[3.6] The Beginner's Guide to Sumeru - Genshin Impact Lore
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- Опубликовано: 3 окт 2024
- Might be releasing this a tad early but I think a lot of people can benefit from this video right now... so I bequeath unto thee, The Beginner's Guide to Genshin Lore: Sumeru Edition!
This video is a complete (but not comprehensive) timeline of important events in Sumeru from the (presumed) beginning of Teyvat's history to the end of the Khaenri'ahn cataclysm. Again, this video is NOT comprehensive. Think of it as a highlight reel with an estimated order of events you can use as a basic framework of understanding.
Corrections and updates will be in the pinned comment below!
*CREDITS*
Thanks to my TXR for assisting with some of the snazzier parts of this video! Check out his twitter: / txrpwr
*CITATIONS & FURTHER READING*
The Dirge of Bilqis: genshin-impact...
The Golden Slumber: genshin-impact...
Apocalypse Lost: genshin-impact...
Goddess of Flowers: genshin-impact...
Flowers of Paradise Lost: genshin-impact...
Eternal Oasis: genshin-impact...
Desert Pavilion Chronicle: genshin-impact...
Gilded Dreams: genshin-impact...
Staff of the Scarlet Sands: genshin-impact...
Jinni: genshin-impact...
Oasis Garden Ascension Material: genshin-impact...
Olden Days of Scorching Might Ascension Material: genshin-impact...
The Lay of Al-Ahmar: genshin-impact...
The Shepherd and the Magic Bottle: genshin-impact...
Gurabad: genshin-impact...
Nameless Tablets: genshin-impact...
Primal Obelisks: genshin-impact...
Memories of Gurabad: genshin-impact...
Tulaytullah: genshin-impact...
Ormazd: genshin-impact...
Shiruyeh: genshin-impact...
The Tale of Shiruyeh and Shirin: genshin-impact...
Shirin: genshin-impact...
Ferigees: genshin-impact...
Kisra: genshin-impact...
Xiphos: genshin-impact...
Liloupar: genshin-impact...
Scroll of Streaming Song: genshin-impact...
Key of Kaj-Nisut: genshin-impact...
Tulaytullah’s Rememberance: genshin-impact...
Hymn of Tir Yazad: genshin-impact...)
Thanks to Deci for helping out with the timeline placements: docs.google.co...
![[3.4] The Dirge of Bilqis: v3.4 Lore Recap & Analysis - Genshin Impact](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/QblE6s_bYLY/mqdefault.jpg)
![[3.4] The Dirge of Bilqis: v3.4 Lore Recap & Analysis - Genshin Impact](/img/tr.png)
![[3.1] Lore Highlights - The Lore of Sumeru's Desert and Weinlesefest](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/4jI764-4z6E/mqdefault.jpg)
![[3.2] The Beginner's Guide to Inazuma Lore](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/2Pw6lhnNyF4/mqdefault.jpg)
**NOTES/UPDATES/CORRECTIONS**
- Folks in the comments and on discord have pointed out that the Simurgh is often featured in a Persian legend wherein the bird raises a child cast out of a royal family and the same bird is often equated with the Arabic Ghoghnus which makes it a ton more likely that Kisra/Parvez was raised by the Simurgh. It also makes sense (lore-wise) that Liloupar would want her son raised by someone connected to her mistress, the Goddess of Flowers.
- Chaffee (in the comments) pointed out that the lotus inside the tree that was grown from the remains of the hydro archon (the Gaokerena) is likely the remains Rukkadevata's physical body. This is only mentioned in the Folio of Foliage so it's likely true but we have no source for cross-referencing. It IS supported by the confirmation that Rukkhadevata went to Tunigi Hollow to drive back the abyss. The Hydro Archon likely had the same destination.
...That said, it would make MORE sense to me if the Gaokerena was the remains of the Simurgh if only because she came from the Goddess of Flowers who was associated with Lotuses (unlike Rukkhadevata) and Simurgh dove into the Amrita and died. The Simurgh being the lotus on the Amrita Pond makes more sense to me, especially when we have the description of the Rukkhashava mushrooms which refer to Rukkhadevata as a Tree... but consider that a theory for now because I can't prove or disprove this either way.
Also the "Rukkha shava forest": shava means corpse in Indian languages. Rukkha shava is Rukkhadevata's corpse. So it's likely that's her remains
interesting how that book gets altered after the quest. Before the quest it details the events of what rukka's trials, tribulations and wishes for her nation were. after the revision, you could tell they were talking about nahida. Example: Before the quest: "Following her guidance, the princess of the kingdom of dreams gently snapped off the white branches and rebuilt the verdant hunting grounds from the withered fallen leaves,"
After the quest is completed: "she returned and commanded the queen of the realm of dreams to break the pure white branches and rebuild the viridescent hunting ground from amidst the withered leaves."
Also, WHO is Sunitha Cosamvi? Did she she revise it because of the altering of irminsul? (Well I guess you cant call it a revision since irminsul would have changed the truth of the world and who the people were aware of. rukka would have never existed in peoples minds after that incident)
So where is the goddess of the Flowers remains then? After the story quest, it was deemed that liloupar could not find her remains in the time frozen place. from what I can recall. nothing of her was actually there. So in the end Liloupar found no justice, no goddess, nothing...sad end for her
@@nyx626 as an Indian, he is saying the truth
Also, amrit in sanskrit means "nectar" or "life elixir"
You mentioned in the video that "Sumeru was ruled by the Dragon Sovereign Apep." I don't think Apep was one of the 7 Dragon Sovereigns, and that the Dragon Sovereign of Dendro was probably Nibelung instead. There are a couple reasons why I think this is the case:
1. The 7 Sovereigns were mentioned to have been "vanquished" (or, more accurately, "打败", which literally means "defeated"). Thus, it would only make sense for Apep to be a Dragon Sovereign if it were either dead or acquiescent to "the Heavens" during the events of Nahida's Second Story Quest, neither of which are true.
2. Though the term "Dragon King" is used in Nahida's Second Story Quest (instead of "Dragon Sovereign"), looking at the original Chinese reveals that the same term is used in both Before Sun and Moon and the Story Quest: 龙王. This means that any distinction between "Dragon Sovereign" and "Dragon King" is purely due to translational inconsistency and that both terms likely refer to the same thing.
3. In my view, the 7 Sovereigns were representative of the power of the Light Realm, essentially the ultimate "anti-Void Realm" power. "Forbidden Knowledge" is merely one instance of Void Realm power, so it would not make sense for Apep to have even been harmed by it if Apep were truly a Dragon Sovereign. That said, I recognize that this point is largely conjectural, and that if Nibelung were indeed a Dragon Sovereign, it would be strange for it to have sought out Forbidden Knowledge.
All said, I do think that there are probably some other points in support of Apep being a Dragon Sovereign, ones that I can't think of off the top of my head. In the end, I think this is still a grey area, and that it would be best if there was a bit of a disclaimer on the point of Apep and Nibelung's positions in the pre-Primordial One Light Realm.
Seriously, Liloupar's story sounds like it came straight out of Game of Thrones.
Betrayal, Schemes, Revenge, Incest, it's got it all.
you mean greeks then
True
Not even greeks had that many incest incidents
@@kostakonomi are you sure you are familiar with the greek pantheon
@@pegasBaO23 thats the pantheon not there heroes thats the big difference
Sumeru desert: Kingdoms rise and fall, revenge plans rage.
Sumeru rain forest: just vibing.
seriously! Rukkha just made them all nerds and they were all too focused on books and their studies to fight each other. They took the whole "fight with a pen, not a sword" concept to heart. Meanwhile the desert people were restricted from knowledge, books, kept stupid, lawless and walls were built to keep them out....Was it to keep them out or keep the "forbidden knowledge" and the heretics out that worship deshret?
Only humans just chilling. Aranara, all this time fought to the death with Marana.
Actually our twin was helping the aranara deal with marana while dainslief was occupied in the dessert with the pari, but that was during the cataclysm, everything that happened before that is dessert lore so the rain forest was most likely prosperous during that time, taking into account that the greater lord built the samiel wall so the sand couldn't reach the forest
Technically south east asia is chill than middle east...so accurate..
@@Xoxososowi i mean, its also because unrest happening in southeast asia doesn't get much publicity in the west. The situation in myanmar, genocide of the rohingya and uyghur populations, political violence in Laos, gang violence in cambodia, religious strife in India as well as the rape epidemic there etc etc
It's crazy to me how ham they went with Sumeru, the amount of lore related to the more ancient stuff they decided to put in the region surprised me, makes Enkanomiya look like a teaser for all of this
You are right, Enkanomiya was indeed just a teaser for the lore that happened before and leading up to the Archon war, because the major focus currently is the results of the Archon war, the fall of Khaenri'ah and the Cataclysm 500 years ago
I love how genshin is doing their lore. They don't treat it as background information for the main quests, they treat it like actual world history, which reminds me of Tolkien in a sense.
While many people complained about lore being "hidden" inside books and journals, I think its such a great way of showing how history works. Relevant lore are given in relevant quests (e.g. Scaramouche), and if you want to know more, you gotta dig deeper. This makes it so that the lore's not shoved down your throat if you're not interested, while lore enthusiast can always access the deep dive.
Plus, I'm also loving the occasional inconsistencies. History is not a fixed timeline, its an accumulation of historical records, with their flaws and subjectiveness. Irminsul manipulation also adds a whole layer of unreliableness to everything.
tl;dr Genshin is doing a really great job at constructing their world's history.
The information density of this video is insane. This could've easily been an hour long video but you optimized the heck out of it. Very nice, cleared a lot of things up
120 likes and no comments? Lemme change that.
Also if this is the begginer's guide, I tremble to the thought of just how dense the intermediate and advanced guides will be
@@Archetype_Angel I ignored the liyue and inazuma ones because I thought it would be a summary of the archon quest. Didnt think they were also this detailed about things that are not in your face like story quests
Yes. And I would really appreciate some graphs, timelines, cause it's not easy to follow and grasp sense in all of this...
There was a lot of desert but Sumeru was a very interesting and lore heavy region. I can't wait for Natlan to come around
That's gonna take another year tho
gonna have to wait at least another year or so since fountaine isn't even out yet
Natlan is the weirdest nation so far...
We knew bits and pieces of every nation from time to time by events, travelling merchants,etc. but we know little to nothing about natlan so far...
@@zakomimi4185 yeah. We have little to no information about what is happening there or where it is located.
Fontaine is next, so you're gonna have to wait until 2024 for Natlan.
Seeing Apep for the first time was terrifying, she makes Dvalin look like an ant in comparison. Makes me wonder what the other Ancestral Dragons were like.
Litteraly
I hope we get to see or hear about quetzalcoatl when we reach Natlan
Makes me wonder what the the one who subdued all seven of them are like.
Primordial One and 4 Shades OP.
@@Deepstab1 I think Natlan's dragon won't be Quetzalcoatl, because Quetz, and by extension the Feathered Serpent plays one of, if not the most important role in Mesoamerican mythology. Therefore, I'd honestly bet that Quetz is more likely to be the previous Pyro archon (though it would probably utilize Anemo), or a supporting god like Guizhong or Orobashi.
Instead, I think Natlan's dragon will be Cipactli, since Cipactli is:
1. A reptile, in this case a crocodile
2. Shares the "being a general pain in the ass to the gods" characteristic with Apep and also shares the "having to be stopped by the gods" motif.
3. Cipactli is a primordial entity predating the earth and humanity, so it predating Teyvat and its humanity too makes sense.
I absolutely love how Sumeru’s lore sounds almost biblical, i don’t know how else to say it. It all sounds very, very religious for some strange reason and the way the gods interact almost feels like it came out of like, greek mythology or something. Like, this sounds like it would be written in a scripture that would be the sumeru bible iykwim
They are gods, it is only natural that they feel like one. And yes, much of sumeru lore has inspiration from real life religious scriptures.
I feel like rukhdevata is the most W archon, she made so many sacrifices, king deshret apocalypse, during archon war, again during catacalysm and then again removing herself from world history, never to be remembered by anyone....that is just too sad.....so pure and wise.
All because deshret rejected gnosis. And challenged heaven.
This is exactly why I got to hating the archon quest. Hoyoverse seriously did her dirty, and now everyone in Teyvat has to live this eternal lie that she never existed. It's upset me so much that I keep having hopeium that they will bring her actual self back one day, but it won't happen. They already went so far to change dialogue and texts throughout the game to go with her deletion. She didn't even really need to be erased because Nahida is op af. She could have absolutely cleansed Rukha without erasing her entirely. She's even shown doing this in her 2nd story quest.... Sadge. Truly the saddest character story in the entire game.
@@Skylight-nn9clmaybe for impact. She was already dead.And she and nahida are kinda same person so
@@Xoxososowi She was dead but her consciousness still existed till Nahida did her thing. And yes, they are "kinda" the same, but not 100%. So anyone that says Nahida is Rukkha is just coping. Different souls, similar personalities.
I feel like they did that partially to make dendro feel extra special
Regarding how Rukkhadevata died, toward the end of the Khvarena of Good and Evil world quest it's revealed that the Harvisptokhm has a giant lotus at the center of it and its name is Gaokerena. This proper noun has appeared in Genshin lore previously, specifically in The Folio of Foliage, vol 2.
"She stepped alone to that emptied earthly heart and softly touched its timeless face, 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐢𝐦𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐆𝐚𝐨𝐤𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐚 and the earth itself. Every thread of spiritual knowledge and every sweet-smelling plant is her undying will."
It is therefore implied that the giant lotus is in fact Rukkhadevata's remains, the aftermath of her god power explosion upon death. It would seem that after she was done helping Simurgh repel the Abyss, she connected her consciousness to the Irminsul from here.
After the Sumeru Archon Quest is completed and Rukkhadevata is deleted from history so that Nahida was always the Dendro Archon who only lost her power and memories, the same text is updated to below:
"All the spirits, their envoys, humans, and the inhuman all watched as she entered the hollowed heart of the mortal world and touched its timeless face. Thus did all the goodness, peace, and 𝐰𝐢𝐬𝐝𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐢𝐦𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐆𝐚𝐨𝐤𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐚, indeed, become the very earth itself. This was the moment when the pure lotuses would bloom."
Which makes sense because there's no former Dendro Archon to become the Gaokerena any more, instead the power she supposedly lost has become the lotus.
Furthermore, at the center of the Gaokerena is a symbol that looks like Nahida's signature four-leaved flower stacked on top of another at 45 degrees angle, again signifying a connection with Nahida.
So, not only in death but even after being erased from history, Rukkhadevata is STILL fighting to protect Sumeru and all of Teyvat.
Thanks for this.
one thing that still bugging me. Why is Nahida is still called Lesser lord?
Can we assume that after deleting the information about Rukkhadevata, Nahida was addressed as Lord Kusanali. People begun to call her as lesser lord after she lost most of her power after the cataclysm making Greater lord kusanali as her title in her prime.
@@sidiqdidi9925 she's probably called that because she's small, at least that's what i think
@@sidiqdidi9925 There are three reasons for this.
1. Well, translation. In the original Chinese version, Rukkhadevata is called Rukkhadevata the Great while Nahida is called Kusanali the Small God. It's possible that the translation was made before the Rukkhadevata being deleted story was written. However the Lesser Lord translation still doesn't break sense for the following reasons:
2. It's important to note that, even in the rewritten history, the whole point of her title is making her out to be lesser than the previous version of her, yet she still adopts the title herself. (In both languages, that is.) This implies Nahida still accepts that in her present state she's smaller/lesser than she was before she lost her memories.
3. In the new history, Nahida did actually have a different title than Kusanali before becoming smol: "Mahakusaladhamma", which means "The Great Kusaladhamma", i.e. "Greater Lord Kusaladhamma". I don't remember where exactly this title is mentioned, but in any case it appears that even in the new history the name Kusanali was coined after the Cataclysm.
If Gaokerena is Rukkhadevata, then I even less understand who or better say what is Rene, because in his notes Rene mentioned that sacred lotus is similar in composition to his and Jakob's bodies, but has almost nothing in common with Karl's.
It's so funny how most of these events could've been prevented if Deshret accepted the damn gnosis. 😂 I love my chaotic king. He carried the Sumeru lore on his back.
Gigachad deshret
Reject gnosis
Challenge heaven
Unleash forbidden knowledge
Sacrifice Himself
@@ifakeifake7612 I think you missed something very important
Reject gnosis
Challenge heaven
Unleash forbidden knowledge
Refuse to elaborate
Sacrifice Himself
This was awesome. This gives me hope the next region will be more personal. Imagine the reason for the Hydro Archon's obsession with justice is because of what happened to the previous Hydro Archon. Oh man, there are so many ways to take the story from there, but I'll temper my expectations and see where they take us.
I can imagine she want to judge all other gods so celestia didnt need to do it by their hands. If celestia drop their judgement one region can have disaster.
Not to mention, Celestia is directly above Fontaine. That archon quest sure is going to be interesting.
Watching this, it becomes clear why suprahuman beings in genshin (gods, archons, sentient beasts etc) dismiss human affairs as mere trifles. There are so many things happening that have spanned over centuries and have far reaching effects, who cares if you couldnt finish your akademiya thesis on time or got scammed by a treasure hoarder or something. I love how there are so many layers of history being presented in genshin and sumeru so far has been the best showcase of this complexity.
Sumeru has become one of if not my favorite region. I love the lore but there's just So Much, so thanks Ashikai for condensing stuff down for us!
Sumeru was FILLED with lore and i can’t help but get scared for Fontaine
Sumeru gets inspiration from a huge real life geographical area that is dense in history - from India through Arabic Asia and Northern Africa, they had a lot of real history to reinterpret for the game's lore.
In contrast Fountaine would be Europe, without the Germanic, Slavic or Greek - so Rome and it's descendants - Spain, France, Italy among others, while there is a lot of history it's nowhere near as much as what had to be reinterpreted for Sumeru
@@pegasBaO23 that is true, however considering celestia’s location being above fontaine a lot of lore will probably circle around the heavenly principles and probably even more khaenri’ah lore.
@@pegasBaO23 also Sumeru was ruled by three gods so thats why Sumeru's land is so large (and it could hold the big amount of lore)
@@petko6926 we better brace ourselves because even without the 4.x series out yet, we're already receiving *droplets* of lore, and it's already about the former Hydro Archon herself.
@@pegasBaO23 Maybe Spain will be included to Natlan and Italy to Snezhnaya (because Fatui), leaving basically only France to Fontaine. But who knows, HYV could always pull a surprise civilization like they did with Greeks in Enkanomiya.
Assuming Deshret was able to store his soul elsewhere, that makes this interestingly similar to Ei and the raiden shogun puppet. Deshret retreated to a "Plane of Euthymia" of his own
definitely needed this video after the last few patches. they've been so confusing and complex!! especially the storyline with the jinn, it was so hard to keep up with the whole family tree so this was a much-needed explanation. i can't wait to see what else we learn as the game goes on; i feel like we'll be revisiting sumeru for archon quest stuff eventually, considering the actual door to khaenri'ah is also under the new region. also, small sidenote in case you'd want to know this for later videos, pari is actually pronounced like "puh-ri" rather than "parry" (it means fairy in most south asian and middle eastern languages)
Thanks Ashikai this summary really help to better understand Sumeru story!
20:00 this really different with my initial understanding of deshret sacrifice. I thought deshret gone for good when apep ate him upon see what happen to gurabad (I thought the eleazar, civil war and other disaster in the desert like drought is the effect of forbidden knowledge happen during gurabad) and split liloupar to 7 part. Thats why when there's speculation about the sinner identity is deshret, I thought it was impossible because the timeline did not line up.
if deshret body is eaten by apep and the soul itself is imprisioned, there's high chance that the sinner our abyss twin met after the cataclysm is Deshret, he is a king so it's make sense if the hilicurls suddenly prostate in front of the sinner. And Deshret himself is a contender of sinner (got Nabu Malikata die, bring disaster -forbidden knowledge, give influence to cloatar alberiech - the founder of abyss order, etc)
Previously I feel it's really strange why Deshret has lore and world building more extensive than any other archon or character so far, somehow always has involvement in a lot of story since the beginning of sumeru but Hoyoverse never really show the face of him (not even faceless figure, just an eye) or give better ending for such important figure (it just said that he die sacrifice himself). But if this is the build up for our main villain, it's make sense to have this extensive lore in halfway of Genshin story when slowly things is uncover
we still have more regions to come so it's too quick to make a conclusion about deshret being the sinner.
cringe tf idiotic -_-
Yes I totally agree its still halfway to the end, we dont know what will be the complete story.
I just find it strange why the book about king deshret (lay of al ahmar and the jinnie book) exist in our inventory as quest item with 4 star rating similar to things we get after archon quest or important world quest not just part of the archive like other book when rn we only know him as historical figure. And cmiiw the book itslef is found in the academia library not from some quest. So this summary make me think twice about Deshret role in the story
Bruhh Liloupar is genuinely one of the most messed up characters I've seen in a while. Wiped off half a civilization for her revenge 💀
It’s really impressive how you sorted out all of these pieces of information into a story! When I was reading this info in the open world I wasn’t able to understand it, these events all seemed separate and random. I really enjoyed this video😁
Ashikai out here turning 20 hours of side quests I to 20 minutes and had another spare time to add in a little Deshret mini theory what a legend
Wow!!! I had no idea there was this much lore and backstory! It must have taken you a long time to get all this info! Thanks so much. Love your work!
some nice facts: The name Deshret seems to be inspired from the name "Dashrat" meaning the one who owns 10 chariots... the just king of Ayodhya from the holy Ikshvaku lineage - descendents of the Sun god.. and father of lord Rama. "Rukkhadevata" the sanskrit word means Rukkha=Tree + Devata=god.. although "devi" meaning 'goddess' would suit the character more. "Sumeru" is a sanskrit word Su=great + Meru=Mountain which refers to the sacred 5 peaked mountain and is mentioned in the epic "Ramayana". Most names in Sumeru are Sanskrit like 'Parisar', 'Varuna', 'Jnana and Vidya', 'Visuddha', 'Avidya', 'Lokapal' , 'Vanarana' etc...
The editing and narration ara astonishing as always, you helped a lot to understand the lore that was so blurry to me once, thank you.
Thank you for the recap, I was very confused on Deshret being eaten AND sealed away but you've clear that for me
Absolutely fantastic video. Very concise, and really well structured summary that does a great job of showing how all the disparate parts of Sumeru lore fit together.
Finally! Looks like you put even more effort than usual into this one. Since I kinda fell out due to irl stuff in the last few months this will be really useful for me. Thank you for your work and keep being the best lore content creator!
so much lore ilove it the videos are getting better i rewatch it so i can understand it all
The lore of Sumeru is so cool- there is so many things, so many events, connections to the underground, Fontaine.
When 3.6 dropped i was so shocked at new reveals
All Archons: Alright! Everybody is here and Rukkhadevata is guarding the Irminsul!... wait, where's the Hydro Archon?
Hydro Archon: *Already dead in Sumeru*
I appreciate these videos because I am functionally unable to focus long enough to read some random short story about "apparently" nothing, ala Genshin or Elder Scrolls, but I still do LIKE the lore. But the Scary Mooch Archon quest throwing some dudes ESSAY in my face? Yeah nah dawg I ain't readin' that.
Gimme the ol' Soulsborne lore delivery method. Two lines of text on a pair of pants I found under a log. I can handle that.
10:29 there is an old Persian legend in a book called Shahname (literally meaning The Book of Kings) where the Simorgh (which is almost identical to a phoenix and literally means "30 birds". The naming is related to its origin story in persian mythology) raises a child cast away by the royal family because it was born with white hair "like that of an old man". The boy's name was Zal. I think that's the story they are referencing here so the bird in question was definitely Simurgh.
i swear the lore for this game continuously blows me away so thank you so so much for making videos like these. while doing quests my brain will eventually shut off to the point i'll be reading the words but not understanding them so videos like these where i can just sit down and mentally be in a place for lore means so much to me
When hearing about how Rhukadevata sacrificed her power to seal King Deshret, I couldn't help but draw comparisons to the official story of what happened at the cataclysm that resulted in Kusanali. I actually believe that the god that we see seal King Deshret _wasn't_ Rhukadevata, but that the child she reverted into _was_ Rhukadevata. ("Lesser Lord Rhukadevata" if you will.) When Kusanali erased records of Rhukadevata, all of her actions were now attributed to Kusanali under the claim that she simply lost her power and memories. We know that historical records can't be completely trusted, and with this in mind, it paints a rather interesting picture in my eyes where the Avatar of Irminsul has effectively locked down their position of Dendro Archon by opting to clone herself to prevent erosion or other problems rather than simply passing the title onto someone else.
I’m pretty sure Greater Lord Rhukkadevata would be sad/disappointed if she knew of the treatment that was given to Nahida. The Akademiya’s endeavors and disregard for dreams deviated from her own ideal of true wisdom. Not only that, but they simply prevented Nahida from doing her duty which inevitably caused the Withering to worsen (something they could not solve themselves).
To think that they did all this because they missed the Greater Lord is a massive twist of irony.
Thanks so much for collating the history of the desert. The "Deshret separated his soul from body and Rukkhadevata helping Deshret purge Forbidden Knowledge happened way after Apep ate his body" part was unexpected, I probably need to look back into lore to understand this more. But it really makes sense after what the Golden Slumber does.
I've been a huge genshin lore nerd since the very release, but I can listen to the same story forever as long as it's narrated by Ashikai 🙃 storytelling in these vids is incredible and every time I catch a new piece of info that somehow has been evading me before.
Ohhhhh! Omg! The timeline makes so much more sense now! I was really lost in it with deshret and gurabad and liloupar and the rest, I thought deshret existed and perished long long ago but now it seems he was there! And omg! Separating body and soul!
I haven’t done pari quest yet but wow!! Hydro archon! :O
This was all extremely interesting! Thank you so much!
Three recaps are so helpful man. Going through the story of genshin right now feels like such a slog and these recaps really help me grasp the story of genshin which i really enjoy too
Deshret coming back to Gurabad after Liloupars revenge plot is the Donald Glover delivering pizza into the burning room meme to me
Sumeru lore vs Sumeru lore if Deshret didn't exist. Guy is a Chad found a way to screw over almost everyone in Sumeru in some way
Whole teyvat actually
I'm fairly certain the Dragon King's attack is the Second Who Came, and if he is not, Nabu Malikata's account of events more closely aligns with Apep's account of events than Before Sun and Moon's, therefore I would swap the associations you've made.
This was soooo useful to finally connect the dots. Thank you!!
you’ve really outdone yourself with the editing this time! all your videos have always had really high quality production but wow this one is out of this world!!!
Just as we watching the Beginner's Guide to Sumeru, we are also ending our journey soon in the Dendro region. Alexa - play Vourukasha Oasis OST... You have been a great region with great archon, Sumeru. I'll be sure to return once in a while.
Your videos are always so cozy to listen to.
You know, whenever l heard Simurgh, all I got is Green Statue PTSD with either a bunch of furries, or flappy birbs.
Thanks for all the lore vids! I skipped a bunch of the story cause some days I just can't deal with Paimon, but I always thought the story was interesting.
As someone who started playing on Sumeru release and had to take an awful lot of information in less time than intended, this series of videos has been really helpful and the orderly manner in which they are told made them very easy to understand (as easy as Teyvat history can be tho).
Love these videos, I get to see the one part of the game I care about, without having to play the game!
Love that things are starting to tie together and getting actual advancement of lore. Apep confirms and clarified some of the Enkanomiya Chronicles.
It does raise new questions. Apep directly blames and opposes the Heavenly Principles for the imposition of the New Order imposed on the world. Does this mean Heavenly Principles = The First Throne/Primordial One?
Is Morax a subjugated Dragon Sovereigns? He said his silence is of a contract “when it all began”- which I thought was Khaenri’ah at first, but is it when the Primordial One defeated the Sovereigns?
the only sage that did anything to help was the sage of the seventh darshan and even they were later banished to the desert. so basically, university doesn't do sh*t it only makes things more difficult
you sound like the amoeba sisters and i love it 😭😭🙏🙏
BEEN LOOKING FORWARD TO THIS LETS GOOOO
You are an absolute blessing to this community.
@15:37 Apep didn't swallow the king whole. Apep made a pact with the king that in exchange for power, Apep would automatically gain the king's memories and knowledge as payment upon his death. His soul and body played no part in the transaction. That's how Apep got infected by the forbidden knowledge.
This is stated quite clearly and directly during the quest she is involved in.
Also indicated that the king is actualy fully dead, not sealed, else the pact between him and Apep would not have paid out to her.
Nah, it's both. "Although I didn't think much of him, I allowed his actions under one condition... The condition was that after his death, all the knowledge he came to accumulate would belong to me." ... "When Al-Ahmar's proud kingdom collapsed, I swallowed him whole as I agreed and absorbed his elemental power. However, what I gained was no benefit... No, I gained the apocalypse."
It makes sense for Apep to swallow him anyway. Apep in Egyptian mythology is the chaos serpent that swallows the sun god, Ra, and Deshret is depicted as a black star, or sun. And his demon name is Amun, as in Amun-Ra - the eventual unified deity composed of Amun (creator of the universe, which Deshret isn't) and Ra (the sun god).
I love these bc while I usually understand the general lore I always struggle a bit with putting it into a timeline completely :))
Great way to relax after 2 hours of Gym is to watch Genshin Lore explanation by Yanfei I mean Ashikai.
Sumeru lore is goated!!!
THE INTRO GOES HARD (as well as the content of course, as always)
Ah yes, the history of Teyvat, assuming nobody else fucked with the server tree these last few thousand years.
Just to add here, Amrita or to be more precise, "Amrit" (a is added when translating Hindi to English) means Elixir of Immortality in Hindu religious texts called "Ved" (there are multiple Veds). Also the word used by Pari (which means Angel) for the monsters of Abyss is "Dev", which literally means "God" (see Rukkha-dev-ata). This would in a way support the idea of Abyss being the Heaven and the current region as Hell, as supported by the names of the Archons being shared with the names of demons.
Dev in Persian means monster
Apologies for this rant
But the amount of people still saying that Nahida is Rukkhadevata is driving me absolutely insane.
Great video as always, Ashikai!
Just one small correction, the pronunciation of 'Pari' is incorrect. The 'a sound is pronounced more like 'worry' instead of 'Paari'.
The fact that they didn't voice any of this insane and awesome lore is some major fuckin bs, thanks Ashikai for hooking it up!!
I honestly don't know how any new lore from any future region will top Sumeru the lore is so good here and there's so much of it but honestly this just makes me even more excited
This was very interesting and it got even better when the Hydro archon was mentioned that means that the current Hydro argon didn’t kill the original as everybody was speculating But I wonder how she became the current hydro archon in the first place and what relationship that is she had with the original Hydro archon ashikai do you Thank you can make a theory about that before fountains release
Sumeru remains the best region to date , the lore
In this game is chefs kiss sadly most players just care about gameplay rathern than the whole package some make videos complaining about no endgame content without even understanding the lore or trying to..
While I’m glad there’s a logical explanation for why the dendro nation is like 2/3 desert, I am absolutely getting sick of all the sand. Kinda wish they hadn’t frontloaded the forest stuff so hard. The oasis area in the latest patch was such a breath of fresh air.
No other nation confuses me like sumeru does, so I'm so glad for your videos helping explain everything🙏
Fun storytime here just for reference:
Parvez name choice is funny to me, because historically, the last great king of old persia was Khosrow Parviz (similar to Kisra Parvez), who was overthrown by Muslim Arabs attacking Persia. The funniest part? One of his spouses and the absolutely most famous one is named Shirin.
Now, that's not what makes this name choices particularly interesting. What does make this interesting is, in almost polar opposition to Genshin lore, Khosrow (Parvez) and Shirin were madly in love. The tale is long, but in short, Shirin is an Armanian princess and Khosrow, an heir to the Persian throne. Through some events, Khosrow's throne is taken from him and he flees to Armania, meeting Shirin. But she refuses to marry him unless he gets his kingdom back. Khosrow asks for help from the Caesar, under the condition that Khosrow marries his daughter Mariam, and marry no one so long she lives. Khosrow accepts, and Mariam bears him a child during their marriage, who is named (wait for it...) Shiroyeh.
Time passes and Mariam dies (I'm gonna ignore Farhad and Shikar in this tale because they're irrelevant), so Khosrow and Shirin finally get to marry. Except, Shiroyeh also wanted to marry Shirin, so he kills Khosrow and tells Shirin that he's dead and now she has to marry him within a week. Shirin, to escape this fate, kills herself, and it's said that her and Khosrow are buried together in the same grave.
Also, the quest is called "The dirge of Bilqis". Bilqis was the queen of Saba/Sheba, and since this is Sumeru, I'll go byvthe Islamic references. In Quran, Bilqis was queen to the prosperous nation of Saba. A bird brings the news of her nation to King Solomon, telling him that they worship the sun, instead of God. In order to convince her to the right path, Solomon sends a letter to Bilqis. Bilqis sends back gifts. Solomon refuses, and tells her that if he goes to her, he will with an army she can't defeat. Bilqis then travels to meet Solomon instead. In the meantime, Solomon asks his subjects if they can bring him Bilqis' throne before she gets there. One man says he can bring it here before Solomon raises from his seat. However, a Jinn brings it before Solomon in the blink of an eye. The story ends with Bilqis believing in God after visiting Solomon and hearing him out (and also seeing a hall made of a floor of crystal so clear and impressive that she mistakes it for water and seeing her gigantic throne just sitting casually in Solomon's palace).
(Also just for fun, I'd like to mention that in Quran, Solomon could totes control the wind. Yeah. Tie that to the theory of the Thousand Winds (Istorath) being the goddess of flowers and you have your tale wrapped up for you.)
Also a quick cut to Liloupar's name, also called Liloufar, which is similar to Niloufar, which is literally the flower lotus, and also partly Nilou's name. Who plays the goddess of flowers. Who has connection to lotuses. Yeah, Mihoyo is frighteningly thorough.
I had no idea that the Amrita was the remains of the former Hydro Archon.. I must've missed the dots
It's on the new artifacts.
"The former leader of the realm of water was slain amidst the upheaval, and her body was transformed into a sea of pure dew, the Amrita,
And yet even that pure sea would dry up in a desolate land destroyed by the Abyss. "
Part of the flavor text in Vourukasha's glow artifact
I don't remember the Pari quest being very clear on this matter, but the Vourukasha's Glow artifact set definitely is. We'll probably learn more about it in Fontaine, though.
It was only mentioned off handedly by the blue pari boss (I forgot the name) that the oceanid marched towards the desert to seek their master only to come back empty handed, presumably because the hydro archon was found dead. This event was then later turned into a pilgrimage that they do now and then.
I was hard to focus during eternal oasis world quest. The only thing i understand was babel bad and jeht sad 😭😭, didnt know liloupar was that brutal in past😅
Thanks so much, sometimes with all the unvoiced dialogue, it becomes very hard to follow. Then I just get confused cause I don't know what's happening.
I try collect all the loose pages around the desert/Inazuma, but I can never find them all.
Been waiting for this one. I'm excited
I only have 1 question, why do we think Deshret was sealed away and not killed off? I don't mean to say Rukkha killed him, but more that whatever they did together to cleanse the desert resulted in him dying.
I think it's done with irminsul just like how the fate of Scaramouche changed?
So Rukkhadevata changed the fate of Amun to undone the effect forbidden knowledge. Remember that Tatarasuna and Raiden Gokaden still happen even after scaramouche modified his fate. So the whole dessert incident still happened but eliminated later with the cost of Amun's soul.
Amazing video as always
The city burning for 7 days reminds me of something similar in Persian history named "Shahre Sukhte" or "the burned city" (Even tho the city never really burned). Also the name Gurabad is a Persian name and it means something like "the land/place of the dead/tombs" and since the desert had so many Persian references i would say it's probably not an accident. Especially seeing all of Sumeru's history, it really feels like reading Shahnameh's stories. Simurgh (and many other figures in Sumeru) were also a figure in Shahnameh.
How was Apep the ruler of sumeru when the 7 nations didn't even exits... Maybe it was just the dendro supreme wielder .
I can't shake the feeling like the story lead(s) behind the overall story and lore of Genshin are fans of Chrono Trigger and Chrono Cross. The whole idea of the world being ruled by elemental dragons (The Dragon Gods from Chrono Cross) and creatures of nature being their "people" (The Reptites from Chrono Cross) and later supplanted by an otherworldly entity (Lavos) that rained down from skies presumably gave birth to humans indirectly and even created shades that resembled the Fates from Greek mythology (Chronopolis created FATE using the Frozen Flame, a fragment of Lavos). Even the Celestial Nails that brought judgement from the sky reminded me of Lavos's spikes that rained in 1999 at the end of the world. The clash between Celestia and khaenri'ah felt like Dinopolis vs Chronopolis.
The entire worldbuilding now feels like a retelling of Chrono Trigger/Cross packaged in Gnosticism.
It is inspired by many sources, likely including various JRPGs like Chrono series, sure. Wait til you hear what the Chrono writer was inspired by, since very little of Chrono Trigger/Cross was entirely unique.
The moment she said "Deshret separated his body and soul" my mind just blew up
I got lost halfway through but eyy! Sumeru lore is really nice :D
I’m still not sure I fully agree with the idea that the primordial one defeated the second who came, and that the invaders brought the abyss with them.
This is because it doesn’t make much sense to me that the victor of the war would have the seelie’s reduced to a ghostly form and have the goddess of flowers cast out. Such a loss sounds to me like a draw or defeat, not a victory where the invaders are successfully repelled. Additionally Khaenria seemed to have a lot to do with the primordial one’s era, yet they and many other similar civilizations are destroyed. Why would the victor of an invasion punish his own people who still worship things related to him.
Additionally I’m not sure the second who came brought with them the abyss since Apep litteraly tells us that sort of power existed long before.
Desert region on earth is the birthplace of Abrahamic religions.
And in Genshin, the desert region of Teyvat is also the birthplace of so many awesome Bible-like legends.
Honestly Sumeru's storyline really leaves a feeling of dread and guilt after the Archon quest. Rukkhadevata, the goddess of flowers/Nabu and King Deshret were kind gods who tried to help the humans and creatures of the rainforest and desert. Not even Rukkhadevata had anything agaisn't Khaenri'ah, and though her job was merely to protect Irminsul, she still did it to try and somewhat help those who lived in Khaenri'ah and the rest of Teyvat. And yet, here in the present they are all gone. Nabu/the goddess of flowers dead, King deshrets body eaten by Apep and his soul likely still existing but sealed by Rukkhavedata, and she, now completely forgotten by the world and even her children the Aranara.
It's truly dreading and terrifying how she was just completely forgotten like that. As somebody who only recently learned how different the Aranaea quest will be for me because I did the archon quest before it, it makes me realize how devastating her being gone is. Yes it was needed to save Irminsul, but Rukkhadevata was one of the kindest of the gods/archons and I do believe she had some sort of respect for Apep by remaking the rainforest and likely some of Apep's original flora and fauna. (This is just my theorizing at this point but I do believe Rukkhadevata was most respectful of those before her.)
With how impactful Sumeru's story has been and Fontaine also being rather impactful to the logics of teyvat snd Genshin as a whole, it worries me for what we as the traveller eill help be stripped of Teyvat's history and future. The Ode of Resurrection will likely lead to either the resurrection of Murata, Signora or somebody else (sadly I dont think there is a chance to bring Rukkhadevata back since she was removed from irminsul, also since it is Natlan I doubt we'll be returning to anything relating to Sumeru in the archon quest). Whether this resurrection works or not, we know the gnosis will be taken by the Fatui.
(Sorry to go offtopic from Sumeru but I do have a theory for Murata)
We know that Murata's tribes didn't even remember her name from the manga, meaning she has likely been gone for a long time (inactive) or assumed dead. If she is dead or sealed in some way, I theorize she will be resurrected during the archon quest, but possibly she will not have all her memories, kinda like Nahida. She is still part of Irminsul, that we know because Venti remembers her and so does Dainsleif. But I have a feeling that resurrection will leave her unaware of her past, which could leave her story quest to be her retrieving what memories exists in the irminsul. This could also be where the Pyro dragon comes in (i am not sure if they are confirmed dead already but they could pull a Neuvillette again)
Apologies for the VERY long ramble, thoughts went into theories of mine which also reminded me of thoughts on where exactly Deshret may be sealed. We know from the story cutscenes he was placed in an oasis like pool, and though the surroundings suggest it is the desert, part of me wonders if it couod be somewhere underground (sorry if this is already known knowledge I have yet to do all the world quests in sumeru :'])
Thanks again for a wonderful video! I found myself getting lost with names when I played through the quests, but this helped me solidify my understanding of the lore.
This “one armed sage” seems to have a lot of significance. Correct me if I’m wrong, but the one armed sage is brought up in a document which is located in front of the gate to Khanreiah.
One thing that I like about hoyoverse is they love to reuse the same concept but with different usage from HG2 , HI3 , GI so even if it's the same thing you can't use it to predict in another game from collapse, destruction, "laws", shackle , time , origin , "truth" , memories, samsara, life and many more
As someone who rarely comments on videos, I wanted to say that it's awesome to see this page grow. Not everyone that plays cares, but many us enjoy the history and speculation. Great work.
@Ashikai personally I feel like the nail that turned western sumeru into a desert came along with the other nails during the war with the second, and forbidden knowledge came from the same war as well.
More importantly I do have a question. When you get to the Goddess of Flowers' death, you say she told king Deshret the secrets of teyvat, then right after sands consume the desert again and she dies. From flower of paradise lost this would include her prized oasis as well. And the same set has her warning deshret about the divine nail despite these events taking place during/after the Archon war. A nail has to be involved somehow with nabu Malikata spilling everything to Deshret. before 3.6 I interpreted this as a nail falling onto Mt damavand's center and creating the sandstorms. even now I still do believe this, despite the fact that I know that there's only one known nail location in sumeru. If this is truly the same exact nail that turned sumeru into a desert, does that mean it reactivated upon the Goddess of Flowers teaching him the secrets of the skies and abyss?
Celestia to the three gods of Sumeru really be like: if I can't make the three of you turn against each other during the Archon War, I'll make y'all suffer under each others' problems until one of you is left.
Celestia won in the long run.
Celestia already had me for erasing the seelie race and nail nuking every ancient civilizations. These hos is evil af.
Could Zhongli be one of the original dragons? I say this because hes real form is of a dragon and he has lived " for far more then 6000 years" according to him. Could it be that he is working with celestia because he made a secret deal with the and cant disclose it due to his contract with the celestia....?
Thank you for the video Ashikai! This whole story is one of the hardest for me to follow, the are soooo many names ! Your videos help me a lot ❤
Seriously, i complete all the quests in the game but I don't have the patience for reading the in game books and linking all the info we find in the world so I can really understand wtf is going on in Teyvat.
Thanks again Ash and all the people who make (a bit) easier to understand this beautiful mess.
Thank you for all your hard work and time you spent researching love your videos enjoy your weekend ashikai ❤
yay! still hoping for subtitles for hard of hearing ❤️
Bless you for making these kinds of videos 😭😭 As much as I try to pay attention to details, I'm so forgetful and dense that a lot of what I read/find just kinda. dissipate. It makes so much more sense when recontextualized and reworded in order (as well as paired with relevant visuals lol) and honestly helps understand anything that comes out later on. Thank you for your hard work!
(Sorry if my sentence structure is out of whack I just woke up dfkjgh)
Sumeru was amazing. Such a good turning point for plot progression. I'm gonna miss everything about 3.X 😭😭😭
This was very thorough, thanks Ashikai! I completely forgot the Hydro Archon died in Sumeru 💀
Altho it kinda makes me sad they changed the role of the nails in the game. I loved the idea that the nails were punishment for the humans rather than Celestian trying to mend the land.