This defied my expectations and was truly stunning. I love that Genshin is more than just what we see but a well fleshed out narrative that highlights the lives of these fascinating characters, especially the Harbingers.
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i might be reaching too far here but im pretty sure the opening theme has some Dies Irae in it, which is really sad imo cuz it means that even when shes a child that theme of death is going to follow her no matter what she does to try and change her fate
So the context I wanted to give. Is that it is presumed that Tsaritsa the leader of the Fatui is fighting Celestias ability to control human fate, in other words humans have no real free will. The irony is that to achieve this they make everyone follow orders even to death without choosing for themselves. Fatui would argue that it is required to win a battle were the odds are stacked against them, but the question is if that defeats the purpose.
Best analogy I can give is to be born in Germany during the war, nobody would react in shock to the killing because that is like it's always been. If you then started to say that what is happening is wrong you would be the villain in that scenario. That is my understanding of how Fatui views the world they inhabit. Her daughter was a worthy sacrifice to free humanity and so was herself they seem quite mad but who wouldn't be in that scenario.
So, To give a clear explenation to what happened.
The Original Knave, who's title was "Mother" was the owner of the House of the Heart. Peruere (Arlecchino) was one of the children. "Mother" acted very nicely and gentle. The story at the beginning is the ritual to become "King", while we don't have an explanation, it seems to be different from becoming the next owner of the Orphanage. But it works as follows: Every kid will be taught and raised to become fighters, then they will fight to the death and the winner will be crowned as "King".
This is an English translation thing, but when Clervie (Pink Haired girl) is all bandaged up Peruere asks "Do mothers normally argue with their daughters" The actual translation should've been something along the lines of "Do biological mothers normally act like this with their daughters" Which confirms to us that Clervie is the previous Knave's biological daughter. Clervie ignores the question for obvious reasons, and then makes that beautiful promise to Peruere.
Then we skip to the end of the Ritual. Clervie appears to be stabbed by Peruere's blade, but her words and the pose they're in makes it seem like something else is happening. It's highly implied that Clervie actually purposefully ended her own life to make Peruere win and become "King" her saying "I'm sorry (cuz she couldn't keep their promise) Thank you (likely because she's free from her "Mother") " and the weird angle of the sword are a clear sign that this is the case.
At that point it should've been over. Peruere won, so she would be crowned as the new "King" but of course, she wasn't happy with that outcome, so she decided to kill the current Knave, "Mother".
Another thing to note is that right before their battle, when "Mother" talks about the flower, it's implied she's referring to her daughter, which makes her an shitter individual.
During the fight you can actually see how powerful Peruere is, as every one of her steps and attacks break the ground, and "Mother" is clearly struggling, until she gets a good hit in.
Then, Peruere sees the flower, and decides to fully embrace the Curse's power, making quick work with "Mother". Another translation mishap, but again nothing super context changing but instead of "My Awnser is no" the actual line in CN-JP is something along the lines of "You're not good enough" likely refering to "Mother" saying she would guide her to become the one true "King".
After that Arle gets arrested for killing a Harbinger, but soon gets to take her place.
At the end when we see her meet that orphan kid (who i believe is just some random kid, nobody specific) she says "I will be a strict, unemotional Father" , This is likely due to her view of "Mother". "Mother" acted gentle, and nicely, she was sweet and kind when in reality she was an awful and spiteful person, who hated her own daughter. Arlecchino didn't want to become like her, so instead she decided to act strict and unemotional, when in reality she probably truly cares about all the Children of the Ophanage, and assumed the title of "Father" to not be connected to "Mother".
One last thing, in the 4.6 Livestream we hear Arlecchino say "I want you to become the new King of the House of the Heart" refering to Lyney.
I believe they're messing with us. The ritual is likely different and would involve protecting your loved ones and working togheter instead of killing each other ruthelessly.
This is the end of my Ted Talk, thanks for reading
with all due respect it's time to cut ur hair and beard
thank you Marco for doing this for us. Your thoughts and opinion is very interesting to watch
There are two groups that are marketed very heavily, The Harbingers and The Archons(except the early archons sadly..with time their production quality is increasing thus making it seem like the new harbingers and archons are more important than the older ones..except Morax and Venti know the most about Teyvat's history, so they will be much more relevant than some of the new ones).
When I heard this I couldn't help but think of An American Tale when she pushed open the window. The notes were made me think of "Somewhere Out There".
11:54 it seems she makes the kids refer to her as “Father” to distance herself from her “Mother”…it’s like when someone as an adult refers to their abusive parents by their first name, instead of mom or dad to distance themselves from them…
I'm always so fascinated by how well u are reading through songs like this, damn
Hoyoverse literally saw everyone going nuts over Arlecchino in Winter Nights Lazzo and said "yeah we're gonna make the peak morally gray anime protag out of this drip marketing." And so they decided she deserved an entire short anime special.
The dark arc of genshin with Fontaine is bringing out the best writing bringing up these kinds of topics, and im all here for it. No more digging through books and npc dialogue for the bleakness, fantasy France says we're now old enough to ride the trauma tube sadness escalator.
They fought against each other because that's what the "Hoes of Hearts" under Mother was: a breeding ground for assassin disguised as orphanage. That fairy tale at the beginning was foretolding their destiny, when grown up her "children" must fight each other to death to nominate the "King", aka the best assassin of that batch of orphans.
That phrase when Mother was tending at that lumidoce plant… "I should have pruned it long ago", Lumidoce's symbolism indicates Puruere's best friend was Mother's biological daughter. She treated her daughter as a tool to be disposed of, and even regrets not having killed her earlier.
I think that's why Arlecchino has her children call her "father", to mark a difference in her way of running the House of Hearts compared to Mother. No more fratricide but a welcoming place for unlucky orphans.
That part at 5:00 when she kinda unlocks Ultra Istinct though… Goosebumps
OK Marco, time to stop ignoring some retro star wars
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=peEuwkBamx8
An additional visual note many don't seem to remark on:
Before Clerve threw herself on Arle's sword(?), the scene was of her describing Schneznya as a place where 'The sky dances with colors', and when she suggests going there together, she has almost the same shocked expression as she does when the Tsaritsa's ice crystal draws her eye back out the window, to the aurora borealis.
To the hope she once had, and the… If not innocence, the ability to still appreciate the world to some extent. That, despite the way her steeling herself to the depressing extent that she did, she can still be caught off guard by the beauty in the world.
And most tellingly; The Tsaritsa's ice led her to that renewed faith, effectively hinting that Arle would come to replace her faith and care for her best friend to similar sentiments towards the Tsaritsa.
and yet the anime is yet to even be announced
the animation starts with will o wisps wandering around becoming children. the European meaning for it is that those are dead wandering children with no family.
"the house of hearth is place of safety" Marco says it while the caption says "you will defeat all your brothers and sisters to become King"
I know he was talking about music theme but damn this both funny and odd timing
Also in the Snezhnaya scene it was Jester (in the middle) not Arlecchino. Jester is the first in command/leader and he delivers Tsaritsa (Cryo Archon) order and "promotion" of NEW Arrlecchino (Knave) since previous one got killed.
New Arlecchino decided to become "Father" instead of "Mother" since she didn't want to do the same as "Mother" aka give kids false warmth, happiness, etc. and then just betray them, force them into that bloody battle royale, etc. just like what had to experience. Better to be strict emotionless "father" (that actually cares about kids but don't want to show them) than fake nice "mother"
To add to all this brilliant musical analysis on a more visual aspect, notice how the cross is a constant re-occurance throughout the whole animation. At the start with the spider funeral, but all through the fight too with multiple crossing swords and after effects. This quite obviously references to divine self-sacrifice to cleanse sins, but it's also what is used to mark a target. Notice how the Dottore rabbit-vampire has one. Oh Peruere has a bone to pick with him, I'm pretty sure. And she probably won't hesitate to sacrifice herself when the time comes.
Marco!!!! They already uploaded the song to Spotify!!!!!!!
When you were talking about the house of the hearth being all warm and welcoming etc you completely missed the part where it said they'd be forced to fight against each other until one's left standing to become king lol
Haven't seen anyone mention it yet but that kid at the end is most likely Freminet.
If you didn't know the official song without the animation also came out on the hoyomix chanel
9:38 for me the choir of little kids is like all her orphan siblings who died
House of the hearth is the place of safety.. saying that when they are literally talking about defeating brothers and sisters in battle. Even subtitles are there. I know Marco is paying attention to music the most but come on.. this is only connecting type of music to something what happened somewhere else .. different story, different time. That's why Marcos best reaction and cooking is when he does not know anything about the story.
5:56 "I should have pruned this flower long ago… how grotesque." I think Mother is trying to say the other children are the wilted flowers that should have been cut long ago… 9:11 We see the wilted flower surrounded by young blooming flowers, I get the feeling that it is guarding them with all it's might against the crumbling infrastructure. Any stray brick could crush all of them but it is burning its life away to protect them.
This is Arlechno, A grotesque wilted thing doing all it can to protect all that is beautiful around it.
EDIT: We have seen this story played out over and over with Mihoyo. Someone fighting for what is beautiful against all odds. We have seen these characters time and time again sacrifice themselves for others. Kiana, Mei, Fu Hua, Elisia. We have seen this story play out and we know they DON'T need to sacrifice themselves, but is that the case With Arlechino? Can she or someone else break the curse?
happy/hopeful music when things get dark really tugs at the heart strings – even more so when it's not dark yet but you know it's going to end up so
I love your videos Marco! I am such a fan of Hoyoverse’s music and animations, and always look forward to it. But every time a new video gets released, I know that you will always cover it. Watching your videos gave more depth in the music choice and let me appreciate the music more. I think some viewers also share similar sentiments, and we hope that you keep up the quality of your content! ❤
It would be awesome if you could find time to have a collab discussion with some of the lore theorist analyst content creators. Your insight into what music tries to convey could be interesting in contrast to what cold-calculated lore we already have outside of the current cinematic. I would be interested in what sort of conclusion you could make.
Amazing breakdown like always. I can't stop listening to this song on spotify. I really love how songs adds to the emotions we feel. I had chills the whole time. Truly beautiful!
the choir with children voices representing the children of the House of the Hearth putting all their hopes and dreams on Peruere and now I can't stop tearing up that part
I'm die. Thank you forever
Hey Marko, i just stumpled upon:
【超学生】Innocent Tyrant
It completely flashed me and i never heard this kind of vocals EVER before
Жду Limbus Company день №47
Bro you gotta react to Majinō it’s one of the most underrated ost in all of anime
The children choir/hymn part really felt like the rest of the orphans pushing Arlecchino/Peruere to help her defeat "Mother". It felt a little like in the Inazuma quest where we (MC) listen to the wishes of the people/their visions and ambitions in order to fight the Shogun. As if the other children in the House of the Hearth were urging her onwards and giving her strength, like a whole "power of friendship" protagonist moment in a way. I really love it honestly, it makes Arlecchino's love for the House of the Hearth/the orphans seem so much more justified and gives it a whole new meaning. Replacing the seemingly sweet and caring "Mother" who was actually psychotically pitting the children against each other and experimenting on them, with the seemingly 'cold and unfeeling' "Father" who actually genuinely cares for the orphans after being one herself.
In short – god, i'm gonna be so broke after 4.6
i have some opinion that in 7:53 , i feel the choir is represent the fight,, like, the back choir is mother, and the the lead vocal is arlechino (alone), fighting. and in 8:10 , arlechino is like trying to fightback but the "pham pham pham chan chan chan" thing before it go silent is showing us that mother is so strong and going to throw, and defeat her., and then after the motivation scene (tye flower), precisely at 9:36 the choir is changed to the childrens, after remembering her best friend, her brother and sisters, like whom she fight for is giving her power, is, just freaking amazing.
sori for bad english 🙇
0:19: 🎶 Exploration of the warm and inviting atmosphere in a place of safety and support for children.
3:06: 🎶 Analyzing the emotional depth and intentional imperfections in the vocal quality of a simple ballad.
6:45: 🔥 Analysis of the intense clash between opposing forces and the symbolic use of organ music in battle music.
10:26: 🎶 Emotional reaction to religious-themed music with elements of hope and legacy in Genshin Impact.
13:50: 🎵 Analysis of music in Genshin Impact reveals protagonist's essence through powerful chorus and solo singer.
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The full music version comes out
https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=rGv3ponG-x8&si=sA2JtGGQHgI2pdoW&feature=xapp_share
i know nothing about genshin and this is amazing story telling
Thank you for another amazing video! It's honestly fascinating how you can predict what's gonna happen to characters just from music alone…
13:32 you said "Tsaritsa" like a native speaker, it threw me off a bit 😅