[3.2] The Root of Teyvat's Troubles - Genshin Impact Theory - [Project:Teyvat Ep 1/5]

[@kito2280]

I have always been suprised about how the Hexenzirkel is almost never talked about by people. Glad this video is bringing it to light

[@jsw973]

It has illuminati vibes to me

[@chickennuggets353]

i hope we get to meet them in fontaine 🥲

[@acorpseshouldbeleftwellalo9680]

@@chickennuggets353 i think we will meet them in later in sumeru, since they are known to explore irminsul and sumeru is the nation with most ties to irminsul

[@DrGerbill]

I think its not explicitly mentioned in most of the archon quests and a rather obscure group so unless you pay attention to lore you probably forget it exists

[@Ansytea]

Fr, made me immediately click this vid. I initially thought tons would theorize about this group but I guess their goals and progress are still vague and unknown so not a lot of theorists would make connections idk

[@kuma8252]

The fact that Yanfei kinda acting as the reporter makes all this theory more exciting to learn. Love it!

[@DavidJohnson-ib1dh]

I'd prefer Sango :)

[@tuxmaceo2020]

Yes!! I wish Ashikai voiced Yanfei.. or even a whole new character.

[@Vinni-2K]

as a yanfei main i approve

[@Trishady]

I love the theory that forbidden knowledge may be similar to deleted computer data. Real deleted computer can usually be retrieved if not too much time has past since the deletion because when you delete a file on your PC you're actually not deleting the file at all, you're simply deleting all references associated with the file giving you no way to access it anymore, but it's still there floating around in the deep dark depths of your PC. The PC then has something called a 'garbage collector' that will eventually come around a wipe of all this data floating around with nothing pointing to it, but depending on your PC this could take weeks, even months to do (if the garbage memory is not overwritten with new things in that time, of course). I wonder if perhaps Teyvat has no garbage collection system, does that mean all sorts of garbage/lost/corrupted memories are floating around basically everywhere?? Also, is it possible for these memories to get overwritten at some point? The programmer in me is super excited by this turns of events, lmao.

[@Haru-rs2su]

I dunno if it's the coffee in my blood but I'm also connecting dots and going nuts right now. That's why I felt the mission to revive the homeland by the other twin is almost impossible, they're trying to regain knowledge that has already been corrupted, scattered all across Teyvat! When you mentioned those scattered expunged data of the past my mind immediately went to the Inazuma leylines that leaked people's memories like in Beelzebul's second story quest, remember the blind man and the teapot, as well as the soldiers that are still trying to protect Ei of the present? Yes, those data are in leylines, originated from deep underground, far from the source data terminal Irminsul, because they have been abandoned. I've also thought about the fact that dreams are far more logical in technicality than theory, because they are the mismatched data in our heads that combined our knowledge in nonsensical sequence - therefore through dreams, you can rediscover a data memory that you thought you've lost. As Khaenri'ah is dubbed "A dream that has yet to be dreamt", they are still lost data, still in pursuit of recovery by the twin and the Abyss, and all together dreams and data are tied together by computer-like dive of data search - if you go deep enough, you might find them, just like in Nahida's story quest! In the most chaotic parts of the dream, the deepest site where knowledge gathers, that's where the truth can be found. God the jitters I'm feeling, I think the computer data compared to Teyvat's knowledge is not a theory, rather an intended and cleverly replicated concept.

[@TheRoseFrontier]

Hmmm.......corrupted memories, like "filth," perhaps? When you said that, the world quest from Inazuma with Kazari was the first thing that came to mind, along with other bits of Ley Line lore. And also the question of why Makato created the seed for that tree in the first place? Like, to clean up with the Abyssal corruption because otherwise, no "garbage collection" exists? I'll have to look over the lore again but yeah, it is interesting. I do also think that the idea of Irminsul and the Ley Lines being like one big computer system/network sounds very on point with what we've gotten so far. Makes me wonder if this whole world might be "artificially" created in some way...or artificially reborn, even? We got the picture from Enkanomiya lore that Celestia is not from this world...still wondering what that means

[@Dreamnightmare]

@@TheRoseFrontier it would also link what Dottore said to Nahida *ARCHON QUEST SPOILER* the sky is fake

[@FentFanta]

Bruh whoever coded teyvat literally forgot /dev/null exists 💀 😳

[@Trishady]

@@FentFanta Or... they choose to ignore it for a reason. 😳

[@CarlosAnglada]

Deshret trying to resurrect the Goddess of Flowers and therefore incurring forbidden knowledge sounds a lot like Anakin becoming a Sith looking for ways to cheat death.

[@cybernetycznydres3657]

suddeny Aranakin looks pretty sus

[@TheDramacist]

Delete this heresy!

[@link_team3855]

Otto

[@teachme5334]

@@link_team3855 fuckin Otto man

[@abdullahirfan9991]

@@link_team3855 centuries old simp

[@Do0D188]

I'm kinda getting the feeling that the abyss sibling died in their journey or something (maybe the abyss order brought them back with forbidden knowledge? IDK), and that's why Irminsul suddenly has records of them and they, unlike us, are not a descender. Or rather, not a descender anymore...

[@ligglyhart]

damn i would love that. she did say the final product of the four stages is yellow......

[@nawawii3750]

Explains why the twin say it's too late in MC dream

[@lux_iao]

Wait. Wait ur right.

[@fernandasicsu6587]

But if they used to be a descender there wouldn't be any info on them to recover, no?

[@RainThePan]

@@fernandasicsu6587 I might be remembering this totally wrong but I remember nahida saying that there was *specifically* info on the abyss sibling starting from500 years ago, the time of the cataclysm. So that must have been when the abyss sibling was made, there was no info before that but now that the twin had been recreated from teyvat’s own materials, they became a part of teyvat. So their knowledge began being stored. I’m guessing a lot of things here but that’s just my theory

[@seph4707]

Regarding Skirk and Childe, the simillarities between Childe and Cu Chulainn (Ireland's Child of Light) are really uncanny to me. I wonder if its just a coincidence, or if Skirk takes inspiration from Scathac?

[@nthinparticular3345]

@Ashikai, please take note. It might be selective but there are a lot of fitting things... like a gifted spear (Targ ult), sword art (Targ skill), a "salmon leap" fighting technique, controlling thunder and a transformation mode where one eye moves to the center of the face. Scathach, his witch/goddess mentor lives in the land of the shadows.

[@annatal9092]

Oh oh! We need to move it up! Greet point.

[@L16htW4rr10r]

Wowie that's interesting. 0o0

[@madiv2098]

i have thought this since reading his backstory! but always felt it was a bit of a stretch and probably not meaningful but seeing other people mention it makes me wonder if there is something more to it.

[@yaeshogun69]

Like the og comment to push it up so Ash sees it

[@septwenvi2510]

I finally get that Giant Spider At The Root of Irminsul is demon form of Buer of Ars Goetia. With that amount of legs, Buer demon form can be misinterpreted as a spider. EDIT : Another takeaways - since all the member are witches, it will make sense that Sandrone was or still is a member of Hexenzirkel, her design actually looks like a salem witch with that pilgrim vibes. That will explain how she could be the one who controls Katheryne.

[@afellowhuman8944]

Now that reminds me of the Mother of Spiders from Tolkien's world. She and Morgoth (Sauron's Master) worked together to take down the two great trees, the flower and the fruit from those tree became the sun and the moon after being drained by the spider

[@notraidenshogun8324]

Omg Albedo almost ate Rukhadevata-

[@cassandrawasright1481]

Rukkhadevata tastes good with lemongrass and cape jasmine?

[@cassandrawasright1481]

Regarding your edit, if she is with the Hexenzirkel, I have to wonder if Pierro knows, since I can't imagine he'd be thrilled to have a friend of Gold's in his organization. Is she infiltrating the Fatui, or did the Tsaritsa recruit her and shove her and Pierro in the "get along sweater?"

[@septwenvi2510]

@@cassandrawasright1481 my guess is whatever it is the tsaritsa wants, is aligned with the coven objective and also why it is very easy for archons to give away their gnosis to harbingers

[@cronni1010]

I have to say, the Skirk/Circe connection was something that I never made before but it's so fun! Especially considering Circe is, in some myths, the daughter of Perse, who's an Oceanid nymph, and Foul Legacy does have visual similarities with Genshin's Oceanid. Also the fact that Circe is known for her knowledge about herbs and potions, and in Nahida's Story Quest we learn about a "Professor Aisha", who was a Amurta scholar who decided to go into the Abyss - and, funny enough, Aisha was also involved with the Adventurer's Guild because of her combat skills. I just wanna add to the topic of each member of the Hexenzikel having their own "field of work" regarding Irminsul. I think Skirk's field is perhaps protection of the tree, or research about the corruption within it. During the Labyrinth Warriors event, Childe says that he "fought in the fissures that lie between great tree roots" and that the place had "boundless danger and fatal encounters". That line makes me think that perhaps Skirk stays there to make sure the Abyss doesn't tamper too much with the roots that are in there. At the time Ajax was in the Abyss with Skirk, the Irminsul was still polluted with Forbidden Knowledge - so maybe she could also be trying to slow down the corruption until there was a way to properly heal it? I'm really looking forward to see the rest of this three-part theory, more food for thought nham nham-

[@Haru-rs2su]

Ajax, Ajax, you reminded me of how corrupted his mind is after spending three months in the depths of the Abyss. It was three hours in Teyvat time, too. Who knew it was because of exposure to forbidden knowledge corruption. My respect for him is ten times stronger now, because he hasn't lost his sanity although it's scrambled, and that takes a hella strong mind and resolve.

[@sydneylaurencourtney]

I’m really glad you mention the Oceanid thing because I had the same thought too!!

[@hakuno052]

Very interesting and overall good theory. One of the reasons why I like your theory videos is that it's mostly comes from something we know from the game and actually has legit sources in the game or in the manga. And how you deliver it is also really good, you sound confident but not arrogant to the point that you make it sound like all of it should be true and can't be wrong. Can't wait for parts 2 and 3.

[@dumpaccount2238]

and her voice isn’t annoying to hear. it makes u wanna listen to whatever she says. although as a non-English speaker, I sometimes find it hard to follow what she’s saying like the twang/slang(?)

[@aoihitori]

Amd her Voice suitable for YanFei explaining things. 😁

[@Αγρότηςφασολιών]

Wait so if their plan is to recover data (khaenriah) through the forbidden knowledge from the abyss. Then that would make a lot of sense, since in the very last chapter call "The dream yet to be Dream" where it is shown khaenriah to be the last place the traveler will be journeying to. That would also imply that the abyss sibling succeed in their mission to bring khaenriah back.

[@manoelafvb]

Yes!!! And maybe khaenri'ah will be forgotten or maybe there will be things in space time where khaenri'ah will have never existed in the past, but only in the future. Like the sacred sakura, maybe. Khaenri'ah might be the dream to be dreamed like the sacred sakura was the tree to exist

[@emopeterparker7]

i'm not so sure about them fully succeeding... i think they'll only partially recover khaenri'ah but it'll be like super fucked up. like necromancy gone wrong but for an entire civilization

[@Haru-rs2su]

Shiit you know your stuff, I just geeked out at a comment above yours about this exact thing, because we discovered that dream IS the source of data, and the fake sky that is the theme of the game contains the forbidden knowledge that makes the plot of the whole game. My brain is enjoying all these connecting dots, because all those years ago when I saw the Travail video, I know I too want to search for the truth of Teyvat.

[@Αγρότηςφασολιών]

@@Haru-rs2su Yeah but it also shows that the Heavenly Principals aren't actually going around destroying civilization for fun. They are more like trying to maintain order from people like the abyss siblings and the tsaritsa who probably want the exact same goal as the abyss siblings which is to revive her partner or something. The only obstacle for their goal is the heavenly principal who is trying to maintain order. I believe at the end, the traveler will side with the heavenly principal against both the tsaritsa and the abyss siblings because he (I'm using hoyo canon traveler, aether) is the hero of Teyvat and have bond with them and now have a goal and reason to protect the one he loves which is his friends he made along the way against the unnatural abomination both the tsaritsa and his siblings have done for their selfish goals.

[@Pastel_Donutz]

You really are a LOT like Yanfei! I think that's why you're my favorite Genshin theorist, she's my favorite character!

[@Borat69able]

PART 1 OF 3!!!

[@Zarozian]

She acts like it’s a bad thing! LOL

[@seamali4383]

Thanks, I didnt notice lol.

[@petrichorrs]

Even better

[@TempestFNG]

@@Zarozian I love long theories!!!

[@Zarozian]

@@TempestFNG SAME!!!!

[@kkbluebyrd]

FINALLY! Ive been waiting on a video about the Hexenzirkel/Genshin's Witch Cult and I'm so hyped for this video

[@Kzalca]

This is my first time hearing of Hexenzirkel, so this is going to be a fun ride. I have no idea why I've never heard of it but I am excited.

[@Gxmwp]

It has only been directly mentioned by name in Mona's story quest and one other time I think. If you started the game a year or 2 ago then it makes sense that you'd forget the name.

[@bipula55]

@@Gxmwp yep..there are only so many things we can remeber not to mention the terms they use are kind of hard to memorize.

[@cassandrawasright1481]

It's mostly mentioned in voice lines; it's named in Lisa's and referenced in Albedo's and Mona's.

[@tristanmanalo6252]

@@Gxmwp It was also mentioned in Lisa's voicelines And Lisa is a free character so this "Hexenzirkel" is really an integral part pf the story 😅😅😅

[@Gxmwp]

@@tristanmanalo6252 Yeah, but are you really going to get on people who forgot when, in the grand scheme of things, it really isn't mentioned all that much? I'm not gonna berate the original commenter for not remembering like 5 voicelines from years ago...

[@devilchildmike4]

I feel like you've already alluded to it near the end, but to me, it sounds like resin is just a quantification of the Traveler's ability to purify stuff like Dvalin's tear. So, if we treat domains and leylines as corrupted data of the past, we are basically wandering in, facing corrupted "echoes of the past" that thematically represent the data we are gathering, then purify the tree/flower once we are done, collecting a fragment of a story. the artifacts and boss drops we gain are not physical items, but maybe representative of themes and tropes found in these stories, that grant our characters Wisdom or something? tl;dr, resin farming is actually just getting bedtime stories for our characters

[@cassandrawasright1481]

Since the Adventurer's Guild is based in Snezhnaya, I imagine the Fatui-Hexenzirkel relationship has got to be interesting. I can't imagine Pierro would be happy about Rhinedottir's buddies building their power base in his new hometown, but maybe Skirk kept sending his skirmishers home as cute little piglets until he got the message to stay out of their business? Or maybe there's still a connection between Sandrone and the Guild's "bionic Snezhnayan puppets," and a Witch sits at Pierro's table---but in that case, where does Sandrone's true loyalty lie? Is she watching the Hexenzirkel for the Fatui, the Fatui for the Hexenzirkel, or is she simply a liaison between them despite Pierro's likely mistrust? If Durin was resurrected from discarded, corrupted information, then what was that data before? Perhaps one of the dead Dragon Sovereigns? Another point on the Adventurer's Guild's connection to the Hexenzirkel: its motto may be referencing famous occultist Aleister Crowley's magical organization A∴A∴, which has been said to stand for "Astron Argon"("Silver Star") or "Angel and Abyss."

[@BuluhTerbang]

It could also be that Pierro don't care about Khaen'riah anymore after the nation's sages rejected his warning about the danger they bring to themselves and dedicate his loyalty to Tsaritsa. He's building a new future and didn't care about rebuilding his perished nation and don't have any feeling towards its destruction. Thus, him willing to work together with Rhinedottir and her circle.

[@cassandrawasright1481]

@@BuluhTerbang The thing is, Rhinedottir is "the sages!" She's literally an alchemy scholar from Khaenri'ah who studies forbidden powers, created abyssal monsters, and is widely blamed for the Cataclysm! If there's any known character that's part of the group that ignored Pierro's warnings and "tore away the veil of sin," it's her.

[@BuluhTerbang]

@@cassandrawasright1481 doesn't matter, I just think he doesn't care. Being sentimental for Khaen'riah or reviving his old dead nation means nothing to his goal. If working with his past enemy can create the future he wanted, then so be it. Edit: I don't know if Rhinedottir is the sage or just independent figure who bring upon the disaster, but him not having attachment to his dead nation and hyper focus on his future goal is what I believe for now until further evidence comes. Much less headache to theorize for now.

[@cassandrawasright1481]

​@@BuluhTerbang Maybe? I think it would take a lot of effort to persuade him that "I swear I won't unleash the Abyss on this nation!"

[@shubniggurath9097]

Hmmmmm? I thought I was heavily implied that Durin was made from the flesh of the Chi of Yore, like there are so many hints and similarities. Both dark corrupt serpentine dragons, one of the statues that seal it point yo dragon spine, Chi bones said to be sealed in Dragonspine direction, the flesh and Soul aren't in their seal anymore. I don't know, it seems like Durin being made from the Chi holds up way better than him being made from the Sorveigns.

[@proWaffl3]

Something interesting about trees, they’re so protective of Irminsul because trees don’t have immune systems which is why the greater lord couldn’t get rid of herself. Trees waste build up and make the tree bigger, if forbidden knowledge gets in the tree, it can’t get rid of it itself

[@silverstuff1146]

Can't wait for the seelie lore next episode

[@link_team3855]

Seele or seele :p Wait wrong lore

[@serenitymercer]

Okay so your Skirk/Circe connection got me to look up Circe's wiki page. There was the stuff about transformations, but down under the section labeled "Reasoning beasts," it mentions the work, "L'asino d'oro" by Machavelli. In the work, Circe explains characteristics of the animals in her charge (aka the men she's transformed into animals)...in Canto 7, Wikipedia mentions--in order--those who experience frustration: a cat who let its prey escape, an agitated dragon, a fox who's always on the look out for traps, a dog that bays at the moon, and aesop's lion in love that allowed himself to be deprived of teeth and claws. In Canto 8 of the work, which is the final Canto) we learn of a pig that does not want to change back to a human, and condemns human greed, cruelty and deceit. (Wikipedia doesn't have a comma after cruelty, so it leads me to believe cruelty and deceit are lumped together...) BUT okay let's think about it. We first went to Mondstadt, then Liyue, then Inazuma, and now Sumeru. The order above was cat, dragon, fox, dog, lion, pig. SO first we meet Venti who is allergic to cats (and naps for long periods of time, disappears going from one place to the next, who likes high places) . Next on our journey, we meet Zhongli, who made Azhdaha--a dragon (and Zhongli is half dragon). Then we meet Rai--we meet Yae Miko first, who is of kitsune lineage. In Sumeru, we meet Nahida, who is deeply associated with dreams. When do dreams happen? At night, when the moon is out. It's 1 am and appearantly my brain is done, so that's where I'll leave this for now.

[@TheDramacist]

The lion sleeps in the jungle

[@aimeaccentaigue]

@@TheDramacist ooooh. But fontaine is next...I wonder how/if that'll fit in. 🤔 or, maybe the next part of sumeru? *unless we get the khaenri'ah chapter next*???

[@JayskaTeag]

Nahida also refers to herself several times as "the moon" especially when comparing herself to Greater Lord "I'm just the moon, the sun is long gone"

[@plwto4775]

the pig could very well be referencing focalors, what with fontaine being of lies and whatnot ("human greed, cruelty and deceit")!!

[@nabieladrian]

14:06 I'm sorry my brain actually surprised to see Yanfei and Aether like "... wait YOU talked with Traveler???" 😭😭😭

[@pjmmigs2883]

Pov: you're here after windblume 3.5

[@mubashshir9281]

Yesss

[@obsidian9595]

Another great way to procrastinate on my homework tonight 😂 Looking forward to watching this!

[@Xephos]

20:00 this gives very big "if you let me win none of this matters and I can fix everything" vibes.

[@EduardoWeidmanBarijan]

Talking about the elements I just realized that the abyss sibling does not yield the elements at all. Did you notice how Lumine in this case has the original elementless clothing? Just food for thought

[@vergiltasev7108]

Or rather that this shows that they can wield that golden light that we see from the fight with Susty and that the traveler sometimes can use. That light might be all of the elements together (like the colour spectrum where white is a result of all other colors) that's why the traveler can innately use all elements if we are assuming that they are from the primordial civilization. And if I may even go beyond, and say that with the take over of the Second Throne, this power was broken down into the 7 elemental system we have now to restrict further opposition.

[@crapaholic2977]

2:20 The Adventurer's Guild headquarters is based in Snezhnaya, and Katheryne is confirmed to be a bionic puppet made there as well. If the Hexenzirkel are the ones that founded the Adventurer's Guild, could they be colluding with the Fatui? Wouldn't even be surprised at this point as the Fatui's influence literally spans the entirety of Teyvat.

[@KreatorX1029]

Thanks so much for this video and all your videos. Love the narration and depth you bring to them. The lore of genshin is so spread out into various books, artifacts, weapons, i love how you condense it nicely into segments in your stories. ❤

[@RenaDeles]

There is so much good in here, i need to rewatch this a million times, but excuse me while I scream about Skirk as Circe. That's just such a... tidy idea? and a fun one since the character she has ties to right now is someone else with Greek myth naming.

[@Sinder-StinkyLlama]

I found it so cool how with looking into the lore we can connect people and things from different nations that otherwise have nothing in common

[@jonnevitu4979]

8:43 the word "dome" reminded me of the description of a drop from the inazuman ruin creatures, it says something about "the dome of the firmament" and that glued on my mind cuz I played the 1.1 event.

[@Satsuki3-zs9ej]

I am realizing now that this was before the Windblume festival with all the Hexenzirkel lore, and i am quite impressed

[@kuraresacupcakes]

If the Adventurer's Guild was founded by the Hexenzirkel as you say, then does that mean the Hexenzirkel worked together with the Fatui to create Katheryne? Or was the ownership of the Adventurer's Guild passed on to the Fatui at some point? And whichever one it is, it would still mean that the Hexenzirkel has ties with Snezhnaya and the Tsaritsa, which I feel would be a bit odd considering the Fatui don't have much to do with the abyss or the stars (as far as we have seen).

[@serenitymercer]

Then that makes me wonder was Skirk involved? Did she know? Bc she trained Childe and now he's fatui, and did she instill her values into him and now they're getting to the Tsaritsa? I mean, the hexenzirkel were probably already talking with her. And AHHH so many questions!

[@noox13]

The Fatui are responsible for the meteorites while attempting to research them and Scaramouche hinted at Pierro already knowing that the sky was fake. As for the Abyss I can't remember anything rn. But I'm sure we'll learn more as time goes on.

[@F1ll1nTh3Blanks]

Maybe one of the Fatui ranks is part of the Hexinzirkel. So far we know 2-3 members, Mona, her thaumaturge and Alice. The other 2 potential members are Gold and Skirk. Now my understanding is that a hex circle usually has 6 pillars. That means that there's still one member unaccounted for, that could be one of the Harbingers, like the now deceased Rosaline, Sandrone, Columbina or Arlecchino. Idk enough about them to figure out which it might be, if they would have even been a member in the 1st instance. I am curious still though.

[@lolosh99]

Being situated in Snezhnaya doesn’t necessarily equal controled by the Fatui. I think Alice would be bold enough to put te hq of the guild in middle of theor country. Ofc assuming the theory that Alice is involved in the creation of the guild is correct.

[@nawawii3750]

Alice doesn't need Fatui to create Katherine, Alice is the master mechanic of all Tyvat. If Fatui learned about robots, they learned it from studying Katherine, not the other way around, I assume

[@tyronetalam8488]

You mentioning skirk reminded me of how in nahida's story quest one of the npcs had a teacher who was from the adventurer's guild who left bc she discovered something regarding the abyss

[@hey7492]

I would also like to mention another witch that could *maybe somehow* have ties to Hexenzirkel! (in the past. She's dead now) She's implied to be the same as the person called ''Veiga''. She's mentioned as the Blue-eyed spear witch on the fandom wiki. She was a sorceress / witch from Mondstadt that had a hate love relationship with Parsifal, who was mentioned all the way back in 1.2 in Dragonspine. Heres a general grasp of it: -She was supposedly sort of a slave from some aristocrats in mondstadt. -By a misunderstanding caused by Parsifal, her ''masters'' per say give her a scar which left marks on her face that is described as beautiful. - She then blames Parsifal for this, goes to a shop that supposedly has a special wine that can make you forget someone. She drinks in hopes she forgets Parsifal (because she was kind of going out with him before the scar. And they were falling in love) Theres many more things but in relation to Hexenzirkel though, heres some details that could be seeing as weird. Kind of chronologically - She used to secretly build spears (which were banned in Mondstadt at that time), like crescent spike. - In relation to the special wine that could make her forget, she one day got a special gem that was said to ''allow a person to see the future'' when certain VERY specific conditions were met by some of the crystals that were a part of it. - She secretly improved her magical powers, but we don't have an idea as to *what* she did with them. -She ended up being killed by Eberhart. Parsifal's half brother whom she took as a student. AFTER they went to an exploration of some sorts... It could be speculated that Eberhart planned to kill them both (and more people on the expedition) in order to be the only heir of his family and rule it as an accident. Parsifal lived and died MANY years later in the sea fighting a big monster. He never talked about this. ''Legends claim that peering into a pure gemstone at a specific time can reveal the past, the future, and even someone's true nature... Or that there was once a witch who could see death before it took place, but in the end herself died from the broken heart, as he who had stolen it from her waited in distant lands longing to see her again'' Anyways I just think its weird another witch from Mondstadt, that died very suspiciously, that was using things that were *banned* at the time quite literally... I think she could´ve been a weak witch. Maybe the weakest out of all of the members of Hexenzirkel, or maybe she was a student of one of the members but never really lived long enough to make it into the organization. Theres MANY more things left but I have to go to work lol haha

[@BoredBeige]

17:24 so durin and elynas sees teyvat the same way...? Bringing danger to teyvat unintentionally

[@WhaleMilk]

My god this is entire video is just early-game lore and theories, just recontextualized with the new lore. It's so cool how far on the right track we were two years ago.

[@corinnetheanime]

Definitely one of the most compelling theories yet, and it lowkey makes sense too! Also makes me scared of Albedo's future since that means he might get into forbidden knowledge himself (Chalks follows Gold hitting on a whole new level now). I can't wait to see what you say on the future two videos!

[@Svenir]

20:35 Abyss Heralds and Lectors still drop Ley Line Branches. The statuette drops were added but did not remove the Ley Line Branch drops.

[@ankuradhikary7494]

Who is here after it is now hella confirmed in the Windblume event

[@arraine]

14:37 gave me chills and made me stop moving with the implication (right before you stated it outright haha). This is fantastic, thank you for putting in the time and bringing Yanfei along for the ride :3

[@D3A6]

Mini theory on the traveler’s ability to purify abyssal corruption: If we go along with your theory that forbidden knowledge is “discarded” data that irminsul cast into the abyss, what does that mean for beings like Dvallin? Dvallin was corrupted by Durin’s blood, and we were able to purify it, this could mean one of two things 1: traveler has an innate connection to irminsul despite not being from this world according to it (and despite not being recorded within) think of it as a programmer or admin, and they managed to restore the corrupted data that Dvallin was exposed to. This also makes some sense when you consider how Rukkhadeveta’s last remnant of memory reached out to traveler at the beginning of our journey in Sumeru. 2: the traveler possesses the ability to “delete” data possibly on a more advanced level than how irminsul does, so instead of restoring Dvallin’s data, they cut out the corrupted parts like a tumor, leaving just the essential, uncorrupted data. Either one of these imply that the Traveler has some sort of “admin” control over the powers of teyvat, which may include their ability to resonate with each element

[@seph4707]

"As above so below". I think rather than an inverted tree, Teyvat is structured such that it "loops". Hu Tao's quest where you travel "down" to encounter a cloudy sea makes me think we actually hit the "sky" again.

[@zephyr4170]

im literally so happy rn- because all the topics to be covered in this series are my favorite to look into (idk why). especially skirk and istaroth

[@ChibiZerocchi]

Excuse me but the P5 Music playing in the background at some point is just so very perfectly fitting xD It took me way too long to notice but it truly put me in the right mood like 'we're detectives solving mysteries here!' Also love your theories! Thank you for all the hard work you put into making these videos! I learn a ton of new things every single time.

[@acepouncett]

You amaze me every time, we are so blessed to have someone so dedicated both to the game's lore and all of it's irl inspirations because I really feel like I can only truly appreciate Hoyo's hard work when you explain things and theorise this way so thank you!!

[@The1andonlysharpshooter]

This reminds me of the story Mona told us about the Adventurer who was told if he continued adventuring, he would eventually die. But he loved adventuring and so chose to go down his fate, where he died two years later. I wonder if him being aware somehow did delay his death but when said thing was predicted to happen was never stamped with a time. I dunno but I always thought that story would come back around the first time I heard it in the archipelago. Seems like it kind of does!

[@supayambaek]

This would also be the reason why Albedo is so dangerous; he's made of forbidden knowledge, so if his constitution is unstable by even a miniscule amount, he may unleash forbidden knowledge to every corner of Mondstadt - maybe even the entire Teyvat.

[@itsmemanitarius]

after the windblume festival, the hexenzirkel lore is finally shown more in the story!! I am happy I found this video now that I have completed the quest!

[@Pyoron]

24:00 - This gives Dainsleif's "No need to revive the homeland" a whole new meaning. I really doubt we'll side with our twin at this point and the game will take a more "accept, prevent and move on" approach.

[@trytheimpzt9682]

23:55 If you're correct, it seems the Abyss Twin found a way to restore their data from this world, thus "making them from this world" again.

[@friendlygamers1743]

Ooh. I like this theory. If all the corrupted data of Teyvat is being just thrown into the depths of the abyss, it would explain the existence of Marana and the night mother. It was said by the Aranara that the world once tried to absorb the black mud and the memory of death. It couldn't do that, and ended up throwing it into the abyss. Given enough time, some parts of the corrupted data evolved into the Night mother. A being of pure chaos and the memory of death. Now it, the abyss order and whoever's out there are trying to get to the Irmunsul to probably get enough processing power to 'fix' themselves or to change the world enough that they are stable enough to survive without having to change anything about themselves

[@saffronl3057]

I can’t wait for part two! Interesting video as always

[@wenkids6462]

I just love the way you explain the theories! I've listened to other channels, and often quits in the middle of the video as it gets confusing or complicated, but yours are just spot on!! For players like me who is just too lazy to read the books and to read between the lines, your video is a life-saver! You make it so easy to digest and make it so enjoyable to listen even when I'm working! Keep it up!!!

[@Zarozian]

Wow so the falling stars can be considered forbidden knowledge?! And that data from trying to revive someone dead triggers Eleazar and chaos?! Sheeeeeesh!

[@micchiki2430]

Goodness grief. This is going to be a wild ride!! I am so in love with your brain, Ashikai! Literally my favorite theorist ever. 😭

[@hey7492]

Finally more attention to Hexenzirkel. I'm obsessed with them to be honest... im just waiting for the plot to reveal how they've been behind the scenes doing MANY of the things that happened lol

[@runaowo8757]

1:52 "All right then procrastinators" well that felt personal

[@Zarozian]

So are we descenders only because our homeland was deleted along with any information of the travelers being from Teyvat? And is Lumine recorded because she managed to recover some of that lost data?

[@emopeterparker7]

this is very possible! plus, ashikai mentioned the thing about stars and how they can't come from outside the world or beyond the dome - and the traveler twins are often referred to as "shooting stars".

[@Zarozian]

@@emopeterparker7 So we came from the firmament. Data that has gained sentience and escaped confinement!

[@myherozero4743]

One more thing that might help your description of corruption/pollution is that corruption can also be caused by deleting/editing the minds and memories of the people of Teyvat. It happens a lot in computers. Deleting one thing can cause the corruption of another that uses parts of common functions of the OS.

[@robertsanssouci2093]

My theory is that the Hexenzirkle is a play on the hexes the witches cast to protect the boundaries of Tevat as well as the shapes of the pieces used to wall off the areas. Nature naturally builds in hexagons. It’s a fundamental building structure that naturally occurs. We see it everywhere. Especially in rounded structures like domes or eyeballs.

[@EritoKaio]

God I can't wait for some Hexenzirkel stuff to happen ingame (hopefully not in an event). I'm so interested in them, especially Elys.. *cough* Alice.

[@AkasumiChan]

Weird little theory on the forbidden knowledge and Dainsleifs power part: Maybe Khaenri'ah managed to gain forbidden knowledge through all the elements in Teyvat and the golden magic the twins use in their first appearance is all elements together? And with the knowledge of all elements you can find out the truth of the world or more so, become a being with knowledge close to a god so you don’t need a god anymore (aka Khaenri'ah acting without one). It’d explain why the traveler “has to get back to full power” by synchronizing with the elements and why Lumine tells him he has to finish his journey first. If this is the case we can go with the archons being nothing more but pawns for the gods to watch over the gnoses - the real source of the knowledge of the element and the world - to make sure it never happens again. I mean Scara was able to “become a god” with just one gnosis, sorta. Funny enough he only did by getting help from Dottore, a Harbinger who we know based on the archon quest knows a lot more of the truth of the world already. So possibly the Fatui are collecting the Gnosis of each element to gain back that “golden power” - the last alchemy stage - through the elements and it also aligns with what Albedo was tasked with. And I think your theory works with that too. If the golden element is all elements put together and what the knowledge we gain at the end of the journey (possibly) to find out the truth of the world, then the magic Dainsleif and the Lectors use might be the very same magic, but disconnected from the ley lines as forbidden knowledge that was thrown away from when Khaenri'ah fell. Basically it’d be the gods attempt of hiding the knowledge Khaenri'ah gained. But as we know the traveler is not affected by the ley lines and could remember Rukkhadevata after she was erased by Irminsurl, it’s possible some people of Khaenri’ah remembered the power they had after being disconnected from the ley lines but the rest of Teyvat forgot (or more so they didn’t exactly remember what kinda “knowledge” it is, just how to use it / the elemental source of it?). But in their case it manifested as forbidden knowledge because it was the erased data that shouldn’t exist, and therefore can’t be explained. And the abyss mages might have just been Khaenri'ah people who found out about this at a later stage of erosion but not quite the stage they forget language, etc. Or as you said they use the ley line branches to keep themselves together for longer than the rest of the hilichurls. The twins don’t necessarily have to come from Khaenri'ah to use the golden magic, bc if it’s rly just the knowledge akin to that of a god to understand the world in the aspect of a god then the twins may have already had that power as they traveled from world to world as a form of stars, which in Genshin also contain knowledge. As for why Irminsul was able to make records of Lumine then it’d be maybe cause she was sent to around the time where Khaenri'ah fell and Teyvat rebuilt? So she became a part of it? The records of her are very vague and end at the end of her journey as if someone was trying to hide the records of the knowledge she gained and what happened after she gathered information in all nations. Aether was sent into the future so in Teyvats eyes he was never part of Teyvats history and seems a lot more like an outlander? Anyway the part about the twins is just fun little guessing, I also like the theory that Aether remembers wrong / his memories have been altered and there is even a way to make them being from Khaenri’ah work.. all rly interesting. (Also sorry for the long text, probs none of it is true but it’d be cool xD)

[@tarumiachi]

you've outdone yourself again!!! i'm obsessed with your theory!!!

[@zoren00]

It sucks so much how I'll likely never be able to experience Unreconciled Stars myself. Thank you miboyo, so cool.

[@mpred8606]

Interesting how files can never really be deleted they can be recovered and will only unexist when the file gets deleted or overwritten, which is exactly what happened with the sumeru archon quest Nahida replaced all off Rukkhadevata

[@ongseungwu4311]

So if we treat teyvat as a computer: Iriminsul is basically our the computers and phones that were using. While the false sky is basically the world wide web where everybody data or memory is in. Which means that the abyss is the dark web were dangerous information could be found. While the deleting of data. In the real world in our computer deleting a file doesn't mean its really gone its just in the back pocket of our device unless you wipe it out entirely. And the abyss enemies that were fighting could be the hackers of the dark web who will turn those data or file into dangerous information or "Forbidden Knowledge"

[@cyno4055]

Maybe skirk is aisha from nahidas quest she might be the same aysha who made ayshas chaos prospector. She is also one of the historical figure in sumeru academia for her contribution and aisha was also last said to go to the abyss.

[@adityawidarma3803]

you might want to go to Monstadt Adventurer's Guild HQ (where Cyrus stay) and looks at their wood sign. It has Celestia sits above Irminsul while its roots spread around Abyss

[@Zarozian]

Are we talking about the Hexenzircle now that we are closer to Fontaine? ;>

[@F1ll1nTh3Blanks]

I believe it's because we're in Sumeru, where the Irminsul is located. The Irminsul being the primary purpose for the Hexinzirkel's activity.

[@Zarozian]

@@F1ll1nTh3Blanks But we don’t see any of the witches of Hexenzirkel there though. You’d think we’d run into one by now right?

[@pinklmaonade]

Ashikiai your mind is wonderful! I didn't really get too deep into Genshin lore until I started watching your videos and it's making me really appreciate the game a lot more. After the end of each video, I always come away feeling like I learned forbidden knowledge lol. Looking forward to the next ones and thanks for the content!

[@Executive14]

I just noticed something after revisiting the chasm because I was bored, you know the blue cubes and constellations that orbit the celestial nail, those are pretty similar to the ones the spawn when paimon pops up on screen when pausing

[@emoemi907]

Omg that bit about Circe and Eris being Skirk and Alice is soooooo interesting, Alice always strikes me as a sort of chaotic neutral character who has no interest in being particularly good or bad, and her being a reference to the goddess of strife is amazing. Also I really hope we learn more about Skirk in the games future, I wanna know more about the woman who survived the abyss!

[@UlmaAum]

OH MY GOD so based on this, then the golden apple archipelago can be a part of "forbidden knowledge" or even a destroyed civilization/location/data that Alice also managed to (re)create, right?? Maybe from the abyss. It also explains why it doesn't show on "Teyvat" map, bc it cannot understand where it is, or even it's not a part of it at all anymore.

[@hanzijing3485]

If the curse on Khaenriah was specifially Immortality/removal from the cycle of rebirth and not related to becoming a hilichurl (which is caused abyssal corruption/Forbidden Knowledge) Then I can interpret the curse as an act of quarantine to prevent Forbidden Knowledge. I am reminded of what happened to Halfdan; after being hit head on by the purification beam, he was able to return to his original form and then faded away. It could be that due to the purification, there was no longer any Forbidden Knowledge (corruption) in him and this might have triggered the removal of the curse and allowed him to return to the leylines. The purification did not remove the curse, but removed the corruption. Removing the corruption, in turn removes the curse. Also from the same quest, hillichurls that reach their "lifespan" fade into black mud, the same type that originates from the Abyss. This can be interpreted as the corruption reaching completion and all the 'Data' that made up the hilichurl is now the same unreadable mess as the abyss, a homogenous black goop. But as it was freshly abyssfied some data/memories are readable, thus the hallucinations one can see if they have prolonged contact with the black mud.

[@vans2548]

Appreciate the 'speculation' tags, usually just listen to your vids like a podcast but think I'll have to watch it now to catch those. Also the theories are getting so intricate since sumeru, I should probably brush up on my lore homework to properly evaluate these lol.

[@stephim7399]

I'm so happy to see another of your incredible theories ! As always, all the bits and pieces of lore that I desperately try to understand (but hardly do) make more sense after hearing your easy explanations. Very nice montage as well, can't wait to see the rest of the mini series ! Hoyoverse should create a new character based on you who compiles info to help the traveler so we don't miss or forget important parts of the lore in game. Thanks so much :)

[@harrycognard447]

I'm at 20:37 and i will say a Bold take from what you've said: The objective of Rhinedottir, is to recreate the Primordial one. The Traveler is either a buy product or the succes of the Citrinitas state, his/her "golden" hair are what people in teyvat notice first and give them nicknames base of it.

[@EEarle]

What do you think of Mona's voiceline about reading her own fate/future? I feel like Mona still isn't at the same level of awareness as her teacher, and that her teacher told her to not predict her own future for fear of how she'd act in result, and that even having that awareness could actually continuously change your fate if every decision you make is a conscious rebellion, potentially even messing up her predicted timeline and making her a wild card with nothing ever guaranteed in her future.

[@a_dsr4467]

So, if Mona starts defying her fate after being conscious of what it is...will something bad happen to her? Like would it not be a good thing? Idk I am a little confused...

[@vassilioskourtidis7398]

Just to ad to the exploration of the Abyss by the Adventurers Guild. In Nahida´s Story Quest we learn of a scholar who also works for the AG. Said scholar left to study something in the Abyss and never came back (time flows different in the Abyss than the rest of Teyvat but its presumed that she is dead).

[@8pril745]

I think I have a good theory on the whole fates and constellations. Since we can connect the dots of the irminsul fruit being the teyvat stars (probably for the miliarity on both) we could say that the gods don't actually modify fate, but probably read the people's fate and ascend them to avoid them getting "dangerous". Since they are currently "off" or non awoken or something, might be a valid point to make

[@grcai1174]

Oh my goodness this is a great theory. I mean, you can provide such great theory with solid reasoning about the least mentioned organization in Genshin. If what you say is true, then Irminsul is the main goal for every faction in the game. Great work as always, Ashikai! Can't wait for the next video :)

[@otaku-chan4888]

Hexenzirkel lore coming in the upcoming archon quest! hope the crumbs they give us are exciting

[@Wolf-vy7et]

Isn't this Windbloom event

[@Grafii2198]

Another thing to add to this video (I haven't watch other parts as I watched it before bed) is that when you play as Raiden Shogun and you die, she says "Detached from the world", and while at first it seemed as a cool way of saying "I died", after the Sumeru quest it is a lot deeper. When a file in computer is deleted, it stops being in the folder and is moved into recycle bin or in another words, the file is *detached* from current place. It gets even deeper when Shogun puppet dies during her boss fight, she says "Only emptiness awaits" which is even creepier as she knows she is becoming forbidden knowledge. And I know that simply dying is not the same scale as being removed from Irminsul but look at her perspective, she was created to live eternally, face erosion and uphold the Heavenly Principles and yet in that moment all of this is discarded as she stops existing, and it seems to her only explanation would be to be directly removed from Irminsul. Given that we are playing as puppet, the original quote makes more sense from that perspective.

[@_IntoTheUnknown_25]

Amazing as always. What I found really interesting is that in the archon quest, when rukkhadevata explained forbidden knowledge, she mentioned it to be a form of "truth". A "truth" which is difficult to comprehend. And your theory connecting this "truth" with disposed data now seem to make sense to me.

[@skoomakhajit9175]

I can't get enough of your theory videos, can't wait for the other two!!

[@manoelafvb]

So that probably means that the rifthounds and durin were accidentally created while rhinedottir was experimenting on life with data scattered around the abyss, but it became corrupted? Maybe she tried to revive or create a wolf or a dragon and put life from the chaotic abyssal database inside those beings but the effects were too strong to contain and they went beserk? And Albedo might have a way to surpress abyssal energy, maybe using his vision because celestial power (from the visions) repel abyssal power???? 🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔 Many thoughts, head full

[@quantumfluffyflapjack]

I am now wondering about Professor Aisha from Nahida's story quest (the scholar who left to investigate the Abyss). We didn't get a whole lot of information about her and we're supposed to think she's dead or at least gone forever, but Aisha does mean alive. Anyway, it's implied that it's an official Adventure from the guild, and not her own research which is quite interesting to me in the light of this video.

[@Leah-yx2pv]

aahhhhh!!! i always get so excited when you post! fav theorycrafter ❤

[@KurtacusRex]

This is why i look forward to your videos. After doing the quests I gather my evidence and form my own ideas.... then get absolutely wrecked by the details you pull from other quests and texts that my brain absolutely left in the abyss. 20:00 Im starting to connect theories, creating life, controlling fate, irmansul memories, what happend to greater lord who.... The traveler, is the same as the primordial one and heavenly principles. as a descender. perhaps they ALL share similiar form and journey through tehyvat. Maybe it wasnt human life Gold was trying to create, but Descender life. The primordial one prepaired tehyvat for humans. then brought or created them here. Maybe everyone is albedo, our brother is the last phase, and SUSty was trying to end our siblings creation as a form of human arrogation. Maybe our sibling was CREATED by pulling king deshret's memories out from the recycle bin and made a new file from that data. pissing off the previous descenders pride? Dainslief stick picker upper.... Literally dead. will not unsee

[@gemcomposer]

This theory is incredible! It shows how much lore has come out since Sumeru, which people theorised would happen. Interesting to see another theory crafter think Alice is involved with the adventurer's guild, then others think the fatui are. 🤔

[@jpex6]

You opened my mind for an idea about the Abyss sibling. But I guess I will wait at least for part 2 before I come to conclusions. Thank you for this treat ☺️👍🏻

[@Nivanger]

(Honkai chapter 29 spoilers) In the 15:00 section where you talked about how the scarlet king wanted to bring back the goddess of flowes back to life through the irminsol tree's forbidden knowledge, that was awefully simillar to otto from honkai wanting to bring back kallen kaslana, and eventually contacting the imaginary tree, making a new branch of reality 500 years ago, altering her death in the cost of his own life. Not a mirror image of the scarlet king case, but simillar in the way of wanting to alter the universe rules for a selfish desire to bring back the dead.

[@rrr87011]

One of the most anticipated lore drips! Can't wait for the rest of the series

[@danyerug6985]

I play with the Japanese audio for this game, and I was genuinely surprised that when I switched over to English, the voice i heard from Yanfei wasn't yours. Love your theory videos, thank you!

[@CHEESEPUFF_7]

You had my full attention when I saw the mention of the Hexenzirkel in the title. I've seen so little on them in theories. This is so cool :D

[@MildlySweetCappuccino]

14:20 wait so, was 14 years old Childe nonsensical date since he was yeeted to the Abyss? And does the fact that he got out mean that Skirk somehow recovered him?

[@MapleWorldd]

sheeeeesh 😱 thank you for your hard work Ashikai!

[@QB.113]

You know some knowledge is about to be dropped when the Persona music starts playing. Superb video and research as always!

[@Zarozian]

Sandrone is part of the Hexenzircle then? Cause I feel like she did make the Katherynes for the Adventurer’s guild. 😮

[@quietguyjosh4643]

and if that is true the cryo archon might be also a member or the founder

[@F1ll1nTh3Blanks]

There should be six?¿ members so this could very well be a possibility. So far we know of Mona, her master and Alice. Others can be Gold Rhinedottir, Skirk and.. well the 6th member could be Sandrone or idk. I don't know why she would be an affiliate but the Fatui also has ties to the Irminsul study, so it could make sense that someone their would have ties to the covern. Is Sandrone also a sorcerer of some kind?

[@vivasen3650]

Would this be a stretch to say that we (traveler and sibling) are the finished product of Gold? The primordial human? As you said we migt be from long gone civilization and we (coincidentally ofc) fit the "citrinitas" stage with our outfits (i mean the original outfits in the very first cutscene where unknown god captures us).

[@KuroTheDesigner]

just wanted to point out that in an earlier video you did mention that in the stars could actually be fruits from the tree, so Mona and her teacher being part of the Hexenzirkel would check out according to that