Furina is the Strongest "Archon" - Genshin Impact Analysis

[@kennytruong4351]

this is why Fontaine’s archon quest is a masterpiece and it is “one of the kind” type of story telling, there are so many layers to dig into. When I understood the analogy and the metaphors of Furina and Focalors, it is one of the most gut-wrenching feelings ive ever felt while plying a game

[@mrbrotherhooood]

Same

[@Maria_Banks]

It reminds me of Nier:Automata a bit and I love it

[@merru-mun7414]

The timeline of an OG Furina Simp: Loving her leaked design Loving her quirkiness in Act 1 Defending her after her show of "weakness" in Act 4 Defending her as people called her a failure, weak and a bad archon Falling in love with her in Act 5 Falling in love with her and Focalors (Focalors is so gorgeous holy fuck) Falling in love with her in her character quest Wanting to throw Paimon into a volcano for bad mouthing Furina in her character quest

[@ThatOneGanyuMain]

I've loved Furina since the beginning but I'm still angry at Foçalors ngl. I will agree her design is quite beautiful though.

[@WardianPurpur29]

My life be like:

[@ДмЮнит]

Oh yeach! I have started collecting primos roughly 4 month ago when her design was leaked! I got 4 50\50 wins 3 copies of Furina and 1 (on 7 pity) on Baizhu.

[@Gh.stKng.]

FINALLY. I have loved her since the leaks, and the fact that I've seen people unimpressed about her designs is ridiculous (cough cough twitter and tiktok)

[@ThebestNiloumain]

I’m not a simp but this is so fr (Like PAIMON WHY)

[@GothremenBhason]

I'm happy to be one of the few minority who didn't misjudge Furina, in fact I was fascinated by her from the very beginning, even saving for her, and she easily became my favourite character in the game, and I didn't believe she was 'weak' no I knew there was something hidden, like most people, but unlike them, I didn't find her annoying.

[@Starberry7]

Same. Furina intrigued me from the very beginning. Edit: However, I'm sad that there are still people out there who only see Furina for the act she put on. I saw someone say that Furina deserved the suffering she endured and someone else said Furina had it easy. All she had to do was to act, was what they said.

[@GothremenBhason]

@@Starberry7 good to know, i didn't think I was the only one anyways ^^

[@imuraa]

Saaamee, i had a gut feeling deep down shes such a sweet girl

[@GothremenBhason]

@@imuraa glad to know

[@ItsOkayToBeThis]

😂 I think this means we belong to a certain type of 'weird' group with an abnormal amount of empathy. I honestly was getting upset at some people. The sweet vindication at the end of the quest I wish I could experience it all over again.

[@cannedcoal3500]

I honestly think that Furina welcoming us at Romaritime Harbor at the beginning of Chapter IV was her attempting to indirectly ask help from us, it could be that she thinks we can host the perfect trial to end it all (this is 500 years Furina already and with the rising sea levels that Lynette mentioned right before our encounter with Furina, for all we know she could be very desperate at this time), since she knew from her informants that the Traveler is a nation-saving maniac, and she probably thought on the off-chance that the Traveler could finally save Fontaine from the prophecy. I think the Traveler did so, by finally triggering the Hydro Archon trial, just in a very villainous and unhealthy way for Furina. Man if only the story writing did Traveler in a nicer light to her.

[@Rainthority]

Now that you mention it... it makes sense. Maybe that's why she decided Traveller should duel her in court, probably thinking along the lines of "surely a trial against this nation-saving maniac would be the dramatic trial that mirror-me was talking about."

[@divyavani8569]

Exactly. This is what I have thought about after 4.2archon quest.Maybe she was waiting for traveler to visit fontaine. Now we think back to everything she tried her best even though she is just a ordinary human.

[@Diamond1234]

Oh. Oh dang. Yeah I can see that, the first thing she did was try to start a trial with us with Paimon as a flying object. She really did want to end it right then and there, didn't she?

[@burningsamrai3681]

​@@Rainthority I guess you can say, This event has really "Rained" Down on you and us on this chapter.

[@rllyb0red719]

This is an amazing analysis. Furina is the exact reason i always wait until the truth is revealed before judging a character. Ever since she appeared on screen it was clear that she was purposefully written to seem annoying and useless with only slight hints that there may be more to her. Only after act V when you revisit moments from the other fontaine aqs everything starts to fall in place and leaves you with a guilty feeling for how the fandom and characters in game treated her

[@Peanuttheannoyance]

I still hate her for like no reason lmao

[@ineedhelp8573]

Bestie... it will apply to your life tooo... i changed a lot after the archon quest..

[@alinaufal9461]

Idk about truth babe,loving to hating annoying character(furina is still lovable for me tho,unlike say fiscl)

[@harshitmadhav9907]

I didn’t hate her I liked Furina for sure even before 4.2 but she wasn’t in my top loved characters but after 4.2 she blasted through everything and she’s my favourite ever and I’d do anything for her

[@nightmarerex2035]

thats probbaly advice everyone should take IRL too. most let first impression define the person.

[@King_Tap]

i love her character cause she is basically an “absurd hero” coined by albert camus. while she had to play the role of an archon for the whole 500 years she was basically sisyphus in rolling the boulder up the mountain every single day without knowing when it’ll stop and she had to continue day after day. she had to roll up a boulder every single day never reaching the end at the top at the day and had to keep it up for her nation. while do alors is like zeus and the greek gods who cursed sisyphus. how funny that albert camus is also french, albeit french algerian, it’s like mihoyo got inspiration from him to create an absurd hero.

[@ThatOneGanyuMain]

I'm angry at Traveler of course, and all the others for what they did to Furina, but the way you word it makes so much sense. We WERE the villains in Fontaine. I enjoyed hearing your perspective and I do agree that the tidbits sprinkled throughout the story told us a lot about her before the big reveal. For example, our first interaction with her told us three things: she loves her people and is the archon that is closest to them out of all the ones we've seen so far, she may not have omnipresence but she made up for it in smarts - she has people planted so that they can report any important happenings to her, and three, she's not what we're immediately seeing. I'm split between Foçalors gambling or, in my personal theory, her knowing N and N helping her out somehow. What N said is the same thing Furina said in her teaser. Ofc, this could just be the usual misdirection by MHY, but...idk. It feels too specific to me.

[@Daisy999]

Well what i heard is that it all translation mistake because Chinese audiences are saying traveler isn't as harsh as we claim to be but i still think traveler is pretty harsh and i totally agree with you. fontaine is most developed region in the teyvat and it was all developed in last 500 years we did learn this long time ago. I thought she might be cool archon because what we know at that time that fontaine is only region which is technically developed.all the gadgets are from fontaine. Now thinking back and knowing she is just a human and even before final act i hated it when people say she is weak archon. she may not be really an archon but i am pretty sure that she definitely have hand in her nation's development. we knew that she tried her very best to find a way to stop prophecy and many people done research on it. I dont think this is not possible without enough money and backing by the government. we still dont know how far she went to find the answer to the prophecy. we only saw a small part of her suffering and felt bad for her. We still dont know what she sacrificed during her 500 year act.the oceanids saying that water is being salty because furina did merge with water. all pain she suffered yet oceanids blamed her for not being a good archon. She may not be the god in name as divinity is lost. She is definitely one of the good leaders who really wanted to save her people and she definitely understood the people emotions clearly. I really hope genshin go deep into her character in her next archon quest. just like how they showed neuvillette past I hope we get to see the past of furina too.

[@GenLacks]

thats the biggest problemm about the Traveller, even hes does'nt know if what he do is the right thing or not, he simply do without thinking or asuming of causing another disaster, he is like a brawler just going ahead and do whatever is right without even to know the truth of what could possibly happen...

[@Demopans5990]

At the same time, we only know as much as the traveler knows.

[@shanedoesyoutube8001]

Furina: Archon of Perseverance Qlipoth, Aeon of perseverance: WTF BRUH

[@Rainthority]

Hoyoverse... confirmed? xD

[@nightmarerex2035]

it IS a gnostic game. and in gnosticism archons and aeons are in the same lore. tho its possible roles archons and aeons been reversed.

[@noobymooby-ty8gh]

Qlipoth is preservation not perseverance. Two really different things.

[@qiningeng5114]

I always thought Furina was quick to find never annoying, more of some who is always missing in action if i am being honest and loved her even more and more after the sinner's finale and realized she gone back to short hair now adding on how she look at the begining and end it kinda reminds me of the immortal jellyfish long hair sgnifies the curse or longevity and short hair meek and weak waiting to recover or tiredness just like how the immortal jellyfish reverts back when injured and after seeing focalors excecution a part of me thinks that her hair became short after the execution came, cutting of hair and (tentecules) renewal or a fresh start, even in her skill though it can seen as a flip as the long hair sgynfies her healing and the short hair sgnifies the pain and suffering, Furina is truly on the level of a god for nearly 500 years, she will be forever remebered in our hearts, soul, and minds for generations

[@Lemural]

I’ve been fighting with people since 4.0 on the topic of Furina. You’ve always put my thoughts into videos. Amazing work.

[@mijmijrm]

i never thought she was annoying. I thought her delightfully flamboyant and extravagant. It was obvious she was putting on a public performance. (I like Fischl and Furina is similar. We got insight into Fischl with the past summer event. I expected there would by some hidden complexity with Furina too ... to be expected - has there been an Archon Quest without a twist?) So, tho we might know the role she's playing, we know nothing of the person within. To put it another way .. as Archon of Hydro, she's like the Sea. She has a glittering, playful surface .. but beneath that surface there are dark hidden depths.

[@Rainthority]

Absolutely love how you put it. “Delightfully flamboyant and extravagant.”

[@larungbatojutsu2427]

People are always have the negative streotype before their archon quest even fully concluded, i never judge an archon before at the very least their archon quest is fully completed.

[@ThisDant3]

I never doubted Furina ❤️

[@ineedhelp8573]

I didn't doubt her.. but I'm never gonna expect it will go this hard

[@Gh.stKng.]

Same.

[@guyschill2059]

​@@ineedhelp8573 Same, based on the teaser I knew it was gonna be sad but man it hit so much harder

[@callmerei]

I had never flipped my opinion so quickly about a character before Furina- Furina was hard to understand outside of what she appeared on the surface- It’s truly admirable how she managed to present herself as a completely different character everytime we saw her with no failure.

[@tenkk_ch]

One last thing that you didn't point out. It was that technically Focalor & Furina is the same person, split in two. One half possesses the divinity & past memories, the other half possesses the body & spirit. Neuvillette: "All you've done throughout the years (can be meant for Furina's half since Focalor only need to stay quiet and collect energy), was just so that you can sacrifice yourself at the very end (meant for Focalor's execution)." Paimon: "She sacrificed herself in the end as an archon, and she suffered through all those years as a human... was that really what she wanted?" The dialogues were written as if they were talking about the same person, because they've acknowledged that Focalor & Furina can be regarded as the same person. However, Furina's half deserves a separate value in being appreciated for her iron will. Basically if we can picture the moment Focalor started executing her plan 5 centuries ago, her thought would be: "I will give my flesh & my whole being for the sake of Fontaine." 'Flesh' as in one of her halves loses the body & spirit, while 'whole being' as in the other half loses her past memories & sanity.

[@Rainthority]

Yeah, they are indeed one and the same, which I alluded at 16:06. And at the same time, they're not, which was implied by Focalors herself as she acknowledged that she owed Furina an apology for making her suffer the 500-year-long performance. Which, as you've mentioned, I believe they deliberately added in there to appreciate Furian's iron will.

[@tenkk_ch]

@@Rainthority Oh yea true true.

[@rotmistrzjanm8776]

Just like with Jesus and Holy Trinity.

[@hafidzrusli6432]

Holy, I've never looked at the prison part that way, day in day out doing the same thing , i almost cant stand the prison task for a few hours let alone a few centuries, and in the end it wasn't us that solve it.

[@Rainthority]

The dullest part of Fontaine AQ, and we had to suffer for only one act, while Furina…

[@WillDissolver]

It was a perfect parallel, actually. Groan-worthy slog while you're there, only to find out that you've been doing that for a few hours at most, while Furina's been in that same place for centuries. For all that I feel like people trash Ei far too hard without really paying attention to her story - which can be boiled down to "they look like such big, strong hands, don't they" - Ei's story had a lot of trauma and emotional depth. But this is a common theme now for all the Archons. Venti does everything from the shadows, never revealing that he's even still there. Morax only talks to his people once a year. Ei spent 500 years in a padded cell trying to deal with her grief while an emotionless robot took her place for dealing with the world, and if that isn't a perfect PTSD story I don't know what is. Nahida was literally caged for 500 years, only to immediately lose her mother the second she was freed. And Furina's was even more of an emotional wrecking ball than Nahida's. But every single one is about isolation. Every single one reflects some aspect of the human experience: isolated by shyness and fear of rejection. By fear of crippling those they love through being a crutch. By grief. By the fears and greed of others. And now, by the expectations of others and her own sense of duty. Furina gave them everything, for centuries, so they could let her live in a hovel and eat macaroni every day. And she was the most powerless of all of them; imagine how good an actress she actually is, to fake being a god for 500 years without even having a Vision and have nobody figure it out. What a great piece of writing this sequence was - but I really, really hope they give her another chapter to her story to let her have some happiness finally.

[@TkK1122]

14:17 gave me chills 😳😭 Such an accurate observation 🥲

[@jingyuzhang451]

I always knew from the very beginning that she was hiding something, and i also knew that she has a plan to save fontaine. I never in a moment doubted that she wasnt the hydro archon, even if i was wrong, shes still the god of justice in the eyes of the people of fontaine and mine too.

[@veronicapiccinini7956]

Well, water is persevere and adaptive. It can change form depending on the temperature, it can erode rocks, and it’s a great source of both life and death

[@barelyabear7956]

After finishing the Archon quest I immediately rushed into your channel, because i remember watching that video of yours and how accurate it was. Mind blowing stuff

[@Rainthority]

I was pleasantly surprised myself while playing through act v. The result of hyper-fixation on a character I guess 😅

[@lunasquib]

I never realised, we were the villains of the archon quest We deliberately tried to out Furina’s secret. Heroes are the ones who write the story

[@supermonstars]

She was a true hero, and we were her final test. If she listened to our sweet lies and believed our offered excuses, everyone would be doomed. But she persevered.

[@lonancavendish2172]

I LOVED your analysis! It's so funny that I love Fischl as the dramatic delulu she is and Furina striked me as the same kind at first, but... Soon I noticed little details that she was... Not what she appeared to be. For a god of justice, she was too theatrical, all about her revolved around acting and Neuvillette was the actual "god of justice". Not only that, Furina showed growth in between the quests, even keeping up her delulu facade. She made small changes here and there and learned. I gotta say, I was captivated by her, by Focalors and by Neuvillette. Fontaine was PERFECT from act I to act V.

[@Rainthority]

Furina and Fischl needs to meet each other in a future event soon.

[@lonancavendish2172]

@@Rainthority YES, FOR SURE. I'd love to see the two polar opposites of acting. One acted a painful role for 500 years and the other wants to become the role she plays (in a sense)

[@ItsOkayToBeThis]

I'm an AR 60 Fischl main. Not a single bad thought entered my mind when I saw Furina. She was and still is a perfect bean 😭 Also this is the first time I wanted to smack Traveller. Her story quest was the second 😑

[@jeffersonsolomon6420]

People be judging Furina as a bratty archon which I never did. I mean, you'd never understand what a real brat is until you meet my sister.

[@Rainthority]

Oh boy 😂

[@Y_-xs9ue]

I did have a bad first impression of Furina but I absolutely love her character after the last act. I wasn't able to pick up the clues from the previous quests though, I usually can't read people that well.

[@ingang8817]

Very well said! I always want to write an article to analyze all these details in this archon quest but you did much better!

[@NotReinaHamazaki]

Furina needs a hug fam...

[@feralfox5137]

15:22 you just summed up Focalors plan in a sentence lmao

[@naphtaligarde1646]

She got a perk "Iron Will".

[@larungbatojutsu2427]

12:00 what a voice acting this is

[@AstraKitsune]

Focalors is a bigger gambler than Aventurine. It was a gigantic coin flip.

[@eleden99]

10/10 video! The presentation, editing and everything was so good!! And what I love most is that you actually understood the lore of the Archon Quest correctly (For some reason there are so many misunderstandings about act 5, especially when it comes to Furina/Focalors?? Weird.) Insta-sub, loved this!

[@Rainthority]

Thanks! I’m glad you enjoyed it. Oh boy, I know what you mean. I’ve seen some of those misinterpretations myself in the land of twitter haha.

[@leegunring]

I suspect that miHoYo was referring to President Charles de Gaulle in French history when writing the screenplay. He also mentions in some books that he deliberately played the role of "General de Gaulle". He was one of the first politicians to realize that advances in media technology would change the rules of politics and that he would have to shape his public image accordingly. In his later years, his eyesight deteriorated, but he preferred to memorize speeches rather than wear reading glasses, because he did not think that would fit the image of "General de Gaulle". He would even transfer away from his closest cronies in order to maintain his majesty. All of this reminds me of Furina's fear of having personal relationships in order to play the role of a god, and Neuvillette's inconvenient costumes in order to maintain her majesty

[@Gh.stKng.]

Im really impressed and happy that there are people who loved her when she was either leaked or shown in the 1ast act of the archon quest, I am so glad there are SOME people like me. She is such a great written character and I see myself in her, she deserves respect and much better of a story quest, its sad that she went through 500 years just to get that respect.

[@MansMan42069]

Personally, I think the mature voice we heard in Neuvillette's story quest was actually Focalors, putting her plan into motion where Neuvi is concerned. Half of the plan involved getting Neuvi to learn how to express emotions and sympathise with humanity. It was this sympathy that would lead him to pardoning Fontain's sin. Which makes "You are a devious one, Focalors" hit so much harder.

[@mizukiNoellemain]

i’m wondering if furina actually would have died if it was the real deal. focalors said as long as her divinity existed furina could not die or be free, does this include something like this? also would focalors+furina(not separated, the archon) dissolve if they touched the water cuz focalors was an oceanid transformed human???

[@Rainthority]

I believe so, because Furina did show similar symptoms as other Fontanians when she dipped her hand into the bowl.

[@SalamanderBattleBrother]

​​@@RainthorityI think she was more scared than showing symptoms, you know adrenaline, it increases heart rate and your blood flow also turning your skin red-ish.

[@willy4588]

⁠​⁠​⁠​⁠@@RainthorityIt might be because focalor never shared the full details of furina’s immortality. When explaining to furina she said furina would “not grow old” rather than “she could not die” when explaining to neuvillette. So from furinas perspective she was capable of dying but in reality she could not. This is my guess.

[@lazuardialdi2646]

Archon of PRESERVATION!

[@sylpherione]

I've always been Furina's ally, though I still find her annoying. But that annoyance stems from Fischl's unending monologue. I'm annoyed at how she always keeps up a facade that I cannot comprehend at all. But I know for a fact that she is suffering alone. This archon quest made me hate the traveller so much, It's like playing a character that is against your will, nothing coincides in what you feel. All of the dialogues presented against Furina hurts me so much.

[@nightmarerex2035]

ive been told im like 3 peaople in one tho, (dont have multible personalities tho as i control it) altho i imagine mind body sprit would mean everyone is multi, they just surpress the other 2/3rds.

[@jmwmsc718]

what an amazing video

[@kasuha]

Even in the very first scene where Furina is welcoming us to Fontaine, then threatening with duel and then with a trial, I noticed that none of that came from her head - someone in the audience had to say it first and that moment Furina caught it and tried to make it happen. The same thing happened on trial with Lyney. While I had no idea what's going on until everything was revealed, I believed all the time that she is desperate and working very hard on something. In the end I felt double rewarded for trusting her all the time. I also don't think the Traveler is really the villain in this story. While Neuvillette was the one to propose the trial, the Traveler was the one who made it happen. So there's the thing: the traveler tried his best to do what he considered being in everyone's interest, just not knowing the background, he had no idea it would have fatal consequences. That's not the definition of a villain. Plus, what he achieved in the end was the best possible outcome, the successful culmination of a 500 years long plan.

[@yesok6592]

I agree with everything except the terminology. We’re not the villain but the antagonist. Antagonist can have just reasons of their actions but still cause conflict for the protagonist (Furina). A villain is someone who causes conflict for malicious purposes.

[@Rainthority]

Ah, except the story is told from the traveler's point of view, which is the very definition of protagonist. Furina is the antagonist to traveler's story because her goal differs from the traveler's, which causes their conflict.

[@Vailoxy]

some: Furina is weak and useless! Furina: *Solo kills all Bosses*

[@AerinstadasChronicler]

I think you're close, but omitting a few points. Focelors is the villain. Everything she did was necessary, but cruel. Furina's suffering was created explicitely for the end result, and while Focelors feels bad about making Furina suffer, we know that it was all an intentional part of her plan. Furina was specifically created with the mission to fail in her assignment at the correct time. The Traveler and the others were mere tools in order to create the perfect conditions for that failure.

[@Rainthority]

That's really up to interpretation. If you look at it from another perspective, Traveler and the others were basically playing into Focalors' play, filling in the villain role to "test" Furina's perseverance.

[@PlatinumStrife]

In my eyes, Focalor was the author of the story with Furina, the being she wishes to be, being one of the main character and unsung hero (more or less apperently) of the story and Neuvillette being the other main protagonist, who shall be praised as the hero in the light. The villain in the story was the person, who will reveal the truth of Furina in the end, which coincidentally was us, the traveler, who had no bad thoughts against her per se and only wanted her tell the truth.

[@nightmarerex2035]

the whole she had to trick hjer self, sounds like a theory i had in high school that "God" respects our privacy and instead knowing what we did right when we did it, he finds out during our "life review." God is able to know everythign we did becuase we have it in our mind, also other humans and non human creatures also keep a log. the only way to make no log would be a person that dose it unconsiusly while there beign not a cell of any living organisms in the vincinity.

[@raynieeeday]

to be honest i didnt like her at first but i never hated on her. i dont know why but i really didnt regret not liking her at first, bcoz i feel like i felt her story as how the writer wants the audiences to feel. i guess i could say that i really got immersed in the act IV more and thats why i loved how i didnt like her at first... i cant think properly lol my lack of sleep for 2 nights is catching up so excuse my grammar, english isnt my 1st language HAHAHAHAHHAA

[@Rainthority]

A friend of mine said that she didn’t like Furina at first cuz she felt Furina was hiding something and not being her true self. Now that everything has been revealed, she finds Furina very likeable and cute 😆 so I get where you’re coming from.

[@Abcxyz-ey9nn]

"we were the villain on focalors plan" dude? didnt we helped her whole plan? The Oratrice Mecanique D'Analyse Cardinale was made to kill her. the death sentence. see the giant big sword on top of her when we first saw her? she was waiting all along after gathering the 500 years worth of Indemnitium to finally sentence Furina, or Focalors a death sentence.

[@Talyrion]

I think that rather than villain (though I do admit there were a couple of times I wanted to strangle the Traveller through the screen), the Main Character serves as an unwitting tool for Focalors. However, the conversation in the magic house is also a final temptation, of sort. The Traveller is offering Furina a last chance... a last chance to fail, that is. Had she faltered then, the prophecy probably can't happen anymore (whether because the rest of the Opera House hears the dialogue or because the Traveller calls off the Trial), triggering Celestia's auto-response in the process.

[@Shougubaii]

I totally agree that the traveler was the villain. I hate them

[@CarlosAnglada]

Exquisite

[@AfterSchoolKillTime]

I cant explain it but furinas energy could solo raiden's after her second story quest