly before the Archon War. I think each of the 5* characters is one of the Descenders.
1) Navia, the King of Constellation Metropole, is the First Descender (who we believe to be the Primoridial One, the absolute ruler of mankind). A city related to the stars makes me think of Celestia or the Unified Civilization. This is the people who are bound by the destiny in the stars.
2) Nilou, the Fairy of the Forest of Blessings, is the Second Descender (who I believe to be the "Night Mother" from the "Land of the Night/Moonlit Forest"). She's the one who watches over the lands bordering Teyvat, where the creatures who live in it aren't bound by the stars.
3) Scara, the Hero of Simulanka, is the Third Descender. Not much to go on here, but it fits the timeline if you keep following me.
4) Durin, the Evil Dragon, is Nibelung, who appeared (again) out of nowhere and started attacking Simulanka/Teyvat.
From what Neuvillette tells us, the first and second Descenders worked together to make the gnoses from the third's remains. So here's my take: The first 2 Descenders lived relatively peacefully side-by-side, each one ruling over their respective territories. Nibelung returned to Teyvat, and not long after him, the Hero/3rd Descender did as well - he was possibly chasing after the dragon. The 3 Descenders together managed to defeat a juiced-up Nibelung, mostly thanks to the Hero as seen in Simulanka. The 1st Descender "malfunctioned", whatever Neuvillette means, due to injuries in the battle. Then, the Hero (AKA Traveler from Afar) did... something with the Ancestral Seelie, causing whatever happened between the Moon Sisters and resulting on his death. Then the remaining 2 Descenders took this opportunity to make the gnoses from the 3rd, as Neuvillette mentioned.
Now thinking about it, maybe the Descenders and the Moon Sisters are the same thing? Maybe the fight was between the 3 Descenders. I mean, if the 3 goddesses created Simulanka, and a Descender is the one with the power to shape the world (AKA the writer of the story), then maybe in Teyvat Descenders and Moon Sisters are the same. But I digress.
Also, that side-quest in the Broken Sea? That's 100% Khaenri'ah. We know they were trying to bring Descenders to Teyvat, that process somehow involved wishes, and Khaenri'ah is also related to moons. And in the Broken Sea we take the lamp from the lighthouse, place it on a statue where people make WISHES, then it transforms into a MOON that signals the way for people coming to Simulanka from ANOTHER WORLD. This quest is surely foreshadowing how the Twins came to Teyvat/Khaenri'ah.
It's like you knew that I JUST completed the summer event, a hour before the maintenance. Perfectly in time for me
Lol, same, I was so stressed I wasn't gonna get all the rewards, I still lost some primos, but at least got the skin
@nicolas._.2294 fr, i definitely gained plus minus 2k primo which make it around 8k total current saved primo made me happyyyy 😊😊😊
Oddly enough, I recently listened to some history of Alice in Wonderland as a story. Most notably, how the first drafts went by different titles and the story gradually changed adding different characters that would contribute to the story in different ways. It feels as though the story evolved during the time that Dodgeson wrote it and continues to evolve with other interpretations as directed by different storytellers.
13:36 If nobody got me, "Unreconciled Stars" got me. Seriously,that event is like an endless pit of loredrops,especially when we have more context for everything with time
And yeah,they probably told us everything in the beginning,we were just lacking context. And the event in the Sumeru after Similanka kinda hints that the devs deliberately put lots of lore red herrings,so that we would be distracted by that hints instead of bigger picture
always love your videos! the fate segment made me think a little more of the paper frogs and potentially having control of their own fate (to an extent from the frog perspective)...the gameplay of the leapfrog where WE pull the magic thread and it determines the direction and how far they leap is in opposition to us travelling across the predetermined paths of the magic threads in the other 2 areas.
makes me laugh bc when i first got to simulanka, i didn't catch the instructions for how to do the leapfrog mechanic so it took me forever to win in the race LOL.
Fischl's domain in GAA2- it has book entering, a narrator, a library...very worthy of a revisit after Simulanka, probably.
ms ashikai editor i love you for highlighting ashikai's outdated references like the tea and the backrooms
I am SO UNREASONABLE HYPED for Natlan's world quests!!! Cause if they're at the same lvl as the Narzissenkreuz chain of quests - WE'RE IN FOR A PEAK!
I hope so. But I'm worried for Natlan's world quests. The livestream said they were making them shorter and making them part of the tribal chronicles thing rather than their own standalone quests.
@@bookswithike3256 depending on their overall design that could be a huge good thing. NZKZ was already quite close to the events of Fontaine's AQ and we even saw a character from that chain in Neuvi's SQ.
So if Natlan has its WQ imbedded directly into stuff that's part of the AQ - imo that's a real good thing. My copium hope since a few years ago has been that WQs and AQ will influence each other and it has definitely seemed that we're inching closer to that being the case.
From what I've read, the tribal stuff won't even be doable before finishing a part of the AQ, so maybe there's a noticeable connection. I'll still try doing as many WQs and exploration as I can w/o even interacting with the AQ.
@@bookswithike3256But most of them are quest chains just like narzissenkreuz, a bunch of small quests connecting to a big main one.
OMG DID YALL SEE THE ARCHON QUEST ACT 2?? Mauvika and the travelers conversation was basically a one on one reflection of this theory!! Later in the artifacts room anyway
very pretty thumbnail!
i’m autistic and on vacation far from home and it’s stressing me out so bad since i’m not in a place i’m familiar with, so i’ve been watching your videos on repeat since i got here since your channel is such a comfort for me. so i’m super excited to have some new content from you. thank you so much for the hard work you put into your videos/content. sending you much love!
omg chef's back in the kitchen. you really pickled this theory 🥒 🥒 🥒 🥒
The promised comment lol
I just find it entertaining that "Simulanka" sounds like "Simulation" which is what the event is.
@@asteraria1056 'Simulanka' is from the word simulacra (if i recall correctly) and its definition is 'a copy of reality represented in a false (story-like) form'. I looked it up for theory making purposes right after the quest
@@thatonequietartist8470 oh ya, I've heard about it. But I just can't shake off the similar sounding of the words and how it fits.
I was reminded of Zhongli’s second story quest ending, in which he says that he expects the traveler to be a witness to the history of the world or something like that
YEES!!! that's exactly what I said. I was kinda sad she didn't put it in the video. He said that he would keep trying to find new ways of writing Teyvant's history
6:50 I love how you're explaining how nahida preserved wanderer's past by using an analogy in the form of a fairytale, using analogy to connect it with computers
Man, I am really vibing with this theory. I feel like things are finally starting to make sense
thank you ashikai for adding more info to my "Mondstadt is the most important nation and Venti is the most important Archon" argument
great theory. i think you're right about the hexenzirkel trying to write their own fate. also, since the three goddesses of simulanka and by proxy the moon sisters are references to the three fates of greek mythology, they might also be similar to the main trio from honkai impact 3rd. the three goddesses and the moon sisters, like the fates, represent the begining of things, the story the things follow, and then the end of things, like how mei is the herrscher of origin, bronya is the herrscher of truth, and kiana is the herrscher of finality. the trio from honkai impact 3rd represent the past the present and the future and went against the cocoon of finality, which was oppressing the world, and now the hexenzirkel represent the past the present and the future and is going against fate or irminsul or celestia which is oppressing the world. i don't think that teyvat is a fairytale, it might be a real world, but it's controlled in a similar way to a story.
This was your most Genshinly Impactfully on pointedly videoly for mei thus far. Thanks for what you dou, this helps enjoyment of this games ridonk depth and symbolism even more enjoyable.🤟🤟
Dear Ashikai, SPEACHLESS and MARVELOUS work in there, there are so much research, game memory, and writting skills in here, you are yourself an Andersdotter type witch! Thanks also for sharing us this content when we are unable to play the game! I'm on hyperfocus right now, and I am pleased to find your channel!
The part where you mention the abyss sibling telling us weve always had enough time gave me chills. I was a little confused at first, but at that moment everything snapped into place !
The tie to Venti caught me off guard. That's such a good point and really sells the whole thing, along with giving a believable answer for why Venti feels so important without being able to pinpoint why - I think this theory might be spot on.
I've long since thought its possible that Alice is ACTUALLY from Alice in Wonderland (like the only character in genshin besides Alloy - lol - who is directly from another IP, and not just heavily references it, i.e. Wanderer with Evangelion) and she left her story and kept traveling to different worlds like how she isekai'd into wonderland. Its crazy that this theory almost supports that. Like of course she would think someone who can craft fairy tales skillfully is magical, its the truest form of creation since thats how she would have been created.
I've always personally seen the Hexenzirkel members as essentially a stand-in for the real life developers/writers or Genshin. It fits all the roles of guiding the player, literally being able to decide characters fate, etc. The main reason though is the whole aspect of Alice knowing about technology and culture of Earth. I can imagine a Genshin writer actually inserting themselves in to the game as a way to talk to the player, but done so in a way to actually serve the story not as just a random 4th wall break.
I always kinda believed that on the login screen, when you go through the door you're essentially entering the "story world".
You are a fantastic writer and speaker! I just found your video and I loved every second, I only played the game for a few hours and I wanted to look up the story behind it! I am for sure subscribing and catching up on your videos :D
3:00 Im going to take a guess right now that the reason Alice was drawn to Anya was that she could potentially keep Irminsul history by turning the facts into fictional stories, thus preserving them from being altered whenever Irminsul changes things... If she's just a normal woman but has an incredible knack for writing stories, she could take everything the others tell her and turn that information into stories that can never be changed by Irminsul
All im adding is that when we left mondstadt the first time venti told us to basically take everything in and how the journey was important
man let her cook.
absolutely a great video as fontaine ends and before natlan begins. i enjoyed the theories and how u connected the dots especially with the context of threads as leylines.
atp ashikai vids are an obsession
miss ashikai i think this might be my favorite video you’ve ever put out! i’ve never been a fan of the time loop or dream theories of teyvat but teyvat being a story book that is also possibly a reflection of another world is so much more fun and creative i love it!
also remember René stating it was bad to gain a vision - which connects to a specific constellation in teyvat with a written fate according to our lovely astrologer :)
The only thing I'd like to add to this excellent theory and hypothesizing is that:
Nahida proved that fairy tales can survive irminsul tampering, and allow people who have their memories altered to remember/see through the tampering.
This then follows that Anya's story telling was so valuable to the hexenzirkel because her superior ability to write stories enabled the witches to experiment and tamper with irminsul while using Anya's stories to track the effects of those changes, as they would otherwise be unable to notice if anything had changed
This idea of Teyvat being a story or a play that reflects the real world reminds me of Plato’s Parable of the Cave:
Imagine a group of people living inside a dark cave. They are chained in place and can’t move around, so they’re stuck just staring at the wall in front of them. There is light coming from outside the cave behind them, but all they can see are the shadows cast on the wall. They can see shadows of trees, rocks, other people etc. This is their entire world- how would they ever know that anything ever existed other than the shadows?
Imagine if somehow one person broke free and managed to leave the cave. They see the trees, the rocks, the other people, in full light, seeing all the colour and definition. They finally see the world how it actually is, and not just in shadows.
The idea of the people in Teyvat being actors on a stage is like them being stuck in a dark cave. Once the actors realise they’re in a play, they can go backstage, or in the audience. Once the people in the cave break their shackles, they can leave the cave
One of the best videos ever.
Hexenzerkel videos are just crazy and I love them.
And this is what happens when Ashi combined all the knowledge and gives us the truth of the world, potentially to be true.
Goosebumps!!!!
❤
the thumbnail is so pretty!! thank you for the banger maintenance theory
Your description of Mondstadt being a direct evocation of fairy tales and stories fits so well. Even the fact that the Mondstadt Archon quest is the **Prologue!** The "story" doesn't officially start till Chapter 1, when we move on to Liyue
when I saw the thumbnail I almost thought it was an official video
Ur killing me Ashikai. I had all these thoughts, but you have the perfect way of saying it to make sense to a bigger audience. I love you so much, it scratches the good itch in my brain
Well, who needs sleep anyway😆
I can't wait
We've pretty much figure out how Teyvat works, next step is the Abyss, Dragons, Celestia, and the reason they did things
At some point I really need the theorist community to catch onto the fact that Rhinedottir......a SINNER.......is making trips into Irminsul. Irminsul cannot give us information on what happened to our sibling. And has no records on us. Vedrfolnir.....known as THE SINNER.....enticed our sibling and Clothar to the Abyss. I think the Irminsul trips are more than just exploration for at least Rhine. I think she's either working as a double agent or the whole Hexenzirkel is on the Sinners' sides.
sleep? nah im watching Ashikai lore theory videos‼️🗣️
lowkey the greatest lore drop theory ive watched
THANKS for constantly opening my eyes to those things
I think something that gets overlooked a lot, is that Venti claims to know every single song, from the past, and the future. Which means that, if it is something that will have a song written about, (which countless bards and poets we meet, as the traveller, promise to write about our adventures) then Venti already knows how it will end. He knows the future.
I always wondered how, or perhaps if this was even just a lie. But near the end of your video, when you talk about his potential alliance with the Hexenzirkel, it makes a lot of sense how he might know. If he truthfully does know every song, then the Hexenzirkel members may have been the ones who taught him.
(maybe his "sleep" for so long was because he was actually studying to memorise all the songs, and it just took a long time)
Also I firmly believe that the forest creatures vs metropole people are foreshadowing of Nathan people vs everyone else in teyvat, since it looks like people of Nathan actually have control over their own fate via their ancient names
Once again, you cooked ! I can't wait to find out how much of what you theorized is true, but regardless of the final outcome this video was a pleasure to watch
The fact that Keaya who is “Khaenriah prince”is the one who told us about the shakespeare reference and the fact that there is a god kinda hint us that the Khaenriah people acknowledge that the whole thing is a story in a book.
Hey @Ashikai, I believe what you said in the backstage makes so much sense. What's funny is that Venti also said "What? You don't remember me?" right when we meet him hinting that this is not our first time going into this "book" that is "teyvat'.
Like this if you are from EU, and don't care about sleep because new Ashikai video 🤩
The story book theory makes perfect sense! To add food for thought, Wanderer being the main character (or one of many) makes sense, especially since we get to name him. We started a new story for him, or fate… in this case. (I named him Truth, and seeing this awesome video just cements I made the right choice)
Maintenance timed theories are really great strategy
Holy cow who did your thumbnail art its amamzing!!
There a map somewhere of all the teleport waypoints making cons of each character. I noticed for Xiao's some of the waypoints is where we meet him! Truly a reflection of the sky.
I think the so called "Exit" in Tevyat if this theory does prove to be true, is either the Gateway to Celestia (The Barbatos Statue by the Cathedral), or just taking a boat through the ocean beside the beach we started in. This perfectly analogizes with Simulanka's Bookmark and Boat Exit.
this would almost make sumeru archon quest act 1 almost *too* on the nose. like for example nilou being able to change the story or “control her fate” only after realising she was in a dream first
This is a beautiful video. In general, as someone who used to study genshin lore but no longer has the time to (since The Chasm dropped, sadly), your videos are a joy and scratch an unreachable itch. Again, wonderful video. Keep it up!
I wonder if unreconsiled stars was meant to be the truth from from the beginning that was with us all along. And the characters and their actions were representative of the ending of the game.
I cannot believe Unreconciled Stars was a limited time event, and that so much world lore is buried in books 😅 I think you’re on to something in saying that there’s a big truth within Unreconciled Stars that’s going to rear its head. It already did a little bit in Nahidas story quest
And Scaramouche played a big part in it, just like in Simulanka
Another thing I thought about is that the dragon that sleeps under fonaine (melusine creator) was kind of like durin. I think there was a thing where it was trying to flap its tail and it caused horrible earthquakes or something. I love those ancient dragons, hopefully we see more of durin soon.
Your best one yet and thats a high bar but you've outdone yourself.
this is a lil out of left field but as someone obsessed with hsr, your quotes summarizing for Kaveh's post simulanka quest.... the one where Alhaitham "casted doubt" on Kaveh's inadvertently correct assumption about the end of the story to basically encourage Kaveh finish reading the story on his own.
it reminds me a A LOT of Gallagher's role in Penacony. a History Fictionologist, crafted from [the stories of] dozens of loyal Family members, who directed the Express, Sunday, and in turn, the other faction reps (Aventurine, Acheron, Black Swan, Boothill, Firefly) to the "right answers". Gallagher's entire purpose was to invoke enough curiosity from the Express SPECIFICALLY so that they would find the truths of Penacony on their own terms. Inadvertently, they'd end up fulfilling Pom-Pom's desire to learn the faith of Mikhail's trio (the circling of the "murderer" of the story), with Gallagher pushing on the pursuit of truth despite (or perhaps because of) Gallagher's alignment with the Enigmata......
Gallagher could have easily told all the Factions the truth the moment they came to Penacony, but in crafting the fiction[story] of the Watchmaker's Legacy, he encouraged and essentially enabled the factions to acquire the proof and power needed to alter Penacony's fate. Case in point, most of 2.1 with Aven and Acheron learning the mechanics and weaknesses of the Dreamscape leading into 2.3 where Acheron, Black Swan, and Boothill shattered Ena's Dream using essentially the same method, just on a larger scale.
man. Hoyo loves this lil theme of obscuring the truth to encourage people to seek reality for better outcomes hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
dainsleif could be the protagonist but i also feel like childe gives off massive main character energy, especially with his excursion in fontaine. i even felt that i was an audience member passively watching his way cooler adventure everytime we tuned in to him fighting the narwhal
I am a little late but.
speaking of books the sacrificial fragments book which is the final of the sacrificial series has this line at the end
"the god of the winds may move between the pages of a book, but in the end the merciless god of time will eat away at them until not a single legible word remains"
Which means venti might have the availability to move between "books" or more like different stories
this looks so logical, thank you so much for the hard work! your theories and edits are always a blast to watch
So does that mean that we as the player are witnessing a story of the Traveler witnessing a story...?
Or is the Traveler and the player one and the same? Does that break the fourth wall, or make it inexistent if the first place?
Is Simulanka a story three layers deep?
You know, when Zhongli called the Traveler a "witness", I didn't expect it to be quite so literal...
Spoilers for Honkai inpact 3rd:
It could also be, that "we" as the players are a bit like "Captain" in HI3. In the main story of that game, "we" as the player(Captain) exist as a higher dimensional being, witnesing the story of K423 (MC of HI3 who wee thing for a good chuncke of the game is Kiana Kaslana, but is reality K423 is Kianas clone) and the other characters. In that case I could see moree similarities between the games. Traveler could be/is the MC of Genshin, even if not of Teyvat.
@@moraghraikenori1139 I think for genshin they true main character might be Dainleif the whole time
One of the better videos lately that captivated me to the end. Something about how easy this is to understand and not a lot of real world references that gets convoluted. Nice balance.
Good Video as always. I still think that Mondstadt is modeled after Germany or at least a German Fairytail. The events are one of many examples. The Oktoberfest which was later changed to Weinlesefest(because of too much alkohol for a kids game :p) are both traditional old german Folk festival. Ofc I am a little bit biased because I am a german, but there are too many similarities in and around Mondstadt. Love your videos, big fan. 😊
Yeah i agree, Mondstadt takes a lot from medieval Europe with a focus on Germany while Fontaine is more 19th century europe with a focus on France (with its early history being more Gaulish/Celtic and Roman).
The take of Mondstadt being more based around a fairytale setting was so cool to hear, especially when it doesn’t take away from the idea of it being based on Germany!
Many people know fairy tales from the Brothers Grimm tales, and while not the first iteration, it’s definitely one of the more well-known versions. And where were they from? Germany!
In short, there’s not even a need for a debate, since both concepts are technically right!
I'm not sure if we all remember that user who discovered that the waypoints on Liyue could form the constellations belonging to the characters from that region. Since fate, lay lines and waypoints seem to be linked, it's quite interesting
ISTFG if this is all the devs just intricately telling me to touch grass and get out into the real world I'm going to hold a local protest with Da Wei's face right on my sign 😑
Edit: In Natlan looking for the mints 😑
This gives such a unique twist to how the twins would explore other worlds.
I’m surprised it wasn’t mentioned at the end but one of the biggest things that point to “Tevat is a book and The Traveller is the reader” is that the Archon Quest’s the traveller goes through are literally called CHAPTERS
ACTS