Masquerade of the Guilty (Ep.309)

Well played, Focalors...
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Thanks for all of your support, guys!
Masquerade of the Guilty (Ep.309)
#GenshinImpact #hoyocreators #MurderofBirds

[@Glis54]

Amber Lee Connors did so well in this quest.

[@MurderofBirdsImpact]

She popped off throughout the entire Archon Quest! Focalors was truly the icing on the cake!

[@danishjohari8721]

@@MurderofBirdsImpact I love your videos please don't died

[@brookschannel]

The further I got into the Fontaine archon quest the more I ended up loving furina 😊 honestly one of my favorite characters in the game.

[@0nkrul]

"then i'd curse her." "i mean, i totally did betray them"

[@darkie7589]

*enjou intensifies*

[@TheCheeseman1983]

"And I still have to fight this fucking whale!!!" Heh, that made me laugh through the tears.

[@oppaanja]

I will never get tired of rewatching the 10 hr ver. of this stream. It was so good and the YT editing make it even better. Thank you, Furina. Thank you, Fontaine for the peak Archon Quest and thank you to our Ghostwriter Archon and his editors, mods, and community for the peak entertainment

[@MurderofBirdsImpact]

Thank you so much for watching through that 10-hour stream and supported the edited version on KZbin as well. That's such an "above-and-beyond" way of showing support and myself and the editors sincerely appreciate it! We're so happy you've enjoyed the Fontaine AQ content, and we're looking forward to everyone's feedback on the future content as we finish the remaining 4.x content are make our way towards Natlan!

[@oppaanja]

@@MurderofBirdsImpact I watched it 2-3 times a week ever since you did that stream. Will always be my favorite. You're my #1 favorite Genshin Streamer ofc I will always support you and your content in every possible way I can (I even joined Twitch because of you, Arnold

[@IrvineE]

Played this quest with my daughter back then in 2023 during the weekend... And yes, we both cried Many thanks for the upload and superior editing!

[@BeatrixBeatrixEverywhere]

_“The absolute focus of the stage of judgment, until the final applause sounds.” -Furina’s character description_ First of all, I’d like to truly thank you, Arnold and your entire team, for sharing (and editing) this extraordinary experience with me and others. This would be my longest comment in this channel but I’d like to kindly share this with fellow lore enjoyers at the most anticipated playthrough episode. Everyone’s lives, stories, and pasts are unique; therefore, everyone has subjective view on things, especially on a particular piece of story which resonates with them the most. For me, Masquerade of The Guilty is that story. I have never experienced a scene that could *consistently* make my tears flow whenever I replay it, such is the phenomenal emotional weight of Act V’s Sinner’s Finale. Nearly a year has passed since Focalors' guillotine fell, it still hurts. I've seen, experienced, and analyzed a number of stories from all sorts of media, classics from 1800s and 21st century moderns alike, including those which explore similar themes, but the delivery of Masquerade of The Guilty is the one that left the deepest impression. It has been causing me to contemplate and ruminate more about the existence of an All-Powerful being who predestined everything (including whether our lives are predestined or not), about death and afterlife, the origin of creation, about existentialism, the concept and importance of awareness and memories, as well as the foundation of realities itself. Some might say they are simply characters in a work of fiction which means they are not real... But knowing that this universe's humans are not All-Powerful nor Omniscient, I believe that the Fontainians could or even likely exist in different universes and dimensions this universe's science has yet to discover. If afterlife (hopefully) exists and trans-universal or trans-reality travel is possible there (hopefully), I would give Furina, Focalors, and Neuvillette big hugs from the warmest part of my heart and soul. I know some might view me as overreacting but as someone who nearly passed away in 2014, Fontaine's archon quests have a certain profound meaning for me personally. If the opinion of anyone who is reading is different than mine, once again that is perfectly normal and acceptable for me - someone who came to terms with living with differing subjectivities and appreciating differences long ago. *Thank you so much Hoyoverse, Focalors, Furina, Neuvillette, and Fontaine* *For the companionship, the sacrifice, the memories, the music, and the tears...* *For everything* The Land of Water, one of my most anticipated regions along with Snezhnaya, greatly surpassed my expectations by providing the best story and my personal favorite in-game music (Le Souvenir avec le crepuscule) for me so far and I sincerely hope future regions could contest that. And of course, last but not least, if you made it all the way here, I sincerely appreciate you very much for taking your time to read my thoughts. May our days and lives ahead be as smooth as the falling rain.

[@Fortreze]

All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain...

[@SirXendo]

What I'm honestly amazed about is not necessarily just Furina, but Focalors as well which I don't really see people talk about as much. Not only was she crafty enough to think of a blindspot like that, but she gambled it all for the sake of saving a nation that she can't oversee herself. She gambled it all under the chance that Furina's love and yearning for humanity stays strong, and not only that.. she had to rely on Neuvilette to eventually learn to love humanity himself. Like he said, he wasn't that intrested in humans initially. What if the prophecy prematurely happened, Focaors gave up her divine throne and Neuvilette isn't as keen to helping the people of Fontaine by the time he got his sovereign powers back? He could probably easily just wipe out Fontaine regardless. She definitely risked it all for a plan that relied on her idea of humanity working out, happening on the right place and the right time.. and a plan only she knows and no one else. Hence, it paid off in the idea, and props to Furina for holding on, Neuvilette giving a favorable verdict.. and Focalors for taking the W.

[@mystery8820]

Everything Lyney said in the Overture trailer... perfectly described Focalors' grand performance that she herself directed.

[@petrdockal5005]

When I always say that Furina or Focalors did great job, I always talk about them as of the Original Whole Focalors, not as those two parts. She came with the plan. She believed that hydro dragon will someday learn to love those creations of Userper. She knew that she would protect Fontaine without any memories simply because of her own nature. (Furina, The Body and Spirit or Human half) She knew that she would sacrifase herself for Fontaine even without soul simply because her experince (Focalors, The Divinity or Divine half). She would sacrifase everything for Fontaine, be it her power, memories or just her own suffering. Be it for Fontaine, She would do anything.

[@TJ-yc1zq]

yeah i see most people being sad for furina for what she went through which i do agree but i barely see anyone acknowledge that focalors essentially kept herself trapped in the oratrice and waited 500 years only for her....death.

[@pewpou2692]

I have been refreshing every 5 minutes for two hours waiting for this, really excited

[@MurderofBirdsImpact]

My bad, haha. I went to bed late last night, so I overslept a bit longer than I do. Hope you enjoy the video!

[@RangeCMYK]

​@@MurderofBirdsImpactDon't worry, Fontaine's been here for a year and will stay for longer, your well-being is more important

[@axx012]

Go outside

[@Gottaloveaxolotls]

@@axx012nah let em be hyped bc although I’ve already seen the full twitch stream, seeing it again but edited is nice

[@GreatGreenLeo]

It's so sad when you rewatching previous Acts in retrospective seeing how Furina always goes on interesting trials in Opera house and how she even tried to sue traveler in the beginning. She is so desperately hoped every time that the next trial gonna be the one that Focalors mentions. She is always like "maybe that's one or maybe that's one". She literally couldn't wait no longer. I'm so glad that her play is finally over.

[@ReileenGI]

Here I am, crying again 😭 what a great act this was, my favorite so far

[@ingang8817]

27:15 because in the prophecy, there is a "hydro archon crying" scene. Focalors couldn't do that, so she had to give that role to Furina. She re-directed the script of Celestial in a different way of meaning. (Focalors needed time to gather the power to destroy the throne too.)

[@donutgenesis5542]

I never thought about that! everything makes so much more sense! I do wish that they explained just a bit more how Focalors' plan worked.

[@thegrayyernaut]

I guess she also needed Furina to eventually be tried for being a fraud. Furina had to be human acting as a god since the beginning for all the pieces of evidence to accumulate over the centuries.

[@amaneyugi6457]

“May your god’s blood wash away all your sins.” Focalors death is filled with references, particularly drawing from Biblical stories seems evident given they even got inspired from Noah’s Ark. This moment is a highlight of the Archon quest I love that they are finally able to make the death of someone meaningful and do it "justice", I can’t get over how the Land of Hydro is truly delivering all the emotions and tears. 😢 The Genshin writers has truly come so far in telling and delivering the story and lore to us I have to say. Especially in the way they presented it I think this is one of the core things that changed and we love to see it.

[@virine4365]

This masterpiece - especially 1:09:29 - will forever be remembered for as long as I live And holy, I can't help myself but cry whenever I rewatch Sinner's Finale Rest in Peace and Power, Your Great Honor ⚖ Thank you, Monsieur Neuvillette for your unassailable impartiality 🌊 And our eternal gratitude Furina, you deserve absolutely nothing but the best 💙

[@noelkreiss2398]

We have arrived The absolute peak of Genshin story telling as of now The quality has been through the roof since the started of Sumeru, and i think it will keep on going strong with Natlan Also no one can do a story reaction justice like Arnold. He knows everything that is for Genshin, and it always pays off

[@renataglascgaming]

Man.. That music in the Sinner's Finale cutscene. Focalors, we will miss you. Furina, thank you for what you have done these years. And please, tears, don't drop everytime I watch this. The best AQ in my journey with this game.

[@ahmadangel1046]

Arnold ,my friend your channel is the one and only channel i can never imagine going without . all the content you give us is so heartwarming and easy to take in. i wanted to say how much you make my days better and thank you for the hard work you have put in to this . i hope you are healthy and your mind is at ease wherever you are !!!

[@jwesby65]

Why Piemon is never around when things like this happens

[@The_original_one]

I think she is a spy of celestia send by the sustainer because the mc is a descender and heavenly principal can't moniter them indirectly.so thay send paimon to monitor the mc and because these events are happening “where the gods gaze does not fall" she is excluded from these scenes.

[@enjoyer9852]

I think her presence would unfortunatelly ruin the atmosphere during such important scenes..

[@robinrising_]

54:15 the traveler's dejected "Fine." when learning Furina would have held strong to her role is incredible voice acting. It shows so much emotion in a single world. Major props to Zach Aguilar and Sarah Miller-Crews.

[@RangeCMYK]

This quest did not make me cry, at all. It was merely an overflow of Hydro energy.

[@sauce8148]

Peak chapter, peak story telling, peak pacing, peak fiction and peak voice acting from Amber Lee.

[@Eiruki]

In the first cutscene here, the screen behind traveller become black when he got transferred in Furina consciouness via her tears - like Nahida back then - while Neuvillette become white when going to Foçalors realm - within the Oratrice - just like in game the black ( ousia arkhe ) outfit being Furina while her white ( Pneuma arkhe ) oufit being the divine her with the glowing hair, the part of Foçalors in Furina gameplay, and I find that details very nice. I swear there is a lot of well written characters in this game but Neuvillette and Furina are on another level, also I'm a JP voice mainly but I did the entire Fontaine quest in english for how insane the VA were in Fontaine. I've seen people saying bad stuff about Foçalors because Furina sufferred through a lot but t's also true for Foçalors who could never become human and live her life like she wished cause unlike the other Oceanids that became human by Egeria she instantly became the Archon, and then being stuck in the Oratrice, having to judge her own people indefinitely in order to accumulate Indemnitium for her own death. Fontaine was such a tragic story but also so beautiful and feeled with hope etc. I fucking love it and I'm hype for the next AQs ( Natlan, Snezhnaya etc. ). Ps : you mentioned it that Furina hair didn't glow but no Furina has glowing hair in her white oufit ( the one during the entire AQ, and the one in game ) the only diffrence from the other Archons was that her hair was glowing permanently and not just when using their power like the rest which make it questionnable before act 5, but then Foçalors have permanent glowing hair too so I think it's because she was using her power permanently for accumulating the Indemnitium and all. Also yeah I do wonder if the death of Foçalors is not exactly what caused the water level to rise drastically and provoke the "prophecy" just like Havria transform everyone in salt statues and Guizhong one change the landscape ( sky and such ) in that one area of Liyue. Seeing you so invested in the game, it's lore and crying just like us man because you emphasize with the characters and all is why your my favorite content creator and makes me wish I find your chanel earlier then I did, I love your community so much, please take care and also good joob to you and your editors ! We almost caught up with Natlan !

[@flamingknight11]

No, it was not Focalors' death but their fight with the whale that caused the flood. (Remember, it was the activities of the whale in the primordial sea that cause the water levels to rise) So them literally churning up the primordial sea with their fight caused the flood. Skirk even had a line at the very end about how Fontaine was going to be a mess when they got back, to which Neuvillette said they had nothing to worry about. This is also why the flood receded so quickly, because they managed to get rid of the whale and return the primordial sea to normal. As for why Focalors' death didn't cause an explosion, it could be due to (perhaps a combination of) 2 reasons. One is that Focalors is a second generation god. Unlike the goddess of salt or Guizhong who were gods without the need for authority from Celestia or external sources, Focalors was a god only because she inherited the hydro throne from Egeria. So while strong, she probably would not be as strong as someone like Ei or Zhongli whom as first generation Archons, since they were already 'gods' or beings that rivaled gods before they even got the Archon seat. The other reason was that unlike the case with the goddess of salt where it was a uncontrolled death, (Therefore her powers went out of control) this was a controlled death. So Focalors was probably keeping the power at bay right up to the very point she no longer can. By which time the power was already being absorbed or has already been absorbed by Neuvillette who as nearby. So there wasn't ever a point where raw, concentrated elemental power was just released. It was a much more controlled transfer of power in this case.

[@Eiruki]

@@flamingknight11 Oh yeah thanks I didn't remember that when I writte it. That would be actually nice if they talk about this later on for us to be more sure of what really happen in this regard, also I do think there is more possibly like maybe since her death was from within the Oratrice then that realm would have been the only one that suffered the aftermath. But maybe the Indemnitium created a reaction with the concentrated elemental energy she liberated when dying so the explosion was "controled". I can see that her explosion ( like Havria and stuff ) were the bubbles that Neuvillette absorded in order to gain his power back - like you said since her death was planed and was the only one in game so far that was meant to destroy the throne itself and giving the authority back, so yeah maybe destroying the throne cancels the explosion that would have happened if the Oratrice killed her but not destroying the throne itself. Sorry if I'm not clear and sorry for any spelling mistakes, I really appreciate when people take time to enlighten me or remember me when I forgot some lore and stuff.

[@lazylazzie]

Seeing this archon quest again made me realize that Celestia didn't really do anything to the Fontainians, but only informed them of their fate(future) which would then be the so called "prophecy". Celestia probably couldn't help Egeria in turning the Oceanids into true humans. Even if they have the stolen power of Hydro Dragon + decender's remains turned into a Gnosis, they can't utilize it's authority to the fullest unless you're the Hydro Dragon. Of course they do not want to return the power to the Hydro Dragon to get help, so they decided to brand the Hydro Archon as a sinner instead. Celestia probably saw that in the future that there would be this massive whale who devours primordial sea water, and since Egeria used primordial water, they knew Fontainians would also be devoured by this whale in the future. Focalors only option to save Fontaine was to seek the Hydro Dragon's help and to return the authority to him so it can be utilized to the fullest. But had to do in secret. I feel sad for Focalors tho, she's just an oceanid that wanted to live as a human. Egeria probably chose her as her successor because Egeria knew how much Focalors loved humanity, to the point she was willing to sacrifice her life to save Fontainians. Imagine Focalor's human part(Furina) even without memories was willing to die for Fontaine(dipping her hand on the primordial water) and her divine part literally died to save them. I'm just glad that somehow, there's still a part of Focalors remaining here in Teyvat which is Furina, her human counterpart. Focalors really did a big "fck u" to Celestia's face. She was able to save her nation and somehow still be able to live her dream(experience being fully human) through Furina. But really.., how long has Celestia been sleeping? The Hydro Dragon being recruited and serve as the Iudex in the nation of Hydro.. If they were awake by the time he was being recruited, I think they probably would have interfered already. But then, the Hydro Seat is destroyed but still nothing. Still so many questions.. but my greatest question would be, why did the Sustainer of Heavenly Principles did not kill the twins at the start of the game. She captured one, and locked away the other, only to be released 500 years after. Anyways, sorry for the long ramble. I've already watched this live on Twitch but these edits are really amazing! And even though I already know your reactions, it didn't diminish the experience one bit but enhanced it instead. Hands down to you and your team!!

[@UltraInstinct509]

what are you talking about 💀 celestia couldn't help egeria make perfect humans from oceanids what???? 💀 celestia didnt do anything to fontainians ? some interesting headcanons u have there 🙃

[@The_original_one]

Bud celestia created every human existe in tyvat thay can absolutely help egiria but thay Choose not to and on top of that thay imprisoned egiria until the end of the archon war.the fate you are talking about is created and controled by celestia thay have everything that can help egiria but thay did not becouse thay consider themselves above and the archons below.

[@UltraInstinct509]

@@The_original_one yeah correct! 💯

[@lazylazzie]

@@The_original_one Yes, I know Celestia can create humans. I know they didn't gave permission to Egeria. That's Egeria looked for a loophole and used Primordial Water instead. However, only a full Dragon Sovereign have control of Primordial Water and so Egeria can't transform the Oceanids to a true humans. And if Celestia also doesn't have the power to utilize Primordial Water, then there's nothing they can do after Egeria used that water. Of course this can all be avoided if only they were not a jerk and agreed to help Egeria turn Oceanids into humans in the first place, because then Egeria will not resort to using Primordial Water. So the moment Egeria used Primordial Water, the fate of Fontainians was sealed. Because somewhere in the future, there would be this huge pet whale that will want to devour them as they have Primordial Water inside them. Also, the fate was not created by Celestia. In the quest, it was stated that the root cause of the problem was the All-Devouring Narwhal, which is the pet of Surtalogi, not Celestia.

[@The_original_one]

@@lazylazzie bro everything that enter tyvat that isn't a descender is bound by fate.and the fate is controlled by celestia via irmensol. Even if the narwhal wasn't there the prophecy will surely came to pass. Nahida said the prophecy was carved in the irmensol a long time ago.

[@WhiteKoneko]

I was one of people that couldn't stand Furina. But act 5 changed that and made me feel horrible for it. 😢 To point my respect grew and I ended up pulling...ironically this was also i got my 1st Mona. 😂

[@kelabu7916]

Okay, the bald Venti caught me off guard fr 💀

[@MurderofBirdsImpact]

All Hail Barsibato!

[@justsomeguywithoutamustach3978]

Barbabald

[@jairjunior3951]

★Furina mindscape sequence was one of the most immersive and impactful moments I ever experienced in a playthrough. The aspect of solitude of Furina is something I deeply relate to, through my experience of loneliness I had by my bisexuality (to an extent also being autistic) with conservative parents, and didn't have someone to talk to as I never really had friends in my life that I could confide in (only very recently somewhat changed). I was teary eyed the whole sequence and when music and Focalors started the dance, it all started flowing down from my eyes.*

[@jairjunior3951]

(+ I'm catholic so I loved biblical inspiration in this part)

[@Akintou]

Being able to watch again how everything laid out in the beginning unfolded and come to fruition, man, what a masterpiece, heck I even dare say it's PEAK cinema

[@Ruyi_Moonlight]

Imagine pretending to be a god for 500 years while absolutely no one can know you're just pretending, then being declared guilty of being a fake, and literally minutes later the prophecy that you were hoping to defeat with your act just happens, and being left thinking that if you kept the act for just 10 more minutes, everyone would have been saved. And then walking out and finding out you actually succeeded in your mission. In that trial alone, Furina had a rollercoaster of emotions worth generations.

[@NoName-hb8dj]

I think you're one of the only people that managed to connect the "visionary" mentioned by Mona and Vedrfolnir. Great attention to detail on that. Also, it's wild that we have already met this visionary before the quest. We just didn't know at the time lol.

[@banggobang5148]

16:28 Talking about Childe, did you know that his collected miscellany also has Dainsleif talking about something possibly relating to "Project Stuzha"? Yeah, the same thing that Childe mentioned in The Knave story quests It's at the end part of the video if you're wondering, I found out after I watch your old VODs 😅

[@morethanonebraincell674]

I'm sadly the one who didn't knew Skirk before this and based on her words, I just realized is Khaenri'ah the nation of "Perfection" ?? Cause apparently all the five sinners are pursuing some form of it. Just as Celestia's virtue of Justice came back to bite in their azz, Maybe Khaenri'ah's did too. And thank you for bringing this to us just before I sleep MoB, my pillow's gonna be drenched in tears. 🥲🥲

[@CrystalRubyMoon]

"If [Hoyo] makes me feel for Celestia, I'm gonan feel so confused." Oh you *know* they're gonna do that. There have been hints that Celestia is encasing Teyvat in like a bubble to protect it from the outside. And with the 4.8 summer event, it seems even more so. I wonder what your take is on this now (since I don't tune into your Twitch that much)

[@apoorvjoshi2383]

Also, just how "strong" is Skirk? She did not even flinch in front of Neuvilette, and while neuvilette is a gentleman anyway, he was literally being sooo careful around her. I am not saying he was afraid, but I just felt he was being extra cautious. This is a hydro sovereign we are talking about btw(even if he is a young one and has just gotten his powers back..he is still no joke) Skirk is childe's master. Someone so strong that childe so far hasn't been able to force her to use her second hand in combat(now he probably can..but who knows). Surtalogi is "SKIRKS MASTER". Like...if he is stronger than skirk by a similar margin to whats between Childe and Skirk...how strong is he? Equivalent to archon/god/sovereigns at the very least? If he is THAT STRONG, are all 5 sinners that strong? If GOLD is comparable to someone who raises a Teyvat ending whale as pet, how strong is hexenzirkel exactly? If all 5 sinners are comparable(i understand that not all could have been combatants and had different fields of expertise)..then how strong was the catastrophe that those 5 + dainsleif could not face? Its like these 5 sinners feel like "high god tier"...same tier that if they were not from khaenriah, they might very well be in the race for archonhood. And they still are incomparable to heavenly principles. Like wtf is this absurd power scaling we are going to see? Either that or Skirk is just..built different and didn't really give too much of a fck about who is standing before her or whatever.

[@NewWave3313]

Interesting fact too, the space inside the whale, where you fight the strange knight, almost 1:1 mirrors what the Sea of Quanta looks like in Honkai Impact. As a day 1 player of that game, this was absolutely amazing to see, a true fight in Genshin with a gargantuan quantum beast from the sea of stars. And the fact that Skirk’s design just screams Valkyrie/Herrscher… Soooo cool…!

[@NewWave3313]

Honkai Impact was a game that made me legit cry during the story, and as for Genshin, there were a few sad times but nothing to the degree in Honkai. When this scene came out, all of Furina’s inner monologue, I cried my eyes out for her. This poor girl, she deserved so much for what she went though. Mihoyo’s strongest emotional Act for sure.

[@mikebiddle4070]

Just clicked, haven’t watched at all. But I can say that ever since I found your playthrough channel from twitch I’ve been anticipating this cinema

[@komos3719]

*"Look at me. I'm the Oratrice Mecanique d'Analyse Cardinale"* Lmao

[@SaraBearRawr0312]

Amber Lee Connors says that the breakdown was both her favorite and most difficult set of scenes to record because she wasn't simply acting - she had to channel intense feelings of sadness and made herself cry with a hopelessness that only someone in Furinas position could feel.

[@TheGwilwileth]

Never get tired of watching this…. Neuvillette is everything for me.

[@kevinirmiter3669]

45:45 scene 182,375 182,375 days = approximately 499 years, 115 days damn

[@getthelucky2612]

I remember back then in Fontaine Archon quest Act. 1 when traveler met Furina and she introduced herself, Im started liking her not because she's tsundere but in my heart it tell me that she not actual sassy but merely character with different faces. Which mean it indicates that she's hiding a massive information that can change perspective of the players. Im making a manifest that I hope Hoyoverse made Furina an innocent character as the Archon quest progresses, lo and behold. When Act. 5 was drop and finished the quest Im just like "Thank you so much Hoyoverse make my hope come true😭". Absolute Cinema🙌 at 1:29:53.

[@Phentasma]

Thank you very much for this! I hope you knew how much this meant to me personally. This walkthrough brought back the emotions I felt from when I was playing the Archon Quest for the first time; your commentaries are exactly what was going through my mind throughout the dialogues and lore drops.

[@MurderofBirdsImpact]

The pleasure has been all mine! I'm so glad you've enjoyed the videos thus far!

[@karimek10]

This is to this day the best quest in genshin. It was absolutely phenomenal.

[@sthp5925]

It's so sad, even though Furina was looking for a trial to end things, she was never told the trial would reveal her identity so she just thought she failed 😔

[@megumin_6548]

every time I watch this, I cry again and again. she reminds me of me own life and how much I cry way too much so I can feel for her far more than usual. sometimes you just need a hug after all that

[@jerichosombilon5169]

The entire fandom took a 180 so hard after Act V (peak btw) that we went from "I hate Furina" to "We must protect her at all costs". Her banner release broke records. Also SKIRK HOLY SHIT

[@MurderofBirdsImpact]

Nah, I wouldn't say the entire fandom, but there were definitely people that were "anti-Furina", and to an extent, was kind of by design. Having a character that's so over-the-top that they become insufferable and build up all of this misplaced judgment about them, only to have the truth be revealed in the final act, which then causes you to retroactively reflect and realize that you were also deceived by Focalors. It's brilliant tbh.

[@robin-sempai1756]

from "correct the archon" to "Give my princess a hug"

[@MarkYu23]

Citizens of Fontaine and Sumeru are the worst compared to other regions, TBH. They're like your typical Genshin players who only consider Gods, Gods if they are high, mighty, and flashy 😅

[@galvinfalcon]

I came (pause😂) as soon as I saw the notification 🏃‍➡️

[@kevinirmiter3669]

1:10:10 Fun fact: the title for this music track on the OST album is French for "All's Well That Ends Well."

[@jetaimesooshi]

Xavier and Furina did work together aaaaaaaa >< - I feel soo mad, annoyed, in a wreck every single time I see "Scene 182375" cuz when I was doing this AQ back then, I immediately thought to open the calculator and divide it by 365 and it really turned basically 500. I lost it even more. I-fcking-magine the pain 😭 plus the action of Furina "praying" LIKE WTF AAAAAA - 1:07:39 I unfortunately lost to my tears out of nowhere and now the video is blurry dammit 😂 - 1:27:17 I SAID PAUSE CHAMP AT THE SAME TIME - I cannot even begin to express how heart wrenching this Act is. I will lie down and cry brb lol

[@RetroApo]

Haha, almost one year after this quest there's still no response from Celestia.

[@giancarlourielmarpa6037]

The final cutscene of Fontaine surviving, and Furina under the cleared skies, will always give me chills. Personally my favorite cutscene of act 5, it's such a miraculous outcome and music was filled with so much hope to

[@wrightier]

I'm done writing the first chapter of my thesis as I waited for this. Watching this is a good form of taking a break.

[@Sayaahh]

47:07 I cried so hard here

[@breadstal]

"Farewell, Neuvillette, I hope you've enjoyed the part you played these 500 years.'' 😭💙 Act 5 truly set the bar high with the exceptional voice acting along with beautiful animations and wonderful story telling.😭😭

[@hub1986]

This is gonna be a tear jerker but still so damn good Cheers m8

[@malanimsgaming]

Just like what Focalor said, I too love to see her judge for Celestia's actions for what they did to the ancient civilizations of the past and for all of the stuff they did in Teyvat. Lore drop from Focalor about her goal, lore drop from Skirk about the Descenders, lore drop from Neuvillette about Natlan, Arnold even he's already sleepy he still take down notes to collect the pieces for future events and I really appreciate the work you've been doing and you're the only one who is able to figure it out and that's why I love seeing your reactions ❤

[@CrystalRubyMoon]

Also!! watching this just as Natlan is about to go into its middle acts is making me excited to see what Natlan can do to top this absolute PEAK!! Gosh Fontaine was SO GOOD

[@patje89]

Also, that calculation is wrong of the amount of years is wrong. If you add the leap years, it should be 499.316 years or 499 years and 115 days.

[@chaotic_karma]

29:35 this right here is why she was very excited to have the traveler in a trial when we first saw her, she's so eager for the "magnificent" trial to end it all😢

[@cushie]

Damn it Arnold! I'm watching this before I'm about to sleep and now I'm crying like hell😭

[@jsuhtea]

Still makes me cry despite seeing other reactions, this fontaine era was just peak... the celestia near fontaine and liyue border like it's just literally there, the world quests, the lore... it was just an absolute cinema this patch fontaine era was just hydro in my eyes

[@thegrayyernaut]

1:29:32 I watched your stream that day since the beginning, dude, and I finally cried when you said "You're free, girl!" Bless Barbatos!

[@JackTheSpades]

I was curious why Murder would make the last 15 minutes of the quest into a separate video... until I realized just how much time he would probably spent theorizing about all the lore drops at the end. Easy 1.5 hour video right there xD

[@hugothibodeau6137]

i really want Furina at the next Windblume to hang out with Venti. also i wonder if you read the voiceline of the archon about Furina after the Archon Quest

[@silis_pap8473]

This is probably the 15th time I watch Act V. God I love this game

[@celesteselenite907]

57:01 i think one thing that i learnt this past year following genshin's storyline is to not root for any side. not the archons, not the tsaritsa/fatui, not the abyss order, and def not celestia. the archons still have their own secrets, we are still one region away from snezhnaya, and the abyss order + celestia, well... that's kinda self explanatory. instead, i found myself rooting for the humans and humanity side of teyvat. the vision holders who might have endanger themselves being "under the gods' gazes" bc they dare to break boundaries and limitation (if the "kami no me" theory were true). the ordinary humans who still thrive even after disastrous cataclysm and plenty of celestial nails. idk... the "authoritative figures" and factions in genshin are lowkey sus imo. the only one who break that for me is maybe just neuvi so far... but i still have to wait and see. :"")

[@hxenjwel]

They really did a great job in this archon quest. In the scene at 38:35 , 39:50, 41:56 (showing Furinas life) there is always a spotlight/camera pointed at her 😢 as if showing that she was being watched everytime.

[@SwordfishJouster]

Childe learned to summon a narwhal, so the Narwhal learned to summon a Childe. Makes sense. Have you looked at the other Archons' lines about Furina?

[@berrybread7215]

i must’ve rewatched the 11 hour stream at least a few times, and now watched the time capsule version of the quest. it’s just crazy, i hope natlan’s archon quest is even half as good as this if not better. but my god, it’s such a hard act to follow. until we get a better archon quest, to me, this act is genshin’s storytelling peak.

[@albroiser]

Yes I cried again... Multiple times. Every time I need a reminder why this game is part of my life they drop a banger of an Archon Quest.

[@Nameless422-]

(pulls out the tissue box) already watched your VOD for this act but ready to go through it again :U (i still cry every time I rewatch)

[@midnashadow8439]

1:19:13 Im sorry... Am i the only one who kind of heard the Star Rail warp song when the ticket goes into the slot!? Like ot vaguely sounds like it!

[@zan4152]

1:17:40 i just love how they used a music genre that is, as far as i know, have not been used in-game yet. it's out of this world, so of course even the instruments won't be the same classical/traditional ones used previously.

[@spiderdude2099]

Something really sad to think about is that until she walked outside of the Opera House, Furina likely believed everyone in Fontaine was dead and it was only her left….

[@itriyum]

I think Furina was the one that took most of the weight, Focalors also since she sacrificed but Furina had to endure 500 years acting as someone she isnt and also lets not forget Neuvillete's words, Furina's mind is not stronger than any other ordinary being

[@vahhestia5323]

AHHHHHH the suspence, I had to stop myself from watching it before I got home. This one needed my full attention

[@TheZedric]

Absolute cinema, I teared up again watching this. Thanks for having the chat show up at moments in the video.

[@Dennyes3]

ABSOLUTE CINEMA ✋😎✋

[@13Nagash13]

This quest is the only time I really wished I had the disposable income to C6 an archon, furina and neuvillette deserve it.

[@zeirra.]

Time to save this reaction/playthrough in my playlist and rewatch it at least 10 more times and cry just as many times with you.

[@radwanahammedtanver6666]

It's here guys 😭, ready to cry

[@mugic8241]

It’s also rumored that the all devouring narwhal is an emanator of voracity because of its never ending hunger

[@Gigastro]

This story gave me faith for the quality of the story to come! I hope it keeps getting better far into the future.

[@BannedProfile513]

O still think that furinas quest is so apropo, she gets finally to live and act as an individual, not because someone give them the mission but because she likes the arts

[@deductionsdiary105]

I'm still questioning how Fontaine got flooded in the first place, and where did all those excess water went to

[@diputsnoob3815]

10:30 "Furina was perfect human.....anyway so then I cursed her This line always throws me off guard

[@kuyarence]

It's like Wriothesley's SQ when Wriothesley himself said "So in the end, I killed them!"

[@kemuelmelgar7702]

Imagine for 500 years of suffering and you hear them saying the prophecy was wrong

[@darkie7589]

1:28:40 I just realized le souvenir avec le crepuscule/ sinner's finale was playing in a very sublte and slow version 😭😭

[@MurderofBirdsImpact]

I love that track so much! It was also playing in the background during Focalors and Neuvillette's conversation. I especially enjoy that rendition.

[@darkie7589]

@@MurderofBirdsImpact yesss samee😭

[@LanyakEquinox]

Seeing this again makes me excited to see what the hell they'll do to top this in Natlan

[@ShinigamiKai]

I find it weird that the 1st descender and 2nd descender decided to truce themselves and made the 3rd descender turn into gnosis.i think they realize who is the true enemy or what kind of calamity they will face... I personally think that they didn't kill the 3rd descender but instead the 3rd descender decided to sacrifice themselves since hoyo famous being someone will sacrifice for the greater good...

[@moonieg]

This archon quest is by far my favorite, very rich and full of surprises

[@dweemiesdarkmount]

I can't wait to go full on Kratos on Celestia

[@Vnemes1sV]

Fun fact. Celestia had nothing to do with this. Prophecy: Vedrfolnir Narwhal pet: Surtalugi. The Sinners of Khaenri'ah was behind to incident in Fontaine. Celestia only gatekept the solution to the colossal fuck up done by Surtalugi, by taking the elemental authority away from the Dragons.

[@akinohikari1000]

Fontaine was truly on another level. Natlan has really big shoes to fill and so far it has been rather meh

[@zillo1600]

My only complaint about the quest is how little screentime Wriothesleys ship got at the end. That thing can even fly and we only see it a few seconds and than the water goes back anyway. I wonder if we use it again in the future.

[@kal.xi3]

i forgot how emotional i got with this quest 😢 free game btw 😭

[@shinko9409]

Maybe the primodial sea is the tears we made along the way

[@spiderdude2099]

The music in the core of the oratrice is one of my favorite tracks. So ethereal

[@calizta8639]

this shit is so peak

[@aquadiamond8310]

What a way to start my first week of uni, your reactions are sooooo good 😂 It actually infuriates me that Furina felt that she had to act like this to convince people that she was an archon. The amount of energy she puts out constantly on top of not actually knowing how long she was going to need to act, I’m surprised she didn’t crumble sooner, she’s one of my favourite characters for that alone. Damn humans, ruining everything, she would have been such a kind and compassionate archon just being herself, I can imagine that she’d be an archon Mauvuika would be proud of 😢