is the raiden shogun the WORST archon? (in terms of writing) | genshin impact character analysis

today's video is gonna be about genshin impact's raiden shogun and the misconceptions that people have about her especially when it comes to her writing. genshin impact has always had fascinating lore and with ei being one of the most important characters in the game, i've always found her to be terribly misunderstood. so i made a 20 minute video about her lol.

time stamps:
0:00 so, why do people hate ei?
1:34 the badly paced inazuma archon quest
7:24 the infamous first story quest
11:40 scaramouche & the other 3 archons
14:35 in defense of raiden ei

Credit to the footages: @LyurGG

[theddae]

I wish that Scaramouche's story quest tackles the relationship between him and Ei. I really want a confrontation. Scaramouche doesn't need to forgive her but we need to see Ei held accountable. You could argue she just lost many loved ones can't bear to get attached to someone again but it doesn't change the fact that she abandoned him. I just hope it's handled with care

[Livtha]

If Raiden Shogun had a harsher punishment or if we had the option to be mean to her and if other characters held her accountable I would dislike her less. But, I feel like I have to compensate for that fact she gets away with pretty much everything scot free. The injustice bothers me so much!

[JayDay]

"Teppei is a badly written NPC" YES SAY IT LOUDER PLEASEEE GOSH, FINALLY Someone said this

[mrbackslash]

Ei has left me incredibly conflicted, before I started Genshin, I saw her and went "Wow she's so cool looking and intimidating" and when I actually finished the archon quest I felt incredibly empty, conflicted and confused despite enjoying the ride. I really want to like her more but I often end up feeling indifferent about her if not conflicted. Its very clear that the Devs wanted to make her a Flawed character but not an irredeemable character. But given how much screen time they gave her and all the plot points they had simply couldn't be developed properly in that time.

I biggest problem with her character is that for someone who is basically mourning FOR 500 YEARS, she is very calm, serious and stoic. I find it incredibly hard to believe that someone would be able to stay stock composed mentally especially when someone actively challenges her. I feel it would have been more compelling if she was so mentally worn down by the solitude that when we actually see her in her plane, she can't control her emotions, she's angry, she's sad, she's cold. Someone who needs to get out and seek help but is too stubborn and broken to do so, which would also lead to an interesting idea of "Does an archon need the help of others? They are Gods after all".

The only issue with this idea of mine is that it would contradict all that we know about her and her story as of now and would require heavy re-writing which is just not feasible.

[Sonamy]

I really hate how the traveler immediately become best friends with her and wish we got to see their relationship develop through out the years (like xiao) but also idk when i see how genshin fandom react to traveler being slightly mean to childe and they way they hate on them for it for weeks I’m just like maybe it’s for the best that traveler become best friends with her 💀

[marcusaurelius]

I think with Furina now being an Archon, you can see that she isn't taken seriously, or, people can see that she's flawed and Neuvi legit reprimands her for trying to sneak out on the trial lol. I think Furina's handling is a really good change. It's a shame that NAHIDA of all archons was treated as trash/useless by her people/akademiya when she ironically was wanting to work the hardest.

The issue is: Ei never has to DEAL with the fallout. Like, we aren't asking for her to be executed or imprisoned...but forcing her to SEE what SHE did through her ACTIONS to the people. Having her see struggling and starving people, having to see the destruction on Tsurimi island and Yashiori. Seeing the Furnace issue, having to see the shitty soil of Watatsumi and the desperation of the people there...SEEING the problems that she RAN AWAY from because she was sad and didn't want erosion to happen to her. Her idea of making the shogunbot to make sure the people of Inazuma always had a capable leader seems like a good idea, but it fucked them over so bad and allowed the Fatui to fuck around.

Yes, some of the people in the commissions were corrupt and she "dealt with them" but it was so hollow. Everyone just kind of went back to business as usual. No one questioned Ei. If I had my family starve I'd be PISSED I wouldn't give a fuck if she was a god, like, people I loved starved and suffered for no fucking reason. That's so ridiculous. Like no, I"m not asking for her to be jailed, but like FORCE HER to see the the consequences of her actions, having her face the reality not just with the past but the present, and amend her ways. Be more active. Yes, become like Makoto: an active leader in real people's daily lives. Not some god figure, but a real leader that responds to the needs of her people.

[krdt]

This gets worse when you think about nahida, who was taken away by her people and locked up. This shows people don’t need to love their archon. So why do they still support the shogun after she indirectly killed a ton of people 😭

[KawaiiCupcake]

My other problem with her, is how much the game tries to force you to like her..Sure part 2, was nice but to me it was too little too late we waited 6 to 8 months for an update. I will never like this character, HOYOVERSE!! I would have liked her to remain a morally ambiguous archon, but nope Hoyoverse had to "waifu" her up for sales.

[obseed]

They should've made Ei realize that she has achieved eternity already. By putting an unfeeling robot in charge of her country and cutting herself from the real world, she has literally put herself in a position where she cannot lose any loved one at all; because nobody can connect to her at that point.

By pursuing eternity to avoid losing everyone else, she failed to see that she has put EVERYONE in inazuma in the same position she was in years ago. People lose their sons who are forced to use delusions to fight for their rights. Families have to watch their elders slowly go mad the longer they are away from their vision. Eventually, the whole country would become a ghost town just like that one island shrouded in fog. And by then will Ei only realize the eternity that she has sought for so long.

When she was walking down the streets of Inazuma for the first time casually in years, people should've been VERY afraid and avoidant of her. If she tried to approach and apologize, the people should've been hostile and angry. Telling her the suffering she had put them through.

Even I felt quite awkward watching her just order dessert after abolishing the decree. And the people are just "wow, the shogun isn't so scary after all." BITCHES??? THIS WOMAN HAS COMMITTED WAR CRIMES!!!

I love Raiden Shogun, she was my very first 5 star and I was jumping when I beat the 50/50. But she deserves to be made accountable for her actions.

[Blue-Sky-]

I liked the analysis of Ei, and I agree with what you said. She is a complex character that has her potential kinda wasted in the beginning. Even so, she's able to grow to become a better archon or person. That would be why I felt emotional when Ei tackles with her grief more on the 2nd Quest. She has to face it, in order to move forward for the people of Inazuma. This makes me wonder on how Inazuma could've been rewritten, in terms of how the story went... After all, Act 3 kinda just rushed it all...

[alis_the_kiwi]

Honestly, it'd be a lot better if Ei actually did not know about the vision hunt decree ( because she locked herself up due to her grief ), and it was Raiden who was just executing orders poorly. It would make Ei a more believable "good person" and would explain why we end up being on friendly terms with her. Also, I believe it would make her story quest ( of getting to know the world around her and noticing that maybe change isn't that bad ) more emotional and cuter

[justenoughforacoffee]

Comparing Ei and Scara regarding writing scara was much more well written. Regarding reform, taking accountability and working towards fixing what was done wrong (we wouldn't even have the 3.3 archon quest if scara didn't take accountability for what he did and try to fix it when he learned the truth. Man even said about apologizing to the raiden gokuden, who now didnt even know who he was as the story had been changed.)
However, admittedly they are making amends regarding the people's reaction to her post-sakoku and Vision hunt decree. (Namely the tcg event where it shows that her people fear her.)
My issues with her as a character start and end with her writing in the archon quest and story quests. That includes the second story quest for me however, i felt they paced it too fast to try and fix the mess the archon quest and 1st story created. Its clear they can handle it well. Including the traveler's reactions. (Again, look at scaramouche. How his story was handled.)

I don't like her. I probably never will fully like her. But i don't hate her. I hate how she was written and i hate how her "reform" was handled because of the pacing, but her characterization is fine, admittedly a bit out of place to me because i feel they try to push the whole "innocent waifu" thing too much when theres a lot more to her character depth. (The fans are a big player in that however.)

[philkersonchong]

I just dont like the fact there seem to be no character or npc hating the raiden shogun after the vision hunt degree and civil war. It just didnt feel realistic that everyone seem to forget all those bad deeds instead of acknowledging them in some subtle ways.

[MutevaziEgoist]

I really hated when she LITERALLY turned into a waifu material in her quests. I wanted to see much more of a strong personality, someone more harsh, not another waifu for the general base to simp for her.

It also sucks how she deliberately ended a lot of people's lives, destroyed a shit ton on people mentally, she was a literal dictator who didn't cared about her own people and just for her goals didn't get ANY type of proper punishment. She just, you know, got away with it. Just like how she suddenly stopped being that determined woman, she also stopped being a "criminal".

[aeroscantsee]

They should have committed her to be a complete asshole character. Like the magnificent bastard character type that you LOVEEE to HATE. It also would've been refreshing to see an Archon like that after we've already met two dudes with typical sad pasts that are still good people. They tried too hard and achieved so little with Ei. I wouldn't mind if she was done well, but it's painful how they handle her. She got away so easily with so many deeds. She seems to barely do anything to recover the damage she does in comparison. Basically not terrible writing, just butchered up writing.

[toastedghost]

i think the way that they tackled how grieving can affect people and make them stuck in the past was very good (i'm kinda going through that myself), but when you think about the fact that she basically caused a civil war in inazuma purely because she was grieving it's just like.. what..

[jadecoolness]

13:53 "Even Venti, Mondstadt's resident alcoholic and absent archon, still cares a lot for his people"

I always find this very frustrating. The idea that Venti being "absent" is a negative. Mondstadt is, by far, the most peaceful nation. Liyue has god remains, and sleeping gods (osial) just chilling around. Inazuma has Ei, and 3/6 Islands are completely uninhabitable (Yashiori, Seirai, Tsurumi), while another can't even grow food (Watatsumi), and another is a military base (Kannazuka), just surviving is a miracle there. Sumeru has/had Sages and Eleazar and the tainted wildlife. Fontaine has the water dissolving people prophecy, an insane legal system that changes daily with crazy specific laws like "you can't have flying objects in the city during the first 3 days of the month".
Generally, when the fandom is asked where they'd like to live if they lived in Teyvat, most people say Mondstadt. Mondstadt is in an AMAZING state. It was truly built by people, and for people.

Venti became their archon by fighting against a tyrannical dictator. He fought alongside humans, and was a witness to what humans are capable of. Ultimately, he decided that as an archon, he should not do anything to overstep human's authority because humans are fully capable of ruling themselves and FOUGHT to rule themselves. He fought alongside them so they COULD rule themselves, his friend died so humans could rule themselves. And he was RIGHT. LOOK at Mondstadt. The only time he overstepped human's rule was when some corrupt humans were enslaving other humans, thus those slaves were not able to be free like he and his friend fought for all those years ago.
The problem however, with letting humans rule themselves, is that an archon's power is tied to how much they "rule", as stated by Venti. He is still strong enough to protect the nation when it needs protecting from god-like powers (Durin), but it takes a LOT out of him. When he is "absent" for hundreds of years, it's because he is basically in a COMA recovering from whatever fight he was just in.
When we first enter Mondstadt, we see Venti trying to talk to Dvalin, aka Stormterror. He was trying to get Stormterror to stop threatening Mondstadt on his own, and only really involved Aether and Favonius when he realized the purification abilities.
The reason why Venti isn't in a coma right now and is able to sing and perform for his people as nothing more than a humble bard is because he trusted a select few of his people to help him. But he would've fought alone to the point of century-long-unconsciousness if he had to, as he always has.

Honestly Venti is a VERY interesting character for me. He is a god, and he made the active choice to be weaker because he believes in his people. He spends decades, if not centuries in recovery after bigger battles where humans need some support. He sits in the seat of "the anemo archon" solely to stop anyone else from taking that throne and dictating Mondstadt. He wants none of the power of archonhood, and his people don't want an active archon either.
He spends his days among his people, or sleeping in recovery after saving his people. It feels unfair to say he is "absent" as a detraction when the reason he's absent is because he was hurt/completely exhausted while fulfilling his duties. Tying him with Signora's lore also opens up a fun conversation of "What is really fair to expect of a god?"

But I've gone and written an essay now. Whoops lmao.

[lightning_]

10:18 "People who started the game after 2.1 might have a different perception of the first story quest."
As someone who didn't get to Inazuma until after update 3.0 was released, I can confirm that my perspective was a bit different. The first story quest felt like a necessary step in convincing Ei to change her mind... although I'm still disappointed that she was never held accountable for her actions.

I also feel like comparing anyone to Nahida is unfair since Nahida is such a nice person. She makes practically everyone look bad.

[Azaro_]

Personally I still can't believe she's the most popular character in the game, her design is so bland and underwhelming considering the build up we had prior to Inazuma and it's Archon being a powerfull warrior dictator, Inazuma's archon quest was bad and honestly her personality is so bland and boring as well, plus the whole thing with the puppet shogun and her mind dimension just feel like random noise that adds nothing to her character, it was already enough with her having a long dead twin sister who was the former electro archon, the puppet shogun ends up being a random gimmick to inflate the story and get away with the blame for everything bad she did for Inazuma, having half of a character's actions being brushed off to and empty shell that just "follows instructions" and acts without thinking is just stupid writting, hell specially when Ei is directly responsable for creating the Shogun puppet and allowing it to do everything it did under her instructions.

I honestly think this is just a case of the game brainwashing people into liking her with her dmg numbers and the story shoving her in your face saying "look she's cool and and has big boobs you HAVE to like her"

[himerunrun_]

Bruh Nahida went through worse than Ei but she did a better job at being an archon