[3.5] Caribert - Archon Quest Recap & Analysis (part 1/2) - Genshin Impact 

**NOTES AND CORRECTIONS** - I called the woman buried in the field "Clothar's Wife" but that might not be right. Technically, she would have been Caribert's mother but because he was illegitimate, it's unlikely that Clothar actually married her.

Most suspicious thing about Kaeya is that he's a Cavalry Captain in a world without horses.

I knew something was brewing once I found that Paimon left the traveler sleeping alone without telling them. And Clothar in disguise only mention "travelling companion", while strangers usually mention "floating or flying" to identify or comment about her in their first encounter.

The mushroom-dead mother thing makes sense because mushrooms eat corpses/decomposing matter

I feel like Paimon is getting insecure because she is starting to see that the traveler is slowly becoming more cold and cynical, think about it, at the start of the game, Traveler was always looking for a positive solution, you rarely got a mean diologue option apart from those teasing Paimon, but ever since they arrived to Inazuma, Traveler is been given more cynical and selfish answers, like then telling Ayaka that they don’t want to help her…and in Sumeru, traveler has for sure been experiencing the more heavy topics related to teyvat, their journey, their identity and the truth about their sibling, it’s very possible that Paimon is catching into the fact that the Traveler is slowly becoming more and more cynical and cold to problems in the world, they still remain human and have many happy go lucky moments, but they’re slowly becoming a more Grey character instead of being black and white…that’s why I at least think Paimon needs the reassurance from them, because she fears that in the future, she will get too annoying and be left behind by the traveler and will once again be lonely

about paimon being insecure: I actually noticed it in the 3.4 liyue lantern rite. She seemed awfully clingy to the point where having a five minute conversation with Xiao without her made her extremely nervous and upset. As if she couldn’t be away from us AT ALL. idk, something seems a little fishy about the whole thing

Paimon getting a hug from the traveler is actually a really big deal to me. This may be the first time that he's actually shown any physical affection towards anyone. And the implication that both Jin and sealy's have some pretty big issues when it comes to loving things reinforces some of those theories that she may be one.

I just have a feeling that the VERY reason Kaeya took the effort to send Traveller a mail secretly is because Dain was following him since he came to Sumeru. Kaeya didnt want to deal with him so he brought the Traveller to have him scooped away. Because if Kaeya truly wanted to reminisce his old memories in Sumeru he is the person who would want to do it alone and probably wouldnt want anyone to join him.

Another cool thing in the quest is how hoyoverse left hints that we were experiencing out twin's memories. If you paid attention to the Statue of the Seven you would have noticed it was worn down, much like how we saw it when we first got to sumeru. When you give Dendroculi to the Statue it repairs it, if we collected Dendroculi during the time we spent in sumeru and gave it to the statue then the statue we saw before and during the quest would have looked the same but they dont. Good attention to detail on their part

Bingo, I completely agree with your point about Dain consuming the Bija fruit. It sparked Dain's older dialogue from Chasm in my mind: "(How is this possible... How could he have retained self-awareness for 500 years without... it?)" the "it" might've been a reference to Bija.

I can't get enough of Dain's boldness, walks by, casually calls out Kaeya, leaves. True chad

Paimon menu disappeared during the quest, which is interesting bcz I think it confirms the time winding is a Paimon thing and not traveller thing That also went out of their way to set the time for pulling water instead of making us wind time, cuz we didn’t have Paimon with us. I don’t see anyone talking about this please like it so it gets some attention ✨

One thing: the Cryo Lecter was there BEFORE the Abyss order was formed (unless time travel shenanigans are involved). Could be important.

I love that you mentioned the Paimon thing because I can't stop noticing it in almost every quest we've been getting recently and it's driving me a little crazy with anticipation. I fell like the importance of Paimon in the traveler's journey keeps being emphasized more and more - it struck especially hard during the last lantern right where we literally celebrated the key function that Paimon is playing in the story. With Paimon getting more and more emotionally attached to the traveler as well, constantly making sure that he comes back and freaking out when he doesn't, it feels like hoyo is really trying to drill it down our heads that something's about to happen. Honestly every time we get a lore-signifacnt quest, in the back of my mind I'm kind of waiting for the moment Paimon just disappears from the game without warning -- and since Paimon is literally a part of the UI, something like that would have a crazy, 4th wall breaking impact that would affect not only the travel but also me, the gamer sitting in front of my screen and not hearing Paimon's commentary the moment literally anything happens. This scenario is of course just a construct of my own brainworms but I kinda hope mhy will take this chance to mess with our brains in one way or another and executes it well 😂

Having the Abyss Sibling BE a Prince/Princess of Khaenriah (even just in title) adds so much more weight to the beginning scene of Genshin. All of Khaenriah was punished regardless of where you came from originally. Of course The Sustainer of Heavenly Principles is going to try and stop us from leaving Teyvat. I wonder if in the first scene of Genshin, when our sibling gets trapped in a cube... If they become cursed. (Getting Cubed is how you get cursed). Not with immortally (As we seem to age much slower than others) but with never being able to leave Teyvat. That is why they are working with the Abyss because Teyvat is now a prison for them.

I think it's worth mentioning that during our first meeting with Abyss Herald he said that Dain reeks the same corruption as they do and Dain's are looks very similar to the limbs of Heralds and Lectors. It seems possible that our siblings help to contain his curse in some way during the travel they had together

I find it so fascinating that the twins are implied to not just be genetically similar to one another, but that they could be considered essentially the same person but with different vessels going through their own individual experiences. That could explain why their connection is so unnaturally strong, yet maintain a separate sense of identity. Genshin doesn’t stop there too, as the nature of Teyvat is implied to also factor in on what the twins really are to each other, as if it works almost like a broken mirror- just as this quest has shown. It makes me question whether or not this is the writers’ way of telling us that we’ve been right and wrong at the same time, which makes me feel like they’re also saying it doesn’t really matter all that much. 😂

Slight correction if I may. You seem to be referring to the curse of immortality as the curse of wilderness. The curse of wilderness IS the curse of the hilichurls. For the pure blood it's the curse of immortality. See Clothar's dialogue at 21:41.

I wonder if when Dain saw Halfdan and wondered something around the words of "how could he have kept his consciousness for so long without /that/..?", he meant the Bija.

I'm so glad the Abyss Order is finally getting recognized as an organization. With this quest I think we'll be starting the signs of their direct activity in the story maybe even a new set of antagonist's in the Abyss Order since we have confirmation of the hierarchy with the Abyss Sibling not being the actual leader but just one of the potential leaders. Plus, all of the implications as to the nature of the Abyss itself.

Another thing to consider

Yes about the Paimon thing! Both in Lantern Rite and this quest she seemed really insecure and afraid of the traveler leaving or getting sick of her. I haven't seen anyone else talking about it, but it really stood out to me

You know, when they said that Kaeya was a descendant of Clothar, I was really confused on how that came to be. Like did Clothar have another child? Did Caribert have a child? Or are there more Alberichs out there? Also, our abyss sibling waking up with tears would mean that they also had nightmares about us. Maybe they also started the journey looking for us but ended up fully accepting the role of leader of the abyss and stopped looking. If so, I really want to know what they learned that stopped them from searching for us for 500 years.

I don’t know if it was Dain or Kaeya that mentioned where Khaenriah was located but after they said that it made sense why Rukkhadevata had to protect Irminsul

Your take on Paimon's potential betrayal is the most fascinating thing i've heard in days. Paimon simply not wanting to be alone, thus going to the extent of sabotaging the traveler's efforts REALLY made sense to me when you said it. Of COURSE she would do anything to stay with the traveler for even a few more days. Speaking from experience, being separated and alone from someone (even if they mess with you) REALLY hurts, and as you said "no one deserves that." There's a very big possibility that she is a spy from Celestia or something, and she's just a really good actor. I doubt this little food maniac would be capable of that though, heh. Her having a inseparable connection to someone who saved their life is much more likely, backed by the evidence that people are much more likely to fall in love with someone who saved their life (i'm probably wrong about that. don't correct me, i know i'm dumb lmao). I'll be keeping this in mind when me and my friends talk about theories and Genshin and what not.

The twins might hold EACHOTHERS memories, like how Irminsul holds the worlds memories. Or atleast, thats how its SUPPOSED to work.

This whole quest was great purely from how lovecraftian it felt. Also, I kinda find it interesting how the cave entrance where the giant floating crystal was found is near The Chasm

From the perspective of loom of fate, according to the greek mythology of loom of fate the name Clothar also resembles Clotho or the one who weaves the thread of fate for the mortals being the eldest of the 3 sisters to decide the fate of humans. And just a crack theory, maybe loom of fate is about 1. Khaenriah people either reaaranging the constellations thus changing everyone's fate or 2. them finding a way to break the threads of fate binding everyone with their written fate so they can be free.

YES you brought up how Kaeya didn't immediately attack that Abyss Mage all the way back in that early Mond quest and seemed rather to be settling in for A Talk. As thorough as always! I've mained him since I started playing and I didn't think I could get more obsessed with his character but, welp, here I am 😂 So happy he's getting a seat at the Big Players table!

tbh kaeya is a really kind and patient guy so i feel like even if he’s working with the abyss he’s not gonna turn on the traveler. if anything, if there’s a showdown between the siblings that he’s present for, he’d fight alongside the traveler imo. every time he calls traveler and paimon and anyone in mond (except for diluc) his friends it’s genuine and not passive aggressive or anything. he just talks weird. kinda reminds me of fischl but a different kind of weird wording entirely. where it’s like weird and confusing but they’re just nice and trying their best idk

I just realized that all the memes about Kaeya being a cryo abyss mage might not be so far off. 🤣

Dunn if you mispoke or not, but While the Traveler/Abbyss Twin did hear the crystals voice it was not talking "To" the traveler specifically it was speaking to the people bowing/Clothar the traveler just happened to be able to actually Hear the crystals voice. Unless that memory was not accurate since if the crystal was speaking to the Abyss Twin, this is where they Gain the Abyss Element.

One interesting bit is the voice also mentioned that the abyss twin vowed before him, but not our playable twin. We also didnt see any effects on our playable twin when he's near the corrupted crystal/statue/chasm

the plot thickens, about damn time, i feel like we are halfway into the game now

When we finally get to the end of the game's story, we will get the same cutscene from the beginning of the story - except this time, we will be the twin who gets 'cubed' and then we end up in Kaenriah. Thereafter, we will reply the game, except this time, we will assist the abyss order and try to return the homeland.

I did notice Paimon’s insecurity but not since the Chasm. Rather since Sumeru’s Archon quest, when the traveler left the city to investigate the loopy samsara

2:33 Dain actually mentions POV character as 'missing their sibling', also he returns to the forest even though he talked about leylines before, plus there is absolutely no reason for Paimon to be gone. Therefore its implied that this is where we see the abyss prince(ss) POV not the traveler

I don't know how significant this is but Kaeya has a vision. I don't think the vision is counteracting the curse or something but he did receive it. So the heavens don't seem to think of him as an enemy in the same way they see the other khaenrians. Also he specifically has a cryo vision and considering what the cryo archon is doing with her group and their links to the abyss... I'm pretty sure someone much more versed in the lore can make a better worded theory with these info tidbits.

I don't think we said exactly what the Abyss Sibling said at times, but I think it only goes to show that no matter what side we could take, the result would be the same. For an example, we have the option to say, "I follow no god, but I consider some to be my enemies" or "I follow no god, but I consider some to be my friends." No matter what side you give, rather if you're against the gods or you share a cup of tea with them on occasion, the reaction and the outcome was going to turn out the same. The Abyss sibling might not've warned off the Abyss like we did, which then triggered a different response. Heck, he might've started the conversion process for the Abyss sibling at that time. Considering everything our traveler has gone through, there's a good chance they won't be converted at all. I think Kaeya's involved with the Abyss Order in some way as well. He must've known about his heritage in some way. When he had his falling out with Diluc, it had to be over something BAD. Like something Diluc saw as the ultimate betrayal. Maybe not the fact that Kaeya's roots are in the Abyss Order, but maybe just the fact that he still can't pick a side. He rather sides with his people, his birth family, or with his newfound family in Mondstadt. Considering the fact that his adoptive father is dead and his adoptive brother hates him though, you'd think it would make his choice easier. Also, you took the words out of my mouth with Paimon. She's already heard us say to our sibling once, "Come on, let's leave this world." She might not be saying anything outright, but she was right there. Since then, she's made comments about us settling down in one of the countries once our journey to find the Abyss Sibling is over. She's always talking about the future and what happens after because she wants us to stay. We don't say anything definite because our goal is still in the hopes of leaving with our sibling in the end.

In terms of instances of the curse breaking I think Halfdans curse was broken since he died had a proper ghost and then passed on peacefully. He was right ontop of the amplification device.

I personaly understood the crystal scene as the sinner talking to Chlothar (but Chlothar is unable to hear) and the twin just being the only one with the abillity to hear. I don't know what to think anymore

I think it’s very relevant that Kaeya has a vision, like him being blessed by the gods must imply that he A) never had the curse B) far down on the Alberich bloodline, to the point that his bloodline was somewhat irrelevant C) maybe his vision gives an immunity to any potential curses or something Idk I just think it’s somehow relevant

Ashikai should look into Richard Wagner's operas, because those are obviously where much of Khaenri'ah's inspiration comes from. Wagner is also literally an NPC in Mondstadt. Alberich, Rhinedottir, Parsifal, Schwanenritter...they all appear in different Wagner operas: "The Ring of the Nibelung", "Parsifal" and "Lohengrin". With the connection to Charlemagne she took probably a wrong turn. The real connection is that Chlothar and Caribert were Frankish/Germanic kings around 500 A.D. (hundreds of years before Charlemagne and of another noble family) and that was the time and the general area that also the Nibelung legend is said to have taken place, in which Alberich and Rhinedottir were characters.

honestly my little pet theory that i cant prove yet and needs a lot more evidence is that both twins are both the abyss twin and the player character - because i think the entirety of teyvat, or maybe just the past 500 years, are all one constant samsara loop that keeps repeating itself over and over again and the twins switch places each time

Paimon insecurity and mysterious presence in the game along the main character remembers me a lot the dynamic of Mona and Joker on Persona 5.

loving how dark the archon quest is starting to get. the next one will definitely be amazing cuz this one feels like build up only.

This quest was a massive lore dump that brought forth more lore questions.

"Now, Dain seems to have quite a bit of disDAIN for Kaeya..." Even our lore buddy Ashikai has their inner Cyno seeping out this patch.

I predict that when a new War breaks out, it will be between the Abyss and Celestia, with Teyvat caught in the crossfire and the Traveler having to fight both.

I don't think we/our twin met chlothar centuries after the cataclysm. Eide had a line that goes something like " even if I have to wait for fifty, no, a hundred years what difference does it make, it's not like I don't have the time" those are small number if was already alive for century. The way he says it sound like living for that long is still just a concept to him. It was actually one of the clue that the game gave us to suggest that we were in the past. As soon as I heard that I knew we were in the past because someone that lived for century wouldn't sound like that. It sounded to me like it was just a couple decade after the cataclysm no more.

I think Kaeya has been to Khae'nriah and in fact lived there, because in his character story, he is shown considering why his father left him in "this strange and unknown land". For him to think of the place he was left at, as strange and unknown suggests that what he grew up knowing was very different. Also does anyone else get the vibe from Chlothar that he has something to do with why Caribert's mom isn't present? Like, he is very evasive whenever Caribert asks about her and a number of things he says seems to allude to the idea that she had something to do with Caribert getting better. plus the description for the strange mushroom insinuates that they shouldn't be able to grow there. There is a scary legend about a serial killer who grew mushrooms from the sustenance of the people he killed and buried. I think Caribert's mom being buried in the same field that the mushrooms have to grow in is hella suspicious.

I definitely picked up on Paimon being a lot more insecure, and from the last.... two events, Lantern Rite and Warrior's Spirit? I only noticed the occurrence in these two but might be longer, but we're definitely starting to keep things from Paimon, whereas before we practically go through everything /together/. Like we're keeping whatever we're talking w/ Xiao and Ayaka to ourselves, even telling Paimon to let the Traveler and Xiao to talk by themselves. If I remember correctly the Traveler never really talked about it too, right? Which is... Interesting. I think in a way this archon quest definitely foreshadows the possibility of us traveling alone down the line without Paimon. Like, Hoyoverse is testing our response if we don't have Paimon w/ us, sorta thing. So I do agree with your theory that Paimon's motivation might be very selfish, because this IS the same person who told us to pretend we're drowning to get the adeptus's attention, knowing full well that we do have some adepti friends and we don't actually need to resort to that... action. Little fairy sure definitely sees the ends justify the means and uh, well. If she's that scared of being alone... I fear of what she might do. Lovely theory as always Ashikai! Can't wait to see part 2

My understanding of the quest relating to the cryo herald is that it took pains to emphasise that the cryo herald is NOT an abyss herald. It is a fortune lector and it serves the crystal. Given how Clothar develops his zealotry upon witnessing the crystal, the memory is the origin and formation of the abyss order. Abyss heralds wouldnt exist because the order doesnt exist until then. I speculate if the crystal blesses purebloods into abyss heralds as a means of rebelling against the curse but i sont know how clothar eventually died.

The Caribert Archon Quest debunked some of the theories about Khaenri'ah. Having all the revelations so far, Khaenri'ah is becoming more and more like Genshin's story about Tower of Babel.

That whole thing about the sustainer keeping the minds of kheanriahns in her boxes will stick with me for a while haha. I'm just wondering if that was just her intended goal with the twins, but due to the twins not being from this world, the curse couldn't actually work on them. They couldn't become like Dain, the Heralds or the Hilichurls. Like you said, it's all one curse but it feels like theres different reactions to the one curse, making it look like they are two separate ones. So, what if there's a third? Unique to and only the twins? I actually don't know what this could be but I'm just thinking this would've been way easier for The Sustainer if she was able to turn those gremlin twins into hilichurls and go on with her day. One of the twins were royals, so you'd assume they'd immediately get as bad as a punishment as the rest of the nation for their arrogation. Its like ridding the problem from its source, and they seem to want to continue wrecking havoc so it definitely should've been the move lolol

On the first Dainsleif quest, Dain asked us 3 questions and depending of the answer he comments wheter or not we are similiar to our sibling. So there is a possibilty we would be different from them and reach different answers. When we were talking with Paimon at night, one of the dialogue options was that they would look at the night sky and pointed to the planets they wanted to visit. Perhaps some clues on the travelers are aliens who came in a spaceship theory. Clothar told us that Carribert's mother was from Mondstadt. So if Clothar is not Kaeya's father, another Alberich left his son in the nation where a relative had an affair

I am so glad i wasn't the only one that noticed the difference between kaeya's and dain's pupils. They're pretty consistent with the difference even with clothar and halfdan too

just wanted to add, If you talk to Sister Victoria in Mondstadt, one of her dialogue options gives us Bloodstained Chevalier's Goblet, and also she gives the Player warning: "Hmph. Sharp people always make enemies of others." "Some people were born in the sun, and thus take light and warmth for granted." "But love, piety, holiness... all these wonderful things were built on the blood and tears of sinners." "Can you all not see it, or do you just look away?" "If that's the case, then don't ask or think about it too much. When sin comes knocking, judgement will soon follow." "Take what I've said as a warning. Take this with you, too. I hope it will keep you vigilant." This could be a hidden message to tell us we will be meeting bloodstained knight after we met "Sinner"

One question I have is where was kaeya living before being left in dawn winery? Because in his character story monstdat or teyvat (?) is described as a "strange and unknown place". The other question is why did kaeyas dad allow kaeya to keep the Alberich surname? Since he is infiltrating monstdat they could have easily made up a fake surname and no one would even suspect any blood ties to abyss order that kaeya has? So why?

Sumeru has done so much to endear me to Paimon, and I love her seemingly sudden insecurity about her place in the Travelers life because it tells us so much without saying too much. When the traveler first meets Paimon, they've just woken up without their sibling or their powers. The relationship initially formed between the two is one of mutual exchange. The traveler protects Paimon, while Paimon acts as their guide. She teaches them the language, advocates for them early on. But the further they travel through Teyvat, the more we see this balance shift. Often its Paimon who has no clue what's going on, while the traveler becomes more skilled and knowledgeable. It makes narrative sense that she may start doubting her worth, because she bases it on her utility rather than what is most important, which is her companionship.

The only real thing not covered that still has me scratching my head is the strange sequence of events after Caribert removes his mask and the explosion knocks the traveller unconscious. We have no idea how long this is for, and considering how dramatic the change to Clothar is, I'm wondering if it was actually a long time. The loom of fate idea wouldn't have come quickly to a man in his state. Unless the idea was put in his head before hand, that has it's own implications.

I can barely contain my enthusiasm for part 2. These are so good.

honestly my favorite thing about these quests is we put together the game's timeline piece by piece, or at least where the twins fit in. it's like one giant convoluted puzzle, and each patch gets us closer to act ???, the 'final piece'...

I clicked this SO FAST

Isn’t it possible that rather than Aether and Lumine being the same person basically that instead Traveler interacted with the memories on their own but it played out for them? Leyline memories aren’t bound to 100% specific action and can interact with things they didn’t in the past.

i think Paimon's character development - her increased pettiness & the insecurity beneath it - is partly due to Paimon's "don't notice me" effect dissipating as she & the Traveler gain reputation across Teyvat. Prior to Inazuma, the only voiced characters I can recall directly speaking to Paimon are characters with "weirdness"-sensitivity: Venti, Mona, Albedo, etc. Many NPCs seemed to forget Paimon was there at all beyond an initial "?" and it's only mid-Sumeru that characters seem to actively remember Paimon and note her fairy-like appearance. I remember being SHOCKED when Ayaka asked for & used Paimon's name (Paimon was shocked too!): as of 3.5, Paimon is famous enough to serve as a mailing address for the Traveler. I suspect that Paimon had little to no prior experience with being "noticed" by humans before meeting the Traveler: it would have been a lonely existence for such a young mind. The Traveler is Paimon's EVERYTHING: provider of food and comfort, companion, friend, surrogate parent, connection to human society... and someone who "needs" Paimon (someone who Paimon is valuable to, who actively seeks out Paimon's opinion). With the context of Paimon as a young child who has finally found "family" and "meaning" in one specific person? The increased "hostility" from Paimon over time reads like a child who has noticed [the world] "looking back" at her and, more specifically, at the Traveler. There has also been an increase in Grey Scenarios for the Traveler to encounter and thus "shelter" Paimon from: the world quests of Inazuma and Sumeru have lead the Traveler to very grim circumstances but their actions to preserve Paimon's "innocence" have likely sown doubt in her instead. Paimon thusly "acts out": she "competes" with others for the Traveler's attention, she is hostile to those who single the Traveler out, she is more demanding for praise and recognition. Paimon has been acting more jealously at times but has also been more vulnerable. The aranara world quests have shown Paimon's character development (both bad and good) most of all. The aranara are, objectively, the beings most "similar" to Paimon (as she sees herself). That none of the aranara give Paimon the prefix "nara" is very notable - and Paimon has grown enough to have picked up on that, certainly enough to feel insecure and possibly afraid as to "what" a Paimon is, if not "nara" nor "aranara". I've yet to complete ths Liloupar questline but I suspect that the jinns, like the aranara, will increase Paimon's selfawareness of being "other". regardless of "what" Paimon truly is or may have been, Paimon's doubts and fears of being abandoned by the Traveler (who now has plenty of friends local to Teyvat, friends more "capable" than Paimon). i wonder whether Paimon fears that she, like Dain or Wanderer or the aranara, will be "cast aside" by her Traveler. i swear i started this theory with an idea formed by this video but i have since forgotten it. Dain and Paimon having parallels? or at least their fears of sharing fates with each other?

Just one nitpick since you seem to have gotten something from the quest wrong "curse of the wilderness" is the same thing as the hillichurl curse, you refer in the video to the curse of immortality as the curse of the wilderness multiple times but the curse of immortality is something entirely different amazing video regardless, keep it up!

Another minor thing to add to the heavenly cube and the hilichurls souls being trapped in it, remember that Nahida also keep memories related to Scara in a cube, and if memories and souls are considered the same thing

I think the biggest surprise for me was the fact that the abyss wasn't Khaenri'ah itself, rather a different entity, and the Abyss order wasnt something that Khaenri'ahns formed themselves as an organization similar to Fatui. It's a religious cult based around Abyss. They *worship* Abyss. Idk i always thought that the Lectors were simply praising the *order* itself, not the abyss.

Always love watching your videos after a quest. You always point out one thing or another I either hadn't thought about or forgot was mentioned before

I thought when the Sinner spoke, he was talking to Chlothar, based on the context of him asking "why do you bow", but the traveler/abyss twin could hear the Sinner talking while Chlothar couldn't.

Manifesting part 2 as quickly as possible. I can't wait! ♡

I just realized something going through the comments. The bija description actually says its a seed of hope. So when the abyss sibling asks how one can live for so long without hope kinda makes it even more believable that they went after a bija.

So concerning the Traveler and the Twin basically being the same person, it actually ties into the Mourning Star theory. In Paradise Lost, when Lucifer first thinks of defying God, the thought gives birth to Sin (a character in the story, not just a concept) from his head. He splits into another being, and that's the moment he becomes Satan. Basically, what was Lucifer turns into two characters, Sin and Satan. The fact that we now have a direct reference to Paradise Lost in-game with the Flowers of Paradise Lost makes me think maybe we should be paying a bit more attention to Milton, specifically, instead of just making broad assumptions based on the Ars Goetia. We're talking a narrative plot using names of figures in the Ars Goetia - Milton SHOULD be the Benchmark. It's kind of his thing.

I wonder if the disagreement between Dainsleif and the Abyss Twin was based on what they thought should be the fate of the people of Khaenri’ah. Dain seems to think there’s no hope and we should just put everyone out of their misery while the Abyss Twin, after witnessing Caribert and maybe helping Dain with a Bija, thinks there’s a way to reverse the curse. Dainsleif who’s experiencing the curse first hand might think it’s impossible and a waste of effort while the other twin wants to find a way. I feel the Abyss Twin might also be feeling guilty for causing the people of Khaenri’ah to be cursed since Chlothar mentioned “What did you bring us” making it sound like the Abyss Twin might have brought over knowledge from the beyond, which helped Khaenri’ah become strong and powerful but also put them on Celestia’s hit list, bringing about the eventual curse and ruin of the nation.

I'm starting to think that the majors Nahida's deletion of Rukhedevata is related to our story. Maybe we are the purest version of our twin who is leading us to remove them/forbidden knowledge/abyss

Just finished the Windblume quests and I’m so excited for Ashikai to cover them

I have a theory that Celestia actually didn’t cause the curse. It seemed very clear that no one really knew what was going on at the time of the cataclysm except for the archons who were present - therefore only Zhongli and Venti know. I think that there were three phases: The initial cataclysm The curse And the war The initial cataclysm was caused by Khanrians tampering with something underground that was extremely dangerous. I suspect they were trying to create something like an artificial god - and succeeded. But something went wrong and they weren’t able to actually control this thing. That god laid a “blessing” of immortality on the pure Khanrians, and transformed the non pure ones into monsters because it was racist or something. To prevent the spread of this new evil throughout Teyvat, the archons banded together to stop it. The Khanrians who didn’t know about the artificial god assumed that the attack of the archons meant they were the cause of the cataclysm. When in fact, they were trying to prevent it from spreading. Several hundred years later, the abyss sibling meets this fake god and create the abyss order with Chlothar. Where the traveller twins fit into all of this is its own essay that I don’t feel like going into.

I theorize that Caribert turned into a human after the potion and became what later is kaeya what would explain his loss of memory and the name Alberich.

With the thing about Paimon in the end I agree! It feels like in every quest nowadays she mentions about how we'll never be separated and then the Caribert quest kind of gives us a taste on what it would be like without Paimon. I have a feeling it's all just foreshadowing to a big event where we actually lose Paimon or she's taken away and we have to fight for her back idk. Plus with the theories of Paimon being something like the stove god and Rukkhadevata where they turned into a smaller form, maybe someone will recognize Paimon and hold her captive for her power or knowledge.

I don't think that abyss tein had exact same thoughts as traveler, because traveler thought of contacting nahida, something abyss twin couldn't have done. It really makes me wonder what exactly happened, cause traveler did experience abyss twin's memories but did have their own thoughts

Can’t wait for the part 2!!! :D Omg death after noon! My mind was blown about the water part! And connections to Arthurian legends! And paimoooon nooo! It will be so sad! Actually this time when she disappeared I thought “is it time?!” And was really sad that paimon is gone. So the last “I missed you” words were super genuine lol but I notice how the parting with paimon or her importance is being mentioned more and more often 😢

"That's too conspiracy, even for me" -same person who conspired a high ranking Fatui Harbinger was one of the Five Foremost Yaksha

yes, thank you, i've also been theorizing about heralds and lectors being pure-blooded khaenri'ahns, i'm so glad you mentioned that!

Thanks for the amazing video!

I love the fact that the timeline of events is becoming clearer as we progress through the story. Also, the context of these events makes these reveals even more mind-blowing. The most shocking thing for me was how the Twins went about traveling from one world to another via Planet Hoping. Which made it even weirder for the planet known as Teyvat from the Opening screen to the Open world, Domains, and finally the Abyss. W-Video, Ashikai.

I'm looking forward to watching this vid as soon as I actually finish the quest! 😊

I greatly appreciate videos like these. I stopped playing right after Enka came out and forced myself to get into the chasm for the quest/nail there, but I got burnt out. I love recaps such as these.

me feeding scaramouche rukkha mushrooms for his ascension: cmon son eat your vegetables. they're fertilized with purple god blood... your favorite!

Memes aside, If the game actually takes paimon away from us i would be absolutely devastated. No matter how annoying, dense or hungry she is, i love her to death and during this quest when we were separated from paimon i swear everything felt so... Silent. It was eerie-ly uncomfortable. When the traveller hugs her at the end of the quest it really gives us a sense of how much we take paimon for granted

I’VE BEEN EAGERLY WAITING FOR YOUR ANALYSIS ❤

It’s interesting that you theorized that the unknown god is trapping people’s consciousness in the black cubes. The Herscher of the void from Honkai was also able to trap people in imaginary space, or in illusions.

I think Paimon is getting more insecure for two reasons: 1. She’s seeing more of Teyvat, and how messed up it is 2. She is also increasingly aware that the traveler will eventually leave, and each nation = one step closer. Paimon is terrified of being left behind in a world that she’s not used to traveling by herself. …of course, if I were the traveler, I’d never leave Paimon. she’s annoying but I love that dork.

Chlotar's wife didn't turn into a hillichurl because she didnt't traveled to kaenhriah before the cataclysm ocurred, dain says that everyone who turned into monsters werent pure kaenhriah blood, only those who came from other nation stayed on kaenhriah where transformed into hillichurls during the cataclysm.

As soon as I finished this quest I kept refreshing your page in anticipation for your vid!!!! 🎉🎉🎉

Looking forward to it, Ashikai!

i think that the curse is a way to keep the corrupted khanrians from entering irminsul. i think its also probably why the demon gods cant die either and when they do they leak “karma” or malice. in order to be “pureblooded” that blood has to come from someone, probably a demon god and maybe thats y theyre “immortal”

I still think that Khaenri'ah was in the sky (among the heavens) and not underground. There are numerouse references of sky "falling to the ground", and considering the Gnostic Chorus cutscene, it seems likely that the "kingdom" in the heavens was indeed Khaenri'ah. Irminsul could have easily tampered with people's memories and physical records to make it appear as if Khaenri'ah used to be an underground nation (even though it wasn't).

I have been eagerly waiting for your video on thus quest!!

I have been waiting for your video