The Archons tried to save Khaenri’ah | Timeline of the Cataclysm | Genshin Impact Theory

[@brightlight8852]

Dainslief actually says that Khanrieh was attacked because they didn't have a God. In the manga they also hint that Celestia is in reality a giant prison. Add in the lore of Celestia destroying countless civilizations in the past due for not toeing in line and I think that they aren't good. But at the same time they aren't Gods either. One thing that the game has made clear is that the gods aren't inherently good or evil. And they aren't good because of Celestia, rather they are bound by the same contract to toe in line and do what Celestia says or else lose their people. I predict that the gods aren't evil but rather are stuck in the same circumstances as the mortals. That's why Dainslief says that they aren't special. If Celestia was good then the archons wouldn't want to sever ties with them. People forget that the Abyss sibling isn't the only one with a bone to pick with Celestia. The gods don't seem to be fond of it either and are trying to distance themselves from it, and what happened in Khanrieh was the tipping point.

[@ArlunGrim]

I mean I agree, I did say by the end of it that Celestia is but a neutral spectator. What I think aswell is that they have the power to change things but they don’t. Also, to clarify yeah Dainsleif did say the Gods struck down Khaenri’ah but based on my theories timeline which may be right or wrong the Gods striking down Khaenri’ah might be because they provoked them first. Also the theory about Khaenri’ah progress being the catalyst was actually called into question recently because ruin guards were already around since the Archon War. So honestly its still all mystery but I hope you enjoyed the theory nontheless.

[@brightlight8852]

@@ArlunGrim The reason why I doubt that Khaen'riah struck first is because characters who actually actually lived during that time period never once claim that it struck first, in fact to the contrary the lore actually has characters switching sides and choosing to go against Celestia because of the truth of the war. Even the Archons show hostility not towards Khan'reiah but towards Celestia. While the ruin guards show that Khan'reiah was getting ready for war the other conflicting information about Celestia shows that this might be a case of Khan'reiah seeing, Celestia's wrath coming and so that made preparations to go against them. They would have been around to see other civilizations fall by Celestia's will after all. They knew that Celestia would come for and so decided to give them a hell of a fight. Not to forget the fact that Celestia holds the archons in servitude that isn't treated or shown in a positive light. Don't forget, the archon war was started by Celestia's promises after all. And it was trap that resulted in most of the Gods dying and the strongest being tricked into being under Celestia's servitude. The contract was unfair but its still a contract that they agreed to. But each of the archons are looking for ways to undermine or break the contract on their terms. But the most damning evidence is the introduction to Teyvat video which stated that the water archon wants to punish those who have committed crimes and yet can't punish Celestia which has committed the most heinous crimes. I think that there is more than enough evidence to show that Celestia is far more involved than what first impressions would lead one to believe.

[@Bung-xp3mb]

@@brightlight8852 in Pierro's lore it states that the sages of Khaenri'ah "unraveled the veil of sin" and ushered in divine wrath as a result. Pierro also laments over the fact that he was not able to convince the others to stop what they are doing to avoid being destroyed.

[@brightlight8852]

@@Bung-xp3mb in other words they found out something that they weren't supposed to know and were killed as a result.

[@Bung-xp3mb]

@@brightlight8852 yeah, most likely they found the truth of the world/heaven and Celestia somehow found out. Its possible that they found out the truth and used that information to do something with it that triggered Celestia's wrath.

[@dragon_nova_luna]

i dunno, i feel the archons tried to stop the chaos unleashed, but i still think they avoid celestia for a reason that is tied to that event. maybe celestia tried pushing too far for the archons to like it(there's a panel in the manga of venti recalling celestia, and it feels a bit omnious). i vote for either misunderstanding of their actions or celestia forcing control upon them for destruction. either way i still hold to the idea that the archons are ok(well, misguided, but not evil), but celestia is not good. so yeah, i sort of agree with what you say, but i dont think celestia is good, but only the archons.

[@ArlunGrim]

True Celestia is definitely not good, and yeah I remember the part with Venti but that could be a multitude of things considering its Venti... they could be mad at him for not ruling Mondstadt for example.

[@fatuusdottore]

I think Celestia is good.

[@DB-fh7by]

But that panel when vanessa asks venti about celestia was way before kaenriah punishment

[@moist5523]

@@DB-fh7by probably shows that they were evil way before that I more so like the theory about Celestia keeping watch ib evryone with the Knosis and they don't want anyone to be on their level or higher if they try to do so they will be struck down

[@sfjuhispst8144]

I don't think that Celestia is necessarily evil. Their iron-fisted rule is more likely caused by "ends justify the means" kinda mentality. A good parallel for this in genshin impact is Decarabian. He imprisoned his people thinking that was the best way to keep them safe. His downfall was due to disconnect between him and his people. Celestia is coming closer to Old Mondstadt with every patch. Perharps that is a clue?

[@envyllaw4487]

Khaenri'ah literally called the ruin guards 'farming equipment'. They sowed fields of blood, I doubt they were exactly 'good'.

[@SeraphimDragon]

Lmao i always thought the name "field tiller" was strange when you consider why the hell a farming machine needs lasers that could literally level armies.

[@snowstar7309]

@@SeraphimDragon MAYBE. JUST MAYBE. The "plants" weren't exactly plants. They were regisvines of all sorts, and their flower were whopperflowers of all elements. Their "trees" were actually domains, which would make a "forest" of domains. Their area is like the "END GAME" area. Even the low tier mobs is equal to the weekly bosses we fight. XD

[@nuzlocke2266]

@@snowstar7309 Doesn't explain their OTHER death machines. Or the fact that one of their alchemists almost started the end of the world.

[@snowstar7309]

@@nuzlocke2266 Well, if my veggies fight me back all the time, I'd really end the world. XD

[@magicalgirl4]

weren't they created as a form of defense?

[@crystalthunderheart8895]

It could also explain why albedo fears of destroying mondstadt. He knows what his old Master did and that also lies within him, to be swept away in a dream like the dragon and destroy everything.

[@Nino-pn4vc]

Yeah. Maybe if Albedo's master found out truth of this world and that's when she turned people of khanri'ah into monsters and if Albedo also finds out truth of this world he fears turning people of mondstadt into monsters.

[@kyuu4540]

Also the sibling, the sibling knows and they are waiting for the playable sibling to find out

[@Aether100]

Istg if he dies, my husbando & my comfort character I'll go in depression for a year or so

[@zenitsu6182]

@@Nino-pn4vc Does finding the truth of this world cause some sort of curse to be cast upon a city?

[@zenitsu6182]

Also could that curse be something called Khemia?

[@CallMeSaltyScorpion]

My personal theory is that Gold had accidentally stumbled upon the abyss and released its power onto teyvat. And as she (is Gold a she? I’m not sure) lay dying, knowing she had doomed her people, she called out to the gods for salvation, something a Khan’reiahan (working on that) has never done before. Celestia then sent the archons to defend the people and defeat the Abyss, however they were blocked by the Abyssal armies surrounding their nations. The dendro archon would die and all the gods would be held back by the abyss except for Baal, who managed to reach khaneriah and witness the horror Gold had unknowingly unleashed. Then Baal would die, and Celestia would send the Sustainer to wipe out everything. Dainsleif would be cursed (probably by the royal family who he failed to protect) The sibling would awake and drag the Traveler so they may escape, only to be stopped by the Sustainer. And I believe the “arrogation of mankind” would be Gold’s unyielding thirst for knowledge that led her to discovering the abyss and unleashing it on her people The abyss order is the people corrupted by the abyss who wish to bring about the end of everything, especially celestia. And the sibling was fed lies about celestia thus their allegiance with the monsters Anyone else think so?

[@jonnychill711]

I don't know if I agree 100%, but it's definitely an interesting take and a like is deserved

[@lordrald09]

I would assume Gold deliberately caused the Cataclysm. Don't forget, that twisted fucker is also responsible for corrupting Durin, who was only having an adventure in Teyvat before he stumbled upon Gold, making him the evil black dragon that Dvalin killed.

[@zuumie5891]

it is kinda stated that gold is albedos master, so she would still be alive

[@Al.cel1us-official]

@@zuumie5891 isnt his master rhinedottir? i've read somewhere she is who albedo refers to as his creator. chalk pursues gold, so i may interpret it as albedo being the curious and intellegent man he is may pursue on the same journey gold did

[@andyandanadraws]

@@Al.cel1us-official Yep, his mother is Rhinedottir who told Durin to explore Teyvat but Gold corrupted him.

[@crystalthunderheart8895]

Khaenri'ah was always sus for having crazy ridiculous war machines in a time of peace

[@rukrawczyk]

As MANY people have mentioned, they were likely preparing for celestia to attack. A nation that doesn't build weapons of war during times of peace is doomed to fall when war finally DOES break out Now why they gave their war machines such...interesting names, THAT is sus

[@racool911]

@@rukrawczyk Don't worry gods these aren't weapons, they're just farming equipment! Celestia: Oh alr that makes sense

[@Biohacker777]

Celestia: Hey, what you got there? Khaenri'ah: A smoothie (a bunch of machines with rocket n lasers)

[@AcZe1188]

@@rukrawczyk To be fair for their interesting naming style, the reason the Tank got its name is because the British called the first tanks as a "land ship", a literal ship on land interpretation so to hide the fact that they made ships that can move on land, they called them tanks (short for water tanks) to fool the Germans before they were deployed.

[@syahrainheihei9077]

@@AcZe1188 So you wanna say Khaenri ah ppl put "these type of name" at their weapon to cover it from Calestia?

[@messofabeing9392]

I suppose it is interesting to consider that maybe Celestia tried to save the Khaenri’ahns from themselves,,,, though personally I’d rather see them as “omnipotent beings messing with Teyvat for their own amusement”. Good video regardless!

[@ArlunGrim]

True, I do also love the idea of Gods thinking themselves as above all. I mean why would they even consider the whims of ants, thankfully the Archons are pretty nice.

[@k-BlazeWW30]

@@ArlunGrim Not all archons raiden is ruthless. the only archon that is nice iknow is zhongli and venti

[@yeojiherrscherofdepression3645]

@@k-BlazeWW30 Ei is nice tho??? 👁️👄👁️

[@k-BlazeWW30]

@@yeojiherrscherofdepression3645 nice? when miko tried to btch slap her from her tantrums maybe . but when she was not stop by miko is she nice? to you

[@yeojiherrscherofdepression3645]

@@k-BlazeWW30 You were talking about her robot Twin. The Raiden Shogun. Ei is really nice, soft and sensitive. I'm guessing you just skipped the dialogues. She was very nice to us Travelers compared to the robotic Shogun.

[@joisaita6522]

For now I can think of 2 possibilities : 1. Celestia sus 2. Khaenriah nation was becoming like real life earth just so much advanced that they were already a threat to Teyvat and hence a regeneration through destruction was done by Celestia (much like how its predicted for earth by religious beliefs). Khaenriah was not normal they had mages, powerful scholars, dangerous weapon robot probably used for wars and protection. I wish every region would gives more to this lore I'm getting impatient this is just so interesting. Similar for dragonspine that place is my favourite in terms mystery. Corpse of the dragon Dvalin fought, how exactly a whole civilisation got wiped out, what did Albedo's master found there why and where did they disappear leaving Albedo behind. There's just so much mysterious history. Edit : I forgot to mention the most important part that Gold's alchemy is the reason. He created accidentally & intentionally such creatures which shouldn't exist like turned Khaenriah people in hilichurls, created & corrupted Durin, created rifhounds etc

[@sprucedragondimensions3543]

And in my opinion, a lot of it can be tied back to honkai

[@siIhouettes]

Apparetly Albedo’s master found something called the Heart of Naberius. Some people theorise it may be a Gnosis! I really want to know more about Mondstadt, Albedo, Albedo’s master, Gold, and The God of Time’s connection to the Anemo Archon, and why it seems like they were all history wiped out by time itself.

[@nuzlocke2266]

3. Khaenri’ah had people that broke taboo via alchemy, Gold for example, which caused a cataclysmic like event that threatened to engulf Teyvat. Celestia decided to go the Robot route and nuke the entire civilization to prevent it. The other Archons saw this as pretty excessive, but were more concerned with protecting their own. Khaenri’ah was advanced, but only as far as tech went. They had robots, and alchemy. Literally EVERYONE has mages. Are Mona and Singora a joke to you?

[@nuzlocke2266]

@@siIhouettes There are only 7 Gnosis. and they're ALL claimed by an archon. The Heart of Naberius is probably something else.

[@siIhouettes]

@@nuzlocke2266 or... it could be a keyword? naberius exists in the ars goestia if i recall correctly, and gnoses mean "Heart of God". like i said, it's just theories, that's the beauty of it. it's also like you said, it could be something else entirely

[@tisisonlytemporary]

The archons were forced to fight by celestia, hence their chess pieces

[@Punanitsunami241]

THAT ACTUALLY MAKES SENSE THATS PROBABLY WHY MOST IF THEM WANTED TO GIVE UP THEIR GNOSIS

[@dont_know_anymoreum797]

@@Punanitsunami241 I think venti might have given to in La Signora as he didn’t put up as much of a fight as he should have. I think he was tired of being a powerful god even though he is the weakest(this is stated by him himself) he might have wanted to sever his tie and put on a show by “trying” to escape to escape from La Signora so that she’d think she won fair and square, this would also expect why no one but traveler and venti know about this and why he never went to get his gnosis back

[@Punanitsunami241]

@@dont_know_anymoreum797 that’s true too I didn’t really think about it that way

[@_hector__]

But youd think it wouldnt be as easy as handing down the thing that controls you to some other archon

[@ChowingChow]

@@dont_know_anymoreum797 omggg so venti was thinking for signora for the whole time😭 such a kind god like he always wants the best for others

[@BlueBerrySherry]

What if 1) Khaenria was actually so advanced. They tried to reach a godly power level and killed an Archon (most likely Dendro) due to an accident 2) or to test if they could to get rid off the gods 3) they wanted to create an artificial Archon by collecting power they were not able to control. You always need someone to wield the power. I mean they made Dainsleif immortal.

[@CloroxBleach42069]

@@scaramouchiee nah man, you're kinda right tho. Kaenri'ah is so advanced that the gods had to destroy their civilization, or else something scarier and worser Will hit tevyat (Honkai). Its been confirmed that Genshin and Honkai are a different leaves in the same branch of imaginary tree. Also think of honkai as the tree defense mechanism, whenever a world is too advanced, the defense mechanism will sent Honkai to those world. (Apologies for my bad english)

[@LunrFox]

Don't forget that Ei's sister Makoto was also killed in Khaenri'ah. Maybe she was killed alongside the Dendro archon.

[@xu3ness]

oh i think this ties up to the tsaritsa wanting to get all the gnosis because she was experimenting a god that would rival the god who destroyed celestia, by fusing all elements in one piece, creating an 8th element.

[@skittylee6743]

bro the 3rd theory you stated was my exact theory lmao

[@definitelynotafamousyoutub6131]

they didnt make dain immortal he was cursed alongside all the kharians to live of no end to become mindless creatures

[@manmoy4104]

divine tyranny is kinda becoming an overused trope at this point so I actually like to think that Celestia yeeted Khaenriah because it was harming Tevyat. Even if Celestia is evil (or a prison) I don't think Khaenriahs fall was Celestia's fault

[@ArlunGrim]

Agreed, Gods being the evil, tyrannical and uncaring beings is an overused trope especially in actual mythology.

[@orz.4805]

Yes

[@dr_titania]

Yes Celestia is evil cuz they don't want human civilization without a god so they wipe out Khaenriah. However that's not the only reason they erase them, it's because Khaenriah uses a secret alchemy that creates monsters & curses their own people.

[@sprucedragondimensions3543]

It might be because of the Honkai, civilization was getting too advanced for their own good and maybe the gods didn't want the Honkai to notice Genshin's world

[@manmoy4104]

@@sprucedragondimensions3543 I think the same thing, I think that Celestia might be protecting Teyvat from Honkai. I mean 'teyvat/tevat' means ark in Hebrew and there was a Project Ark or something in Honkai Impact so it all makes sense

[@simonschnedl]

I already see it being sort of an "who is at fault for WWI" scenario, where there are way to many things that lead up to it, until everything just went wrong.

[@pharuhs]

Just a melting pot of poor decisions and butterfly affects

[@wbariq8407]

Mate, it happens to every war in existence.

[@disgusted2704]

11:55 In defense of Venti, he likes freedom and clearly, the people of Khaenri'ah did not want to be turned into monster. I mean he has helped Venessa before so I don't see why he would allow a breach on freedom to live.

[@gabrielabatista6016]

Though your theory is great, I'm still more inclined to see Celestia as the villains in this story, considering that, so far, one archon cut ties with Celestia, another is plotting a rebellion, the abyss sibling seems to be plotting something against Celestia as well, and none of the Archons we've seen so far said something positive about Celestia, with most being neutral or mentioning a contract with Celestia that prohibits them from sharing certain information and all. And that's not to mention how they went ballistic in dragonspine at the first sign of defiance. So far, I can't see how Celestia can be much of a positive force, it seems more like divine tyrant than anything. Of course, we still have five more chapters to go through, and everything can change until then, so who knows.

[@Prettiestboyinthemorguex3]

Yeah, I think the archons were forced to do that after seeing what Venti remembered when Vennessa asked about Celestia.

[@Bung-xp3mb]

Celestia also periodically destroys civilizations throughout history, it's even suggested by in game description that Celestia has flooded the land before.

[@orbit127]

@@Bung-xp3mbyup for example: the seelies

[@jadecoolness101]

I mean.... I see your point, but... Then you must see Beelzebul as villain too, no? After all, Sangonomiya cut ties with Inazuma (separated the militaries, etc), the Kamisatos assisted in the rebellion, Yoimiya helped with fake vision plot. Just because everyone in the story seems to be against Celestia doesn't mean they're evil. A lot of people say that Genshin is connected to Honkai, which I don't buy, BUT. Apparently "Honkai" is some tragedy that happens when humans become too technologically advanced, so perhaps Celestia knows the truth of Teyvat and the world, and knew they HAD to destroy Khaenri'ah, or else all of Teyvat would get Honkai'd. Who knows. Knowing mihoyo's storywriting so far in Genshin, Celestia is probably just the big bad guys. But "well everyone else hates them" isn't enough for me.

[@1LuvMLPFiM]

@@orbit127 Those helpful little souls. :(

[@Zemeritt]

One thing regarding your timeline. In the picture with Ei and her friends, you can see an umbrella at the bottom of the screen. I believe this represents Makoto. The umbrella disappears at the same time as Chiyo, which could hint that both fell at the same time. Maybe it was because Ei had to fight Chiyo, that she couldn't protect Makoto. Regarding the thesis: I too do believe that Celestia also didn't shoot first. If we look how many ruinguards are left in the world, I'd say Khaenriah was ready to go to war with the gods. It's an interesting idea that the Archons tried to save the people, but failed. Maybe they've witness Celestias wrath multiple times already and therefor tried to solve this crises before Celestia had to act?

[@Flav7281]

Woah

[@jspr1te529]

Your theory explains a great deal actually. It’s supported by the fact that Dainsleif himself holds disdain for both the abyss and the archons; the abyss for starting the chaos and the archons for most likely getting his hopes up and making him think his nation could have still been saved, only for them to destroy what remained

[@WhiteKoneko]

You know I'm noticing a lot of parallels to this lost nation with the mythology of Atlantis and the historical rise and fall of the Roman Empire. Both real and not were advanced for their times however fell for number of reasons like folly and arrogance. However I do think the Archons who used regular beings themselves tried to save them, something went wrong, rest history.

[@moonhead4057]

It was also stated that the Dendro element weakened after the God of the Woods was slain. And, I feel like Baal, the first Electro Archon, was not meant to fight, rather, she's like Havria, a gentle god. And that's why it was futile for her to go along in war, and sadly, she died. In Venti's part, I think he was fatally wounded against his battle with Durin, and was unable to intervene.

[@jadecoolness101]

Funnily enough, wasn't Baal the god of transience? Homegirl really took "transience" a little too seriously.

[@komi7051]

@@jadecoolness101 Makoto was a God of Eternity but she saw progress as an eternity, unlike Ei even tho they're twins

[@starflame3092]

Everyone: Let's destroy Khaenri'ah Barbatos/Venti: No, I dont think I will

[@ciaagent6968]

Wasn't the Wind god Decarabian at the time of the destruction of Khaenri'ah?

[@jhigzzz]

@@ciaagent6968 nah, Khaenri'ah happened 500 years ago, and Venti story said that they fought the Decarabian 2600 years ago.

[@nidhidodiya3297]

Albedo's character already shows how this might have happened. The way he can spiral off into a dangerous tangent in his mind...this could have been the same mindset as the Khaenri'ahns. To keep on progressing, "just a little more", they had no reason to stop, so they didn't. Ei probably realized this and then wanted eternity for her nation, as "progress brings losses." This displays a Ovidian theme, this whole thing.

[@aieuu_]

Could be true, know that Venti hates Celestia, maybe the archons didn't destroy khaenri'ah but tried saving it, Celestia's other gods were the ones who destroyed Khaenri'ah, that's why Venti hates them because they took innocent peoples lives due to the nation being too powerful.

[@geovanagama1]

But what if they weren't innocent or they become corrupted (the abyss)?

[@billystokes3917]

I mean...the people of Khaenri'ah were turning into monsters of the abyss before the cataclysm occured (because GOLD), and they were attacking and corrupting everything, so they weren't exactly innocent.

[@BonfieTheRabbit]

@@billystokes3917 Where'd you get that from? Genuine question. I had heard the Khaenrians were turned into abyssal monsters by Celestia, as a punishment during the war. Doesn't Zhongli mention that in the story?

[@billystokes3917]

@@BonfieTheRabbit I'd read that people began turning into abyss monsters before the cataclysm in a book that's in the game. I'll see if I can find which book it is.

[@BonfieTheRabbit]

@@billystokes3917 Ohh I see, thank you. I'll read the ones I've found so far, probably quite some parts I'm missing.

[@juusto7171]

Khaenriah's motto is literally "the land is to be fought with steel and blood"

[@Arc_Noir]

Makoto's name is written as 眞 (old form of 真; kun-yomi: makoto) which means true or reality. Ei's name is written as 影 (on-yomi: ei) which means shadow. When lightning strikes, a shadow is formed.

[@Pancakes_]

Venti still sees Albedo as his "child" of freedom so it's weird to think Venti wants him gone because if he did, he would've done so already, *and* Albedo has vision from the eldest archon, Morax.

[@Pancakes_]

@A B Although that's true, I think it's safe to assume they confirm when they give someone a vision with the corresponding archon.

[@lelipops7506]

If this is true MIHOYO is going to be mad that somebody just guessed the whole genshin storyline

[@byujinx3381]

This actually makes a lot of sense! Like a lot a lot of sense! To me at least this theory has a high probability to be the plot of genshin

[@bunnyleaningonasquishedbun5542]

Mihoyo really needs to stay consistent with the story's foundation, which is very abundant with the amount of lore they have scattered across the game itself. It's just sad because the writers look like they are really TRYING, with how much depth Venti's and Zhongli's Story Quest have, it's the company itself that is trying to rush everything out the door for banners to make money.

[@acatshii6597]

Imo, maybe it's also cuz they dont want leakers to spoil the future stories so much that they rush it

[@preguicadetu]

unfortunately ...

[@FahrizalSurya]

But adding stories through books and items is also a good move.. most of stories is revealed in most of items .. beside, leakers won't be interested in a long text that is not relevant on a gameplay...

[@griseldaavrilia8696]

@@FahrizalSurya true though, i mean leakers do ruin the fun so-

[@aestheticallypleasing2099]

Yeah in terms of lore, Inazuma was alright but the plot was (in my opinion) very lacking compared to Mondstadt and Liyue.

[@garan808]

It gonna be crazy if we find out in the future that 5/7 original archons are killed during the cataclysm and Zhongli and Venti are the only two survived.

[@ArlunGrim]

That could actually be the case but we’ll find out more in fontaine probably

[@aex372]

Nah, that's impossible. Murata, the pyro Archon, is over a thousand years old i believe. And she isn't one of the original Seven, Cataclysm took place 500 years ago. The 4 of the original Seven died before Cataclysm, Baal dying during the Cataclysm.

[@mintness7565]

Murata was already alive before the cataclysm, and so was the Tsaritsa. So technically, only two or three Archons got killed during the cataclysm (we don't know what happened to the Hydro one. So far it's only confirmed that Baal and God of the Woods died during the cataclysm).

[@meeeeehhhhhh]

@@ArlunGrim The only gods who died during cataclysm was Baal (Makoto) and possibly the Dendro Archon. The current Dendro Archon is the youngest Archon out of the seven, having served for 500 years, presumably after the cataclysm occured. Maybe the former Dendro Archon retired but I doubt that.

[@GalacticMoose96]

@@meeeeehhhhhh No, it was confirmed by Ganyu that the former dendro archon, or the god of the woods, died during the Cataclysm. I think specifically when they destroyed Khaerniah.

[@terrycornelius4]

I didn't think of it this way, but just based off other people's speculations even before 2.0 I've been thinking that there must be other reasons why Celestia struck Khaenri'ah down. I just think Celestia striking an entire nation down because of petty reasons like advancement in technology or Celestia playing high and mighty are just dumb reasons as a whole. Remember, this is miHoYo we're talking about. They know how to go real deep in the story department. I doubt they would just stop with reasons like those, especially not the main story.

[@zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaa]

after you watch the CN genshin 3rd anniversary video (its so cool recommend) you realise that the gods were absoloutley trying to save khaernriah from themselves, or save tevyat from khaernriah, khaernriah was too far gone and that Gold (who is now apart of the heirkenzerkl thing) was the match that lit the flame of the cataclysm. Celestia is innocent in that sense, or atleast the archons are.

[@kiyomi_kamimoto]

But wasn't the Abyss created after the cataclysm by our sibling ?

[@ArlunGrim]

If you're talking about the Abyss Order, maybe, truth is we don't really know who created the Abyss Order but we know it was created after or during the Cataclysm which I do say so in the video that it was the origin of the order but if you're talking about the Abyss itself, then no, the Abyss has long been existing. Check the 'Prayer's' Helmet series and the pale princess and the six pigmies lore tab and books.

[@astridmustikasyamsuri6207]

the abyss itself exist before archon war happened, the dark sea beyond teyvat exist and the underground realm already exist too, khaenriah pepople are refugee of sal vyndagnir that use the remnants of ancient tech in abyss to build a country. gold probably venture too deep n got corrupted just like a lot of god run to the dark sea & become evil god, there, by harnesing khemia he make monsters n corrupted lots of creatures, after that the abyss sibling gather what left n the cursed people to their side, probably gold is the leader of the abyss as the twin's goal are just strange

[@siIhouettes]

@@astridmustikasyamsuri6207 Khaenri’ah people aren’t the refugees of Sal Vindagnyr. Everyone in Sal Vindagnyr died when the Skyfrost nail fell. Imunlaukr was the only survivor, but he and his descendants found Mondstadt, and they “had found something worth fighting for”. You can read about Imunlaukr’s clan in Sacrificial Greatsword, his descendants still existed after the Archon war, because they worshipped the Anemo Archon and the God of Time together. On the grave in Dragonspine, the Scribe’s box merely says that the people there heard of a new nation being built without gods. If you mean the Ruin Guard heads, most likely they just wandered to the ruins of Sal Vindagnyr, and their description was probably because they failed to protect Khaenriah. But yeah, Sal Vindagnyr’s people ≠ Khaenri’ah

[@randomperson093]

I don't think the abyss order was the one who caused it considering it's mostly because of the alchemist gold,who caused the fall of khaenri'ah's eclipse dynasty,it's even shown that lumine didn't take part in it sbowed in the we will be reunited trailer

[@VanessaSerpenteagle]

We need like a one hour film about Ka’hneriah. I would pay to go see that.

[@jk1190]

Ei doesn't sound upset at Khaenriah when she talks about them though. She said nothing about the monsters as well, only that they were progressive and lost everything. if the country killed her sister I imagine she would at least be revengeful towards them. Rather, she sounds more scared of heavenly principle than anything.

[@Expresso_2009]

That maybe because she witnessed a nation (Khaenri’ah) that was destroyed because of the heavenly principles or her losing Makoto/Baal (her sister) because of that or smth.

[@amiryabut1196]

My theory is that celestia has something to do with the death of Makoto , Cause from the perspective of Ei when she arrive in Khaen'riah it was already destroyed and her sister was already dead , I think the archon were summoned their not to help celestia to destroy something but to give them an example of what will happen to their civilization if they dare challenge celestia grip,rules and laws over teyvat

[@kotarouinugami1745]

I like the idea that immortality that people of Khaenri'ah got, was the goal. It worked as intended on pureblood Khaenri'ans, but failed on other people, turning them into Hilichurls. From that point, the situation kept spiralling out of control like a fantasy version of zombie apocalypse. Things got a real turn for the worse when it reached Gold's personal laboratory and unleashed her creations upon the world.

[@tanoak_matsutake]

Perhaps the sustainer wanted to capture the sibling since he/she was a witness of the destruction of Khaenri'ah, and normally anything that has to do with Celestia is a hush-hush. It could be as simple as that, having a simple plot but just a lot of other situations going on. Or either I'm just simple-minded-

[@cheerfulcat056]

I think it is interesting that the Cataclysm not only affected the Fallen Nation but the entire of Teyvat. Inazuma almost lost the Yokai, Mondstadt almost fell, and perhaps besides demon the Yakashas also fought the monsters

[@racool911]

I'm so excited to explore Khaenreia. Def gonna be the coolest and most intense region

[@snakefh]

After smoking some dendro slimes i think i have another theory that can relate HOnkai and genshin. Honkai is known as a entity that just wants to destroy the humanity, as far as the human civilization evolves, the Honkai will evolve too. What if Celestia is just a entity that protects humanity and teyvat against the Honkai? What if they destroyed that Nation cause that evolution and progress will evolve the Honkai into something that Celestia cant handle? Maybe is just a coincidence that a lot of disasters happend at the same time in almost all nations or maybe not, it was a symphom of the Honkai energy evolving and being stornger than what Teyvat is at this momment. Celestia gives visions to humans in teyvat to see what they are doing and control them to avoid any progress that is further than what they can handle, this makes sense when you see Ei's Eternity: no progress, no evolution, just everything frozen in time. She sayd that's the kind of eternity she wants to avoid the "heavenly principles".

[@lolzd4220]

Considering that they're connected via "The Imaginary Tree" makes this theory somewhat viable. I also recently found out about 3 months ago that the "Tree" from the domains that gives you materials/artifacts/ etc. is actually a root from the Imaginary tree just by the color of it's skin, The Imaginary Tree is just as pale as the one in the domains which brings a question: Who and how did they manage to manipulate the tree to go to different universes that repeatedly gives us materials? To me I don't really see any other reason as to why we were able to go back into any domain to get different stats of the same item over and over again going to places that are unexpectedly otherworldly when you look around.

[@mon_moi]

see this theory makes way more sense than the mainstream "hurr durr celesita sus heaven bad abyss good" theory I see most people agree with. When you consider the existence of Honkai, the role of Celestia suddenly becomes more benevolent

[@eokell4707]

This is probably one of the best theories about what happened, most of the theories about the destruction of Khaenri'ah dont mention Honkai at all

[@Nino-pn4vc]

I also had same Theory but Celestia's gods are honkai and archons protect humanity from Honkai.

[@harfi212]

Not related to this video, but i just realise something. Raiden 3 friend are the 3 most evil yokai on the night parade of 100 demon from japanese folklore. Shuten douji, tamanomo mae, emperor sutoku. Btw, chiyo fate is still unknown. After defeated by raiden, she fled to the forest. Its on the gold oni mask weapon accension material.

[@ArlunGrim]

How she died wasn’t stated clearly in the mask but the mask did imply heavily that she met her end one way or another.

[@FlamescionSupporter]

@@ArlunGrim Don't quote me on this as it was something I learned through a leak and could be fake but Chiyo should appear in 2.2 as the second weakly boss of Inazuma.

[@penguinxrock]

@@FlamescionSupporter you really shouldn't rely on leaks unless it has pictures of the drops like with signora. not to mention that the current leaking scene for the english-speaking side has died out, and leaks/translations are pretty easy to fake.

[@Sraye]

So much darkness, Xehanort would be proud.

[@yiyunzhuo5991]

This is super interesting. I was thinking about this too! Regarding how if the civilisation was destroyed, how did two gods die? If it was meant to be an attack... something doesn't add up. They tease so much that happened 500 yrs ago, it better be good.

[@marcrllakrieger1250]

Also it seems like the Tsaritsa seems more to be traumatized from it. Almost like she never wanted to see the death of so many people.

[@nonameprivate4689]

What do u expect from a god of love

[@ajreyes1262]

yeah so she sent 11 powerful beings to kill more innocent people, what a logic

[@pangeran_excellion]

Lost her trait of love just after the cataclysm ends

[@Friki_gameplays]

This sounds like something that I could hear in a archon quest, a morally gray story both sides aren't purely bad or good I mean all deities have done extreme actions with good intentions Most of the old archons have commited war crimes due to the "survival of the fittest nature" of the archon war. Venti has been negligent of threads due to a fear of intervening too much becoming a dictator like Decarabian or The Lawrence family Zhongli is tired of being such an active figure and dealing with so much bullshit for his people, but he's confident that they don't need him Raiden Shogun made all those questionable decisions we know in the game due to a fear of losing more and preserving what she haves The Tsaritsa being manipulated by the Jester sounds like a great plot, and a great duality, The jester representing the despicable side of the fatui responsible for all of the collateral damage and giving destructive Ideas to other harbingers like stealing the lyre required to stop stormterror (Signora), reviving osial (Tartaglia) or fueling the Inazuma war (Scaramouche), meanwhile the Tsaristsa being on the more Honorable side of the organization and just wanting the Gnoses and completing the missions, her biggest mistake is giving too much freedom and trust to the Jester. In this case Celestia is being a Scapegoat for people like Gold and the abyss due to being known as the only capable of doing so much damage and having so many power, making other nations want to cut relationships ( Inazuma and Snezchnaya) and as you said, this isn't an attack, is a response, they lost two Archons in one conflict (unless they reveal more losses in future regions) Kaenry'ah is innocent but the abyss is the source of all troubles in the game's plot, so bad that most of the survivors were Abyss members Maybe the real plan of the Abyss Order Is making all other nations cut relationships with Celestia, so Celestia wipes them out and then they take over teyvat and then the world Celestia has its fair bunch of troubles (visions are bad) but thats outside of the Cataclysm topic. I hope Gold is alive so I can beat the shit out of him/her.

[@breadryn]

Wow i didnt even think about the jester manipulating the tsaritsa but it makes perfect sense!

[@platinum_noelle]

Weird Crack theory I just thought of: what if our lack of memories as the traveler isn't because our minds were wiped, but because we are artificially created gods, maybe even by Gold? Kind of like a perfected version of Albedo or something, able to connect with the elements like the archons can, but "better" because of our ability to resonate with all of them and even the power of the Abyss? Or maybe twin gods originally sent by Celestia to "take care" of Khaenria early on when the problems first started, but underestimated the issue and were captured and altered by Gold, thus erasing the memories of who we were (like the battle pass story)? And that could explain why the Sustainer attacked us as soon as we woke up, but was only able to capture one sibling while the other managed to escape to the future/present? I also find it weird how when we meet our twin, the twin said they'd made the same journey around Teyvat to find the truth, but they apparently never met any of the archons since not one of them knows of the twin, which indicates a definite potential bias of where they may have been gaining their information from.

[@Bung-xp3mb]

Its confirmed though that the twins are from an entirely different world, the sword of descension, their character story, and the wings of descension all point towards the travelers having their own world which was destroyed. Also, the traveler even has a voice line that states that the stars in Teyvat are not like those of their homeworld

[@platinum_noelle]

@@Bung-xp3mb hey now, that's why I called it a Crack theory lol

[@alvinvalentino5797]

@@Bung-xp3mb some people theorised that the twin is from project Ark in Honkai, as scouts for new worlds

[@Randomperson-lc4le]

@@Bung-xp3mb raiden: good evening: Do you wish to know the truth about the shooting stars at night? Haha, they are but fleeting moments of luminosity. Uh, you used to be one of them? Are you a tengu warrior?

[@josh.1162]

I feel like the archons were forced into the destruction of khanreah. At the end of zhonglis second story quest, it says that he has a contract. This contract prevents him from saying anything about the events of khanreah. This information could be the real reason of khanreahs destruction, it could be the truth of the archons involvements, or it could be something entirely new.

[@peacewibby]

Thank you for putting this together and for the timeline. I was so confused about the sequence of events. This makes more sense to me than Celestia just being evil for evil's sake.

[@skybattler2624]

Remember, since GI is connected to Honkai, maybe Khaenri'ah needs to be destroyed before Honkai became a thing in their world. After all, Celestia tolerated Khaenri'ah for a time, and there are visible trade relations between Monstadt, Vindagnyre, and Khaenri'ah, before the Cataclysm. Which brings to the point of the Unknown Goddess who looks exactly like Kiana.

[@Hollarite]

I just realized that the sword the sibling has in the We Will Be Reunited cutscene is the same exact sword we see in the opening cutscene.

[@mya_playz_4life534]

I feel that the Unknown God looked at the mc not as aggression, but a warning, since I do feel like the moment the twins used their powers, she knew that they weren't on an side, so rather than just, I guess, kill em off, she slightly spared the mc

[@marcrllakrieger1250]

It’s really sad how Ei gets blamed so much but when you actually think about it she had good reasons. I feel like she took the visions just like how she created eternity to protect her people from the heavenly principles meaning she probably did never want it to happen

[@lafisk9906]

I believe that the jester is gold himself like every thing points that gold is alive so maybe he wants revenge of celestia and that's why he is manipulating the tsaritsa

[@ArlunGrim]

I kinda think so too, but there's also Rhinedottir who's a good candidate for Gold because of the lore with Durin.

[@lemonZzzzs]

I am leaning more towards jester _replacing_ Tsaritsa with some impostor construct after killing her (evidenced by her recorded personality change and apparent alignment with the sibling's motivation), then using the real Tsaritsa's essence as the material for delusions. As visions (driven by ambition) are Celestia's weapons; delusions (driven by obsession) are the Abyss weapon against them. Making the abyss order and the fatui initiatives a kind of a two pronged assault against Celestia's principles more than its people. Whether that means Jester is Gold or Rhinedottir is Gold... no idea. Could they both be Gold or even be the same person in the current known chronology? :P

[@thahirshibu5042]

he's just full of grief for dooming his people.

[@HALMISTA]

@@lemonZzzzs the theory is nice but remember that Morax have his gnosis as a deal with the Tsaritsa I don't think he would give it up willingly if it was a fake archon

[@lemonZzzzs]

@@HALMISTA he clearly wanted to end the contract between adepti and humans of Liyue, and likely realizes that a gnosis isn't as important as is currently believed. If the Tsaritsa has been supplanted by a Khaenri'ah plot, it is a plot to replace the "gods" with the people as the drivers of destiny... In other words, the ambition of people will depend on the people themselves, rather than rely on gods. That aligns fairly well with Morax's own wish for Liyue. As far as the warlike methods they employ, they're still human efforts; besides, Morax himself has some destructive history. Also, we don't know the exact terms of the contract he entered into with the fatui; it may be his way to force them to a less corrupt path towards their goal--another way to save them from the original Khaenri'ah fate if the "archons tried saving Khaenri'ah from corruption" theory is to be believed.

[@elderboy2128]

Thank you so much for making note of the fact that the sustainer helped destroy keanre’ ah. A lot of people I watch gloss over that fact

[@necronightmareify]

Khaenri'ah is basically that one clan, it was so powerful on its own that the gods became fearful, so they have to be taken out. They must've done something that's considered a taboo to the gods. Mondstat - freedom Liyue - contract Inazuma - eternity Sumeru - wisdom Fontaine - justice Natlan - war Snezhnaya - wealth Khaenri'ah - humanity

[@willowidontknow]

hmm I think gold's experiment went wrong and he accidentally made some kind of "plague" which made people turn into monsters. we have to remember, the hillichurls existed long before the cataclysm. The nation turned into creatures like Abyss mages and abyss heralds. the gods probably wanted to kill off the monsters to save the nation, but maybe failed, so they had to destroy the entire nation as a result.

[@cage3572]

My theory is khaenri'ah released forbidden knowledge and got consumed by it the 7 archons and heavenly principles went there to contain it losing some in the process and as punishment for that the khaenriah'ns was cursed and turned to monsters, we all know that there was a war before this the dragons vs the primordial where in the dragons tried to use the forbidden knowledge to gain power to defeat the primordial one but failed, so the gods are pretty strict to this power releasing to tevyat as they almost lost because of it, and I think istaroth the god of time was there 500 yrs ago hence why makoto had the power to help ei plant the sakura tree .

[@SoShi910]

I think it’s because of Dr Strange messing up with the multiverse.

[@QuirrelSquad]

I just realised that all characters with something related to being divine have unique eyes, the archons eyes are all the colors of their element and two different colors, shenhe was brought up by the adepti which is why her eyes are unique unlike chongyun but then there's people from khaenriah with a 4 point star in their eyes so maybe they were closer to the gods than we thought

[@crest2447]

I always wondered about what happens when a gnosis is destroyed.

[@TelsonDraws]

I think Khaenriah's people joined their forces with Abyss to Overthrow/Conquer Celestia because in Teyvat storyline video says the,"Throne in the sky is not reserved for you, but the mortal arrogation never stops" that's why Sustainer of Heavenly Principal destroyed Khaenriah and the Archons tried to save Khaenriah but failed that's why Archons are severing their ties with Celestia.Also Khaenriah people become monsters of the Abyss because they made contacts with Abyss or something.

[@liyairliana8339]

I agree with you most of the part, but it doesn't answer the reason why Kaeya's dad left him at mondstadt as an agent. I personally think that the Celestia didn't know that Gold and the Eclipse Dynasty (and people of Khaenriah) are different, that the eclipse dynasty didn't even know about Gold's plan or actions. Which probably why Kaeya's family sent him to spy in mondstadt. Butvall in all, a very good video!

[@ArlunGrim]

I considered that aswell, but Kaeya is so shrouded in mystery atm we can atleast agree that he's not working with the Abyss because of the many times that he's already thwarted the Abyss Order in Mondstadt, so my only guess is somewhere out there Khaenri'ah is rebuilding itself which might be the case considering in the trevail trailer we go to Khaenri'ah but I'm just not sure if its the old one, also iirc the only thing said about Kaeya and Khaenri'ah is that his father placed him in Mondstadt to serve the interests of Khaenri'ah, but that could mean a plethora of things.

[@astridmustikasyamsuri6207]

probably because mondstadt are the closets one to khaenriah? like arundolyn the former grand master sent troop to khaenriah to help with the corrupted monster & rostam (signora's lover) are in that expedition but slain by gold's monsters Pierro said something about fail to convince his former ruler for making bad decision, so I assume the leader of the eclypse dynasty buy gold's bs (his ambition) and start enhancing the technology that starting the leak of abyssal monster, khaenriah at some point ready to go to war against the seven nation. Dain, a royal guard fail to protect his people probably because... he saw the royalties even succumb to the abyss. so kaeya probs from the pro abyss side of khaenriah or from the royal line itself, to sent to mond as spy for the planned war but now he was told to be their last hope probably because the rest of khaenriah people looks like mess while kaeya still look human enough (dain have curse on him n pierro probably wear mask too)

[@anxioshcrg490]

@@astridmustikasyamsuri6207 an interesting take were Dain & Pierro could be the same person somehow.

[@exxo366]

this is convincing, but there r sum things that i don’t want to believe cuz the evidence is not supporting it that much, but the things that do hav gud proof seem rly convincing so as of now i’m just gonna wait till the next few archon quests and see which side i’m leaning toward.

[@lucia_kidtech]

has anyone considered that maybe, like real life it was a war started by an arms race, Khaenri'ah had weapons of war in a time of peace, that would probably panic other nations, especially since there was no god Khaenri'ah so celestia probably didn't have anyone who knew what was going on and maybe all they knew is godless people have scary war weapons, and feared that they were going to be attacked, the people who come from dragonspine were killed because they wanted to enter the garden of the gods, maybe they feared Kheanri'ah doing the same so miss heavenly principles distroyed the nation just in case.

[@Uneke]

“For the nation we can't forgo this skyborne power, but we failed.” I feel like they were talking about their dragon. Which killed the dendro archon… They didn’t want to lose the dragon, but after it killed the dendro archon, it was destroyed by the other 6 and their underlines (the 4 winds, yakshas, harbingers etc) “but we failed”

[@SoulStorms]

I like how there's a chance the twins are older than the new dendro archon

[@jmark0623-e]

Your video came up with my recommendations, and you made a great video about it!

[@rei9376]

i kinda believe in the theory that since genshin and honkai universe are tied, celestia had to destroy khaenri’ah because for a nation without a god, it had become way too advanced and they probably didn’t like it. i’ve read a theory somewhere that celestia had to destroy khaenri’ah first before the honkai found out about said nation- and if they did, the entirety of teyvat would’ve been destroyed altogether 🤷‍♀️ imo in genshin lore there really is no “hero” or “villain”, it’s all about perspective

[@omelettexmoa2995]

i dont play honkai so idk about the connections but i do agree that in the genshin world Celestia and the abyss are neither 100% good nor bad. I also believe that the archons are pawns for Celestia and that khaenri'ah is a bit more sinister than we think it is (a previous commenter mentioned how their motto was "the land is to be fought with steel and blood") but I'm just rambling at this point haha great observation tho

[@TheUnKnowNKazadiel]

Eyy! Immediately Liked cause you pointed out Arrogation. So many theory videos say Arrogance without realizing there's a slight but important Difference.

[@pharuhs]

I like this theory. It makes the time-line a bit more digestible with what little we have, considering the big scheme of things. I also like how it, in a way, humanizes(?) both khanriah and Celestia. Both made poor decisions and neither can truly forgive each other but they respect each other, like a proper "friends to enemies" thing. Back to back betrayal, almost.

[@kaleemulhaq1637]

Something thing i have noticed is ruins of kaneria are spread evrywhere guarded by deadly machines seems like a threat if there rooted all over teveyet creteing powerfull wepons

[@SagaEf]

I don't go into lore too often, but is it possible that the darkness that is brought up is sometimes referring to the dark sea (instead of the abyss)?

[@ArlunGrim]

In a way yes and no, the dark sea is part of the domain of the Abyss but is not the Abyss itself, its a little confusing I admit.

[@Rose-qc2dv]

@@ArlunGrim wasn't the dark sea the rest of the world that is not Teyvat?

[@helloneighbour2408]

@@Rose-qc2dv it is

[@KkeojyeoOW]

Thanks!

[@akaikeshi1906]

It'd be so easy if we just asked venti and Zhongli and they were available to tell us the freaking truth.

[@ArlunGrim]

Contracts lmao how convenient

[@blattsee6095]

​@@ArlunGrimyea but only Zhongli is the God of contracts but...Venti tho? Why isnt he speaking?

[@haveagreatday1144]

In the latest quests from Enkanomiya plus an in depth theory made by Ashikai about the Unknown Goddess and her intentions, this theory of yours might actually be true. The Celestial gods don't want to stop humanity from progressing, but maybe there's some boundaries that are meant to be stopped at before it turns into chaos. The unknown goddess could easily kill the travelers, but maybe that's not her ideal. She's the sustainer, the maintainer of the heavenly principals, heaven obviously meaning a place without imperfections. The theory I mentioned above says how her powers are not to kill, but to in fact contain. And how she actually trapped the Khaenri'ahn people's souls within her cubes during the war in order to protect them and leaving their empty bodies to wander around in corruption or the curse that has been laid upon due to Gold. The cubes in which these souls are captured are stored inside the Celestia we see above. I doubt that such a supreme power would bother with whatever knowledge humans gain, but if it was needed to destroy the nation itself only to cancel all their development I'm sure it was something threatening, not only for the humans around but also for the other gods as well. Everyone sees Khaenri'ah as the innocent nation only because it got the short end of the stick, but some divine beings that have witnessed everything might have the upper hands into an argument over what's good and what isn't. The archons maybe don't understand the damage that Khaenri'ah could've done. Or maybe they're forced into being Celestia's puppets that are easier to control since they're closer to the target. Only because of Khaenri'ah and Abyss the world succumbs slowly and we have seen so many die by the hands of corruption or killed by the abyss order. Perhaps that corruption it's a consequence of an under developed Khaenri'ah art which led to it becoming unstable and thus taking over. But that's just my take

[@justnormal7417]

Ei did said this: "But I've seen a nation stride forward and lost everything to the heavenly principles" which means she is talking about Khaenri'ah

[@AstraLuna-o9i]

After doing the quest in Enkonymia, seems that they worshipped the Primodial God, the one who created humans and defeated the elemental dragons that rules Teyvat. At some point probably when Celestia invaded and overthrew the Primordial one, Enkonymia was sunk under the ocean. I think that Khanriah was sunk at the same time, and was once part of the one nation whose ruins are on the Thunderbird Island and the top of Dragonspine. We know in the depths of the earth Enkonymia made technological strides being cut off from the rest of the world, so it’s only logical to think Khanri’ah did as well, but their motivation was vengeance for their fallen God, whereas Enkonymia was just trying to survive. Later Khanri’ah comes to Enkonymia looking for the book Before Sun and Moon, to prove that the Gods of Celestia were outworld invaders, and probably tried to convince Enkonymia to join them in the fight against Celestia. During the Archon Wars Orabashi came to Enkonymia and became their job, but he later had to sacrifice himself because Celestia found out he read Before Sun and Moon. I think Makoto, The Dendro Archon, and possibly the Cryo Archon were trying to join with Khanri’ah after learning the truth that Celestia were foreign invaders. I think Celestia murdered Makoto and the Dendro Archon, and released the monsters of the abyss on the world and blamed Khanri’ah for it, then they nuked Khanri’ah and turned their people into more abyss monsters, probably like they had done with the other inhabitants that followed the Primodial one and possibly the Primodial one and his shades.

[@genarohonoriorengifo8317]

Many people seem to forget thst the people of Khaenri'ah were not as innocents as doves. They used to harness power from non-morally based sources.

[@absalomii8564]

I personally like the idea that Khaenriah isn't necessarily the good guys and Celestia the bad guys. I'm not saying that Celestia isn't the villain, but I wish they at least had a reasonable reason to destroy entire civilizations, because like it or not, the Ruinsguards, Durin, and the actions of the Maker of albedo are things... ..Debatable. Honestly, I'm going to be pretty disappointed if it's basically "Celestia bad, everything else good".

[@ashcrow1356]

I might be dumb... if the gods actually tried to save Kaenri'ah, then why was Dainsleif cursed with immortality? And even more so, who cursed him?

[@fleonez6610]

If they tried to save him it could be the royal family because Dain couldn't save them

[@johncunanan65]

He was cursed to serve as the witness to the consequences of his failure to A) protect his masters; the leaders of the eclipse empire and B) his people who were turned into monsters. He was cursed by something but it wasnt said if it was the archons, the sustainer of the heavenly principles did it or because he broke his promise/vow.

[@ashcrow1356]

@@johncunanan65 It's likely it was the Sustainer's deed, since it's speculated that she's the Goddess of Time. This video says Celestia wanted to save Kaerni'ah by stopping the progress that was being made, which was destroying the civilization. In this case, why should the Sustainer bother with cursing Dain? That wasn't their goal, abiding by this theory.

[@johncunanan65]

@@ashcrow1356 maybe Zhongli did it since he is the god of contracts and prob by extension vows and promises. Like when u become a knight you make a vow to your sovereign to honour ur duties protect them with your life etc etc. And Dain was like a high ranking knight with his own title too. so since there is no god to claim jurisdiction over Khaenri'ah and the leaders are dead Zhongli/Morax was the one who see it fit to punished dain by putting that curse on him for breaking said vows.

[@Venerable_of_the_north]

@@ashcrow1356 lol she isn't the goddess of time if she was she wouldn't have tried to send twins in different timeline and made one twin their enemy the reason why i think the dainsleif was cursed to immortality was cuz he was actually affected half by the experiment gold was doing with our other twins power the power of abyss/dark which explains why he has dark attributes power and dark scar on his face..... And if he really thought that archons were evil he would have gone against them not the abyss he only has the bad opinion about archons cuz even though they were supposed to protect the humanity the didn't when khaenriah was in danger.... And the reason why dainsleif is against the abyss is cuz tho they led their downfall by conducting experiments they shouldn't, they should at the least try not to make other humans in tevyat suffer as well

[@sopmodtew8399]

The celestials are invaders in Teyvat. They killed/incapacitated the original god(The primordial one) and took control of the entire world. The nations who had no god affiliated with Celestia got nuked by them.Sal Vindagnyr(Dragonspine), Khaenri'ah, Enkanomiya,Tsurumi,etc.

[@AdS-1013]

imagine this as someone's first introduction to genshin lmao

[@toetickler3729]

i heard "sky blue bard's lyre" and i teared up venti's story quest is depressing

[@Lucifer_Mercury]

Can you do Teory that Sucrose is Possibly from Khaenri'ah Bc: 1. No one even Albedo doesn`t know much about Sucrose. 2. She knew Durins power when she only looked at that Sword which is Strange. 3. When she uses one of her attacks(charged one if i remember Correctly) then she makes symbol similar to symbol on Albedo`s neck the same symbol which is symbol of Khaenri'ah. Probably there can me more but i`m to lazy to search. Edit: Deleted one of the evidence.

[@ShanMichaelEscasio]

"alchemist gold"..hang on a sec...ALBEDO'S MOM?

[@zeriys6236]

A loose end that I'm curious about is why the retainer of heavenly principles would want to stop the siblings from leaving if they planned to save khaenriah. Wouldn't letting the siblings leave at this point be better for their world? Or am I missing something?

[@Iluvatar196]

Guys, where is this 1:07 from? Event? Quest? Ive never seen this cinematic

[@Pariux]

Watch the plot turn into FMAB's plot. Gold tries to make a philosophers stone using Khaenri'ah's citizens, and to make it the monsters are the byproducts

[@lkrdp9463]

Wow i commend you for how interesting & well-thought of your theory is. I appreciate the stories involved in artifacts & weapons. My take is that Khaenri'ah's advanced state reach to a point of corruption, that it violated heavenly principles. knowing that magic & alchemy was widely practiced. It became a perfect target of the abyss. After its destruction due to celestia's intervention & archons, the abyss now tries to corrupt the other nations in Teyvat. Assuming Visions were already being given before the Cataclysm, visions eventually helped lead Khaenri'ah to its downfall. And perhaps for this very reason the archons dont fully agree w/ Celestia's ways of ruling since it is counterproductive if left unchecked. This could be the reason Ei cut all ties with celestia & imposed a vision hunt decree. Celestia seems to be operating on an "intervene only when necessary or convenient" basis and are probably using acended mortals as sacrifice to create the world of Teyvat. Because it's possible alchemy also originated from Celestia. Also, i think Albedo is possibly a creation of Gold. Maybe that's why he thinks he poses a great threat to Teyvat & is called the Chalk Prince.

[@angela.luntian]

6 out of 7 archons havent rebelled so its very likely that Celestia had justifiable reasons. Keeping the sink clean, before it plugs itself.

[@supershurinova]

Every time i try to watch one of these, i zone out thinking about something else and i have to rewind around 5 times before I’m able to pay full attention

[@enigmagrieshaber5555]

I'm a hardcore humanity Tho this theory is amazingly composed

[@VI-fy9jk]

when the abyss is the celestia itself, I'll mald.

[@JipiNet]

Oh OH what if the chess pieces are to show/remind the Archons that they are merely playing things to Celestia? This is just some baseless idea of mine, but it would be a bit funny and terrifying at the same time, if Celestia is some kind of spoiled brat who toys around with the idea of life... or... simply a writer, writing an interesting plot, putting the main characters through misery :)

[@Misty-pv2jv]

Thats what im thinking when sustainor said arrogation of mandkind ends here i think she means that the khaenrian people's arrogation not the twin, the sustainor wants to use the twins to end the arrogation but he failed with the first sibling because it sided or maybe helped the khaenrian people, other wise after some time the other twin woke up the sustainor wanted to guide the traveler so that it will not lose its way like the other twin did ?

[@kaeyaalberich5156]

The only thing I don't understand, if it is true that Celestia was good, why do the archons (that we have met) seem to resent it? Venti says in a voice line that even if he was invited, he would not go to Celestia. Zhongli doesn't seem to want to talk about Khaenri'ah, having sworn an oath? And Ei want's eternity because it is the only defense against "The heavenly principles" (Celestia). Ei also says, and with the background of Khaenri'ah, "But I have seen nations stride forward, and lose everything to the heavenly principles". And we know the Tsaritsa is rebelling against Celestia itself. Doesn't our twin, who supports Khaenriah, say something along the lines of "Once you have traveled this world as I have, you will understand". Our twin hates Celestia as well. Furthermore, Celestia has destroyed previous nations, (like in Dragonspine) right? Feel free to correct me, I am probably wrong about some of this. Sorry about my bad english and grammer.

[@Khazziecally]

Celestia really said "cancel their ass" and destroyed everything

[@ibelieveinwoozisupremacy8681]

The fact that lot of kaenriah stay in monstad, makes me think that Kaenriah at least place to stay save, but i still think that Celestial is sus af, both Kaenriah, Abyss, and Tsaritsa view it as their enemy. and Archon also try to cut ties with celestia.

[@mohammadalloush8636]

Interesting way of narrowing things, will see how will everything turns out.

[@drogadepc]

I don't think Celestia was trying to save Khaenri'ah. Remember Scaramouche's line "the sky and the stars are a lie"? I believe this line refers to Celestia and the promise of godhood to the allogenes. I think Khaenri'ah people found a source of power that can control time, space, life and death. This power, the Abyss Magic could possibly rival the Heavenly Principles and thus the Unknown God was compelled to act and destroy Khaenri'ah before Celestia was destroyed. Neither one side or the other is good. Dainsleif was one of the very feel to not be corrupted by the Abyss Magic and he failed to protect his people because he instead was killing them. The name Dáinsleif means "Dain's Legacy", it's the name of the sword that belonged to Dain, who was either the king of elves or the king of dwarfs in norse mythology. According to the myth, Dáinsleif was a sword laid with a curse that says it must kill a man every time it's drawn. The character Dainsleif was also cursed and he's trying to destroy the Abyss Order.

[@ChowingChow]

I love how the comments are so invested into lores