[1.0] The Mara Struck - Honkai: Star Rail Lore

[@YupJustPassingBy]

I love the symbolism of Lan, representing death, always chasing Yaoshi, who symbolizes life.

[@Doflaminguard]

Lan isnt death but culling of the herd, Hunting literally. Overpopulation causes imbalance in nature and thus Hunters kill the overabundance of a specie.

[@mxz2296]

No it represent revenge

[@GaniYoon]

@@mxz2296 no

[@danidan2174]

not death but hunt, its in the archive hes already hunted the propagation

[@kitaisuru]

@@danidan2174 the propagation was most likely killed by an alliance of many aeons and races. It's concept is similar to abundance but taken to the absolute extreme.

[@QuillStroke]

Yoashi is pretty representative of a goddess of life, she's more concerned about one aspect of the cycle and rejects the aspect that is just as important. Hence why I don't see Lan ever succeeding in his quest, for there to be one there must be the other.

[@mofutofu2620]

she???? he looks like a femboy to me lmao

[@foxshoot3138]

@@mofutofu2620yeah isnt he caled the plage maker?

[@foxshoot3138]

Thas what ots qorring my about the hunt what will happen when the hunt end qirh him what will happen to all of tje long lives

[@meh7608]

​@@mofutofu2620 aeons are almost always refered to as they i dont think they care about what gender do you think they are

[@SaraOliveira-nh5bw]

​@@mofutofu2620 Yaoshi is referred as "they" on the simulated universe when they kiss Akivili (that is also referred as they). So it's neither she or he.

[@nhaan4178]

I love the design of Yaoshi. The color scheme gives them a gentle look and the hands remind me of Guanyin but somehow Yaoshi looks very menacing/dangerous (probably the red eyes)

[@sabsain2399]

I was so surprised when she was first showed. Like I thought they were going to be very gentle and pure looking but they're... very creepy and beautiful?? Absolutely love the design

[@ununun9995]

She looks like Mila from fire emblem echoes

[@TheQwertyisdead]

I mean, we have to consider that Lan is not simply Death as a concept. They are the Hunt. The Path they embody is one that targets specific things, and pursues them at all cost. In the archives, it mentions that anything that comes between Lan and Yaoshi is likely to be considered as acceptable collateral. No negotiation, no second chances. This is not the ideal of an indiscriminate and inevitable death, but rather a single-minded pursuit, an obsession. Not to mention, the other faction of Lan mentioned in the archives has nothing at all to do with death. They were heroes that fought villains and sought justice. It is true that in the current Xianzhou story arc specifically Lan symbolizes Death, but that is only because they, the Hunter, have designated Life as their Prey. Also, from what I read, I never got the impression that Dan Shu turned against Lan because of life-death philosophy. In fact, Dan Shu herself says that both sides of the conflict have their merits, and that we chose Xianzhou just because we met them first. I believe she is acting purely in self-interest, just like us. Since both sides have ups and downs, and the Aeons are mindless chasing their ideals, she chose the one that fit her individually. Hope of healing her eyes, spite for the death of Yufei... just matters of personal circumstance.

[@ahamadsemiyan7760]

Very well said

[@danidan2174]

people forgot that there are actual mara stuck soldier in the game that we fight in the map and downplay the abudance problem

[@TangledRivers]

Well said.

[@greedier-7661]

Well from what I see, people who fallow Lan are not dealing with core problem but simply with a symptoms, Lan will not cure them from getting mara struck. On the other hand Sanctus Medicus are at least trying to fix things. We also don't know why they have imperfect immortality while other races don't have such problems, it might be that xianzhou betrayed Yaoshi or mara is simply temporary state and they would turn into true version of their race after some time, so mara would be like cocoon faze of a butterfly.

[@2265Hello]

In this story arc themes. Lan and Yaoshi and aeons in general sort of act like the Kami in Japanese folklore. They represent specific aspects of nature and their path’s concept. But not the entire idea. More specifically Lan and Yaoshi represent specific parts and flavors of life and death.

[@kokushiibou]

the reminder about how aeons aren’t good or evil leads me to rethink the way i feel about this backstory. it’s less of a hero’s tale and more of an origin story, explaining how Lan and Yaoshi are intrinsically linked. i don’t think one can exist without the other. Lan as an aeon clearly exists *because* of Yaoshi. meanwhile, without Lan, Yaoshi would’ve continued to grow and multiply until they became this uncontrollable abomination of something else entirely.

[@pipedream2556]

Yeah when you really think about how Yaosha doesn't seem to be able to see the problem with the suffering and resource issues caused by their idea of a blessing, it seems like their ideal reality is one where mara struck people are all that are left, likely after an insane amount of death and suffering from the resource war caused by the unstoppable forces of the Abundance constantly growing and encroaching on the free world. Considering abundance means 'enough for everyone' and this eventual fate is the opposite of that, i can't help but think that its literally impossible for Yaosha to actually flourish as rheu wish to because in the process they'd destroy their own ability to exist by eventually creating an absence of almost everything instead of an abundance of it. A force like Lan was necessary to balance out the effect of Abundance to allow for Yaosha's constant growth to actually have room to grow into, you know? It really is a lot like the actual cycle of life and death

[@michaelfaria7364]

I find this whole 'paths' concept very intriguing. Taking The Hunt and Abundance for example, where the hunt is against prolonging life and Abundance about sustaining it, but when we are talking actual game mechanics you usually want to pair a Hunt path character with an Abundance path character in order to make sure that you dish out damage but at the same time remain alive to do said the damage. Very conflicting but necessary for optimal synergy And that's where I agree with what you said that HSR is showing good promise with clashing philosophies and creating stories from these different paths. And merging the all together into the MC. Very exciting! Thank you for another banger of a video! 😀

[@michaelfaria7364]

@@aj7515 Yeah I totally agree with you, it is just purely a need basis, but can you not then argue the same for the bigger picture? Yes there will be instances where you can wipe out an opponent with just one single damage character and then the needs for that instance will be met. But just like that, that same need bias will carry unto the story, where a pure Hunt path (or not) might be the best option. What my comment was supposed to convey was that we need all of these paths to function, just like we as humans combine different philosophies to get to our paths, so too will these characters have to do the same thing. And I can't wait to see more of these conflicting ideals clash and how Hoyoverse is going to let it play out. Exciting stuff!

[@darknessknows1235]

Also, it's just that while Paths and Aeons are often cited as one and the same, they are also still different too. The Xianzhou are against Yaoshi and they're immortality plus gift giving, but not healing or long living in general

[@Herrscher-of-Autism]

The same is true of Abundance and Destruction, especially with destruction characters' high hp pool, and especially especially Blade, it seems.

[@Norxet]

There's many aspects of abundance immortality it's just one of them just as in the hunt death it's just one aspect is incredibly well done because it allows for the different ways the paths manifest in the characters skills

[@dustinabigan2776]

At first it came out of nowhere in the Darilo-VI arc when Dan Heng made that reply to March when she asked about how long humans can live. He said it can reach hundreds but by then you can't call them human anymore. With the Xianzhou arc it's now clear where that idea came from. I really like how the Mara Struck were portrayed or shown as being humans that no longer have control over their bodies or minds sometimes because that's technically what would happen even in real life. In a sense it's like immortality can only work for beings that can be immortal. You try forcing immortality on a mortal, it ends up upsetting the being's natural balance (which btw is a real thing called homeostasis for humans at least) and would mean that any characteristics formed as a result of said immortality would already mean they can no longer fit the idea of being human just because they can't die.

[@thwartificer]

Can you elaborate on your perceived definition of homeostasis?

[@dustinabigan2776]

@@thwartificer In simple terms it's basically the idea or sense that the body wants to maintain balance (whether it's temperature, blood pressure, etc.) while also adapting to certain external environments if needed.

[@thunderspark1536]

@@dustinabigan2776 That doesn't really apply to aging though, which after puberty complete is just a slow degradation of DNA through destruction of telomeres (little parts on the end of DNA that protects the important stuff from being cut off as it replicates imperfectly). Star rail actually addresses this later on, through it's in-depth description of the love life/immortality. The longer lived races, once they hit a certain age, stop getting older and stay as essentially "perfect" forms, which includes blindness they were born with and any other DNA based ailments. While humans could get replacement eyes, those species would have their old, broken ones grow back over time, showing how what the Aeon does is constantly make those telomeres and repair any damage that would interfere with the "completed" form of that being's DNA. I gotta say, paying attention in biology never felt so good.

[@EtienneLudor]

The VA for Dan Heng really portrayed the pain when saying that. It immediately caught me off guard and suddenly the rabbit hole begins.

[@Aya_is_a_gamer]

Im immortal

[@astro-byun]

i see Yaoshi as a kind of genie during this part of history. they simply gave the alliance exactly what they wanted. sure, their power is pretty terrifying, but as far as i understand, yaoshi isn't using it maliciously. if the alliance hadn't asked, yaoshi wouldn't have forced the "blessing" upon them

[@greedier-7661]

What is more we don't know if mara was actually result of the blessing or if they betrayed him or got cursed somehow (they could have been affect by stelaron for example, like how we see now them getting mara struck much more often). Their problem with resources could have been solved with imaginary element to create stuff from nothing ( like mirror/memory world exists and you gain real things from it, there is even cyber world which in lore is able create stuff) and universe is constantly expanding if it works like ours. Lan way is to simply deal with symptoms, killing mara achieves nothing in the end accept having more death and pain, like we literally see that mara could become "normal" and we even see that they can be cured.. IT is like in our world someone gets flue and people would kill him because he has sickness....

[@astro-byun]

@@greedier-7661 TRUE TRUE TRUE. i feel like they were just trying to shift the blame of someone and yaoshi got the blunt of it. yes, immortality is terrifying, but they should have thought of that before begging for it. and like you said, there were many ways to handle the fallout. they really don't think things through do they 💀

[@rhael42]

I see it more as Yaoshi was truly _incapable_ of giving the alliance exactly what they wanted. It could only give them the closest thing which fit its path. I assume, due to it being the aeon of abundance, it is only capable of giving them uncontrolled, proliferating life running rampant. Immortality with the specific caveats needed to fit the wish of the Xianzhou would inherently go against the very concept of abundance, as it would require things such as infertility and incomplete, non-regenerative healing.

[@dandelienn]

@@greedier-7661 mara can be cured? Where i can read this?

[@greedier-7661]

@@dandelienn Bailu during her first appearance was talking about giving them medicine (so they should be able get reverted) and we can see how "something" medicus mara were sentient so you could think of them as cured. So even if her medicine can cure becoming mara shortly after transformation it proves that they could do it even later. Killing mara is not a solution to the problem, you don t cure cancer by killing people with it....

[@gloriousbastard3319]

I can't help but imagine how Dainsleif would react if he ever found out about Xianzhou's history. Imagine telling a man cursed with immortality that someone seeked it willingly and saw it as a blessing.

[@BloodAngel_San]

it is a kind of blessing if you dont get mad with loneliness, and time. I mean these Xianzhou peoples are younger than Zhongli. Mortal mind cant handle immortality.

[@idminister]

its not soo much the immortality that dainsleif hates. but the unending pain of the abyss that has tainted him. immortality is just prolonging it, but is necessary to prevent the taint from being transferred to the irminsul/leylines with death and that he was a protector, and everything he swore to protect is now gone, ultimately through their own choice in siding with the abyss, but gone none the less

[@talisa222]

meanwhile, baizhu: 👀👀

[@Astrophel24]

@@BloodAngel_San Not only that, the Khaenriahn people are cursed with a different kind of immortality, one that shows it's negative affects only a few hundred years after... one that lets you slowly rot on the inside right from the get-go. The Xianzhou's main problem with it are how fast recources deplete. The Xianzhou don't usually have to worry about the Mara struck disease; it's due to the stellaron's prescence that there's so many mara struck.

[@kami761]

@@BloodAngel_San Fu Hua in Honkai is 50 000 years old and she seems fine

[@awinkingowl7608]

i love the thought put into the writing for dan shu with her agony at never escaping her blindness and her loss after yufei(and their romance is so painful). It makes me so curious about the circumstances that led to yaoshi themselves becoming an aeon. The data bank mentions that she cant bear to witness death, so i'm sure her ascension arose from grief?

[@feareaper_0629]

Amazing video, however the idea of Lan chasing Yaoshi representing death chasing life is interesting when Nanook is brought into the equation. Both Lan and Nanook represent elements of death. However perhaps is Lan represents natural death/the natural cycle whereas Nanook represents death brought about by war.

[@alexpav845]

Not really: Data Bank "If the increase of entropy is a fundamental law of the universe, then the heat death would be the inescapable destiny of the material world. So, why is it that we bother to struggle to survive? Expansion, fusion, and then annihilation. If we wish to welcome the new, then we must first embrace the end." - From a scientist just before pressing the button for nuclear detonation, 2152 AE The birth of the universe is a mistake. If civilization is a cancer emerging quietly from the boundless stars, then war is the only common language known to all intelligent life. To correct this mistake and to clean up this tainted universe, Nanook became the avatar of entropy. Also text from Fables about the stars dedicated to Nanook: At the universe's core lies a flame It burns ever so intensely Till entire galaxies are incinerated For the sole purpose of embracing a splendid destruction At the end of all reality Nanook`s destruction is more about embracing the inevitable death of everything including the universe itself.

[@danidan2174]

lan isnt death, hes the hunt that means focusing one target until its completely dead hes already done it to the propagation and now his target is abudance

[@Sky-rw5vq]

Can you say a wolf pack that hunts deer represents death?

[@shiberu_7s]

lan isnt death as in yaoshi isnt life. they are literally called aeon of hunt and abundance. life and death was already a thing before them and balanced, but their path granted more with yaoshi giving too much life and therefore, no balance and causes insanity of inmortality, lan only hunts abundance of life. not life itself. for nanook, i'd say he's antithesis would be qlipoth the preservation.

[@shiberu_7s]

@@Sky-rw5vqcorrect, wolf hunted deers means death to deers, but abundance of deers means death to all. wolf is the instrument of death to eliminate excessive deers, as in lan the instrument of hunt to eliminate excessive life. the problem has always been the abundance. its an evergrowing tumor with hunt kept it from growing more.

[@ohsloppyjoe]

1:05 " *x* years in standard time" might be the way it is because of the IPC (followers of Qlipoth) having their own year system- the Amber Era, which pertains to each time period Qlipoth expands his celestial wall.

[@EtienneLudor]

If I remember correctly, they talk about it in the lore as being whenever he swings his hammer, unfortunately, they are never the same length of time >_>

[@android19willpwn]

I love that detail. The mega-corp forces so much of the universe to operate by a time system that actually sucks, just because it's what the corp uses and the corp just uses it because it makes them and their figurehead seem more important. Like the Amber Era is such a terrible way of measuring time on every level.

[@ohsloppyjoe]

@@android19willpwn true. what's funny is the IPC's efforts to "assist" Qlipoth have never ever been recognized, even by the Amber Lord. Their goal was to gather construction materials that Qlipoth may use for their wall expansion, but Qlipoth has never used any of said materials even after all these years. Even Herta said that the IPC was stupid for collecting wood, steel, etc to offer to Qlipoth when the Aeon makes their walls out of literal stars.

[@TrionSopdet]

one thing with Lan being "Natural Death" is more that Lan is "Natural Death through Predation". A wolf hunting down a deer. Yaoshi seems to have some symbolism with deer (they have antlers, and there is the deer boss), which is interesting because in places that lost wolf populations and other predators, deer populations can become so large that they run out of things to eat and have mass die offs. Thus humans have to cull deer populations in order to keep that from happening. So Lan as a concept of Natural Death inherently represents a painful one. The prey will not die peacefully, they will suffer. But it is a death that is required; for without it, there will only be far more suffering. I.E: the civil wars that affected the Xianzhou.

[@Teh10Sorrow]

So i find it so funny how they went on a hunt for immortality, got it for free and did not think about how immortality could come back and bite them. Then when it did decided to blame Yoashi for giving them what they asked for XD Like no one considered that just free immortality might not have some side effects?

[@evapunk333]

Thank God you are here to help me understand Honkai because I literally will not read through all the lore books and other stuff these games throw our way. It's literally just so much and I have ADHD and can't handle it 🤣

[@eiarsan]

Crazy thing is, it's just the Star Rail part. We haven't even reached the "Honkai" part yet. Which is pretty wild to understand ngl.

[@ifakeifake7612]

​@@eiarsan ashikai already explained the honkai part. Why "honkai" word with star rail. It's not that deep.

[@Noqtis]

Hi, I'm the son of the CEO of Nintendo and my Daddy happens to know the CEO of miHoYo. He visits us for dinner when he comes to Japan. The name is because honkai the honk is the last aeon, who follows the path of the honk. He will be an important story related character who will become an aeon through out the story. Also a playable character and extremely broken.

[@李荣-n7s]

@@eiarsan i think star rail part > honkai part. looks like the "honkai" in honkai 3 is just....a stellaron land on earth..which created by 1 aeon(Nanook?)... but in star rail part, there are so many aeons... So I feel like star rail worldview is bigger than honkai 3

[@ch.7785]

​​@@李荣-n7s while that's true, i would like to change a "stellaron" to the literal aeon of finality themselves. i don't know specifically, but it would hint that the earth in hi3's universe is plagued by terminus The Finality (the cocoon of finality) repeating the world over and over again. in HSR, terminus the finality is here to "reset everything" at the end of the time. finality is the embodiment of the philosophy "The end signifies a new beginning", or "The finality signifies a new origin."

[@blackmark2899]

And it's also important to note that Yaoshi's involvement was because the Xianzhou natives asked for it. Yaoshi doesn't give blessings to people that don't want them. Every blessing gifted was asked for. So rather than Yaoshi's fault, it's the fault of the Xianzhou and by extension the ruler that desired immortality. They never thought about the potential problems that came along with being immortal even if the Mara problem wasn't even thought of.

[@LJCastano]

Agreed she’s not evil or malicious. She merely gives people what they ask for and that comes with a natural consequence. It’s not her fault.

[@dickota6669]

I found Dan Shu’s predicament uniquely sad, which made her a compelling antagonist for me. She was blind for almost her whole life, tried to cure it and did see, getting a glimpse into what she’s always missed, only for that damage to regrow and losing sight once again. She realized she could never actually see and go against fate like that.

[@someoneinasia]

i'm surprised in HSR world where everything is so advanced, nobody develops a video camera that can connect to brain using idk brainwave or something that allows blind people to see without any physical alteration like surgery.

[@sabsain2399]

​@@someoneinasia I'm surprised you said all this without getting any info on how the game told us that Dan Shu tried like, a million methods to gain sight but failed each and every time

[@indiomie]

@@sabsain2399 she did say she tried other methods and that they regenerate back to her blindness. Implying mostly organic body modifications. They don't seem to be big on artificial cybernetics, hell their ships grow from seeds. But what this dude seems to be saying is an external mod, no removal, no replacing of body parts. So no regeneration. You add things on top of the body, maybe it will solve the problem of it regenerating.

[@sabsain2399]

@@indiomie Anddddddd she did just that. I forgot the specifics but she added a shxt ton of external stuff that made it difficult to move since there was so much of it

[@indiomie]

@@sabsain2399 the point still stands then. That it's still surprising how in a very advanced space faring society, they still don't have the viable means of curing/fixing blindness right? They seem to have really good genetic modification biotech considering they make literal cities out of bio engineered materials.

[@drpaimon2369]

I like how this also comes back in Baizhu's and Hu Tao's stories.

[@cofeespear4992]

Lmao March 7 being your "talking persona" for star rail like how you use Yanfei for Genshin makes so much sense cause she tends to ask the most questions about everything omg I love it

[@NagaTales]

Essentially, Lan's Hunt is preventing Yaoshi's Abundance from becoming a second Tayzzyronth-level horror.

[@blue_blemish]

just a small note but i think its also important to mention that mara-struck are also triggered by the accumulation of memories and negativity that may be associated with them so theres an emotional aspect to it as well

[@sai_neko_reddy]

I like how we can see two different type of cocerns in the game On one side you see residents of jario-6 who are desperate to survive one more day and at the verge of deadth of their whole species And at the same time you see the lianhou residents or the alliance whose concern is that they want death and to eradicate other abominations by hunting down the worshippers of abundance People of the ice planet are concerned about what happens tommorow And people of alliance are concerned about what would happen in 100 years The way there is difference between the perception of time on each species fascinate me W game

[@reachforbluesea]

Moon, tree, immortality, and archers blowing up stars. Yeah Lan and Yaoshi is definitely based off Houyi and Chang'e. Regarding how other denizens of abundance are fairing. Travelogue on Xianzhou: Long-life Species I stated that "The life-extension protocols of the Denizens of Abundance are intrinsically connected to their genetic make-up - cannibalism, interspecies blood transfusions, a hive mentality, rejuvenation via hibernation or molting... Despite easy access to longevity, most of the Denizens of Abundance lose their minds as they warp into twisted beasts". So either this blessing is mostly likely not curable or that most of them think going crazy is not a big deal.

[@cassandrawasright1481]

I mean, "interspecies blood transfusions" is basically what Dan Shu's medicine is, so maybe it is a viable option to stave off the Mara. You know, if they can get enough marrow from Long's Scions...

[@Doflaminguard]

Yaoshi is Yaochi is chinese, just not a goddess but a mythical beast. Also was Slain by Houyi.

[@TheBeardenedBear]

You know the amazing thing here? That baizhu's story quest perfectly compliments the current story of the Luofu. Great video as always. Thank you so much for what you're doing. You're a blessing on this community:)

[@PETEYBOY954]

Dan Shu lost her kin. Maybe not by blood but essentially the only person who she shared that type of connection with. Worse than dying naturally, Yufei was “ground to dust with not even a single bone left behind”. I gotta imagine when that type of thing happens, all logic and reason go out the window and it’s time for war.

[@Zaxster_-3-]

That insert of Stephen Colbere to further explain the philosophy of how these two paths clash was perfect. Thanks for such a comprehensive video, you've allowed me to enjoy HSR so much more thanks to your explanations so genuinly, thank you

[@uditishyama]

honestly the whole xianzhou luofu demonising yaoshi seems ridiculous to me, when the fault lies solely in xianzhou luofu's ancestral generation

[@LJCastano]

Exactly. She gave them exactly what they asked for.

[@katz696]

I find that there maybe some mistakes when it comes to the history of Xianzhou. 1. Lan is used to be a Yaoqing native, not Yuanqiao. Yaoqing ship is also where Susang comes from. These two word looks similar, but they are pronounce differently and they are different ships in game. Ashikai keeps pronouncing Yuanqiao in the video. 2. Yaoqing ship's distinct mark: moon, is not given by Yaoshi. Yaoqing grabbed it from Borison. Only Luofu got the blessing from Yaoshi directly. 3. The flint emperor were captured and then used to power the Zhuming ship, not Yuanqiao ship.

[@wuttatota148]

I love that whole philosophical ending bit. You're so right, grief and loss are the foundation of empathy, a core part of what makes us human

[@MrMuel1205]

Dan Shu is unforgivable. Whatever her affinity for the Abundance, and how understandable that is, given her circumstances, she ultimately does a deal with a Lord Ravager and I feel she's wise enough to know what that must ultimately pertain.

[@j.b.fsomin7242]

I came here for star rail lore, and then I finished the video with a genetics degree and knowledge of magical space cancer.

[@Ali-cya]

18:12 That's a correlation fallacy, death being a foundation for empathy, but empathy comes from understanding and death is not needed to gain understanding, it is but one of the many ways that gives the need for understanding, but death is not necessary for it as there are many others. The causation for empathy is of the need to understand more of the world, death simply being one of the many parts of it, but it is not integral for it. This is an issue that humans can only think of with their limited understanding, much like how it's impossible to comprehend what it means for Existence to have a beginning or to have always existed, where Time always was a thing and has no beginning, people can't comprehend something beyond a beginning and an end.

[@doodlingcat4800]

Was anyone else reminded of Ho Tao and her dislike of Baizhu trying to become immortal? Like we have a doctor that has some disability Trying to go against the natural order, I have to wonder whether Baizhu getting out of NPC jail So close to starrail’s release was purposeful. The Vidyadhara reminding me of Greater Lord Rukkhadevata saying that Nahida is her in the next samsara. I have to wonder whether were going to learn about this in the small scale, so later on, we’re going to be able to understand the concept without needing any outside knowledge. We know the Stellaron hunters are trying to guide the world to the one path where The world doesn’t end, and that the MC is important to their goal, we need to be here to get allies, but I wonder whether we’re also here to learn about the concept of samsara. We were told that we shouldn’t regret our choices, and even though it’s probably going to be a scripted choice, whether it’s going to still be a difficult one. Maybe it will be a choice between saving the universe and ending the samsara, or the astral express. Thank you for taking the time to read my word vomit :) Edit: The Mara Struck are giving me abyss order vibes and I just connected those dots. They were once human that became immortal by some divine ‘gift’ and slowly lost their mind and then became monsters. I wonder whether star rail is going to start out darker then Genshin and also what that means for the end of the story

[@horus_p7]

The core theme of Honkai Impact 3rd, one of MiHoyo's first games, is the importance of experiencing tragedy to grow and the fundamental inseparability of joy and sorrow. My favorite video game company, by far.

[@akiooosama]

Usually not fond of lore videos (i have a short attention span) but you managed to keep me hooked for the entire duration of the video whoaaa Everything was explained very well and i love the inclusion of outside game content to probe your points

[@RookieGoBoom]

What you said about the philosophy there might be in this game makes me stoked for stuff about Aha and IX

[@TheWorldThatYouWishFor]

"So the Xianzhou got what they wanted for free without paying any price but couldn't handle it and blamed Yaoshi for it, sounds like a childish tantrum to me" was the first thing that came to my mind when I was playing this part of the game, they are ones who wanted Immortality, yet they didn't have the capability or foresight to see it's consequences, wild for a civilization capable of building planet-sized habitable spaceships, If a race is Immortal then resource distribution will be a big problem even we a far less advanced civilization than the Xianzhou can see that, as for civil wars they happen regardless for one reason or another due to elite hoarding supplies or another stupid reason whether one is a short-life species or a long-life species and of course they blamed Yaoshi for that as well, basically people will find a reason to fight no matter the situation, they couldn't handle the fact that it was their irresponsibility that led to this situation of civil war, if Yaoshi had refused to give them Immortality they would definitely have plotted against him and would have accused him of hoarding power cause that's just the kind of people humans are in general, he is simply a convenient scapegoat for them to shift all responsibility just because they couldn't own up to the fact that their own choices led them to this point, Yaoshi simply gave them what they asked and they were only too happy to take completely ignoring the fact that upending any part of the natural order has consequences.

[@wiritpollapcharoenporn3168]

My thought exactly. They struck a bargain and Yoashi simply give them what they want (kindly I might add). What happen next is on them. I did not fight Dan because I think she is wrong. I sympathize with her and would negotiate with Yoashi to give her an out if able, but friend do not let friends decent to madness.

[@moonykash]

Well, it’s the emperor that probably wanted it and his citizens just obeyed. Although it could have been consensus but I don’t think it was 100% of the xianzhou who OKed with the immortality plan

[@pineapple610]

That’s what my thought as well when the xianzhou where introduce in the beta, but many people still doesn't seem to understand the goal of the xianzhou, their acts are actually more complex than just revenge. Xianzhou is not aimed to kill all immortals, but specifically the denizens of abundance. (The one who follows and worship Yaoshi) Xianzhou has always targeted the undead blessed by the Yaoshi (the denizens of abundance). If immortality is not bless by the Yaoshi, Xianzhou will not care For example the Long and the dragon people, they are immortal but the were never hunted by the xianzhou, in fact they become one with the xianzhou. The “denizens of abundance”, the “antimatter legion” and “the swarm” are the three big disasters of the universe, and the denizens of abundance is the most hated one in the universe (if you read the in game book of “list of archenemies”, it were said that the “celenova”(the general of the antimatter legion) has once’s asked the xianzhou zhuming to attack the “wingweaver” (the denizens of abundance that lured the xianzhou to find Yaoshi), like even the antimatter legion was sick of them, kind of funny) And the xianzhou hunt them because of two reasons, one is the history, the “wingweaver” (and the other denizens of abundance) would lures other civilizations to get the blessings from Yaoshi, that’s because they knew that the civilization will soon use up it’s resources and become weak because of immortality , and when that happens, the denizens of abundance will come and steal off their blessed mark (the luofu tree for example). Meaning that the one trying to get the blessing and without paying the price is the denizens of abundance, and the xianzhou is lured by the “wingweaver” and became victims by it, that’s why the xianzhou are specifically hunting down the denizens of abundance. The other reason is because of it’s nature, as the videos says, the blessing of the Yaoshi are similar to cancer, and will use up and steal the universe’s resources quickly (and if you go to the luofu, you will find out that xianzhou people are forbidden to exit the ship without permission, that’s because just one immortal being in another planet may use all of its resources) so technically even if the xianzhou never got lured by the “wingweaver”, or never meet Yaoshi, the xianzhou will probably still hunt the denizens of abundance.) Oh and a reminder is that Yaoshi cannot reject someone’s wish as the path of abundance is to be healing and selfless, and the xianzhou knows that the universe is filled with people asking for immortality as many people come there for that exact reason, so if the blessing of the Yaoshi is basically cancer of the universe, and there is no way of changing everyone’s mind in the whole universe, and there is no way of reversing the blessing, the only solution is to cured(hunt) the root of it(Yaoshi)

[@risha6801]

Yeah. Add that to the fact that they are preventing outsiders from gaining immortality - it seems to me that they want that immortality only for themselves. Yes. It is reasonable for them to stop others from seeking it for its consequences (being mara struck, others - civil unrest, corruption that was the Xianzhou's fault), but that's also up to those persons. Yeah, the situation with Yaoshi is complicated - but it looks just like they've bitten the hand that fed them. I mean what did they expect? Everything has pros and cons - especially when its immortality.

[@aoki395]

@@pineapple610 you’re so on point, I see many people in the comment section saying that the people of Xianzhou is ungrateful to Yaoshi and blame Yaoshi for given them what they’ve wanted. They are missing the point, if you read the book and dig deeper into the lore you will realize that the goal of those blessed with the abundance is to seek out other’s blessing and absorb them so they can get stronger. There is a group or groups that are actively manipulating/spreading the dead of Yaoshi to other less develop world so that they will seeking Yaoshi for the blessing, just like they did with Xianzhou and once the civilization is too weak this group will come to steal the blessing so they can become stronger. They are the literal plague/cancer of the universe. The people of Xianzhou could do the same but they chose a different path. They chose to protect the less developed world from the influence of the denizen of abundance their enemy is the denizen of abundance not Yaoshi. But people seems to be confused and think that they are after Yaoshi which is not the case. They also prevent people in their alliance from interacting with world that does not have the blessing of Yaoshi to not influence the less develop world and to protect them. As for people saying that the Xianzhou wanted immortality for themselves only that a joke. If that is what they wanted they would have become like the denizen of abundance and seek out other blessings for themselves and be like the denizen of abundance so that they can get more blessing by influencing other world. They simply say do not come to Xianzhou seeking immortality, what you do elsewhere they don’t care as long as you don’t become a denizen of abundance and start spreading cancer all over the universe.

[@darkomiku8902]

When has Hoyo games not been about philosophy XD ? People just treat the small talks as filler, but they are the manifestation of the thoughts characters have. Each phrase and in chinese/japanese each word have hidden meaning based in several different philosophical paths.

[@mayafoxwitch]

I also love the whole story/history/lore of Xianzhou! The concept of immortality and their way of life is fascinating. Thank you for such a video, Ashikai!

[@aprilengland8284]

This video had no business going this hard. 😂 I damn near shed a tear. Bravo, honestly.

[@MiamoryHJ]

Ohhhh it’s so interesting! I didn’t read her diaries! I guess I should! Thank you so much! I didn’t know lavn was human before. And I love the idea of those paths concepts and death chasing life. So much food for thought

[@aghitsaplane4262]

dan shu is a perfect mirror of Yaoshi. they both ''help'' people but not out of the kindness of their heart, rather because of how that help can benefit their own goals. Yaoshi ''heals'' because it pushes the concept of abundant life throughout the universe, making her stronger, dan shu ''heals'' because it both furthers her goal of curing her own blindness but also builds a cult around her that she can use to hunt the...well hunt. It's very clear from both how she talks to and (doesn't) treat the blind girl as well as her mara struck and the fate that falls befalls them that she only uses the people around her for her own goals. like yaoshi she's decided that ''healing'' is simply the most effective way to those goals, regardless of the consequences.

[@BigJMC]

On the drilling into star part it’s possible and it would definitely make sense why the Xianzhou would’ve needed their engines to do it, red dwarf stars are the smallest and coolest kind of star with the least density compared to other stars. They undergo nuclear fusion which requires massive amount of density and gravity. It would make sense that Xianzhou ship engines would’ve relied on a form of antigravity, thus through engine modification and ship positioning the Xianzhou could essentially make a giant drill through antigravity fields generated by the engines which would’ve stopped the nuclear fusion process. However after the red dwarf is not longer affected by the antigravity fields the red dwarf would rapidly collapse into itself due to the lack of nuclear fusion and would cause a supernova and leave behind a blackhole (they pretty much sped up the stars death).

[@danielehartmann2787]

Thx for this video, ashikai! Now I have a better understanding of the story of the last zone. Didn't get what was going on at all. :D

[@lilyand]

Your lore analysis videos have always been my favorite since I started playing Genshin, so happy to see you creating content for Honkai Star Rail too!

[@L2_Impart]

Oppenheimer is going to be revived after seeing how a red dwarf broke all laws of physics and created a black hole just because

[@banggobang5148]

If you're using Yanfei as your narrator in your Genshin videos, who's gonna be narrating the star rail?

[@tripletoejoe5469]

Seemingly March 7th

[@Romashka_Sov]

In this video it is March 7, but i see Asta as a good fit. Though, it probably will stick with March, because we already have many cutscenes with her and will have even more in future, but anyone else (except Himeko who is not an option) will stuck on the planet once it's done, maybe returning once or twice in an event

[@ldrntt839]

Miss~ Pela~

[@nightkelm9552]

Asta?

[@chocochino1776]

what if she put a troll and use sushang 😂

[@cursedboyir]

I'm watching this because I'm stuck at a certain lvl in game, and left this game for a year and 5 months. I don't plan on playing it, but I do plan on playing it when a confirmed total of 10/15 Eons are mentioned.

[@eduardopedroza1248]

Ashikai using a clip of my favorite interview with one of my favorite celebrities to explain this part of the lore is probably the thing that will convince me to play star rail xd

[@krys9463]

Qlipoth and their lore was interesting but the relationship between Yaoshi and Lan made Aeons extremely interesting. It'll probably be a few months before we get a new planet, assuming they're releasing a new planet the same way a new nation in Genshin releases, but I'm already looking forward to seeing different kinds of philosophies in regards to paths. I feel like that the MC will definitely get the power of the Hunt during their journey through the Xianzhou, but what about when they get the power of Abundance? Will it be a planet that's just like the Alliance or will it be a place that has a counter argument against their ideas? To be fair to Yaoshi I would think anyone would ask, what about land and resources? If everyone is immortal, then doesn't that mean that there will only be more and more mouths to feed as time goes on? Not too mention places for people to live?

[@farouq7252]

I love these videos! They really shine light on things that the mass majority of players will miss in the story

[@winslycan1309]

I finished the Dan Shu's questline and I can't understand why it is going this way. Turns out 70% of the plot is shoved into many books. Thank you for the explained video. This helps me a lot.

[@TheGeekyRedMage]

Ngl, this comment confuses me consider the Dan Shu storyline is pretty easy to follow even if you haven’t read the books (as is the case for me). The books just give greater context more than anything from what I’m understand in this video, so acting like “70% of the plot is shoved into many books” feels like a bold face lie.

[@fluffypenguin8663]

If the body of those from Xianzhou age slowly, I think it would make sense given how some NPCs would tell the Trailblazer that they are actually older than MC due to the Abundance's "blessing". If that's really the case, then it's cute how Jing Yuan, with a body that looks like a young child, is actually older when Jingliu trained him in the trailer.

[@HarmfulBurp]

i love how the entire xianzhou alliance is just a massive reference to qin shi huang lol

[@alvi9463]

I never drew the life and death parallel between Lan and Yaoshi. Yaoshi is one that brings life while Lan is the death that eternally follows life, so you could interpret that Lan chasing Yaoshi as the natural order of things. "life is always running from death but can never escape it" this is really fascinating. it is also worth noting that if Lan doesn't exist that entire ecosystem would collapse from its undying population and if Yaoshi is gone Lan also dies since that is there whole purpose "life and death cannot exist without the other", so you could also see Lan's quest as something that must and can never end. I do also love how they try to scientifically explain immortality, the cancer comparison is really what caught my attention as it is both a fitting comparison and could also be seen in the Xianzhou eventual decay as the people eventually destroy their own ecosystem because they can't die.

[@danidan2174]

lan is not death, it literally says hunt he can always change his target after hes done

[@alvi9463]

@@danidan2174 he is not literally death, as I said you can "interpret" his relation to Yaoshi this way since death is a consequence of his hunt and that xianzhou suffered because of the absence of death. As for him changing targets, that is possible, Hunt doesn't mean they only have one pray, but Lan's end goal and reason for being an Aeon was to kill Yaoshi so "fading" after accomplishing their goal is still a possibility.

[@danidan2174]

@@alvi9463 he already hunt and killed the propagation aeon before yaoshi, this video lack some context on that

[@alvi9463]

@@danidan2174 So that's what happened to the propagation, thanks for clarifying that. For the life death parallel I hope I was able to clarify my reasoning, for using Lan as a metaphor for death.

[@JonathonDey]

Some interesting parallels between the Mara struck and Genshin's Curse of Immortality / Curse of the Wilderness.

[@scrappy_horns8139]

Simulated Universe is the best way for me to immerse myself in Aeon lore while having fun collecting and experimenting blessings and curios to my characters…sometimes i chose the troll answers in the dialogue options just to see what happens lol…

[@aqira2yoo486]

The sta drilling thing is honestly what i love about myths/legends ifk which. You can here some nonsensical stuff like this without priper explanation from the story itself and still makes sense since u visualize it on ur own and make sense of it. I see this happen in a lot of stories in my literature subjects and its honestly neat. Like suddenly the most villainous character randomly makes a deal with the hero suddenly hes a loyal follower of said hero. I cant specify any stories but i vaguely remember tese type of stuff happening :')

[@aqira2yoo486]

Lmao the sudden biology lesson

[@travellingwaniisa6177]

Woo-hoo, so excited to see lore videos for Star Rail from you! This is gonna be a very interesting journey, and I can't wait to take it with you! ❤ You really brought out the big guns with that Colbert clip. Purposely depriving oneself of the experiences needed in order to form healthy relationships and regulate your emotions and all that jazz is so dangerous. I was so surprised Dan Shu as a healer, and as someone watching over a child similar to herself doing that. Its as if she has seemingly forgotten empathy existed.. but at the same time that's the thing about loss. It can build you up, but it can also tear you down in ways you don't see and can't imagine. Overall, super stoked for the livestream tomorrow, and the update next week 🎉

[@anotheraltaccount]

The awareness of others loss is not something that rationalizes the immense, inequitable, and undeserved suffering that exists in the world. I mean, if you tell me that one persons suffering exists to help them understand the suffering of others, I ask why do those others have to suffer to begin with? I think Dan Shu similarly and in my opinion admirably is not willing to accept all suffering and loss with this kind of justification.

[@Kleexun]

3:30 Ashikai is March 7th on this universe

[@sebay4654]

My personal perspective is that though lan represents death from an outside force (specificly murder) the form of death as the hunt is fundamentally a perverse approach to death as its perspective is thst death is something that can only be brought externally as opposed to the natural or internal death that entropy and its decay provides, this entropy though a tragic part of reality is also whats responsible for evolution and growth and embracing this philosophy of evolution and growth at least in HSR lore could very well become its own separate path (maybe even as a counter point to the hunt as opposed to trying to kill life it instead is formed by those who embrace the natural entropy of the world and attempt to restore it with there power effectively countering the Mara through the method of restoring the natrual cellular death and imposing that entropy over the immortality (the combination of these blessings provides an extended lifespan, but not immortality and with the blessings of chaos(which encompasses all these concepts of entropy, decay and evolution along with concepts like free will, lawlessness (freedom), madness and destruction(id consider this as a path that would likely go into conflict with destruction but ultimately settle into two distinctive things with chaos being a perspective of destruction as opposed to the idea of destroying things) (which can be considered an expression (because by destroying something your making its state less ordered and spreading it out thus making it a form) of entropy))(also it wouldn't surprise me if a new aeon of order were to emerge as since rhe path of harmoy swallowed up the old aeon of order and left a masterless path there perspective on the concept of order must of been very small (since harmony can literally be called an expression of order and allong wirh that it can be expanded to include the concept of law, peace, control, system/hierarchy, fate (because of the principal that by knowing everything (the exact order of things) in the present with enough computing power you can predict the future with absolute certainty (chaos breaking data)

[@sebay4654]

There's also the counter potential for the path to order which would be a path negating free will and change taking the stasis of abundance and going 11 steps further providing immortality at the cost of ones ability to change

[@catbear128]

This is quite late but I do remember that during the story in Belobog (I think) Dan Heng says that once humans are immortal, they cannot be considered human anymore.

[@StoryStoat]

Yufei and Dan Shu are "friends". Considering she strived overall to see so that she could see Yufei and they spent the few days she knew she would have being able to see doing all the things Yufei wanted Dan Shu to be able to see, including right before her sight was lost again, them sitting together watching a Sunset. You cannot tell me that is not romantic. And when Yufei died, it was the final straw that broke her in a world that had treated her like lesser than and worse than who she actually was. She was treated poorly her whole life, but it was YUFEI DYING that made her finally start fighting back. Because as they say to each other in Dan Shu's diary, they couldn't live without the other. They were not friends, they were married. A lifelong bond formed as kids, extending through to the point Yufei died, and what is the FIRST thing Dan Shu rushes to look at when she has her sight, what does she expound upon: YUFEI'S BEAUTY. Also I highly recommend reading her Diary, other than the very ending where Dan Shu goes radical, its a heart wrenching story.

[@wiritpollapcharoenporn3168]

Yep, I read that. Dan Shu grip is still there but the straw that broke the camel back is Yufei’s death. At that point, I can’t blame her from defecting.

[@thesleepyreader]

When the game made us choose whether or not to fight Dan Shu i physically screamed

[@yashsarda2263]

The ending of the video was really good. I will definitely be looking towards more such discussions in future videos :D

[@hajrakhan2129]

Thank you for the HSR vid, going more into the mara struck and the aeons was really intersting!

[@IO-hh3gw]

Oohh I just want to point out that i love how you compared the mara-struck to real world cancer cells!!! 👏👏 Like yeah good point

[@MattMerced-o9b]

Lan and Yaoshi seem to balance each other out, like ying and yang. Neither of them are intrinsically good or bad, just natural balance with a little bit of factional violence.

[@MapV10]

As a medical laboratory scientist I love whoever made that X Chromosome look like a material in Star Rail. Also love the way they are utilizing Dan Shu right now. A person who curses death due to to the loss of a loved one. Then supports a godlike being that could grant eternal life. But she knows full well that if immortality was not given then her lover would have never fought and would still be by her side.

[@witchcandy3671]

As a longterm Genshin player comparing the Aeons to the God's in Genshin is quite refreshing. While the Genshin Gods feel static fighting off entropy the Aeons in Star Rail appear a great deal more dynamic. Aeons glance at you and instant death or complete transformation occurs. The power they have is just on a much higher level imo. Should probably be obvious as they rule the Universe not just a continent I suppose.

[@vulgar_oregano]

Can't wait for all the other lore videos, hopefully more dichotomies of different paths. P.s. Nice fade away at the end of the video

[@SIyBuddy]

to be fair this problem all started wit the emperor, yaoshi just gave them what they want immortality but since they're the abundace they cannot just simply strip of immortality bc it will go againts its path which they cannot do even if they want it to, and for lan the hunt which follow death created a good dynamic which i love between the god of death and life

[@sylvarogre5469]

Took a step back from stellerons? Except the stelleron is why we're there and Sanctus Medicus uses the stelleron to regenerate the Ambrosial Arbor.

[@Infelious]

it did take a massive back seat though to be fair.

[@kei9611]

So Lan and Yaoshi is like a co existence? If Yaoshi were to get killed by Lan (Lan’s purpose) will Lan just ceases to exist?

[@Ackane]

maybe, the hunt is already a narrow path so losing one of its purpose(war against the abundance) might make it almost meaningless

[@kei9611]

@@Ackane yep “the” in “the hunt” hits different now after learning the lore lol

[@idontspeakjapanese6289]

Goddamm the relationship between the aeons is so similar to the Imaginary Tree and the sea of quanta who are devouring each other.

[@darknessknows1235]

@@kei9611 Yes, an Aeon's purpose is the reason they exist, but not the path itself. Lan killing Yaoshi would either fade, or hunt the remainder of their followers/immortal gifts. We don't quite know enough about Aeons/Paths to say for sure what can happen next beyond that

[@BrunoVilaNova86]

This whole stuff with Yaoshi and the meaning of life that you talk about in the end of the video REALLY makes me remember a part of the FFXIV endwalker storyline (spoilers of FFXIV main quest below, please don't read if you want to experience it - and you definetively should) In the expansion we learn that a long time ago humankind lived almost as gods, with an endless lifespam, no diseases, etc etc. But when faced with the complex question of "what is the meaning of life?", they couldn't handle it, and an experiment gone haywire was treating the whole existence (I promise that it makes sense in the story). Hydaelyn / Venat, one of the major npcs of the expansion, shatered the existence in 14 different reflections / alter realities, precisely to fragment humankind power and remove their godlike status, so we could experience suffering and endure it, in order to understand life. Obviously it's way more complex than I'm stating here, but I think its quite poetic this connection, and it all comes back to the lyrics of one of FFXIV main musics, "Answers", which is revisited in the game, being used in the rework in 2013 and in the expansion in 2021: "Tell us why, given Life, we are meant to die" It's great stuff, you guys should play FFXIV, it's worthy!

[@pedrosilva-di4lg]

4:30 you clearly didn’t watch Gurren Lagann, otherwise you would believe in the drill that believes in you and pierce the heavens!

[@yurihuffles]

I think there's some misunderstanding on your side in regards the Aeon's as well. If you do the Simulated Universe, then you can learn that Yaoshi's pure form seems to match the idea you said of Death being an important part of the Cycle of Life. There is reference not only to her life giving abilities, but also to her Poison to shorten it. I'm interested to see where HSR takes this story and lore going forward, since I would argue that so far most of what we've heard about this seems very one sided mostly from the point of view of followers of the Hunt. The very fact that they wish to murder followers of Abundence and not seek to persuade them of their "error" was the first red flag for me. I personally feel like in future content we're due to get another side to this battle, and just like no path is purely good or evil.. find out maybe that nethier is the saint or villian they're painted as.. but more likely that the names of both Aeon's have been used as an excuse to reason for doing actions that would not be permitted otherwise.

[@SonicRooncoPrime]

Commenting for the algorithm. Thanks for such a good, concise summary of the lore, it's useful stuff!

[@kirokii8156]

WAITING FOR NEXT YOUR NEXT UPDATE AHHH, without you I wouldn't be able to understand the game even more 😭😭

[@jay_1048]

Yoooooo love ur story vids

[@woahitsfranco5286]

You know whats gonna be exciting? Since Yaoshi's Path is one of the Playable ones, we are gonna get to see why the Abundance followers love her so much. We get to see ANOTHER path's logic and reasoning. also Abundance Trailblazer too. I wonder what element they're gonna have? My guess is Imaginary

[@Space00000.]

Haven't watched the video, but I want to mention something about Lan.Visually, he is similar to Capitano, but beyond that,If the Capitano is bloodstained knight, then this is a bit similar to the description of Lan.Aeon, who guides the way of Hunt. "They wander endlessly between worlds to eradicate sinful beings,with no end to hate and no boundaries to war." Also, the description of xianzhou alliance reads : "However, all that the fruit of immortality brought upon them were sorrows, poverty, and endless war and death. It wasn't until Lan, the Aeon of the Hunt, returned from the *Abyss* "

[@Il_Capitano_No.1]

Thank God i was not the only one who made that connection, I would love if Capitano could be connected to Lan in some way..

[@alejandromatute3090]

17:08 "She just sees it" lmao (love the video btw)

[@dtmuffinman]

Great video as always, very helpful for sorting all this info out and making sure I understand it before 1.1. (BTW - "Draught" is pronounced "draft", just thought you should know. Blame the British.)

[@philasandepakade6941]

*Lan The Hunt* is there to put a balance between life and death for those with immortality and if *Lan* didn't do their Job then most of the Galaxies Resources would probably be gone. So think of *Lan The Hunt* as this universe's version of thanos ( *Lan* is basically the balance that is needed for Immortal beings)

[@zigazav1]

Did not expect to see Stephen Colbert in this video, I found that guy pretty funny when I would watch him, even as far back as his discontinued show of "The Colbert Report". To be more on topic of this game and this video, the idea that death and suffering are an important part of life, a certain somebody put a quote very fitting: "It's only because death exists that life is precious". I forget who made that quote, and I forget where online I first saw it, but it's something I read long ago

[@XDependent]

I will say I think Dan Shu's fundamental misunderstanding of the "purpose" of death is also likely not totally her fault. Indeed, most of the Xianzhou seem utterly confused by death since really they only experience it outside of what most of the rest of the world would consider "natural causes" - ie people being killed. Their people only really experience loss in tragedy, which I think is what makes it so foreign for them. They constantly refer to themselves as "long-lived" rather than human in most distinctions, so them really even appreciating their humanity is probably not even a thought.

[@BloodAngel_San]

You should read "The Lord of the Mysteries". Some core concepts become clear. Thanks for the video, didnt knew about Lan's origin

[@Nihilore]

>chuffed have you been watching Mumbo Jumbo videos Ashikai?

[@XlxKeViinxlX]

These videos come in clutch. thank you Ashikai

[@swtormadness]

I agree that Dan Shu misunderstands both Yaoshi and Lan paths and that death and life are in endless cycle because this is biologically a cycle of life that exists for a reason... but I don't agree that suffering is needed, or that suffering is a foundation of empathy. It's not how empathy works at all. BUT I agree that due to the existence of death, we are able to connect with others simply by understanding what loss is. I separate it from suffering, tho. What is Dan Shu's problem is that she can't separate death from suffering, because death caused her to suffer.

[@libos14]

Me, who has decided not to play this game because of time restraints and only watch your lore videos: thankyou. A lot doesn't make sense, but a lot more does so I'm taking what I can from here ❤

[@DangerScone]

Ah, this helped me understand some things about that arc that I was confused about.

[@Cloudfencer]

Your voice sounds like the best 4* in the game, Miss Tingyun ❤

[@shiberu_7s]

thats why i love Xianzhou Arc, it depicts a whole different kind of antagonist. usually its the death bringer or dictator that do genocides, but no. here you have an enemy that is good and kind by blessing with life. but too much of that life demands a cost of insanity, and rises the opposite of life to hunt abundance of life, which is hunt. hunt is not death but the opposite to combat abundance. life and death must be balanced, as in abundance and hunt must be balance as well.

[@SkyHester135]

Thank you so much have been waiting for your video! I got lost with the lore and gave up on reading things 😂

[@enriquecastillo3664]

19:54 So... you're saying they made the a drill that would pierce the heavens?

[@DemoriaBerg]

Thanks!

[@Whenpigfly666]

I cannot be the only one who sees Yaoshi's eyes on her limbs as reminiscent of the Homunculi from Full Metal Alchemist Brotherhood, no ?

[@worm2976]

Me , +1