Time is (NOT) an Illusion: The Garden of Forking Paths (Genshin Impact 4.4 Lore and Theory)

[@62eru]

Back here due to 5.0 AQ lore implications

[@alex07629]

Same. When I heard Mavuika talk about time, I was thinking "Didn't I hear this before" and scrolling through, looking for the video

[@demonic_banshee]

Yeeees! I instantly thought about this and rewatched it! Aaaah, so cool!

[@Sacri8492]

Your genshin UID is the number of times Teyvat samsara repeats.

[@scelletonplays9044]

Dude is taking the story to another level

[@SkylarAviaxv]

That one dude whose UID is 00000003: 😃😄

[@mariapazgonzalezlesme]

Ay yes, the normal Kaeya fan has returned.

[@L16htW4rr10r]

Yeah, totally normal! X,D

[@aethernity8270]

Extremely normal

[@johnb1145]

What the heck, is that something rare 😅??

[@scelletonplays9044]

KNOW ONE WILL EVER KNOW!!@@johnb1145

[@quickredf0x143]

I'm just sitting here thinking that multiple genshin writers are philosophers.

[@kimarimoi]

All the talk of mirrors reminds me of the end of "Caribert," where the traveler looks into a mirror and sees their twin, who they had unknowingly swapped places with across hundreds of years of time. Ciric isn't the only one with a mysterious doppelganger who seemingly did everything he did in reverse before the story began. And there's the elephant in the room of the book's title--nobody calls them time "trekkers," they're called... travelers. I hadn't picked up on the literary references, but it's an extremely suspicious book even without them.

[@Schnubi]

I can't believe the die hard franchise is canon in Teyvat. Alice importing action movies

[@L16htW4rr10r]

Gotta wait for my Fontaine boy movie director to write one himself x,D

[@tavanijorge2175]

WELCOME TO THE PARTY PAL 🔫😎

[@claires7862]

the garden of forking paths immediately makes my brain go to the loom of fate, with the way time is literally *woven* together, maybe the end goal isn't to change fate itself, but instead reweave the order events or which timelines lead to what god time shenanigans makes my head hurt

[@roozeveltfox]

I was physically unable to bring up the loom of fate because my brain fluids started leaking out of my ears

[@maj0ga.]

"To save the one and only her, I can only create new possibilities in the past. The other future will belong to her." -Otto Apocalypse

[@Cata-qp6fi]

*regression starts to play*

[@metlspaz1]

as a note, I havent finished the video yet, BUT you can find weapons of existign alive characters NOW in chenyu Vale. Calamity Queller can be found in a cave north of Cloud retainers area and is protected by Ice flowers and it says this time it failed it's duty, and yet shenhe and the Calamity Queller are existing in the story/with us. I think it gives credence to time looping and the previous Shenhe died there and traveler wasn't a thing, so our existence changes the samara.

[@swiirlee8670]

This is kind of reminding me of something. In Homestuck (I KNOW lmao but seriously), a lot of characters have the ability to time travel, communicate atemporally, or deliberately/accidentally make "paradoxes" (like for example "creating" themselves and their own guardians from their own genome). It gets revealed later on that these reckless time shenanigans creates an infinite amount of off-shoot timelines, along with every possible choice they've ever made, but only ONE timeline was considered to be "Alpha" or canon in the context of the game the characters were playing. Sometimes the off-shoots directly affect the Alpha timeline, or the off-shoots are even necessary to maintain the timeline, but the crucial factor is this: the off-shoot timelines get culled. They lose "canon-relevance" so the game self-regulates and starts dissolving the off-shoots, and everybody in it dies. The only way to survive a dying timeline was finding a way to essentially universe-hop and claw your back into canon relevancy. Hussie himself had a quote reflecting on the endless amount of dead Marios you'd have accumulated before winning and finishing a game. When you've won, the dead Marios aren't real any more and the only timeline the game recognizes is the one where you survived and beat all the odds. But as a player you KNOW that those Marios died, them dying was a real thing that happened even if the game itself "forgot". I don't think Genshin would get that meta in execution, but I wonder if Celestia is imposing an "Alpha" timeline of sorts to get to a desired end. The countless samsaras could just be countless resets to get to the "good ending". It implies two things for me: one, that outside factors like the descenders and the dragon sovereigns fall outside of the calculations of this imposed timeline, because they are outside of the Heavenly Principles' scope of influence and could therefore wreck the game in unexpected ways and; two, Celestia is another player in this analogy, just like us. Maybe descenders are all just players fighting over the same save file 😂

[@L16htW4rr10r]

Thank you, I love this theory! Also because I love Homestuck x,D

[@swiirlee8670]

@@L16htW4rr10r Glad to meet a fellow enjoyer 🤝 tbh I havent kept up since the epilogues but that webcomic permanently altered my brain chemistry lol

[@peachcloudx1672]

very fascinating!! this reminded me of fate grand order's lostbelts--- which are basically alternate timelines/worlds where history as we know it didn't happen and instead a whole bunch of other (sometimes insane) shit happened and the player has to go & "prune" these branches of time because their very existence threatens the continued existence of the "correct" history (known in-game as Pan-Human History).

[@CatDoodling]

One glad to see that I still can't escape Homestuck Two I find it interesting that when talking about Ascension the travellers character introduction refers to "you" and not them I mean tactical is speaking the story is from an outsider from Teyvat (Hoyo) and where the ones you make the traveller a desender (the twins are identical story-wise nothing changes of we choose one over the other except the pronouns used { except Jet but that's just cuz she's in to girls not guys})

[@iurypadilha]

As a gameplay standpoint which is used on games for decades, imagine after Sznezhnaya we travel to the past and the whole map is open to explore in another moment of time, and in the past the puzzles are the creation of some of the puzzles that we already solved in the present.

[@worm2976]

please no my brain juices will evaporate

[@Malloooow]

The forking paths make me think of Bennett too In his character story 2, we learn that the adventurers adopted him. One of them found him on a place described as "hell on earth" when he was a baby But at the end of Character Story 2, we learn that rescuing Bennett was against the will of the world. I think that it means "against the will of Fate" as we can find other references to Fate around him. So. Did the old adventurer find another path ? And since Bennett got cursed + his own life is against Fate’s will… does that mean he will lead to another ending, or a diverging path or something ? Mona once said something about stars diverging from their tracks leading to curses too

[@sthezh]

irminsul fruits are the very constellations of the sky in teyvat. if these constellations represent the fate of each vision bearer, combined with our knowledge that the sky is fake and that irminsul has been probably been tampered with by celestia, i think this would mean that those who attempt to defy the fate in their constellation are to be cursed. in this case, a ‘star diverging from its tracks’ is quite literally a person defying their fate as it’s written in irminsul and in bennetts case it seems like his misfortune comes from the fact that irminsul decided he was meant to die that day, and on a larger scale we can see how that would apply to khaenrians cursed with immortality or hilichurls. really good example!!

[@NemisCassander]

Frankly, if the idea that you can separate divinity from person works for the Third Descender, and the Third Descender is still alive, Bennett is the most likely option, IMO. It explains his bad luck, and the amount of Gnostic imagery bound up in his rescue is... frankly astounding.

[@yYSilverFoxYy]

I think our key to cracking this false block universe is this “inept god” that Kaeya mentions. He says it’s just a metaphor, but is it really..? Turns fathers against sons, floods nations, and needs people like the Sustainer to make sure nothing diverges. And for what? So that the perfect past can be created again! “Phanes” and the united civilization that lived in abundance, is the product of fate playing out as it is meant to. Even Apep who despises gods and acknowledges that the Sustainer cares about humanity. Well, she doesn’t seem very caring lately, but this could be the answer. The tragic future is necessary for progressing towards their better past. Narzissenkreuz said after his defeat: “Let others mock and curse me. I am empty within now. Only one desire remains. I, too, wish to return to the very beginning - to the time before the Narzissenkreuz heroes set off on their journey. But that's impossible. We are not masters of our own fate. I no longer even have the power to determine my own dreams.” …But what if he was a true god? He would return to the beginning. Even if the “end” is a tragedy, he enjoyed the journey. If the past could be the future, he’d choose to do it all over again. A god that has lost too much, and yearns for the past instead of moving on. That is what we’re dealing with. And does the Traveler have the ability to change anything… One thing’s for sure, he/she certainly has the ability to *fail*. This isn’t the first run of Traveler in Teyvat. Venti and Xamaran both remembered Traveler from before we met them. The Abyss sibling said “We always had enough time”. We are part of the loop, not true “outsiders”.

[@roozeveltfox]

REALLY interesting points here! "inept is a good word, but maybe even too civil..." - kaeya (paraphrased)

[@CatDoodling]

The traveller is a part of the story but we're not, Hoyo does like getting meta, I would not be surprised if what lets break free is us being there

[@suzuneechan]

"A god that has lost too much, and yearns for the past instead of moving on." There's a god, too small to control all fate but there all the same, that fits that description. King Deshret. Over and over the lore of the three gods of Sumeru underscores how much he clings to the past, to the memory of a perfect kingdom, back when he had all his loved ones, when the world had plenty, on and on. And those friends disagreed, whether fleeing the madness before it consumed her, or making a sacrifice to open up new possibilities in the future. We can describe Ei the same way. We can describe the Sages of the Akademiya between Rukkhadevata's fall and Nahida's freedom, the same way save for being mortal. And we find archons that disagreed - Makoto would have if she were the one to survive, Zhongli choosing to transfer power to his people was doing so, Focalors' actions to fool the prophecy embodied it, Nahida's willingness to kill the last memory of her predecessor (...mother, really). It's unclear whether Venti moved on or not, but he ain't telling yet. Genshin is, after all, a story about loss and the response to it, with the Cataclysm as the great trauma that mars every nation and its god. It's about a bunch of other things too, but... The message is clear, no?

[@yYSilverFoxYy]

@@suzuneechan Too small to control all fate? I think it’s King Deshret exactly. As Jakob pointed out in a note, red is higher than gold. Among many “Golden Kings” there is one “Scarlet King” rebel against the heavens, dead (and alive, I’ll explain), future destroyer of the world, who will finally dethrone… Himself. Nabu Malikata warned him of the dangers of creating a “eternity” in the description of an artifact called A Moment Congealed: “My lord... why do you command the dunes to stop flowing? Why do you bray at the winds to stop them from blowing? Just like this hourglass. Should these crystal sands mingle into a congealed whole, what would be the meaning of its existence then? Eternity is no paradise, but something that is nigh-impossible to deconstruct, an obstinate stain that cannot be mended." … …But he wanted eternity, whether it was hell or a paradise, and started plotting the creation of the world that would become Teyvat. Let me show you some Deshret quotes: “Meld all thoughts into one, and let all calculations be unified. Thus shall humanity become the lord of lords and the god of gods.” - Humanity, he said. The unified civilization at the “beginning” was a perfect era for humanity. “In the original world, the barriers were torn down, and the dark poison had penetrated the earth. To heal that fragile, sad, and imperfect world, the spikes descended and pierced through the earth's crust.” - Wrong, but of course Deshret didn’t know about the world before the Second Who Came… “However, the rules I have set are more elegant and precise, so there is no need and there should be no followers of hers who shall die meaninglessly on their account, and no poetry should be lost for their sake. Next, the beastly trail from the poison should be cut off, for taking poison is a sin running deeper than the sky.” - That’s EXACTLY what Phanes did, separating Teyvat from the rest of the world with his “shell” that is the Firmament. … …I know, there’s the issue of “Deshret was swallowed by Apep” …No, he tricked her. The Mausoleum is a huge suction device, the Golden Slumber is water-based hivemind. Deshret built a tunnel system, drained all water sources in his area and diluted his memories in the water. Then, he poisoned Gurabad, which was full of Jinns and half-jinns, whose memories got scrambled up with Deshret’s. Then, he flooded Gurabad. Look at the map. All the water released would go down to Apep’s resort. Apep swallowed dead people with Deshret’s memories and Forbidden Knowledge, but never him. The mutated elemental lifeforms in Apep look like water creatures. Now you know why. And so, Eleazar was born. People who get it grow dark SCALES, like dragons. … Deshret also encountered Phanes. Nabu Malikata told him: “Heed my warnings. Seek not the Master of the Four Shades, and inquire not of the mysteries of the sky and the abyss.” However, King Deshret disagreed with the warnings of his partner, silently swearing his intent to transgress. So he ACTUALLY took the chance to meet Phanes with the intention to dethrone the one who hurt his love, then came back unscathed and slightly confused. …He wasn’t killed, nor did he kill Phanes. He was set right back on his track of heresy and hatred. Why..? Phanes or the Heavenly Principles never interfered with Deshret’s actions. Whether it was rejecting a Gnosis. seeking Forbidden Knowledge, destroying his own life and others, or poisoning Irminsul. Why..? Because that was his past self, who would become his present self. And his past self is supposed to kill his present self only at a specific time in order to become him. … It’s always a choice, not fate. Just like Ciric going back to set riddles for himself. …How many separate Cirics did you count in the novel? I found THREE. One is shot, two come back. One goes back, the other “never saw Ciric Neven again”. He has to die, but with some loopholes, it is possible to live and die at the same time. (Without flooding entire cities, preferably.) Death is cheap when you have multiple SEGMENTS. (Reminds me, someone has yet to burn down “The Tree of Knowledge”. May or may not be a reference to another famous horror story’s Scarlet King.) :D

[@zelktheinvader7874]

​@@CatDoodlingwhat if the Traveler is a descender because we choose the sibling......

[@ajergely6230]

This could give a whole new meaning to the « Thousand Winds of Time ». Seeds of stories brought by the wind and cultivated by time…unsure if Istaroth would be one of these three, or the three at once. Maybe she is Even the Fortuna described by remurians as made of thousands and thousands of strings ; an embodiment of this fabric of reality made of these « diverging, converging and parallel » possibilities. Or maybe the answer is in her greek name and title : Kairos, the god of moments. This choice always seemed important to me, because there are three time-related divinities in greek mythology. Kairos is but one of them, and rather than being a personnification of a linear or a cyclical time, he is a personnification of opportunities and generally of instants in which important events happen or dont, the « what ifs » that can change a timeline. So maybe Istaroth is every point of convergence in this garden of forking paths and fate and prophecies stem from her.

[@roozeveltfox]

You know, I had been thinking about Istaroth would play into this, but the way you put this is really compelling. It reminded me of something on the wiki for Kairos: "In weaving, kairos denotes the moment in which the shuttle could be passed through threads on the loom.[5]" I hadn't made that connection (brain too full, probably). This is really interesting food for thought 🧐

[@geovanagama1]

21:34 Wait, u mentioned the hangouts. isn't the hangouts in genshin a example of time from different futures based in the choices we make? 🤔 and we can even go back to see different futures.

[@Sacration]

Omg ??? 🎉

[@roozeveltfox]

ahaha, good catch, I didn't even think about it! Yes, that's a super good example!!

[@kotarouinugami1745]

Hangouts are very much based on "choose your own adventure" books, yes. And they clearly show us some possibilities. Including changing the big outcome through a series of small changes. Like that time in Noelle's story where we get too good at helping out that visitor, and he freaks out, because he's been a spy all along.

[@eboshisdescendant8697]

It seems like the block universe is the type of mechanism introduced by the Heavenly Principles/Celestia. If so, the “original” state of time-space in Teyvat may be actually forking path type... I'm thinking about this because Apep said “both of you have only existed for a fraction of what you know as time,” and “what you know as time” suggests that Apep has a different cognition of time. Also, Setekh Wenut's description literally says “in the ancient past before even the concept of time was created,” so maybe this “concept of time” refers to the Celestia's block universe.

[@roozeveltfox]

yes! that's exactly the idea I was going for, but perhaps stopped short of explicitly saying that. those two lines re: apep and wenut have lived in my brain for a while but i forgot to even mention them. oh well. the sky(box) is fake!

[@henotic_paracosm]

🎶No past and no future is what I need. (is what i need)🎶 White Night plays in my mind as roozevelt talked about time, fate and destiny..

[@roozeveltfox]

lmaaao I didn't even think about the lyrics for the Bit at 22:52!!! that's so good 😂

[@kelseyholt9355]

Thank you for the wonderfully interesting video. It reminded me of something Dottore said when he was explaining his “segments” to Nahida. He said he made them to “ have eyes on the dimension of time” or something like that. I wonder if his comment was foreshadowing of some sort.

[@roozeveltfox]

oooh I completely forgot about that! I'll have to go watch that again. Thank you!!

[@kiaradoesart9682]

So if time is space, and Celestia made a system to control fate (constellations etc.) I'm wondering if the purpose of said system was not only to preserve a timeline, but also the space. If Traveler (or anyone else *coughKaeya*) breaks out of a fated outcome pinning down the timeline, do they risk destroying Teyvat?? (My own phrasing also has me wondering if the Celestial nails retroactively "nail down" the timeline at important events that happened/will happen!) ETA: my tinhat is heating up lmao- so what if both models of time have their truths within Genshin, but Celestia was trying to enforce the block variety as a means of reshaping and maintaining the current Teyvat. When Khaenri'ah "broke through the firmament", aka the eggshell, aka the loop of time fenced in by the false sky/constellations/Irminsul, and "connected the realms" (other timelines? Or just the other kind of time with more possibilities?) were they destroyed by Celestia, or did they unwittingly destroy their own place within Teyvat's spacetime?

[@lipeepipol]

Wouldn't the journey of traveler be a reoccurrence of the past events as well? The one who woke up first was the abyss sibling, and then proceeded to journey around Teyvat. Then comes the traveler, who is now doing the same thing (this becomes more obvious during the Aranyaka world quest series with the Aranaras mentioning how it was the abyss sibling who helped repair the Varuna Contraption, and now it was time for the traveler to do it again. And during "We will be reunited" quest, the abyss sibling says: "I have already traveled through this world once. Once you reach the end of your journey as I did, you will see for yourself the true nature of this world". I believe if anything, this book reiterates/reinforces reoccurring themes already mentioned/established previously. But thanxs again for another great video!

[@cybervagabond2945]

Time trekker really has become one of my favorite Genshin books thus far. Mostly unrelated but I think the book has further established that Remurian golems are likely mechanical in nature, and possibly similar to what automatons we have seen in Genshin En masse, that being ruin machines. I mean the book compared them to the Clockwork meka of Alain Guillotin so at that point I think it is fair to say there is something more going on here that we haven't solved, especially with the Arkhe system and the meaning of Ousia and Pneuma and how the creation of intelligent life works in Genshin as well as the secrets of Khemia. I wish there were more Genshin Lore videos about the Automatons of Genshin as they are so numerous and some of the coolest enemies in the game...Especially with the implication that they can potentially house the souls of real people...

[@roozeveltfox]

On top of that, Time Trekker talks about how BIG Remus's golems were, and it 1) reminded me of the schwanenritter ruin golems and 2) it kinda made me think about the few references we've had to civs with giants (but didn't know where to go with this thought). i also find all the automatons interesting so maybe I'll do a deep dive on that at some point 😁

[@MrDee001]

Oh snap. Kaeya will become the Jester in the future!

[@bloomiii7481]

I don't know if this is anything, but Beethoven's 16 string quartet was his last major musical piece, made two years before he died. A musical piece could be likened to the time block with the instructions already written out for the performer to play, but there's still decisions they make, they could choose to play it faster or slower. In this piece, Beethoven writes that the performer could repeat a particular part if they want to, in essence, giving the performer a opportunity for "choice" in their fate. Made me think of this because of that other video you made about music.

[@101rsb]

15:08 Literally Kaveh and that book at the end of the Simulanka patch.

[@TheChrowne]

I think its so interesting how this Idea of "fate and the end being inevitable, but your journey to that end still mattering, because the end might actually not be what you think it is" is such a consistent theme within the Hoyo games. It somehow keeps coming back, but just in a different shape and different game

[@worm2976]

Have we not been told repeatedly that it is our _journey_ that matters? Venti, fragment of Kairos/Istaroth explicitly tells us to be mindful of the fact that every part and step of our journey matters

[@RenaDeles]

I, of all things, keep looping back to the concept of hitsuzen as explored in xxholic. Hitsuzen means inevitability but the manga presents this as not because things are predestined, but because with all the choices everyone is likely to make this is the outcome you can expect. Because of his hamartia Hamlet was always going to lead things to a tragic end, for all the exits the audience can see. Fate as made *by* free will. And you can change things, but that can take a lot And I've long thought Teyvat's planned future is like the TVA in Loki: this is not the prime timeline because it always was, but how Celestia has cultivated events to lead to the outcomes it wants. Which goes hand and hand with my growing conviction that Irminsul was planted during one of the reformings of the world. The rules were changed, and Irminsul was added to those rules.

[@scelletonplays9044]

Genshin's story more complex then reality itself!!

[@SenseiChop]

AMAZING VIDEO! So well researched and so many references found jeez I've already been like 70% sure we're gonna time travel 500 years into the past in Khaenri'ah but now I'm like 85% because of this. Maybe the reason the Khaenri'ah chapter is the ONLY chapter with a "???" instead of a number... is because it's gonna be going backwards? Okay it's a lil silly maybe BUT IT'S GONNA HAPPEN MARK MY WORDS archon quest pops up for Khaenri'ah and it's gonna say chapter -1 or 0! Also the Dainsleif quote matching with the book makes me think it more so, too, that's such a smart find!

[@SenseiChop]

I forgot to mention but HOW DO YOU ALWAYS RELATE IT TO KAEYA EVEN WHEN THERE IS NOTHING xD

[@alexpav845]

This video gave me huge flashbacks to Honkai Impact 3rd, especially to "Hyperion, the unsinkable ship of eternal return". This is pretty interesting topic in context of Honkai lore where samsara (time loop) and forking paths (timelines) coexist on Earth. One does not exclude another.

[@reveriesend4668]

I have an inkling suspicion that Celestia knew what Focalor would do, and either didn't stop it, or they did not have the ability to stop it. Still gathering the evidence atm, so. 17:49 is exactly my line of thought, but yeah there isn't exactly real evidence yet. only.. possibly similar cases. In that sense: the future has already happened, but the way they "have happened" can differ. Honkai Impact 3rd did use this idea before in one of the many ways they explored the idea of samsara.

[@roozeveltfox]

EDIT: CCs are up! Let me know if there's anything broken.

[@illmentaly]

Time is an illusion that helps things make sense...(iykyk)

[@Vesper1star]

@@illmentaly So we are always living in the present tense…(iykyk)

[@illmentaly]

@@Vesper1star it seems unforgiving when a good thing ends...(iyk yk)

[@mohammadgamer6875]

13:58 "talking talking"

[@mahiainti678]

I thought after reading time trekker that the scene where he kills his doppelganger under red sky is foreshadowing that we will have to fight our twin (possibly to death) in the end, somewhere in khaenria/celestia. His doppelganger representing our twin that already trekked our path before us. Also i see you watched one of the recent Kurzgesagt videos lol

[@georgebeard2337]

On the topic of time, the Haar islands also known as the Golden Apple Archipelago has a different flow of time compared to the rest of Teyvat. Ako Domeki, a very famous Pirate who disappeared during a rebel war against the Raiden shogun, ended up over there after his ship is damaged and dragged over there by the ocean currents. After some misadventures encountering the other people who were stranded on the island, he was able to navigate the mist that surrounds the Haar island with the help of Janome and an islander girl and was able to leave and sail back to his home village on Seirai island only to be greeted with a desolate and deserted place. After seeing the state his home island was in, he decides to leave and set sail away from Inazuma further away into the sea seeking new frontiers and adventures.

[@isaiahhaley4816]

What’s so sus about this is how venti is the god of freedom and was created by the gods of time and the fact that people may not have there own free will directly relates to itself mondstadt and there archon are looking real sus at the moment especially since there the only nation who worships there god without them having to be ruled by them venti simply protects them and will only ever interfere with there problem if it is of grave offense to the nation not to mention there the most peaceful of the seven nations the only difference between them and khaenriah is that monstadt has no need to defy the gods especially since there own gods have them the blessing of freedom venti doesn’t care if they worship him or not he just wants what’s best for them and if that means having to defy celestia then that’s the reason why he didn’t try to fight back when signora “stole” his gnosis

[@CatDoodling]

Celestia may not view him as a threat because he's literally one of the shades' child but he does do things to "change fate for the better" ( from his specialty) it would not be surprised if he's been rebelling but in a way where celestia either can't or won't do anything. we saw how are cursed human was able to deceive fate, I can only imagine what the god of freedom could do when the world is in a gilded cage. Also he barely users any of his divine power despite being worshipped so much, Focalors did the same for 500 years and gained the power to destroy a throne.

[@yumemisstrawberryjam6759]

Great video! This made me wonder if the Traveler's purpose in Teyvat is to break its "block universe" timeline and make it into a "garden of forking paths" one...

[@TinkRomero]

Hmm … your video just made me go through an interesting … thought process concerning how malleable the “present” is. So please suffer alongside me as I share my thoughts that nearly melted my brain. :D Since Time Trekker used mirrors reflecting each other to symbolize the past and future reflecting each other, please allow me to expand on this example to potentially give you more insight on the topic of future/past reflecting the past/future. It’s mainly about the perspective of the one looking into the mirror. If you look into a mirror and raise your left arm, the mirror would perfectly reflect this. The most innate property of a mirror is to reflect whatever is presently in front of it. It is physically incapable of reflecting the past or future since the past and future have to be in the present in order to find a reflection in the mirror. With this information, what if the past and future was to somehow find a reflection of itself in a mirror, in their own past (present) and future (present), since the past and future are nothing more than the present existing in another time than right now. This still wouldn’t make the past reflecting the future (and vice versa) any sense, unless the present is also added somehow. Speaking of the present, if the Past is meant to reflect the Future, wouldn’t the Present also count as the Future? (And Vice versa) Does this mean that the past and future actually reflect the present? Reflections are a matter of perspective, if you raise your right arm, the mirror would reflect this. From the mirror’s perspective, it is simply raising its left arm to reflect the right arm. Reflections are the illusion that the opposites are the same, because it is the expected outcome. Therefore, the Future/Past reflect the Past/Future because it is expected to do so. So, are predestined events nothing more than an expectation misinterpreted as truth? (This reminds me of Nahida making a comment about the dreamer expecting food on the plate because it’s the normal thing to expect in real life, but if influenced in some manner, they could make gold appear on the plate instead. And Nilou instinctively created real life Padisarahs in her dream despite them not actually existing in the real life events that occurred. The future isn’t set in stone, it’s set in the expectations of today about the future. The past is easiest to find, the present is the easiest to change, the future is the easiest to shape. So … if the future reflects the present as it’s past, could one change the present to reflect the desired future? Wether these thoughts of mine will show up in the game or not … I guess we’ll just have to see. :D

[@Fezaki]

Every single one of your videos makes me appreciate the attention to detail of this game even more. This is one of your best I think.

[@roozeveltfox]

Wow, thank you so much! I did invest a lot more time (no pun intended) into this one, although mainly because time and fate are so broad and complex topics... but good to see it shows ☺️

[@Fezaki]

@@roozeveltfox It paid off, I don’t see a lot of channels focusing on the fine details of what is relatively small stuff like this book in the ways you do. It’s amazing what you can get from it. Truly blessed by Kaeya brainrot /pos

[@nara-yana]

_"This is fine. I'm okay with the events that are unfolding currently."_ ❤‍🔥

[@thesilentranger]

So this reminds me of a webnovel I read called "Perfect Run". Plot is a dude that can both set a save point but also stop time so a lot of time reversal shenanigans happen. But a thought from that story has always stuck with me. That yes we have free will and the future is not set in stone, but because in the moment of any choice we will always pick the same option due to our mindest and character at the time of choosing, so the future is immutable without outside influence pushing us to choose differently. So it reminded me of Narzissenkreuz's prophecy and wanting to become a descender. To change the future which the traveler does as the outside influence. As the video stated, fontaine always sank/will sink, but without the traveler it might have been a lot different in its execution as without them the trial of the hydro archon wouldnt have happened or atleast would have been different.

[@xLolwat]

Looooved this vid!! As an argentinian also super happy to see genshin referencing Borges 🥰 As a fun fact, the Narzi quest also references Borges! Specifically, Cater references The Circular Ruins a few times (another of his stories that have to do with free will vs time). Really cool.

[@calladricosplays]

Ashikai! I just started following them! I was just reading up on the lore in the Blizzard Strayer artifact set, and it mentions that the cold cannot freeze time, and that the hero (who went to the nation of war?) may someday lead all who have no home to the home of their dreams (Khaenriah? There are a lot of orphans in Mondstadt... And now I'm imagining razor and bennet rebuilding Khaenriah what could possibly go wrong). They were also hoping that the nation without gods may fare better against the celestial nails...

[@Natsumiuzumaki20]

I have watched so many genshin lore videos trying to understand what the fuck is going on, and yours have made the most sense to me so far! I love your video style. Feels like such a comfy and nonchalant conversation. This video gave me so much existential dread, yay philosophy! 😂🎉 Great stuff thank you

[@yaeggravate]

Time travel and Kaeya my two favorite things!!! 😌 More potential foreshadowing: in Kaeya's hangout, when you listen to Klee behind the door, she says Kaeya HASN'T read her the last two volumes of The Fox in the Dandelion Sea yet. The book ends with the reveal the protag is stuck in a time loop. 👀👀 Trying to escape the cycle, are we, Kaeya 🤨? You know that man is going to do something DRASTIC in the future lol

[@sianearl1402]

The desire to concure everything, even time reminds me of Celestia aredition of mankind (sorry for spelling)

[@naomiford5118]

22:15 yo, they’re referencing musical repertoire in the lore now? between this and your last video i CANNOT WAIT for more remuria updates 🤩🎶

[@roozeveltfox]

Right?? I can't wait for a Remuria update so you can point out all the new subtle music theory I miss 😂 (Also I feel like with the general Evangelion inspo we're destined to get a Beethoven symphony no 9 reference at some point too lmao)

[@CarlottaStudios]

As someone who got into Genshin because of Kaeya and whose Genshin-related thoughts keep coming back to him, it’s so satisfying to see these videos & theories keep coming back to him!

[@GoldenEyeLauren]

Most sane Kaeya fan

[@ehlannahfhey2347]

How you still have so little subs is beyond me. Thanks for cooking this up for us ❤

[@LLawlietJeNemLenEtRin]

YOURE COOKING SO WELL

[@The1andonlysharpshooter]

Idky but this has me thinking like, *do we even have time to visit all these unreleased places before shneznaya/kheanriah* ? We only get about one new place within a region fitted into every year (the chasm, chenyu vale, enkanomiya etc) *two* with some extra squeezes. And to me, just my opinion, it would be a bad idea to release these places every second patch from natlan going forward because that would be impossible to keep up with storage wise for mobile players. The reason I started thinking this is because you mentioned “the decisions” being important for our journey. These little fractions of opportunities. And I thought Are we gonna get to the end and then be brought right back at the beach, where we then explore *more* of the map (potentially even more outside of teyvat) to create more of these “fractions of opportunity” Maybe the chapter of kheanriah being so questionable is because its a weird culmination of our “past present and future” experiences in this world. Re-exploring the world but to the parts we never got to. “How about we explore the area ahead of us later 🥰”

[@worm2976]

HOW ABOUT WE EXPLORE THE AREA AHEAD OF US LATER 🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯

[@sthezh]

i think this is where the loom of fate may come in! we know the moon sisters are based partially off the greek fates who spin a loom of fate/time itself, and the moon sisters were said to have loved the morningstars if the morningstars are lumine and aether (i think ashikai has proved this well enough), then we already have a direct connection from the abyss sibling to the supposed loom of fate. to me, it sounds a lot like using one/more of the moon sisters (which we know are not actually dead) to turn back time. whether this be to return lumines descender status or for an unrelated reason, i think it also lines up with the abyss order’s previous actions. turning dvalin using the abyss? attempting to control boreas’ corpse? i think the abyss order is planning to try and control the moon sisters themselves in order to mess with time travel!

[@3u760]

(Sorry if my comment isn't coherent, English isn't my first 🙏) Yes! I always feel like time works like this in Genshin especially about samsara (I was thinking hard about the nature of Whopperflower before Fontaine released 🥲) and Istaroth. The fact that time is inseparable from space makes me think that if Istaroth is a part of PO (that seems to be synonymous with light) and the speed of light is the speed of causality, then it makes sense that she's the 'god of moment'. And when I think of abyss in Genshin, I always thought that it's related to space (or ~matter/dark matter/dark energy?) and Istaroth has some power to that. Okay, this is heavily a personal interpretation and I don't know if I want to go straight to the lore talk (I mean I'm sure people already get the idea of how time works) but: If light ever reflected to us (to our eye) it's always describe the 'past' right? (from where light reflect on some bodies first before that reflection brings information to our eye). Like, can we think that our minds itself like the two mirrors facing each other? Keep repeating until it found some 'crack' to finally over from that repition (problem solving)? Like, isn't samsara and its limitiation like a thought process? (I mean despite our brain irl really works like that or not) And I'd go as far saying that Irminsul kind of like the brain of Teyvat (the roots/branches are like the dendrites (👀) and the whole system is the like nervous system). Back to light (or waves) as information bringer; it reflect 'something' first before the perciever recieved that information, right? So I think this 'something' is important for light to shape information from that. I think this is why Genshin so obsessed with forbidden knowledge/abyss, as it's really important component to shape actual 'reality'. Since Genshin's theme is something about against 'fate' (and somehow it's mostly about living longer/against death?) let's called it humanity vs. fate for short. Genshin offered the concept of 'collective consiousness'. And even generally, I think to 'against' fate itself we couldn't do it alone, right? The power of friendship theme is really strong in Genshin (ex: if it hadn't been Zhongli, Xiao would be dead, if it hadn't been Baizhu, Jialiang and Jiangli also could be over). So..... if every human works together for changing fate? 👀 Actually, from what Nicole said back in Sumeru Archon Quest, She said: "Unfortunately, the fate of Teyvat cannot easily be changed. Perhaps a god may have a slim chance, but for anyone else... who can say." And she also said "history does not change easily, but human hearts can." Dainsleif as someone that seems to went through (a LOT, posibilly across many 'timelines' already by the look of it) even want to secure humanity with the power of /beyond/. I don't know if this fate changing ability really not enough with all humanity together or not. And If we agree that PO = all human, is this 'beyond' something another like PO, or it's the abyss? ... Ok, this is my true agenda for writing this comment: I initially want to gatekeep it but I guess I'll just to throw it out there. I'm also a fellow big Kaeya fan and very Kaeya centric for Genshin lore. 🙏 So... do you think Kaeya is more than just a prince regent with Alberich blood of Khaenri'ah? Knowing how dependant Khaenri'ah's 'fate' on Kaeya? Because... I do 🙂 (I have a lot of back up theories for this, and seeing the state of Genshin now, I don't think I'm too far off) ... Btw, very great video! This is the first time I commented on your video. Your works actually a big help for me to navigate Genshin's lore (and Kaeya's lore) so I wanna say, thank you! 🙏

[@KawaiiKittenz06]

This video was a doozey to wrap my head around I hope future/past me would understand it better

[@flutosan7764]

i love your videos because you always mention kaeya at some point. i love kaeya

[@roozeveltfox]

so true me too

[@thebuddhasmiles]

I too, love balls

[@memru9092]

12:59 also we see the garden of forking paths idea in hangouts where we can choose different paths. So it is directly applied to a part of the gameplay

[@strgz5329]

i am at 11:44, and all i can think of is how the future/past isnt fixed, but you can craft your own fate according to this book, as he goes and sets up riddles for himself, he gets to decide what happens

[@roozeveltfox]

the entire point of the block universe is that free will doesn't exist and he never had a choice. Even if that doesn't make sense - because in the block the past, present, future are equally real.

[@CatDoodling]

Hoyo does like getting meta, it would not surprise me if their way of showing this is having two potential options that can lead to slightly different events that lead back into the plot. When we the player think about the story we think of the events that will always happen but to the characters all of those choices affects them not just the one's the story makes. After all we kind of are god like beings to them literally being able to control them and collect their fate (Stella Fortuna and constellations) One could argue that where the ones who make the traveller a desender, after all we know that they are functional identical

[@Lemonorange367]

You have got it! There may be a world wide Samsara in Teyvat. Though the Traveler for some reason doesn’t remember, Venti and Scaramouche both tell the Traveler they have met before. Before he enters Irminsol and becomes the Wanderer, Scaramouche specifically tells Lumine the Jester told him, her brother lived with the Jester when the Jester was a royal Madge in king Irmin’s court prior to the 500 year marker for the cataclysm and the downfall of Khaenri’ah. 600 years? 800 years, 1000 years? That is where the timeline gets really wonkie. Maybe there is time travel. What ever is happening it feels like the Traveler is zooming down an interstate getting off on wrong exits, turning around and continuing on. Then there is Dainsleif. He seems to be much more sinister than people think. He lived in Khaenri’ah with the Jester as head of the guard prior to the fall of Khaenri’ah. Afterward when he became the Boughkeeper with access to Irminsol it seems it is his “mission” to control and manipulate Lumine’s history and her mind. Perhaps because she was supposed to be the Abyss princess? Remember Clothar and Colibear? Perhaps time travel or Samsara there? Clothar bitterly blames Lumine for not becoming the Abyss princess and saving Khaenri’ah. Poor Lumine can’t remember. Something triggered her. She constantly faints, goes unconscious, or has visions,(mosty when Dainsleif is around)! It will be interesting to see how the HoYo writers pull it all together! Love the lore and storyline!

[@wordsmith6154]

The ending there of the "Time Trekker" sounds like a Bootstrap Paradox to me. The "Bootstrap Paradox" is essentially the idea of a time traveler going back in time for something and when they realize that it doesn't exist where it's supposed to, they create it. Doctor Who had a perfect analogy for this that I'll share the link for below. Peter Capaldi can explain it better than I ever could. kzbin.info/www/bejne/q2W2dnewrtOAn7M However, to sum it up well, I refer to the end of the analogy: "Who really composed Beethoven's 5th?" In this case, who really spoke to the "Time Trekker" and told him the secrets of the universe?

[@roozeveltfox]

It super is a bootstrap paradox. And that's a fantastic explanation you posted!! (I have... never watched Dr. Who, but with every passing day, I find more evidence to get into it lmao.) I mean, I don't have any good solution for this (idk does anyone??). But the best I can come up with is a many-worlds interpretation...? which thinking about it now, would be super interesting given the other things said in Time Trekker. But also super complicated. Time travel hurts my brain. 😂

[@AJaxnn]

Bless you, bless your videos, and bless your dedication to make artwork for these characters as well. 🎉

[@arylbleu6912]

when you showed 13:39 I screamed like a goat, like irminsul vs sea of quanta? D: wth cubes from sustainer vs the tree? what does it meeeaan *explodes*

[@cinnamon4954]

thank you for your analysis on the book, i hadnt even found it until now. aside furina/focalors the travelers fit into this description a little too perfect, even more so i think. every major quest we've done, like the aranara quest in apam woods, the events are a repeat of what happened 500 years ago and was solved or helped by the other twin almost as if, we're solving riddles, we also know the abyss twin traversed backwards- starting from khaenriah and lastly in mondstadt just like the protagonist of time trekker will make the last riddle first and so and so, while his future self solves in the other way around, making the cycle complete.

[@theysisossenthime]

Jorge Luis Borges, now that isn't a name that comes up to often in casual conversations. One of the greatest Post Modern storytellers of all time. Also an author that will push your vocabulary. Thank you for this. P.S. Ashikai sent me.

[@roozeveltfox]

I've recently been reading a lot of his work and he's easily becoming one of my faves. Really thought-provoking author. Thanks for watching!

[@theysisossenthime]

Have you read Kathy Acker? She has a style that is certainly distinct from Borges (to say the least), but she is another of the great Post Modern writers and touches on, conceptually, many of the same types of ideas.

[@roozeveltfox]

@@theysisossenthime I haven't, but her works sounds really interesting! I will check her out.

[@renatevanfessem]

Paused it at 24:29 when Khaenri'ah shows up with "The Dream Yet To Be Dreamed". What if we go through a domain quest just like Caribert? To see what happened through the eyes of our sibling when they were there?

[@Sacration]

My mind is blown. Congratulations u did it again wow! Just amazing ✨️ So it must be!

[@sfjuhispst8144]

1:39 A Finnish surname in Fontaine? (References to Finland and Finnish things are rare in genshin, so I take note of them)

[@yannischupin7787]

Another character who uses a lot ''is that so'' and ''indeed'' (which has a meaning close to ''so be it'' in some aspects) is Zhong Li. And the thing is it looks a bit suspicious, given what you analyzed in the 4.3 book relates to the remark Hutao made to Zhong Li about how he only used these words in the lantern rite event. Of the same patch... It goes even further than this because, even though as fated by the live stream announcement, Neuvillette and him have been in the same area for a moment. This is the history of the future. But in the mean time Zhong took the path he preferred by fetching some tea thus avoiding Neuvillette. ''Is that so, Neuvillette will be here, so be it I will fetch some tea.'' In the end the most important comes in the answer he gives to Hu Tao's complaint : he just repeats is that so indeed. As if trying to fight the history of the future was vain as hu Tao did. And him laughing at this, being him stressing that despite all of this other path still exists.

[@kheisshakelly]

7:08 after that line about being prisoners of fate, this dam kaeya pic actually spooked me wtf 😆

[@perfectlystill]

One of the best lore videos ive ever seen tbh.

[@SleepMarshes1]

thank u for ur hard work! had a laugh because I heard some of my top fave OST tracks in the background, felt like my brain was spied on

[@roozeveltfox]

Thank YOU!! You have great taste in music!!!

[@KikiAmundsen]

Man this is some doctor who level stuff. For some reason it reminds me so much of how Clara literally integrated herself into time and died again and again to save the Doctor WHICH got their attention to the point that they had to track her down WHICH prompted Clara to become a companion WHICH led to her & Doctor arriving at that planet where she did the time stuff. And now because she's done it she would always have to embark on a journey with the Doctor because she herself became the thing that echoed through time. ...at least it's how I remember interpreting it five years ago when I watched the show.

[@calonkat]

I listen to videos while doing housework or playing Genshin. Really appreciate the warning for visuals!!

[@m-ksh]

Each time I see a reference to Borges's "The Garden of Forking Paths", I cannot help but point out how the entire concept of parallel universe and multiverse ended up being a complete swerve and red herring to the final twist of the story and the entire point of Yu Tsun's actions. The literary equivalent of a "shitpost", if you will. Borges really have a unique sense of humor

[@roozeveltfox]

Yeah, originally I had more about 'inescapable destinies' (with like, how the Germans didnt even need his messaging and Albert's fate was completely unnecessary in the end), but 1) I got pretty rambly lmao and 2) I still find it interesting thinking about the unsaid/unexplained consequences of Yu Tsun's seemingly inconsequential decisions. So perhaps I over-exaggerate a message of free will BUT I did want to simplify my comparisons for digestibility. If that makes sense, haha. (It doesn't help that I have one brain cell, and what I lack in brainpower I make up for with extreme labrador-level excitedness)

[@effortlessfury]

On your last note regarding Descenders, the analogy of time being the light bouncing between two mirrors fits quite interestingly with the fact that the Traveler is a Star. What happens when new light is shined onto the mirror?

[@roozeveltfox]

yesss! Very well put, I wish I had included that exact phrasing!!!

[@lilbitfurtheron]

It's been forever since I read it, but the description of the beginning scenes of that book reminded me instantly of the beginning of The Time Machine by H.G. Wells. I totally think they were referencing it (why wouldn't they lol it's like the first book that popularized the concept of a time machine in sci fi lol!) Edit: I looked it up lol! I'd be very surprised if they weren't referencing it, here's a quote from Wikipedia on the beginning of the plot of the Time Machine: "He explains to his weekly dinner guests that time is a fourth dimension and demonstrates a tabletop model machine for travelling through it. He reveals he has built a machine capable of carrying a person through time. At dinner the following week, a weary, bedraggled Traveller stumbles into the room and recounts to his guests what he has experienced on his journey to the future." Anyway I don't think anything else about the story is relevant, but it's a great book haha!

[@roozeveltfox]

Yeah! Good catch! It's definitely a reference, but I wanted to get into some deeper (or in the case of Argead/Die Hard, more entertaining) references. The writers clearly have some bookworms!!

[@Ananas-in-the-sky]

Always here for some Kaeya and Khaenri’ah mention ♥️♥️♥️ Love you Rooze 🎉🎉🎉🎉

[@zimagzeravla]

I didn't even know they added new books this version. Thanks for the heads-up!

[@ryukreya45]

As i heard the term Armor Fati i remembered the anime Magi the kingdom of magic, which has an evil organisation called amor fati. Also it used the concept of souls that look like butterflies and it used the Ars goethia names for djinns, which give power to humans they deem worthy, a bit similarly to how visions give power in genshin. Maybe i should rewatch it, it has been a while.

[@linmayo790]

years ago I was playing Chrono trigger and started some reflections about destiny (fixed timeline), arbitrariness (we make our future) and dennied destinys (the time has already been set but not just one and we constantly jump into another destiny based on our choices). this video brought me very mind blows

[@jollyhomse5129]

17:49 My thoughts actually, bc in fontaine the prophecy could very possibly be fulfilled by rene with his plan or the whale.

[@S_8_F]

So my thoughts from this video about descenders is that maybe you can only be called a “descender” if your “light” is bright enough to shine up new possibilities to break the cycle… though that’s just my thoughts and delusional musings, don’t mind me

[@lightefilit]

This reminds me how Doctor Who operates its concept of time. There are some "fixed" points in the history of the universe that exist, have existed, and will always exist. Those points can't be changed. However, everything that happens "in between" those points can be, as you said, "improvised" and changed. For example, on our Earth, Pompeii has to always be destroyed, however, HOW it happens can be changed. Similarly, Fontaine always had to be flooded, but how it happens was changed (aka instead of washing sins by death of all its people, Neuvillette removed (washed out) the sin altogether). As for the block concept and the forking paths, I personally imagine it as there is still a cube that represents the whole fate, but inside the cube there are several (thousands? millions?) threads that represent more specific passing of the time. Although, these threads are floating "freely" thus the past, present and future still exist all the time. However, these threads also occasionally intertwine into nods of important events that would be those "fixed points" in time. Therefore, the overall fate is still sealed with important points always happen the same, but there is some wiggle room by choosing which thread (path) to follow and how these events (or what leads up to it) occur.

[@adeang]

more on the whole script thing, we can access the scripts of all the archon quests, legendary quests and hang out events in the game. It could perfectly be that hoyo added an easy way to review quests dialogues and details, yes, but i still find odd that they are presented this way, like if they were canonically written beforehand.

[@Owudukan]

KAEYA HAS A FREE WILL Mona says that he can make choise and that will affect tyvat as a whole he is from a land that is translated as betrayera of wind (=1000 winds=istroth) Dhari =aetgistic eternalist khaenri'ah knew the truth I wonder what is at irminsouls root What if tyvat isn't a block but a prisma ! 3 realms ect

[@lilbitfurtheron]

The quote from Vera's Melancholy blew my mind. "The predetermined rules of equilibrium are slightly more powerful than me." There's a crack theory I have from playing Honkai Star Rail that the writers may be subtly hinting at the core of whatever the hell is going on in Genshin with the Aeon Equilibrium and their faction The Arbitrators. In the first Myriad Celestia trailer, the Equilibrium's name is accompanied by the word Samsara, which having recently finished Sumeru's quest, instantly caught my attention. I don't think that Genshin will end up connecting so explicitly to Star Rail, but if it were going to, we could discover that the Sustainer and whoever else rules with her are followers or Emanators of Equilibrium. Here are some of the quotes that got me thinking about the idea in the first place: "HooH and their Emanators influence the world surreptitiously, trying to achieve an ideal balance." "But universal laws have no control over time and space, and mortals can only pursue the beauty of the Equilibrium in a secular world by the elimination of radical extremes." "But the rules of mortals are always riddled with flaws. Out of desperation, the Arbitrators were constantly forced over the inexorable passage of time to patch up past fallacies and mistakes, forever shifting the hopes of the Equilibrium onto the next "patch." It's really that last quote that got me thinking. Especially now that the cyclical nature of the world in Genshin has been so well-established, with periods of calm and then great upheaval that essentially starts the cycle over again (complete with ancient history being nearly perfectly repeated in a new civilization). If the goal of whoever is currently in charge of creating the "rules" of Teyvat is trying to create a perfect, stable world, then every time the fragile balance between the abyss and the world above starts to get messed up, Forbidden Knowledge, etc, then they simply drop some nails, drop a new "patch" and see if the experiment works this time. I also have to add this potential connection here to the Time Trekker where he sends himself to Time 0, and this moment is the mirror of the future and present, perhaps both the beginning and end of something cyclical like a Samsara. Here's a quote from Star Rail, a person writing about the Equilibrium: ""I stole away the golden weights, and felt proud of the ripples stirred up. The Aeon always sees right through my tricks, and the stars reset the balance to zero."- Fables About the Stars by Adrian Spencer Smith" Again, I really don't think the two games will end up connecting to each other in such a specific way (I'd be blown away if the words Emanator or Aeon ever appeared in the game lol) but the idea is really fascinating to me, especially since Hoyoverse often makes similar references to lore concepts in their different games. (Like a recent cute Stardew Valley-esque Honkai Impact 3rd event that had some characters crash into a bubble universe in the Sea of Quanta and then say lines like: "If everything goes well, we’ll be able to fix the Hyperion and leave this bubble universe before getting found by the world rules." They also parody Star Rail's Interastral Peace Corporation with the Interuniverse Corporation in this same event lol)

[@roozeveltfox]

I definitely think that even if HSR and Genshin don't overlap, some themes and narratives do - so I'ma have to catch up with some HSR lore (like a lot of SU stuff 💀) to really give this the thinkin' it merits!! I often see others talking about Finality and I get a glimpse and I'm like, "this sounds relevant to my interests 🤔"

[@fuchsi9909]

This video tickles my brain so much, i will have to watch several times

[@whystaroth]

Ok I think I just had an epiphany so huge that I'm tempted to producing my own theory video.

[@netzilore]

I didn't even know there's a new book released in this version lmao Tbh I feel like with Fontaine Hoyo is trying to link Genshin to the universe of Honkaiverse step by step. There's a lot of similarities already, like Narwhal, fate and now the book which links to MWI theory upon which the entire universe is built. I wonder though why Teyvat feels so disconnected from everything else. Regardless, really good video

[@roozeveltfox]

Thanks Netzi! Yeah, I'm curious to see the direction, because my understanding (i may be completely wrong) was that it was supposed to originally have a lot of links, but then they decided to go in a different direction.... but also, I've already received a lot of excited comments from HI3 players pointing out related things (Hyperion the unsinkable ship of eternal return, some sussy Otto quotes, etc). So that does make me wonder, esp after thinking about MWI in terms of Honkai. Unfortunately I don't play HI3 or really know the lore, so I'm glad people are happy to point these out, hahaha.

[@GeneSysFNLT]

This brings me back to my thoughts on fate, and how futile it is to "defy" it. Fate is all that was, is, and all that will be. Attempting to defy fate is to carry out fate itself. Not because fate is a puppet master, but because fate is simply the end result of whatever decisions are made (or whatever situations happen) in the moment.

[@wanadzhar3031]

This was an awesome theory! Wish you spent more time on the implications bit at the end but 🔥 stuff!

[@pharuhs]

this hurt my brain but in a way that i was able to understand (i think lol) everything and im loving it! :D

[@theysisossenthime]

Eternal Return actually has an application in physics. I won't say that this is a well accepted theory, but it is at least possible. Physics tells us that there seems to be limited matter/energy in the universe. It also tells us that the universe is moving towards a heat death - entropy. But over enough time the insanely improbable could happen that could cause a universe with equally distributed heat/energy to collapse back in towards a single point and rebirth of the universe. Now the amount of matter/energy in the universe is at a scale that I don't think we can really conceptualize, but over enough rebirth cycles with limited matter/energy would eventually have the same configuration, no matter how improbable that occurrence was.

[@roozeveltfox]

I'm not a physicist but I think you're correct here. It's just that when I think of Eternal Return, I think from a purely-Nietzsche perspective!

[@parp2903]

The concept of 0 was quite interesting especially amongst the Mayans, I feel this book might also have some significance to do with Natlan. It wasn't just a numerical placeholder but it also had philosophical significance in their culture as well. Also samsaras, cycles, the fifth sun the Aztecs mention. All hopefully it all ties in nicely in Natlan. It all points to Natlan.

[@Ms.Mayhem99]

Yo roos, have you ever heard of warframe? Your description of the time block is almost damn near identical to thier own theory of time, which they call eternalism. They even have methods in game that explain how to access different points like what you described with trekker. Its cool if you havent heard of it, but i seriously recommned taking a look, it might help expand on your own theories a bit. Thanks for the content!

[@roozeveltfox]

I've only heard of warframe, nothing actually about it, but that's super interesting! Eternalism is actually a real philosophical term that people use synonymously with the block universe. (I didn't mention the term in my video because I was already throwing around a lot of terms, and I also didn't want people to confuse it with Eternal Return, since they're not related and different.) I'll take a look into warframe, it sounds neat. thank you for the rec and for watching!!

[@Nagatomo158]

Roozy! I just want to say that your video was awesome and it has explained some of the things that were very obscure to me but I just want even if it's not my place to say this but just suggest you on your presentation a little bit. Specifically how it feels like there's a lack of a conclusion or arcs while you're talking. You should take some unnatural pause or phrase a question in some way like Ashikai or if you want then bigger creators like Veritasium do. And put a nice background music to maintain the flow, even if your theory is very good and explains a lot of things people get bored and it's often hard to concentrate. You have to make the viewer feel like it's a conversation rather than a lecture. I really hope to see more from you. ✌️

[@roozeveltfox]

Thanks for the input! I've been trying to balance various comments (like 'talk faster/slower') for a while now, and I have some not-so-recent vids that I think have more of those pauses you mean, but maybe not quite striking the balance. But even now I'm still trying to find that good balance! So thank you!

[@Mxx67]

I appreciate all the work and dedication put into this! Amazing

[@felipecarvalho864]

you're AMAZING, I must say!

[@literallyarandomperson1898]

I don't know much about the lore cause i don't really read much but i had this theory that what if the abyss sibling died after the encounter with unknown god and that the traveller sibling is in a coma, making up/dreaming of a world where their sibling lived and they just got separated so they have to search for them. And their "abyss sibling" is their subconscious trying to wake them up from their coma and the samsara is the traveller being trapped in the dream again and again because they don't want to accept the reality that their sibling had already passed away

[@xentplays4348]

What if the "NOW" that we have is actually just a flashback of what already happend, it's just so that like in Final Fantasy games we can have an option for a second or third playthrough where we can decide which route to take for optimal gameplay. If the game refers to Celestia (Heavenly Principles) as Fate, then everything that we experience in-game is already predetermined. Since Teyvat is just like an artificial data world like in Hunger Games movies, and we as players have the power to change the outcome of events that happened like in Hangouts, it will be exciting to see what the end game story be like. I can already assume The Seven Archons and all of Teyvat fight against Celestia to free itself from it's authority and strive as an independent world without being managed by outside entities.

[@KianahSaro]

I'm a little surprised it took you 18 minutes to tie Kaeya into it! XP