[3.0] Sumeru Lore Roundup - What we learned from the Archon and Aranara quests

SPOILER WARNING!!

If you have not completed Pages of Purana acts one and two, AND all four acts of the Aranara World Quest Series put this video on your watch later list.

There was an absolutely massive amount of lore dropped with Genshin Impact v3.0 and it took a while to sift through it all. This video isn't going to serve as a recap for all of the stuff that takes place in the quests, but instead it will consolidate all of the key things we learned minus a few things that will be getting their own videos like the Ruin Golem.

**TIMESTAMPS**
0:00 Introduction
0:57 The Irminsul Tree
4:10 The Akasha System
9:48 Knowledge Capsules
14:40 Sumeru's History (Timeline)
19:30 The Withering
20:46 The Aranara
24:58 Seelies and the Moon Sisters
28:41 Rapid-Fire Roundup (Small bits of lore)

[Ashikai]

**NOTES**
(I had to cut out a small glitch, so the video is re-processing itself)

- Ranakel on Discord pointed out that Paimon doesn't just teach the Traveler language, but she also helps train our fighting skills. If you check the skill/talent descriptions for the Traveler, at the bottom there's always "You and Paimon studied the-" or "You and Paimon observed-" etc. So Paimon DOES play a critical role in teaching the traveler, even if it's through her own learning which is cool.

- I've heard a lot of people suggest that Tighnari's name means Fox but I have been unable to locate a source I could cite thus far so I did not include it in the video. If you have a source and are willing to share it, please let me know!

- Here's a very basic Aranara Vocab sheet for those of you who would like one (thanks to Netzi2 for the original compilation):

Nara = human
Valuka = Sand/desert
Vana = Forest
Sarva = Source (i think) which may refer to the Irminsul tree since all life returns there
Marana = death
Ashvatta = Sacred tree meant to help seal Marana
Vasara = Special tree like the Ashvatta but less powerful
Mahavanaranapna = The Aranara Universe
Iron Chunks = Ruin Robots
Ruin Golem = The giant Ruin Robot
Vanagni = Whopperflowers
Apshvaana = Spincocrocodiles
Queen Aranyani = Rukkahdevata
Ararakalari = Aranara memory magic
Bija = a fruit that contains dreams and memories

[animeshupadhyay]

Paimon being a seelie makes so much sense now. She literally calls herself the best "guide" in teywat. Which I always thought was just a brag but now I am pretty sure she subconsciously knows she is a seelie and a guide and that her memories have been messed up by some sort of trauma in the past. Another one of my theory is that she could be a detached avatar of the 1 moon sister which remains or one of the moon sister which is presumed dead and later found by traveller coincidently.

[Lightark]

Oh, the speed of the new video release is surprising! The length is also sufficient!

I realize that as the number of followers grows, it may be hard to read and interact with each comment... But more viewers is a good thing, which means more opportunities for high quality cultural content to spread in the community! And it can also provide some support for your creative work.

Blessing!

[sarllie]

The theory of Nahida being made in the image of the flower goddess (a seelie) makes so much stylistic sense now that im thinking of it. it explains her seemingly incomprehensible attire (relative to the cohesive theme of sumeru as a whole) and made me realize how similar she looks to paimon and everything!

[StyxDipped]

I’m so glad you made this because I did the majority of the Aranara quests at 4am and I think by the end I was just. Glazed over eyes.

[lpcurio]

Visions attached to the outfit are like how swords float behind you

[stefanodg]

2 years I know this game. This video is actually the best one I've seen in 2 years about Genshin Impact. Very well done! For some connection you made I think you are a genius my friend! :)

[jervinkhoo]

love the analysis,

regarding traveler as sun, and paimon is the moon, the first thing that comes to me is the book: Before Sun and Moon, literally just mean before the travels of the Traveler and his/her companion.

regarding the pronunciation of names, if we really going to argue about what is right and wrong, then we have to go back and start arguing why everyone have been pronouncing Liyue names wrong to begin with, starting with Liyue and Ganyu, and people have to start learning tonal pronunciation, or even why German names are pronounced wrongly too.

[CadisEtramaDiRaizelHexion]

I can’t explain to you how much your videos help me!
I loove the lore in this game but im often exhausted from work and can’t really understand what’s going on 😪 your videos are sooo amazing, they explain so much! I love them ❤️ thank you!!!

[zahisunohr]

Your point of Kusanali resembling the goddess of Flowers also fits really well with your idea that the game references Kallen/Theresa and Otto with the gods in Sumeru since the Scarlet King seemed to like her and even became mad after her passing

[icypeanutpolo]

It’s so cool going back and watching these so long after the fact. The theories were SO CLOSE to what actually ended up happening, it’s a big part of why I love Ashikai’s videos.

[A_random_funeral_consultant]

I remember in the Shenhe story domain there were two seelie courts by a table with 2 chairs (maybe representing how long ago they were much different)

Also the traveler has a line about how they feel a sad aura when they approach seelie treasure or something

[ahmedwael]

so happy i found your channel, i've been searing for a long time for a genshin lore explanation channel and for some reason your channel never crossed my search, really nice lore sum up by the way thanks and definitely sub!

[Al-bslj]

Paimon being a seelie makes so much sense to me! The traveler is super smart and catches up quickly and already had existing knowledge so of course piamon hasn’t taught them much but if you really think about it she’s taught traveler more then people would think. Also why would she refer to herself as a travel guide? And how does she know so much but yet so little? There’s probably some sorta base knowledge seelies have and it’s probably updated by the lay lines or celestia so these existing seelies have some sort of way to fulfill their purpose and seelies just sit there till we approach and then it leads us places so I’d imagine before we approach they’re in some sort of slumber and that would explain why paimon was just chilling in the water and since traveler pulled her out she’s now leading them somewhere and she may not even know where that is herself. It’s just instinct and she probably thinks she knows where she’s taking them but she doesn’t actually know.

I also think celestia didn’t plan for that to happen at least not the unknown god, if there is 3 of them I’d imagine at least one of them is trying to help travel in very very subtle ways and I think it may be the god of time, mainly because they helped the electro gods with the seed and giving them something that massive doesn’t seem like something the gods of celestia would ever do if they are all like the unknown god. But I could be wrong I’m not as perceptive as most when it comes to genshin story or theories that’s why I watch so many theory videos lol.

[alaabara]

What actually came to my mind first when doing the archon quest is "okay I get how the traveler can sense kusanali presence and all, but how is paimon doing so" then you just spoke about it in the video .

[littlelamp]

I saw this on my feed and got extremely excited. Thank you for your lore videos!

[corbeaunoir]

Consolidation came up in my psychology of Music exam. We were supposed to realize that if you're practicing a piece and can't learn it to put it away for a while and sleep on it because the subconscious mind will figure it out. Practicing before bed if you're not wiped helps a lot and sometimes not practicing the day before an audition magically means you can play it on audition day. Although the audition day run-through somehow never sticks and you need to revisit it. There is some sort of subconscious gap between short term and long term proprioception and Consolidation only helps so much.

[davidedesalvi]

You are the cornerstone of the theory crafting community

[imperiumVII]

Kinda crazy how Irminsul functions just like the Lifestream from Final Fantasy VII. Both are essentially the life blood of these worlds, and both store the memories of people

[claudeherac]

Yay new Yanfei set! She's gonna be in the Sumeru Library for a good while!!