Story Teaser: Lost Legacies in the Sand | Genshin Impact 

"Children of the desert, cling no longer to past grievances but hold tight to memory this act of benevolence" This line is so good

So if this is the case for both Kusanali and Guoba, then could Paimon possibly also be a result of someone of greater power sacrificing themselves to save a nation? As we know so far, Paimon is the only one of her kind, and she is also pretty tiny, just like Guoba and Nahida. So maybe she is just fulfilling her duties to guide the Traveler, just as how Nahida is a replacement for Rhukkadevata?

rukkhadevata was such an amazing archon, she did everything for her people and in the end no one will ever remember who she is, not even nahida.

For those still confused about Rukkhadevata and Kusanali connection after 3.2 Archon Quest. Imagine a Rose plant, suppose the plant is dying or corrupted, you simply take out a healthy rose branch/stem and then place it in another pot where it grows into a healthy plant again. Now it wouldn't matter even if the original plant died, since the cut off branch will still live on independently.

They’ve been nailing the writing since Act II. Really excited to see how this ends!

This archon quest felt like a collective team effort with Cyno, Alhaitham, Dehya and Candace's involvement. It's so refreshing because the traveler was the one usually fighting all alone in the previous archon quests.

1:50 My mouth was fully agape while watching this scene, it was beautifully animated and the colors were so pretty. Mihoyo always outdone their cutscenes, looking forward to more.

Came back here after finishing the recent Fontaine Archon Quest, only to find out that Kasala (the one narrating in this cutscene) shares the same voice actor as Lyney! Daman Mills is amazing with his voice range 💗

Sumeru's Archon quest puts a smile on my face. 10/10 characters interactions. ❤️

This is the first archon quest were the build up with act 1-2-3 was so perfectly executed that it made me actually dumb founded and excited. when the moment this cut scene played and I connected all the dots from the previous acts and realized that the people of present day Sumuru are currently making the same mistake that the scarlet king made all those years ago. The forbidden knowledge that the academia are messing with is repeating history. If nothing is done the forests of Sumuru will end up like the dessert the withering is the beginneing of the forests becoming lifeless like the dessert. And to find out that the disease Eleazar is actually the same disease that the people of the scarlet king suffered because of the forbidden knowledge. Love it. Classic if you don't learn from the past history is bound to repeat its self. The story's are gonna just keep getting better.

The eerie vocals of a children's choir made to imitate a somehow Egyptian-feel, the wall-relief style animations inspired from the Egyptian art style, and the power within that narrator's voice, one of the best game cutscenes I've seen in my lifetime. I'm glad to be born just to see such a magnificent video as this.

"Children of the desert, cling no longer to past grievances, but hold tight to the memory of this act of benevolence." is such a *powerful* line

It's a shame that King Deshret's civilization got destroyed by that plague, if weren't for that we probably will see their amazing cities and also Rukkhadevata

I absolutely love how every nation's archon quest has a giant plot twist regarding the archon itself❤️

"World forget me" hits different now :((

DAMAN MILLS VOICED KASALA TOO

Rukkhadevata is gorgeous, really loved this cutscene and I'm so excited to see what else the Sumeru story will bring!

This is easily my the most favourite story teaser. Revealed a lot about our precious Dendro Archon, but also didn't forget about Cyno's ancestors and his bloodline. I really love this progress in storytelling of main quests in Genshin. Already looking forward for continue in 3.2 and how Scaramouche and Traveler storylines going to be crossed

Whoever voices this story, my goodness… his voice is so soothing and lovely, I just wanna curl up in a blanket. I hope he has more lines ☺️, I’ve never played Genshin Impact before but I think I’ll start to get into it now, this guy and Nahida have convinced me

we seriously need more Deshret lore, he's such an amazing character!

Everyone who lost their power turn smaller. Gouba, Rukhadevata. Paimon foreshadowing.....

The art is just amazing in this cutscene

I just found out kasala has the same va as lyney and blade from star rail 🤯

Who’d have thought that the VA playing the priest recording his last recording in the diary would become the great magician/Fatui agent Lyney.

Just to make clear, these cutscenes show the death of the Scarlet King, which took place thousands years before the main story began. These cutscenes also show that Rukkhadevata shrunk to the size of a child due to using too much of her powers. However, it is not explained that she died at that very moment. Based on the book "The Folio of Foliage" written by a scholar who was with Rukkhadevata in her last journey, Dendro Archon died during the cataclysm which occurred about 500 years before the main event. The reason for this was that Rukkhadevata once again sacrificed herself and merged with the earth and she becomes "Gaokerena" to protect Sumeru from the attacks and curses of the Black Tide caused by the Abyss / Khaenriah's destruction. Based on those, Nahida was born and found by the Sages after the Cataclysm. Is Nahida really was Rukkhadevata who lost her powers and memories? I really hope we can find the answer in the next patch. Edit : Additional theory. I see. That's why the Statue of Seven in Sumeru has the form of a God in her teen/child form. The statue was made after Rukkhadevata shrank for the first time. Considering how the Sages and people of Sumeru treated Nahida, I'm not so sure that the statue represents Lesser Lord Kusanali.

Mihoyo never fails to surprise us with their amazing animations

One thing I keep asking myself is how Hoyoverse is going to be able to top Sumeru's archon quest. It's so spectacular its not even funny! The writing, the visuals and lore are already some of the best archon quests we've ever had, keep it up Hoyoverse!

Poor nahida she went through so much, only for her people to treat her terribly, she is a legendary hero, sacrificing herself to save her people Edit: lore theorists, please can i just have a peaceful time commenting my thoughts of Kusanali without getting bricked with theories, and getting stomped on with these so called 'facts', thanks

This scene was beautifully animated, the artists at Hoyo outdid themselves again. I hope that one day we'll get a feature in-game where we can view the cutscenes again. Maybe in Fontaine, which has been teased to have a growing movie industry in some of Inazuma's world quests. I could imagine a cinema or a gadget. The cutscenes are beautiful pieces of art and filled with symbolism. It would be a shame to let the players only view them once or on external platforms, like RU-vid.

CAN’T WAIT FOR NEXT PART OF ARCHON QUEST. honestly they’ve improved a lot in story line. appreciate 🧡🌸

Genshin dropping important lore hints, this all just reinforces the idea that Paimon is of a greater suppressed power like we've been thinking. I remember when Inazuma was the most serious region, Sumeru just filled with backstory and life.

The ultimate sacrifice of Nahida shows the kindness and pureness of her soul. She really deserves to be the goddess of Sumeru, bless her And this part was written so well I loved it. Gonna watch it over and over again

This entire Archon Quest has been nothing short of amazing, the writing has been completely on point, each of the Acts have been properly connected with hints sprinkled throughout them, the fact that Nahida has been Greater Lord Rukkhadevata all along from the start and just like Guoba used up too much of her Divine power resulting in a loss of size and memories is definitely a very nice plot point, with this we know more about Gods of Teyvat in general and this could be a valid setup for future Archon Quests in other Nations, hope we can see Nahida's adult form in the future, either way this entire scene was utterly stunning ☺️

1:45 Always gives me shivers... such a beautiful cutscene. Sumeru's archon quest was the best by far and I'm so excited for Fontaine!

You gott give a point for King Deshret here. He realized his error and stood up to owning it to the point of sacrificing himself. That's a good king in my book.

The quest was so awesome!!

The 2D visuals they keep making for archon quests just keep getting better! I can't wait to see what else they will do for the Kunikuzushi x Ei storyline (possibly) in the next update.

My interpretation: Lord Kusanali was never shown in this video. Think about it. This cutscene showed King Deshret, which perished for around 1000 years ago, while Lord Rukkhadevata "disappeared" 500 years ago, two events that happened 500 years apart. This meant that Lord Rukkhadevata might've shrunked her size not just once, but twice. First was 1000 years ago when she helped King Deshret, and 500 years ago during the cataclysm where she might've exhausted all her powers to protect Sumeru from the Abyss. And from how the Akasha Terminal works, Lord Rukkhadevata might've created it by the time she first shrunk 1000 years ago as a backup for her people to remember her as she was. Only then did this became a threat for Sumeru when she herself became a part of the forbidden knowledge, and thus needed to be erased from the minds of her people to cut off the same curse that caused the fall of King Deshret's civilization.

Fun fact: There was a real king Deshret in Hindu mythology and if anyone wants to hear his tale I'm happy to share! Story: King Deshret was the king of Ayodhya in ancient India. When he was young, he went out to hunt one night and he waited near a river for prey. He heard the rustling of leaves and shot an arrow in the area. He thought he had hit an animal, but he heard the wailing of a man. He went over to the noise and saw that he had hit a young man. The young man was Shravan, a diligent boy who was taking his old and blind parents to places of pilgrimage. Shravan's parents were poor, hence they could not afford a carriage or horse to travel. They wished to visit places of pilgrimage with their son in their final days, so Shravan traveled with them and carried them in two baskets attached to a wooden rod on his shoulders. On the way, his parents had become thirsty so he had gone to fill a bucket of water from a river. But at the same time, King Deshret had thought he was an animal and shot him with an arrow. Shravan was close to death, and King Deshret was feeling sorry for what he had done and asked Shravan was he could do to ease the pain. Shravan told him his story, and begged Deshret to bring water to his parents. King Deshret carried out his final wish and brought water from the river to Shravan's parents. He explained to them what had happened and pleaded for forgiveness. Shravan's parents were enraged and full of grief, so they cursed Deshret that he would also die because of losing a son and died from grief that night. King Deshret did not think much of the curse as he was young and had no children at the time. A few years later, King Deshret had three wives. He owed 2 favors to one of his wives, Kaikeyi. She had demanded that his first wife Kaushalya's son Ram be sent into exile for 14 years and that her son Bharat be secured as the heir to the throne. King Deshret was hesitant but Kaikeyi insisted that she felt misfortune would befall her and that he still owed her two favors. He eventually had no choice and unwillingly sent Ram and his wife Sita into vanvas (exile in the forest) for 14 years. Ram's younger brother Lakshman had also insisted that he go with his brother. King Deshret fell into great depression as he had lost two sons. He died without any of his son's at his death bed. His eldest son Ram was an incarnation of Vishnu, the God of Protection. When his wife Sita was kidnapped, he defeated Ravan, the mighty demon king of Sri Lanka who had 10 heads while in exile with the help of his loyal follower Hanuman who was the Monkey God with great strength.

I wish I can experience playing the quests again for the first time. The cutscenes and storytelling were all too good that it gave me goosebumps the first time I've played it.

the singing at 0:25 always brings chills down my spine, it's so impactful

This cutscene will always be one of my favourite cutscenes in the game. I love Rukkhadevata.

"Let the world completely forget me." Rukkha NOOOOOOOOOO

THE BEST CUTSCENE IN WHOLE GAME (imo)

This is the reason why i always love genshin, every cutscene is always good, it gives you chill and goosebump!

Nahida story is so well written. She instantly in my top spot of favorite characters. The best Archon so far, so kind and selfless.

It makes me so sad when people look down on the Dendro Archons. They would literally sacrifice themselves for the world! Nahida predecessor saved so many lives and even if it costed her adult form, she is still an adult in a childs body, i just wish people would look past the child and see the adult she really is.

Bro imagine sacrificing it all to save your people, and then they hate you for being short

i was lowkey expecting the havria's follower type behavior from the leader of the eremites but, surprisingly, he was a lot more mature about it and took it like a champ... gotta respect that 😌👍

Kudos to all the people who made this story teaser come to life! The VA, the music, the art and animation, I have never been so immersed in a genshin story cutscene before.

Sumeru archon quests looking by far to be one of the bests yet. Hope to see this carry on for the future regions.

I've been loving this resistance plot, this was a great setup for the next act. Can't wait for 3.2, it's time to make the sages pay for what they've done.

man the animation in this scene was amazing. Sumeru so far has been a delight

The Sumeru archon quests are absolutely awesome! This is probably my favorite cutscene in the entire game besides the electro yaksha. The crescendo within the orchestral piece when it is revealed that Nahida is actually a child form of Rukkhadevata gave me chills

I looove seeing genshin evolve with us players. Their animations for cutscenes and characters are getting better, their story and story telling is getting better(speculated to be because of new storyboard members at Hoyoverse), and their music, well...that was always amazing lol. NOw I hope they fix their exclusive character roster. And make Itto's muscles bigger hehe.

Mondstadt introduced what type of story you're entering. Liyue raises the stakes up drastically. Inazuma skyrockets through the story with hints and reveals of the lore. Sumeru makes the mysteries all the more entertaining to solve.

0:50 bro is gorgeous

I can't grow tired of this cutscene.. I've watched it so many times now, it's just the visuals and music are so enchanting. I feel Hoyoverse is getting better with creating cutscenes and lore. I'm excited to delve further into the story of Sumeru-

they always nail the music, the animation and the voiceover this is AMAZING

Is it just me or Rukkhadevata's design hits u right in the female gaze aspect and I don't even know which part exactly? Im absolutely entranced by her image, her portayal in 2D has made me for the first time just want to pause and stare in awe. And story behind her sacrifice is so heartbreaking yet so amazing at portraying her love for people of Sumeru. 1000% my favorite Archon's Quest among all. (also i cant write in eng properly all i can do is become hearteyed emojy then i look at this cutscene) upd . Female gaze is a cinema term, basically a lot of focus on eyes & hands & emotions while portraying someone in cinema and media idk it just felt as fitting term for this image comparing it to the fact tham most of genshin cutcsenes are usually epic & action (which is still great i just wasnt expecting this cutcsene to be so emotional yet soft and atmospheric) i didn't mean to put it as a gender-thing and definitely didn't mean in bad way!

just come back here to remind myself that I still remembered the right person

Rest well Lord Rukkhadevata

damn i really feel sad for rukadevata I HOPE WE GET KUSANALI JUSTICE IN 3.2 cuz girlie worked hard and the art the music the va of this cutscene just 💖

Daman Mills has been in their sights for a long time, he did a great job on all three roles.

I really like the short part of the music when it says "Our embers were preserved in the Aaru village" And when it says "Children of the desert, cling no longer to past grievances, but hold tight to the memory of this act of benevolence".....goosebumps

1:23 the details of those clawy monster-like hands is so good, it makes the scenery of the disaster looks so horrifying as if it tries to grasp any living beings and absorb all the life out of it

It is a bit complicated, but I think she exhausted her powers in two different moments; firts, when she is saving the people in this cutscene, and second when she fought in Khaenria'h. After khaenria'h, she was brought back by the sages whom disspointed, locked her down in her palace.

This was such a great cutscene! The priest’s VA did a wonderful job narrating. I wonder if they’ll also upload Scaramouche’s cutscene because that one’s also great!

Queen of flowers died. King deshret sacrificed himself. Queen of rainforests erased herself from the world of teyvat. They were all friends rulling over sumeru but now all of them are gone because of forbidden knowledge. At least nahida with us today😭. Anyway I hope there would be visuals of king deshret and GOF like how we got of giuzhong and cloud retainer in the latern rite event 😊

PLEASE make an arc of history a trip to the past I need to know more and meet king deshret!

man i still love that last cutscene for for this act. i think some people forgot but the guy narrating king dehret and rukkhadevata is the last priest of King Deshret, Kasala. Alhaitham was translating it to the rest of the cast. which fun fact, he was able to do because when he was a student, he had a joint project with Kaveh to understand King Deshret's language and architecture. they both worked on it and both are able to read king deshret's ancient language, but since Alhaitham's darshan is Haravatat, basically the linguistics department, it's safe to say that it was his main responsibility to try and dechipher the language. which is so fcking awesome because it really puts into perspective how much Alhaitham was needed for us to complete Sumeru. We couldn't brute force our way and the akademiya were much stricter than the other nations in regards to letting traveler in as political power. Because in Sumeru, knowledge quite literally is power, so we needed someone who was actually smart and we got Alhaitham. He gave us a plan, he found the lady who heard screams in the desert, he led the way to the Elezar hospital and idenitfied the scholar, he solved the issue of the Akasha tracking them, he helped negotiate for Isak's grandpa, he translated the memories of Kasala the last Scarlet King preist, created the intricate plan using multiple diversions at once, and did this all with very low expectations and it was pretty fast in canon. Even in this cutscene, it's because Alhaitham was able to translate it that Rahman and his men finally stopped fighting for King Deshret because now they knew he was long dead and that Rukkhadevata was not an enemy. That in fact the three gods of Sumeru (King Deshret, Rukkhadevata, Nabu Malikata) were not only friends, but actively ruled Sumeru together and didn't fight against each other at all unlike others gods in the archon war. We could not have won them over if not for Alhaitham.

1:22 Smoothest animation ive seen

“But hold tight to the memory of this act of benevolence” hits different after 3.2

1:51 i need everyone to talk about how fluid and gorgeously stylised this segment is

The animation where Rukkhadevata turned into Kusanali was top tier. Well done hoyoverse! ✨

This cutscene is so beautiful and pure art

The cutscene gave me goosebumps⭐ One of the best cutscene

This is such a beautiful cutscene! The art, animation and music are just gorgeous. Can't stop watching it over and over again.

Only came back to this video because of a certain important leak related to a Sumeru character, specially 1:30 till 2:17, i already have some theories..

The fact that lesser Lord kusanali is the result of Greater Lord Rukkhadevata committing the ultimate sacrifice in order to save sumeru took me by surprise. Then I realised “wow they really treat her like trash because they don’t realise who she actually is” it’s crazy the sages wish the greater lord was still alive but seriously don’t realise they keep her locked in a bubble. They should have also seen that memory and maybe they’ll wake up 😂

Rukkhadevata was so beautiful and a really kind archon. Saving every primogem I can get for Nahida!

I love how Genshin posts all these animation teasers online, the art style is so beautiful and its so amazing to revisit them

my favorite cutscene without a doubt

Pls we need a story teaser like this on the next patch for Fontaine

Came here after the 3.2 quest. This cutscene is basically just the tip of the iceberg tbh.

man these genshin quest stories are getting better and better ...i always feels like ,if only I could do this quest again for the first time 😊 absolute peace , such is the gift of these stories such is genshin benevolence

i can’t believe this is 1 year ago already

This explains why the Dendro Statues have a child in them, Rukkhadevata shrunk before the Archon War began.

I will remember you, Greater Lord Rukkhadevata

At 0:07, it looks like King Deshret is crying. But what comes out of it is Forbidden Knowledge sourced from the Abyss, as he get such incomprehensible and corrupting power comes with a very destructive cost- namely Marana / Withering Zones. Once Irminsul remembered this calamity, it has to be erased completely in order to restore Teyvat. King Deshret couldn't overcome his grief after losing Nabu Malikata, the last surviving Seelie. He loved her, but she can't return it because of a curse that befell the entirety of all Seelie races.

God, give me more Kasala content. I love this priest with all my soul

EDIT: What we learned from this: - King Desheret accidentally brought the curse into Sumeru - Forbidden Knowledge may have come from Khaenriah or Celestia - Withering and Eleazar came from the Forbidden Knowledge - Rukkadevata IS Kusanali Remaining Questions: - How is this connected with Irminsul - How do we cure Irminsul - What is the connection of Dottore to Irminsul (burning of the tree) Another amazing archon story from HYV. Excited how the Sumeru Archon Storyline will end next patch.

I honestly love the forbidden knowledge theme that starts at about 0:25 and ends at 0:45.

Watching this video, I tell myself that THIS TIME I WON'T CRY!!!! And still I have tears flowing, it's just something with something, it's so sad every time tears flow

This cinematic always hits me, i love the animation, the music, the voice actor effort, the story, and the epicness of King Deshret , Rukkhadevata and Kusanali sacrifice.

FINALLY I CAN REWATCH THIS. also is anyone else shocked that after this no one in the story acknowledged the kusanali lore bomb? like they just moved on and no one talks abt her...

One of those cutscenes that gives us a hefty amount of factual lore in Genshin.

Not only was the quest amazing, but having the 4 companions in Candice, Cyno, Fire Mane, and Alatheim arguing, planning, and bouncing thier personalities off each other showed such great depth to each charecter it will very awesome to see this trend continue in future stories.

This cutscene is so beautiful. From the narration, to the music, to the art, and the story of it. This Archon quest is the absolute best, the writing is miles better and it just keeps me engaged. I loved every second of it. I sure can't wait for 3.2!

The animation at 1:50 is crazy good