Who is the Shade of Death? [Genshin Impact Lore Theory]

#genshinimpact #genshinlore #genshintheory
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[@lnsflare1]

It's Qiqi, she just forgot. She's also the 10th Fatui Harbinger, and also forgot that.

[@georgelooney8949]

Qiqi approves of this message. Qiqi also approves of cocogoat milk.

[@fancymustache3793]

​@@georgelooney8949 Qiqi forgot this messege

[@sMv_David]

Qiqi is Phanes and the legendary cocogoat is the shade of death.

[@losetthewaytogo]

Qiqi is everyone focalor,nahida,raiden,zhongli,venti,phanes. Allll the shades and most important UR MUM

[@crewmatewillthrowthesehand7600]

You might be onto something

[@huimonkey5070]

There's a crack theory in the CN community that Zhongli is the Shade of Death, because in chinese his title is 岩王 (Yan Wang) which sounds EXACTLY the same as the Chinese God of Death 阎王. (And their color scheme is basically the same too.)

[@victorpedrosoceolin3919]

"death" working for hutao, fitting i would say

[@chimk1nb055]

To add, if I recall correctly, some of the adeptal abilities are related to being able to interract, guide and summon souls. Same thing happen to the resurrection of Qiqi by the adepti in the past. And the Yakshas fighting off godly remains along side Rex Lapis. Is that why Zhongli decided to take a job at the Wangsheng FUNERAL Parlor? Because he's also well-versed in dealing with the souls of the dead? And I could not ignore how Taishan Mansion, which used to be his home looking like the underworld? While I still have my doubts about his true identity, since he could also give life (Petra set) and manipulate space (Sub-Space) so that's it I guess. EDIT: Just a theory, there's lots of false history stuffs due to inaccurate human storytelling from books and bias, the irminsul tamperings, and as so far as we know... The most accurate ones can only be found in weapon/artifact/item descriptions, since they usually contain the wielder's memory.

[@F1ll1nTh3Blanks]

I think he's too young. Whatever his relation is, I don't think he's the original anyway. Either he is too young or the origins of Genshin's lore is much younger than previously speculated.

[@user-bt2qy6yx4i]

@@F1ll1nTh3Blanks Actually he might be super old if he is older than Egeria

[@losetthewaytogo]

Egeria was made after the death of the hydro sovereign so they are basically about the same age. ​@user-bt2qy6yx4i

[@geovanagama1]

Talking about the shade of the dead, the boat man in tsurumi Island trying to get the ghosts to the boat to go to the his master palace.

[@kotarouinugami1745]

I guess that with so many people responsible for getting the dead to afterlife, we can conclude that Shade of Death doesn't work as a psychopomp. She has people for that role. She might still be the administrator of the afterlife, or the judge of the dead. The judge seems unnecessary, since the surface people don't seem to have a concept of differentiated afterlife, except for a chance of ascending to Celestia (which is kinda like getting to Valhalla, it seems, not a proper judgement of one's life).

[@brah9961]

@@kotarouinugami1745she?

[@ceruzka32]

This is one of my favorites hidden exploration objectives. His text seems to suggest that his mistress is awaiting them.

[@kotarouinugami1745]

@@ceruzka32 They have failed to arrive for centuries. Of course many people are waiting for them on the other side.

[@gashousesgeekhouse2851]

I love how Aster talk about vague and loose theory's instead of the more solid grounded ones

[@antoniosaesthetic9045]

I hope we get some Shade of Death lore in Natlan. Incandescent Ode of Resurrection seems to hint that. Focusing on death after focusing on life in Fontaine.

[@DrakeWurrum]

Sumeru ended with identifying US as the Fourth Descender... with Nahida theorizing that the Heavenly Principles might be the First. Fontaine ended with us learning that the Third Descender is dead... and that his remains were used to create the gnoses. (My current theory is that Deshret was the Third Descender) It's likely Natlan will end with some major lore bomb that reveals some information about the Second Descender, if they follow down this same path, especially since there's no reason to believe Snezhnaya won't finally reveal the First Descender to us (as the Tsaritsa has major beef with him, for some reason).

[@Togekab00m]

I am very very surprised this video didn't discuss the most important quest to the role of Death in Teyvat, "Boatman's Task". While most descriptions of the afterlife outside Hu Tao's are unconfirmed, we can be reasonably sure that this "Boatman" speaks to something concrete as they act as a genuine psychopomp for an entity called "the Lady of the Golden Hall", the most likely identity for the Shade of Death we've encountered yet. This also lends some credence to the Boatman's claims that the dead are taken to the 'Golden Hall' on the Moon, and the Tsurumi people's beliefs that dead humans become stars in the sky.

[@ChillwithAster]

I DONT KNOW ABOUT THIS ONE OOOH . The plot thickens, thank you for pointing this out

[@TinkRomero]

I believe that the Shade of Death is much closer to the concept of Death being a form of Transformation, rather than being a form of Loss. My reason for this comes from Hu Tao, and the realization that her Butterfly symbolism is meant to signify the Stage of Death. (Which therefore means that Caterpillars signify the Stage of Life … I wonder if this has any significance on Caterpillar from Fontaine?) Now, the Staff of Homa also talks about these butterflies, but also introduces “filth” and “purification”. Butterflies only appear when purification occurs. … and it also mentions a rather familiar line, “only an unbound flame can purify this world.” Which shares some similarities with the line from Shivada Jade Gemstone, “Then, burn away the old world for me.” If Death is the concept of Transformation. The burning away the Old World to make a New World would indeed count as Death, would it not? (This raises the very interesting question/theory of the Tsaritsa having some connection to the Shade of Death, perhaps even being the Shade herself?) While we are on the topic of Staff of Homa, and the Shades. Specifically, the symbol of the wings on the Staff of Homa, that matches up with (presumably) Istaroth’s Statue, and the Battle Pass. … I wonder if this Image only shows up to indicate that one of the shades is somehow connected to it? Istaroth’s Statue is … obviously Istaroth, the Shade of Time. Staff of Homa would be the Shade of Death, as I’ve just mentioned. The Battle Pass/Gnostic Hymn … which has to do with … a Story … of our Journey now beginning? … I’m going to connect the Battle Pass Shade to the Shade of Space, the one who presumably attacked and separated the Twins, and is essentially the main reason why we began our Journey in the first place. Now, we know that the Shade of Life has some large relevance in Fontaine, but we’ve yet to see any Wings of the Four Shades there. However … we do see the Wings of Phanes. Now, this is going to be spoilers on a World Quest from 4.2 … as of right now, it is 4.4 … so hopefully this won’t be spoiling anyone. This will be spoilers about the World Quest centered around Narcissenkreuz. Continue if you’re thoroughly ready to! So, when we find and fight Narcissenkreuz, he has taken the shape of a Hydro Tulpa … There are a fair amount of differences between him and a Hydro Tulpa specifically, but the one difference I wish to talk about, is the design of his Eye (we can call it that, right? That thing in the center of his head-like area.) His Eye … has taken the shape of the Wings of the Four Shades, but … he was attempting to become a Descender, just like Phanes. This tells us that Phanes and the Four Shades all have Wings. And these Wings are not only symbolic of their identity, but also of their involvement in certain matters. The most important thing to take with this realization, is that if we ever get any murals that depict Phanes and/or the Four Shades, they’ll be accompanied with wings. … and if Paimon is indeed one of the Four Shades, or even Phanes themselves … where are her wings?

[@bruhhhhh1666]

why everyone think it’s istaroth statue tho the thousand eyed god sounds like guanyin, in japanese her name’s kannon which sounds the same as one of the moon sisters- canon like there’s literally no tell of who specifically this statue is

[@TinkRomero]

@@bruhhhhh1666 like I said, presumably. But she does indeed have the wings that are usually designated to the Four Shades. And the only Shade ever mentioned in Inazuma is Istaroth. There’s also a lot, and I mean, A LOT, of hidden/extra details that match the identity of the Statue up to Istaroth as well. But we can only say presumably because … it still hasn’t ever been made crystal clear to us on who the Statue is. It is a very safe bet that it is Istaroth rather than someone else. But, the possibility that it is someone else does exist. However … I have a personal theory that Istaroth (and six other omnipresent beings) is responsible for granting Anemo Visions, so her statue being called “the Omnipresent God” Statue also matches up with my personal theory of her.

[@word6344]

perhaps the wings are symbols of their divine power, and Paimon lacks them because she's missing most of her power, which also explains why she has such a small form, like Marchosius/Guoba and Rukkhadevata

[@TinkRomero]

@@word6344 I just realized that the Sustainer also lacks wings … so … if the presumption of her being the Shade of Space is correct, then the Wings Symbol is … simply just their symbol, and not a literal part of their being

[@amouramarie]

@@TinkRomero It could be a symbol of the Sustainer's corruption, losing her wings. The travelers look essentially the same as in the intro, but cannot summon their wings anymore.

[@Negolossauro]

8:10 Other greek names appeared in Genshin, especially in Enkanomiya's Achivements, "The Light of Day", the same place where we discovered about names likes Phanes and Ishtaroth: Kairos' Constancy - for completing time trials - possibly a reference to the shade of time Phosphoros' Guidance - for guiding seelies - possibly a reference to the shade of death Hesperus' Boons - for opening chests - possibly a reference to the shade of life

[@Xirogify]

instant upvote for kindred's theme

[@josephineduval5477]

Is this a league reference? Anyway Karthus would fangirl over it.

[@opswhyyou7216]

I've heard about a pretty interesting theory, that the 4 shades are representative of 4 classic elements: fire, water, air, and earth. And as we can see, venti the anemo archon is a lesser aspect of the shade of time, whilst the shade of life is said to be hydro archon egeria's creator. So the original pyro archon & geo archon may also have connections to the other two shades. Since Pyro characters usually associate with attack, and the feather grants attack exclusively, maybe we can expect pyro archon to drop some shade of death lore...or not. Have you noticed how many death motifs Zhongli has? He's the one who told us about erosion, the one who spent entire archon quests preparing his own funeral, the one who works in a death related trade, the one whose birthday is 12/31 (the "death" of a year), the one whose Chinese title is a homophone of King Yama, the judge of afterlife in East Asian myths, etc. I suspect he's the one with connection to the shade of death. Pyro archon is the one connected to the shade of void.

[@amouramarie]

Hm! All these associations Morax has with death are really interesting! It reminds me of the similarities of the Traveler's journey through the nations to the journey in Dante's Inferno. If Teyvat is "hell" then Morax could be the Hades parallel. He's the one who holds the square "earth" trinket in his statue, which could mean that the whole realm is his domain. Literally, his domain - he's the one who taught the adepti to create pocket domains, right? If all of Teyvat is Zhongli's pocket domain, he could be the "ruler" in a sense, of hell. Though in this case, just the one whose consciousness keeps it open.

[@genesischaparro8954]

I just realised something: The shade of life symbolises birth The shade of time symbolises lifespan The shade of death symbolises mortality Three shades for the entirety of mortal time; three moon sisters to keep time Could it be!?

[@Cupcakeilah]

Wait, isn't there a shade of void? Aka asmoday??

[@genesischaparro8954]

@@Cupcakeilah she's the space in space-time

[@user-sc7xw5lb2l]

In enkanomya, we have achievement s, wich are probably named by the shades since we have kairos and im pretty sure Asmoday. And we have 2 other names Hesperus and Phosphorus, so im pretty sure those are the names of the other 2 shades(im pretty sure hesperus is the shade of death, but thats just my opinion)

[@F1ll1nTh3Blanks]

Istaroth = Time = Kairos = Chorus Asmoday = Space = Eosphorus = Aria Paimon = Life = Phosphorus = Sonnet Naberius = Death = Hesperus = Canon I am 100% I have messed this up, I need to do more research to amend it.

[@Enochnes]

i think we will learn about the shade of death in natlan bc of the shade of life also has the full authority of water and shade of time has full authority of wind and there as a relation with the death and life water and fire maybe same to the egeria's lore,the shade of life created the murata i had a theory about that situation raiden twisn makoto and ei born from the hunder the nuevilette said you are guilty bc you have authority of thunder so maybe ei and makoto born frm an piece or organ from the electro sovereign(maybe a dragon has 2 heads or any duality,rukkhadevatta avatar of the irminsul i think the irminsul created with the authority of dendro bc the dendro dragon was the habitat of the life forms and irminsul is the life tree maybe the pillar holds the fake sky the firmanent,also the barbatos one of the thousand winds and that point there is one question appeared in my mind if the 7 archons already been chosen from the creation because they were created with the authority of dragons,why was the archon war happened? maybe elimination of the gods (the gods,demigods serpents,demiserpents adepti's)

[@samkidd5735]

I do believe that we will encounter/learn more about the Shade of Death during either Natlan or Snezhnaya. - The Title of the Natlan Chapter "Incandescent Ode of Resurrection" seems to be about glorifying and defying the concept of Death. - Alternatively, we could just be getting more Shade of Life lore, since Life and Death are very closely related and contrasting concepts. - Snezhnaya's Chapter Title: "Everwinter without Mercy" reminds me of Fimbulwinter and Ragnarok. The end of a cycle/the death of a samsara type of idea. Maybe the Shade of Death will also be present in that story too.

[@keenahgamboa]

I'm surprised you didn't mention that the canon psychopomp in Genshin. In Tsurumi Island, there is a boatman who tasks the Traveler with helping the lost souls of the island with their final wishes so he can ferry them to a version of the afterlife that he describes as "the moon-mansion that golden burns" and even mentions a "lady of the golden hall". Could this mean that the shade of death might be the last surviving Moon Sister?

[@gladiusbladeofthenorth9939]

3:27 isn't the common theory that eonothem is the primordial one? Since its 5 artifacts, and 5 celestial gods

[@kotarouinugami1745]

I mostly encounter the theory that crown of reason (Logos) is most fitting for the Primordial One. While "eonothem" is a fancy word for "void" or "space", and space seems to be the element the Unknown God (aka Sustainer of Heavenly Principles) uses.

[@Abaddon_here]

Hi Aster, i wanted to tell you one of my personal theorys(it is unrelated to this topic lol). So i think you remember the upside down statue and the city that was upsidedown. Well, i hate a theory that there was an ocean between where mondstadt is now, and scheznaya(forgot how to spell it lol). I thought abaut it and maybe, mondstadt was a city from the skies(since the sky may be fake) and it was upside down, and it was rulled by the anemo dragon(forgot the name if the original 7 dragons, but ya kniw, just like apep). When the Dragon died, the skies became instabile. Then, Istaroth came and took care of it and enkonomiya. She tried to put it at the same level with the other nations, but a part if the nation fell, the city falling in the chasm and the statue falling where one of the moutains was. Then, when Mondstadt was finally at the same level where the other nations are(where it is now), the sudden falling of the nation in the ocean made the first great flood, making inazuma go a little underwater. Then when the Archon war came and Barbatos became archon, the statues changed and since it was vulnerable, the statue of te seven(the one that fell) absorbed a part of the power of the abyss, and since it has the power of the abyss, the abyss order wants to use it. (This might dont make sense, since 1. I am not a native english speaker and 2. I am a child who cant really make theorys, but i tried my best. This theory has been in my head gor some time, but idk if this is a theory or a headcannon to be honnest... But anyway, hope you undertand that you like it)

[@crystaluwu1012]

Natlan is going to be about death and mortality, accepting the lost of a love one and passing the tourch/ living on for what they want you to achieve.

[@bryghian]

I can positively tell that Aster loves the Percy Jackson universe...

[@alltieo6398]

the use of kindred theme at the start of the video is so perfect

[@rootiyk5032]

Kindred's theme in the background, of course. Love the little details in your videos!

[@cookiecaramella123]

This just made my day😍

[@eleemaeli1830]

the kindred theme is top notch here

[@kayleighdriessen]

Makes me all the more curious about how the concept of life and death is percieved in Natlan since one of it's likely future-themes seems to be about resurrection/rebirth, some or many of them epending on the nation's culture might even not fear death as long as they die honorably like going down fighting.

[@PlayerN1999]

hey very nice video, kind of a roundhouse kick of throwing ideas, i love it. I have given this topic alot of thought and i have come up with a pretty unique persepective more or less connecting all these implications of death in a single theory i am planning on posting about in the near future. I hope you don't mind of some overlapping points, using other peoples ideas without consent is the last thing i want to do. Love to share that with you beforehand, i am always looking for some insight from experienced content creators. I am sorry if i am being rude. I don't want to make this entirely about me and my plans. Keep up the great work !

[@VictorIV0310]

Balam Industries sponsored field trip.

[@johanstenfelt1206]

Hm, very interesting Theory, I wonder what it will be the official case for this, will look forward to find out. Anyway, this was a very well done video, say, have you done a Theory on Paimon yet? ‘Cause I have forgotten about what Paimon was supposed to be in the Ars Goetia.

[@grandmashark6443]

I've heard someone say it might be columbina which would suit the theme of white feather and also her lying next to signoras coffin is suspicious. Also the feather artifact always has ATK as a stat representing death (and the flower HP representing life)

[@steindoesnothing]

I have a fun thought about if God of Death is related to Hermanubis in any way? Anubis is a god of the dead (one of them at least), Hermes acts as a psychopomp, and there's a feather (of Maat) connectioin here, too :D

[@swiirlee8670]

Naberius = cerberus intrigues me so much because we already have a cerberus in game. That's wriothesley's constellation. If his "fate" is linked to the shade of death, no wonder the poor guy had such a rough backstory 😅 Like the genshin equivalent of being born under an unlucky star.

[@Sukiato]

You said Ronove and all I could think of was Ronove from Mairimashita Iruma kun and oh my gosh. Mihoyo please give us a Ronove I beg !

[@martinsebok8799]

wait so basically the "laws" of teyvat are the shades themselves and they made the rules of teyvat, and when the game on the loading screen says "teyvat has its own "laws" " it quite literally means it

[@ajergely6230]

A lesser known aspect of Hades is that as the god of the underworld, he was also associated with ores, minerals and gems, riches from within the earth.

[@nighthunterfrost8251]

I feel like following honkai, the shade of life could also be the shade of death, just like the herrscher death in honkai also being the herrscher of life

[@Togekab00m]

Based on Araraja's description of the 'Ad Oblivione', the thousand winds which erode all memory, it seems more likely to me that Erosion is mandated by Istaroth the Shade of Time, and is not associated with Death per se.

[@ChillwithAster]

This one was also a consideration i was thinking of, so i took a gamble of making the point but yeah i can also agree that Time would be the better god mandating erosion

[@TimeSpace03]

Hermes also fits the description of psychopomp and is regularly associated with feathers.

[@daniilmakhinov5247]

💙💙💙

[@Hummingbird_335]

__Miss Aster. Are some of the translation incorrect from Chinese to English in Hoyoverse's game(Genshin)?

[@Skyrem22]

hmmm feather? death? sounds like columbina to me

[@Zeniitha]

4:35 I thought there was some concept of heaven / hell in genshin? At least to some extent - during the 4.3 Roses and Muskets event, Chevreuse says to someone that they can “go to hell”, so the concept at least is there, right?

[@Zeniitha]

^^she specifically says this in the cinematic cutscene at the end of the event

[@SpellboundSpectre]

I think we will eventually get a necro element, being a dark blue like when a character/enemy dies. Also i think dainslief will have this element

[@Pre4xes_]

I think that’s just abyss man

[@nicky8895]

Who's the shade of life again-

[@erikboncoref.7020]

Now, under this view, what do you make of Wriothesley's constellation Cerberus?

[@ChillwithAster]

Classic double inspirations from genshin I think, kind of like Kokomi and the Hydro Dragon Or plot twist, he's the shade of death 😭

[@erikboncoref.7020]

@@ChillwithAster hehe now he's missing a couple feathers

[@darkomiku8902]

Seele best girl

[@Sirin0508]

I think that the use of "Hades" as the Shade of Death actually wouldn't be possible. Afterall, the Hades in Greek Mythology is the God of the Dead, not God of Death. However, there is still a chance that the actual Shade of Death assigned "Hades" to oversee Genshin's underworld

[@nightmare9399]

White feathers Angelic Deathly vibes hmm Could that be Columbina or maybe she is like Venti and Egeria where she is created by the shade of Death

[@isdrakon9802]

Could we get something on gold, things just arent adding up between them causing the cataclysm here in teyvet and somehow having a whale from another world. Gold has far too many names that would only make sense if they traveled worlds themselves but isnt one of the descenders somehow.

[@ziebus904]

She

[@isdrakon9802]

@@ziebus904 Merry Christmas

[@kotarouinugami1745]

Space whale is Surtalogi the Foul's pet. Rhinedottir the Gold's pets usually make less sense, like wolves that exist only partially and dragons that cause massive destruction just by being alive (and they don't really die even if they are killed). Now that I think of it, people of Kaenri'ah also don't die. Maybe it's her work?

[@ziebus904]

@@kotarouinugami1745 its couse of curse

[@VAMiyoyu]

I thought Venti was the Shade of life cuz of his splash art and flower on his hat.

[@professionaltodorokisimp2406]

hi

[@tnn-cj3vy]

what if the shade of death is that god from the upside down statue

[@dreemurrinthenight]

so… barbatos?

[@tnn-cj3vy]

@@dreemurrinthenight no i'm talking about the mysterious voice from that 3.5 archon quest

[@ziebus904]

​@@tnn-cj3vy you mean sinner? Who can be -3descendee -personification of abyss -nibelung -one of khanriah kings -the equal of dragon kings but in the void realm -surtamogi .....this sinner?

[@jarianwarren69]

Qiqi does exist

[@hetalpatel-he8qw]

At 2:53, I’m unsure of if you were pertaining to just the allogenes and regular mortals of genshin but if u were pertaining to everyone we do know neuvi is a reincarnation in human form but he is a dragon so idk lol I haven’t watched the whole vid yet tho lol so I’ll prob change it later

[@sthezh]

in enkanomiya, the sinshades are quite literally created by istaroth, one of the few gods willing to help the people while it fell under teyvat. the only other place we see these shades of humans appear is the boatman on tsurumi, i saw other people come to the same conclusion in this comment section though. i think it’s basically guaranteed given how we know istaroth also helped plant the sacred sakura, 3 confirmed/possible occasions in inazuma alone of the shades helping people. it must also be said that tsurumi’s ancient civilization was targeted by a nail, and i imagine the ley line disorders can prevent people from properly passing on like ruu. it seems like the moon sisters were consistently against the heavenly principles, and rightfully so after they were driven insane/killed by them

[@twoanglesandadevil1180]

Sumeru has left the chat

[@josephlee4086]

Columbina may be the Shade of Death. Though still speculation, she kind of fits.

[@dreemurrinthenight]

it would be funny if venti’s dead friend is/is associated with the shade of death but that’s my favoritism speaking-

[@thesmilyguyguy9799]

: )

[@idontgiveasht9766]

.

[@crystaluwu1012]

Natlan is going to be about death and mortality, accepting the lost of a love one and passing the tourch/ living on for what they want you to achieve.