[1.2] What Made Hollow Zero Erupt? - A Zenless Zone Zero Theory

[@Ashikai]

**NOTES & CORRECTIONS** - This was pointed out to me by lorespores on the discord (Zarozian and Jesse), but apparently in one of Piper's trust events, Enzo says that "soundwaves can protect against corruption." In light of this, I wonder if the Exaltist order would throw people into hollows as sacrifices for the greater good in order to make the hollows bigger so they could live inside them by leveraging some kind of frequency or song to prevent corruption. That'd be wild.

[@someoneinasia]

correction: we have no idea what happen inside a blackhole. with our current knowledge, all we can do is speculate but we don't know. our physics break down and incomplete. saying we can time travel inside a blackhole, that is just mumbo jumbo. we can however use blackhole gravity to time travel by orbiting near the event horizon, but only to the future and not to the past.

[@Josh-qt5zi]

So if Genshin is a storybook,hsr is moive the Sh had flim marking mofit with the scipt,classic moivecredit roll,Eilo is scipt supervisor,and that the Sh are mainly just actors almost all they actions are just acting

[@dungbeater4264]

​@@someoneinasia correction: we have no idea if a blackhole's gravity can be use to time travel even if by orbiting near the event horizon. Saying that is just mumbo jumbo. We can however use your mom's gravitational to pull planes back towards the ground.

[@someoneinasia]

​@@dungbeater4264 yes we do have an idea, time dilation time travel is not mumbo jumbo, it is actually possible and it has been proven on earth in a much smaller scale. on the other hand, time travel to the past inside a blackhole is mumbo jumbo. for the 2nd part of your comment i'm leaving wanderer quote "does he think he is being funny?"

[@silverhawkscape2677]

@@someoneinasia Depends. Time is funky inside a Hollow.

[@thebishna]

Consider this my official petition to call the Pre-Eridu civilization "Eridon't".

[@MarkTazo99]

I also vote for this

[@diazpramudita5165]

+1.

[@Cometsarecool]

Signed

[@geboaebo]

Alternatively, Eridid

[@devilsadvocate22289]

You have my vote!

[@Zarozian]

Oh yeah they also discovered that listening to music while fighting in the hollows slows the rate of ether corruption which was accidentally discovered by some guy who wanted to jam out while fighting in the hollow. Music is the first magic of the world after all! ;>

[@roulette_shark]

he might have invented it, but anby is the blueprint o777

[@Zarozian]

@@roulette_shark Inner Dialogue? NAY! INNER MUSIC! YEEE!!!

[@silverhawkscape2677]

Wait. So us getting "Artifacts" related to Music Actually Makes sense? DOESN'T this mean Anby singing the Background OST actually Helps her in Universe?

[@xrosslegends1279]

Is that a Re: Fantazio reference?

[@guarana-suquinho]

I have to wonder what would happen if someone started playing Doom Music 🤔

[@butterknight1236]

This just made me realize why zzz makes music videos for characters compared to there other games

[@papacharlie-niner148]

A lot of stuff about agents is music-oriented. Examples: Jane's story is called "Undercover R&B." You can "audition" each new agent before you pull for them. The format of the "agent record" marketing promo is an album cover.

[@xemnasxiii3992]

@@butterknight1236 can't wait to get a moment in the story where the units will have to canonically fight while listening to their official track and we just get to listen to Caesar track while she's really embarrassed lol

[@_elynas]

yanagi🧌

[@karafizasea8217]

This makes me remember the achivement "midnight whisper" where you need to answer the payphone in the 6th street in the midnight. "The voice on other end of line sounds muffled and distorted, sounds like an old lady from centuries ago" Theres multiple dialogue from this interaction, and some of em are creepy, but its all from the same recipient who is searchig for someone names Hughes. Does this also proves that message can be send from inside to outside the hollow but itll end up at different time and place?

[@scarlett453]

Also, after you clear the event about Spacebar, you can actually pick up the payphone, and talk to Spacebar's mother. You tell her that her son wishes that he could have seen her one last time, you tell her that he didn't go down without a fight and she cries, thanks you for telling her this and she hangs up.

[@Truck-kun11]

Considering how long Hollows seem to have existed, it's no surprise to me that a faction that idolizes them would eventually emerge. Humans tend to fear and/or idolize what they see as a higher power, be it a natural disaster, a wild beast, or even other humans.

[@annazhang1434]

Wow when you said idolize, it just remind me that we have idol group in this game :o and their name...

[@silverhawkscape2677]

How long have Allows Existed because I'm getting the Impression of more than a Century now.

[@longps9528]

It's even sadder considering that this would most likely happen in real life if humanity ever face against a cosmic horror phenomenon like this. There's always gonna be a bunch of idiots who would make a religion out of anything they cannot comprehend.

[@Saga_Anserum]

@@annazhang1434 We have an idol group in this game? Which one? (sorry, I'm a bit slow)

[@annazhang1434]

@@Saga_Anserum Its Virtual Idol (temporary name), the zzz dev show us the idol faction art back then on zzz pre-release special program.

[@hiddenscorpiusXI]

That last bit, about the Mass Sacrifice that led to the Eruption of Hollow Zero, lines up with my observation that Sarah's faction, The Order, has been involved in two incidents that would've resulted in mass deaths near or within hollows: When they used Vision to try to bomb and then shoot down the refugees near the Dead End Hollow. And then when they tried to make the aircraft carrying Perlman and other innocents into the Ballet Twins Hollow.

[@sweetmachaq1602]

Third would be (if confirmed) the boming of Cinder Lake. They tried to rapidly destroy that place with an either bomb naturally create a Hollow from it.

[@hiddenscorpiusXI]

@sweetmachaq1602 I think you don't have all your facts straight. For starters, Cinder Lake is IN a Hollow; if it weren't, ether crystals would not start growing because of the device Lucius made Pompey throw in it nor would the latter become an Ethereal; Ether Crystal formation only happens inside Hollows, and Ethereals become inactive if they manage to wander out of a Hollow. Second, Lucius' device was an Ether Accelerant, meant to cause Ether Crystals to form more rapidly and seal Cinder Lake completely. Lastly, while it would be damaging the people of the Outer Ring, it doesn't have the same severity of the two events I cited, because it wouldn't have resulted in *inmediate* deaths.

[@No-Ink]

Hidden is right. The Cinder Lake incident was corporate espionage.

[@sweetmachaq1602]

@@hiddenscorpiusXI AH ok, thank you for the explaining! There is a lot of info so its hard for me to remember or get it all!

[@NagaTales]

A little insight into the 'why' of the EN use of the term Overseer! "Overseer" is one of the three historically accepted translations, alongside "elder" and "bishop", for the Greek word "episkopos"; which is used in the New Testament to describe the senior-most office of the first century Church, just under the Apostles themselves. Which of the translations is preferred depends on denomination, but all three of these terms are interchangeable within the context of Christian church government. So the EN use of "Overseer" isn't out of place, given the CN use of the word "Bishop", and it's my opinion that it was likely chosen due to it being the most 'generic' of the three options so as to not evoke the more formalized and constrained imagery that "Bishop" carries.

[@pallingtontheshrike6374]

deep lore moment

[@Infelious]

I kinda wonder if "Overseer" is also a reference to Otto, in which case that might suggest their aims, such as to prevent someones death.

[@Macer84]

@@InfeliousThat actually is an interesting idea, considering that among the Void Hunters are Kiana and Mei it wouldn’t be all too unlikely that Otto, or someone like him, was involved. That being said, considering The Order’s goal of becoming one with the Hollows in order to reach some transcendent state, and the involvement of Elysia, I find it more likely that this Overseer is, if they are indeed someone we already are familiar with, KEVIN.

[@x_Psyduck_x]

It's also probably a reference to Honkai Impact 3rd

[@Drunkendrakon]

Nah just bad localizers. You can find translation errors everywhere in ZZZ.

[@Eldritchpi]

Eridu was the "first city" of ancient Sumeria that the Annunaki Elohim oversaw. According to Sumerian tablets, humans were making too much NOISE, and Enlil couldn't sleep so he decided to destroy them with a massive flood, but Enki told one man in advance to save those he could...

[@Zeke1460]

Utnapishtim.

[@tite93]

All seriousness aside it's kinda funny that ZZZ, while not being centered around music or sounds in a straightforward way, does a lot more with that concept than Wuthering Waves, whose world is straight up built on sound waves being the source of global disasters and powerful abilities for playable characters

[@bangtanssera]

well, let's not forget wuwa is just a first globally awaited project from kuro while zzz comes from creators of THEE Genshin Impact and THEE HSR, wuwa sets up things nicely as well, especially on the black shores location I really feel like kuro will utilize the potential of the concept they created. by the way, I used to look at jinzhou so uninterested but after I found out what guixu or whatever, part of huanglong, looked like before I was in awe. that's the real disaster. so, I don't tend to underestimate wuwa for now

[@tite93]

@bangtanssera of course, I'm not trying to downplay what they've built so far in general. It's a solid foundation, I think they really need to develop the whole post-apocalyptic thing, the recent Shorekeeper chapter really did a great job of showing what the world used to look like and what their civilization has lost. That really does seem like the strongest foundation for Wuwa's setting, they shouldn't shy away from showing the real darkness, makes the light parts and Rover's mission all the more impactful

[@senelclark101]

Coz it's Kuro, they are all flash no substance

[@ashade2877]

Sound waves and Resonant Frequencies are different although sound waves can be produced by RFs, RFs can translate into far more.

[@silverhawkscape2677]

Difference between Professionals who've been around longer good sir.

[@Justin-Thyme]

So this whole thing would is a silent war between two factions (possibly) rooted in the old Civilization and New Eridu is the chess board. Hollows were the byproduct of the old Civilization's technology/research. The Order wants to push on, the other faction wants to stop them. Knowing Hoyo writing, I'd wager the Order is not a faction made of lunatics, but they probably have a reason. The other faction uses time travel to frustrate their plans. And somehow, a bunch of maids (and a Butler with a dreamy voice) are the only ones in the know in New Eridu.

[@francesleones4973]

@@Justin-Thyme That opens another theory: Could Victoria Housekeeping's so-called "Master" be part of a faction fighting against The Order?

[@Justin-Thyme]

@@francesleones4973 Maybe, maybe not. The real question is: did we really want cat girl gfs so bad we genetically engineered Thirens?

[@katharizo]

​The answer is always yes, to catgirls

[@silverhawkscape2677]

​@@Justin-ThymeAnd Onis as well. But we got Shark girls as well. Honestly yes it was worth it.

[@urdeadnotbigsuprise7439]

@@francesleones4973 Rina asked about is it okay to let them know about Sacrifice and according to Lycaon their Master knows about Sacrifice in first place and Lycaon said "It's no issue, Master has had a change of plan and given us new instructions: Provide them assistance or guidance as needed. They are too involved to keep them out, but perhaps they can become our allies." which gives some red flags to me.

[@KallaTheYapper347]

The hollows feels like the abyss that managed to consume the majority of the planet.

[@knightofwisdom8851]

Yeaaa the abyss that succeeded.

[@silverhawkscape2677]

​@@knightofwisdom8851More like made major progress than Genshin.

[@effortlessfury]

There are definitely multiple examples of time dilation throughout the main story and was wondering why they kept implying something going on there but never addressed it. Communications were received out of order more than once.

[@mttstutu]

i think i experienced this, one of burnice's friendship interaction is that she doesnt have a drivers licence and wise instantly goes "what was the last time me and belle remade ours...?" (if unlocking friendship doesnt require finishing the sons of calydon chapter then i could be totally wrong btw lol)

[@genesisofthebetween]

@@mttstutu they actually renew their licenses in the Zhu Yuan and Qingyi quest with the EMP guy!

[@mttstutu]

@@genesisofthebetween ohhh yeah true! then nevermind lol

[@GrieferBeyond21]

The points made about the W engines really blew my mind 😳 so the agents are just vibing to music while fighting?! That’s such attention to detail my the devs

[@silverhawkscape2677]

At this rate we need an Agent who is straight up a Music Idol and they are are the strongest agent we meet so far.

[@xrosslegends1279]

​@@silverhawkscape2677 The Virtual Idols?

[@Karma-pq9fi]

@@xrosslegends1279 I forget those characters were leaked so not many people know about them yet.

[@vsCelestia-nq5cr]

Yippee ZZZ vid , we are saved boys

[@nazmaniangamer]

Can I just say something?... I'm so glad you are covering ZZZ's lore... I thinks its also really good

[@creeperhunter2k03]

I think you should have mentioned how we have a very evident corelation of etherals and music with the ballerinas of chapter 3, they appear acompanied by music, one literally jumps of a balcony teying to get the music device, and they are the only ethereals that don't mindlessly fight, in the final battle they don't even fight to the death like every other boss, but they flee, I think they might be more important than we first thought

[@urdeadnotbigsuprise7439]

Twin Ballerinas also the ONLY boss we have that wasn't killed. Dead End Butcher got exploded. Sacrifice got impaled. And Overlord Pompey fell into lava.

[@eyeoffate89]

Another small but notable tidbit is that the old man Ellen was hired to protect in her teaser has the same voice as Grace's teacher and as the male voice in the lore trailer. Considering we already know Victoria Housekeeping are already much deeper into this rabbit hole than our protagonists, there are a lot of interesting possibilities for what their part in this could be. Could he even be their anonymous "Master"?

[@Zarozian]

Okay Sensory Sync is a new one for me....and given how the Sacrifice was able to possess and control and even fuse together technology. I wonder if it can also be controlled the same way.

[@asdf_asdf948]

We also get missions from various chapters out of order

[@ShadowingXblade]

Now compare that to Honkai which despite not being digital corrupt mech instantly. Nothing new under the moon.

[@papacharlie-niner148]

I'll go a step further and speculate that Carole Arna is still alive, although in a story with time travel, dead/alive isn't as binary a state as we presume anyway. Your speculation goes a long way towards building the case for her innocence. It would be a waste, from the perspective of good dramatic writing, for that exoneration to be posthumous. Besides, ZZZ has gone for the easy happy ending in every story arc so far, so it's likely that (the reports of her death were greatly exaggerated) Carole Arna will be exonerated, rather than pull a "Darth Vader is your father" kind of reversal of the sibling's hopes and dreams. Even the dramatic tension created by Miyabi's declaration of vengeance against "all those responsible" (presumably, including the world's #1 Most Wanted, Carole Arna) is neatly resolved by identifying the real culprits as The Order and Carole Arna as the framed patsy. This also brings the story full circle, with Miyabi reprising her ancestor's role as the hero who saves us from The (new) Order's final boss.

[@sh4d0wfury]

Regarding translating bishop as overseer, in Honkai Impact Otto Apocalypse is called both Overseer and the Bishop of Schiksal.

[@Infelious]

I was thinking exactly this, maybe their Overseer is trying to revive someone too or maybe its describing that their Order runs like Schiksal.

[@papacharlie-niner148]

Fascinating speculation and meticulously argued. Easy sub. I particularly like how your speculation neatly connects the origin of Fairy and the mysterious people/entities behind Fairy with the overarching "Who Killed Eridu?" mystery. Fairy's lore video reads as a writerly red herring to me: superficially sinister as a misdirection, because later we will find out that, SURPRISE, these are really "the good guys."

[@bob13559]

VERY EPIC VIDEO, PLEASE DONT GIVE UP ON ZZZ, I LOVE THESE

[@katabwa2172]

When I first saw ZZZ trailers, I assumed it was a music / rhythm battle game. Surprise surprise. It looks like it is music related after all.

[@Jennngga]

I was playing it and my friend asked if it was a rhythm game. I thought about it and she sent my mind gears goin. Makes total sense, and it actually is good the trailers have been music themed, Burnice being some beautiful brainrot lol

[@russellpierce3987]

the 'sensory sync' bit is really cool to me because one of the only sort of justifications for humanoid robots is to potentially have a sort of 'shell' that people are able to just sort of log into to be other places without traveling, so it's actually one of the only kind of practical things that specifically humanoid robots are good for. not that humanoid robots need to have justification in a game but it's cool that the technology in the lore is semi realistic

[@silverhawkscape2677]

Actually. Another reason for Humanoid robots is simply the fact we built a world for us humans. If we want a generalist robot that can do many task for us to an acceptable capacity than a Humanoid Robot would work. Just look at the warehouses run by Amazon Romba Robots. Fully Optimized for them but it would be weird for people to work in.

[@Nihilore]

yes! more ZZZ videos

[@patato4250]

Carole Arna POV: Trolley Problem - One set of tracks have 5 sacrificial lambs willingly tied and waiting for the trolley, the other is you, also tied and thus cannot pull any levers. What will your sudents do? They travel back in time and blow up the trolley causing a big ass hollow to spawn killing everyone

[@silverhawkscape2677]

Bruh...imagine if THAT'S what the Vision was showing...we Phaethon caused Hollow Zero.

[@Juwon0531]

this is so f'd up...

[@kura1216]

@@Juwon0531 but that would be a very interesting scenario nonetheless 🤔

[@igorrodrigues2532]

I still don't know how Ashikai manages to blow my mind in every video. But I never miss a single video.😅😊

[@igorrodrigues2532]

The theory of the connection between music and hollows blew my mind. It makes perfect sense.

[@jaymacnee2347]

I'm gonna lose it if the Virtual Idol/Angel Idols faction has to do with The Order lol Since their names are directly taken from angels Sariel, Ramiel, and potentially Jophiel/Johiel, if they're potentially gaining fame and influence to "spread the word" like preachers through song (perhaps not like a choir, but maybe relating to, esp referencing the entire section about how music plays into etherial corruption protection) I would go absolutely feral. Man. That would set them up as awesome antagonists too. Also semi-unrelated but again on using music to protect against etherial corruption, it's interesting that in one of Anby's trailers her listening to music all the time is specifically called out by Nicole, plus she hums along to the background music in her idle. Perhaps, following the theory of her being ex-OBOL squad, knowing about the frequency and consistently being on it might be part of her training? Just a spontaneous thought lol

[@thechurchstore2386]

The only thing that gets me more hype than your genshin lore videos is your zzz lore videos. This universe is so interesting and brings up so many questions as I play through the game. Can’t wait for the next one!

[@Saturday_Jones]

I’ve been enjoying ZZZ lately and your videos bring more life to the game. Thank you for adding to my enjoyment

[@Holmesay-hv4hg]

Wow this is now probably my fav video from you. A lot to unpack, both from a scientific and organization/lore standpoint and you were really clear and smooth about it. Thanks!

[@tkak4]

everything is starting to seem so much more interesting. cant wait to see where it goesss

[@ArtFenixAsordis]

FINALLY! A ZZZ lore video! Thank you, great job! Looking forward for more! :)

[@razanag]

I know that ZZZ lore video is not really popular, but i really love all your lore video ❤

[@NixNeri]

This was super cool! I stopped playing zzz awhile ago but this make me really want to play again

[@banggobang5148]

23:01 "Belief is an incredibly powerfull force" This is a really true, powerfull and scary words..

[@Diabloto96]

You're really cooking with this one Ashikai, you blew my mind with the time travel

[@ivanlawrenceco656]

please more ZZZ LORE. i wanna know the lore behind the thirens and automatons.

[@edulz_]

Dear ashikai, you are my fav youtuber and zzz is my fav (not really, but I like it) game. Thanks for the video! May the gods and goddess of theory enlighten your way and may thy little toe stumble in the right ancient myths references :prayge

[@zhenhannlim2458]

I had a thought, if the thing about being able to travel through time using the Hollows is actually true and possible, then Professor Arche who was the one who found the common characteristics of Hollows should know about it. It's possible he could have travelled through time and that's why he's missing after going into Hollow Zero

[@krissy980]

7:10 The English translation is based off the Japanese translation so some details that would work straight from CN to EN get lost in the CN to JP step. You can see this in the name genshin, in CN it's actually Yuanshen, but in Japan they don't really use the Y(yuh) sound, their Ys are usually more of a J (juh) sound, which sounds more like a G (guh), so that's why it's Genshin instead of Yuanshen.

[@papacharlie-niner148]

I didn't know that. That explains a lot, like how Lucy's JP dialogue is more consistent with her character than her EN dialogue. The EN localization for Lucy is a confusing mess. I'm not talking about VA performance, I'm talking about word choice. Is there someplace where I can learn more about ZZZ's localization process?

[@krissy980]

@papacharlie-niner148 from what I can tell hoyo does the translations themselves, you'd best do your own research form more info

[@DrEnzyme]

I'm gunna feed your paranoia about sound by telling you that wwise is one of the most popular audio integration software for games.

[@AlexBaluh]

So music and religion are very important for ZZZ lore. This makes me more excited for the angel themed Virtual Idols.

[@renziorange]

This is one hell of a video. The quality is amazing and im just completely mind blown. Thankyou so much for such an amazing video. Cant wait for the future ones

[@AnonymousInternetUserLaine]

I am going to watch this video while stuffing my face with two gallons of buttered popcorn with cinnamon sugar. Praise be peak crack cinema

[@Archetype_Angel]

Wow, thank you Ashikai. There was so much content that went over my head and I personally couldn't connect. Great video

[@Lyuyenting]

You speak the most standard English I’ve ever heard. I hope you can make more videos about Zenless Zone Zero. Thank you!

[@chirb008]

There are so many hidden lore bits hidden here and there. Is like is simmering. I hope they bring more lore to the surface so people appreciate the story more

[@jasonrozay553]

I finally found a quality zzz lore video 🙏

[@EYang-hl6hv]

shortest Ashikai video ever and it's still enough to break my brain

[@sneakretster]

So uh, I'm gonna cook here for a second because hearing this stuff about the order and hollow worship and Sara potentially being part of this organization has just sent me on a brain blast I didn't think I'd have: Alright, so looking at Spacebar and his own degradation/loss of sanity from being trapped in a hollow for too long that ended up converting him into a follower of the order and he sought to leave the hollow... And then we examine how it's speculated that officer Bringer is in league with Sara and was the one who was talking on the phone with her after making the deal with Pearlman... Is it possible that the time when Bringer was lost in the hollow (that he *somehow* escaped from that ended up having him lauded as the "Hollow hero" by the people of his district and PUBSEC) he might've either been converted by Ether corruption in some way like what happened with Spacebar? Or he could've been saved by members of the Order and have been converted to their beliefs through their gospel? Which imo would explain his sudden change after the incident and why he's trying to cozy up to TOPS despite that not really seeming like something he'd do before now. Just a thought, and I'm aware I could be cooking garbage, but the thought occurred to me 🤷

[@Trnslts]

1:55 close enough, welcome back Seven Shus HI3

[@lumaletsplay8176]

Is anyone else anticipating players inevitably ending up on the moon? 1.1 established that there are unexplained borderline teleportation passages between hollows. If you look at the moon in the game its half covered in ether/hollows.

[@asdf_asdf948]

By the way, the corona of the hollows pulsate vaguely in a way reminiscent of a sound visualizer.

[@4unomore]

I absolutely love your ZZZ lore videos!!! Theres so much hidden goodness and it really feels like quite the mystery!!

[@tianova4649]

Fascinating breakdown, and excellent production quality! You've tied a lot of pieces together that had been rattling around in my head but I had not yet combined. One point I am confused on is the timeline of the fall of Eridu. I feel like we have been lead to believe it is 10ish years ago based on Khors' disappearance and that plot arc of chapter 2. But in Rina's side story "Until Your Memory Fades (III)" Fairy says, "White Waves Hospital is a renowned large-scale comprehensive medical facility in New Eridu. Earlier records go back 41 years to when it was forced to relocate due to a Hollow disaster." So did the fall of the capital happen much longer ago than we thought, or did smaller scale hollow disasters occur that precede Hollow Zero and were a commonplace enough occurrence that nobody remembers that one particular time that a Hollow blew up a city block?

[@iMeg_]

WAIT A MINUTE... so the discs go into the w-engine?? like the w-engine plays them??? like HOLD ON, how did I miss lmao

[@papacharlie-niner148]

Don't feel too bad. If you think about it too much, you'll realize that there is no place for the wengine itself to go, if the wengine is big enough to hold CD sized discs. Even if they use micro discs only a couple of cm wide, the wengine is still too big to fit into, for example, Jane's weapon.

[@iMeg_]

@@papacharlie-niner148 nah, it actually makes sense. Those are drive discs, not like cd or vinyl, I just feel dumdum. I would love for them to show the agents holding the w-engine in a cutscene ngl, otherwise I'm not thinking too much of the deets

[@Pertruabo]

​@@iMeg_dont give me bad ideas dude 😂 up until now, i dont even know how they wield the W-engine. Especially since they all are round / marble like

[@amandatodd7197]

So with Yangi’s release and her spear quite literally stops time for a short bit… yea so the idea of time travel in Zenless Zone Zero seems more likely with how you can stop and start time for a short bit

[@king3azy]

your voice is perfect for lore/theories its just really easy to listen to great vid!

[@dungbeater4264]

GREAT VIDEO!!!! I never knew there was so much detail in this game, that i have overlooked. I never even bothered with why the "discs" were just discs. The inclusion of music in the story and combat is so interesting.

[@AraaBlast]

I love your theories a lot. But your editing is amazing!!!! I really like you talking through yous it's like it's our professor. Also, great voice-over as well, incredibly put together!

[@svilenstefanov3053]

Apparently, the old civilization colonized the Moon and that's why there's a Hollow there too

[@shibepanic]

whoa what? could you tell me where you got that? genuinely interested

[@jasonrozay553]

@@shibepaniclook up at the sky, sometimes you can see it. Something happened to the moon but there’s a very visible hollow on it

[@LordHaragnok]

​@@shibepanic It's most obvious towards the end of the chapter 3 story when Lycaon jumps with the moon in the background.

[@Drunkendrakon]

​@@shibepanic Hollow on the moon probably means living beings are there too.

[@hmoyu885]

My mind was blown away when you point out that how music goes hand in hand with this game, and here I thought it’s just the how the game is being marketed. And this makes me even more excited! One of the aspects of this game that I absolutely love is the music, so talk about hymns and chants makes me imagine that in the near future we’ll get to hear boss music that fully utilizes that!

[@Ne0nie]

So glad you're still making these. ZZZ has my favorite lore out of all the Hoyo games.

[@demonsofrazg]

Heck yea! Another ZZZ video!!!

[@guarana-suquinho]

Honestly, my reaction to this chapter was overall: Nett, we got information on the Outer Ring and that the hollows attack carbon, and then they just lore bombed us out of nowhere with Phantom lore! To just interrupt a very important information with another lore bomb! I was left wondering what just happened, also, I think that I now understand how the Ether corruption works.

[@AiriOuka]

I *just* finished 1.2 yesterday so your timing with this one was so perfect aaa Waiting on the edge of my seat for the next one!

[@rolyflorian]

That's a very interesting and developped video about the lore, really loved it ! good job at explaining it very clearly

[@Strathard]

thank you for this video, helped me understand a lot more of the bigger picture of the story and hidden meanings within it.

[@kyumesknack2]

I love your zzz theory videos so so much!!! Thank you for all your hard work!!

[@manuiutub]

Amazing video! It got me thinking we may have a canon occurrence of hollows being used to time travel in game: the Little Beetroot quest. If you fail, he's gone. But if you replay the quest and save him, the game actually accounts for this and he'll be fine and thank you. So what I originally wrote off as a weird quirk of the gameplay could actually have an actual reason.

[@jblitz200]

I never realized the w-engine disk drive interaction before of Course they play the music

[@Voxet1]

holy! thats so in depth, id never thought of the music connection in game wtfffff

[@justmatrix3402]

😄Thanks for the lore on the story. The way you look at it is definitely different from most. I think 1.3 and 1.4 will definitely explain a lot and Obsidian division in the future with their past.😊

[@WilkersonWhittle]

You make my favorite Zzz lore videos.

[@TarnishedArt]

I’m genuinely so glad 🥲 and thankful for another Zenless theory! You are seriously the most thorough researcher and the most creative theorist in the gacha space 😭 It reminds me of good ol’ matpat (before retirement) The way you present the details in each video is so fun, the world of Zenless is phenomenal and i’m genuinely so happy to see theories and lore vids for it!

[@Kova_xo]

I LOVE these videos, holy, such awesome story / clue threading!

[@Hao-hi3yb]

Excellent take. This was both incredibly entertaining and insightful

[@rincognito]

I've always found the terms they used for the game system very interesting: decibels, chips for skills, disks for artifacts that come from a literal music shop, but I never put two and two together. Somehow I never looked into what the w-engine is for in lore, and holy, that actually ties in a lot of the concepts together. As a very casual ZZZ player (three gachas can just be a bit too much sometimes lmao), your videos help me a lot in digesting the game's lore, and of course your speculations are interesting and entertaining as always. Thank you for the vid once again!

[@lilianne959]

That was a really good video Ashikai, I'm really surprised by the amount of lore that was hiding in the game.

[@TheNeoTaku]

Awesome more ZZZ!

[@luzekiel9343]

Man your videos are amazing, you are pretty much nailing everything here.

[@devilsadvocate22289]

WOOOO ZZZ Lore Vid! Thanks for the good food, Ashikai!

[@outsider2638]

It feels good to have a better idea of what I'm playing. Thanks.

[@BlazerMinecrafter]

ohhhh my gosh this puts a LOT of stuff i was confused on in perspective. the lore in this game is so cool

[@justinbailey1669]

Penacony battle theme is such a banger thank you for putting it in the background

[@lilceasar]

The main reason why they used overseer and not bishop is that they are both interchangeable, they mean the exact same thing an overseer is just another name for a bishop

[@ZwalistyDrwal]

Watching these videos and realizing how much you don't know/miss out/don't pay attention to about this game's lore...really mind blowing

[@lightstrike8817]

While the people sacrificing themselves is possible but remember that ethereal can be transported because as soon as they leave the hollows, they turn into crystals, but overall it makes me think of the sacrifice

[@rexex345]

Small correction, Cherubim are the ones that sing praise to god, Seraphim are supposed to be gods enforcers/knights, the ones that guard him or go to do his smiting, you know, like say... Manipulating vision and then ordering the execution of a whole lot of civilians... Yeah Sarah actually fits pretty well in that sense.

[@jasonrozay553]

Medieval Christian theology places seraphim in the highest choir of the angelic hierarchy. They are the caretakers of God's throne, continuously singing "holy, holy, holy".

[@idmss2663]

What if below Miyabi's ancestor was actually the overseer's body, that's why there is fabric floating from the ground

[@rarelovell1093]

havent watched the video yet but I've dying to see ZZZ lore content and I hope this is it

[@knightofwisdom8851]

Oohh I love these kinda hidden lore discussion videos,please cover them more,if you dont mind👍

[@doctorwho3708]

This also give a idea to Billy then. Name and his crinimal history aside, he very good in a fight. Like, REAL good. He never misses and he quick to adapt. And the fact he wa built as a battle android and have extremely high either aptitude means Billy kind was made to fight the Hollow with the Void Hunters and kill the Cult of Hollow worshippers. If Billy was made with those spefic tasks in mind, suddenly his abilities and why he can't remember his past before being bought off by a crime lord make sense. He was either the last made or he was shut down during a battle and his data was erase to hide something.

[@brainiac2977]

MORE ZZZ LOOOORE! THANK YOU ASHIKAI!!!

[@shadowthehedgehog1824]

you are quite good in all of those theories.

[@afiqt91]

Thank you Ashikai! As always great mindboggling time bending video!, watching your vids makes me wonder what if Wise and Belle is being sent to the "future" instead? They secretly hiding their identity with everyone as the Proxy, Phaethon. This is a super long stretch crack theory tho 🤣 but alas GREAT VIDEO! Love your contents!

[@flowsky7339]

Love this! Subbed for more zzz lore 🎶