[3.5] How Rhinedottir Caused the Cataclysm | Genshin Impact Theory

Hey guys, Chop here! In this Genshin Impact theory and lore video, I use the playable character Albedo - the Chalk Prince, son and creation of Rhinedottir - as the beginning thread of evidence that leads to the eventual conclusion and that Rhinedottir had created the Philosopher's Stone during the reign of King Irmin, who perhaps had wanted it for some personal gain. The Philosopher's Stone theory is one I've come up with to help prove my case of why Khaenri'ah was destroyed in the Cataclysm, which I have other theories on that I'll link below in case you're curious. This is essentially the ultimate video on Rhinedottir barring any Hexenzirkel information related to her, which isn't much as of now, anyway. I may end up doing some theory on that aspect in the future, but for now at least... Chop out, bye!

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I've used a lot of gaming music throughout this video, but one that was used was a remastered Lavender Town theme, which I'll link here in case you want to support the creator!

[SED]

According to Clothar the curse Celestia put on the pure blood Khaenrians is immortality, but maybe it was actually a side effect of Rhinedottir creating the Philosopher's stone!?

[RookieFir]

Really love the Irmin's quest for immortality point, feels like it would absolutely make sense with what's Rhinedottir doing!

[camopalli]

ur theories are spot on. Can’t wait to see your future theories!

[roozeveltfox]

I'm all over the place with my Irmin brainrot, but I had a similar suspicion about the "khemia for immortality" a while ago, but at the time it was super cope because I was uh... speculating purely on something an NPC says in Tears of Themis (the.... Hoyoverse otome game). So basically, you're on a date doing a role-play Murder Mystery, and the person playing a doctor has these lines:
"Alchemy is a method to refine cheap metals into gold. However, this method is not only usable on metal.
At the pinnacle of alchemy, in a process similar to refining gold, you can revive a dead person's soul.
Achieving that would mean that you have acquired the ability to communicate with the Gods.
In other words, you would become an immortal deity."
the MC goes on to think to herself "man that doctor is nuts, that was crazy talk!" and I completely forget the context of these lines but I still have them pinned aslkfj.

sooo I'm on board YEP!!

[prissywonderland]

Man, you got me wanting more Albedo lore all over again. When you were talking about the four alchemical steps and reminded us how Albedo was made from chalk - which is supposed to be a pure substance - it took me back to the very end of his story quest. He says both him and the traveler are made from substances yet to be fully defined and well, that just makes you wonder if he's really made of only chalk. Especially his last lines where he's wondering to himself if you'd be able to stop him if he lost control and destroyed Mondstadt and everything else.

[ZeroShiGu]

I've seen several people link Irmin to King Deshret. If they're one and the same, could it be that he commissioned Rhinedottir to create the pilosopher's stone in order to save the Goddess of Flowers as he had promised Liloupar and the Jinni? It would make even more sense for him to be the Rubedo as the "Scarlet King." It would give "Odin's desperate quest for immortality" an even more tragic twist, trying to save a loved one (Hoyo deifnitely likes those kinds of plotlines if you're familiar with Otto from Honkai Impact 3rd).

[scrumptious]

Nice quality videos idk how you’re not more viral yet keep going 🥰

[EmperorMist]

Now that i think about it, what if the crystal form of the sinner is King's Irmins failed attempt at immortality, as in a corrupted/incomplete ver of philosopher's stone 🤔

[FluffyWaffle]

the only thing that makes me skeptical of this theory is that the philosopher's stone may actually not be the final goal of Rhinedottir, because in genshin, the process does not end with rubedo but instead citrinitas, rubedo comes before that, and if the stone can make gold, then some kind of gold should actually be the final goal of Rhinedottir, which would make more sense due to her possible inspirations in the Rhine maidens and her nickname even, and due to her "Primordial Human Project" being the origins of her creating several Albedos, then her goal would be less on imortality or curing Irmin and more on using all elements in Teyvat to create something closely related to a primordial being, in genshin that would be the primordial one/possibly phanes, and the primordial one/phanes is linked to the sun, which Albedo has a lot of references towards. (You could argue she could have been trying to actually bring him back to life but no one was told he was already dead but just, unable to rule due to undisclosed reasons to avoid public unrest)

Also on a side note, the traveler has an inate hability to purify abyssal corruption (ref: mondstadt archon quest, davalin's tears), the abyss twin has been said to be capable of controlling abyssal energy even before the cataclysm (caribert archon quest) and the lights on their outfit are still white, meaning they still have their light powers.

I gotta say tho, those symbols for rubedo are very interesting to look into, blood could actually be something very important in genshin because different bloods will give you different types of immunities and characteristics, mediocre example let's say: Ganyu does not have the same blood as Xiao, one is a half Qilin and the other is a Yaksha., also purity of blood seems to be pretty important for Khaenri'ahn nobility. The phoenix specifically is VERY juicy, because if you think about it, we have references to phoenixes all around Genshin, Xiao is a Golden Peng which can also be seen as a phoenix, there is a very special phoenix in Natlan (read lavawalker), and the symbol of the battle pass is the same of the Staff of Homa, and Homa birds are also a type of Phoenix. Roses are also pretty interesting, though we have not been given much insight on them inside genshin outside of M (you can actually get the meaning of roses in teyvat through Noelle's first hangout, but I don't remember what it was, I just know it was told to us in there). A figure in red clothes is also curious, because we don't actually have any character in genshin wearing predominantely red clothes outside of Klee (I'd count Yanfei but her red is more pinkish, the red in Yae's is due to her being a shrine maiden, and though many pyro characters wear red in some form, no one wears so much red as Klee, not even Amber tbh. I am not counting Diluc's paid skin because otherwise I'd have to write an essay in here) and well, Alice is klee's mother. Now a crowned king could very well be irmin, but we still do not know if there are any archons with the king gnosis piece, another instance of a king would also be Deshret, the scarlet king (which well, scarlet is red, that is a pretty neat detail)

[robertsanssouci]

My current theory about Rhinedottir is that we will meet her in Natlan.
If Natlan is South America then one could assume they’ve got a heavy emphasis on resurrections. When did we see her last? When she found the Heart of Tiberius. Tiberius is a god who specializes in resurrecting gods.
So I’d guess that she is planning to hopefully resurrect Tiberius and have Tiberius resurrect the Primordial One.

My crackhead theory from this point is that The Primordial One’s spirit is trapped inside it’s brain. Which is currently being kept in Celestia (using the Managa pictures for this theory).
I think the Manga showed a giant brain in the middle of a panopticon.
I believe this explains why Phanes hasn’t transmogrified into its new form like Nahida or Guoba. Sadly I think it’s trapped and we will likely be freeing it so that it can take its new form and go back to being the human loving deity Tevat once enjoyed

[rusu]

maybe theres something i missed, but according to your theory, khaenriah was destroyed because the philosophers stone granting immortality to mortals is a violation of the heavenly principles. now thats fine and all, but wouldnt that be contradictory with the fact that celestia laid a curse of immortality upon khaenriahn mortals? if you dont want mortals to achieve immortality, why grant it to them yourself? now you could say they did it out of spite, like "you want immortality? heres immortality. now everyone you love will turn into a monster and you will slowly rot away without ever being granted the release that is death." but i think thats pretty unlikely, unless the type of immortality achieved by the curse is different from whats achieved by the philosophers stone and thats why one is a punishment whereas the other is forbidden. who knows. i do like your theory though

[justapotato]

do you think there's something important about rubedo and citrinitas being switched around in genshin?
in albedos voicelines, he says that rubedo is the third step and citrinitas as the fourth

[SirZelean]

Oh boy. Have you heard about Dainsleif's ring theory?

After we finish the Pari questline, Zurvan tells us that she saw a blond swordsman, half-turned into monster, feeling from Khaenri'ah clutching a ring in his hand. It is pretty obvious that this was Dainsleif, and confirms he covers the right half of his body because he was turning into a hilichurl. But why didn't he turn all the way? This focus on the fact he was holding a ring seems to imply the ring was protecting him from the curse fully taking hold of him. This also fits with that first instance Dainsleif sees Halfdan in the Chasm, and questions "why does he still retains some of his consciousness if he doesn't have 'it'?". "It" has been a mystery, but it could well be the ring.

Dainsleif's constellation is called "Snake Ring", and this is a key part in a theory that says the ring Dainsleif have belonged to King Irmin. Long story short, Alberich is the name of a mythological character who belongs to the Nibelung race, and Apep mentioned "King Nibelung" in game. This leads to the assumption that King Irmin is King Nibelung. In mythology, the Nibelung had this cursed ring that grants immortality, leading us to assume the ring Dainsleif carries belonged to King Irmin.

BUT THEN THERE IS THIS THEORY. If the philosopher's stone was supposed to be given to King Irmin so that he could be immortal, does that mean Rhinedottir had to make it because Dainsleif stole his ring? Or is THE RING itself the stone? Either way, it starts to make sense why Dainsleif is seen as a traitor by the Abyss Sibling.

[woodywas]

I think it's an interesting theory, but there's a problem-
Albedo said that he has never seen Khenri'ah, and that once he was created, it has already been destroyed.
Unless Reindottir used one of the primordial Albedo's to make the stone, the timeline just doesn't line up.
(However, maybe she was in a haste, and using an "impure" Albedo was the reason the Philosopist Stone backfired somehow)

[josiahriesen]

We already purified the degredo process when we purified that teat from Duran.

[werewolfwebsite]

What if the immortality part of Khanri'ahn curse isnt actually a curse from the gods but the effects of the philosopher's stone?

[jams]

Wasn't Albedo created after the fall of khaenri'ah?

[sensennsen]

Anyone who has been in 1.2 knows that Rhinedottir was wrongly accused.

[blazegator]

That guy in your thumbnail looks like he’s 12