[3.6] The Beginner's Guide to Sumeru – Genshin Impact Lore

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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: https://twitter.com/txrpwr

**CITATIONS & FURTHER READING**
The Dirge of Bilqis: https://genshin-impact.fandom.com/wiki/The_Dirge_of_Bilqis
The Golden Slumber: https://genshin-impact.fandom.com/wiki/Golden_Slumber
Apocalypse Lost: https://genshin-impact.fandom.com/wiki/Apocalypse_Lost
Goddess of Flowers: https://genshin-impact.fandom.com/wiki/Nabu_Malikata
Flowers of Paradise Lost: https://genshin-impact.fandom.com/wiki/Flower_of_Paradise_Lost
Eternal Oasis: https://genshin-impact.fandom.com/wiki/The_Orchard_of_Pairidaeza
Desert Pavilion Chronicle: https://genshin-impact.fandom.com/wiki/Desert_Pavilion_Chronicle
Gilded Dreams: https://genshin-impact.fandom.com/wiki/Gilded_Dreams
Staff of the Scarlet Sands: https://genshin-impact.fandom.com/wiki/Staff_of_the_Scarlet_Sands
Jinni: https://genshin-impact.fandom.com/wiki/Jinni
Oasis Garden Ascension Material: https://genshin-impact.fandom.com/wiki/Oasis_Garden%27s_Mourning
Olden Days of Scorching Might Ascension Material: https://genshin-impact.fandom.com/wiki/Olden_Days_of_Scorching_Might
The Lay of Al-Ahmar: https://genshin-impact.fandom.com/wiki/The_Lay_of_Al-Ahmar
The Shepherd and the Magic Bottle: https://genshin-impact.fandom.com/wiki/The_Shepherd_and_the_Magic_Bottle
Gurabad: https://genshin-impact.fandom.com/wiki/Gurabad
Nameless Tablets: https://genshin-impact.fandom.com/wiki/Nameless_Tablet
Primal Obelisks: https://genshin-impact.fandom.com/wiki/Primal_Obelisk
Memories of Gurabad: https://genshin-impact.fandom.com/wiki/Memories_of_Gurabad
Tulaytullah: https://genshin-impact.fandom.com/wiki/Tulaytullah
Ormazd: https://genshin-impact.fandom.com/wiki/Ormazd
Shiruyeh: https://genshin-impact.fandom.com/wiki/Shiruyeh
The Tale of Shiruyeh and Shirin: https://genshin-impact.fandom.com/wiki/The_Tale_of_Shiruyeh_and_Shirin
Shirin: https://genshin-impact.fandom.com/wiki/Shirin_of_Gurabad
Ferigees: https://genshin-impact.fandom.com/wiki/Ferigees
Kisra: https://genshin-impact.fandom.com/wiki/Parvezravan
Xiphos: https://genshin-impact.fandom.com/wiki/Xiphos%27_Moonlight
Liloupar: https://genshin-impact.fandom.com/wiki/Liloupar
Scroll of Streaming Song: https://genshin-impact.fandom.com/wiki/Scroll_of_Streaming_Song
Key of Kaj-Nisut: https://genshin-impact.fandom.com/wiki/Key_of_Khaj-Nisut
Tulaytullah’s Rememberance: https://genshin-impact.fandom.com/wiki/Tulaytullah’s_Remembrance
Hymn of Tir Yazad: https://genshin-impact.fandom.com/wiki/The_Hymn_of_Tir_Yazad_(Part_2)

Thanks to Deci for helping out with the timeline placements: https://docs.google.com/document/d/18W02zg-DcBlzGagBkddXP02Z0SDJl0n7EfseSRzff2g/edit

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24 thoughts on “[3.6] The Beginner's Guide to Sumeru – Genshin Impact Lore”

  1. *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.

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  3. god damn sumeru/desert lore its all text based you have no image of whats going on and they keep making new gods and now even the hydro archon was thrown into the whole world quest stew (which i dont even know where that is said in the wolrd quest i thought that weird lotus thing was just the birds corpse) and i thought that the whole pari/holy bird stuff was pretty much unrelated like tsurumi was with its thunder bird but nope it all circles back to the original 3 sumeru gods

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  4. Very good video! It helped me make sense of some of the fuzzier moments in the timeline. (The thing about Deshret seperating his mind from his body and Apep only eating his body makes a lot of sense.) One thing though, I'm pretty sure that the were where Nibelung died and where the nail that turned Sumeru into a desert was the second war with the Primordial One vs the Second Who Came, and not the original war of the Primordial One vs the dragons. Apep says that Nibelung used a darkness from outside the world, which is probably the same as the Abyss. (I'm assuming the Abyss is the Second Who Came) If the Primordial One is the first descender, and the Second Who Came is the second, it doesn't make sense for Nibelung to use a power from beyond Teyvat against the Primordial One unless the Second Who Came had already arrived.

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  5. 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.

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  6. Wait, doesn't Apep say that Nibelung went away from Teyvat in search of external powers and then come back to wage the war anew? Doesn't that mean there was no Second Who Came, just the One Who Returned And Was Finally Slain?

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  7. I happened to stumble across a little video about the Irminsul branch that is physically inside the Eternal Oasis behind the seats (and also near the boatman of tsurumi island), I don't know if you're aware of this. Is it possible for humans to see and touch them? Is it possible for a god to control the placement of those branches, or why does this exist there of all places? It was something like a 5 minute video by "Genshin Lore Explained" and could be an interesting topic for a video.

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  8. I adore Genshin lore, but I gotta ask – why hide it like this? There's no way for the players to remember all this, much less emotionally connect to anything. It's a haphazard unreliable Wikipedia but without it you're missing 90% of the context??

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  16. the new World Quest has shed some interesting details when it comes to Khaenri'ah. First, the fact that Dainsleif was fighting with Sumeru during the disaster along side other Khaenri'ah warriors suggests the disaster wasn't as simple as Khaenri'ah vs Tayvat but rather far more complex and interesting. Sure even if the alliance was temporary and only done because of a shared enemy that's implies that the Abyssal monsters were not a Khaenri'ah force or something to that nature.

    Second, we got a pseudo confirmation that the curse that affected both 'pure and non-pure' Khaenri'an's is the same one, the curse of wilderness. How the curse differs between cases like Clothar and Caribret is unknown but the fact that Dainsleif was partly transformed then regressed back is interesting.

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  20. You know what, now that I think of it, we don't know for certain that Rukkhadevata and Nahida are the only incarnations of irminsul… we wouldn't know because we weren't present in any other equivalent exchanges of the title.

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  21. Just a quick mention here:

    While Simurgh and Ghoghnus could be the same birds, in mythology, despite being very similar, they are inherently different.

    Simurgh is a wise, benevolent bird who is said to be the oldest creature in the world, having seen the destruction of it three times over in her lifetime. She's unambiguously female, and is said to be part mammal, since she suckles her chicken. Ghoghnus (or, more specifically, phoenix) on the other hand, doesn't have children to begin with. It is singular and one of its kind. Unlike Simurgh, it doesn't have a specific gender either. For example, Chinese Fenghuang is inherently female (despite originally being Feng (male) and Huang (female) before being symbolically used as a complimentary whole towards the traditionally male Chinese dragon, Loong, which is the origin of Zhongchi marriage chopsticks, for those of you who need a clearer reference). But Phoenix, in and on itself, is generally not mentioned to have a gender, while the Simurgh always does. It's her undeniably motherly nature that made her a famous figure in Shahname (the Book of Kings, largest ancient Persian epic/mythology/fantasy book). She takes Zal (and albino prince in Shahname ) in as her son, raises him, teaches him her knowledge, and promises him her assistance after he leaves her nest. She was so knowledgeable that, on the myth, she suggested C-section to be performed on Zal's wife when Rostam's (yes you read that right, Shahname's most famous hero shares Rosalyn's lover's name) birth grew too long.

    Of course, it's worth mentioning that throughout history, these creatures have gotten mixed up multiple times, much like other parts of mythology. So, it's safe to say that the purpose for mentioning Ghoghnus here and Simurgh there, Genshin is just trying to distract and confuse players and probably also imply that they're one and the same in this tale. Especially since Simurgh is mentioned to be specifically female (being a daughter and all), while Ghoghnus has raised Parvez.

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  22. 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.

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