Whats Up With That Weird Sampo Cutscene? | Honkai Star Rail Lore

[@greenstikbotyt]

sampo breaking the fourth wall is probably the biggest giveaway to his relation to Aha since both seem to realise their in a game/simulation

[@hailey857]

True

[@Maevix3142]

I kinda wonder about that, is he really talking to us (the players) or is he talking to the MC. Because I recall after waking up one of the MC's responses was he had a dream about Sampo. One first viewing I did think he was talking to us though

[@Nezxmi]

Or it was just Aha using Sampo's appearance. Which is probably more likely.

[@morenove5882]

@@Maevix3142 When you play in Chinese version, sampo will say “elation “ in this cutscenes, so I guess he’s definitely have relation with aha

[@auzjj]

4th wall?

[@melsuppatlol4565]

Sampo gives me the vibes of "pretending to be stupid but is actually a mastermind" He just seems way too clumsy for him to be this competent, leading me to think that he's doing this on purpose to appear weak and pathetic. To let everyone's guard down

[@twilightexposure8431]

Same way with Umi from Tower of Fantasy.

[@vercore4376]

Giving Venti honestly.

[@melsuppatlol4565]

@fumanchu168 I'm pretty sure it was said that George planned him to be a sith but because of Jar Jar's infamous reputation as being clumsy and annoying Dooku was introduced instead but yeah, the Jar Jar hypothesis

[@schonkigplavuis8850]

So he’s the Tobi of starrail

[@Maevix3142]

He definitely disarmed me, I completely wrote him off thinking he was a joke character which made the twist and reveal even more enjoyable

[@astro-byun]

he lowkey scares me cuz i get "wolf in sheep's clothing " vibes so i hope we get to see more of him in the future

[@saltandmorepeppurr]

it's either that or he's just a himbo lmao

[@goluboi_tramwhychik]

Exactly

[@astro-byun]

@@saltandmorepeppurr either way we love him

[@saltandmorepeppurr]

@@astro-byun ikr, he does reminded me of early childe vibe with the traveller (genshin ref) and I do love the character, so sampo is no diff lmao

[@bacongod5759]

@@saltandmorepeppurr he broke the fourth wall 😭

[@hirumakazeko]

There's a reason why we don't have sampo's story quest, but other 4* have

[@0332288]

Not so much 'other 4*s' as 'other Belobog characters', since Luofu isn't finished. I can guarantee we'll see Sampo on other planets, maybe even the next one after Luofu.

[@ArchChasm]

He does appear in one mission. The one about Cyrille 'The Fool'. That was the only time I saw him in any quest after Belobog.

[@exter9384]

He and March are also the only characters that the rating pistol can't rate. It gives off an "invalid" response.

[@flatline-timer]

@@exter9384 Jing Yuan also

[@animagkrasver9872]

@@ArchChasm he had the little side quest with treasures though?

[@soloinutile]

finally someone who talks about this awesome character

[@Maevix3142]

His lore is interesting but his kit is always super fun, having a blast using him in SU with nihility tree

[@zerackilaser6881]

Sampo main over here and I'm loving this

[@pinkfluffycute]

his design and hotness are also awesome im waiting for him to come home 😢😊

[@sumbunniii8721]

@@pinkfluffycute hotness? Lmaoo dude is such a clown I guess everyone has their type tho 😂

[@Voiceless_Cheese]

​@@sumbunniii8721 That's why he's attractive. Personally, I want him to die in a ditch, but I also love this guy to bits

[@spaceusagid00dles]

If it means Sampo will either play a more important role or show up later. Then I'm all in. I love his character and the mystery around him.

[@dryad003]

hes also hot

[@chromatide]

@@dryad003 that is very agreeable

[@Maevix3142]

The way they set him up it does seem like we will definitely see him in the future

[@D0NTHEMAN]

@@dryad003 agreed.

[@sugoma-nr7dx]

Same! Love this guy

[@muscadomesticlown03]

I think it would genuinely be funny if the more chaotic we act throughout the story, the more often Sampo will appear, attracted by our chaotic nature

[@Maevix3142]

Thats an interesting idea, I heard somewhere that this cutscene only appears if certain conditions are met but I dont know if its true. Would be kinda neat though if our choices affect which aeons (or their followers in this case) eventually talk to us

[@SagittariusAyy]

So he just becomes Goro Majima, then

[@Azai-]

@@SagittariusAyy Imagine having Sampo Koski everywhere mechanic in HSR:P "HELLO MINASAAN, SAMPO KOSKI DESU" while comming out of sewer xD

[@Artemi22]

@@SagittariusAyy Sampo will crossover with trash can lore

[@luciellawliet]

Oh boy, I am chaotic neutral so I’d be seeing a lot of Sampo. Honestly, I couldn’t complain. I love him (but I also kinda wanna strangle him at the same time for some reason)

[@sovest555]

Look, if Herta can be an Emanator of Erudition, Sampo can be an Emanator of Elation. Just saying...

[@DanielDaAbadSukarno]

Wow that's Bizarre Theory! I was thought he's a stelleron hunter name Sam

[@jasperreyes5174]

@@DanielDaAbadSukarno Why can't he be both...? I mean... Void Archives can both be Luocha and Elio at the same time...

[@AB-jt4rs]

​@@jasperreyes5174 Luocha is Otto and we don't even know what Elio looks like

[@everettjoseph6189]

Is it possible for him to be an emanator when his powers come from nihility?

[@jasperreyes5174]

@@AB-jt4rs There's more in-game dialogue pointing to Luocha being Void Archives... It can be proven or disproven with just having Dan Heng's group meeting up with Our Group... Luocha said that the person inside the coffin isn't someone important to him but is important to someone else and he is in Xianzhuo Luofu to deliver the person in the coffin to that unnamed person... He also said that Luocha isn't his real name but a name he registered with the IPC to be able to Trade across the Galaxy... Void Archives being a "Literal Record of Everything" from Previous Era of Honkai Impact 3rd might allow him to predict possible things that are about to happen like how Elio of the Stellaron Hunters does...

[@adamantine001]

Much like Kafka that brought the Express crew to Xianzhou just so they can work together with Jing Yuan and his subordinates. Sampo seems like intentionally buried himself in snow the moment he sees the Express crew coming to Belobog and indirectly making sure that the Express would defeat Cocolia who's under the Stellaron control through chains of events. He's also present most of the time. Dude also should've known he's holding three people with him and somehow, he just brushes it off saying he doesn't realize why he also brought Bronya to the Underworld. Just a thought.

[@islamsalimzhanov4399]

If not him, Bronya would never saw underground and wanted to unite overworld and underground.

[@yes78]

Watching a playthrough a 2nd time, i noticed a lot of odd things. Like when he brought natasha to help defeat svarog although he left before the negotiation

[@cortesyes]

Yeah he’s a pretty tricky guy. Disappears without anyone noticing and reappears at the right moment in the right place

[@yukichan177]

@@yes78 it was as if he knew the future XD i think hes part of the hunters, hes just stationed in belobog

[@Maevix3142]

The minute he said he had fun with the nameless his entire appearance up till that point was sus. A lot have mentioned that he might well be a stellaron hunter and knows the future to some extent which could be possible since thats what i thought too but i wonder whether the well planned actions of the hunters are considered fun by followers of aha, they seem to like chaos for chaos sake.

[@CelesNihility]

i personally think Sampo is talking to "us" the players, as we are canon in the multiverse. We are 11th dimensional beings who likes to watch "stories" and thrive for "endings". We are also referred to as "Time" and "The Singularity of Time". I think we anchored ourselves in Stelle/Caelus and watch their story through their eyes from our realities. and Sampo, being a Masked Fool, probably senses us. They are as good at 4th wall breaking as their Aeon.

[@vapecat5830]

Oooo, I love this theory and hope it's true!

[@eis6570]

*ORV-level of bullshittery intesifies*

[@ihaveathingforredheads3639]

idk why but it sounds scary as shit

[@CelesNihility]

@@eis6570 Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint? man, i need to go back and read it. I think i only read 10% of it.

[@huefoe4246]

I mean doesn't HI3 also referring us captain as higher dimensional being

[@shaktinayak5430]

The final cutscene of Sampo is not weird. It actually kinda makes sense . So think like this. Herta made a Simulated Universe and added the Aeons' data. But Aha, the Aeon of Elation, have figured out multiple times that he is living in a Space made by humans, but just doesn't cares about escaping or confronting it's creator Herta. So if Sampo is a follower of Aha, he has probably figured out that he is also living in a man-made space, and that last dialogue, "To you, my dear audience, I dedicate my performance..... I wonder, did I bring a little more joy into your lives", is for us, the players. That's a interesting 4th wall breaking moment by the designers.

[@Maevix3142]

I suppose i titled it that way because the first time I saw it, the idea he was related to Aha didnt really come to me and only later did I realize it was a 4th wall break similar to what Aha did in simulated universe

[@0MNlPRESENCƏ]

This aged like fine wine

[@Rayamin15]

came back here to say the same thing

[@LoveEachDay94]

Ohooooo I'm intrigued I can't wait to see

[@annatay6168]

The 4th wall didn’t just break, it was completely bombarded and shattered to smitherines by Sampo and I was so caught off guard by it.

[@snonyabeeswax]

when a 4th wall break is done masterfully you dont see it coming lol this is a 4th wal break done right

[@blacksiopao]

I honestly thought Aha was a reference to the 80s rockband who sang "Take on Me" which in that MV, the plot is the mixing of reality and fantasy.Heck, I'd say Elation is somewhat 80's themed with Rick Astley and the Disco Path resonance. Im beginning to believe that this group is just like how Deadpool is,which knows that they are a video game character. The part where Sampo talked to us as audiences was amazing.

[@_archie]

It's like the gold fish theory. Where we're gold fishes living inside the fish bowl, but there are people looking inside the fish bowl. Those people are the Masked Fools.

[@thahirshibu5042]

that was fucking freaky

[@Adrastheian]

the moment he talked to us i literally go “wait what? me? NAAAH BRO IS CREEPY” 😭

[@zenixvampirchik652]

considering how Aha programm - connected to Aeon knows that he is a programm... Could be true

[@eeveeofalltrades4780]

​@@Adrastheianhis current role in the story is made so that we wouldn't think much of the 4th wall break, but when you think about it, it's weird.

[@vorbibben]

One thing you missed; you can talk to dan heng about sampo right after the break meeting seele, he talks about sampo being an extremely dangerous person.

[@vapecat5830]

OhOHOHOHOOO- now I wish I was able to talk to him right afterwards

[@eeveeofalltrades4780]

Not sure if you mentioned this, but the place Sampo is in the cutscene is the Tempering Workshop, where Pascal was hiding, and during Pascal's quest the Trailblazer notices marks of human hands in the device.

[@aidantracelavigne3347]

Pascal?

[@planetnoodlee]

@@aidantracelavigne3347 the robot that Clara wants to save in her character quest

[@islamsalimzhanov4399]

good point i almost forgot about it

[@jammed_yam]

pascal is hinted from an npc who is tinkering with an identical robot and is trying to install a human speech module

[@Amethyst.i]

I didn’t even realize that!

[@Marm3ladi]

Fun fact Sampo Koski is a Finnish name. The name Sampo comes from Finnish mythology, the Kalevala to be exact. In the story it's a magical device that gives riches and good fortune to it's owner. Meanwhile the name Koski just means rapids and it's a pretty common last name in Finland.

[@Maevix3142]

Seems to fit with Sampo's weird need to scam and make bank

[@Marm3ladi]

@@Maevix3142 That’s true. But now I wonder why did they choose Koski as his last name, like is it just a random Finnish name or is there more to it.

[@atamumu.breakfast2807]

@@Marm3ladi fits with finnish name. Sampo, a device that gives riches Koski, a rapids or current Can be interpreted as "cashflow"

[@Marm3ladi]

@@atamumu.breakfast2807ohh I never thought about it like that but it makes sense

[@simplyasimp694]

I thought this was a pretty interesting detail the designers put into the game. For context, Belebog is a place that's based on Russia, and many characters have Slavic names (Bronya, Seele, etc). Sampo, however, has a Finnish name (which isn't Slavic). So, in a sense, Sampo stood out from the rest of the Belebog characters from the very beginning of the story. Like he wasn't actually a part of them or was different from them in some way

[@everettjoseph6189]

He really does feel like a harlequin type character(mostly from that whole sussy dialogue at the end of jarilo arc and all his ult battle lines)

[@zenixvampirchik652]

How he goes from uncertain - "I don't know, looks kinda tough..." before the battle, to agressive - "Good, the stronger the better!"

[@GHOSTYChoco]

I really hope Sampo comes back somehow, I thought he was such a fun character and his va makes him even more enjoyable! He indeed brought a little more joy into my life! Though, it's quite unlikely since there is a chance he's just a one-off character in Belabog, so somebody else from the Masked Fools from the current planet the Astral Express is in might stand in his role for said planet.

[@zenixvampirchik652]

he said he isn't in a hurry. Which means that he WILL leave Belobog. But later. Probably will not see him in quite some time, but I think it's a given that we will meet him again. Possibly even 5 star version

[@GHOSTYChoco]

@@zenixvampirchik652 I’m hoping 🙏

[@jadecoolness101]

He reminds me of Itto, but with some sinister vibes, and I'm living for it

[@Lmondrpz]

@@jadecoolness101 He's like if Itto and Childe had a baby together (somehow)

[@Yami-mugoni613]

@@Lmondrpz nah Venti he is even a wind character

[@abdurehmanmalik2980]

8:00 Not to mention it's implied Aha is the one who destroyed the Express before Himeko found and repaired it.

[@tiagocorreia5644]

Where did you see this? All ive found is that aha infiltrated the express and eventually blew up a whole planet. Nothing about destroying the express

[@abdurehmanmalik2980]

@@tiagocorreia5644 In SU he teases you saying he couldn't resist waiting for the Express for a year to blow it up (could of course be trolling as he is aware of the Simulation).

[@redsusoverparadise2700]

We do a little trolling

[@vuanhle537]

@@tiagocorreia5644 and half the express....

[@YunH827]

Aha exploded the Express as a joke back when Akavili was still alive which was very long ago, so I don't think it has to do with the Express Himeko found.

[@Cynicz13]

I recommend anyone here to also check out part 3 of the in game book shelf item "glimpses into the beyond" which has a segment about Aha which actually puts this organization in a bit of a different light and not just comic relief. When you also factor in that one of the first things Aha says to us is an apology for blowing up the train and the nameless causing it to land on Himeko's planet things get more curious. Aha is a master manipulator and as we now know from the Joyseeker segment of the glimpses into the beyond he is also capable of taking human form and has done so. I think there is a very real possibility that Sampo is Aha taking on a human form either known or unknown to the rest of the Masked Fools. I want to bring attention to the fact that Sampo uses bombs which is similar to how Aha (or his followers) took down The Express and we also know Sampo is capable of traveling planets which implies a greater ability than a mere grunt. Now sure he could have a vehicle or travel means somewhere on Jarilo-VI but we also know he has disappeared while we've been nearby numerous times. Whether he's just a Masked Fool, a Mourning Actor, an Emanator of Elation, or Aha himself he definitely is more than he first seemed.

[@IveBeenWithBruma]

I think Sampo actually is Aha. They are the type to directly interfere with the story while also subtly pulling the strings behind the scene. Also the fact Aha breaks the 4th wall constantly.

[@triggerfairy4070]

Outwardly itto, internally Kaeya

[@DeepbloodFang]

Sampo is easily one of the most interesting characters for me right now, and the reveal that Dan Heng is getting a 5* variant, gives me the hope that we will get a different variant of Sampo where he is his true self.

[@ngasalajamen69]

Finally someone who talks about sampo in detail

[@LongXue]

You forgot about the other faction of the Mourning Actors who follows the same aeon.... the difference is that Masked Fools wants to spread joy even if it's the cause of destruction while Mourning Actors plays in the shadow and are more serious....weird that Sampo is both who wants to spread joy doing shadowy performance behind the scene...

[@sleepiestbro]

maybe he's an emanator like herta?

[@juzahyodo3802]

Mourning Actors actually is the opposite. They detest Aha's way of seeking happiness and rejects him but for some reason, Aha is amused at them so Aha granted them his powers which the Mourning Actors doesn't really appreciate it lol. But nevertheless, Masked Fools and Mourning Actors have one thing in common: They are all crazy. Dan Heng is a witness on how crazy Mourning Actors are.

[@LongXue]

@@sleepiestbro no hints yet so far

[@LongXue]

@@juzahyodo3802 up, I lean to the masked fools too for Sampo because of his behaviour, but the way he does things is what gets me as he does what mourning actors do, yet speaks what masked fools say... actually not just dan heng but we you can also experience it yourself when you meet them in the swarm

[@Blazebread]

I also think we're going to see Sampo again and I do think the Masked Fools/Eha are going to cause unexpected incidents down the line. Cool video

[@vodka2.045]

I'm calling it; Sampo is gonna have a 5 star character design and gameplay later. Ain't no way they're just gonna pass this goofy dude who broke the 4th wall. It's way to good of a character.

[@freeeeeeeez]

first elation character lets fucking goooooo!?!?!?!

[@annawhattt]

no fr im banking on him having a trailblaze mission dedicated to him in the future i swear

[@freeeeeeeez]

anote thing i just realized: one of the NPC dialogues in the belobog museum quest thingy mentioned that "sampo" is actually one of his many fake aliases. so probably 5s sampo will be under a different unit name (which we already saw its the case with 5s dan heng)

[@JasperIllusian]

im also convinced of this bc of these reasons. dont know who exactly he is but.. theres no way hes not a big character in the story therefore gets a 5*

[@icantchooseamaindps6322]

If so im definitely pulling

[@ohwow512]

Finally sampo getting the recognition he deserves bru. My man saved us and helped us progress in the story much more than any other characters

[@Jepegish]

I'm sure the writers have something huge in mind for our boy. I have extra high expectations seeing as the HI3 writers are in charge of the HSR writing as well.

[@Lil-Goblina]

I think there's a good case to made for him being a Stellaron Hunter. We literally end up in contact with all the right factions because of him. He then continues to show up in-between story beats at just the right time to keep the MC heading in the right direction. Not to mention, us gaining the Preservation path fits perfectly in line with Elio's plan for us to eventually confront Nanook. He's also the only central character in Belobog we don't get much any backstory on and the only major player in Wildfire we don't get confirmation on how long they've been in the organization.

[@Maevix3142]

When I first saw the cutscene the first thing that came to mind was he is at the very least affiliated with the stellaron hunters, it didnt help that right after his cutscene there was a line from kafka about when the mc reaches the end of the journey all things will be answered or something. But since the only thing that came to mind was the hunters having a member named sam, i didnt really push the idea further but It is very possible that he is affiliated with them. It could be that hes playing both sides too, getting the nameless and hunters to clash for his amusement

[@Lil-Goblina]

@@Maevix3142 There's definitely a good case to be made a several directions. His lines during the dream sequence are pretty specific. I'm excited to see how his character unfolds. I'm glad the YT gods recommended your channel. It's so hard to find channels covering HSR that aren't doom spiraling about how to get ahead before the game has time to release any content. I wish people would just let it cook. lol

[@AdroSlice]

If I understood the lore correctly, the Doctors of Chaos are a faction essentially trying to cure the Aeon of Nihilitys depression and make it see some worth and meaning. So my little pet theory is that Sampo was actually speaking to it, rather than us when he looked into the camera, narrating the story of his chosen protagonist, us, to the Aeon, whilst playing his own part in what he feels would be the most entertaining way. That would also explain his trickstery demeanor and behavior.

[@vapecat5830]

woahh, i like this theory!

[@Maevix3142]

I know that the paths the characters have are not strictly lore accurate (sampo being nihility but supposedly affiliated with aha/elation) but this idea is now my headcannon as to why hes nihility. Theres really no rule that he cant be both, maybe hes trying to get aha to cheer up IX. Which now makes me wonder what would happen if he succeeds, would the path of nihiity disappear? Would IX merge with Aha? Is Sampo doing this to make Aha stronger?

[@aureliaavalon]

@@Maevix3142 Or maybe, is this weird two-timing exclusive to Elation pathstriders? Maybe we will see a set of characters affiliated with Aha/Elation who freely choose other paths just for a joke, just because they can. Since their Aeon will never give them up, let them down, and abandon them.

[@cryptidofthevoid]

This is super interesting and makes sense, in the simulation when you meet Aha first they figure out they are in a simulation and Herta is annoyed. Weirdly incredibly heavy philosophical ponderings in this one, its very much in line with Absurdism and how they are both metacognative or that "the agent is aware of the existence of the corresponding conflict" and that they play with seriousness of trying to find meaning in their lives and also how meaningless everything is.

[@Maevix3142]

Its also kind of interesting the parallels of his path and his belief (assuming he is one of the masked fools) since the path of nihility sees the fate of the universe as pointless and nothing matters so their believers are slothful and potray meaningless behaviours while believers of the path of elation just want to have fun overall.

[@cryptidofthevoid]

@@Maevix3142 I hadn't noticed that! It fits very well, Sampo is a philosopher through and through.

[@czeianamiguel5543]

I come from the future, he's an ex-masked fool

[@lauragrigoletto906]

I'm not sure if its just me but your reasoning about the masked fools and the aeon of elation reminds me of junko enoshima from danganrompa, who killed her own classmates and her sister and if I recall correctly brought the whole world into caos because she could predict literally everything thanks to her talent, which made everything boring to her. Honestly also because of this i too think that there's a good chance that they're not gonna be helpers most of the time but now I'm more curious of their future interactions with the nameless

[@Maevix3142]

Whats interesting is that Elio from the stellaron hunters has exactly that same ability (or so they say) so maybe Elio fits that criteria more in that hes just bored. As for the masked fools, at most I guess theyll just have a mutual understanding with the nameless but because theyre so aloof i would imagine even if they work together they might end up betraying them at the end just purely because of more fun. Theyre practically a wild card which I think makes it more interesitng

[@thahirshibu5042]

not specifically helpers, just being Unhinged theatre children fucking around against all sides

[@genesisofthebetween]

I was not expecting Daganronpa in my Honkai Star Rail theories

[@baltstop2702]

that could be spoilers for some ppl

[@MeltingRougeSoul13]

Yo thats massive spoilers.. Also sampo >>>>>>> that stinky incest weirdo junko

[@jasonimmanuel3384]

Sampo and Tingyun has somewhat similar aura to them, so my guess is that Tingyun is also a part of them.

[@sampofools]

ngl you could be onto something, she literally SELLS pictures of jing yuan and laughs about it. i love her sm

[@jasonimmanuel3384]

@@sampofools Their way of talking is quite similar too (in the japanese sound at least)

[@sampofools]

@@jasonimmanuel3384 i didnt notice that thats true actuallly

[@noahi.1381]

Tingyun could also be part of the Masked Fools, or she's just extremely social and foxy.

[@Maevix3142]

When we first met tingyun, the impression or thought that crossed my mind was.. this woman is gonna betray us, then later on I just felt like shes an overworked subordinate whos likely just tired from getting scolded by her bosses haha 😂. On a more serious note I did feel some sus vibes from her

[@rikkucrowe]

I didn't even realize this was in our dream cause belabog is very 4th wall breaking comedy

[@JJ-sd4kb]

sampo koski is one of my favourite characters, his personality as a cheerful person who is also a wolf in sheep clothing is hilarious to me and the voice acting is rly amazing also love his goofy hairstyle

[@Laurender]

I was instantly interested in Sampo because his name is Finnish (Sampo is a device that can create flour, salt and money from the national epic Kalevala, and Koski means rapids), and I love that he turned out so interesting on top of that.

[@hey7492]

Great video! As someone who's favorite genshin character is Alice, Im kinda amazed how quickly I picked up Sampo wasn't just a shady merchant like he was introduced to us at first. I definitely think that by looking at Alice's logic we can find similarities between the Masked Fools in general, and Sampo aswell. Very excited to see if any day they connect to each other since theyre my 2 favorite characters of each game :) Definitely think you're right and Sampo is from the Masked Fools tbh. Though I do see money as an important aspect of his character aswell, so im curious how they'll expand on that over the time.

[@Maevix3142]

I honestly played sampo off when he first appeared which made the reveal even better at least for me since i didnt suspect him at all. From what we know of alice she does have that "do what i want" aspect but she seems more altruistic and often does want to help others or for the greater good. What I like about the masked fools is that they may end up being completely unhinged and just be a selfish version of "I do what I want" which may lead to some really interesting twists later on

[@AKY7119]

Same even my favourite is alice, i wonder when we will be able to finally see what she looks like etc

[@hey7492]

@@Maevix3142 Yeah ofc, I didnt mean to say theyre 1:1 at all lol, just that their attitude is similar. And I think Alice does things for a ''greater good'' but just for people she cares about or get her interested. For the rest of people, she wouldn't care harming them if its for research, experiment, fun, or something similar. We have sooo many examples of that in-game. Honestly very very excited to see what the Masked Fools bring later in the story.

[@hey7492]

@@AKY7119 I wish they'd at least drop a Hexenzirkel lazzo video like they did with the harbingers, so we'd know what they look like and see them interact with each other a bit :(

[@eeveeofalltrades4780]

At first he just looked like Honkai Star Rail's Itto, so not very important, but then he started appearing more in the story, and it was revealed that he can travel between the Overworld and the Underworld, yet no one bats an eye about that. There's also how he disappears every time. I've never thought he would be *that* important, but something was always off. Until the cutscene. Considering he called himself the comic relief, and the Stellaron Hunters tend to talk about everything as if it were a game or a movie, Sampo may be a Stellaron Hunter.

[@konsanalite]

The unpredictability is really what gets me, ALSO if you have Sampo as a playable character, he won't make any footsteps or tracks while walking on snow in Belobog, implying that how hard would be to track this guy, and explain why he always gets away from the silvermane guards.

[@Redbeak94]

As he commented on the express crew, stating that he "doesn't have to be the protagonist" strongly suggests he has been involved with their antics before. He also asks us directly about our experience during Jarilo VI, as if he had something to do with setting the stage. My & one of my friends favorite theory: could he be Akivili, the founder of the express?

[@Maevix3142]

In the simulated universe, one of Aha's lines to the mc (who aha views as akivili, or at least pretends to) is that he was waiting for akivili on the astral express hoping to blow it up for fun. Wouldnt it be twisted if Sampo was involved with this somehow in the past and thats how he knows the astral express itself but perhaps not the crew.

[@sarethdarva]

In the Trails series (which Hoyoverse has professed to be a huge influence on their games), characters like Sampo are frequently high-ranking and/or intelligence officers for major powers, using the persona of a doofus to throw people off track. However I think the association with Aha makes even more sense--the capriciousness and hedonism of Sampo's character fits. A classic "trickster" character for a trickster god. Fun fact: when Sampo turns and seems to address us players directly, that is in theater terms called an "aside." Shakespeare regularly used that technique, which tells me that for Sampo, "all the world's a stage" and that we are, well, all (video game) players. Very clever if the Shakespeare stuff was intentional on Hoyo's part!

[@vapecat5830]

yes this! this makes a lot of sense

[@hungryhikaru]

So what if this was sparkle instead of sampo. He was saying "performance" and "break my heart" just like sparkle in penacony

[@zeroxgaming3584]

Imagine a plot twist where they reveal in story that sampo is not only a stelaron hunter but also ELIO FROM THE BEGINNING!!! I mean that’s will be wild if that’s the truth

[@rcl4737]

Sampo reminds me of Kaeya, Childe, and Kokichi all rounding up into one person

[@nigelxd3735]

Also a bit of Itto

[@jadecoolness101]

Yeah you can't forget the "Itto" in there

[@idontspeakjapanese6289]

@@jadecoolness101 He got the brawns of Itto but certainly not the brains, Itto has a peanut size one 💀💀

[@jadecoolness101]

@@idontspeakjapanese6289 Not so much the brawns of Itto as the "goofy lovable fool" act.... Only with Itto, it's not an act.

[@starrailsunday]

My theory is Sampo is one of the Stellaron Hunters. This is because the last mentioned member goes by Sam… I’m assuming Sam is Sampo’s nickname. Also, Elio is one of the core members of the Stellaron Hunters. in Finnish myth, Sampo is an object in a story that was written by someone named Elias. Elio = Elios = Elias. Lastly, the Stellaron Hunters are told to not harm Destiny’s Slave and help them navigate the world. Maybe Trailblazer MC is Destiny’s Slave and Sampo made sure we survived during the Belobog quests. He played an active role in Jarilo VI whereas the other Stellaron Hunters didn’t interfere or support us. Then in the last cutscene of Jarilo VI Sampo says he has to make his “curtain call.” I’m assuming this means he is following Elio’s orders and letting Kafka, Blade, and Silver Wolf fulfill their duties in Xianzhou Luofu storyline. Blade swears loyalty to Destiny’s Slave so maybe in Xianzhou storyline we will see him become our ally

[@Maevix3142]

It is very possible, right after the whole cutscene theres also a line from kafka about how at the end of the MC journey everything will be made clear (or something like that). I initially thought sampo was really jsut a hunter who was reporting to kafka on what the MC and nameless were doing. Alternatively, he could just be on both sides, a masked fool who venerates aha and a stellaron hunter. Maybe hes just trying to screw with both sides.

[@dinisfeed]

what a coincidence, my username is also Elias

[@azurimira]

I was thinking the same thing, I thought kafka would be speaking in the tv screen

[@kaitlyndoucet2151]

i get what you think, but during one of silver wolf’s interactions, she hinted at sam being merciless to strangers or surprises bc she said that “sam wouldn’t even give them a chance” referring to if someone snuck in or something. sampo doesn’t seem like that kinda person, i think he’s genuinely kind if not crafty. and a thief…

[@pinkward7371]

Aged like a sour milk xD

[@area8295]

His light cone is also pretty sus. It's as if he just somehow knows if someone is looking at him

[@macabremage6374]

Fun little note - listen to Sampo's voice lines *closely.* He's got a tell; every time he's screwing around, he adopts that trademark cheerful tone of his - the tone that drops when he has a serious question and he doesn't sound cheerful any more. Specifically, there's a voice line where he asks you how you did something, and he completely drops the faux-Boston accent. Sampo is a man with some very deep hidden depths.

[@huismands]

The tavern is called "World's End". It's mentioned in the Simulated Universe and certain letters.

[@Headshooter309]

Man all this stuff with Sampo makes me want to get him more as he is the only 4 star I do not have

[@hadiibrahim3880]

He's best girl fr

[@origami_dino]

With trash personality 😔❤❤

[@hadiibrahim3880]

@@origami_dino k

[@hirumakazeko]

An attractive walking red flag

[@hadiibrahim3880]

@@hirumakazeko he's a red flag but my favorite color is red . Jokes aside he's one of the best characters maybe not that broken in gameplay but still

[@jasperreyes5174]

@@hadiibrahim3880 Anyone who doesn't leave tracks on snow while running is a great character on my books... Sampo's Wind Shear is OP in Simulated Universe when paired with Nihility Aeon...

[@timmy5905]

His speech at the end is lowkey giving Pucks ending speech at the end of A midsummer nights dream.

[@Null82085]

I can’t wait for Sampo to be revealed as the physical manifestation of Aha itself

[@GiGitteru]

Aha is sillier than Sampo, Sampo is pretending while Aha is actually just a silly little feller

[@Null82085]

@@GiGitteru maybe our dear bud Shampoo really is just a goofy boi and any sense of seriousness is just and act, if that is so, he kinda sucks at acting lol

[@IO-hh3gw]

Why do I feel like The Masked Fools will ruin Elio's plans for the MC. Elio has a plan for the MC & the Express cuz like Kafka said eventually we'll face Nanook, she said we'll need all the ally we need before that time. I feel like they'll do something to ruin all these just to have a laugh.

[@Maevix3142]

That would be such a funny twist, like they have an entire plan and everything and aha just shows up to screw with everyone. That also makes me wonder with how 4th wall breaking aha is im curious whether Elio is able to see Aha's actions or he cant due to Aha being just that unpredictable

[@sakiamira]

Some spoilers: the only things you’ll get from his character story in the archives is the many, many disguises he donned. Now, this intrigues me because Sampo is a Pathstrider whose Aoen literally does nothing and believes “nothing in life matters,” which makes me interested in how Sampo strided on that path to begin with. So if him being with the Masked Fools is true, it could imply how they offered him something to be away from IX’s influence or he’s actively trying to change paths with them. Note: do correct me because I really wanna know how Pathstriding works in lore!

[@theals9605]

honestly i feel like paths as a game mechanic and paths as part of the lore are two different things, a lot of characters gameplay paths don’t align with the character even remotely (clara following destruction for example; that doesn’t make sense for her)

[@xeniasurm2491]

I believe the pathstridings are related to the correlated Aeons and most people are just a bit too nitpicky about them. With Sampo and Kafka for example, neither of them seem to be ambitionless or depressed like their path suggests they should be, yet they both stride on the path of Nihilty. I think it just depends on the interpretation, with nihilty for example, absurdism can probably also be associated with it: Nothing matters, but that doesn't MEAN nothing matters, all you have to do is make up and find reason yourself. Similarly to why Clara belongs to the path of Destruction and Qingque to the Path of Erudition, while it might not make sense of the surface, the mindset contributes a big part that may go unnoticed if you don't twist the interpretations a bit. I mean honestly I don't think the Pathstridings are as complicated as most people think, but the paths themselves are, and that's what makes it difficult for a lot of players to find the connections between a character and a certain path. Taking a broader approach at understanding the Aeons and their paths suddenly made everything fall into place for me personally, but that's just my experience. I simply couldn't find any other criteria that might connect Pathstriders to their Path, and since most of the Aeons ascended due to the complexity of their ideology in the first place, I think that'd make most sense lorewise too.

[@sakiamira]

​@@theals9605 i think Svarog had a part to play since the game treats him and Clara as a single unit.

[@sakiamira]

​@@xeniasurm2491 really hope they give more in depth explanations on how one becomes a Pathstrider or how some ended up with their Paths through exploring their backstories more throughly in game. Qingque is actually a whole lot smarter than how she leads people on. She failed her tests on purpose by picking the opposite answers just so she can get the easiest jobs and play mahjong more.

[@xeniasurm2491]

@SakiAmira [Must get Sampo E6] Yeah I hope so too, Qingque is probably the best example for the "isn't quite how they seem" case, the same most likely applies to the other units with more questionable Paths too. I assume Aha and IX are kind of connected when it comes to the Pathstriders since the Path of Elation doesn't exist as a Path units can follow in-game and both revolve around the "nothing matters" idea, just with vastly different opinions about it. Quite frankly if either of them bothered enough one would've probably absorbed the other by now, but they don't so they coexist. Aha most likely doesn't have a playable path just to mess with people lore-wise, maybe the irony of sharing a mindset with something so convers to itself is the reason why people like Sampo follow the Path of Nihilty, simply because Aha purposely fixed their will to specifically place them there with whatever tampering they do. The one character I myself am mainly confused about regarding the Pathstridings is actually Pela. She doesn't seem to fit anywhere that well. Erudition would've been the first thought that comes to mind logically speaking, but Erudition seems to be much more about problem finding and solving rather than information acquisition, the former of which surprisingly not being found in Pela remotely as often as I expected it to be. She just kinda likes knowledge and doing her job it seems, so it's not that odd she follows a different path. But Nihilty? I don't know a lot about her character so I maybe there are just some things I overlooked but I really can't wrap my head around why HER path is nihilty

[@crowzet0]

he's the final boss

[@chachatje]

What if sampo dies if he doesn't continue being a "joke" like the worm? which could be why he says "you'd break my heart" so dramatically

[@alisach.3014]

His character story is just as mysterious as the "dream" dialogue. Sampos ability to change into a woman does not seem to be something as simple as crossdressing. The way that story goes makes me wonder if he has an ability to affect peoples cognition. First of all, it is strange that he keeps using the same alias “Brughel Poisson”. Even if we assume that he created multiple forged identities for himself it is dumb to go by the same name each and every time. The Guards would quickly notice smth strange (Belobog is not that big to begin with) so to me it feels like he is confident that the name does not matter. He is certain that he can trick everyone and the only explanation I can think of is cognition manipulation. That would also explain how he, who seems to be someone from outside Yarilo-VI, managed to integrate himself so smoothly into a closed up and relatively small society of Belobogs Underworld where everyone knows everyone (more or less). I always found it strange how no character in the Underworld seems to find his presence unnatural even though this grown man just suddenly appeared there one day anhow he seemed to frequently vanish throught the Belobog story. PS some people in the comments also mentioned "glimses into the beyond" where it is mentioned how aha sometimes takes form of a human himself, so maybe "ability to integrate themself into socirties to have fun" is part of what an aminator of Elation can do

[@0kaiKai]

For how many years Sampo was sitting on Jarilo-6? It seems like he was there before Underworld lockdown.

[@nyarlathotep-thecrawlingch6335]

It could be just a few weeks or months actually, he disarms people by pretending to be dumb, he could very well just have appeared, lied about being there all this time and everyone just believed it

[@memecat7018]

I'm not sure if anyone else pointed this out, but when Sampo is talking to the unknown entity between 1:43-2:10, you can see his eyes under his hair, but after that sequence, his eyes are obscured once again. Perhaps it's just a lighting thing, but maybe it could also mean to pay more attention to what he says here. Edit: I might be reading too much into what may be nothing, but perhaps it could mean that in this scene, he is "being transparent" with the entity, presumably someone within the masked fools. This could kinda make sense, assuming that the masked fools is where he really belongs, and he wouldn't have as much of a reason to lie to them, unlike when he is with us, the trailblazers, where he puts up a front, and acts all suspicious around us. It could explain why his hair is transparent when he talks with the entity, and why it isn't when he is talking with us, the audience.

[@Yuki-dj5zg]

To be honest, Sampo was so fishy from the start (not just because of the 'betrayal') his whole character felt like he was trying to act stupid, this man was so fishy. This feeling kept irking me throughout the story until that last scene fully put it into place, where I thought he must've been related to the Masked fools or Elation in someway. His path in game does say Nihility but I feel like Elation's path is the only one that could allow for deviation into other paths "Just for the lols" to pursue elation idk they were the ones that rick rolled us so I expect nothing less and, I'm expecting a Team Rocket crew when we finally meet (who knows maybe Sampo could be the James of the crew!)

[@0332288]

My guess, he's a Doctor of Chaos and/or an Emanator of Elation. The former because he's on the Nihilism Path, the latter because he can break the fourth wall, something that Aha seems to be known for based on his SU behavior. I actually don't think he's a member of the Masked Fools, since his behavior doesn't seem extreme enough. This doesn't disqualify him from being an Emanator of Elation, since Aha is known for giving out his power to even those that completely oppose his ideology like the Mourners. I wouldn't be surprised if Aha has an affiliation with the Doctors of Chaos, since the Doctors' ideology is about finding and spreading hope, which is adjacent to joy. Sampo himself, as much of a troll as he may be, is clearly a benevolent rogue that's come through for the Trailblazers at every turn, and earned the begrudging trust of Wildfire during his stay, not to mention being one of the few people to humor the Moles. This seems in line with the ethos of the Doctors of spreading hope, just doing it in a more chaotic way. But who knows? For now he remains one of the most intriguing characters in Star Rail for me, just for how charmingly mysterious he is. His absolutely stellar VA helps a lot.

[@sampofools]

so glad you brought up his va, every time i use him i switch from jp to eng bc his VA just did such a brilliant job

[@olivergobrrr2935]

I personally believe that the Doctors of Chaos have nothing to do with him, and that he's simply an emanator of elation. Firstly because gameplay path is often not equal to their actual path, most of the time, and because hope is not necessarily always adjacent to joy and pleasure (see the devlog talking about Aha in the Simulated Universe).

[@girlwithluv7821]

what’s this 4th wall?

[@kurodomingo117]

It is possible that sampo is an emanator of aha, because in SU Dev log 1 shows the description on the aeon aha where herta stated that aha has even given even a worm a part of its power becoming its emanator and it was done purely as an act of impulse from aha 😂

[@jessiellanes3004]

For some reason elation shenanigans remind me of otto apocalypse aka clown alpha Also imagine if we get to fight rick astley as a boss and boss music lyrics gonna be never gonna give you up lol 😂😂

[@herschburdon9448]

Imagine if hoyo pulls out the actual rick astley to sing an ost on a boss that is aligned with the masked fools

[@JayskaTeag]

The speech at the end, especially the end-end of it, reminds me of Puck at the end of A Midsummer Night's Dream

[@Liv-ie4xl]

The thing is if you choose friendly options for Sampoo (It was at the end of the story). There comes a narrator telling it’s better not to trust that much Sampoo

[@gheist966]

this man predicted Sparkle.

[@yooonavarro309]

She hates sparkle because she cant read the room😂

[@gachaleaf1551]

Something I thought was interestin, was in relation to his name. See his name is finnish. Koski being a quite popular finnish last name and Sampo being a magical device in the finnish mythology, Kalevala, that brings riches and good fortune to its holder. Eventually it would be stolen again by Väinämöinen (who originally promised it to the witch in the first place) after getting jealous and in a battle it was dropped into the sea. The Sampo is sort of a World Tree in finnish mythology. But this hasn't been the first time there has been a finnish name in Honkai lore. In fact according to my friend, Welt's original/true name was/is Joachim Nokianvirtanen. And while Joachim isn't finnish, Nokianvirtanen is. His wiki even states that his origin is Finland. (Welt on the other hand being german, perhaps as a call back to how Finland and Germany worked together for a bit during ww2) Virta meaning a river and there even being a river called Nokianvirta in Finland. So maybe it's possible that the two are related somehow. Either through story or through blood. Sampo does have blue hair, similar to Welt Joyce after all, Welt's predecessor. Still not convinced it's related? In Honkai Impact 3rd Adventure, Welt even has a father, Elias Nokianvirtanen. And what is his nickname? Finn! Very clearly pushing the fact that the names being finnish has some greater meaning, especially with Finn, according to his wiki, mentioning Finland's Saunas. . (Ps: The Wikipedia article actually gets the lore on Kalevala wrong, claiming the Sampo was stolen by the witch from Ilmarinen. In truth, the witch saved Väinämöinen from drowning, who then promised her the Sampo to be let free. Ilmarinen was additionally promised the witches daughters hand in marriage if he made the Sampo, which he did. The Sampo always belonged to the witch)

[@skiffee1134]

One part of this that I've never seen mentioned, and could totally just be me looking too deep in to things, is Sampo's voice. It's a really simple thing, but from the moment that I met him, I've always wondered if there was a reason he speaks in such an odd manner. The way he is constantly going back and forth between low and high pitches, adding weird and ever changing inflections, etc... it all kinda embodies the Aha 'swinging between extremes' and 'being unpredictable' stuff.

[@meepswag35]

His line about the guys and girls at the tavern makes me think of the occurrence where it describes the “tavern where the masked fools gather”

[@sunflower478]

Bro i was so weirded out from this scene. My first thought was: Why haven't i seen anyone talking about THIS ?!?!?

[@sutaichiban]

little thing i noticed is that his pauldron kinda resembles a mask.

[@azurimira]

Whats a pauldron

[@sutaichiban]

@@azurimira shoulder pad armor

[@asmrslol848]

Sampo talking to an audience, MC literally having an narrator that talks with them. It’s like… book

[@annaairahala9462]

I was questioning him as soon as I found out that he had a way to get back and forth from the surface and wouldn't divulge how. Then there's the matter of how we met him too, when later it's shown multiple times that he's actually really good at hiding. The final cutscene just sealed it for me, that something was up with him and we'll be seeing more of him in the future. Only thing holding me back right now is that it seemed he was on belebog long enough for everyone to know him and the fact that he's a 4 star when all other major players are 5 stars right now

[@al103]

Sampo is outright named in Stellaron Hunters entry by name. Unless there is another "Sam(something)". Well, unless IPC is sorely mistaken about his affiliation with them which I find unlikely.

[@Maevix3142]

The member mentioned as part of the stellaron hunters is just named sam, it could end up being sampo and I did initially think it was him but since its only a close mention i thought better to omit it for now

[@vukkicos5688]

​@@Maevix3142 I also think Sampo was Stellaron Hunter, simply because he dipped in and out whenever we needed him/didnt need him, similar to how Kafka does things according to Elio's "Script". Them not having absolutely any invlolvement is kinda sus when you think about it, especially when you remember Kafka said they are trying to get the "best possible future" to occur. Also, him not using his real name is probably so Dan Hang wouldnt realize he is a stellaron hunter, which I assume will be important later down the line.

[@adamiqmal9627]

I think it isn't so far to say that he could be affiliated with both groups because i don't see any reason to suspect that these two groups would be in conflict with each other, Quite contrarily, both groups goal compliment each other in that the stellaron hunters provide the perfect "hunting grounds" for the Masked fools to operate

[@kirin1230]

Can someone try in a different language to see if the names also match up? That would rule out the similarity being a coincidence.

[@Sakuyamon]

@@Maevix3142 I think its too much of a coincidence that the Stellaron hunters have a Sam and we have a Sampo. Its basically a Chekovs gun, and it will need to fire in some way...But honestly, considering what Sampo is like, I do not think we can trust that Sampo gave us his real name to start with. And I wouldnt dismiss the idea that he is involved with several groups depending on what he need or want.

[@sampofools]

also, the gun that scores based on threat/power level rates sampo as "invalid" which it also does for march, so obviously we dont know all about him yet

[@chantararix]

What if March is also an Emanator, but of Fuli. 👀 it's far-fetched but it is fun to think so

[@EtherealRune]

Don't forget that the story of HSR is apparently some sort of loop that happened before. It seems like Sampo is "out of the loop" and aware of the situation somehow. Difficult to tell whether or not he belongs to the "bad guys" - If I had to take a guess I'd say he's more one of the guys that need the MC to succeed and for that he needs to introduce the MC to his organisation (remember that is was Sampo vanishing suddenly just to get to Natasha to help out when it mattered). Anyways, definitely the most intruiging character so far.

[@dragondreamer2662]

During the 4th all break my first thought was "He knows" caught me completely off guard. Looking forward to seeing him again in the distant future

[@seijumimurasakibara5516]

Sampo is super sus i cant fathom why people think he's just a comedic relief. The fact that his facial expression looks like he's apologetic for ditching the trio or so but his voice doesn't portray that honestly gives me the sussy chills. I'm also interested who he was talking to before he broke the 4th wall

[@Teldarin]

I love that we now have confirmation thanks to 1.4's Space Pokémon event. It makes so much sense now. Of course a follower of Aha('s Path) wants to make sure that we had our fun. And maybe Sampo's fourth wall breaking monologue was also more serious than just being a meta joke. The replicated version of Aha in Simulated Universe is self aware and knows that they are fake. Maybe this trait is also somewhat present in The Elation's followers.

[@Maevix3142]

Yes i was kinda surprised they confirmed it there plus oddly it was in a memory bubble.. like who would create that and leave it there for someone to find. Plus i get the impression that sampo isnt your typical masked fool and seems to play by his own rules

[@SchwarzieKun]

So I had a thought a while ago but what if Sampo, and by extension, most if not all of the masked fools, are actually aware they're "in a simulation", by how Sampo is the first character to break the fourth wall, just like how Aha is always the first to realize it's part of the simulated universe, that's why Sampo is says he doesn't want to be the protagonist, and he is just the comedic relief, roles he knows he is, and actively abides by, which is also why he almost always disappears during the most tense moments in the story

[@idtyu]

Sampo is that guy that will never give you up, never let you down...

[@ohamatchhams]

This is also interesting to note that aside from Aha, there's many characters in Honkai Impact which are blatantly able to break the 4th wall alongside self-awareness to varying degrees of capability to exert such degrees, all while the cosmic Knowledge is considered to be extremely important in the Metaphysical and Cosmic aspects of Honkaiverse as a whole I give you explicit evidences via how the Ai Chan(s) (especially the latest revealed Lambda Ai Chan as the leader of the A.I mascot service which acts as the communication service (literally as admins) to Captain of Hyperion (also known as Mr Assassin as his largest fragment of consciousness with his consciousnesses prior break into amalgamation of players from the obscure Odd Drifter event back in 2019 & 2020), although Mr.Assassin (and to a more grim and colder extent of Ferryman) is able to exert 4th wall breaks in different scattered events of his Valkyries birthdays, Valentines' Day, big holidays especially CNY back then, etc to be even more intense sometimes by clouding parodied brands and franchises pop culture references which makes Mihoyo alluding to Rick Astley memed song to be not-so familiar alongside veteran Captains of Honkai Impact This hyper-self awareness on top of how Captain of Hyperion is showing to exhibit extraneously feats and abilities in older "Captainverse" events to travels to various universes in Sea of Quanta and perhaps even to parts of Imaginary Tree by his scattered persona and alter-egos (that unfortunately was sidelined for an entire year back in Elysian Realm arc narrative development), which were even involved in the last battle of the part 1 of Honkai Impact's main story (much to the newer players' cluelessness or even EN-Honkai Twitter's ignorantly un-based disdains of the Captain's existence to their more... infamous one-sided fanon-shipping elements, but that's for completely different discussions), and mind you, not even the most powerful characters in Honkai Impact whether of Durandal to 2-3 Flamechasers (Su or Kevin in his various later forms) nor even Finality Kiana is able to easily tamper into multiple worlds without having severe drawbacks or requiring tediously entrenched Mihoyo mcguffins and layers sci-fi mumbo-jumbo (usually plot devices and plot armours combined) to be transplanted to each of these characters, meanwhile Captain and Ai Chan are able to bypass the multiversally adaptive immune systems of The World known as "Honkai" to be able to save various "misfits" (as Ferryman consciousness put it by his regrets) to take more Valkyries into his Hyperion Ship, alongside how Lambda Ai Chan was born in the Crystalline womb/cocoon in similar manner of Elysia and March 7th were, albeit Lambda Ai Chan was able to exert greater authority of manipulating the in-game datas and universes of Honkaiverse to varying levels of difficulty curves to help the main story characters and prior to Captain of Hyperion to literally fixes the game by breaking the 4th wall so many times that you put your suspense of disbelief and have "Captainverse" events produces the best of events which Mihoyo dev team(s) ever made despite the measly amount of budgets they poured compared to every single other events and stories or any of their newer games Captain-related events in Honkai Impact was the in-game starting point of Mihoyo doing extremely risque yet well paid-off experiments which built the metaphysics of Honkaiverse and how it's literally tying up and (mostly) well-planned sequences for years and years in the making, their ambitions to make multiverses with the underlying Metaphysical foundations with all of the aspects, elements, real life to pop culture inspirations are mainly excellent and it's makes me sad of how so many newer Honkai players hates the Captain so much just to maintain their newer petty fanon of yuri-shipping gatekeeping, I've seen some of my friends quitted Honkai Impact and gets to stay and even expands in other games, sometimes not even Mihoyo games just to spite the more "real life" aspects of the fandom, but as someone which plays this game since early 2018, Mihoyo had and still ever-connecting their games' lore in the most impeccable ways for gacha game industries with little-to-no stupid retcons which even both MCU and DCEU in big Hollywood productions suffers from way too much cooks in their multiversal ovens, (alongside the more insidious newer tropey elements which makes people appalled from continuing MCU for an example, subsequently reducing their extended universes-quality, unlike of how well-calculated Mihoyo's nods to these and a lot of the times used it sparingly) Tl;dr: Gushing of Mihoyo's attention to details as a long sticking Honkai Impact player aside, I hope they do more newer "Captainverse" events while tying it further with their other games even more frequent especially with the sci-fi aspects which ties it together, just like the Genshin collab and even Evangelion collab, although they need to be more showy and given more budgets so people are attracted to play and top-up Honkai Impact again tbh, it's only a matter of time before they returning better romances and familial festivities into Honkai Impact again like the Reunion Dinner of CNY 2020, it was affectionate yet touching and pure in applications and intent, even with the fanservice as their cheesy yet classic self-proclaimed "tech otakus" moniker

[@finnality]

Also when you are about to unleash ultimate you can hear different sounds with different characters. With Serval it's crowd cheering just like a concert, but with Sampo it's some creepy whisperings

[@Maevix3142]

Really? I never noticed that, have to turn up the volume and pay attention next time

[@finnality]

@@Maevix3142 also rating pistol can't rate Sampo

[@padung6018]

I am currently reading a lot of Honkai Star Rail on wiki, and I agree with the Aha one because Sampo always refer himself in the third person like Aha and Sampo is also good at disguises. I have a theory that he even teach his disguise technique with Julian, the mole that can change into an adult. Like how can a child do that sort of transformation on a place that is sealed like the underworld. And I also have a whack theory that Sampo might be Dr. Primitive. He's a part of the Genius Society that invented some gravity boots so that he could get away on his crimes, explaining him disappearing almost in an instant. And if you look at his lightcone, he was looking directly on a sniper, and you could see on the background, a guy in a black tie and suit, which I haven't seen someone wore on Belobog. And if you read about the galaxy hunters, they are hunting Dr. Primitive with snipers. And even he's good at inventing stuff. He built a protective gear, with the same ingredients as the high tech protective gear, except that he exchanged the metal part with trash because he's cheap

[@aplhakaizer07al0kai]

he must be a stellaron hunter now that think about it the event when they got stuck on jarilo 6 is quite intentional and him saying "the curtain fall" is equal to "my job here is done" and how he talks on someone in that screen sound like they test the express crew ability on jarilo 6, which ended up they passed the test which is the reason why kafka finally meets them and give them a new mission which is forcing them to go to loufu which is coincidentally near on there current location. so in the end the whole express crew is now under elio's script note: i think stellaron are actually a souls of a dead aoen and theres a chance that the akivilli's soul is the one inside the mc no wonder when we entered SU almost every aeons appeared before us, which never happened before as herta's mentioned

[@juzahyodo3802]

With Aetherium Wars, we now have a confirmation that Sampo is indeed a member of the Masked Fools. And it looks like we will be seeing him on Penacony and possibly another member of the Masked Fools (the "She" that Sampo is talking about)

[@Maevix3142]

Yep, but the confirmation was rather weird like why through a memory bubble. Did someone overhear them and decide to make one and leave it there for us to find? Penacony seems like its going to be crazy, we might likely see masked fools, the family and the IPC there all at once. Really curious what will happen

[@juzahyodo3802]

@@Maevix3142 we'll see a LOT of factions in Penacony since The Family invited all factions they can invite. That is why Argenti will be there and he is a member of the Knights of Beauty. We can exoect to see members of Intellingentsia and Genius society members there too.

[@anyichibuogwu9086]

As soon as I got to that Rick roll line I literally almost closed out the video LMFAOOOO. I was like no shot this was some elaborate Rick roll

[@Maevix3142]

I was tempted to do it at the end of the video hahaha

[@Mochachocakon]

I think he is a part of this group while also being in League with the Stellaron Hunters. He just happens to always be at the right place at the right time and "accidentally" kidnapped Bronya to kickstart the rebellion against Cocolia.

[@simplyasimp694]

There was a recently added achievement in the game called "Confession of the Mask," which is a memory bubble of Sampo talking to a character named Giovanni, who refers to him as a fellow Masked Fool

[@Maevix3142]

Yep I found this too after clearing the atherium wars event, nice to know it ended up being accurate haha

[@aliv6321]

If anything I think IX is interested in the MC and took the form of an "acolyte" of nihility in the dream. Nanook has tried to IX kill early on, and nihility and destruction seem to have a similar domain in which they could potentially conflict for absorbtion. Even though IX is described as "peaceful". Knowing 4* may get 5* versions i wouldnt be surprised if Sampo ends up playing a larger role in the war between the Aeons as Nanook's agents become more active.

[@the_delusional_dreamer]

In the Simulated Universe, it mentioned that Aha used to disguised as a human (around the time Akivili was alived) and joined Nameless for a year before decided to blow up half of the Express for "fun"

[@berlinBP64]

Deduction on point. 💯. Everything he said in the video proved to be true in patch2.0

[@itsnyxiechu]

i feel like sampo is actually self-aware he's in a video game

[@Kvjesm]

In the info place in a category called "stellaron hunter - ???" It says "...blade, silverwolf, sam... The four mentioned above dead or alive" -sam probobly means sampo

[@Kvjesm]

To get there you go to data bank - cancer of all worlds - press antimatter legion - then scroll up to stellaron hunter ???

[@Nalgothia]

Aha really said “never let them know your next move”

[@goodman5993]

If aha could realize they were in the simulated universe, could sampo have known he was in a video game?

[@cherruibam2207]

You always have to watch out for the comic relief.... they always be entertaining you enough so you don't question their actions

[@Maevix3142]

That what caught me off guard in the first place 😂

[@ancientspark375]

I think with regards to what the Fools are after, the Simulated Universe text is pretty telling. Aha specifically misses Akivili, but also says that their fall has caused the world to fall into chaos which is "what they want" This might be mad-man rambling, but if we take it as its word, it might imply that Akivili's fall and the ensuring chaos was the punchline, but now the joke is starting to get stale. So helping the Astral Express and re-establish order might be either the new joke or be required to re-order the universe as a setup for the next chaos as the next joke. Or maybe Aha wants to play more pranks on the Express like how he told the story of blowing up the Nameless for no good reason.

[@dubiouslobo9190]

I would like to quote Hektor from Fate/Grand Order "A genius who acts like an idiot is much more dangerous than an idiot who acts like a genius."

[@Miandey]

Aha broke the forth wall in Hertas simulation and now with us. Sampo is the guy without footprints and he vanishes when you look away for a second (savrog) An Emenator at least. Well done!