Spoilers for the Fontaine Archon Quest.
“Time Trekker” is a book series from Fontaine added in 4.4 that explores time travel and time as an illusion. Fate is real, and everything has already happened. However, the book seems to reference Jorge Luis Borges’ short story “The Garden of Forking Paths,” which proposes a bifurcation of timelines, and innumerable futures. Can the infinite possibilities of the future save the past? What does this have to do with Dainsleif and Nicole of the Hexenzirkel, and the hidden corners where the gods’ gaze does not fall? How does Nietzsche’s Eternal Return (and Kaeya) also fit into this idea of time?
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00:00 Introduction
01:25 Time Trekker
05:03 FUN REFERENCES!
07:43 The Light Between the Mirrors
12:02 The Garden of Forking Paths
19:00 Time Loops?
23:50 The Meaning of it All
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Resources & further reading:
https://youtu.be/d3zTfXvYZ9s?si=MQWJhRduGe9FH7_8
https://youtu.be/wwSzpaTHyS8?si=0pV7Gjdcz5MLHAvU
https://youtu.be/_PI0qjnL2fU?si=CpIqxplEXfVfaZOE
https://genshin-impact.fandom.com/wiki/Time_Trekker
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Garden_of_Forking_Paths
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eternal_return
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Check out my other videos!
✨ Flowers for Princess Fischl https://youtu.be/vf6rUY_BH2o?si=OxbdpzrAJ1kXKAPr
✨ Kaeya, My Beloved https://youtu.be/9l8VuXX0wH0?si=1horqdvxmlLp4rrl
✨ Schwanenritter https://youtu.be/FmYJEtYpc9E?si=EvP1ePpVwX7BE29P
✨ Fortuna and the Grand Symphony of Fate https://youtu.be/4OAjhiL9yas?si=-JNqpg9Ggvcd8S8T
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Music
✨ HOYO-Mix: Chenlong Pool Courtyard; Langage des Fleurs; Diaphanous Dream; Shadows of Enigma; Se mettre sur son trente-et-un!; The Jepella Rebellion; Chantons a plusieurs; Shade of Flowers; Language of Eternity; Long-Lost Chapters; Vestige of Dahri; Quo Vadis; WHITE NIGHT; Soothing Nightfall
✨ “Se Pone Caliente” by the U.S. Commercial Product Safety Commission (public domain)
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#genshinimpact #hoyocreators #genshinimpact #genshin #原神
source
EDIT: CCs are up! Let me know if there's anything broken.
My mind is blown. Congratulations u did it again wow! Just amazing ✨️
So it must be!
Crack theory but what if the traveller twins are just one and only ? Just like time Trekker protagonist ? I mean Genshin do have this weird thing of Doppelgander going on.
Barbatos/nameless bard
Makoto/Ei
Rhukadevatta/Nahida
Layla asleep/awake
Primordial Albedo / Albedo
Furina/Focalors
Etc etc… ? It has to mran something right ?
Great video as always!
🎶No past and no future is what I need. (is what i need)🎶
White Night plays in my mind as roozevelt talked about time, fate and destiny..
I didn't even know they added new books this version. Thanks for the heads-up!
The ending there of the "Time Trekker" sounds like a Bootstrap Paradox to me. The "Bootstrap Paradox" is essentially the idea of a time traveler going back in time for something and when they realize that it doesn't exist where it's supposed to, they create it. Doctor Who had a perfect analogy for this that I'll share the link for below. Peter Capaldi can explain it better than I ever could.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u4SEDzynMiQ
However, to sum it up well, I refer to the end of the analogy: "Who really composed Beethoven's 5th?" In this case, who really spoke to the "Time Trekker" and told him the secrets of the universe?
I think our key to cracking this false block universe is this “inept god” that Kaeya mentions. He says it’s just a metaphor, but is it really..? Turns fathers against sons, floods nations, and needs people like the Sustainer to make sure nothing diverges. And for what? So that the perfect past can be created again! “Phanes” and the united civilization that lived in abundance, is the product of fate playing out as it is meant to. Even Apep who despises gods and acknowledges that the Sustainer cares about humanity. Well, she doesn’t seem very caring lately, but this could be the answer. The tragic future is necessary for progressing towards their better past.
Narzissenkreuz said after his defeat: “Let others mock and curse me. I am empty within now. Only one desire remains. I, too, wish to return to the very beginning — to the time before the Narzissenkreuz heroes set off on their journey. But that's impossible. We are not masters of our own fate. I no longer even have the power to determine my own dreams.”
…But what if he was a true god? He would return to the beginning. Even if the “end” is a tragedy, he enjoyed the journey. If the past could be the future, he’d choose to do it all over again. A god that has lost too much, and yearns for the past instead of moving on. That is what we’re dealing with.
And does the Traveler have the ability to change anything… One thing’s for sure, he/she certainly has the ability to *fail*. This isn’t the first run of Traveler in Teyvat. Venti and Xamaran both remembered Traveler from before we met them. The Abyss sibling said “We always had enough time”.
We are part of the loop, not true “outsiders”.
Time trekker really has become one of my favorite Genshin books thus far. Mostly unrelated but I think the book has further established that Remurian golems are likely mechanical in nature, and possibly similar to what automatons we have seen in Genshin En masse, that being ruin machines. I mean the book compared them to the Clockwork meka of Alain Guillotin so at that point I think it is fair to say there is something more going on here that we haven't solved, especially with the Arkhe system and the meaning of Ousia and Pneuma and how the creation of intelligent life works in Genshin as well as the secrets of Khemia. I wish there were more Genshin Lore videos about the Automatons of Genshin as they are so numerous and some of the coolest enemies in the game…Especially with the implication that they can potentially house the souls of real people…
the garden of forking paths immediately makes my brain go to the loom of fate, with the way time is literally woven together, maybe the end goal isn't to change fate itself, but instead reweave the order events or which timelines lead to what
god time shenanigans makes my head hurt
thank u for ur hard work! had a laugh because I heard some of my top fave OST tracks in the background, felt like my brain was spied on
Each time I see a reference to Borges's "The Garden of Forking Paths", I cannot help but point out how the entire concept of parallel universe and multiverse ended up being a complete swerve and red herring to the final twist of the story and the entire point of Yu Tsun's actions.
The literary equivalent of a "shitpost", if you will. Borges really have a unique sense of humor
Thank you for the wonderfully interesting video. It reminded me of something Dottore said when he was explaining his “segments” to Nahida. He said he made them to “ have eyes on the dimension of time” or something like that. I wonder if his comment was foreshadowing of some sort.
22:15 yo, they’re referencing musical repertoire in the lore now? between this and your last video i CANNOT WAIT for more remuria updates 🤩🎶
Hoyo does like getting meta, it would not surprise me if their way of showing this is having two potential options that can lead to slightly different events that lead back into the plot. When we the player think about the story we think of the events that will always happen but to the characters all of those choices affects them not just the one's the story makes. After all we kind of are god like beings to them literally being able to control them and collect their fate (Stella Fortuna and constellations)
One could argue that where the ones who make
Roozy! You shouldn't say people are pretentious. People will.get mad😂
Roozy! I just want to say that your video was awesome and it has explained some of the things that were very obscure to me but I just want even if it's not my place to say this but just suggest you on your presentation a little bit. Specifically how it feels like there's a lack of a conclusion or arcs while you're talking. You should take some unnatural pause or phrase a question in some way like Ashikai or if you want then bigger creators like Veritasium do. And put a nice background music to maintain the flow, even if your theory is very good and explains a lot of things people get bored and it's often hard to concentrate. You have to make the viewer feel like it's a conversation rather than a lecture. I really hope to see more from you. ✌️
ATE.
(Sorry if my comment isn't coherent, English isn't my first 🙏)
Yes! I always feel like time works like this in Genshin especially about samsara (I was thinking hard about the nature of Whopperflower before Fontaine released 🥲) and Istaroth. The fact that time is inseparable from space makes me think that if Istaroth is a part of PO (that seems to be synonymous with light) and the speed of light is the speed of causality, then it makes sense that she's the 'god of moment'. And when I think of abyss in Genshin, I always thought that it's related to space (or ~matter/dark matter/dark energy?) and Istaroth has some power to that.
Okay, this is heavily a personal interpretation and I don't know if I want to go straight to the lore talk (I mean I'm sure people already get the idea of how time works) but:
If light ever reflected to us (to our eye) it's always describe the 'past' right? (from where light reflect on some bodies first before that reflection brings information to our eye).
Like, can we think that our minds itself like the two mirrors facing each other? Keep repeating until it found some 'crack' to finally over from that repition (problem solving)? Like, isn't samsara and its limitiation like a thought process? (I mean despite our brain irl really works like that or not) And I'd go as far saying that Irminsul kind of like the brain of Teyvat (the roots/branches are like the dendrites (👀) and the whole system is the like nervous system).
Back to light (or waves) as information bringer; it reflect 'something' first before the perciever recieved that information, right? So I think this 'something' is important for light to shape information from that. I think this is why Genshin so obsessed with forbidden knowledge/abyss, as it's really important component to shape actual 'reality'.
Since Genshin's theme is something about against 'fate' (and somehow it's mostly about living longer/against death?) let's called it humanity vs. fate for short. Genshin offered the concept of 'collective consiousness'. And even generally, I think to 'against' fate itself we couldn't do it alone, right? The power of friendship theme is really strong in Genshin (ex: if it hadn't been Zhongli, Xiao would be dead, if it hadn't been Baizhu, Jialiang and Jiangli also could be over). So….. if every human works together for changing fate? 👀
Actually, from what Nicole said back in Sumeru Archon Quest, She said: "Unfortunately, the fate of Teyvat cannot easily be changed. Perhaps a god may have a slim chance, but for anyone else… who can say." And she also said "history does not change easily, but human hearts can."
Dainsleif as someone that seems to went through (a LOT, posibilly across many 'timelines' already by the look of it) even want to secure humanity with the power of /beyond/. I don't know if this fate changing ability really not enough with all humanity together or not. And If we agree that PO = all human, is this 'beyond' something another like PO, or it's the abyss?
…
Ok, this is my true agenda for writing this comment:
I initially want to gatekeep it but I guess I'll just to throw it out there. I'm also a fellow big Kaeya fan and very Kaeya centric for Genshin lore. 🙏
So… do you think Kaeya is more than just a prince regent with Alberich blood of Khaenri'ah? Knowing how dependant Khaenri'ah's 'fate' on Kaeya?
Because… I do 🙂 (I have a lot of back up theories for this, and seeing the state of Genshin now, I don't think I'm too far off)
…
Btw, very great video! This is the first time I commented on your video. Your works actually a big help for me to navigate Genshin's lore (and Kaeya's lore) so I wanna say, thank you! 🙏
So introducing kaeya as first character demo was on purpose?? Like is he beginning of change or something??
The Genshin possible Endingtron 3000
Past: Give back the world to the Dragon Soverign
Present: Let Abyss claim the heavenly throne
Future: Help Fatui achieve the new world out of Celestia's gaze
Im the 666th like.
I deserve the mondsadt special.
This video was a doozey to wrap my head around I hope future/past me would understand it better
me: *headache cat meme
I have a theory!
Kaeya is the best character in the game.
Wait I'm Filipino, we usually don't use smoke detectors.
This could give a whole new meaning to the « Thousand Winds of Time ». Seeds of stories brought by the wind and cultivated by time…unsure if Istaroth would be one of these three, or the three at once. Maybe she is Even the Fortuna described by remurians as made of thousands and thousands of strings ; an embodiment of this fabric of reality made of these « diverging, converging and parallel » possibilities. Or maybe the answer is in her greek name and title : Kairos, the god of moments. This choice always seemed important to me, because there are three time-related divinities in greek mythology. Kairos is but one of them, and rather than being a personnification of a linear or a cyclical time, he is a personnification of opportunities and generally of instants in which important events happen or dont, the « what ifs » that can change a timeline. So maybe Istaroth is every point of convergence in this garden of forking paths and fate and prophecies stem from her.
7:08 after that line about being prisoners of fate, this dam kaeya pic actually spooked me wtf 😆
– HYV are heavily borrowing from Ar Tonelico/Ar Nosurge and in AT there are "time stopping" songs (or at least that's how HYV is using it I think?). Specifying the number 0 can come from the song EXEC_PAJA (Misha's ver) and well… in Star Rail there is now literally a character named Misha with time stopping powers and keyhole eyes (EXEC_CHRONICLE=KEY). Star Rail is purposely having a parallel/similar story to Genshin and Misha looking similar to Furina isn't a coincidence. Misha is a Dainsleif parallel/expy.
– Alternatively 0 can also come from Revue Starlight's "position zero" or the Major Arcana, two other things HYV reference a lot. Potentially Drakengard too? (Sidenote: there's also the song EXEC_PAJA_FYUSION/ which uh… could explain the Fontaine statues having that huge sword)
– That "Garden of Forking Paths" seems very similar also to Ar Nosurge's Fifth Axis of the "possibilities world" – "the Fifth Dimension is the group of possibilities each single individual could have for their respective lives" "Beings living in this dimensional plane can see the entirety of their lives laid out as a tree diagram showing all possible branches and directions they could take for it"
– Furina is most likely Istaroth. To an extent this whole "primordial one" and "four shades" is somewhat of a lie. It seems to me like it's more "positions" or "seals" held by certain people. The Salon Solitaire story is implied to be something that's actually happened to her although the "happy ending" is probably misleading or hasn't happened yet… That Aimer collab song is interesting for showing a connection between Furina, the Ordo/Institute, time shenanigans, and that this might be 2nd try of her being Archon (the current Institute/Ordo aren't the originals, the ones we see in game are replacements given as a result of "changing fate". Nahida says that traces will remain like "waterdrops" which looking back is just the game being pretty obvious about most of Fontaine is a lie)
– There's also a thing in 4.2 trailer where there are voicelines and cutscenes that never show up in the actual AQ which seems that she gets punished for something for real. Also note that in that last AQ Furina starts acting notably weird, referring to herself in third-person as "Furina" and when it gets to the actual trial there's "this time I will protect you" and ofc you can view it as her talking about the people of Fontaine but with everything else going on…. yeah, no way. Legend of the Shattered Halberd mentions possession and Fontaine plays out the events of that book with everyone's roles shifted. Arle literally says "So shocked by such a simple switching of sides?" (She is probably the only one who knows what's actually happening tbh)
– Pale Princess book implies that there is no "future". The meaning seems to be Past (Pale) -> Present (Princess) -> six realms of rebirth? (Six) -> Pygmalion (Pygmies). Mentions of "Pygmalion" come up on signs in Neuvi's quest (along with hints that Arle was digging that tunnel for a while? huh?) In the newest trailer "you chose a path without a future". Further emphasized in SR Penacony where "tomorrow will never come". Plus some of Teyvat is a "dream" implied by Mond's "sleepy tribe".
– Something else from SR but very relavent to Genshin based on Narz quests: "Time — the hardest working thief in the world. It keeps stealing away our present from us, and tossing it away in a warehouse named Memory. Some are addicted to recuperating their losses… Others care not in the slightest." ("Muse's Mother" quest with the Shadow/Memory piece -> referencing Mnemosyne but this also connects to Furina with "Clio" and potentially Childe with "Thalia and Melpomene". The orthant locations are meant to be matched to Harbingers symbols and Childe's symbol is "south" like the Persona orthant "Thalia and Melpomene" quest. This also implies that they could be related which… there is other evidence for.) "Time" is likely referring to Major Arcana XXI – this could also explain why the Traveler siblings have always had enough "time", there's a line somewhere where Paimon sees the Traveler as her "whole world".
– "Purple" can alter time perception somehow and can somehow be used to create "eternity". This comes from "Spring Color Edo Purple" (no clue what it's about but I think only the name is important)… and well, Inazuma is Edo and Purple… idk how HYV are using this but I guess we'll find out (the time perception thing is coming from SR). If you just search "purple" on both SR and Genshin Wikis you get some sus results about flowers and poison… There's a new fanmade Arle animation where at the beginning it shows her with purple eyes and a happy family before she wakes up 🤔 (even if it's fanmade the animators have access to additional info) Then there's a recent thing where more characters are showing up with monocles/looking glass type things.
– The different nations of Teyvat are somewhat referencing different time periods – Inazuma = Edo, Sumeru = Meiji, Fontaine = Taisho, etc (JP time periods because HYV is /like that/ lol. The EN Victorian time period is kinda equivalent to Meiji/Taisho). Snezhnaya fittingly matches up to "cold war" times. So in a way it's "time traveling". Unknowingly, one of Traveler's goals (on behalf of Dain) is to make a "map" of Teyvat so the world can be "recreated" (but this could also be seen as a map of "time"?). This is coming from the ending of Katanagatari (which Legend of the Shattered Halberd pretty much is and the Harbingers ranks are decided by the deviant blade order) and from Mika's character stories about being a cartographer. (Dainsleif /is/ "K.K." – it means "Kate Kaslana" who is a character found through datamining and shows up as a squirrel in the Annapausis stuff but it's referencing "Kaburagi Kiyokata")
I may be too stupid for this
The forking paths make me think of Bennett too
In his character story 2, we learn that the adventurers adopted him. One of them found him on a place described as "hell on earth" when he was a baby
But at the end of Character Story 2, we learn that rescuing Bennett was against the will of the world. I think that it means "against the will of Fate" as we can find other references to Fate around him.
So. Did the old adventurer find another path ? And since Bennett got cursed + his own life is against Fate’s will… does that mean he will lead to another ending, or a diverging path or something ?
Mona once said something about stars diverging from their tracks leading to curses too
As someone who got into Genshin because of Kaeya and whose Genshin-related thoughts keep coming back to him, it’s so satisfying to see these videos & theories keep coming back to him!
Yaaaaaay roozevelt's backkkk 😍😍😍
Another character who uses a lot ''is that so'' and ''indeed'' (which has a meaning close to ''so be it'' in some aspects) is Zhong Li. And the thing is it looks a bit suspicious, given what you analyzed in the 4.3 book relates to the remark Hutao made to Zhong Li about how he only used these words in the lantern rite event. Of the same patch…
It goes even further than this because, even though as fated by the live stream announcement, Neuvillette and him have been in the same area for a moment. This is the history of the future.
But in the mean time Zhong took the path he preferred by fetching some tea thus avoiding Neuvillette.
''Is that so, Neuvillette will be here, so be it I will fetch some tea.''
In the end the most important comes in the answer he gives to Hu Tao's complaint : he just repeats is that so indeed. As if trying to fight the history of the future was vain as hu Tao did. And him laughing at this, being him stressing that despite all of this other path still exists.
you're AMAZING, I must say!
Speaking of time or time traveling, there was a sus leaks before from genshin leaks saying the Skirk we met in-game is actually Lumine from a parallel universe
I thought it was interesting because they do look alike, but of course, it was from a sus leak so… haha, I thought I'd share to confuse you even further lmao